Dr. Gu’s daughter, Little lady Gu, has just reached marriageable age1The RAW actually said “reached the age to wear hairpin”. In ancient times, girls who have reached 15 years old are considered marriageable and would start to bind their hair up in a bun and hold it up with hairpin. this year. She was born beautiful, gentle, and elegant, a typical beauty from a humble family; it’s just that she looks elegant and cheerful2The RAW actually literally translates to “her space between her eyebrows are sparse,” (it symbolizes elegance) so you can imagine her appearance, kind of different from the image of a border town woman. Little lady Gu has been learning medical arts from her father since childhood and has read extensive medical books, treating a wound wasn’t a problem for her.
Little lady Gu was actually quite unhappy when she was summoned by her father. She was just engrossed in reading a medical book, but someone came to interrupt her, how could she be happy when her line of thoughts were cut off? When she reached the side clinic’s room for patients to rest, Little lady Gu had noticed the man sitting beside the bed, but before she could seize up the man’s appearance, she was glanced at by the man’s chilling eyes. Her heart thumped wildly.
What piercing and terrifying eyes!
Little lady Gu now no longer has dissatisfaction whatsoever. Seeing her father respectfully standing on the side, she quickly stepped forward and bent her knees in salutations. Little lady Gu is a clever person, although she didn’t recognize the identity of the man in the room, but she could tell that his clothes and bearing weren’t something commoners have, even the Tongcheng city’s governor might not have this man’s grandeur. It sure made her couldn’t help but be respectful to him.
“Xiao Yan, quickly come here and clean this lady’s wound.” Once Dr. Gu saw his daughter, he quickly hinted at her to move quicker and not provoke Wang ye’s wrath. If it wasn’t for the prohibitions between men and women, surely it was better to let the more experienced and skilled Dr. Gu do it; But in this era where etiquette was valued to the extreme, it’s inconvenient for men to do such a thing. Thus the “female doctors” came to be.
Gu Xiaoyan meekly responded. She took the things handed by the little pharmacist, and then sat in front of the bed and cleaned the lying woman’s wound.
As she was treating the wound, Gu Xiaoyan’s hand almost trembled a few times. The Lord next to her has such an intimidating aura, making her feel like being drenched head to toe with heaven-sent3Here it doesn’t mean a good thing. It implies that you have done something wrong so the heaven sent something to punish you icy water again and again. Especially when she accidentally caused the lying woman to hurt and groan in pain, she almost thought it was already deep in the winter’s coldest days——Really too cold.
Gu Xiaoyan inwardly rolled her eyes, really unable to grasp how this Lord thinks. How could wounds not hurt when it was grazed when applying medicine?
After Gu Xiaoyan bandaged Ah Nan’s wound, she saluted Chu Baning and then retreated.
The clever Dr. Gu also chose to leave, quickly going to supervise the medicine decoction.
After everyone left, Chu Baning lifted the edge of his robe and sat on the edge of the bed, gaze fixed on the still unconscious lady in the bed.
One could imagine Chu Baning’s wrath. Before leaving the capital, his own brother, the Emperor, had sworn to ensure that he would command people to take care of Su Wang fei, letting her peacefully and safely wait for him to come back to the capital. But look now, plain as day, the person who should have been in the capital was now not only appearing at a border town, but was also injured. Chu Baning suspected that something might have happened in the capital, otherwise how could Ah Nan run to Tongcheng? Moreover he didn’t even receive any news of it.
Chu Baning’s jaws clenched slightly. He bent down a little, his face hanging above Ah Nan, his long jet-black hair slid off his shoulder, strands of soft hair had fallen to the pillow, intertwining with Ah Nan’s loose black hair on the pillow. The scene looked especially touching and tenderly affectionate.
Chu Baning hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and rubbed his face to the young lady’s scalding cheek. He felt her heavy breathing due to fever, yet his heart calmed down somehow.
Thank goodness, she was still here.
The medicine was done brewing quickly, Dr. Gu brought it over personally. He respectfully saluted Chu Baning and said, “Wang ye, please let the patient drink the medicine as soon as possible. Only when the temperature has lowered will there be no danger.”
Chu Baning nodded. After Dr. Gu put down the medicine and left, Chu Baning sat on the head of the bed, hugged the still unconscious Ah Nan and let her limp body lean against his chest.
“Ah Nan, Ah Nan, wake up. Take the medicine……”
Chu Baning gently patted Ah Nan’s cheek, Ah Nan was irritated but not aroused, only furrowing her brows. Ah Nan felt her consciousness come and go, her whole body soft, unable to exert any strength, simply not wanting to get up. But that continuous disturbing sounds truly get to her nerves, making her feel so vexed.
“Stop fussing, let me sleep…” Ah Nan proceeded to ignore Wang ye and weakly lowered her head, continuing her sleep.
Chu Baning was silent for a moment before using one of his hands to hold that bowl of pitch black medicine, while the other pinching at Ah Nan’s chin. Then——he directly placed the bowl rim on Ah Nan’s lips and poured the medicine in. Ah Nan was eventually awakened due to Wang ye’s not so gentle actions. She opened her eyes and immediately stared blankly at Chu Baning, her mind was still confused and half-awake, and with some dissatisfied-and-angered-but-have-no-strength soft voice, she said to her family’s Wang ye:
“Wang ye… your movement is really not up for standard! Do you know how Zhang Cuishan from the Seven Heroes of Wudang4From the drama “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber”, a pretty old martial arts drama (1994). Basically there was a group called Seven Heroes of Wudang (7 people) who are high-ranking in Jianghu. Zhang Cuishan is one of the seven heroes, Yin Su su is one of the heroines. I’ve never watched it either so I’m not sure of the plot. treated Su su when she was ill and injured? Feed gently, do you understand?”
“…….” Chu Baning raised his brow, silently contemplating. Who are “the Seven Heroes of Wudang”? And who is Su su even?
However, the fool is indeed a fool. After expressing her dissatisfaction, she very obediently lowered her head and started to drink the medicine herself. After she finished drinking the medicine, she pulled Chu Baning’s sleeve over and used it to wipe her mouth. Then, she weakly smiled at Chu Baning and said, “I’ll sleep first, wake me once we get to Tongcheng! Oh, also, we must show Wang ye the imperial decree from Mu hou once we saw him. That’s a life-saving thing….. Fortunately, I’m so smart and know I’m a nobody, not heaven’s favored heroine. Something was bound to happen so I asked Mu hou for that life-saving imperial edict….. It’s not that I myself want to come here, Wang ye definitely wouldn’t get angry at me…..”
Amidst the incessant murmurs, a certain someone patted Wang ye’s firm chest, head leaning against it, and then merrily and happily went to sleep.
Chu Baning knew that she was muddle-headed due to the fever and should be dreaming right now. Only when a certain someone’s mind wasn’t clear that she would be so courageous and speak her heart out, letting him understand what her usual thoughts are. At other times, his little Wang fei was a really good actress and really wouldn’t let a word slip for a long time. Only when she was cornered would she say something, and even that was catered to his thoughts.
However, her words have allowed Wang ye to understand some information.
Great, it turned out to be Mu hou’s doing.
Chu Baning’s eyes squinted lightly, not knowing if the Empress Dowager far away in the capital city was holing herself in the bed and sneezing due to the cold right now.
Not long after, Mu Yuan’er, Chu Baning’s close servant, came in after receiving information. When he saw the young girl sleeping peacefully in Chu Baning’s embrace, his eyes went wide, almost popping out of his eye sockets. With an astonished expression, he called out, “Wang-, Wang-, Wang-”
“Shut up!”
Chu Baning shot a glance at Mu Yuan’er, making him quivered and immediately sorted out his ugly expression. He respectfully said, “Wang ye, would you like this slave to tidy up the residence beside the city governor’s for Wang fei to live in?”
The house next to the city governor’s mansion was a bit smaller than the governor’s Mansion. Chu Baning was not just a Wang ye, he was a Wang ye who had real power and authority, so even if he was in the borders where resources were limited, the place he lived in still should be the best one. Although that house was still newly built, but it was a little too small. It was initially laid vacant, no one had thought it would be used for him.
Governor He of Tongcheng was promoted personally by Emperor Chongde and could be said to be one of the Emperor’s important subjects. He himself knew of how important Su Wang was in the Emperor’s heart, and thus when he knew this Wang ye would be coming, he was about to move his whole family from the city governor’s mansion to the neighboring empty residence, vacating the Mansion for Wang ye to live in——As for the sign of “City Governor’s Mansion”, Governor He thought to just directly move the sign and hang it on the new house.
However, what people didn’t expect was for this Wang ye to come to the borders alone, not bringing even concubines or maids. He came here with such a careless attitude, making people suspect that he was actually being banished from the court by the Emperor and was sent here to suffer hardships. And what baffled them even more was that this Wang ye, after arriving at the border and escorting the grains for the army, had straightforwardly lived in the barracks. It not only caused Governor He, who had prepared to vacate his residence, to feel heartened, but also made the soldiers and commoners in the borders feel extremely touched, thinking that this Wang ye was really patriotic and dedicated to the country. He would actually give up the life of comfort and pleasures, eat and live the same way the soldiers and commoners in the borders do, suffering hardships together with them.
And thus, because of Su Wang’s independent and self-sufficient conduct, no one had been notified of Su Wang fei’s circumstances and the house had not been prepared in advance. Now that Su Wang fei has arrived at Tongcheng, there’s actually no house for her to live in.
Chu Baning naturally nodded and agreed to Mu Yuan’er’s proposal, then asked, “How many days would it take to tidy it up?”
“Wang ye, that house has to be renovated, new furniture also has yet to be added. It would probably take around three days,” Mu Yuan’er carefully replied. Furniture and such were made by order, the border areas didn’t have ready-made stocks like those in big cities. Here, furniture and such have to be ordered first before being made.
“En, Ben Wang will give you three days. Also, go send a letter to the Governor’s Furen. For these three days, Wang fei will be recuperating in the Governor’s Mansion.”
The war has fallen into a stalemate, there’s nothing to be done in the barracks at the moment, so Chu Baning stood as a guard in the clinic as he waited for Ah Nan’s fever to fall.
Dr. Gu’s medicine was very effective, Ah Nan was sweating profusely and her fever was slowly subsiding. Her fever has become mild, but Ah Nan has yet to show signs of waking up.
At this moment, the maids and Imperial Guards from Su Wang Mansion finally entered Tongcheng under the soldiers’ lead. Wen Liang had already let someone take care of everything for them, knowing that Chu Baning’s mind wasn’t in the right place. He directly brought the maids and Momos from Su Wang Mansion to the Gu family’s clinic.
Maria Lian On CFRFGC Chapter 104