Therefore, she had no objections to whatever decision Mu Ruoyan made.

“Killing her would be too easy on her.” Mu Ruoyan gently stroked Lin Xihe’s hair: “Don’t listen to these dirty things. I don’t want these filthy things to pollute your ears.”

The carriage drove steadily into the Lin family mansion. Lin Xihe wanted to return to her own courtyard, but Mu Ruoyan firmly refused. He carefully avoided the crowd, carried Lin Xihe back to the west courtyard, and then immediately summoned Ling Xue.

A new bathtub was brought to the west courtyard. Lin Xihe had just hurriedly stepped into the tub, wanting to wash away her fatigue and fear, when Ling Xue suddenly knelt on the ground with a thud, her face full of self-reproach, her voice trembling with tears: "Miss, it's my fault for not watching you properly. Please punish me, Miss!"

Lin Xihe soaked in the warm water, gently raising her injured wrist. Several wounds on her body stung slightly from being immersed in the water.

"Don't kneel, help me wash my hair first," she said softly, her voice tinged with weariness.

Ling Xue hurriedly got up, tears still welling up in her eyes; she had been worried sick about this whole time.

“Miss, I couldn’t find you. I was just about to go back to the manor to ask for help when I ran into Xu Qi. They captured the family that got married and killed most of them before they found out your whereabouts. Young Master Mu wouldn’t let me go with him and went to find you himself. Miss, if anything happens to you, I won’t live anymore.”

Ling Xue choked back tears as she scooped water to wash Lin Xihe's hair.

Lin Xihe looked up as Ling Xue's tears fell into the water.

She remembered Ling Xue saying that she had never cried since she came to work under Ji Zhuo at the age of seven. Now it seemed that she was becoming more and more like an ordinary little girl.

"Look at you, didn't you say you wouldn't cry? I thought it was pouring rain." Lin Xihe teased, knowing that Ling Xue was full of self-blame, so she wanted to lighten the mood. "Mu Ruoyan arrived just in time, I'm fine."

“Girl, this shoulder injury…” Ling Xue cried even louder as she looked at the injury on Lin Xihe’s shoulder.

"This injury wasn't sustained today; it was from Mu Ruoyan's bite. Those bandits didn't touch me," Lin Xihe said, gently patting Ling Xue's hand to comfort her.

Why did he bite the girl?

Ling Xue gently touched the wound, filled with doubt. In her opinion, if Young Master Mu liked her young lady, how could he bear to inflict such a severe wound?

Lin Xihe sighed softly, her thoughts drifting away.

She had intended to sever ties with Mu Ruoyan today, but when he arrived to save her, the look of relief and excitement on his face touched her heart.

If Mu Ruoyan hadn't appeared in time, she really didn't know if she would have the courage to live on today.

But she was about to get married, and was destined to let him down.

Lin Xihe snapped out of her thoughts and urged, "Little girl, you don't understand. Hurry up and wash it. The wound hurts terribly in the water."

She was also vaguely worried that Mu Ruoyan would get impatient and come in.

Ling Xue opened the door and saw Mu Ruoyan still waiting outside, looking calm and without any impatience, holding two small medicine bottles in her hand.

"Young Master Mu, please come in."

Mu Ruoyan strode into the room. Lin Xihe's hair was still covered with glistening water droplets, and a few wet strands of hair clung to her cheeks, while the rest fell smoothly over her shoulders, making her face look even paler and pitiful.

He stepped forward and naturally sat on the cushion next to her. With practiced ease, he pulled Lin Xihe's wrist, rolled up her sleeve, and then scooped out a spoonful of ointment from the medicine bottle, gently applying it to her wrist.

The ointment was applied to the wound, feeling cool and slightly stinging. Lin Xihe frowned, and Mu Ruoyan leaned down and gently blew on it a few times, treating it like a precious treasure.

Although Ling Xue wasn't particularly perceptive, she could still tell that this young master Mu treated her young lady with complete familiarity, as if the two were already very close, and their every move exuded the tacit understanding of a young couple.

"We just checked, are there any other injuries?"

"No, you've asked that so many times."

"Are you getting impatient?" Mu Ruoyan raised an eyebrow slightly, feigning displeasure.

"What do you mean?" Lin Xihe quickly retorted.

"You were so timid yesterday, why aren't you afraid today?" Mu Ruoyan said, gently blowing on Lin Xihe's wrist a few times to make her feel better.

Lin Xihe withdrew her hand and looked at Mu Ruoyan gratefully: "I haven't properly thanked you yet. Thank you for saving me today."

Mu Ruoyan's expression darkened, and she said with self-reproach, "If it weren't for me, would you have gone out on this trip?"

"It has nothing to do with you. If someone wants to harm me, they will always find an opportunity."

Lin Xihe interrupted him, not wanting to get entangled with him on this topic any further.

Lin Xihe knew she had to cut her losses quickly and not have any more emotional entanglements with Mu Ruoyan. She turned to Ling Xue and instructed, "Ling Xue, stop serving here and go find Xu Qi. Help me investigate the people in the manor. It's too much of a coincidence that I got arrested as soon as I went out."

After the two had walked away, Mu Ruoyan looked at Lin Xihe and asked, "What do you want to say to me?"