“Yes, I remember,” Ye Xiaoxian replied.
“Then why try to save him? What if he hurts you after he recovers?” Li Hongmei would rather let Li Chengru die of disease or poison him when he was weak.
Ye Xiaoxian smiled and said, “Mom, he’s just a paper tiger, not really daring to kill people. He just threatened me with the knife that time. Do you remember what the senior monk told us when we went to the temple last time? He said we should do more good deeds. This is our chance now. After all, it’s better to save one life than to build a seven-story pagoda, isn’t it?”
“Well…Oh dear!” Li Hongmei heaved a sigh. “I’m afraid he will harm you again.”
“Mom, don’t worry. We’ll be safe. I’ll protect this family.” said Ye Xiaoxian.
Li Hongmei knew a doctor who had cured various diseases as he wandered from village to village. Perhaps he could save Li Chengru. But she didn’t know where to find him. It would be a matter of luck.
…
When Li Hongmei went out to find the doctor, Ye Xiaoxian headed for the inn to see whether Li Chengru had got any better.
After taking a warm bath, Li Chengru had cooled down slightly. Just as Ye Xiaoxian said, Fengsheng helped his master into a light undershirt and thin pants.
Ye Xiaoxian could vaguely see his bulging muscles through the close-fitting clothes.
She hadn’t expected that a fair-skinned man would have such a robust body, though she only treated him as a patient now.
She asked Fengsheng to get some cold water from the well, soak a towel, and place it on Li Chengru’s forehead. When the towel turned warm, he should change it for another one immediately. But Fengsheng wasn’t as careful as a woman. After all, even the towel that he folded was a mess. Seeing this, she could only do it by herself.
In the two hours that followed, she changed the towels again and again until Li Chengru’s temperature decreased a bit.
During this period, he opened his eyes several times. Every time he woke up, he would murmur with his lips and soon give up. It seemed that he didn’t even have the strength to speak.
Another two hours later, Li Hongmei came with the doctor. She had found him in another village thanks to a constable’s guidance. What good luck!
The doctor lifted Li Chengru’s eyelids and felt his unstable pulse which showed that the fever was serious. He said if Ye Xiaoxian hadn’t cooled the patient down in time, things would be even worse.
He prescribed two packs of medicinal herbs and asked Fengsheng to brew one instantly. After sending the doctor away, Ye Xiaoxian decided to stay and take care of Li Chengru.
Worried that Ye Xiaoxian would get harmed here, Li Hongmei insisted on staying with her. After the medicine was prepared, Fengsheng found it hard to feed his master alone.
Li Chengru was lying on the bed with his mouth shut. If Fengsheng lifted his master’s upper body, he wouldn’t have free hands to feed the medicine. If not, the medicinal liquid would just flow out of his mouth.
Seeing that, Ye Xiaoxian offered to feed the medicine as Fengsheng supported Li Chengru’s upper body. At the same time, Li Hongmei tried to help the patient open his mouth
After feeding him the medicine, the three of them were more than tired. Fengsheng wiped away his sweat after laying Li Chengru down.
Now, they only needed to wait for Li Chengru to wake up.
While Fengsheng was looking after his master on the bed, Ye Xiaoxian sat down on a stool and asked, “Fengsheng, I’ve been curious about one thing. What has Xiao Baoshan done? Why do so many people want to catch him?”
Fengsheng looked very surprised. “You do not know?”
Li Hongmei said angrily, “Of course not, or why would we ask you?”
Ye Xiaoxian explained calmly, “Baoshan hadn’t been home for years before he came back. It’s said that he once fought on the battlefield. We don’t know much about his past. After we got married, I opened a restaurant and he worked at a dock. Since he suddenly disappeared, many people have been coming here claiming they want to take revenge on him. This is all we know. Could you tell us more?”
Fengsheng took a look at Li Chengru and then Ye Xiaoxian. Suddenly, he burst out crying. “Young, young master is very poor. Among his several brothers, he has the least love from his parents. But he doesn’t care about that or…well, the family property. Anyway, his fourth brother treated him like a father and brother, teaching him riding, archery and martial arts. This elder brother gave my master great happiness until his death. Until he was murdered by Xiao Baoshan.”
Li Hongmei and Ye Xiaoxian looked at Fengsheng with astonishment.
Li Hongmei asked, “How?”
Fengsheng said, “It’s true that Xiao Baoshan used to fight in battles, but do you know that he was once a famous general? When there was serious turmoil in the West, he led the troops to fight against the enemy. The war ended in total failure. All of our soldiers were sacrificed in that war, but he survived. People say that we failed so badly because Xiao Baoshan betrayed our country and divulged military secrets.”
Li Hongmei was stunned, as was Ye Xiaoxian. Li Hongmei was surprised that her son had once been a general. A famous one too!
My ungrateful boy, why didn’t you let me enjoy a good life with you at that time? Why did you come back only when you had failed, getting us into trouble?
Ye Xiaoxian could feel that Xiao Baoshan wasn’t an ordinary person, but she hadn’t expected that he had been a great general. So she had not only traveled through time but also married a general! Albeit a down-and-out one.
It took her quite a while to sort things out. She said, “Something’s wrong. What has he gained after betraying his country? No honor at all. He went back to his hometown and married a village girl. He worked in the government office with a monthly salary of one silver tael at first. Then, he had a job at the dock where he got sun-burnt, making his skin as dark as coal. If I were him, I would have held onto the prestigious position of a general.”
But Fengsheng wasn’t persuaded. “Of course he should hide at first. When he’s forgotten by everyone, he can then slip away to the country of Daqing where he can enjoy great honor and wealth. What an irresistible temptation!”
Ye Xiaoxian asked, “Did you say only he survived on the battlefield? Now that it was near Daqing, why didn’t he cross the border directly? Why did he come back here to live a hard life with us?”
He said, “We’ve also thought about these questions. He might have thought that the time was not right for him. Didn’t he work in the government office? He might be waiting for Daqing to assign him a mission and he would betray our country again.”
Irritated by his words, Li Hongmei thumped the table and shouted, “Nonsense!”
There was a deafening silence. They looked at Li Hongmei quietly.
Li Hongmei said barely convincingly, “I know my son isn’t a traitor. He must have been framed.”
Fengsheng asked, “Then why didn’t he return to the capital and report the truth at once? Why is he hiding away from us now?”
“Stupid! Of course he should escape if you’re trying to kill him.”
Fengsheng was dumbfounded by her logic.
Ye Xiaoxian was also lost in thought. Xiao Baoshan, that nearly six foot three-tall man, usually showed his soft side, although he had a deep and serious face. Was he really a traitor? As a long history witnessed, the wind of strife and conspiracy never ceased in the imperial court. Was Xiao Baoshan the one brewing the storm or a pawn used?
…
Li Chengru woke up at twilight. He felt like he had slept for several years, as if someone had been pressing hard on his chest the whole time. During these days, he had opened his eyes several times, but his eyelids had been so heavy that he couldn’t hold them open for long. In a daze, he had seen a graceful woman looking after him. When she had leaned over to feel his temperature, he could smell her fresh fragrance.
Was it a dream or a reality?
“Young master, you’re awake! You’re finally awake!” Seeing Li Chengru staring at the ceiling, Fengsheng waved a hand in front of his eyes to check whether he was really awake or not.
Li Chengru said huskily, “I’m thirsty!’
Fengsheng replied in excitement, “Young master, it’s time to take the medicine. It can also quench your thirst.”
Li Chengru rolled his eyes upwards.
As Li Chengru struggled to sit up and drank the medicine, Fengsheng felt more than relieved and said excitedly, “Young master, you finally woke up. I’ve been worried about you, afraid that you…We were so happy when we began our journey, so I was so scared that I might have to bring your ashes back alone.”
Li Chengru glared at him.
Fengsheng corrected himself immediately, “But thanks to Mrs. Ye and Xiao Baoshan’s mother, you’re all right now.”
Li Chengru was shocked.
Little Ye has been here? It was not my hallucination? There was really a woman taking care of me when I was in a coma?
After hearing Fengsheng’s description, Li Chengru couldn’t believe his ears.
Why did she help me even after I had threatened her twice with a knife?
He asked in a feeble voice, “Are you sure that what that doctor prescribed was medicine instead of poison?”
Fengsheng opened his eyes wide and said, “Of course. If it were poison, you’d already be dead. I asked so many people for help, including Mr. Liu, but he just gave me a silver tael to find a doctor, as if I were a beggar. Only Mrs. Ye and Xiao Baoshan’s mother were willing to help us. To take care of you, Mrs. Ye worked tirelessly the whole afternoon.”
Li Chengru waved his hand to stop Fengsheng from talking. Then, he lay back on his bed, lost in deep thought.
