Chapter 7 A Terrifying Calamity: "You care about me a lot?"

Lu Xiuyi made his promise with great conviction, but he was quickly proven wrong. Less than half a month later, he regretted that he had shot himself in the foot.

***

Meng Yu was overjoyed to receive Lu Xiuyi's promise. Even though serving him was quite boring, she didn't find it too unbearable.

That afternoon, she received a rare permission from Lu Xiuyi to go back to her room to rest. As usual, she went to the kitchen to get some snacks and went upstairs. Just as she approached the door, she suddenly heard a "bang" from inside.

She was slightly surprised, thinking that Lu Xiuyi had broken something. She gripped the handle and was about to go in when a hoarse, trembling voice suddenly rang out: "No, don't come in, run!"

Before she could see what was happening inside, a sharp gust of wind suddenly swept in.

Meng Yu subconsciously turned her body to the side.

The next instant, a sharp dart, accompanied by a fierce wind, suddenly slashed past her eyes and thudded into the side wall, instantly cracking the wooden wall in several thin lines.

Meng Yu stared blankly for a moment, then dropped the pastry in her hand. She was so frightened that her face turned as white as paper, and she almost lost her mind.

Thank goodness, if she hadn't dodged in time, she might have been the one to break open.

Without time to think about what had happened, Meng Yu knew there must be an assassin, and turned to run.

Before she could run more than a few steps, a gust of wind suddenly rushed out from behind her, and a white handkerchief was abruptly covered her mouth and nose. Meng Yu struggled a few times in fear, but in no time, a feeling of weakness quickly spread to her limbs and bones. She felt increasingly powerless, and her eyelids felt heavy. In just half a breath, everything went black before her eyes.

The man in black dragged the unconscious Meng Yu inside, casually tossed her beside the armchair, pulled out his dagger again, and walked step by step toward the bed with a fierce gaze.

Lu Xiuyi felt feverish and his limbs were weak. He saw the man in black throw Meng Yu onto the armchair like trash, her head seemingly hitting the corner. He struggled to his feet, his eyes blazing with fury: "What did you do to her?"

"Don't worry, the person I'm ordered to kill is you, it has nothing to do with anyone else," the man's black boots made a soft sound on the wooden floor. Suddenly, the man in black seemed to think of something and chuckled softly, "Who would have thought that the young Marquis Lu, who can flit from flower to flower without ever getting attached, would fall for a little girl?"

As if his secret had been exposed, yet as if he were unwilling to admit it, Lu Xiuyi's gaze was filled with complex emotions. He gripped the pillow tightly, his voice turned cold, and his brows furrowed with gloom as he tried to change the subject: "Who sent you? The Left Prime Minister? Tang Que? Or Lu Jiayan?"

The man in black stared intently at Lu Xiuyi, his eyes sharp. When he was a few steps away from the bed, seeing that Lu Xiuyi seemed about to retaliate, he quickly stepped forward, sneered, and said, "You won't have a chance to know."

Seeing this, Lu Xiuyi was about to use his strength to lift the pillow to block back when his hand stopped in mid-air. Suddenly, he saw Meng Yu lift the armchair and smash it down on the head of the man in black.

"Bang……"

Before the man in black could react, the dagger in his hand fell to the ground with a thud, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Meng Yu turned her head and saw that the chair legs were stained with blood, and the place where the man in black was lying was dark red, making the ginger-yellow floor look glaring.

Even the back of her hand was warm with a fishy smell.

For a moment, Meng Yu thought she had killed someone. The armchair in her hand fell to the ground. She felt dizzy and staggered back a few steps. Her knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground.

Lu Xiuyi's eyebrows furrowed in pain, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. When he turned around, he saw Meng Yu standing there, staring at the man in black with a look of terror on her face. Ignoring the piercing pain in his body, he tremblingly ordered, "Don't just stand there, quick, go and call for help."

Upon hearing the sound, Meng Yu's thoughts were abruptly pulled back. She nodded blankly and staggered out as if she had lost her soul.

But when she went down the stairs, her steps were weak and her whole body was trembling. She could only hold onto the wall and walk down unsteadily.

Meng Yu hadn't seen Chu Ze for several days and didn't know where he had gone on orders. Now, as she went downstairs, she could only run to the deck where the Black Iron Cavalry was the most numerous. She stumbled and walked to the deck, panting and trying to shout, but found that her throat was hoarse and she couldn't make a sound.

She then remembered that her voice had not recovered, so she quickly took out a pen and notebook and wrote with trembling hands: "Quick, someone come quickly, I've been assassinated."

After writing it down, Meng Yu looked around and saw a black iron cavalryman who usually followed Chu Ze. He quickly went up to him, grabbed him, and handed him the notebook to look at.

When the man saw Meng Yu stagger over, her face pale, he was about to ask her what had happened when he suddenly saw the words in her notebook. His face darkened, and he shouted at the crowd, "The young marquis has been assassinated! Go and protect him!"

***

The guards dragged the man in black out and cleaned up the bloodstains on the ground half an hour later.

Meng Yu sat on the edge of the couch, her eyes vacant and unfocused.

She stared blankly at the spot where the man in black had been lying, then suddenly remembered the large pool of blood. She shuddered and quickly looked at her hands. They were perfectly clean, but she still felt that the blood on them hadn't been washed off.

In her previous life, she came from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, so she wasn't afraid of blood. But now she realizes that what she's not afraid of is the blood of living people.

She has never killed anyone.

But now she has blood on her hands.

Even in the heat of the moment, she still killed someone.

Lu Xiuyi was wrapped in a quilt, feeling dizzy and trembling all over. It took him a long time to recover, and the red spots on his body gradually faded away.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Meng Yu sitting blankly by the bed, as if she had been summoned back to life. He called her name twice, but she did not respond.

Lu Xiuyi had no choice but to reach out and poke her leg.

Meng Yu snapped back to reality, glanced at Lu Xiuyi, and quickly lowered her head to write, "Does Your Excellency have any instructions?"

Lu Xiuyi rolled his eyes: "You've been sitting here for so long, haven't you noticed what's wrong with me?"

He was in such a terrible state, and she didn't even notice.

Lu Xiuyi felt a pang of disappointment, but then he remembered how she had risked her life to save him, and he was overjoyed. So even though he was angry, he couldn't muster any more anger.

After he said that, Meng Yu took a closer look at him.

She was initially so engrossed in the fear of killing someone that she didn't notice anything unusual about Lu Xiuyi. It wasn't until she calmed down that she realized his face was terribly pale, and although he was sweating profusely, he was still tightly wrapped in the blankets.

Meng Yu seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly grabbed his wrist. Just as she was about to take his pulse, she seemed to realize something, and quickly flipped her palm over, instead rolling up his sleeve.

Sure enough, his arms were covered with red rashes. Although they had almost completely subsided, some traces could still be seen upon closer inspection.

Meng Yu frowned and wrote: "Why is your allergy so severe, sir?"

Recalling how Lu Xiuyi had hurriedly ordered her to leave that afternoon, and recalling his expression just now, Meng Yu felt a wave of fear.

Judging from his expression just now, if she hadn't come in in time, the man in black would have killed him.

If Lu Xiuyi were to die here, she would be held responsible.

She frowned, seemingly very worried. Lu Xiuyi was extremely satisfied with her performance, and said calmly, "I am fine now, you don't need to worry. You saved me this time, so I should grant you a favor. What do you want? Just tell me."

Upon hearing his words, Meng Yu was overjoyed. She was about to pick up her pen to write, "A life for a life, can the kindness of that day be wiped clean?" But the words caught in her throat, and she quickly swallowed them back.

Based on her observations of Lu Xiuyi over this period, if she truly said that, she would likely face not an apology for her kindness, but rather his furious wrath.

Meng Yu stood up and took two steps back. After curtsying to Lu Xiuyi, she lowered her head and wrote: "Saving you is my duty, sir. Besides, you once saved my life."

By saying this, she neither offended Lu Xiuyi nor failed to remind him that she had repaid the debt of gratitude she owed him.

Meng Yu lowered her eyes, hoping that Lu Xiuyi would take the initiative to wipe the slate clean of the favors between them after reading this.

After waiting for a moment, he heard a faint laugh from the other side: "It's good that you have such awareness. Well then, let me think about what kind of favor I want to bestow upon you, and then I will tell you."

Meng Yu: "..."

If he really wanted to bestow some favor upon her, shouldn't she be the one to suggest it?

Meng Yu regretted it too late. She shouldn't have cared about how Lu Xiuyi would feel after hearing those words. If she had spoken boldly just now, at least there would still be a sliver of a chance.

Now that he's bringing it up, she can only dream about it!

Despite her anger, Meng Yu did not want to lose her composure, so she curtsied to him and said, "This servant thanks you, sir."

What could he possibly give her? Nothing more than some gold and silver treasures.

But that's not what she needs most right now.

Just as he was feeling dejected, Meng Yu suddenly remembered something and quickly wrote: "I wonder why you have such an allergic reaction, Master?"

She thought about it and realized that she had carefully examined everything Lu Xiuyi ate, especially since today's food consisted of his usual favorites and edible items.

There should be nothing unusual in the food.

Lu Xiuyi leaned back on the soft pillows, tilted his head to look at her leisurely, and said with a gentle smile, "You care about me a lot?"

nonsense!

If you die, not to mention whether your father, Marquis Jiangyang, who is at odds with you, will pursue the matter, your imperial uncle will be the first to cut off my head.

Where did his confidence come from? He thought she cared about him.

Meng Yu muttered a curse inwardly, raising an eyebrow slightly, but still managed to flatter him: "As your personal maid, I naturally care about you. Besides, you are a man of imposing stature and handsome appearance. If you are not careful, this kind of thing might happen again, and the rash on your face would be unpleasant. So please enlighten me, so that I can avoid it in the future."

Flattery doesn't require speaking; it only takes a few words.

When Lu Xiuyi is in a good mood, she feels better too.

Upon hearing her say this, Lu Xiuyi's lips curled slightly, his deep eyes seemingly reflecting the stars. He said casually, "It must be that the goose stuffed with meat for lunch was mixed with ginger powder."

Meng Yu looked up in surprise.

Lu Xiuyi glanced at her lightly and, seeing that she seemed to feel guilty, said, "You don't need to blame yourself. If someone wants to kill me, they will do everything they can. Besides, there wasn't much ginger powder, and after being roasted, it has all melted into the meat. You can't see it with your eyes, and even if you taste it yourself, you might not be able to taste such a small amount."

Upon hearing this, Meng Yu was both shocked and frightened.

No wonder Chuze was so angry when ginger shreds were added to the dish that day.

Just a little ginger powder was enough to make Lu Xiuyi unable to move. If he ate a lot of it, wouldn't it kill him?