By the time they got home, they were completely soaked, dripping wet from head to toe like two drowned rats.
Ji Yu sneezed several times in a row. She couldn’t afford to get sick and miss her important appointment tomorrow. More importantly, she was worried that Nan Xing would catch a cold, which could worsen his condition. She urged him to go change immediately before heading into her own room.
After changing into dry clothes, Ji Yu went straight to the kitchen to boil water, make ginger soup, and prepare his medicine. Once everything was done, she hurried back with fresh bandages and medicine.
She knocked gently on the door. “Master Qi, I’m here to change your dressing. May I come in?”
Inside the room, Nan Xing’s hand froze. He almost lost his grip, nearly letting the pigeon make a sound. He steadied himself, holding the bird’s beak shut, his gaze shifting from the note on the table to the door, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Silence.
Ji Yu waited patiently. She figured he was having trouble changing clothes because of his injuries and couldn’t answer right now, so she decided to wait a little longer.
But after waiting for quite some time, there was still no sound. She started to get anxious and knocked again. Still no answer.
According to his personality, even if he wasn’t dressed yet, he would have told her to wait. Had he fainted?
It was possible. He was poisoned, his wound had opened up again, and he had been caught in the rain. He was extremely weak.
Worried sick, she placed her hand on the door, ready to push it open, when his voice finally came from inside.
“Miss Ji, could you wait a little longer?”
His voice was calm and steady. He was fine. Ji Yu let out a sigh of relief and lowered her hand. “Alright, call me when you’re ready. I’ll go check on the hot water.”
“Thank you, Miss Ji.”
That polite, distant gratitude again. Ji Yu pouted. Qi Yu was perfect, but he always kept people at arm’s length. She wasn’t Su Nianke, after all—the woman he loved wholeheartedly.
But it didn’t matter. He fit her ideal type perfectly, but right now, she was only interested in his money, not his looks.
***
Inside the room, the window was wide open. Wind and rain blew inside, wetting the floor. The candlelight flickered dimly. Nan Xing released the pigeon. The bird cooed a few times in protest, but the sound was soft and drowned out by the rain, so he wasn’t worried about Ji Yu hearing it.
The dove flew out into the night, disappearing quickly into the rain.
Nan Xing read the note in his hand one last time, then held it over the candle flame until it burned to ash.
The capital was quite far from Qingzhou. Even for a trained messenger pigeon, a round trip should take a full day. Yet this bird had returned in less than half a day, bringing a reply from his Mistress.
This meant she wasn’t in the capital anymore; she was somewhere nearby.
Thinking about the contents of her letter, a sharp pain throbbed in his wound.
He had written to tell her everything: how he was severely injured, fell off a cliff into a deep pool, drifted for days until he reached Qingzhou, and was now being cared for by a female physician. He said he would return to the capital once he recovered.
He didn’t expect her to worry about him, but he had hoped she might mention him just a little. However, the entire letter didn’t say a single word about him or his condition.
A deep sense of loss filled his heart.
In the past, things were different. She used to care about him. When he returned hurt from missions, she would personally apply medicine for him. But everything changed after she met Prince Pei.
Now, her heart and eyes were filled only with that man. Even this reply was entirely about helping Prince Pei.
Something cold touched his cheek. He raised his hand and found it wet—it was just rain blowing in from the window. Since his mother passed away, he had not shed a tear, nor would he ever cry for anyone ever again.
He looked out the window coldly. The peach tree in the courtyard was being battered by the storm, its petals falling like snow. Following the path of the falling petals, his gaze landed on the light shining from the window of the opposite room.
Through the curtain of rain, he saw a small, slender silhouette projected onto the paper window. Then the window opened, and a clear, bright voice cut through the sound of the storm.
“Why is your window wide open?!”
There was a hint of blame in her tone, but mostly, he could hear the worry. Nan Xing couldn’t help but chuckle softly and shouted back, “I’m closing it now.”
The window shut, sealing out the rain and noise, leaving the room in silence.
Nan Xing rummaged through the wardrobe. Most of the clothes were light-colored, fitting the gentle and refined temperament of Ji Yu’s father. However, having trained in martial arts since childhood, Nan Xing’s skin was tanner than most. Wearing these light colors would look rather odd on him. He usually preferred black or dark clothing.
He found a greyish-blue robe that was darker than the rest and put it on.
Just as he finished dressing, he heard Ji Yu knocking again.
He opened the door and was immediately greeted by a lecture.
“It’s raining so hard and you leave the window open?! The wind is so strong, rain is blowing everywhere! Standing right there by the window, aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?!”
“I know it gets stuffy staying inside all day, but you have to think about your health! You just got soaked in the rain, and now you’re standing in the draft! If your condition worsens and the poison spreads faster, what will I do if you die before I can make the antidote?!”
Ji Yu rambled on earnestly, hoping to get through to him. He couldn’t die on her—not before she got her money!
She looked at him and saw him standing there meekly, listening like an obedient child. He didn’t seem to be doing it on purpose.
She wondered why he always wanted to open the window. There was nothing to see except the courtyard anyway. Maybe it really was just too stuffy?
“The window in this room is poorly positioned. It always rains. My room’s window is better. How about this—I’ll hire a carpenter tomorrow to cut a new window on the other side of this wall. Then if you feel hot, you can open that one instead. It won’t let the rain in. What do you think?”
She spoke in a conciliatory tone. Building a new window would cost money, but she had just received a big order. The ten taels deposit was already hers, and Master Zhong said she didn’t have to return it even if the painting wasn’t liked. It was an investment for her future earnings, so she didn’t mind the expense at all.
“There is no need for that, Miss Ji. I will just open the window less often from now on.”
Ji Yu was moved and pleased by how considerate and understanding he was. Truly a gentleman, inside and out.
But even though he said that, she had already made up her mind. She would still get that window installed; she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Oh right! The hot water is ready. You have injuries, so it’s probably hard to wash yourself. Do you need me to help you?”
Nan Xing was stunned. He shook his head frantically. “No, no! Please don’t trouble yourself, Miss Ji. I can manage.”