Xu Yueyao frowned, “Ah! It hurts so much.” The anesthesia had worn off, and she was awakened by the pain.
Hearing the noise, Zhan Rong Xuan came to her hospital bed. Xu Yueyao slowly opened her eyes, seeing the unfamiliar hospital room and then Zhan Rong Xuan. The pain in her shoulder reminded her that she had transmigrated into a book.
She looked at Zhan Rong Xuan, her lips trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks one by one. Wuwu… wuwu… wuwu… You’re so handsome… wuwu… wuwu… wuwu… What should I do? I can’t go back… wuwu… Why am I so unlucky… wuwu… It hurts so much… wuwu…
Zhan Rong Xuan had originally come to retrieve the ring, but seeing her like this, he swallowed the words he was about to say. Did she think saving him was unlucky?
“Call Chen Shen over,” Zhan Rong Xuan said with a dark expression toward the door. Soon, Chen Shen arrived.
“Check on her. She says it hurts a lot,” Zhan Rong Xuan pointed at her and said. Chen Shen examined her wound. “The wound is fine. Pain is normal.”
“Normal? Crying from pain like that is normal?” Zhan Rong Xuan pointed at her.
Chen Shen nodded. “After the anesthesia wears off, it’s normal for people to feel pain. It’s abnormal if they don’t.” After saying this, he gave Zhan Rong Xuan a meaningful glance.
“Alright, I’m busy. Don’t call me for no reason.” With that, Chen Shen walked away casually.
As he reached the door, he heard Zhan Shao clumsily comforting Xu Yueyao and couldn’t help but smile slightly. He never thought he’d see Zhan Rong Xuan comforting a woman in his lifetime. He decided to send this to A Yan and Jing Yi to broaden their horizons.
Xu Yueyao cried for a while, venting her emotions, and gradually stopped sobbing. “What’s the name of that doctor just now?”
“Huh?” Zhan Rong Xuan didn’t understand why she was asking but replied impatiently, “Chen Shen.”
“Oh, so he’s Chen Shen.” Among the four villainous swordsmen in the novel, Xu Yueyao had now been fortunate enough to meet two of them. Thinking about their fates, she couldn’t help but shake her head in pity for them. Sigh! It’s all because they were friends with the villain. Xu Yueyao looked up at the biggest villain in the book. After falling in love with the female lead, just as she began to waver, she discovered he had killed her father. Then, love turned to hatred, and in the end, he couldn’t have her, so he opposed the male and female leads at every turn. Tsk tsk, what a melodramatic plot.
Zhan Rong Xuan watched the woman in front of him, her face displaying a kaleidoscope of emotions as she muttered to herself. She was injured in the shoulder, so why was her brain malfunctioning?
Xu Yueyao was immersed in the book’s plot when she saw a hand in front of her. She looked up at him, puzzled. What’s this about? Does he want to touch her face to see if she has a fever? Xu Yueyao was about to lean her face forward.
“The ring,” Zhan Rong Xuan raised an eyebrow and said impatiently.
Xu Yueyao noticed the ring symbolizing his identity was missing from his hand and hurriedly asked, “You… where’s your ring?”
Hearing this, Zhan Rong Xuan felt this woman wasn’t here to save him but to jinx him. “Why don’t you look at what’s in your hand?” Zhan Rong Xuan said through gritted teeth.
Xu Yueyao looked down and opened her right hand to see the ring. She picked it up and examined it carefully. “So this is what it looks like.” The book mentioned that this ring was a family heirloom passed down through generations of the Zhan family. The emblem engraved on it symbolized the head of the Zhan family. This type of ring, with its simple design and smooth surface engraved with a seal, was also called a Signet Ring or Seal Ring.
Xu Yueyao studied it closely and suddenly slipped the ring onto her middle finger. It fit perfectly.Zhan Rong Xuan stared at her in disbelief, astonished by her audacity. Wasn’t she afraid he would kill her? Strangely, her actions were enough to warrant death a hundred times over, yet he had tolerated her until now.
Xu Yueyao’s mind raced. She knew this was the best opportunity for negotiation, one that would determine her future. She had to maximize her gains.
Should she ask him for money—a large sum—and flee far away? No, this was a novel, not modern civilized society. Here, people shot at the slightest disagreement. Money wasn’t reliable; there were too many wealthy people. The author could give anyone as much money as they wanted, so wealth wasn’t dependable.
Power and status, however, were reliable—and Zhan Rong Xuan possessed both. It seemed the only way to gain his protection was to become his woman. Then, no one would dare covet her again. Sigh! There was no other choice. Her damnable beauty always brought her trouble.
Zhan Rong Xuan watched her eyes darting around and sat directly in the chair in front of her. “Have you decided what you want? This might be your only chance.”
“Yes, I have,” Xu Yueyao replied, her eyes sparkling like a cat that had stolen something.
“Zhan Feng,” Zhan Rong Xuan called out. Zhan Feng entered from outside and stood behind him.
Zhan Feng had followed Zhan Rong Xuan since childhood, his sole mission to protect him. He had trained with him in the military and now helped manage the family business. He was Zhan Rong Xuan’s shadow and his sharpest blade.
“How much do you want?” Zhan Rong Xuan asked, annoyed as he watched the woman in front of him spacing out. Has she never seen a man before? Why does she stare blankly at everyone?
“Huh?”
“How much money do you want? Name your price,” Zhan Rong Xuan said impatiently. He hated repeating himself, and this woman had broken every one of his taboos tonight.
“I don’t want money.”
No money? Then what do you want? Zhan Rong Xuan couldn’t believe his ears.
“I want to be your woman,” Xu Yueyao declared. She had thought it through: if she was destined to become his woman, why not claim the rights early? After all, she had suffered enough before becoming his woman, and she didn’t like suffering.
Upon hearing this, Zhan Rong Xuan froze, as if struck by lightning. He stared at her motionlessly, his facial muscles stiffening instantly. His eyes were filled with disbelief and shock. Does this woman even know what she’s saying?
Zhan Feng’s jaw dropped, his expression one of utter astonishment, as if he couldn’t believe what she had just said.
Do they have to be so shocked? Their reactions left Xu Yueyao momentarily unsure of what to do.
“Miss Xu, our Zhan Shao doesn’t need a woman,” Zhan Feng said cautiously, genuinely afraid his young master might impulsively strangle her.
“No, he does need a woman,” Xu Yueyao wagged her index finger from side to side. “Let me explain. Zhan Shao, the famous Zhan Shao, is at the peak of his youth. If he never has a woman by his side, what will people think? Won’t that become ammunition for his enemies? And look at Zhan Shao’s face—who in the entire capital can compare? Wealth, power, and looks—he must be surrounded by admirers, right? Isn’t it exhausting?”
Zhan Feng thought of the women who threw themselves at his young master, and the more desperate ones who had tried to drug him multiple times. It was truly hard to guard against. Unconsciously, he nodded.Zhan Rong Xuan leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, his gaze sharp as if it could pierce through everything. His fingers lightly tapped the armrest as he parted his lips and said, “Go on.”
Xu Yueyao swallowed, gathered her courage, and continued, “If we claim that I am Zhan Shao’s woman, wouldn’t that shut up those with ill intentions? I can help you drive away the lingering distractions around you. Of course, once Zhan Shao finds someone he likes or is ready to marry a young mistress, I will disappear immediately, without causing any trouble for Zhan Shao.”
Zhan Feng turned to look at the young master after hearing this. To be honest, he was quite moved and thought the idea was excellent.
Upon hearing her say she would disappear, Zhan Rong Xuan felt a slight discomfort in his heart. “Miss Xu saved my life. It wouldn’t be right for me to take advantage of you like this.”
Xu Yueyao hurriedly replied, “Take advantage, it’s fine, go ahead and take full advantage. Heh, heh, everything has two sides.” She shyly held up two fingers.
“Oh? And what’s the other side?”
“The one just now was the side that benefits you. The other side, of course, benefits me.”
“Go on.”
Xu Yueyao changed her tone, sounding slightly aggrieved as she said, “Zhan Shao, you know, I have a face as beautiful as flowers and the moon…”
“Haha,” Zhan Feng couldn’t help but laugh.
“Huh?” Xu Yueyao looked at him in confusion. What was so funny? Did she say something wrong? She had seen this face last night, and it looked almost the same as her real one, even prettier than in reality. Besides, if a mistress was ugly, wouldn’t the author be cursed to death?
Zhan Rong Xuan also looked up at him impatiently. Zhan Feng shut his mouth and lowered his head. “Sorry, please continue.”
Xu Yueyao glared at him unhappily for a moment. Annoying, her entire emotional state had been disrupted. After gathering her thoughts, she continued, “I’m good-looking, and many people want to take advantage of me. You’ve investigated me, so you should know I have no money, and no one in my family can protect me. I thought, if I were Zhan Shao’s woman, others would surely think twice. And I believe Zhan Shao would definitely protect me too, right?”
Zhan Feng nodded. For their Zhan family, protecting someone was all too easy.