Chapter 7

Chapter 7

In truth, the one who truly had no say in her own fate was me.

The next day, with Liuyao’s help, I moved into Qu Huang’s secondary residence with my father, Ah Er, and the nameless man.

For several long nights after that, humiliation overwhelmed me. Nearly every day, I opened my eyes only to weep until dawn.

As for my father, someone had died in the shop, and he was so frightened that he no longer dared to go back. All day long, he was dazed and terrified, and gradually he took to his bed, falling into a stupor from which he would not wake.

The stranger’s condition was also worsening.

That day, when I threw away his blood-soaked clothes, a green jade pendant fell out of them. Inscribed on it was the character for “Chui.”

The jade was smooth, translucent, and beautifully carved. One look was enough to tell it was a precious object.

This man had to have an extraordinary background.

I had examined the wound on his leg. Not only was it so deep the bone was visible, the flesh around it had already begun to rot. Anyone else would likely have died a hundred times over, yet he was still clinging to a single breath.

But if the wound continued to fester, that leg would not be saved.

He had saved my life, which made him my benefactor. After thinking it over again and again, I found some honey and left it out in the sun, letting flies and insects swarm over it for several days. Soon, a layer of pale white eggs floated on top.

Afraid he would wake and struggle, I tied his limbs down tightly with rope. Then I took a chopstick and picked the eggs from the honey one by one, placing them onto the rotting flesh.

I was sweating all over from the effort when the man on the bed suddenly shuddered.

I looked up. In the dim daylight, a pair of chilling green eyes were fixed on me. I had not expected him to wake so quickly, and for an instant my mind went blank.

He stared unblinking at the thing in my hand, his voice like a shrieking owl, hoarse to the extreme.

“What is that?”

I was silent for a long while before I could not help but whisper, “…Maggots.”

At that, his eyes flew wide.

“You-you dare humiliate me like this!”

I had meant to explain, but the next moment, I met that icy gaze, and all desire to do so vanished.

“So what if I am humiliating you?”

With that, ignoring his terrifying expression, I wrapped his swollen injured leg in layer after layer of cotton cloth. The corner of my mouth lifted, my face utterly indifferent. “Are you going to be like that eunuch and chop off my head with one strike?”

“…”

Amid the carved bed and gauze curtains, his face was white as snow. With black hair and green eyes, and specks of fresh red blood staining his cheek, his skin seemed even more translucent and his eye color all the more unusual.

To observe such beauty up close was rather breathtaking.

Gradually, I no longer dared to look at him. I only mumbled, “That would be a quick death, at least. I’ll wait for you, so don’t make me wait too long.”

For all I knew, before long, I would already be dead at County Princess Wenzhao’s hands.

Thinking of that, I grew even more disheartened.

Seeing that the sky was darkening, I took an ax and went to the little river outside the courtyard.

I was bent over, chopping bark, when drums and horns suddenly sounded not far away, the music ringing bright and loud. A wedding procession was approaching, winding on for an astonishing length. It passed for a very long time and still had not come to an end.

Looking again, I saw young men on both sides wearing red flowers in their hair and red robes on their bodies. There were actually several dozen of them!

“I heard there are over a hundred girls being married off from the west side of the city today. Even the ones not yet fifteen have been matched and sent away!”

“Ah, these days, being able to marry them off at all is already considered lucky!”

By the roadside beneath the trees, commoners had crowded together to watch the excitement. A few who knew the inside story lowered their voices and began gossiping.

“The Sovereign is already past seventy. Why would he suddenly want to select maidens for the palace again? Could it be that Noble Consort Xi’s beauty has faded?”

“Hah! How could that be? She is the greatest beauty in all of Great Ye!”

“But I heard from someone that when the Sovereign traveled south, he could hardly endure the jolting along the way. His condition was already not good…”

Before he could finish, however, the woman beside him smacked him on the head, and he shut his mouth in embarrassment.

I stood among the crowd and listened for a while. Seeing the sky grow darker and darker, I hurried home.

Today’s harvest was rather plentiful. I washed the willow bark I had chopped down, put it into a pot, and boiled it until a great pot of water had reduced to a shallow pool of liquid. Only then did I ladle it into a small bowl and have Ah Er carry it inside.

Unexpectedly, before even a breath had passed, Ah Er brought that bowl of gray-green broth back out exactly as it was. His face was pale, and his lips trembled. “My lady, c-can I not deliver it?”

“Why?”

“He said if I dared go over, he’d kill me…”

“…”