Zhao mama kneeled on the ground, head lowered as her heart filled with terror. Though she'd served His Highness Duke of Qin for many years, a servant was still a servant. The greatest taboo wasn't not doing the work well, but offending one's master. This was only her first day in the Leisurely Cloud Pavilion, but she'd already offended esteemed wangfei. How was she supposed to spend the coming days?
Suppose esteemed wangfei told on her to His Highness Duke of Qin, then that'd be terrible. She'd served him for so many years, but never disappointed him before. While Zhao mama was terrified, Han Yunxi was stunned, ears echoing with Zhao mama's earlier reprimands.
"How could he not take you seriously?"
It looks like this old mama had returned and arrived too suddenly. She probably hadn't figured out the true nature of the relationship between her and Long Feiye and misunderstood. But even though she knew it was a misunderstanding, Han Yunxi still gave an unconscious smile without realizing it.
"Cough, cough!"
She lightly coughed a few times, tone mild. "Zhao mama, just forget about this time. You didn't mean it. As for the matter between His Highness and myself…" Han Yunxi paused and couldn't hold back her laughter. She patted Zhao mama's shoulder and grinned. "Hehe, you'll understand in the future."
When she finished, her light steps took her inside the house. Zhao mama slowly raised her head to look at Han Yunxi's retreating form before thinking back to her words just then. She couldn't help but feel that something was off.
She should find Chu Xifeng and clarify the situation…
—
In the quiet of the night, Long Feiye's quarters were still lit. A shadow appeared silently before the door. The guards on watch at the side was long aware of its presence, but none of them dared make a sound when they saw who it was. This arrival was none other than the Qin Wangfei, Han Yunxi.
She spotted the lit windows from a distance and immediately came over. But right at the door, she stopped. After a long time, Han Yunxi still hadn't knocked on the door. When she finally turned to leave, the door suddenly moved. Startled, Han Yunxi prepared to flee, but she had the wretched luck to miss a step and fall down!
"Ah!" she cried out, before immediately covering her mouth. Unfortunately, it was already too late. The door opened to reveal Long Feiye standing inside, dressed in black like a god of the night as he gave her a disdainful look from above.
"What are you doing?" Long Feiye's voice was colder than the winter wind.
"I…I…" Suddenly nervous, Han Yunxi lost her ability to speak.
In response, Long Feiye's face turned so cold it was frightening. He walked out the door and past her without a second glance.
"I'll go with you to treat the poison!" Han Yunxi said in a rush.
Before she'd asked Zhao mama questions, her heart had been content and reasonable. But after all that, she was filled with a guilty conscience and decided to come by in the end. She didn't know why she felt so guilty, but perhaps helping him with poisons would be her way to repay him for leaving her in the Hibiscus Courtyard and minimizing her troubles.
Long Feiye stopped, pausing for awhile before asking, "Why did you change your mind?"
"Just…just then I slept a bit, so I'm much more energetic. I should be able to make an accurate diagnosis now," Han Yunxi replied.
Long Feiye's lips curved into a cold smile. "Unfortunately, your lordship doesn't need it anymore."
As he spoke, he continued to walk forward. Han Yunxi hastily stood up, unaware that she'd twisted her ankle. The sudden movement sent a sharp pain that made her sit back down and cry out, "Aiya!"
Long Feiye stopped walking, but it was only a second before he prepared to leave again.
"Long Feiye, hold it right there, I'm here to make a deal with you!" Han Yunxi said in a rush.
This time, Long Feiye really did stop. Seeing this, Han Yunxi hastened to add, "No matter what, I've helped you twice, so you can help me once, right?"
"If your lordship remembers correctly, consultation fees were paid for both times," Long Feiye reminded her coldly without turning around.
"So I won't treat you unfairly this time, either. I'll help you treat the poison and you can help me with a favor. Then we'll both take what we need and mutually benefit," Han Yunxi said with a grin.
After a long time, Long Feiye finally turned around. "What kind of favor?"
Han Yunxi silently released a breath. She just knew this fellow hadn't found anyone to treat the poison yet. Actually, she wasn't here to discuss conditions with him. She just thought that the fact he found her to treat poisons meant that he'd met with a particularly difficult case, enough to wait for her for over two hours. It must be quite urgent.
As for making a deal, it was just something she'd blurted out in the heat of the moment.
Observing Long Feiye's unapproachable, arrogantly icy face, Han Yunxi felt no dread. She gave a mischievously apologetic smile and waved a hand. "Come here and we'll talk."
Long Feiye pursed his lips, obviously impatient, but he still walked over and crouched down. Han Yunxi lowered her voice. "I'll help you treat the poison, you help me sneak into the Han estate. I want to search for something in Madame Li's quarters."
"You're going to steal?" Long Feiye raised an eyebrow.
"No!" Han Yunxi rejected that immediately, her voice growing even lower. "I'm investigating! Mu Qingwu asked me to search for poison since he was afflicted with Ten-Thousand Snake Poison last time."
Long Feiye knew about this long ago, but Han Yunxi had no idea he was paying attention to the matter.
"You suspect the Han Family?" Long Feiye was doubtful.
"It's not really a suspicion, but there are clues there that I need to look for to be certain," Han Yunxi said seriously. It wasn't a big deal if this guy knew about the general's estate's affairs. She wasn't pleading for his help, but making a deal. Of course, if he was willing to help on his own, she wouldn't mind it either.
Long Feiye paused before saying mildly, "Let's go treat the poison first."
"Your Highness agrees to it, then?" Han Yunxi cheered up.
Long Feiye's face was cold from beginning to end as he stood up, expressionless. "Un."
Han Yunxi was about to stand up herself when she realized her foot was injured. She could only use both hands to push off the ground and get up on one leg. She was a doctor, but didn't know orthopedics. Still, she understood things like common sense. From the degree of pain, she knew she hadn't injured the bone. It was just a little pain and no big deal.
She lightly placed weight on the injured foot and found that the pain was within her tolerance levels. If she limped a bit, it should be fine to walk. After a light sigh, she said, "Your Highness, lead the way."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Long Feiye shot a glimpse at her foot before actually taking large strides forward. Han Yunxi limped after him, but it wasn't long before the high speeds left her foot in too much pain. She held up a bit longer before stopping. "Your Highness, wait a bit!"
Long Feiye turned to look at her foot with cold eyes. Without a choice, Han Yunxi prepared to be ridiculed by this fellow again.
"I think my foot is…"
"Your lordship thought your foot was made of iron, but it looks like I've overestimated you again," Long Feiye cut her off coldly.
Han Yunxi rolled her eyes. She knew he'd laugh at her and prepared to retort when Long Feiye walked over and suddenly picked her up in his arms. Han Yunxi didn't have time to defend herself, her arms unconsciously wrapping around Long Feiye's neck as her nose bumped against his cheek. So cold!
In that instant, Han Yunxi turned motionless. Aside from the thumpthumpthump of her heart, her entire body was still.
Why all of a sudden… This…this is the so-called 'princess carry?'
What does this guy want to do?
As if sensing the figure in his arms turn numb, Long Feiye's lips curved slightly in response. It wasn't clearly whether he was really smiling, or simply disdaining her again. His steps were light and his form vigorous as he carried Han Yunxi and vanished into the night. At the same time, Chu Xifeng and Zhao mama carefully stuck out their heads from a cluster of nearby flowers, exchanging disbelieving looks.
"Little Chu, didn't you say there was nothing between them? That…this… What's the meaning of this?" Zhao mama's head felt like it was in a haze.
"I'm really not sure. In any case, that woman started living here and then…I don't know the rest," Chu Xifeng replied helplessly.
"Didn't… They just… His Highness treats her…" Zhao mama still couldn't understand. Since His Highness still hadn't recognized this woman as the Qin Wangfei and disliked her, why did he still keep her around?
And he was even carrying her!
The severely mysophobic Duke of Qin disliked shaking hands with men, much less touching women! When Chu Xifeng saw His Highness Duke of Qin seize Han Yunxi into his arms for the first time, his expression had been even more exaggerated than Zhao mama's. Right now, his face was completely blank.
"Little Chu, this…I'm completely lost!" Zhao mama furrowed her brows, deepening the wrinkles on her face.
Chu Xifeng waved a hand. "Mama, don't worry about His Highness's affairs. G-go back, just take things into consideration when serving esteemed wangfei. Don't actually treat her as your real Mistress." When he finished, he found that it didn't sound right and hastened to add, "But don't not treat her as your real Mistress, either!"
"The world of young people, this old one doesn't understand!" Zhao mama helplessly shook her head, thinking back to the things she'd said to esteemed wangfei in vexation. But it was already too late to regret them.
Aye, esteemed wangfei must be laughing at her on the inside…
—
Long Feiye brought Han Yunxi to a private residence hidden within a deep alley. From the outside, it looked like a regular house, but the inside revealed it to be one of Long Feiye's private side courtyards called the Solitary Enclosure. Once they were inside, Long Feiye set Han Yunxi on a table so she could sit down. Han Yunxi had been tense the whole way over, and even more her heart was still thumping. This fellow was quite tall. Her height couldn't match his even while sitting on the table.
She raised her gaze towards him and asked, "Where are the poisoned people?"
"Un," Long Feiye responded, turning to toss over a bottle of medicine. With one sniff, Han Yunxi determined that it was liniment used to treat her sprain. At least this guy had some form of a conscience and knew to take care of her foot injury first.
Han Yunxi hastily took off her shoe to expose her fair white foot. When Long Feiye turned and caught sight of her skin, his first reaction was to give a jerk before pressing his eyebrows together to stare at Han Yunxi.
Does this woman have no sense of decorum? Is she like this to others as well?
Han Yunxi was a time traveler and a doctor to boot, so exposing her hands and feet were natural to her. Seeing Long Feiye crinkle his eyebrows like that, she couldn't help but feel that something was off.
What's there to look at?
She extended her hand. "You can give the medicine to me, I'm pretty good at massaging it in."
But Long Feiye's cold gaze only moved down until it fixated on her foot.
What's he doing?
Han Yunxi looked at him, following his line of vision down before she realized her foot was bare. The soft and smooth skin around the well-proportioned foot was very striking. She seemed to have realized something with a start and abruptly looked at Long Feiye, then his serious eyes, before her heart gave another thump.
Heavens…she actually forgot that people in the past could get married just from exposing their wrist[1]!
-o-
[1] just from exposing their wrist – Ancient China was big on propriety, so such 'indecent exposure' meant that both parties had to take responsibility and get married to prevent a scandal. Actions like Han Yunxi's could be construed as too free, almost like the hallmark of a loose woman without any basic decency.