I put my arm around the strong man's slender waist

Chapter 70

His face was reflected on the frosty, cold walls of ice. His eyebrows and eyes were indistinct in the mist and frost. I only remember him patting my back again and again. I held onto his hand and kept my head down, not knowing whether I was crying or laughing.

So... he loved me?

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The sunlight was wonderful when he carried me back; the golden rays fell warmly on the back of my hand.

I didn't say a word. He carried me back to the room, ordered the servants to fetch hot water, and personally wrung out a towel to wipe my face and warm my feet. Looking at my red eyes, he said calmly, "Lu Ning, let's take it slow. You've protected me for three years, and I'll repay you with my whole life."

He helped me lie down, tucked me in, and said, "Get some sleep. When you wake up, I'll have something to eat with you."

As I got up to leave, I reached out and tugged at his sleeve. He stopped, bent down, and asked me, "What's wrong?"

“Ruan Bicheng…” I paused for a long time before turning to look at him and said calmly, “Release Yan Shu, don’t let him see me, and send him away.”

"You..." Ruan Bicheng looked at me in surprise, "You've decided to stay?"

I nodded and asked him again, "Will you take good care of Yan Shu?"

"Yes, I will." He replied immediately and confidently. "If you're worried, you can see for yourself..."

“No need.” I released his sleeve and said, “There’s no need to see him again… Just let him go now.”

Ruan Bicheng nodded, and fearing I wouldn't believe her, she called over a maid and handed her the bottle of antidote, saying, "Go to the woodshed and give this bottle of medicine to Ruan Liu. Tell him I told him to release the person and, as I instructed before, to take this person to the countryside and settle him properly."

The young girl took the medicine bottle, responded, and left.

Ruan Bicheng smiled down at me and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. Go to sleep."

I closed my eyes and listened as Ruan Bicheng left, closed the door, and instructed the maid outside, "Take good care of her, brew some more calming medicine and bring it over, and watch the young lady take the medicine."

"Yes, ma'am," I listened as the footsteps faded into the distance until they disappeared beyond the corridor. I sat up abruptly and saw the tears still glistening in the corners of my eyes in the dressing mirror opposite me. I wiped them away, lowered my head, and sighed deeply...

Author's Note: I'm almost at the end, and I've decided to stop writing now... To avoid making empty promises again, I'll cautiously say that it will be better the next day... I'll write the ending slowly, you don't need to do anything, I'll just finish writing it and then I'll go and die on my own!

P.S.: Girl who guessed it was a corpse, are you sure you're not too amazing...? I thought no one could guess it! You're my heart and soul! Do you want to guess how I got here?

82

"The young lady's medicine is ready."

I heard the little girl outside the door respond, saying, "Give it to me."

I rolled over and pulled the covers up. The door creaked open, and a young maid quietly entered, carrying some medicine. She tentatively called out, "Is the young lady awake?"

She placed the medicine on the table, came to the bedside, reached out and nudged me, whispering, "Miss, wake up, drink your medicine and then go back to sleep, Miss..."

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her sharply. Before she could scream, I slapped the back of her neck. Before she could even exhale, she collapsed unconscious in my arms with a thud.

I pushed her onto the couch, turned over and got off, changed her clothes, pulled the brocade quilt over her, poured the bowl of medicine into the flowerpot, and with the empty bowl in hand, I pushed open the door and retreated with my head bowed.

Two servants and three or four maids stood outside the door. When they saw me come out, they asked, "Has the young lady finished drinking?"

I nodded, holding the medicine bowl with my head bowed, and hurriedly tried to leave, but was suddenly stopped by a maid.

"Hey! Wait, wait." She grabbed me and said, "Remember to go and tell the young master that the young lady has taken her medicine and gone to sleep." After thinking for a moment, she added softly, "If Miss Biao and the young master are together, you should step back and not let Miss Biao find out."

Gu Biyun doesn't know I'm in the mansion?

I nodded and quickly left the courtyard. Before leaving, I overheard several maids and servants gossiping, "Miss Biao is quite pitiful. Almost the entire Gu family is dead, and she was determined to marry the young master. Little did she know that the young master is keeping a mistress in this courtyard. If Miss Biao finds out, she'll be furious..."

"Why do you have so many mouths! Aren't you afraid of biting your tongue?"

I stepped out of the courtyard, and I didn't hear the rest clearly. It was probably about how pitiful Gu Biyun was for being heartless and unreasonable, and now even her cousin was hiding something from her.

I always thought that Ruan Bicheng bringing me back was common knowledge, but it turns out that once we left this little courtyard, no one knew.

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Leaving the courtyard, I didn't take the main road, but followed the path all the way to the woodshed. Every step was intimately familiar to me. I think no outsider knows these corridors, paths, side rooms, and back gardens better than I do.

The servants in the Ruan household didn't recognize me and just assumed I was a new maid. I walked along without any hindrance, and when I arrived at the woodshed, I saw two servants carrying a person wrapped in a white cloth and loading them onto a carriage.

Ruan Liuli urged from the side, "Hurry up, hurry up! The young master has given instructions to send this person out of the Central Plains tonight."

"Weren't we supposed to send him to the countryside?" the servant asked, bewildered. "Why didn't you cure him and let him walk on his own? He's so heavy..."

"Are you stupid, kid!" Ruan Liu kicked him and shouted, "This man is a heinous demonic priest. Do you think you can subdue him even if you wake him up? Send him to the countryside? Sending him to the countryside is too easy for him."

The servant was completely bewildered and asked with a pained expression, "Then where are we going to take him?"

"Enough with the nonsense!" Ruan Liu snapped at him again, saying, "Young Master has already made arrangements. We just need to send him out of the Central Plains, and someone will take care of him."

Before the servant could ask any more questions, Ruan Liu cracked his whip and shouted, "Hurry up!" The two servants then hurriedly lifted Yan Shu onto the carriage.

I stepped out from outside the moon gate and stood a short distance away, calling out, "Ruan Liu."

Ruan Liu glanced over, and I smiled and said, "Young Master has something urgent and wants to see you."

He frowned, ran over in a few steps, and asked, "Young master, what urgent matter has summoned me?"

"How would I know?" I said as I led him toward the moon gate. "I'm just here to deliver the message. You'll find out when you get there."

Ruan Liu frowned and hurriedly followed him out, casually asking, "Are you new here? You look so unfamiliar."

I stopped in my tracks on the quiet path and turned to look at Ruan Liu. He was startled and asked me, "Why...why did you stop walking?"

This path is so quiet, the lush flowers and trees creating a dim and secluded atmosphere, without a single person in sight.

I suddenly frowned and said with a serious expression, "There's something I need to tell you first."

"What is it?" He looked at me and awkwardly took a half step back.

I grabbed his sleeve and whispered, "Young Master said..." My voice grew softer and softer, and he couldn't hear me clearly. He unconsciously lowered his head and leaned closer to listen, and I raised my hand and slapped him unconscious.

I was quick and skilled at this. I reached into his pocket and pulled out the small medicine bottle that Ruan Bicheng had given me before. I then took off his clothes, wrapped them up, and pushed him into the flower bushes.

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When I returned to the woodshed, the two servants were already impatient. Seeing me chasing after them, they asked, "Where's Brother Six? It's been so long, aren't you coming or not?"

I said "Oh" and smiled, "I'm just here to inform you that the young master has instructed you two to leave the city first, and then have Ruan Liu drive the carriage to follow you."

The servant was puzzled. "The two of us will leave the city first? Will Sixth Brother take that person out of the city alone? What does Young Master mean by this..."

“Young Master has his own reasons.” I said emphatically, “If you don’t go, I will go back and report to Young Master.” I made as if to leave.

The servant hurriedly grabbed me, saying repeatedly, "We're leaving right now... How could we dare disobey the young master's orders?" He turned around, grabbed another servant, and hurriedly left through the back door.

I don't know if Ruan Bicheng gave the order, but no one came near the woodshed. I watched as two servants went out the door for a moment, lifted the curtain, and jumped into the carriage.

Tearing open the white cloth covering the package, Yan Shu's face, as white as paper, came into view, truly looking as if he were dead.

I poured out the antidote, not knowing how much to give, so I forced it all down his throat. Looking at his pale face, I became anxious, covering his cold hands and calling his name, "Yan Shu, Yan Shu, can you... hear me?"

It felt like he hadn't called out that name in a very long time. He hesitated for a few moments before finally uttering it accurately, his fingers limp in my palm.

I grew increasingly anxious, "Yan Shu, Yan Shu..."

After a long while, he coughed very lightly, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyelashes trembled as he slowly opened his eyes to look at me. His eyes were hazy and dull. He stared at me for a long time before finally speaking in a daze: "...Su Xie?"

"It's me," I replied quickly and easily.

He suddenly closed his eyes, exhaled a very long, drawn-out breath, and murmured my name, "Su Xie..."

His tone startled me slightly, but I didn't have time to think about it. I took out Ruan Liu's clothes and handed them to him, saying, "Hurry up and change your clothes, let's go."

He sat up, holding his clothes, looking stunned and bewildered. "Let's go?"

Looking at him blankly, I couldn't help but ask, "Do you even know how to dress?"

He raised his eyelashes to look at me, first nodding, then shaking his head.

"Are you going to... or not..." I really didn't have the patience to argue with him, so I grabbed my clothes, pulled him over, and started putting them on him. "Don't move, put your hands over here."

He obediently stretched out his hands, and I wrapped my arms around his waist to pull his clothes up. Suddenly, he hugged me tightly. In the cramped carriage, he held me close, burying his head in my neck and murmuring softly, "Su Xie, I thought you didn't want me anymore..."

The dappled sunlight from outside the curtains filtered onto his temples and the sides of his face, making him look fluffy like a kitten, and his voice was so soft.

Fool.

I patted him on the back and pushed him away, saying, "Hurry up and get dressed, I have something to do...we'll talk outside."

Yan Shu nodded obediently, put on his clothes, and got out of the car with me.

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I figured it wouldn't be long before Ruan Bicheng came looking for me. Once she found out I was gone, she would definitely come straight to Yan Shu. He's a meticulous man, so I never had much confidence in him. But I never expected the escape and rescue to go so smoothly.

I always feel uneasy.

Not daring to linger, I led Yan Shu through a narrow path, avoiding the servants, to the stone house.

He was stopped in front of the stone house. "Who are you?"

Only two guards? I remember when Ruan Bicheng brought me here before, there were five or six guards. How come there are only two left now?

"Who exactly are you?" the guard asked me again.

I thought for a moment and replied, "If I said that the young master sent me to retrieve something from inside, would you believe me?"

The two guards looked at each other and smiled, clearly not believing it.

Now we have no choice but to take a hard line.

Yan Shu followed behind me. I took a step to force my way in, but the guard grabbed my shoulder and shouted, "If you don't give your name, we'll break your arm!"

"Me?" I turned to look at him and smiled. "Su Xie." Before I finished speaking, I drew a dagger from my sleeve and slashed it.

I was no match for him and was immediately grabbed. I whispered quickly in the guard's ear, "You'd better let me go."

He chuckled, and just as his mocking words were about to spill from his lips, I heard a sharp crack. His face twisted and contorted in front of me, his body convulsed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yan Shu reached out and pulled me behind his back. I only heard two crisp cracking sounds, and before I could even see his hand move, when I looked out again, the two guards had already had their necks broken and were lying on the ground.

I patted Yan Shu on the shoulder, "It was definitely worth saving you." Just as I was about to walk past him into the stone chamber, he suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Su Xie…”

"What's wrong?" I frowned at him.

He opened his mouth for a long time, wanting to speak but seemingly having forgotten how to speak. After a long while, his face flushed with anxiety, he managed to say, "Why...why save me?"

This was the second time he had asked me this question, but this time it surprised me. I didn't expect that someone with mental disabilities would still be so fixated on this question, and that he would keep asking even when his speech was unclear.

I thought for a moment before looking at him seriously and replying, "I pity you, Yan Shu."

His eyelashes trembled slightly, fluttering like butterfly wings before lowering, and he murmured, mimicking my words, "I pity you... I pity you..."