Free Web NovelChapter 507: Chapter 503: Zhu Wanqi’s Disfigurement from an Allergy
"Wan Qi, what’s wrong?"
Zhang Tianming hurried forward and held Zhu Wanqi by the shoulders, asking patiently.
Hearing Zhang Tianming’s voice only made Zhu Wanqi break down further. She covered her face, refusing to let him see.
"Leave me alone! Get out! Just get out!"
Zhang Tianming didn’t leave. Instead, he gently but firmly turned Zhu Wanqi to face him, his voice laced with concern.
"Wan Qi, please don’t be like this. I’ll find someone to take a look at your face. Trust me, this is only temporary."
Zhu Wanqi broke down, sobbing.
Her face was redder than Guan Gong’s, covered in a mass of pitted, red bumps. Forget Zhang Tianming—even she couldn’t help but have nightmares when she saw her own reflection at night.
She’d lost count of how many times she’d woken up in terror.
When she got up at night and saw herself in the mirror, she looked more horrifying than a ghost.
Zhu Wanqi simply couldn’t accept what she had become.
She collapsed into Zhang Tianming’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zhang Tianming’s brow was deeply furrowed. He wanted to comfort her but didn’t know what to say; right now, any words would only agitate her further.
His only option was to have his men speed up their search for the old traditional Chinese doctor who had been sent down; perhaps he would have a solution.
One wept while the other gently patted her back, coaxing her. This was the first time since her face had been disfigured that she and Zhang Tianming had been together so peacefully.
For the past few days, Zhu Wanqi hadn’t let him into her room at all.
If he hadn’t heard the sound of smashing things today, he never would have burst in, but he was afraid something had happened to her.
"There, there, don’t cry. No matter what happens to you, I’ll never find you repulsive. I swear it in the name of our country."
For Zhang Tianming, this was an oath sworn upon his deepest conviction.
Zhu Wanqi couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
"If the country knew you were swearing an oath in its name over such a little thing, it would feel so wronged. Why should it have to vouch for you?"
Zhang Tianming’s eyes widened. "Don’t talk such nonsense."
The country was his creed; he would absolutely not allow it to be disparaged.
Zhu Wanqi knew his temperament well. He was stubborn and uncompromising, and would never use his authority to do anything that crossed the line.
She’d lost count of how many times that man, Old Nine, had come by trying to bribe him, not once succeeding.
Zhang Tianming lived by a single principle.
He would not take so much as a single needle or thread from the common people.
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Wiping her tears, Zhu Wanqi looked up, revealing a face covered in red bumps. In the worst spots, the skin had already begun to fester.
To Zhu Wanqi, her face was more repulsive than a toad’s back. How could she ever accept this?
Zhang Tianming showed not a hint of repulsion. Instead, he carefully examined her face for a long moment, his heart growing heavy.
’Pustules are already forming. If we don’t get this treated quickly, it could get much worse.’
As he was examining her face, a knock came from downstairs.
Zhang Tianming lived in a small, two-story house. The ground floor had two bedrooms and a kitchen, while the upper floor had a bedroom, a study, and a drawing-room. The toilet was outside in the courtyard.
Normally, he and Zhu Wanqi shared the upstairs bedroom. He would work in the study, and he typically received guests in the drawing-room on the second floor.
However, because Zhu Wanqi had been so emotionally unstable the past few days, Zhang Tianming had been sleeping on the ground floor.
There was an external staircase on the side of the house that led directly to the second floor.
Anyone who knew the layout would go straight up to the second floor to knock.
Zhang Tianming, though puzzled about who would visit at this hour, still soothed Zhu Wanqi. He then closed the bedroom door, went downstairs to the foyer, and opened the front door.
Standing outside was one of Lu Yuanbin’s men, someone who had visited Zhang Tianming before.
It’s just that Zhang Tianming had turned him away every time.
Zhang Tianming recognized the man the moment he saw him.
