Chapter 50 Self-recommendation
Maner kept stroking Ting Xue on her back. After a while, Ting Xue slowly recovered and choked with sobs, “I had no idea. After Third Miss woke up, nurse Liao instructed me to boil water for her shower. It was during the boiling of my second pot when I came over to the corner, holding the copper kettle in my hand. And then I saw the snake coming out from a chink in the bathroom window, sticking its tongue out to me. I was terrified…Fortunately, Sister Maner came and smashed the snake with a rock.” Ting Xue was already rambling in her speech. If she had known how toxic that green bamboo snake was, she would have been too scared to move her legs.
“Okay, Ting Xue was frightened today. Go back and rest first. Let others do your work.” Qin Yunuan sent Ting Xue back and dismissed the nannies and servant girls who came after the sound, leaving only Tong, Maner and nurse Liao.
“Oh, Third Miss, don’t get too close.” when she saw Qin Yunuan picking up a wooden stick to check the dead snake with great interest, nurse Liao was so nervous that she kept drawing her backward. The sight of the wriggling dead body froze her.
Her bathroom was by the side. Qin Yunuan lifted her head to look at the bath window, which was about the height of a person. The window was usually closed, but this little servant girl named Ting Xue was diligent at work. Every time Ting Xue was in charge of heating the bathing water, she would open the bath window for ventilation in advance. That gave the green bamboo snake the chance to get out. If had left the snake in the bathroom, when she came into the bath…Oh, someone had taken the trouble to give her such a great gift.
Even if they couldn’t make sure Qin Yunuan was bitten, it would have been a wish fulfilled if she had been frightened.
“Ah,” Maner suddenly returned from the trance, “Ting Xue said it came out of the bathroom, what if there had been more snakes in it?”
Tong took the word without thinking, “I’ll go and see.”
“Come back.” nurse Liao grabbed Tong angrily, “Silly girl, you are a girl after all. How dare you walk into the room without having caught a snake before? I will let Da Shi come and see later. He was skilled after a few years catching snakes with an old widower.”
“That will work,” Qin Yunuan agreed, “First, seal up the windows and doors. Be careful when you do this.”
No sooner said than done. Qin Yunuan didn’t want to make this incident widely known, therefore only nurse Liao, Tong, and Maner were in charge of this. After a while, they sealed the bathroom with shredded paper and rags. Even a mosquito couldn’t fly out, not to mention the snake inside.
The dead green bamboo snake was thrown in the brazier by nurse Liao and burned. As Qin Yunuan watched the flame dying down gradually, her doubts rose endlessly.
She had observed the green bamboo snake very carefully. It looked as if the snake had been killed by Maner’s stone. But there was an inconspicuous needle hole at a finger’s length from the back of the snakehead. Small as it seemed, it killed the snake with one stroke and was the real cause of its death.
Qin Yunuan frowned, thinking of the flash of silver she saw when Cui’e died and the faint, crisp sound behind her. She could not think much under that urgent situation. It seemed now that the sound was just like the collision of two silver needles. As she thought back of that scene, there seemed to be a force coming from behind, aiming straight for her nape. The force was then pushed away by some other force which came directly for her.
Qin Yunuan was dripping cold sweat as she thought of this. According to her speculation, Dou Qing’e didn’t only want to kill Cui’e, but she also wanted her life to end as well. The direct force and the needle hole on the snakehead told clearly that someone was helping her. The helper must be an equal opponent with Dou Qing’e’s men. In the field of martial arts, the helper must be a master.
Who? Who would help her? What was his or her plan?
As Qin Yunuan’s pondered, a dark shadow quickly flew past the tile house of the mansion of Grand Commandant almost like a gust of wind. The shadow aimed straight toward the west of the Royal City and went into an antique mansion with white walls and black tiles. He walked into a courtyard with purpose, kneeling on one knee as he fell. Saluting to the person reading in the room with a night lamp on, he said, “Young master, Leng Wu has sent people to protect Third Miss under your instructions.”
After those words, Leng Wu told in full detail what he had seen in the mansion of Grand Commandant. Including how he blocked the fatal shot in the Furong Courtyard for Qin Yunuan, and how the snake was killed secretly in the Fuxi Courtyard. He paid great attention to his technique and used great strength, making the silver needle penetrated deep into the ground and unable to find after piercing the snake’s heart.
Only the friction sound of paper was heard in the silence of this room. The person sitting behind the table didn’t seem to be enthusiastic about the news his men reported. He simply tilted his head, looking at the words on the scroll carefully, as if he had been pondered on the wonderful meaning between the lines and something beyond books.
It’s weird. He would just simply read a book, but these days he thought of the little woman as soon as he picked up the pages. Her bright smile was like a sunflower. Her eyes were distant and precautious. Her thankful nod would appear after accepting his help.
This feeling was very strange. She was the one who stole his heart which got feverish in the end. But every time he saw her, he would always think that he was the thief.
His gaze stayed on the scroll, but his thoughts kept wandering around every time they met and stayed together.
“General?” Leng Wu knelt on the ground for a long time, but Leng Changxi remained motionless behind the table.
Leng Changxi drew his gaze back slowly, “You should do this yourself.”
Leng Wu froze. It seemed that he did not understand Leng Changxi’s meaning.
“I mean, you should protect that girl. You are the most powerful deputy around me. I could only be rest assured if you are in charge of this.”
“What about my general?” Leng Wu said straightly, “Leng Wu has always stayed close to and protected you. During the last crackdown campaign of the hidden dregs of East Qin, their leader Hei Xuan made a vow when he escaped, saying that he would take your head. Also, your wounds are not healed yet. I couldn’t leave my general without permission.”
When mentioning Hei Xuan, disdain appeared on Leng Changxi’s face. Hei Xuan had first-class skills and he was also sophisticated. He would be a great rival if a war began under bright daylight between them. But this man liked to play dirty. Leng Changxi took people secretly to wipe out the remaining supporters of East Qin, but they failed to capture Hei Xuan. Hei Xuan ran into the nearby village and took a farmer’s baby as a hostage. He was inconsistent in his words after exchanging their terms, and that was how he got out of the close siege.
Hei Xuan was an enemy with equivalent power, but he didn’t deserve to be called his “opponent”.
“Do you think he can hurt me?” Leng Changxi said coldly, but his confidence was obvious.
Leng Wu was stunned. Yes, the general’s martial arts were undoubtedly on top of him. Even with injuries, Hei Xuan wouldn’t get within ten steps of him with his scheming mind and craftiness. The words he said were like teaching the fish to swim. What he didn’t understand was why the general was so attached to a humble daughter of a concubine in the mansion of Grand Commandant. And that girl didn’t seem to appreciate his kindness.
“I understood.” Leng Wu retreated with his hand cupped in the other before his chest.
At night, the rosa bankise in the yard bloomed perfectly, and the aroma blended with the peaceful moonlight. Leng Changxi walked back along the corridor. The mask on his face reflected a cold and quiet light. He rubbed the tired eyes under his mask, finding himself hard to remember how long he had been wearing this mask. He probably put this on when he realized how evil human hearts could be, or when the man in the palace told him how he looked like the woman.
Changing the medicine on his wound carefully, Leng Changxi put on an unlined garment without fastening the waistband. Lying down on the bed, he looked at the soft blue curtain above and raised his hands to untie the ribbon behind the mask. However, he left the mask on his face. The incense in the room today was unfamiliar to him, making him sleepy almost instantly. Within minutes, he narrowed his eyes and was about to sleep.
A fascinating aroma was coming to him from afar, and then a pair of soft, cloud-like hands moved slowly from Leng Changxi’s outer shirt to his well-shaped, bronze chest. He could feel the coolness in her touch and a grassy fragrance.
The owner of the hands continued with a glimmer of joy. She was about to lift up Leng Changxi’s half-covered shirt when he opened his eyes suddenly. He twisted the white and soft hands backward as quickly as a flash of lightning and kicked her down the bed with her medicine bottle.
The beauty on the ground clutched her wrist in pain. The lilac skirt with flowers on her was too thin for an April day. Before entering the house, she dragged the garment down deliberately, exposing the jade-like breasts and the deep cleavage. But now only the four words “like a drowned mouse” could describe her desolation.
“Third Young Master,” The beauty said, shivering in a cold sweat, “I, Ruying, came here to give you medicine.”
Xie Ruying came to the Royal City from the countryside of Jianzhou a while ago to look for her relatives. She might be the most distant niece of Princess Ning. However, Miss Xie Ruying knew the art of speech well, and she also had a pretty face. Since Princess Ning had just recovered from a serious illness and was still resting, she stayed as her companion.
Xie Ruying understood how to be a good girl. Although she was not a lady from the royal mansions, over time those servant girls who have received her favor began to call her “Sister Ruying” instead of “Sister from the Xie Family”.
On the one hand, Princess Ning let Xie Ruying stay because she wanted a person to talk with. On the other hand, she had the intention to match Leng Changxi, who was about the age of twenty and didn’t even have anyone around, with Xie Ruying. She didn’t speak it out very clear. But her signs were obvious. Ruying was cheerful and beautiful. She couldn’t be his legal wife because of her low status, but still she would be a good concubine.
Xie Ruying also believed firmly that in those big families, there could never be too many women who climbed up young masters’ beds. The most important thing was to succeed and to gain power.