The Imperial Guard's Revenge

Chapter 70 Bandage

After Wang Yanqing came out of the forest, she saw Ling Xi guarding outside. Ling Xi bent her knees and greeted, tacitly avoiding what happened just now, and Wang Yanqing did not pursue how Lu Heng appeared in the woods in time. She followed Ling Xi back to the house, changed out of her blood-stained clothes, and slowly sipped hot soup to drive away the cold. Before she finished a cup of soup, she suddenly heard a cry for help outside.

Both Wang Yanqing and Ling Xi were taken aback. Ling Xi immediately went out to inquire about the situation, and when she came back she said to Wang Yanqing with a serious face: “Miss, there is a fire in the palace.”

Fortunately, they lived upwind from the main hall, and coupled with timely precautions, the Lu family’s courtyard was not affected by the fire. People outside were in chaos, wolves were crying and ghosts were howling. It was safest to stay indoors at such a time. Wang Yanqing sat in the room, listening to the news outside in fear.

The Imperial Guards who were guarding the gate said that the center of the fire happened to be in the palace today. Many concubines and court ladies were besieged, and Lu Heng had already gone to the front to deal with the fire. Listening to this, Wang Yanqing sighed. In today’s catastrophe, she didn’t know how many people would die, and the loss of gold, silver, and jewels was even more incalculable.

Half of the night sky was reddened by the flames, and thick smoke billowed up as if even the moon was stained with blood. Wang Yanqing opened the window and kept looking at the door. There were two opposing emotions in her heart, on the one hand, she hoped that Lu Heng would come back quickly, on the other hand, she was afraid that the door would be knocked and bring back some bad news.

Wang Yanqing was restless. Ling Xi tried to persuade her to rest inside several times, but Wang Yanqing refused. This bit of wind had limited influence on Wang Yanqing, and she preferred to sit where she would be able to see Lu Heng first.

Ling Xi couldn’t persuade her, so she could only silently bring something to keep her warm and wait by the window with Wang Yanqing. They waited until midnight when there were faint voices outside the door. In the middle of the night, the palace was still noisy, everyone was shouting to put out the fire, and footsteps were chaotic, but strangely, Wang Yanqing heard Lu Heng’s footsteps through the wall.

Wang Yanqing stood up immediately and walked forward without waiting for the door to open. When Lu Heng pushed open the courtyard door, Wang Yanqing had already run out of the house: “Second Brother, how are you?”

Lu Heng already knew that his backyard was fine, but he didn’t see it with his own eyes, so he felt uneasy. At this moment when he saw Wang Yanqing running out unscathed, the half of his heart he was secretly holding was finally put back in place. He reached out to receive Wang Yanqing and said: “I’m fine.”

Wang Yanqing noticed that Lu Heng’s clothes had changed, and when he held her with his right hand, he frowned slightly. Wang Yanqing’s complexion suddenly changed, and she hurriedly asked: “Second Brother, are you injured?”

Lu Heng sighed slightly, sometimes the people around him were too sensitive, which was not entirely a good thing. Afraid of scaring her, Lu Heng downplayed it: “Just a minor injury.”

Wang Yanqing didn’t believe it. How could it be a minor injury if it made Lu Heng subconsciously show an expression of pain? Wang Yanqing immediately let go of Lu Heng’s hand, took a few steps back, and blamed herself: “It’s all my fault. Second Brother, did I hurt you just now?”

Her evasive movement was very obvious, and Lu Heng didn’t like it very much. He held her hand tightly again and said: “It’s really a small injury, it’s been taken care of. You weren’t scared, were you?”

Wang Yanqing shook her head. Lu Heng was very careful in handling things, the emperor’s palace was on fire, but Lu Heng’s house was fine. Wang Yanqing didn’t dare to touch Lu Heng and tried to avoid him as quietly as possible. But every time she moved, Lu Heng held her hand firmly and pulled her back again. After doing this twice, Lu Heng glanced at her lightly and asked: “What are you hiding from?”

Wang Yanqing was anxious and helpless, and reminded: “Second Brother, be careful of your wound.”

When Lu Heng rescued the emperor, he encountered a falling log. He blocked it with his right arm, and his forearm was burned by sparks. The wound looked horrifying, but it was not serious. It would be fine after ten days of care, and it was far less severe than Fu Tingzhou’s injury.

But Wang Yanqing seemed to think it was serious. Her small face was stiff and she wished to stay away from Lu Heng. No matter what he said, she refused to approach him. Lu Heng didn’t expect that after being injured, he wouldn’t enjoy some pampering, and instead he caused her to avoid him. Sitting under the lamp, Lu Heng was quite helpless: “It’s really fine, you don’t have to hide so far away.”

Wang Yanqing was not willing to listen. She quickly ordered Ling Xi to get the medicine box. Ling Xi glanced at Lu Heng quickly and backed away silently. The commander used to be reluctant to let others get close to his wound, but now it seemed that an exception should be made.

Ling Xi fetched the medicine box, then left obediently. Wang Yanqing carefully unbuttoned Lu Heng’s sleeve, and sure enough, saw a piece of gauze oozing blood. The wound was bandaged on the spot when the palace was still on fire at the time, and the emperor was unconscious, so Lu Heng couldn’t waste too much time, and the treatment was not meticulous. Looking at the crooked gauze, Wang Yanqing said distressedly: “Why were you hurt so badly?”

Outsiders only knew that the palace was on fire, but they didn’t know that the emperor had disappeared and was almost trapped to death in the fire. Now that the emperor was out of danger, Lu Heng was not afraid to confide the truth to Wang Yanqing: “The fire broke out hastily tonight and the eunuch serving the emperor was frightened when he saw the fire and knocked himself unconscious in the room, almost causing a big incident.”

It was only then that Wang Yanqing realized that the fire was so serious tonight. No wonder there was so much noise outside. Wang Yanqing asked: “Is this injury from the rescue?”

Lu Heng was a very thoughtful and shrewd person, no matter how nice his words were, he would not rush up if he was in danger unless that person had to be rescued. Now that Empress Jiang was dead, the empress and concubines were not so important. The only thing worthy of Lu Heng’s life was saving the emperor.

Lu Heng could sit here and talk to her calmly, so it can be seen that the emperor is fine. Altogether, it was not difficult to guess that this injury was left by Lu Heng when he rescued the emperor.

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Lu Heng nodded in satisfaction. Qing Qing was really smart and talking to her was easy. Lu Heng said: “When I found the emperor, he was already unconscious from the smoke. I quickly carried him out and was hit by some sparks when I was evacuating.”

Lu Heng said it lightly, but she couldn’t know how many thrills there were. Looking at the blood-stained gauze, Wang Yanqing felt very heavy, and could not help complaining softly: “You were injured to save the emperor, couldn’t the imperial doctor bandage you properly?”

Lu Heng said: “The emperor was still dizzy, even if the imperial doctor was willing to bandage me, I dare not use it. The imperial doctor took time to take my pulse and prescribe medicine, which is already considered enough for me. This kind of flesh and blood injury has been seen a lot in the Imperial Guards, and there is no need for a doctor, it is enough for Guo Tao and the others to deal with it.”

How could she expect these masters to treat their wounds carefully, just sprinkle some medicine to stop the bleeding and it’s over. Wang Yanqing looked distressed, picked up scissors and tweezers, and carefully lifted off the gauze: “The burn must be treated carefully, otherwise there will be scars in the future. Second Brother, bear with me, I will bandage you again.”

Lu Heng actually didn’t care about leaving scars, but of course, Lu Heng would not stop Wang Yanqing from being so serious. He watched her carefully leaning in front of his wound, removing the old gauze little by little, even if there were a few hairs on the wound, she would still pick it out, her movements were very patient and meticulous.

Her breath patted Lu Heng’s wound lightly and he wasn’t sure whether the medicine was working or the burn was causing it, but those places felt numb and itchy. Lu Heng moved his fingers, Wang Yanqing noticed it, and hurriedly asked: “Did I hurt you?”

Lu Heng resisted the itching on his arm and said: “It’s okay. It’s so late, and I am letting you see these bloody things, I’m worried that you won’t sleep well tonight.”

Wang Yanqing shook her head and said: “And what. I won’t be able to sleep until your wound is healed.”

Wang Yanqing was not a chamber lady who would make a fuss if her fingertips were pricked by needles. She was very familiar with dealing with wounds, and she was used to it before she lost her memory. Wang Yanqing cleaned up the old gauze full of patience. She fetched wine, wet a cotton ball, and wiped it carefully along the edge of the wound: “Second Brother, the burn must be cleaned, it might hurt a little, bear with it.”

She lowered her head as she said these words, her eyelashes drawn down, casting a fine silhouette in the light. Her face was very close to Lu Heng’s arm, and her breath brushed against his skin faintly, like a feather fluttering.

Her hair fell from her ears and drooped in front of her eyes. Wang Yanqing had no time to take care of it and let them go.

Looking at this scene, Lu Heng couldn’t even feel the sting of strong alcohol touching flesh and blood. The Imperial Guards also used wine to treat a wound before bandaging, but they poured it directly on his wound with a wine jar. Lu Heng did the same before and he was used to it. It was the first time he had seen such an elegant dressing method, the wine touched his wound, it was cool and numb, fresh as if teasing.

Lu Heng held a knife all year round and the muscles on his body were naturally exercised. They were not as strong as those military men with dragon horns, but they were slender and strong, with better endurance and explosive power. He looked tall and thin when he was wearing the flying fish suit, but he didn’t look pale when he unbuttoned his clothes. At the moment, his arm was naturally resting on the table, even if he was not applying force, there were smooth and obvious muscle lines on the forearm.

When Wang Yanqing pressed her pale fingers on his arm, the contrast was very different. Lu Heng looked at it for a while and gradually became distracted, wanting to know what her hand would feel like on other places.

Lu Heng looked at it for a while, then suddenly stretched out his other hand, and pulled the broken hair from her sides behind her ears. Wang Yanqing was afraid of hurting Lu Heng, so she resisted and did not hide. Lu Heng tidied her hair and suddenly asked: “Qing Qing, are you eighteen this year?”

Wang Yanqing glanced up quickly, still concentrating on the movements of her hands, but her voice could not hide her coldness: “Why are you asking this?”

Even if Wang Yanqing was not cowardly and shy like an ordinary chamber lady, it didn’t mean she liked to hear people talk about her age. No woman in the world, regardless of their status, old or young, wanted to hear that she was a year older.

Lu Heng smiled slightly, and the light illuminated his pupils, like the afterglow of the setting sun, floating and leaping in gold, until she couldn’t see the real emotion inside: “Qing Qing, blame the Lu family for disappointing you and for causing you to accompany me in grieving. It is not urgent to me, but you are the family’s daughter so you can’t delay your youth. When my father’s three-year filial piety period is over, you will be twenty years old. If it delays your marriage proposal, I will feel sorry.”

Wang Yanqing lowered her face, even if he couldn’t see her expression clearly, it was obvious that she was not in a high mood. Lu Heng felt a little pain from the wound, he raised his eyebrows secretly and continued: “Of course, I’m not urging you. I mean, if, if there is no good family to propose marriage to after the grieving period, how about you simply live in the Lu family?”

There are many interpretations of “live”. Wang Yanqing changed to a new cotton ball, wet it with wine, lowered her eyes, and said: “Second Brother will eventually marry my sister-in-law in the future. The relationship between mother and daughter-in-law will be difficult, and a sister-in-law will be even more difficult. Wouldn’t it be troublesome for my future sister-in-law to come in and see someone living under the roof who has nothing to do with the Lu family?”

Lu Heng nodded seriously and said: “Qing Qing is right to be worried. Since it is difficult to have both, I have no choice but not to marry.”

When Wang Yanqing heard him say that it was difficult to have both, she felt so heavy that she almost spilled the wine in her hand. Unexpectedly, he said that he would not marry. Wang Yanqing tried her best to pretend to be nonchalant, picked up the cotton ball, and said: “Second Brother is rising straight up into the sky, high and powerful. After today, I am afraid he will be promoted again. In the future, the Lu family will need a mistress to receive and host guests. How can Second Brother not marry a wife?”

“That’s right.” Looking at the wine dripping from the table, Lu Heng calmly continued, “I’m walking higher step by step, isn’t it just to make myself live comfortably? Qing Qing is far superior to other women in the world. With Qing Qing to accompany me, what else do I need?”