After Abandoning the Ruthless Dao Swordmaster

Wu Su moved her hand, attempting to re-tie her clothes.

She didn’t feel ashamed, but she knew that human society considered this situation to be inappropriate.

Her injured arm, lacking strength, barely managed to grasp the thin cloth.

Pei Jiuzhi lowered his eyes, then turned his head quickly away.

In the split second before he looked away, he guiltily noticed flecks of dried blood on Wu Su’s chest..

Firmly closing his eyes, he reached out to Wu Su, intending to tie the dress back up tightly.”I’m sorry,”

Wu Su had already picked up the silk ribbons, when she felt Pei Jiuzhi’s outstretched hand.

His thin lips formed a determined line, and his long eyelashes seemed to be covered with frost and snow, depicting a cold and lonely aura.

Wu Su stared at his face, as handsome as a fallen immortal. He had the type of features that could not avoid attracting attention.

She was no exception.

Wu Su saw a faint blush appear on the cheeks that were usually as white as cold jade.

“Your Highness’s face is a little red.” Wu Su’s voice was full of concern. “Please don’t trouble yourself.”

“If your throat hurts, don’t talk.” Pei Jiuzhi’s hand froze. He lowered his head, trying to hide the scarlet colour spreading towards the tips of his ears.

Wu Su was fascinated by his expression. For some reason, a word that she saw in Chen Wu’s letter came to her mind.

Cute, that’s… so cute.

He hurriedly tied silk ribbons.

PeiJ uizhi also applied medicine on the places where her wrists and feet had been rubbed raw by the iron chains, wrapping them tightly in bandages, his gaze never wavering.

When he was finished, Wu Su finally spoke. “Your Highness, can I go back?”

“You can go back, but you must rest.” Pei Jiuzhi said, “This incident was due to the negligence of the City Guards,  and also myself.”

Wu Su simply nodded in response.

She was anxious to go back and continue working. “When can I return to Prince Jing’s Mansion?”

” I willl take you back today,”

“Okay.” Wu Su agreed softly.

When the doctor called by the City Guard finally arrived, Pei Jiuzhi quickly turned into the blue bird, flying up to perch on Wu Su’s bedside.

The doctor’s name was Qiu Xu. Looking into the room, he naturally assumed that Pei Jiuzhi had already left.

He took a passing look at the wounds on Wu Su’s body and frowned.

“Were you not in the care of the City guards?  What happened here?”

Qiu Xu held up Wu Su’s bandaged hand to examine it, and continued to complain.

“This wound hasn’t been treated well, are they going to try and hold me responsible if there is a scar?”

“It’s okay.” Wu Su was embarrassed to bother the doctor any more, and tried to pull her hand back.

Wu Su’s eyes were locked onto the blue bird beside her that was flapping its wings and looking very annoyed.

“Did the Ninth Prince really go into the prison to bring you out?” Qiu Xu asked while writing a medicinal prescription.

“Yes.” At this moment Wu Su discovered that the Little Highness is actually the Ninth Highness.

“Damn!” Qiu Xu was surprised, “This whole time, everyone in Yundu was curious to see him, but it was as difficult as catching a cloud.”

“It’s a pity that His Highness the Ninth Prince has already left, otherwise I might have been able to catch a glimpse of him.” Qiu Xu sighed.

Wu Su’s eyes, still watching the blue bird perched on the other side of her bed, blinked.

Your Highness is right here.

She noticed the smudged stains on the little bird’s wings, where her injured wrists had touched his clothes.

Even now that he has changed into a different form, it cannot be removed.

Wu Su felt guilty.

Qiu Xu checked the large bruise on her shoulder and back, inspecting the dislocated joint that had been re-set by Pei Jiuzhi.

“Who fixed this for you? It’s very well done.”

Qiu Xu could smell the ointment that had been rubbed on Wu Su’s body. “This medicine is also good. Fortunately, someone treated it for you as soon as possible.  Otherwise, by the time I got here, the bruising would have spread, and you would feel even worse. You probably wouldn’t even be able to move your hand.”

Wu Su replied honestly, “It was His Highness.”

Qiu Xu laughed: “Girl, do you know who His Highness the Ninth Prince is? Don’t joke, it must have been one of the City Guards here who treated your injury. You were in a daze from the pain and you didn’t see clearly.”

“Okay, on your way home, pick up the medicine according to this prescription, and take it every day.  Take these ointments as well. It would be best if someone helps you apply them.” Qiu Xu dropped the ointment and the prescription in front of Wu Su.

“Thank you.” Wu Su looked at him with beautiful black eyes.

Qiu Xu left.

Returning quickly to his human form, Pei Jiuzhi asked Wu Su once again:

“Were you on duty for the banquet at Guanlan Pavilion?”

“No.” If he hadn’t mentioned it, Wu Su would have almost forgotten what happened that night.

But she had the feeling that she had done something wrong that night, and she didn’t want to admit it.  She didn’t want to be punished again.

“Your Highness, you have already checked the duty roster. It shows that I was indeed not there that night.”

Wu Su’s large and innocent eyes stared at Pei Jiuzhi.

She could not help but wonder why the Little Highness was still investigating this matter.

She could only guess that the distinguished guest had been very angry about what happened that night.

In that case, it is even more impossible for her to admit it.

When her clothes slipped down, he had panicked, and Pei Jiuzhi really had not seen anything clearly. Wu Su’s injuries were too embarrassing, he was purely focused on helping Wu Su re-tie her clothes.

He couldn’t explain why, but instinctively he felt that she was the person he was searching for.

However,  he knew that she was hiding from him.  So, now he wanted to find some evidence to force her to admit it.

Although Pei Jiuzhi knew that Wu Su was lying, his expression didn’t change.

He looked at Wu Su, thinking. “I’ll continue to deal with Yundu’s affairs. You should go back to Prince Jing’s Mansion and take good care of your injuries.”

“Okay.” Wu Su bowed her head.

She watched Pei Jiuzhi turn back into a blue bird, and fly away.

*

Pei Jiuzhi immediately went to assist the Emperor in repairing the cracked seal at the bottom of the river, with the aura sent through the formation from the Immortal Island.

Wu Su was sent back to Prince Jing’s Mansion the next day by the City GUard, where she was told to rest until she could resume her work.

When Wu Su arrived back in the courtyard, Wei Li, who was sitting in the yard eating snacks with Li Meng, stood up in shock.

Wu Su’s face was pale, and her white clothes were torn and ragged. With barely a glance in the direction of the terrified Wei Li, she went straight to her room.

Sitting alone in her room,she dutifully lit the stove to prepare the medicine written in the doctor’s prescription.

Wu Su could have tried using spells to heal herself, but she was reluctant to use the little energy she had managed to store up.

She stood in front of the mirror in her room and took off her clothes.

The body in the mirror was covered with bruises and scratches. Under the right breast, her beauty mark was obscured by smudges of dried blood, impossible  to see clearly.

Wu Su took out a clean white handkerchief, dipped in the bowl of washing-water, and slowly wiped the dirt off her body.

For some reason, she thought of the flustered hands of the Little Highness as he tried to tie her clothes with his eyes shut.

He… why?

Wu Su was confused.

Because the City Guard had explained the situation for her, Wu Su was instructed not to take up her chores again until her injuries had recovered.

The Commander of the City Guard, Fu Zhou, had been dismissed, and the new Commander, prompted by Pei Jiuzhi, soon discovered that one of the City Guards had left his post without authorization on the night of the murder.

“Xue Cun, you were not at your post by the river that night, where did you go?”

The new Commander of the City Guard was transferred from the Imperial City Division. His name was Zhu Zheng. He sternly interrogated the young guard kneeling in the hall.

“Master Commander, I… I was indeed on duty. Didn’t that girl say that it was a monster who killed someone? If it was a monster, how could I be able to see it clearly?”

Xue Cun replied, shaking nervously.

“That girl was able to see monsters fleeing into the river. Even if you didn’t see the monster, you should have seen her – she was carrying such a big and bright lantern, how could you miss it?” The interviewer found this lie amusing.

“Do you know that if you had discovered the abnormality in time that night, Fang Xiuzhi might not have died?!” Zhu Zheng’s voice now held anger.

“But…even if I had been there, I couldn’t stop a demon.” Xue Cun pleaded desperately.

“Silence! Are all the soldiers in the City Guard as weak-hearted as you? If they can’t protect the people of Yundu, are they going to back down?” Zhu Zheng announced Xue Cun’s sentence.  “Heavy punishment, forty lashes, and he is dismissed from the City Guard.”

“Master Commander, I, I, I… that night, the woman I adored called me, so I left my post.” Xue Cun hurriedly said, “If you want to blame someone, you should blame her… she’s also the same person who reported Wu Su, causing her own coworker to be mistakenly taken away.”

“Wu Su did take the rabbit lantern. Even if the girl who reported it had bad intentions, there is nothing wrong with the information she provided to the City Guards. You left your post without authorization and you still want to blame others?  Add 20 more lashes.” Zhu Zheng was furious.

Faced with 60 punishment lashes, Xue Cun wasn’t sure he could survive, and couldn’t help begging for mercy, but it was to no avail.

Several days later, this news finally reached Wei L..

Outraged, she stormed into Wu Su’s room.

“Wu Su, I only told the City Guard Commander the truth. If you want to blame me, just attack me directly. We all know someone rescued you out of the black prison, why not just get that person to arrest me and drive me out of Prince Jing’s mansion? Why not just directly do whatever you want?! Why are they punishing A’Cun?”

After Wu Su’s return, Wei Li didn’t really have the courage to provoke her, until she heard that Xue Cun was punished.  Feeling guilty, distressed, and unable to suppress her anger, she threw herself  at Wu Su.

Wu Su sat quietly by the window, with bandages still wrapped around her wrists.

She was watching an ant that had accidentally climbed up onto the sill, wondering when the little insect would die.

Hearing Wei Li’s words, she turned her head slowly and replied in confusion, “Huh?”

“You’re still playing dumb!” Wei Li stood at the door of Wu Su’s room and shouted.

“Xue Cun was beaten 60 times, he nearly died, and he was kicked out of the City Guard, did you ask someone to do it? ”

“Xue Cun?” Wu Su remembered this was A’Cun’s full name, “Wei Li, according to your words, didn’t he leave his post without authorization?”

“He…he left his post without authorization, but you didn’t have to tell them!” Wei Li cried anxiously.

“I shouldn’t have said anything in front of you, Wu Su, you are really vicious.”

“That night, a girl died, and her mother was seriously ill. If Xue Cun had done his job, the girl might not have died.” Wu Su said, “Wei Li, why can’t I tell them this?”

“We’ve lived together for so long, Wu Su, why don’t you think about me?”

“Wei Li, when you told them that I was the one who picked up tha lantern, did you think about me?”

“But…but you did go out that night with that lantern! What I said is the truth!”

“Xue Cun did leave his post without permission to meet you in secret behind the mansion. This is also true.”

Wu S’s voice was clear and cold , like someone completely detached from their surroundings

She had no intention of soothing Wei Li’s emotions, she could only judge things according to her own indifferent logic.

“Wu Su, I hate you!” Wei Li announced loudly.

“Okay.” Wu Su responded softly.

Wei Li stormed out in a tearful rage, slamming Wu Su’s door shut with a “bang”.

Wu Su’s eyes returned to her desk, but she found that the little ant she had watching had disappeared.

She sighed softly, but then suddenly felt a pure and seductive aura.

In the past, she might have chased after this weak aura that seemed to be dying, innocently trying to gather a little yin and yang energy.

But after encountering it a few times, she can now recognize this aura, it’s the Little Highness.

She will no longer be tricked by him.

Wu Su sat upright by the window, resting her chin in her hand, watching the beautiful little blue bird flapping its wings.

He landed lightly in front of her.

“Your Highness.” Wu Su called him softly.