Chapter 5 (1/2)

Temperatures have cooled slightly, it’s no longer as unbearably hot as a few days ago. Bao Chun took the now healthier looking Ruo Xia for a stroll in Huangfu’s garden, since he said that even sick patients need some form of exercise to be healthy.

Bao Chun carefully shaded Ruo Xia with an umbrella[1] as the two slowly walked over the stone bridge.

“You don’t really come around the garden very often, look over there, when the lotus flower wilts there’ll be lotus seeds.” Bao Chun pointed to the lotus flowers at the centre of the lake, not far from the two of them. “We’ve never tasted lotus seeds before, so it’s good that we can at least see them.”

“Lotus seeds are for wealthy families.” Ruo Xia was in a good mood, and chatted with Bao Chun, “What’s that?”

She pointed to a plant on the other side.

“That’s taro, we’ve eaten them before.” Bao Chun explained patiently, “But that was a long time ago, at the time, you said that you liked how it tasted.” She looked up and saw that Ruo Xia seems to have gotten tired and was squatting on the ground, she hastily asked, “Ruo Xia, are you tired? Do you want to take a break?”

“It’s fine, this garden is so big, last time when we arrived I only caught a quick glimpse of it, but it looks like it’s going to take quite a while for me to see everything here.” Ruo Xia fanned herself using her hand, trying to cool herself.

“It took me several days of looking around to finally see the entire mansion.” Bao Chun pointed to the back of the hill and said, “The scenery over there on the hilltop is more beautiful than any place one can imagine.”

Ruo Xia waved her hand, showing no interest.

“Although the G.o.dly Doctor haven’t been treating me, it seems that my body is becoming better and healthier, I’m no longer easily feverish.” Ruo Xia noticed an obvious change for the better in her body conditions, and thought the G.o.dly Doctor was indeed G.o.dly, simply by breathing the same air as him was able to cure her illness.

“Perhaps it’s because the environment and our diet has improved, that’s why you’ve gotten stronger.” Bao Chun said as she patted her own face. She’s only been here at Huangfu’s for a month, and she’s already gained back several kilos[2] in weight. “Granny Li’s a wonderful cook, making medicinal dishes to supplement the body every few days, Huangfu’s also very particular about eating, there’s always several medicinal ingredients in every dish, so no wonder you are becoming more and more healthy.”

“The Huangfu you are referring to, is he the G.o.dly Doctor?” Ruo Xia asked, raising her thin eyebrows. She was very curious about the G.o.dly Doctor.

“Oh, yeah. There’s also this very good-looking young man in black named Nineteen, you’ve seen him before, he’s the one that brought you into the mansion. Also, the person that feeds us and made sure that we are full every day is Granny Li, she’s really nice.”

Bao Chun thought Ruo Xia was starting to show interest in the people around her, and enthusiastically started to introduce her to all the people in the mansion.

Ruo Xia waved her hand to stop Bao Chun from rambling on excitedly.

“Huangfu is the G.o.dly Doctor’s family name, right? What’s his full name?” She only wanted to ask about the one she was interested in.

Bao Chun paused for a moment, unsure as to why Ruo Xia was only interested in things to do with Huangfu. “I, I don’t know.” Now that she thought about it, she knew very little about Huangfu, not even the most basic thing, his name.

“What does he look like? Is he handsome? Is he good-looking?” Ruo Xia has only seen Huangfu once, the day she came to the mansion, but he was hidden behind white chiffon curtains at the time, it was so blurry that she couldn’t see clearly.

“Very handsome … very good-looking ….” An indescribable feeling of sadness and distress slowly spread in Bao Chun’s heart, she didn’t like how Ruo Xia’s eyes looked at her expectantly, asking her everything about Huangfu.

“And?” Ruo Xia wasn’t satisfied with the five word description of Huangfu that she got from Bao Chun, so she continued asking.

“I don’t know.”

“What about his personality?”

“I … I don’t know.”

Ruo Xia frowned, noticing that Bao Chun seems to be avoiding her questions.

“Fine then, I’ll go and see for myself.” And with that, she got up and walked towards the study. Back when Bao Chun was showing her around the garden she had told her where it was, and the most common place for Huangfu to be was in his study, to the east of here.

“Ruo Xia, let’s not go and bother him ….” Bao Chun hurried after her and called out. Since when did Ruo Xia become so fast, fast enough for her to have a hard time keeping up?

Soon, Ruo Xia disappeared around the corner, and Bao Chun had no choice but to pick up her pace.

“Stop.” Nineteen appeared in front of the study just in time to stop Ruo Xia.

“Is Mister Huangfu inside?” Ruo Xia’s face lit up with a beautiful smile, it’s even prettier now with her healthy rosy cheeks.

Unfortunately, Nineteen completely ignored her smile.

“Nineteen Gong Zi?” Bao Chun had mentioned the name of this cold, indifferent man, Ruo Xia moved her lips, her soft melodic voice rang out between the two of them, but Nineteen was still unmoved.

“Ruo Xia … umm, Nineteen.” Bao Chun followed after Ruo Xia, trying to stop her, but saw Nineteen standing in front of the door.

Nineteen’s eyes landed on Bao Chun, completely ignoring Ruo Xia’s presence. “The Master is inside discussing important matters, it is best that you come back later Miss Bao Chun.”

“We have a guest? Is someone else here seeking treatment?”

“You could say that. But it’s also a very important person.” Although Nineteen’s sentences were short, but he answered Bao Chun’s questions carefully. Ruo Xia stood on the side and saw what happened, feeling extremely displeased.

Bao Chun stood beside Nineteen, trying to quietly stick her head in and take a peek. However, the wooden doors were opened before she got the chance, an extremely well dressed and chubby middle-aged man walked out first, followed by several strong muscular men that appeared to be his bodyguards. Huangfu stepped out along with him, happily grinning.

“G.o.dly Doctor Huangfu, stay, please, no need to see me off!” The middle-aged man respectfully took a bow,[3] his words were full of deep respect for Huangfu.

“You are too kind Cheng w.a.n.g Ye.[4] Nineteen, go and see our guest out.” Huangfu gestured with his hand to let the man go first.

“I’ll be back next year to intrude on your time again Doctor Huangfu.”

The middle-aged man Huangfu referred to as Cheng w.a.n.g Ye pa.s.sed by Ruo Xia and didn’t bother to hide his appreciation for her beauty. Ruo Xia glared at him angrily, then arrogantly looked away.

“My, what a lovely girl, is she the G.o.dly Doctor’s ….”

“Patient.”

“Ohhhhh.” Cheng w.a.n.g Ye dragged his voice and held the tail sound, rudely checking out Ruo Xia’s perfect figure.

Seeing this, Bao Chun leapt in front of Ruo Xia, standing in front of her like a protective mother hen.

“Such a rude little servant girl.” Cheng w.a.n.g Ye humphed slightly, his gaze still on Ruo Xia.

Huangfu frowned inwardly, before he could make sense of his thoughts, he had already pulled Bao Chun behind him.

“This girl here is no servant, she is a very special honoured guest of mine—” He paused, letting Cheng w.a.n.g Ye guess the rest himself.

“Pardon me! Excuse my rudeness!” Upon hearing what Huangfu has said, Cheng w.a.n.g Ye immediately hurried to apologize. Just by seeing how Huangfu s.h.i.+elded her like some sort of treasure, he knew he better not offend that homely looking girl. Not wanting to stay any longer, he quickly left with Nineteen for the stone path leading towards the outside.

“Who was that?” Bao Chun asked with her eyebrows pinched together, repelled by the disgusting way that man was looking at Ruo Xia.

“The Emperor’s younger brother.” Huangfu smirked as he saw Bao Chun’s wide-eyed expression when she heard the true ident.i.ty of his guest.

“What … what’s he doing here?” He’s a w.a.n.g Ye!

“Seeking treatment.”

“You … you didn’t make him kneel for three days right?” Bao Chun looked at Huangfu nervously.

“He’s an exception. I rely on him to make a living.” Huangfu didn’t let go of the hand he had on Bao Chun’s right arm, and lead her into the study, Ruo Xia followed behind.

Bao Chun’s questioning eyes begged him for an answer.

“His treatment fees are incredibly high.” Huangfu gave her a sly grin.

Bao Chun swallowed and asked, “How high?”

“High enough for all of us to live lavishly for a whole year without worrying about food or clothes.” Huangfu opened the paper fan in his hand, “Did you actually think that just by hanging around the mansion doing nothing we were able to have all the meat, vegetables and fruits we could eat, and wear all the best clothes? I use my two hands to feed everyone here.” He explained proudly.

The truth is, he was merely using the w.a.n.g Ye’s annual visit to the doctor to cleverly extort money from him with his G.o.dly Doctor t.i.tle. If working just one day out of the 365 days can a.s.sure him a whole year’s worth of luxury then why not?

“I’ve always thought the mansion was self-sustaining ….” But he’s right, she never realized where the food they ate came from, she actually naively thought that the chicken in the medicinal stew was raised by Granny Li, the tender fish were from the lake, and that the veggies were grown from the soil in the garden.

As if able to read Bao Chun’s mind, Huangfu said, “You didn’t think the pearl powder[5] in the tea you drink every night were from the oysters in the lake did you?”

Bao Chun lowered her head and nodded in shame.

Huangfu elegantly rested on his side on the lounge chair, then jokingly poked fun at her again, “It’s a good thing you didn’t believe that pearls were created by a few drops of tears.” His glance momentarily fell on Ruo Xia, who stood behind Bao Chun, but his gaze lazily floated away immediately afterwards.

Ruo Xia’s pretty face was already a vibrant shade of red. She had desperately tried to imagine what Huangfu looked like, but seeing was believing, that handsome face of his was indescribable by mere words, and of course, unable to be portrayed by her imagination

Ruo Xia smiled and curtsied to formally greet Huangfu, saying in her soft voice, “I humbly greet you Gong Zi, wis.h.i.+ng you all the fortune and blessings.”[6]

Huangfu raised an eyebrow. He had always disliked women who eagerly showed their liking towards him. Especially coy and pretentious women like her, posturing and posing her body, pretending to be graceful and delicate. It’s too bad that he already knew Liu Ruo Xia’s true natures when she threw a cup and injured Bao Chun.

Just as he was about to stiffen his face and tell Liu Ruo Xia to get the h.e.l.l out of his sight, he caught a glimpse of Bao Chun biting her thin lips, and trying to avoid looking at them, she was fighting back her jealousy!

Interested, Huangfu smiled, pus.h.i.+ng back his disgust and dislike of Ruo Xia and answered, “Miss Liu, you are being too polite. Please, have a seat. Bao Chun, go pour us some tea.”

“Thank you Huangfu Gong Zi.” Ruo Xia sat down unceremoniously, while Bao Chun stiffly served the two tea.

“You are looking pretty healthy.” Huangfu casually chatted with Ruo Xia, his eyes glancing over once in a while to the blank and unmoving Bao Chun.

“It’s all due to Gong Zi’s unmatched medical skills, I am extremely grateful.”

Huangfu took the tea Bao Chun had handed him, looking up at her, his hand cupping her’s as he held the tea cup, Bao Chun couldn’t free her hand, so she could only mouth silent words to him to let go.

“Oh no, you are too kind.” Huangfu answered, seeing Bao Chun’s jealousy and smiled with satisfaction.

He’s smiling at her!

Ruo Xia almost went wild with joy from this smile.

Bao Chun almost wept in pain from this smile.

No matter how dense Bao Chun was, she could still see that Ruo Xia liked Huangfu. And Huangfu generously gave her a sunny smile, a smile that she always thought belonged only to her. But now, he has given it to another woman, and that woman was her sister.

Bao Chun almost wanted to run out of the room screaming, she didn’t want to see the flirtatious glances they were exchanging, she broke away from Huangfu’s grip, and made towards the door.

“Be careful.” Just as she was about to trip on the doorstep, Nineteen, returning from seeing the guest off, came back just in time to grab Bao Chun before she could fall.

Bao Chun held on to him involuntarily, like a piece of life-saving driftwood at sea, and failing to notice Huangfu’s eyes suddenly darkening.

“Nineteen, there is no reason for you to be here, leave.”

Nineteen saw the displeased glances Huangfu was casting him, and sensibly began to leave.

“I’ll go with you.” Bao Chun hastily shouted, her hands never left Nineteen’s arm.

“You, stay.” Huangfu’s face grew darker and darker. She was holding on to another man’s arm wanting to leave him!?

“I want to go with Nineteen … to go weeding.” Bao Chun randomly picked an excuse and started to drag Nineteen out. She’d rather spend days weeding the entire mansion and hillside to not have to stay here and watch them look at each other affectionately.

Huangfu stood up from his chair, and pulled Bao Chun into his arms, “Sure, I’ll go weeding with you! Nineteen, you stay here and chat with Miss Liu.”

“Master ….” Nineteen looked troubled. He has not the slightest bit of good feelings towards Liu Ruo Xia, yet The Master has ordered him to chat with her!?

“Then I’ll stay and keep Ruo Xia company ….” Bao Chun’s objections were drowned out by the slamming doors as Huangfu left with her, her voice getting smaller and farther.

Nineteen and Ruo Xia exchanged glances, then both quietly looked away.

On the other side, an entirely different scene was lively at play.

“Don’t drag me along Huangfu!”

Bao Chun was at a disadvantage due to her short legs, and struggled to match Huangfu’s stride. However, Huangfu’s hand showed no intentions of letting her go, causing her to follow behind him half running and half dragging along.

“What are you so angry about … Huang, Huangfu?” Bao Chun asked as she gasped for air. Why is he angry at her when she’s the one who should be angry at him?

Huangfu turned and knocked her on the head.[7] It’s not good for his health to be angry with someone so dense.

He dragged her to the lakeside and finally let go, then crossed his arms and stared at her, looking displeased.

“I wanted to see your jealous face but ended up getting jealous myself.” Huangfu self-reflected. Since when did he become such an immature hothead?

The reason for why he lost his cool stood with her back to him, gasping for fresh air.

Why is it her? She’s so ordinary, so foolish, so naive, so …. But he only has eyes for her.

Finally able to breath again, Bao Chun found Huangfu blanking out, she raised her hands and waved them around in front of him, “Huangfu? Huangfu? You there?”