With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

"...Why? Why?" Shen Nannan's heart skipped a beat.

"Why did you save me?"

Ah Chao carefully put her feet down, stood up, took a small step forward, and closed the distance.

He still carried the scent of earth and morning dew, mixed with a very faint smell of blood.

"Just now, Miss could have easily ignored me." His voice wasn't loud, but each word seemed to carry a hook.

"Wouldn't it be easier for Miss to let the young master deal with me as he sees fit, or even expel me from the manor?"

Shen Nannan was forced back half a step by him, her heel hitting a pebble and hurting painfully.

"I told you," she said, forcing herself to meet his gaze.

"You're mine because I bought you with my money. Whether I beat you, scold you, keep you, or throw you away is my decision. Others..."

She paused, then, remembering Lin Wan'er's face, her tone hardened further:

"Not even a touch is allowed."

These words were spoken in a domineering manner, carrying the inherent arrogance of the eldest daughter of the Shen family.

Ah Chao stared at her quietly for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled very softly.

But for some reason, it made Shen Nannan's back go numb.

"Is that all?" he asked in a flat tone, but took another half step closer.

Shen Nannan had nowhere to retreat and her back pressed against the brick wall.

"Otherwise what?" She tilted her head back, trying to appear self-righteous.

"What else did you think it was?"

Achao did not answer.

He lowered his head, his gaze falling on her chest, which was rising and falling slightly with nervousness, then slowly moving upwards, sweeping over her slender neck, and finally settling on her lips, which were exceptionally moist and red from running and excitement.

His gaze was so aggressive, like invisible tentacles, that it made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 1110 ...

The feeling of being manipulated by him in my past life has returned.

"Miss ran very fast today," he said in a low, calm voice.

Shen Nannan held her breath.

"You even lost your shoes while running. What... are you worried I'll get hurt?"

"I'm still scared..." He leaned down, close to her ear, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Are you worried that my way of remembering this 'gratitude' won't satisfy Miss?"

The warm, humid air brushed against her earlobe, and Shen Nannan shuddered violently, every hair on her body standing on end.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" She pushed him away forcefully, and in her panic, she didn't control her strength well, leaving a shallow red mark on his arm with her fingernails.

Ah Chao was pushed back a step by her, but he wasn't angry.

He looked down at the red marks on his arm, then looked up at her with a deep, unfathomable gaze.

Shen Nannan's heart was pounding, and she almost wanted to run away.

But no. She was the mistress now, and he was the slave. She couldn't show weakness.

"I told you, I saved you, your life is mine." She tried to make her tone sound willful and matter-of-fact.

"My things are mine, even if I throw them away, I won't allow anyone else to touch them. I can't let my money go to waste."

Ah Chao looked at her silently.

Her eyes were bright, with a stubbornness he couldn't understand.

It always seemed like he was looking at someone through him...

This feeling was very unpleasant... but it stirred up a strange restlessness in his heart.

"Is that all?" he asked, his voice lowering.

"Otherwise what?" Shen Nannan retorted, her heart pounding. Had he sensed something?

Ah Chao didn't ask any further questions.

Shen Nannan's gaze involuntarily fell on his hands, especially his right index finger.

In a past life, it was this very finger...

As if by some strange twist of fate, she suddenly reached out and gently touched his right hand—she hadn't even thought about it, her hand just went out on its own.

Thankfully, not a single one was missing.

A-Chao suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp as a knife.

Shen Nannan was also startled by what she had done, and hurriedly withdrew her hand, her cheeks burning up instantly.

"I...I noticed you had a cut on your finger...it's scabbed over, please...please don't get it wet..."

This explanation is weak and ineffective.

Ah Chao's gaze deepened as he looked at her flustered, evasive eyes and her bright red ears.

The touch just now, the warmth from my fingertips felt unreal.

She touched him.

It wasn't whipping, it wasn't humiliation, it was this kind of... careful, almost tender touch.

Why?

Ah Chao stared at the hand that hurriedly withdrew, his eyes darkening.

He looked at his right index finger—the spot she had just touched.

They didn't say anything.

Just a slight curl at the fingertips.

Shen Nannan felt uneasy under his gaze. "I...I'll go first."

She wanted to escape again.

"Miss," Ah Chao called out to her.

"Last night, Miss kept snuggling into my arms."

Shen Nannan's face flushed red.

Why did he say it so bluntly?!

"This servant has been filming all night," he continued, his voice still calm. "The young lady's hand has been gripping this servant's collar the whole time. Gripping it very tightly. I couldn't pull it off."

Shen Nannan: "..."

She recalled that last night, in order to act convincingly, she did indeed... seem to have grabbed something.

But after he said that, it all felt different?

"Um... I was having a nightmare! What's wrong with grabbing something? You're on night duty, what's wrong with letting you pat it a few times?" She cleared her throat, trying to sound self-righteous.

Ah Chao narrowed his eyes.

"Then last night... if someone else had been on duty, would you have acted the same way, Miss?"

He was already very close to her, and that sweet fragrance unceremoniously wafted into his nostrils.

Addictive...

He looked at her flushed ears and his lips curved into a barely perceptible smile.

Very shallow. Gone in a flash.

But Shen Nannan saw it.

She was stunned.

He... smiled?

This was the first time she had seen him smile since her rebirth.

Although it was only a little bit, and although he quickly withdrew it, for that instant, the coldness in his eyes seemed to melt away for a moment in the moonlight, revealing something she had never seen before.

"But what Miss says is true." He resumed his respectful demeanor. "It's only right for a servant on night duty to pat the door twice."

Looking at his lowered eyes, Shen Nannan felt a surge of complex emotions welling up inside her.

This person...

It's clearly a wolf, but it pretends to be a dog.

But she knew exactly what kind of fangs were hidden under that dog skin.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the inappropriate flutter in her heart, raised her chin, and reverted to her spoiled young lady persona:

"Good to know. I... I have something to do..."

After she finished speaking, she left quickly without waiting for his response. Her bare foot stepped on the cold bluestone slab, and a sharp pain shot through her, but it was nothing compared to the fear of being seen through.

Only after her figure disappeared at the end of the corridor did Ah Chao slowly look at his hands.

The slight stinging on my arm was negligible, but the skin that had been touched seemed to retain a soft, trembling sensation.

The fingertips seemed to still retain a soft touch and a faint, unique fragrance that belonged to her.

He stared at it for a long time.

Then, slowly, bring your fingertips close to your nose.

I took a deep breath.

His eyes were as dark as night.

"Shen Nannan..."

He murmured the name, his tongue tracing the three characters with a hunting-like focus.

What's going on here...?

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was deep and heavy.

"Mo Bai."

A very faint rustling sound came from the darkness.

"That woman," he said, "have you found out?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty," a figure in black knelt in the shadows, "the eldest daughter of the Shen family, pampered since childhood, shows no abnormalities. However—"

"Just what?"

"She suddenly sent someone to check the general's mansion's accounts yesterday."

Ah Chao's eyes flickered slightly.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes, nearly half of the General's Mansion's assets have been moved by the second branch of the family."

Ah Chao didn't say anything.

He gazed at the end of the corridor, at the door that was no longer visible.

A pampered legitimate daughter suddenly becomes extremely protective of a stable boy and then suddenly starts checking his accounts.

Why?

He recalled the way she had looked at Lin Wan'er earlier.

That's not being spoiled.

That was hatred.

A hatred that seeps into your bones and cannot be suppressed.

But Lin Wan'er is her cousin. What could a cousin living in the Shen family possibly do to her?

interesting.

"Continue the investigation," he said.

"Yes."

Mo Bai was about to leave when he heard his master speak again:

"besides--"

Ah Chao paused.

"She lost her shoes when she ran over. Go find them."

Mo Bai was taken aback.

"……yes."

This rabbit is more complicated than he thought.

He lowered his eyes, concealing the hint of interest in them.

Rabbits that can bite the bait on their own are certainly interesting.

A rabbit that knows how to set a trap—

He pressed the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

That's what makes it worthwhile to slowly savor and consume.