Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Care
Lu Chen was stunned for a moment, his brows darkening immediately. He turned to look at Xiaochan, "Who did you meet tonight?"
He was ordered to patrol the camp outside the city today and did not get away until the evening. On the way, he received a tip-off that the Huainan grain ship was smuggling salt. After finishing his business, he hurried to Panlou to pick up people.
He didn't have time to change out of his armor, and now he was wearing a silver armor with scales, which made him look particularly heroic and fierce, with none of his usual elegance and gentleness.
Xiaochan was frightened by Lu Chen's aura, and stammered out everything about her encounter with Xie Yunzhou.
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, his expression gradually becoming frozen.
The third prince, Li Zhen, was dissolute and lustful, and was also a vicious and mean person. He relied on the fact that he was the only adult prince of the emperor's family, and colluded with Xu Chong, acting quite recklessly. He naturally knew this.
She didn't expect that she would encounter such a disgusting thing. Lu Chen was shocked and angry when he heard it. He was glad that Xie Yunzhou was there tonight, but he also secretly hated himself for coming late.
Xiaochan stammered and told the whole story, then lowered her head.
"No more?"
Lu Chen's figure remained motionless.
Xiaochan plucked up her courage, looked up at him, and responded timidly.
Lu Chen was silent for a moment, waved his hand for her to leave, and turned to look at Zhe Rou.
After feeding her another half cup of hangover soup, Lu Chen raised his hand and touched Zhe Rou's cheek, wanting to help her get up. "Miss, let's go home, okay?"
Zhe Rou leaned back on the gooseneck chair, feeling drunk and uncomfortable. She saw Lu Chen's face clearly in the hazy state, and the grievance and sadness in her heart suddenly surged up. She frowned in confusion and turned her head to avoid his hand, "I don't want to go back with you."
Lu Chen's hand froze in mid-air, and his heart suddenly felt like it was hit hard by someone.
She was such a gentle person, smiling and talking to others, but she was so impatient and resistant to him. She was clearly wronged and frightened tonight, and she didn't even have the slightest intention of relying on him.
"Then who are you going back with?" Lu Chen looked at Zhe Rou gravely, veins throbbing on his forehead. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Ming Qi?"
Zhe Rou was drunk and her mind was a mess. In fact, she could not understand what Lu Chen said. She raised her face, her face flushed, and there was a watery light in her soft eyes. She looked at him in a daze, with a confused and innocent look.
Lu Chen's throat tightened as he watched.
But when he thought about how she had been seen by others in this state, and now she was rejecting him like this, it was as if a fire had burst into his chest, burning his heart and lungs, and he didn't know what to do with her.
Without waiting for Zhe Rou to answer, Lu Chen stretched out his long arm, held her in his arms, and planned to take her directly back home.
He was wearing a suit of silver armor with fine scales, which was hard and slightly cold. Zhe Rou felt the pain on her skin, and she instinctively dodged to the side, frowning impatiently: "Lu Bingyan, let me go."
Lu Chen stiffened slightly, stung by her rejection, but instead increased his strength, forcibly holding her in his arms, his hot breath spraying on her face.
Although he was a young scholar, he had learned martial arts since childhood and was skilled in archery and horse riding. He had also been tempered on the battlefield for several years, with thin and tough muscles. How could Zhe Rou resist?
Zhe Rou was unwilling in her heart, and twisted and struggled with a low cry, pushing and shoving. Lu Chen's heart was already boiling with anger, but he was reluctant to use brute force, so he just let her push and struggle.
Unexpectedly, Zhe Rou was drunk, which aroused the stubbornness in her bones. She struggled even harder. It was hard to tell whether it was intentional or not. The slender nails brushed past his eyes for a moment. Lu Chen instinctively frowned and closed his eyes. A line of blood had been scratched under his eyelids. Thin and dense blood beads emerged in an instant, and then gathered into a strand, winding down his handsome and thin cheek.
Zhe Rou was startled by the sudden sight of blood, and the drunkenness instantly dissipated a lot. She stared at Lu Chen in a daze, her chest heaving, and she was unable to speak.
After a long while, Lu Chen slowly raised his hand, rubbed the blood beads on his face, twisted them with his fingertips, and then stared at the red for a moment.
Zhe Rou's heart was pounding. She lowered her head and bit her lips tightly, subconsciously curling her fingertips. She felt indescribable guilt and sadness.
She was holding a grudge in her heart, and it was hard to say that the scratch she made on him today, while under the influence of alcohol, was completely unintentional.
They have been married for many years and have always been deeply in love. They have never argued to this extent. He got bruised on his face and I'm afraid he won't be able to see anyone for the next few days.
In the past, if anyone hurt him in the slightest, she would definitely turn against that person.
After a long moment, Lu Chen slowly raised his head, his eyes reddening. He stared at her intently and asked in a hoarse voice, "Miss, are you so unwilling to go back with me?"
Zhe Rou heard the sadness and hint of grievance in his tone, and suddenly felt the blood red on his face was glaring. For a moment, anger, regret, heartache, and joy... countless emotions all surged into her chest, suffocating her lungs and making her almost unable to breathe. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach and wanted to vomit. She hurriedly pushed Lu Chen away, leaned over and vomited a mouthful of filth.
"妱妱!"
Lu Chen's expression suddenly changed, and he no longer cared about anything else. He hugged Zhe Rou into his arms, stroking her back while shouting to Nan Heng outside the pavilion to bring in some warm water.
Zhe Rou felt extremely uncomfortable all over and had no strength to struggle anymore. She just leaned softly in his arms, still retching continuously.
She hadn't eaten much that night, and she vomited so much that her stomach felt like it was churning, and her head felt dizzy and painful. But most of what she vomited was sake, with only a little bit of filth, which almost all splashed onto Lu Chen's black leather boots.
Lu Chen didn't care about the dirt anymore. He hurriedly called for someone to bring some osmanthus soup to sober up. After warming it up, he slowly fed it to Zhe Rou. He also massaged the Hegu and Neiguan acupoints for her. He was a military commander and had enough strength in his hands, so the massage was quite effective.
Zhe Rou let him take care of her in a daze. After vomiting several times, she finally felt better, but her hands and feet were still a little weak. She closed her eyes and leaned in his arms.
Seeing that Zhe Rou had finally stopped vomiting, Lu Chen felt a little relieved. He gave her some warm water to rinse her mouth, then pulled a thin blanket over her, picked her up horizontally, and quickly went downstairs to put her in the carriage.
After returning to the mansion, Lu Chen hurriedly carried Zhe Rou straight into the main house.
Xiaochan was worried and wanted to follow to take care of him. However, before she even stepped over the threshold, Nanheng dragged her away without even turning back.
Xiaochan was indignant and struggled a few times, "Why are you pulling me?!"
Nan Heng looked at her helplessly and kept silent.
The couple had a quarrel and lived apart for several days. As a result, the fence was not strong enough, allowing the dog outside to get in. How could the husband not be angry? He had finally waited for the opportunity to be close to her, so why did he rush forward now?
Zhe Rou was almost sober, but her head was still dizzy and aching, so she simply closed her eyes and took a nap. In her drowsiness, she felt Lu Chen lower his head to hold her cheek, and use his eyelids to test the temperature of her forehead. He then stood up, wrung out the handkerchief, and came back to wipe her face.
An unknown amount of time passed until it was already deep into the night. The house was completely silent, lit only by a dim oil lamp. Zhe Rou slowly opened her eyes, and saw Lu Chen sitting beside her. The warm yellow candlelight reflected on his face, highlighting his handsome features.
He had never bothered to wipe the bloodstains under his eyes, and by now they had dried into a dark color, which was particularly clear under the candlelight.
Seeing Zhe Rou awake, Lu Chen reached out and gently held her in his arms, patting her like a child. He rested his chin on the top of her head, his warm breath brushing her cheek, and asked in a low voice, "Are you feeling better? Do you want some water?"
Zhe Rou suddenly felt a sour pain in her nose, and tears flowed silently.
If Lu Chen had been unfaithful and ungrateful to the end, she might have felt better and could have simply cut off all ties with him and never had any connection with him again. However, he took care of her so attentively and his eyes were full of love, which made her feel even more sad, as if a blunt knife was cutting flesh, and she could not feel any pain.
Lu Chen raised his hand to wipe her tears and coaxed her softly, "Don't cry, you'll have a headache tomorrow."
Zhe Rou leaned against his chest, took two deep breaths, and slowly stopped crying.
When Zhe Rou had completely calmed down, Lu Chen stood up, poured her a cup of hot tea, fed her a drink, and asked her about running into Li Zhen tonight.
"Nothing." Zhe Rou shook her head and said softly, "I won't go out these few days."
Of course she could sense that something was wrong with Li Zhen, but she didn't intend to make it public.
She did not know the details of what was going on in the royal palace. She only knew that the emperor had few children. Now he was nearly fifty years old, but he had only one son, Li Zhen. At most, he had a six-year-old grandson left to him by the second prince. If nothing unexpected happened, Li Zhen would surely ascend to the throne.
If Lu Chen makes a grudge with him, there will be no benefit, he will only suffer.
She didn't say this out loud, but Lu Chen understood what she meant. A smile appeared in his dark eyes. He bent down and kissed her cheek, "Miss, you still miss me, right?"
Zhe Rou turned her face away, bit her lip, and did not respond.
She hated Lu Chen so much that she couldn't contain herself, but she couldn't bear it any longer either. She really didn't know what to do.
Lu Chen smiled and held her tighter, brushing the loose hair on her cheek behind her ear, and said softly, "Miss, I'm here, don't be afraid."
After a pause, he added in a slightly lower voice, word by word, "From now on, you can do whatever you want. There's no need to be shy about anything. I'll take care of everything."
Hearing him say this, Zhe Rou pursed her lips, her heart felt sour and swollen, she couldn't describe the feeling, but she felt strangely at ease.
She had exhausted too much energy today and didn't have the energy to think any more. She nodded randomly and closed her eyes to rest.
When she woke up the next day, Lu Chen had already gone out to work. Zhe Rou changed her clothes and returned to the pharmacy under the protection of Pingchuan.
As soon as she left, the Xu family's carriage stopped at the gate of the Lu family.
The coachman handed the visiting card to the door, the attendant placed the footrest, lifted the curtain, and Zhou got off the carriage with the help of her personal nanny.
Soon, Nanny Cui came out from the mansion in person, greeted her warmly, and said with a smile that the lady wanted to see her.
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