Chapter 617   The Strange Princess Yi

The first thing the imperial physician saw after entering the room was Prince Yi lying unconscious in bed in his innerwear.

A beautiful young woman was sitting beside the bed and wiping her tears with a handkerchief. When she saw him coming in, she let go of Prince Yi’s hand and stepped back to sit on a cedar chair. A maid stood behind her respectfully with her head lowered, looking like she didn’t even dare to raise her head.

Yu Jian stepped forward and said, “Princess, this is Physician Xu. His Majesty sent him to examine our prince’s injury.”

“Yes, please do so. He... He’s still unconscious...” Ning Xueyan looked up, her eyes still red. It was obvious that she had cried and her voice was hoarse, too.

The physician carefully observed Princess Yi. She was an exquisite beauty, if a little thin. She seemed to have suffered some congenital deficiencies. She lowered her head again after speaking, making it hard for him to see her expression.

The physician saluted her before turning around and walking to the bed. He sat down on a stool by the bed and reached out to examine Prince Yi’s pulse. Suddenly, he saw clear teeth marks on his hand. Taken aback, he stole a glance at Princess Yi, who still had her head lowered.

He placed his fingers on Prince Yi’s hand without changing his expression and closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he told Yu Jian, “Can I check His Highness’ shoulder injury?”

“The injury has been treated and bandaged. If you check it again...” Yu Jian said, hesitant.

Everyone knew that you could easily tear a wound if you reexamined a bandaged injury.

“Rest assured that I’ll just be looking at the medicine used. You don’t have to open the bandage entirely, just spread it a little.” Given the Emperor’s orders, the physician was obligated to properly examine Ao Chenyi’s injury. Still, he remained polite as he said, “The weather is getting warm. If the wrong medicine is used, his wound will be easily inflamed.”

The physician’s politeness, as well as the fact that he was sent by the palace, made it difficult for Yu Jian to refuse. He looked at Ning Xueyan. Seeing that she was still lowering her head, looking like she wasn’t going to interfere, he nodded.

Besides, he was just a guard. If the Princess didn’t say a word, he had no room to refuse the physician as a mere guard.

The physician looked at the teeth mark on Ao Chenyi’s hand calmly. The biting must have happened a short while ago. Upon closer look, the teeth were small and dainty. The size suggested that it was the work of a woman. And the only woman who could approach Prince Yi in this room was Princess Yi.

He couldn’t understand why she would bite Prince Yi when he was already this injured. Judging from the teeth marks, she hadn’t been gentle either. Princess Yi was indeed a strange person.

Still, he hadn’t come here for her but Prince Yi. Though bewildered, he pulled his attention away from the strange Princess Yi.

Yu Jian pulled Ao Chenyi’s shirt aside, revealing the thick bandages wrapped around his shoulder. He undid the knot and carefully unraveled the bandages, enough that it revealed the two layers of blood-soaked gauze inside. Underneath was a wound just below Ao Chenyi’s left shoulder. That was quite a dangerous part of the body to get hurt in.

It was apparent that Ao Chenyi’s injury was real and rather severe, too. It could have been life-threatening if the wound was just a few inches lower. It seemed that Ao Chenyi was truly injured, and almost fatally at that. It was no wonder he was still unconscious at the moment, yet to awake.

Physician Xu put on a show of picking up some of the medicinal power with his fingers, putting it near his nose for a sniff, and nodding. He didn’t dare to play tricks in this aspect. Everyone knew that Prince Yi was powerful and ruthless. If he dared to do anything to Prince Yi’s wound, never mind him, not even his whole family would be spared.

Just having the guard watching his every move closely beside him, he dared not to do anything to harm Prince Yi. He was only here to gather intel, not to be killed.

“It’s decent medicine, just right for His Highness. I also brought some from the palace. Get a servant to take it from me later. The Emperor told me to bring it here. It’s good for external injuries.” Physician Xu nodded and carefully bandaged Ao Chenyi’s injury again.

He then stood up and faced Yu Jian.

“Princess, should we...” Yu Jian looked at Ning Xueyan, who was sitting in the corner without a word. She was, after all, the mistress. Even though he was Prince Yi’s trusted aide, his master was currently unconscious and the decision-making should be left to Princess Yi.

“Chief Guard Yu, get a servant to take the medicine,” Ning Xueyan said softly, nodding. Her expression was calm again and if it weren’t for her red eyes, no one could tell that she was in grief. And if this young princess didn’t seem so sincere, it would seem that she wasn’t as sad as she looked.

Physician Xu had heard the strange way how Ning Xueyan became Princess Yi. He looked at her curiously, and then saw Yu Jian nod and walk to the door. Yu Jian ordered the guard at the door to go down. The latter nodded and left, presumably to retrieve medicine from the eunuch that the physician came with.

Shouldn’t this be Princess Yi’s responsibility? Or was it that Prince Yi didn’t trust her enough and would rather have a guard make such arrangements?

“His Highness needs to be taken care of but he’ll likely wake up in a while. His injury is quite severe, so he needs to recuperate for some time. He must not do any strenuous exercise or his wound might tear.”

Since Physician Xu was an imperial physician sent by the Emperor, he had to do his best to explain Prince Yi’s condition. He picked out everything that could be said about the injury and told them all to Yu Jian.

Yu Jian listened to him attentively and would even ask questions from time to time. His concern for Prince Yi was obvious, as evidenced by his frown and poor expression. On the contrary, Princess Yi kept to herself the entire time and said nothing, looking helpless. She sat there like she was part of the decoration while wiping her tears away with a handkerchief from time to time. She gave off a rather uncanny impression.

She was Princess Yi. She should be asking the questions herself.

And what was she doing, wiping her eyes nonstop? It was apparent that her tears had stopped, but by wiping her eyes repeatedly, she made them redder instead. It seemed quite fake. Of course, Physician Xu wouldn’t think that she was putting on an act for him. That was because every time Princess Yi looked up, her gaze would fall on the chief guard.

Even though Princess Yi seemed suspicious, he couldn’t look at her any longer. After speaking to the chief guard, he packed up his medicinal box, ready to leave.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Ning Xueyan stood up, as if she was about to head to the bed and check on Ao Chenyi.

Yu Jian was about to see the physician out when he saw Ning Xueyan walking toward the bed. He stopped walking and looked at her with a smile. “Princess, don’t be so worried. Just sit on the side. Don’t disturb His Highness’ rest.”

To think that Yu Jian would stop and say such words. Physician Xu couldn’t help but take another look at the beautiful Princess Yi. Was her position in Prince Yi’s Manor truly stable? He had the feeling that the chief guard was more influential than Princess Yi.

“All right. I’ll wait for him on the side.” Ning Xueyan nodded and returned to the chair, looking unperturbed that a chief guard had just refused her to her face.

Yu Jian said no more and gestured at Physician Xu. “This way please, Physician Xu.”

“All right, thank you, Chief Guard.” Physician Xu nodded. Not daring to look anymore, he carried his medicinal box and followed Yu Jian out of the Moon-embracing Tower. By the time they reached downstairs, the guard from before had already taken the medicine from the palace’s eunuch and added it to Prince Yi’s account. The guard then led Physician Xu and the eunuch out.

Nothing was out of place in the Moon-embracing Tower. Nobody panicked because of Prince Yi’s injury and no processes were disrupted because of Princess Yi’s arrival. It seemed that Princess Yi had little authority in the manor, Physician Xu thought, as he walked out.

He couldn’t have expected what happened where he couldn’t see; as soon as he left, Ning Xueyan sat on Ao Chenyi’s bedside and the man who was supposed to be unconscious had his eyes open. Xinmei left the room and guarded the door with vigilance.

From the top of the tall building, she watched Physician Xu and the eunuch leave Prince Yi’s Manor.

The Moon-embracing Tower allowed one to see the gate of Prince Yi’s Manor, and Xinmei had better eyesight than most people. She was able to see Physician Xu turning around to look at the tower now and then, looking confused. It wasn’t until he disappeared out of view that she returned to her spot outside the room.

After a while, Yu Jian returned as well. The two of them smiled at each other before retreating several inches from the door. Their masters ought to have no mood to see them at this very moment.

Inside the room, Ning Xueyan stared at Ao Chenyi with a stern expression and even ignored his outreached hand. She slapped his hand away and said angrily, “Didn’t you say you’re fine? How can you get so badly hurt?” She was also watching when the physician opened his bandages earlier. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized his wound was quite severe. And he had the nerve to say that he was fine.

Seeing that she wasn’t giving him the time of the day and even slapped her hand away, Ao Chenyi sat up and leaned on a cushion. He frowned as if he had accidentally touched his wound, and a pained look appeared on his face. His expression frightened her so much that all of her anger vanished.

Holding his hand with a pale face, she asked anxiously, “What happened? Did you accidentally pull at your wound? If you know you’re badly injured, why are you still moving around? Do you not want to get better?”

“I’m fine. I was just anxious after hearing what you said.” Naturally, Ao Chenyi wouldn’t admit that he did it on purpose or his little wild cat might just brandish her claws again. His enchanting eyes gleamed and a touch of pain colored his pupils. “Yan’er, I didn’t intend to lie to you...”

He looked like he was trying his best to endure the pain and give her an explanation. Looking at him like this, she couldn’t allow him to continue anymore. She reached out to cover his mouth and said sternly, “I don’t care why you lied to me earlier, but you have to promise me that you’ll recover well.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of my injury. The world is so chaotic these days. I have to stay alive to protect my Yan’er.” He smiled slyly as he pulled her into a gentle hug. “You did so well earlier, Yan’er. I bet my suspicious brother will be left wondering again.”

A familiar embrace, tinted with the smell of medicine, enveloped Ning Xueyan, turning her heart soft. His sudden predicament was all because of her. He was determined to protect her, and it was only right that she returned the favor.

And the more suspicious the Emperor was, the better. She didn’t want him to keep an eye on Ao Chenyi all the time; at least, she wanted to lead him to the wrong conclusion...