She sat in the chair, slowly passing the time. At night, she suddenly heard two women whispering outside the door.
"Why didn't you order her to be killed?"
"There must be another purpose behind this. Qi's intention is to use her as bait to lure Huo Jingsha out. With her as a bargaining chip, the chances of winning will increase significantly."
You Shuyao suddenly opened her eyes, staring at the tree shadows outside the window, whipped about by the strong wind, her mind equally chaotic. It turned out that Qi hadn't executed her immediately, but rather kept her alive to lure Huo Jingsha into a trap, thus killing Huo Jingsha.
No, she could let him succeed, and she didn't want to become bait to lure Huo Jingsha to her death. She had to find a way to escape immediately!
She began to struggle desperately, trying every possible way to break free from the several ropes binding her body, but the ropes were unusually thick and tightly bound her hands and feet. When she tried to break free with brute force, the restraints did not loosen but instead tightened even more, causing her delicate skin to be chafed and blood to trickle down her face...
Unfortunately, her acupoints were sealed, preventing her from using her internal energy at all.
While gathering her strength, she forced herself to calm down. Even if she broke free of the ropes and wasn't sealed inside by the contract, she still couldn't break through the heavy guards. So she might as well wait for an opportunity and start with the contract. Maybe things would turn around.
She spent the night in fear and anxiety, and eventually fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion.
In the middle of the night, Shu Yao suddenly woke up to find someone in front of her.
She stiffened and reflexively tried to back away, but her wrist was firmly held by Qi.
"If you move again, I'll break your hand."
The cold tone sounded soft, but it was incredibly oppressive, freezing her in place and making her afraid to struggle any further.
Shu Yao was slightly out of breath, her heart pounding. Only then did she notice that Qi was holding medicine and applying it to the skin on her wrist that had been chafed by the rope. The ointment was milky white and had a faint fragrance. It dissolved immediately upon contact with the wound, producing a tingling, itchy, and stinging sensation.
"Is this medicine... poisonous?" she asked timidly, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she noticed his movements freeze, and his gaze towards her was filled with anger, easily discernible even in the dim room. Realizing he was truly angry, Shu Yao looked at him in disbelief, wondering what she had said wrong. Could it be that this was merely an anti-inflammatory and wound-healing medicine?
Qi rubbed his back teeth, glared at her, and then continued applying the medicine, but with much more force than before. She couldn't help but hiss, and then felt his movements pause for a moment before he continued applying the medicine, but the force returned to the gentleness of the beginning.
She watched him intently as he carefully applied the ointment to each wound, which only deepened her curiosity.
Could it be that he appeared here in the middle of the night just to treat her injuries? But then she suddenly realized that if he wanted to kill her, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths to poison her. After all, she was a criminal, so he could just kill her with a single blow.
Just as she was pondering, he had already finished treating the wound on her wrist and then moved to grab her calf, as if he was going to continue applying medicine to her foot injury.
“I can do it myself,” she said.
However, as soon as she pulled her foot back, his menacing gaze returned, and then one of her small feet was pinned down by his large hand, rendering her unable to move. His fierce face made her tremble, and she suddenly remembered his warning from earlier... Oh well, she was at his mercy now, so she could only let him do as he pleased.
Shu Yao gave up on applying the medicine herself, lowered her head, and looked pitiful, as if she dared not speak out against her anger.
Qi stared at her for a while before lowering his gaze, holding her small feet, and repeating the action of applying ointment. Her feet were covered with bruises from the ropes, and in some places, blood seeped out and flowed down to her heels, making her fair and delicate little feet look terrible. It was such a pity that such beautiful natural feet had been ruined... If only he hadn't let anyone tie her up.
The man before her had a tight, unpleasant expression and a chilling aura that made You Shuyao feel suffocated. Terrified, she dared not act rashly again, much less speak up to stop him.
She assumed Qi had noticed her attempt to escape from the wound and was angry that she had disobeyed the organization's assassination order, hence his fury. She felt guilty, fearing that if she displeased him, he might actually kill her in a fit of rage, thus ending the matter once and for all!
At this point, it was safer not to go against his wishes. Even if the medicine was applied to the wound and made her want to scream, she had to endure it as much as possible and dare not make a sound.
Little did she know that what Qi was thinking was completely different from what she believed.
But he didn't really know what he was angry about. In the last battle with Huo Jingsha, the two fought to a draw, but the number of Imperial Guards around them kept increasing. Even if he could defeat Huo Jingsha, he couldn't protect all the members of the organization, and in the end, he would still be captured.
Only a timely retreat could minimize losses. In the end, he led the few remaining assassins to fight their way out, thus avoiding total annihilation. However, upon returning and counting the number of men, he found that most of his companions had perished. This filled him with immense self-blame. On one hand, he hadn't anticipated another ambush after leaving the inn, catching the enemy off guard. On the other hand, he had allowed You Shuyao to be captured and taken back.
Prince Jing offered a high price to kill Huo Jingsha. Because he had never failed an assassination mission, he became one of the first assassins sent. However, after lurking in the Huo residence for several months, he still couldn't find an opportunity to strike. So the organization sent another female assassin who could kill in close combat. This person was the maid You Shuyao.
She was unaware of her own existence, while he silently observed her every move.
He just kept watching... watching... and without realizing it, his gaze gradually became fixed on her. Unlike other women who tried to seduce Huo Jingsha, she did everything she could to stay away from him.
He thought she was playing hard to get, or feigning reluctance to attract Huo Jingsha's attention. But after waiting for a long time, he saw no action from her, and instead often saw her gazing at the sky. When she was bullied by the steward and demoted to a lowly maid in the kitchen, she was quite content with her situation, a smile occasionally playing on her lips as she dutifully did her work.
He immediately felt that she was different from others, not at all like an undercover assassin with a heavy mission. To his surprise, she was even stung by a poisonous scorpion while saving Huo Jingsha, ruining his perfect plan.
What could possibly drive a woman to risk her life to save another man? Only love. So he suspected she had fallen for Huo Jingsha, which was why she was willing to disregard her own life. But upon closer observation… it didn't seem like it, because everything, from her expressions to her subtle actions, showed that she strongly disliked that man.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
