Chapter 7: Dumbstruck Maids
Translator: Flying-Lines
Soon two maids approached Zhao Yuchen to wipe his sweat and clean his hands, they were so attentive .
Bai Qingqing couldn’t help but roll her eyes, Zhao Yuchen sure knew how to put on airs! Were all these arrangements necessary just to practice swordplay in the yard?
Getting sidetracked for a while, Zhao Yuchen who was marching down to the inner part of the mansion finally showed some sympathy, he made it clear with Qingqing that their bet initiated from this day, relieving Qingqing from endless waiting .
Within a month, if he was cured, she won; if otherwise, her life was at the mercy of him .
“Lord Seventh, I need to warn you ahead . Now that the bet has initiated, my bet, my rule . During the treatment, if I order you to go east, you are not allowed to go west, if I order you to have soup, you are not allowed to have rice . ”
“That doesn’t make any sense . ”
“That makes sense to me . ”
Zhao Yuchen scowled, “You’ve got a lot of nerve . ”
“Didn’t you realize that on our first encounter?”
Zhao Yuchen was dumbfounded by her bold reply, “Fine, the bet is on, surely you are in charge of the treatment . ”
Bai Qingqing stood up, walking towards him, “Well, the treatment starts now . Please put your hand on the table, I’m about to feel your pulse . ”
Qingqing’s sudden approaching left Zhao Yuchen with an indescribable feeling .
The blind were most sensitive to any change around .
He could tell whether it was a threat or not by a person’s aura, smell, voice even the way the person walked .
Maybe it was because Zhao Yuchen had been practicing martial arts for years, he was sensitive to dangers . He could smell dangerous aura whenever there was a person with hostile intention around .
But Qingqing’s aura made him feel...familiar? Affectionate? It was a mix of neither and a mix of both .
Qingqing’s fingers landed on his wrist to feel his pulse when he was carried away by the mixed feelings .
The sudden touch made Zhao Yuchen’s heart flip .
He grabbed her wrist subconsciously, pulling her into his arms without any further thought .
The unexpected pull not only startled Bai Qingqing but also Zhao Yuchen himself .
What was going on in his mind?
He had been sexually continent for as long as six years since his wife passed away .
He had never felt that impulse upon anyone among the hundreds of young maids living in Ink Garden .
What was so special about this Bai Qingqing?
For the brief moment they touched upon each other, he felt familiar aura from her .
Like two matching souls finally found each other .
Zhao Yuchen was shocked, at the same time confused .
Why? Why?
“Lord Seventh, just out of curiosity, what purpose do you harbor by this action?”
Bai Qingqing, who was pulled into his arms, resisted the force from his arm around her waist instinctively .
Intimate contact with this man stressed her out .
Her heart was pounding, her cheeks were heating up instantly .
The silver lining was that the man who was holding her so tight was blind, the shyness rippled on her cheeks was not seen by him .
Zhao Yuchen just came to realize that he was being completely inappropriate .
How could he exert such an irrational behavior upon a stranger?
With this in mind, he pushed Qingqing to the other side, as if Qingqing were a hot potato .
“I’m not in the mood today, let’s call it a day, treatment resumes tomorrow . ”
Qingqing staggered from the push . When she gained a firm foothold, she shot Zhao Yuchen a significant look and replied calmly, “Sure, as you wish . ”
Hearing Qingqing went further and further, Zhao Yuchen found himself marooned in anxiety .
Spicy fish, spicy pork, spicy tofu, spicy chicken, spicy shrimp... .
The tempting-looking spicy dishes were put on the table by the servants, rendering the maids who were waiting upon dumbstruck .
Among them, the girl in pink with two laid-back ponytails was Zhao Yuchen’s personal maid, Huaiyue .
She was a good looking girl with bright eyes and white teeth . She had been Zhao Yuchen’s maid at a very young age thus holding a position of importance in Ink Garden .
Seeing the servants from the chicken set the table with nothing but spicy food, Huaiyue was infuriated .
“Have you all lost your mind? Lord Seventh fears spice, he doesn’t eat anything spicy since he was young, but look at the table, everything on the table is either spicy or hot . Do you have a death wish or what? What made you throw the rules of Ink Garden out of the window?”
The servants who were just scolded replied hastily, “Huaiyue Gu’niang (a respectful way to address young girls in ancient times), we are so wronged . Bai Gu’niang stated that she was in charge of Lord Seventh’s daily routine and dining from the moment Lord Seventh agreed to accept her treatment . This morning she came to the kitchen telling us that Lord Seventh could only have spicy cuisine during treatment . We informed her about Lord Seventh’s dining habit, she just told us to cook according to her menu and she would be responsible for any consequence . ”
“A country girl like her? Be responsible for any consequence? Based on what?”
Zhao Yuchen walked out form the inner chamber with his jade cane when Huaiyue was scolding the servants harshly .
Everyone kneeled and paid respect to him when they saw him walking in .
“What happened here?” he asked coldly, with no warmth in his voice .
Among all the servants who were kneeling, Huaiyue was the only one who was poised enough to state what happened calmly, but deep down she was quite unhappy with the country girl---Bai Qingqing .
That girl made her way to Ink Garden in the name of the disciple of the Divine Physician, skills on healing were yet to be discovered, skills on making a scene were well established .
Lord Seventh, a man of noble birth, was not someone that could be messed with by an ordinary folk like her .
Zhao Yuchen, who couldn’t see, possessed better sense of smell .
He was so irritated by the smell that he kept frowning when Huaiyue complained with a low voice on the side .
“Lord Seventh, I’m no doctress, but I do know that too much spicy food does the body no good . Bai Qingqing claimed to treat you, in my humble opinion, she is nothing but a quack who practices deception in Ink Garden . ”
A sneer came from the door before Zhao Yuchen replied, “Hey lady, the art of healing is profound, don’t comment before you understand it . As a saying goes, to apply medicine according to indications . Now that Lord Seventh is my patient, what he eats, what he drinks, what he uses, and what he does should all follow my rules . ”
Huaiyue, a maid at Ink Garden she might be, was Zhao Yuchen’s personal maid . She had been received with great courtesy even from the officials .
Now being rebuked by a country girl, Huaiyue stared at Qingqing with rage like a cat whose tail just got stamped, “Does your rule mean cooking spicy food and forcing Lord Seventh to have them?”
“Who says spicy food does the body no good?”
“Lord Seventh fears spicy food since he was a child...”
“People are reluctant to the taste of bitter, top of the list is goldthread root, so is it right that the patients refuse to take goldthread root just out of the fear of bitter taste?”
“These are two separate matters that should not be confused...”
Huaiyue always boasted herself being quick of wit and eloquent, little did she expect she would be talked back by a little girl .
Seeing Huaiyue was left speechless, Qingqing smiled, “It’s not your call to separate two matters, every pair of items mutually reinforce and neutralize each other . Like onion and honey, each item does the body good, but it causes diarrhea when combined together . Like tomato and green bean, mutton and watermelon, crab and persimmon, just to name a few . You are short-sighted but you cannot treat everyone else as your peer . ”
“You...”
Huaiyue was shaking due to rage, she would have slapped Qingqing in the face and ripped her lips if Lord Seventh weren’t here .
“Huaiyue!”
Zhao Yuchen, who kept mute the whole time, ordered Huaiyue with a cold voice, “Your business is done here, show yourself the way out . ”