Chapter 32: Spring Palace – Bared Chest and Back

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The street was spacious enough for two carriages to travel side by side.

A wheel rolled over gravel.

The sudden jolt caused Lin Xihe to lose her grip, and the stone flew out the window. Almost simultaneously, a hand reached out from the opposite carriage window and caught it with precision.

Their fingertips brushed briefly, leaving a faint, cool sensation.

Wen Zhixu glanced at her: “Open your hand.”

Lin Xihe had assumed he would keep the stone and was slightly surprised. She extended her hand, and the stone dropped back into her palm, its weight settling gently.

A thought crossed her mind, and she said casually, “I’ll give this one to you.”

The stone returned to Wen Zhixu’s palm.

Judging by his expression, it was surely for his mynah bird, Que Er. Lin Xihe promptly offered a solution: “Bu Bu needs to stay in the hospital for now—it’s not good to move a patient. I’ll return her to you as soon as she recovers.”

Perhaps because she was in the comfort of her own carriage, leaning against several soft cushions with a blanket draped over her knees, she appeared entirely relaxed and at ease.

Sunlight brightened her eyes, those clever, spirited orbs narrowing slightly, the corners drooping to lend an air of innocence.

Wen Zhixu retracted his intention to bring Emerald Phoenix back to his residence. Pinching the flower-stamen stone between two fingers, he waved it at Lin Xihe: “Really don’t want it?”

This was the stone she had risked her life to obtain.

The curtain of the opposite carriage abruptly closed.

Not long after, the girl’s head popped out again. She held open a peculiarly styled cloth bag, its mouth gaping to reveal a jumble of stones of various sizes, clattering softly with the carriage’s sway.

She raised an eyebrow triumphantly at Wen Zhixu: “Look! I dug up so many!”

Wen Zhixu was taken aback for a moment.

His mind flipped through memories like pages of a storybook, clearly stringing together the events of the previous night, unfolding them in sequence.

Back to the rear mountain.

Considering the injured was an unmarried young lady, the nuns at the convent insisted on carrying the stretcher themselves, refusing to let laborers assist. But they hadn’t gone far before they were panting heavily, their steps slowing. Several whispered among themselves, puzzled: Miss Lin’s limbs are as slender as willow branches, so why is she so heavy?

They had to switch to servants. Unexpectedly, these men fared even worse, stumbling after a short distance. According to Wen Manor’s new coachman, even hauling stones on a battlefield wasn’t this exhausting.

So, that was it.

Wen Zhixu felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest, worried about Emerald Phoenix’s condition, and hurriedly asked, “How large is Emerald Phoenix’s wound that it requires so many flower-stamen stones?”

Lin Xihe chuckled, revealing a hint of naivety: “I asked every pharmacy in the city, and they all said this stone is out of stock. I heard the herb gatherer fell to his death, so there’s no supply. Over ten catties—if I resell them, they’d be worth this much, right?”

As she spoke, she held up her fingers to indicate the amount.

“…” Wen Zhixu was defeated by her.

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Upon returning to the manor, Wen Zhixu went straight to bathe and change.

Soaking in hot water, his body relaxed, the chill washed away by the steam, leaving him feeling thoroughly refreshed.

Faint voices from near the rear wall drifted to his ears with the mist.

The voice was rough and hoarse, like a man’s throat, yet carried a strangely familiar tone. Listening carefully, Wen Zhixu found it increasingly resembled that of a palace eunuch.

He rose from the enveloping steam and hastily dressed.

“Second Young Master, your hair…” Wen Qi hurried after him.

His noble and upright master stood on the zigzag bridge, eavesdropping on the movements from the neighboring Lin residence. Perhaps unable to hear clearly, he took a few steps forward, nearly pressing against the wall.

Wen Qi held a towel for bathing, wanting to hand it over but afraid of disturbing his master who was listening in.

Tinghe Courtyard was bustling with activity.

Lin Xihe returned to the estate without bothering to wash up, rushing straight into her room to check on Bu Bu’s injuries.

The servants tasked with caring for Que Er had been carefully selected by her, all highly experienced in tending to the sick and wounded.

The most capable among them was an old Housekeeper, who had experience in killing chickens. It was said she once used a dull knife to injure a chicken’s neck, cutting halfway through. Unable to bear it, she bandaged the chicken’s neck. The chicken miraculously recovered from the brink of death and went on to win repeatedly when sold to the cockfighting arena at Washe.

Seeing the young lady return with the flower stamen stone, no one dared to delay. Following the prescription previously given by the physician, they soon prepared a steaming, life-saving medicinal paste mixed with stone powder and brought it over.

Que Er, who had been well-fed and cared for at the Lin residence for several days, seemed to feel wronged upon seeing its new owner return only now. It opened its beak and let out a “Squawk—!” as if complaining.

Lin Xihe said, “Gently, gently—it’s crying out in pain.”

The old Housekeeper applying the medicine froze, not daring to breathe, as if tending to a little ancestor, terrified of being too rough.

As the Housekeeper picked up a bit of the medicinal paste, her fingertip not yet touching the bird’s belly, Que Er flared its wings open as if scorched by fire, flapping and squawking.

The medicinal paste splattered everywhere.

“Let me do it.”

“Young lady, this dirty work should be left to this old servant…” the Housekeeper hesitated.

Birds were not like cats or dogs—they didn’t understand human nature. The young lady was of noble stature; what if it pecked her?

But when it was Lin Xihe’s turn to apply the medicine, the mynah bird stayed perfectly still, humming contentedly.

Lin Xihe proudly raised her voice, “This is called a mother and child sharing a heart.”

The entire room of servants fell silent.

Confirming that the strange noise came from the beloved pet “abducted” by Lin Xihe, Wen Zhixu felt an itch in his heart. He looked up and assessed the courtyard wall—it wasn’t high. If he climbed it, could he catch a glimpse of Emerald Phoenix from Lin Xihe’s residence?

His silent thoughts were interpreted by his loyal servant. Wen Qi asked, “Second Young Master, do you need a table? Wen Ba and I can carry one over for you to stand on…” to see farther.

What kind of scene would that be! Wen Zhixu’s expression instantly darkened.

Wen Qi shut his mouth.

Unexpectedly, a girl’s voice rang out from the other side of the wall, “Who’s speaking? Wen Zhixu?”

Caught in the act, it was Wen Zhixu’s turn to fall silent.

“Qingwu, bring the ladder.”

The courtyard fell quiet for a moment.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the young lady climbed onto the workman’s ladder, her gaze precisely fixed on someone. Her loose Lingluo Lanshan robe, with the front collar sloping diagonally, and the turquoise Bódài tied loosely at her side, hung down.

Her attire was disheveled.

“Why aren’t you dressed properly?” Lin Xihe kindly reminded him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she spoke, the maids and Housekeepers in the Lin residence paused their tasks, eyes wide with shock; several young servant girls blushed instantly, their ears burning bright red.

Unable to see Wen Zhixu’s “exposed chest and back,” they could only prick up their ears, desperately trying to detect a hint of the wantonness from erotic art in the young lady’s tone.

Wen Zhixu flung the offending Bódài behind him and looked up to see the mischievous girl covering her mouth.

No use hiding it—her wicked smile was spilling through her fingers.

“Bu Bu has already been medicated.” Lin Xihe was a barefoot doctor who took her responsibilities to patients’ families very seriously. “He just drank a few mouthfuls of millet porridge and is resting now. The patient shouldn’t be moved, otherwise I would have brought him over for you to see.”

“What did you call him?”

“Bu Bu.”

“As in radish?” Wen Zhixu couldn’t believe his ears.

The mynah bird he had bought from the Bird Marts at great expense had actually been given such a rustic name by her.

“He’s black, you see. I thought he was a crow, so I gave him a doubled name based on Black. Isn’t it quite cute?”

A crow…

Lin Xihe disagreed, her tone full of challenge: “Is the name you came up with any better? Emerald Phoenix, Emerald Phoenix – how utterly provincial.”

“It carries the meaning of ’emerald feathers worthy of a phoenix.'”

“Tch, splitting hairs.” Lin Xihe scoffed lightly. This Wen Zhixu, despite his youth, spoke so rigidly, even more stuffy than the teachers at Li Su Academy.

Meeting her scrutinizing gaze, Wen Zhixu voiced his confusion directly: “What is Miss Lin looking at?”

“You’re quite arrogant,” Lin Xihe mused. Giving his mynah the name Phoenix – what difference was there between that and naming a village dog “Napoleon the First”?

Wen Zhixu’s expression remained unruffled as he merely said, “I’ll trouble Miss Lin to take care of Emerald Phoenix. He doesn’t like millet porridge, he prefers to eat… Wen Qi, go get Emerald Phoenix’s favorite dried insects and deliver them to the Lin residence.”

“Tch, so troublesome,” came a mutter from the top of the wall.

Wen Zhixu looked up, his gaze meeting that sun-glowing face, and felt a slight burn.

“What does Miss Lin mean?”

The girl standing on the ladder pointed in a direction: “There, the tunnel dug by your mighty and majestic Caesar. Have Wen Qi put the dried insects there. Qingwu, you go get them.”

Both Qingwu and Wen Qi fell silent simultaneously.

Why did they have to make the exchange through a dog hole?!

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Spring was halfway through, all things thriving, even injured birds and beasts entering accelerated recovery mode.

The little mynah was no exception.

Lin Xihe marveled: “My son is strong and healthy!”

Bu Bu puffed out his round belly, emitting a comfortable chirp from his beak.

His new owner was massaging him with a small pebble.

“Qingwu, go send a message through the tunnel to the Wen residence. Bu Bu’s dried insects are almost finished. Tell Wen Zhixu to go catch some.”

Qingwu hesitated to speak. Was the young lady really treating the esteemed Second Master Wen like an errand boy? Wouldn’t Second Master Wen get angry?

Though… every time he seemed about to explode with rage, Second Master Wen would promptly replenish Young Master Bu Bu’s food supply? He even sent over an exquisite Liujin Qijia?

Of course, the perch hadn’t been transported through the dog hole.

Qingwu still remembered how Second Young Lady Lin Zhirou had flown into a rage upon hearing that Wen Zhixu had sent gifts to Lin Xihe, smashing everything in her room.

Over there, the young maid who had been calling unsuccessfully into the dog hole looked troubled: “Miss, there’s no one at Yinquan Pavilion. Second Young Master isn’t there.”

How could he not be there? Lin Xihe blinked, then understood: “Oh, he must have gone to Yuling Courtyard.”

For a playboy like Wen Zhixu who idled about all day without needing to work, if he wasn’t at Yuling Courtyard at this hour, he certainly wouldn’t be studying hard, would he?

Qingwu didn’t know and didn’t dare to comment recklessly.

As mistress and maid were speaking, a dark shadow emerged from the dog hole.

Lin Xihe followed the sound –

A little cutie came running through the spring scenery, carrying a small woven vine basket in its mouth.

Lin Xihe scurried closer, her small bamboo basket holding an exquisite pouch alongside a square-folded sheet of xuan paper.

Her heartbeat quickened as she eagerly retrieved the pouch, fully expecting it to contain something delightful.

Upon opening it.

Instead of the anticipated sight, she was met with a squirming mass of darkness.

Mealworms, earthworms, nymphs… densely packed and writhing together.

Alive, damp, slimy, so fresh they still carried the scent of soil.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

The xuan paper bore Wen Zhixu’s handwritten note: “Family matters call me away for five days. Wishing Miss Lin and Emerald Phoenix well.”

Well? Lin Xihe was anything but well.

She was terrified of live insects!

Wen Zhixu had done this deliberately!

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The sixteenth day of the fourth month marked the death anniversary of Wen Zhiyue, eldest son of the Wen household.

General Wen’s military achievements were so illustrious that the emperor had decreed court suspension for a day each year in mourning.

At the General’s Memorial Hall.

Wen Zhixu stood to the side in plain white garments, hands hanging respectfully.

The chanting of senior monks echoed, their Buddhist hymns unable to cleanse the pervasive grief.

Though the emperor didn’t attend personally, he sent his most trusted chief eunuch, while the empress dispatched her most capable senior housekeeper. The simultaneous arrival of two palace attendants spoke volumes about the imperial favor.

After the memorial ceremony, the chief eunuch conversed with Wen Hongyuan while the old housekeeper drew Wen Zhixu into casual conversation. Having accompanied the empress from her maiden family, she had watched Wen Zhixu grow up.

“Her Majesty constantly worries about your mother,” the housekeeper said softly. “Has she been well lately?”

Wen Zhixu: “Thank you for your concern, Housekeeper. I visited her just yesterday – all remains as usual.”

Housekeeper: “Her Majesty heard the Lin residence recently celebrated joyful news.”

Lin Zhaoheng had been so overjoyed by his daughter’s recovery that he told everyone he met and distributed celebration sweets widely, treating his colleagues like children.

Yet fearing mishaps with imperial goods, he alone omitted the emperor’s portion. Unexpectedly, the emperor sulked about this all day, requiring the empress’ prolonged coaxing to recover.

Facing the palace’s probing, Wen Zhixu responded frankly: “Is the Housekeeper inquiring about Miss Lin’s health?”