CH 93

November 30, 2022Merchie

Shen Shijiu was quite startled by this apology that was dripping with a sense of justice and righteousness. His eyes widened, and he stared at the people in front of him.

A man1 smiled at Shen Shijiu, “Young Master, my son really crossed the line yesterday. He is spoiled by the old folks at home, so please don’t take it to heart.”

In truth, that night after Pei Zheng had vented his anger on Shen Shijiu’s behalf, Shen Shijiu wasn’t angry anymore. He even pitied the fat lord; the tips of his fingers had been snapped by His Lordship, after all.

“It’s okay, I accidentally bumped into him first, I should be the one apologizing…”

“Ai, don’t say that. I’ve heard a bit about what he’s like when he’s out and about. I’ve already taught him a proper lesson, so I can assure you that he won’t dare to cause any more trouble.”

The man was very kind and genial, which made Shen Shijiu feel a bit embarrassed.

After many more words of apology, the fat lord bowed deeply to Shen Shijiu several times more, before he was grabbed by the collar and dragged away by that man.

Shen Shijiu walked back to his own room, and asked the housekeeper, Li Yu, who was walking beside him.

“Housekeeper Li, is that fat lord’s family very powerful?”

Li Yu glanced at him in confusion.

As a servant of the Prime Minister’s Manor, it can be said that we can walk sideways and act with arrogance in this Imperial City, so why are you so worried about how powerful someone else’s family is?

But since Shen Shijiu asked, Li Yu patiently answered him.

“That very dignified-looking man you saw just now, used to be a lieutenant who guarded the borderlands, and once served under the Great General Zhao Litang of Zhenyuan. He only came to the Imperial City later, and became a squad leader of the imperial guards.”

He paused, “They do have some power, more than enough to scare the common people, but it’s nothing in the eyes of our Prime Minister’s Manor.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is. Then what about that Great General? Is he powerful?”

Li Yu glanced sideways, “Are you talking about General Zhao?”

Shen Shijiu nodded.

Li Yu lowered his voice, “Shh, we’re not allowed to talk about him in this manor.”

Shen Shijiu asked in a quiet, breathy voice, “Why?”

Li Yu frowned, “Child, what are you being so nosy for? Just do your job well and it’ll be fine. It’s getting late, isn’t it time for you to deliver medicine to the Second Princess?”

Shen Shijiu slapped his head, “Right! If you hadn’t reminded me, I would’ve forgotten!’

He quickly ran back to the wing.

Fortunately, Zhou Wu had already prepared the herbal medicine for the Second Princess Qi Bingzhi and had sent it over, so Shen Shijiu set off to deliver medicine to Qi Yirou.

Qi Yirou’s knee injury looked a bit better, but it was still worse than it had been previously. Shen Shijiu thought about many ways to heal her leg, but his efforts were still fruitless.

It would be better if his shifu was here, his shifu might have a way to fix it.

Shen Shijiu watched as Qi Yirou finished drinking the medicine. Then, he took out some ointment and carefully began to smear it over the wound on her knee.

When he finished applying the medicine and lifted his head, he saw that Qi Yirou’s eyes were shining with tears.

Qi Yirou turned away in embarrassment and wiped her tears. Shen Shijiu quickly looked at the floor, glanced at the table and the chairs, before secretly peeking at Qi Yirou from the corner of his eye.

“What are you looking at?! There’s just sand in my eyes!”

Shen Shijiu whispered, “But there’s no sand here…”

“There is!” Qi Yirou shouted, “If I say there is, there is!”

Shen Shijiu nodded in assent, “Yesyesyes, Your Royal Highness is correct, there definitely is!”

Qi Yirou was amused by his earnest tone and giggled through her tears.

Shen Shijiu couldn’t help himself from laughing as well, and the two of them laughed ridiculously together for a long time.

Qi Yirou asked, “Didn’t you come from the Imperial Hospital? How much longer are you staying at the Prime Minister’s Manor?’

Shen Shijiu said, “I don’t know either.”

“Then, have you found a cure for the Second Princess’s chronic headaches?”

At the mention of the Second Princess’s illness, Shen Shijiu pouted his lips, his face full of anxiousness, and placed his chin on the table.

“I haven’t, it’s so difficult, I don’t know how…”

Qi Yirou comforted him, “It’s okay, there are many strange illnesses in the world; even if you were the Ghost Doctor, it’s impossible for you to cure them all, right? So just try your best, and it’ll be fine. Don’t be too sad.”

Qi Yirou saw that Shen Shijiu’s little face was still tight with distress, so she simply said, “I’m really hungry, I’ll have someone bring some pastries, you can eat with me, okay?” Shen Shijiu managed to nod his head.

After a bit, a maid knocked and came inside, carrying a small plate of dainty pineapple cakes, osmanthus cakes, and flower pastries2.

Shen Shijiu had never tried any of these little pastries before. He ate a piece; he enjoyed the sweet, sticky mouthfeel, and was immediately enamoured with it.

Qi Yirou watched as he happily munched away, and forgot her troubles for the moment. Her mood gradually lifted.

She asked that little maid, “How is the Second Princess doing today?”

The maid replied in deference, “Replying to the Third Princess, the Second Princess isn’t at the manor today.”

“She’s not at the manor?” Qi Yirou was curious, “Where did she go?”

“She and His Lordship left the manor not too long ago, saying that they were going to the palace.”

Qi Yirou understood immediately, “All right, you can leave now.”

Shen Shijiu, who was sitting at the side and eating, actually had his ears pricked up the entire time, and had already heard their conversation. He endured the impulse to ask for a long time, but he really couldn’t take it any more.

“Your Royal Highness, His Lordship also went to the palace today?”

Qi Yirou looked at him with a smile, and popped a sweet into her mouth, “Weren’t you listening in this whole time, what are you asking me for?”

“Oh.” Shen Shijiu’s emotions noticeably fell again, and he pulled a long face. He placed the pastry at the side and didn’t take another bite.

Qi Yirou had no choice but to pick up another pastry and stuff it into his hand, “Yes, he’s going to the palace. Although he’s going with the Second Princess, you don’t need to worry, I guarantee that nothing will happen between them.”

Shen Shijiu blinked, and he looked at Qi Yirou in confusion.

Qi Yirou leisurely poured a cup of water and took a sip, before she began to explain to Shen Shijiu.

“I heard about it a while ago, His Majesty is holding a banquet at the palace, and inviting everyone in the harem, as well as the court officials. The purpose of this banquet is to welcome the barbarian clan leader, Ah Mu Le, who came all the way here from barbarian territory.”

“Ah Mu Le, what a strange name.”

“Everyone in the barbarian tribe has a name like this,” Qi Yirou wasn’t surprised, “This time, the banquet will last for three days, so it’s likely that Lord Pei will have to make frequent trips to the palace during these three days. Also, the Second Princess must also attend due to her status as a princess, as well as her position as the Empress’s legitimate daughter.”

Qi Yirou looked at Shen Shijiu, “Do you know what this means?”

Shen Shijiu thought hard for a while, then shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“Dummy, it means that she’s not attending as Lord Pei’s wife, which means that she, Qi Bingzhi, has nothing to do with Pei Zheng.”

Shen Shijiu pondered her words for a while, before he finally cracked a smile.

After staying in Qi Yirou’s wing for a long time, Shen Shijiu came out.

After lunch and dinner, he went to deliver medicine to Qi Yirou again. For the rest of the time, he stayed in his own little courtyard and played by himself.

He had lived with his shifu, isolated in the mountains for three years, so Shen Shijiu had long since mastered the art of blabbering to himself. He even made up a series of stories for two stalks of dog-tail grass.

Then, out of nowhere, that little black cat ran into this courtyard. Shen Shijiu and the cat frolicked together, and had a great time.

Before he went to bed that night, Shen Shijiu made a point to take a thorough bath, washing himself until his body was clean and fragrant. He wrapped himself in his blanket, laid down on the bed, and promptly fell asleep.

It was only at the dead of night when the gate of the Prime Minister’s Manor opened; Qi Bingzhi and Pei Zheng had returned from the palace.

The moment she stepped into the manor, Qi Bingzhi covered her face, and returned to the waterside pavilion, crying.

Before tonight’s banquet had begun, the Emperor had specially summoned the two of them to chat, but Pei Zheng avoided the topic of their marriage the entire time.

He had been wanting to thoroughly discuss the barbarian tribe’s development in the past few years with the Emperor; the barbarians were growing stronger by the day, and trouble was beginning to stir at the borderlands.

However, he had reported this matter to the Emperor numerous times, but the Emperor always brushed it off, and brought the topic of conversation back to the marriage.

Pei Zheng was extremely restless, and he looked quite unhappy for the duration of the banquet.

After dismissing the servants and attendants beside him, Pei Zheng walked into the manor alone, passed through a few courtyards, and unconsciously arrived in front of this wing room.

The room was pitch-black; the person inside must have gone to bed a long time ago.

He lightly pushed the door open and walked inside.

There was indeed a small mound bulging from beneath the quilt. It was very quiet; his breathing was so soft that it almost couldn’t be heard.

Shen Shijiu was exhausted from playing the entire day, and was lost in a dream. He dreamt of a vast expanse of white snow. He was wearing a fluffy robe, and resembled a little white rabbit, hopping and stomping in the snow.

He suddenly felt someone had approached from behind, Shen Shijiu looked back in the snow, but there was nothing. But something weighty was wrapped around his waist. It was heavy, tightly binding his body to the spot, and he couldn’t move at all.

Shen Shijiu mewled in a childish voice as he pouted his mouth, “Ngh… so heavy… stop squishing me… I want to… build a snowman…”

A soft, muffled laugh came from above his head. Shen Shijiu turned over, smacked his lips, and continued building the snowman in his dream.

It seemed that he didn’t sleep well last night. When Shen Shijiu woke up in a daze, it was already quite bright outside.

He felt a bit tired. His waist was sore and his legs were weak, and his arms felt so heavy that he couldn’t even lift them. It was as if his entire body had been kneaded to the point that it was about to fall apart.

Perhaps he was tired from the activities of his dream; after all, he had spent the entire night building a snowman.

When he got out of bed and went to get dressed, Shen Shijiu discovered that a few suspicious red marks had appeared on his body.

His skin was thin, one could even call it ‘spoiled’; it would turn red if one used just a tad too much force as they touched it.

Maybe he had accidentally bumped into something while he was playing yesterday. Shen Shijiu didn’t pay too much attention to the marks.

He walked over to push open the door, and couldn’t help but shiver; it was getting colder.

Zhou Wu, who was across from him, had also opened his door and walked out. But when he saw Shen Shijiu, he avoided him, but kept consciously or unconsciously sneaking glances at Shen Shijiu, with a weird, complicated gaze.

After many of these glances, Shen Shijiu finally had enough. He simply walked up to Zhou Wu, and stared at him unblinkingly.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Zhou Wu coughed twice in embarrassment, “N-no, no…”

But in truth, Zhou Wu was so panicked that he was about to explode. No one knew what he saw when he went to relieve himself early in the morning.

He saw… Pei Zheng walking out of Shen Shijiu’s room.

He thought back to that black robe Shen Shijiu was wearing last time. Zhou Wu felt that he had witnessed an extremely shocking event, but he didn’t dare to tell anyone about it.

After a hasty conversation with Shen Shijiu, Zhou Wu used the excuse of going to the Second Princess’s place and left.

Upon arriving at the waterside pavilion, Qi Bingzhi was still resting, and hadn’t risen yet, but Xiao Mei simply shoved Zhou Wu inside.

“Greetings to the Second Princess.”

“Come in.” Qi Bingzhi’s voice came from behind the curtain.

Zhou Wu lowered his head and walked in.

After a long while, Zhou Wu exited the waterside pavilion. He had already told Qi Bingzhi about what he had seen and his theories on the matter.

Qi Bingzhi was so enraged that her entire body trembled uncontrollably. The words she spat next were filled with jealousy and cruelty.

“Shen Shijiu, I definitely won’t let you go!”

Then, a decree arrived from the palace, saying that the Third Princess Qi Yirou’s mother, Noble Consort Xi, had passed away. Her death had been caused by a sudden, painful attack from her illness, and she couldn’t be saved.

As Noble Consort Xi’s only child, Qi Yirou was taken back to the palace to make preparations for the funeral.

And because the Imperial Hospital was piled with work during this period, either Shen Shijiu or Zhou Wu would have to go back.

Qi Bingzhi had Zhou Wu return to the Imperial Hospital, and had Shen Shijiu stay at the manor. She still had some debts to settle with Shen Shijiu.

Before Zhou Wu left, he went back to the waterside pavilion again and stayed for a long time, before he reluctantly returned to the palace.

So the duty of caring for Qi Bingzhi now fell upon Shen Shijiu.

Every day, he delivered medicine to the waterside pavilion before he would obediently return to his own room. With the little cat coming over every day to keep him company, it wasn’t too boring.

But one day, Shen Shijiu waited in the courtyard for a long while, but the little black cat still hadn’t come looking for him. Instead it was Qi Bingzhi’s personal maid, Xiao Mei, who came.

“Shen Shijiu! Hurry up and take a look at the princess, the princess is injured! Quickly!”

Shen Shijiu hurriedly grabbed his medicine case and followed Xiao Mei to the waterside pavilion.

Qi Bingzhi was standing on the steps in front of the waterside pavilion, surrounded by several servants, who were all panicked and clueless on what to do.

“He’s here! Get out of the way, hurry and get out of the way!”

Xiao Mei shouted loudly from the front, and the other servants quickly stepped aside.

Shen Shijiu held his medicine case as he walked over, and saw a large puddle of blood on the ground.

There were two deep claw marks on Qi Bingzhi’s wrist, which stretched all the way to the top of her arm. They looked quite gruesome, and blood still flowed ceaselessly out of the wounds.

“Miaowu!”

Shen Shijiu heard the little cat’s cry; only then did he realize that Xiao Miaowu was being pinned to the ground by two servants, and was struggling furiously. The cat’s claws were also coated in blood.

It looked at Shen Shijiu with a powerless, helpless gaze, its eyes full of pleading, as though it were begging for help.

“What are you looking at?! Hurry up and treat the princess’s wounds!”

Shen Shijiu came back to his senses. He quickly opened his medicine case, took out the blood-coagulating powder and gently sprinkled it onto the wounds. Qi Bingzhi’s entire body trembled ceaselessly from the pain.

Then, Shen Shijiu took out a piece of white gauze and wiped the excess blood and medicinal powder. Qi Bingzhi’s brows knitted tightly.

Xiao Mei saw this and yelled at Shen Shijiu, “Can’t you be gentler, the princess is in so much pain, yet you’re being so heavy-handed!”

Shen Shijiu pouted his lips in aggrievance, and complained quietly, “I’m already being very gentle…”

The bleeding finally stopped, but because the wounds were too deep, it would definitely leave a scar.

The moment those words came out of his mouth, Qi Bingzhi’s expression transformed.

“No! I can’t have any scars, you must treat my wounds properly, you can’t let them leave any marks behind!”

Shen Shijiu thought for a long while, and finally said, “But I don’t know the recipe for a medicine that can make sure a wound won’t leave any scars. Only my shifu knows it.”

“Then go find your shifu!”

“I don’t know where my shifu went, I can’t find her…”

Qi Bingzhi turned to look at that quiet little cat. Xiao Mei also looked at the cat and said fiercely, “It was all thanks to this unruly thing, it dared to scratch the princess. The princess was willing to carry it, just to give it some face. In this manor, a cat is actually more respectable than a human!”

“Someone! Hurry up and throw this cat out, just looking at it makes my eyes hurt.” Xiao Mei ordered arrogantly, and seemed to be very sure of herself.

But the servants at the side were torn; they didn’t dare to just throw this cat out of the manor. Although His Lordship wasn’t here at the moment, if he discovered what had happened, they would probably be the ones to be thrown out.

Xiao Mei saw that no one was willing to step up, and immediately became enraged.

She had been by Qi Bingzhi’s side for so many years. Before, when they were in the palace, although Qi Bingzhi wasn’t favored, she was still the Empress’s legitimate daughter; everyone gave her the full respect that her status warranted.

But ever since she came to the Prime Minister’s Manor, there wasn’t a single person who cradled Her Royal Highness in the palm of their hand; no one even dared to punish a cat that had injured the princess. Xiao Mei simply walked over and tried to grab that little cat herself. Shen Shijiu saw this and became extremely nervous. He hurriedly stepped forward and managed to scoop up the little black cat first.

That black cat clawed and fussed in Qi Bingzhi’s arms, but when it was held by Shen Shijiu, it was quite sweet and obedient. It retracted its claws, and rubbed Shen Shijiu’s hand with its fleshy paw.

“Your Royal Highness, Xiao Miaowu is actually a very good kitty, please don’t throw him away… ”

Shen Shijiu looked at Qi Bingzhi with entreating eyes.

Unexpectedly, Qi Bingzhi became even more annoyed when she saw that Shen Shijiu got along quite well with this cat. She glanced at Xiao Mei, and Xiao Mei understood.

“Shen Shijiu, give me the cat! This matter has nothing to do with you, don’t go sticking your nose into other people’s business!”

Xiao Mei wanted to snatch the cat out of Shen Shijiu’s arms, but Shen Shijiu dodged backward.

“Xiao Miaowu knows he’s wrong. He wouldn’t dare to do it again, right, Xiao Miaowu?” Shen Shiju lowered his head and asked the cat in his arms.

The little black cat seemed to have a spirit of its own, and also knew that it was in a very dangerous situation at the moment. It burrowed into Shen Shijiu’s robe, hiding its body so that only two small, fluffy cat ears peeked out.

“Miaowu, miaowu!”

Shen Shijiu lifted his head and said, “Listen, that’s what he said.”

Xiao Mei stared at him, “Shen Shijiu! How can you understand the language of animals? Stop acting! Come here!”

As she spoke, Xiao Mei approached Shen Shijiu,reached out, and tried to grab that pair of cat ears.

“I understand it!” Shen Shijiu covered the cat’s ears to protect them, before he begged Qi Bingzhi once more.

“Your Royal Highness, I’m begging you, please let Xiao Miaowu go. Even though he’s a bit naughty, if you don’t provoke him, he won’t hurt anyone.”

Qi Bingzhi lifted her injured wrist, and faced Shen Shijiu, her gaze cold as ice.

“Shen Shijiu, what are you trying to say? Are you trying to blame me for provoking a cat? Did I ask it to scratch me?

In truth, Qi Bingzhi did it all on purpose. She knew that the cat didn’t like being close to unfamiliar people, but she still forcefully picked it up, and even pinched its tail, which of course, made the cat scratch her ferociously.

Qi Bingzhi wanted to see if she really did have less value than a cat in Pei Zheng’s eyes.

“That’s not what I meant…” Shen Shijiu didn’t know how he could explain on behalf of the cat, and Qi Bingzhi’s servants wouldn’t accept any compromises.

“His Lordship really likes Xiao Miaowu, Your Royal Highness can’t just throw him away without permission. What if His Lordship comes back and doesn’t see Xiao Miaowu, and gets angry? Let’s wait for His Lordship to come back.”

Shen Shijiu finally thought of an idea; he could rope in Pei Zheng as back up. He believed that His Lordship definitely wouldn’t be willing to see others bully Xiao Miaowu.

A hint of hesitance crossed Qi Bingzhi’s face; she was weighing the consequences in her mind this entire time, trying to decide if she actually wanted to test Pei Zheng like this.

Xiao Mei saw that he mistress was preoccupied with her thoughts again, so she made up her mind, stepped forward, and shoved Shen Shijiu hard.

“Stop talking nonsense. In His Lordship’s heart, the princess is definitely more important than a cat! If you don’t believe me, I’ll throw it out right now!”

Xiao Mei had the other two servants restrain Shen Shijiu’s arms, before she reached toward his chest, grabbed the cat by its scruff and tugged it out.

He didn’t know where his strength had come from, but Shen Shijiu actually wriggled one of his arms out of the servant’s grasp, grabbed the cat and pulled it back into his body.

The cat struggled with all its might out of Xiao Mei’s hands, and even scratched her. Xiao Mei retreated a few steps from the pain.

Unexpectedly, Qi Bingzhi was standing only a short distance behind Xiao Mei, and Xiao Mei just happened to crash into her. With a cry of surprise, she fell over.

There were a few steps next to her, and they weren’t very high. But Qi Bingzhi fell suddenly down the steps; not only did she sprain her ankle, but the wounds on her arm that had finally stopped bleeding were scraped again, and began to bleed once more.

Everyone was extremely panicked, and hurried down the steps to help Qi Bingzhi up.

Every part of Qi Bingzhi’s body was aching terribly. Tears welled in her red eyes, and she looked at Shen Shijiu, her gaze filled with anger and hatred.

Shen Shijiu was retrained again, but no one else tried to grab the cat; it was now nestled obediently in the robe over his chest.

Ignoring the wound on her hand, Xiao Mei walked up to Shen Shijiu, and slapped him hard.

“It’s all your fault! You caused the princess to fall down the steps! Shen Shijiu, you are far too reckless, you’re just a lowly apprentice, how dare you treat the princess like this?!”

Shen Shijiu’s head had tilted from the impact of the slap, and a stinging pain came from his cheek. A handprint instantly swelled up on his face.

He still didn’t know what had happened. He didn’t push the princess down the steps, Xiao Mei was the one who did that.

But it seemed like Xiao Mei was blaming it all on him. She raised her hand high once more, and was about to give Shen Shijiu another slap.

At this moment, the housekeeper, Li Yu, hurried over, and raised his voice to stop them, “Stop! His Lordship has returned!”

He had just finished speaking when Pei Zheng walked into the courtyard of the waterside pavilion.

The gate of the waterside pavilion was in complete chaos. A maid was supporting Qi Bingzhi by the arm, and she was standing on the steps in front of the pavilion. Shen Shijiu was being firmly retrained by several servants, and there was an obvious handprint on his little face.

Pei Zheng walked up the steps with his hands behind his back, toward Shen Shijiu. He lifted Shen Shijiu’s chin with his fingers, and carefully examined the marks on his face

Then, he looked back at Xiao Mei, who was standing to the side with her head bowed, “You’re the one who hit him?”

Xiao Mei noticed the frigid coldness that Pei Zheng exuded, and didn’t dare to speak. She silently nodded.

“Lift your head.”

Xiao Mei obediently raised her head, before secretly taking a deep breath.

Pei Zheng stood in front of her. The ends of his eyes were narrowed in displeasure; he had a cold handsomeness, akin to that of a portrait.

No wonder the princess was so obsessed with him.

In the next second, Pei Zheng had raised his hand and slapped Xiao Mei.

This slap didn’t contain any internal energy, but it was still enough to make Xiao Mei fall onto the ground, and spit a mouthful of blood.

Notes

Yeahhh, go save your man and your kitty~

Thanks for reading~~

1.So this is a very strange thing, I don’t think it’s a typo, but the author refers to this man as 年男子 (nián nán zǐ). In Japanese, there is a word 年男, which refers to a man that was born in a year with the same Chinese Zodiac sign as the current year. Which… doesn’t really give any clues about how old he is. We can just say, that he’s… on the younger side of middle aged.

2.Gsdhkfshfsdfh I was soo waiting for a footnote like this~~~~ I’ll just put them all here.

a. 凤梨酥 (fèng lí sū): pineapple cake. I think this would be the most well-known sweet out of the three, it’s a little pastry with a soft, crumbly crust and a chewy, sweet filling that is apparently made of pineapple.

b. 桂花糕 (guì huā gāo): osmanthus cake. It’s not the kind of ‘cake’ most people would think of at first. It’s made of glutinous rice flour, and it looks like and has the texture of jelly. Osmanthus syrup is really tasty, it has vanilla, brown sugary, floral notes.

c. 鲜花饼 (xiān huā bǐng): flower pastries. 饼 are not cakes; they’re typically flat pastries or pancakes. It’s a pastry with a soft, flaky skin, and a sweet filling made with edible roses that are only grown in Yunnan.