The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Translator: NovelMultiverse| Editor: thornling

Seeing that Lin Dan's good intentions had been trampled on like this, Xue Boyong was unexpectedly furious and immediately ordered, "Bring that maid here. I want to thoroughly interrogate her."

Lin Dan poked the herbs in the oil paper packet with a stick and sighed, "Forget it, brother. I'm just starting to study medicine. It’s inevitable that she doesn’t trust my medical skills. Brother, I'm going to read. You bask in the sun in the yard for a while. Call me if you need anything." Being disdained certainly didn’t feel good, but she wasn’t angry. She was an indifferent, emotionless person in the first place. It already took all of her energy just to pay attention to the people that she needed to; where would she have the energy to care about outsiders?

"Okay, go ahead." Xue Boyong waved his hand. When Lin Dan left, he told the bodyguard, "Chase those two girls away. In the future, outsiders will not be allowed to enter Xiaofeng Pavilion as they please."

The bodyguard accepted the order and left. At the same time, Fangfei was complacently boasting to Biyu: "That lowly bitch only learned medicine for a few days and dared to prescribe medicine for me. I complied to her face, but buried the medicine on the back foot. She still asked me every day if I had gotten better. Did you see how stupid she looked? I practically led her in circles, heh…"

The words were barely out of her mouth when several bodyguards escorted her out of Xiaofeng Pavilion with her hands behind her back. Even Biyu was not spared. The two cried and begged for mercy the whole way out, and had no idea what they had done wrong even when they had been taken all the way to the main courtyard.

When the old madam heard the noise, she quickly sent someone to take a look. When she heard that it was the bodyguards of Xiaofeng Pavilion, she was immediately worried that some accident happened to her eldest grandson again. Only when she learned that it was just two maids who had crossed his bottom line and gotten kicked out did she breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't bother to listen to the two maids crying for justice either. Since they offended her eldest grandson, she naturally wouldn't let them stay. She immediately found some middlemen to sell the two of them off.

From start to finish, poor Fangfei and Biyu had no idea how they fell to this point.

Xiaofeng Pavilion was restored to its previous peace. Xue Boyong sat under the warm sunlight, but his expression was very cold. After meditating for a moment, he slowly said, "Li Zhong, has anyone in the courtyard caught an illness and is in need of treatment? If so, call them over. I have orders for them."

"Yes, sir." Li Zhong started to leave, but was stopped by Xue Boyong again: "Wait, carry me back to my room first."

Li Zhong didn't question it. Whatever the master ordered, he would do.

About two quarters of an hour later, he ran back panting, shook his head and said, "Eldest young master, no one in our yard is sick. Everyone is as strong as an ox." The bodyguards in Xiaofeng Pavilion were Xue Boyong's personal soldiers who had followed him through foul winds and bloody rain. Their physical fitness was naturally much better than most.

Xue Boyong nodded and said, "In that case, forget about it. I want to take a nap. You can go out." As he spoke, he lay down on the soft couch by the window.

Li Zhong quickly went over to close the window, then fetched a thick quilt and laid it over him. It was early winter. Even if the sun was out, it was still very cold indoors. It didn’t take long to freeze a person into a popsicle if they weren’t sitting next to a fire.

Xue Boyong closed his eyes and waved his hand: "Okay, you can go out."

Li Zhong quietly withdrew and didn't dare to stay any longer. The eldest young master was used to the battlefield and was very vigilant; he would immediately wake up at the tiniest movement, as if sleeping with one eye open. If he slept in the inner room, Li Zhong would still be able to set up a cot on the floor in the outer room, but now that he was sleeping in the doorway, Li Zhong could only stand guard outside.

After a while, the sun was covered by clouds and the north wind began to blow again. The sudden drop in temperature made Li Zhong shiver. Seeing that the eldest young master was sleeping soundly and wouldn't wake up for a while, he crept to the side room to warm himself by the fire and drink tea. Anyway, Lin Dan's study was next door to the eldest young master. If the eldest young master got up, she could hear it right away and take care of him immediately.

With Lin Dan there, Li Zhong was an extra. However, he didn't realize that when he left, Xue Boyong opened the window and pulled the quilt off.

When Li Zhong came back with a kettle of hot water, he saw the eldest young master sitting in the frigid wind reading a military book, his ears and hands red with cold. He quickly put down the kettle and ran to close the window, but was stopped by the eldest young master. "Don't close it. My chest is a little stuffy and I need some fresh air."

"Your hands are practically frozen into ice. What do you mean, you still need fresh air?"

"When I was at the borders, the weather was colder than this. Wasn’t it fine?" Xue Boyong still held onto his wrist and refused to let him close the window.

Li Zhong couldn't break free. He secretly glanced next door, lowered his volume and said, "Sir, if Miss Lin comes over later and finds you sitting at the open window reading until your hands were frostbitten, she would definitely scold you. If you don't want to be disciplined by her, you'd better close the window quickly. I'll bring you a hand stove. Warm up quickly lest she see anything out of place."

As soon as Xue Boyong heard the words "Miss Lin", he unconsciously let go and let Li Zhong close the window. Then he chuckled in his heart, unexpectedly not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It’s not that I’m afraid of that little girl. I'm just too lazy to listen to her nagging. Thinking like this, he couldn't stop rubbing the space between his eyebrows. His helpless expression unconsciously held a bit of gentle indulgence.

After closing the window and lighting two more stoves, the room gradually warmed up to a more comfortable temperature. Yet Xue Boyong was somewhat distracted, raising his hand from time to time to touch his forehead.

Li Zhong was worried and said, "What's wrong with you, sir? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"Touch my forehead. Am I a little feverish?" Xue Boyong frowned and said.

Li Zhong touched his forehead with one hand and his own with the other and happily said, "You don't have a fever, sir. You’re still well."

"Really?" Xue Boyong's brows not only did not relax, but also tensed even more. He covered his nose, lightly coughed twice, and said, "The fires are a little suffocating. Open the window to disperse the smoke."

Li Zhong became more confused. He squatted down and sniffed around, then shook his head and said, "Old madam sends servants to buy specialized charcoal for Xiaofeng Pavilion. It’s the most expensive silver bone coal on the market and is absolutely smokeless. Sir, perhaps you smelled wrong."

"If I tell you to open the window, just open the window. Why all the nonsense?" Xue Boyong finally lost his patience and scolded coldly.

Li Zhong was shocked and quickly ran to open the window. He also tried to move the eldest young master from the window, but was turned down. The master and servant tossed about for a while until they heard a sound from the study next door. It seemed that Lin Dan had finished reading and was tidying her pen and paper.

Xue Boyong, who had just been stubbornly refusing to close the window, took the initiative to close the window himself, picked up the military book, and pretended to flip through it.

Li Zhong furtively glanced at him and scolded in his heart: Why don’t you keep making trouble! Let Miss Lin see you deliberately court disaster! I knew you would be a coward in front of Miss Lin!

Xue Boyong glanced at him coldly, as if he had seen through his thoughts, and then couldn't help but cough, feeling that his throat was a little itchy. Obviously, his body felt worse, but his furrowed brows relaxed instead, showing a shallow smile.

After a moment, Lin Dan finished tidying her things and walked in. "Brother, I'm getting ready to cook. If you have anything else you want to eat, you can tell me now."

"Let’s have radish stewed in chicken broth again." Xue Boyong stared at the military book in his hand and flipped through it as if he were very focused.

Lin Dan smiled in response. However, when she had finished cooking lunch and brought it over, she found Li Zhong squatting beside Xue Boyong, anxiously urging, "Sir, you seem to have a fever. I'll go find a doctor for you!"

Xue Boyong grabbed his arm and said hoarsely, "What do you mean, find a doctor, we already have one in Xiaofeng Pavilion." He looked towards the door and beckoned, "Lin Dan, come over and take a look for me."

"Okay." Lin Dan immediately put down the food box and walked over, placing her fingers on his wrist and carefully checking his pulse.

Xue Boyong sent Li Zhong a meaningful glance, and the other person stood obediently at the door, not daring to make a single sound, let alone tell her about the eldest young master's previous act of courting death.

Li Zhong finally understood what the eldest young master tossed around for. Earlier, those two maids had hurt Lin Dan's heart. He was afraid that Lin Dan's enthusiasm and self-esteem had received a blow, and he was trying to compensate for it! The eldest young master spoiled Lin Dan even to the detriment of his own health. In this entire manor, I’m afraid no one else could make him go to this much trouble!

Li Zhong stared at Lin Dan's back with a somewhat complicated expression, then looked at the gentle eyes of the eldest prince and quickly lowered his head, pretending not to know.

Xue Boyong looked at Lin Dan attentively, waiting for her to withdraw her fingertips before asking, "What's wrong with me?"

"Brother, you caught a cold, but the illness was found early and has not yet become serious. I'll prescribe some medicine for you, and you will recover after drinking it." Lin Dan wrote down a prescription and handed it to Li Zhong, urging, "Hurry to the front yard to fetch the herbs. This medicine has a dispersing effect and must be taken after a meal. I will accompany brother to finish lunch, then let him digest for half an hour. That will be the perfect time to drink the medicine."

Li Zhong didn't dare delay, leaving quickly. There were resident doctors and small apothecaries installed in the general's mansion, all prepared for the eldest young master, making it convenient to receive prescriptions and grab medicine.

Lin Dan put the dishes on the table one by one and said softly, "Brother, do you have a sore throat? Why don't I go back and make you a bowl of porridge?"

"It doesn't hurt. Sit down and eat." Xue Boyong waved his hand and coughed gently.

Seeing that his cheeks were somewhat flushed, Lin Dan put her right hand over his forehead to test his temperature. Fortunately, it wasn’t very hot. Drinking medicine should be enough to disperse the heat. Due to the worry in her heart, she did not notice the flash of stiffness that flickered over Xue Boyong’s expression, much less his evasive gaze.

"Men and women should not touch, don’t you know this principle? Hurry up and remove your hand." Although his mouth was strict, Xue Boyong still dully sat in place, not moving a single muscle. In fact, if he wanted to, he could immediately pull Lin Dan's hand away, but he didn't. It was hard to tell whether he didn’t think of this point or if he was unwilling to do so.

"Okay, brother, I understand the principles. I’ll listen to you." Lin Dan habitually, half-heartedly said, but the palm of her hand gently kneaded his wrinkled brows. After taking care of someone for a long time, his every expression and gesture would naturally be taken in and written on her heart.

"Brother, when you’re suffering, it hurts my heart." She arranged the dishes in front of Xue Boyong, completely ignorant of the impact of her frank and honest words.

Xue Boyong stiffened for a long time before saying in a hoarse voice, "What nonsense, eat." His cheeks were redder and hotter than before, and in his eyes appeared a faint deepness that was hard to conceal.