Liu Yanran turned around, her eyes narrowing as she looked straight toward Yu Luo in the distance.
Yu Luo was speaking with one of the guards in the residence.
Such a scene was truly too rare.
Everyone knew that Eldest Miss Yu was not someone with a good temper. She had always been arrogant and looked down on every person of low birth.
The maids and old servant women in the residence, even the guards who had made great contributions to Yu Family Residence and had been promoted to high positions, were all objects of Eldest Miss Yu’s disgust.
Eldest Miss Yu prided herself on her noble status. She regarded herself as superior and viewed everyone beneath her as lowly dirt.
For her to speak calmly with the servants of the residence, rather than pick up a whip and beat them harshly, was something that almost could never happen.
Liu Yanran had been living under someone else’s roof in Yu Family Residence. In her daily life, she liked to win people’s hearts and had already gotten to know people from every courtyard.
She quickly recognized that the guard was the same one who had been punished by Eldest Miss Yu last night until his entire body was covered in wounds. He seemed to be the guard called Li Zhao.
Worried that Yu Luo might notice her, Liu Yanran did not look for long. After a brief glance, she left the place.
When Yu Luo returned to her courtyard, she saw the male lead Li Xiao again in the back garden.
She sent Bitong and Ziming to the kitchen to see what had been prepared for breakfast, then quietly took a detour behind a rockery, wanting to see how serious the male lead’s injuries actually were.
Li Xiao’s arm was exposed to the cold air. The lines of his muscles were clear but not overly bulging, giving him the clean and refreshing feeling of someone between a youth and a young man.
Even though his arm was covered in wounds, with drops of blood seeping from the whip marks, his expression remained indifferent and cold. He naturally carried an aura that made people submit and fear him, and he did not look miserable or pitiful at all.
Even though he had fallen to such a state, he still possessed the presence of someone born into imperial nobility.
Yu Luo had finished reading the entire book The Path of the Tyrant, so she could understand why the women in the story were so obsessed with Li Xiao and willingly entered his harem.
The Li Xiao in the book had been domineering and proud, standing at the very peak. No matter how much malice fate cast upon him, he had always been able to rise from the mud and climb back to the summit.
Even the picky male readers had admired Li Xiao greatly. The book review section had been filled with comments like “Brother Xiao is amazing” and “His Majesty is mighty.”
If only his temperament had not been so cruel and violent.
Whenever Yu Luo thought about how she would be tied to a red-hot pillar and whipped by the male lead, she shivered in fear.
She turned to leave, but at that moment, Li Xiao suddenly turned his head back.
In truth, from the moment Yu Luo appeared, Li Xiao had already sensed someone approaching.
Li Xiao had gone to the battlefield to kill enemies at the age of thirteen. The titles Heir of Prince Qin and Young General had overlapped upon him. After ten years of fighting on the battlefield, he had expanded the territory of the Jing Dynasty to an unprecedented scale. His life among clashing weapons and warhorses had made him extremely sensitive to the changes around him.
Whenever anyone appeared nearby, he could detect it.
As for the spoiled and vicious Eldest Miss of the Yu family, Li Xiao had not had many feelings about her.
At the moment, he was in a stage of concealing his identity. Many forces could not be discovered by the Imperial Court, and doing nothing was the greatest action.
From the moment the Eldest Miss of the Yu family had laid hands on him, she had already become a dead person in Li Xiao’s eyes.
However, during the hurried glance earlier that morning, he did not know why, but he had felt that this Eldest Miss Yu seemed like a completely different person.
Originally, Eldest Miss Yu’s gaze had been sharp and harsh, like that of a cold-blooded snake.
The Yu Luo he had seen today had eyes more like a small beast that had innocently wandered into unfamiliar territory.
As someone in a superior position, Li Xiao had been extremely perceptive. Otherwise, how could he control people’s hearts?
Strangely, no one else in Yu Family Residence seemed to have noticed this.
Li Xiao turned around and saw the Yu family’s Eldest Miss take two steps back.
There was actually a trace of surprise and fear in her eyes.
Li Xiao found it interesting and tilted his head slightly as he looked at her.
The young girl wore magnificent embroidered clothes. Her ink-black hair piled up like clouds and mist, and her small snow-white face was exceptionally delicate.
This was the first time he had seriously looked at this young lady of the Yu family.
Yu Luo: “!!!”
Of course Yu Luo knew that the male lead’s intelligence was very high.
The author of The Path of the Tyrant had personally admitted that the male lead Li Xiao was the character with the greatest “golden finger” in the story—his intelligence, appearance, and martial strength were all at their peak.
In order not to expose herself and to prevent the change in the character from appearing too abrupt, Yu Luo took two steps back.
Her gaze shifted to the side. “…You’re blocking this young lady’s path!”
Li Xiao stepped aside and said nothing.
At that moment, in his eyes, Yu Luo was like a small beast deliberately pretending to be fierce, completely different from the woman who had picked up a whip and lashed him without restraint two days ago.
Yu Luo did not realize at all that during their first confrontation, she had already revealed a flaw in front of the male lead.
She walked two steps to the side. “You’re covered in injuries. Don’t stand guard for the next two days. Rest properly at your residence. Otherwise, if outsiders see you, they’ll think our Marquis Manor enjoys abusing servants.”
After saying this, Yu Luo felt that it made perfect sense. With Eldest Miss Yu’s usual persona, she really could say something like that.
Yu Luo walked toward her residence. After taking two steps, she could not help but turn back to look at Li Xiao.
—As a loyal reader of The Path of the Tyrant, Yu Luo had also been a little fangirl of the male lead Li Xiao, calling him “Brother Xiao” again and again in the book review section.
But when she remembered that she had become the villain who abused the male lead and would die miserably in the future, the starry look in Yu Luo’s eyes instantly disappeared. She only wished she had never crossed paths with the male lead at all.
When she turned back, she discovered that Li Xiao was actually looking at her as well.
Although the male lead’s real appearance had been hidden, those eyes of his were still deep and indifferent, making it impossible to guess his emotions.
Yu Luo: “…”
The big boss was dark-hearted and vengeful. Could it be that he wanted to whip her a thousand times?
Yu Luo hurried back to her residence.
Before long, breakfast was delivered.
The breakfasts of Marquis Manor had always been exquisite. In a small celadon bowl was light rock sugar bird’s nest porridge, accompanied by two or three tasty side dishes and a plate of assorted pastries. Just looking at it made one feel hungry.
Yu Luo thought for a moment.
The male lead had been drenched in the rain for the entire night. She did not know whether he had eaten anything.
However, compared to hunger, the wounds after being soaked in the rain were probably more serious.
This era did not have medicines like antibiotics. Once a wound became infected, it might take an unknown amount of time to heal after repeated flare-ups.
After finishing breakfast and rinsing her mouth, Yu Luo slowly stood up from her seat.
Suddenly she slipped, and her waist bumped against the table. She cried out, “Ouch.”
Ziming was startled and hurried over nervously to support Yu Luo.
Fortunately, Eldest Miss’s temper was quite good today. Even though things had gone wrong for a moment, she did not beat or scold them.
After helping her onto the bed, Ziming lifted Yu Luo’s undergarment and saw that her waist had turned bruised and purple.
The young ladies of Marquis Manor had delicate bodies. Normally they could hardly be touched. Even when maids bathed them, they had to be extremely careful.
Ziming was both shocked and frightened. “This servant is clumsy! I failed to serve Eldest Miss properly!”
Yu Luo rubbed her waist and considered Eldest Miss Yu’s usual tone before speaking.
“What’s the use of saying that now? Go find some medicine. Bring all the ointments for me to take a look.”
“Yes!”