Scent Of Time

Chapter 41

I hurriedly rushed back to Hua Mansion. When I saw a doctor come out from my yard, I pulled him and asked: “Doctor, how is Hua Rongzhou?”

The bearded doctor arched his hand at me and said, “Miss, the person is not in any serious trouble, but he suffered a lot of pain from the wound’s secondary disintegration, and now he has taken the medicine and has already slept.”

Second wound breakdown?

I was dizzy and asked Qian Zhi to send the doctor. I walked into Hua Rongzhou’s room. His room was simple, except for a set of table and chairs and cutlery; there was nothing else.

Walking to his bed, I saw him lying on the bed with his eyes closed tightly with frowns; his pale face could tell he was having a hard time.

I raised my hand to lift his quilt and saw that he was only wearing pants, revealing the upper half of his body and the blood-stained gauze around his waist; it was very conspicuous.

“What’s going on here?” I frowned and asked Cui Zhu, who followed me. That girl finally stopped crying before speaking, “Doesn’t Miss know?”

I frowned. Yin Xing saw the atmosphere was not right and hurriedly spoke: “Reply to Miss, Guard Hua was injured when he fell off the cliff that day and then received — Prince Jin’s palm yesterday; it made his old wound open again.”

“Falling cliff?” My eyes narrowed, and an idea suddenly surfaced in my heart.

Yin Xing confirmed my guess: “That day, when Guard Hua followed Miss into the valley and didn’t come back with Miss until the next morning, he got a wound on his waist, probably cut by a tree branch accidentally when he fell, and he didn’t say much about it.”

Followed me and jumped down from the cliff? My mind resounded with that day when I met him. He was all wet, and that smell of blood when he carried me; I was curious about how he found me so quickly, but then I didn’t pursue it. Just because he wore black clothes that day and it was nighttime, I did not notice. I even let him carry me back.

These days, Hua Shen’s matter was like a bolt from the blue. I was confused and didn’t ask him again. It turned out he had followed me to jump down that day. How I returned to the Hua Mansion, now I knew it; a seriously injured person carried me; he even insisted on following me around with injuries these days. He said I always ignore him; I was still unconvinced, but now it seems I am heartless.

Hua Rongzhou’s eyes closed tightly; he had just taken the medicine and wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. I put the quilt in my hand and then sat by the edge of the bed; Yin Xing saw this and pulled Cui Zhu out.

It was the first time I had looked at this child so seriously; I took Hua Rongzhou and Qian Zhi as younger siblings, so I always protected them and fought alone. But this time, I found someone who took the risk for me. I jumped off the cliff with seven points of certainty. So, how sure was Hua Rongzhou when he jumped for me?

I can’t help but sigh. This teenager is in his sleep, still frowning tightly; his once-red lips are now bluish. Yesterday, he received Zhong Yelan’s palm, only to cause the wound to tear again. It must have been excruciating, and I still blame him for his unauthorized actions after the incident.

Sitting quietly at the bedside, the sound of Hua Rongzhou’s shallow breathing was in my ears. The past few days’ events flashed through my mind like a movie; I can no longer dwell on them. Because I am no longer alone, my momentary cowardice to escape will only bring misfortune and suffering to those around me. After a long time, I got up and prepared to leave. I’ll wait for him to wake up and then return to ask him. However, when I stood up, he tugged my clothes.

Looking back, I saw that Hua Rongzhou was still sleeping, but he held my belt. He might have subconsciously grasped my belt when I covered him with the blanket. I pulled on the belt and saw that he didn’t loosen it, so I sat back again and tried to break his palm, but it was also useless. His fists were getting tighter, and his fingernails were about to sink into his flesh like he was in the process of being robbed of something by someone else. I had to give up on leaving; I couldn’t unbuckle my belt and go out unclothed. I tucked him in again and sat like this until dawn. I couldn’t stay up in the middle of the night. I also passed out on the edge of the bed for a few moments and slept very shallowly, so I opened my eyes as soon as Hua Rongzhou moved. I raised my head and met Hua Rongzhou’s gaze.

His eyes were still dazed; he should have just woken up. I sat up straight, smiled at him, and spoke, “You’re awake? Does the wound still hurt?”

Hua Rongzhou seemed to have just reacted and sat up violently, the swiftness of his movements startling me. Before I had time to speak, a tightness on my waist was ripped away by his movements – as the belt was still in his hand. I hurriedly reached out with one hand to propped up on the bedpost, and my left hand reflexively pressed his shoulders so as not to burden him with all my weight. I was so close to him that our breath cast on each other’s faces.

My action pressed his straight body back; at this time, I was in a ‘kabedon’ position on the bed. I felt warmth on my left hand and remembered he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Even though I was so much older than he was, I was embarrassed because this position was so awkward.

Trying to keep my composure, I sat up straight, pretending to move my hand away naturally, and then tugged on my belt and spoke, “Can you let go now? I just got yanked by you before I could say anything.” Regardless of anything else, first, shirk the responsibility. Otherwise, the situation just now was like I was molesting him.

Hua Rongzhou should have sober this time. He let go of his hand as if bitten by a poisonous snake, rolled over on his back, got off the bed, knelt, hung his head, and said to me, “This subordinate deserves to die; please punish me, Miss.”

I thought of his injuries, so I wanted to help him, but I remembered that he did not wear a shirt. Fortunately, he did not look up; I retracted my hand back, stood up, and spoke: “You are seriously injured. No need to pay attention to these; hurry back to bed first.”

The words that came out of my mouth were inappropriate; Hua Rongzhou still hung his head and didn’t move; his body looked stiff like a robot.

I straightened my belt before continuing, “You put on your clothes; I’ll return to see you later.”

I don’t know if it’s just my psyche, but I always feel like it’s getting increasingly out of place as I say it, so I awkwardly speed up my steps and leave.

Back to my room, I wanted to sleep, so Qian Zhi tidied my bed while turning back and biting her lip to look at me and said, “Miss, you didn’t return all night and stayed in Guard Hua’s room. If someone spreads this rumor, I’m afraid your identity …….”

My hand that was undressing lurched and said with a bit of amusement, “Hua Rongzhou got injured because of me; I was serving tea in his house, which is appropriate. You guys have never been subordinates to me, so don’t say such things in the future.”

Qian Zhi looked at me, her eyes full of undisguised melancholy. I laughed in my heart and continued to prepare for sleep. However, just after lying down for a few moments, I heard what seemed to be a few maids arguing outside; I sat up and spoke, “Qian Zhi, what’s going on outside?”

Qian Zhi and Cui Zhu came in together. Cui Zhu suddenly rushed me to kowtow: “Hua Rongzhou fainted from his injuries yesterday, thinking of his …… loyalty and protection; you should not punish him.”

I punish Hua Rongzhou? I got up and started to put my clothes back on again, then went out and saw Hua Rongzhou kneeling in the courtyard with his back straight.

I walked over in strides and spoke, “What are you doing? Hurry back and rest properly.” Reaching out to help him, he didn’t move; his voice trembled, “This subordinate …… offended Miss, please punish me.”

I sighed in my heart. Why is this child so honest?

“Then I order you to get up.” Seeing that I couldn’t pull him, I stood up and asked.

Hua Rongzhou looked up at me in dismay; seeing that I insisted, he hesitated momentarily and stood up.

“Come with me.” I turned around and returned to the house, and he followed behind. When I reached the house, I told the maids to all go out before I spoke, “That day when you found me so quickly in the valley, did you jump with me?”

“Yes.” Hua Rongzhou hung his head and answered.

“Then the injury on your waist was from falling and being scratched by a tree branch?”

“No.”

I looked at Hua Rongzhou in doubt; he met my gaze and spoke, “When this subordinate went up the bank from the river, I found a black-clothed man trail. I thought it was the black-clothed man who followed me down, so I rushed at him and was injured by him when we fought.”

A man in black? A thought flashed through my mind. I hurriedly spoke, “Did you see his face?”