The commotion of the mansion guards assembling naturally couldn't be hidden from others. Soon, the entire duke's mansion became extremely lively. Except for Su Yuanyuan's courtyard, lights were lit up in all the other yards.
After learning from Mrs. Mo that a thief had sneaked into the duke's mansion and had almost hurt Su Yuanyuan, everyone was extremely angry. They all joined in this "thief - catching show" and were determined to find the thief and crush his bones to ashes.
However, no one knew that the "thief" was still hiding under Su Yuanyuan's bed at this moment, and his eyes were open.
The man wasn't completely unconscious. He knew that he had been stuffed under the bed by Su Yuanyuan. He also knew that Su Yuanyuan had cleverly knocked down the screen and rushed out of the yard, pretending that the thief had left. Moreover, he knew that Su Yuanyuan had kicked his hand back under the bed.
Hearing the innocent voice of the young girl successfully sending her mother away, the man sneered inwardly.
What a bold and reckless little girl.
...
Chunxiao trimmed the lampwick, and the room instantly became brighter. She directed the maids, Xialu, Caiyun, and Zhuoyue, to prop up the fallen screen and clean up the bloodstains on the floor.
Su Yuanyuan sat on the edge of the bed, watching the maids moving around the room. She couldn't help feeling a bit anxious.
Just as she was thinking about how to get these maids to leave her room, she suddenly felt someone grab her ankle, and she let out a startled cry.
"Yah!"
The maids in the room immediately stopped what they were doing and turned around in unison to look at her. Su Yuanyuan hurriedly covered her legs with her dress, blushing as she stared wide - eyed at Chunxiao, Xialu and the others.
"Miss?" Chunxiao turned around and tried to walk towards Su Yuanyuan. Feeling the hand on her ankle tighten, Su Yuanyuan quickly said, "Yuanbao is so sleepy~"
After saying that, she even raised her hand and yawned.
Chunxiao let out a sigh of relief and said, "Miss, just go to sleep peacefully. This servant will wait on you in the room. This time, this servant will never let Miss take any more risks."
Su Yuanyuan insisted, "No, Yuanbao wants to sleep alone."
Xialu said, "That's not allowed. Miss was almost hurt by that thief just now. For Miss's safety, this servant can't let Miss be alone anymore."
Su Yuanyuan picked up the dagger beside her and waved it, saying, "Yuanbao is very powerful!"
Chunxiao still insisted, "Even though Miss hurt the thief with that dagger just now, this servant still won't leave. Protecting Miss is our duty."
Su Yuanyuan got angry. She grabbed the things beside her and threw them on the ground, raising her voice, "Yuanbao wants to sleep alone!"
The young girl's eyes were wide open with anger, looking extremely cute but without any intimidating power at all.
But after all, she was the master. Chunxiao and Xialu looked at each other, and they both saw helplessness in each other's eyes.
Finally, Chunxiao compromised, "Okay, this servant will leave now."
Fortunately, the maids had already tidied up the room by this time. Chunxiao led the maids out of the room and very considerately closed the door for Su Yuanyuan.
But after they left the room, they didn't go back to the side room. Instead, they dispersed and stood outside the door, guarding all the exits for Su Yuanyuan to prevent anyone from sneaking into her room again.
Even so, Su Yuanyuan still let out a sigh of relief.
She tried to tug at the foot that was being tightly held. The man finally let go of her. She nimbly jumped off the bed, tightened her grip on the dagger, took a deep breath, lifted the bedspread that covered the bottom of the bed, and whispered to the person hiding inside:
"Come out."
Although this person was very likely her savior, thinking of his skillful moves when he subdued her just now, Su Yuanyuan still couldn't help feeling a bit nervous.
She stared intently at the dark space under the bed. When she saw a fair and slender hand reaching out from it, she couldn't help swallowing.
However, after waiting for a while, the man only showed his hand, and there was no other movement. Just as she was feeling puzzled, she heard the man's hoarse and rough voice coming from under the bed.
"Excuse me, give me a hand."
So he was out of strength.
Su Yuanyuan let out a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to pull the man out from under the bed.
Because of the rather large movement, she accidentally bumped into the bed board, making a "thud" sound. She was so scared that she pounced forward to cover the man's mouth and nose, holding her breath as she looked at the closed door.
Fortunately, the maids outside the room didn't notice anything unusual. Su Yuanyuan let out a breath. When she turned her head, she found that she had pounced on the man again and was lying in his arms. Their postures and the distance between them were so arousing.
Su Yuanyuan felt as if her palm had touched a hot iron. She quickly let go and took two steps back.
Fortunately, he was unconscious the first time she fell on him. Otherwise, being pounced on by her twice in such a short period of time, he would probably think she had some intentions towards him... cough cough cough...
After stepping back, with the light in the room, Su Yuanyuan finally got a clear look at the man's appearance.
The man was wearing a black tight - fitting outfit. His long black hair was tied high on his head. He wore a mask on his face, only showing the upper half of his face and a pair of... familiar eyes.
Su Yuanyuan was eager to know his identity. In a moment of impulse, she reached out and pulled off the mask on his face to find out.
Caught off guard by the removal of the mask, the man subconsciously raised his hand to cover his face, but then suddenly thought of something and put his hand down again, generously letting her look at him.
Sure enough, after Su Yuanyuan saw his appearance clearly, her face was filled with disappointment and confusion.
Strangely enough, when his face was covered, she thought his eyes were very beautiful. But when his eyes, nose, and mouth were all together, he looked very ordinary, the kind of person who would be lost in the crowd.
More importantly, she had never seen this person in her previous life.
So what was the deal with the cloud - patterned token on him?
"Have you seen enough?" the man said.
His voice was rough and hoarse, as if his throat had been smoked by a big fire.
Meeting the man's teasing eyes, Su Yuanyuan paused for a moment. Temporarily putting aside her doubts, she picked up the dagger beside her and pointed the blade at him, saying:
"Who are you? What's your intention for sneaking into my room at night?"
"Cough cough cough..." The man was seriously injured and couldn't help coughing. Su Yuanyuan was so frightened that her face turned pale. She quickly said, "Keep your voice down. Don't attract anyone!"
The man forced down the itching in his throat and said, "Since you're so on guard against me, why did you hide my whereabouts just now? There's something you want on me, right?"
Su Yuanyuan was startled. She didn't expect him to see through her.
"I asked you first," Su Yuanyuan waved the dagger menacingly. But she looked young, and her face was a bit round. In the man's eyes, she just looked a bit funny.
The man propped himself up, covering his injured left shoulder as he tried to stand up from the ground. But halfway up, his body suddenly swayed, and he leaned forward.
Afraid that he would make any noise, Su Yuanyuan subconsciously stepped forward to support him and was embraced by him. Before she could have any amorous thoughts, she felt a slightly cold hand on the back of her neck.
"Little girl, how about making a deal?"
The warm breath blew on her ear, giving her goosebumps.
"Let me stay here to recover from my injury. I'll not only keep your act of feigning stupidity a secret, but also grant you one condition."