Chapter 107: No Need To Explain
“Yunxiao, I didn’t expect—”
“Shh.”
Jiang Rui walked to Zhu Yunxiao’s side and had just opened her mouth to speak when Zhu Yunxiao stopped her.
Zhu Yunxiao glanced around. Although the Imperial Guards had left with the Empress and Princess, and the other companion reader young ladies had all been picked up by their families, there weren’t many people outside the National Academy at this time.
“We’ll talk in the carriage.” Zhu Yunxiao said in a low voice.
Jiang Rui nodded hurriedly. With Zhu Yunxiao’s support, she got into the carriage. Zhu Yunxiao tossed the horses to the attendants and followed her in.
“I heard at home that the Empress Dowager had come to the National Academy, so I came right away.” He said in a low voice, looking Jiang Rui up and down with a nervous expression. “Are you alright?”
Jiang Rui smiled and said, “I’m fine.” She hurriedly recounted what had happened.
Zhu Yunxiao listened in surprise. “To think such a thing happened…” He frowned again. “This Miss Yang is really bold. She could have stayed out of it…”
Actually, a smart young lady, if she discovered the paintbrush hid a blade, would shout it out directly, and what happened next would have nothing to do with her.
Yet this Miss Yang dared to play along with the scheme…
At this point, Zhu Yunxiao smiled again.
“She really sought fortune through danger. Now the Princess, Empress, and even the Emperor will look at her differently.”
Jiang Rui nodded. Putting herself in that position, she absolutely wouldn’t have dared to play along; she would have called it out directly to clear herself.
“But this Miss Yang…” Zhu Yunxiao said softly, looking at Jiang Rui. “You’d better not get too close to her. She’s too clever and ruthless. You might end up as her stepping stone.”
Jiang Rui nodded. “I know.” She looked at Zhu Yunxiao with gentle eyes. “I don’t seek great wealth or nobility. I only want to live steadily and peacefully with you.”
Zhu Yunxiao nodded with a smile. “That’s exactly what we’ll do.” He glanced outside. The carriage turned a corner, and his gaze fell right on the National Academy doorway.
The young girl in plain clothes was still standing there.
“She…” He couldn’t help asking, “Did she make things difficult for you again?”
Jiang Rui followed his gaze outward and saw Liu Chan. Her expression complex, she shook her head. “She didn’t make things difficult for me. She’s very close with that Yang Family’s Miss Yang Luo.”
She recounted how Liu Chan had tried to rush in to protect Yang Luo during the Empress’s interrogation, but she didn’t mention stopping Liu Chan herself.
After all, Liu Chan had been rude to her and Zhu Yunxiao. No one else cared about this Liu Chan, but she had held her back. Yunxiao would think she was too soft and foolish.
Zhu Yunxiao listened, a flash of surprise in his eyes. He couldn’t help looking at the young girl again.
There were plenty of women who admired him—those who showed favor openly, those who pretended to be distant, using all sorts of tactics. He had seen it all and didn’t care for the daughters of dukes and marquises. A girl from an out-of-town academy was even less worth a second glance.
He hadn’t expected that while the other companion reader young ladies shunned and avoided Miss Yang, this Liu Chan had already reached the point of risking her life to help her.
Zhu Yunxiao narrowed his eyes slightly. As the carriage and horses turned, the slender young girl disappeared from sight.
She must have, like him, noticed Miss Yang’s special qualities.
This girl does have an eye for things.
……
…..
After Zhu Yunxiao arrived and Jiang Rui went to greet him, Yang Luo didn’t look back again.
Although her view of Jiang Rui had improved somewhat, for now, A Sheng was all she had in her eyes and heart.
A Sheng’s safety was the most important.
“Sister Tao Hua has already persuaded Dr. Ling, right?” She couldn’t help asking Zhang Sheng You beside her in a low voice. “She won’t make things difficult for A Sheng anymore, will she?”
Although she didn’t know how Tao Hua had done it, Ling Yu had appeared in time and strongly stopped the Empress.
Although it turned out later that A Sheng hadn’t hurt the Princess but had teamed up with her to expose the culprit.
However, at that moment, the Empress had really intended to hit A Sheng. Besides the act, it was clearly deliberate…
In any case, thanks to Ling Yu, A Sheng had avoided a beating.
But Ling Yu might have just been protecting the National Academy’s reputation.
Now, leaving A Sheng in the academy for further inquiry—who knew if she would make things difficult for A Sheng.
Zhang Sheng You said in a simple-minded voice, “She probably won’t make things difficult. Dr. Ling is very approachable.”
Very approachable? Yang Luo had never dealt with this Dr. Ling, but seeing how he had confronted the Empress earlier, he didn’t seem very approachable…
The young scholar was somewhat fierce.
…..
…..
“Is this how you apply medicine?”
Ling Yu stood by, watching Mo Zheng sitting in a chair, one hand outstretched, the other holding a porcelain bottle and applying medicine to the wound.
When he saw Mo Zheng casually shaking her hand, with the medicinal powder piling up in one spot, he couldn’t bear it anymore and reached out to snatch the bottle.
Mo Zheng kept her head down and muttered, “The wound isn’t big. No need for medicine; just bandaging it would do.”
Ling Yu had already taken her outstretched palm in his hand. Though covered by scattered medicinal powder, the deep cut in her palm was still visible.
It wasn’t that the wound wasn’t big; it was that her palm was small.
The blade had been pressed fully into her palm, cutting a deep wound to ensure enough blood to fool people and avoid immediate detection.
Ling Yu said nothing. He leaned down slightly, cradling her palm with one hand. With the other, he carefully swept off the piled powder, then thinly sprinkled medicinal powder from the porcelain bottle onto the exposed wound.
After the Empress and others left, she had been left alone. Ling Yu brought water and medicine, said nothing at first, spoke that one sentence earlier, and now was silent again.
She should indeed speak first.
“Senior Brother Ling, I planned to tell you about this myself, so I asked Mister to keep it from you.” Mo Zheng said softly. “I just haven’t found the right opportunity.”
She hadn’t expected the opportunity to come under these circumstances—truly embarrassing and awkward.
“I didn’t expect it to be at a time like this either…”
Ling Yu hummed, interrupting her. “You didn’t need to alarm me originally.”
Was he saying this was just an act and his intervention was unnecessary? Mo Zheng sat up straight hurriedly. “No, no, although I truly didn’t do anything wrong, I really didn’t expect the Empress, even after learning the truth, to still hit me. Hey, you saw how badly that palace maid was beaten. If Senior Brother you hadn’t stopped her, even if the Empress was just acting and gave a few strokes, the medicine I’d be applying now wouldn’t be just for this spot on my palm.”
Ling Yu ignored her flattery. Seeing the powder applied properly, he took a white cloth from nearby and carefully wrapped her wound.
“Princess Pingcheng would have stopped it.” He said.
Mo Zheng smiled and said, “Still, Senior Brother you are more reliable.”
Princess Pingcheng had stepped forward because Ling Yu had clashed with the Empress, so the Princess would support the Empress but not confront her.
Ling Yu finished wrapping the wound and straightened up. His eyes finally fell on her face.
Actually, it was just the hairstyle and clothes that were different. Looking closely, this face was still A Sheng’s.
No wonder he had felt a strange familiarity at the Libationer’s lecture, spotting it at a glance.
Earlier, after hearing Sister A Sheng’s words, he had immediately pieced it all together—the odd familiarity, and Mister’s sudden strange behavior…
But he hadn’t had time to delve into it then; saving someone came first.
Now that things had settled, thinking back, there were indeed too many questions…
Mo Zheng naturally knew this too. She stood up hurriedly, bowed first, then straightened with a guilty expression.
“But even if I told you personally, there would still be many things I couldn’t say.”
“What I can say is that from childhood, due to unavoidable circumstances, I had to disguise myself as a boy. I couldn’t study with Mister, and it had nothing to do with gender differences; it was also unavoidable.”
“This time, returning to my female form is to protect this young lady I’m guarding. She too has unavoidable matters requiring her to hide her identity.”
“A few days ago, the young lady encountered trouble. In the critical moment, I…”
At this point, Ling Yu raised his hand to stop her.
“Since it’s unavoidable, no need to say more.” He said. “As for the rest, you’ve already explained earlier.”
Mo Zheng was stunned. Had she explained earlier?
“Not everyone is born to study. Many have to scramble for a living.” Ling Yu said flatly. These were words the youth A Sheng had once said to him. He looked at the young girl standing before him. “So the previous unavoidables were for livelihood, and the current ones are also for livelihood. Same as before.”
Same as before? Mo Zheng was dazed, then a smile spread in her eyes.
“Yes.” She nodded seriously. “I’m doing this now for livelihood too.”
Ling Yu nodded with a faint smile. “Knowing that is enough.”
Whether man or woman, A Sheng was still the A Sheng he knew.
That was enough; no need to ask more.
