Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Xie Pingzhi was gravely ill with a high fever, beyond the help of medicine.

As a child, he had served as a study companion in the palace. In a sense, he was someone the Emperor had watched grow up.

For a time, His Majesty’s lingering fury began to ease, if only slightly.

The Emperor sent imperial physicians to treat him, but each time his condition showed the slightest improvement, it would worsen again.

After this went on for some time, the imperial physicians could only report to the throne with difficulty that perhaps the prison was too cold and damp, its conditions too harsh, making recovery impossible.

As it happened, the Empress had gone to the National Temple to burn incense and pray, only to draw an ominous fortune slip. It left her sleepless all night.

Everyone knew that the person at the National Temple most skilled at interpreting fortune slips was Xie Huaiyu, the Buddhist Heir who cultivated there with unshaven hair.

But now that he was in prison, how could he soothe the Empress’s unease?

Bit by bit, these small details kept reminding the Emperor of the Xie family’s merits.

In the end, he showed mercy and decided to release the Xie family, young and old, and put only Lord Xie on trial.

On the day Xie Huaiyu and the others were released from prison, I had meant to go receive them. But unexpectedly, someone held me up.

That young courtesan named Xiao Feng had slipped and fallen into the lake.

He belonged to the Eldest Princess. If anything happened to him, I could not afford to answer for it.

I hurried over to check on him.

Xiao Feng leaned weakly against a bolster, his face pale. He really did look somewhat as frail as the Eldest Princess had described.

He smiled and said, “Big Sister has come to see me again. These days, I have troubled you so often. Xiao Feng truly feels uneasy.”

He certainly ought to feel uneasy.

Ever since I brought him into the residence, he had been getting hurt every few days. Either he twisted his ankle, strained his breathing, or caught a chill.

His identity was sensitive, so I did not dare entrust him to anyone else. I had no choice but to personally care for him day and night.

Only today was, admittedly, somewhat inconvenient.

I reached out and touched his forehead.

Xiao Feng struggled to prop himself up and said, “Big Sister, if you want me to serve you, I can still move.”

“No need.”

At once, he looked utterly bereft, mist gathering in his eyes. “It must be because I am ugly and offend Big Sister’s eyes. If I cannot win Big Sister’s favor, I may as well have drowned.”

Seeing him try to rise in shame and anger, I quickly pressed him back down.

Just as our sleeves and robes became tangled in a hopeless mess, my brother happened to knock and enter.

“Sister, the carriage has been ready for ages. If we leave any later, we won’t make it in time to-”

He abruptly stopped. His eyes fixed on the man in the bed, and he let out an exceptionally loud gasp.

I found it a little strange. I had told him a few days ago that I was hiding a young courtesan in my courtyard. Surely there was no need to be this shocked.

He had just opened his mouth to cry out when Xiao Feng released me and said with a smiling face, “This servant is called Xiao Feng, the lover the Eldest Princess gave to Big Sister. This servant greets Young Master Wang. Has Young Master been well lately? Is your health still sound?”

I smiled. This man was rather amusing. The first time he met a stranger, he immediately asked after the other person’s health.

My brother looked like a red-faced dud firecracker, stammering, “Quite well.”

I quietly teased him. “What? Is this your first time seeing a young courtesan? So embarrassed you can hardly stand it?”

He stared at me and said meaningfully, “It is indeed my first time seeing one. Very unexpected. Deeply shocking.”

At the time, I still had not heard the implication in his words.

Xiao Feng was so weak he could not even lift a spoon, and could only lean against my shoulder while I fed him his medicine.

My brother stood beside us and was just about to mock him when Xiao Feng glanced sidelong at him. My brother swallowed it back at once, looking as miserable as if his parents had died.