Zhao Fu cautiously glanced at Xiao Zhi. “Marquis?”
This time, Wan Tang didn’t struggle or call for help. He should pretend he hadn’t seen it. It wouldn’t be good to embarrass Daye every time.
Xiao Zhi withdrew his gaze and strode back to Meiyuan.
As before, Zhao Fu had someone bring the fresh pastries Wan Tang had made to Xiao Zhi.
Today, it was a plate of osmanthus cakes. At first glance, the plate seemed to bloom with enlarged osmanthus flowers, golden and enticing, accompanied by a few green leaf-shaped pastries as decoration, strikingly lifelike.
Zhao Fu secretly swallowed his saliva. “Marquis, Miss Wan Tang is truly skilled. Even osmanthus cakes are made so elegantly.”
Xiao Zhi expressionlessly withdrew his gaze. “Take them all if you like them.”
Zhao Fu gave him a startled look.
Although the Marquis wasn’t particularly fond of indulging in food, he had seemed quite pleased with the pastries these past few days. Zhao Fu had thought he could flatter him correctly today, hoping to coax the Marquis into leaving an extra osmanthus cake for him to satisfy his craving.
Judging by Xiao Zhi’s tone, it didn’t seem like a joke. Zhao Fu assumed he was troubled by Xu Xing’s affair with a married woman and the resulting broken leg, so he quietly retreated with the pastries.
The next day, Wan Tang came to Meiyuan with little hope.
She suspected that the incident where Xiao Yujue had pushed her onto the couch had already reached Xiao Zhi’s ears, and he was deliberately avoiding her.
But what right did she have? She was just a maid. If he didn’t want to see her, he could simply tell her not to come to Meiyuan anymore.
Her mind had been in turmoil for days, filled with chaotic thoughts.
Peering into the study from outside, she saw no one.
Wan Tang sighed inwardly and decided to go to the kitchen to make pastries. But as she turned, she bumped into a solid chest.
Startled, she looked up and finally saw the face she had been longing for day and night. Joyfully, she exclaimed, “Marquis!”
However, his face was as cold as ice, his voice distant and indifferent. “Meiyuan has no rules for throwing oneself into someone’s arms.”
Wan Tang’s face instantly paled. She retreated several steps, bowing her head and bending at the waist. “Marquis, please forgive me. This servant did not mean to.”
Lost in thought earlier, she truly hadn’t heard anyone approaching, let alone standing so close.
Xiao Zhi sneered and walked past her into the study, taking a seat.
Wan Tang cautiously followed him. “This servant will massage your shoulders.”
Xiao Zhi noticed the dark circles under her eyes, clearly a sign of poor sleep lately. He scoffed coldly. “Too busy? Can’t even sleep well?”
Hearing the sharpness in his tone, Wan Tang replied cautiously, “This servant only handles chores in the mansion. I dare not call it busy.”
Today, she massaged with utmost care, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
Xiao Zhi instinctively glanced at the hands on his shoulders. The redness and swelling had long since subsided, and her slender fingers were once again smooth and lustrous.
A maid with such fair and delicate hands must have put considerable effort into maintaining them. He just didn’t know for whose touch or gaze she had nurtured them.
Recalling the scene he had witnessed upon returning to Meiyuan, Xiao Zhi said irritably, “Have you washed your hands?”
Wan Tang quickly removed her hands from his shoulders. “Marquis, I have washed them.”
Xiao Zhi remained stern and silent, clearly still dissatisfied with the cleanliness of her hands. Puzzled, Wan Tang could only run out to wash them again.
This time, she didn’t dare to touch him lightly, for as soon as she entered, she saw Xiao Zhi holding a handkerchief, dusting off his right shoulder. But there was clearly no dust there. Was he implying her hands were dirty?
Wan Tang’s eyes stung, and she spoke gloomily, “Marquis, this servant has washed her hands.”
Xiao Zhi looked at those hands, rubbed red, indeed clean.
He lifted his eyelids, his gaze falling on her chin: “What about your face?”
Wan Tang didn’t realize Xiao Zhi was mocking her for being shameless, thinking instead that she had accidentally gotten dirt on her face. After apologizing, she retreated to wash her face thoroughly before re-entering the study: “Marquis, this servant has washed everything clean.”
Her small face, free of makeup, was now dewy and moist. When she frowned, it was charming; when she smiled, it was delicate and lovely. Even her voice was like a sweet, ripe lychee—with a gentle bite, it would overflow with clear, sweet juice.
Xiao Zhi withdrew his gaze and finally allowed her to massage his shoulders.
However, just moments after Wan Tang began, he spoke again: “Did Houfu not feed you enough?”
Wan Tang was all too familiar with his sarcastic tone—he was complaining that her strength was too weak. Yet she had used all her might without holding back. Not daring to complain, she gritted her teeth and increased her effort even more.
Pressing hard on certain acupoints brought a mix of pain and soreness that even Xiao Zhi found hard to bear.
But he remained expressionless throughout, not uttering a single sound.
This time, Wan Tang massaged for a full two hours without being allowed a moment’s rest. When she left the study, her hands felt utterly ruined—her fingers numb and aching, as if they no longer belonged to her. The soreness spread from her hands to her entire body, leaving her feeling as if she had fallen apart. Even her walking posture was stiff.
When she wanted to go to the kitchen to make pastries, Zhao Fu stopped her: “The Marquis has ordered that you no longer need to make pastries.”
“Then I’ll go brew a pot of tea.”
Zhao Fu shook his head: “You are a maid of Jinxiu Garden. Meiyuan doesn’t need you to do such tasks.”
Wan Tang found this strange and, feeling at a loss, asked Zhao Fu for guidance: “Brother, have I done something wrong to upset the Marquis? Please advise me. Wan Tang would be endlessly grateful.”
Seeing her red-rimmed eyes and her hands trembling uncontrollably from the prolonged massage, Zhao Fu couldn’t bear it and said: “It’s not your fault. The Marquis has been in a bad mood for some time now.”
As the two were already familiar, Wan Tang pressed for more details.
“Doctor Xu, the Marquis’s close friend—you’ve met him. His story has spread all over the capital. Haven’t you heard?”
Wan Tang shook her head, the heavy stone in her heart slowly lifting. It was good that it wasn’t her fault; otherwise, she wouldn’t have known how to make amends.
“Doctor Xu once loved a woman, but the Xu family disapproved, saying their statuses didn’t match. Though the two were deeply in love, the woman sensibly married someone else. Doctor Xu has been pining for her ever since. Just recently, he went to find her. When he tried to approach her, her husband discovered him, broke his leg, and had him sent back with drums and gongs all the way.”
“It’s truly a pity for Doctor Xu. Others may not know, but our Marquis is well aware of his medical skills—they’re almost miraculous! But because he couldn’t marry that woman, he has idled away his time until now, ruining his bright future. Otherwise, he would have achieved great success in the Imperial Medical Bureau long ago. Doctor Xu was also foolish—what noble family would take a wet nurse’s daughter as their principal wife? Back then, he refused to compromise even a little, insisting on marrying her with a grand procession of eight bearers, not even accepting her as a concubine.”
So Doctor Xu’s beloved was his wet nurse’s daughter?
The light in Wan Tang’s eyes dimmed slightly.
She didn’t dare to hope for too much, only wishing that Xiao Zhi would bring her to Meiyuan, even if just as a chamber maid.
The two didn’t dare to chat for too long. As soon as Wan Tang left, Zhao Fu hurriedly went to Xiao Zhi to receive his orders.
Xiao Zhi slightly lifted his chin. “Hah, you truly are a busy man. Waiting for you to brew a pot of tea would take a lifetime.”
Zhao Fu felt his scalp tingle. “This servant knows his mistake. I’ll go brew it right away.”
He scurried off to brew a pot of tea and returned. Xiao Zhi took only a small sip before frowning and setting it down. “What kind of tea is this? It tastes so awful.”
“This is the finest Yinsheng tea of the year. Miss Wan Tang brews it just like this. It shouldn’t be like this,” Zhao Fu muttered quietly.
Hearing Wan Tang’s name, Xiao Zhi glanced at him. “What were you two chatting about so animatedly?”
“Miss Wan Tang was concerned about the Marquis. She said the Marquis’s right shoulder needs proper care and that anger harms the body.”
Xiao Zhi sneered. “She knows how to care for people? Hah, a narcissus that doesn’t bloom.”
Playing dumb!
Zhao Fu, sensing that the Marquis seemed even more displeased, quickly lowered his head and pretended to be meek. Yet inwardly, he couldn’t help but grumble: The Marquis has been like a powder keg since yesterday, never speaking a kind word. When will this ever end?