Xie Nanjia had her handkerchief taken away from her and she looked at Zhao Jingyu silently. She thought he would be angry, but she didn't expect him to actually bend down and gently help Song Huai wipe the blood stain.
He wiped it a few times, then rinsed it in the blood-stained basin, wrung it dry, and continued wiping. Then, without looking back, he told the young apprentice to bring another basin of water.
It seems quite similar.
At first, the Prince of Nanzhao was only concerned with checking Song Huai's injuries and asking the imperial physician for information. When he learned that Song Huai was not in danger of death, he finally put his mind at ease. When he turned around, he found Zhao Jingyu helping to clean up. He was startled and hurriedly stopped him, saying, "I dare not trouble the Second Young Master. Let me do it!"
"It's okay, Xiu'er is fine, it doesn't matter to me, I'll finish wiping it soon." Zhao Jingyu said.
After he said this, King Nanzhao remembered that Xie Nanjia was a girl and the future Crown Princess. He was so frightened that sweat broke out on his forehead and he apologized to Xie Nanjia repeatedly.
"The women in my family have never seen the world. They are at a loss when encountering a small matter. I have to ask you, Miss Xiu'er, to do it yourself. I am really ashamed, ashamed!"
"Your Highness, don't say that. Song Huai was injured because he was trying to protect me. It's my duty to do all this." Xie Nanjia said.
Zhao Jingyu paused while twisting the handkerchief, turned to look at Xie Nanjia, wanted to say something but didn't, and turned back to continue washing Song Huai.
While the surgery was being sutured, the imperial physician was worried that they would not be able to bear the sight, so he tactfully asked them to go out and wait.
Xie Nanjia looked at the timid little apprentice and felt a little worried: "I'm quite courageous, why don't you let me stay and help you!"
"This..." The imperial physician hesitated.
Firstly, she was a girl, how brave could she be? Secondly, she was a guest of the palace and the fiancée of the second young master, which seemed inappropriate.
"Let me do it!" Zhao Jingyu said, taking off his gown and rolling up his sleeves.
Prince Nanzhao immediately expressed his objection, but Zhao Jingyu insisted on doing so, saying that Song Huai's injury could not be delayed any longer, and forcibly drove Prince Nanzhao and Xie Nanjia out of the door.
Xie Nanjia felt that he was a little abnormal, and since the situation was urgent, she just let him go.
As soon as King Nanzhao came out, he was immediately surrounded by his wives, concubines and daughters, who all asked him about Song Huai's situation.
Madam Ning had already woken up. She just kept crying while holding Prince Nanzhao's sleeve, unable to utter a word.
Princess Nanzhao rebuked: "What's the point of crying and wiping tears? You are in public, watch your words and actions!"
Madam Ning was scolded. She sobbed, let go of Prince Nanzhao's sleeve, and stepped back two steps with her back bent.
His own son was injured, but he didn't allow him to cry. It looked really pitiful.
Xie Nanjia watched coldly from the side, thinking that it turns out that all wealthy families are the same.
Prince Nanzhao also felt that the princess had gone too far, and said with a gloomy face: "You are the mistress of the house after all, why do you lose your composure when things happen? There are so many people in the house, but you just sit here and worry about it, and ask Miss Xiu'er, a guest, to help clean up. Is that reasonable?"
Princess Nanzhao blushed and said, "It happened so suddenly. When I saw the child was covered in blood, I panicked and neglected Miss Xiu'er. It was indeed my fault."
Xie Nanjia smiled slightly and remained silent.
Princess Nanzhao said it nicely, but actually she didn't want to do anything. There were so many guards, housekeepers and servants in the mansion, and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to find anyone to help if she really wanted to. At the very least, sending someone to the outside clinic to ask for two doctors to help was also a solution. How could they all just gather at the door, at a loss
Even so, Song Meiwei still felt that her father had wronged her mother, and stood up to speak up for her mother: "Father came back late and didn't understand the situation. This is not mother's fault at all. It was my third brother who had been holding Xiu'er's hand and couldn't pry it apart. Xiu'er followed me in voluntarily..."
"Shut up!" King Nanzhao was horrified, fearing that Zhao Jingyu would be upset if she heard it, so he interrupted his daughter and said sternly, "This is none of your business, go back to your rooms."
"..." Song Meiwei curled her lips and left angrily with Song Meiying and Lu Yingying.
As soon as they left, Song Zhan and Song Ze came back from outside, running over with sweat on their foreheads to ask about their brother's condition.
"You won't die!" King Nanzhao said unhappily with his hands behind his back, "How can you be brothers? Your brother has been in such a big trouble, and you have only just returned now."
The two sons did not dare to explain and could only apologize repeatedly.
Princess Nanzhao said, "It's not them who hurt my brother. Your Highness, it's unreasonable for you to vent your anger."
"You..." King Nanzhao didn't want to argue at this time, so he held back his anger and ordered his two sons, "Take off your outer clothes, wash your hands and go in to help change the second son of Zhao."
"Yes!" the two brothers answered in unison.
"Well..." Xie Nanjia suddenly said, "Since the Second Young Master is already inside, the two princes should not go in. Going in and out might distract the imperial physician."
"Yes, yes, Miss Xiu'er is right, just wait outside!" Princess Nanzhao immediately agreed.
It was bloody, dirty and scary inside, and she didn't want to let her son go in.
Mrs. Wu thought the same thing and whispered, "There's a lot of dust and it's not clean when there's a lot of people coming and going."
Madam Ning lowered her head, her fingers clenched until they turned white.
Their son is a son, but her son is not a son.
Since the suggestion was made by Xie Nanjia, King Nanzhao did not refute it and ordered the two brothers to investigate the origins of the assassin first.
Princess Nanzhao wanted to object again, but the sharp eyes from the King of Nanzhao made her shut up.
The two princes took the order and left.
The rest of the people moved to the pavilion in the yard and waited. A servant came and reported that Young Master Nanfeng wanted to see him.
Xie Nanfeng heard in the inn that Song Huai was assassinated in a teahouse on Yong'an Street and that there was a beautiful girl with him. He immediately thought of Xie Nanjia and ran over to find out what happened.
"Please come in quickly." King Nanzhao ordered.
The servant took the order and left. After a while, he brought Xie Nanfeng over.
Xie Nanfeng was so frightened when he saw Xie Nanjia covered in blood that he walked forward in two steps without greeting the Nanzhao King and his wife. He directly pulled Xie Nanjia up and asked, "How are you? Are you hurt?"
Seeing that his brother's face turned pale with fear, Xie Nanjia smiled softly and comforted him: "Don't be nervous, I'm fine. If I were hurt, would I still be able to sit here properly?"
"Then why is there so much blood on your body?" Xie Nanfeng asked.
"It was Song Huai's blood. I was covering his wound at the time, but I didn't have time to change it when I came back." Xie Nanjia explained. Seeing that he was sweating profusely from running, she naturally took out a handkerchief from his right sleeve pocket, wiped his sweat, and tidied up his messy hair. "Don't worry, I will take good care of myself."
Xie Nanfeng stared at her blankly, his eyes red.
"I've already told you it's okay." Xie Nanjia smiled and tapped him on the forehead, "Be a real man, don't be so hypocritical."
She thought Xie Nanfeng was worried about her, but in fact it was because she found Xie Nanfeng's handkerchief accurately.
If he is not a particularly close person, how would he know where he puts his handkerchief
In fact, he has already accepted that it is his sister's soul living in his cousin Xiu'er's body, so he has brought Taxue with him on purpose. However, he cannot recognize his sister and can only feel her presence and the joy of regaining her from little things.
Princess Nanzhao did not understand the reason and watched coldly from the side. She always felt that the relationship between the cousins was too good, even closer than real siblings.
Could there be something fishy going on between these two people? She frowned secretly and fell into deep thought.
Xie Nanfeng is the only son of General Wu'an. He is handsome and promising at a young age. Not only does he have a prominent family background, but his family is also simple, making him a good candidate for a son-in-law.
Her daughter Song Meiwei had been betrothed to the eldest son of the Southwest Jiedushi family. Unfortunately, the child was unlucky and died of illness before the marriage. With this delay, Song Meiwei was a little older and it was not easy for her to find a suitable family.
Therefore, when she met Xie Nanfeng for the first time, Princess Nanzhao took him to heart. If Xie Nanfeng had not brought a team with him and it was not convenient for him to stay in the palace, she would have kept him in the palace no matter what so that she could take the opportunity to cultivate his relationship with Meiwei.
But now it seems that this Young Master Nanfeng only has his cousin in his eyes and doesn't care about anyone else. Does her Meiwei still have a chance
As everyone was anxiously waiting, the door of the doctor's office finally opened, and the imperial physician and Zhao Jingyu walked out with tired faces.
Madam Ning was the first to go forward and inquire about the situation. The imperial physician said that the patient was fine, but had not yet woken up. He had to stay here and be sent back to Fengming Palace after he woke up.
Madam Ning was relieved then and thanked the imperial physician repeatedly. The imperial physician said that the Second Young Master Zhao had helped a lot, and Madam Ning knelt down and kowtowed to Zhao Jingyu on the spot.
Zhao Jingyu didn't care about these empty formalities, so he stopped her and said that he was a little tired and wanted to go back to take a shower and rest.
Xie Nanjia then took Xie Nanfeng and him back to Fengming Palace.
After bathing and changing clothes, the three of them went to the bamboo building to rest and chat.
"I think Nanzhao is not a place to stay for long. Why don't we send a letter to the capital to ask. If things over there have been handled, we can set off back as soon as possible." Xie Nanfeng suggested.
"It's no use asking. The emperor said that as long as the situation over there stabilizes, he will send someone to pick us up. If he doesn't send anyone, it means that the time has not come yet." Zhao Jingyu said with half-closed eyes while lying in the rocking chair. He paused and raised his head to glance at Xie Nanjia. "Your cousin has already been happy there and wants to put down roots here!"
"What?" Xie Nanfeng frowned deeply at Xie Nanjia when he heard this, "What's so good about this place? Are you crazy?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
"You're crazy, aren't you? Not only did you help him block the knife, you also helped him take off his clothes and wipe his body!" Zhao Jingyu said with great resentment.
Xie Nanfeng's face turned black: "Why did you help him block the knife? There are so many people in the palace, do you need to help take off clothes and wipe the body? Do you know the difference between men and women?"
"..." Xie Nanjia stretched out her arm and slapped him, "What's wrong with you? Don't you hate him the most? Why are you suddenly on his side? Whose side are you on?"
Xie Nanfeng was stunned by his sister's question. Thinking of his previous attitude towards Zhao Jingyu, he felt a little embarrassed for a moment. He stiffened his neck and tried to find a way out for himself: "I am a rational person. I will not take sides. I will see who is right."
"Tsk!" Xie Nanjia curled her lips in disdain, "You are a two-faced person, a fence-sitter!"
"Don't worry about what kind of grass she is. Just tell me why you helped Song Huai block the knife and took off your clothes and wiped your body!" Zhao Jingyu took over the conversation.
"Yes, tell me quickly!" Xie Nanfeng echoed.
"Hey!" Xie Nanjia was so angry at the two guys that she laughed, "Which of you saw me blocking the knife for Song Huai? Do you know how Song Huai got injured?"
"How did it come?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"Two swords were stabbing at me at the same time. In order to protect me, Song Huai hugged me and turned around, blocking the two swords with his back," said Xie Nanjia.
"What, he actually hugged you!" Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanfeng shouted at the same time.
"..." Xie Nanjia was so angry that her face turned green. She grabbed the feather duster on the table and slapped everyone. "Why don't you focus on the main point? The other person was seriously injured and unconscious because of me. What did you two do? Can you have some conscience?"
Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanfeng looked at each other in tacit understanding and laughed.
Xie Nanjia: “…”
This fickle man!
"I was just teasing you." After Zhao Jingyu finished laughing, he said seriously, "Song Huai is a good person, otherwise I wouldn't have wiped his body myself and assisted the imperial physician in healing him. When have you ever seen me serve others like this?"
Humph! Xie Nanjia rolled her eyes and didn't want to pay attention to him.
Zhao Jingyu added: "I think this incident will probably not reveal any truth. The best outcome is that Song Huai is not dead."
"I think so too. I heard that all the assassins were killed, not a single one was left alive." Xie Nanfeng said.
"Then who do you think wants to kill him?" Xie Nanjia asked.
"It's hard to say." Zhao Jingyu shook his head.
"It's hard to say." Xie Nanfeng also shook his head.
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Where did this inexplicable tacit understanding between these two begin
"In any case, no matter what the truth is, you must inform me in advance wherever you go in the future. You are not allowed to leave the palace without me." Xie Nanfeng warned her seriously.
Xie Nanjia did not argue with him about this and agreed to his request very seriously.
No matter what, safety is the most important thing, and she doesn't want to joke with her own life.
Later, Song Huai woke up. After the imperial physician diagnosed him, he had him sent back to Fengming Palace to recuperate.
Because the injury was on his back, he couldn't lie flat and could only lie prone on the bed.
Xie Nanjia and Zhao Jingyu went to see him and talked with him for a while.
Song Huai heard from somewhere that Xie Nanjia and Zhao Jingyu helped him wipe his body. He felt embarrassed when he saw them and thanked them awkwardly.
Zhao Jingyu returned to his original state and said nonchalantly: "No need to thank me, we just don't want to owe you a favor, now we are even."
Song Huai smiled weakly: "I know, you are what people call a sharp tongue but a soft heart."
Zhao Jingyu: "… It seems that you have a deep misunderstanding of me. I am obviously a sharp-tongued person with a sharp heart."
Song Huai smiled and waved at him: "Don't make me laugh, my wound hurts."
Xie Nanjia also laughed.
Mrs. Ning came over to bring chicken soup to her son. Seeing the three young people talking and laughing happily, she stopped at the door with tears in her eyes.
Xie Nanjia saw her out of the corner of her eye, stood up and invited her into the house. In order to allow the mother and son to have a good talk, she took Zhao Jingyu and left.
It was still early, and the two of them were walking in the garden enjoying the evening breeze.
After a while, Madam Ning suddenly came over and bowed to the two of them without saying a word.
Xie Nanjia hurriedly stopped her and told her not to be polite.
Madam Ning said, "Although my Huai'er is loved by the prince, he doesn't feel comfortable in the mansion because of my humble background. Dangers like today are commonplace for him. He has experienced it countless times since he was a child. Before you came, I had never seen him smile so happily. Just for this, I have to thank you very much."
"Really?" Xie Nanjia and Zhao Jingyu looked at each other. "I see that your family members get along quite well with each other."
Madam Ning lowered her eyes and sighed softly, forcing a smile and saying, "As a member of the royal family, who can tell whether someone is sincere or not? I just turn a blind eye and live my life in vain."
"..." Xie Nanjia didn't want to comment on other people's family affairs, so she smiled and said nothing.
Madam Ning was very sensitive. Seeing her like this, she immediately put away her complaints and blamed herself: "Look at what I said. I made you two guests laugh. I didn't mean anything else. I just hope you can spend more time with my Huai'er, make him happy, and heal his injuries quickly. Please forgive me if I'm rude."
Xie Nanjia and Zhao Jingyu smiled and said it was okay, and Mrs. Ning left in a hurry.
"Interesting." Zhao Jingyu said meaningfully, looking at her back.
(End of this chapter)