The Minister: Cold by Day, Hot by Night

The man paused for a moment, then reached out and rubbed her head. "You don’t have to." With that, he pulled her hand away and made to leave.

"You’re not leaving." Zhi Wan suddenly threw her arms around his leg, holding on tight.

The man was speechless.

He raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose, looking somewhat exasperated, but he finally relented and sat back down.

Zhi Wan carefully slid his trousers down, only to see a deep gash on his left thigh. It was a horrifying, bloody mess, but she could still tell the wound had been caused by some sharp object.

’No wonder he walked so slowly when I was helping him. His leg was injured.’

’And just now, he refused to let me take off his trousers... he must have been afraid I would see this.’

She had never faced a situation like this before and was at a complete loss.

But seeing him hurt so badly, she desperately wanted to help.

She glanced around, and when an idea struck her, she ripped a strip of cloth from the hem of her garment. "I’ll wrap it for you."

"Mm," the man grunted in acknowledgment.

Zhi Wan lowered her head and carefully bound his wound with the cloth.

Watching the girl’s careful movements, the man’s expression softened. He reassured her, "It’s not a serious injury. It’s not fatal, so don’t worry."

"If I hadn’t come, you’d still be lying there. Who knows if you would have ever woken up," Zhi Wan shot him a look.

The corners of the man’s lips curved up. His dark eyes gazed at her. "Mm, how would you like me to thank you?"

Zhi Wan tied a knot in the bandage. Hearing his words, she paused. "Well..." She tapped her nose with a slender finger. "You can forget about offering yourself in marriage."

The man froze for a second. "Anything but that."

Zhi Wan’s gaze drifted downward, landing on the drawers he was wearing.

The man’s handsome face flushed hot. He raised a hand to cover her eyes. "Don’t look where you shouldn’t."

"I’ll just tou—Mmph!" Zhi Wan had only managed to get two words out before the man’s mouth crushed against hers, silencing her.

Blinded, all she could smell was the increasingly intense scent of cedarwood on him.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A series of knocks on the door startled Zhi Wan awake.

She rubbed her brow and sat up.

Only then did she realize it was already light out. She had been dreaming again.

But as she recalled the man from her dream—his injuries and his predicament—she couldn’t help but frown.

’That man was injured and stranded on some unknown island.’

’In reality, could he still be lying on that beach, unconscious?’

At this thought, Zhi Wan’s brow furrowed in worry for him.

But worrying was useless. She didn’t know who he was, what his status was, or where he might be.

「Meanwhile, on an unknown deserted island」

Lu Zhan slowly opened his eyes.

Taking in his surroundings, he pushed himself up from the sand, struggling to sit upright.

As he recalled the events of his dream, he raised a hand to the bridge of his nose.

’I can’t believe I dreamed of my cousin while I was unconscious.’

’If she hadn’t woken me, I don’t know how long I would have been out.’

He tried to stand, but a searing pain shot through his left leg.

He unfastened his trousers to examine the injury.

Just as in the dream, his leg was injured.

He’d sustained the injury when his boat was blown up. After being thrown into the river, he had fought with the bandits responsible.

He dressed the wound as best he could, then dragged his exhausted body to some nearby high ground to survey the terrain.

He had fallen into the river the night before last.

He had been conscious at first. With his swimming skills, he should have been able to make it back to shore. However, he was stabbed in the thigh while fighting the bandits, which impeded his movement.

He swam for a long time until he was completely exhausted. That, combined with his blood loss, caused him to lose consciousness and be washed ashore here.

Judging by the time he’d been in the water, he couldn’t be too far from Yangzhou. Still, it would take a while for Jiang Shi and his men to find him.

After a moment of thought, he came down from the high ground and went into the woods to find some medicinal herbs for his wound. He washed them, crushed them with a rock, and applied the poultice to the gash. Then, he tore another strip from the hem of his shirt and bandaged it properly.

If Zhi Wan could see him now, she would surely be amazed.

What she didn’t know was that Lu Zhan had joined the army as a young man. He had not only worked as a cook but had also assisted the army physician in treating soldiers’ wounds. When medicinal herbs were scarce, he would even go into the mountains with the old physician to forage for them. As a result, these tasks were second nature to him.

After treating his wound, Lu Zhan gathered dry firewood and built a fire. He then stripped off his wet clothes and trousers, setting them by the fire to dry.

Once that was done, he fashioned a spear from a tree branch and went to the river to catch fish.

By the time he finished eating, the sun was high in the sky. It was already noon.

Lu Zhan glanced at the scorching sun, put on his dry clothes, and then calmly found a shady spot to rest.

As for Zhi Wan, after waking and getting ready that morning, she first went to Lan Courtyard to pay her respects to Lady Wei and have breakfast with her. Afterward, she took the paintings she had completed recently and went to He Xu Bookstore to deliver them.

Manager Jin was overjoyed to see her. "You’re finally back! If you hadn’t returned soon, I was about to send someone to look for you."

Zhi Wan said with an amused smile, "Manager Jin, why the rush?"

"Isn’t it because..." Manager Jin stopped after just three words, then chuckled and glossed over it. "Your paintings are just so popular, of course I was anxious. But it’s good that you’re back now. From now on, you’ll have to paint plenty more for us."

"Still fifty taels of silver a piece?" Zhi Wan asked, testing the waters.

To her surprise, Manager Jin agreed without hesitation. "The price isn’t an issue, as long as you can provide us with more paintings."

Zhi Wan secretly raised an eyebrow.

’It seems Manager Jin has earned quite a bit of silver from my paintings.’

Still, she was more than happy to continue at a price of fifty taels of silver per piece, so she nodded in agreement.

She had painted a total of twenty pieces this time, and at the agreed-upon price, Manager Jin paid her a total of one thousand taels.

Feeling the weight of her heavy purse, Zhi Wan was in high spirits.

After leaving the bookstore, she took Shuang’er to Zhimei Restaurant.

Zhao Dong and Lady Yu were managing the shop in perfect order.

The couple was both surprised and delighted to see Zhi Wan. "Proprietor, when did you return?"

"Yesterday," Zhi Wan said with a smile, handing them the gifts she had bought for their family of three.

"You’ve spent too much on us again, Proprietor," Lady Yu said gratefully.

Zhi Wan shook her head. "You’ve both worked hard during this time. Did anything happen at the shop?"

"No, everything’s been fine," Lady Yu said with a smile.

Zhao Dong went to fetch the account book and the silver notes, handing them to Zhi Wan.

"I’ve converted all the silver the shop earned into silver notes. It’s all here. Please take a look, Proprietor."

Zhi Wan flipped through the ledger. Business hadn’t declined during this period; in fact, it was even better than before she had left for Yangzhou.

Furthermore, as the weather had warmed up, Lady Yu had taken the initiative to make and sell various cold beverages in addition to their usual pastries.

The finished drinks were chilled in well water, making them refreshingly cool and very popular with the customers.

As a result, the shop had seen a significant increase in customers.

Seeing that Zhi Wan was silent, Lady Yu grew a little uneasy, afraid she would be blamed for acting without permission.

"I acted on my own this time. If you think it’s inappropriate, Proprietor, I won’t do it again," Lady Yu said apprehensively.