Chapter 30: Orange Gets Injured

At this time, the sky was somewhat gloomy, with heavy layers of clouds blocking the light, making everything appear gray and hazy, as if washed with a dirty cloth, showing a hint of turbidity.

However, Su Qingwan’s white robe made him look like a piece of pure, clear, and beautiful jade. His entire being exuded nobility and elegance. Holding a textbook in his hand, he walked along the path, his clothes floating gracefully, like the wind.

Compared to everything around him, he appeared particularly cold and clean.

Just a side profile was enough to make one forget the mundane world.

It’s a pity that the beautiful face wore a worried expression.

Qin Yaxue hurried over, stopping a few steps away. She had long heard that this young master Su was an otherworldly beauty. Although she had the fortune to see him from afar before, they were not acquainted due to the injury on his face at the time. Today was truly a rare opportunity.

Qin Yaxue once again adjusted her appearance, waited until she caught her breath, and confidently walked forward to bow, “Greetings, Young Master Su, I am…”

Just as she was introducing herself, before she could finish, the person before her eyes walked past her as if she were invisible.

Seeing this, Qin Yaxue’s eyebrows visibly twitched, and unwilling to give up, she chased after him again, respectfully saying, “Young Master Su, I am a student from the Suxing Hall, Qin Yaxue.”

Su Qingwan suddenly stopped, slightly furrowing his brows. His cold gaze fell on Qin Yaxue. Couldn’t she see he was in a bad mood? Yet she dared to come forward and pester him!

Seeing Su Qingwan stop, getting a close-up view of the beauty’s demeanor, Qin Yaxue’s gaze became a bit dazed and infatuated. Instantly putting on a flattering smile, she said, “I have long heard that Young Master Su is talented and beautiful. Today, I finally have the chance to see for myself, and indeed…”

“A good dog doesn’t block the road.” Su Qingwan, being stared at directly, showed displeasure in his expression. His face suddenly changed as if covered in frost. He glanced at Qin Yaxue indifferently and let out a light snort.

Then he left, flicking his sleeves.

Instantly, Qin Yaxue, left standing there, showed an embarrassed expression. This “A good dog doesn’t block the road” was like a resounding slap across her face.

As the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, she had been flattered and catered to by those around her since childhood. The arrogant Qin Yaxue had never experienced such blatant disregard. She clenched her fists, suppressing the frustration in her heart, gritting her teeth and staring hard at Su Qingwan’s retreating figure.

Suddenly, Qin Yaxue smiled sinisterly, as if consoling herself, “Of course, as the son of Prince Yun, he naturally looks down on others. But there are many days ahead, I don’t believe I can’t win over you, Young Master Su.”

These two big packages were indeed quite heavy, and the path back to the small courtyard was quite long. After walking for a while, Lu Yuner was visibly struggling to carry them, so she put them down by a tall tree to rest for a moment, leaning against the trunk.

She lowered her eyes to look at these two packages. When she first got off the carriage and picked them up, goodness! The weight…

Except for the few jin of fragrant pork bones she had asked Qiu Yi to prepare, everything else in the bundle was prepared by Qiu Yi, and she didn’t know what was inside.

She wanted to abandon some of it, but the servant said that Qiu Yi had worked hard to prepare all this, and she didn’t want to upset Qiu Yi.

What exactly had been prepared inside?

As Lu Yuner was lost in her thoughts, suddenly Liu Lan’s voice came from behind, greeting her.

“Sister Yuner, how are the preparations for this afternoon’s polo match?” Liu Lan smiled mysteriously, her tone mixed with a hint of probing.

Lu Yuner turned around, her lively beautiful eyes flashing with a hint of spirit. She didn’t hide it, “The preparations are going well. Why? Is Sister Lan here to scout?”

“Hahaha! To be honest, who made you the first person to make me feel both admiration and fear!” Liu Lan approached Lu Yuner and put a hand on her shoulder, the corner of her mouth slightly curved. “I truly both love and hate you, Lu Yuner! Thinking back to that polo match, hmm… although it’s been a while, I can’t help but be wary! You caught me off guard, your moves were too fierce! But… I really like your style of doing things, clean and decisive, simply too cool!”

Liu Lan was never stingy with praise for those she liked.

Lu Yuner didn’t act modest, her face breaking into a warm smile: “Thank you for the compliment.”

“Hahaha! You’re welcome! But… did you just come back from your mansion?” Liu Lan glanced at the things on the ground, knowing that she had already moved into the Imperial Academy, and her classes had also been reduced, which suited her just fine. There would be plenty of time to practice with her in the future.

That’s right, this self-proclaimed invincible young general Liu experienced her first sense of defeat from Lu Yuner.

But Liu Lan was also quite proud. Since stumbling with Lu Yuner, she had always wanted to win against her once.

Unfortunately! After getting to know Lu Yuner, she discovered that this person was always busy with official matters, either working or resting. When Lu Yuner had time, she had to return to the Huabei military camp.

This was now a good opportunity.

Lu Yuner nodded: “Yes, I came back to bring some things.”

Liu Lan looked at her with a smile: “I’ll escort you back to your courtyard.”

“Alright!” Lu Yuner was just worrying about the weight. She had just bent down to pick up one package for her when suddenly Liu Lan’s urgent voice sounded from above her head, “Sister Yuner, you carry it yourself. I have something to do, so I’ll leave first.”

“Ah! Sister Lan, you…” Lu Yuner had just raised her head, but the figure in front of her had already disappeared in a flash.

Lu Yuner looked in the direction Liu Lan had hurriedly left, and saw her chasing after Sheng Qingzi in front, while this Sheng Qingzi’s steps were a bit flustered, seemingly deliberately avoiding Liu Lan.

Lu Yuner was surprised in her heart. Eh? What’s going on with these two?

Seeing that this free labor was gone, Lu Yuner could only rely on herself. Just as she entered the courtyard, she didn’t see Orange’s figure, probably it had gone out to play in the back mountain.

This back mountain was a dense and wide forest. Usually, there weren’t people going in, so there was no need to worry about Orange being discovered.

Lu Yuner put everything away, first taking out the few jin of fragrant pork bones and placing them in Orange’s big bowl. When it came back and smelled it, it would know there was something delicious.

Then there came a few knocks at the courtyard gate.

Lu Yuner put down what she was holding and hurried to the door. With a “squeak”, she opened the door.

Lu Yuner was visibly stunned. After experiencing yesterday’s strange dream, her heart was filled with indescribable feelings. Su Qingwan’s ink-black eyes quietly gazed at her, his face somewhat pale, not saying a word.

For a moment, both were silent, looking at each other.

Lu Yuner looked at the face before her, involuntarily recalling yesterday’s dream mirror. Her eyes flashed with a hint of subtlety and complexity. Lowering her eyes slightly, she opened her mouth and said, “Young Master Su, do you have something to discuss with me?”

For some reason, after experiencing yesterday’s dream, she now seemed a bit guilty, clearly telling others not to get entangled with her, yet engaging in intimacy with someone in her dreams.

Isn’t this obviously inconsistent with one’s words and actions? Even somewhat hypocritical.

Seeing her face seemed displeased, Su Qingwan’s heart tightened, and he said softly, “May I come in to talk?”

He had already decided to try a different approach.

Lu Yuner felt it was inappropriate, “Young Master Su, whatever you have to say, just say it here!”

Su Qingwan hesitated, “I…”

Suddenly, there was a “clang” sound from inside the courtyard, accompanied by a painful whimper.

Lu Yuner slightly turned her head, sensing something was wrong with the sound, and immediately turned back into the courtyard. Su Qingwan, out of curiosity, followed her into the courtyard, closing the door behind him.

As soon as Lu Yuner entered the courtyard, she saw Orange lying weakly in the weeds, letting out painful and helpless whimpers. She was obviously startled. Orange’s right front leg was bleeding non-stop due to an injury. She hurriedly went back to the room to get the ointment and bandages that Qiu Yi had prepared for her.

Why was there an injured dog here?

Equally shocked, Su Qingwan quickly approached Orange when Lu Yuner turned to enter the room. He put down his textbook, squatted down, and took out a handkerchief to try to stop the bleeding. Orange, either due to the unfamiliar face or fear from being injured, curled up into a ball.

Su Qingwan’s eyes were full of sympathy as he said softly, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’m here to help you.”

At this moment, his voice was soft and gentle, seeming to have a magical, soothing effect on animals.

Su Qingwan tried to approach again, and just as his hand touched the fur on its front leg, seeing it no longer resist, he was visibly delighted and quickly used the handkerchief to stop the bleeding wound.

Lu Yuner urgently came out with the medicine, and the next second her gaze froze.

Su Qingwan was squatting down, his soft hair falling gently, his pale hands holding the handkerchief to stop Orange’s bleeding. The handkerchief was soaked with blood, his hands as white as spring onions stained with the smell of blood, his brows furrowed with a hint of anxiety and sympathy.

She didn’t expect this Young Master Su to be so brave.

He didn’t show any disgust at all, instead appearing particularly genuine.

Lu Yuner barely regained her senses and quickly walked over, saying softly, “Let me.”

“Mm.” Su Qingwan silently moved away a few steps.

“Orange, be good, let me take a look.” Lu Yuner immediately squatted down to carefully examine the wound on its front leg. A ghastly wound came into view. The flesh was somewhat blurred but fortunately hadn’t reached the bone. The surrounding fur was matted due to the coagulated blood.

More fortunately, there was no poison.

Lu Yuner’s expression was somewhat complex, her eyes and brows full of sympathy. Her cold eyes slightly lowered, a hint of suspicion flashing in her heart.

This was clearly a knife wound. Who could be so vicious!

Where had Orange come back from?

Lu Yuner suppressed the confusion in her heart and carefully applied medicine to it. Orange had been trained by Lu Yuner before and knew not to make a sound in the courtyard, so it also knew to endure the pain and whimper silently.

The painful whimpers were like knives falling on Lu Yuner’s heart. She had worked so hard to raise Orange to be lively, but after just a few days, it had suffered such a hardship.

“Don’t be afraid, Orange, it’ll be alright, it’ll be alright…” Su Qingwan was constantly helping her gently comfort Orange from the side. Seeing this, Lu Yuner’s eyes flashed with something unusual as she continued to bandage it, just about to look for scissors.

“The scissors are here.” Suddenly a pair of scissors was handed over, and Su Qingwan’s eyes met Lu Yuner’s.

Lu Yuner’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she took the scissors, “Thank you.”

After treating Orange’s wound, she carried it into the small house, deciding to take it back to the mansion to recover.

Lu Yuner walked out of the room towards Su Qingwan, thoughtfully saying, “This dog is called Orange. I encountered it as a stray when I moved into the small courtyard. According to the rules of the Imperial Academy, we are not allowed to keep pets without permission. I will take Orange back to the mansion later to recover, so I hope Young Master Su can keep today’s matter confidential for me.”

“Mm, I’ll listen to Sister Yuner.” Su Qingwan’s eyes lit up when he heard this: “So it’s called Orange. Did Sister Yuner name it?”

Lu Yuner nodded, “Yes, based on the color of its fur, that’s why I gave it this name.”

“It sounds lovely.” Su Qingwan gave Lu Yuner a gentle smile.

When Su Qingwan smiled at her like this, Lu Yuner felt uncomfortable, perhaps due to the aftereffects of the dream. Just as she was about to look away, her gaze noticed his hands covered in fresh blood. Su Qingwan seemed to notice this too, glancing at his own hands.

“Young Master Su, please wait a moment.” Lu Yuner turned and went back to the kitchen. After washing her own hands, she brought out a basin of water and placed it on the stone table in the courtyard. “Young Master Su, please wash your hands.”

“Mm.” Su Qingwan’s lips curved slightly as he came over to Lu Yuner and held out both hands.

Lu Yuner’s eyes flashed with surprise: “Young Master Su, this is…?”

Su Qingwan raised his hands a bit more, saying with a serious face: “Sister Yuner, could you help me roll up my sleeves? My hands are bloody, it’s inconvenient.”

Lu Yuner was slightly stunned, considering for a moment. Being too cautious might seem overly sensitive, especially since he had done her a big favor. She then replied frankly: “Alright.”