Rebirth: Noble Woman, Poisonous Concubine

Helplessly, Zhao Zun held his own forehead with one hand in. Xiao Wan’s clothes had already soaked with sweat as she knitted her eyebrows tightly and coughed.

Zhao Qi couldn’t help but almost burst out in laughter but, whatever, it was better that he didn’t feed her. He couldn’t empathize with the girl, so he paced around and didn’t even give the girl a single look.

“Brew more portions of medicine. Making a few more bowls might make them drinkable,” Zhao Zun said suddenly.

Zhao Qi hurriedly nodded his head and replied, “Yes, that’s what this subordinate will do.”

Three bowls of medicine in a row were brought forward. Zhao Zun, with a stoic face, poured one bowl of medicine into the girl’s mouth and more than half of which was spatout. Xiao Wan struggled so much, a lot  of the medicine was spat onto Zhao Zun’s sleeves, making him frown.

The result for the second bowl was the same. However, the movements while feeding were a little more gentle. They were no longer barbaric and he unconsciously became more tender.

For the third bowl, Xiao Wan had started to swallow properly. Zhao Qi gave a thumbs up in his heart for his lord in secret. As expected, the lord would have a solution.

“Learned enough?” Zhao Zun lifted his eyes to look at Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi had a sudden thought. If the Right Minister were to know of this, he would come after Zhao Zun  with a blade in hand. Zhao Qi’s guts shrank at the thought.

“Lord, this subordinate is not so skillful. How about I notify you when it’s time to switch another batch of medicine?”

Zhou Qi asked careful and cautiously, sensing that this young girl was not an ordinary person.

Zhao Zun slightly narrowed his eyes, and right away, Zhao Qi was ready to admit his mistake by opening his mouth.

“En.”

A faint “En”? Zhao Qi thought that his ears were playing tricks on him and did not react accordingly. After Zhao Zun left, Zhao Qi almost jumped. The Lord actually agreed.

That’s totally unbelievable.

By the time Xiao Wan woke up, it was already the evening of the next day. It took a lot of effort to open her eyes and her head was still dizzy like the world around her was spinning.

“Young miss, you are awake.”

Xiao Wan only saw a beautiful, young handmaiden in high spirits smiling in a way that a pair of small dimples were shown. It was a pleasing sight.

Jin Hua placed her hand on Xiao Wan’s forehead and suddenly smiled, “This servant is called Jin Hua. Your fever has finally gone down.”

Xiao Wan squeezed out a weak smile  and looked around the unfamiliar surroundings, which were a little hard to get used to. With a hoa.r.s.e throat she asked, “Where is this?”

Jin Hua smiled and replied, “This is Zhao Manor.”

“Zhao Manor?” Xiao Wan hadn’t remembered getting rescued after rolling down the mountain. Struggling to get up, she asked, “What of Hong Xiu? What happened to Hong Xiu?”

Jin Hua thought for a moment, “I presume you are referring to the young servant girl. She is fine. She hasn’t awoken yet.”

Xiao Wan moved the blanket to get out of the bed, which made Jin Hua stop Xiao Wan in a hurry. “What are you doing, young miss? You have yet to recover. You can’t get out of the bed.”

“Call for your masters. Anyone will do. Best if she is a madam.”   

As soon as Xiao Wan stopped speaking, Jin Hua knelt down halfway after a shock. “My Lord.”

Xiao Wan lifted her eyes to see Zhao Zun, who was wearing black clothes.  His long,ink-black hair was held together by a long hairpin, and one of his hands rested on his back. Although his attire was simple, it gave off a sort of inviolable presence. His placid black eyes seemed like a starry night sky,  which unconsciously attracted people.

It was Zhao Zun!

Xiao Wan shrunk her neck. She couldn’t help but recoil from him.

Zhao Zun, Dong Ming’s richest merchant possessing uncountable riches, was one of the people all the princes wanted to make connections with. He also had several ships with all sorts of inward and outward trades. He owned everything there was own.

Xiao Wan had seen Zhao Zun before in her previous life. She had heard that he had a brutal personality and liked slaughter. His personality was extremely weird, and he liked neither soft nor hard approaches when dealing with people. The Right Minister also had his share of being played into his schemes.

Xiao Wan also heard of him, considering how renowned he was. She instantly frowned and contemplated many curses in her mind. How was it possible for her to be so unlucky that she had to cross paths with this demon killer?

Xiao Wan’s inner thoughts didn’t escape Zhao Zun’s eyes. He narrowed his eyes and lifted his hands. Seeing this, Jin Hua glanced at Xiao Wan before lowering her head and leaving the room.

For every step Zhao Zun took, Xiao Wan retreated another. If it weren’t for yesterday’s report, he would’ve a.s.sumed that Xiao Wan was familiar with him.

And so he became more curious.

“Are you afraid of me?” Zhao Zun barely lifted his lips to say out those words.

He stopped walking sat down after fetching a nearby chair. Xiao Wan should’ve jumped onto the bed after he walked a bit more. However, she had a lot of nerve contrary to what one might expect. She rolled down from such a high slope without blinking an eye. If he were a normal man, he wouldn’t necessarily have the guts to do that.

But why was she afraid of him? Zhao Zun wanted to be sure if Xiao Wan was really afraid of him.

Xiao Wan exhaled softly and shook her head in hesitation. Before this, she had only heard of the rumours and never seen Zhao Zun for real. She  repeatedly told herself not to believe rumours easily.

Xiao Wan thought for a moment, “it’d be better to pretend you don’t know him”, and firmly shook her head.

Zhao Zun calmly poured a cup of tea and gently took few sips. From time to time, he would look at her from the corner of his eyes. His movement while blowing the tea gently seemed extremely graceful. Not pausing just like moving clouds and flowing water, he gave off an image of grace. In Xiao Wan’s eyes, Zhao Zun drinking tea was one of a kind and was to be appreciated.

Xiao Wan was once again in doubt. How was it possible for a person like this to have such a bad reputation?

“Young girl, why do you know my name?” Zhao Zun asked while putting down his cup, feeling a bit curious.

Xiao Wan choked up at that. She suddenly remembered that she had called him “Zhao Zun”before she pa.s.sed out. She wished to bite her own tongue off right there. Since she couldn’t think of a good excuse no matter what, she could only brace herself in her answer.

“I learned fortune telling at birth. I know astronomy to geography; therefore, it isn’t hard to try and find out one’s name.”

Xiao Wan thought that there was no better explanation than this. After all, she did know a lot of things. She straightened up her waist and back.

Zhao Zun stared a little. The intrigue in his eyes made Xiao Wan’s face go red.

“Even if you know fortune telling, how did the young lady show up here?”

Xiao Wan spoke adamantly as if she was on the top of things, “Don’t tell me that you, lord Zhao, don’t know the saying ‘doctors do not treat themselves’.”

Zhao Zun nodded his head in comprehension, “Hmm, I see. Then in that case, how about telling me what’s going on outside?”

Xiao Wan was stunned. She took a look at the sky, which had gradually darkened. She thought “oh s.h.i.t” in her mind.

“Lord Zhao, I am the Right Minister’s ninth daughter. The grat.i.tude for saving my life will surely be repaid in some other day. I must first bid my leave.”

As Xiao Wan hadn’t returned, she figured the whole manor would’ve been turned upside down by now. She moved her lips in frustration.

“Miss Xiao Ninth.”

Zhao Zun suddenly felt interested. There was no way she seriously fashioned herself to be a martial champion, right? How could she have recovered fully in a few hours after rolling down a mountain?

Xiao Wan halted her steps and looked at Zhao Zun. This man did not lack anything at all, so he most likely wouldn’t bother pitting himself against the Right Ministry.

“When you had been saved yesterday, I had already sent my men to inform the minister,” Zhao Zun spoke neutrally.

Xiao Wan did a double take–Yesterday? Informed? She almost jumped on an urge. She looked at Zhao Zun unpleasantly and asked, “No way. If so, then how come my father hasn’t come yet?”

Zhao Zun narrowed his eyes with a faint smile. He a.s.sumed that the Minister of the Right was stomping his feet right now.