It was late at night. Tian Yao was finally allowed to return to Yuanting Pavilion. She was extremely hungry and still had to serve He Ciyuan. She was on the verge of bursting into tears from grievance.
He Ciyuan was pretending to doze off with his eyes closed. His wheelchair was parked beside the bathtub. The room was filled with mist, carrying a faint fragrance of medicine.
"Eldest Young Master, the water is ready," she said softly, with a hint of hoarseness and exhaustion in her voice that was barely noticeable.
He Ciyuan opened his eyes and gave her a deep look without saying a word.
Tian Yao put down the water basin and stepped forward to skillfully untie his outer robe. This was something she did every day, but today, her movements were a bit stiff.
When she took off his middle - layer robe and was about to wipe his back with a cloth towel, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by him.
His palm was dry and burning hot, like a branding iron, making her shiver.
"What's this on your body?" His voice was deep, with an overwhelming sense of authority.
Tian Yao followed his gaze and saw several purple bruises on her fair and delicate wrist. They were left when she fell in the afternoon and hit the corridor pillar to support herself.
Panic welled up in her heart, and she instinctively tried to pull back her hand. "This servant... accidentally bumped into something."
But He Ciyuan's grip suddenly tightened, pinching her bones painfully. His other hand reached over, and his rough fingertips brushed over a patch of purple bruise below her collarbone.
Her skin was so delicate that the mark looked even more shocking.
"Did you bump this place too?" His voice was even colder, as if it had been iced.
"Yes..." she stammered an explanation.
He Ciyuan let out a cold laugh, which sounded extremely harsh in the silent bathroom.
"Fall down, did you?" He slowly loosened his grip on her wrist, but his fingertips slid up her arm and stopped on her rounded shoulder. "Let me see where else you got hurt from falling?"
His fingertips were calloused, and wherever they touched, it sent a shiver through her.
Tian Yao was so frightened that her whole body turned cold. It felt as if she was an item being inspected by the master, and any flaw would be exposed.
"No more, Eldest Young Master, really no more!" She quickly took a step back to put some distance between them, and her voice was tinged with sobs.
He Ciyuan looked at her panicked appearance, and the violence in his eyes grew even stronger. "Idiot."
She was in his courtyard but didn't even know how to act coquettishly under his favor.
Tian Yao cursed him a million times in her heart.
"This servant will help the Young Master bathe."
Hurry up! Stop dawdling! She hadn't had dinner yet!
It was not until late at night, after He Ciyuan finished dealing with the matters at hand, that he waved his hand to let her leave. Tian Yao felt as if she had been pardoned. She dragged her exhausted body back to her small hut.
She was so hungry. Even leftovers would be good, but she was so sleepy that she didn't even want to eat...
Tian Yao felt like stars were dancing in front of her eyes.
As soon as she left, Mo Chen's figure appeared in the study like a ghost.
"Master, Chun Tao and the others have been taken care of," Mo Chen added. "But the maid who spread the rumors is in Bixi Courtyard. Moving against her might alert the Second Young Master."
"Heh," He Ciyuan let out a cold laugh. There was a deep, unfathomable darkness in his eyes. "Then let her live a few more days."
Early the next morning, when Tian Yao went to serve He Ciyuan to wash up, she keenly sensed that he was in a terrible mood.
The air pressure around him was extremely low and intimidating. His handsome face was as cold as ice, and his look at her was full of scrutiny and displeasure.
Tian Yao was extremely nervous. She regarded herself as a transparent person the whole day and was even more cautious in her actions, for fear of offending him.
This low - pressure atmosphere persisted until night.
Just after midnight, Tian Yao, who was keeping watch in the outer room, suddenly heard a suppressed groan from the inner room. Her heart tightened, and she quickly pushed open the door and went in.
She saw He Ciyuan leaning against the head of the bed. The veins on his forehead were bulging, and his face was an abnormal red. He gritted his teeth tightly, and his whole body was trembling slightly. His usually cold eyes were now burning red, full of violence and pain.
"Eldest Young Master, what's wrong with you?" Tian Yao was greatly shocked and quickly stepped forward.
She reached out to touch his forehead, but as soon as her fingertips touched his skin, she was scalded by the astonishing heat and withdrew her hand.
"Are you sick?"
He was so hot. It was most likely a high fever.
"Get out!" He Ciyuan squeezed out three words through his teeth. His voice was as hoarse as sand rubbing against each other.
The heat toxin in his body had flared up again.
It flared up once every full - moon night, like a raging fire burning his body, enough to burn away all his rationality.
Tian Yao looked at his painful appearance and was extremely anxious.
Of course, she wanted to get out. But if he really died, she would definitely be sent to another courtyard.
By then, her life would really be at the mercy of fate.
Thinking of this, Tian Yao couldn't move a single step. She felt that she couldn't just do nothing.
She suddenly remembered that her body seemed to be naturally cooler than ordinary people, especially in summer, like a piece of cool jade.
An extremely bold idea flashed through her mind.
She gritted her teeth, as if making some kind of determination, and reached out to untie her belt.
"What are you doing!" He Ciyuan sensed her movement and suddenly opened his eyes. His red eyes stared fixedly at her, filled with a crazy warning.
"This servant... this servant's body is cool. Maybe it can help the Eldest Young Master cool down," Tian Yao's voice was trembling, but her actions didn't stop.
Don't think it's because of my charm, He Ciyuan. It's just that I don't want to die yet!
If you die in pain, I'll be tortured to death.
I can't go back to the old lady. I'll probably fall into the hands of He Huaibi and He Chengyu.
Oh no, that's definitely a hundred - percent dangerous situation.
Apart from his bad temper, He Ciyuan was actually okay to her. At most, he was just overly possessive and had a cleanliness fetish, not liking the people around him to have contact with outsiders.
He Ciyuan's breath suddenly caught in his throat, and the struggle in his eyes became even more intense.
The heat in his body was raging, wanting to pull this cool body that emitted a faint milky fragrance into his arms and possess it fiercely.
But his remaining rationality was desperately holding him back.
"Get out!" He roared and used all his strength to push her away.
Tian Yao was caught off guard and was pushed to the ground. She looked at him blankly.
She saw He Ciyuan propping himself up on the edge of the bed. His body was shaking violently. His sweat had soaked the hair in front of his forehead and was sliding down his strong jawline. He gritted his teeth tightly, as if fighting some kind of fierce beast.
After a long time, he let out a low laugh full of pain and self - mockery from his throat.
He turned his head. In his red - hot eyes, there were complex emotions that Tian Yao couldn't understand, including desire, rage, but more of all, bone - chilling coldness and mockery.
"Put away your little schemes," he said word by word, as if his words had been fished out of an ice cellar. "I'm not so desperate that I need a woman to detoxify me."
Tian Yao's heart was stabbed hard by his words.
She was being scheming again... How exasperating!