Yu Jingchen sat down beside Nan Zhiyun. When the imperial physician had been taking her pulse earlier, his attention had been on the young lady, and he had noticed something. Yu Jingchen took Nan Zhiyun’s hand, and she instinctively tried to pull away.
"How did you get these scratches?" Yu Jingchen asked Nan Zhiyun, pointing to some marks on her wrist.
Nan Zhiyun appeared nervous and frightened. She wanted to pull her sleeve back down to cover them, but Yu Jingchen stopped her.
"Did you scratch yourself just now?" Yu Jingchen asked her.
Nan Zhiyun did not answer. Yu Jingchen was patient. "Tell me how you got these injuries. Did you scratch yourself just now?" Yu Jingchen asked. It wasn't Min Chongyi, as she likely couldn't get close enough to Nan Zhiyun to inflict such wounds.
"Tell me, okay? Did you scratch yourself? If so, just nod," Yu Jingchen prompted her.
Nan Zhiyun lowered her head. Yu Jingchen watched her, and finally, unable to withstand his gaze, she nodded.
"Why did you scratch yourself? Were you nervous? Or scared?" Yu Jingchen felt a pang in his heart at Nan Zhiyun's behavior.
"I'm sorry..." Nan Zhiyun only said these three words, but perhaps no one could truly understand their meaning. Hearing them, Yu Jingchen's heart ached.
"Promise me you won't do it again, okay? You can't hurt yourself. Your body is your own. If you don't cherish it, how can others love and protect you? So, in the future, no more hurting yourself, can you promise me? Hmm?" Yu Jingchen stroked Nan Zhiyun's forehead, his tone gentle and soft.
"Mm..." Nan Zhiyun seemed to agree, but Yu Jingchen knew the young lady hadn't truly taken it to heart yet.
"Don't be scared or nervous. Even if you feel these emotions, try to control them. Don't ever hurt yourself again. If you do, I'll be unhappy, and then I'll have to punish you, understand? Hmm?" Yu Jingchen said with a smile, his words sounding like a joke, but for Nan Zhiyun, it was different.
"I'll punish you by making sure you take good care of yourself." Yu Jingchen knew she was sensitive, so he added this after his previous remark.
Nan Zhiyun looked up at Yu Jingchen and saw his gentle smile. She seemed to want to say something, but didn't dare.
"What did I tell you last time? If you have something to say, you can just say it," Yu Jingchen encouraged her.
"...I'm already better," Nan Zhiyun managed to say after a long pause.
"Mm, better, but not completely healed. So you can't be careless. You still need to take good care of your wounds. And your health isn't very good, so you need to recuperate slowly. Do you understand?" Yu Jingchen thought Nan Zhiyun might dislike his current methods, perhaps feeling he was too overbearing or strict.
"You said before that you'd send me back when I got better," Nan Zhiyun said. She had been staying here for days and felt uneasy, so she didn't want to remain.
Although Min Chongyi's words earlier were unpleasant, Nan Zhiyun had also considered the issue herself. She had never wanted to stay here.
But as soon as Nan Zhiyun spoke, Yu Jingchen's expression stiffened. Leave? How could that be possible?
"You're not better yet. Give it a couple more days, okay? We can talk about this later." Yu Jingchen didn't want to continue this discussion.
"But this is Zichen Palace... I..." Nan Zhiyun was starting to panic, her words becoming unclear.
"Alright, I said, we'll discuss it again after your wounds are completely healed. Look at you now, how can I possibly let you go back alone? What if someone comes again? Can you handle it?" Yu Jingchen tried to dissuade Nan Zhiyun with these words.
"..." Nan Zhiyun desperately wanted to speak again but no longer had the courage. Yu Jingchen could see that she didn't want to give up on leaving, but on this matter, he pretended not to notice.
"I'll take you out for a stroll later. You must be bored staying in the room all day, right?" Yu Jingchen directly changed the subject. Hearing the word "out," Nan Zhiyun felt an inexplicable sense of resistance.
"I don't want to go out..." Nan Zhiyun replied.
"Why? If you stay cooped up in the room every day, you'll grow mushrooms." Yu Jingchen wanted to ease the current atmosphere.
"I don't want to go out... my wounds hurt..." Nan Zhiyun seemed to have thought of a reason, but Yu Jingchen wouldn't be so easily fooled.
"Be good. We'll just take a short walk. If you feel uncomfortable, I can carry you? Or we can take a palanquin?" Yu Jingchen wasn't insisting she go out; he just wanted to test her reaction, sensing her resistance to the outside world.
Nan Zhiyun shook her head. She didn't want to. Her resistance was evident. Seeing this, Yu Jingchen's brow furrowed slightly.
"You really don't want to go out?" Yu Jingchen asked her. Nan Zhiyun continued to shake her head. "I don't want to go out..." She didn't want to see those people outside.
Yu Jingchen fell silent for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. If she didn't want to go, then she wouldn't. He had only been testing her, and the result was clear, so he wouldn't force the issue.
However... when did this kind of emotion start appearing in Nan Zhiyun? It hadn't happened in her previous life. So, in the past year, what had caused Nan Zhiyun to become like this?
She wasn't unwilling to go out; she was afraid and terrified of it. She displayed resistance towards the outside world. Nan Zhiyun... seemed to have shut herself in, locked herself away. This was not a good sign.