The man's gaze lingered on the loosened waistband of her skirt for a few seconds, then shifted to her turned face. "So cooperative?"
Grace felt her head was about to explode! She reached out to grab her skirt, but the man said, "Since it's already off, might as well cooperate fully and take it down."
There was no way Grace would cooperate. The man turned around and fetched a medical kit from the desk. "Pull the skirt down and expose the affected area."
The two women standing beside Grace looked at her and hesitantly urged, "Miss, the skirt is already loosened..."
What did they mean? Just because it was loose, did it mean she had to lay down and let him see everything?
But with her injury, even a slight movement caused intense pain, making it impossible for her to maintain her dignity.
By now, Yun Xiangyi had already pulled the skirt down to reveal the boil. She lifted the sides of Grace's clothing and pulled her top down as well, covering her from all sides and exposing only a small patch of skin, about the size of half a palm, with the swollen boil taking up half of it.
Grace, held down by Hua Xiangrong, could only grit her teeth and lay there. She remembered: An army is nurtured for a thousand days to be used in one moment. If they were this useless, she would fire them when they got back!
"Why did you wait until it got this bad before seeking treatment?" The man turned around and looked at the boil, his tone slightly stern.
The boil had grown to the size of a longan fruit, though not as raised, already a purple-red color, indicating how much pus was inside. The man took a thin silver knife, heated it over the candle flame for a moment, and then quickly cut the boil open.
As the knife cut through, Grace couldn't help but scream in pain!
At that moment, a series of footsteps suddenly came from outside. The man frowned and said sternly, "Everyone, go outside and stand guard!"
Hua Xiangrong and Yun Xiangyi exchanged glances and quickly retreated, bowing as they left.
Why did they bow to him?!
No, wait—now the room only had her and this man?!
Grace quickly turned her head and saw the man's hand holding the glinting medical knife. She felt a pang of fear. "My father is the Marquis of Qingyun, commanding thousands of troops for the court! You'd better behave yourself. If you do anything inappropriate, I'll have my father turn you into mincemeat!"
The man, expressionless, used two fingers to squeeze the cut boil, then pressed down hard—
"Aaaooo!" Grace howled in pain like a wolf!
Was this guy using all his strength to squeeze the boil? Was he doing this on purpose? How could it hurt so much?
After the initial pain, the rest of the area went numb. Grace lay on the couch, pain robbing her of her thoughts. If she had known it would be like this, she would have stayed in bed all night rather than come here.
"It's done!"
Who knew how much time had passed. After a cooling sensation, she felt something being applied to the affected area. The man lazily announced, "It's done."
Grace quickly got up to straighten her clothes and reached into her sleeve for the dagger that Hua Xiangrong had given her the previous day!
—She had a reputation in the capital. Suffering such humiliation, the only option was to silence him!
"The root of the pus is removed, but the infected area hasn't been completely cleaned out. There might need to be a second treatment. If you don't want to end up disabled, come back in ten days for a follow-up."
Before she could pull out the dagger, the man, who was wiping the medical knife under the candlelight, glanced over with a sideways look.
What did that mean?! Was he threatening her?
Grace wasn't intimidated, but his sudden sideways glance gave her a sense of familiarity again!
Where had she seen those eyes before?
Her gaze fell on his hands repeatedly wiping the medical knife—those hands were slender and well-proportioned, looking soft and warm, certainly not ordinary. What did this guy actually do?
Could her father protect her if she silenced him?
"Did you hear me?" The man glanced at her again.
Grace snapped to attention, standing up straight. "Yes, I heard you!"
As soon as she spoke, she felt overly obedient and then a bit resentful.
What was going on? How could she fear this man when she wasn't even afraid of her father or Xu An?
The man set the knife down and looked at her, then started to chat casually. "I heard you fought with your fiancé yesterday?"
Grace was shocked that he knew this. "You know me?"
Even though she had mentioned her background, it didn't mean he could quickly grasp her relationship with Xu Chong, right?
The man remained expressionless. "In this capital, it's hard not to know you, Miss Zhao."
"That's obvious! But Xu Chong doesn't know me."
"That's because he doesn't want to know you. Just like you don't want to know me, but now you see me and don't recognize me?"
While speaking, the man glanced at her again.
With the boil relieved of pus, the swelling pain had subsided significantly, and Grace could talk more easily.
She was silent for three seconds before reluctantly putting the dagger back into her sleeve.
The original Grace was a careless person, living life haphazardly, so it wasn't surprising that others didn't recognize her. But this man seemed to insist she should know him. Could he be an important figure?
She scrutinized him again and noticed that apart from his ordinary clothes, his demeanor and speech were quite special. Remembering Chen the physician, she wondered if this was the distinguished guest Chen had mentioned.
Grace was never one to torment herself. She asked directly, "Who exactly are you?"
"Guard Yu, please wait!"
"Move aside!"
Suddenly, a stern voice came from outside, followed by hurried footsteps approaching the door. The voice came closer, "Your Majesty! Madam Chen has returned!"
Someone hurriedly entered, bowing to the man still standing under the lamp with rolled-up sleeves.
Grace felt as if someone had struck her with a hammer. "Your Majesty?!"
The "lecher" under the light and the person who entered both turned to look at her. The man gave her a cold glance, while the palace maid she had met at Donghua Gate before changed her expression drastically. "Grace?! How did you end up with the Emperor?!"
How did she end up with the Emperor?
Grace wanted to know that too!
She had come to seek treatment from Doctor Chen. Who would have thought the person running the place was the Emperor?!
The fact that the Emperor had humiliated her hadn't been addressed yet, and now she was being questioned about why she was with him?!
"Ask him..." Grace swallowed hard and pointed at the Emperor.
He was the instigator! This wretched Emperor!
No wonder she had found his eyes familiar. His arrogant demeanor was just like his mother, Empress Lu!
Indeed, like mother, like son. Born to a Mary Sue, he was just as insufferable!
And, under his mother's inhuman oppression, the boil had formed and was now treated by her son?
Fate! You just can't ignore it!