The maid, seething with anger, threw down the firewood in her hand, jumped up, and walked out.
Su Wanyan scoffed, "You really have a temper. If you don't want to serve me, you can leave. I'm not going to keep you here."
As she said this, the two maids had already left the kitchen. Su Wanyan didn't know if they had heard her or not, and she didn't care whether they came or went.
Boiling medicine is a process that requires a lot of patience. After bringing it to a boil over high heat, you need to simmer it over low heat. Only by simmering it over low heat can the components of the medicinal herbs be slowly separated into the broth.
In modern times, Su Wanyan could simply turn down the gas and go to rest, but not here. She needs to keep an eye on the flame constantly to prevent it from going out.
Another thing was to be wary of Emperor Yuanhe's people, so she had to personally guard the medicine furnace and stay by its side at all times.
Lunch and dinner were both brought from the Prince's kitchen by the maids at Su Wanyan's instruction. The same was true for Yu Nanqing. However, Su Wanyan was tending the fire and couldn't serve Yu Nanqing, so she didn't know if Yu Nanqing could eat by himself.
Xu Si isn't here now either. I should have kept him on duty for a few more days before giving him a break.
Fortunately, just when Su Wanyan was overwhelmed with other matters, Su Chien returned.
Su Chien originally went to the main house, but when he didn't hear any noise at the door, he searched around the yard and found Su Wanyan in the small kitchen.
"Sister!" Su Chi'en ran in and saw Su Wanyan tending the fire. He asked curiously, "What are you cooking, sister?"
"Medicine," Su Wanyan replied simply.
Su Chien then smelled the medicine emanating from the small kitchen. He touched his nose and asked, "Is this medicine for the Prince?"
"Mmm." Su Wanyan, who had been sitting on a small stool, stood up and dusted herself off. "You're back just in time. Have you eaten?"
Su Chien shook his head.
Su Wanyan said, "I've sent Xu Si to rest for a few days. I'll go to the kitchen to get you some food later. You stay here and watch the fire for me. This size is enough. Don't add any more firewood, and don't let it go out."
Su Chien nodded repeatedly: "Okay, sister, please leave it to me."
Su Wanyan affectionately stroked his head: "I'll ask you about today's events when I get back. You should sit down and rest first."
"Okay, sure." Su Chien was always in a good mood whenever he talked to Su Wanyan.
Therefore, he always responded to Su Wanyan with a particularly positive tone.
In the main room, Yu Nanqing was taking a nap with his eyes closed, as usual. He only opened his eyes when he sensed Su Wanyan's presence and saw her walking in from the doorway.
Dinner, which had just been brought over, was on the bedside table. Seeing that it hadn't been touched, Su Wanyan asked, "Did you eat lunch?"
At noon, she watched the fire in the small kitchen, not daring to leave for even a moment.
Yu Nanqing lowered his eyes and remained silent. Su Wanyan seemed to understand his meaning: "You haven't eaten?"
Su Wanyan stepped forward and carefully helped him up a little. She picked up the rice porridge from the bedside table and was about to feed him when Yu Nanqing slowly reached out his hand: "I can do it myself."
Su Wanyan didn't refuse: "Since you can eat by yourself, why don't you eat lunch? Your legs are paralyzed, not your arms. You should be able to support your body a little bit, right?"
Back then, when she needed to help him poop, he did it all by himself. This little thing shouldn't be difficult for him.
And even though she's here now, she didn't let him feed him; he can eat by himself perfectly well.
Yu Nanqing lowered her eyes and remained silent.
Su Wanyan didn't dwell on it. She looked at the small porcelain jar of rock sugar on the bedside table, and it was empty.
"You ate all the candy?" Su Wanyan asked in surprise. "I didn't expect you to like candy so much."
She spent most of the day in the kitchen but didn't eat much. She glanced at Yu Nanqing and teased, "Be careful of getting a toothache. Toothache isn't a disease, but it can be excruciating, I'm telling you."
Besides the porridge, the kitchen also sent over a fish soup. Su Wanyan picked up her chopsticks and put some on Yu Nanqing's plate: "You can eat more of these soft and easy-to-digest foods. At first, I told you to eat porridge because your body couldn't digest it. You've recovered a bit these past few days, so you need to eat meat as well, okay?"
Yu Nanqing looked at the fish soup in the meat, picked up a spoon and scooped it into her mouth.
Su Wanyan smiled at him: "Oh, so you won't eat if I don't pick it up? The food is right in front of you, you can just reach out and eat it, why do I have to do it? If you're this lazy, I won't cook anymore. You don't know how tiring it is until you do it yourself."
"..." Yu Nanqing pursed his lips, then suddenly uttered four words in a gentle tone: "I only trust you."
"Huh?" This was the second time Yu Nanqing had said he only trusted her. She was taken aback: "What does your trust in me have to do with having dinner with you?"
Yu Nanqing buried his head in his porridge and stopped talking. Su Wanyan then realized what was happening: "Oh~ you're afraid those people will poison the food?"
Su Wanyan was speechless: "Then I don't know if there's any poison in this food. If there is, wouldn't you die from eating it?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Nanqing suddenly smiled, and looked at Su Wanyan with a sense of relief: "If I die by your hand, I will accept it."
Su Wanyan rolled her eyes: "Don't get me into trouble."
Yu Nanqing lowered her eyes, the smile on her lips still lingering: "I knew you would save me, no matter the consequences."
Even if he were poisoned, Su Wanyan would save him without hesitation the moment she found out. Yu Nanqing finished the last mouthful of porridge, never imagining that he would be so attached to these last moments.
"Go ahead and build as much as you want, who can outdo you?"
“Su Wanyan…”
"Um?"
"You can leave whenever you want, no matter what..."
Before he could finish speaking, Su Wanyan interrupted him, "Sigh, you're talking about this again. Let's talk about it later."
Upon hearing this, Yu Nanqing could only purse her lips and remain silent.
Su Wanyan took the bowl from his hand and put it down: "Come on, lie down. I'm still brewing medicine in the kitchen. Don't waste time."
She took out an acupuncture kit specifically for Yu Nanqing from the cabinet, spread it out on the edge of the bed, and Yu Nanqing took a deep breath, staring blankly at the canopy above.
It wasn't until Su Wanyan pierced his heart with the long needle that his previously turbid breathing began to flow smoothly again.
His gaze fell on Su Wanyan's focused expression, her small, skillful hands deftly manipulating silver needles through his body like a swimming dragon.
"Why do you know acupuncture?" Yu Nanqing stared at her face with his long eyes, trying to glean some clue from her expression.
Su Wanyan didn't even look up, a smile playing on her lips: "Would you believe me if I said I learned it on the spot?"
That smile carried a gentleness he had never seen before.
Yu Nanqing's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked away, forcing himself not to think about it.
Su Wanyan assumed he didn't believe her: "Look at you, you just said you only believed me, but now you're not saying anything. Men, huh?"
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