In an unfamiliar environment, surrounded by strange men while drugged with an aphrodisiac, she dared not trust anyone.
'The original owner was so desperate for his attention; this cousin of hers must be utterly disgusted with her. What if he just hands me off to some random man to be rid of me for good...?'
When she remained silent, Shen Tingyu hesitated for a moment before stepping into the room.
"Stay back!" Cui Lingyao's guard went up instantly. She snatched a porcelain cup from the tea table. "Don't come any closer!"
"..."
Shen Tingyu stopped in his tracks. His lips thinned as he said coolly, "Take a good look at who I am."
'She must be delirious from the drug, completely forgetting how she threw herself at me. I hadn't even deigned to look at her, and now she's acting all defensive.'
Cui Lingyao had indeed forgotten. Her mind was a fog, leaving only the primal caution that came with being drugged.
Seeing him halt, but still feeling unsafe, she smashed the porcelain cup, gripped a shard in her hand, and moved toward the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Shen Tingyu called after her. "The Tea Garden is crowded today. If you go out looking like this..."
He trailed off, seeing that she didn't stop but continued stubbornly toward the door. Shen Tingyu took a deep breath and grabbed her arm.
"Stop playing the fool. Going out like this will do nothing but ruin your reputation, and I will take no responsibility for it."
He assumed she was planning to reveal herself in this state to force his hand—to make him take responsibility for her.
But Cui Lingyao couldn't hear a word. Panic was taking over.
The moment he grabbed her arm, the warmth of a grown man's touch shot through her, and the drug's effects surged, no longer suppressible.
Her reaction was so intense she could barely restrain the impulse to throw herself into his arms.
In that critical moment, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the corner of her eye, standing on the covered walkway just outside the door.
Her body went rigid. Without a second thought, she cried out, "Brother?"
The young woman's slightly hoarse voice carried clearly through the open courtyard.
The men, both inside and outside the room, were all startled.
On the walkway, the man who had been facing away turned his head at the sound.
Seeing his face clearly, Cui Lingyao's frantic heart instantly found an anchor.
"Brother!"
She wrenched her arm from Shen Tingyu's grasp and half-ran, half-stumbled toward him.
A strange young woman in soft pink was rushing toward him, lifting her skirts as if she'd spotted her last hope, looking ready to throw herself into his arms. Cui Mingrui quickly sidestepped, yet a strange worry made him fear she would fall. He instinctively reached out and steadied her by the shoulders.
Cui Lingyao clutched his sleeve, her face upturned. "I don't feel well. Brother, please, take me away from here."
The young woman's face was deeply flushed, her breathing ragged, and her clothes were in slight disarray. Even through the thin fabric of her dress, Cui Mingrui could feel the scorching heat of her skin.
Something was very wrong with her.
'It seems... she's been drugged.'
'She can't even recognize people straight, mistaking me for her brother.'
'Such absolute trust.'
'The tone of her voice... it's somewhat like his sister, who had died three years ago.'
'His Yaoyao.'
Cui Mingrui's expression grew stern. He looked up at Shen Tingyu and his two companions, who had caught up to them. "What is the meaning of this?"
Three men and a young woman—drugged with an aphrodisiac—who was desperately seeking help from him, mistaking him for her brother.
It was a combination that made it very difficult not to jump to the wrong conclusion.
If it weren't for the fact that Shen Tingyu was a well-known gentleman in the Capital—a man of integrity and propriety, blessed with handsome features, and the ideal son-in-law in the eyes of countless matrons—Cui Mingrui would have immediately branded all three as scoundrels plotting to ruin a young woman's honor.
Shen Tingyu, having caught up, had heard Cui Lingyao's cry for help. Now, faced with what sounded like an accusation, he froze. Before he could speak, Liu Qingping, the man in green robes behind him, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and explained.
"Princely Heir Cui, you may not be aware, but this young lady is a cousin from the Duke Shen Mansion. The 'brother' she's calling for is Tingyu. It's just that right now... she's mistaken you for him."
"That is correct," Zhou Yunyi chimed in from the side.
As he spoke, he glanced at the hand on Cui Lingyao's shoulder. 'This Princely Heir Cui certainly lacks propriety,' he grumbled inwardly.
'We're standing right here, yet he's being so familiar with a strange, drugged young woman.'
'If we weren't here, would he have just swept her right into his arms?'
Liu Qingping and Zhou Yunyi were also young men of great talent and reputation in the Capital City; they were by no means the kind of scoundrels who would trifle with a young woman's honor for sport.
Cui Mingrui was already seventy or eighty percent convinced by their words. She was just a strange girl who had appeared out of nowhere, and he wasn't one to meddle in others' affairs. In fact, he found his own earlier inquiry somewhat baffling.
He now had even less intention of digging any deeper.
He released the young woman's shoulders, about to hand her over, but she clung desperately to his sleeve.
Tears welled in Cui Lingyao's eyes. She looked up at him, shaking her head. "I don't know them. Brother, please don't make me go with them."
Shen Tingyu was speechless.
'Look at that terrified expression, as if I'm some monster bent on destroying her. She's completely forgotten her supposed infatuation.'
Cui Mingrui was at a loss.
He said with forced patience, "You've got the wrong person. I'm not your brother."
At his words, tears streamed down Cui Lingyao's face. "Brother... are you abandoning me?"
A pang of sorrow hit her, but the waves of heat coursing through her body left no time for grief. With a whimper, she hugged his arm tightly. "I've been drugged. I'm so hot... it hurts. Brother, please get me a doctor."
'So she truly intends to cling to me and never let go.'
Given Cui Mingrui's temperament, he would sooner knock a person unconscious than get entangled in such a mess.
But when he saw her tears, his chest tightened. He truly couldn't bring himself to be cruel.
His own inexplicable reaction gave him a moment's pause. Then, he reached out again, placed a hand on her shoulder, and gently drew her in before turning to negotiate with Shen Tingyu.
"Why don't I take her with me for now?"
"The Tea Garden is full of guests. Even though this spot is secluded, someone could wander by at any moment."
"It wouldn't do for her to be seen like this."
Shen Tingyu was silent for a moment before giving a flat refusal. "Princely Heir Cui, that would be inappropriate."
As much as he disliked her, she was still his cousin—the only child of his gravely ill aunt.
How could he hand her over to an unrelated man?
Especially not while she was under the influence of an aphrodisiac.
'Of course, if she weren't his aunt's only daughter, he wouldn't care if she lived or died.'
Cui Mingrui glanced toward the private room nearby. "Then let's get her back to her room."
With that, he lifted his arm, which she was still clutching. "Miss, could you let go for a moment?"
Cui Lingyao bit her lip hard and just shook her head, saying nothing.
Her lovely face was beaded with sweat, her cheeks flushed, and her jaw clenched tight, as if she feared that opening her mouth would release an even more humiliating moan.
Cui Mingrui took one look, then averted his gaze. Since she wouldn't let go, he bent down, smoothly scooped one arm under her knees and the other around her waist, and lifted her into his arms.
The fluid, practiced motion made Liu Qingping's and Zhou Yunyi's eyes go wide.
Rumor had it that the Young Master Heir of the Changping Marquis Mansion was aloof and ascetic, a true gentleman as pure as snow who unfailingly practiced self-restraint.
'...So why was he being so brazen?'