The next day, at the Shen residence, Autumn Lotus Courtyard.
Thanks to Shen Tinglan, Yun Ni was fortunate enough to enjoy an exquisite and lavish lunch worthy of a prestigious household.
Since Yun Ni was not a member of the Shen family, it would not have been appropriate for her to dine with the wives and masters of the various branches.
Perhaps worried that Yun Ni was unfamiliar with the rules of an aristocratic household and would feel nervous and uncomfortable dining in the main residence, the old madam thoughtfully ordered Mama Wang from the main kitchen to prepare more than a dozen dishes and have them served in the flower hall.
There were bamboo shoots with tender bean sprouts in sesame oil, vegetarian ham flavored with shrimp oil, eggs with spring mustard greens, and a bowl of old duck soup simmered with red dates and angelica root…
The pearwood table was filled with all kinds of soups and side dishes, their fragrant aromas making one’s mouth water.
In front of Yun Ni was also a bowl of fragrant tribute rice. It was a specialty from the southern lands, reserved for the enjoyment of high-ranking officials and wealthy families.
Yun Ni could hardly take her eyes off the table. She found the bowls beautiful, the plates beautiful, and even the chopsticks seemed to be made with great care.
Xia Zhi, the maid who had accompanied Mama Wang to deliver the meal, couldn’t help secretly curling her lips when she saw how fascinated Yun Ni was by everything.
No one had expected that the otherworldly-looking head of the Shen family, Shen Tinglan, would actually bring a country woman home.
As for appearance, Yun Ni was certainly pretty, but could she really be called a beauty capable of captivating an entire kingdom?
As for her figure, Yun Ni was certainly well-endowed, with curves in all the right places, but she had a soft, rustic charm. How exactly had she managed to win the favor of a young master from such an illustrious family?
It was no wonder Xia Zhi was dissatisfied.
She had once been a senior maidservant in the inner residence and had almost been sent by the old madam to Listening Rain Tower to become Shen Tinglan’s personal maid, whose duty would have included teaching her master about matters between men and women.
Who could have known that Shen Tinglan had so many rules?
The moment he saw an unfamiliar maid entering his bedroom, he flew into a rage and ordered the steward to drag Xia Zhi out. In front of all the servants in the household, he sent her straight back to the old madam.
When had the old madam ever been treated so harshly by her grandson?
She had nearly fainted from anger.
Only after learning that Xia Zhi had entered the room of her own accord to help Shen Tinglan arrange his bedding did she understand why her grandson was displeased. She was furious at Xia Zhi for being so foolish.
To preserve the relationship between grandmother and grandson, the old madam had no choice but to make an example of Xia Zhi. She sent her to work in the main kitchen and forbade her from serving in the inner residence again.
Truthfully, Xia Zhi was full of grievances.
She had been selected as a personal maid, so naturally she should have stayed in her master’s chambers and waited upon him.
But Shen Tinglan often stayed away from home for ten days or even half a month at a time. And whenever he did return, he usually slept in his study.
How could she ever get close to him?
On the one occasion when she had boldly entered his room, she had been caught red-handed.
She truly had the worst luck.
Xia Zhi was at the age when young girls began to develop feelings for handsome men. It was inevitable that she harbored a few secret fantasies about the elegant and flawless Shen Tinglan.
Now that she had seen the woman Shen Tinglan had actually brought home, she naturally couldn’t help feeling hostile toward Yun Ni.
She found fault with Yun Ni at every opportunity and secretly compared herself with her.
After all, in Xia Zhi’s eyes, no matter how capable Yun Ni might be, she was still nothing more than a country woman—and a disabled one at that.
Xia Zhi, on the other hand, had seen the world. She had been dressed in fine clothes and jewelry since childhood and raised almost like a young lady of the household.
Naturally, she considered herself superior to Yun Ni.
Yun Ni had no idea that everyone was scrutinizing her. She was still asking about several dishes she had never seen before.
“It’s only February, and there are still snowstorms outside. How can there already be fresh green vegetables?”
Xia Zhi replied, “Miss Yun, these were grown in heated greenhouses at one of our country estates. Winter vegetables are extremely expensive, worth their weight in gold. But with the status of the Shen family, of course we can afford to eat them.”
There was an unmistakable note of pride in her voice as she flaunted the Shen family’s wealth and status.
The Shen family was an eminent clan. Everything they ate, wore, and used was of the finest quality. How could an ordinary household possibly compare?
Wenchun couldn’t help frowning when she heard this.
What kind of maid speaks like that? She has no manners at all. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was a young lady of the Shen family!
If Yun Ni hadn’t been so good-natured, Wenchun would have loved to give Xia Zhi a slap.
Yun Ni, however, seemed naturally insensitive to such things. She didn’t detect the malice behind Xia Zhi’s words and simply smiled.
“Then I suppose I’m just ignorant.”
After lunch, Yun Ni drank a cup of Five-Juice Drink, made from sugarcane and water chestnuts. It was said to relieve the dryness and internal heat caused by burning charcoal in winter, while also refreshing the mouth and aiding digestion.
There were still several untouched dishes on the table.
Yun Ni came from a modest household and didn’t know that leftovers in a wealthy family could simply be discarded or given to servants.
She thought it would be a waste to throw away perfectly good food. If they reheated it that evening, they could still eat it.
“Wenchun, could you find some oiled paper and help me wrap up these snow-pear pastries…”
She figured the leftover pastries could also be saved and served to guests later.
But as soon as Yun Ni finished speaking, Xia Zhi couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
“There’s no need to save food, Miss. It’s only a plate of pastries. We have them every day.”
The moment she heard this, even Yun Ni realized that she had made a fool of herself.
This was the Shen family, the most prestigious clan in the entire Kingdom of Wu. There was no need for them to scrimp and save. The household would never lack food or drink for her.
Yun Ni flushed with embarrassment.
“The pastries and tea cakes here are simply too delicious. Ordinary families rarely get to eat things like these. It would be such a shame to throw them away, so I thought I’d save them and eat them slowly.”
She spoke with complete honesty.
There was no embarrassment at being inexperienced with wealthy households, nor any anger at being mocked.
Instead, her straightforward attitude made people feel strangely fond of her.
With such an open and uncomplicated personality, she was far more likable than those distant female cousins who frequently came to the Shen residence looking for favors.
Previously, Wenchun had been ordered by the old madam to deliver several plates of flower cakes with different fillings to a few of those cousins.
Yet the girls had immediately overthought the matter and complained to the old madam, accusing Wenchun of looking down on them, accepting bribes, and deliberately giving the better-tasting pastries to the cousins she was closer to.
Wenchun couldn’t help admiring Yun Ni and was just about to speak up for her.
Before she could say anything, Mama Chen entered carrying tribute pears.
She raised her hand and slapped Xia Zhi across the face.
Smack!
The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the room, knocking Xia Zhi to the floor.
Xia Zhi was about to lose her temper, but when she looked up and saw Mama Chen, all her anger instantly disappeared.
She could only cover her face and quietly sob.
Mama Chen’s expression was stern.
“You insolent servants, each of you walking around as though your eyes are on top of your heads! The household feeds you well and gives you the chance to broaden your horizons, and this is how you repay them? By bullying an honored guest?”
“Go and receive your punishment yourself, then get out to the outer kitchen and help with the cooking!”
As soon as she said this, two capable middle-aged servants came over, grabbed Xia Zhi by the arms, and dragged her away.
Although Mama Chen appeared to be scolding Xia Zhi, her words were also meant to warn all the servants in Autumn Lotus Courtyard.
She wanted them to remember their place and avoid offending an honored guest with careless words.
Yun Ni was stunned and tried to plead for Xia Zhi.
“Mama Chen, she didn’t really offend me…”
But Mama Chen took Yun Ni’s hand and smiled.
“Every household has its own rules. Without rules, there would be chaos. Miss Yun, don’t worry. This punishment is already quite merciful. If she had offended the head of the household directly, she might not have been able to keep her life.”
Wenchun also nodded at Yun Ni.
When the masters personally dealt with disobedient servants, their methods could be much harsher.
They might even call a broker and sell the servant away.
Compared with that, receiving a single slap was practically a blessing for Xia Zhi.
After hearing this, Yun Ni said nothing more.
She accepted the silver-frost charcoal Mama Chen had brought to heat her room, along with the fruits sent as tribute from another region. After thanking her, Yun Ni personally escorted Mama Chen out of the courtyard.
Seeing the slight crease between Yun Ni’s brows that refused to disappear, Wenchun could only patiently explain the situation to her.
“Miss Yun grew up among ordinary people and hasn’t seen the dirty side of wealthy households. When managing servants, one must be strict and sharp-eyed. Otherwise, the servants will become too bold and eventually commit some offense against the head of the household.”
Yun Ni wasn’t actually sympathizing with Xia Zhi.
She simply felt that the waters in an aristocratic household were deep, and there were far too many rules. She found it difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, she and Shen Tinglan had already severed their relationship.
There was no need for her to spend the rest of her life living with him in this solemn and intimidating mansion.
For the past few days, Shen Tinglan had claimed to be ill and remained at home, taking leave from court.
His deliberate disappearance from public view only made the already nervous aristocratic clans even more frightened. They began losing their composure, terrified that he was secretly plotting some kind of retaliation.
To save themselves, the powerful clans had no choice but to offer up even more “evidence” against themselves, desperately trying to curry favor with Shen Tinglan and hoping that the all-powerful Chancellor would be magnanimous enough to forgive their past offenses.
Although Shen Tinglan had lied about being ill and staying at home, his body truly was suffering.
Perhaps because he had deliberately avoided Yun Ni these past few days, a terrible pain suddenly tore through his chest.
It felt as though his flesh and bones were being scraped apart.
Shen Tinglan forcibly endured the pain.
The veins at his temples bulged viciously from the effort. Cold sweat poured down his face, soaking the front of his robe.
His thin lips had lost all color, and his face was as pale as paper. The muscles and veins on the back of his hands were stretched taut from the unbearable agony, the blood vessels beneath his skin seeming ready to burst.
Even though Shen Tinglan possessed an iron will and could force himself to endure the pain, there were still two occasions when a heavy taste of blood surged into his throat.
Blood spilled from the corner of his lips, while murderous intent deepened in his phoenix eyes.
This wouldn’t do.
Enduring the pain was one thing, but if others discovered how weak and ill he truly was, he might not be able to keep the existence of the love parasite a secret.
Once that happened, Yun Ni would become his weakness—his fatal vulnerability—and everything he had worked for could be ruined.
Shen Tinglan calmly raised a finger and wiped away the blood at the corner of his lips.
Then he looked coldly at the witch doctor standing in the hall.
“If I simply cut open the corpse and remove the parasite directly… what are the chances of successfully breaking the curse?”
The witch doctor was horrified.
He understood exactly what Shen Tinglan meant.
The man actually wanted to kill the woman who had swallowed the mother parasite and cut her open alive to retrieve it!
The witch doctor hurriedly shook his head.
“If the mother parasite is forcibly removed, I’m afraid the offspring parasite will go berserk and become impossible to control. By then, the head of the household would die as well.”
“Heh… So I can’t even kill her.”
Shen Tinglan swallowed a mouthful of tea, washing away the taste of blood in his mouth.
“Forget it. Wei Lingfeng, send medicine to Miss Yun. Tell her to take one dose every ten days. She must not miss it.”
“Yes.”
After the hidden guard leaped across the rooftops and disappeared into the darkness, the witch doctor once again knelt on the floor.
He cautiously offered another suggestion.
“Master, the pills I prepared can temporarily relieve the pain. However, if you remain separated from that woman for more than three days, the parasite may still devour your heart. I have a suggestion, if I may be so bold…”
“If you could spend the night in the same room as her, the poison of the parasite should be relieved considerably. At the very least, you wouldn’t have to suffer from this pain every day.”
“Get out!”
The moment the witch doctor’s words fell, a teacup flew from Shen Tinglan’s hand.
The cup struck him head-on.
Fragrant tea spilled everywhere, along with swollen tea leaves and sharp shards of broken porcelain.
The witch doctor was terrified.
Remembering Shen Tinglan’s ruthless reputation, he immediately shut his mouth and dared not offer another word of unsolicited advice.
Once Shen Tinglan had calmed down, the witch doctor bowed repeatedly before cautiously backing out of Listening Rain Tower.
Yun Ni had been living at the Shen residence for three days.
Following Shen Tinglan’s instructions, she had begun taking the medicinal dishes prescribed to suppress the parasite.
The herbal broth was bitter and difficult to swallow, but fortunately, she only needed to take one dose every ten days, so it wasn’t too unbearable.
That evening, Shen Tinglan, who usually seemed to appear and disappear like a mythical dragon, suddenly stepped into her small Autumn Lotus Courtyard.
At that moment, Yun Ni was holding a hoe and preparing to plant some Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, and radishes in the flower bed she had cleared.
She stared at Shen Tinglan in surprise.
He was dressed in a flowing white robe, looking like an immortal who had descended from heaven and never experienced the troubles of the mortal world.
Yun Ni immediately became flustered.
“I-I was just thinking that the garden is so large. It would be a waste to leave it empty, so I thought I’d plant some vegetables…”
After hearing this, Shen Tinglan slightly furrowed his brows.
He didn’t reprimand her.
Perhaps he simply couldn’t be bothered.
“Please prepare yourself to receive a guest. I’ve brought the best orthopedic physician in the household, Doctor Hua. He will treat your leg.”
Yun Ni hadn’t expected Shen Tinglan to actually keep his word.
He had said he would find someone to treat her old leg injury, and he had genuinely brought a renowned physician.
Delighted, Yun Ni hurriedly called for Wenchun to prepare tea and refreshments, eagerly welcoming Doctor Hua into the house.
“Doctor Hua, I’m truly troubling you. Please, come inside and have some hot tea!”
Doctor Hua had practiced medicine for forty years and was already sixty years old.
The moment he saw Yun Ni’s gait, he knew her leg injury was serious.
Even with treatment, it would be impossible to restore her leg completely to normal.
At best, her walking would become somewhat more natural, and her leg would no longer ache so badly during cold or rainy weather.
She was around the same age as his granddaughter.
How had such a young girl ended up with such a severe leg injury?
Doctor Hua sighed inwardly.
He didn’t say anything discouraging. Instead, he took out nine acupuncture needles, intending to use them to release stagnant blood and stimulate the meridian points around her ankle in order to treat the old injury.
“Young lady, I will teach you a set of acupuncture techniques and prepare several months’ worth of medicinal meals for you. After that, remember to receive acupuncture several times every month to stimulate the circulation, along with medicinal soups to nourish your body. If you keep this up for years, your leg should gradually improve.”
Yun Ni was overjoyed.
“Thank you so much for examining me, Doctor Hua!”
She understood what his words meant.
If Doctor Hua hadn’t promised that medicine could cure her completely, then he probably wasn’t very confident.
But Yun Ni was an optimistic person.
As long as her condition could gradually improve, she was satisfied. She didn’t dare ask for too much.
She genuinely wanted to heal her leg.
She had no intention of avoiding treatment out of embarrassment. There was nothing particularly shameful about removing her sock and showing an old injury to an elderly physician.
But just as Yun Ni reached for the hem of her stocking, something caught the corner of her eye.
A sliver of white fabric.
She suddenly remembered that Shen Tinglan was still there.
At once, Yun Ni became self-conscious.
She curled her toes and quickly pulled the stocking back over her pale, jade-like ankle.
“Young Master Shen, could you please turn around for a moment?”
Yun Ni was not good at speaking indirectly.
She bluntly asked him to leave, making the atmosphere rather awkward.
Sure enough, the warmth that had remained on Shen Tinglan’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a dark storm.
He lowered his intimidating black eyes halfway.
His voice was deep.
“Miss Yun, are you avoiding me?”
Yun Ni could hear the displeasure in his tone.
She instinctively shrank her head and muttered softly,
“Young Master Shen, there are certain boundaries between men and women. You’re an unrelated man, so naturally you should avoid impropriety. I’m about to remove my shoes and stockings. Please wait outside.”
Shen Tinglan seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.
He let out a cold laugh and spoke with profound meaning.
“Yun Ni… is there any part of you that I need to avoid seeing?”
The moment those words were spoken, even Wenchun was frightened.
She immediately lowered her head and didn’t dare move her eyes.
Yun Ni stared blankly, completely bewildered.
What was wrong with Shen Tinglan?
His words practically implied that the two of them were intimately involved and had already done everything together in private. What was there left to conceal?
He really had no filter!
Hadn’t Shen Tinglan been the one to say that they shouldn’t associate with each other outside and that, once they returned to the Shen residence, they should go their separate ways?
If so, why was he saying such suggestive things in front of others and deliberately making people misunderstand?
Yun Ni knew perfectly well that Shen Tinglan was deliberately teasing her in the most malicious way possible.
Her delicate oval face immediately flushed bright red.
But after a moment, she remembered that her life and safety were entirely in Shen Tinglan’s hands.
Wasn’t she ultimately at his mercy?
After a long silence, Yun Ni finally surrendered.
“Fine. If Young Master Shen wants to look, then go ahead.”
Yet those helpless words of surrender seemed to hit Shen Tinglan’s deepest nerve.
As the revered head of the Shen clan, an Imperial Tutor and Chancellor who held immense power, how could he possibly harbor any improper thoughts toward a country girl?
It was utterly ridiculous.
Shen Tinglan’s expression turned icy.
He turned around and walked away.
His footsteps remained steady and composed, leaving behind only a tall, imposing figure as solemn as a mountain.
Yun Ni watched him walk away without saying another word, becoming even more confused.
All I did was refuse to let him look at my foot… Did he really have to get so angry?!