When Zhao Shuning heard Yan Ruyu's words, her smile grew even brighter.
"You can still smile at a time like this," Yan Ruyu said.
Zhao Shuning's smile remained as she replied, "Master, it's been a long time since you spoke to me in such a tone."
"Come, drink the medicine."
Zhao Shuning obediently sat up, took the medicine bowl herself, and gulped it down in one go.
It was so bitter. The moment the medicine juice entered her mouth, before Zhao Shuning could even frown, she felt something sweet being stuffed into her mouth. It was a candied fruit.
How sweet it was! Zhao Shuning tilted her head up, looked at Yan Ruyu, and started giggling again.
"The medicine is extremely bitter, yet you drank it all at once. I was worried you'd act like a rascal and refuse to drink it before," Yan Ruyu said.
"Didn't master prepare the candied fruit for me?"
"What if I hadn't prepared it?"
"Even if the medicine you give me is bitter, it still tastes sweet to me."
Yan Ruyu blushed slightly. Zhao Shuning could just say such things casually.
"After drinking the medicine, lie down and rest for a while."
"Okay."
After Yan Ruyu tidied up the medicine jars, he got up and was about to leave the cave. But Zhao Shuning suddenly grabbed his hand.
Yan Ruyu looked down, first at Zhao Shuning's hand, then followed it up to look at her. Feeling guilty, Zhao Shuning moved her hand to her sleeve, but she had no intention of letting go.
"Let go. I'm just going out for a while."
Zhao Shuning shook her head.
"I'm just going to wash these medicine jars. You'll need them next time."
Zhao Shuning still shook her head.
Yan Ruyu frowned. Zhao Shuning made a pitiful face.
Finally, with a sigh, Yan Ruyu put down the medicine jars and sat down beside Zhao Shuning's bed.
"You're not a child anymore. Why do you still act so childishly?"
After seeing Yan Ruyu sit down, Zhao Shuning inched closer to him. "I just want master to accompany me," she said. "You're the person I like the most in the whole world, master."
Yan Ruyu turned to look at Zhao Shuning. He gently placed his hand on her forehead. She was indeed running a fever, and it seemed quite high.
Seeing this, Yan Ruyu quickly said, "Take off a few layers of your clothes first."
Although Zhao Shuning was a bit delirious from the fever, she still had a shred of consciousness. Hearing Yan Ruyu's words, she couldn't help but smile suggestively at him. Then, she quickly started taking off all her clothes. Yes, all of them.
Yan Ruyu was so shocked by this scene that he quickly turned around. "You don't need to take off your undergarments," he said.
But by then, Zhao Shuning was already completely naked. Hearing Yan Ruyu's words, she started looking for the clothes she had taken off earlier, but she didn't have much strength left.
"Master, I don't have any strength left," she said. And as soon as she finished speaking, she collapsed onto the bed with a thud.
Hearing the sound, Yan Ruyu quickly turned around. He saw Zhao Shuning lying on the bed, her body flushed red. He took a sharp breath but didn't hesitate. His heart pounding, he fumbled to put clothes on Zhao Shuning. But since he was a man and it was his first time dressing a woman, he didn't know where to put his hands and feet. Several times, when his hands accidentally brushed against her skin, he would jerk them back in shock.
Finally, after much difficulty, he managed to put on her undergarments. By then, his forehead was covered in tiny beads of sweat. It was really not easy.
After tidying up, Yan Ruyu used his spiritual power to lower Zhao Shuning's body temperature.
The girl on the bed mumbled in her sleep, sometimes with a sob in her voice. Worried, Yan Ruyu put down the medicine jars and stayed by her side to watch over her.
The girl was sleeping, but not peacefully. It seemed she was having a nightmare.
"Master, master—"
Yan Ruyu looked up. Zhao Shuning was still asleep. Those words were just a dream talk.
"Master, I'm sorry."
"Master, I really, really like you."
Yan Ruyu smiled. He didn't even notice when his attitude towards the girl in front of him had gradually changed from dislike at the beginning. Now, he finally believed what she had said before. Or perhaps, did he have feelings for her? Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt so down when he heard she was going to be the second imperial concubine of Gu Hanxun, nor would he have felt so excited when he saw her. He knew she wasn't the one who hunted the beasts, but he still used this as an excuse to see her.
It turned out that without realizing it, his feelings for the girl in front of him had already changed.
She said she wasn't Luo Qiu. Then who was she? If she wasn't Luo Qiu, was it possible that the gentle and kind "Luo Feiyan" in the courtyard was actually Luo Qiu?
Yan Ruyu was not stupid. The last time he heard Ling Ruo mention the girl in Wangyue Courtyard who looked similar to Zhao Shuning, he had his doubts. He suspected that his disciple might be a twin sister of the girl in the courtyard. But Ling Ruo also said that the girl in the courtyard was extremely kind and not the type to cause trouble. When she first came, she had no spiritual power at all. Yan Ruyu trusted Ling Ruo's character, so this way, everything could be explained.
"Burang—"
Yan Ruyu's thoughts were pulled back to reality by these two words.
The girl on the bed was mumbling "Burang." Burang was his name, known by very few people in the world. How did she know it?
"Burang—"
After muttering this name for a while, Zhao Shuning finally quieted down and fell into a deep sleep.
Looking at the girl in front of him, Yan Ruyu felt that she was becoming more and more mysterious.
"How many secrets are you hiding?"
Unconsciously, Yan Ruyu's hand touched Zhao Shuning's face. The girl seemed to sense someone touching her. She liked this feeling very much and rubbed her head against Yan Ruyu's hand a few times before continuing to sleep.
Yan Ruyu sighed. What should he do? He felt that he had no way to deal with the girl in front of him.
"Xiaobai—"
The figure of Bai Ze appeared in the cave.
"Go to Qianji Sha. Tell her parents not to worry. Say that she has met a good friend and will stay outside for a few days," Yan Ruyu said.
Bai Ze nodded and disappeared from the cave.
Yan Ruyu was very considerate. He knew that the girl in front of him didn't want her family to worry, so he arranged things for the next few days for her. At least she could rest and recover from her injuries in the cave in peace.
Applying the medicine and the Golden Silkworm Gu together was a forbidden technique. If there was anyone in the world who could solve it, it would probably be his father and mother. But they had died five hundred years ago. His mother was good at raising Gu worms. She could even cure difficult conditions like the Poison Boy. If she were still alive, how wonderful it would be.
Now, the only thing he could do was to suppress the toxicity. He couldn't find a second way.