The jade hairpin had barely pierced her skin when a calloused, powerful hand easily seized her wrist.
Lu Yuan’s narrow, elongated eyes were as deep and cold as a frozen pool, yet his tone carried not the slightest fluctuation. “What would I want with Miss Jiang’s life? I was rude—please, Miss Jiang, dress yourself first. I will wait outside.”
With a flick of his wrist, Jiang Zhi’s jade hairpin snapped in two and fell into the bathwater.
After stepping out, Lu Yuan ordered his men to surround the meditation room completely—even the rooftop was not spared, so that not even a fly could escape.
That left Jiang Zhi inside, worrying.
A grown person—where could she hide without being discovered?
“Come in.”
Just as Lu Yuan was growing impatient and about to break the door down, a voice finally came from within.
Lu Yuan pressed his hand against the Xiuchun Blade at his waist and pushed the door open again.
There sat Jiang Zhi, already fully dressed, seated to one side, her moon-patterned embroidered brocade robes pooling and trailing at her feet.
A beauty fresh from her bath, candlelight dim—had it not been for the fierce-looking Jinyiwei outside, one might have called it moonlight over a flower grove, a moment of tranquil grace.
Lu Yuan kept his gaze straight ahead, searching the bathwater thoroughly, then re-examined every spot in the room he had already checked before.
Still nothing.
But his men would not have been mistaken—had he missed something?
“Have you seen clearly, Commander Lu? Is there any assassin of yours here?”
Lu Yuan’s thin lips habitually pressed together, his brow furrowed tightly, but he could only let it go for now. “I apologize for disturbing you so late at night, Miss Jiang. I hope you will forgive me.”
His gaze fell upon the seated Jiang Zhi, and a thought flashed through his mind—too quick for him to grasp.
“Commander Lu was merely on duty; I dare not hold a grudge,” Jiang Zhi said, turning her neck to expose the wound to the candlelight. “Might I trouble Commander Lu to take a look? Will this wound of mine leave a scar?”
These noble ladies, raised in the inner chambers, pampered and delicate, cared most about their appearances.
Lu Yuan suspected nothing. He bent down for a glance, then looked away. “Rest assured, the wound is not deep. It won’t—”
Before he could finish, he felt a blur before his eyes.
A sharp crack.
A solid slap landed squarely on his face!
“You—!” Caught completely off guard, she had succeeded. His right hand instinctively moved to his sword hilt, but he restrained himself.
Jiang Zhi, however, remained the picture of delicate grace, a smile at the corner of her lips. “Commander Lu has been so rude tonight. I merely collected a little interest in my anger. Surely a man of your magnanimity would not quibble with a weak woman.”
The world feared the Jinyiwei like tigers and wolves. This was the first time Lu Yuan had ever been slapped—and by a woman of the inner chambers, no less.
Lu Yuan fixed his cold gaze on her. “And what if I do choose to quibble?”
“Then let us go before His Majesty and make clear who was at fault first.”
Since he had found no assassin, the fault could hardly be hers.
Lu Yuan realized he truly could do nothing to her.
Her force was not heavy, and his face did not hurt much.
And what arrived before the slap was the cool, faint fragrance of orchids from her bath.
Far more fierce and grudging than the typical lady of a noble house.
“If Commander Lu has nothing else, I shall retire for the night.” Jiang Zhi dismissed him.
He let out a cold snort. “Farewell.”
With that, he flicked his sleeves and left.
The Jinyiwei guarding outside exclaimed in surprise, “Boss, who slapped your face—”
Lu Yuan cast a sidelong glance at him, and the man immediately lowered his head, not daring to say another word. The group of people retreated like a receding tide.
Jiang Zhi let out a sigh of relief, only then realizing that her back was already soaked through with cold sweat.
In her previous life, when the Earl’s mansion was raided and confiscated, Lu Yuan had worn the same cold, unapproachable, and unyielding expression. He had stood guard at the mansion’s entrance like a Jade-faced Yama, watching coldly as his men searched through everything.
The household servants had scattered in panic, and Jiang Zhi had been shoved and knocked to the ground. One of the men, seeing her beauty, had entertained wicked thoughts and tried to drag her into the woodshed. But Lu Yuan’s Xiuchun Blade came flying through the air, slicing off the man’s fingers in an instant.
“Brothels and pleasure houses have plenty of women. But if anyone dares to break the rules while on duty, don’t blame me for being merciless with my blade.”
He hadn’t even glanced at the disheveled Jiang Zhi on the ground. Instead, he had viciously kicked the wailing subordinate and ordered him to be dragged away.
Jiang Zhi knew he was making an example of the man to discipline his troops, and that he wouldn’t care whether the one being humiliated was an earl’s concubine or a maid.
But Jiang Zhi also knew that the Commander of the Jinyiwei—a man whose very name made people tremble in fear and silenced crying children at night—would never be a petty, despicable man who quibbled over trifles.
The slap she had just given him was only to divert his attention, so he wouldn’t notice the abnormality beneath her.
A faint rustling came from beneath her wide skirt.
Xie Qi was tall and broad-shouldered, and wounded on top of that. He was now curled up motionless in the cramped space, clearly at his limit.
But Jiang Zhi pressed her hand on his shoulder through the layers of her dress and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Wait a little longer.”
Lu Yuan was always suspicious. Now was not the time to let her guard down.
Sure enough, in just a moment, Lu Yuan returned and barged in again despite the maid’s attempts to stop him.
“I was careless and left my scabbard in Miss Jiang’s room. How rude of me.” His hawk-like gaze swept across the meditation room before he picked up the scabbard he had deliberately placed in the corner.
“Commander Lu, do examine carefully and make sure you don’t leave anything else behind.” Jiang Zhi’s voice was calm.
Lu Yuan’s expression tightened slightly. For the first time, he doubted the years of experience he had accumulated in handling cases.
He had tested her in many ways today, but the man had vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
It seemed he had indeed wronged this Miss Jiang.
He paid no mind to the sarcasm in her tone and took his leave once more.
Only when there was no sound at all from outside did Jiang Zhi dare to let Xie Qi come out from under her skirt.
“Thank you for your help today, Miss Jiang.” Xie Qi’s voice was hoarse.
An arrow had struck his chest. The shaft had been snapped off, leaving only the arrowhead embedded in his flesh.
If he hadn’t grown up in the military camps and been accustomed to bleeding and injuries, he wouldn’t have been able to hold on this long.
Jiang Zhi noticed that the night clothes he had worn when he came out of the bath were still damp, clinging tightly to his firm chest and outlining the distinct contours of his abdominal muscles, further accentuating his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs.
Yet he was blessed with a pair of shimmering, peach-blossom eyes that carried a hint of charm and allure.
Even wounded, he couldn’t hide his majestic bearing and refined elegance.
No wonder he was the young general who could make the women of entire brothels wave their sleeves in welcome and every woman in Jingdu flock to him.
Her stepsister in her previous life had certainly eaten well.
Jiang Zhi took out the medicine box she had prepared in advance, letting Xie Qi remove his outer robe and apply the medicine himself, while she turned around to maintain propriety.
A rustling sound, followed by a muffled grunt. By the time Jiang Zhi turned around, Xie Qi had already cleanly dug out the arrowhead, applied medicine, and bandaged the wound.
“Miss Jiang, your righteous assistance is something I will never forget. Should you ever have need of me, I will not refuse.” He rose and bowed to her with clasped hands, his expression earnest.
Jiang Zhi nodded. “I helped you because there is indeed something I need you to do for me.”