The more cowardly a person is, the more wild they are; I've driven the villainous minister craz

Yu Wan rested her chin on her hand and glanced at the man who was pretending to read a book but was actually secretly watching her.

An outrageous thought popped into my head uncontrollably.

Could he... be interested in me?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Yu Wan shuddered.

No, no, no, that's impossible. The male lead is absolutely loyal to the female lead; how could he possibly like her?

Banishing the absurd thought from her mind, Yu Wan changed her mind and tentatively asked, "Yun Shang, I'm a little thirsty, could you get me a glass of water?"

The man, who seemed to be engrossed in reading, looked up when he heard this, gave a soft "hmm," and got up to pour her some water.

Yu Wan swallowed hard in shock, then became even more insistent, "I want to drink the well water that was just drawn from the yard, it's fresher."

Yun Shang paused for a moment.

He looked up at Yu Wan, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he had never heard such a nonsensical reason before.

Yu Wan silently thought to herself that he would definitely treat her coldly and ignore her request...

However, she watched as Yun Shang glanced at her and then turned and walked out of the house.

Yu Wan: "??" Meow meow?

Male lead, if you've been possessed, just say something!

Yu Wan was stunned on the spot.

When Yun Shang came in carrying a kettle of water that had just been drawn from the well and boiled, Yu Wan still felt a sense of unreality, as if her feet couldn't touch solid ground.

Yun Shang poured her a cup, placed it beside her, and reminded her, "It's a little hot, don't drink it yet."

His voice was clear and pleasant, making one think of fresh green leaves in the snow.

Yu Wan looked up blankly and gave a bewildered "Oh".

She was a little slow to process what was happening.

Yun Shang lowered his head and met her gaze, which was filled with confusion. A barely perceptible smile flashed across his eyes.

He pursed his lips, went back to bed, picked up his book, and continued reading.

The candle wick crackled once, and Yu Wan snapped back to reality, looking at the man sitting on the edge of the bed.

The dim candlelight divided his face into two parts, one light and one shadow. The side illuminated by the candlelight was like the finest white jade, smooth and translucent, without a single flaw, making one want to reach out and touch it.

Yu Wan lowered her head expressionlessly, slapped her restless hand, and hid it in her sleeve.

Beauty can be a dangerous thing! She absolutely mustn't let lust cloud her judgment!

She hurriedly picked up the water glass and took a sip. The water was sweet and warm as it went down her throat, and then someone's face slowly appeared before her eyes again.

Yu Wan: "..." She's hopeless!

Yun Shang returned to the county town the next day, and Yu Wan couldn't wait to see him off.

She felt as if that day had lasted three autumns, and that every second felt like a year, even though he had only been at home for one day.

Because of the uncontrollable little thoughts that kept popping up in her mind, Yu Wan didn't dare to look Yun Shang in the eye.

She was afraid that he would discover that she had "ulterior motives" again.

It's really not that she's not ambitious enough!

Who could resist having a perfect, handsome man constantly by their side and remain unmoved?

Anyway, she can't.

Because of this incident, Yu Wan forcibly suppressed her budding desires.

They began making intensive preparations to leave the Yun family.

She contacted the escort agency one after another and made various preparations until everything was ready.

The departure date from the Yun family is set for the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

It has been exactly one month since she transmigrated into the book and arrived here.

She set off from Huicheng County on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, hoping to reach Shengjing before the Lunar New Year.

In the past few days, she secretly wrote a letter, avoiding Shen Shi and Yun Xi.

The letter roughly explained why she wanted to leave the Yun family, thanked the Yun family members for taking care of her, and also repented for the foolish things she had done in the past.

Adding and supplementing sentences, Yu Wan wrote three whole pages before sealing the letter away.

She kept the letter close to her body, intending to secretly put it in Shen's trunk the night before she left.

As the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month approached, Yu Wan felt increasingly reluctant to part ways.

Madam Shen noticed that she seemed a little absent-minded and asked with concern, "Yu Niang, are you feeling unwell? You've been listless these past few days."

Yu Wan lowered her eyes to hide the sadness in them and gently shook her head. "I'm fine. It's probably just that the weather is too cold, and I feel sleepy."

Upon hearing this, Madam Shen immediately said to her, "Then you should go back to your room and rest. I'll take care of the rest of the work."

Yu Wan felt a lump in her throat.

If she didn't have to leave, she really didn't want to leave the Yun family.

The original work does not describe how the original owner's parents felt about their daughter who had been lost and found again. She also did not know if she could ever meet a better elder than the Shen family.

Although they had only spent a short month together, she already considered Shen Shi and Yun Xi as family.

She really couldn't bear to leave.

Tears welled up and Yu Wan couldn't hold back any longer, so she lowered her head, turned around, and went back inside.

Shen watched her retreating figure thoughtfully.

……

The night is thick.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper was carried to every corner by the sudden gust of wind.

"The sky is dry and everything is dry, be careful about the fire."

……

"At midnight, all was well and nothing happened."

Yu Wan rolled into the quilt, wrapping herself up like a cocoon.

But gradually, she kicked off the tightly wrapped blanket, her furrowed brows covered with fine beads of sweat.

Yu Wan felt like there was a fire burning her, she felt terrible, but she just couldn't wake up.

She was like a caged beast, both reason and subconscious telling her that danger lurked nearby, and that if she didn't fight back, she would die...

Yu Wan struggled with difficulty, her face covered in sweat, and her brows furrowed tightly.

Suddenly, she sat up abruptly and opened her eyes, breathing heavily like a drowning person being rescued.

The abundant oxygen cleared Yu Wan's blank and chaotic mind. She suddenly looked out the window, her pale face covered in sweat illuminated by the firelight.

……fire?

Yu Wan murmured in disbelief, "...How could there be a fire?"

As if a thunderbolt had shattered her chaotic thoughts, Yu Wan's expression changed drastically. Without even putting on her shoes, she stumbled and ran towards the door.

As soon as she opened the door, she was met with scorching flames. Yu Wan took a step back and could clearly smell the burning smell of her hair.

Her blood seemed to freeze instantly, and Yu Wan staggered back several steps, her eyes reflecting the raging fire.

She paused for a second, then suddenly shouted in a trembling voice towards the next room, "Mother-in-law! Yunxi! Fire!"

There was no sound from next door.

Yu Wan's face was pale, and she felt unbearably burned by the ever-growing fire. She gritted her teeth and climbed out of the back window, her sluggish thoughts gradually coming back to life.

Not right.

Something's wrong with the fire, and it's also wrong that she hasn't been able to wake up.

And then there's Shen Shi and Yun Xi. With such a huge fire and such high temperatures, even if they're sleeping soundly, they should wake up by now!

She soaked the quilt she had taken from inside the house with well water, draped it over herself, and rammed into the door of the room where Shen Shi and Yun Xi lived.

"Bang bang bang-"

Yu Wan's eyes were bloodshot as she endured the burning sensation and excruciating pain, banging on the door and shouting.

Hurry up and open it... hurry up and open it!

But the door in front of her seemed to be working against her; she bumped into it until her shoulder went numb, and the door only shook a few times.

Yu Wan's eyes were red, tears welled up uncontrollably, and her voice was hoarse.

She didn't give up and continued to ram the door with her body. After ramming it more than a dozen times, the door finally opened.

On the bed, Shen Shi and Yun Xi lay quietly, surrounded by the firelight.

Yu Wan didn't have time to think and stumbled towards them.

Having inhaled too much smoke and dust, Yunxi's face was deathly pale. Yu Wan gritted her teeth and helped her out first, then went back to help Shen Shi.

Shen Shi was even heavier than Yun Xi. Yu Wan felt that her whole body was almost exhausted, as if a thousand-pound boulder was weighing down on her feet, and her vision went black.

Still, still a little short—

Just as she was about to faint, she looked at Shen Shi, whose eyes were closed, and laughed through her tears.

She's already lucky to have lived another month; she's practically been rescued.

With her last bit of strength, she pushed Shen Shi away.

As she collapsed from exhaustion, Yu Wan thought to herself, "This is what it means to die a glorious death."