Chapter 35: A Timely Rescue
“The young lady is about to be married. If she doesn’t have familiar people around her, she will find every step difficult. She needs attendants who are clever and know how to handle themselves.” As she spoke, Qingluo began sorting through the slaves in the marketplace.
By chance…
Qingluo suddenly caught sight of an unconscious man dressed in black, being sold as a slave. He looked incredibly familiar…
Liufu!
How could it be him?
“Ahem, hey! Boss, how much is this one?” Qingluo abruptly stopped, standing before the slave owner with a hint of confusion in her inquiry.
Hearing the prospect of a sale, the owner hurriedly yanked the unconscious man upright. Perhaps he tugged at a wound, for Liufu inhaled sharply in pain, but his body was limp and powerless.
“Him? He’s practically a cripple now. Miss, are you here to choose a servant for your master?”
“Yes. Our young lady said to pick two guards. I see he has talent, so I’ll take him. Name your price.” Qingluo wasn’t interested in haggling—saving Liufu was all that mattered.
“Him? Well, since he’s so badly injured, you’ll have to hire a doctor to treat him. Ten taels of silver, then.”
Before he finished speaking, ten taels gleamed in the slave owner’s hand. Qingluo quickly pulled Liufu away and turned to leave.
Behind, Zhongshi and Hongying hadn’t yet reacted; they simply watched Qingluo take the man away.
“Thank you, Qingluo.”
Following closely, it turned out the two actually knew each other.
“I’ve never seen anyone as foolish as you. How did you let yourself be caught? Luckily, the young lady sent me out today. If I hadn’t seen you, would you have ended up as a plaything?” Qingluo joked lightly, struggling to support Liufu, who was sapping her strength.
Zhongshi, perhaps noticing her difficulty, grabbed Liufu and took a closer look—recognizing him as the lieutenant from the other day.
“Is the Crown Princess still in the mansion?”
Liufu suddenly asked out of nowhere.
“Of course she is. Do you think we could go to the Crown Prince’s residence right now?”
“Wonderful… Wonderful! Take me to the General’s Mansion. I must see the Crown Princess.”
Liufu pleaded weakly. Qingluo could see he was barely breathing.
“All right.”
They hurried back to the General’s Mansion. Without Qingluo’s token, they wouldn’t have been able to enter.
“Miss! Miss!”
Reaching Qiao Qingyun’s bedchamber, they heard the call from outside the door.
Qiao Qingyun frowned, rose, and opened the door, only to find Zhongshi carrying a man in black. Qingluo quickly came before her, “Miss, Liufu is injured.”
“Injured? Wait, Liufu? Where did you find him?”
How could this all be so tied to Liufu?
“At the slave market. He was drugged.”
Zhongshi answered first. Qiao Qingyun didn’t maintain her aloofness, but nodded, “Take him to the guest room. Qingluo, fetch my silver needles and everything else needed—gauze, thread, scissors.”
“Yes.”
It was clear Zhongshi’s body was covered in wounds, all from swords. If they weren’t stitched immediately, infection would surely set in.
“Yes.”
Zhongshi and Hongying carried Liufu to the guest room and laid him on the bed. Qiao Qingyun tore open Liufu’s shirt, startling Hongying.
“Crown Princess…”
Liufu, half-conscious, opened his eyes and saw Qiao Qingyun, relaxing his guard.
“So you’ve come to let me negotiate with your master again?” Qiao Qingyun asked with a smile. Liufu shook his head, “It was my own carelessness…”
“All right, save your breath. You’ll need it soon enough.”
As soon as she finished, Qingluo burst in with a heap of supplies. Qiao Qingyun deftly picked up a silver needle and pierced the bleeding acupoint.
The blood stopped almost instantly.
Zhongshi and Hongying were so astonished they could not speak. They hadn’t expected Qiao Qingyun to possess such skills!
“Crown Princess, it hurts, please—be gentle.”
Liufu couldn’t help but protest.
“Can’t take it already? Why were you so careless before? Bear with it, there’s no anesthetic.”
With that, Qiao Qingyun set the needle. Not because there truly wasn’t any, but because even if there was, it couldn’t be used.
Liufu had lost too much blood. If he didn’t rouse quickly and spur his heart to produce more, he might not survive his coma.
On one side, Liufu wailed pitifully; on the other, Qiao Qingyun’s hands were swift and unerring. Before long, all the wounds were closed.
“How is it? Still hurt?”
Qiao Qingyun asked coolly. Liufu caught his breath and shook his head, “No, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Next comes the stitching.”
“What!”
Liufu’s eyes widened. With so many wounds, it felt as if she were about to embroider him like a tapestry.
“Behave yourself, or I won’t give you any anesthetic.”
Qiao Qingyun pulled a bottle from her space. She glanced at it—Mafeisan.
She gently dabbed it on Liufu’s back. Soon, he lost all sensation in his wounds, and Qiao Qingyun swiftly began to stitch each one.
When she finished, she rose, intending to stretch, but in the next moment the world went black and she collapsed toward the floor.
“Miss!”
Qingluo, faster than Zhongshi or Hongying, caught Qiao Qingyun in her arms, preventing her from being hurt.
“Crown Princess…”
A look of pity flashed in Liufu’s eyes. The words he’d intended to say now seemed almost impossible, but…
Seeing Qiao Qingyun like this, was she really to spend her marriage in lonely isolation?
“It’s nothing, just low blood sugar. Qingluo, fetch me some pastries.”
“Yes.”
Qingluo helped Qiao Qingyun settle into a chair, then turned to leave.
“Crown Princess…no, Miss Qiao, you shouldn’t marry the Crown Prince…”
At last, after much internal struggle, Liufu spoke, deciding not to hide anything from Hongying and Zhongshi.
“And why is that?” Qiao Qingyun asked indifferently.
“Because…in his heart, there is Miss Bushenglian, even though she is already married.”
“As you said, Bushenglian is wed. Liufu, you must understand—marriage rarely means two lovers together. Perhaps it is simply the union of two unfortunate souls.”