After carrying Goose Warm Stones for a whole day, Daohuaâs shoulders were unbearably painful that evening.
Wang Manman entered the room with hot water for washing and saw Daohua massaging one of her shoulders with her hand. She hurried over, âMiss, you should clean up first, and then Iâll give you a massage.â
Daohua didnât refuse and nodded. After freshening up, she lay down on the bed.
âOh, why is it so red?â
Seeing the two striking red marks on Daohuaâs shoulders, Wang Manman exclaimed in surprise.
Daohua turned and put her index finger to her lips to shush her, âShh, keep your voice down. Do you want to bring grandmother here?â
Wang Manman lowered her voice while gently kneading Daohuaâs shoulders, whispered, âMiss, why donât you stop carrying the Goose Warm Stones tomorrow?â
Daohua shook her head, âNo, if I donât go, then Xiao Yeyang will be all by himself, which will be too lonely.â
Wang Manman fell silent for a moment, âThen⦠then carry less with you.â
Daohua laughed, âIâm already carrying very little. You know how sensitive my skin is, it turns red at the slightest touch. It looks scary, but itâs not so painful.â
âBut Xiao Yeyang, he always carries a full load. I took a look, and the ropes are so tightly wrapped around his shoulders, he must be suffering terribly today.â
Wang Manman sighed, âI donât know why Master Gu has the Little Prince working on the road himself. Wouldnât it be faster to have someone else do it? Why make it hard for him?â
Daohua didnât respond; her master just wasnât feeling good inside, still hung up on the Gu Familyâs house being burned. Unable to settle accounts with Prince An Jing, he could only take it out on Xiao Yeyang.
Thinking this way, Daohua felt even sorrier for Xiao Yeyang.
Unable to win Prince An Jingâs favor, yet he had to carry the debts Prince owed.
Thinking about it, she truly felt stifled for him.
âPoor child!â
Just then, a call from Lady Yan came from next door, and Daohua immediately sent Wang Manman to check.
Soon, Wang Manman came back and said, âMiss, grandmother wants to bathe, I need to help her fetch water. Iâll come back later to massage your shoulders.â
Daohua waved her off, âGrandmotherâs needs are more important. Donât worry about my shoulder; you go.â
Once Wang Manman left, Daohua lay on the bed and closed her eyes, intending to fall asleep quickly, but the burning pain in her shoulder was uncomfortable, forcing her to get up to apply some medicine.
After applying the medicine, Daohua felt much better. She put down the medicine bottle and was ready to go back to sleep. However, after only a couple of steps, she stopped, âXiao Yeyang came in such a rush this time. Did he bring any medicine with him?â
With that thought, Daohua walked to the clothes rack, dressed again, picked up the medicine from the table, and left the room.
â¦
âMaster, bear with it a bit, this servant will fetch some hot water to soothe it.â
Just as Daohua stepped into the courtyard, she saw Defu hurrying toward the kitchen. Seeing that Xiao Yeyangâs room door was open, she walked straight in.
âXiao Yeyang!â
Xiao Yeyang, who was shirtless and lying on the bed, heard Daohuaâs voice and quickly tried to get up, reaching for his clothes. But then he saw Daohua entering the room.
Seeing Xiao Yeyang without a shirt, Daohua froze.
And Xiao Yeyang, taken aback by Daohuaâs sudden entry, was also stunned.
The room fell into silence.
There were no screams as expected, nor was there a shy covering of the face to flee. Seeing Daohua staring at him with wide eyes, Xiao Yeyangâs neck and ears reddened visibly.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
He quickly grabbed his shirt and put it on haphazardly. Only then did Xiao Yeyang glare at Daohua, lowering his voice to ask, âWhy are you here in my room?â
By the door, Daohua had also come back to her senses. Seeing Xiao Yeyang looking at her as if a decent woman had caught a glimpse of a lecher, she was at once speechless and amused.
She simply couldnât help but take a few extra glances at the guyâs bronze skin and his eight-pack abs. Did that mean she had to be guarded against like a wolf?
Daohua pouted, âXiao Yeyang, do you really need to be like this? Itâs not like I did more than glance at your body. Whatâs the big deal?â
Xiao Yeyang was feeling uncomfortable at heart, and on hearing these words, he blurted out, âThereâs nothing great about it, can you let me have a look back at you?â
Daohuaâs eyes widened with anger, âXiao Yeyang, are you asking for death?â she said, and then began rolling up her sleeves, looking like she was about to throw a punch.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Xiao Yeyang realized he had misspoken. Feeling somewhat guilty, he said, âYou were the one talking nonsense first, I was just going along with what you said.â
Daohua huffed indignantly, âHow can you compare the two? Youâre a man, and Iâm a woman. If I take a look at you, you arenât at a loss.â
Hearing Daohua say this, Xiao Yeyang was having none of it, âWhat kind of logic is that? According to what youâre saying, then if I look at youâ¦â His voice trailed off and he muttered, âIf I look at you, youâre not at a loss either, would you let me see?â
Daohua noticed Xiao Yeyangâs lips moving but didnât hear any sound, so she immediately asked, âWhat are you muttering about?â
Xiao Yeyang waved his hand dismissively and sat down at the table, âForget it, I donât feel like arguing with you. Itâs so late, why arenât you sleeping? What are you doing here looking for me?â
Daohua snorted and raised the medicine bottle in her hand, âIâve brought you medicine! Do you want it or not?â
Xiao Yeyang nodded repeatedly. He had exerted himself a bit too much that day, and his shoulder was aching fiercely, âYes, of course, I want it.â He took a few steps towards the door and reached out to take the medicine from Daohuaâs hand.
Daohua lifted her hand to avoid Xiao Yeyangâs grasp and raised an eyebrow at him, âWhat, youâre not afraid of me anymore?â
Xiao Yeyang looked at Daohua gloomily, âWhy should I be afraid of you?â
Daohua curled her lip, âThen why were you looking at me just now as if youâd seen a wolf? As if I was going toâ¦â
Considering the conservatism of the ancients, Daohua stopped herself in time and didnât continue, but Xiao Yeyang spoke up, âAs if you were going to do what?â
Daohua clenched her fist and waved it in front of Xiao Yeyang, âAs if I was going to beat you up.â After saying that, she handed over the medicine bottle to Xiao Yeyang.
As Xiao Yeyang reached out to take it, the movement of his arm caused his clothes to open up a bit, and Daohua immediately noticed the conspicuous bruise on his shoulder.
âHow did it get so severe?â
Daohua couldnât help herself and âswooshedâ open Xiao Yeyangâs jacket.
Xiao Yeyang, in a panic, tried to wrap the clothing back around him, and in doing so, accidentally grasped Daohuaâs hand, which was still holding his jacket.
When Defu came back carrying hot water, he just happened to witness the two of them with hands clasped and tugging at the clothes.
âClang!â
The sound of the water basin dropping to the floor made Daohua and Xiao Yeyang both look over.
Daohua, âDefu, how could you be so careless? You didnât scald yourself, did you?â
Xiao Yeyang timely released Daohuaâs hand, took the medicine from her, and turned back to his room, âIâve got the medicine. You can go back now.â
âBang!â
Seeing the door shut tightly, Daohua smiled wryly and turned to Defu, âYour master is quite impolite.â
Defu gave a sheepish smile, then hung his head and said nothing.
Daohua walked over, âI brought the medicine for Xiao Yeyang. You should give him a good rub later, and after a nightâs rest, it should be much better tomorrow.â
Defu nodded, âYes, this servant will do as told.â
âThen Iâm leaving!â
As Defu watched Daohuaâs departing figure, he finally let out a sigh of relief, bent down to pick up the fallen basin and was about to refill it with hot water when the door opened again.
Defu quickly entered the room with the basin, and upon entering, he saw his master staring intently at his own hand.