Chapter 27 Madman Nodded helplessly.

Chapter 27: The Madman

She nodded, feeling utterly helpless and unable to cry.

Zhong Yao had put a great deal of force into her bump into Xie Chi, but not only did she fail to knock him down, she ended up crashing back heavily into the pear blossom tree herself. The impact was so severe that the pain nearly prevented her from standing up.

But it was her own ill-intentioned mischief, so she couldn’t blame anyone else.

Zhong Yao pretended nothing was wrong. Having borne the pain back to the manor, she discovered that her secretly made arrangements for returning to her hometown had been discovered by Madam Zhong. Using her eldest brother as an excuse, she talked with Madam Zhong for a long time. By the time she finally had a moment alone, it was already evening, during her bath.

Zhong Yao found a large, dark bruise on the side of her waist and hip bone—no wonder it hurt so much.

She sank deeper into the water, thinking to herself, *This must be what people mean by “those who do evil will bring ruin upon themselves.”*

When she visited her eldest brother that day, he mentioned that Xie Chi had contacted him many times.

Contacting her brother but ignoring her—his attitude was clear. Xie Chi likely felt that since matters in her household were taking shape, to avoid misunderstandings, the two of them need not have any further contact.

Zhong Yao could understand. After all, Xie Chi and her brother were both men, making meetings or correspondence more convenient. Moreover, Xue Fang had been posing as a woman for a long time to act as an intermediary and should return to being a man.

She just felt an indescribable restlessness in her heart, which was why she deliberately bumped into Xie Chi when she saw him.

Little did she expect to reap what she sowed.

Zhong Yao let out a soft sigh.

A maid tidying clothes nearby heard her and assumed she was worried about her two brothers.

Recently, the entire Zhong household had been shrouded in a faint gloom. The maids had grown accustomed to it, and their repeated words of comfort had long since worn thin. Giving up on consoling her, the maid instead urged, “You’ve been bathing for quite a while, Miss. Please get out soon. It’s a good time to try the scar-removing ointment Madam just bought.”

The wound on Zhong Yao’s back had already healed, leaving only a scar.

She had only glanced at it once out of curiosity when she first returned to the manor, using a mirror. At that time, the wound was still oozing blood—too frightening to examine closely. She didn’t know what her back looked like now.

Madam Zhong, however, had seen it many times. Each time, she would tearfully embrace Zhong Yao, saying she had suffered greatly, and then search the entire city for scar-removing medicines.

Reminded by the maid, Zhong Yao slowly rose from the water.

After putting on her undergarments, Zhong Yao had the maid bring a mirror. Partially undressed, she turned to look over her shoulder and saw the scar on her back in the reflection.

The scar was long, starting from her shoulder blade and slanting almost diagonally across her entire back, like a giant centipede.

Seeing it suddenly, Zhong Yao was startled.

The maid quickly put the mirror away, saying, “It’s alright. With more ointment, it will gradually fade.”

Zhong Yao had never seen a similar scar on anyone else, so she didn’t know how true those words were.

Her mood was low, and she lacked enthusiasm for anything. Without saying a word, she sighed and lay down on the couch.

Lying on the couch, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, Zhong Yao hazily recalled the moment in the cave when she took the knife for Xie Chi.

She hadn’t done it for Xie Chi; it was simply because she felt that even if she survived, she wouldn’t live much longer, so she might as well do a good deed to accumulate merit for the next life.

Even if the person in danger hadn’t been Xie Chi, she would have done the same.

To be precise, Xie Chi was forced to receive her favor, and it was only out of a guilty conscience that he helped her.

Xie Chi disliked her—Zhong Yao had always known that.

Now thinking about it, perhaps he wasn’t really concerned about propriety but simply didn’t want to be ambiguously involved with a weak, tearful woman like her.

Now that her eldest brother was involved, he naturally didn’t want to have the slightest connection with her.

Zhong Yao felt somewhat sad.

But she was open-minded and not the type to shamelessly cling to someone. After a night of deep thought, Zhong Yao decided to grant Xie Chi’s wish.

The next day, she burned all the correspondence she had exchanged with Xie Chi over the past days, had a meal with Madam Zhong, and continued preparing for her return to the countryside.

Clothing and money were already prepared, and the accompanying servants had been counted. All that remained was to wait for news from First Miss Chen to reach the capital, and she could leave with her mother.

But Zhong Yao was, after all, a young woman who cared about her appearance. Reminded by the soreness in her hip during movement, she remembered the ugly scar on her back. After some thought, she took her servants to a medical clinic.

Not knowing how long she would stay in the countryside, it wouldn’t hurt to stock up on more scar-removing ointment.

Zhong Yao went to the most famous medical clinic in the capital. The shop was well-stocked with a wide variety of medicines. After the physician understood her situation, he assigned an apprentice to introduce each product to Zhong Yao one by one.

Zhong Yao was not short on money at the time and carefully selected five or six bottles. Everything went smoothly until, while drinking tea and waiting for her maid to pay, she heard the maid’s exclamation and the sound of medicine bottles falling, followed by a man’s sinister voice: “What, am I that frightening?”

Puzzled, Zhong Yao quickly stepped out of the small room reserved for distinguished guests. Opening the door, she saw her maid apologizing in panic, the bottles of ointment scattered on the floor, and five men standing before her.

Four of them were burly and strong, resembling bodyguards, while the other, dressed in luxurious clothing, was likely their master.

It seemed the maid had accidentally disturbed them.

Zhong Yao was about to step forward and scold the maid a few times to help her out of the situation when the man, hearing the commotion, turned to look.

Zhong Yao instinctively raised her eyes and, at the sight, trembled and took half a step back in fright.

The left half of his face was fair and smooth, clearly that of a handsome young nobleman, but the right half was covered in scars of varying shades of dark red or pale white, extending even to his ear.

Zhong Yao had never met this person, but she knew who he was.

“Your Highness, please forgive us!” she exclaimed in terror, pulling the maid down to kneel and bow.

“You recognize me?” the Fourth Prince asked displeased. “Who are you?”

Trembling, Zhong Yao gave her name. The Fourth Prince said, “Oh, Zhong Huaizhi’s daughter…”

After saying this dismissively, he neither told them to rise nor spoke further, tilting his head as if lost in thought.

Zhong Yao’s heart pounded with fear.

She had heard many rumors about this Fourth Prince. Some said he couldn’t stand the sight of beauty and had scarred the faces of all the maids in his residence. Others claimed he would attack people with a knife upon hearing words related to beauty or ugliness. Zhong Yao had even heard that he would peel people’s faces to make masks…

Her parents had repeatedly warned her brothers that if they ever encountered this prince, no matter what they thought, they must not show the slightest hint of abnormality on their faces.

How could Zhong Yao have imagined she would run into him?

She had also lost her composure earlier. She didn’t know if the Fourth Prince would let her off, considering her parents were, to some extent, his allies.

“I remember now. Not long ago, you were in danger along with Xie Chi’s sworn sister and got injured, right?” the Fourth Prince said, kicking one of the fallen ointment bottles with his toe. “No wonder you’re here—buying scar-removing ointment?”

Zhong Yao cautiously replied, “Yes…”

The Fourth Prince drew out a long “Hmm,” as if lost in thought again. After a moment, he suddenly said discontentedly, “Why didn’t you kill her? If you had killed her, my grand plan might have succeeded by now.”

Zhong Yao was stunned for a moment before realizing he was referring to Xue Fang. Trembling, she stammered, “I-I-I… I couldn’t defeat him…” The Fourth Prince looked Zhong Yao over and said, “Tsk, you’re really useless.”

Zhong Yao had no idea how to face him, kneeling and trembling, not daring to say another word.

But the Fourth Prince wouldn't leave her alone, asking further, "Where are the scars on your body? What do they look like? How big are they? Are they as ugly as mine?"

"On... on my back, like a centipede, very, very long..." The others were easy to answer, but the last part terrified Zhong Yao. She didn't dare answer that, saying on the verge of tears, "My mother says I'll probably never marry..."

The Fourth Prince said, "Not necessarily. At least you have your face, unlike mine, which is scarred... When I tried to win over Chen Ruofeng, she wouldn't even look at me."

Chen Ruofeng was the eldest daughter of the Chen family, the future Crown Princess.

These words nearly scared Zhong Yao into fainting. She shuddered but didn't dare utter a sound.

"Then again, your mother has a point. We men care most about looks." The Fourth Prince was a strange character. Instead of telling her to rise, he crouched down himself, squatting beside Zhong Yao. "The scars on your body are probably like the ones on my face—they'll never go away. Your future husband will surely look down on you. What will you do then?"

Zhong Yao was terrified, her mind in chaos. She babbled, "I... I'll slash him a few times too, make him uglier than I am."

The Fourth Prince laughed. "I thought the rumors about you were exaggerated, but you seem delicate and weak, yet your heart is so cruel. You really are a vicious shrew."

_You're the vicious one!_ she thought.

Zhong Yao was too afraid to be angry or to speak, her eyes reddening with grievance.

To her surprise, the Fourth Prince grew even more interested. "You look so interesting, as if I've bullied you. That's quite a trick. Next time I go with the Crown Prince to see Father, I'll give it a try myself."

"..." Zhong Yao wanted to cry!

Before she could shed tears, the Fourth Prince changed his expression again. "I heard you're very close to Xie Chi's so-called sister, and you've been spending a lot of time together lately. You won't tell her everything I said today, will you?"

"No!" Zhong Yao exclaimed loudly.

At that moment, she was profoundly grateful—grateful Xie Chi had fabricated a sworn sister, and grateful for Xue Fang's mischievous nature.

She said, "Heir Xie's sister is extremely arrogant. She looks down on me, bossing me around and dismissing me at will in private, even insulting and threatening me. I hate her."

"If you hate her, why do you always cling to her?" the Fourth Prince questioned first, then sneered. "Oh, trying to climb the social ladder, huh? You want to use that so-called sister to get close to Xie Chi?"

Zhong Yao didn't dare argue, saying weakly, "Not to get close..."

"Then it's seduction," the Fourth Prince said. "You're much bolder and more ambitious than your parents. But the Yong'an Marquis's household isn't so easy to latch onto. Xie Chi himself is trouble enough, and there's that annoying old hag... How can she live so long?"

As he spoke, the Fourth Prince sat down on the ground, frustrated. "Hey, you there, have you seen that old hag from the Yong'an Marquis's household?"

His clear disdain for the Xie matriarch resonated with Zhong Yao.

She composed herself a bit more and answered sincerely in a low voice, "Yes, I have. She's especially fierce. She gave my mother a hard time long ago. At the recognition banquet at her residence, she specifically summoned me, yet she humiliated me and made me cry..."

The Fourth Prince clicked his tongue. "Good, that old hag is truly detestable."

Zhong Yao hummed in agreement. "But she didn't get off easy either. I said I wouldn't change, that I'd still set rules for my mother-in-law in the future, which infuriated her."

"Hahaha!" The Fourth Prince burst into laughter. After laughing, he looked at Zhong Yao with admiration and praised, "You're really something. I wish I'd met you earlier."

_Better not_, Zhong Yao thought. _No matter how crazy you are, you have your emperor father to protect you. I come from a humble background and dare not stand under a crumbling wall._

Afraid the Fourth Prince would say more strange things, she wanted to seize the moment while he was in a better mood to leave. She tried to speak several times, but each time she saw the Fourth Prince's eager expression, the words stuck in her throat, making her forehead bead with sweat.

Yet no matter how much she pleaded in her heart, the thing she dreaded finally happened.

"You're much more interesting than your father, and your face isn't bad either..."

At this point, the Fourth Prince paused, suddenly frowned, placed his hands on the ground, leaned forward, and brought his disfigured face right before Zhong Yao's eyes.

Zhong Yao was too terrified to breathe, forcing her gaze onto his intact left cheek, her body rigid, not daring to move.

After a long moment, the Fourth Prince leaned back. While looking at Zhong Yao, he mused thoughtfully, "You really are beautiful..."

Zhong Yao was so horrified her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She stammered, "I... I have a weak constitution, I can't bear children, and I'm vicious, jealous, and a troublemaker. I... I'm not worthy of Your Highness!"

The Fourth Prince looked surprised, glanced her up and down, and sneered, "You dare to think that? What is my status? If I were to marry, it would be someone of Chen Ruofeng's standing."

Zhong Yao still couldn't relax. Even if she couldn't be the principal wife, there were still concubines and side chambers, neither of which she wanted either.

She shrank back, on the verge of tears, looking pitiful and aggrieved once more.

"You're of low status. Not only are you unworthy of me, you're even reaching too high for Xie Chi. But who cares? I like you. Zhong... what's your name again?"

"Zhong Yao..."

"Zhong Yao." The Fourth Prince knelt and crawled closer to Zhong Yao, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her. "How about you seduce Xie Chi?"

Zhong Yao felt as if a piece of the sky had collapsed, landing right on her head, making her dizzy and causing what seemed like hallucinations.

"You're beautiful, and with my help, you'll surely succeed. Then you can teach that old hag a good lesson and make her furious! That wretched Xue girl dared to slander me, claiming I colluded with lowly bandits—she can't be spared either! Xie Chi, hmph, and Xie Chi too!"

Seeing the Fourth Prince already lost in his beautiful fantasy of revenge against the Yong'an Marquis's household, Zhong Yao anxiously tried to bring him back to reality. "I can't do it. Heir Xie despises me; he looks down on me!"

"How do you know without trying?"

"I've tried, it didn't work..."

"So you really did try to seduce him! And you just told me you didn't."

Zhong Yao: "..."

She was utterly helpless against this strange Fourth Prince. She said her family was already arranging a marriage for her—he wouldn't listen. She said she had someone she liked—he didn't believe her. In the end, she could only repeat over and over, "No, I can't," more than ten times until she annoyed the Fourth Prince.

"I'm a man too; don't I know whether this can succeed or not?"

The Fourth Prince irritably cut Zhong Yao off. "It's settled then. Stop making excuses and whining. You're just afraid that if you fail, you'll offend the Yong'an Marquis's household too deeply, right? If that day really comes, I'll take you as my concubine, how about that? I don't believe Father would allow Xie Chi to reach into my inner courtyard!"

Zhong Yao's vision went dark, and she nearly fainted.

In her dazed state, she thought this must be retribution for her maliciously provoking Xie Chi yesterday.

If she hadn't harmed Xie Chi, she wouldn't have gotten bruised, wouldn't have suddenly wanted to check the scars on her back, wouldn't have come to the medical hall, and wouldn't have encountered this insane Fourth Prince...

One truly shouldn't do bad deeds.

In her grief, a guard approached the Fourth Prince and whispered, "Your Highness, Heir Xie has arrived with his sworn sister. He says his sister had an appointment with Zhong Yao and has come to pick her up."

Zhong Yao abruptly looked up and indeed saw Xue Fang, stopped in the courtyard of the medical hall not far away.

Dressed in bright, beautiful clothes, he claimed to be there to pick her up, yet his expression was cold and impatient.

The Fourth Prince noticed and said, "She really isn't warm toward you at all?"

Zhong Yao nodded mournfully. "Yes, she hates me. Her interactions with me have always been forced, and she's even worse to me in private."

The Fourth Prince thought for a moment and asked the guard, "What about Xie Chi?"

"He's outside the medical hall; he didn't even get off the carriage."

Hearing this, the Fourth Prince lowered his head and said to Zhong Yao, "The more the people of the Yong'an Marquis's household dislike you, the harder you must try, so you can get your revenge in the future. Zhong Yao, don't disappoint my expectations."

Looking at his face, which held both appreciation and threat, Zhong Yao nodded, feeling like crying but having no tears.