Chapter 108 Cloud Nine: Fury

“Situ…please…my hands…don't let anything happen to them…” Those were the final words Feng Luodi uttered before she pa.s.sed out in Situ's arms.

“Don't worry; I'm here now.”

Placing Feng Luodi on the bed, Situ frowned as the blood on her plain clothes came into his view. Taking a hot towel from a handmaiden, Situ gently dabbed at Feng Luodi's hands.

“Ssssst.” Despite being unconscious, Feng Luodi took in a sharp breath. The rage in Situ's eyes flared. How dare they do this to this precious woman! I never should have let Quattor leave her side; this wouldn't have happened if I didn't agree with that.

The gashes beneath the blood were deep and ugly. Barring any possible scars, Situ was more worried about the damage done to the ligaments and nerves beneath the muscles. It would be utterly devastating to her if anything of that sort was to happen to her hands, for someone who loves music as much as she does.

His eyes turned to her face and his hands followed, gently wiping down her face. Gan Qingjia had laughed at him, saying that he'd become soft because of a woman. Indeed, the old me would never have done this for anyone; I'd always thought that I'd marry a woman who'd take care of my needs, waiting for me to come home to her every day. How funny that all my expectations and a.s.sumptions were forgotten the moment I met her. Now, all I want is for her to agree to be together; everything else no longer matters.

Nothing will stand between us.

Feng Luodi's skin was flushed red. Situ stood up, his fingers brus.h.i.+ng against her bare skin as he did so. “She's running a high fever!” Situ frowned angrily. It might be an infection from her wounds.

He threw the door open and yelled for an attendant. “Is the physician not here yet?”

“The physician is here.” Two and Quattor replied as they landed in the courtyard, Physician Zhou held tightly between the two of them, still reeling from the shock of his journey through the “air” to the courtyard.

“Please do your best, Physician Zhou; she is already running a fever.”

“Of course, your Highness.” Physician Zhou took a look at the worried look on Situ's usually stoic face and quickly headed into the room, closing the door behind him.

Situ's eyes narrowed, turning to face the two Covert Guards. They knew what their General wanted immediately.

“Recall Duo from his a.s.signment immediately to stay by her side.” As expected, Situ's first command was regarding Feng Luodi.

“Yes, General.” Quattor bowed his head guiltily. If only I'd hid better when I was around Miss Feng! I would've been by her side today and this wouldn't have happened!

“Any news about the situation in Huaiyang?” Cold anger was barely concealed beneath Situ's mask of calm.

“Not yet, General.” Two chose his words carefully. “Our agents should have reached Huaiyang by now and we should expect a message from them within the next two days.”

Situ nodded. “Even if the message has not arrived by tomorrow noon, I want you to execute the Heir of Huaiyang. I will report it to his Majesty afterwards.”

“Yes, General.” Two wiped the sweat on his forehead. The General must be really angry about this incident, for him to make a decision without any concrete evidence.

“That is a job for you, Quattor. Two, I want you to dig up everything you can find about Concubine Hui and her relatives. Use every resource we have at our disposal and consolidate every single ounce of information for me.” Situ's face was composed.

“What a bold move, General!” Quattor whistled. “Revenge for the distressed damsel, eh?”

Situ shot him a look and a chill ran down his spine. Snapping to his feet, Quattor was out of the courtyard in a second. “I'll go check for any messages right now!”

Two was worried about something else. “General, is it appropriate to make a move so quickly? The Emperor will notice us before our plans are in place.”

“No matter.” Situ's eyes seemed to settle on the horizon. “It is time to set the path for that person.”

“Haven't you already done so, General?” Two followed his gaze, just in time to see the first beam of dawn breaking through the clouds.

Situ did not reply his question. Two hesitated, then bowed his head and disappeared from the courtyard. Situ stood in silence for a while, turning to look at the room every now and then. He called out into the air.

“Zero, are you there?”

“Yes!” Zero, the youngest of the Covert Guards, tumbled out of his hiding spot on a nearby roof in his haste and landed in the courtyard.

“I want you to spread a message.” If what the princess wants is to marry me, I'll let her and everyone know that Luodi is the only one that I'll marry. “Tell everyone that I, Situ Muye, will only marry Feng Luodi for the rest of my life.” Let's make this declaration a big one; the Emperor wouldn't be able to do anything to Luodi after that, or he'll be seen as blatantly not caring about my wishes. The Emperor is a man who places much belief into balancing the different parties in court; the only reason he dotes on the princess as much as he does now is to prevent her maternal clan from being upset at his lack of affection towards Concubine Hui.

“Everyone?” Zero c.o.c.ked his head.

“Yes.” Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Moyin and Scarlet entered the courtyard briskly, led by the head steward.

“Yes, General. I'll see to it immediately.” Little did Situ know how seriously Zero took his words; the young Covert Guard would go on to spread the message through the hooligans of Chang'an, using their influence and ties with the civilians to spread the news around. Then, he did the same throughout the whole kingdom using their intelligence gathering agents around the kingdom. Such was the efficiency of his work that even the soldiers and generals of the neighbouring countries knew of Situ's love for Feng Luodi.

Jiang Moyin dashed towards the room in the courtyard, stopping beside Situ. “How is Luodi doing now?”

Situ was expressionless. “The physician is still looking at her; we'll know about it soon.”

Scarlet stood worriedly behind the two, mumbling to herself. “Please be okay, young miss.”

Situ shot a glance at her, raising an eyebrow. “Did she send you to fetch Moyin?”

“Yes, your Highness.” Scarlet nodded. “Young miss had sent me to fetch the Grand Tutor the moment she saw Princess Shangrong and the Commandery Princess of Huaiyang.”

Situ turned to Jiang Moyin, his gaze mocking. Jiang Moyin turned away guiltily. Indeed, Scarlet should have reached Manchun Tang with Jiang Moyin much earlier than Situ did, but she was stopped outside his residence, the guards not able to verify her ident.i.ty. Jiang Moyin was engaged in a meeting with the Heir at that time, and if he did not walk the Heir to the gate, he wouldn't even have known about Feng Luodi's plight.

At that exact moment, the door to Feng Luodi's room opened and Physician Zhou stepped out. “Your Highness, I've dressed her wounds.”  The few of them quickly filed inside.

Feng Luodi lay unmoving on the bed, her face pale and sickly, her neck and hands swathed in bandages.

Scarlet gasped. “Her hands! What happened to young miss' hands? Will they recover?”

“Do not worry, missy.” Physician Zhou calmed Scarlet down and turned to the other two. “I will be frank with you: Miss Feng's hands are badly damaged. The scars will heal properly with the right salves, but the bones in her hands are the main problem: they have been fractured in multiple places. I've set most of it back in place, but it'll be at least three months before they will recover. In the meantime, she has to keep it clear of any possible danger and change her bandages regularly.”

“If we do as you say, can her hands recover completely?” Jiang Moyin took a step forward.

Physician Zhou frowned, unsure of Feng Luodi's condition himself. “That is hard to say. Her joints have endured blunt trauma and her ligaments torn by what I a.s.sume to be a dagger. I cannot guarantee that there will be no complications in her recovery; we can only take it one step at a time.”

“Please, physician. You have to think of something to help her!” The words burst out of Scarlet's mouth. “Young miss has to play the zither! We can't let anything happen to her hands!”

“Physician Zhou,” Situ spoke slowly, “do what you can. I will bring back any herbs that you need for her medicine.”

Physician Zhou nodded. “I will do my best.”

“She's running a fever; please give her some medicine before you leave.” Situ reminded.

“Naturally, your Highness.” Physician Zhou nodded. “Her body is very weak now; we have to ensure that she does not catch a cold in this chilly season, or there might be severe repercussions.”

“We will.”

The head steward stepped forward and led the physician out of the door for his payment and the medicine.

The room descended into silence. Scarlet was frightened by the intimidating aura of the men in front of her and dared not say anything.

“Get the head steward to prepare a carriage and send Luodi home afterwards.” Situ's voice was flat.

“Hmm?” Scarlet raised her head and saw Situ looking at her, realising that the command was meant for her. “Yes, your Highness.”

It was a while before Situ turned to Jiang Moyin, whose eyes were still fixated on Feng Luodi. “I will protect what you cannot; you have your concerns, I'm sure, but I do not.”

Jiang Moyin laughed, his eyes a mixture of guilt and anger. “I finally know whose side you're on, Situ. After all, only you are qualified to do that.”

“We are different.” Situ's voice was cold.

“Indeed we are.” Jiang Moyin finally looked at Situ. “Very different.”

The Grand Tutor's carriage was parked outside the residence, the attendant waiting for Jiang Moyin's return anxiously. Seeing Jiang Moyin emerge slowly from the residence, the attendant quickly dashed forward.

“Grand Tutor!” The attendant quickly steadied Jiang Moyin, who shook unstably in the wind. “You are looking very pale right now; has it acted up again? Let's go back quickly, the physician is already waiting for you.”

Slowly, painfully, Jiang Moyin mounted the carriage, his body half draped over the attendant. A trail of blood slowly escaped his mouth, dripping down his chin.