Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C031

The shattering sound of the vase hitting the floor jolted Wushuang from her stupor. She saw the man lying motionless on the ground, a large amount of blood flowing from his head.

She could no longer concern herself with anything else. In a panic, she rushed to push the door, but found it was beyond her strength to open. She then sought out a window.

There was a back window, its panels still able to open. Perhaps the other party did not believe that a frail young woman could escape a drunken man, so they had not bothered to secure the window.

The window was a casement window, divided into upper and lower sections. The lower section was latticed but could not be opened, while the upper section could be propped open. This meant that this window was higher than ordinary windows.

Wushuang dragged over a chair, stood on it, and climbed towards the window.

Her climb was not smooth. The window was not only narrow but also high. She needed a chair inside to reach it, and it would be even higher on the outside.

She looked at the distance from the window to the ground, and hesitated greatly.

Just then, she faintly heard a series of footsteps outside, as if many people were coming. At the same time, someone came to the door, opened the bolt, but did not push the door open, and instead left.

The sound of voices grew closer.

Wushuang had no time to hesitate any longer. She closed her eyes and jumped down. She landed on the ground, her vision swimming with pain. She felt pain in her hands, feet, and legs, pain all over her body.

At that moment, a large group of people burst into the room, followed by a chorus of cries.

Wushuang hurriedly propped herself up, not even bothering to wipe away her tears, and limped away.

By now, she had remembered who the man she had knocked unconscious was. It was the shizi of Marquis Wuxiang, a notorious playboy in the capital, whose reputation was known to all. However, Marquis Wuxiang had Noble Consort Sun and Prince Qin backing him, so no matter what absurd things he did, someone would always clean up after him.

Such a person, struck so many times by her, and she had seen a lot of blood on the ground before she climbed out.

She did not know if he was merely unconscious or dead, but regardless, whether she was innocent or not, now that he was injured, given the overbearing style of the Marquis Wuxiang's mansion, if she were caught in the act, her fate would certainly be grim.

Even if she had Ji Yang behind her, Ji Yang was not here now, so she had to escape, leave this place first, make it unknown that she was the culprit, and then find Ji Yang.

Wushuang haphazardly wiped her face, and only chose deserted paths to run along.

She heard a jumble of voices and footsteps behind her, as if they had discovered she had escaped through the window and were chasing after her.

She seemed to be injured, her body aching, and she could not run fast at all. Midway, feeling that the group was about to catch up, she quickly relied on her petite frame to hide behind a rockery.

Indeed, these people were chasing her.

"Chase quickly! No matter what, the villain must be caught!"

"What villain dares to injure the shizi of Marquis Wuxiang? If the Marquis Wuxiang's mansion were to pursue this matter…"

After the group had passed, Wushuang emerged from behind the rockery and ran in another direction.

By now, she had completely lost her bearings. Her feet were hurting more and more, to the point where she could barely walk. Moreover, she was now covered in dust, and her clothes were stained with moss from where she had hidden. She needed to find a place to rest for a while, clean off the dirt and tend to her wounds. That way, even if she were seen again, she would not be afraid.

Thinking this, Wushuang was walking entirely on willpower. Seeing a small tower ahead, she rushed inside without thinking further.

After entering, she did not encounter anyone. She breathed a sigh of relief, walked further in, found an inner room, and pushed the door open.

She closed the door, bolted it from the inside, and Wushuang collapsed directly onto the floor.

She sat there, looking at the dirt on her skirt, then at her hands. Both of her palms were scraped and bleeding, burning with pain. A wave of grievance welled up in her heart, and she could not hold back her tears.

***

Prince Wei had just finished his meal and, feeling a sudden need, had asked to be led to the privy. He had not expected that, having just finished, he would hear someone enter.

He had thought it was some servant who did not understand the rules, but he had not expected to see such a scene when he came out—a young girl, looking disheveled, sitting on the ground crying.

Prince Wei's hand still rested on his belt when Wushuang looked up, stunned.

She thought she was dreaming and rubbed her eyes, but finding she was not, she called out in grievance, "Your Highness."

Only then did Prince Wei recognize her; it was indeed her.

Wushuang, aggrieved, cried out and, disregarding the pain in her body, threw herself towards him.

Prince Wei, caught off guard, was struck squarely, and she nestled into his embrace, clutching his clothes and beginning to weep.

It was clear she had suffered a grievance, and a great one at that.

Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were soiled, and she was covered in grime. She had come today to offer birthday greetings, not to become like this. How had she come to such a state?

"What happened?"

Hearing this, Wushuang felt even more aggrieved and sobbed, "Someone harmed me!"

Prince Wei's heart jolted, and his brow furrowed.

"Explain clearly."

Wushuang stammered, "I don't know who harmed me. They said Second Sister had broken her leg and led me to see her, but instead, they took me to a room with a man inside. He was drunk, and the door was locked from the outside... He tried to take liberties with me, and in fear, I smashed him with a vase. Only after smashing him did I realize he was the shizi of Marquis Wuxiang, and he bled a lot... I couldn't get out of the door, so I jumped out of the window, and someone was chasing me from behind..."

Stumbling and halting, she finally managed to explain the matter.

Seeing her so disheveled, with what appeared to be injuries on her hands and body, Prince Wei frowned and pulled her to leave. However, Wushuang was unable to walk at all, relying entirely on his embrace to support herself. In the end, Prince Wei had no choice but to lift her in his arms. He did not go far, taking her to a nearby room.

It turned out Wushuang had gone to the wrong place; this was the washroom, while the room for resting was on the other side.

He placed Wushuang on the bed and called out, "An Yi," at the door. Soon, a man dressed entirely in black appeared before him.

"Find some water and some wound medicine."

The man withdrew and reappeared a moment later with a basin of water, some white cloths, and wound medicine.

Prince Wei first used water to clean the wounds on her palms. Because they were scrapes, the wounds contained a lot of dust and dirt, so the cleaning was very slow.

The process was particularly torturous because it was so painful. Wushuang bit her lower lip, her eyelashes trembling with his movements. Prince Wei made his movements as light as possible, still wondering if he was being too rough.

After cleaning the wounds, he sprinkled on the medicinal powder and bandaged them with white cloth. Because her palms were injured, both of Wushuang's hands were wrapped like dumplings.

Prince Wei then asked if she had any other injuries. Wushuang was not sure, only shaking her head, tears welling up, and saying that she hurt everywhere, especially her legs and feet.

Seeing that she had been unsteady on her feet earlier, Prince Wei worried that she might have injured a bone. He gently pressed along her ankle, inch by inch, through her clothing.

He asked her if it hurt each time he pressed, which made Wushuang's tears well up again, because everything hurt. In the end, both of them were covered in sweat before they determined that Wushuang had sprained her ankle and had some bruises on her legs, but no bones were broken.

Prince Wei called for An Yi again, asking him to find some medicinal wine for bruises and to find a set of women's clothing.

Wushuang was somewhat familiar with An Yi, knowing he was one of Emperor Qianwu's hidden guards. At this moment, she also realized that this person was not Ji Yang, but Prince Wei. However, she did not want him to realize that she knew he was of dual souls, so she acted as she had before with Ji Yang, even finding things to say, her words carrying a hint of intimacy.

In truth, Wushuang still did not understand what this so-called dual-soul disorder was. Was it simply two people living in one body?

If it was Prince Wei now, where was Ji Yang? Did he know what was happening outside? Similarly, Ji Yang now went to her place to sleep every night; did Prince Wei know?

Because of this conjecture, Wushuang could not help but blush.

This was her most common reaction in her previous life when facing Emperor Qianwu. Because every time she saw Emperor Qianwu's indifferent and imposing face, she would always think of the things Ji Yang had done to her. She could not imagine what it would be like for Emperor Qianwu to do those things to her with that face. She felt that this kind of thought was a desecration to him, yet she could not control it each time. Perhaps this was the trouble brought about by the dual souls.

Therefore, she could only try her best to pretend she did not know that Emperor Qianwu and Ji Yang were two different people. Because Song You had said that this secret was known by no more than three people in the world, and those who knew had been dealt with by the late Emperor and His Majesty. She was told not to reveal that she knew as well.

***

The medicated wine was brought.

Wushuang once again marveled at how capable An Yi was. Prince Wei's appearance here was likely as a guest, making it inconvenient to search for things. Yet, An Yi could find anything, and had even conveniently found her a set of clothes of a similar color.

"Remove your shoes and socks."

Wushuang hurriedly went to take off her shoes and socks, but her hands were wrapped like dumplings, making her movements clumsy. After tugging a few times, not only did she hurt herself, but she also failed to remove her shoes and socks.

Prince Wei squatted down before the bed and pulled off her shoes and socks.

Her small, lotus-like feet were fair and translucent, not even as long as his palm. They were like white jade carvings, with only the five toenails being pink. However, further up, her ankles were swollen and red, the swelling quite pronounced. A light press of a fingertip would leave an indentation.

"It hurts!"

Her lips trembled, and tears began to fall again. Yet, not wanting him to think she was too delicate, she quickly wiped them away.

Prince Wei frowned. "If this swelling is not massaged away, not only will you be unable to walk later, but the pain will also last longer."

Wushuang understood this principle. She closed her eyes and said, "Then, Your Highness, please do it."

The medicated wine warmed in his large palm before he covered her ankle. Prince Wei tried his best to slow his movements, applying force little by little, so that it would not hurt too much.

Such a young girl, so terribly delicate. Yet, looking at her tender skin and red-rimmed eyes, he felt that it seemed normal for such a young girl to be a bit delicate.

Wushuang tried her best to divert her attention, saying, "How does Your Highness know so much?"

From bandaging her wounds earlier, to checking if her bones were injured, and even now, massaging her sprained ankle, it all showed that Prince Wei was very proficient in things she had thought he would not know.

"In the military camp, everyone knows basic first aid for injuries," Prince Wei said indifferently.

Medical officers were scarce. Sometimes, when soldiers were injured outside, they did not have time to return to the camp for treatment. They needed to perform some simple treatments and bandaging themselves to reduce the possibility of losing their lives.

"Has Your Highness suffered many injuries?"

Wushuang thought that, given Prince Wei's status, it was impossible for him to treat other people's injuries. Therefore, it must be that he himself had been injured many times, which was why he had become a skilled healer through experience.

In her previous life, she had seen many small scars on Ji Yang's body. The most serious one was on his back. However, apart from that one on his back, the other wounds on his body were not obvious. She had only discovered them after they had been together for a long time.

Lost in thought, she did not notice Prince Wei glance at her, seemingly surprised by her perceptiveness. However, on the surface, Prince Wei still said indifferently, "In battle, it is inevitable to get injured."

"Indeed."

Wushuang let out a small yawn. Too many things had happened this day. She had also suffered such a fright, so much pain and hardship. Her spirit was already somewhat weary.

"I wonder if that person is dead." She was still a little worried, afraid of causing trouble.

Prince Wei's gaze turned cold. "Do not worry. If he died, consider it his good fortune."

Wushuang was still pondering how death could be considered good fortune, but her spirit could no longer hold on. In fact, when she spoke those words of worry, she was half-asleep. After speaking, she fell asleep.

After Prince Wei stopped his movements, this was the scene he saw.

Her body was slightly curled up, her small face a little pale, with some tear stains still on her face. She was already asleep, one hand clutching his robe and refusing to let go.