Shoutout to Tachibanaswife for the commission!
Qi Sheng looked at me. After a long while without speaking, the first thing he said was, “Where are your clothes?”
My clothes? They’ve all been torn into strips and wrapped around your brother! But Qi Sheng’s expression didn’t look good, so I didn’t dare say that. I only changed the subject. “How did you fall into the water too? What happened on the ship? Which side won? Ah! Right, how’s Luli?”
Actually, this is a technique. When you don’t know how to answer someone’s question, a very good method is to fire off several questions in one breath so they don’t have time to keep pressing you.
Qi Sheng only answered the last one. “Luli should be fine.”
As he spoke, he sat up and began removing the remaining pieces of armor on himself with one hand. The armor was already incomplete; it seemed he had taken some off in the water, leaving only the hardest pieces still on.
I noticed one of his arms hung motionless and couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong with your arm?”
Without even looking at me, Qi Sheng said lightly, “Probably broken.”
I froze. Hey! Lord Toilet and I didn’t have half a piece of armor on us, yet our arms and legs weren’t broken. Qi Sheng had armor protecting all his vital parts, and he still broke an arm! What kind of luck is that?
Qi Sheng removed the armor with one hand, then began undoing his clothes.
I looked him over. His clothes were also torn in places, but at least still mostly intact. I couldn’t help advising, “Don’t take them off. If you keep wearing them a while, they’ll dry.”
Qi Sheng glanced at me and ignored me, continuing to undress.
Though I had long guessed he’d set me up in yesterday’s incident, I still had to continue following him in the future, so I didn’t dare show too much resentment. Seeing he wouldn’t listen, I simply got up and went into the hills to look for branches to splint his arm.
I hadn’t gone far when I saw Lord Toilet coming toward me.
He might still have been weak; he was actually leaning on a wooden stick. Seeing my eyes fall on it, he seemed slightly embarrassed and instinctively hid it behind him, yet said aloud, “You hadn’t come back for a long time. I was afraid you ran into wild beasts.”
At the mention of wild beasts, I quickly turned and stood on tiptoe to look toward the riverbank. Sure enough, Qi Sheng had also staggered to his feet, one hand supporting his injured arm, looking this way.
By now Lord Toilet had also seen Qi Sheng. He pressed his lips together and stood silently.
I hurriedly whispered to Lord Toilet, “Stay calm. Whatever it is, wait until we return to Shengdu.”
In just that moment, Qi Sheng had already rounded a boulder and approached. His cool gaze paused briefly on Lord Toilet before falling on me.
Following his gaze, I looked down and saw that my upper body was covered only by bandages barely shielding my chest, and below that, my underpants.
I reacted at once, hurriedly covering myself with both hands and running several steps behind Qi Sheng to avoid Lord Toilet’s line of sight.
Position, this was a matter of position!
Across from us, the corner of Lord Toilet’s mouth lifted faintly. Then I heard Qi Sheng give a low snort and, with his good arm, toss a long robe back to me.
Only then did I understand why he had insisted on removing his clothes one-handed earlier.
I quickly hid behind him and put on the still-soaking robe.
Only then did I hear the two of them begin exchanging polite greetings. You say a sentence, I say a sentence, questions and answers back and forth. By the end, Lord Toilet even offered the wooden stick in his hand to help splint Qi Sheng’s arm.
Though I couldn’t see their expressions with my back turned, hearing that they hadn’t torn their faces apart, I finally let out a long breath.
After last night’s public incident, if either Qi Sheng or Lord Toilet had died, the other would likely be unable to explain it to the emperor. If Qi Sheng lived and Lord Toilet died, the emperor would think Qi Sheng couldn’t tolerate him and struck secretly. If reversed, it would become Lord Toilet coveting the position of Crown Prince and acting with murderous intent.
Either way, it would be contempt for imperial authority, treason, something no emperor could tolerate.
Thus, at this moment, the two of them had become grasshoppers tied to the same string.
If even I could understand this, they surely had long understood it too. That was why they were acting now, even if I was the only audience.
I suddenly found it somewhat laughable. The two had clearly fought to the death, yet neither wanted the other to die directly at his own hands, insisting instead on borrowing someone else’s.
By then Lord Toilet was setting Qi Sheng’s bone and fixing the splint. Having dressed, I went over to help. Yet when the two of them saw me, they both froze.
Looking down at myself again, I understood at once. I hadn’t been a man for more than twenty years for nothing.
Do you know when a woman’s figure shows most?
Qi Sheng’s robe was black, and summer fabric is extremely thin. Soaking wet and clinging to my body, and torn in several places besides… Well then. Even though I had been a woman for so long and was thoroughly familiar with Lady Zhang’s body, seeing this sight still made my blood surge.
Looking up again at Qi Sheng and Lord Toilet, well, they weren’t much better. The only difference was that Lord Toilet looked ready for a nosebleed, while Qi Sheng looked ready to vomit blood…
There. That’s the difference between looking at someone else’s wife and having your wife looked at by someone else.
Unfortunately, I had no other solution. I couldn’t take it off, and covering up was useless. So I pretended to know nothing, bent down to tear strips from the robe’s hem, and helped Lord Toilet bind Qi Sheng’s arm.
Though Lord Toilet said nothing, he turned his head aside to avoid looking.
Qi Sheng said, “There are still assassins pursuing us. We need to hide in the mountains and wait until the Imperial Guards or the main Fuping naval force finds this place.”
Lord Toilet nodded. “Good.”
The three of us concealed our tracks as we moved into the hills, stopping only after finding a hidden spot easy to defend and hard to attack. I climbed onto a rock and looked toward the river. Occasionally one or two black-clad assassins or Fuping naval soldiers drifted past, rising and sinking with the current. It was impossible to tell if they were dead or alive.
But I saw no naval warships, nor the willow-leaf boats the black-clad men had used.
Turning back, I asked Qi Sheng, “When will rescue arrive?”
Qi Sheng was leaning against the rock wall with eyes closed, resting. He didn’t respond.
It was Lord Toilet who answered softly, “Depends whether it’s the Imperial Guards or the navy.”
Thinking it over, I understood. The navy had suffered heavy losses last night. To conduct a large-scale search and rescue, they would need to redeploy troops from Fuping. But if we waited for the Imperial Guards, it meant the news had to reach the summer palace first.
I glanced at Qi Sheng. He kept his eyes closed, face somewhat desolate. I couldn’t help wondering what was wrong with him. It couldn’t be just a broken arm, they’d already set it.
Unable to figure it out, I stopped thinking about it and returned to watching the river. After a while, I suddenly saw several naval soldiers drifting this way, seemingly intending to land at the shallow bank.
Startled and delighted, I turned and called out, “Hey! A few naval soldiers are swimming over!”
Qi Sheng’s eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flaring. He barked in a low voice, “Get down!”
I froze. Before I could react, Lord Toilet had already pulled me down from the rock and hidden us behind it.
What was going on? Were even the navy unreliable now?
Lord Toilet suddenly gave a soft laugh and asked Qi Sheng, “What? He even planted people inside the Fuping navy?”
Qi Sheng said nothing, only looked at Lord Toilet coldly.
My mind raced. A figure flashed through my thoughts. I blurted out, “Zhao Wang?”
Neither Qi Sheng nor Lord Toilet answered. They continued “affectionately” gazing at each other.
I suddenly felt irritated. At a time like this, they were still playing this game of “say half, let the rest be conveyed by eye contact”! Was there no end to it? Would speaking plainly kill them?
I stuck my hand between them and said coldly, “Eye contact doesn’t kill people. Settle your internal conflicts later. Right now, sort this out for me! Let’s see who’s running this black scheme!”
Both looked somewhat startled at me. I had no mood for flirting glances. I said directly, “I don’t want to die yet. So I ask, you answer!”
Turning to Qi Sheng, I asked, “That Guard Li, was he your man?”
Qi Sheng’s face stiffened slightly, but he nodded. “Yes.”
My hand unconsciously touched the wound on my chest. Then I turned to Lord Toilet. “What about the boatman? Was he yours?”
Lord Toilet shook his head. “No.” As he spoke, he looked at Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng also shook his head, looking surprised.
I nodded with satisfaction. “OK. Put that on Zhao Wang.”
I continued, “The black-clad men who ambushed Yang Yan and me by the river, who sent them?”
This time Qi Sheng didn’t answer, glancing sideways at Lord Toilet.
Lord Toilet admitted honestly, “I did.”
I forced myself not to raise my middle finger at him and went on, “And the black-clad men last night, who sent them?”
Both fell silent. After a moment, Qi Sheng said lightly, “Probably Old Five.”
I stared into Qi Sheng’s eyes and asked, “Last question. How did you fall into the water?”
