Pei Ji supported Chu Yunge’s arm and examined it closely. “Injured?”
“No, my legs are just weak.”
Pei Ji let out a breath of relief and shot Yan Feng a fierce glare.
They were both men; he understood Yan Feng’s uneasy reaction all too well.
The Princess had kindly protected him, yet his mind wandered with lustful intentions. A mere guard dared to harbor improper thoughts toward the Princess.
“This Marquis has never seen anyone protect someone quite like this.”
He grumbled inwardly, but Pei Ji had already bent down and scooped Chu Yunge into his arms.
“A noble Princess risking danger to protect a mere guard—do you think that’s appropriate?”
Yan Feng immediately looked up.
Had Pei Ji told Her Highness to let go just so he could hold her himself?
This male favorite who preferred men was meddling too much, even holding Her Highness.
If he liked men so much, why not go hold a man? Why act like he enjoyed Her Highness’s company so much?
He could have held Her Highness himself, after all.
Yan Feng glared, but Pei Ji had already strode past him.
“You don’t know martial arts, so why show off? Don’t you know blades have no eyes?”
“Didn’t you take in so many Yan People as male favorites? Don’t they all know martial arts? How come none of them protected you at the critical moment?”
Chu Yunge: “……”
Pei Ji talked too much, and too densely.
“Were you always this chatty before?”
“You think This Marquis is nagging?” Pei Ji halted. “Which words of mine were wrong?”
“No, no, you’re right.” Chu Yunge struggled. “Yan Feng is injured.”
Pei Ji’s hand suddenly clenched into a fist. Yan Feng—again Yan Feng.
When had Chu Yunge and Yan Feng grown so close?
Hadn’t she never paid Yan Feng any mind before?
Besides liking Li Guangi, did she now like Yan Feng too?
Pei Ji’s heart soured with jealousy and resentment, and a question slipped out.
“If it were me in danger, would you save me like that?”
Chu Yunge: “……”
Yan Feng had been glaring at the pair’s backs, looking utterly forlorn, until he heard his own name.
He stepped forward without hesitation, only to catch Pei Ji’s question.
He froze stiff and turned to look at Chu Yunge as well.
Even Wen Xin and Wu Kui, who had been cleaning up and delivering finishing blows, turned to Chu Yunge, tense as they awaited her answer.
“Aren’t you an expert? Why would this Princess need to save you?”
“What if—just what if.”
Chu Yunge had been too lazy to reply at first, but seeing Pei Ji gaze at her anxiously, his eyes full of trepidation and excitement, she changed her words at the last moment with a helpless sigh.
“I would.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. Pei Ji had rushed over earlier to keep her from face-planting, avoiding disfigurement, disability, or even death. He’d kept saving her afterward too.
In the same situation, she’d save him once.
Pei Ji heard her answer. Though she’d hesitated, it was still affirmative.
She wasn’t entirely indifferent toward him.
Pei Ji couldn’t help it; the corners of his mouth twitched upward quickly. “If you’d dared say no, This Seat would’ve let go right then and let you fall flat on the ground.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t resist glancing at Yan Feng, smug right there on the spot.
Yan Feng: “……”
He tried his best to ignore Pei Ji. “Your Highness.”
What was there to be happy about? Her Highness had hesitated before answering. But she’d already proven it with her actions earlier.
Compared to the Little Marquis, Her Highness probably still liked him a little more.
Chu Yunge turned to Jimo. “Go fetch the imperial physician.”
Seeing Yan Feng look like an abandoned puppy— an injured, bleeding one— Chu Yunge patted Pei Ji, signaling him to put her down.
“Don’t worry, the imperial physician will be here soon. Yan Mengjun and the others…”
Seeing Chu Yunge climb down from Pei Ji’s arms to check his wound, Yan Feng’s heart softened. “They’re fine, just injured.”
As he spoke, Yan Feng glanced at Pei Ji too.
Pei Ji: “……”
Was that provocation and smug pride in Yan Feng’s eyes?
What did he have to be proud of? He was just a guard who needed the Princess’s protection, and he was proud?
In any case, Pei Ji was furious.
From this moment on, besides Li Guangi, Yan Feng was one of the people he disliked most!
Failing to protect the Princess, getting injured, and still bold enough to worry Her Highness.
Pei Ji glared at Yan Feng, while Wen Xin and Wu Kui watched nervously from the side.
Finally, Wen Xin had a flash of inspiration. He pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it over Pei Ji’s left hand.
Chu Yunge looked over accordingly. “You’re injured?”
Pei Ji: “……”
He shot Wen Xin a glare and gripped the cloth tight. The blood had dried long ago; getting exposed like this was so embarrassing.
It made him look like he was vying for attention.
A real man didn’t resort to such tactics—it was utterly humiliating.
“No, with This Seat’s skills?”
Pei Ji denied it. “This was from earlier when I saved you and braced myself against the ground. Not from them. Just a scrape.”
Chu Yunge really hadn’t noticed before. Upon hearing this, she hurried over and saw the scrape on his palm, which immediately made her feel the sting.
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“It’s just a little scrape. What’s there to say?” Pei Ji’s lips curved slightly as he glanced at Yan Feng.
Yan Feng: “……”
After seeing the black-clothed assailants tied up inside and outside the bedchamber, Pei Ji frowned. “You took them alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bold as brass, daring to assault the Princess Mansion. Interrogate them thoroughly, get confessions, and then we can settle accounts with Zhao Zeng of Zhao State.”
Pei Ji had arrived late and didn’t know there had been two groups of attackers—these ones were the Chu Emperor’s doing.
But Chu Yunge merely hummed noncommittally without saying more.
The black-clothed men were cleared away, and the imperial physician arrived.
The Princess Mansion always had physicians on rotation, so they came quickly and treated the wounds swiftly.
When extracting the arrow from Yan Feng, the imperial physician asked Chu Yunge to wait outside.
Of course Chu Yunge wouldn’t insist on staying; she listened from outside to Yan Feng’s stifled grunts of endurance, worry filling her eyes.
Wen Xin watched his own Little Marquis staring fixedly at Her Highness, his eyes brimming with grievance, jealousy, and frustration. Helpless, he pressed harder on purpose, pretending to fumble and reopening the wound to draw fresh blood, making Pei Ji hiss in a sharp breath.
“Forgive this subordinate’s clumsiness, Little Marquis.”
Chu Yunge turned back and saw the gauze on Pei Ji’s palm soaked red. She frowned and came over.
“How could you be so careless?”
She disliked the sight of blood, and even more so the flow of it. Her hands moved deftly to apply hemostatic powder and rebandage it.
Pei Ji watched Chu Yunge bandage him, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curving up, though he also shot Wen Xin a glare.
He’d never realized Wen Xin had such scheming before. But why did his methods resemble those of a little concubine’s maidservant exactly?
He seemed to be drifting closer and closer to the ways of a jealous concubine vying for favor.
Wen Xin didn’t mind the glare. The Little Marquis was bleeding a bit now, but it made Her Highness feel sorry for him.
He wasn’t wrong; Her Highness did end up concerned about the Little Marquis until the treatment inside the room finished.
Chu Yunge went in and saw Yan Feng drenched in sweat from the pain, yet still smiling and saying he was fine. She couldn’t help but sigh.
“This is hardly ‘fine.'”
“It’s really nothing. Three to five days and it’ll be good.” Yan Feng couldn’t resist tugging at his discarded upper garment, but it was futile—the imperial physician hadn’t finished bandaging the wound.
“Not so fast. At least half a month, and you need to rest properly.”
As Chu Yunge spoke, she noticed the scars littering his body—large and small, quite a few—which left even her, a lustful woman, no leisure to admire his muscles.
Her gaze made Yan Feng feel both pained and tense with shyness, afraid Her Highness would find him repulsive.
He couldn’t help but raise a hand to cover his chest. “Your Highness, could you not look at this subordinate?”
Chu Yunge tilted her head. Why did Yan Feng’s gesture give off such a coyly welcoming vibe?