He couldnât even be compared to the male lead, whoâd at least come to comfort her. Though his methods were strangeïŒsaying things like, youâll get used to pain! Thatâs right, his words just then were consoling her. Was that why his expression was so weird? Why was the male lead comforting her, so odd!
Bai Xiangxiuâs heart felt rather tumultuous, as if the plot of the novel had completely gone off the rails. Right now, the male lead was clearly supposed to be half hating, half attracted to the female lead and sending men out in all directions to chase her. Why was he wasting time in a place like this? Was it because the supporting male was injured, and he and the supporting male were the couple instead?
What a mess. She rubbed her head forcefully, feeling like she didnât have enough brainpower to handle this.
âAhâŠâ Because she moved her hand, her shoulder started hurting again. This really was a troublesome injury!
Like this, she spent another day lying down before she could finally get up and walk around. Still, every step brought extreme pain, so all she could do was shuffle though a few circles in the room before someone came to support her into the prepared carriage. There was no way that such a large and luxurious carriage could fit into the back courtyard of the medical clinic, so when she raised her head and saw the courtyard gates dismantled, she couldnât help but feel daunted!
She finally saw the supporting male lead this time. His injury wasnât light either, but he could move about freely. Truly, martial arts practitioners were different. She still needed someone to help her walk out of the room.
When Song Jiaoyue saw Bai Xiangxiu, he felt his heart clench. There were things he needed to talk about with her. If she revealed or purposely concealed something, chances were that Prince Li would sense it immediately. He walked towards her, a piece of paper hidden between two fingers. When he recalled how she had boldly given him the wrong gift before, he wondered whether heâd have the same luck. Or rather, he wondered whether heâd have the same courage she did.
âIs Madame Xiuâs injury better?â This was the last chance he could take advantage of, while Long Han was out deploying his men.
âItâs already much better. What about Sir Song?â Bai Xiangxiu exhaled. He still has some heart after all!
âJust about completely well. Weâre returning to the capital together today. Though the roadâs not far, I still ask that Madame Xiu take care.â He leaned forward a bit, only then realizing that it was difficult for the two to even touch.
âMany thanks for young sirâs reminder,â Madame Xiu unconsciously bent her back for a bow, forgetting she was injured. The sudden pain caused her to grunt softly, and Song Jiaoyue hastened to help her up. Their palms met through the fabric of their sleeves before they hastily broke apart. In that second, his heart seemed to have stopped beating.
Bai Xiangxiuâs body also turned obviously stiff, though she was quick to recover. She backed up a few steps very politely and prepared to climb into the carriage when she heard the male lead call out, âWait.â
She had just raised her leg, but her heart had already risen to her throat. Even Song Jiaoyue had frozen in place. He had already resolved himself; if anyone discovered anything, heâd take all the blame onto himself.
His and her gazes inexplicably met before both looked away. Why did this feel like some clandestine love affair? Bai Xiangxiu felt encouraged after such a glance. At the very least, the supporting male lead hadnât run away from fear of being found out. Psychologically speaking, people were less afraid when there were two of them shouldering something frightening together. At least, that was as far as her thoughts went. Sheâd originally had chills over the male leading finding out, but now she had slightly relaxed.
Meanwhile, Long Heng stalked over and glared at the two old female servants. âWhy arenât you properly assisting your mistress?â The two servants werenât that old, only around thirty years old each 1. They quickly bowed their heads and knelt on the ground to beg for mercy. Long Heng took the chance to support Bai Xiangxiu before knitting his eyebrows. âWhy is your body so cold?â
âThis concubineâŠthis concubine doesnât know either.â You scared me. But that wasnât something she could say.
âIt should be from too much blood loss. You havenât recovered yet,â Long Heng carefully explained to her.
âAhâŠâ Heâd picked her up in a princess-carry in front of so many people. Bai Xiangxiuâs face immediately flushed red, but because of her excessive blood loss, she still looked rather wan.
Long Heng placed her in the carriage before sitting down on the opposite side. This carriage had been custom made to be especially soft, so it felt like she was sitting on a sofa. A curious Bai Xiangxiu felt things here and there. There was a padded section behind her head, so she didnât need to fear hitting it and getting injured again.
Long Heng raised the curtains to look out and saw Song Jiaoyue still there. He said, âDo you need me to assist you?â
Song Jiaoyue wrinkled his brows before turning away to quickly get in his own carriage.
Only then did Long Heng lower the curtains and say, âWe can set out now.â
The driver started the carriage, but Bai Xiangxiu didnât feel much vibration. Even if there was, she forced herself to endure it, because there was a secret hidden in her palm. She only had the chance to peek at that piece of paper when they stopped midway for a break and Long Heng left. Written on the piece of paper was but a single line, a description of how sheâd been ambushed while delivering medicine to Song Jiaoyue. That was it.
So thatâs how it was. He was afraid that sheâd spill the beans and had concealed the facts from Long Heng. But the male lead still trusted the supporting male and hadnât asked her what happened that day. Actually, the male lead and supporting male were still very good friends. If not for the female lead messing things up between them, they wouldnât have fallen out with each other.
She hoped that her own matters wouldnât cause a rift between them either. Still, she wasnât as certain of it as before, before the male lead had changed. Once he did, the plot had shifted strangely as well. Who knew when itâd get back on track again? She held out for the entire journey until they got back home. Because she was only a lowly concubine, there was no one to receive her.
Moreover, Long Heng wasnât the type of person to trouble himself for her sake. As soon as they entered the city, heâd alighted from the carriage and gone on ahead on his horse. As a result, heâd gotten home first to see everyone there, leaving her to quietly return alone to Winter Garden.
She rested for an entire day, with no one but the doctor coming to disturb her. Huoâer was very happy to see her return. In these few days, his budding shoot had grown as long as a finger. He himself was as big as a her palm. Despite her distaste, Ye-mama had been taking care of him. Thus, Huoâer evened the score by reporting on all the complaints Ye-mama had said to him. He was too ugly, he had too many thorns, why did Madame Xiu like things like this, and so on.
Bai Xiangxiu wanted to laugh. Unexpectedly, she actually felt like she had come home. This feeling was really unacceptable, how could this place be her home?
She was currently sitting down to read when someone knocked at the gates. Xiao Shi ran out to open the doors before coming in to report, âMadame Xiu, Spring Gardenâs senior madame and Summer Gardenâs second madame has come to to see you.â
âOh, let them in!â Since theyâd already come to her door, she couldnât just chase them away. Bai Xiangxiu set down her book and slowly moved herself into an upright posture.
Her injury was currently scarring, so sometimes itâd itch intensely, but she couldnât scratch it. She liked to lean against the chair and gently graze it to alleviate the situation. Now that she moved, it itched again, so she couldnât resist leaning back for one last rub. But her current posture made it far from satisfactory. At that moment, the light and airy senior madame and second madame came in. Their looks really were too inferior to her own. Men who took concubines naturally valued virtue over looks. But despite this, they shouldnât look too ordinary for the estate.