The Consequences Of Accidentally Flirting With A Paranoid Empress (Transmigration Into A Book) - Chapter 6

The sky was like a vast domed tent, covering the wilderness on all sides. Wind and sand swept up, and the afterglow of the setting sun, orange-yellow tinged with blood, painted everything with a trace of desolation and loneliness.

Maids carried basins of bloody water in and out of the corridor. Feng Sanniang had not expected that someone would dare assassinate Miss Zhuo, and fear lingered in her heart.

Fortunately, it was that brat who had been struck by the arrow and injured. If even the slightest thing had happened to Miss Zhuo, she would not have known how to explain it to the old family head.

But Feng Sanniang did not understand why, with so many physicians in Da Yue skilled at treating wounds, Miss Zhuo would only allow the female physician who accompanied her personally to treat that brat.

Before anyone realized it, the sky gradually darkened. Inside the room, candlelight flickered. The figure standing silently remained unmoving, her clothes stained all over with blood. Her slender fingertips toyed with the bodhi flowing beads as she said faintly, “Will she die?”

Beside the bed, the female physician cut off the long shaft of the arrow, leaving only a small section of the arrowhead embedded in the flesh at the back of the neck. She did not dare act rashly. With a grave expression, she said, “This wound is truly too dangerous. The blood vessels and meridians in the human neck are complex and vital. With the slightest carelessness, she may lose her life immediately.”

“But if the arrow is not removed in time, she will not survive either.” Zhuo Mingke lowered her eyes and looked at the young girl lying on the bed. There were still traces of bloodstains that had not yet dried on her fair cheeks. Her breathing was so faint there was almost no movement at all. None of her usual liveliness could be seen; she was full of deathly stillness.

“Yes. That is why Miss Zhuo must decide now.” In truth, the female physician felt that the injured person most likely could not be saved. If the arrow was not removed, perhaps she could linger for a day or two. But if the arrow was removed, perhaps she would not last even a single breath. This was a gamble.

In the silence, the sound of the bodhi flowing beads being moved rang out clearly, making Zhuo Mingke’s thoughts impossible to read. Then the female physician heard Miss Zhuo’s calm reply.

“Prepare hemostatic medicine first. Then remove the arrow and have the medicine ready for use afterward.”

“Yes.”

As the candlelight swayed, a willow-leaf-shaped blade was burned until it glowed red. The female physician glanced at Miss Zhuo, who had remained standing silently by the bed all this time, but in the end, she did not speak to remind her to step away.

Ordinary people could not easily accept such a bloody scene, but Miss Zhuo clearly intended to witness the entire process with her own eyes.

After a long time, the sharp, barbed arrowhead was carefully removed by the female physician and placed to the side. Fortunately, there was no poison.

However, blood surged from the wound and quickly splattered down, dyeing the brocade quilt red. The sight was horrifying.

Deep into the night, there was a chill in the air. Feng Sanniang, standing outside the corridor, saw Miss Zhuo come out of the room and hurried forward. Then she saw the bodhi flowing beads in her hand stained with bright red blood. Her expression was cold and silent, and there was a faintly sinister, violent air around her, making Feng Sanniang’s heart tremble.

“Miss Zhuo, after investigation, those assassins were found to be men under the border commander Li Da. They were seeking revenge.”

“If they could come from the border city to the imperial capital, this matter is not so simple. Bring Li Da into the underground storehouse for now. You need not accompany us.”

Feng Sanniang stopped in her tracks. She knew that the underground storehouse was Miss Zhuo’s forbidden place. Not a single person who had been taken inside had ever come out alive.

The long night stretched on. At this moment, inside a certain residence in Da Yue’s imperial capital, several people sat quietly, looking at one another.

“Were those assassins today your men?”

“Please forgive me. I heard you mention that you were dissatisfied with Zhuo Mingke, so I wanted to find some people to teach her a lesson. Who knew they would actually try to kill her?”

“Idiot. Everyone connected to this matter must be dealt with immediately and cleanly. Otherwise, that smiling tiger Zhuo Mingke will not let this go.”

As soon as these words were spoken, none of the people in the room had the same arrogant, domineering air they had during the day. The Zhuo clan was renowned throughout all the kingdoms. Da Yue was merely one of the places where they conducted business. If Zhuo Mingke was truly provoked, she could choke Da Yue to death with grain and iron alone.

Among the warring kingdoms, the most important things in battle were weapons and provisions. Da Liang’s defeat had, in large part, been because Da Yue had received much assistance from the Zhuo clan.

Not to mention, although Da Yue’s territory was vast, it did not have much fertile farmland. If the Zhuo clan had not maneuvered to obtain grain for them, internal unrest alone would have been enough to exhaust Da Yue’s national strength.

The candlelight leapt. Outside the window, the dark night carried a chill. The moon shifted, the stars turned, and time passed.

In the morning, when the autumn sun shone brightly, the room in the east courtyard of the Zhuo residence was filled with light. He Xiu only felt that her neck, along with her entire head, hurt terribly, as if she had been struck by an iron hammer. She could not move at all.

Because it hurt so much, physiological tears kept sliding uncontrollably from the corners of He Xiu’s eyes. She sniffled and sobbed, yet her stomach was terribly hungry, so she opened her mouth and ate the meat porridge. The scene was rather comical.

Although being struck by an arrow hurt terribly, the meat porridge was really fragrant!

The female physician fell silent. She had never seen a patient like this young girl before, crying big tears from pain on one hand while having such a good appetite on the other. She could only sigh that youth was truly wonderful.

As for this, Miss Zhuo looked perfectly calm, as if she was not surprised at all by the young girl’s reaction.

Before long, the female physician packed up and withdrew. He Xiu, full now, lay on the bed. The tear tracks at the corners of her eyes had not yet dried. Seeing the beautiful older sister at the side, she asked awkwardly, “Sister, how were we saved?”

Oh no. It seemed she had forgotten about image management just now!

But when He Xiu remembered that the first time she met the beautiful older sister, she had basically had a bird’s nest for hair, she suddenly felt there was not much difference either way. It made her heart turn to ashes.

Zhuo Mingke’s gaze moved away from the account book and toward the young girl’s still-wet bright eyes. They were like obsidian soaked in water, especially clear, full of vigorous life. She raised a hand and used an embroidered handkerchief to wipe away He Xiu’s tear tracks, answering calmly, “At that time, the Zhuo residence’s attendants had already arrived, so we were able to escape danger.”

“So that’s what happened. Good thing they came in time, otherwise we would have been finished,” He Xiu muttered with lingering fear. She closed her eyes, feeling the gentle pressure of the embroidered handkerchief brushing across her cheeks. The beautiful older sister was truly so kind!

“Now that you have repaid my life-saving grace, from now on, we are even.” Zhuo Mingke withdrew the hand holding the embroidered handkerchief and lowered her eyes to look at the young girl’s pale little face, feeling that she should give her a better price.

Zhuo Mingke disliked owing anyone, and even more, she disliked having a transaction restricted by so-called conscience.

He Xiu smiled with curved brows and cheerfully murmured, “Hehe, we’ve been through life and death together now. Sister doesn’t need to be so polite. Just call me Ah Xiu. Otherwise, it sounds too distant.”

Zhuo Mingke said nothing. Her gaze landed on the gauze wrapped around the side of the young girl’s slender neck, where blood faintly showed through. Seeing that she did not understand, Zhuo Mingke changed the subject and said, “For now, do not move around. The arrow wound is very close to your meridians and blood vessels.”

Even if the young girl did not die, it was hard to guarantee she would not be left with some other disability.

If the young girl became crippled, Zhuo Mingke could only abandon all her plans and cut her losses in time.

Of course, the Zhuo residence could afford to keep a cripple. It was only that many arrangements would have to be scrapped.

“Don’t worry, I don’t dare move. It hurts too much.” He Xiu, cherishing her little life, obediently lay her head down properly. She lifted her eyes to look at the beautiful older sister and only then discovered that today, Zhuo Mingke was not wearing any jewelry by her ears. How rare.

“You… are not curious about the culprit?” Zhuo Mingke noticed the young girl’s gaze and spoke, still truly unused to calling someone by a nickname.

He Xiu came back to her senses, thought for a moment, then answered in a bright, childish voice, her face full of certainty, “I’m guessing someone must have taken a liking to Sister’s wealth, so they were kidnappers trying to rob you!”

After all, He Xiu had watched more than five hundred episodes of a famous detective anime.

Zhuo Mingke calmly looked at the young girl, who spoke as if making a solemn vow, not understanding where her inexplicable passion came from. She said plainly, “You seem to have forgotten that they said they wanted to kill me. Also, ordinary kidnappers would not usually kill people so ruthlessly before receiving any money.”

As soon as she said this, He Xiu belatedly realized that she had indeed forgotten the cruel words those assassins had shouted.

“All right, then they should be enemies or something like that. Sister, do you have any enemies?”

“Too many. The Zhuo family has done business across all the kingdoms for many years. There are many interests involved, too many to count.”

He Xiu silently looked at the calm beautiful older sister and thought to herself that it turned out wealthy people’s business wars were quite plain and unadorned.

Zhuo Mingke’s fingertips, somewhat unused to them, toyed with the new bodhi flowing beads. She asked, slightly puzzled, “What is it?”

“Nothing. I just think reporting it to the authorities is probably the safest.”

“Da Yue’s Imperial City Bureau is already investigating this case.”

As she spoke, Zhuo Mingke thought of Li Da, who was on the verge of death in the underground storehouse. She lowered her brows and eyes, dark currents churning in the depths of her gaze.

When Zhuo Mingke raised her eyes again, she saw that the young girl had already fallen asleep against the soft pillow. Her curled lashes cast mottled shadows. She looked extremely exhausted and weak.

Excessive blood loss made the young girl seem entirely lacking in energy. It would likely take many days of rest before she recovered her spirit.

In the silence, the autumn day outside the window slowly dimmed. As lanterns swayed, willow-catkin-like snow drifted down, dyeing the vast sandy ground in a mournful white.

The severe cold of Da Yue’s winter often froze the ground three feet deep, reaching a point where no one could be found for a hundred li.

The snow in the courtyards of the Zhuo residence could rise half a person tall, as if it could bury all living things.

“Achoo!” A loud sneeze rang out. He Xiu was dressed in thick winter clothes and wore a felt hat with snow-white fur. Her reddened nose breathed out puffs of white mist as she raised her hand to pat the snow from her clothes, her eyes full of shock.

He Xiu had never seen such heavy snow before. When she reached out to pick up a cup of tea, it actually froze over in an instant!

He Xiu, who had been recovering from her injury all this time, had recently finally been able to get out of bed. Unable to sit still, she came out to look at the snow. As a result, one step into it almost buried her alive and sent her to see her great-grandmother.

Walking along the corridor of the east courtyard, He Xiu did not dare stop and linger. She quickly entered the beautiful older sister’s study, lest she freeze into an idiot.

This study was even larger than He Xiu’s own courtyard residence. It had two floors, which showed that the beautiful older sister had a truly large collection of books.

The broad hall of the study was very warm. He Xiu looked at the beautiful older sister dressed in apricot-colored winter robes embroidered with jade lotus patterns. Even the fur collar could not hide her long, slender, straight jade neck. Her figure was tall and graceful, gentle and refined, a real feast for the eyes.

However, when He Xiu saw the beautiful older sister holding her homework, her whole heart filled with unease.

“Sit.”

“Okay.”

He Xiu obediently sat down, only to discover that the stool in the study was so high that her feet could not even touch the ground!

But the beautiful older sister sat on it just right. Her skirt fell around her, and even though it was not close-fitting, one could still tell she had long legs.

He Xiu silently swung her own more-than-free short legs and thought that while she still had time to grow taller, she had to eat more.

“You wrote these very poorly. They all need to be rewritten.”

“Okay, I’ll rewrite them right away!”

In truth, because He Xiu had been recovering from her injury, she had been a little lazy. She had thought that the old man who taught her would not punish her.

Who knew the beautiful older sister would care enough to check her homework? He Xiu was so ashamed she wanted to sink into the ground.

Right now, even if the beautiful older sister told He Xiu to eat her homework, she would have no problem with it!

In the silence, sandalwood incense curled through the air. Inside the room, the two of them each busied themselves with their own work. From outside, a maid respectfully said, “Miss Zhuo, this is the list of noble young masters inviting you to year-end banquets.”

He Xiu’s writing hand paused. Curiosity rose in her heart. Her gaze swept over the thick stack of name lists, which was even thicker than her homework, and she was dumbfounded.

Wow. Wasn’t this way too exaggerated?