The path was so rugged and slippery, and she was so worn out that she could barely keep her footing. Then her foot slipped, and she tumbled straight down the steep cliffside.
"Ah!" A cry of alarm rang out before she blacked out.
The night was pitch dark. Zhan Haochen walked ahead, while Shao Yutong trailed behind him, clutching the hem of his coat and carefully stepping around loose stones. When they reached a steep slope, his ears twitched. "Did you hear something?"
Shao Yutong had been so preoccupied with thinking of ways to grow closer to him that she was distracted. When he turned around, his strikingly handsome face was so close to hers that her cheeks instantly flushed warm.
"No, nothing."
Zhan Haochen concentrated to listen again, but heard nothing. Noticing her odd state, he looked back at her once more.
Seeing her red-faced and short of breath, he assumed she was exhausted. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Let me support you, so you don't fall."
Shao Yutong gave a soft little "mm-hmm" and demurely rested half of her hand in his palm.
His hand was warm and strong, holding hers firmly.
After a few steps, she tripped over a tree root. "Ah..."
Stumbling forward, she collided into his chest, her nose brushing against his torso.
She froze completely for a second, then hastily tried to step back, only for him to catch her gently by the waist. "Careful."
She tilted her head up to look at him, moonlight spilling over his handsome features. Her cheeks burned even hotter, and her breathing turned ragged.
Zhan Haochen only realized belatedly how charged the atmosphere between them had grown. His palm was still resting on her waist, and the warm sensation seeped through the thin fabric of her clothes.
His whole body tensed, and he even lightened his breath, before he quickly pulled his hand back and stepped away. "My apologies."
Shao Yutong's face was bright red as she spoke in a voice so faint it was barely audible. "Th-thank you, Ninth Cousin."
They were still standing very close. She could catch the crisp, cedar-like scent that clung to him.
She hung her head, her eyelashes fluttering nonstop, her heartbeat falling out of rhythm. A strange thought crossed her mind: Could it be that she was starting to like him a little?
But the one she loved was the heir to the Marquis of Dingguo!
Just as she was lost in that confusion, Zhan Haochen's fingertips brushed the stray strands of hair that had gotten tangled by a branch, tucking them gently behind her ear.
She jerked her head up, and her eyes locked onto his deep, gentle gaze. Those eyes held the reflection of vast mountains and rivers, and also the reflection of her own blushing face. She hurriedly looked away, her heart pounding like a startled deer, waiting eagerly for him to make the next move.
Yet all that reached her ears was Zhan Haochen's cool, clear voice. "Let's go."
She lifted her eyes in confusion, only to see the tall, straight figure of the young man walking ahead like a slender, sturdy bamboo.
The mood had been built up so perfectly, and he could still hold back from making a move?
Was he some kind of saint?
Or was she not pretty or alluring enough?
Shao Yutong had always thought she was naturally beautiful. In the past, every man who had locked eyes with her had been drawn to her unique mix of purity and charm.
That was why Zhan Haochen's sudden withdrawal made her so uncomfortable, even leaving her questioning her own appeal.
She bit her lip, said nothing, and followed him deeper into the woods.
Meanwhile, Zhan Haochen smacked his own head, silently cursing his own carelessness.
Shao Yutong had clearly been unkind to his older brother's wife before, which meant she was on bad terms with his whole side of the family. How could he have gotten so close to her just now?
He told himself he would never go out alone with her again. When a man and a woman were left together with no one else around, it was far too easy for unwanted feelings to sprout.
Zhan Haochen found a long dry stick, grabbed one end of it, and motioned for Shao Yutong to hold the other, completely ignoring the resentful little look she gave him.
The forest was hot and humid, and their clothes were soaked through with sweat, but neither of them had the energy to wipe it away.
A rotting stench hung thick in the air all around the woods, and the occasional cry of some unknown wild beast echoed out, making their hearts race with fear.
Cheng Yao stepped out of her private space with Zhan Haoting, and by then the night had fully fallen.
It was then that she found out Madam Zhan and Zhan Haochen had both gone out to look for Zhan Qingrou.
She cursed under her breath about how much trouble that girl caused, and was just about to head out to search for them when she heard Zhan Haoting wracked with a bad cough.
Oh no, could it be that when she fed him earlier, she had been careless and some food had gone down his windpipe?
Cheng Yao hurried over to check on him, and Xiao Fu, who had been squatting there patting his back, quickly moved out of her way.
Zhan Haoting's once sharply chiseled face had grown pale and gaunt, his cheekbones protruding high, and a layer of dark stubble made his lip color look even more faint. But the sharp, determined glint in his dark eyes was impossible to hide.
Cheng Yao reached out to feel his forehead. That gentle touch made his taut neck and shoulders unconsciously relax.
It was too dim to see her features clearly, but the faint mix of medicinal scent and floral fragrance on her made the stern look in his eyes soften by a third.
Zhan Haoting stared at her pretty side profile, his voice hoarse as he spoke. "You know how to take a pulse?"
Cheng Yao could not very well tell him she had just been faking it, could she?
Of course not. She kept a perfectly straight face. "I know a little bit about it."
"Can you write out a medicinal prescription?"
"I know a thing or two."
Zhan Haoting's eyes were heavy with tiredness, and he coughed softly every now and then, but the way he looked at her was as sharp as a blade.
Cheng Yao had the feeling he had already seen right through her, and was just about to say something to salvage the situation when he lifted his hand with difficulty and wrapped his fingers around her cool fingertips. "You've been through so much for me."
Right after he spoke, a fit of coughing seized him. He turned his body away instinctively, his other hand clutching the brocade quilt tightly, not wanting to show his vulnerable side to her.
She quickly patted his back to soothe him, then handed him a bowl of warm water, letting a single drop of spiritual spring water slip into the bowl from her fingertip.
The moment Zhan Haoting drank the water, he felt a warm current flow through all his organs. The pain that had been bad enough to drive someone mad lessened at once, especially in his lungs, which felt suddenly clear and refreshed.
He had felt that exact same noticeable shift in his body before, back when he had been drifting in and out of consciousness.
He had known then that she had been feeding him some kind of medicine. Now that he could feel its effects so clearly, his heart was filled with utter shock.
What kind of medicine could be so gentle yet so powerful, mending his damaged internal and external wounds little by little, and pulling him back from the very edge of death?
Besides that, his mouth had been cleaned out, but he could still faintly taste the remnants of the food he had eaten earlier: the aroma of meat, vegetables, and fruit.
His stomach was only about six-tenths full, but since he had to lie still, eating any more would have put extra strain on his digestive tract and made it hard for him to absorb nutrients. She had judged the perfect amount for him.
The problem was, on this exile journey, food was extremely scarce. How had she managed to get such high-quality ingredients, and then mash them into paste or squeeze them into juice to feed him right under the watch of the escort officers?
His wife, who had married him by such a strange twist of fate, how many unknown secrets was she hiding?
Zhan Haoting's mind was racing with all these thoughts, but Cheng Yao could not guess what he was thinking. She assumed he was worried because Zhan Qingrou had run off earlier.
So she spoke to him in a hesitant, apologetic tone. "It's all my fault. If I had just held back and not quarreled with Rou'er, she wouldn't have run off in a huff. If anything bad happens to her, I..."
She furrowed her brows slightly, wearing a look of complete remorse and worry on her face.
But deep down, she had already cursed Zhan Qingrou's name a dozen times over.
"This is not your fault. She never knows who is good to her. We are on the road to exile right now, the outside is full of danger, and threats lurk everywhere. Yet she insisted on running out alone. That's just asking for trouble."
Zhan Haoting's voice held a hint of exasperation at her foolishness. "She's been spoiled her whole life. There's no need to risk yourself for her. If something terrible happens to her, that's her own fate to bear."
Cheng Yao breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Thank goodness he was not one of those unreasonable men who doted on their sister blindly no matter what she did.
"You rest first. I'll light a torch to go look for her, and it can also light the way back for the others."
"Be careful. No matter if you find her or not, don't wander too far away."
Cheng Yao nodded, waved at him, and then left.
