Please read my translation only at Moonlight Teatime.
If you like our translation, please support us on Patreon or Ko-fi or donate
“But husband, your responsibility is resisting the Japanese pirates. The Seventh Prince’s incident happened inside the city. What does it have to do with you?” Yun Shi argued on behalf of her husband and the anti–pirates generals.
“Matters of the court are rarely dealt with fairly,” Wei Mingting sighed slightly. “Let’s not think about that for now. The top priority is to find the Seventh Prince. Alive, we must see the person; dead, we must see the body.”
Yun Shi was filled with worry, but there was nothing she could do about court affairs. All she could do was silently pray in her heart—hoping that the Seventh Prince was safe, that her husband was safe, and that the Wei family would be safe.
In the following days, the city remained calm. The common people were mostly worried about how to get through the winter and celebrate the new year. Other than that, there was no news. Even the Japanese pirates had quieted down during this time.
Every day, Wei Ruo made time to go to the estate to check on the injured man.
The man had been unconscious for three days. On the fourth day, Wei Ruo instructed Steward Yu about the follow-up medication.
“Continue the same medicine in the morning, noon, and evening. At noon, add a few tonic herbs to his medicine to help nourish his body,” said Wei Ruo.
“Understood,” Steward Yu responded.
While they were speaking, out of the corner of her eye, Wei Ruo noticed the man on the bed move slightly.
Afterward, Wei Ruo quickly walked to the bedside. The man opened his mouth and, with difficulty, made a sound, “Water…”
Upon hearing this, Steward Yu hurried to fetch some tea. It was still warm.
With Steward Yu supporting him, Wei Ruo fed the water into the man's mouth.
After drinking the water, the man lay back down. Then he looked around with a puzzled expression, and finally, his gaze stopped on Wei Ruo.
What the man saw was a delicate, fair-skinned young boy with a round face.
Because the mask Lin Fang had made for her was easy to wear, Wei Ruo had gotten into the habit of wearing it whenever she went out or to the estate.
“Where is this place…”
The man was still weak, his voice extremely hoarse, and his speech very slow, as if just one sentence had exhausted all his strength.
“This is my estate. We found you in the nearby mountains and brought you back to settle you here temporarily,” Wei Ruo replied.
The man, whether slow to react or for some other reason, only after a while responded with, “Thank you.”
Although the man was still weak, Wei Ruo couldn’t wait to ask a few questions, “What is your name and surname, where is your home, and how were you injured?”
If the man’s answers turned out to be suspicious, Wei Ruo intended to send him back to where he was found and let him fend for himself.
“My surname is Zhu, given name Zongyu, my home is in Taiyuan Prefecture, I’m a merchant…”
As he spoke, the man paused to catch his breath. Saying this much at once was clearly tiring for someone who had just regained consciousness.
After the pause, the man continued slowly,
“This time I traveled south to deliver New Year gifts to my maternal grandparents’ home in Wenzhou Prefecture. On the way, I encountered bandits. To save my life, my servant and I exchanged clothes. He diverted the bandits while I escaped in the chaos.”
“But I was still caught up with, struck several times by blades, seriously wounded and unable to move. Luckily, a trusted aide saved me at the risk of his life. With his protection, I escaped to a hidden place, but the bandits were still searching the mountains. To protect me in my critical condition, he chose to go out and draw the bandits away…”
Enjoyed this chapter?
Support Virichime to keep the translations coming!