Chapter 40 Tolerance: Eunuch An has been giving me a hard time these past few days...
He said with some difficulty, "If I were to be cut by a knife that has already drunk blood, the wound would have to be treated with alcohol, otherwise it would easily become worse."
Anhe looked at Zhao Liangxu.
Anhe shifted her gaze to the long gash on her arm.
The wound was etched on the inside of Zhao Liangxu's forearm, about one and a half fingers long, a long, cracked line running from the inside, like a hideous blood centipede crawling on Zhao Liangxu's arm.
Indeed, if this wound were a knife wound, it would be too shallow. But using only a fingernail, one can only imagine how much determination and ruthlessness Zhao Liangxu must have had to use that blunt nail to make such a deep cut on her arm.
"Why was it a fingernail injury?" Anhe interjected, and the room fell silent. Zhu Mu huddled to the side, worried, wanting to look at the wound but too afraid. Hearing Anhe's voice, he shrank closer to Zhao Liangxu like a quail. Even the doctor stopped moving.
Anhe scolded the doctor, "Why did you stop? Hurry up and treat your wound." The doctor then hurriedly took out some medicinal wine from his medicine box.
“Eunuch An must have sent someone to investigate the incense in the teahouse. The incense was so hypnotic that I naturally wanted to clear my head.”
Her mind was completely focused on her wound. The doctor used a cotton cloth soaked in alcohol to wipe the wound. The pain made Zhao Liangxu strain her eyes involuntarily, and her eyelashes trembled. She tried to distract herself by answering An He's questions, but to little avail.
Seeing Zhao Liangxu's patient demeanor, Anhe couldn't get any more information out of her.
She is such a decisive person that she can be ruthless to herself and has no superfluous or useless pity for others.
Zhao Liangxu's half-arm was pale and slender. Not only was there a long, thin wound, but it was also covered with patches of tender marks. These were the scabs from her previous injuries that had fallen off and left her looking like this.
Those were the traces left by Zhao Liangxu after she struggled to save herself on the rugged land.
The wound was quickly treated, and Anhe left without saying anything. After Anhe left, Zhumu took a deep breath, patted his chest, and moved to Zhao Liangxu's side, carefully supporting her arm.
"Princess, how could you have encountered such a disaster as soon as you stepped out? And suffered such serious injuries?" Her eyes were full of worry.
Upon hearing that it was Zhao Chengxin and his gang who had kidnapped her, Zhu Mu's eyes widened in disbelief: "This... then the princess can come back? Have they already been captured by the Ninth Prince?"
"Perhaps." The street was full of Imperial Guards in flying fish robes, making it virtually impossible for Zhao Chengxin and his men to escape.
She always found it funny that Zhao Chengxin had gone completely mad, deliberately sending her to the capital to help An He gain merit.
"But... if they get captured, what use will the princess and I be?"
Zhu Mu wasn't a foolish girl; she naturally understood this and felt fear for her and Zhao Liangxu's uncertain future.
Zhao Liangxu looked at the bamboo and wood quietly for a long time before smiling and saying, "I am quite a favorite of His Majesty. Don't worry, you will always have food to eat. At worst, we can send you to the Dowager Consort. Xiaoqing and the Dowager Consort like you too."
Zhu Mu was the person who had been with her the longest since she transmigrated. She was a sincere person, and the two of them could be described as depending on each other for survival. There was a deep and special bond between them.
She never expected that on the very first day of being forced into this role, Zhao Chengxin would become restless and ultimately walk right into a trap.
Peace and tranquility...
"Bamboo and Wood, I think we'll be alright, do you believe me?"
*
Although Zhao Liangxu said this, she was not entirely at ease with herself.
Therefore, when Anhe showed up in front of Zhao Liangxu every now and then for the next few days, her confusion grew like a snowball.
On the first day, he came to Zhao Liangxu's courtyard to comment on its simple appearance. After thinking about it all night, Zhao Liangxu felt that what she had said in the carriage was really inappropriate, so she decided to be more careful. Therefore, she did not return to Anhe with thorns, but only glanced at him silently a few times.
The next day, he came to tell her that His Majesty was very worried upon hearing this. Anhe then told her, in a cryptic tone, to hurry up and recover from her injuries, while also making a few sarcastic remarks about her frail health. Zhao Liangxu still swallowed her anger and responded.
On the third night, when it was late, Anhe asked someone to knock on the door of her courtyard so that she could inform the Empress Dowager that she was also very worried about her.
Despite her drowsiness, Zhao Liangxu forced herself to reply to An He's words politely.
On the fourth day, Anhe did not come, but sent someone to her courtyard to cut down a tree, saying that the tree blocked the light and that cutting it down would make the sunlight stronger and the place brighter. Zhao Liangxu laughed angrily and threw down her chopsticks.
On the fifth day at noon, An He arrived at the An residence from the palace and immediately summoned Zhao Liangxu to his study.
"How have you been recovering from your injuries these past few days? His Majesty and the Empress Dowager are thinking of you. You should find some time to go and let them know so they won't worry so much," Anhe said, sitting behind her desk and reading.
"Thanks to Eunuch An, I haven't been eating or sleeping well these past few days. Someone even came to the courtyard to cut down trees, which disturbed my mood. My injury hasn't healed much yet," Zhao Liangxu replied coldly, with a hint of resentment in her heart.
Did you call her to the study today just to talk about this?
Anhe looked up and saw that Zhao Liangxu wasn't even smiling anymore, and pondered for a moment.
Is she annoyed by him? She's still angry!
Others can't even get his attention when they want it, and she even finds it annoying.
"Are you complaining about our family? Come and sit down." Anhe made her sit on the chair by the table, the same chair that had been placed there when Anhe had made her practice writing in the study.
Zhao Liangxu sat down without ceremony, and then heard An He say, "Our family is just concerned about you, and you don't appreciate it?"
An He was telling the truth, but his hoarse voice made it sound like a veiled insult to Zhao Liangxu.
"I really can't stand Eunuch An's behavior. Has Eunuch An been tormenting me these past few days? Eunuch An, if you want to kill me or torture me, just say so. Don't make me suffer in my final moments." Zhao Liangxu said dejectedly, her eyes fixed on the pale patterns on the wooden table.
Anhe was stunned. So she thought she was going to die soon?
Zhao Liangxu hadn't slept well these past few days, and she didn't have a good expression. Anhe could tell that Zhao Liangxu's face was full of forbearance and helplessness.
After thinking about what he had done these past few days, Anhe realized that she might have... really disturbed her rest.
He sighed, trying to suppress his usual harshness, and softened his voice slightly, saying, "I didn't mean it. I called you here to tell you that you don't need to worry about being discarded after you've served your purpose. I won't kill you."
Zhao Liangxu raised her eyelids and asked, "You really won't kill me?"
"Don't kill."
"How can I trust Eunuch An? I wouldn't know if he changed his mind in the future. What if I offend him one day and he drags me out and beheads me?"
An He placed the book on the desk. He hadn't read a single word since Zhao Liangxu came in: "Zhao Chengxin and his maid have escaped. You are still very useful. Why would we kill you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangxu looked directly at An He and asked, "How did they manage to escape?"
Yes, they couldn't have escaped on their own. Anhe deliberately left a loophole, allowing the two to escape overnight.
"Oh, Eunuch An thinks that we should cast them out and use a long line to catch big fish."
Come to think of it, who exactly let a prince from an enemy country into the capital? Given Zhao Chengxin's current mental state, Zhao Liangxu really didn't believe that he himself led a bunch of traitors into the heavily guarded capital.
The secret guards locked in the imperial prison said that the Southern Zhou was also a sieve, and they wondered which people in the capital were so bold as to collude with the enemy and betray the country.
This is a major hidden danger.
“Princess Zhao is truly clever,” Anhe smiled.
"But if Eunuch An is like this, then Zhao Chengxin and the other man are being used as bait. What use am I, this useless bait, then?"
It was indeed of little use, but Zhao Liangxu was shrewd. An He was just offering a reason to reassure her. He couldn't very well tell Zhao Liangxu that it was because he found her very pleasing to the eye and couldn't bear to kill her anymore.
Even Zhao Liangxu would probably find it disgusting to hear this.
An He's relaxed smile faded slightly as he pushed a palm-sized box carved with pine and cypress leaves, which had been placed on the table, toward Zhao Liangxu.
"Don't worry about that. Even if you don't trust us, there's nothing we can do."
“I noticed you still have quite a few scars on your arms. A young lady’s skin is delicate, and if it’s not treated properly, you’ll feel uncomfortable seeing the scars on your body later. This is pine resin that I got from the palace. Even the concubines in the late emperor’s harem used to use this. There aren’t many concubines left in the palace now, so you’re really lucky.”
He clearly sought out pine resin on purpose, yet he still wouldn't hold back with his words.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangxu straightened up and stopped being angry and annoyed. She glanced at An He several times.
This eunuch is so meticulous.
That day, after she cleaned the wound on her arm, Anhe actually noticed the injury on her arm?
Zhao Liangxu tentatively declined, saying, "Eunuch An, do I have such a big face that you care so much? I don't really care about the scars on my body. Among the military officers, many say that scars are a badge of honor."
Anhe frowned and corrected him, "What are you trying to prove? Do you know that most of these scars on you were from scratches by branches and pebbles? What kind of glory is that? Keeping them only reminds you of unpleasant things. Are you using such a useless reason to refuse us?"
Zhao Liangxu had only said it casually, but seeing An He's tense face, she finally smiled and accepted the pine resin.
I really feel that Anhe has changed a bit.
Have we become more tolerant?
Zhao Liangxu sighed and coughed a few times. Anhe was a treacherous eunuch who enjoyed life to the fullest. His study had underfloor heating, making it warm even in the dead of winter, which reminded Zhao Liangxu of the central heating in modern northern China.
Even in this warm study, her cheeks flushed red, but her hands remained icy cold.
She placed her hands on her cheeks to warm them, and then tried to cool down her face.
Hearing Zhao Liangxu cough a few times, An He asked, "What's wrong? Did you catch a cold?"
Would this eunuch really care about her?
Zhao Liangxu muttered to herself, she really thought that Anhe had even toned down its thorns a bit, which was quite remarkable.
She was never one to back down. Just from her earlier actions of touching her hand and putting her arm around her waist, she knew that Zhao Liangxu was bold and reckless, far from the aloof and cold persona she put on.
Therefore, she sensed An He's inexplicable indulgence and boldly went along with it: "Since Eunuch An has taken such good care of me, may I make a small request?"
"you say."
"I want to buy the house on the north side."
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