Han Yunxi waited from morning until night. It wasn't just the groom–there was no sign of any other human here. Late evening, she rested against the pillow before somehow falling asleep. Yet a sudden ramming noise from one of the windows woke her up. There wasn't enough oil in the lamp to shine it outside, so Han Yunxi could only wait a long while with an uneasy heart. Eventually, she carefully stepped out of the bedchamber.
"Who is it?"
It was quiet and dim outside, and nobody answered.
"Did someone come in? Who are you?" Han Yunxi asked again, shining her oil lamp. At this moment, a dootdootdoot alert sounded in her head, warning her of poison in the vicinity. What was going on?
Did someone come in with the intention of poisoning her?
Han Yunxi trembled, immediately turning around to go back to the bedroom. Who knew that right at this moment, a hand would reach out and grab her ankle?
"Ah–" Before she could cry out, someone dragged her back. The oil lamp fell to the ground as she toppled over. But she couldn't worry over such things, she was too busy trying to kick aside the hand. Unexpectedly, her foot came in contact with a man's chest, filling the room with the stench of blood.
"If you want to live, then don't move," a cold male voice spoke, chilling the room.
Han Yunxi suddenly grew still because the icy edge of a sword was resting against her body. This guy seemed to be injured–not only that, but poisoned as well. Was he an assassin?
Their surroundings were very quiet, enough to hear the man's heavy breathing. After sensing no reaction from him for awhile, Han Yunxi asked timidly, "Hey, are you here to assassinate the Duke of Qin?"
The man didn't reply.
"The Duke of Qin isn't here. I don't think he'll return for at least a year. Why don't you let me go and I'll pretend none of this ever happened, okay?" Han Yunxi tried asking.
Sadly, the man still didn't speak. In the darkness, Han Yunxi saw him sit down to lean against the wall. He was dressed all in black so it was difficult to make out his features.
"You're injured. Don't sit like that, hurry up and leave. I promise I won't shout for anyone to catch you," Han Yunxi said nervously, carefully crawling to her feet to try and push away the sword.
Who knew that as soon as she touched the sword, the man would raise it to her neck and prepare to slice?! With her life hanging on the line, Han Yunxi backed away and hastily spoke again. "You're poisoned with a wound on your chest four inches[1] from your heart. It's snake poison that set in an hour ago, not from a direct bite but extracted venom. You have labored breathing and slowed heartbeat because this poison is designed to injure the heart. The flare-ups will happen very quickly, so for you to last an hour is already your limit."
Han Yunxi spoke everything in one breath according to the conclusion she'd drawn from the detoxification system. Even now, the tip of the man's blade was still resting by her throat, and the slow trickle of blood down her neck was making her heart pound. But the fact that the man hadn't moved his weapon any further proved that Han Yunxi's words were on point.
In the ensuing silence, cold air flowed in to fill the tense scene. Swallowing her saliva, Han Yunxi mustered up the nerve to speak, "I can help you get rid of the poison. If I can't, it won't be too late to kill me then." After that, she didn't dare to speak again, trembling with fear where she stood.
After a long time, the man finally spoke coldly, "How long?"
"I need to examine the injury to check the intensity of the toxin," Han Yunxi said, sticking to the facts.
The man didn't reply, but lowered his sword. Her heart, which had been hanging in mid-air, finally settled back down. After making sure she didn't have to worry about her life, Han Yunxi assumed a professional air and rose to her feet. Seeing that the black-robed man was about to do the same, she immediately commanded him, "Sit, you can't move!" Her voice was weak, but brooked no room for rebellion. "If you move, you'll speed up your blood circulation. If any more of the poison enters your heart, we'll be in trouble."
In the dim light, the black-robed man's eyes flashed before he obediently stopped moving. Who knew that the next thing Han Yunxi said would be:
"Take off your clothes."
-o-
[1] inches (?) – cun, Chinese unit of measurement approximating 1.4inches.