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I keep waffling back between pitying Jian Zhang and hating him for what he is about to do. If I wasn’t so wholeheartedly in love with Liu Shao already, I don’t think I would be this harsh on Jian Zhang, but at this point, I just want him to skedaddle so Liu Shao can profess his love openly to Jing Wan.
Encountering Love: Chapter 27
Murong Feng walked straight inside, and saw that the nurse had already cleaned away the bloodstains for Jing Wan, who was still lying there in a lethargic sleep. He had a lot of things he needed to do, but he could not bear to walk away like that, so he did not go downstairs until Shen Jia Ping arrived, and quietly said: “Liu Shao, they have already arrived.”
This meeting continued until dark, the coded dispatches came from around the country, one after the other; after experiencing this kind of soul-stirring matter, those military officers of the Cheng army, in their expressions and manner of speaking, were completely different from the freedom of the before. After receiving the last telegram from the south, it was almost the early morning hours of two or three o’clock; only then, in the still of the night, did Murong Feng feel that the situation was under control, he yawned and said: “The sun is about to rise, you should all go back to sleep.”
Those officers stood up and saluted him together with a ‘pa’ sound, amongst them an old officer respectfully said: “Liu Shao, you must take care. From now on, you have many heavy responsibilities.” Murong Feng nodded and said: “From now on, I will have to rely on everyone.” He rose to send them off, but his subordinates quickly said: “We don’t dare,” and withdrew in a single file.
Sheng Jia Ping walked forward, and asked quietly: “Liu Shao has not eaten lunch or dinner, should I ask the kitchen to prepare a small midnight snack?” Murong Feng realized that there was a slight burning pain in his stomach, but he did not any appetite, so he shook his head: “I will go to sleep, wake me up at nine o’clock.”
Even though he said this, he feet actually took him towards the back, Shen Jia Ping realized that he was going to check up on Jing Wan, so he quickly followed: “Miss Yin is still unable to move right now, I will call the servants to prepare another room for Liu Shao to rest in.” Murong Feng said: “I will sleep in the study, tell the servants to ready some bedding.” Shen Jia Ping agreed and left. Murong Feng followed the corridor to the building in the back, which was extremely quiet; Dr. Muller and two nurses were watching over her, and when they saw him enter, they all rose to their feet.
He silenced his footsteps to walk over and look upon Jing Wan, who was still unconscious, her pitch-black hair fanned across her pillow, a contrast to her colorless face. Dr. Muller quietly said: “After the effect of the anesthetics wears off, she will be able to regain consciousness.” She was covered in a down quilt, but because the quilt was very light, it made her seem even more petite, sleeping in the center of that large bed, tiny like a delicate baby. Across from the bed, under the window was a soft couch, which he sat down on and conveniently took out his cigarette case. Dr. Muller quickly stopped him: “I’m sorry, Liu Shao, the patient’s lungs are damaged, we must not provoke her coughs. He made a sound of affirmation, put down his cigarette case. He sat there, only planning to rest for a bit, but he had toiled tirelessly all day, his heart and body were completely weary, and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
He was trained with the military, and only napped for about an hour before waking up. His body was very warm, and was covered in a flannel blanket; he saw that a pale grey ray of light passing through the windowpanes, as it seemed that the sun was already rising. Suddenly, he heard Jing Wan groan from the bed, and the nurse hurried over to look at her, while he threw off his blanket and rose from the soft couch. Jing Wan still had not regained consciousness, but the nurse moistened her lips with a cotton wipe and took her temperature. Murong Feng noticed that her face had regained some of its color, so he stretched out his hand to press down on her forehead to feel her temperature, when she vaguely called out: “Mother…” He lowered his voice to say: “It’s me, are you in a lot of pain?” She was befuddled, and the nurse quietly said: “She has not awoken yet, let her continue to sleep.” He tucked the blanket around her snugly, and suddenly heard her murmur: “Jian Zhang…” He was bent over her so he clearly heard those two words; he was unsure of how his heart felt, and after a while, he slowly stood up to go outside to the living room.
Shen Jia Ping was in the living room, and stood up immediately after seeing him. He ordered Shen Jia Ping: “Send for Xu Jian Zhang.” Shen Jia Ping hesitated for a moment and said: “At this time, it is not convenient. Should we wait until the sun rises to send someone?” Murong Feng forcefully replied: “How is it inconvenient? Call him over immediately!”
The guest room that the Tao Estate arranged for him was very comfortable, but Xu Jian Zhang did not have any desire to sleep. In the afternoon, the Tao Estate suddenly quieted down, as all the guests suddenly dispersed, and even though he had guessed that something had happened, only at dusk did he hear that there was an assassination attempt on Murong Feng. This was a very sensational event, and even though in the telegram, it was announced that Murong Feng was not injured, all the high ranking military officers rushed to the Commander’s Estate for a meeting, and while the female family members at the Tao Estate were in complete disarray for a while, they gradually dispersed. When the night fell, the entire Tao Estate was extremely quiet and when compared to the liveliness of the day, it seemed like they were two completely different worlds.
When Xu Jian Zhang heard that such a big thing had happened, and that Jing Wan was then at the Commander’s Estate, he did not know whether she was safe or not; that kind of burning anxiety, he really could not do anything about it. He had a guard accompanying him, so he could not make inquiries about the matter, and the servants at the Tao Estate also did not know a thing. How could he even sleep that night? He laid down, only to get up again, waiting impatiently for the sun to rise, and right when he was the most anxious, the guard outside knocked on the door and called: “Mr. Xu, Mr. Xu.”
He thought that Jing Wan had returned, his heart was full of happiness, so he quickly opened the door. That guard said: “Liu Shao sent someone to invite Mr. Xu over.” He was startled: “Liu Shao?” Deep down, he was very surprised, as this was very unusual – why would Murong Feng want to see this unrelated person? But that guard quickly urged him to follow him onto the car to go to the Commander’s Estate. The sun was rising, and the people of the morning markets have already begun to become rowdy; the peddler selling tofu pudding called out his wares as he passed through the small alley, tottering under the weight of the shoulder pole, he shouted: “Tofu pudding, aiye…” That ‘ai’ sound was very long, Xu Jian Zhang heard the ‘ai’ sound from far away, and when the peddler was about to emit the ‘ye’ sound, he suddenly raised the tone of his voice, also forcing Jian Zhang’s heart to jump an octave, causing his heart to become even more uneasy.