A bowl of hot porridge entered her stomach.
At the very least, it brought a faint trace of warmth back to her digestive system. Xiao Changling originally intended to bring the spoon directly to Ning Yan’s lips, but Ning Yan shook her head, exerting all her strength to pick up the spoon herself.
Xiao Changling found watching her struggle to eat extremely awkward, so she took the bowl straight out of her hands instead.
Spoon by spoon, she fed the bacon-infused porridge directly to Ning Yan’s mouth.
“Wait half an hour, then drink your medicine,” Xiao Changling instructed softly as she fed her.
With her tongue pressed down by the spoon, Ning Yan could only offer a muffled nod in agreement.
It felt as though she were a puppet being manipulated, swallowing down one spoon of porridge after another.
Fortunately, however, this woman, who possessed a stunning face but whose true motives remained entirely hidden, showed no signs of wanting to torment her further.
With one feeding and the other eating, the bowl of hot porridge quickly hit the bottom, and the empty bowl was set aside on the table.
Xiao Changling fetched the small medical kit she had brought with her. She peeled back the heavy quilts, exposing Ning Yan’s bloodied and mangled legs to the open air.
Xiao Changling’s gaze remained calm and reserved from start to finish. There was no trace of cheap, sordid desire in the depth of her eyes; she looked remarkably composed and self-restrained, much like a physician in a clinic.
The cotton cloth soaked in warm water had just touched the deepest wound right below her knee.
Ning Yan’s entire body went rigid instantly. Her cheeks, which had just regained a slight flush of warmth, drained to a stark white, her posture pulled as taut as a fully drawn bowstring.
“M-Miss! Miss!”
A sudden knock sounded at the door, followed by the crisp, bright voice of a young girl outside.
Xiao Changling didn’t pause for a moment in cleaning Ning Yan’s wounds. She called out softly in response, “Come in.”
“Oh, alright, Miss!” A girl who appeared quite young poked her head inside before stepping into the room, holding a heavy, massive basket in her arms.
Despite carrying such a heavy load, her footsteps were remarkably light and steady, showing no sign of strain whatsoever.
The young girl’s face was flushed red from the cold, but she wore a thick cloak around her shoulders, sprinkled with faint flecks of sleet.
The moment Ning Yan noticed the presence of a stranger, her body stiffened even further. Her teeth clamped tightly together, and her lips, already devoid of color, turned a ghostly, paper-white shade, making her look as though she might faint from the agonizing pain at any moment.
Xiao Changling looked up to see Ning Yan’s brows knit tightly together, her breathing jagged and shallow due to the sheer pain.
“No need to be nervous,” Xiao Changling soothed her gently. “Her name is Shulan. She’s my personal maid.”
The girl named Shulan curtsied respectfully in greeting.
She had been assigned by the Empress to serve Her Highness ever since she was a young child; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they had grown up together.
Yet, this was the very first time she had ever seen Her Highness tend to another human being in such a careful, delicate manner.
Shulan’s eyes discreetly scrutinized the woman lying on the bed.
She truly couldn’t wrap her head around it. How could Her Highness, who was so obsessively fastidious about cleanliness, allow a total stranger onto her bed, let alone cover her with her own personal silk quilt?
Shulan’s mind was racing with endless thoughts. As a girl who grew up inside the imperial palace, she had witnessed more than enough of such strange affairs.
She promptly retracted her gaze and lowered the bamboo basket from her arms. Inside was a large stash of medicinal ointments and herbs.
What caught the eye even more conspicuously was a whole, intact leg of mutton resting right inside.
Heaven only knew how a seemingly delicate girl managed to lug around something that heavy without breaking a sweat.
She was clearly no ordinary servant.
Ning Yan clutched the bedding tightly in her fists, staring at the wounds on her legs for the very first time. Bone was exposed to the surface, forcibly clamped between two wooden splints to keep them locked in a rigid, immobile state.
Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from Ning Yan’s forehead, her long eyelashes quivering uncontrollably.
It inadvertently added a touch of intoxicating, vulnerable beauty to her sickly, weakened state.
Shulan thought to herself, What a breathtakingly beautiful woman. No wonder she has captured Her Highness’s favor.
It’s just hard to say how long this favor will last. Her Highness is certainly not a sentimental or devoted person.
To be precise, Her Highness was exceptionally cold and detached. In the past, when she was still in the palace alongside Her Majesty the Empress, she still carried the innocent charm fitting for a girl her age.
Ever since that tragic incident, ever since the Empress was placed under house arrest, no one had ever seen Her Highness smile again.
And shortly after, she was banished to this desolate, godforsaken place.
Shulan surreptitiously peeked past Xiao Changling’s back to take a few more glances at Ning Yan.
Ning Yan was all too familiar with a look like that. A bitter, helpless smile tugged at the corner of her lips; she realized this young maid must have mistaken her for a kept mistress harbored by her master.
The pride etched deep into Ning Yan’s very bones refused to let others entertain such humiliating thoughts about her. Yet, that very pride was instantly crushed and swallowed whole by the overwhelming, instinctual urge inside her body to draw closer to Xiao Changling.
“Bear with the pain a little longer; it will be over soon,” Xiao Changling gently instructed.
Then, applying precise pressure with her wrists, she pulled the bindings holding the wooden splints against Ning Yan’s legs even tighter.
As the searing, agonizing pain struck her, Ning Yan instinctively leaned forward, desperate to bury herself in the embrace of the person before her.
The charcoal fire nearby crackled softly in the quiet room while cold sweat poured endlessly across her forehead.
The aphrodisiac poison coursing through her veins drove Ning Yan into an intense, desperate craving to get closer to Xiao Changling, longing for the faint, cool fragrance lingering on her body.
With swift, practiced motions, Xiao Changling finished dressing the open wounds. She turned her head toward Shulan and said, “Find a reliable doctor to examine her properly. Make sure she isn’t left permanently crippled. It would be a pity if she can never stand up again.”
Shulan answered immediately, “Yes, Miss, rest assured. I will make sure no news leaks out.”
Xiao Changling gave a slight nod of approval. As she stood by the bedside, she suddenly felt something soft and fluffy rubbing gently against the palm of her hand.
Xiao Changling looked down in pleasant surprise, realizing it was Ning Yan nuzzling the crown of her head against her bare wrist.
“Why are you acting so clingy?” Xiao Changling let out a soft, amused laugh. “Did I hurt you just now?”
Such an intimate tone! Shulan’s eyes instantly widened into circles. She looked back and forth between the woman on the bed and her own master.
Her Highness actually smiled… and it was such a doting, tender smile!
Shulan was completely bewildered. Why on earth had a crippled, bedridden woman suddenly appeared inside Her Highness’s private, secluded courtyard? Strictly speaking, she was indeed quite attractive, but she definitely wasn’t the soft, delicate type.
Though her eyes looked obedient enough at the moment, she was most likely a calculating woman with no small amount of scheme up her sleeve.
Ning Yan watched with her own eyes as her wounds were completely dressed.
The spots smeared with ointment burned with a searing pain, leaving her trembling uncontrollably all over.
The more she found herself in such a perilous situation, the more obedient she had to act.
She had to make herself appear entirely harmless, coaxing this woman named Changling into showing her just a little more pity.
If she was misunderstood, so be it. Ning Yan could endure a moment of humiliation, as long as she managed to stay alive.
As long as she survived, she would ensure that those who tortured her paid back the price a thousandfold in the future.
Driven by her physical instincts, Ning Yan pressed her soft cheek gently against Xiao Changling’s fingers and murmured, “Thank you for taking care of me… It feels a bit suffocating staying in this room. Could you open the window just a crack to let me catch some fresh air?”
She was currently nothing more than a pet kept by this woman.
She wanted to test just how far Xiao Changling’s tolerance and indulgence towards her actually went.
As long as the window was open, she would be able to deduce the exact location of this courtyard from the smallest environmental details outside.
Xiao Changling raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “It’s snowing heavily outside. Are you saying my charcoal fire in here is too hot for you?”
She had been rejected.
A flash of polite regret flickered through Ning Yan’s eyes before she replied in a gentle, utterly submissive tone, “My apologies… It was silly of me.”
To think that the legendary general, who once rode her high horse through the capital streets in glory, possessed a temperament like this…
Xiao Changling’s eyebrows curved upward in amusement. She reached out her hand and tenderly pinched Ning Yan’s soft cheek in a fond, indulgent gesture.
Shulan’s eyes darted away, not daring to look toward the bed any longer. She couldn’t help but think that this woman was truly formidable. When had Her Highness ever shown such attentive care to anyone else?
“Follow me outside,” Xiao Changling commanded softly, and Shulan answered promptly.
Packing up the remainders in her bamboo basket, Shulan trotted hurriedly behind Her Highness as they stepped out into the courtyard.
The residence was neither too large nor too small. Though it wasn’t built extravagantly, it provided more than enough shelter from the harsh wind and rain.
Shulan retrieved a brocade pouch from her sleeve and presented it to Xiao Changling with both hands.
“Your Highness, please stop pawning off the hairpins and jewelry left behind by Her Imperial Majesty. You should use this money first; it’s the freshly collected rent from the pastures and farmland you purchased.”
Shulan had no idea what her master was planning. Her Highness had pawned off all the valuable gold and silver jewelry her mother had left her at bargain prices, using hidden pawnshop networks to smuggle them out to the Northern Di nation.
The craftsmanship of the Northern Di people was crude, incapable of producing such exquisite ornaments.
Using the funds raised from the pawned jewelry, the Princess bought up large swathes of pastures and farmland along the border.
Because it was currently deep in winter and harvests were scarce, the yield was minimal; otherwise, there would have been much more than just a single pouch of silver ingots and a small handful of gold fragments.
Xiao Changling drew out two silver ingots from the pouch and pressed them into Shulan’s hands.
“Take these for yourself first.”
Just as Shulan was about to decline, a violent pounding thundered against the front gate.
Xiao Changling’s brows instantly knit together. Her expression shifted rapidly as she exchanged a sharp, wary look with Shulan.
When the wooden gate was pulled open, two aggressive, fierce-looking soldiers stood outside. Their eyes scanned back and forth across the small courtyard in a heavy, intrusive search.
“Have you seen any strangers around here?”
As he spoke, one of the soldiers unrolled a wanted portrait, clearly displaying Ning Yan’s facial features.
Xiao Changling shook her head calmly, “Never seen her.”
The portrait indeed depicted Ning Yan, but the image of Ning Yan clad in full military armor looked drastically different from the weak woman currently lying inside her house.
Xiao Changling couldn’t help but recall that sweet, needy “big dog” who had just nuzzled her head into her palm moments ago.
The two soldiers exchanged a suspicious glance, their razor-sharp eyes sizing up Xiao Changling up and down. Without asking for permission, they pushed their way straight into the house.
Shulan stepped forward to block them, but Xiao Changling reached out an arm to stop her.
“It’s fine.”
The fact that they were so frantically searching for a general who had gone missing from the battlefield meant that the mastermind behind the curtain was growing genuinely anxious.
Xiao Changling hid her hands inside her long sleeves, her fingers tightly gripping a gold-hilted dagger encrusted with precious gems.
If they discovered anything amiss, she would never allow these two men to walk out of this door alive.
Inside the bedroom, Ning Yan was curled up tightly beneath the thick quilts. Waves of hot fever and icy chills washed over her body continuously. Upon hearing the sudden commotion outside, the hazy, lust-filled moisture in her eyes evaporated in an instant.
She curled her body into a smaller bundle, hiding herself completely beneath the covers.
Just let me rest for a moment… I really don’t have the energy to deal with anyone right now.
Stepping inside to search, the soldiers caught sight of a mass of dark, disheveled hair spilling over the mattress. The woman hidden beneath the covers was breathing heavily, her body trembling faintly even through the thick layers of bedding.
Xiao Changling stood at the doorway and spoke in an indifferent, icy tone: “Have you two stared long enough? She is a new concubine I just bought. She has a fierce temper and refuses to obey, so I used a few… special methods to discipline her. If you end up scaring her out of her senses, who am I supposed to hold accountable?”
A faint scent of blood lingered inside the room.
The two soldiers had only come to carry out a routine search to appease their superiors. How could they have expected to stumble upon such a private, disturbing scene?
Judging purely by the heavy smell of blood, there was no telling what terrifying methods this seemingly soft and beautiful woman had used to tame her captive.
Truly, one could never judge a book by its cover.
Ning Yan beneath the quilt: “…”
It was not until the voices outside faded away and the strangers had departed that Ning Yan silently mouthed the words she had just overheard.
A concubine? Disciplined using special methods…?
So my role here… was actually just a concubine all along?