silence.
The only response to him was silence.
She seemed not to hear anything, only the pair of hands on his back continued to do her own thing.
Xie Changgeng turned around and looked at her.
Her eyes were fixed on the wound on his back. Her face was as clear as lake water. The light shone on her drooping dark eyelashes, casting two soft and cold arc-shaped shadows under her eyes.
If the child had not appeared alive in front of him, she would not look like a woman who had given birth to a child.
She put down the knife, took the medicine bottle, picked up some ointment with a small pestle, applied the ointment to him and bandaged the wound.
"Have someone change your dressing every day, and don't let the wound get wet or exposed to rain."
After she finished speaking, she extended her hand toward him.
A white, soft hand with a cool touch gently pressed against his forehead to check his body temperature.
The moment the hand pressed down, Xie Changgeng closed his eyes.
She quickly withdrew her hand.
"You have a slight fever, maybe it's caused by an injury. I'll prescribe a prescription, boil the medicine according to the prescription, three doses a day, and make sure to rest more."
He stood up slowly and put his clothes back on.
She still didn't look at him. After giving the order, she turned around, walked to the table, turned her back to him, took out a pen and paper, bent over to write the prescription, and when she was considering the dosage, she suddenly heard a somewhat abrupt voice behind her: "Mu, what did I do to make you hate me so much?"
She paused, then continued writing, saying, "That day I thought Xi'er was in danger, so I lost control and stabbed you. You didn't hold it against me, and you helped me find Xi'er. No matter what, I have to thank you..."
A shadow loomed behind her, and a hand reached out and grabbed the hand that was writing the prescription.
Mu Fulan's eyelashes moved slightly, but her eyes were still lowered.
"Can you please let go? I'm writing a prescription for you..." she said.
He snatched the pen from her hand and threw it away.
The ink absorbed on the brush splashed all over the table in dots.
"You know what I mean!" He leaned over and said to her, his tone slightly annoyed.
Mu Fulan raised her head, turned her head, and met Xie Changgeng's gaze.
He stared at her with a dark look in his eyes.
Mu Fulan just moved her body, and he had already grasped her hand, led her, and forced her to turn towards him.
She lost her balance for a moment, her body tilted slightly, and her forehead hit his chin.
A burst of hot breath brushed across her face.
She was caught off guard and trapped between the man's body and the table.
He said, "Mu, I proposed to you, which certainly hindered your relationship with Junshan, but I was only there to propose, not to force you. Since your father agreed to the marriage, he had his reasons. As a princess, even if you had someone in your heart at that time, from the day your father agreed to the marriage, you should have settled down and put your husband first."
"After we made the engagement, I kept my promise and protected Changsha's peace. Not only that, I did not prevent you from having a child in secret, nor did I harm your beloved. How he died has nothing to do with me!"
"I don't need to hide it. I was born in a humble family, but I have come this far. Do you think that I can achieve success overnight by marrying into your country of Changsha? During those three years, I fought in the mountains and rivers, and faced life and death. Three years later, I married you as promised. How could I have done anything wrong to you? Why do you treat me like this?"
His voice gradually became excited, and his breath blew against her ears. His body temperature was already a little hot, and it became even hotter at this moment. The heat seemed to penetrate the warp and weft of the fabric of their clothes, and gradually penetrated under her clothes.
Mu Fulan felt her skin tingling.
He paused, his chest rising and falling slightly, as if trying to calm his current emotions.
"Look up!"
After a moment, Mu Fulan heard him speaking to her in a commanding tone.
She slowly raised her eyes and met a pair of eyes that were looking down at her gloomily.
He looked at her and said, "Mrs. Mu, I've thought about it. This time I was indeed too reckless and put your son in danger. It was my fault and it won't happen again. But if you hadn't lied to me and insulted me so much before, which made me really unbearable, why would I have the mind to make things difficult for a woman like you?"
"Ask yourself, from the beginning till now, was it me, Xie Changgeng, who wronged you first, or was it you who acted without regard for propriety and went too far?"
The surroundings fell silent, the only sound remaining in his ears was his heavy breathing, which sounded particularly clear, and was somewhat angry.
Mu Fulan raised her head slightly and looked at the man who was still trapping her in front of her. Suddenly, she felt a sense of powerlessness as if she was deeply trapped in the quagmire of fate.
Since she returned to Changsha and he followed her, similar disputes have occurred too many times between the two of them.
This time, compared to the past, his anger was much more restrained. In fact, besides being angry, his tone revealed some unprecedented resentment and even grievance.
How could she not hear it
Of course, it is unfair to hold someone responsible for something he has not done in his life.
But she knew that one day, his ambition to be king would make him reveal the coldness in his blood.
How dare I forget the past if I haven’t drunk the water of the Forgetful River
She finally spoke and asked him, "So, what do you want?"
"Mu, I don't need you to kneel down and confess your guilt to me, and I have no intention of making things difficult for you. But from now on, you must remember that as long as I am your husband, you must fulfill your duties as a wife!"
He lowered his head, looked at her, and slowly uttered these words.
The candlelight on the desk flickered.
There seemed to be an undercurrent silently flowing beneath those dark eyes, and the hand holding her never loosened, still holding her between him and the table behind her.
After a moment, she moved her hands, trying to get them out of his hot palms, and whispered, "The prescription is not finished yet..."
"I was out the other day and didn't sleep well. I'm tired. I'll go back to my room early to rest at night. You can prepare the medicine and wait for me."
He looked at her, his voice low and even, then he let go of her hand and walked out.
…
At 11 p.m., Xier took a bath, changed into sleeping clothes, and sat on the bed.
This time she left in a hurry, and only two maids, Danzhu and Zhuyu, were with her. They were in the next room, making the bed for Xier.
Mu Fulan examined the wound on the sole of the child's foot.
The wounds recovered well, have healed, and new flesh has grown.
"Mother, I'm no longer in pain."
Mu Fulan was completely relieved, remembering that he had sneaked into Xie Changgeng's study to find him in the evening, and said, "But you still can't run around these few days, okay? The flesh hasn't grown firm yet, be careful not to break the skin again."
Xier nodded: "I understand. Today I wanted to give Xiao Ma a name, so I went to see Master Xie. Mother, Master praised me for being brave and said that Xiao Ma is just like me."
There was a hint of pride in the child's tone.
Mu Fulan didn't say anything, just smiled, took a pair of soft socks and put them on his little feet.
As if sensing the subtle change in her mood, Xier stopped mentioning "Sir Xie" which her mother seemed to dislike hearing and kept her mouth shut.
"Mom, are we going back soon?"
After a while, when Mu Fulan was tying her garters, she heard the child suddenly ask her this.
She raised her eyes and looked at Xi'er's eyes. She was considering how to answer when she heard a voice behind her: "Your foal is still young. It is suitable for it to grow up in Hexi. If it goes to other places, it will be easy to get sick. It will not be suitable to leave until at least next spring, when it is half a year old. Are you willing to stay here and grow up with it?"
"Thank you, sir, you're back!"
Xier called him and immediately climbed up from the bed, as if she wanted to get out of bed. She glanced at her mother and stopped again.
Mu Fulan turned around.
Xie Changgeng came in and stood next to the screen.
"Mother, Lord Xie said that the little dragon horse is too small to walk now, so can we wait until it grows up before going back?" Xier looked at Mu Fulan and asked, with a pleading look on her face.
Before Mu Fulan could answer, Xie Changgeng said, "She didn't shake her head, which means she agrees with you."
"Mother?"
Xier opened her eyes wide and looked at Mu Fulan.
Mu Fulan nodded slowly.
A look of joy appeared on Xier's face.
The maid came in and said, "My lady, the young master's bed is ready."
Seeing Xie Changgeng's eyes looking at her, Mu Fulan suppressed the confusion in her heart and said softly to the child on the bed, "Xi'er, go to sleep. Mother will take you to your room, okay?"
Xier glanced at Xie Changgeng and nodded.
Mu Fulan was about to pick up Xi'er when Xie Changgeng came over and said, "Ask someone to prepare some water for me and bring the medicine over."
He bent over, picked up the little man on the bed, turned around and walked out, took him to the adjacent room, put the man on the bed, told him to lie down, and covered him with a quilt.
"sleep!"
Xier closed her eyes immediately.
Xie Changgeng looked around and walked over. When he closed the window, he heard a child's voice behind him: "Master Xie, is your back still hurting?"
He turned his head and saw that the child had opened his eyes, sat up from the bed, and was looking at him.
"Sir, please don't blame my mother, okay? I will tell her to never treat you like this again..."
Xie Changgeng looked at the little man on the bed, and his heart suddenly softened.
He closed the window, walked back, and said to the little man, "It doesn't hurt anymore. I don't blame her."
Xier breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, sir. Then you should also remember to listen to my mother. Don't be afraid of the bitterness of the medicine. Take it well and you will get better soon."
Xie Changgeng nodded, asked him to lie down again, and said, "Go to sleep."
Xier closed her eyes again.
Xie Changgeng turned around and was about to go out when he heard the child calling him again.
He stopped and turned his head.
"Sir, are you going to sleep with my mother every night from now on?"
He saw the child open his eyes again and asked in a low voice. The child huddled in the quilt, curled up like a small ball, with only a small face showing, and two eyes looking at him.
Xie Changgeng was stunned.
"Sister Zhuyu said that adults and my mother are husband and wife and should sleep together at night. She told me to be obedient, sleep by myself, and not bother mother. She and Sister Danzhu will accompany me." He added.
Xie Changgeng came back to his senses, and looking at those clear and pure eyes that seemed to understand but not understand, he suddenly felt guilty as if he was a child snatching his favorite thing.
He coughed and said, "If you don't want to sleep alone, then go back..."
The child under the covers shook his head.
"My Lord, please go and sleep with her. I just want to ask you, my Lord, can you be nicer to her and not bully her? Also, my mother is very timid. When it thunders, she gets scared and hugs me, and I hug her, so she is not afraid anymore. Next time when it rains and thunders, my Lord, remember to hug her."
Xie Changgeng couldn't help blushing and said vaguely, "I know. Go to sleep."
The child chattered on and on until he finally finished giving instructions. He seemed to feel relieved, yawned, and slowly closed his eyes.