The summer sky is like a baby's face. It was still windy yesterday, but now it is sunny and bright, making the cicadas in the corners chirp impatiently. If you listen carefully, you can hear a few muffled groans and moans coming from the wall amidst the noisy cicada chirping.

The moaning sound was faint, and was gently dissipated by the breeze in the fragrance of flowers outside the window. If you follow the sound, you can see a man with his strong upper body exposed lying on the couch in the room, his eyes gently fixed on the woman sitting on the edge of the bed, while the woman's sleeves were pulled down to her upper arms, and there were tiny beads of sweat on her head. She was lowering her head to touch his chest.

Yuan Xi carefully helped Xiao Du tie up the last piece of gauze, and finally changed the medicine. She wiped the sweat off her head and asked carefully, "How is the medicine today? Do you still feel numb?"

Xiao Du held his chin in his hand, looked at her and smiled, "The medicine you prescribe is naturally the best."

Yuan Xi frowned and said, "Don't be so slick. The injury on the shoulder can be serious or minor. I have only seen the doctor together with Dr. Li. I have never prescribed a prescription by myself. If the medicine is not suitable this time, it will be troublesome."

Xiao Du said nonchalantly: "It will just hurt for a few more days. Since you want to be a doctor so much, you can use my injury to practice."

Yuan Xi glared at him, and after thinking it over, she still felt uneasy and said, "I think we should ask Doctor Zuo to take a look, just in case..."

Xiao Du grabbed her hand, pulled it to his lips and kissed it, saying, "I want you to treat me. My wife is a skilled doctor and gentle. Why should I find an old man to treat me?"

Yuan Xi lost her temper because of him. Her palms were itchy and hot from being rubbed by him. She could only shake her head helplessly, thinking that she would find an opportunity to consult Doctor Zuo for more advice. At this time, Xiao Du stared at her expectantly and said, "No acupuncture has been given today."

Yuan Xi thought about it, then asked him to lie down, took out the needle box, pressed lightly on the acupuncture points on his shoulders with her fingers and said, "Does it still hurt?"

Xiao Du felt her warm fingers gently caressing his back, and a tingling sensation began to spread to his limbs, so he said, "It hurts, it hurts everywhere, help me to give it a good massage."

Yuan Xi was not very good at acupuncture, so she was very careful with each needle insertion, fearing that she would insert the wrong acupuncture point and hurt him. So she lowered her head and moved closer and closer, almost putting the tip of her nose against his body. Her hot breath kept hitting his exposed skin. Xiao Du felt the numbness in his body turn into heat, rushing to his lower abdomen. He said in a hoarse voice, "It hurts down there too. Insert it further down."

Yuan Xi felt a little strange. The wound was clearly on the shoulder, so why did it hurt below? But she still used her fingertips to slowly probe downwards, groping and asking questions. Finally, she touched the waist and abdomen, but Xiao Du just grinned and shouted that she wanted to go further down. Yuan Xi finally understood and blushed immediately. She casually stabbed the needle under his waist and said angrily, "This should be the place that hurts!"

Xiao Du was enjoying the gentle caress of those soft, boneless hands when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his waist. He cried out in pain, frowned, looked at her innocently and said, "A doctor should be like a loving parent, Xi'er, how could you treat your patients like this?"

Yuan Xi pulled out the needle and said, "You said you are not afraid of a knife wound, let alone a small needle. I will teach you a lesson. See if you dare to be indecent with the lady again."

Unexpectedly, Xiao Du sat up, leaned over to her ear with a sly smile, and whispered, "It really hurts down there, help me heal it later."

Yuan Xi understood what he meant and her face turned red again. She reached out to push him away, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her under him.

Yuan Xi felt that if this continued, another big battle would be inevitable. He was afraid that his injury would never heal. He quickly shook off his claws and said, "By the way, what's going on between Xuan'er and Xia Qing?"

Xiao Du's smile froze, and he recalled the scene of returning home that day, feeling unhappy. Even though Xia Qing had proposed to marry Xuan'er in the dense forest, he only thought that it was a bargaining chip that the man came up with for cooperation. Who knew that in front of the Marquis's mansion, he saw Xuan'er's expression and knew that they must not have met for the first time. He really didn't know when Xuan'er had provoked this playboy.

The most hateful thing was that when Xia Qing walked past them, he said in a tone that only the two of them could hear: "My Lord, have you ever thought about it? If that moment really comes, you can still protect yourself, but what about your family?" Then he turned to Xiao Zhixuan, winked at her and said: "I am the only one who has the ability to help you protect your family, so my suggestion before, my Lord, please think carefully."

This statement clearly contained a threat. Xiao Du shook his head and decided not to let this annoying person ruin the atmosphere at the moment, so he said to Yuan Xi: "Don't worry about him. Xia Qing has a complicated background and is very cunning. He did tell me that he wanted to marry Xuan'er. I think he wanted to use this to find a way out. In this way, no matter who wins between me and the current emperor, he will not lose everything. It's a pity that his wishful thinking was wrong. No matter what the reason is, I will never let my sister marry such a dishonest person."

Yuan Xi sighed softly and said, "Although Xuan'er is young, she has experienced many things that many ladies from noble families will never encounter in their lifetime. I hope she can find a good marriage partner so that she can live a peaceful and stable life for the rest of her life with someone who loves her and cares for her."

At the same time, the person they were talking about was sitting in the yard, fanning himself with a silk fan and thinking about something. Xiao Zhixuan was stunned for a while, and suddenly said to Rongyue, the maid who had been standing beside her, "Do you know that Xia Qing? What is his background?"

Rong Yue was stunned by her question, staring at him and said, "Miss, you are really stumping me. How can a little maid like me understand the affairs of these dignitaries?" She thought for a moment, then covered her mouth and smiled, "But from what I have seen, he is quite good-looking. His appearance and posture are not much different from our Marquis."

Xiao Zhixuan tapped her head gently with a silk fan and said, "You are just a nymphomaniac. Big brother said that man is not a good person, it's best to stay away from him." For some reason, she always thought of what Xia Qing said before he left: "Only I have the ability to protect your family." When he said that, his eyes were like hooks, sticking straight to her, making her feel that the words seemed to have a meaning, but... She sighed, holding her chin and said in annoyance: "But big brother didn't want to say a few more words, just told me to stay away from him."

"If Miss Third wants to know, you can come and ask me in person!" A smiling voice came from the wall. Xiao Zhixuan was startled and quickly stood up and looked towards the source of the voice. She saw Xia Qing sitting on the wall with her feet hanging, leaning against a peach tree, smiling loudly.

She was stunned and stammered, "You! Why are you here?"

Xia Qing raised his eyebrows and said, "I heard that the third young lady was thinking about me, so I hurried over immediately to relieve her homesickness." At this moment, he saw the little maid beside Xiao Zhixuan turned around and ran to call for help in fear, so he picked a peach blossom from his side, threw it into Xiao Zhixuan's arms, and said, "The peach blossom is a gift to a beautiful lady, the third young lady must keep it well." Then he jumped back and disappeared.

Xiao Zhixuan heard the guards' hurried footsteps and felt her heartbeat quicken. She hurried to the dark and took out the peach blossom. There was a piece of paper tied to it, which read: "Tomorrow at 3:45 pm, at Yingyue Pavilion by Qianjing Lake. Don't miss your appointment."

The next day, it was sunny and warm again, making the Thousand Mirror Lake sparkle. The Moon-Shaping Pavilion stood by the lake, surrounded by green poplars and grass, creating a unique scene. On normal days, this place should be crowded with tourists, but today there was no one, as if someone had deliberately kept outsiders out.

Xiao Zhixuan looked at the back of the man standing with his hands behind his back in the pavilion, and her heart was a little trembling. She had done many bold things in her life, but she had never met a man in such a sneaky way as today. And she had just learned from Uncle Zhou yesterday how bad this man had been in the past. Although she was young, she was not stupid and ignorant. She could see that this man had intentions towards her.

Xia Qing heard the footsteps behind him and slowly turned around. Today he was wearing a bright red straight-sleeved gown with a golden belt around his waist. His black hair was tied up with a jade crown, and his sleeves fluttered in the wind. Compared with his usual military uniform, he looked more relaxed and elegant.

His eyes scanned Xiao Zhixuan nakedly from head to toe, and then he showed a malicious smile. Xiao Zhixuan took a deep breath, suppressed the sudden retreat in her heart, walked forward, bowed to him, and said, "Hello, Uncle Xia!"

Xia Qing's smile froze on her face, and then she showed a hurt expression and said, "It's really sad that the Third Miss calls me like that."

Xiao Zhixuan laughed inwardly, and then pretended to be innocent with her eyes wide open, "I heard from Uncle Zhou that you are twelve years older than me, but you are still not as old as my father, otherwise I could call you uncle."

Xia Qing couldn't help laughing now. He glared at her fiercely, but soon showed a nonchalant expression and said, "Uncle is uncle, anyway, being called brother by the third lady won't end well."

Xiao Zhixuan was stunned, and then she remembered the first time she met him. That day, she was going to go to the West Mountain for a trip, but she saw Zhou Tong, the fourth son of the Minister of Revenue, bullying an old farmer on the street. The Marquis's Mansion and the Zhou family were also old friends, and she couldn't stand it, so she went up to Zhou and called him brother, and then took advantage of his unpreparedness and cheated him out of a large sum of money behind his back, and then compensated the old man with the money.

But she didn't expect that the man who was with Zhou Tong at the time could easily see through her actions, but he didn't expose her, but just followed her for a few streets, which made her so angry that she no longer had the interest to play. But she never expected that the annoying person who made her complain to her sister-in-law for a long time would be the famous Yulin Guard Commander Xia Qing.

When Xiao Zhixuan's thoughts were pulled away from her memories, she found that Xia Qing's face had come close to her without her noticing. She could not help but take a step back and said, "Then why did Uncle Xia call me here today?"

Xia Qing reluctantly ignored the offensive title, smiled at her and said, "It's not a big deal, I just want to ask for the hand in marriage from the Third Miss."

Xiao Zhixuan was really surprised this time. She really didn't expect this man to have such a purpose. She quickly calmed her flustered mind and said, "Uncle Xia, please stop joking. I heard that you have seen countless women and have many concubines at home. Zhixuan is just a little girl who knows nothing. How can she be a good match for you?"

Xia Qing, however, approached her relentlessly and said, "Xia is sincere to Miss San. If Miss San minds, as long as you agree to come in, I will send all the concubines away."

Xiao Zhixuan was really panicking now. After all, she had just reached the age of 15, so she had no idea how to face such an earnest confession. The evil smile in front of her kept approaching her, and even the breath was about to hit her face. She felt a little breathless, so she had to keep backing away with her head down. Xia Qing looked behind her, suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed her waist, smiling and said, "If you back off again, you'll fall."