Take good care of yourself.

"Your hand, my lord!" Following Duan Nanyu’s gaze, she saw a hand covered in blood, and Yun Xueyan instinctively cried out in alarm.

"Let me tend to your wound first." She tried to slip out from beneath his outstretched arms, but as soon as she emerged, she was seized and dragged back, once again pressed against the wall.

Startled into stillness by Duan Nanyu’s wrathful expression, she dared not move.

"You—" He paused, gripping Yun Xueyan’s hair with his left hand. "Why did you send the maid away? Do you so despise the people I have bestowed upon you?"

Barely restraining the anger threatening to erupt, his brows knitted tight. He had not expected her to drive away the maid he had assigned!

"If you insist on clinging to your pride, on testing my patience, then do not blame me for being merciless!" His tolerance had its limits.

"Or perhaps you wish to make yourself noticed by me through such means? If so, you are gravely mistaken. This will only make me loathe you more."

Only then did Yun Xueyan grasp his meaning. He believed Ziyu had been sent away deliberately? He thought... she was merely employing such methods to draw his attention?

Her lips trembled twice before she managed to suppress the bitter smile.

She lowered her head, avoiding his eyes, and spoke softly, "My lord, you are mistaken. I have no desire to attract your attention. I am simply capable of caring for myself and have no need for others. Your kindness... I thank you for it."

His grip tightened, yanking at her dark hair as Duan Nanyu’s somber gaze bore into her, his breath growing steadier, no longer seething with rage.

He looked down at her for a long moment, the chill radiating from him making Yun Xueyan shrink into herself.

"You would do well not to entertain any improper thoughts!"

Improper thoughts? What could she possibly dare to think?

"Rest assured, my lord. I would never presume to have any such thoughts." She never had... She knew how lowly her status was, knew her place, what she must and must not do.

Her hands clenched tightly together, trying to ease the tingling pain in her scalp, her lips pressed hard to keep from uttering a sound.

"That is best. Otherwise, I promise you will regret it!" He pulled Yun Xueyan into his arms, holding her tightly against him. "In a few days, there will be a grand banquet at the palace. Consort Wan has instructed His Majesty to tell me to bring you and Yin’er with me. But I expect nothing to go wrong!"

Seeing the shock and dread on Yun Xueyan’s face, his cold sneer deepened. "If anything does, you alone shall bear the consequences!"

"And since you refuse a maid, your life and death are no concern of mine!"

Suddenly releasing his grip, Yun Xueyan’s body went limp and she collapsed onto the floor.

He scoffed coldly, his words icy and piercing as they shattered her resolve. "Even if the scar on your face is gone, you are still nothing but a favored servant. Such a status will never change!"

With that, he strode away in fury...

Her fingers touched the lotus blossom on her cheek, sorrow and helplessness surging within her. It will never change... indeed, nothing will change... No matter how skillfully the artists of Fengxi Pavilion painted, the scar would always remain.

So, in the end, nothing had ever changed…