Xie Qinglan didn't understand. Wasn't she just relying on him and calling him husband?
How come he became the heir apparent as soon as he returned to the Marquis's residence?
While Xie Qinglan was still in a daze, Ye Chaoxi had already left his embrace, disembarked from the carriage, and entered the mansion alone.
As soon as Ye Chaoxi returned to Tinglan Garden, she locked herself in her room and took out a pseudo-illness pill from her spatial storage and ate it.
That bastard can be cold to her whenever he wants; she'll make him taste what it's like to be ignored.
Xie Qinglan was in a wheelchair and couldn't walk as fast as Ye Chaoxi. When he returned, Ye Chaoxi's door was tightly closed, and she wouldn't see anyone. She didn't even eat dinner, only saying that she was tired and wanted to sleep.
Xie Qinglan was anxious, but didn't know how to comfort her. She was worried that she would be scared and cry alone in the room, but she was also afraid that if she went in rashly, she would annoy her.
This overwhelming emotion left Xie Qinglan feeling helpless.
He went to the battlefield as a young man, full of passion and unruliness.
At the age of sixteen, he was poisoned and went blind. He was devastated and vented his anger like a madman, but in the end, he managed to control himself and not become decadent. He gradually cheered himself up and actively adapted to life in the dark.
But now, Ye Chaoxi's every move can easily affect his mind. Whether she is happy or disappointed, it is all up to her and he has no say in it.
What exactly are her feelings for him?
Deep down, Xie Qinglan was still concerned, so every half hour she would go to Ye Chaoxi's room to listen for any sounds coming from inside.
Just before midnight, a crisp sound of a teacup shattering came from Ye Chaoxi's room. Xie Qinglan, with her sharp ears and eyes, burst into the room without hesitation the moment she heard it.
Ye Chaoxi opened her misty eyes and looked towards the door, her soft, weak voice filled with doubt, "Why are you here?"
"What's wrong? I heard something break."
Ye Chaoxi glanced at the broken porcelain shards on the ground and slowly replied, "I wanted to drink water, but my cup fell on the ground."
Xie Qinglan maneuvered his wheelchair closer to her, pulling her away from the porcelain shards on the ground. Only when he held her soft hand did he realize that her palm was burning hot. He reached out to touch her forehead, and it was also burning hot to the touch.
Why is it so hot?
In response, Ye Chaoxi softly leaned into his arms, her slender, burning arms wrapping around his neck, and she murmured softly, "Drink water."
Xie Qinglan carried her to the bed, poured her a glass of water, and handed it to her, saying, "Here you go."
Ye Chaoxi pouted, "How am I supposed to drink it when you hold it up so high?"
Xie Qinglan tentatively moved the cup down, barely managing to get it near Ye Chaoxi's lips.
He had never taken care of anyone like this before. In the years since he lost his sight, he had managed to adapt to taking care of himself in the dark. He could memorize the location of every road and every piece of furniture in the Marquis's mansion and move freely in and out of the mansion, but he was unable to take care of others.
Ye Chaoxi leaned over and drank a glass of water from his hand, the hot breath spraying onto his tiger's mouth.
"Lie down first, I'll have Zhuo Qing call Doctor Xue over."
Zhuo Qing then ran to Doctor Xue's room and grabbed him from the bed.
"Madam has a fever, you must go and see her!"
Doctor Xue was sound asleep when he was suddenly dragged out of bed without even putting on his shoes, leaving him quite annoyed. However, upon hearing that the young girl had a fever, he quickly regained his senses and followed Zhuo Qing to the west wing.
When Doctor Xue arrived, Ye Chaoxi had already fallen into a deep sleep.
After taking her pulse, Doctor Xue stroked his half-white beard. "This little girl has a high fever caused by excessive fright. I'll prescribe some calming and fever-reducing medicine for her. Tonight, wipe her body with warm water, and the fever should subside by tomorrow morning."
He spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but Xie Qinglan stiffened, her eyelashes trembling slightly. "Me?"
Doctor Xue glared at him and scolded, "If it wasn't you, who else could it be? Didn't you just punish her maid? She even asked me for wound medicine this afternoon and is still lying in bed."
Xie Qinglan remembered that he was both anxious and angry this evening because Qiu Shu had failed to protect his master, so he gave him a beating and planned to replace him with his own people to take care of Ye Chaoxi.
Therefore, there are currently no other maids available in the entire Tinglan Garden.
Xie Qinglan belatedly realized that only he was capable of this task. "Alright, go and decoct the medicine. Also, have Zhuo Qing boil a pot of water."
Xie Qinglan readily agreed, but when the water was actually served, his heart was pounding wildly.
After dismissing everyone, Xie Qinglan removed Ye Chaoxi's inner garment, wrung out a towel, and, unable to see, covered her body with it by feel, wiping her gently.
From the arms to the shoulders and neck, and then down from the collarbone...
The sensation under her palm was especially clear through a towel that was neither too thick nor too thin. Her arms were slender and soft, and her skin was delicate and soft like the finest silk, smooth and lustrous. Her neck was slender, with undulating curves, and her skin was as smooth as ice and jade.
Without the cover of her clothes, her fragrance wafted even more unrestrainedly into his nostrils, disturbing his peace of mind.
Xie Qinglan's breathing became heavier, and her body temperature was comparable to Ye Chaoxi's at this moment.
Worried that she might catch a cold, or perhaps too afraid to feel too much, Xie Qinglan quickly wiped her down, tossed aside the towel, and then fumbled to help her put on her clothes and cover her with a blanket.
Completely block out that faint, delicate body fragrance.
However, the sensation from that moment lingered in my mind.
While he was still in a daze, Ye Chaoxi began to sob softly again, her voice low and pitiful.
Xie Qinglan dismissed those inappropriate thoughts and quickly asked, "Why are you crying?"
"Don't come any closer! Don't come near me!" Ye Chaoxi closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, clearly trapped in a nightmare.
Xie Qinglan felt a sharp, throbbing pain in her heart. Forgetting all about the proper boundaries between men and women, and having long since forgotten her previous decision to stay away from Ye Chaoxi, she used her arms to support herself as she stood up and moved to the bed. She reached out and pulled the trembling girl into her arms, gently patting her back.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I've already had him beaten up. Spare his life for now, and you can decide what to do with him later."
He patted her gently for a while, and the person in his arms quieted down, lifted her head from the crook of his neck, and looked at him with a pair of misty eyes, her tone hesitant.
"Xie Qinglan?"
"Yes, I'm here." His voice was unusually gentle.
Ye Chaoxi lowered her eyes, and tears streamed down her thick, long eyelashes as she cried again, feeling wronged.
Xie Qinglan suddenly felt a sense of unease.
In my twenty-six years of life, I have never met a woman who can cry so easily. She seems to have always been the type to cry at the drop of a hat.
It seems I was really scared today.
Before Xie Qinglan could ask why, Ye Chaoxi began to accuse him, "You're only this gentle to me in my dreams. For the past two weeks, you've been avoiding me and being cold to me. Did I do something to upset you? Can't you just tell me directly?"
Xie Qinglan was speechless.
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