Senior brother is so awesome!

The following is the main text of the novel "{?$article_title?}" ({?$jieqi_title?}) provided by {?$jieqi_sitename?}. Please enjoy! Ling Yunyi, the refined young master, had never seen such a scene before. He hurriedly and helplessly tried to comfort her: "Miss, don't cry. You see, you want to follow me. I was just asking a question. If you don't want to say, I won't force you." What was wrong with him? Why was he heartbroken over the tears of a stranger?

Yang Shanshan looked at him with amusement in her heart, wiped away her tears, and strode ahead with her head held high: "That's good then, let's go!"

Ling Yunyi was stunned for a moment, then followed after him with a self-deprecating laugh. Who was the master after all?

The inn was divided into high, medium and low grades. Because of Young Master Ling's status, they stayed in the highest grade rooms. After dinner, Yang Shanshan was also lucky enough to be assigned a private room. The rich are so extravagant! She only had a small bundle and didn't have much to pack. After a quick wash, she went to Ling Yunyi's room to report for duty.

Ling Yunyi was looking at the account book he had brought from the shop that day when he heard a knock on the door. Without looking up, he said, "Come in."

She walked in with her head bowed and closed the door gently. "Young Master."

He looked up and saw a gentle smile on her lips. "What brings you here, Miss Yang?"

"Um, please don't call me Miss Yang, it sounds too formal. Just call me Shanshan instead."

Ling Yunyi smiled and nodded, then pointed to the stool next to him, indicating that she should sit down. "So, what brings Shanshan here to see me?"

"Yes, that's right. Since Shanshan has followed you, she has to work so as not to be a freeloader. Please just tell me what you need." She patted her chest with great enthusiasm.

He looked her up and down. Although she had changed her face to the veil he had his servants prepare, it wasn't appropriate for her to be like this in public. Otherwise, if others who didn't know the situation asked, it might hurt her again. In a few days, they would be setting off back to Jiangnan. It would be better to make arrangements at home then. So he said, "Miss, please familiarize yourself with the place here first. After we return to the Ling residence, someone will naturally arrange a place for you."

Her round eyes narrowed into slits with a smile: "So that means I have nothing to do lately?"

Seeing her smug little face as if she had gotten a great deal, he smiled again. This girl was quite cute. Looking into her eyes, that strange sense of familiarity came over him again, making him wonder if he had really never seen her before.

The next day, her master, Ling Yunyi, went out early to inspect the shops, while she paced back and forth in her room, lamenting how this world had no computers, no cell phones, no televisions—it was incredibly boring! "Fine, I'll go shopping!" she thought. "I don't have much money on me, but I can just browse without buying anything, right?"

Outside the inn was the town's largest commercial street, where almost anything you wanted to buy could be found. Yang Shanshan swung her arms and wandered from shop to shop, shamelessly enduring the glares from the shop assistants. "So what if I'm looking around?" she thought.

Hey, the trinkets on the stall next to me look pretty good. I picked one up and examined it. Suddenly, I heard a hurried hoofbeat from not far behind me. The people shopping were caught off guard and almost got knocked over. When I turned around, I saw a group of people galloping towards me as if they were in an empty field. The leader was a man in a dark purple python robe. She seemed to freeze in place. It was as if the whole world had turned pale and only the man with the sharp eyebrows was running towards her.

Suddenly, a crying sound rang in her ears. Looking towards the sound, she saw a child of about two years old sitting in the middle of the road, wailing loudly. Just as Zhong Zhichen's horse was about to trample the child, she suddenly found strength from somewhere, rushed out, picked up the child, and rolled to the side with a nimble motion. Seeing that the child was safe, she breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. A slightly plump woman came over and thanked her profusely for saving the child before leading the child away.

Something's not right. Why is everyone so quiet around me? A gaze from behind seemed to pierce through her, and a frightening thought popped into her mind: Zhong Zhichen hasn't left yet!

As if to confirm her thoughts, a cold and arrogant voice came from behind her, tinged with surprise: "Woman in front, turn your head!"

A tremor ran through her heart. That voice was so familiar. Suddenly, her eyes stung with tears. She couldn't see him! Zhong Zhichen saw that woman's back was all too familiar. His hand holding the whip began to tremble uncontrollably. It was his Chan'er! Yes, it must be her!

At this moment, a general standing nearby, seeing the woman's rudeness, quickly lashed out with his whip! It struck the woman hard, and he shouted, "Didn't you hear the Regent's words?!"

Despite the excruciating pain in her back, Yang Shanshan spotted a small alley to her side and, in the blink of an eye, used her lightness skill to fly away!

Zhong Zhichen didn't have time to tear the general to pieces; his eyes were only on that slender figure. He leaped into the air and chased after her along the path!

Her wounds hadn't healed when the whip lashed them again, the intense pain feeling like it was tearing her apart. She hadn't run far before she was completely exhausted. She heard the wind behind her, and it seemed the whip was about to catch up with her. She passed through an alley and entered another street, which was noticeably less crowded. She strained with all her might, her vision blurred, and she stumbled, almost falling to the ground. Suddenly, her arm was gripped tightly. She thought she was going to be dragged back, but instead, she was pulled into a doorway. The person covering her mouth was none other than Ling Yunyi. He told her with his eyes not to speak, and she quietly leaned against the door.

In a matter of seconds, Zhong Zhichen arrived like a whirlwind, circling the area several times without finding her. He clenched his fists tightly, his face contorted with anger and despair, like a wolf who had lost its mate. "Chan'er! Where are you? Why are you hiding from me!" he roared, but the only response was the fear of the passersby around him. He sneered at the sight of everyone avoiding him. At this moment, his subordinates arrived on horseback. Seeing their lord so distraught, they rushed forward to ask, "Your Highness..." Before they could finish speaking, they were struck by a palm and sent flying several feet away, lying on the ground in terror, blood gushing from the corner of their mouths.

Zhong Zhichen seemed to revert to his usual aloof prince persona, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Do you know why I hit you?"

The general was the same subordinate who had just whipped the man. He finally realized he had done something foolish and nodded frantically, fearing that the devilish man in front of him would take his life.

"Go back to the capital and go to the Ministry of Justice to receive your punishment." As if the man who had just been dazed was not himself, he mounted his horse and ordered from his superior position, "Find that woman for me within three days, or you will face the death penalty!" After saying that, he rode off in a flash. Hope ignited in his heart. Finally, he could catch you, that little girl who shattered his soul.

At the back door of a shop, Yang Shanshan breathed a sigh of relief after seeing his generals leave. Ling Yunyi, who was in front of her, put his hand down and looked at her with complicated eyes. He finally knew why he felt that familiarity. Wasn't the woman in front of him the one he had been dreaming about?

She felt a sharp pain on her face; it turned out that tears had been streaming down her face without her noticing. The salty tears hitting the wounds on her face caused excruciating pain, and combined with the recent rapid movement, she could no longer bear it and fainted.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already lying in the inn. Ling Yunyi, who had been watching over her, saw that she was awake and quickly brought her a bowl of medicine: "Drink it quickly, wounds don't scab over easily in winter."

Yang Shanshan took the bowl, frowned, and drank it all in one gulp. She was already used to the agonizing bitterness; the medicine she drank at Aunt Chen's house was far more potent. But after finishing, she realized something was wrong—she wasn't wearing a veil! The bowl slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor. The woman on the bed covered her face, unable to look at the man before her. "You...you saw everything?"

Ling Yunyi reached out and picked up the broken porcelain shards, placing them on the table. He had to admit that when he first brought her back, the delicate and charming face beneath the veil was gone, replaced by deep scars. But after the initial shock came a pang of heartache. If it were an ordinary woman, it would be alright, but for a woman who had once been a beauty to be reduced to this state must be the heaviest blow. So where did the confident smile he had when he first met her come from?

He sat back down on the stool by the bed, his eyes filled with undisguised heartache. He reached out and took her hand away, asking gently, "Does it still hurt?"

She raised her small face and shook her head, looking at him with disbelief in her big eyes: "Aren't you scared?"

"If I were afraid, I wouldn't be here waiting for you to wake up." Those simple words brought tears to her eyes. "You're such a strange person. If you're not afraid of this, what could you possibly be afraid of?"

Gently wiping away her tears, he said, "Don't cry. The doctor said your face shouldn't get wet with tears, or it will hurt again."

Yang Shanshan had to admit that she was taken aback, but she immediately pushed that feeling aside. She couldn't implicate anyone. If Zhong Zhichen found out, the entire Ling family would probably be unable to withstand his wrath.

"I'm tired, I want to sleep for a while." She turned her face to the side, dodging his hand, and said coldly.

"Okay, call me if you get hungry later." The door creaked open and closed, and the room returned to silence.

Because of her back injury, she dared not lie flat and could only lie on her side. She recalled the image of Zhong Zhichen she had seen behind the door; his chiseled face had lost its former arrogance, replaced by an exhausted expression and a noticeably thinner waist. That roar had torn her heart apart. Then, a surge of resentment washed over her. He was the one who was supposed to marry the Left Prime Minister's daughter; now it seemed he was the one who had been cruelly abandoned. She sighed. No matter what, she didn't want to see them again. So be it. She would try to hide as much as possible and hope not to be discovered.

Thinking this, she drifted off to sleep. In her dream, someone's rough, large hand stroked her face, tickling and warm. She placed her small hand on that large hand and muttered, "Zhong Zhichen, you bad guy."

She lay in bed for several days, attended to by a servant dressed in coarse cloth, but Ling Yunyi was nowhere to be seen. The man who always wore a silver mask handed her a letter—a message from Ling Yunyi. It said that a major incident had occurred at home, and because of her injuries, he couldn't take her with him, promising to return for her after settling things. Yang Shanshan coldly tossed the letter aside, "Saying he wasn't afraid of my face, but in the end, he was still afraid! Men are all unreliable!"

The servant obediently put the letter away and placed it on the table. He then brought her a glass of water, but she was too angry to drink it. With a flick of her wrist, the ceramic glass shattered. The crisp sound of the fine porcelain breaking made Yang Shanshan feel a little guilty. The servant had meant well, but what came out of her mouth was, "Who told you to meddle?!" After saying that, she covered her head with the glass.

He glanced helplessly at the ground, then stepped forward and pulled off her blanket, gesturing as if he was holding his breath. Yang Shanshan looked at his actions with annoyance, her beautiful eyes slowly turning angry. She threw the blanket on the ground and raised her head defiantly, saying, "Girl, I don't want to cover myself with the blanket anymore, okay?" With that, she turned her back to him and stopped talking.

The servant sighed silently, took the quilt, closed the door, and left. She was only wearing her undergarments on the bed. The weather in January was so cold at night that it was hard to stay warm, especially for someone who was already afraid of the cold. Soon, she curled up and fell asleep. When the servant came in with a brand new quilt, he saw the little shrimp curled up on the bed. With a smile in his eyes, he covered her with the quilt. He didn't know if she was sleeping too soundly or what, but she wouldn't wake up no matter how he moved her. With a doting smile on his lips, he took off his outer garment, crawled under the quilt, and pulled her into his arms to sleep.

When Yang Shanshan woke up the next day, she felt warm all over and her mood improved. Although she was furious with Ling Yunyi's unpredictable behavior yesterday, she didn't think about it today. After all, she was living her own life, and he had even hired people to serve her, right? She was also able to sleep in a high-class room for free, which made her feel incredibly good.

The door creaked open, and the same servant from yesterday brought in some congee and side dishes. She felt guilty for how she had treated him the day before. She herself had worked as a servant and knew all too well the feeling of being inexplicably harassed. This time, she cooperated and got up without being called. She sat obediently at the table and ate her breakfast. Seeing the servant standing to the side, she quickly gestured for him to sit down and pushed a few small steamed buns in front of him. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? You can have these. I can't eat any more."