[A clever but oblivious girl who only wants to cure her illness x an obsessive, seemingly gentle but secretly unhinged heir from a distinguished family]
Song Yu is a distant cousin of the Wen family and a young lady of the household. The year she came of age, she suddenly developed a strange illness that flared up every five days.
After every attempt to find a cure failed, her parents sent her to the Wen residence, hoping to find a renowned physician in the capital.
On her first day at the residence, she accidentally bumped into someone.
He wore a moon-white robe. His fingers were long and slender, and a cool, plum-like fragrance surrounded him.
He glanced at her without a word, his gaze cool and distant. Yet at that single glance, the itch on her body inexplicably subsided.
Only later did she learn that
he was the eldest young master of the Wen family, cold-hearted and desireless, a man who kept his distance from women and was the hardest person in the whole family to approach.
To cure her illness, she tried every trick she could think of, inching closer to him one step at a time.
But no matter how many times she tested him, he remained unmoved.
Until one night, she pretended to be drunk and fell into his arms. When her fingers accidentally brushed the hot, damp skin along his neck, he seized her wrist.
The man looked down at her with a smile at the corner of his lips, his voice cool and gentle.
"If you find me helpful, Cousin Song, you can come to me directly."
*
By day, they are a refined, self-disciplined, and courteous pair of cousins.
When night falls, he always manages to appear in her room at once.
His sleeves hang loose, his palm is warm. Sitting beside her bed, he watches her tremble and cry all over when her illness flares up, letting her approach him, touch him, and gasp for breath.
They never go all the way.
Then one day, after sharing an intimate moment behind a rockery, she suddenly realizes that the familiar burning heat and restlessness have completely disappeared.
She secretly avoids him for a few days and finally confirms it: her strange illness is truly cured.
Overjoyed, she says to him when he comes again that night,
"Young Master, I will never forget your great kindness. Now that I have recovered, and my parents have arranged a marriage for me, I should return home."
The lamplight flickers in the dark room, and the scent of plum blossoms drifts through the air.
His expression unchanged, he asks softly,
"Are you really ready to leave?"
Before she can answer, a searing, unbearable restlessness suddenly surges through her chest, and she collapses to her knees.
She looks up in horror.
Her illness was clearly cured. Why...
He rises, closes the door, and slides the bolt into place.
Then he approaches her step by step, his gaze growing colder by the moment.
"You've tried my kisses, my hands, and my scent."
"Now that you're cured, you want to dump me and marry someone else."
"Song Yu, did you really think you could get such a good deal in this world without paying for it?"
Reader's guide:
1. The illness is an excuse.
Theme: Kindness will always be rewarded.
