Chapter 11 Applying Medicine

"Your Highness is overthinking it. I only wish to treat the knife wound on your shoulder."

Lin Xiao did nothing, he simply loosened the sash around her waist, but did not untie it.

Once she calmed down and realized she had made a huge fool of herself, Shen Panyan blushed crimson.

"You...you could have just told me directly. I...I thought..." She lowered her head, completely unable to meet Lin Xiao's gaze.

Lin Xiao glanced at her, somewhat puzzled. "I already said that."

Chen Panyan: "..."

Upon closer reflection, he had indeed said it, but she had misunderstood.

Her cheeks flushed even redder. Seeing Lin Xiao's hand moving towards her left shoulder, Shen Panyan immediately panicked, "Wait!"

Lin Xiao stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a puzzled expression, thinking that she was unwilling.

"Princess, your knife wounds need to be treated as soon as possible, otherwise they will become infected."

He would never have offended the princess if he weren't unable to return tonight.

"I...I know." Shen Panyan stammered. Treating the wound was one thing, but the idea of ​​taking off her clothes was something she really couldn't accept. "I...I'll take them off myself."

Upon hearing her say this, Lin Xiao took a step back and turned around.

"Princess, when you are ready, please call me."

Shen Panyan gave a soft "hmm" and then began to try to unbutton the clothes on her left arm.

However, whenever she tugged at her clothes, it would pull at the congealed blood in her wound, and a sharp pain would surge up instantly, causing Shen Panyan to gasp in pain.

"hiss....."

The soft sound of falling snow came from outside, sparks danced, and even the dim light could not conceal the paleness of Shen Panyan's lips.

Her fingertips trembled, and she couldn't bring herself to lift her clothes in one go. Instead, it felt like a dull knife was grinding her flesh, and every movement was painful.

After several attempts, Shen Panyan could no longer bear the torment. After hesitating for a long time, she finally looked up at the black figure in front of her.

The night was pitch black, and he seemed to blend into the darkness. If it weren't for the firelight illuminating his figure, no one would have noticed that there was a person standing there.

"Lin Xiao..."

"How about... you do it!"

Lin Xiao turned around and saw that Shen Panyan had torn her clothes to shreds and her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were full of tears. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"yes."

He picked it up much faster.

"Princess, please bear with the pain."

Shen Panyan nodded with teary eyes, "You...you be gentle."

Lin Xiao nodded, but his hands moved extremely quickly. Better a short pain than a long one. He quickly took off the clothes on her shoulders, revealing a round, fair shoulder with a well-proportioned and beautiful collarbone.

Shen Panyan gripped her clothes tightly with her other hand, terrified that they would continue to slip down.

A cold wind blew past her shoulders, and Lin Xiao's gaze fell directly on her shoulders. Shen Panyan trembled and couldn't help but want to dodge.

Lin Xiao paid no attention to anything else; his gaze was fixed solely on her wounds.

Beside that beautiful collarbone, there was a gaping wound, the flesh torn open. The wound had already congealed, and the dark red scabs were attached to her clothes. Now the wound was torn open again, and bright red blood immediately flowed out.

"Princess, you need not treat your subordinates as human beings, nor should you take this matter to heart." Lin Xiao began to clean her wounds, his voice calm and indifferent.

Noble ladies always value their innocence, and the princess was timid by nature. He feared that the princess might not be able to think things through and would commit suicide.

"I have overstepped my bounds. I will ask the princess for punishment upon my return."

"It hurts..." Tears welled up in Shen Panyan's eyes, her mind filled with pain, and she couldn't hear what he was saying at all.

"Princess, please be patient a little longer."

With every movement he made, Shen Panyan's body trembled uncontrollably, her voice quivering, "Lin Xiao, it hurts..."

Helpless, Lin Xiao had no choice but to move as gently as possible.

This reminded him of the time he accidentally injured the princess and then applied medicine to her wounds.

Even that small wound caused her fingertips to tremble with pain; now this knife wound...

Lin Xiao's gaze suddenly fell on Shen Panyan's face.

Cold sweat beaded on Shen Panyan's forehead as she bit her lip so hard that blood began to seep out.

Lin Xiao paused for a moment, feeling a bit of a headache, "Princess, bite this."

Having nothing else to do, he placed his right hand to her lips.

Shen Panyan paused for a moment, then looked up at him.

The two were very close at this moment, so close that she could easily see all the emotions in his eyes.

Calm, indifferent, and with a hint of other emotions mixed in, she couldn't understand them, as if it was impatience with herself.

Shen Panyan's heart trembled, and she lowered her eyelashes.

It's perfectly normal for Lin Xiao to be impatient with herself, after all, she doesn't like herself either.

The powder was sprinkled on the wound, and the pain made Shen Panyan tremble uncontrollably. Without thinking, she bit his hand hard.

Consider this his punishment for offending me!

Lin Xiao didn't even flinch when the princess bit him.

As the powder was sprinkled, the pain in her shoulder gradually subsided, and Chen Panyan slowly loosened her grip.

She turned her head away, not daring to look at him.

Lin Xiao used the cloth he had torn off earlier to bandage her wound, pulled her clothes up from under her shoulders, and then got up to leave.

"Princess, please rest early. We will return to the villa first thing tomorrow morning."

"......Um."

One sat by the fire, the other at a distance, and neither spoke again. The entire cave was so quiet that only the crackling of the burning firewood could be heard.

As Shen Panyan watched the leaping orange-yellow flames before her, the pain in her left shoulder ceased, and the cold of the winter snow was driven away by the flames. Her chaotic and complicated emotions gradually calmed down, and her thoughts became clearer.

Actually, Lin Xiao didn't do anything wrong; it was she who was being willful and taking out all her temper on Lin Xiao.

She has wronged Lin Xiao.

Shen Panyan felt guilty and wanted to apologize to him, but when she saw his silent and sharp back, she hesitated.

I should go back and apologize to him again.

She hadn't been this willful in a very, very long time.

Once she calmed down, Shen Panyan naturally wouldn't act the way she did before.

She always felt that something was off about Qiu Shuang's situation.

Qiu Shuang wasn't like this before. When she first came to my side, she was very, very good to me. She would not only coax me, but also protect me. If anyone below me disrespected me, she would scold them severely. Sometimes, if I was a little willful, she would tolerate me. If I felt wronged, she would carefully wipe away my tears.

While in the palace, she was often scolded by her mother, Qiu Shuang, who always comforted her. Otherwise, she would not have risked her life to protect her.

She always trusted Qiu Shuang and listened to her every word, never questioning her.

But why has the autumn frost changed?

Even though she was dissatisfied with herself, she never restrained her. She could leave whenever she wanted, so why did she treat herself like this?

When exactly did it start to change?

Shen Panyan thought back carefully... Suddenly, she realized that it seemed that Qiu Shuang's attitude towards her only began to change slowly when the second young master of the Chu family, the family of the Vice Minister of Rites, appeared.

Because she refused to accept the Second Young Master Chu's letters and did not want to have any contact with him, Qiu Shuang became angry with her.

Not only did she take it upon herself to accept the letter from the Second Young Master Chu, but she also repeatedly urged her to choose him as her consort. She refused, and the two gradually grew apart.

Shen Panyan disliked the Second Young Master Chu and was even less willing to marry him; his nickname had already spread throughout the entire capital.

In the capital, everyone called him "the dashing young master".

Whenever he met a beautiful girl, he would shower her with money and write her love poems and letters with ease, as if he would marry no one but her in this life.

However, after the girl agreed, he lost interest and ignored her, which made her sad and upset. Only after she insisted on marrying him did he reluctantly take her as his mistress.

They wouldn't even give her a proper title, treating her like a mistress.

What kind of good person could this be?

Everyone in the capital said he was a womanizer, but Shen Panyan disliked him very much.

Such a person could never be a good husband.

She was unwilling, but Qiu Shuang felt that the Second Young Master Chu treated her very well and was a rare good husband in the capital.

In the past, she was just puzzled, thinking that Qiu Shuang did not know the nickname of the Second Young Master Chu, and she was too embarrassed to tell her about the outrageous things he had done, so she kept avoiding him. She never suspected that even she, a princess who was not very well-informed, already knew. How could Qiu Shuang, as her confidante, not know?

Looking back now, there's only one reason: she did it on purpose.

But why does she insist on making herself accept the Second Young Master Chu?

No matter what, she was a princess. Even if she had a bad temper, her father would not marry her off to such an unreliable man unless she had no other choice.

What happened that forced her to marry...?

Recalling what had happened before, Shen Panyan suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Lin Xiao said that Qiu Shuang had been plotting to get rid of him and lure her away, so that she would fall into the hands of the bandits. Shen Panyan was still a little confused. She thought she hadn't treated Qiu Shuang too badly, so why would she hate her so much and want her to fall into the hands of the bandits?

Moreover, although the royal villa is far from the capital, it is a place where the emperor would come every year for the spring hunt, so how could there be bandits in the vicinity?

She only just realized how huge a loophole this was.

Shen Panyan felt a chill run down her spine, her face turning ashen.

As Qiu Shuang was her personal maid, she spent most of her time in the palace and the royal villa. How could she possibly attract bandits on her own? In other words, there must be someone helping her behind the scenes.

The person behind her went to such lengths to let her fall into the hands of bandits; they certainly didn't want her to die, but rather to ruin her reputation.

As long as she falls into the hands of bandits, regardless of whether she has lost her virginity to them, the end result will be that she will be infamous in the capital.

Her father already disliked her, and after her reputation was ruined, Shen Panyan dared not even imagine what kind of situation she would be in.

Whether she would marry casually, such as to that second young master Chu, or spend the rest of her life cultivating in a Taoist temple, Shen Panyan still doesn't know.

But there was one thing she was very clear about, and that was that her life was ruined.

She was just a princess who was not liked by her father and mother. Although she was timid, she had never offended anyone. Who could hate her so much that they would want to put her in such a situation?

Qiu Shuang failed. Will the person behind her give up, or will they send someone else instead?

If someone else were to come, would the people around her still be there...? Thinking of this, a great fear rose in Shen Panyan's heart.

Thinking back to the palace maids and eunuchs around her, Shen Panyan vaguely realized that it seemed like everyone was a suspect.

They were never particularly respectful to her, often gathering together to talk, but upon seeing her, they would fall silent, offer a perfunctory greeting, and then disperse. Because people frequently left her palace, the Imperial Household Department often sent new palace servants. She didn't know any of them well; previously, those servants were all under Qiu Shuang's supervision, and she never interfered…

Looking back now, it's fair to say that she could trust none of those people.

To be a princess like her is probably unique since the founding of the Zhaoyan Kingdom.

Shen Panyan buried her head in her knees and wept silently.

A note from the author:

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Is anyone reading my post?

Waaaaah, am I playing a single-player game? [crying emoji]