Zhan Chun - Chapter 24
She was holding a small, dark bowl, pounding it with a pestle. The contents of the bowl emitted a strange, fishy-sweet medicinal odor.
After pounding for a while, apply the black stuff from the pestle to her face, spreading it evenly layer by layer.
Yi Chun was startled and was about to dodge when she found herself seemingly paralyzed by pressure points, unable to move and left to be manipulated.
"This is a real treasure, a secret recipe from Nana that you can't buy anywhere else with money. Don't thank me too much later, okay?"
Nana chuckled and smeared the contents of the medicine bowl all over Yichun's face. Then she took a small pair of scissors and a hot water file, carefully washed her hands and feet, trimmed her nails, and scraped away the dead skin. After finishing, she also applied a layer of sticky stuff, carefully wrapped it in a cloth, and put it in the quilt.
Yi Chun had no idea what she was up to. The woman seemed quite quirky and unpredictable. She could only cough lightly and say, "Sister... may I ask what you're doing?"
Nana smiled mysteriously: "You'll know once you're healed. Come on, go to sleep! Get your injury healed quickly."
Yichun drifted off to sleep again in a daze. The next day, Yang Shen came to find her and saw a face covered in black medicine, with her hands and feet wrapped in white cloth, which looked very strange.
"Senior sister, are you alright?" He sat anxiously on the edge of the bed. "What... what's this on your face?"
Because her mouth was stuck shut with the medicine, Yichun struggled to say, "I'm fine... Two older sisters came to take care of me. They said this was a prescription for my own good, but I don't know what it is."
Yang Shen's face suddenly turned pale: "Could it be poison?! I've heard of a strange poison in the Western Regions that can cause skin to rot when applied to it. Are they planning to give you a new face?!"
Yichun was terrified, her heart sinking. Suddenly, Nai Nai's loud voice rang out from outside the door: "Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand!!"
The woman in the green dress rushed in, still holding the dark medicine bowl, her pretty face full of anger: "What poison! This is a miraculous medicine I concocted myself! To call it poison is an insult to my dignity!"
Yang Shen probably didn't expect that Young Master Yan would have such a lively and fierce maid, and he was speechless for a moment.
Nana rolled her eyes at him, walked to the bedside, looked down, and nodded in satisfaction: "Good, you didn't move around. Now it's time to change."
Mu Mu followed her into the house, gave Yang Shenxing a deep bow, and said with a smile and gentle voice, "Young Master Yang, please don't take offense. My sister is just that fiery-tempered. She definitely didn't mean any harm. The medicine is also very effective. Don't worry, it's not poison."
Her gentle and kind explanation made Yang Shen feel embarrassed, and he said awkwardly, "I'm sorry... I misspoke..."
Mu Mu smiled again and said, "This is the young master's villa in Tanzhou. He rarely comes here. Apart from the guards, there are only my sister and me in the villa. When we are bored, we can only study medicine. My elder sister has already achieved some expertise in this area."
Yang Shen couldn't help but turn around to look, only to see that the ointment on Yi Chun's face had been washed off, and whether it was because of the injury or something else, her dark skin seemed to have lightened a bit.
While continuing to apply the medicine, Nana kept saying, "Don't move it, and don't wipe it off. This is really good stuff. You'll soon find out how it works, and you'll definitely thank me then."
Yi Chun herself felt that her facial skin was much clearer. Seeing that Yang Shen's expression was calm, she knew that her facial skin was definitely not rotten. Only then did she feel at ease letting her do as she pleased. She applied another layer of medicine and continued to lie on the bed pretending to be dead.
Seeing that the two siblings seemed to have something to say, Mumu quickly pulled Nana away.
Yang Shen sat on the edge of the bed and said in a low voice, "Senior Sister, don't worry about being wanted. Once you're healed, we'll go to the Xiaoyao Sect and clear things up."
He knew perfectly well that going to the Xiaoyao Sect would be suicidal; without concrete evidence that she hadn't killed him, the Xiaoyao Sect would only add fuel to the fire if they saw them. But for now, this was all he could say to comfort Yichun, so she could recover properly.
Yichun shook his head: "We can't look for her. Being wanted is no big deal. We'll just leave Tanzhou as soon as we recover. By the way, what about Ningning? She's injured too. I can't move right now, so please take good care of her."
Yang Shen hesitated for a moment: "Actually... I haven't seen her for the past two days. Senior sister, don't you think she's a little strange? She doesn't seem like an ordinary family's daughter."
Upon hearing this, Yichun recalled Ningning's overly bright eyes, which shone with an eerie intensity.
She hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "In short, pay more attention to her."
****
The night watchman had already struck the third watch; the night was thick, there was no moon tonight, and it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Yan Yufei read for a while under the lamplight, then seemed a little tired and raised his hand to gently rub his temples.
Just then, the door opened, and a cold night wind rushed in, instantly extinguishing the candle. The room was plunged into darkness.
He wasn't alarmed; he simply put down the book and looked towards the doorway. There, a white figure flickered and drifted, like a ghost.
No, or rather, it was a ghost. A poignant and beautiful ghost.
"Yan Yufei—" she let out a shrill growl, "Yan Yufei, you banished me because of your suspicion, leaving me with only death as my fate. How cruel you are!"
He didn't speak, only silently watching the white figure at the door. Suddenly, she floated into the house, seemingly without touching the ground, until she was right in front of him. Her disheveled long hair was draped over her face, beneath which was a deathly pale face, with blood seemingly gushing from her seven orifices, making her extremely terrifying.
Although the face was distorted, he still recognized her; it was the maid who had begged him to take her back into the Yan family that night at the manor.
She was still wailing: "You forced my old father to die suddenly halfway through his life! Look at this face, do you even remember me?"
Yan Yufei suddenly said softly, "I originally thought I had done something wrong, but now it seems that I didn't do anything wrong after all."
He suddenly raised his right hand, and with two sharp "whoosh" sounds, tiny hidden weapons, like silver needles, shot out and hit the female ghost on the shoulder. She didn't move at all, just stared straight at him.
Yan Yufei curled his lips into a smile, reminding her, "The needle is poisoned. The second young master of the Yan family is not some upright gentleman who doesn't use poisoned hidden weapons. Didn't the person who sent you tell you beforehand?"
The female ghost trembled, her shoulders tingling slightly, a reminder that this person was not joking.
She stomped her foot angrily and fled out the door as fast as she could.
Yan Yufei lit the lamp, seemingly having no intention of chasing after them, and continued reading his book, engrossed in it.
Chapter Fifteen
On a moonless night, Yang Shen tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
He was terrified of the dark. He learned of his family's murder in a deadly, gloomy night. For a long time afterward, he slept with the light on.
The wind whistled softly, like a hand gently patting outside the window. He finally lit the candlestick and, gazing at the flame, lost all sleepiness.
A handkerchief lay on the bedside table; it wasn't made of any good material, it was worn out and slightly yellowed. The bottom was embroidered with delicate cloud patterns, which looked rather out of place.
Yang Shen touched it with his hand and carefully tied it to his belt.