Chapter 113: It Hurts

December 29, 2022Merchie

After a few breaths, Shen Shijiu’s tears finally stopped flowing.

Pei Zheng took off his own mask, and placed it over Shen Shijiu’s face.

The guards that had been scattered by the crowd earlier hurried over, and kneeled onto the ground, “This subordinate is late, may Master have mercy.”

Pei Zheng wasn’t in the mood to deal with them right now, so he shot them a look, signaling for them to retreat.

The guards dragged the attendants, who were thrashing and squirming on the ground, with them.

“Disciiiiple!”

Shen Huan’s voice sounded not too far away.

Then, the three people they had been separated from hurried over.

Shen Huan and Li Yu bent over, gasping for breath; it was obvious that they had overexerted themselves, but Cheng Feng wasn’t red-faced, nor was his heart thumping; his expression was calm.

“Master, are you all right?” Cheng Feng asked.

Pei Zheng didn’t speak, but Shen Shijiu spoke up first in an aggrieved voice.

“They… so many people… my face hurts… my Lord… threw them into the river…” When Shen Shijiu saw his shifu, he pointed at his face and said, “Shifu, my face was cut…”

Shen Huan was shocked, and quickly lifted the mask over Shen Shijiu’s face. Only then did she see the wound on Shen Shijiu’s cheek. Although it wasn’t deep, it looked like had bled quite a bit.

She wanted to blame Pei Zheng; was this how he looked after her little disciple? His precious cheek had almost been sliced apart.

But Pei Zheng’s complexion had visibly paled, and he was hiding his left hand beneath his wide sleeve.

Shen Huan sensed that something wasn’t right. She forcefully grabbed Pei Zheng’s left hand, and discovered that it was covered in viscous blood. The source of the blood was the top of his left arm, but fortunately, it had already stopped flowing.

“Don’t move!” Shen Huan yelled at Pei Zheng. When she saw Pei Zheng’s frosty expression as he tried to yank his hand away, her eyes seemed to burst into flames.

“If you keep moving, you can say goodbye to your arm!”

Pei Zheng glanced at Shen Huan; although his gaze was filled with indifference, he didn’t try to withdraw his hand again.

Shen Huan pulled a bundle of cloth strips out of her bosom, and tightly wrapped a few of them around Pei Zheng’s shoulder. Pei Zheng bent down slightly in cooperation.

Shen Shijiu saw this and leaned over as well. When he saw the snow-white cloth on Pei Zheng’s shoulder become soaked with red almost instantly, he was startled. He gently placed his little hand on the wound, and looked up at Pei Zheng.

“My Lord… you’re injured…”

Pei Zheng took his hand and gripped it in his palm. He could tell how worried and scared Shen Shijiu was, and said in a comforting tone, “Don’t be afraid, I’m fine.”

The group didn’t make any more detours and returned to the Prime Minister’s Manor.

The entire way back, Shen Huan didn’t say a thing, which was very unlike her.

In truth, when they had been separated from Pei Zheng and Shen Shijiu earlier, Shen Huan had taken advantage of their absence to ask Li Yu a few questions. She always had this feeling that these people knew more about her disciple than she did.

When Li Yu heard her questions, his expression became strange and complicated. He never expected Shen Huan to be so direct.

“Uh, I… I don’t know either, ask Guard Feng.”

The two of the turned their heads in unison to look at the expressionless Cheng Feng, before they quietly turned back around.

Shen Huan shrugged her shoulders: you’re telling me to ask a mute?

Li Yu also shrugged in helplessness; it was up to him to answer her.

“His Lordship, uh, His Lordship and Young Master Shen, they, uh, knew each other in the past.”

Shen Huan said, “Do I need you to tell me that? A blind person could figure that out. I was asking, how far have they gone? Hugging? Kissing? Sleeping together?”

Li Yu’s face flashed red and green, “I really don’t know, I don’t know…”

Shen Huan shouted, “Don’t think that I don’t know, you’re all…”

She pointed at Li Yu, then at Cheng Feng.

“… You’re all in cahoots with Pei Zheng.”

Li Yu waved his hands, “No, no, I wasn’t always a servant of the Prime Minister’s Manor, I was… a servant in a prince’s residence.”

Shen Huan’s gaze flickered. She remembered that her little disciple used to be a low-ranked prince in the palace.

“Prince Qi Changyi?”

Li Yu was shocked that Shen Huan actually knew the name of His Highness. He nodded.

Shen Huan understood; this Li Yu had indeed been her little disciple’s servant in the past.

Under Shen Huan’s questioning, Li Yu talked about what happened to Qi Changyi in the palace. Other than the Third Princess Qi Yirou, who was always making troubles for him during that time, Li Yu mentioned Pei Zheng the most.

Later, when the topic of the marriage alliance with the barbarian tribe came up, Li Yu was unwilling to continue.

No matter how much Shen Huan pressed him, Li Yu refused to say another word.

“Master Shen, why are you so worried about His Royal Highness? Could it be that you knew His Highness?”

Li Yu asked, trying to gauge her knowledge on the matter. He wasn’t sure if Shen Huan actually knew who she had saved.

Shen Huan didn’t have an answer, but instead pointed at a tree not far away, “I see them, they’re over there!”

Then, she ran off toward the tree.

Li Yu and Cheng Feng also followed.

***

The group returned to the Prime Minister’s Manor.

Shen Huan retrieved her medicine case, and began to treat Pei Zheng’s serious injury.

Pei Zheng sat down on a chair, and Shen Shijiu did the same. He took the mask off his face, and gently placed it on the table, before he stared fixedly at Pei Zheng’s bleeding shoulder.

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Shen Huan took off Pei Zheng’s outer robe. The inner robe was already soaked with blood.

After she wiped the blood away, she discovered that the wound that was showing signs of healing had split open again. The blurred patches of flesh and blood were especially terrifying.

Shen Huan’s movements were skillful; she sprinkled the medicinal powder that she had prepared beforehand onto the wound. This powder was effective at sealing wounds, but it was an extremely painful process to endure.

Pei Zheng’s expression remained unchanged, but his fingers clenched slightly. Then, he felt a soft little hand burrow its way into his palm.

This made his fingers loosen slightly, and that little hand squeezed in, stuffing itself between the gaps of his fingers. Pei Zheng didn’t dare to clench his hand any harder.

Shen Shijiu’s hand shifted; his face was full of worry, “My Lord… does it hurt…”

Pei Zheng shook his head, and traced the back of Shen Shijiu’s hand with his finger.

Shen Huan finished bandaging the wound, and spoke sternly to Pei Zheng, “Lord Prime Minister, you don’t have to care about your body, but if something happens, don’t blame me again. If I can’t cure this tiny wound in three days’ time and someone hears about it, my reputation will be ruined.”

When she finished speaking, she purposely pressed Pei Zheng’s wound, which made his brows crease.

“So you still know what pain is. I thought you couldn’t feel a thing anymore. If this wound tears again, not even the gods can save your shoulder, and you can say goodbye to this arm too.”

When she finished speaking, out of the two people sitting down, one didn’t care and the other was too drunk to understand what she had just said. But Li Yu and Cheng Feng’s hands began to sweat.

Shen Huan turned and came to Shen Shijiu’s side. She was about to examine Shen Shijiu’s face, when she saw the two hands clasped underneath the table.

She thought back to what Li Yu had told her about the past. It seemed like Pei Zheng treated her little disciple quite well, and would always help him out of difficult situations. Could it be that she had gotten the wrong impression, and that this Prime Minister Pei was actually a good person?

“Disciple, turn around.”

Shen Shijiu was still very obedient toward his shifu. He turned back around, so naturally, he let go of the hand he was holding.

Pei Zheng secretly laced his fingers together.

Shen Huan took out another bottle of medicinal solution, and smeared it over Shen Shijiu’s face, before peeling the human skin mask off his face.

The thin mask already had a long cut on it, so it was no longer usable.

Shen Shijiu’s true face was exposed. His cheeks were flushed red, and his watery eyes were shining. He obediently lifted his head, waiting for Shen Huan to apply the medicine.

“You can’t wear a mask for the next few days, or at least until the wound heals.” Shen Huan said as she smeared medicine over the cut.

Shen Shijiu didn’t know what his shifu was saying. He pointed at the mask on the table, and asked stupidly, “You mean this mask?”

Shen Huan pulled him to his feet, “Yes yes yes, all right, it’s getting late. Let’s go back, we shouldn’t disturb Lord Pei’s rest any longer.”

As she spoke, she shoved Shen Shijiu out the door first, before she stepped out as well. She hurriedly closed the door behind her, as though she were afraid someone would object to their departure.

Shen Huan dragged Shen Shijiu back to the wing room she was staying in. She was just too worried to leave her little disciple with Pei Zheng; it would be akin to throwing a rabbit into a wolf’s den.

Although it was an injured wolf, who knew how long it had been starving for?

However, this wing room wasn’t big enough to house the both of them.

Li Yu knocked on the door of the wing room, “Master Shen, Young Master Shen?”

She Huan raised her voice, “Housekeeper Li, what is it?”

“Uh, Young Master Shen’s quarters aren’t here, he’s staying at the little pavilion in the back garden.”

Shen Huan smacked her head. How could she forget, Pei Zheng had arranged that little pavilion for her little disciple.

The door opened. Shen Huan grabbed Shen Shijiu and walked out again.

“Lead the way, we’re going to the little pavilion.”

Li Yu really didn’t know what to do; he was only planning on taking Shen Shijiu back to the little pavilion to rest, but Shen Huan was like a dog skin plaster, and followed them all the way there.

There was another compartment at the side of the little pavilion; it wasn’t large, but it was fully furnished, and there was a bed. Usually, no one stayed in that room, but it was still cleaned every day.

Shen Huan pointed at it, “I’ll be staying in there.”

Without waiting for Li Yu’s response, Shen Huan shoved him aside, before the door closed with a “peng”.

The moment Shen Shijiu stepped into the little pavilion, he found a sense of familiarity. He stumbled toward the bed, and collapsed limply on top of it.

He had been drunk the entire night, and he had also walked for quite a while. He was exhausted, and fell asleep without changing his clothes.

When Shen Huan saw her little disciple sprawled on the bed, she sighed, and walked over to tuck him under the blanket. Then, she blew out the candle, and returned to the other room.

***

Deep in the night, the door of the little pavilion was gently pushed open. A figure stepped inside and walked to the side of the bed.

There was a small mound protruding slightly from beneath the blanket. Two thin legs poked out of it; he hadn’t even taken off his shoes and had simply fallen asleep lying on his stomach.

Pei Zheng squatted down, and gently pulled the small man’s shoes off, before he placed Shen Shijiu’s sagging legs back onto the bed.

He gently lifted the blanket. Only half of the small man’s face was visible; the other half was buried in the mattress. He laid there, his arms neatly placed on either side of his body.

His clothes were rumpled, and the robe over his waist was loose, exposing a patch of fair skin.

His long lashes drooped slightly, and his red lips were slightly open. His breathing was soft and shallow; he resembled a sweet little kitten.

Pei Zheng felt a stinging pain in his wound again.

He had been reading reports in his quarters for the past four hours, but he didn’t feel sleepy at all. His mind was always circling back to this small man.

He simply listened to what his heart was telling him, and came to the little pavilion to take a look. There, he discovered that the small man had collapsed onto the bed without taking off his clothes or shoes.

“Ngah… It hurts…”

The small man wasn’t sleeping peacefully either. It seemed that the wound on his face was hurting, which made him groan out loud.

 

Notes

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