If Yu Jingchen were still as cold as before, always speaking harshly and punishing her arbitrarily when facing her, she might have been able to hold back her tears.
But now, facing a Yu Jingchen who had warmth, she felt like someone who had lived in ice and snow for years suddenly found a warm fire source, like a child constantly being scolded receiving candy, or like driftwood at sea finding an anchor.
"I only said a few words. I don't intend to blame you. Why are you crying? What are you afraid of? If you continue like this, I will truly get annoyed," Yu Jingchen said, though he was just speaking his mind.
"I already told you, you have an injury on your face, you can't cry." Yu Jingchen eventually took the handkerchief and wiped Nan Zhiyun's tears himself. However, he suddenly noticed that her wrist seemed somewhat red, something he hadn't seen before. How did it appear now?
"What's wrong with this?" he said, reaching out to examine Nan Zhiyun's wrist.
But as Yu Jingchen reached for her wrist, Nan Zhiyun instinctively hid it behind her back, not wanting him to see.
"Your Highness, I am fine. I just bumped into something accidentally," Nan Zhiyun said, her expression a little unnatural.
Yu Jingchen's expression darkened. Seeing Nan Zhiyun's demeanor, he knew something was wrong. How could he let her brush it off so easily?
"Show me your hand. Let me see," Yu Jingchen's tone was no longer as gentle.
"Your Highness, I am truly fine. You don't need to worry," Nan Zhiyun seemed afraid of Yu Jingchen seeing.
"Don't make me repeat myself. Hurry and take it out. I just want to look." Yu Jingchen's expression became much more serious.
Nan Zhiyun seemed to be hesitating about something, still not daring, or perhaps unwilling?
Yu Jingchen had clearly run out of patience.
"I will count to three. If you don't take it out by then, and if there's a problem later, I won't let you off the hook so easily." After speaking, Yu Jingchen actually began to count.
"Three," Yu Jingchen deliberately slowed his pace, drawing out the sound a little.
"Two," Yu Jingchen didn't miss the conflicted hesitation on Nan Zhiyun's face.
"Nan Zhiyun," Yu Jingchen added some pressure to his tone.
In the end, Nan Zhiyun didn't dare to truly resist, and of course, she couldn't.
Nan Zhiyun slowly brought her hand out from behind her back. Seeing this, Yu Jingchen immediately pulled it over and lifted the hem of her robe. To his surprise, he found large swathes of red marks.
"What is going on?" Yu Jingchen, who had been feigning coldness earlier, now wore a genuinely chilling expression.
"It's just a bit of an allergy, Your Highness doesn't need to worry." Nan Zhiyun tried to pull her hand back, but Yu Jingchen's grip was strong, and she couldn't.
"An allergy? How could you have an allergy? Allergic to what?" Yu Jingchen had never heard of Nan Zhiyun being allergic to anything.
"I just touched something accidentally. I'll be careful in the future, and it will be fine. Your Highness doesn't need to ask further." Nan Zhiyun did not want to reveal the cause of the allergy.
"It's this severe. You say it's fine, and it's fine? Besides your hands, is it anywhere else? Do you feel any other discomfort?" Yu Jingchen asked.
"No..." Before Nan Zhiyun could even finish her denial, Yu Jingchen's sharp eyes spotted similar red marks appearing on Nan Zhiyun's neck.