Chu Wang Fei

by Ning er

  “Go on, don’t be interrupted by us!” Seeing Chu Fei Yang’s cold face, Yun Qian Meng spoke gently, afterwhich she stepped inside the main room together with Chu Fei Yang.

  This time Chu Pei was sitting in the center of main room, in a grave expression, with treacherous eyes, tightly pursed up his lips restraining the fury in his heart.

  Chu Qing Yang was seated below his seat with his wound already wrapped up, Chu Qing Yang’s face looked slightly pale, with layer upon layer of white muslin wrapped around his right arm, despite being like that, that white muslin was seeped with specks of red plum-like stains, apparently the wound wasn’t that simple!

  As for the Xie sisters and Chu Jie, perhaps they were keeping watching beside Xie Shi’s bed right now, weeping sounds continuously echoed from the inner room which seemed quite real, and Chu Pei and Chu Qing Yang’s expressions were really hard to distinguish if they were real or fake.

  “Your daughter-in-law is here to see you, Father!” Chu Fei Yang sat down in a corner taking huge steps, and Yun Qian Meng bent her knees facing Chu Pei, afterwhich she looked at Chu Qing Yang feeling concerned, frowning as she gently asked “How was Er Di’s wounds? Are your muscles and bones affected? After hearing the news, your big brother had invited Physician Xiao Nie to come over here! Physician Xiao Nie is the person who had developed the cure for the plague, it would be better for Er Di to let him examine your wounds, don’t be too careless when it comes to your own injuries!”

  As early as during the palace feast for New Year’s Eve, Chu Pei had already met Nie Huai Yuan, now that Yun Qian Meng had introduced Nie Huai Yuan like this, firstly she wanted to prove that Nie Huai Yuan had brilliant medical skills, secondly Nie Huai Yuan had given up a great official career that was being offered to him and being a person indifferent to worldly rewards, this could also make Chu Pei feel relaxed.

  Furthermore, there was the most important point, which was Yun Qian Meng wanted to take a look into Chu Qing Yang’s injuries, whether they were real or not, if Nie Huai Yuan wasn’t the person checking his pulse, all of these things were just variables.

  Indeed, after hearing Yun Qian Meng’s words, Chu Pei’s eyes which were initially staring at Chu Fei Yang immediately shifted towards Nie Huai Yuan who was standing in a corner, seeing him carrying a medicine box in his back, wearing the attire of a commoner, he nodded his head towards Chu Qing Yang, using his tired voice he said “Qing Yang, allow Physician Nie to examine you all over again! Injuring your arm this time, you shouldn’t be negligent, if you muscles and veins got affected, then it will also not be beneficial to your martial skills training.”

  Having heard what was said, Yun Qian Meng eye squinted begrudgingly. Chu Pei was showing his care for his young son in front of Chu Fei Yang, evidently loving Chu Qing Yang very much. As for Xie Shi inside the room who was still fighting for her life, his feelings for her was also very likely to be sincere somehow.

  Yun Qian Meng quietly retreated back beside Chu Fei Yang and slightly lifted up her eyes and glanced at him, seeing Chu Fei Yang still drinking the hot tea in his hand wearing his normal expression, the corner of Yun Qian Meng’s mouth exposed a simple smile, as she nodded her head at Nie Huai Yuan.

  Receiving Yun Qian Meng’s nod of approval, Nie Huai Yuan immediately stepped forward, and Chu Qing Yang was also quite cooperative as he stretched out his own arm, allowing Nie Huai Yuan to examine him.

  “Physician Nie, my injury is really not serious, the condition of my mother’s injury is very much more dangerous!” Seeing Nie Huai Yuan initially took his pulse, then cut open the gauze in his arms, sprinkling the medicine powder again on his wound, Chu Qing Yang lifted his eyes to look at the inner room which was covered by the curtains, as he spoke with a little bit of anxiety in the tone of his voice.

  “Governor, the second young master’s injury can still be considered as stable, but during these few days he will not be allowed to carry heavy objects, he also has to properly tend to his wound, after two months it will completely recover!” After examining Chu Qing Yang’s wounds, Nie Huai Yuan cupped his hands as he spoke to Chu Pei, but his eyes were glancing towards Yun Qian Meng and Chu Fei Yang, giving them an affirmative look.

  “Father, daughter-in-law will now enter to take a look at Er Niang!” Originally thought that this was just the trick of injuring themselves to gain confidence, that Chu Qing Yang would suffer from some minor injuries just for the show, but earlier when Nie Huai Yuan opened up the gauze on the wound in his arm, Yun Qian Meng had seen them with her own eyes how the flesh was torn, the thick white bones could be vaguely seen, causing Yun Qian Meng’s heart to get tensed, a kind of bad premonition suddenly floated up in her heart, quickly took a glance at Chu Fei Yang, as she spoke to Chu Pei.

  Seeing his son had been taken cared of, Chu Pei loosened up his worried heart, then he nodded approving Yun Qian Meng to go inside the inner room to see Xie Shi.

  But unexpectedly, when Yun Qian Meng lifted up the hanging screen of the inner room door, she saw someone filled with tears in face running out from it, almost knocking Yun Qian Meng head-on!

  Dodging aside, Yun Qian Meng immediately dragged that person who had dashed out, yet she discovered the person was actually Chu Jie who wasn’t able to control herself, seeing her both eyes turned very red, her delicate face turned deathly pale, tears have already soaked up her whole small face, her eyes were vaguely looking at the person who assisted her, Chu Jie’s hoarse voice spoke “Sister-in-law!”

  Seeing her crying like she was deeply heartbroken, Yun Qian Meng couldn’t help but slightly knitted up her brows, particularly during the moment when she lifted up the hanging screen, a steaming bloody smell hit her directly on the face, causing her heart to feel increasingly uncomfortable.

  “Jie’er, what’s going on? Don’t tell it is Er Niang?” Allowing Mu Chun to assist Chu Jie who seemed to be on verge of collapsing, she assisted her to sit down, seeing Chu Fei Yang nodding his head at her, Yun Qian Meng entered the inner room together with Ying Qiu.

  During this time a lot of servant girls and old women were already standing inside the inner room, the Xie sisters were half kneeling down as they quietly sobbed in the bedside, as for the two madams of Wen family, they were sitting on the left side with their worried frown, what made the people difficult to bear was the bloody smell lingering inside the entire inner room, repressing everyone’s emotions.

  And during this time, a physician was standing in Xie Shi’s bedside, but judging by the look on his face, perhaps he was unable to start the treatment, after all Xie Shi being the daughter-in-law of Chu Wang, also having sustained the serious injury, no one would ever dare to carry out the task casually.

  “How is Er Niang’s condition? Why didn’t you allow the physician to examine Er Niang’s wound?” Seeing Yun Qian Meng came in, all the people were busy making their salutations, the two madams of Wen family also nodded their heads at Yun Qian Meng.

  “Cousin-in-law, our aunt is injured in the chest, how can a woman allow anybody to see her flesh?” Xie Wan Wan stood up from the bedside, the tear stains in her face were distinct and obvious, both eyes turned red while continuously sobbing, her face was hoarse similar to Chu Jie, surely she had fiercely cried herself out earlier, caused by being utterly heart broken.

  “Ying Qiu, quickly take a look at Er Furen!” Yun Qian Meng pushed away Xie Yuan Yuan who was blocking the way in front of the bed, seeing Xie Shi lying on the bed looking like she was only exhaling without inhaling, her heart was greatly shocked, also seeing the embroidered quilt below her feet being reddened by the blood, she immediately called out for Ying Qiu.

  Ying Qiu quickly went ahead, with swift movements in her hands and feet she tore open the clothing in Xie Shi’s chest, afterwhich she examined the knife wounds in her body, her both eyes suddenly looked serious “Furen, the condition of Er Furen’s injury is extremely critical, if we didn’t treat it immediately, her life will probably be in danger! But luckily the blade
of the knife wasn’t left inside her body, Er Furen wouldn’t have to suffer from the hardship all over again, but please allow this physician to quickly bind up the wound for Er Furen!”

  “How can this be allowed?” But Ying Qiu’s words caused Xie Yuan Yuan to retort back.

  But although her voice was sharp, yet it wasn’t a match for the cold gaze shot at her by Yun Qian Meng, afterwhich she uttered words to allow Xie Shi’s personal servant girl to remove her shoes and sit on the bed, allowing the servant girls to lay down the drapery, she then allowed Yuan Dong to invite Nie Huai Yuan inside.

  The incident today seemed so strange, even if Chu Pei had the intention to seize the position of Chu Wang, but based on the care that he had shown Chu Qing Yang earlier, it will be improbable for him to treat the life of his own son as a joke, beside she had also seen Xie Shi’s wounds with her own eyes, if that knife wound was a few centimeters higher from her heart, perhaps Xie Shi will already be dead on the spot! Such kind of serious injury, was very unlikely to be fake, one might lose life being incautious, even if Xie Shi wanted to help Chu Pei up to the throne of Chu Wang, the position of Chu Wang Fei will only pave way for the others, she believed that with Xie Shi’s highly perfected skills, she will certainly not do anything to suffer a double loss while trying to trick the enemy!

  But perhaps, someone had already blended in with the help of the matter concerning the position of Chu Wang, that person’s aim might be to cause the entire Chu family to break up by death or separation!

  And during this time the personal servant girl of Xie Shi helped Xie Shi tidy up her wounds under the guidance of that physician, Nie Huai Yuan was sitting in a corner taking Xie’s pulse, from time to time he would take out some medicine powder from the medicine box and give them to the people behind the curtain.

  Yun Qian Meng led Ying Qiu away from the bedside in the meantime, seeing the two madams still anxiously gazing at the curtains feeling worried, Yun Qian Meng remarked in a low voice “The incident must have frightened the two furen today, but Er Niang is still unconscious right now, for the time being she will not be able to wake up, it would be better for the two furen to be led by the servant girls to the guest room to rest for a while!”

  Since they were guests, evidently Yun Qian Meng could not just drive them away from Chu Wang Fu, moreover they were also worried about Xie Shu Yi which was why they had stayed until this time, suddenly sending them out of Wang Fu, it will be more likely offend them.

  And after hearing Yun Qian Meng’s words the two of them shook their heads, particularly Wen Er Furen’s eyes seemed anxious and worried, but after seeing Yun Qian Meng’s calm expression, the panic in her heart seemed to have calmed down, her anxious heart had also relaxed down, holding up the teacup then slowly took a sip, then she gently spoke “Er Furen was injured because she was trying to save me, of course I must wait until Er Furen is confirmed safe before I leave, or else how can I have the peace of mind?”

  Seeing the two of them insisted to stay, naturally Yun Qian Meng could not tell them to go rest, but she just sat down, then quietly asked “Can the two furen tell Qian Meng everything that had happened during that time? The incident had occurred all of a sudden, we shall not allow the murderers to just simply escape!”

  Hearing Yun Qian Meng’s inquiry, the two of them glanced at each other, then that Er Furen started to recall the incident “Initially when the horse carriage went out of the city gates it continued along the official road, everything seemed normal! Yet unexpectedly a group of bandits appeared halfway through, with no explanation they started to shoot arrows at us, fortunately the guards were able to protect the horse carriage, or else we would have died undoubtedly! Originally the two families contained fifty to sixty guards, yet more than half of them were killed. Those bandits planned to dash inside the carriage. That stabbing was aimed at me, yet unexpectedly Er Furen rushed over and got stabbed trying to shield me!”

  Speaking about this, Wen Er Furen’s started to slightly redden, her voice was choking with sobs, she couldn’t say anything further, probably that intense terrifying situation had really frightened her, while narrating this incident, Wen Er Furen’s body couldn’t help but slightly shivered, revealing the fear that was contained in the bottom of her heart.

  “Apparently, the Er Gongiz had an exceptional talent, if I hadn’t ran out of the carriage without careful consideration, the Er Gongzi wouldn’t get injured in order to save me! Chu Furen, how is the condition of Er Gongzi’s injury? Is it something serious?” This time, Wen Da Furen who had been quiet for a long time also started to inquire, her expression appeared to be quite worried.

  “Da Furen please don’t worry, Er Di will be able to completely recover after two months if his wound is properly taken cared of!” Watching the two madams of Wen family looking worried, Yun Qian Meng plainly smiled, allowing them to feel at ease.

  And although felt very complicated in her heart, with today’s incident, all the people were really caught unprepared, perhaps this Wen family had already got involved in the political issues of the royal court.

  Moreover, being able to attack in the official road, ordinary bandits wouldn’t have such courage, if they were being captured by the Ministry of Justice, even with the simple torture from them, will also make them lose a layer of skin.

  As the saying went “the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind him", very likely there must be someone who was already very familiar with the fight between each official family and the thoughts of the members of each family, and that person planned to achieve many targets with just one hit, even killing all the people before the successor of Chu Wang was being confirmed.

  (“the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind him”: pursuing a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger)

  But, this incident was being overhasty, having an attack in the official road, could also mean that the person behind this will get exposed, also limiting down the scope when people will search for them.

  As for the next step, perhaps they still needed Chu Fei Yang to assign people to start the investigation, only then will they be able to obtain the clues.

  The crying sounds gradually resounded in Yun Qian Meng’s ears, the Xie sisters weren’t able to restrain themselves as they stood beside the bed weeping, people who saw them will be able to think that their relationship with Xie Shi as aunt and nieces was very close.

  Yun Qian Meng saw the edge of their skirts were damaged, probably caused by the danger they met earlier, then showing her care she spoke “Two cousins, the incident today must have startled both of you, it would be better for you to get back to your room to rest! After a while I will allow Ying Qiu to examine both of you, don’t be scared!”

  But the two of them shook their heads stubbornly, speaking in unison as they said “I will wait for our aunt to wake up!”

  Seeing them having a firm expression, Yun Qian Meng instructed the servant girls standing the room to fetch two basins of water for them to wash their faces, she also allowed a few Mamas to firmly push the two of them to sit down, then she proceeded beside the bed, lightly lifted up the corner of the curtain then looked inside, seeing the servant girl was binding up Xie Shi’s wounds with her head filled with sweat, watching that wound exposed the skin and flesh, Yun Qian Meng’s brows suddenly wrinkled a bit, afterwhich she sat down beside the bed, carefully supported Xie Shi up, allowing Ying Qiu to help the servant girl bind up Xie Shi’s wounds.

  “Furen, this pill, please allow Er Furen to take it!” When everything had been done, Nie Huai Yuan took Xie Shi’s pulse being separated by a layer of curtain, after which he took out a round porcelain bottled from his medicine box, pulled out the cotton cloth cork, poured out a piece of brown pill then gave it to Yun Qian Meng.

  As for the pills made by Nie Huai Yuan, Yun Qian Meng felt utterly reassured, then she allowed Yuan Dong to fetch a cup of water, after putting the pill in the water and allow it to dissolve inside, then
instructed the personal servant girl of Xie Shi to feed Xie Shi little by little using a spoon.

  “Sister-in-law, my mother, is she……” This time Chu Jie walked inside taking quick steps, after a series of adjustments, this time Chu Jie had already felt calmer, seeing Yun Qian Meng washing away the bloodstains in her hands, Chu Jie slightly opened her eyes, then looked at Yun Qian Meng feeling unconvinced.

  “Miss Chu please don’t worry, we just need to wait for two days, after Er Furen wakes up, then everything will be alright!” Nie Huai Yuan provided a few necessary procedures to the personal servant, then he packed up his medicine box then responded to Chu Jie’s question.

  “Then that means to say that, my mother will not die?” Chu Jie’s face seemed to be overjoyed with the turn of events, despite that her both eyes were very red, but the happiness in her eyes was hard to conceal.

  But Nie Huai Yuan cautiously shook his head, then objectively spoke “During these two days it will be extremely critical, we also need someone to keep watch beside Er Furen during the night, if you discovered that Er Furen has a fever, you need to put cold cloth on her forehead to lower the temperature, you must not feed her food or ginseng soups randomly!”

  Seeing Nie Huai Yuan had already said everything he needed to say, Yun Qian Meng nodded at him, then she glanced at the other physician again, in a deep voice she said “The safety of Er Niang is in your hands!”

  “Yes!” The physician was intimidated by the cold air dispersed from Yun Qian Meng’s body, then he immediately responded bending his waist. Particularly when Nie Huai Yuan had already given all the clear instructions earlier, he only needed to monitor the changes in Er Furen’s condition within these two days, with this reason, the physician had relaxed down a bit, fortunately Er Furen was alright, or else the governor would definite put the blame on him!