Not even married yet, and already injured his waist—judging by his complexion, it seems quite serious. This... what about the future...
Zhu Pianxian thought bitterly that she must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes. First, she married a half-dead man, and after all these years of marriage, she was still untouched. Damn it, was she destined to remain untouched for life!
Smart yet selfish, her first concern was her own future happiness. At the same time, she was foolish—never once did it occur to her that changing men might solve the problem.
"Let me take a look." After her internal wailing, Zhu Pianxian decisively resigned herself to fate.
"Ahem." Li Qingzhi awkwardly cleared his throat, glancing around. He noticed everyone else remained expressionless, as if they hadn't understood a thing, and inwardly sighed at his own lack of thick skin.
Whether others understood or not was secondary—the key issue was that the innocent party involved hadn't even considered that implication. Seeing Zhu Pianxian's face turn green, his heart warmed with sweetness, thinking how caring she was! So despite his usual shyness, he blushed and lifted his clothes to let her take a look, reassuring her, "It's nothing, just a superficial wound."
An Jiu leaned in for a glance.
Zhu Pianxian yanked Sheng Changying's clothes back down. "Couldn't you announce yourself before barging in?"
An Jiu turned and walked out, raising her hand to knock on the doorframe. "You're not doing anything indecent in there, are you? If not, I'm coming back in."
Zhu Pianxian had intended to refuse her entry, but these words left her momentarily speechless.
"What do you want?" Zhu Pianxian snapped. "Our Changying is injured like this, and you have the nerve to loiter around? Can't you see everyone else has made themselves scarce?"
An Jiu walked to the corner and picked up the Dragon Subduing Bow, then turned and held out her hand. "Storage fee!"
Zhu Pianxian was baffled. "What storage fee?"
"You didn't pay me protection money—why should I act as your man's bodyguard?" An Jiu scoffed.
Sheng Changying didn't mind An Jiu's words. In that critical moment, she had thought to protect him first.
"You!" Zhu Pianxian earned a hefty annual salary as Chu Dingjiang's head manager. She had no real retort and could only fume, "Heartless!"
"If you're capable of finding a man without martial arts, why can't you keep him tied to your waistband?" An Jiu added lazily, the verbal jab nearly making Zhu Pianxian faint from anger.
Before leaving, An Jiu finally offered some consolation. "About the waist injury—it's best if Sheng Zhangku recovers fully. But if he's left with any lasting issues that prevent labor, you're so capable—you can just take over for him. The boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge. No need to worry too much."
Zhu Pianxian's face flushed crimson. "Mei Shisi!"
"Tsk, I'm giving you serious advice. Why are you blushing?" An Jiu gave her a puzzled glance before stepping over the threshold.
Zhu Pianxian rushed forward and slammed the door shut. On the bed, Sheng Changying seemed entirely oblivious to An Jiu's implications, his gaze filled with tender affection.
Only then did Zhu Pianxian relax, returning to sit by the bed. "Don't pay her any mind from now on!" she instructed Sheng Changying.
"Shi Si, does Sister Zhu's family own a lot of land?" Lou Xiaowu asked.
An Jiu shook her head.
Lou Xiaowu frowned. "Then why talk about labor? At worst, Master Sheng could sell his calligraphy! His handwriting is exquisite!"
"What about Da Jiu?" An Jiu needed to give the tiger a good scolding, while privately feeling some resentment toward Mo Sigui. Look what he'd turned a tiger into! Truly, a crooked stick will have a crooked shadow."Eh? She was just here a moment ago." Lou Xiaowu circled around but found no trace of An Jiu.
Roar—
A deafening tiger's roar tore through the mist, shaking the ground as if an earthquake had struck. The mountain wind suddenly rose, and the rain fell harder.
"What's going on?" Sui Yunzhu's expression changed slightly.
Everyone knew Da Jiu's temperament—describing it as gentle would be an exaggeration. It was more like a little white rabbit than a tiger and had never let out such a furious roar before.
An Jiu was also startled. Was it encountering an enemy or evolving?
The group swiftly descended the mountain, rushing toward the source of the sound.
In the forest, the branches and leaves seemed to resonate with Da Jiu's emotions, rustling noisily and unsettling everyone's minds.
Their footsteps quickened even more.
Within moments, they found Da Jiu lying motionless on the ground like a corpse. Everyone tensed, fully alert.
An Jiu released her mental strength to probe the surroundings. "No one's here."
The group relaxed slightly.
An Jiu circled to Da Jiu's front. Hearing footsteps, the tiger weakly lifted its eyes, its chubby face etched with one word—despair.
"Da Jiu, what's wrong?" An Jiu crouched down.
Da Jiu drooped its ears and cast a hopeless glance at a cluster of tender sprouts in front of it.
The apothecary's apprentice, being the weakest in qinggong, arrived last.
"Xiao Wu, come see if it's sick," An Jiu said.
Panting, the apprentice approached and, upon seeing the sprouts, laughed. "I know what's wrong."
"Is that... Dream Blossom?" Sui Yunzhu asked.
"Right," the apprentice confirmed. "Da Jiu only eats poisonous things and has been craving Dream Blossom for ages. Before Master left, he gave it a small packet. It likes to bury things—probably the Dream Blossom sprouted. Once sprouted, its toxicity is almost completely gone."
"Ha!" An Jiu burst out laughing. "You truly live up to your reputation as an idiot!"
Da Jiu already felt life had lost all meaning and had no interest in dealing with these heartless humans.
"Da Jiu, actually, Master hid all your snacks under the bed in the medicine room," the apprentice said, squatting in front of the tiger and gesturing.
Da Jiu roughly understood that the tasty food was in the medicine room and immediately perked up, turning and dashing back like the wind.
The atmosphere in the room was warm and sweet.
Sheng Changying cradled Zhu Pianxian's nape, his lips lightly kissing and nibbling her soft pink ones.
Lost in their passion, the door was suddenly slammed open as a massive shadow barged in, darting around the room without a care, sniffing the ground with its nose.
Zhu Pianxian shuddered and let out a shriek.
The others in the forest, knowing the reunited lovers were enjoying their time, had tactfully slowed their pace to give them privacy. But before they had gone far, they saw Zhu Pianxian standing halfway up the mountain, hands on her hips, roaring, "The rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Mei Shisi, control your damn tiger!"
An Jiu clicked her tongue. "Da Jiu's 'tree' is Mo Sigui, though."
"Didn't expect Miss Zhu to be so fierce. Changying's going to be whipped into shape," Li Qingzhi sighed.
An Jiu said, "That's because you don't know Sheng Zhangku."
Who was Sheng Changying? The man who compiled all the gossip in the world. An Jiu had once read Crane Control Institute's reports—they were so detailed they could be storybooks. As the saying goes, "If you haven't eaten pork, you've at least seen a pig run." She refused to believe he didn't know all sorts of scandalous tales. Sure, he might be a bit shy and slow to react to romantic matters, but he was actually quite shrewd."Who will be king remains to be seen," An Jiu said.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Sui Yunzhu replied with a smile.
When they returned to the medicine room, Da Jiu was already lying under the bed, his belly round from eating, paws up in the air as he let out satisfied burps.
"Miss Zhu, what's the situation in the city?" Sui Yunzhu couldn't help but ask.
"How would a commoner like me know?" Zhu Pianxian was still sulking, her tone naturally sharp. "But before I left the city, I went to see Aunt Mei. She said The Emperor would pass away within the next couple of days. Many court officials have already chosen sides—the Hua Clan has sided with the Second Prince. The Second Prince doesn’t have much chance of winning. I really don’t know what the Hua Clan is thinking!"
"Why would the Hua Clan suddenly support the Second Prince?" Ling Ziyue was puzzled. Having spent years at the border, he wasn’t well-informed about court affairs, but he knew that while the Hua Clan had never openly declared their stance, they had always leaned toward supporting the legitimate eldest heir.
Sheng Changying explained, "Hua Rongtian has secretly backed the Second Prince for a long time. The Second Prince isn’t the legitimate heir, and his strength is no match for the Crown Prince. If he wants to ascend the throne, he’ll have to sacrifice a great deal. The Hua Clan is gambling for their own survival."
Sui Yunzhu sighed. "There are plenty of cases where the bow is discarded once the birds are gone. The Hua Clan can’t possibly think that by helping the Second Prince seize the throne, they’ll be able to preserve their entire clan in the future!"
"What if the Hua Clan willingly weakens itself?" Sheng Changying countered.
The reason The Emperor feared the Hua Clan was because their roots in the Great Song were too deep and vast, to the point where they posed a subtle threat to imperial authority. If the Hua Clan sacrificed seventy percent of their power now to help the Second Prince take the throne, even if the Second Prince later worried about their influence overshadowing his own, he wouldn’t dare to immediately turn on them for fear of public censure.
"Great families are truly terrifying!" Li Qingzhi couldn’t help but exclaim.
For most people, there is no gain without sacrifice. If one wishes to stand above ten thousand others, they must first consider what price they are willing to pay. The glory and survival of a clan like the Hua Clan were inevitably built upon the bones of countless kin.
(To be continued...)
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