Chapter 156: Too Exhausted

After eating her lunch, Xu Ruojin took a short nap.

It was not because she wanted to shirk her duties, but rather because she had been utterly exhausted the previous night and had fallen asleep right there in her chair.

When she woke up, dusk was already falling.

Looking at the wine jars and crocks that Liang Xiao had placed around the room, Xu Ruojin immediately felt her mood sour.

It was bad enough that Madam Liang looked down upon her, but even the two maidservants acted with supreme arrogance. She had just begun to think this fellow had a shred of conscience, only for him to turn around and order her to brew wine and do hard labor.

Why was her fate so bitter?

Not only had her body been usurped, but she also had to put her hard-earned skills to work for him.

If she were to transmigrate and be reborn in her next life, she would definitely become a man and turn this wicked fellow into a woman so she could bully him to death!

Though she was silently slandering Liang Xiao in her heart, Xu Ruojin nevertheless began to set to work with her hands.

She herself had wanted to get the wine-brewing venture off the ground, and she had asked Huomiao to come precisely to discuss opening a wine shop.

However, if she was to brew wine for Liang Xiao, she first needed to understand just how severe his injuries truly were.

Remembering that he had just taken his medicine that morning, Xu Ruojin told Hongxing to call Ningxiang over: "... I saw the Fourth Master drinking his medicine this morning. Bring me the prescription so I can have a look at it."

Ningxiang hesitated somewhat, and with a hesitant demeanor, she said:

"The Fourth Master has been taking this medicine for a very long time. This maid only boils the medicine according to instructions every day, but as for the prescription itself, I haven't the slightest idea what is in it."

"You don't know?"

Xu Ruojin furrowed her brow slightly. "Whose hands is the prescription in?"

"It is with the Mistress."

"Is there any medicine left? Bring it here for me to see."

"Tomorrow is Fengying's turn for night watch, and the medicine is with her. But she probably hasn't received it yet either; someone comes by specifically to deliver it every single night."

Ningxiang's voice grew softer and softer. Xu Ruojin pondered for a moment and said, "You may withdraw for now. I will ask the Fourth Master about it myself later."

"This maid takes her leave."

Ningxiang hurried away. Xu Ruojin sat there, recalling the prescription she had concocted back at the magistrate's residence.

That time had been her very first close encounter with Liang Xiao...

She would prepare the distiller's yeast first, and leave the medicinal prescription for later. After being busy for over an hour, Xu Ruojin found that it was already time for dinner.

Uncertain whether Liang Xiao would return or not, Xu Ruojin instructed the servants to set the table and began to eat.

After finishing her meal, she went to the washroom to cleanse herself. Eager to fall asleep quickly before that man came back, she hoped to avoid any more of his fondling...

Recalling the pain of the previous night, Xu Ruojin felt a lingering depression in the depths of her heart.

She used to think that romance should follow a sequence: first talking, then dating, and finally falling in love. But now, everything was completely reversed.

If not for their two previous encounters, they would be no different from total strangers.

How could he possibly have any tender feelings for her?

Men were simply impossible to understand!

Xu Ruojin curled her lip in a pout, entirely oblivious to the fact that she was a complete novice in matters of the heart.

Just as she crawled under the covers and closed her eyes to sleep, Chuncao's voice rang out from outside paying her respects, "Fourth Master, you have returned."

"... The Fourth Young Madam has just lain down and should not be asleep yet."

Footsteps sounded, and then the door to the inner chamber was pushed open with a creak.

Xu Ruojin turned over and feigned sleep. After Liang Xiao went to the washroom to wash up, he stripped off his outer garments and lay down on the bed.

"Stop pretending to be asleep."

Liang Xiao spoke up. Xu Ruojin's heart skipped a beat, but she kept her eyes closed and pretended not to hear.

"Your breathing rhythm and weight are completely different from when you are fast asleep. If you continue to feign sleep..."

"You are truly annoying!"

Xu Ruojin instantly "woke up." "Don't touch me. I'm far too tired today."

"Have you brewed the wine?"

Liang Xiao asked the question he cared about most. "If you need anything else, you can make a list, and I will order someone to buy it."

Instead of asking for the prescription right away, Xu Ruojin brought up her desire to open a wine shop:

"... The small dowry shop and the estate cannot earn much silver. Our courtyard is not small, and there are quite a few maidservants and matrons, leaving our expenses stretched to the limit. One must always have silver in hand, and since I happen to enjoy tinkering with this craft, I plan to open another wine shop. I am discussing it with you first as a courtesy."

"Very well."

Liang Xiao immediately nodded in agreement. "Just name whatever you need."

"As long as you agree, you won't need to worry about the rest."

Xu Ruojin was quite satisfied with his attitude. She had originally thought she would have to waste a lot of breath, but she had never expected him to agree so readily.

"You want the wine I brew, but I need the prescription for the medicine you take."

Through the hazy candlelight, Xu Ruojin saw Liang Xiao knit his brows slightly as she continued:

"I must at least know what taboos are contained in your medicine, right? That was what I said when you asked me for wine before, and my answer remains the same today. Without knowing your exact condition, I cannot accurately determine the ingredients for the medicinal wine."

Liang Xiao remained silent for a long moment before saying, "Never mind the medicine I take."

"Then you must at least tell me what discomfort you are suffering from!"

Feeling somewhat stifled, Xu Ruojin sat up and looked at him. "If you won't make it clear, I cannot brew this wine. If I actually brew something that harms you, your mother will take my life."

Liang Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at her. "You have someone you're afraid of?"

"That is called respect."

Unable to bear his direct gaze, Xu Ruojin let her eyes dart away.

However, Liang Xiao had not pulled the quilt over himself, leaving his upper body bare. Xu Ruojin happened to catch sight of the knife scar across his chest!

Even though the candlelight was dim and the wound lurked in the shadows, Xu Ruojin could still see how ferocious and terrifying it was.

After recovering from the shock, she immediately looked at Liang Xiao.

Liang Xiao, however, maintained a calm expression without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Xu Ruojin stretched out her finger to measure it; that scar was thicker and longer than her thumb, and what made it even more horrifying was that the slash was located right over his heart.

Perhaps off by just a fraction of a millimeter, it would have been a matter of life and death. Remembering the scene back then, she hardly dared to imagine it.

"The injury was severe."

"Mn."

"Are you truly unable to practice martial arts anymore?"

"What do you think?"

Xu Ruojin felt she had asked a foolish question. When he had leaped over her courtyard wall previously, he had been exceedingly agile.

Lightly touching his hand, Xu Ruojin suddenly discovered that his hand was ice-cold.

He must have drunk too much wine yesterday, which was why he hadn't felt much, but today he was sober and his body should have been functioning normally. Yet his hands were frighteningly cold, feeling like ice frozen outside—just a touch made one's fingers smart.

Could this perhaps be the manifestation of his illness?

Liang Xiao still remained silent. Driven by curiosity, Xu Ruojin reached out to touch his waist, his knees, his feet...

Touching him spot by spot, she found that his hands, feet, and joints were all abnormally cold. Although his core body temperature was not exactly warm, it wasn't as terrifyingly freezing as his extremities.

Mulling over the records in her medical texts, she pondered what kind of illness this might be and what kind of medicine would be suitable to alleviate it.

No wonder he had praised the wine she brewed so highly back then, drinking it without any ill effects, whereas everyone else who partook ended up heavily intoxicated.

He was far more suited to warm wine and potent liquor.

Yet overly potent liquor could also harm the body. How should she neutralize it properly?

As Xu Ruojin sank into deep thought, Liang Xiao wrinkled his nose.

With her small hands pattering all over his body, did she forget that he was a man?

"Finished feeling?"

"Hm? Oh, let me think about what medicine would be more suitable."

"Think about it later."

"It's fine, I don't feel like sleeping yet."

"You've finished feeling me up, so it's only fair that it's my turn to feel you, isn't it?"

"What? Ah!"

Before Xu Ruojin could recover her wits, she was once again pressed down beneath Liang Xiao.

"Odious, mm..."

The embroidered bed curtains grew warm, accompanied by a continuous murmur of gentle sighs. As the sound of deep slumber arose, the sky outside was already growing faintly pale with the dawn.