Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

After coming ashore, Xie Zheng set Fan Changyu down for the moment. As his fingers pressed against her wrist to check her pulse, his gaze lingered briefly on the pair of deerskin bracers wrapped around her sleeves.

His eyes then traveled downward to her left hand, swollen beyond recognition. His already tightly pressed lips thinned even further into a straight line.

She hadn’t suffered such severe injuries even when pursued by the Wei Mansion’s martial assassins, yet now, after encountering mere mountain bandits, she was in such a pitiful state.

He reached out to remove the vambrace from that hand before focusing on taking her pulse. But the pulse beneath his fingertips was alarmingly weak, and the body in his arms was as cold as ice—hardly resembling a living person.

The scent of blood filled Xie Zheng’s senses, making his brow furrow deeply.

She shouldn’t be like this.

In his memory, she had always been warm, no matter the circumstances.

But now, this icy body seemed to be telling him that her life was slipping away bit by bit.

An inexplicable turmoil churned in his chest, and a sudden sense of panic left him restless, his violent impulses urging him to kill.

Xie Zheng lowered his gaze to Fan Changyu’s tightly shut eyes. She was completely drenched, her hands and face tinged blue and purple from prolonged exposure to the cold. The wet clothes clung to her, and the cloak wrapped around her did little to provide warmth.

She was too cold—she needed warmth, and quickly.

Xie Zheng swept a glance over his personal guards and ordered in a deep voice, “Leave my clothes here, then retreat ten paces away and turn your backs.”

The guards exchanged uncertain looks, but after realizing what Xie Zheng intended to do, though startled, they quickly complied.

Once they had withdrawn, Xie Zheng studied Fan Changyu’s discolored complexion. His fingers paused slightly as they reached her collar. Untying her hair ribbon, he used it to blindfold himself before carefully peeling off her soaked garments. Then, feeling his way, he wrapped her in the dry clothes he had removed before entering the water earlier.

With his vision obscured, the sensation at his fingertips became all the more pronounced. By the time he had securely bundled Fan Changyu up, fine beads of sweat had formed at the tip of his nose. He pulled off the blindfold in silence.

Wordlessly, he took hold of Changyu’s left arm. Even before changing her clothes, he had noticed it was dislocated. Upon further examination, he realized the bone had been set incorrectly.

Even injured like this, she had still protected that scholar—was she truly unafraid of dying at the hands of those bandits?

He couldn’t quite name the emotion stirring in his chest.

For a fleeting moment, he thought bitterly—what did it matter to him if she died?

Yet when he reset the bone with a firm push and release, his movements were deliberately gentle.

Xie Zheng’s expression darkened. Once the bone was back in place, he called for a guard to fetch a wooden splint to temporarily immobilize her hand.

The guards had never seen him treat a woman like this before, leaving them uncertain of his intentions. After Xie Zheng had temporarily tended to all of Changyu’s injuries, one guard ventured, “Marquis, shall we proceed to Jizhou Prefecture now?”

Xie Zheng glanced at Fan Changyu, whose complexion remained pallid and discolored. Finally, he lifted her into his arms and strode toward his warhorse. “First, we’ll find a household to take shelter.”

All his clothes were now wrapped around Fan Changyu. The river wind cut like a knife against his bare torso, his damp fringe dripping water down his forehead. Yet he didn’t so much as shiver. His muscles were taut and well-defined, lean but far from frail—every inch of him brimming with strength.The personal guards watched in astonishment as their Marquis, bare-chested, carried the tightly wrapped woman onto his horse. Without time to process their shock, they quickly mounted their own steeds and followed.

The horse's gait was rough, but Xie Zheng carefully avoided Fan Changyu's dislocated arm, cradling her protectively against his chest. Feeling the weight of her against him, his grip on the reins tightened.

He glanced down at Changyu's lifeless profile and said coldly, "You'd better stay alive. Who do you think will take care of that little burden of yours otherwise?"

Only the howling wind answered him. Pressing his lips together, he tightened his hold around her.

The hundred light cavalrymen following Xie Zheng were all seasoned scouts. They quickly located a lone dwelling in the wilderness—home to an elderly blind woman living by herself.

Not wanting to disturb her, Xie Zheng took only a few personal guards with him. Knowing common folk feared soldiers, they posed as traveling merchants, offering the old woman a few taels of silver in exchange for the use of a bedroom and kitchen.

Some guards set to boiling water in the kitchen, while others inquired about nearby physicians before rushing off to fetch one.

Initially suspicious of the group of men carrying an unconscious woman, the old woman relaxed upon hearing their activities—human traffickers wouldn’t go to such lengths for their victims.

She fetched some of her daughter-in-law’s clothes and brought them to the room. "What happened to this poor lady? Did she fall into the water?" she asked.

Three braziers burned in the small room, making Xie Zheng sweat even bare-chested, yet Changyu remained icy cold beneath the blankets.

Without a bathtub in the house, Xie Zheng couldn’t immerse her in hot water to warm her quickly. Instead, he used steaming cloths to massage her frozen limbs.

After rewetting a cooled cloth in the hot water basin and wrapping it around her hands, he answered, "We encountered river bandits. She jumped into the water to escape and caught a chill."

"What a tragedy..." The old woman sighed with pity at the mention of bandits.

She handed over the clothes. "These belonged to my daughter-in-law. Change your wife into them later."

Xie Zheng thanked her.

"You must be soaked too, escaping the river in this cold," she added. "I’ll find some of my son’s clothes for you."

After she left, Xie Zheng sat silently by Changyu’s side on the crude wooden bed. Gradually, the bluish pallor faded from her face, replaced by a feverish flush.

He pressed a hand to her forehead—burning hot, as expected. Frowning, he replaced the hand compress with a fresh hot cloth for her forehead.

By the time the guards returned with the physician, Changyu’s face was flushed crimson.

Half-dead from the rough horseback ride, the doctor barely had time to catch his breath before being shoved into the room to take her pulse.

Though he might have complained under other circumstances, facing a group of armed soldiers left him no choice but to focus on surviving the house call.Upon entering the room and realizing the patient was a woman, the physician was startled but dared not ask further. As he took her pulse, his already wrinkled brow furrowed even deeper. "This is an invasion of pathogenic cold," he said. "How could it have been left this long before calling a doctor? Someone with a weaker constitution might not have survived."

No sooner had he spoken than he felt a cold, heavy gaze settle upon him.

The physician looked at the strikingly handsome man standing bare-chested in the midst of winter and felt his heart race under that stare. He hurriedly added, "But it's not hopeless. Medicine alone won't suffice—she needs Gua sha to stimulate blood flow and unblock the meridians. Dispelling the cold first will make the medicine twice as effective."

Xie Zheng had heard of using Gua sha to treat cold ailments. It was a common folk remedy among soldiers, painful but sometimes more effective than medicine.

His gaze fell on Fan Changyu, whose lips were cracked from fever. After a moment of silence, he said, "Understood."

The physician was taken to the kitchen to prepare the medicine, while Xie Zheng had his personal guard bring another basin of warm water.

Apart from the blind elderly woman, everyone here was male, and Gua sha required visual assessment of the skin's reaction. It fell to him.

Xie Zheng dipped a copper coin into the warm water, watching Fan Changyu's flushed face. "You'll probably accuse me of taking advantage when you wake up," he murmured.

There was no response.

Gua sha was performed on the back, but Fan Changyu's left arm was immobilized with a splint, making it impossible for her to lie prone.

He casually threw on a robe belonging to the old woman's son and approached the bed, lifting Fan Changyu to sit upright with her back against him. Turning his face aside, he reached to untie the sash at her waist.

As the sash loosened, the oversized robe slid down her arms.

Xie Zheng retrieved the copper coin from the basin and gathered her disheveled hair over her shoulders. Though he had resolved to remain detached, the sight of her smooth, evenly toned back made his breath hitch slightly.

Unlike the rugged musculature of a man or the boneless softness of the dancers he'd seen at victory banquets, her taut muscles formed a slender waistline—delicate yet strong, exuding a resilient beauty.

Her skin, once blue from the cold, had regained a pale hue.

Earlier, fearing she might freeze, Xie Zheng had removed even her soaked undergarments when changing her clothes. Now, with her head lolling weakly, her pale, vulnerable neck was exposed, save for the cascade of dark hair spilling over one shoulder.

The inner garment half-concealing the curve of her waist was also his...

This realization sent something exploding in Xie Zheng's mind, the copper coin in his fingers suddenly scalding.

He frowned sharply, averting his gaze for a few steadying breaths before forcing his focus back onto the coin. He began scraping it down her snow-white back.

The first stroke left only a faint redness. By the second, the marks darkened noticeably. He continued until the skin turned a deep crimson before moving to the next area.

Fan Changyu, heavily afflicted by the cold, remained unconscious throughout, entirely reliant on Xie Zheng's supporting hand to stay upright.

By the end, her back was a sight—covered in purplish-red Gua sha marks, yet carrying a strangely brutal beauty.Xie Zheng's fingertips burned intensely, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead and the bridge of his nose. After tossing the copper coins into the water basin, he hastily grabbed a piece of clothing to wrap Fan Changyu in, bundled her into the blankets, then fled through the door.

The biting wind and light snow against his face finally cooled the heat within him.

When his personal guard arrived with the freshly brewed medicine, he found Xie Zheng leaning against a wooden pillar beneath the eaves, arms crossed, seemingly staring blankly at the door—so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed the approaching footsteps.

The guard cleared his throat softly. "Marquis... Master, the medicine is ready."

Xie Zheng snapped out of his daze and glanced at him, reaching out to take the bowl.

Just as the guard was about to tactfully withdraw, he heard his usually stern and unyielding master ask, "Among common folk, this would mean having to marry the girl, wouldn’t it?"

The guard froze for a moment before realizing Xie Zheng was referring to himself and the woman inside.

Wouldn’t you have to take responsibility for her no matter where you are? the guard thought. Seeing his master acting so out of character—clearly not indifferent to the woman—why was he even asking such a question?

He could only answer truthfully. "Of course, you would."

Before Xie Zheng could say more, a scout stationed a few miles away hurried into the courtyard to report, "Master, Jizhou Prefecture’s troops are searching along the riverbank."

Xie Zheng lifted his eyelids slightly. "Are they also looking for the Clear Breeze Stronghold’s bandit leader?"

The scout glanced at him and replied cautiously, "It seems they’re searching for the young lady inside. That scholar we fished out of the river earlier is Grand Tutor Li’s grandson. Right now, he’s helping the Jizhou troops look for her."

A cold smirk tugged at Xie Zheng’s lips. He was aware that Grand Tutor Li had sent his grandson, Li Huaian, to Jizhou.

Wei Xuan’s reckless grain requisition had caused such a disaster, handing Grand Tutor Li—who had always been at odds with the Wei Faction—a perfect weapon. Previously, the entire northwest had been under Wei Yan’s control, but after this incident, Grand Tutor Li’s faction had nearly come to blows with Wei Yan in court. Now, they had finally sent one of their own—ostensibly to assist with the northwest’s military affairs, but in truth, it was all about seizing power.

With Li Huaian in Jizhou, Grand Tutor Li’s faction now had eyes in the northwest, a region long dominated by Wei Yan.

What he hadn’t expected was that this man was also entangled with Fan Changyu.

Was it a coincidence, or had Grand Tutor Li’s faction also caught wind of something and was now probing into the Fan Family’s secrets?

Xie Zheng lowered his gaze to the steaming medicine in his hands, his tone casual but laced with frost. "Guard the mountain pass. Don’t let anyone through."

Once the scout had left to carry out his orders, Xie Zheng carried the medicine bowl back into the room.

Inside, Fan Changyu lay quietly beneath the blankets, the feverish flush on her cheeks not yet faded, giving her face some color.

Xie Zheng sat by the bed and watched her for a while before remarking, "I told you before—your judgment is terrible."

Having undergone gua sha and warmed up, Changyu was now deeply asleep and couldn’t respond.

Feeding her medicine became an ordeal. Forcing her mouth open, he poured it in, only for most of it to spill out. Displeased, he wiped her face with a nearby piece of clothing—whose it was, he didn’t know—but still patiently fed her the remaining medicine bit by bit.

The fire in the brazier crackled softly, its glow flickering across his sharply defined profile. Using his thumb, he wiped away the last traces of medicine from Changyu’s lips, staring down at her in silence for a long moment before suddenly saying, "Fan Changyu, I’ll marry you.""If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your agreement."