Chapter 12 | Ink East

Your Highness

Along her way from the Princess's residence, Lin Shan did some investigating and found out where Lian Feng lived. Coincidentally, a concerned bodyguard was rushing out. Lin Shan quickly went up and stopped him.

Seeing it's the Prince Consort, the bodyguard bowed. His complexion didn't look good though: "To report to the Prince Consort, I have just escorted Lian Superior back."

"How is he now? Where are the Imperial physicians? How come I don't see any?"

"Umm..." The bodyguard looked trouble, "The Imperial physician did come, but Superior said it was his fault and he deserved to be punished. Therefore, he made the Imperial physician leave..."

Is he nuts? Lin Shan was anxious. She knew twenty whips was serious business. What the hell is wrong with this guy? He can be punished, but if he's injured, he has to get his injuries checked out! So, she responded: "I'm going to go in and take a look."

"Ahh!" The bodyguard rushed to stop her: "Superior had ordered that no one is allowed in. Prince Consort, please don't make my life difficult."

Lin Shan was annoyed: "Get out of my way. I'm the Prince Consort! Are you going to listen to me or your Superior?"

The bodyguard looked stressed as he thought about it. He honestly replied: "I will listen to my Superior...."

"You!" Lin Shan gritted her teeth: "Are you trying to force me to tell the Princess on you?"

"....." The poor bodyguard trembled and whimpered, "Prince Consort, I shall get out of your way. Do whatever you please...."

Wow! The Princess is sure good to use! Lin Shan felt great and hurried into Lian Feng's room. She hadn't reach the door yet, but heard the sound of an item falling onto the ground.

She quickly pushed open the door and saw Lian Feng dressed in a white gown trying to pick up a cup. Most likely, he had accidentally dropped it while trying to pour himself a glass of water.

"Ai!! Let me do it! Let me!" Lin Shan could see that he was struggling to stand and ran to assist him.

The moment she held onto his shoulders, she heard a low grunt coming into her ears and her hands felt sticky. Lin Shan was shocked and instantly pulled back her hands. She realized her fingers were covered in blood. Then, she looked at Lian Feng's newly worn white gown and saw blood soaking through it. The red blood on the white fabric made it look especially gruesome.

Seeing this, Lin Shan was scared out of her wits: "Uh...y-your....back...."

"Prince Consort, there's no need to worry. It's not a big deal...just a tiny injury...." Although Lian Feng was saying this, he couldn't even stand firm and fell towards her.

"Ah!" Lin Shan felt a huge weight falling on her. Fortunately, there was a table right behind her. If not, she would have fallen down as well.

"Your servant didn't do this on purpose... I'm sorry... I'm quite exhausted. Please return, Prince Consort...." With difficulty, Lian Feng stood up as he placed his hands on her shoulders for stability. His lips were pale, and he looked extremely weak.

"Return your head!" Lin Shan couldn't hold back her frustrations any longer as she yelled, "Get on the bed this instant! Take off your clothes! Where's the medication? Where is it?" Since Lian Feng was an Imperial bodyguard, he must have some sort of medicine to heal wounds.

"Prince Consort, your servant deserved to be punished..."

"If you don't listen to me, I'm going to tell the Princess. I'll say we're missing some eunuchs. You seem to have quite a lot of bodyguards around here...."

A terrible outcry could be heard, and all the Imperial guards that were secretly watching from outside immediately covered their crouches and disappeared out of sight.

Lian Feng: "....."

"The medicine bottles are on the second cabinet. It's the red bottle." Lian Feng laid on the bed face down with a hopeless expression on his face.

Good. Lin Shan followed his instruction and successfully found the bottle of medication. Conveniently, she also touched the celadon flower vase that was on the cabinet as well. (Wah! It's probably worth a lot, right? O.O!)

-------

Lian Feng was lying on the bed. He still hadn't taken off his white gown. There were spots of blood all over his back. New bloodstains continuously soaked through.

Although Lin Shan appeared to be very brave, after retrieving the medical bottle, she felt cowardly. Her hand was reaching for his back, yet she didn't dare to lift up the gown.

"Prince Consort, if you're afraid, I can...."

"Afraid your head! Do I look like I'm scared?" Lin Shan pushed out her chest as she bit her lips and used a pair of scissors to cut through the gown from the back.

Although she had tried preparing herself in the inside, the moment she cut through the gown, the scent of blood reeked through the air. Lin Shan felt her stomach overturning. The skin that had been whipped by the lashes had severely been torn, and it wouldn't stop bleeding. Currently, Lin Shan's guilt level was at the very top. Her nose tingled and her eyes couldn't help but turn red.

"It's going to sting a bit. Hold on." She held back her nauseous stomach and did some basic cleaning over the wounds. Then, she opened the bottle of medicine and started to pour a bit over the wounds.

Lian Feng's body immediately stiffened, but he didn't utter a sound. His hands tightly grasped the bed sheets; his nails were turning white.

Lin Shan was scared and quickly stopped her actions. She panicked: "Hey, are you ok?"

"Do not worry, Prince Consort. Your servant is fine."

Through his voice, he was clearly trying to suppress a huge amount of pain. Lin Shan's hands started to tremble. She had never encountered something like this before. She appeared lost, but suddenly thought of something that had helped her in the past.

She recalled a time when she was little and fell down and scraped her knee. At the time, she cried like a baby and her granny would always blow on her wound. Her granny said: "Be good, Shan Shan. It won't hurt after one blow. *hu* It's be ok. Hurt no more. Hurt no more...."

Therefore, Lin Shan decided to blow on Lian Feng's back.

At first, Lian Feng was trying his best to hold back the pain. He was suffering so much that his mind was already turning blurry. Suddenly, he felt a breeze on his back and a soft voice coming into his ear: "*hu* It's be ok. Hurt no more. Hurt no more..." The soothing voice continuously went inside his ear, and just like a pair of comforting arms, it was caressing the softest part of his heart. It was so calming that the pain slowly disappeared...

From history until now, Lian Feng was probably the only one who could fall asleep while applying medication!

After confirming Lian Feng was asleep and hadn't fainted from pain, Lin Shan breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she felt remorseful.

Well, if he could sleep, that means he's alright. But I feel so guilty! Lin Shan checked on Lian Feng's wounds once again to make sure she had applied medication on every spot. Then, she stood up and placed the red bottle back on the cabinet. She was about to leave.

At this moment, her eyes wandered to the golden sabre that was on the table. It was like a sheep waiting to be slaughtered in the slaughter house. The candle on the table was flickering as if it was calling her: "Come, come.... elegant butterfly!"

Lin Shan took a step forward and reached her hand out. But she suddenly stopped and looked over at Lian Feng. She gritted her teeth and took back her hand.

"Next time if you're like this, don't blame me for taking advantage of the situation!" She reluctantly turned her eyes away from the golden sabre and walked out of the room.

-------

By the time Lin Shan left Lian Feng's residence, the Sun had already set. The amount of Imperial bodyguards patrolling around increased substantially. It wasn't strange considering how an assassin had broken into the Palace last night. Today, the head of the Imperial bodyguards had to suffer the wrath of the whip due to his failure to stay in his post. Therefore, obviously many bodyguards would want to avoid the same fate. Yet, aside from the men, why were the Palace maids acting strangely too?

Lin Shan noticed that all the maids she had passed by the Imperial garden looked and behaved drastically different than usual. They made the extra effort to dress up, and all of them had smiles on their faces. Furthermore, their giggling could be heard from a distance. They could definitely compete with the ladies from the Leaning Vermillion House!

What? Is the Palace trying to create a team to steal business away from the Leaning Vermillion House? That's actually a good idea! It's such a waste of resources having so many people in the Palace. Why not give them new roles? .... Lin Shan was starting to over think again. As she daydreamed and walked, she suddenly crashed head on with two maids.

The two maids instantly got down on their knees the moment they realized they had crashed into the Prince Consort: "Your servants were wrong, please forgive us, Prince Consort."

"Get up. Both of you." Lin Shan cannot handle such a big reaction and quickly insisted the maids to get up. However, the moment she saw their faces, she nearly fainted.

Are you serious, sisters? You don't need such thick make up!? You think with your quality you can steal business from the Leaning Vermillion House? The coffin store owner will probably laugh to death.

Lin Shan wiped away her sweat and asked: "It's ok. Just tell me why you're all so happy?"

The two maids exchanged glances as they lowered their heads and giggled: "Prince Consort, the Crown Prince has returned!"

That's right! The one who had steadily been ranked #1 on the Capital's hottest men list had returned! Rumours had said that women turn crazy when they see him, while men would want to castrate themselves. The Crown Prince had returned in triumph from defeating the enemies!

Previous Chapter Next Chapter