CH 119

January 6, 2023Merchie

The once cold General’s Manor was now filled with people, and somehow became a little livelier.

Although two more days had already passed, Zhao Litang still hadn’t woken up. But Shen Huan was here to treat him; now that he knew there was a way to detoxify the poison, Jiang Yubai breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then, he began to secretly make trouble for Shen Shijiu.

Shen Shijiu was such a silly, foolish dummy; he was just too easy to tease.

Jiang Yubai only needed to inch toward him, and his little face would scrunch up, before he would take a step back, pretending as if nothing had happened. Then, Jiang Yubai would inch a little closer, and he would take another step back. This continued until Shen Shijiu had backed into the wall and had no way to escape.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Jiang Yubai knew full well the reason why, “It’s not like I’m going to eat you.”

Shen Shijiu looked up at the sky and down at the ground, but he refused to look at Jiang Yubai.

“I-I’m not…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Jiang Yubai pinched Shen Shijiu’s squishy cheek, “Pei Zheng’s not here right now, and he doesn’t know what you’ve been doing. Don’t be scared of him. At the moment, he’s being quite the pussy.”

“His Lordship isn’t a pussy…” Shen Shijiu muttered.

The two had only just begun to converse when a figure anxiously ran over.

“Imperial Physician Jiang, Young Master Shen!” Yue Nu called eagerly, “The general is awake!”

Jiang Yubai and Shen Shijiu immediately hurried back to Zhao Litang’s room.

Shen Huan was taking Zhao Litang’s pulse; the man on the bed still had his eyes closed.

Yue Nu said worriedly, “The general opened his eyes just now, how did he fall unconscious again…”

Shen Huan put down Zhao Litang’s wrist, “Don’t worry, he should be waking up now. Most of the toxins have been eliminated, but his body is still weak. He’ll probably be fully awake in a little bit.”

Jiang Yubai and Shen Shijiu sighed in relief, but beside them, Yue Nu still looked uneasy. Before Zhao Litang was fully recovered, it would be impossible for him to fully let go of the worry in his heart.

“My little disciple, come here.” Shen Huan called Shen Shijiu over.

Shen Shijiu obediently stood at the side of the bed. Shen Huan taught him how to distinguish the characteristics of this poison and how to detoxify it. Shen Shijiu listened attentively.

Jiang Yubai also pricked his ears, and eavesdropped from the side.

After Shen Huan finished explaining, she had everyone clear out of the room, so that Zhao Litang could have a quiet place to rest.

Everyone in the room prepared to leave. Shen Shijiu was about to leave with the others, but Zhao Litang’s injured arm, which was drooping off of the bed, suddenly reached up and grabbed his cuff.

Everyone else had already left, leaving only Shen Shijiu and Yue Nu standing in the room; Yue Nu had also spotted Zhao Litang’s hand on Shen Shijiu’s cuff,

Shen Shijiu was afraid of tearing Zhao Litang’s wound, and didn’t dare to forcefully pull his sleeve out of his grip; he could only tug it away little by little.

“Yue Nu, can you help me?”

Yue Nu nodded, and walked over to help Shen Shijiu pull his cuff away.

Zhao Litang was clearly still unconscious, but he wasn’t lacking in strength. They tugged for a long while before the pair finally pulled Shen Shijiu’s sleeve away.

“My little disciple, what are you doing? Come on, your master was looking for you everywhere.”

Shen Huan stood by the gate, watching Shen Shijiu who was still dawdling in the room, and waved her hand at him.

Shen Shijiu looked back and said to Yue Nu, “Thank you, my shifu‘s looking for me, so I’ll be going now.”

Yue Nu nodded, and Shen Shijiu turned and ran out of the room to look for Shen Huan.

Yue Nu placed Zhao Litang’s hand back under the blanket, before he turned to leave. Unexpectedly, that hand gripped his own palm.

The man on the bed frowned slightly, and suddenly called out for something.

Yue Nu didn’t hear what he said, but his eyes silently reddened.

***

Shen Shijiu followed Shen Huan to the main hall in the front garden of the General’s Manor, and saw that there were several people standing in the hall.

“Master Shen, Young Master Shen.”

Cheng Feng respectfully cupped his hands toward the two of them. His gaze darted to the side, and he caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past the door.

With a gust of spiritual wind, and a dart flew out of his cuff, piercing through the window screen. It stabbed into the area beneath Jiang Yubai’s ear; if the dart had veered only the slightest bit off course, it would have stabbed right into Jiang Yubai’s head.

Jiang Yubai yanked the dart out, turned, and stepped into the main hall, before he tossed the dart right back at Cheng Feng.

Cheng Feng caught the dart between his fingers, and glanced at Jiang Yubai, before he placed the dart back into his cuff.

Jiang Yubai stared at him and said, “What is your problem?! Explain yourself!”

Shen Shijiu could tell that Jiang Yubai was genuinely enraged, and explained on Cheng Feng’s behalf, “Imperial Physician Jiang, A-Feng definitely didn’t know it was you. He probably thought it was a bad guy.”

After he finished speaking, he assumed a prim expression and lectured Cheng Feng, “A-Feng, at the end of the day, you almost hurt Imperial Physician Jiang. You are in the wrong, so you should say sorry to Imperial Physician Jiang.”

Shen Huan stood at the side and watched the three of them. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that her little disciple didn’t seem to belong there. It was a shame that the little fool was still trying to mediate between the two of them.

“Sorry.”

Jiang Yubai’s eyes bulged in disbelief as he stared at Cheng Feng. Did he just… apologize?

Shen Shijiu nodded in satisfaction, before he looked expectantly at Jiang Yubai.

Pressured by his gaze, Jiang Yubai also muttered awkwardly, “It’s, it’s okay.”

Only then did Shen Shijiu’s eyes curve upward.

“Ahem,” Shen Huan coughed, “Guard Feng, why are you here? Could it be that Lord Pei has some instructions for me?”

Cheng Feng said, “His Lordship isn’t looking for you.”

Shen Huan sighed in relief. She had been genuinely scared that Pei Zheng needed something from her.

But Cheng Feng looked at Shen Shijiu and said, “Young Master Shen, His Lordship is looking for you.”

Shen Shijiu pointed at himself, “Me?”

Cheng Feng nodded.

Jiang Yubai and Shen Huan locked eyes. They knew that Pei Zheng had definitely sent Cheng Feng here to check on Shen Shijiu, to see if Shen Shijiu was still doing all right at the General’s Manor. But what he really wanted to see was if Shen Shijiu had had close contact with “someone”.

“What does His Lordship need from me?”

Cheng Feng didn’t answer, and glanced at the servants in the main hall.

Those servants were self-aware enough to retreat.

Although Shen Huan and Jiang Yubai were unwilling, they still walked out. Then, the two of them pressed themselves against the door to eavesdrop.

“A-Feng, you can tell me now.” Shen Shijiu blinked. He didn’t know what Pei Zheng needed from him that required Cheng Feng to come in person to tell him.

Cheng Feng said, “Truthfully, His Lordship doesn’t need anything from you, he just sent me here to see how you were doing. Every day for the past two days, His Lordship has been summoned to the palace alone by His Majesty. Although he is still technically suspended from his post, His Lordship had already begun to handle government affairs again. So he is extremely busy, and hasn’t found the time to come visit you himself.”

Shen Shijiu pouted and nodded, “I know. His Lordship is so busy, so he doesn’t need to come visit me. I’m here with shifu and Imperial Physician Jiang, and they take good care of me. And I’ve heard that General Zhao is a very good person. If shifu can help him wake up, he’ll definitely be very nice to me and shifu…”

Cheng Feng’s expression became stranger and stranger as he listened. If His Lordship heard Young Master Shen spouting words of praise about General Zhao, he would definitely be extremely angry.

Cheng Feng spoke a bit more with Shen Shijiu, before he opened the door to leave. Then, he heard the sound of two people’s footsteps as they scurried away.

Only then did Cheng Feng look back and say, “Right, tonight at midnight, His Lordship will come. Don’t tell anyone.”

After he finished speaking, Cheng Feng left.

Shen Shijiu stood frozen in place. He thought back to what Cheng Feng had just told him. Did he mean that… tonight, His Lordship would come to the General’s Manor to see him?

He was so happy, and smiled. Was His Lordship really coming to visit him? It had already been so many days since he had last seen His Lordship, but wasn’t his Lordship busy?

Then, should I tell shifu about this?

***

Zhao Litang slowly opened his eyes. White light filled his vision, stinging his eyes and causing him to squint.

His hand seemed to be gripping something soft. He lifted it to take a look; it was another hand.

The owner of this hand was slumped by the bed, and had already fallen asleep. Half of his face was visible; upon it was a small reddish-brown, crescent-shaped mark. It was elegant and very pretty; it seemed to have been tattooed onto his skin.

Zhao Litang’s forehead creased, and he suddenly loosened his grip, before he nudged the person slumped beside the bed.

Yue Nu was nudged awake, and blinked for a bit. When he spotted Zhao Litang looking at him, he was pleasantly surprised and was about to exclaim in shock.

Zhao Litang place a hand over his mouth before he could scream, his palm covering most of Yue Nu’s face.

“You are?”

Yue Nu’s eyes visibly dimmed a bit, and he pointed at Zhao Litang’s hand over his mouth.

Zhao Litang removed his hand, and Yue Nu told him his name for the third time.

“General, my name is, Yue, Nu.”

He seemed to be rather persistent, spelling his name out one word at a time; he could only hope that next time, Zhao Litang wouldn’t forget who he was.

Zhao Litang didn’t speak, and struggled to sit up. Yue Nu hurriedly stepped forward to support him.

Zhao Litang closed his eyes. He had been unconscious earlier, and there was a period of time during which he was aware of his surroundings. But he had no way to speak, no way to wake up.

He thought he saw Changyi, but that blurry figure instantly disappeared, and he didn’t even have time to clear his mind.

The moment he woke up, the only person in front of him was this child, whose name he still hadn’t learned.

“General, please wait for a moment, I’ll go get Master Shen.”

As he spoke, Yue Nu quickly ran out.

A few moments later, Shen Huan, Jiang Yubai, and Wu Quan rushed over.

Shen Huan hurriedly examined Zhao Litang, before she sighed heavily, “You’re fine now. You just need to take good care of yourself for a bit, and you’ll be fully recovered after a few days.”

Everyone in the room also breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Shijiu waited for Cheng Feng to leave before he hurried over. The moment he walked in, he saw that Zhao Litang was already awake, and knew that he would definitely be all right.

He smiled at Zhao Litang, “General Zhao, you’re finally awake.”

Zhao Litang looked at Shen Shijiu, and didn’t speak for a long while.

Why did this person give him such a strange feeling? He seemed unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.

Shen Huan looked at Shen Shijiu and said, “Disciple, you’re right on time, help me change General Zhao’s wound dressing.

Change his wound dressing?

Shen Shijiu’s footsteps were abnormally slow as he walked over

His Lordship told him that he wasn’t allowed to change Zhao Litang’s dressing, because it was inevitable that they would have physical contact. He explained to His Lordship for a long while; he was a doctor, so touching injured patients was a very normal thing.

But His Lordship still refused to allow it.

“There are so many people in the General’s Manor, why do you have to be the one to change his dressing?”

As Pei Zheng was speaking these words, he had Shen Shijiu pinned against a table. If Shen Shijiu dared to explain another word, Pei Zheng would simply block those brilliant red lips with his own.

Shen Shijiu didn’t dare to say anything more, and could only agree to his demands.

But now, shifu wanted him to change Zhao Litang’s dressing, what could he do?

He walked for quite a while, but he still hadn’t reached the side of the bed. Shen Huan looked back and gave Shen Shijiu a suspicious look.

“Disciple, what’s wrong with your legs? Are you feeling unwell?”

Shen Shijiu responded stupidly with an “ah?”. Shen Huan took that as a sign that he really was feeling unwell, “Forget it, you don’t need to change it. You’ve worked hard these past few days as well. Have a good rest, my little disciple. Your master’s heart will ache if you tire yourself out.”

Then, Shen Huan said to Yue Nu, who was standing somewhat close to her, “You can change his dressing instead.”

Notes

WHEN IS THE CHENGBAI SHIP GOING TO SET SAIL I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE

Every ship has left the damn port except this one hghhh

Thanks for reading~~