The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Shen Yanchuan’s eyelashes fluttered. He turned his head and saw Ye Chutang slumped against his shoulder. Her lips were exceptionally pale, and she seemed to have fallen asleep.

His sharp brows furrowed.

"Second Miss Ye?"

Ye Chutang didn’t respond. Her breathing was faint.

Shen Yanchuan’s heart tightened. He held her by the shoulders, only to find her body limp, as if all her strength had been drained away.

"Ye Chutang!?"

Shen Yanchuan immediately pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. It was burning hot.

His heart sank.

All afternoon, from the moment she was injured until now, Ye Chutang had acted perfectly calm and composed. She had even bantered with him from time to time, making him believe her injury wasn’t that serious.

Who knew—

A dull ache spread through Shen Yanchuan’s chest.

’I knew she was a cunning woman, a practiced actress, yet I still let her fool me like this!’

’Her injury must be far more serious than I imagined!’

Shen Yanchuan suppressed the turbulent emotions surging within him. He wrapped one arm around her waist and cupped her cheek with the other.

"Ye Chutang? Wake up, don’t fall asleep!"

If she didn’t wake up, he would have to get her out of here sooner.

"Ye—"

Shen Yanchuan had just started to speak when his voice abruptly cut off.

A warm, soft hand had covered his mouth, accompanied by a soft, hushed voice that sounded like it was coaxing someone.

"Shh."

Shen Yanchuan felt as if his heart skipped a beat.

For a rare moment, he froze, his mind a complete blank.

The only thing he could register was the soft, scorching sensation on his lips, which quickly spread through his entire body.

Ye Chutang tilted her head slightly, glancing outside. She leaned closer to Shen Yanchuan and whispered, "Someone’s coming."

Shen Yanchuan’s eyelashes trembled faintly.

Ye Chutang was already leaning on his shoulder, and now she was even closer, practically speaking right into his ear.

Her warm breath brushed past him like a breeze carrying embers, threatening to start a wildfire.

After a moment, Ye Chutang finally let out a soft breath, her whole body relaxing.

"Okay, they’re gone."

She instinctively tried to pull back but found she couldn’t move. She was still in Shen Yanchuan’s arms, so she could only lift her eyes and signal to him with a look.

"Princely Heir?"

Shen Yanchuan impassively released her.

Ye Chutang leaned back. She found the situation rather amusing, and a real smile graced her lips.

"Princely Heir, why were you so distracted just now? You didn’t even notice someone approaching?"

Shen Yanchuan couldn’t answer her question. Staring at her face, which was as pale as paper, he retorted, "I was about to ask you the same thing. Weren’t you unconscious? How could you have noticed the activity outside?"

Ye Chutang’s eyes curved into crescents.

"Unconscious? Princely Heir, you misunderstand. I was just a little tired and wanted to sleep."

’Still being stubborn at a time like this.’

Shen Yanchuan’s face was devoid of expression, appearing perfectly calm, but Ye Chutang could sense a subtle undercurrent of anger.

"Ye Chutang, do you know that if you fall asleep when you’ve lost too much blood, you might never wake up again?"

’Okay, now I’m sure of it. This man really does get angry over the most baffling things.’

’It can’t be because someone was approaching just now, and I, half-dead as I am, noticed while he didn’t, right?’

"I know," Ye Chutang said, taking a breath. She realized her wound seemed to have gone numb; she couldn’t feel her left arm at all.

So she stopped trying to move and leaned back lazily. "That’s why I didn’t fall asleep, isn’t it? I was just so tired I wanted to rest for a bit, but then someone came."

As she spoke, a faint smile blossomed on her lips. She said, half-jokingly, "I saved your life, Princely Heir. Can’t I even borrow a shoulder to lean on?"

Shen Yanchuan realized that it was impossible to reason with Ye Chutang about certain things.

He said, "How did you know who those people were?"

Ye Chutang replied languidly, "If they were here to rescue us, why would they be so quiet, not making a single sound?"

’Acting so stealthily, they were clearly here to kill us.’

Shen Yanchuan closed his eyes.

He rarely experienced such emotional turmoil. Not even when he was hit by a poisoned arrow, his life hanging by a thread, had he ever felt this way.

But just now, when he saw Ye Chutang’s eyes shut tight as she slumped limply against his shoulder, an unprecedented panic—one that could even be called fear—had gripped him.

And yet the culprit responsible for it all was acting so nonchalant, as if it were nothing.

Ye Chutang thought for a moment. ’After all, we’re in the same boat now. Judging by his reaction earlier, Shen Yanchuan really doesn’t want to see me die here. I guess he’s a decent guy.’ So she offered some consolation: "Really, this is nothing. I know my limits; I wouldn’t have actually fallen asleep for good. Besides, it’s summer. Once the rain stops, it’ll be fine. Winter is the truly difficult time."

She drifted into a memory.

"Once, during a heavy snowstorm, I took A Feng out to catch rabbits. But before we could even find one, he fainted from not having eaten for two days. The snow was already up to my knees, and he wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I yelled."

Shen Yanchuan’s brows knitted together. "And then?"

Ye Chutang said, "I slapped him twice and woke him up."

Shen Yanchuan: "..."

Ye Chutang laughed. "But the good thing was, we found a rabbit warren that time. It was a bountiful harvest."

That was the first time they’d eaten their fill after fleeing south.

A Feng’s toes had nearly frozen off. If not for those two slaps from Ye Chutang, he probably would have died quietly in the snow that day.

Shen Yanchuan looked outside.

There was actually nothing to see. From their position, all he could make out were rain-soaked branches hanging over the cave entrance, obscuring the view of the outside.

But he couldn’t look at Ye Chutang anymore.

He couldn’t look at her pale face, at the corners of her lips that were still slightly upturned. And he certainly couldn’t look into her dark, gentle, and unfailingly clear eyes.

"You must return to Guling Temple before nightfall," Shen Yanchuan said. "Your injury can’t be left untreated any longer."

His tone was calm but held an absolute certainty.

Just as Ye Chutang was about to speak, she suddenly saw Shen Yanchuan stand up.

His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.

"Someone’s here."

Ye Chutang blinked, and sure enough, a moment later she heard a familiar voice.

"Brother! Chutang!"

It was Princess Qingyang who had found them first.

While pleased, Ye Chutang cast a suspicious glance at Shen Yanchuan.

’This man has practiced martial arts since he was a child. His Inner Strength is profound, and his five senses are much sharper than mine. So why didn’t he... hear them earlier?’

’I really have no idea what he was thinking about that had him so lost in thought.’

Princess Qingyang’s voice grew closer.

Shen Yanchuan walked out.

...

Princess Qingyang was anxiously searching the area when she suddenly heard someone call her name from ahead and to her left.

"Qingyang."

She immediately looked up, surprised and delighted. "Brother!"

’He’s all right!’

Princess Qingyang quickly scrambled up a rugged path nearby, only then discovering there was a cave here.

She was overjoyed beyond words. "This is wonderful! Wonderful! As long as you’re okay! By the way, where’s Chutang?"

Shen Yanchuan shifted slightly to the side.

"She’s inside."

Princess Qingyang immediately rushed in. The sight of Ye Chutang sitting propped up, her clothes stained with blood, made her gasp in shock.

She hurried to Ye Chutang’s side.

Ye Chutang gave her a weak smile and was about to speak when she heard Princess Qingyang say with a sob:

"What did my brother ever do to deserve you risking your life to save him!?"

Ye Chutang: "...???"