kingnovel Chapter 498 Seeing Through
Chapter 498 Seeing Through
Qingxing quickly brought over a bowl of warm rice porridge, carefully helped Xiao Huanyan up, and gently placed the porcelain spoon to her lips.
Although Xiao Huanyan was unconscious, she still instinctively resisted eating, her pale lips tightly pressed together, refusing to swallow.
Yu Wan frowned slightly upon seeing this.
"Xiao Huanyan," Yu Wan's voice turned cold, "if you don't eat, you'll really starve to death here. Death would be the end of everything, but do you really want to die?"
Seeing that Xiao Huanyan wouldn't eat any rice porridge no matter what she tried, Qingxing was so anxious that tears streamed down her face. She cried out, "Second Miss, please eat something... Madam Yun has come to see you personally. She will definitely stand up for you..."
Perhaps having overheard their conversation, Xiao Huanyan's tightly closed eyelashes trembled slightly.
When Qingxing tried to feed her porridge again, she finally swallowed a mouthful slowly.
Upon seeing this, Yu Wan's tense expression eased slightly.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard.
Everyone in the room turned to look and saw Xiao Tengtian stride in, his face gloomy and his brows furrowed with anger.
Upon seeing Xiao Tengtian, Madam You rushed forward as if to see a savior, her face filled with grievance and fear: "Master, Madam Yun insisted on barging in, and I really couldn't stop her..."
We absolutely cannot let Xiao Tengtian blame her for this!
Xiao Tengtian glanced coldly at Madam You, ignoring her explanations, and his gaze fell directly on Xiao Huanyan on the bed.
The girl's face was as pale as paper, and there were still traces of rice porridge on her lips, indicating that she had just eaten.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he let out a silent sigh of relief.
“Madam Yun.” He turned to Yu Wan, his voice low and restrained, “What brings you to my humble abode?”
Yu Wan stood up calmly, straightened her sleeves, and patiently repeated, "Xiao Huanyan made an appointment with me, but she has not arrived today. Naturally, I have to come to her door to demand an explanation."
Xiao Tengtian frowned: "Now that Madam Yun has seen it, my daughter is not available today."
“I did see it.” Yu Wan stared directly at Xiao Tengtian, a hint of sarcasm on her lips. “I just didn’t expect that the dignified second young lady of the Xiao family would be locked in the courtyard and ignored by everyone. Even when she went on a hunger strike and fell into a coma, no one called a doctor for her.”
"If I hadn't come today, Miss Xiao would probably be..."
Her unfinished words were as sharp as a knife, and Xiao Tengtian's face suddenly darkened, his eyes coldly sweeping over Madam You.
Madam You was startled by his gaze and hurriedly explained, "Master, I truly did not know that the Second Miss had gone on a hunger strike for three days..."
Little did she know that Xiao Huanyan had actually gone on a hunger strike for three days!
Xiao Tengtian snorted coldly, interrupting Madam You: "Shut up! I'll settle accounts with you later!"
He turned to Yu Wan, barely suppressing his anger, and said in a deep voice, "Madam Yun, this is my family matter, no need for you to worry about it. Huan Yan is just stubborn and throwing a tantrum, the manor will take care of her."
Yu Wan chuckled lightly, her gaze sharp as a knife as she swept her eyes over Xiao Huanyan's exposed wrist.
"Throwing a tantrum?" She raised her voice slightly. "Lord Xiao, the bruises on Xiao Huanyan's wrists can't be caused by a hunger strike."
Xiao Tengtian's expression changed, and he then noticed that there were several faint bluish-purple marks on Xiao Huanyan's exposed wrist.
His brow furrowed even more, a vague unease creeping into his heart—
Could it be that Lady You really did something behind his back?
Upon seeing this, Madam You hurriedly knelt down: "Master, this matter truly has nothing to do with me!"
She glared at the servants inside, "Did you all act on your own initiative and offend the Second Miss?!"
The servants were so frightened that they kowtowed repeatedly: "Master and Madam, please understand! We would never dare to do such a thing!"
"Then where did this injury come from?"
Xiao Tengtian questioned coldly, his sharp gaze fixed on Qingxing.
"Qingxing, you tell us!"
Qingxing's gaze fell on the purplish-blue marks on Xiao Huanyan's wrists, her eyes filled with heartache. Her voice trembled with tears as she said, "Miss wanted to leave this courtyard, so the old woman guarding the gate tied her hands and feet..."
Upon hearing this, the two old women guarding the gate turned ashen-faced and hurriedly kowtowed, "Master, please forgive us! Master, please forgive us! We were only following orders!"
Xiao Tengtian roared in fury, "Ordered? Whose orders are you following?!"
The two old women subconsciously looked at Madam You.
Madam You's face was grim, and a fleeting look of unease and resentment crossed her eyes.
It was indeed her order to confine Xiao Huanyan to her quarters. It was clearly Xiao Tengtian's order. He himself was unwilling to be the bad guy, but he repeatedly pushed her into it!
Thinking of this, Madam You couldn't help but feel some resentment.
She took a deep breath, barely suppressing the surging emotions in her heart, and knelt down to admit her mistake, "Your Majesty, I did instruct them to keep a close eye on the Second Miss and not let her leave the courtyard easily. I was afraid the servants were worried that the Second Miss might accidentally hurt herself, so they had no choice but to..."
"It is my fault for not disciplining these servants properly. I am guilty."
Xiao Tengtian stared at Madam You, his expression shifting between light and dark.
He naturally understood that Ms. You was covering for him and taking the blame for him.
After a moment of silence, he finally waved his hand and said, "Never mind, you meant well. It's just that Yan'er was being unreasonable."
Yu Wan watched this scene, a thoughtful look flashing in her eyes.
She had initially thought that Madam You was mistreating Xiao Huanyan, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
Xiao Tengtian turned to Yu Wan, his tone distant: "Madam Yun, I will handle Yan'er's matter myself, so there's no need for you to trouble yourself..."
Before the words were finished, a clear voice rang out from outside, "Master, this servant has brought Physician Feng!"
Yu Wan praised Xi Zhu in her heart.
As they say, timing is everything.
If Xizhu hadn't come, Xiao Tengtian would have had no reason to keep her here even if he kicked her out. But now that Xizhu is here, she can easily stay a little longer.
Yu Wan said directly to the outsiders, "Come in quickly, let Doctor Feng take a look at Huan Yan."
Before Xiao Tengtian could say anything, Xizhu had already led Old Man Feng into the house.
As soon as Old Man Feng entered the room, he sensed the strange atmosphere, but he never paid attention to such things. He went straight to the bed and took Xiao Huanyan's pulse.
After a moment, Old Man Feng frowned and said in a deep voice, "Has she not eaten for several days?"
Qingxing choked up, "Three days."
Old Feng shook his head in disapproval, "This second young lady is already in poor health, and she hasn't eaten for days. She's also depressed. If she endures this for another two days, even a god couldn't save her."
Xiao Tengtian hadn't expected it to be so serious. He didn't care that the doctor was someone Yu Wan had found, and hurriedly pleaded, "Please, divine doctor, save my daughter."
Old Man Feng had already heard a brief account of the Xiao family's affairs from Xizhu on his way here. Upon hearing this, he glanced at Xiao Tengtian and said bluntly, "Now you're in a hurry? Where were you before?"
Xiao Tengtian was shocked that an ordinary doctor would dare to criticize him, and he was both angry and ashamed.
Old Man Feng ignored him and began to apply acupuncture to Xiao Huanyan with silver needles.
About half an incense stick later, Xiao Huanyan's eyelashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Having been unconscious for so long, Xiao Huanyan's gaze was still unfocused when she first opened her eyes. It took her a while to focus on Yu Wan's face, and her voice was so weak that it was almost inaudible: "Yu... Yu Wan? What... are you doing here?"