"No, no need..."
Following the arrow's trajectory downwards, the tip of the knife finally touched the metal arrowhead. The strange sound of it striking flesh sent another chill down her spine. Shen Qingchen inserted the knife a little further, trying to pry out the arrowhead, only to discover that the tip wasn't in the flesh, but in the bone. She immediately broke down, her hands trembling violently.
“The arrowhead… is in the bone. I’m afraid I can’t do it…” This is not only a technical job, but also a physically demanding one.
The man opened his eyes and gave her a reassuring look. "Put some effort into it. You're a man, you can't... keep saying you can't do it." Then he closed his eyes again, pretending to be ready.
Shen Qingchen took a breath and forced himself to pry it open, but couldn't budge it. The person was in so much pain that he bit down hard on the handkerchief in his mouth, trembling involuntarily as he made muffled "ooh" sounds.
She swallowed hard, placed her injured left hand on top of her right, closed her eyes, and exerted force with both hands simultaneously, then heard a "crack" sound.
The arrowhead was pried out of the bone, and half of the arrow was moved an inch into the flesh, causing blood to gush from the man's thigh.
"Ugh!—" The man recoiled violently from the intense pain, his upper body nearly collapsing to the ground, his handsome face contorted in agony.
She lowered her head, not daring to look at his face again, and suppressed the urge to desert. She gritted her teeth and carefully cut open the flesh next to the arrowhead, slowly picking out the half of the arrow.
A large pool of blood gushed out, splattering all over her.
Just then, Cheng Yi finally returned carrying a bundle of mugwort. As he entered, he said, "Qingchen, you don't know, that guy surnamed Wang is getting more and more expensive. I had to plead with him for ages before he finally agreed to sell to me. I also bought some meat. It might be a bit late tonight, so have your meal here first..."
When Cheng Yi saw Shen Qingchen trembling as she held the knife and cut into a thigh, he stopped, "What are you doing...?"
She hastily wiped the blood from her face, quickly got up, and shoved the knife into Cheng Yi's hand. "Quickly save him! He's been hit by an arrow, and the arrow is poisoned." Turning to look at the man on the ground, she saw that he was completely unconscious and had passed out.
Cheng Yi took the knife and quickly went to look at the patient. After a while, he turned back and said, "You've already removed the arrowhead, why are you giving me the knife again..."
...
Night fell, and Shen Qingchen lit the lamps in the clinic, casting a dim yellow light throughout. Outside, the moon shone brightly, the starlight was faint, and the slender leaves of the weeping willows rustled softly.
The injured man was carried to a hospital bed by Cheng Yi and given medication. He remains unconscious. Fortunately, the snake venom he was poisoned with is a common type, and he received timely medical attention; his life is no longer in danger.
After finishing his work, Cheng Yi walked up to Shen Qingchen and looked at her, who was covered in blood, and said, "Curfew is approaching, and there won't be time to treat your father today."
"It's alright, I'll come again tomorrow." Shen Qingchen was also a little tired after helping Cheng Yi boil water and grind medicine. Looking at the half-broken, bloodstained arrow on the ground that hadn't been cleaned up yet, she was still somewhat dazed; the dull ache of the knife piercing her flesh was still vivid in her mind.
Cheng Yi handed her a damp handkerchief. "Hurry up and wipe yourself off. You'll scare people if you go out like this. You little rascal, I didn't know you knew medicine."
“I don’t know any medical skills. I just cut him up like pork… Cheng Yi, what kind of person do you think he is? He was so badly injured, and he was carrying a knife with him. When I was removing the arrow, it hurt so much, but he didn’t utter a sound.”
Cheng Yi shook his head, turned around, cut half of the pork he had bought, and handed it to Shen Qingchen. "Carrying a knife with him means he's not an ordinary person. Asking too many questions won't help. Go home now. You helped me treat a patient, so take this half of the pork back with you."
Shen Qingchen had a strange feeling when he saw the meat and refused to accept it no matter what, but in the end he couldn't persuade Cheng Yi. With a piece of pork in his left hand and his father in his right, he went home.
All the way there, the image of retrieving the arrow filled her mind, and as she thought about it, she felt a chill of fear for that person.
That's a human leg, not a pig's leg.
When they arrived at their doorstep, a girl dressed in plain clothes was pacing back and forth. Shen Qingchen called out, "Mingxiang."
Mingxiang was the daughter of Shen Qingchen's landlord, and she lived next door. She was pretty and well-behaved, kind and generous, and often came to visit them, showing them great care. When Shen Qingchen wasn't around, she often helped take care of her father, not minding that he was a mentally unstable old man, which made Shen Qingchen very grateful.
She greeted them with a smile, "Brother Qingchen, you're back. I noticed the lights weren't on in the house and wondered if something had happened to your father, so I waited here to see."
"I went to Dr. Cheng's clinic today, but some things delayed me, so I came back late." Shen Qingchen replied as he helped his father into the house to rest, and then went back to the courtyard to chop some firewood to cook.
As the clouds dispersed and the moon emerged, Mingxiang suddenly saw Shen Qingchen covered in blood. She rushed over to him and looked him up and down, her eyes filled with worry. "Brother Qingchen, what happened to you? Why are you covered in so much blood?"
"Oh, this isn't my blood. An injured person came to Dr. Cheng's clinic today, and I was helping him take care of him. I accidentally got some on my blood," Shen Qingchen said, wiping the sweat from his neck.
“Brother Qingchen is a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), I didn’t expect him to take care of a patient.” Mingxiang said, taking out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiping the sweat dripping from Shen Qingchen’s neck. Her eyes shone with the light of the bright moon. “You have to study in the court every day and take care of Uncle. Brother Qingchen, you’ve worked hard.”
"It's no trouble, I can do it myself. You've been standing for so long, please sit down." Shen Qingchen took her handkerchief, took a step back, wiped his neck haphazardly, and then handed it back to her. Hearing those clear "Brother Qingchen" made her feel very embarrassed and awkward.
Mingxiang treated her like a man, and was so kind to her, her words and actions overflowing with tenderness—it was clear she liked her. But Shen Qingchen couldn't tell her she was a woman. Spending so much time together, and seeing Mingxiang's growing affection, Shen Qingchen was at a loss for what to do.
Actually, Mingxiang is really a good person. She doesn't mind that she's poor, that she has a sick father, or that she's not as strong and masculine as most men. Apart from her slightly ordinary family background, she's beautiful, has a great figure, and a good temperament. If any man were to marry such a gentle and virtuous woman, they would have a loving and harmonious family, which would be a very happy thing.
Shen Qingchen set up the wooden stakes, rolled up her sleeves, picked up an axe, and began chopping wood. Ming Xiang sat on a round wooden stool to the side, just watching her without saying a word, her face full of tenderness that could melt anyone's heart, making Shen Qingchen chop wood very awkwardly.
Finally, in the long, quiet night, after Shen Qingchen had finished chopping firewood, heated up the meal, fed her father, and prepared for bed, Mingxiang was finally willing to go home. Shen Qingchen casually carried a bundle of firewood she had chopped to her yard, and as she was leaving, Mingxiang was still reluctant to part with her.
She turned her back and sighed helplessly.
The next day, Shen Qingchen went to the Hanlin Academy for class, but Song Yue did not come.
He only sent someone to inform them that the junior scholars should continue with the three policy questions he had assigned. He might not come today.
Shen Qingchen took out her brush and inkstone, neatly unfolded the Xuan paper, and was about to write when she seemed to see that she was still holding a blunt knife in her hand.
The man's blood-soaked face remained vivid in her mind. Although his features were regular, his sharp expression was quite frightening. If he hadn't been injured yesterday, she wouldn't have dared to approach him, let alone cut his flesh with a knife. Yet, he was truly a resolute man, enduring such excruciating pain without struggling or crying out.
Who exactly was he? She remembered the knife he used to threaten her; it was long and slightly curved, with a thick back and a thin blade, and a black scabbard with gold patterns—it clearly resembled a embroidered spring knife.
She shook her head, no longer thinking about it, and began to write.
Sunlight streamed into the room through the sliding doors, casting gentle shadows of trees on their table. Song Yue's desk was empty.
After writing for a while, Gu Shaoheng couldn't help but get distracted and leaned over to Qingchen in a low voice, "Do you know why the teacher didn't come today?"
She shook her head. Her teacher held a high position and was very busy; how could she possibly know his whereabouts? However, Gu Shaoheng was a well-known informant in the political arena, and his information network was quite extensive.
"Yesterday, because of the teacher, the Duke of Dingguo and the Marquis of Guangping got into a fight."
Seeing Qingchen's puzzled expression, he continued, "These two are old friends and have a very good relationship. Yesterday, they were drinking together when the Marquis of Guangping said something after drinking too much, and the two started fighting."
Both the Duke of Dingguo and the Marquis of Guangping were over fifty years old, came from prestigious families, and were always known for their composed demeanor. However, yesterday the two argued fiercely, even coming to blows, simply because the Marquis of Guangping said he wanted to marry his daughter to Song Yue and had already asked a lady in the palace to propose marriage.
"Then the Duke of Dingguo panicked upon hearing this. Everyone in the court and the country knows that his daughter has been in love with Teacher Song for eight years," Gu Shaoheng said excitedly. "Ever since they first met when she was sixteen, a beautiful young girl was releasing lanterns by the water when she accidentally fell in and was rescued by our teacher, she has secretly fallen for him..."
"Our teacher was only in his early twenties at the time, already serving as the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. He was a young and talented man, with unparalleled charm, yet he was cold and aloof... When he rescued her, he left without saying a word to her. Little did she know that love would blossom so deeply from the start, and she fell in love with him. This story has been written into folk tales."
As Gu Shaoheng spoke, he sighed, "Alas, the daughter of the Duke of Dingguo is truly a devoted woman. She is also quite beautiful, remaining unmarried for eight years, waiting for her true love. She is already twenty-four this year and still hasn't married. I heard that when my teacher rejected this marriage, she even attempted suicide, which became the talk of the court, and even the Duke fell ill with worry. In the end, she didn't die, but her heart died. She refuses to marry anyone but my teacher, preferring to spend her life with a Buddhist lamp and a monk."
"Qingchen, do you know what the teacher said when he rejected her?"
"What?"
"I can only tell you that there's a place you'll never reach, in my heart." Gu Shaoheng clicked his tongue. "Isn't that cold and heartless? Parents all over the world have such pitiful hearts. The Duke still hopes that Teacher Song can change her mind. Now that the Marquis of Guangping has suddenly intervened to snatch her away, do you think he's anxious?"
Qingchen's gaze drifted towards Song Yue's desk. It turned out that he had such a story behind him.
"Hey, let me tell you again..."
Gu Shaoheng was about to speak again when Xu Silin suddenly turned his head and gave Shen Qingchen a meaningful look. His handsome face furrowed his brows. "Gu Shaoheng, are you done chattering? You're so noisy. If you want to talk, go outside and say it yourself."
He then awkwardly shut his mouth and returned to his seat.
Shen Qingchen continued writing his policy essay until the afternoon when class ended, but Song Yue still hadn't appeared. By the time he finished, it was almost dark.
On the way home, willow leaves swayed gracefully in the twilight. The aroma of the food I had packed from Guanglu Temple wafted from the food box.
Last night before going to bed, she stewed the meat that Cheng Yi had given her, and used the tofu that Ming Xiang had given her to stew it in a small earthenware pot. She could just heat it up when she got home and eat it.
Shen Qingchen exited the Daming Gate and saw two men in plain clothes standing outside, looking around as if waiting for someone. As she passed by them, they glanced at her. She looked back at them and sensed that their expressions were slightly strange.
As dusk settled and the last rays of the setting sun faded, a crescent moon hung over the distant mountains.
After walking for a while, Shen Qingchen looked back and found that the two men had also started moving and were following her not far behind.
This was the first time in her life she had been followed, and she couldn't help but feel a little flustered, wondering if she was overthinking it.
After a while, Qingchen turned around again and found that the two people were still following her, maintaining a fixed distance.
A chill ran down her spine. They were following her!
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