Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Homecoming (3)
Zheng Wan woke up under such mass attention.
When she awoke, the skies were already grey. A candle flame flickered faintly in the room; her throat was so dry that it felt like it was on fire.
“Luodai, water….”
A little drop of a sweet, gelatinous liquid dripped between her lips; Zheng Wan peered dazedly into a pair of beautiful eyes. The ends of the eyes were long and narrow; eyelashes spread out like a feather fan, shading a pair of clear eyes. The eyes carried the warm, soft glow of candlelight, and seemed as if they had become much gentler for no apparent reason as they took her in.
“You’re awake?”
The pain in her body awakened her completely; Zheng Wan saw the familiar bed curtains, the familiar furnishings, and… the not-so-familiar Cui Wang.
“Mister Cui?”
She quickly realised what was going on—it must be that Cui Wang had brought her back to her residence after they had come out of the Transient Realm.
Zheng Wan’s eyes immediately filled with tears; they shimmered briefly, then rolled down her face.
“Mister Cui, are you… also dead?”
Cui Wang looked at the pale woman on the bed. She was undoubtedly beautiful. The loss of blood did not diminish her beauty; on the contrary, her black hair seemed even inkier, and her pupils brighter. In this manner, her tearful gaze was an extremely moving sight.
“Not dead.” He seemed to speak clumsily, “You, you, don’t cry.”
Cui Wang’s words made Zheng Wan’s tears fall even more rapidly. When she cried, she was just like a kitten; she didn’t make a sound, and only bit her lip, like a sprig of pear blossoms carrying the spring rain4. “Really?”
“Really.”
Zheng Wan smiled through her tears.
“He’s watched over you for half a day, used up a great deal of rare and elusive elixirs, and personally used his vital energy on you, before managing to save you.”
“Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t endanger my life?”
“I did my best to avoid your pulmonary arteries. If you were unfortunate… then you can only blame yourself for having bad luck. Moreover, if I didn’t make it realistic enough, how could you have concealed your true intentions from him? Who would have thought that you would use your life to win a living chess piece?”
“What about the gu?”
“It’s done.”
Zheng Wan did not speak, and Cui Wang was not a talkative person; the atmosphere in the room became momentarily stagnant.
Cui Wang coughed. “It’s already late at night, I should also take my leave. I will come back tomorrow to continue giving you treatment.”
But Zheng Wan grabbed his sleeve; then, as if realising something, she quickly let go again, and only asked:
“Mister Cui, will you… come back tomorrow?”
“I will.”
“Also, why did Father and Mother not come…”
At this, Cui Wang froze as he realised his oversight. “They are outside.”
“Are they… are they okay?”
Cui Wang raised his hand and flicked; the door opened, and moonlight poured in like water. He looked back, then walked out the door.
“You can see for yourself.”
Standing in the courtyard, Zheng Zhai, Madame Wang, the crown prince, and Rong Yi all looked over at the same time and saw the door that was still tightly closed just a moment ago was now open. A young gentleman in broad-sleeved wide robes came out holding a sword. Though the bloodied robes were bathed in the moonlight, it couldn’t melt the dense layer of frost and ice he emanated. His face was like a snow jade carving, with eyebrows that were clearly smoothed out, but somehow, it was still an intimidating sight.
“She’s awake.”
Cui Wang’s words were addressed to Zheng Zhai, but when the others heard it, they all swarmed over in a flurry.
The crown prince was intercepted. He looked at the sword that was lying across his chest; it was clear and still as water. Although there was no trace of any blood, it still made one grow cold all over.
“What– what’s this?”
“You cannot enter,” said Cui Wang mildly.
The crown prince made a grumbling noise in his throat. Even though he had the burning desire to, he didn’t dare to actually fight him. He said aggrievedly:
“But, but the State Preceptor also entered just now.” He stood stupefied for a long time.
“I am not the same.”
“How, how are you not the same?” The prince plucked up his courage, “Could it be that the State, State Preceptor wants to marry Lady Zheng?”
The tension outside the house did not affect the happy atmosphere inside.
Madame Wang cried out “Oh my darling!”, and Zheng Zhai felt as though a knife had been plunged into his heart. Even though he knew going over was no different from asking a tiger for its skin5, seeing his daughter lying there, barely alive, made him feel painfully tormented.
“Father, Mother, I’m alright.”
Rong Yi began vividly painting the scene of Rong Qin’s tantrum in the palace. “When Sister Rong Qin heard that Wan’niang was escorted back by the State Preceptor, she smashed all the luminous cups gifted by the Empress Dowager on the spot. She is now kneeling in the Ju’an Palace as punishment!”
Footnotes:
4 a sprig of pear blossoms carrying the spring rain: a line from the “Song of Everlasting Regret” (长恨歌; chang hen ge) by Tang dynasty poet, Bai Juyi. It is used to describe the delicate and poignant appearance of a woman when she sheds tears.
5 asking a tiger for its skin: 与虎谋皮A Chinese idiom, meaning to make a request that goes against the interests of the other party, resulting in a doomed petition/ impossibility. I’m not sure why the author chooses to use this idiom here as Zheng Zhai is not negotiating with anyone for anything, but perhaps in this context it just means he knows that even though he goes to her side and wants her to get better, there’s nothing he can do (i.e. he’s in an impossible situation).