Second Marriage

Translator: tarararawr

Chapter 7

After the gate opened, Jian Yin showed the guards the road pass and entered the town without any incidents.

Xiao Youning was awakened by Yuan Guo, and she heard the sound of noisy peddlers. She was in a trance when she remembered what happened last night and was not used to the noise outside.

“Yuan Guo, where is this…”

“Young Miss, your voice!”

She opened her mouth, and the voice that came out of her mouth was hoarse and unpleasant to hear. She felt that her throat was dry and was almost about to start smoking. It hurt like there was a fish bone scratching it.

She opened her mouth, and went ‘ah’. She ended up coughing.

Yuan Guo was shocked and put her hand on her forehead. She whispered, “Young Miss, you have a fever! Didn’t you just hurt your ankle?”

When Xiao Youning was supported out of the carriage, she did not even have an ounce of strength. She felt like she was stepping on cotton. Her ankle was still injured, so when she stepped on the ground, it was so painful that she didn’t have any strength and she staggered forward.

A fan appeared horizontally right in front of her, cushioning the momentum of her lunging forward.

Xiao Youning looked up and saw Ye Shen standing on the side.

He faced the light, and his entire body was covered with a layer of a soft gold color. However, his eyebrows reached his temples, his beautiful peach blossom eyes had a coldness that were brought out by the sharp peaks of his eyebrow like water caltrops. No matter how soft the light was, it could not dispel his coldness.

This is the first time that Xiao Youning really saw Ye Shen’s face. Apart from the indifference that seemed to blend into his bones, his image at first glance was handsome. He was more beautiful than any man she had ever seen.

“Thank you Daoist Priest.”

She thanked him with her hoarse voice, but in her heart she said that if this person was not dressed in Daoist robes, then he would not look like a Daoist Priest. Instead, he would look more like the son of a rich and honorable family.

Ye Shen saw that she was standing firmly and withdrew his hand, The flustered Yuan Guo squatted down in a hurry to carry her to the inn.

The doctor came soon. Xiao Youning had fallen asleep in a daze on the bed. She didn’t even wake up when the doctor felt her pulse. She would occasionally cough a few times in her sleep.

“This young girl is frightened and overworked. She has been attacked by disharmonious external factors and caught a cold, so her body is hot. I’ll prescribe a prescription, and you can let her drink it a couple of times to see if it works. The injury on her ankle did not hurt the bones. After rubbing the medicinal wine, the plaster needs to be applied immediately.”

After the doctor diagnosed her, he opened the medicine box and wrote down the prescription.

Yuan Guo was not comfortable with leaving Xiao Youning alone in the room. She called the innkeeper and gave him a reward to follow the doctor out.

The innkeeper beamed with happiness and led the doctor downstairs. Jian Yin listened to the sound of the innkeeper’s joyful responses come in, and his expression was a little strange when he looked at Ye Shen.

“Fifth Master, shall we take Young Miss Xiao back to the capital?”

Jian Yin asked questions that he had doubts about.

His Fifth Master had always dreaded trouble. The lonely and cold man had shown mercy this time.

Moreover, the little girl next door had schemed against them and probably hated the Li Family and the Ye Family in her heart. What reason did his Fifth Master have for stepping in to help?

Jian Yin had asked a question, but Ye Shen knew very well what the meaning behind those words were.

He was actually considering whether to take Xiao Youning back to the capital in passing.

This was not the first time he had met Xiao Youning. He saw her when Xiao Youning was six years old, and the other times would be when he saw her in the palace a few times in a year. Although there was only a five year difference between them, it could still be said that he watched the little girl grow up. She grew from a plump little child into a slender and charming young lady.

It’s just that when he really did meet her face to face, it was only once when she was six years old. The other times he saw her by chance was from afar among the groups of women.

Her father and brother had repeatedly performed meritorious service, and the Emperor valued it. Thus, the Empress naturally followed the Emperor and approached the Xiao Family. She did not have a title but the Empress called her to the palace to accompany the three princesses every couple of days. And of course she was absolutely necessary at all of the big and small banquets. She was regarded as a person with a good reputation.

Later, the Xiao Family and the Li Family became engaged and it became more or less related to him.

He really got to know her personality from a few days ago when she was at the Li Family’s gate. She never retreated, and was so sharp that the Li Family was severely humiliated, and even he was included in the scheme.

It was only then did he know that the little girl of the Xiao Family, who was so beautiful in publix was also very spiteful. It changed his view about the delicate appearance he usually saw.

As for Jian Yin’s question on why he stepped in to help, it might be because Xiao Youning had resonated with him and he was returning the kindness.

Ye Shen was silent. His fingers slowly stroked the spine of the folding fan as he considered whether to bring Xiao Youning back to the capital.

His kindness was not endless, and there was also how the little girl schemed against him twice. Although he was sincere last time, she calmly admitted her mistake in front of him.

Jian Yin waited on the side for a long time for a response. He turned his head to look at him, and his eyes fell on the fingers that were stroking the spine of the fan.

His Fifth Master had a beautiful pair of slender and white hands. His knuckles slightly protruded because of his stroking movements, and formed a powerful line that was extremely pleasing to the eye. It would be more perfect without those two marks under his index finger’s nail.

Jian Yin didn’t know where the injury came from and the scar had been there for a few years. The circle marks outside had a dark color and were deep and dark. It looked very conspicuous.

“We’ll leave in a minute.” Ye Shen tapped his knee gently with the folding fan and finally giving his answer.

Jian Yin heard him and only nodded. The words were succinct, which was very much in line with Fifth Master’s style.

Jian Yin turned to carry the wrapped luggage upstairs and put his sword on his back again. They walked out of the door, and heard Yuan Guo’s anxious voice coming from next door.

“Young Miss! Young Miss, wake up!”

Over and over again, anxiously with sobbing.

Ye Shen was about to leave, but paused and Jian Yin almost bumped into him.

“Fifth Master?”

Jian Yin was confused and called out to him. What’s going on? Weren’t they leaving?

Ye Shen stood at the doorway and remembered the abnormal red color on Xiao Youning’s face from a moment ago. Her lips were dry and peeling, like a flower that was about to wither and fail. At the most beautiful moment, and it suddenly withered.

He frowned and raised his foot again.

Xiao Youning did not recognize him now, but she will know his identity one day. It was better to be less involved with her, so it was necessary to reduce the current trouble.

Just as he turned and walked a few steps forward, the door behind him opened. The red-eyed Yuan Guo saw them and anxiously said, “Daoist Priest Wu Ye, my Young Miss won’t wake up no matter how much I call for her and she is talking in nonsense!”

Xiao Youning became so ill overnight that Yuan Guo was in a panic. When she saw someone she was a bit familiar with, her first reaction was to ask for help.

She called Ye Shen as “Wu Ye” because she heard Jian Yin calling him “Fifth Master”1. However, she didn’t hear him clearly and thought it was his Daoist name.

Jian Yin heard her and the corners of his mouth twitched. He turned back and was somewhat dumbfounded when he said, “Then you find a doctor. We are not doctors.”

What’s the use of looking for them? 

Besides being fierce, this maid doesn’t have a brain.

Yuan Guo was shocked and saw the wrapped luggage on Jian Yin’s back. “Is the Daoist Priest leaving?”

“When…”

“Jian Yin, go and find another doctor to come and take a look.”

Ye Shen’s black boots turned around and he walked past Jian Yin. He went straight back to the room.

Jian Yin stared with his eyes widening in disbelief.

Doesn’t he want to leave? Why isn’t he going now?

Why is Fifth Master treating that Young Miss from the Xiao Family so well?!

Ye Shen returned to the room and sat down again. Jian Yin could only ask the other employee of the inn to find another doctor to come as he was ordered to do. Then, he went back upstairs and asked him puzzled, “Fifth Master, have you changed your mind?”

The order given had completely changed from day to night. When had his Fifth Master ever done such a thing?!

“It’s rare to save a person. Don’t waste my energy because of a mishap from a cold.”

Ye Shen’s face was expressionless as he spoke.

 

The author has something to say:

Jian Yin: That makes sense.

Ye Shen, who will not admit to his mistake: Naturally.

 

Footnotes

悟谒 and 五爷 both have the same pinyin, Wu Ye, but different tones.