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The beautiful assassin half closed his eyes. After a while, he replied, ”A word of advice, don't be such a busybody. Saving Zong Yue is not easy.”
Faintly, Meng Fuyao mumbled, ”Actually, I didn't really want to save the Mongolian doctor. That person is terrible, poison-mouthed, captious, and even a clean freak. The entire world is filthy, only he is pristine. I swear he is so immaculate to the point that he would wash the air more than three times if he could! Whoever's beside him would definitely feel like a pig that has rolled in a puddle of mud. I'm no masochist, why would I drag such a person around to torture myself?”
The beautiful assassin glanced at her, those glassy eyes observed her closely. ”But your actions show that you seem to be looking for torture.”
Meng Fuyao ground her teeth in anger. ”You two are polar opposites, but of all the things, you have to have that poisonous mouth of his; filled with thorns and venom.”
The beautiful assassin remained silent and decided to change the subject after a while. ”Under Xuanyuan Cheng's watch, saving Zong Yue is hard, but so is everything else.”
Meng Fuyao stayed quiet. She knew that Xuanyuan Cheng was most probably a lot harder to deal with than that suspicious, talentless Zhan Nancheng. He was probably better than King De, who similarly got their family name bestowed to them. Above King De was Zhangsun Wuji, known as the world's most scheming man, who had always kept him in control. But she had never heard of any great deeds by Xuanyuan Min, whose authority was above Xuanyuan Cheng.
Xuanyuan Cheng had personally directed the change of emperor during the coup d'état, ordering the death of the Crown Prince Wen Yi and appointed the eighth brother of Wen Yi as the next emperor. But he probably felt that the eighth prince was too old to control and within two years, the eighth prince had suddenly dropped dead. He then picked a weak and sickly child to ascend the throne and ever since then, the Regent King's power had been solidified in the country—technically an emperor.
If these were still the usual methods of an official greedy for power, then Zong Yue, with his identity and the power and influence he had both as a doctor and in the underground, showed that he had never once given up on snatching the throne back. And till today, he had yet to succeed and even gotten himself kidnapped. Meng Fuyao was clear of Zong Yue's ability, which definitely made him a difficult target. From another perspective, that was to say that Xuanyuan Cheng was not an easy opponent.
Tonight, when he had attacked, he almost took her life. Even though she was careless, the ruthlessness of his actions was plain as day.
”No matter how hard it is!” Meng Fuyao's personality was one to dive head into challenges. ”If he dares to even touch a strand of hair on Zong Yue's head, I'll finish him!” she swore.
The beautiful assassin cast a glance at her. Before he could show any emotions, he heard her shamelessly adding, ”If Zong Yue were to die, where can I eat precious medicine for free? If he were to die, who would help me fix my fake tooth if it dropped?”
Lord Yuan Bao, squatting in one corner, held onto its forehead…'That poor Mongolian doctor… He is at most a box of herbs and a dentist…'
The beautiful assassin remained quiet and flipped over to sleep, back facing this shameless fellow. Meng Fuyao lay down to rest too, far away from the beautiful assassin. But in the darkness, she could clearly hear the beautiful assassin's rough and ragged breathing and could not help but climb up and touch his forehead. She thought that it could be the burns being infected and went to check his wounds, but the medication was really effective, forming a fine layer of foam protecting his wounds. However, his face was still slightly red, and with his uneven breaths, it was likely that he was running a fever.
People who had burns were weak as the internal heat and poison affected their body. Thirsty, running a fever, frustrated, mumbling unconsciously were all possible actions.
Meng Fuyao glanced at the cold, wet floor, stumped. It was barely the start of winter, and this part of the palace seldom saw the sunlight, resulting in it being overly cold. To let a severely injured person sleep on such a floor was absolute blasphemous as it would be terrible if his wounds were infected. After much consideration, she climbed up and started to break the close stools apart. She tossed away the seats, picking only the flat wooden boards and quietly went to the well to scrub the boards clean. Then, she pieced the boards together, joining them by using the iron to pierce through the boards then linking it up with the hooks from the close stool. After almost two hours of busying about, the ”close stool bed” finally appeared. Then, she took off her outer robe, placed it over the ”bed” and carefully moved the beautiful assassin onto the ”bed”.
The moment she touched him, the beautiful assassin woke up. He grabbed her wrist and questioned, ”… What are you busy with?”
Meng Fuyao wiped off her sweat and smiled. ”Making a bed for you.”
The beautiful assassin watched her flushed cheeks from hustling about. His gaze was now more gentle than before as he pulled Meng Fuyao over. ”… You rest too.”
'Close stool bed… I don't want to sleep on it!' Meng Fuyao groaned yet dared not struggle free from the barely conscious beautiful assassin. The wounds on his hands were already rotting if she accidentally tore a piece of skin off while trying to shake him off… Meng Fuyao shivered at the thought. She could only obediently reply with an 'okay', rigidly climb onto the bed and lie down beside him, stiffly.
But the beautiful assassin tugged her closer and asked, ”You took a robe off… are you not cold?”
Meng Fuyao hugged her shoulders and declared resolutely, ”I am a strong and sturdy person.”
Just as she barely finished her sentence, there was another piece of cloth on her, well, technically half a piece. The beautiful assassin had covered her shoulders with half his top that covered his front. In all honesty, that cloth was not the least bit warm, but somehow, as she held onto the silky, smooth top, warmth spread into her blood. The cloth was cool, yet her heart was warm as it thumped gently, filling her with tranquility and serenity.