Chapter 93 The Shadow on the Bathroom Screen: Illusory and Deceptive
As if worried that Anhe might have some concerns, Zhao Liangxu added, "Eunuch An, please sit in the outer room for a while. There's a screen to keep you out of it anyway."
Zhu Mu stood silently with her head down, stunned by Zhao Liangxu's words.
She had originally planned to resolutely stop Anhe and prevent him from easily barging into the house, determined to protect Zhao Liangxu's precious personal time.
However, Zhao Liangxu's few words were an invitation for An He to come inside.
After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Liangxu, as if she could see the scene outside the door, said to An He, "Eunuch An, please come in. If you stay outside any longer, the others will be so frightened that they'll have nightmares tonight."
Upon hearing this, Anhe glanced at the bamboo and wood that were closest to Zhao Liangxu, as well as the two little girls that Zhao Liangxu had mentioned earlier, who were also peeking out from the house next door, looking at him timidly.
Although Zhao Liangxu had given prior instructions regarding her relationship with An He, the group still looked worried.
There was both concern for Zhao Liangxu and fear for An He's bad reputation.
An He simply listened to Zhao Liangxu and pushed open the door to go inside.
As An He turned to close the door, his deliberately tense face was chilling. He slowly swept his gaze across the people in the courtyard without any expression. Then, with a creak, the door shut out An He's dark eyes, sending a shiver down the spines of those outside.
The room inside Zhao Liangxu's house was hotter than outside due to the steam from the bathtub.
The bathtub was placed in the small room, with a curtain hanging down to block the way, and a light-colored screen behind the curtain. As long as Anhe didn't go over, he would definitely not see anything he shouldn't see.
When Anhe entered the house, he said to Zhao Liangxu in a sarcastic tone, "Is our family really that scary? Have the people in your yard ever seen how we punish people, and they're already having nightmares? In our opinion, such timid people are not easy to use. It would be better to replace them with a group of capable and intelligent people."
After saying that, Zhao Liangxu chuckled twice: "I thought Eunuch An already trusted me quite a bit, but I never expected..."
There seemed to be a hint of regret in her voice, which sounded very unreal amidst the soft sound of water, making it difficult for Anhe to tell whether Zhao Liangxu was joking or genuinely feeling sad.
Anhe unconsciously explained, "Those two were just people our family sent to secretly protect you."
Then came another rushing sound of water.
It was like Zhao Liangxu extending her arm out of the water, creating a clear, melodious sound as water droplets collided.
"I was just joking with Eunuch An. Please hand me my clothes, Eunuch An."
Anhe's gaze fell on the clothes draped over the screen.
"The screen is so close to you, why did you ask us to hand it to you?" Anhe knew that Zhao Liangxu was going to tease her again.
"Is Eunuch An out of his mind? Those are my clothes that I changed out of. I even left clean clothes on the stool. If Eunuch An hadn't suddenly come in, I was going to get them myself."
Zhao Liangxu then blamed Shang Anhe for arriving at such an inopportune time.
Indeed, there were neatly folded clothes on the soft stool.
If Zhao Liangxu came to collect it herself...
Anhe closed her eyes, trying to banish those strange images from her mind.
He knew that Zhao Liangxu had asked him to hand it over on purpose, but An He also knew that he couldn't refuse.
He picked up a few thin garments from the soft stool, lifted the gauze curtain, and walked over.
Without the curtains obscuring the view, Anhe could see the figures faintly visible inside the bathtub through the screen.
Hearing its own footsteps, the dark gray shadow turned its head. The edges of the shadow were illusory, as if it were blending into the mist in the small room, like a dream.
The shadows on the screen don't show facial expressions; you can only clearly see the tilt of the head or the raising of the hand.
Zhao Liangxu's reactions seemed to be reflected on the thin paper screen, all her emotions manifested in her every move.
He had just put down Zhao Liangxu's clothes when he heard her say, "Eunuch An won't hand me the clothes, but at least hand me the towel."
Anhe remained silent for a moment, then said, "Okay."
He lowered his eyes, then swept past the screen to deliver something to the true owner of the shadow.
Zhao Liangxu stretched out an arm still covered in water droplets, gesturing with her hand outstretched.
Anhe looked at the ground and handed over the towel in her hand.
But just as he was about to leave, Anhe's sleeve was grabbed.
A voice tinged with laughter came: "Won't Eunuch An even look at me? How come the famous Ninth Prince won't even glance at me?"
Zhao Liangxu's hands were still wet with water droplets, which dampened a small patch of Anhe's sleeve.
Zhao Liangxu tugged at his sleeve again.
Anhe looked up.
He saw Zhao Liangxu with one arm draped over the edge of the bathtub, and the other hand reaching out to grab him.
She was almost entirely submerged in the water, with only her arms and shoulders showing; the rest of her submerged body was covered by flower petals on the surface.
Some of the heat from the small room escaped into the main room, but most of it remained trapped behind the curtains, making the room hot and humid.
Zhao Liangxu's face was flushed from the smoke, her hair dripping wet and hanging over her shoulders. A drop of water slid down her face from her eyebrows and eyes, finally landing gently on her collarbone.
Actually, Anhe didn't see anything.
Even the smallest detail he saw was enough to spark countless imaginations in a person.
An He's frown was barely perceptible. He turned around, placed his hand on the edge of the bathtub, and brushed aside the wet hair at the corner of Zhao Liangxu's eye, saying, "Now that you see, are you happy?"
He didn't know what he could do, so he subconsciously used his sleeve to wipe the water droplets off Zhao Liangxu's cheeks.
"Hurry up and get dressed and come out. We're waiting for you outside."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangxu let go of him and said, "Okay."
When Zhao Liangxu came out after putting on the clothes that An He had brought, An He was sitting upright at the table, looking like a gentleman.
Zhao Liangxu tossed the clean towel in her hand to An He, sat down next to the dressing table and said to An He, "Eunuch An, please wipe me down."
Anhe looked amusedly at the towel that had been forced into her hand.
"You really know how to order people around."
But Anhe still obediently picked up the towel, stood behind Zhao Liangxu, covered Zhao Liangxu's dripping hair with the towel, and gently rubbed it.
"I never expected that Eunuch An would actually come to my place today," Zhao Liangxu said casually.
"What? You don't like it? Then we won't come next time."
Zhao Liangxu snorted, "Eunuch An knows perfectly well what I mean."
"By the way, I was just talking to Eunuch An about Chunyi and the others. I was wondering why I couldn't find them. Turns out they were secretly following me."
Anhe retorted, "What do you mean by 'following'? They're protecting you secretly."
An He wiped slowly, chatting idly with Zhao Liangxu.
While wiping her hair, which was still slightly damp, Zhao Liangxu suddenly stopped An He's actions, stood up, and said to An He, "Come on, let's go to the bed and talk."
After saying that, she took Anhe's hand and led him to the bedside.
Anhe often felt that everything Zhao Liangxu said carried a hint of intrigue.
That was true before, and that was also true of what I just said.
Zhao Liangxu then placed An He's hands, which were holding the bath towel, on her head and said, "Eunuch An, please continue."
Zhao Liangxu's eyes, like her hair, were moist.
She looked at Anhe carefully and felt that this was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
Anhe was drying Zhao Liangxu's hair, while Zhao Liangxu's hands were also busy, idly fiddling with Anhe's collar.
She continued the previous topic: "Eunuch An, did anyone secretly... protect me today, since spring has turned to summer? Did they tell you where I went and who I met?"
Anhe had to use one hand to stop her little movements and said, "They don't tell us every day. If you don't like it, we won't ask them to report anymore. But you still have to follow you."
"Does Eunuch An know who I met today?"
Anhe shook his head.
"Today I went to the Persian caravan and happened to see officials from the Four Barbarians Bureau and the Ministry of Rites."
Anhe paused in his actions and asked, "That person again?"
Anhe was worried that Zhao Liangxu would think her tone was cold, so she added, "We didn't intentionally trip this person up."
The two lay in bed, Zhao Liangxu resting her head on An He's arm. Suddenly remembering something, she took out a very familiar box from beside her pillow.
"Eunuch An, since you're here today, could you please apply some more pine resin for me?"
Anhe took the small box, no bigger than the palm of his hand, and traced the veins of the pine and cypress leaves on it. He asked, "Our family gave you this a long time ago. Haven't your scars healed yet?"
"Not really. The areas that are easy to apply, like my arms, are almost healed, but I have a hard time reaching my back myself. I'm also too lazy to call Zhumu for help every time. I only apply it sporadically, so I haven't applied enough to my back. It's good that Eunuch An is here so he can help me."
Back...
Anhe picked up Zhao Liangxu's hair again and asked, "Do you want me to help you apply it?"
Last time, he only helped Zhao Liangxu with her neck and shoulders; he didn't plan to look beyond that.
How do I apply it to her back?
“Surely Eunuch An can’t refuse,” Zhao Liangxu asked.
He had intended to refuse, but now that he was in Zhao Liangxu's room, on her bed, any further refusal would seem rather deliberate.
If this gets out, people will laugh at the fact that a powerful eunuch was so hesitant and restrained in front of Zhao Liangxu.
Therefore, Anhe said, "Okay, then lie down."
He was simply lifting his clothes up a little to apply the ointment to the shallow scar; he wouldn't have seen anything he shouldn't have.
Zhao Liangxu lay down neatly, and she even took off her outer clothes, leaving only her waistband.
This makes it easier to apply the product to the back.
Anhe was startled by Zhao Liangxu's act of taking off her clothes, and almost thought that Zhao Liangxu was going to take off all her upper body clothes.
But she had only taken off her nightgown and outer garment, so at least she still had some clothes on.
...But the waist shouldn't be exposed either!
Zhao Liangxu now looked as if she had been in the water just moments before, revealing her smooth shoulders and arms.
An He slowly exhaled, pinched Zhao Liangxu's ear, and said, "Are you trying to scare us to death?"
Zhao Liangxu lay on the soft bedding and joked, "It's good enough that he didn't take off Eunuch An's clothes. I'm wearing my usual pajamas, how did that scare Eunuch An?"
Unable to argue with Zhao Liangxu, Anhe said irritably, "If you want us to apply the medicine for you, then lie down properly!"
However, when An Hezhen used her fingers to scoop out a little ointment to apply to Zhao Liangxu's back, she unconsciously moved very lightly and slowly.
Anhe thought.
She was so unprepared.
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The author notes: The waistband and the bellyband served the same function, and were worn by people in the Ming Dynasty (gestures), similar to the style of a modern vest.
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