Scent Of Time

Chapter 29

Zhong Yelan was silent for a moment and finally withdrew his sword. I breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did I feel a sharp pain in my palm. When I fell just now, a few pieces of porcelain shards deeply pierced my palm.

Hua Shen also seemed to have reacted to the current situation, tugging at my clothes and shrinking behind me, not daring to come out.

“What does the Emperor mean by this? Is it to stand up for that trash?” Zhong Yelan faced Zhong Xiwu without any semblance of respect.

Zhong Xiwu stepped forward, moved his body before me, seemed to block me inadvertently behind him, and continued to say to Zhong Yelan, “Hua Shen is the only son of Minister Hua. I understand Royal Brother’s feelings, but don’t lose your sanity.”

Zhong Yelan threw his sword to Nan Feng before speaking, “He dared to take a move against my side consort. Is it hard to believe that his identity has become his umbrella?”

Zhong Xiwu pondered before speaking, “Then why don’t we lock him up at the Government Office and wait for a later conviction? There are still things that need to be dealt with today, and with the identity of the Royal Brother, the Government Office wouldn’t dare to indulge Hua Shen.”

I couldn’t see Zhong Yelan’s face and only heard his voice after a long time, “It’s a bargain for him.”

Then I saw him walking towards Mu Yao, picking her up at the waist, and walking away without looking back.

I finally relaxed. My back was already wet. In a trance, I locked eyes with Mu Yao for a moment, but then, Zhong Xiwu turned around and squatted down in front of me, and I stopped looking towards the two of them.

Some palace attendants came over and pulled Hua Shen. He was snotty and crying out for help, but I no longer had half the energy to care.

“Thank you for your help, Your Majesty.” I barely managed to squeeze out a smile.

Zhong Xiwu didn’t say anything. He reached out and pulled up my left hand. Seeing the bloody palm, he frowned and said, “Return to your courtyard to treat the wound.”

“But there are still many ladies in the front yard ……”

“Leave it to me. Leave at ease.” Zhong Xiwu interrupted my words, let go of his hand, and stood up, lifting his steps to walk outside.

I hurriedly spoke, “Farewell, Your Majesty.”

After Zhong Xiwu left, I wiped the cold sweat on my forehead. Yin Xin saw this and hurried over to help me. I pushed her hand away and walked towards Hua Rongzhou, who was still on the ground, and using my unhurt hand to help him sit up, “Are you alright?”

As the male lead, Zhong Yelan’s palms under the full fury are naturally not to be underestimated. Hua Rongzhou’s face was still pale: “I’m fine …… I’m sorry, Princess Consort.”

This silly child, did he feel that he did not help me? After listening to his energetic voice, I let go of my worries. I reached out and rubbed the top of his head, met his darkened eyes, and said, “No, you’ve already done very well. Quickly find a doctor to check your body.”

Hua Rongzhou hung his head without saying anything. I got up and went back to the courtyard.

When I arrived at the courtyard, Yin Xing hurriedly brought the medicine. I sat down on the chair, not daring to look at my palms for a second glance.

“This slave girl meets the Emperor.”

At this time, I heard the voice of the maid outside. Before I react, I see Zhong Xiwu’s moon-white figure walking over. He walked naturally to Yin Xing’s side and spoke, “I’ll do it.”

Yin Xing obediently handed over the medicine and silver needle to him.

“Your Majesty ……”

“Don’t worry. People in the front yard have all been arranged and are leaving the house.” Zhong Xiwu interrupted me. Seeing him reaching out, I subconsciously retracted my hand.

“Your Majesty, it’s better to let Yin Xing do it,” I retorted.

Zhong Xiwu, however, reached out with his long arm and pulled my left hand over, “Are you not trusting me?”

“No, this seems inappropriate in terms of etiquette …… hiss ……” Halfway through my words, I sucked in a breath of cold air. My palm hurts too much.

“No one knows that I came to your courtyard. Besides, we have done even more inappropriate things between us. What are you minding?” Zhong Xiwu carelessly said back to me.

I twitch the corners of my mouth. Isn’t this sentence too confusing? Isn’t I only helping him to apply medicine? The way he said it made it so ambiguous.

However, I couldn’t afford to care about this. Although Zhong Xiwu’s action of picking the porcelain shards was gentle, it still hurt too much. I was shivering in pain and couldn’t help but open my mouth and say, “Your Majesty, why don’t you knock me out and then deal with the wound.”

Zhong Xiwu did not stop moving and said, “If you are so afraid of pain, why did you stand in front of Hua Shen?”

“He is my elder brother,” I spoke feebly. This matter was a fact that I couldn’t change, no matter how hard I tried.

Zhong Xiwu’s movements paused, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

When I felt like I was about to pass out from the pain, Zhong Xiwu finally finished dealing with the debris in my palm and started to bandage me with medicine.

After Zhong Xiwu saw the matter was well-handled, he spoke, “I’ve temporarily suppressed this matter for you, but you should know that you ultimately need to give Royal Brother a statement.”

“Your Majesty, why are you helping me?” I couldn’t help but ask. I seemed couldn’t understand him.

Zhong Xiwu did not think I would ask this and only replied after a long time, “You helped me to keep my …… secrets, and we are now considered a team.”

How boring is this Emperor for having a crush on someone and finding someone else to share it with? Wasn’t he angry when Hua Shen hit on Mu Yao today? But I didn’t dare to say that and only kept it to myself.

Zhong Xiwu sat for a while before returning to the palace. Just after he left, Qian Zhi came over and looked at Cuizhu, who was standing dumbfounded, then said to me: ”Princess Consort, when I went to the doctor to fetch medicine, I saw that Guard Hua took a bottle of traumatic injury medicine and ran out in a hurry. He even didn’t see me. I don’t know how his injuries are, but I seemed to see him at the door when I came back, and then he was gone in the blink of an eye.”

Hua Rongzhou also suffered from trauma. I didn’t look at him carefully back in Mu Yao’s courtyard. I recalled that he fell on a chair, so there should be some abrasions. Having thought of this, I asked Cuizhu, “Cuizhu, see how Hua Rongzhou is doing on my behalf.”

Cuizhu bowed her head in agreement and walked out. I frowned: “What’s wrong with this girl? In the past, wouldn’t she be happy when she had the chance? Why don’t we see her rejoicing today?”

“Perhaps it’s because she’s worried about Guard Hua.” Yin Xing, who was at the side, spoke back.

I nodded, feeling a little reasonable. Qian Zhi hesitated but still carefully said: “Princess Consort, did you feel that …… the Emperor seems different toward you.”

Yes, different. I guess this Emperor felt suffocated, so he took me as a bosom friend or the kind of bosom friend who shares the object of crush.

“You overthink.” I did not give Qian Zhi the truth, only pulled away from the topic.

The next day, Mrs. Hua came to the door, crying out for me to save Hua Shen, saying that her precious son could not stand the suffering inside the prison. I forcibly endured the headache and took her to visit the Government Office.

The guards let me in but blocked Mrs. Hua at the door. After I comforted her with a few words, I entered. Inside the prison, Hua Shen was disheveled, and when he saw me, he pounced on me, begging me to save him.

“Elder brother, how many times have I told you that Mu Yao is not someone you can touch? Why don’t you remember?” I spoke with hatred.

He wiped the tears on his chubby face and muttered: “I have always remembered your saying. I will not harbor thoughts about the person you say cannot be moved. Why doesn’t my sister believe me?”

Seeing his defense, I was so angry that I almost laughed: “Then what happened yesterday? Why did you appear in Mu Yao’s room unclothed?”

Hua Shen scratched his head in chagrin and opened his mouth, “I don’t know. Yesterday, I drank too much and was in the courtyard to sober up. Your maid said my mother asked me to stay honest and not to run around, so I was in a pavilion and didn’t dare to move around.”

“Then what happened afterward.”

Hua Shen looked guilty. Seeing him in this appearance, I was angry and flung my sleeve to go. I do not want to care about him.

He was so scared that he hurriedly tugged on my sleeve and said, “I was in the back garden. I see — see a beautiful maid, and she seduces me. Because I was drunk, I ended up following her into a courtyard and fainted. When I woke up, I saw that King Jin wanted to kill me, and I was so scared that I couldn’t say anything.”

“Are you sure a maid took the initiative to seduce you?” I frowned.

Hua Shen suddenly stuttered: “She has been watching me. Isn’t she — interested in me?”

I want to slap Hua Shen’s head. Someone looking at him is interested in him? Whenever he drinks too much, he will expose his lustful character. Yet he still finds excuses for himself.

After I asked, I got up and left. Hua Shen pulled the corner of the clothes: “Sister, quickly save me. This prison is full of rats. I can not live here.”

“Have a good time and learn from your mistakes this time.” I pulled out the corner of my clothes and left, no longer paying attention to his cries.

After going out and looking at the anxious Mrs. Hua, I repeat Hua Shen’s words to her and instantly see her shaking with anger: “I’ve told Shen’er countless times, but he still can’t change this problem of being horny, and he even made a scene in your mansion, so he deserves a good beating.”

“Does Mother think that elder brother really causes the trouble?” I stroked the wrinkled sleeve and spoke.

Mrs. Hua took a handkerchief and wiped her tears before speaking, “Although your brother is a lustful person, in the end, it’s the drunkenness that makes him misbehave. He’s the only son in the Hua family. As a sister, you can’t ignore him.” These words were also a tacit admission that it was Hua Shen’s lust that caused the trouble, yet they still absolved him.

I hooked the corner of my mouth and spoke, “But …… this time, I don’t think it’s elder brother’s fault.”