Chapter 11: She Changed His Dressing

Dinnertime arrived, and Yun Manxia headed to the dining room brimming with anticipation. Bai Hedu had promised her-he was going to eat with her tonight!

The dining room was empty. He hadn't come down yet. Yun Manxia sat down and began to wait, patiently.

But the dinner hour came and went, and Bai Hedu never appeared.

She couldn't help glancing toward the stairs. "Where is the Ninth Master?"

Auntie Wu answered flatly, "The Ninth Master is busy."

"He promised to have dinner with me. Did you call him?"

"I did. The Ninth Master doesn't have time. Please go ahead and eat, Madam."

Yun Manxia gave her a look but said nothing more. She stood up and headed straight for the stairs.

Auntie Wu's face darkened. She tried to block her, but Yun Manxia was quick on her feet-she slipped past and dashed upstairs.

At the study door, she knocked twice. Lin Shen opened it, surprised. "Madam?"

Yun Manxia peered inside. "Is the Ninth Master still busy?"

Before Lin Shen could answer, the man's low voice came from within-"What is it?"

Lin Shen tactfully stepped aside.

With the view unobstructed, Yun Manxia immediately spotted the man seated behind the massive desk. He was just setting down a document, turning his head toward the door. His profile was striking and handsome, his bearing elegant and commanding, radiating an innate, deep-seated authority.

Her heart gave a heavy, unbidden thump.

She couldn't help thinking-with a man this magnetic, how had she never noticed him in her last life?

"It's dinnertime," she said, gripping the doorframe, offering a gentle reminder.

Bai Hedu glanced at the time. He finally remembered what he'd promised her.

"I forgot. I'm sorry."

"It's fine! That's why I came to get you!" Yun Manxia beat Lin Shen to it, rushing over to take the wheelchair handles herself.

Lin Shen had been about to say he'd do it, but seeing that the Ninth Master didn't object, he quietly pulled his foot back.

At the dining room.

Auntie Wu's expression shifted slightly when she saw that Yun Manxia had actually managed to bring the Ninth Master

downstairs.

Bai Hedu looked at the dishes already laid out on the table and said, "Next time, you don't need to come upstairs

yourself. You can eat first and send a maid to fetch me."

Yun Manxia shot a glance at Auntie Wu. "I did ask Auntie Wu to call you. But she said she already had, and that you were

too busy to eat."

Auntie Wu's heart lurched.

Feeling the Ninth Master's gaze land on her, she hurriedly said, "I-I thought I did call him. Did I remember wrong? Ah,

getting older, the memory isn't what it used to be..."

"It was my oversight. In the future, Auntie Wu, let someone else handle this sort of thing," the girl's clear, pleasant

voice rang out. "Otherwise, something like today might happen again, and I nearly didn't get to have dinner with the

Ninth Master!"

Saying that, she took Bai Hedu's hand and gave it a little swing, coaxing in a soft voice, "Hubby, right?"

The sudden intimacy made Bai Hedu freeze for the briefest moment. But looking at the pretty little hand resting on his

arm, he didn't pull away.

For a second, he seemed distracted. He didn't even look at Auntie Wu as he replied, "Mm. You're right."

Auntie Wu: "..."

She nearly choked on her own breath.

It was just a trivial matter-why was the girl carrying on as if she'd suffered some enormous injustice? And the Ninth

Master was actually indulging her!

Seeing Auntie Wu's face, Yun Manxia smiled, thoroughly pleased with herself.

After dinner, Ning Fei showed up again.

Aside from being Bai Hedu's subordinate, he also doubled as his physician.

On her way back to her room, Yun Manxia ran into him and Wu Xiaoya standing outside the master bedroom door. Wu Xiaoya

was holding a medical kit.

Ning Fei was explaining to Wu Xiaoya everything she needed to be careful about when changing Bai Hedu's dressings.

Yun Manxia's beautiful eyes narrowed sharply.

Changing his dressings? Bai Hedu had a wife, didn't he? With her right here, what business did anyone else have doing

that?

Seeing her approach, Wu Xiaoya flashed a provocative smirk and deliberately displayed the medical kit in her hands, her

back straightening with pride.

"Madam, if you have something to say to me, it'll have to wait. I'm busy-I need to go change the Ninth Master's

dressings." She moved to enter the room.

Then her hand was suddenly empty-the kit was in Yun Manxia's grasp.

"What are you doing?!" Wu Xiaoya's smile vanished.

Yun Manxia: "I appreciate the thought, but you won't be needed for this. I'll handle it."

"On what grounds?!"

"On what grounds?" Yun Manxia laughed. Good question. "On the grounds of my relationship with the Ninth Master. With me

here, what use does he have for you?"

With that, she swept past Wu Xiaoya's furious face and walked right through the door.

Inside the room, Bai Hedu had just emerged from the bathroom, changed into a bathrobe that loosely revealed the firm,

elegant lines of his chest.

Yun Manxia caught one glimpse, and last night's scene flashed through her mind unbidden. Her ears turned pink before she

could stop them.

"Why is it you?" Seeing her, Bai Hedu was surprised.

That one short sentence wiped every stray thought from Yun Manxia's mind completely.

A heavy, stifled feeling settled in her chest.

Why couldn't it be her? Who did he want to see? Wu Xiaoya?

The thought that if she hadn't happened to run into them, Wu Xiaoya would have walked right in-that made her even more

upset.

"...I came to change your dressing."

Bai Hedu paused, then said, "You don't need to do this. Go rest. Let someone else handle it."

"Which someone else?" Yun Manxia blurted out. Catching herself-she sounded too aggressive, almost accusatory-she quickly

reined in her expression. "I'm your wife. Is there anyone more suitable than me?"

Though they hadn't officially registered their marriage yet because of his leg injury, it was only a matter of time. So

she said it with absolute conviction, adding a stubborn little humph: "I'm going to change your dressing, and that's

that."

Bai Hedu was speechless.

His original intention had been to spare her-the wound wasn't pretty, and he was afraid it might frighten her. That was

why he'd tried to refuse, tactfully. But looking at her stubborn expression, a rare flicker of helplessness surfaced in

him.

"Then come here."

His injury was on his right calf. When the gauze was unwrapped, the wound underneath was ghastly-gruesome and jagged.

Yun Manxia's hand trembled slightly.

Bai Hedu looked down at the girl crouching before him, his eyes unreadable. He asked softly, "Scared?"

"No." Yun Manxia kept her head down as she reached for the medicine, her voice muffled. "I was just thinking... it must

really hurt."

She'd seen far worse wounds before. It wasn't fear she felt-it was heartache.

Bai Hedu was struck with a moment of genuine surprise. He hadn't expected her to say something like that at all.

"It doesn't hurt," he said, his voice rough.

Yun Manxia didn't believe that for a second.

She carefully, meticulously treated his wound, then wrapped fresh gauze around it before finally letting out a breath of

relief.

"All done. Go back and rest," Bai Hedu said gently.

Yun Manxia acknowledged him, packed up the medical kit, and left.

When she stepped outside, she found that Wu Xiaoya was still there. The moment she emerged, Wu Xiaoya shot her a

resentful glare.

Yun Manxia's mood soured again. "Why are you still here?"

"The Ninth Master asked me to change his dressing!" Wu Xiaoya snapped.

Yun Manxia paused. "The Ninth Master asked you?"

"Obviously! Hmph!" Wu Xiaoya was practically glowing with smugness. "So what if you stole my chance? You still got

kicked out by the Ninth Master that fast!"

Yun Manxia lowered her gaze slightly, didn't bother responding, and walked back to her own room in a few quick strides.

The next morning, Bai Hedu made a rare appearance at the dining room for breakfast.

But Yun Manxia was still sulking.

From start to finish, she was droopy and listless-a stark contrast to her usual lively self. Bai Hedu noticed the change

immediately.