CH 20

Lu Shi Qing really couldn’t eat anymore, he originally wanted to be gentle in his refusal, but since she was fooling him, he was not polite and said: “County Princess is kind, Lu appreciates it, but Lu have already eaten breakfast.” After he said that, he stretched out his seemingly noble fingertips, and pushed the thing far away.

At the side, Lu Shuang Yu’s gaze slowly followed his movements, looking at the two layers food boxes, as if to see if there was a share for her.

Yuan Ci Xian didn’t have time to pay attention to her at this time, so she concealed her guilty conscience and said, “Then I’ll come earlier some other day, so that I can catch up with you for breakfast.”

“County Princess has just injured your legs, you should peacefully recuperate, Lu will not trouble you.”

She smiled apologetically: “How can you trouble me, you’re also injured! In fact, I came to check on your injury today.” She glanced at the back of his hand, “Is your hand better?”

Lu Shi Qing put on the medicine on the wound when he came back from the Yuan Mansion yesterday, and wrapped the gauze back. He looked down and said, “It’s been taken care of properly, there’s no serious problem.”

“I brought a wound medicine, it’s an ointment made from the prescription that my father has refined for many years, you can’t find it in other place.” She then pulled out some bottles and jars from the medicine box.

Yuan Ci Xian originally wanted to leave after putting down a few bottles of medicine, but remembering the embarrassment just now, she wanted to make up for it, and said, “Let me change the medicine for you and re-wrap your wound.”

Lu Shi Qing put his hands back into his sleeves: “Don’t dare to bother County Princess, just leave the medicine, Lu is very grateful.”

Another pleasantry.

Yuan Ci Xian was not very happy, ignored him, and directly ordered a few maids on the side: “A few of you, bring me two basins of clean water.”

Lu Mansion’s servants were much obedient than Lu Shi Qing, when she glared at them, they didn’t dare to disobey because of her identity, and obediently went to fetch the water.

Lu Shi Qing frowned: “After Lu change the medicine and wrap the wound then County Princess is willing to return home?”

Yuan Ci Xian nodded with a serious expression.

He could only sigh, lowered his head and removed the gauze.

Yuan Ci Xian stood up with the medicine box in hand, remembering to act like she was limping, but when she came up to him, she was shocked when she saw the back of his hideous hand, and all the honorific was gone: “Is it looks like it’s been taken care properly? You don’t want this hand anymore, do you?”

There was a long bright red scab on the back of his hand, and there were signs of suppuration in several places where the wound was deep, which looked really shocking.

Lu Shuang Yu was also very frightened, and asked, “Brother, how did you get hurt so badly?”

Thinking that he might be too embarrassed to answer, Yuan Ci Xian explained to her: “Beaten by my brother.” Then she turned around and ordered, “Bring some salt, hot water and cotton cloth.”

After finished speaking, she grabbed his hand.

It was said that ten fingers connected to the heart, when Lu Shi Qing was grabbed by her, his heart seemed to be numb by some weird force. He subconsciously wanted to pull back his fingertips, but heard Yuan Ci Xian yelled, “What are you hiding for, I won’t eat you again!”

He froze and stopped moving.

Lu Shuang Yu and the maids in the room gasped together.

This scene was too weird. Someone actually touched their Master — someone actually touched their Master, and that person haven’t been overthrown yet.

Lu Shi Qing himself also felt that something was wrong. Since the “close combat” in the countryside, his tolerance for skin-to-skin contact with this person seemed to have increased, just now he could suppress the disgust with only a slight restraint.

Yuan Ci Xian waited for the servants to come, then in front of him, she took clean water to wash his hand, picked up a cotton cloth then soaked it in salt water and said, “It will hurt a little, bear with it, you can scream if you can’t stand it.”

“…” She wanted him, a big man, to scream.

Yuan Ci Xian asked people to move the stools, sat down in front of his knees, pinched his fingertips with one hand, and wiped the cotton cloth soaked in salt water on him with the other.

When the salt water touched the wound, obviously it should be painful, but instead Lu Shi Qing felt terribly itchy and couldn’t help shivering slightly.

Yuan Ci Xian only thought that he was in pain, and didn’t pay much attention to it, and asked while being busy: “Since you have treated it, there is no reason for it to become so bad. Was the wound wrapped with medicinal powder before?”

He was silent for a moment, then said “Hmm” quietly.

Of course he wasn’t wrapped it in medicinal powder, but put on a layer of makeup powder before going to Yuan Mansion yesterday. The effect was quite good, and with a wide sleeve covering it, it didn’t show any flaws, but it did aggravate the injury. He originally planned to change the dressing early in the morning, but was delayed by several official documents.

Yuan Ci Xian sighed: “You should use ointment for this kind of wound, not powder. You say if your hand is crippled, my…”

She stopped suddenly at this point.

Lu Shi Qing raised his eyes, as if waiting for her to continue.

Yuan Ci Xian originally wanted to say that if his hand was crippled, her brother would be guilty of a serious crime, and when the words reach her lips, seeing his slightly expectant eyes, she immediately shrugged and said: “My heart will feel distress!”

Lu Shi Qing sneered at her exaggerated acting skills in his heart, but he didn’t expose it, only glanced at her coldly.

Lu Shuang Yu stared dryly on the side, watching how they interacted, her mouth deflated in grievance. Not giving her breakfast was still fine, but now she also became such a superfluous existence.

She once thought that the cruelest thing in the world was that the man she liked was actually a young lady, and this young lady was still prettier than her. Now she knew that this was not the cruelest. What’s even more sad was that this young lady wanted to be her sister-in-law.

Yuan Ci Xian continued to work with her head down.

The thick yellow dirty water was squeezed out little by little, when Lu Shi Qing looked at it, his stomach twitched for a while, and when he looked up, he saw that the person opposite him was very patient, her long eyelashes fluttering like a fan, her expression was uncharacteristically docile, as if she was sincere to him.

Seeing that her bandaging technique was skillful and experienced, the folded corners of the gauze were well hidden, with a little effort seemed to make a decoration, Lu Shi Qing was a little surprised.

He restrained his curiosity at first, but when she finished her work and washed her hands with clear water from a basin beside her, he couldn’t help but probing: “County Princess’s technique of wrapping wounds is exquisite.”

It was always good to be praised, but Yuan Ci Xian didn’t expect him to say such pleasantry, and said triumphantly: “In the past, when the doctors in the army were too busy, I often went to help.”

Lu Shi Qing was slightly taken aback, then frowned and asked: “In the army?”

Her face changed slightly, she stared at him with wide eyes for a while, then finally confessed frankly under his sharp gaze: “I followed my father to march with the army…” After saying that, she leaned towards him and bent down to whisper, “Father told me not to talk about it, so as not to be spread badly by people with some ulterior motives… You have to keep it a secret for me.”

Lu Shi Qing sat on the chair and looked up at her, and nodded slightly. Diannan Prince was the only Second-rank Prince with a different surname in Great Zhou, so he was naturally like a tall tree that attracts the winds and often aroused people’s jealousy. When a woman joined the army, if it was placed on others she would have a good reputation, but if it changed to the Yuan family, she might be called unclean.

Seeing his answer, Yuan Ci Xian then looked at Lu Shuang Yu with a smile: “Miss Lu, you too.”

When she smiled, her eyes were like crescent moons, making it impossible for anyone to say a word of rejection, and without thinking, Lu Shuang Yu nodded like pounding garlic.

Yuan Ci Xian turned around to tidy up the medicine jars, and explained which bottle of medicine Lu Shi Qing should change at night. After she finished, she recalled something, turned around and asked, “Assistant Minister Lu, I have something to tell you. Can you ask Miss Lu and these servants to retreat first?”

Lu Shuang Yu grabbed Lu Shi Qing’s cuff, and asked her vigilantly, “What do you want to do to my brother?”

Yuan Ci Xian looked innocent, what exactly could she do. She felt funny looking at her like this, so she pretended to be ambiguous: “It’s the adult’s business, don’t worry about it.”

Lu Shi Qing coughed uncomfortably.

Seeing that he looked embarrassed and didn’t know which one to send away, she added with a smile: “It’s really about the adult’s business. Assistant Minister Lu, it’s about the Huihu caravan. I have some doubts and I want to explain to you.”

Lu Shi Qing’s erratic thoughts were immediately cleaned, straightened his back, calmed himself and ordered: “Go down.”

After everyone in the room gone, Yuan Ci Xian sat in front of him and asked: “Does Assistant Minister Lu know what kind of arrowheads in the boxes of those Huihu?”

Of course Lu Shi Qing knew, but he replied: “Lu investigates the case for His Majesty, and only responsible for searching the truth, and ignores the rest.”

The mouth was so tight. She had no choice but to say: “Let me tell you my opinion, you listen whether it makes sense. Those three-winged arrowheads are not ordinary playthings, but military weapons. From Wuxing’s Ji family to Chang’an Jinxiu Zhuang, and then to this group of Huihu merchants… It’s not minor things.”

Lu Shi Qing casually echoed “Yeah”.

“But seeing the bigger the matter is, the more important people are involved, the more I feel that there may be an element of framing.”

Lu Shi Qing hesitated for a moment, then raised his eyes: “Why do you say that?”

“There are too many doubts. For example, in front of the West Market gate, the confrontation between the caravan and the gatekeepers was too ostentatious. Another example is in Jinxiu Zhuang, the shop assistants and shopkeeper easily exposed the flaw. Another example is the cottage in the countryside, which seems to have tight defense, but actually full of loopholes. At first I thought, maybe they were just doing some dirty little business, but when I saw those arrowheads and thought about what happened back then, I felt strange. How could a person who can do “big thing” make such lowly mistakes so often? Maybe whoever wanted to use this to frame someone, deliberately arranged these things so that people would find out.”

At the end of her speech, she quietly observed Lu Shi Qing’s face, but saw that he looked as usual: “Lu knows, tomorrow will report County Princess’s idea to His Majesty, and ask him to decide.”

Again this attitude of rejecting people thousands of miles away and not revealing anything. Yuan Ci Xian couldn’t inquire about anything, so she had to give up.

The room fell silent for a while, and after no one speak, the two suddenly turned their heads to look outside the window, and said in unison: “Who?”

With a “pop” something fell to the ground. The person who was hiding outside the window and trying to eavesdropped, slowly picked themselves up and walked in.

It was Lu Shuang Yu who had gone and returned with a guilty face.

Lu Shi Qing reprimanded coldly: “Who taught you this eavesdropping skill?”

Lu Shuang Yu pursed her lips and said, “I didn’t hear anything, you two have such good ears…” She looked at Yuan Ci Xian, “I didn’t do it on purpose, I saw that it’s cloudy outside, and afraid it will rain later, so I came to deliver an umbrella for County Princess.” As she spoke, she lifted an oil-paper umbrella in her hand.

Lu Shi Qing knew that she was just looking for an excuse, and said sharply: “Dare to argue? You haven’t copied books for a long time, so your hands are itchy?”

Lu Shuang Yu looked aggrieved: “Brother, why you have to be so fierce to me in front of outsiders… I haven’t seen you say half a fierce sentence to County Princess…”

After she finished speaking, her voice became softer and softer. Yuan Ci Xian still felt uncomfortable when she heard the word “outsider”, but after hearing the following sentence, she suddenly became happy.

Lu Shi Qing indeed never been so fierce to her.

As soon as she was happy, she was ready to help Lu Shuang Yu, and said generously: “Okay, I also eavesdropped so many times, it’s not a big deal.”

Lu Shi Qing threw her a sharp look.

What’s the matter, after ordering his servants, she wants to discipline his sister for him?

Seeing his displeasure, Yuan Ci Xian cleared her throat and said in the: “But you can’t do it again next time. Today is me, but if it changed to some important guest, it will make your brother look bad.”

Lu Shi Qing felt that this sentence was still reasonable, glanced at his sister, and asked, “Did you hear that?”

Lu Shuang Yu looked at the two people who were echoing together with complicated mood, and nodded, “I know.”