Xie Yun said nothing more, only drinking his clear tea in silence.
Si Huahuan was in high spirits, happily tasting every exquisite dish on the table. Even after eating just two bites of each, she felt quite full by the time she had tried them all.
They charged the meal to the Marquis Ming’an’s residence and walked out of Juxian Restaurant.
Xie Yun saw her rubbing her stomach and said, “You’ve eaten so much and still plan to ride in the carriage? Be careful, the bumps might make you throw up. Let’s walk for a bit. I’ll stroll with you to help with digestion.”
Si Huahuan also felt rather stuffed. For once, she did not argue and simply nodded in agreement.
They walked a few steps in silence, and then Si Huahuan asked again, “So, are you and Lin Heng close or not?”
Xie Yun replied, “Why do you keep asking about him?”
“Just curious, that’s all.”
“Curious about me, or curious about him?”
Si Huahuan was beginning to lose her patience. “Just answer my questions. Why do you always have so many questions of your own?”
After a pause, Xie Yun said, “Not particularly close.”
Si Huahuan asked, “Have there ever been any conflicts or bad blood between you two?”
“…Not before. Why are you asking me this anyway?”
“No reason.”
Si Huahuan nodded in understanding. It seemed any enmity between them had developed only later on.
She was so focused on figuring out their relationship that she completely ignored the man walking behind her, who was practically radiating resentment.
They wandered through the busy market street, until they stopped in front of an unassuming stall. Several oddly shaped, colorful stones caught Si Huahuan’s eye.
Since she was a child, she had always loved all kinds of beautiful gems. Feeling a sudden interest, she bent down and leaned closer to look carefully.
The moment she lowered her head, a fierce argument broke out inside a restaurant right next to them.
Then came a loud crash. A dark object flew hurling out from the restaurant entrance.
It barely grazed the top of her back as she was bending over. With a dull thud, it landed squarely and heavily right on Xie Yun’s forehead—he was standing just behind her.
Si Huahuan heard a low groan from the man beside her, followed by a metallic clang as something hit the ground. She straightened up to look and was stunned speechless.
Lying clearly visible on the ground was a large, heavy iron ladle.
For a moment, she did not know whether to be shocked that Xie Yun had been hit fair and square by an iron ladle falling from the sky, or relieved that she had happened to bend down and avoid the disaster herself…
Xie Yun swayed on his feet. Bright red blood welled up quickly from the broken skin on his forehead, trickling down slowly. Against his fair complexion, the sight was particularly striking.
“Xie Yun!” Si Huahuan cried out in alarm. She didn’t stop to think, hastily pulling out her silk handkerchief and pressing it clumsily against the injured spot on his forehead. “Are you… are you all right?”
Just then, a plump shopkeeper from the restaurant rushed out in a panic to retrieve the ladle. He looked up and saw the man with the bleeding wound, dressed in rich, fine robes, and the woman beside him with such an air of nobility. His face turned pale with fright.
He bowed repeatedly and apologized profusely. “Oh my heavens! Please forgive me, Your Excellency! I was just arguing with my bad-tempered wife at home. She grabbed whatever was at hand and threw it. I never, ever imagined it would hit someone as distinguished as you! Are… are you badly hurt? What… what am I going to do about this!”
The shopkeeper rambled incoherently, terrified that he had injured a high-ranking official or nobleman, and that this unexpected disaster would ruin him and cost him everything he owned.
Xie Yun only felt a throbbing pain where he had been hit. His head buzzed, and waves of dizziness washed over him.
He closed his eyes for a moment, with only one thought in his mind: He knew he had always been unlucky, but never imagined it could be this bad. Who would have thought something as absurd as being hit by a flying iron ladle could actually happen to him?
“Can you still walk?” Si Huahuan asked.
He placed his hand on her slender shoulder, using it to steady himself. He let her press the handkerchief tightly against his wound, his voice sounding weak and faint. “It’s fine… just a bit dizzy.”
He looked anything but fine.
Seeing how pale he was and how cold sweat dripped down his forehead, Si Huahuan also began to feel a little panicked. She quickly called for Wei Zi and Du Feng, Xie Yun’s personal attendant, to help him into the carriage.
The interior of the carriage was spacious. Xie Yun leaned against the soft cushions, his brows tightly furrowed, holding the handkerchief against his forehead himself.
“Yao Huang, take Xie Yun’s horse and ride back to the palace as fast as you can to fetch Jiang Heshu.”
After giving the order to Yao Huang outside the carriage, she turned back and swiftly pressed one index finger against Xie Yun, who was about to lean his weight onto her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“My head is spinning. Let me lean on you for a moment,” he said, his voice sounding weak and lacking strength.
Si Huahuan pushed him away gently. “Go lean somewhere else.”
Xie Yun kept up his act of weakness, closing his eyes again and furrowing his brows even deeper. “I’m really dizzy… That ladle was incredibly heavy.” As he spoke, he made as if to fall toward her again.
Si Huahuan still refused to give way, staring straight at him. She stared and stared, until suddenly she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She had always hoped something bad would happen to Xie Yun, and today, right before her very eyes, it finally had!
“You dare laugh?” Xie Yun raised an eyebrow.
“So what? Can’t I laugh when I think of something happy?” Si Huahuan reached out, clearly gloating, and lifted the handkerchief from his forehead. “Let me see.”
Everything had happened so suddenly. When she saw the blood, she had instinctively pressed the cloth against it without thinking, and hadn’t yet had a chance to see just how bad the injury really was.
Xie Yun sat up straight and leaned back, avoiding her hand. “Ouch, don’t touch. It hurts.”
Si Huahuan had no choice but to give up. It would be better to wait until they returned to the palace and let Jiang Heshu treat him properly.
Her gaze drifted casually, and her attention was drawn to his hand, which was wrapped in fine white cloth.
It was hard not to notice—he kept waving it right in front of her face, making it impossible to ignore.
“How is your hand?”
Xie Yun sighed and shook his head. “Just as Ru Feng said. The wound is too deep, it tears open easily, and it’s hard to heal. It will probably take quite a while longer to recover.”
Her focus remained fixed on his long, capable fingers.
She had never paid attention before, but his hand was surprisingly attractive. It was large, with long fingers and clearly defined knuckles, fair and slender, with a faint hint of pink around the joints.
What a waste that such a fine hand belonged to Xie Yun. It was simply a disgrace to such beauty.
Xie Yun noticed her intense gaze and curled his fingers slightly. “Do you like what you see?”
Si Huahuan didn’t catch his meaning right away. “Like what?”
“My hand.”
“Don’t be so full of yourself,” Si Huahuan rolled her eyes dramatically. “I don’t have that kind of hobby.”
At least, not when it came to him.
“Remember, I’ve been injured twice now, and both times it was because of you,” Xie Yun said, trying to appeal to her conscience.
“How can you blame this on me?” Si Huahuan laughed. “Today was purely your own bad luck, alright?”
“Even so, I took a hit for you. If I hadn’t been there, that thing might well have hit you instead.”
“Have you ever thought that perhaps I only encountered this trouble precisely because you were there?”
Xie Yun fell silent.
He had no reply to that.
This was exactly like the classic chicken-or-egg question; there was no way to argue who was right or wrong.
Si Huahuan was delighted, triumphant after winning yet another argument, looking as proud as a peacock. Xie Yun surrendered and said no more. After that, the two of them remained silent for the rest of the ride.
Si Huahuan had intended for Yao Huang to bring Jiang Heshu directly to Xie Yun’s residence, Jiarui Hall. But upon their return to the palace, she saw that Yao Huang had brought the physician straight to her own residence, Yong’an Palace.
She had no choice but to lead Xie Yun unwillingly through the gates of Yong’an Palace.
“Injured again?” Jiang Heshu couldn’t help but frown slightly as soon as he saw the bloodstained handkerchief pressed against Xie Yun’s forehead. “Your hand hasn’t even fully healed yet, and now you’ve hurt your head too.”
Xie Yun sat down calmly. “Just accidents.”
Jiang Heshu first removed the handkerchief to examine the wound, while Si Huahuan leaned in to look as well.
Fortunately, the wound was not large. It hadn’t been cut by the sharp edge of the ladle, and it had stopped bleeding. There was just a raised bump, red and swollen.
Si Huahuan had to force herself to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Jiang Heshu prepared his medical kit and suddenly asked, “Have you two had your birth charts compared?”
Just mentioning this matter made Si Huahuan flare up with anger. She remained silent for a long while, until Xie Yun answered for her. “We have.”
“Didn’t it say that your destinies are incompatible?”
Si Huahuan’s eyes lit up as if she had finally found a kindred spirit. She looked at Jiang Heshu eagerly. “You think our birth charts don’t match either, don’t you?”
Jiang Heshu did not confirm or deny it, but instead asked, “When you compared them, didn’t the results predict that he would encounter bloody disasters?”
Recently, Xie Yun seemed to be getting injured far too often. For things that logic couldn’t explain, it was always better to turn to a bit of metaphysics.
Si Huahuan pouted.
If it had really been predicted that their marriage would bring bloody disasters upon Xie Yun, she would have agreed to it immediately and without hesitation.
Why bother choosing an auspicious date? They should just pick the most inauspicious day in the near future to get married, and then just sit back and wait for those disasters to befall him.
Unfortunately, things never went the way she wanted, and no such wonderful prediction had been made.
She watched Jiang Heshu slowly and carefully cleaning Xie Yun’s wound, and asked, “Do you have any effective medicine or prescriptions that can make his injuries heal faster?”
Jiang Heshu glanced at her in surprise. “Why are you in such a hurry for him to get better?”
Xie Yun also looked at her with a hint of surprise.
“Of course I am,” Si Huahuan rested her chin in her hands. “Right now, there are already rumors spreading everywhere, saying that he was forced into marrying me against his will. If people see him with injuries all over his face and hands on the wedding day, who knows what stories they’ll make up next? Everyone will think that the imperial family used some kind of extreme means to force him into this marriage.”
Even though the wedding was just a formality, not only would the nobles and ministers be watching, but so would all the people in the capital. She still had to preserve the dignity and reputation of the royal family.
Xie Yun closed his eyes silently. The faint spark of hope that had risen in his heart a moment ago vanished instantly.
What on earth had he been hoping for?
Jiang Heshu said, “The wedding is in five days. This injury on his forehead probably won’t heal completely by then. We’ll just have to cover it up with some powder or makeup.”
Xie Yun disagreed. “If I use powder, any slight movement will make it show.”
Jiang Heshu replied, “Then just don’t move.”
Xie Yun fell silent.
“Isn’t it just a few stalks of cordyceps?” He finally spoke, unable to endure any longer. “I’ll compensate you for them, alright!”
Jiang Heshu guarded his medicinal ingredients even more closely than his money bag. If someone stole fifty taels of silver from him, he wouldn’t bat an eye. But if someone stole just five *qian* worth of medicine, he would fight them to the death.
“Five times the value,” Jiang Heshu held up five fingers.
Xie Yun gritted his teeth. “Fine.”
Having successfully extorted a good sum, Jiang Heshu immediately beamed with delight. “It just so happens I have a bottle of excellent ointment for reducing swelling. Guaranteed to make all traces disappear within five days.”
“Hmph,” Xie Yun sneered coldly. “It’s a good thing you never became an official in the court. Otherwise, you’d surely be a corrupt high-ranking minister.”
Jiang Heshu shook one index finger at him. “This is a friend price I’m offering you, purely out of respect for you.”
“…Should I thank you then?”
“Don’t mention it.” Jiang Heshu looked up, his eyes suddenly full of sympathy. “Consider it a farewell gift, seeing as your good days are coming to an end.”
Xie Yun didn’t understand the meaning of his words right away. But Si Huahuan did. She exchanged a mysterious smile with Jiang Heshu.
Exactly. Xie Yun’s good days were almost over.