Chapter 61 061 Applying Eye Drops
The sudden influx of about a dozen Shu Mountain disciples instantly enlivened the otherwise quiet inn. The little red-clad fox demon, surrounded by their chattering chatter, was the most vibrant and lively splash of color.
Hearing everyone's concern, Xiao Ru pouted, her expression innocent and charming: "Don't worry, I'm fine now!"
The Shu Mountain youths around Xiao Ru blushed instantly, gripped their sword sheaths tightly, and stammered.
"Okay, sure."
"The weather in Yong Kingdom is really strange. One moment it's sunny, and the next it's thundering and raining... I'm glad Miss Xiaoru didn't get wet."
Xiao Ruo smiled and said, "Don't call me Miss Xiao Ruo, it's so formal. Just call me Xiao Ruo."
She braced herself on the bench with both hands, gently swayed her legs, and looked at a figure outside the crowd with a slight flicker in her eyes.
Unfortunately, the person she was looking at didn't seem to understand romance—from the moment they returned to the inn, Duan Lansheng stayed outside the crowd, his back to everyone, his face cold, wiping the mud splattered on his sword sheath.
...
The rain was pouring down, and someone had casually closed the doors and windows on the first floor, blocking the wind. The air became stagnant, adding to the sweltering, stifling heat.
Lu Yuanyuan took a soft breath and stood at the corner of the stairs, her upper body bathed in shadow.
The momentary pause as she descended the stairs made her seem to miss the chance to naturally join the bustling world below, turning her into a mere observer.
Just then, Qi Chang seemed to notice that she was still up there. He turned around and asked in surprise, "Yuanyuan, why are you still standing up there?"
Upon hearing this, Duan Lansheng trembled and instantly looked up, his gaze as cold as a beam of light piercing the moon.
The crowd surrounding Xiao Ruo finally noticed the new person on the stairs and exclaimed, "Senior Sister Lu?!"
"Senior Sister Lu, when did you get back?!"
Under the scrutiny of so many eyes, Lu Yuanyuan quickly shook off the inexplicable emotions in her heart, walked down, and explained, "I just got back too. I'm really sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long."
Qi Chang glanced at her and, as expected, covered up Yue Hong's matter for her: "Yuan Yuan encountered some trouble on the way, but fortunately it was resolved safely, and she's back now."
The two of them worked together seamlessly, and sure enough, no one questioned what she had been doing for the past ten days anymore. Except for Duan Lansheng, who kept a close eye on her.
It was already time for dinner, so Qi Chang quickly changed the subject, telling everyone to go wash up first. He said they could come to his room later to share clues and discuss their next steps.
As it grew dark, Lu Yuanyuan remembered her promise to Yue Hong. She had already spoken to Qi Chang about it, and with the crowd dispersed, she had no time to worry about Duan Lansheng. She quietly slipped to the door and slipped out.
But as soon as she stepped out the door, before she even reached the bottom of the steps, her wrist was grabbed, and Duan Lansheng's voice suddenly rang out from behind: "Where are you going?"
Lu Yuanyuan pulled her hand away and chuckled, "I'm going to see an injured friend."
Duan Lansheng frowned slightly.
The day before yesterday, they broke through the monster's illusion and returned to the real world. It was then that they learned that after Shushan discovered they had lost contact, they sent five people to support them, and Lu Yuanyuan was among them.
I heard that she asked to come herself.
Because she was so worried about him, she rushed to the sect leader without even asking about the mission details or how dangerous it was, and volunteered to go.
She traveled a long way to be with him.
The moment he heard it, his heart warmed, and all the unhappiness that had accumulated in his body before their parting vanished. However, when he learned that Lu Yuanyuan had also come to the mortal realm, she had already been missing for seven days.
For the past three days, he had been searching for her everywhere, leaving early and returning late. They finally reunited, but too many people were in his way, preventing him from having a proper conversation with her. For some reason, starting just now, Lu Yuanyuan seemed to be avoiding his gaze, and she ran away without saying a word to him.
Aren't you worried about me?
Didn't you come to the mortal realm for my sake?
Then why don't you even look at me or say a word to me?
Feeling the force with which she pulled her hand away, Duan Lansheng did not let go, but instead took two steps down to her side: "What friend? I'll go with you."
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback: "Isn't it unnecessary? You don't even know him."
Looking back, the only time Duan Lansheng and Yue Hong crossed paths was more than three years ago, on the night Duan Lansheng broke into the hunting palace. But at that time, Duan Lansheng was half-dead, and Yue Hong had his back to him, so he probably didn't know who Yue Hong was.
“You just got back, I’m worried about letting you go out alone.”
Lu Yuanyuan hesitated. If she delayed any longer, she wouldn't be able to return in time for the meeting. Oh well, she figured he wouldn't reveal her secrets, so she might as well go along with him.
Seeing that she agreed, Duan Lansheng's eyebrows and eyes relaxed slightly.
But when they finally stopped in front of the Prince's Mansion in Xiangcheng, his expression changed slightly, and the smile on his lips disappeared.
The Prince's Mansion in Xiangcheng was renovated from the palace, covering a vast area and exuding magnificence and solemnity. It had no owner, but as the name suggests, only members of the royal family could reside there. It was generally for princes leading troops into battle, or even for the emperor himself when he went to war.
Two lanterns by the door swayed in the rain, and a chubby steward waited outside, glancing up every now and then.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that this man had a fair complexion, no beard, and a gentle, kind appearance. He was none other than Eunuch Zhang, who had been serving Yue Hong all along!
At this moment, there were few pedestrians on the street in front of the Prince's Mansion. As soon as Lu Yuanyuan and Duan Lansheng approached, Eunuch Zhang noticed them. When he looked up and saw Lu Yuanyuan, a hint of surprise flashed across Eunuch Zhang's eyes. But he quickly concealed it, greeted them with a smile, and lowered his voice, saying, "Miss, our Third Prince has been waiting for you for a long time, please."
Lu Yuanyuan didn't know how Yue Hong explained it to his confidant, so to be on the safe side, she just smiled and nodded.
Duan Lansheng heard their conversation and his temples twitched slightly.
Eunuch Zhang then looked at Duan Lansheng inquisitively: "And who is this?"
Lu Yuanyuan made up a story: "He is my fellow disciple. I was worried that His Highness the Third Prince's wound would worsen, so I specially asked him to come and take a look."
Zhang Gonggong breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and led them into the courtyard.
As Lu Yuanyuan walked, she asked, "By the way, Third Sister, where did you put her?"
Eunuch Zhang said, "Is the young lady referring to that little maid? She ate two bowls of rice tonight and had a good appetite. After dinner, the nanny combed her hair and found lice in it. She took her to bathe and hasn't returned yet."
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
After passing through a long corridor, we were led to a courtyard guarded by elite soldiers. Candlelight from inside the house shone through the latticed windows, casting dappled shadows on the corridor.
Eunuch Zhang knocked on the door three times rhythmically, then stepped aside, gesturing for Lu Yuanyuan to go in first.
Lu Yuanyuan didn't think much of it and reached out to push the door open. But her other hand was faster; Duan Lansheng stepped forward, blocking her way and opening the door for her.
He seemed to freeze, his breath quickening as he saw something. He gripped the doorframe tightly, and when he turned to look at her, anger seemed to rise in his eyes.
With her view completely blocked, Lu Yuanyuan was baffled and didn't know what his expression meant. She forcefully pulled his arm down and looked closely.
To make it easier to move around and avoid tripping people, the screen in the room was temporarily moved aside, so even standing by the door, one could see the scene on the bed.
There were no palace servants in the room. Yue Hong leaned against the bed, reading a military book. But that wasn't the point. The point was that his clothes were wide open. His two long legs were bent and straight, his shirt was lifted up, his belt was loose, and it had been pulled down a bit, revealing his firm, flat abs.
Only those who have spent time with him would know that this is the preparatory posture before applying medicine—because this guy is always so hesitant and awkward, and Lu Yuanyuan has emphasized this many times. Otherwise, you'd definitely think the wrong thing.
Hearing the door open, Yue Hong turned around and saw another person. His expression changed slightly, his lips moved, and he uttered a silent "Damn it!" He quickly pulled the blanket over himself to cover his lower body, but it only made things worse.
Duan Lansheng's neck stiffened as he stared intently at Lu Yuanyuan.
Lu Yuanyuan covered her eyes and said weakly, "How could you take your clothes off so quickly!"
Yue Hong growled, "Didn't you say I should always be dressed like this and wait for you?"
Lu Yuanyuan: "..." Why does it feel like the more I explain, the worse it gets, and the less innocent I am?
Yue Hong sat up straight, looking sullen. Suddenly, he sensed a hostile gaze and glanced behind her, narrowing his eyes slightly: "Who's that?"
“This is my senior brother. I’ll have him come and take a look, just in case he needs any help.” Lu Yuanyuan paused, then asked Eunuch Zhang at the door to call for boiling water, scissors, tweezers, and other necessary tools for removing the stitches. She inadvertently noticed Duan Lansheng’s expression.
Duan Lansheng's face was extremely ugly. He pursed his lips tightly, and his eyes were dark and cold, like ice burning. He didn't look away from her face for a moment.
What's with that expression? It looks like he caught his wife cheating on him.
That doesn't make sense, right? Xiao Ruo and Yue Hong shouldn't have known each other at this time.
Just then, the palace servants brought in the prepared items one by one. Lu Yuanyuan didn't think much of it, washed her hands, and was about to take the items. Duan Lansheng suddenly pressed her hand down and said, word by word, "I'll open it."
"What?"
Duan Lansheng said coldly, "I'll dismantle it, you can stand aside and watch."
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
If she hadn't known he was talking about removing stitches, she probably would have thought he meant dismembering someone into eight pieces, judging from his tone.
Yue Hong crossed his arms and sneered, "Who knows you? Lu Yuanyuan, you come and take this apart."
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
Why would a dispute happen in such a strange place?
However, she could understand Yue Hong's caution. He was a prince who had just experienced life and death; he probably wouldn't want strangers near him, right? So she forcefully pried Duan Lansheng's hand away: "Alright, alright, stop arguing, I'll do it."
Duan Lansheng's jaw tightened, and he stopped talking, but he stepped forward.
Lu Yuanyuan sat on the edge of the bed, carefully removing the stitches from Yue Hong's waist and abdomen.
She didn't turn around, but she could feel Duan Lansheng right behind her, his gaze fixed on her back, creating immense pressure. Therefore, she abandoned her plan to chat with Yue Hong, and the stitches were removed much faster than she expected. Yue Hong's wound healed very well, without any redness or swelling.
She gave him a few instructions on what to do after the stitches were removed, and then returned to the inn. There was still about half an hour before the meeting time agreed upon by the Shu Mountain disciples, so Lu Yuanyuan took advantage of this time to write a prescription in her room.
Just before they left, Yue Hong's military doctor stopped them and said that the Third Prince's injuries normally required a month of bed rest. He had never seen such an effective prescription before, so he asked Lu Yuanyuan if possible to copy the prescription for them.
In truth, Yue Hong's rapid recovery was mainly due to the elixirs of the cultivation world. However, she did know some health-preserving formulas from the cultivation world, some of which contained ingredients unique to that realm. Fortunately, Yong Kingdom had a national advisor who could enter the cultivation world, so obtaining the necessary ingredients for the formulas shouldn't be difficult, and she readily agreed.
Duan Lansheng should have gone back to his own room, but for some reason, he squeezed into her room and followed her in.
The candlelight burned quietly as Lu Yuanyuan hunched over the table, writing. Duan Lansheng sat beside her; ever since returning from Yue Hong's place, his face had been grim, and he hadn't spoken for a long time. Upon entering the room, he turned his head away, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and sat facing the wall, gazing at his own shadow for a while before his expression returned to normal.
Suddenly, he spoke up: "The third prince of Yong Kingdom must be twenty years old this year."
Lu Yuanyuan bit her pen, writing down the dosage of a certain medicine, and absentmindedly replied, "Hmm? I think so."
“A prince who is twenty years old is of marriageable age.” Duan Lansheng got up and came to her side. Seeing that there was not much ink in the inkstone, he rolled up his sleeves and ground ink for her. “I have heard that princes in the mortal world usually marry several wives.”
Lu Yuanyuan stopped writing, and a little ink seeped from the tip of the pen onto the paper.
This was quite novel; it was the first time she'd ever heard Duan Lansheng voluntarily share gossip about someone else, especially someone he had absolutely no connection to. She looked up, puzzled, and asked, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Duan Lansheng lowered his eyelashes, his expression and tone indifferent: "It's nothing, just chatting casually."
Lu Yuanyuan grunted in response, not paying any attention, and continued writing without replying.
It must be said that in a typical ancient setting, a prince of Yue Hong's class would probably have had female officials providing him with sexual education in his teens. But this is a romance novel, and as a potential male lead in the pure and innocent "little wolf dog" genre, Yue Hong's male virtues are definitely top-notch. Apart from Xiao Ruo, no one can take away his innocence.
The room fell silent.
She thought the topic, which had been on a whim, was over.
However, Duan Lansheng glanced at her twice and saw that she still didn't react much. After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke again: "The woman who marries him will not only have to share her husband with others, but will also be trapped in a small world from now on."
He paused, then continued, "If I were a woman, I would never choose to spend my life with a man like that."
Lu Yuanyuan paused again, her pen still holding the pen: "?"
How did the topic come back to us again?
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