Chapter 6 (2/2)
“Tender towards women? Even men cannot compete with them when they decide to be vicious. On the battlefield, the enemy camp often sent beautiful women to us to pose as military prostitutes. Did tenderness help those men who died beneath them? Jiaoyue, you’ve always been too soft-hearted towards women.”
Long Heng didn’t often say so much, and his tone was so bitter that Song Jiaoyue was stumped for words. He lifted his wine cup and changed the topic. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s drink instead.” The two of them rarely saw each other, so they toasted and drank.
Long Heng was a bit drunk by the time he returned to his residence. But seeing that Song Jiaoyue had to be carried back to his carriage, he felt he’d done quite well. A pageboy handed a towel to him in his study. “The old madame has left orders that you must spend the night with one of the four mistresses tonight….”
Slap. Long Heng irritably slapped the towel down on the table. Could things like this be forced? He paced around the room like a caged beast before he remembered what Song Jiaoyue had said earlier. “Very well. Let’s go to the Winter Garden.”
He wasn’t that familiar with the buildings in the princely complex. He’d only recently heard of the Winter Garden. The pageboy rushed to light a lantern and lead as the two of them made their winding way through the halls. The route was a bit off the beaten path, but the view more than made up for it. When they arrived, they saw outsiders rushing in and out. The pageboy quickly stopped one of them, questioning, “Who are you people? Why are you in Mistress Xiu’s garden?” It’s so late at night!
The pageboy, stopped at the door, responded, “We’re from the medicine hall in the complex. Mistress Xiu has fallen ill. The physician is here to take a look at her.”
“What illness?” Long Heng frowned. Is she really sick or can she simply not handle even a small fright? She said earlier she wanted to whip a corpse. That was all just talk!
“The... the physician hasn’t come out yet… this servant greets Your Highness.” The medical pageboys had finally realized who was standing in front of him and sank to their knees. It had been too dark to tell earlier.
Long Heng wanted to leave immediately, but as the head of this residence, he felt he should at least show some concern. So he waited until the physician emerged. The man also fell to his knees as soon as he caught sight of the prince. It took a while before Long Heng could get the physician’s diagnosis, that Mistress Xiu was only ill due to excessive fright. She would be fine after taking some calming medication. The physician didn’t dare say that Mistress Xiu had actually had no pulse when he’d initially arrived. He had no idea how she ended up reviving.
“Mm.” Long Heng responded casually and ordered his pageboy to send some nourishing food. He decided to return to his residence, and quickly forgot about the incident. Although Mistress Xiu had a stunning face, he’d never been interested in beautiful women. Long Heng could never forget that the more beautiful the assassin, the more men they were able to kill.
As for Bai Xiangxiu, she finally came to a few days laterk. She was woken up by a very weak voice.
“I’m so thirsty. I really want to drink water, mistress. I want to drink water.”
“Water…” She subconsciously murmured.
“Mistress Xiu. You’re finally awake! You want water, right? Just a moment.” Xiaoshi rushed to pour a cup of water for her mistress, then carefully propped her up and helped her drink. Xiaoshi’s anxiety only lasted until her mistress had finished the cup, and then promptly burst into tears. “You nearly scared your servant to death, mistress!”
Bai Xiangxiu sat up and looked around the room. She knew right away that she hadn’t been transported home. When she looked at the cactus, she said, “Give it some water as well.” She had been so dizzy these past few days. She couldn’t recall when she’d last watered it.