Chapter 228 Caring

Chapter 228: Taking Care

She sniffed, her voice choked up. "Alright, stop talking. Save your strength."

Xie Liuzheng's deep, dark eyes were unfathomable. He stared fixedly at Luo Qingge for a moment, then simply lowered his head and leaned his whole body against her.

For some reason, her embrace gave him a sense of reassurance.

He pressed closer, nuzzling his head against her chest, unaware he found this spot the softest.

A strange thought suddenly crossed his mind: he felt that getting injured today was worth it, at least he got to see the worry in Luo Qingge's eyes.

Just then, Meng Fan returned, holding some bottles and jars in his hands.

He stared in disbelief at the sight of his master's head resting against Luo Qingge's chest, as if struck by lightning.

"Heir, Princess Jiu, what... what are you doing?"

Meng Fan's voice came suddenly, giving both Luo Qingge and Xie Liuzheng a start.

Fortunately, those shadow guards, seeing that Luo Qingge was no longer in danger, immediately disappeared.

Linglan had already tactfully walked a bit farther away, keeping watch for them in case a new batch of assassins came back.

Startled, Xie Liuzheng realized belatedly that the position he was leaning in was a bit awkward.

He coughed lightly, quickly lifted his head, and changed the subject.

"Ahem, I asked you to find a medical clinic. Did you find one?"

As expected, Meng Fan did not pursue the matter further. He walked over and said, "The clinics were all closed at this late hour. I ran to several but none of them were open."

Xie Liuzheng's gaze fell on the bottles and jars in his hands. He asked irritably, "If the clinics were empty, where did you get these medicines? Don't tell me you stole them?"

"Meng Fan, you've really outdone yourself!"

Meng Fan looked crestfallen and quickly explained, "Heir, how can you call it stealing? The clinic was empty, and I thought you urgently needed these medicines to save your life, so I sneaked in and took some, leaving fifty taels of silver for them."

"I paid for it."

Luo Qingge saw that the master and servant still had the mind to bicker and was somewhat speechless. She cut in just in time:

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let's first find an inn to stay and deal with Heir Xie's wounds, lest he really bleeds to death later."

Inns usually had attendants on duty at night, so they were relatively easier to find.

Soon, Meng Fan found the nearest inn.

When it came to treating the wound, Meng Fan was at a loss again.

The dagger was still embedded in Xie Liuzheng's flesh. He tried many times but could not bring himself to pull it out.

He said with a dejected face, "Heir, I... I can't do it."

Luo Qingge pushed him aside. "Useless. This princess will pull it out."

She rolled up her sleeves, walked behind Xie Liuzheng, and said, biting her lip, "It will hurt a little when I pull out the dagger. Bear with it."

"Go ahead and pull!"

Xie Liuzheng nodded. He was already drenched in sweat, but the stabbing pain kept stimulating him, preventing him from fainting.

Luo Qingge swallowed, grabbed the base of the dagger handle, and with a forceful pull, she yanked the dagger out of his flesh.

Warm blood gushed out, splattering all over Luo Qingge's face, but she had no time to care about that.

She asked Linglan to bring scissors and cut a large hole in the back of Xie Liuzheng's clothes. The sight of the wound made Luo Qingge gasp.

The wound was deep, forming a bloody hole, with rivulets of blood flowing down like water.

Luo Qingge's eyes instantly turned red.

She brought a hot towel and began to wipe the blood off Xie Liuzheng's body, until the blood had stained three basins of water red.

"If it hurts, you can cry out. This princess won't laugh at you."

Xie Liuzheng's face was frighteningly pale. He was sweating profusely from pain, but his mouth still refused to give in.

"If I, this heir, cry out just because you tell me to, then wouldn't that make me lose face?"

Luo Qingge glanced at him and stopped bickering, focusing instead on applying medicine to Xie Liuzheng.

This was her first time helping someone apply medicine, and her technique was unskilled. It took half an hour before she managed to bandage Xie Liuzheng's wound.

Luo Qingge was also exhausted. She turned her head to look at Xie Liuzheng and found that he had already fallen asleep.

But even in sleep, his pale, handsome face still carried a faint trace of vigilance.

Luo Qingge immediately gestured to the others and led them out of the room.

She said to Meng Fan, "Heir Xie is asleep. Don't disturb him now. Tomorrow morning, we'll find Third Sister-in-Law to take a look at him."

"Those assassins today were clearly targeting this princess. After I return to the palace, I will report this truthfully to Father. You stay here and take good care of him."

Meng Fan promptly said, "Princess Jiu, it's so late. Are you returning to the palace?"

"It's not safe outside. Why don't you wait until daybreak to leave?"

Linglan also looked worried. "Princess, he's right. Those assassins were after you today. Who knows if they have any backup? It would be safer to return to the palace during the daytime."

Hearing this, Luo Qingge thought it made sense, so she no longer insisted.

"Alright, then we'll return to the palace tomorrow."

"Xie Liuzheng saved me. Tonight, let me stay here and take care of him."

Just as Meng Fan was about to suggest that Luo Qingge go rest and let him take care of Xie Liuzheng, he saw her turn around, walk into Xie Liuzheng's room, and close the door with a "snap."

The next morning at dawn, Xie Liuzheng woke up groggily in bed. He reached up to rub his temples, feeling a terrible headache.

"Where am I?"

Hearing his voice, Meng Fan quickly walked over, his face full of joy.

"Thank heavens! You're finally awake!"

"Don't you remember? We're at the inn. Last night, Princess Jiu was attacked by assassins, and you saved her, sustaining serious injuries. You had a high fever last night, and Princess Jiu took care of you all night."

Xie Liuzheng then remembered this incident. He looked around the room but did not see Luo Qingge's figure.

Where is Princess Jiu?

Meng Fan said, "Princess Jiu left at the crack of dawn this morning. I sent people to escort her back."

Hearing this, Xie Liuzheng breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, even he himself did not realize that in his heart, Luo Qingge's life had become even more important than his own.

The news that Luo Qingge had been attacked by assassins on the street while returning to the palace soon spread like wildfire throughout Dongchen Kingdom and became common knowledge.

Along with it came the news that Xie Liuzheng had stepped forward, stepped in to save the damsel in distress, and ended up severely injured and unconscious.

Upon learning that his son had been wounded by assassins, Duke Rong Xie Jinrong immediately stormed into the palace in a rage, demanding that Emperor Jingyang bring Xie Liuzheng justice.

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