Chapter 37 037 A messy, sticky feeling...

Hua Yisheng hurriedly returned to Muyun Pavilion, listening to his little apprentice's urging and nagging, and rushed to the east wing without stopping.

Just as he reached the tightly closed door of the side room, he hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to go forward.

Suddenly, with a creak, the door opened from the inside, startling Hua Yisheng so much that he didn't even have time to withdraw his astonished gaze.

Hua Yisheng tried to calm his rapid breathing, hastily wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked, "Young Master, are you feeling unwell?"

Xie Huaiyuan loosened his collar and looked into the room with a deep expression: "Go and see her."

Before Hua Yisheng could react, he had already strode over the threshold and hurriedly walked outside.

Inside the lowered curtains of the side room, Lin Wan, who was unconscious, had an unusually flushed face. When Hua Yisheng saw this, his heart skipped a beat. He panicked and, without even caring about the sweat pouring down his face, rushed forward to take her pulse.

Even though he had his suspicions, he was still taken aback by Lin Wan's burning hot skin. After careful consideration, Hua Yisheng turned around and asked, "Miss Lin, how long have you been unconscious?"

"This...I don't know, maybe it was just now?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Yisheng angrily smacked his clueless apprentice: "Can't you tell if someone this old has fainted or lost consciousness? Then why are you even learning medicine from me?"

"Master, it's not that I can't tell," the little apprentice hurriedly dodged to the side, but was still hit on the head by Hua Yisheng. He frowned in pain, touched his sore head, and said aggrievedly, "When the young master carried the girl in, she was not unconscious yet, but the door was closed and no one else was allowed to come in. How was I supposed to know when the girl had fainted?"

Hua Yisheng suddenly turned around and carefully examined Lin Wan on the bed. He suddenly realized what was going on. Without saying anything more, he asked his apprentice to help him apply acupuncture to Lin Wan. After about 15 minutes, the abnormal flush on Lin Wan's face gradually subsided. Hua Yisheng slowly withdrew the needles and went to the desk on the other side of the room to write down the prescription.

"Has the Crown Prince already left?"

The servant standing guard outside the door stammered and shook his head, explaining, "...Not yet."

Hua Yisheng nodded to indicate that he understood. Although he was a little puzzled as to why Xie Huaiyuan's attendants were not with him, it was not something he could ask. This strange thought only flashed through his mind.

After a while, he handed the prescription written on the table, the ink of which had already dried, to his little apprentice. He glanced outside the door, but still couldn't see Xie Huaiyuan's figure returning. He then carefully instructed his dazed little apprentice: "The medicine that Miss Lin took this time is very potent. You must remember not to be lazy and to quickly gather the medicine, decoct it, and bring it to me."

The young apprentice took the prescription, turned around and hurriedly ran out, almost bumping into Xie Huaiyuan at the door.

"Your Highness... Your Highness." The young apprentice hurriedly bowed.

Xie Huaiyuan glanced down at the prescription in his apprentice's hand: "Go."

Seeing his young apprentice so reckless, Hua Yisheng was so angry that his head throbbed. He knew he would have to teach the apprentice a lesson after this was over. He stood up, stepped forward, and bowed, saying, "Your Highness."

As they got closer, they noticed that Xie Huaiyuan's hair was damp with moisture, and wondered if it was really that hot and humid outside. But the outside was cool and shady, with no sign of heat.

When Xie Huaiyuan called out, Hua Yisheng looked up and saw Xie Huaiyuan sitting down, his knees slightly bent and his hands casually resting on his knees. Hua Yisheng lifted his eyes and saw that there was a wet patch around the edge of his sleeve.

"How is she now?"

He didn't mention her name at all, but Hua Yisheng immediately understood that he was asking about the one who was unconscious in bed.

"The drug that Miss Lin was given was aphrodisiac commonly used in brothels, used to force women who were unwilling to serve her. Although this drug is potent, fortunately, Miss Lin did not drink a large amount of it, and this aphrodisiac..." Hua Yisheng hesitated and said, "has already been neutralized, so the strength of the drug can be reduced."

The room suddenly fell silent, and even the servants guarding outside could clearly feel the stagnant air inside.

Xie Huaiyuan tightened his fingers on his knees, looked up at Hua Yisheng, and said in a very calm tone: "Yes, it was relieved once."

Compared to Xie Huaiyuan's calm expression, Hua Yisheng's heart was in turmoil. He suddenly understood the reason, but dared not think about it further. His fingertips, which were stroking his beard, paused slightly: "Once Miss Lin drinks the soothing antidote, the aphrodisiac will be neutralized, and there will be no problem."

-

When Lin Wan regained consciousness, it was already dark. The faint candlelight flickered in the wind, shining through the fallen curtains onto the bed and casting dappled candlelight shadows.

She paused for a while, then noticed that the canopy above her was plain-colored with dark cloud patterns, which looked completely unfamiliar.

...This is not the Su residence.

She was startled and instinctively used her hands to support herself as she stood up.

The soreness and heaviness in my side instantly popped into my mind.

Belatedly sensing the strangeness on her body, Shu Zhan Yue Er looked down and saw her disheveled and wrinkled dress, which made her mind go blank. After a moment, she was surprised to find that there was someone sitting on the armchair by the bed.

Xie Huaiyuan: "You're awake?"

Lin Wan was so startled that she couldn't speak for a moment. She looked at him quietly, and after a long while, she asked in a low voice, "How did you get here?"

"do not you remember?"

"..."

Fragments of memories flashed before Lin Wan's eyes intermittently after she sat up.

At the banquet in the Imperial Garden, her clothes were splashed with water by a palace maid, and then she followed the lady-in-waiting of Princess Zhaoyi to change her wet clothes.

Then she felt something was wrong with her body and realized that she had been drugged. As she hurriedly walked back, she encountered... Gu Qinghe, and then him, Xie Huaiyuan.

Fleeting glimpses of ambiguous and entangled scenes flashed through her mind. She wasn't oblivious to the situation; she witnessed those forceful, tender kisses and those unfamiliar, tingling, and trembling sensations.

For a moment, she was completely at a loss as to how to face it.

She didn't know who had drugged her. The drug was so potent that if she hadn't met Xie Huaiyuan later, her reputation would probably have been ruined.

But after she took the medicine, she clung to Xie Huaiyuan, actively asking for kisses, and even... because of the effects of the medicine, she clung to him in a daze, hooking her arms around him and letting his rough fingertips rub her.

If others knew that she was pestering him in such an embarrassing way, they would probably condemn her for violating etiquette.

Lin Wan thought that she could let go of the kisses and hugs she had given him before, but this time her entanglement had probably angered him. She remembered that he had repeatedly refused her advances.

She clenched her fists, hesitating about how to explain her entangled and impolite behavior.

Xie Huaiyuan waited patiently for her reply, but after a while, she remained silent. His dark and deep eyes kept staring at her, determined not to give up until she spoke.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

The youngest apprentice of the renowned physician Hua Yisheng brought over the prepared antidote and said, "Young Master, the medicine is ready."

Once the medicine bowl was placed on the table by the bedside, the young apprentice, with great foresight, put the medicine down and left, not daring to linger for even a moment longer.

Xie Huaiyuan: "Not going to take your medicine?"

Lin Wan blinked, trying to pretend to forget those embarrassing things, and said, "It's too hot, let it cool down before you drink it."

His gaze did not leave her; he looked at Lin Wan without any attempt to hide it. He slightly curled his lips, got up, picked up the medicine bowl, and then sat directly on the edge of the bed, where his body overlapped with her disheveled clothes.

He tested the medicine bowl in his hand with a spoon repeatedly, and said calmly, "It's cooled down now, you can drink it."

Lin Wan stared wide-eyed at Xie Huaiyuan, who was about to feed her the medicine himself, and sighed helplessly as she took the bowl of medicine from his hand: "Your Highness, I'll drink it myself."

He stared at her intently and repeated, "It's alright, I'll do it."

It was truly an extremely agonizing experience to drink the medicine.

Lin Wan drank the medicine in the bowl in one gulp. Because she did it so quickly, she couldn't catch her breath and choked, coughing until tears welled up in her eyes.

He frowned, took the medicine bowl from Lin Wan's hand and placed it on the table, then gently soothed her back to help her catch her breath.

Touching again and again.

Through the thin fabric, rough fingertips repeatedly and gently stroked her back.

In the dim light of that time, memories, both those that should and shouldn't have been, suddenly flooded my mind.

Lin Wan's cheeks flushed instantly, both ashamed and annoyed, and she dared not look him in the eye.

After a moment, Xie Huaiyuan stopped what he was doing and said softly, "I have investigated what happened yesterday and will handle it for you. What happened yesterday was improper, I..."

"I understand! It was in a moment of panic, not your intention." Lin Wan didn't know why he was bringing this up now, and felt extremely embarrassed and unable to cope. She moved her body slightly away from his palm on her back and hurriedly explained, "I won't reveal a word about those things, Your Highness, please rest assured."

How do you know it's not what I wanted?

ah?

"Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

Lin Wan froze, completely unprepared for his words. She stared at him in astonishment and asked the question that had been on her mind: "Your Highness, do you...like me?"

Xie Huaiyuan lowered his eyes and said, "What do you think?"

"So, will you marry me?"

He paused, then said, "Not yet."

Lin Wan's heart was in turmoil. She felt like she had been played by him, and she cursed him countless times in her mind before finally saying, word by word, "We've already gone this far... why can't we?"

After Lin Wan finished speaking, she stopped looking at his reaction. She tugged at her dress, got up from the bed, and as she stood up, a fine, sticky sensation spread up her waist and abdomen, causing her to frown. She almost fell because she lost her balance. Fortunately, he was quick to catch her and helped her up.

The two were very close, and a cool, refreshing aura wafted over them.

Xie Huaiyuan sighed silently: "It's getting late. I'll send someone to take you back to your residence."

Lin Wan was both angry and annoyed. She wanted to curse him a few times, and she was even more annoyed with herself. Did he really have to experience the pleasure of sex with her before he would be willing?