The two thugs were scared out of their wits, practically wetting their pants.
If a pliable branch adorned with red plum blossoms could be embedded deep into a wooden board, then what about the stones held by the woman sitting on the ground?
The heavy stone was tossed and caught effortlessly in her palm, handled so lightly that it gave off the impression of a feathery embroidered silk ball rather than a piece of rock.
“Wait, wait, wait, let’s talk this over!”
Their faces turned deathly pale as they scrambled backward on all fours.
Yet no matter where they tried to hide, the moment they raised their eyes, they met the gaze of the dark, gloom-filled woman sitting in the wheelchair.
Her eyes glinted in the gloom like those of a wild beast prowling a forest in the dead of night.
Just as the two thugs both anticipated and dreaded, Ning Yan’s airborne pebble suddenly came to a abrupt halt after its latest toss.
With a swift flick of her wrist, the stone shot out with a sharp whistle, slamming directly into the ground right between the two thugs’ widely parted legs, missing their most vulnerable region by a mere fraction of an inch.
The impact dug a crater into the dirt, embedding the stone so deeply that it would be impossible to pry out without using fingernails.
Xiao Changling immediately looked back, her eyes landing on Ning Yan as her lips parted slightly.
Seeing Ning Yan lean over to scoop up another sharp, jagged rock from the ground, Xiao Changling intervened in a quiet voice.
“That is enough.”
As if granted a royal pardon, the two thugs struggled to stand, tumbling over themselves and clinging to each other, the lingering horror still raw on their faces.
Without needing anyone to push them, they scrambled to their feet and sprinted away as fast as their legs could carry them.
Yet due to their sheer panic, they managed only two steps before crashing heavily to the ground once more.
A wretched cry echoed out.
To an onlooker, it would have seemed as though they had been struck by yet another pebble.
Wailing in agony, the pair scrambled hurriedly toward the corner of the street.
There was little doubt that had they run a second slower, that sharp-edged rock would have pierced straight through their temples in the next instant, shattering their skulls like ripe watermelons, splattering blood and brain matter into the air.
Once the strength in Ning Yan’s wrist relaxed, she idly rolled the stone around in her palm as though playing with walnuts.
After a long moment, a sudden realization dawned on her.
She was merely a concubine picked up by Xiao Changling; she was absolutely not supposed to harbor any aggressive capabilities.
Ning Yan had simply been blinded by impulsive rage just now. Seeing those filthy hands about to touch Xiao Changling had ignited a flash of fury.
A person as noble and pure as Xiao Changling was not someone these street thugs were allowed to touch.
Even if Xiao Changling was unfathomable, harboring a personality largely composed of malice and cunning, she was still a person of supreme nobility.
Ning Yan saw nothing wrong with this line of thought, completely unaware of how contradictory her logic truly was.
Xiao Changling knit her brows, her voice laced with a stern reprimand: “Were you planning to commit murder just now?”
That sudden question brought Ning Yan’s wandering thoughts crashing back to reality!
Her heart seized with anxiety, terrified that the princess would blame her.
She immediately bent her waist and lowered her head, leaning her hands on the armrests of the wheelchair, attempting to kneel and beg for forgiveness.
In the end, because her legs could not touch the ground properly, she could only maintain a low-headed, submissive posture of admitting her fault.
She had been far too rash and impulsive just now.
“Give me your hand.”
Ning Yan’s heart tightened even further. Slowly, she extended her right hand, which still clutched the rock.
Unfolding her palm revealed a diamond-shaped stone roughly half the size of her hand.
If thrown, a stone like this was no different from a concealed deadly weapon, more than capable of shattering a person’s bones.
Silence descended upon their surroundings, broken only by the whistling of the cold wind.
Ning Yan felt deep regret. She shouldn’t have acted so recklessly; living long-term in this border region, Xiao Changling surely had her own methods of dealing with such situations.
Yet she had exposed her own abilities far too early.
If anyone discovered that a bedridden concubine possessed the skills to kill and take lives at will, what awaited her would no longer be a wheelchair for fresh air, but heavy iron chains locking her hands and feet to the bed.
Xiao Changling lowered her gaze to look at her general, who sat with her head bowed in a picture of total submission, appearing almost timid and trembling with fear. She couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows slightly.
A trace of helpless, amused curiosity flickered in her eyes.
Just how terrifying was she, that the once legendary Jade-Faced Asura, who used to command the battlefield and strike absolute terror into the hearts of the Beidi nomads, would be this frightened of her?
Even Xiao Changling herself couldn’t help but wonder if her appearance still maintained the delicate beauty she had possessed back in the Capital.
Could the harsh border winds and sands have turned her into some terrifying old hag?
Xiao Changling spoke with a hint of amusement in her voice: “I will handle this matter.”
Saying this, she pinched the stone from Ning Yan’s palm with two slender, soft fingers, weighed it lightly in her hand, and then casually tossed it onto the ground.
She then pulled out a silk handkerchief, moistened it with a little tea, and wiped away every trace of dust from Ning Yan’s hand.
Afterward, she snapped off another sprig of red plum blossom and hastily pinned up Ning Yan’s hair.
A hand carrying a faint, chilly fragrance rested upon Ning Yan’s shoulder.
Xiao Changling said with a soft smile: “I am going to the kitchen to stew some soup for you. Rest well and recover properly. If you are not good, be careful or I won’t let you out of the bedroom doors again.”
With that, she pressed a single fingertip against the center of Ning Yan’s brow.
Ning Yan snapped her head up and caught the faint smile playing on Xiao Changling’s face, as if she were toyed with like prey.
A drop of cold sweat rolled down from Ning Yan’s temple. Her throat bobbed, and she finally managed to utter a raspy sentence: “I am sorry… I was wrong.”
Xiao Changling pursed her lips and laughed softly for a good while.
Her playful demeanor appeared to Ning Yan as anything but funny; every word felt laced with warning.
Even the neatly trimmed nail resting against her brow felt like a razor-sharp claw capable of piercing through skin and flesh.
The nail, coated in red rouge polish, looked like a drop of congealed blood beneath the cold light.
“I am sorry, I was wrong,” Ning Yan repeated in a low voice, her lips tightly pressed together.
Then, a sudden tremor racked her body as the passion poison suppressed deep within her flared up violently at this inopportune moment!
Whether sparked by the fragrance of the red plum trapped in her hair or drawn out by the delicate scent wafting from Xiao Changling’s body, the poison surged uncontrollably.
Xiao Changling watched in bewilderment as Ning Yan grabbed her wrist…
And buried her face directly into Xiao Changling’s palm.
Like a large dog begging for a caress, she buried her face and rubbed against it with considerable force.
It was as if Xiao Changling’s hand were not a delicate, soft palm, but a rough cloth.
Who rubbed against a hand like that? Had her face suddenly grown itchy?
Xiao Changling pulled her hand back, using her other palm to gently rub Ning Yan’s cheek before lightly patting the top of her head. “Go back and rest.”
In a place hidden from Xiao Changling’s view, intense struggle and humiliation flared in Ning Yan’s eyes.
If she hadn’t been struck by the Beidi arrow, how could she have degenerated into a state that even she herself despised?
Even though the arrowhead had been extracted, the lingering poison remained inside her body.
It tortured her to the point where she could only wag her tail and beg for mercy from this unfathomable woman whose true background remained a mystery.
Yes, she was definitely being driven mad by the passion poison. She would never willingly bow beneath her dress.
…
A bowl of mutton soup was set upon the table.
Xiao Changling leaned her cheek on one hand, idly twirling a white porcelain spoon with the other.
The rich aroma of mutton drifted through the room, the soup rendered thick and savory from the addition of Chinese yam.
Xiao Changling scooped up a spoonful of soup and gestured with her finger.
“Come over and drink a little. How is your body supposed to heal if you don’t eat all day?”
The passion poison, forcibly suppressed earlier, had not left Ning Yan clear-headed. Instead, it sent wave after wave of deep red flushing into her eyes.
Her bloodshot eyes fixed unblinkingly on Xiao Changling’s lips.
Using both arms, Ning Yan wheeled herself forward until she was right in front of Xiao Changling.
Xiao Changling scooped up a spoon of milky-white mutton soup and brought the white porcelain spoon against the edge of Ning Yan’s lips.
“I have to head back tonight, so you will be sleeping alone.”
With those words, the white porcelain spoon moved forward, prying open Ning Yan’s teeth,
Xiao Changling laughed helplessly: “I am feeding you soup out of the goodness of my heart, no one else under the heavens has ever received such care from me. Yet here you are, the only one who gets it, still being so disobedient. Open your mouth, say ‘ah’.”
Xiao Changling used the spoon to part Ning Yan’s teeth, pressing down on her soft tongue and pouring all the broth down into her throat…
Ning Yan was forced to swallow as soup spilled from the corners of her mouth, only to be scraped back in with the edge of the spoon.
Her passion poison was already severe; eating nourishing mutton soup now was the last thing her body needed.
Ning Yan’s eyes turned intensely red, viewing this as yet another novel method Xiao Changling was using to torment her.
She refused to kiss her, refused to touch her face again, and insisted on feeding her soup that would make her body burn with heat, it was clearly a punishment for reaching out her claws in public earlier today.
Spoon by spoon, Xiao Changling fed the soft yam and tenderly stewed mutton into Ning Yan’s mouth.
One fed while the other ate; after that initial spoonful, Ning Yan’s movements in taking the soup were surprisingly cooperative.
In less than fifteen minutes, the bowl of piping hot mutton soup was entirely in her stomach.
Xiao Changling added softly: “I included some medicinal herbs in the soup to help your wounds heal. The sword slashed across your back and the arrow wound both show signs of closing up.”
Throughout the entire process, Ning Yan kept her eyes lowered. She didn’t want soup; she wanted a kiss.
Yet Xiao Changling did not give her one.
Ning Yan assumed she had concealed her emotions well, but every subtle shift was witnessed by Xiao Changling.
Xiao Changling raised a slender eyebrow, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
Back in the Capital, she had once caught a distant glimpse of this general. Now, that same general was staring intently at her lips. But Xiao Changling did not want a kiss like this, one forced out by poison didn’t count. Her general simply did not know that what she wanted had never been that kind of kiss.
Xiao Changling drew a small pill bottle from her sleeve and poured a round pill into the palm of her hand.
A refreshing, cool fragrance immediately filled the air.
Pinch-holding the pill between two fingers, her crimson-painted nails drew closer to Ning Yan’s lips, forcing the mysterious pill past her mouth.
“It is the medicine prescribed by the physician. Open your mouth and swallow it.”
Xia Yun had mentioned that this passion poison could not be cured overnight and could only be kept under control through long-term medication.
Taking medicine was certainly better than biting Xiao Changling’s lips.
Ning Yan’s bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Xiao Changling’s lips, so distracted that she failed to guard herself. With a swallow of her throat, she gulped the pill down.
Only after the act did she realize something was wrong, but it was already too late to spit it out.
“What… what did you give me?!”
Xiao Changling lightly shook the medicine bottle, pressing its icy glass body against Ning Yan’s flushed, hot cheek.
The latter shuddered violently.
“Something to make you feel more comfortable… so you don’t throw tantrums and bite people.”