Volume One, Chapter 17: Whoever Is Mine, No One Dares Harm You

This sentence fell like a stone cast into the heart of a lake, stirring ripples deep within her soul. Lin Chuyao stood stunned for a moment, staring blankly at Shen Lingfeng as if she hadn’t quite heard his words.

“Your Highness, what did you say?” Her voice was hoarse, her brows knitting together slightly.

Shen Lingfeng leaned back in his wheelchair, gazing directly at her and repeated, “If you were my imperial consort, everyone would know how important you are to me. Neither Princess Pingyang nor the Marquis’s household would dare to lay a finger on you again.”

A look of disbelief flashed across Lin Chuyao’s eyes. She parted her lips but found no words to respond, lowering her gaze with a faint, low voice. “Your Highness believes I need a status to preserve my life, don’t you?”

“Not need, but must.” Shen Lingfeng’s voice carried a chill as he drew closer, his eyes deep and penetrating. “If I hadn’t sent someone to save you in time today, you would have died long ago. The Marquis’s household wouldn’t lift a finger for your safety. Since that’s the case, the only thing I can give you is an identity no one else dares to violate.”

Unconsciously, Lin Chuyao’s fingers clenched the edge of the quilt, her knuckles whitening. Her gaze remained lowered, as if desperately concealing the turmoil within.

“Your Highness, are you doing this to protect me?” Her voice trembled slightly, tinged with hesitation.

Shen Lingfeng was silent for a moment, his eyes complex before he nodded. “Yes. But not only that.”

He paused, his tone low yet gentle. “You treated my leg injury and saved me. I won’t let anyone trample on that debt. Besides, you deserve better protection, not to be trampled and humiliated by others.”

Lin Chuyao raised her eyes to Shen Lingfeng, emotions swirling within them. Taking a deep breath, a bitter smile flickered at the corner of her lips. “I appreciate your kindness, Your Highness. But I am nothing more than a discarded daughter of the Marquis’s household, just a healer. Neither my status nor appearance qualifies me to be the Third Prince’s consort. Isn’t your suggestion... a little too absurd?”

Her voice carried a hint of self-mockery. Her fingers gently brushed the cheek hidden beneath her veil—a subtle gesture filled with helplessness.

Watching her, Shen Lingfeng furrowed his brow slightly, his tone calm but resolute. “Chuyao, your status is not humble. You are the legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s household, the sole heir of the Mystic Medicine Valley. Your medical skills are unmatched. As for your appearance...” His gaze fell on the face behind the veil, his voice low but edged with a hint of coldness. “Do you really think it matters?”

Lin Chuyao’s heart trembled at his words. She lifted her head, eyes reflecting surprise and bitterness. “To others, perhaps it doesn’t. But to me... it was once my pride, now a symbol of shame. Whenever someone looks at me, I feel their pity and disgust. How could Your Highness possibly understand this feeling?”

Leaning back in his wheelchair, Shen Lingfeng glanced down at his legs and let out a light laugh, his tone sharp. “Chuyao, my legs have been crippled for three years. I once asked myself, if a man cannot stand, what kind of Third Prince is he? During those days, I even felt that living was a torment.”

He looked up at her, his gaze calm and profound. “But later I realized, the opinions of others, their judgments, are nothing but useless noise. What matters is how you see yourself.”

---

Lin Chuyao was stunned. Memories of herself five years ago flooded her mind—once proud and confident, only to be discarded by the Marquis’s household like trash, reduced to the state she was in now. She whispered, “Then how does Your Highness see me?”

Shen Lingfeng chuckled softly, eyes filled with certainty. “You are my healer, the one who saved me, and a woman smarter and tougher than anyone else. Everything else is insignificant.”

Her fingers clenched the quilt tighter, her lips trembling ever so slightly. Lowering her gaze, she asked quietly, “Even so, can someone like me, with my status and looks, truly become the Third Prince’s consort? Would the Emperor and the Noble Consort agree?”

Shen Lingfeng’s eyes darkened, his tone icy. “If they don’t agree, I will make them agree. Chuyao, all you need to tell me is whether you’re willing. If you are, leave everything else to me.”

Lin Chuyao fell silent, studying Shen Lingfeng’s composed expression as unease stirred within her. She was not without temptation—if she could become the Third Prince’s consort, she could escape the Marquis’s household and the scorn and coldness she endured. Yet she also knew well that with her background, she would become a laughingstock.

“Your Highness...” she finally spoke, her voice heavy with complexity. “My appearance... would bring shame upon you.”

Shen Lingfeng scoffed, a trace of sarcasm in his tone. “Chuyao, do you really think I care about your looks?”

Lin Chuyao shook her head. “But others would. Princess Pingyang would. The Noble Consort would. The entire court would.”

His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, his gaze unwavering. “What others think is none of my concern. They only need to know you are the Third Prince’s consort—chosen by me.”

Momentarily speechless, Lin Chuyao looked at him with complicated eyes, noticing no flicker of doubt in his expression. She bit her lips as her voice trembled. “Your Highness, do you know that my face... was destroyed long ago and cannot be restored?”

A subtle change crossed Shen Lingfeng’s eyes before he calmly said, “Chuyao, do you know that you’re lying?”

Her heart jolted. She suddenly raised her head. “What do you mean by that, Your Highness?”

His tone was soft but firm. “Your medical skills are outstanding. Your face... is not irreparable. You just don’t want to heal it.”

Those words struck Lin Chuyao like a sharp blade piercing her heart. Her gaze faltered as she clenched the bedsheet tightly, her lips trembling.

Watching her reaction, Shen Lingfeng’s voice remained calm yet gentle. “You don’t want to heal because you’re afraid. If you restore your appearance, those who abandoned you will come back, and you’ll become a pawn in the game of power again, won’t you?”

---

Lin Chuyao’s breath caught, tears silently welling in her eyes. She whispered, “Yes... I don’t want to return to those days. Back then, I was proud and confident but was discarded like worthless trash. At least now, no one treats me as a tool.”

Hearing her words, a flicker of tenderness passed through Shen Lingfeng’s eyes, though his voice stayed even. “Chuyao, protecting yourself is not wrong. But your worth is far beyond that. Destroying your appearance won’t make those who hurt you pay; it will only make you lonelier.”

She said nothing, tears slipping down silently as her fingers gripped the quilt tighter, knuckles white. She knew he was right, but past wounds had wrapped her in a cocoon of self-protection she could not break free from.

Her eyes met Shen Lingfeng’s, filled with tangled emotions and trembling voice. “Your Highness, this is not merely a decision; it will affect my entire life. How can you be sure I’m willing to entrust my fate to someone else?”

Shen Lingfeng was silent for a moment, then slowly replied, “Chuyao, I am not asking you to hand over your fate. I am giving you an identity through which you can control your fate.”

Those words cut through the last barrier within her heart like a sharp knife. Her fingers clenched the quilt as pain and struggle flickered through her eyes.

She lifted her gaze to him, emotions swirling and wavering. After a moment, she closed her eyes gently and took a deep breath, as if making a decision.

“Very well. I agree.”

Shen Lingfeng exhaled in relief, a faint smile curving his lips. Then he lowered his voice, “However, Chuyao, if one day you wish to heal your face—not for others, but for yourself—I will be even more gratified.”

Lin Chuyao’s heart trembled, tears falling silently as she nodded softly. “Perhaps... that day will come.”

“Tomorrow, I will send you back to the Marquis’s household!”