CH 38

“Young Master.”

There was only one person who would address him as this.

Fucha Fuheng turned around. “Why are you looking for me… Wei Yingluo?”

The weather was gradually cooling, and the palace maids had all switched to their winter attire. However, he caught sight of a smear of light red slowly approaching from the snow and wind. Such a bright beauty, such a tender beauty, like a pinky smeared with lipstick. Among the snow, the color of rouge left in its wake.

“Young Master.” The young lady in red approached Fucha Fuheng, handing over a strange-looking thing to him, a sweet smile on her lips. “This is for you.”

Fucha Fuheng did not receive it. He merely lowered his head to look at it. “What is this?”

“Her Majesty the empress has often said that she worried you would feel cold standing in the wind. But unlike women, men would not use handheld braziers. I went to the little personal kitchen and asked for a pig’s bladder, then poured some hot water inside. After that, I tied it up with some hemp string. If you tuck it in your bosom, it can keep you nice and warm,” she said, suddenly stuffing the thing in her hand toward his chest. “What do you think?”

At once, his chest warmed. Whether it was due to her concern or that thing was anyone’s guess.

However, as an imperial guard, how could he accept a gift from a palace maid? If people found out, he would be fine, but she would be in big trouble. Thus, he reached out and handed the item back to her. “I don’t need it. I’m not cold.”

But as he looked at the smiling young lady before him, not only did he find the gift very suitable, she also thought of an excuse for him accepting it. Wei Yingluo said, “If anyone asks, tell them that the empress sent a personal attendant to deliver this to you. Or is the empress not allowed to worry about her own younger brother?”

Fucha Fuheng still had some doubts, but when he saw her slowly look down, he sighed.

“You gave me medicine, so I wanted to give you something in return. But I truly cannot bring out anything else…” said Wei Yingluo in a soft voice. “Do you… perhaps dislike it…?”

“…I don’t.” Then Fucha Fuheng fell silent for a while, before extending a hand and taking the nice and warm pig bladder. “Thank you.”

At that moment, Wei Yingluo looked up and smiled at him.

In the hours after that, Fucha Fuheng remained in a daze, Wei Yingluo’s smile appearing before his eyes at every second. A sudden spring breeze at night, countless pear blossoms in bloom.

Hailan Cha, his close friend who stood next to him, let out a sneeze. Afterward, he rubbed his arms with both hands. “What season is this? The winds at the Forbidden City are still so cold. It’s blowing directly at my neck!” He clicked his tongue.

The other imperial guards were not much better off, freezing their boots off. Pity the group of on-duty imperial guards; each of them were cold to the point of their teeth chattering. But without their superior’s approval, they could not leave their posts. They could only march in place or rub their bodies to warm themselves.

Among the cold-to-the-point-of-pale imperial guards, the normal-complexioned Fucha Fuheng, who even had some rosieness to his cheeks, grew conspicuous to the extreme.

“…What are you hiding in your bosom?” Hailan Cha had good eyes, and even quicker hands and feet. Before he had even finished speaking, he had already reached out and pulled out the pig bladder in Fucha Fuheng’s chest. Burned by the heat, he could not help but let out a comfortable shiver. Pleasantly surprised, he then said as he quickly stuffed it into his own bosom, “Oh! What is this? Wow, it’s so warm!”

“Give it back!” said Fucha Fuheng, reaching out in haste.

The two had practiced martial arts since young. Although Fucha Fuheng was strong, Hailan Cha wasn’t bad either. After all sorts of fierce hand-to-hand combat and all of the martial arts they knew, in the end, he was unable to get the pig bladder back for a moment.

“Why are you so nervous?” Hailan Cha still had time to tease him. “Could it be that someone gave it to you? This thing doesn’t seem remarkable, but it’s very thoughtful. With how nervous you look, it’s probably not from a man. Could it be… Which little palace maid gave this to you?”

Fucha Fuheng blurted, “That’s not it!”

“It’s not?” In a flash, Hailan Cha said, all smiles, “If a woman gave this to you, then I don’t want it. But if that’s not the case, between us brothers, there’s no need to differentiate. What’s yours is mine, so I won’t hold myself back from taking it with a smile—ah!”

Extreme joy turned to sorrow. One could only see Hailan Cha scream, and the large and strong man actually tumbled to ground all of a sudden. He had just said he was cold, and now his chest was pressed hard against the cold snow. But this wasn’t enough; he kept scooping snow with both hands into his chest.

“Hailan Cha, Hailan Cha! What’s wrong?” Fucha Fuheng rushed to squat and check on him. Once he saw what had happened clearly, he first felt startled, then angry. “…How could…”

“Wei Yingluo!”

Wei Yingluo, who was sweeping the snow, paused and looked back. “What’s wrong?”

A palace maid told her, “Imperial Guard Fuheng is waiting at the back of the palace near the well for you. He said he had something to ask you.”

That fast? Wei Yingluo was startled, then nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be going now!”

The two met again at the well, where they had parted this morning.

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It was the same weather. The same red clothes. The only thing different was his attitude.

Fucha Fuheng grabbed her by the wrist, looking down at her with anger that was difficult to express. “What kind of hateful grudge do you have against me that you would harm me like this?!”

Wei Yingluo lifted her head to look at him, feigning surprise. “Young Master, what are you talking about?”

“That pig bladder!” he said in a low voice. Other than anger in his eyes, there was even more disappointment. “It burst.”

But in the next second, something warm slipped into his bosom.

Warm and soft. It was actually a woman’s hand.

Just one touch, and more than half of his towering rage vanished. It were as though Fucha Fuheng had been pierced with a sword, falling back many steps until he leaned against the well. As soon as he felt the ice-cold chill of the well, he composed himself. Yet, his face was still flushed. “What are you doing?”

“Why did the pig bladder burst?” Wei Yingluo snuggled up closer to him, both hands once again stretching out toward his chest. “Let me have a look. Are you injured?”

She had approached him so quickly, had thrown herself at him without any thought, that it almost made both of them fall into the well.

Fucha Fuheng rushed to catch her. He exerted force onto his legs, and became as steady as a pine tree, standing in place. A sigh left his lips. “It wasn’t me who got hurt. It was my good friend Hailan Cha. He was scalded by the pig bladder.”

Wei Yingluo stood there in a daze. Then, she slowly lowered her head, hiding her expression in the shadows. Said in a soft voice, “Thank goodness it wasn’t Young Master who was hurt. It must have been because I was too impatient and wanted to give you a present sooner. In the end, I didn’t tie up the opening of the pig bladder tight enough. Is your good friend… alright?”

“His injuries are not serious, but he was scalded a lot.” Fucha Fuheng paused, narrowing his eyes in a somewhat doubtful manner. “You really didn’t do this on purpose?”

Bit by bit, Wei Yingluo raised her head, snowflakes melting on her skin. She breathed out, the heat brushing upon his face. Fucha Fuheng could not help but blush hard from the warmth. So much so that he thought that even without her explaining, he would believe her.

“Young Master, you’re really alright?” Wei Yingluo lifted her hand in an unhurried pace, caressing his cheek. “Your face is so red. Was it scalded too?”

In a flash, he grabbed her improper hand. “No, I wasn’t…”

“But your face is so red.” She shifted her gaze to his hand. “And your hand is so hot.”

As if his hand were truly scalded, Fucha Fuheng released hers. He cut a sorry figure as he turned around and left.

Behind him rang the melodious as an oriole laughter of a young lady. “Young Master, actually, if you fill a pig bladder with ice chunks in the summer and stick it to your skin, it will feel cool and refreshing. When summer comes, I will make another one for you!”

But he didn’t even have the courage to look back and respond, fleeing the whole way back. Once he returned to the Imperial Guard Quarters, he just happened to encounter the imperial physician who had just treated Hailan Cha, and was in the process of putting his medicine chest in order.

“Ai, why is my life so full of suffering?” Hailan Cha lay in bed, sighing in despair. “Instead of dying on the battlefield, I almost died because of a brazier.”

“Evildoers live long lives. Don’t worry, you won’t die.” Fucha Fuheng sent off the imperial physician and looked for a small stool. He placed it next to the bed and sat down. “What did the imperial physician say?” he asked, concerned. “Is it serious? Do you need me to give you some sick leave?”

“Then give me ten days off, so that I can avoid this terrible weather,” said Hailan Cha without a trace of politeness. Since Fucha Fuheng agreed immediately, he said in a less serious manner, “But since I got hurt because of you, tell me a bit about your sweetheart.”

Hailan Cha had joked about this many times before. But this time, Fucha Fuheng fell into a daze, expression somewhat impatient. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “…I don’t have a sweetheart.”

One look, and Hailan Cha knew he had a chance to get some secrets out of him, to the point where even forgot his own injuries. All of a sudden, he crawled out of bed and stood, eyes full of interest. “Fuheng, although this thing burst, I have to give it some credit! It’s very inconvenient to work with a pig bladder, and you also have to tie up the opening with hemp string. Not to mention, she would have to work on it for two nights. If someone does this for you, other than holding affection for you, what else could it be?!”

“It’s that troublesome?” said Fucha Fuheng. Then he snapped back to his senses at once. Hailan Cha had used other talking points to get him to speak!

“Isn’t it?” Hailan Cha patted his shoulder, giddy as he said, “I dare to bet on my life that that girl who gave you the pig bladder fancies you! But what about you? Do you like her? What do you like about her?”

What did he like about her?

In an instant, countless scenes flashed through Fucha Fuheng’s mind.

Her red clothes that seemed to dye the snowy landscape red like rouge.

Her smile that came like a sudden spring breeze, countless pear blossoms in bloom.

Her satiny skin of the hand gripped by his.

“Hey, hey. I asked you a question.” Hailan Cha shook his shoulder. “Which part?”

Every part.

“…Shut up!” All of a sudden, Fucha Fuheng grew angry, unsure if he was angry at the other party or at himself.

“Hey, stop. Come back, come back. I was just joking with you, so why are you so angry?!” shouted Hailan Cha, yet, he could not get Fucha Fuheng to stay. Yet, because of this, he was certain. All smiles, he shouted toward the other party’s back, “It’s cold outside. Next time your sweetheart sends you a new pig bladder, remember to share it with your brothers!”