A concubine?
So that was her identity, a mere toy, a cheap concubine to be played with and cast aside?
This answer caused Ning Yan to grow cold and rational.
Fine. Being a concubine was fine, too; at least it meant she was still attractive enough to keep someone’s interest.
At least it meant her life would be spared for now…
However, the real disaster would begin later, when this woman eventually lost interest in her.
In the past, Ning Yan would never have placed her own life in the hands of a stranger. But right now, left without a single alternative, she had to rely entirely on this woman’s interest in her looks.
It was ironic. Ning Yan had never thought of herself as particularly beautiful. Touching her cheek under the quilt, she recalled her childhood; back then, people had only ever praised her for being exceptionally neat and pretty, assuring her that she would surely find a good husband. But after she joined the army, aside from a few crude jokes when she first enlisted, no one ever mentioned her looks again once she had forged her path through blood and slaughter.
Ning Yan did not consider herself attractive at all, and she wondered if that woman named Changling was simply blind. Or perhaps she was just looking for an obedient, passive toy?
As for kindness? Ning Yan refused to believe anyone would willingly bring such massive trouble upon themselves out of mere goodwill, especially considering the woman’s obvious high status and the unmistakable air of nobility in her eyes and brows, which certainly did not belong to the daughter of an ordinary wealthy household.
“Hey, get out from under the blanket. It’s time for your medicine.”
The voice of a young girl sounded from outside the quilt.
Trapped, paralyzed in both legs, and with countless wounds screaming in pain across her body, Ning Yan lacked even half the strength to resist.
As the bitter smell of medicine seeped through the covers, Ning Yan hid the guard and fierceness deep in her eyes. She pulled back the blanket, her cheeks still flushed with the sweet, lingering glow induced by the aphrodisiac poison.
“You really are difficult to attend to,” said a delicate young maid, bringing a bowl of dark, bitter medicinal soup to Ning Yan.
The liquid was a murky, dark color, giving off a heavy, bitter stench so strong that merely looking at it made one feel like vomiting bile.
“Where is Lady Changling?” Ning Yan pressed her lips together and glanced around the bedchamber, but found no sign of the woman wrapped in the white fox-fur cloak.
Hearing the name “Changling,” Shulan snapped her head up in utter disbelief, scanning the wounded woman her master had brought home.
She was pretty, sure, but she was hardly the gentle, delicate type her Highness usually favored. Looking at her hands, she certainly didn’t seem like someone who played the zither or the lute, either. Shulan couldn’t fathom what kind of talent this woman possessed to capture her Highness’s attention.
Surely her Highness hadn’t simply had a rare moment of pity and brought home a disabled stranger to nurse back to health? When had her Highness ever been such a soft-hearted person? This woman must have used some incredible trickery to deceive Her Highness into giving out her real name.
Though thoughts raced through her mind, Shulan kept a faultless, cheerful smile on her face as she lifted the bitter soup to Ning Yan’s lips.
“I just brewed this for you, so drink it up quickly. Our young lady had business to attend to and went out. Don’t be so clingy; our lady has important matters to handle.”
The maid before her had a sweet appearance, with round, almond-shaped eyes that naturally carried a soft gentleness. Her accent was not local to this remote Changlin County; rather, it sounded like that of a maid raised in a grand, wealthy household of the Imperial Capital. Her hands were soft and delicate, clearly untouched by hard labor, and her fingernails were grown out neatly.
Ning Yan touched the liquid with her dry lips.
The moment the soup hit her tongue, she immediately realized something was wrong with this medicine. It contained several familiar herbs designed to agitate and reopen her existing wounds, along with blood-activating herbs such as danshen, chuandxiong, safflower, and peach kernel… On top of that, several whole roots of ginseng seemed to have been added to sustain her vitality. An ordinary person would mistake it for a routine tonic to replenish qi and blood, but a careful taste revealed it was far more complex than that…
“Are you going to drink it or not? I worked hard to brew this for you, and my lady explicitly ordered me to watch you drink it all myself. Don’t make things difficult for me.”
Left with no other choice today, Ning Yan’s eyes flashed with a faint, guarded coldness. Ignoring the bitter taste, she raised the bowl and drank the entire portion down in one long gulp. She knew very well that this bowl of medicine would likely keep her bedridden for days on end, but she had no alternative.
Forced to rely on others while confined to bed, Ning Yan’s hand trembled slightly as she held the empty bowl. Once her body fully healed and recovered, she vowed she would not let these two women off; she would throw them into a dungeon and interrogate them thoroughly.
The effect of the medicine took hold with violent speed.
“Ah…!” A muffled groan escaped Ning Yan’s throat.
The aphrodisiac poison inside her body flared up violently under the surge of the medicine. The sound she made came out surprisingly soft and submissive, devoid of her usual sharpness, while a burning sensation tore through her chest.
Shulan never expected the medicine to act so fast. Stunned, she held the empty bowl and frantically recalled the ingredients she had just measured out. This was the exact prescription Her Highness had ordered; why did this person look as if she had swallowed deadly poison?
Shulan’s expression turned into a panic. She bent down, pressing her fingers onto Ning Yan’s wrist to check her pulse. Finding it dangerously chaotic, her brow furrowed deeper. She fetched cool water to wipe the sweat from Ning Yan’s forehead and waited quietly for two full quarters of an hour until the pulse gradually stabilized, letting out a long sigh of relief.
The woman on the bed leaned helplessly against the soft pillows, her eyelashes wet with tears and the corners of her eyes flushed a blurry, disorienting red. She truly presented a picture of delicate vulnerability that would move anyone to pity.
The old injuries she had accumulated over years in the military encampment were triggered all at once by the potent herbs. The scars on her back, the chronic strain in her waist, and the internal injuries she had suffered from a sneak attack exploded simultaneously, and even the aphrodisiac poison joined the assault.
“Get… get out!”
Ning Yan buried her head in the soft quilt, wanting to snap at the maid to leave immediately, but the words forced themselves out of her mouth as: “Please… let me rest for a moment.”
Shulan nodded, fed Ning Yan a few sips of fresh water, and reluctantly took her leave, looking back three times before closing the door. She truly couldn’t understand what kind of relationship this woman shared with her Highness.
Deep inside a secluded alley, Xiao Changling exchanged two small ingots of silver with a merchant for a bottle of golden-wound ointment. Originating from the depths of the Northern Di grasslands, this ointment possessed properties far more potent and worked much faster than those produced in the Great Zhou Court.
Xiao Changling pulled her hood down slightly, though a few stray snowflakes still settled on her curved eyelashes.
The prescription she had given Ning Yan originated from the imperial medical archives. Sourcing those herbs had been no easy task, but she hoped that while Ning Yan was bedridden, the formula would thoroughly cure the lingering, deep-seated ailments accumulated over her past years.
Having such a stunning, powerful figure lying in her bed did not bring Xiao Changling the joy she had anticipated. Instead, it stirred a sense of shared melancholy, as if they were two weary souls adrift in the same boat.
Xiao Changling lowered her eyes, and once again, the image of that fierce, brilliant female general riding through the main street swept through her mind, arriving victorious, brimming with proud majesty amidst a shower of flowers.
Consider it a fitting tribute to my past infatuation, she thought.
Xiao Changling pushed open the courtyard gate to find Shulan under the eaves, fanning a small stove to brew medicine.
As Xiao Changling opened the bedroom door, muffled groans echoed continuously from inside. The woman on the bed had eyes shimmering with tearful light, her cheeks overly flushed, looking utterly broken and exhausted by pain and illness.
Subconsciously searching for a familiar scent, she had curled her entire body into the spot where Xiao Changling had slept the night before, pressing her cheek against the bedding as if trying to draw comfort from the lingering warmth.
Xiao Changling’s brows knit together. She had used this medical formula on others before, and it had never produced such extreme reactions. Was she delirious with fever?
Xiao Changling stepped forward swiftly, reaching out to touch the back of her hand against Ning Yan’s forehead.
Unexpectedly, the moment her fingers touched the wrist, Ning Yan grabbed her hand tightly!
Soft, ragged gasps overflowed from Ning Yan’s throat. Dependent and submissive, she pressed her lips against the palm of Xiao Changling’s hand.
With pleading eyes, she whispered, “Changling, since you’ve already taken me in as your concubine, why do you leave me all alone to one side? As your concubine, shouldn’t I be fulfilling my duties to you?”
Lying on the bed, Ning Yan deliberately sought to please her, softly kissing Xiao Changling’s fingertips. She craved the soothing coolness of Xiao Changling’s body, yet her gaze remained fixed entirely on Xiao Changling’s lips. She didn’t know the cure for the aphrodisiac poison, but she knew that abandoning her pride to beg for a kiss from Xiao Changling would make her body feel better.
Uncertain of what was happening, Xiao Changling leaned down close to Ning Yan’s lips and asked softly, “What did you just say?”
Ning Yan adopted the posture of a captive prisoner to perfection. Grasping Xiao Changling’s wrist, she placed it around her own waist and, mimicking the delicate, tender tone she used to despise, said softly, “I feel so miserable… Can you kiss me?”
Xiao Changling: “…”
Before Xiao Changling could even process or grant her request, Ning Yan didn’t wait for permission; she actively leaned forward and took the kiss herself.
For the third time, the Princess’s first kiss was stolen away.
The bitter aroma of the medicine mingled with the sweet scent of the candied fruit Xiao Changling had just eaten. Instinctively, her fingers tightened around Ning Yan’s waist.
As expected of someone who fights on the battlefield, her waist feels so good to hold.