Chapter 58

Knock knock—

“Your Highness, the maid has brought water.”

Xie Tingzhou woke up as if from a dream, and called out, “Put it by the door, and bring another basin of warm water and a towel.”

“Yes.”

The maid’s footsteps receded, and Xie Tingzhou opened the door to fetch the water jug. Xi Feng and Chang Liu happened to enter the courtyard at that moment.

Xie Tingzhou glanced at the two of them, said nothing, and closed the door behind him.

Xi Feng and Chang Liu exchanged looks, each standing on one side of the door.

Chang Liu whispered, “What’s going on?”

Xi Feng’s face was stern. “I don’t know.”

Chang Liu pondered for a moment before saying, “Could it be that you beat someone and then regretted it?”

The two looked at each other, both thinking the analysis made sense.

“We’re done for,” Chang Liu said. “You ordered the lashes, didn’t you?”

Xi Feng didn’t change his expression. “I didn’t personally execute it.”

“But it was your command.”

“It was His Highness’s command.”

Chang Liu shook his head. “Why don’t you understand? His Highness can’t be wrong. The fault must lie with us.”

Xi Feng remained silent, seeming to have accepted it.

“So… do we kneel?” Chang Liu asked.

Xi Feng didn’t respond verbally, but his actions were honest. He lifted his robe and knelt down straight.

Xie Tingzhou poured half a cup of water, blew gently, and placed it aside to cool.

The maid brought the water, and seeing the two kneeling at the door, she was startled.

“Your Highness, the water is here.”

Xie Tingzhou raised his hand and let down the bed curtain. “Come in.”

The maid carried the water in, keeping her head down and avoiding looking around. She walked to the bedside with the water, the curtain hanging down, concealing everything inside.

Xie Tingzhou sat on the edge of the bed. “Has the doctor been called?”

“Yes.”

“Good, you may go.”

The maid backed out. Outside, Xi Feng and Chang Liu saw her come out alone, their eyes filled with shock.

Chang Liu crawled a few steps and knelt beside Xi Feng, whispering, “It’s only His Highness and Xiaoyu inside. Who do you think is serving whom?”

Xi Feng glared at him. “Stop guessing.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

Xi Feng looked straight ahead, pursing his lips in thought. But curiosity couldn’t make him open the door to look inside.

Inside the room, Xie Tingzhou twisted a cloth and gently cleaned the area around her wound.

After cleaning the wound and reapplying medicine, he hesitated to apply gauze, choosing to leave it as it was.

Xie Tingzhou helped her sit up against his shoulder and fed her a few sips of water. The doctor arrived.

In the dead of winter, the doctor ran all the way, sweating profusely.

“She has whip wounds on her back, and the wounds have already been treated,” Xie Tingzhou said.

After checking her pulse and complexion again, the doctor said, “Your Highness, it seems she was injured and not properly treated. Then she caught a cold after the snow the other day, exacerbating it. I’ll prescribe some medicine. Once the fever breaks, she’ll be fine.”

Xie Tingzhou nodded, looking down at Xiaoyu.

Her face was no bigger than a palm, her arms so thin they looked like they could break with a pinch.

What kind of strength supported her on the battlefield and brought her here?

Xie Tingzhou couldn’t deny that a strange feeling was surging in his heart.

On the bed, Shen Yu moved. She was in so much pain.

In a daze, he saw Shen Zhong’an’s face again.

In Yanliang Pass, bodies piled up like mountains, with fires raging everywhere. The dense arrows missed his back, but he continued to fight with his long spear.

A Xijue sneaked up behind him.

“Watch your back!” Shen Yu shouted.

Shen Zhong’an turned around and yelled at her, “Run! Run fast, A Yu!”

“Wu…” A sob escaped Shen Yu’s lips.

Xie Tingzhou looked down and saw her gritting her teeth, her brows furrowed, a tear trickling silently down her cheek.

Xie Tingzhou wiped the tear from her cheek with his finger and let out a long sigh.

Kneeling at the door, Chang Liu’s knees had gone numb. He rubbed his legs and muttered softly, “If I had known His Highness would take so long, I wouldn’t have knelt with you. I was never at fault.”

As he finished speaking, the door opened, and Chang Liu quickly straightened up.

Xie Tingzhou closed the door behind him and asked Xi Feng coldly, “When you brought the dog over, didn’t you notice anything unusual?”

Xi Feng didn’t dare to lift his head, a cold sweat breaking out on his neck. “When I brought it, it was just dawn, and Xiaoyu responded from inside. I thought he hadn’t woken up yet, so I left the dog in the courtyard.”

Xie Tingzhou sighed heavily. “How long until Uncle Zhong arrives?”

Xi Feng replied, “He’s only leaving North Lin after the New Year, so it’ll probably be another half a month.”

Uncle Zhong was the steward of the Beilin Palace. With Xie Tingzhou staying in the capital, he couldn’t return as he used to after a few months. Emperor Tongxu wanted him to stay in the capital as a hostage, so there was no fixed date for his return.

Now that Xie Tingzhou was staying in Shengjing for a long time, the original servants were naturally not enough. Over the past few days, each family had been trying to send people to the Shengjing, but the most reliable were still Uncle Zhong and his servants, who came directly from North Lin.

Xie Tingzhou frowned. “Who is managing the household affairs in the Shengjing now?”

“It’s the original steward who stayed behind, but usually, he’s only responsible for arranging cleaning and maintenance. After Your Highness returned to the capital, Chang Liu took care of the daily routines.”

“It’s me, it’s me,” Chang Liu chimed in.

Xie Tingzhou asked, “Is there anyone living in Lu Ming Xuan? Why weren’t maids arranged?”

Chang Liu was stunned for a moment before realizing, “But… but he’s a guard. Guards have never been given maids before.”

Xi Feng elbowed him, and Chang Liu almost fell over if he hadn’t paid attention.

 Xie Tingzhou lowered his eyes and glanced at the two of them before walking away.     Changliu didn’t know why     .     “I said it right.” I’ll make arrangements right away!”     Just as he limped out of the yard, he almost collided with Xie Tingzhou who was returning.     Xie Tingzhou looked past him without looking sideways, walked to the room, opened the door and called out: “Dahuang.”

Dahuang looked up at him and lay down again.

 Xie Tingzhou walked over and bent down, saying, “Follow me, don’t disturb her.”

 Dahuang seemed to understand what he said and followed Xie Tingzhou.

 A man and a dog walked into the courtyard, and a scream suddenly sounded in the air.

Bai Yu swooped in and passed by. The wind picked up Xie Tingzhou’s hair, and Dahuang was so frightened that he huddled next to Xie Tingzhou’s legs and remained motionless.

Bai Yu landed on the courtyard wall and stared at Da Huang.

Xie Tingzhou lowered his head and glanced at Dahuang, then looked at Bai Yu, and said softly: “Don’t make any noise, you can’t move this.”

Xie Tingzhou had his own considerations.

 Now that she was still ill, it would be useless to be so sad and happy that she could recover.

Since Shiyu didn’t know when the Xifeng brought the rhubarb, it would be better to take it slow and wait until she gets better before telling her the news of her husband’s death.