After the guard had doused her more than a dozen times, Zhao Shu’s robes and hair dripped ceaselessly with water, leaving her little different from someone who had been thrown directly into the lake.
With the biting wind blocked, a little clarity returned to her mind. She merely feigned sleep while quietly paying attention to her surroundings.
She could feel the icy water continuously soaking through her clothes into his own. Cracking her eyelids open ever so slightly, she caught sight of the man’s smooth jawline and that deep, strikingly handsome face, beautiful almost to the point of being bewitching.
From this angle, the resemblance was even stronger.
Thinking of Brother Ruhui’s grief-stricken and resolute expression before she had departed, Zhao Shu suddenly felt such overwhelming sorrow that tears nearly fell. She had held on for far too long. Faced with the abyss separating her former life from her present circumstances, even she herself was astonished by how fiercely she still wished to survive.
She suddenly remembered the Hu woman from three years ago, the one with breathtaking beauty but a crazed mind. She had never liked Ying Wuji, yet for some inexplicable reason she had found that Hu woman warm and familiar.
But back then, she had been playful by nature. Mother and son had been nothing more than lowly refugees. Once the novelty wore off, she had long forgotten to spare them another thought.
It seemed that during the two months she had returned to Luoyi for the autumn hunt, after she came back, the Hu woman had been murdered, and Ying Wuji had disappeared without a trace.
…
Feeling the steady strength supporting her shoulders and arms, an uncontrollable unease spread through her heart. After everything that had happened, she suddenly realized that at the time, this man had been only sixteen. What unimaginable terror and despair must he have endured then?
For her, bringing that Hu woman who could not even speak their language into her residence would have required nothing more than a casual word.
But the filth of the world, the suffering of the common people, the hardships women endured… she had once spent her days in carefree pleasure and indulgence. How could she ever have imagined there was so much misery in this world?
“Where is clerk Wang Yun?” the clear voice above her suddenly asked. She immediately held her breath, tilted her head, shut her eyes tightly, and remained perfectly still.
She heard the same clerk who had been tormenting her moments ago repeatedly begging forgiveness, sounding like an entirely different person from the cruel and vicious man he had been these past days.
“You’ve committed no offense. Rise.” Ying Wuji was exceptionally skilled at winning people’s loyalty. Even toward this newly attached minor official, he spared no courtesy, even offering him a few words of praise. “Wang Yun, there is something I need you to do for me.”
This clerk happened to be a distant relative of an elderly eunuch who served Lady Mi. He had privately heard of this imperial grandson’s methods and temperament. Hearing Ying Wuji speak so politely immediately set alarm bells ringing in his heart, though he dared not reveal any of it on his face. He could only steady himself and wait respectfully for his orders.
“The order to punish the hostage prince here was my own private command. How, then, did my royal uncle learn of it? Recently, quite a few chengdan laborers in Jiuyuan Commandery have died of illness. Wang Yun, surely you know what should be done?”
So there had been spies mixed in among the stone quarry guards, and yet he, the supervising clerk, had failed to notice. Cold sweat instantly broke out across Wang Yun’s forehead. He knew exactly what kind of master the Imperial Grandson was. Offering excuses or apologies would only irritate him further, and that would likely earn him an even worse death. Only by carrying out the task successfully could he avoid being implicated.
Understanding this perfectly, Wang Yun spoke no further. He merely cupped his hands and solemnly accepted the order.
Yet when his gaze fell upon the person the Imperial Grandson was carrying, he no longer knew what attitude he ought to adopt. Hadn’t the Imperial Grandson previously instructed him, “Show no special consideration. Treat him as nothing more than an ordinary serious criminal.” But now…
As he stood there uncertain, he suddenly spotted a group of riders galloping toward them in the distance.
One of the attendants from the Imperial Grandson’s residence stepped forward to take over, only to be kicked aside by Cheng Wu.
Ying Wuji gave him an odd look, but made no move to hand the person over.
He would have to change clothes once they returned anyway, and the person in his arms was so light she scarcely weighed anything. Pointing toward where the horses were tethered, he instructed Cheng Wu, “Go bring Chiji.”
Zhao Shu suddenly could not suppress a shiver from the cold, and her body trembled involuntarily.
Just as panic gripped her, she heard the somewhat impatient voice above her. “Forget it. There’s nothing urgent tonight. No need to ride. Find a carriage instead, even if it travels more slowly.”
Just as he was about to board the carriage, Ying Wuji turned back to glance at the surrendered soldiers still laboring in the stone quarry. Then he suddenly said to Cheng Wu, “Ride Chiji to find the Grand Tutor. Tell him to arrange proper placements for the Zhao craftsmen. Organize them according to the military squad system and register them as common citizens.”
The heavy woolen curtains fell shut. The carriage wheels rolled over the frozen muddy road. A wind lantern was lit, and warmth quietly filled the carriage.
The carriage Wang Yun had hastily procured even contained a bronze charcoal brazier. Though the compartment was not spacious, that only allowed the warmth to gather more quickly.
Bathed once again in that long-forgotten heat, Zhao Shu felt her blood begin to circulate. Though her soaked clothes remained icy and clung unpleasantly to her skin, her breathing gradually steadied as her mind slowly cleared.
If before she had been only half-conscious while pretending to sleep, now she was completely awake. Yet driven by pure instinct for survival, she found herself reluctant to leave this comforting warmth. She feared that waking would mean being thrown out of the carriage, or perhaps she simply did not wish to endure any more of his mocking words. So she continued pretending to sleep.
Through the dim candlelight, she thought she heard the sound of clothes being shaken out.
As she wondered about it, the carriage suddenly jolted violently. She had been lying sideways on the bench facing inward, and before she could even react, the bump sent her rolling outward.
Before she could cry out or pretend to awaken, a pair of powerful arms bent down and caught her.
The clerk had prepared thoroughly. Not only had he lit the bronze brazier, he had even stocked the carriage with two sets of clean replacement clothes.
Her body felt cold and soaked to the touch. Seeing that she still appeared unconscious, Ying Wuji intended to help her change out of her wet clothes first.
Who would have thought that after his sworn enemy had fallen into such misery, he himself would have to lower his dignity and personally care for her?
He muttered with quiet disdain, “Completely useless.”
Though the words were hardly kind, his tone was calm and gentle, utterly unlike the one he had used earlier.
He shook out the fresh clothes and laid them aside. His long fingers moved deftly, and in just two motions he undid the sash at her waist.
His touch was so light that it was only when he reached to pull open the front of her robe that Zhao Shu suddenly realized what he was doing.
Her eyes flew open. Damp lashes trembling, she clutched the front of her robe tightly with one hand and blurted out weakly in alarm, “What are you doing?!”
Ying Wuji reacted as though someone had stepped on his tail. Without stopping, he easily shook off her grip and pulled the coarse inner robe down over one shoulder in a single motion. Tossing the fresh clothes toward her, he said coldly, “In the first month of the year we still have to meet the Zhou people for the alliance conference. If you die, I’ll have all of your people buried alongside you.”
Ordinarily, such a cruel threat would certainly have enraged Zhao Shu. But this man had just saved her life, and she had also heard him pardon those craftsmen. At this moment, she did not believe a single word of his threat.
He had pulled one side of her inner robe down to her shoulder. Fortunately, it was the middle of winter. Even though she had been stripped of her outer robe before the punishment, beneath the inner robe she still wore one final layer of underclothing.
She hurriedly pulled her soaked clothes back into place, tucking them in securely. She even retied the sash around her waist.
Even with the bronze brazier warming the carriage, wrapped in two layers of soaked clothing and the thick chest binding beneath them, as her body gradually regained warmth, her teeth instead began chattering uncontrollably.
The sensation of those slender shoulders beneath his hands still lingered. Ying Wuji frowned, suppressing the stray thoughts that surfaced. There were perfectly dry clothes available, yet she insisted on remaining in her wet ones. Had the icy water soaked her brain as well?
He glanced at her coldly and said, “I’m only having you change your clothes. Why are you so nervous?”
They were both drenched and confined within the same carriage. Feeling guilty, Zhao Shu hurriedly blurted out the first excuse that came to mind. “I… I won’t wear your clothes.”
Ying Wuji laughed in exasperation. He immediately reached to pull open the rear carriage door. “If you’re not afraid of the cold, then get down and ride a horse.”
The instant the wind struck her wet clothes, Zhao Shu felt the cold pierce straight into her heart. Her entire body began shaking violently once more. The man’s expression showed no sign of jest. One hand held the carriage door wide open while the other reached to seize her hand.
The suffering she had endured by the lakeside instantly flooded back. The cold had become something like a demon carved into her very mind, shattering what remained of her reason.
“N-No… don’t!” The moment she nearly stumbled out of the carriage, she threw caution aside and crashed into his side. Like a wounded doe on the brink of death, she clung tightly to him, desperately drawing what little precious warmth she could from his body.
Her back was soaked through. She was actually using herself to shield him from the wind. Ying Wuji’s brows knitted together. Just as he was about to lose his temper, the person behind him suddenly softened her voice until it was almost kitten-like. There was even the faintest trace of tears in it. “Please… don’t throw me out. I… I only… only have ugly sores on my body. I… I don’t want anyone to see them.”
In that instant, a strange sensation crawled up his spine. Where the person behind him pressed tightly against his back, instead of feeling cold, he found it oddly warm.
The atmosphere became frighteningly silent.
After a long pause, he ultimately did not turn around to look at her. He merely said indifferently, “It’s too stuffy in here. I’ll ride ahead instead. Crown Prince Zhao, do as you please.”
Stepping out of the carriage, Ying Wuji closed the door behind him with a backhanded motion, then carefully smoothed down and fastened the thick felt curtain that blocked out the wind and kept the warmth inside.
Even after mounting his horse and settling into the saddle, he unconsciously rubbed the fingers of his left hand together. She truly was different from someone like him, who had clawed his way through the mud all his life. Those royal sons and daughters raised in luxury, even the skin on their shoulders and necks was as smooth and delicate as fine silk and white jade.
The freezing wind swept across his face, instantly blowing away that fleeting moment of confusion. His gaze became clear and solemn once more as he looked toward the towering, endless silhouette of Xianyang City beneath the setting sun. For the briefest moment, an unusually sorrowful look flickered across his eyes.
He beckoned one of his death guards over. Once they were riding side by side, he lowered his voice. “Bring the woman attending the hostage prince here. As for the remaining sixty-eight surrendered soldiers… deal with them tonight. As for that young Commander Lian… leave him alive for now.”
The skilled craftsmen from Handan absolutely had to be retained and treated well. If the ministers criticized him for it, it would only further enhance his reputation for benevolence. As for these Zhao generals who had surrendered in disgrace, he had observed them carefully over the past several days and found none worthy of his use. Disposing of them now would also prove before his grandfather that he was no foolish ruler who bestowed mercy without restraint.
