Yu Luo took a handkerchief and slowly wiped the blood off her fingers.
Her ten fingers were long and soft, her fingertips delicate. The handkerchief passed lightly over them, and soon it regained its pristine whiteness.
“So much blood… this can’t be a minor wound,” Yu Luo said. “It needs to be properly bandaged.”
Li Xiao took Yu Luo to his residence.
The room was pitch dark. He lit a lamp—the one Yu Luo had given him some time ago.
Under the faint yellowish light, Yu Luo could see the room’s furnishings clearly.
This was a servant’s room, naturally far less luxurious than her own. It contained only a bed, a chair, and a table.
At that moment, Yu Luo also saw how severe the wound on Li Xiao’s shoulder was.
He had sprinkled some medicinal powder on the cut. Watching it made Yu Luo wince, but his expression remained unchanged.
Of course. Li Xiao had fallen from great heights in the past few years, from a position of prestige to being accused of treason.
Li Xiao tore a piece of cloth and prepared to wrap the wound with one hand.
Yu Luo stepped forward. “Let me help you.”
Li Xiao lifted his eyes. “Eldest Miss, aren’t you afraid of blood?”
Yu Luo said, “Who’s afraid of blood? Not me.”
She pressed one hand on his shoulder and helped tie the cloth around his wound.
Yu Luo carried a faint fragrance. Her soft waist looked so slender it could almost be grasped in one hand. When she lowered her head, her black hair fell lightly onto Li Xiao’s chest.
Li Xiao felt slightly annoyed.
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have let her help.
After finishing, Yu Luo wiped the blood from her hands. “I’ll leave now. Take care of your wound these days; you don’t need to stand guard for a while.”
Li Xiao casually asked, “Eldest Miss, going back alone?”
Yu Luo: “Of course, I’m going back alone.”
“You’re not afraid?”
Yu Luo: “…Hm.”
Earlier, encountering the snake on the road had indeed frightened her. Walking back alone along that path did make her somewhat afraid.
Li Xiao got up. “I’ll escort you back.”
This time, Yu Luo did not refuse.
With the male lead as her bodyguard, she would be much safer.
Moreover, she suddenly remembered something.
“After I get back, don’t leave,” Yu Luo said. “Come to my window; I have something for you.”
Li Xiao escorted Yu Luo to the gate of Jishui Courtyard. Two young maids hurried over to greet the Eldest Miss.
Normally, after dark, guards were not allowed inside the lady’s residence and could only stay outside.
But—the male lead was different.
After all, he could go wherever he wanted.
Yu Luo returned to her room and found a small red vial among the items the Marquis of Shunning had sent her.
She poured out a single red pill.
It was a hemostasis pill, said to stop bleeding and heal even the most severe internal injuries, also helping replenish blood for those who had lost too much.
A faint tapping came from the window.
Yu Luo opened it.
Li Xiao stood outside with his arms crossed. “Eldest Miss.”
Yu Luo opened her palm. “This is for you.”
Li Xiao looked at the red pill but made no move.
Yu Luo sighed inwardly.
She knew her image in the male lead’s heart was not good.
Now he probably thought the hemostasis pill was poison.
The pill’s bright color did look like poison.
Yu Luo pressed the pill into his mouth. “It’s not poison. Eat it with confidence.”
To maintain her character, she added a sentence she considered merciless: “If I wanted to kill you, it would only take one word—why would I need poison?”
Li Xiao, being skilled in pharmacology, immediately recognized it.
Before he could take it, the anxious “Eldest Miss” had already pushed it into his mouth.
He deliberately bit Yu Luo’s fingertip gently.
Yu Luo was stunned.
She quickly pulled back her hand and slammed the window shut.
In the original The Path of the Tyrant, the male lead never confessed to a woman.
His harem had countless women, but apparently no true main heroine.
Readers often debated which woman he truly liked.
The most popular theory was the Su Family Eldest Miss.
The first time they met, he had been intrigued by her.
When Miss Su offered him a drink, he didn’t drink it but lightly bit her hand.
This initial ambiguous gesture made many believe he had feelings for her.
However, later the Su Family got involved in a political incident. Miss Su’s father was ruthlessly killed by the male lead. As the daughter of a disgraced official, she could no longer remain by his side and was sent to the Cold Palace.
The male lead’s cold-heartedness was well-known; almost everyone was used by him.
Some readers thought his first encounter with Consort Su was intimate and suggestive, meaning he had interest in her.
Others believed he only brought her into the harem to manipulate her father.
Either way, for Yu Luo, being bitten by the male lead was not a good sign.
She had to act as if nothing had happened.
She was still alive and didn’t want a miserable ending.
Ziming brought her a patterned brocade satin outfit for her to inspect.
Yu Luo looked it over. The embroiderers Madam Yu had hired were the best, so the clothes were exquisite. There was no flaw in style or craftsmanship.
She nodded. “It looks good.”
Ziming smiled. “Miss Su has invited you to admire the chrysanthemums; in a few days, you can wear it.”
Yu Luo: “…Which Miss Su?”
“The young lady of the Su Prefectural Governor’s household, nickname Peilan.”
Yu Luo: “!!!”
Speak of the devil—she had just been thinking of Consort Su, and now she would encounter her in the next plot.
In the original The Path of the Tyrant, the story primarily focused on the male lead’s career, not the women in his harem.
The author never mentioned that Yu Luo’s close female friends included women from his harem.
Yu Luo thought: Could it be that the male lead had already met Miss Su?
That would explain why he acted so skilled when she later entered the palace.
“Alright.” Yu Luo’s face betrayed little expression. “Send someone to prepare hot water. I need to bathe and change.”
“Yes.”
After bathing and changing, Yu Luo felt slightly feverish.
She had always had a weak constitution. Perhaps being scared by the snake at dusk had shaken her, or perhaps the evening chill had affected her body.
Ziming was puzzled as well.
Eldest Miss had always been strong, so why had she grown weaker recently?
Still, it made sense.
He hurriedly had the kitchen prepare a bowl of ginger soup.
Yu Luo slowly drank it, perspiring slightly afterward, and finally went to bed.