Chapter 61: Punishment, Supporting Male Visits a Patient
“Removal of the tongue and fifty canings.” In order to lighten his own punishment, Shu’er did his best to help Bai Xiangxiu find her ground with a booming voice. It made him seem quite imposing.
“Without mentioning anything else, but these two alone are enough to leave you without a whole body. So are we really lacking in gratitude?” Bai Xiangxiu glanced at Boss Liu. She wanted to be fierce and did her best to weave killing intent into her gaze, but she forgot that she was a sweet and coquettish beauty. A single look from her nearly caused Long Heng to lose his soul as his entire body turned feverish.
What now, he really wanted the beauty to stare at him like that again! Those overly seductive eyes were tender and full of charm; it was enough to make a person’s heart skip a few beats!
How could Boss Liu believe that such a delicate, pretty young girl was capable of killing anyone? Besides, she was only a concubine. Even if she’d slept with the master before, she still wouldn’t be the true mistress of the house. He couldn’t accept this outcome. He’d always felt that the prince wouldn’t treat him too heartlessly because he was an old friend of the prince’s father.
Thus, he threw off his own steward so he could rush forward to explain. He really hadn’t planned on doing anything to her; she was the prince’s woman, after all. He couldn’t be too excessive.
That’s what he thought, but when he suddenly rushed forward, a certain prince spying on the situation took things in a completely different manner.
Even if this was his father’s old subordinate, Boss Liu was displaying too much gall. He even dared to touch her. Long Heng wasn’t an impulsive man, but when he did get worked up, someone was going to end up bleeding. He didn’t have an appropriate projectile close at hand, so he slammed his palm down on the stone table, shattering it into pieces. Quick as a flash, he snatched one of the pieces and hurled it at Boss Liu.
Fortunately, he held back his strength, or else Boss Liu would’ve died on the spot. Even so, the piece of stone crushed his leg, causing him to collapse on the ground howling like a beastly demon.
The sudden violence and immediate stench of blood was all too much. Even his bones were poking out of his leg, as the the lacerated skin bled freely.
As a normal city dweller of the modern world, Bai Xiangxiu really wasn’t used to seeing so much blood. It was very clear that she was frightened, as panic was written all over her face.
Long Heng’s heart gave a start at the sight of her panicked expression. He immediately berated himself for being so impulsive. She was famous for her timidity, so this had probably scared her badly. His heart shook before he pushed off the stone table and fled the scene. His heart was still beating uncontrollably even when he landed on the ground. He wasn’t even afraid of a million armed forces from the enemy, but why did he fear her mournful gaze?
Still, she shouldn’t have discovered that it was him who did it, right?!
It’d be best if she didn’t. In the future he’d have to make sure no one spread news of this. If she got wind of it, she might just go and assume he was a brutal, vicious man!
Meanwhile, Bai Xiangxiu was rather grateful to the person who’d saved her. Although Boss Liu had been beaten to a pitiful state, he looked as if he was about to rush up and kill her just then. If not for the person who made a move, she might have been throttled to death.
But when she looked over, all she saw were two stewards standing in a pavilion, caught in a dilemma. They seemed like they wanted to leave, but were reluctant to go and only stood there stiffly. When they noticed her looking over, they bowed in greeting. As they viewed things, Madame Xiu was looking at their master, they were just the ornamentation.
But why was her gaze resting on them? There was even a small but grateful smile. Wasn’t she thanking the wrong person? She should thank the prince, they thought as they turned to look at him…
Only to see an empty spot.
Where did their prince go? When did he disappear without a trace? A perfectly living person had vanished beneath their very eyes. Didn’t that send cold sweat creeping down their backs?
Bai Xiangxiu couldn’t tell that they were trembling and out of sorts, so she said, “Take this person away. Throw him out of the estate after his wounds are tended to.” This was already the greatest extent of her leniency.
Boss Liu was in so much pain that he was about to faint. He had no idea what was happening, but was carried out just like that, leaving behind a trail of blood.
Bai Xiangxiu had finally figured out what her problem was. Ever since she saw that servant girl being beaten to death, she’d acquired the tendency to feel sick at the sight of blood. No wonder she always felt lightheaded and dizzy when her period came. It was the exact same situation now.
As she swayed in place, Xiao Shi anxiously rushed forward to support her. “Madame Xiu, hold on. Your servant will call a doctor over right away.” She must have been frightened again, Xiao Shi thought. Did they need to find a doctor just for her feeling faint?
“No need, just take me around the flower gardens for a stroll. We’ll go back when I’m feeling better.” Bai Xiangxiu extended her hand, and Xiao Shi supported her shaky steps to the gardens to sit down. The weather had turned very cold by now, but she just sat on the icy stone bench as it seemed to help her calm down.
Feeling distressed, Xiao Shi said, “How can this be any good? You’ll catch a chill.”
“It’s no trouble. Come closer, Xiao Shi, let me lean on you.” She really was extremely dizzy and could only lean on Xiao Shi to recover.
“What’s… happened to you?” A warm voice filled with a hint of another feeling rose up from nearby, startling Bai Xiangxiu into immediately sitting up. Even if it was a ‘secret love’, it was still her first one and someone she’d dearly wished for in the past. Although there was no hope anymore, she had once wanted to marry him. Thus, Bai Xiangxiu couldn’t feel ill at ease at this new intrusion.
The other man seemed even more uneasy, but he was also worried. Originally, he had come to call on the injured Long Heng, only to hear that he was recuperating at Madame Xiu’s.
That single sentence had been enough to leave his heart flustered and restless, so he was unable to enter the Winter Garden. He was planning to walk around until his heart calmed down. But he’d run into her instead!
He felt very uncomfortable at the sight of her ashen face. His heart spasmed with a twinge of pain, so he couldn’t help but come over for a closer look. When he saw her lift her face, he felt that she’d gotten much skinnier and looked even more pitiful than before. Those red-rimmed eyes especially looked like they could shed tears at any moment.
Song Jiaoyue’s brows furrowed minutely and asked, “What happened?”
“Nothing…” Bai Xiangxiu really thought it wasn’t a big deal and not worth mentioning.
“Madame Xiu suffered a fright…” Xiao Shi didn’t treat Song Jiaoyue as an outsider since he was their master’s good friend and often showed up at the estate. His temper was good too, and he was easy to talk to, so there were no taboos about him.
“How was she frightened?” Song Jiaoyue subconsciously assumed that Long Heng’s violent temper must have startled her again. He couldn’t help but feel distressed for her sake.
“I wasn’t…” Bai Xiangxiu thought it wasn’t good to talk about the estate’s affairs, but the servant girl by her side couldn’t hold back her belly of discontent.
“It was just a servant that nearly knocked Madame Xiu over. Then the stewards broke his leg, and blood was everywhere…” She glanced at Bai Xiangxiu before shutting her mouth. Actually, Xiao Shi was feeling bad for her mistress as well, but she couldn’t figure out a way to help Bai Xiangxiu.
Bai Xiangxiu felt like she was about to drown in Song Jiaoyue’s penetrating gaze. She quickly stood up and said, “Let’s… go…” She couldn’t go back now; her head was too dizzy!
Her body wavered and fell backwards. Xiao Shi’s hands went out to catch her, but couldn’t reach her. Just when both of them were about to fall, Song Jiaoyue hastily reached out to support them.
He was a martial arts practitioner and moved quickly, so he caught both women against his body. But the person he was holding was Bai Xiangxiu, who herself was holding onto Xiao Shi. A sweet and treasured body as delicate as jade filled his embrace, the very person he’d been thinking of these past few nights. Song Jiaoyue only felt his heart constrict as his entire body stiffened.
