Chapter 233
Chapter 233
Shen Changling had intended to leave at once, but the hairpin in his hand seemed strangely familiar. Almost despite himself, he examined it more closely.
Torchlight flickered across the uncertainty in his eyes.
Ji Hanyi had worn this very hairpin on the day she served tea to the Shen elders.
No. Ji Hanyi could not possibly be here.
Hadn’t she entered the palace? How could she be in a place like this?
Even as he thought it, Shen Changling thrust the hairpin into his robe, listened urgently ahead, cracked his whip, and gave chase.
Wei Wu had draped Ji Hanyi crosswise over his horse. Seeing the soldiers behind him, he urged the animal faster.
The violent jolting nearly made Ji Hanyi vomit. Wind lashed her face, stinging her skin.
With effort, she looked back and saw the approaching riders.
She could not wait helplessly. Drawing a deep breath, Ji Hanyi pulled a hairpin from her hair and drove it into the horse’s belly.
The startled animal screamed and began careening wildly, even trying to turn back.
Wei Wu’s expression changed. The sight of the hairpin told him exactly what she had done. Cursing, he reached to snatch it away.
But with the wounded horse bolting and one hand needed for the reins, he missed. Ji Hanyi stabbed again. The horse went berserk, nearly throwing Wei Wu from the saddle.
The pursuing hoofbeats were already close. Furious, Wei Wu reached for his dagger to stab Ji Hanyi outright. The moment his other hand released her, however, she threw herself from the horse.
Agonizing pain tore through every limb and bone. Ji Hanyi’s vision darkened. Through the gathering blackness, she saw horses racing toward her and drew one long breath.
Shen Changling watched the figure tumble from the saddle. The sight made his heart leap. Abandoning the chase, he dismounted and rushed to the fallen woman.
In the faint light, disheveled hair covered her face, revealing only fragments of pale skin. Even so, horror seized him. He dropped to one knee.
With trembling fingers, he brushed aside her hair. The moment he recognized her, his whole expression shook.
Her cheek burned unnaturally beneath his fingertips. He immediately removed his outer robe and covered her, concealing her face, then barked at the torch-bearing soldiers who were approaching to stay back.
He had no time to wonder why Ji Hanyi was here, already outside the capital and near Shui County.
Glancing at the horse vanishing into the night, Shen Changling’s face changed again.
He knew her identity must remain secret or her reputation would be destroyed. He lifted her into his arms, ordered the remaining men to pursue the fleeing rider, then mounted with Ji Hanyi’s limp body and raced toward the nearest doctor in Shui County.
Even through her clothes, he could feel the unnatural heat radiating from her. Remembering that she had fallen from a horse, his heart tightened with frantic concern. Supporting her back with one arm, he galloped toward the county gate.
Elsewhere, Shen Si reached the foot of the mountain and stopped where Shen Changling had found Ji Hanyi. Everyone was gone.
Discarded torches still burned, proof that people had been here moments earlier.
He looked at a decapitated corpse and ordered a follower to turn over its arm. The conspicuous tattoo identified a bandit from Dawang Mountain.
Shen Si’s cool gaze shifted to the carriage. When he opened it, a familiar scent drifted out, and his taut expression changed faintly.
The wheel tracks ended abruptly here. He summoned a company officer and ordered him to follow them with two men and search carefully for clues.
Shen Si tracked the hoofprints with his eyes, then looked toward the black distance.
Several patches of blood stained the ground, some of it spattered. A dagger lay nearby. It was an ordinary weapon, but its handle was bloody, the blood not yet dry. He lifted it to his nose and paused at a faint scent.
Bending, he touched the severed neck of the corpse. The blood retained a trace of warmth.
Then he picked up an arrow and examined the inscription by torchlight. His expression tightened. Shen Changling had been here.
Shen Si rose, surveyed the surroundings, and summoned his subordinates to issue orders.
Fortunately, they could not have gone far.
Shen Changling galloped into Shui County with Ji Hanyi. Dawn was breaking, a thread of white showing on the horizon, but the streets remained deserted and almost every shop was closed.
He chose a medical clinic at random. Its doors were still shut. Shen Changling had entered the army young. Though he had originally gone merely to pass the time, he had learned some martial skill and possessed far more strength than an ordinary nobleman. He kicked the door so hard that the crash shook the street.
Had someone inside not hurried to open it, Shen Changling would have climbed the wall with Ji Hanyi in his arms.
The man who answered saw a handsome figure wearing only a white inner robe and apparently afflicted with madness. He waved impatiently. “Why are you kicking? We aren’t open yet.”
“Go away, or I’ll report you to the authorities.”
Shen Changling laughed coldly and displayed the sword at his waist. “Report me? I am an officer of the authorities. Summon your county magistrate and he’ll still have to flatter me. What are you?”
“Delay my business, and I’ll make you kneel and lick my boots!”
His words carried such force, and the sword clearly was no common weapon. Though he wore only an inner robe, his clean, noble features marked him as no ordinary man.
The garment covering the person’s head in his arms was unmistakably an official robe. The attendant’s knees weakened, and he hurriedly welcomed them inside.
Shen Changling immediately roused everyone in the clinic and demanded they examine Ji Hanyi.
He kept her face covered and would not permit anyone to touch even her hand. Only after a cloth had been laid over her wrist did he allow the elderly doctor to take her pulse.
The doctor wished to inspect her complexion, but one look at Shen Changling-seated nearby like a murderous deity-and the completely hidden face made him afraid to mention it. He asked his questions cautiously instead.
Shen Changling knew they could not delay treatment, but no one could be allowed to see her face. Ji Hanyi was his Fifth Aunt and newly married. If word spread and ruined her reputation, neither he nor Ji Hanyi upon waking could bear it.
He sent everyone behind a screen, then uncovered her face and prepared to describe what he saw to the doctor.
Her face was deeply flushed, pale skin spotted with blood like dew upon a delicate flower. Her lips were parted, her beauty lush and alluring. Shen Changling stared, then flushed violently and looked away.
“Her face is very red,” he stammered to the doctor outside.
His tongue nearly tripped over the next words. “Her body is very hot too.”
From the pulse and description, the doctor quickly concluded, “The young lady appears to have been given an aphrodisiac.”
Shen Changling’s face changed.
An aphrodisiac…
Had he arrived too late?
Had he truly saved her?
He drew a deep breath and forced the thoughts away. Whatever had happened, he would keep Ji Hanyi’s secret. He would not even tell Fifth Uncle, lest it create a rift between them.
He asked urgently, “She also fell from a horse. Is she badly hurt?”
The doctor hesitated. “Her pulse suggests no injury to the internal organs, but I cannot be certain. She should be watched closely for a day or two. If she vomits blood or grows dizzy, the matter may be serious.”
“We can give her medicine first. As for the abrasions, I cannot assess them without an examination.”
“I do have a salve that will help.”
Shen Changling snapped, “Then hurry and prepare the medicine! I’ll pay any amount if it clears the drug.”
“If you fail to cure her, I’ll tear this clinic apart!”
The doctor dared not delay and hurried away to brew it.
Once the footsteps faded beyond the screen, Shen Changling’s gaze drifted back to Ji Hanyi’s face.
The longer he looked, the faster his heart beat. Even the roots of his ears burned.
In all his imaginings, he had never considered that Ji Hanyi might become his Fifth Aunt.
When Fifth Uncle told him she was betrothed, he had refused to believe it. He wanted to question her himself, but men sent by his father had dragged him back to camp and forbidden him to leave.
He remembered Fifth Uncle’s words: without rank or merit, he was the most insignificant member of the Shen Family and had no right to protect Ji Hanyi. So he trained without rest and volunteered for the Dawang Mountain campaign. He believed that once he earned merit, he would have the right to ask for her hand.
The day he departed was also Fifth Uncle’s wedding day. Everyone said the bride was Ji Hanyi. Shen Changling still refused to believe it and stayed one extra day to see the bride himself.
When he saw her, his heart seemed to die.
For an instant, he felt everyone had deceived him. He fled that day with only one thought: he needed merit.
Now he dared not look at Ji Hanyi, dared not remain in the room, and dared not recall the face he had just seen.
He rushed outside to supervise the brewing medicine, demanding repeatedly how much longer it would take.
The doctor saw him fanning the stove until flames leapt over its rim and hurried to stop him. “Gently, young master. Too fierce a fire will harm the medicine.”
Shen Changling froze and finally settled down.