Guanshan Muyu

chapter 40

When Qi Yan returned home, Xia Xun was already awake, disturbed by Shaobo’s movements.

By his side, Shaobo had never done any kind of manual work and was quite clumsy. When she changed Xia Xun’s bandages, although she tried her best to be careful, her touches were still not gentle enough.

Besides, she was too afraid to see Xia Xun’s injuries, so she didn’t dare to look at his hand the whole time and changed the medicine with her head turned sideways and her eyes half-squinted.

After all the torment, she was so nervous that she was dripping with sweat, and Xia Xun was also woken up by her.

Seeing him open his eyes, Shaobo was overjoyed; before he could say a word, her tears flowed down.

Xia Xun’s mouth was parched, and when he tried to speak, he did not have the strength to move his tongue.

Shaobo saw that he was thirsty and ran to the table to bring a large bowl of water to Xia Xun’s mouth.

Xia Xun drank a large bowl in one gulp, and he did not even notice the taste until the bowl was almost empty.

“How come the water you gave me to drink… is so bitter…?” He asked finally.

Shaobo huffed.

“Little master, it’s not water, it is the medicine prescribed by the doctor… Little master has drunk the medicine, tomorrow his injury will be healed!”

Xia Xun snorted and said weakly.

“Do you think I am a demon… hey, is Qi Yan home? Was you the one who called for him?”

Shaobo’s tears flowed more and more fiercely; she cried so hard she could not say anything.

Xia Xun comforted her: “You did a good job, don’t… cry again.”

Qi Yan was outside the door of the room when he heard Xia Xun’s voice and immediately pushed the door open.

On the way back from the prison of the Judicial Review Court, it suddenly rained.

Qi Yan did not go back home immediately but rode his horse in the pouring rain, rushing to a small alley in the centre of the city.

There was a store there, the only place in the capital where you could buy acacia leaf cold cakes.

The store was already closed, and the owner was putting the wooden boards outside the store, preparing to cover the door and the windows.

The fire under his stove had been extinguished for a long time.

Qi Yan took out a gold ingot and asked the owner to start the stove again and make him a box of cold cakes.

The money given by Qi Yan was more than what the store earned in three months.

The owner gladly accepted the money and called up his little assistant who was dozing in the back room. The two of them moved quickly, and in a short while they steamed a basket of brand new cakes.

Qi Yan took off his raincoat and wrapped the box with the pastries tightly.

Qi Hui wanted to take off his own raincoat and give it to his master, but Qi Yan didn’t say a word, raised his whip sharply and hurried home in the rain.

His clothes were drenched almost at once and his horse’s hooves stepped in the pools on the stone road frequently, splashing water over his shoes and quickly soaking them as well.

When he got back to the house, not a single inch of his body was dry, but the food box that he held tightly in his arms was still steaming hot and untouched by the rain.