Chapter 17. The girl's fingertips touched her chest, bringing...
Biezhi quickly found the hemostatic cream left at the stronghold, then went to fetch a copper basin and filled it with water. When she turned around, she saw Jiran frowning and looking down, fiddling with his clothes, as if he was in great pain.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she quickly stepped forward, half-squatting in front of him to examine his injuries. His clothes were already stuck to the outside of the wound, and if he didn't apply medicine soon, the consequences would be unimaginable.
When the man's well-defined knuckles touched his slightly furrowed brow, Biezhi looked up at him in a daze. The evening glow fell into the depths of the man's clear pupils, like a mist obscuring his eyes, making it impossible for her to see his gaze.
He withdrew his hand and shook his head at her.
I don't know if he was saying he was fine, or telling her not to frown.
Biezhi sighed and said succinctly, "It will hurt, just bear with it."
Ji Ran couldn't hear her, and without much hesitation, she reached out and pulled open his shirt. When her wrist was grabbed by the man's large hand, she ignored him and simply pulled it aside!
Seeing the girl's furrowed brows and the fleeting determination in her eyes, Fu Huaiqing quietly released his grip on her wrist, letting her pull down her clothes.
The thick, pungent smell of blood assaulted her nostrils, causing her to furrow her brows and examine the wound in the fading sunlight.
The man was shirtless, his lean and muscular chest rising and falling with his breath. Bright red blood stained his chest, and droplets of blood trickled down along the distinct lines, quietly disappearing into his lower garment.
Biezhi hadn't expected that Jiran would have such a good figure.
Her well-defined body exuded both power and elegance; her slightly taut muscles were firm, smooth, and powerful. As her Adam's apple bobbed, her heart began to beat faster.
I really want to touch it.
A soft cough suddenly came from above, bringing Biezhi back to her senses. She quickly took a wet cloth from the basin, wrung it out, and wiped the bloodstains off the man's body little by little. The wet cloth spread to the outside of the wound, and she heard the man's hoarse breathing. She quickly looked up to examine his expression.
“The wounds you get from fighting normally are nothing compared to this. You’ll have to bear with it.” Biezhi had heard the owner of Wuweipu mention Jiran’s previous injuries, but this one was a sword wound. Even just looking at the exposed flesh made her feel pain, without having to feel it herself. “I’ve treated a lot of wounds. This one isn’t deep. It’ll be fine.”
She gripped the handkerchief in her hand and quickly and precisely wiped away the bloodstains around the wound.
In a short while, the clear water in the basin was completely stained red.
Biezhi opened the medicine bottle and carefully sprinkled the hemostatic cream on the wound. The cream covered the wound for a while and then began to overflow. She lowered her head, took out some wound medicine, applied it to the wound, and then covered the wound with gauze and bandaged it up.
Fu Huaiqing lowered his eyelids slightly, staring intently at the busy girl. She had a few beads of sweat on her forehead, and the worry in her eyes had not diminished at all. Her movements were quick yet gentle.
The girl's fingertips brushed against his chest, bringing a tingling sensation, as if she were handling some precious treasure. Only after she finished everything did she truly breathe a sigh of relief, standing in front of him, looking down at herself.
Fu Huaiqing's eyes darkened, and he reached down to pick up a clean handkerchief from his side, handing it to her so she could wipe away the sweat.
Seeing that his pale face was slowly regaining some color, Biezhi lowered her eyes to look at the handkerchief in his palm, opened her mouth, and stared into the man's clear eyes for a long time without saying a word.
After a long silence, knowing that he couldn't hear Biezhi, she still spoke up: "If you encounter this situation again, don't risk your life to help me."
She can accept getting hurt herself, and she can accept getting hurt while helping others, but she cannot accept others getting hurt because of her.
Although Biezhi didn't say it explicitly, Fu Huaiqing understood what she meant.
He looked at the slightly bewildered girl with mixed feelings. It wasn't that she couldn't accept other people's kindness, but she still felt guilty for not protecting the people she wanted to protect. She had become used to standing in front of others, and suddenly becoming the one being protected made her feel lost.
Fu Huaiqing stood up, walked up to her, and silently wiped away the beads of sweat on the girl's forehead.
The man's crisp, cool breath entered her nostrils, lingering gently and slowly tinged with an unknown warmth. Biezhi looked up at him, stunned, and remained speechless for a long time.
As his palm swept across her, the slightly closed collar slowly opened, revealing a lean and powerful waistline. The tied-up lower garment hung lazily at her waist, the muscle lines extending downwards clearly defined, subtly alluring. She subconsciously glanced down, then blinked lightly.
A surge of heat, seemingly from nowhere, welled up in my heart, and even the gentle breeze that surrounded me felt scorching hot.
Biezhi suddenly looked up and met Jiran's gaze.
She couldn't help but marvel at how good her eyesight was.
Despite the dim lighting, a general outline was still visible.
Fu Huaiqing naturally noticed where she was looking, his fingertips that were touching her temple paused, and his brow twitched violently: "..."
Biezhi awkwardly turned her eyes away, coughed lightly, and blushed.
She swiftly grabbed Ji Ran's collar and quickly pulled it up around his neck, then tied it with a strap. To prevent the collar from coming undone again, she tied two tight knots.
It's fine if I see it myself, but others can't see it.
After tying it up, he looked the branch up and down to make sure it wouldn't come undone before nodding in satisfaction and saying, "I'll take you back to your shop."
When the shopkeeper Wang Chuan saw Bie Zhi finally helping his master into the backyard through the side gate, even though he had already heard that his master was injured, his eyes twitched violently several times when he actually saw it. However, he could only pretend not to know and silently looked away to instruct the waiter.
Biezhi's gaze swept over the figures in the backyard; they were all people she recognized. Her slightly lowered chin lifted a little as she helped Jiran forward, "Manager Wang."
Wang Chuan looked over and frowned in surprise: "What happened? It was fine when we left."
"We found a sword outside the city, and I accidentally stabbed Jiran while we were playing around." Biezhi lied without changing her expression. She looked very sincere and was not afraid that Wang Chuan would not believe her. Anyway, Jiran could not speak, and no one would expose her.
Wang Chuan: "..."
That reason is rather far-fetched.
He glanced at his master, whose expression was indifferent, and could only agree, "How could he be so careless!" He then beckoned to the guards beside him to come forward, "A sword wound is a serious matter, quickly help him inside."
The guards who had been waiting for a long time hurriedly stepped forward to help their master.
Fu Huaiqing turned around, his deep, dark eyes looking at the girl who was looking down and reaching into her sleeve, noticing the urgency in her hands.
Night had already fallen, but she still insisted on leaving the city.
“The wound isn’t particularly deep. I’ve already taken him to see a doctor.” Biezhi took out some wound medicine from her bosom and handed it to him, along with three small medicine bottles: “The doctor instructed that the gauze should be changed every day. For the first three days, the wound medicine should be applied three times a day, and after that, it only needs to be applied once a day. The rest are for oral administration, twice a day.”
Wang Chuan took the medicine bottle.
Biezhi took out a silver ingot and stuffed it into his hand: "Jiran will be bedridden for the next few days and will not be able to work at the shop. Consider this silver ingot as my redemption for him during these days." She thought for a moment and took out another ingot, "I will also trouble the shopkeeper to find someone to take care of him for a few days."
Wang Chuan stared in astonishment at the silver ingot in his hand, then suddenly turned to look at his master's back. "Redemption?"
“Hmm.” Biezhi nodded. She was worried that if she didn’t give him the money, the shop would have to arrange for Jiran to do other things. “I have some things to take care of at home and won’t be able to come over for a while. I’ll have to trouble you to look after him for me.”
Moreover, it's getting late, and she needs to get out of the city as soon as possible.
After repeatedly urging Ji Ran to rest, Bie Zhi glanced at Ji Ran's retreating figure for a moment, then said to Wang Chuan, "It's getting late, I'll head back now."
Wang Chuan nodded: "Take care, young lady."
The branches came in a hurry, and left in a hurry.
Not long after she left, Jiang Yue, who had been hiding in the kitchen, came out, followed by the imperial physician who had been brought over by the guards of the Prince's Palace.
The imperial physician looked dazed, completely unaware of what had happened.
He looked at Jiang Yue, who was frowning, with a puzzled expression: "Guard Jiang, who is injured?"
“The prince’s guest advisor,” Jiang Yue said.
The imperial physician nodded in understanding upon hearing this.
Jiang Yue led him to the only bedroom in the backyard, glanced at the guards outside, knocked three times, and pushed the door open to enter.
Fu Huaiqing raised his eyes, glanced at the imperial physician following behind him, and remained silent.
The imperial physician paused slightly, his gaze seemingly glancing at the long, narrow scar on the man's face. The moment their eyes met, the man's eyes turned cold. Startled, the physician quickly lowered his head and stepped forward to examine the injury: "The wound was treated promptly; it's not as red and swollen as other sword wounds."
He reapplied the medicine, wrote a prescription, and handed it to Jiang Yue, saying, "Just decoct the medicine according to this prescription and drink it for more than ten days."
Jiang Yue nodded and sent someone to escort the imperial physician away.
He closed the door and turned to look at the prince behind him.
Fu Huaiqing's face was extremely pale. He pursed his lips tightly, and his eyes were filled with a chilling aura.
Jiang Yue's expression hardened slightly as he reported, "Master, we've already gotten information from the assassins. They're all江湖人士 (jianghu figures, people from the martial arts world), and they're after Miss Biezhi." Meeting his master's gloomy face, he paused and said, "Someone paid money to have her life taken."
In an instant, the man's long, slender fingers protruded, and the teacup he held tightly in his palm made a faint sound as a crack spread out from below.
Fu Huaiqing's jaw tightened, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes: "Who goes there?"
“The other party deliberately avoided the kill order under Xianyun Tower. The kill order did not target Miss Biezhi, but was open to anyone from Xianyun Tower. Their intention was to receive the reward order in Hezhou.” Jiang Yue was silent for a moment. Only Biezhi had recently gone to Hezhou. He said, “Anyone involved with Hezhou who would be hunted down without regard for the consequences is probably related to the Hezhou massacre case.”
Qin Xiao's departure from the capital was specifically to thoroughly investigate the massacre in Hezhou.
Three months ago, overnight, two merchant families in Hezhou were brutally murdered. The methods were extremely cruel, and the bodies of twenty-three people were separated, with the head of the family hanging in front of the house.
All the local officials in Hezhou who handled the case were assassinated. Fu Huaiqing ordered Qin Xiao to thoroughly investigate the case. Qin Xiao left the capital that night. At this time, many people in Qingyin Pavilion had missions to take care of, and most of the others had just finished their missions. Only Biezhi had finished her seclusion and had not taken on any missions for two months. That day, she also embarked on the journey to escort Qin Xiao out of the capital.
Jiang Yue didn't get involved in Xianyunlou's affairs, but he had heard that Biezhi was extremely skilled, so there shouldn't have been any problem assigning this task to her.
The fact that these people acted without hesitation suggests they've been eyeing this place for some time.
He glanced at the prince, whose eyes were devoid of any warmth, his lips twitched slightly, but he ultimately chose not to speak. If he could think of it, the prince would naturally think of it too.
Fu Huaiqing lowered his eyes slightly, his eyelashes concealing the surging ferocity in them.
His voice was hoarse and chillingly cold: "Order everyone in Xianyun Tower to kill until no one dares to take up the challenge again."
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