Chapter 40

The ointment that guard provided turned out to be incredibly effective. Feeling cool on his face, Zixiu soon fell asleep with the faint scent of herbs. When he woke up the next morning, he found that the bruise on his face was gone and the swelling had also subsided.

As soon as he turned his head, Zixiu saw the items for freshening up and the breakfast lying on the table. Obviously, Xingyi had brought them in when he was sleeping.

“Humph!” Zixiu snorted. “That damn woman doesn’t wanna see me? That’s great! She’d better never show up in front of me! You bastards really make me sick!”

Needless to say, in spite of his contempt for the two, he had to wash his face and have his breakfast.

As usual, a bowl of plain porridge was all he had for breakfast, and Zixiu gobbled it up in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, he had never had breakfast at home, so he didn’t feel terribly hungry for the moment.

Watching the dark clouds filling the sky, Zixiu could tell that the rain might pour down at any time.

He hated this kind of weather. He would stay at home all along on stormy days before, and today was no exception. After having breakfast, he went back to the soft couch to rest with his eyes closed. However, he couldn’t help thinking of what had happened the night before.

“That ‘Senior Brother’ is such a weirdo! He always popped up in front of me and left without even saying good-bye! Why did he disguise himself as a guard? Given the current situation, he doesn’t seem to be trying to get me out of here… But how did he figure out I was in the Prince Mu’s Mansion?”

Zixiu suddenly realized the key of the problem. “Clearly, that ‘Senior Brother’ isn’t the guard of the mansion, or he wouldn’t have changed his appearance. But how come he knew I was in the Prince’s Mu’s Mansion? Does he have anything to do with that witch who kidnapped me…” Managing to stabilize his wild state of mind, Zixiu decided to wring the answer out of his ‘Senior Brother’ when he saw him next time. It was the only chance to get out of here and resume his normal life!

Zixiu then stopped pondering and closed his eyes again. However, when he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard the familiar music coming faintly again along with the breeze from the lake. “Is my ‘Senior Brother’ waiting for me?”

Sure enough, it was his ‘Senior Brother’ who was whistling the song. However, instead of waiting for Zixiu to meet him in the garden, he appeared by the door of the princess’s bedroom without a sound.

At this point, Zixiu happened to arrive at the door and nearly bumped against him.

“Zixiu, where are you going?” Seeing Zixiu in a hurry, the guard thought he was going out.

Zixiu froze for a moment and then shook his head. “Senior Brother, come on in! I was just thinking of going out to meet you!”

“Really?” With a gleam of joy crossing his face, the ‘Senior Brother’ peeped at Zixiu’s face before he asked in a soft voice, “Does your face still hurt?”

“Huh?” Zixiu paused for a short moment before rubbing own face subconsciously. “It doesn’t hurt. Really! Your ointment is so effective. Look, the bruise disappeared overnight. I appreciate it, Senior Brother!” he said with a smile.

“… I’m much relieved now!” After hesitating for quite a while, the guard murmured, but unfortunately, Zixiu didn’t hear what he said. “Senior Brother, why did you leave all of sudden last night? I have many questions for you!” Zixiu couldn’t wait to know the answer to his concern.

“Er… because it was late yesterday… Go ahead if you have any questions for me!”

“Senior Brother, we haven’t seen each other for years, right?” Zixiu asked cautiously, but next, he was astonished by the answer.

With a gloomy look on his face, his ‘Senior Brother’ answered slowly, “It has been thirteen years! You were only three years old when we parted, so it’s no wonder that you can’t recognize me…”

“I was only three years old by then?” Zixiu widened his eyes and couldn’t help but go on probing. “Senior Brother, why haven’t you ever come to see me?”

“I did wanna see you, but our master didn’t allow me to go anywhere out of the Valley of Fallen Blossoms until I was eighteen years old!”