Without a word, Chu Yuan leaped down while still holding her and began walking. The soldiers rose to follow.
Nearby was a green sedan chair, but Chu Yuan ignored it and inquired, “Where’s my horse?”
A black horse was quickly brought to him. He mounted, securing Ruan Ning in his arms, and headed toward the city.
Ruan Ning hesitated, saying, “Your Highness, I’m a runaway slave. I can’t enter the capital…”
“With me here, no one will dare touch you,” Chu Yuan replied dismissively.
However, the original owner was not an ordinary runaway slave—she was the daughter of a recently beheaded minister. Ruan Ning quickly added, “My father was just executed, the Minister of Ning…”
“
Chu Yuan repeated, “With me here, no one will dare touch you.”
Ruan Ning finally relaxed, closing her eyes with tears sliding through her eyelashes.
“Open your eyes,” Chu Yuan said flatly.
Ruan Ning tightened her eyes.
“Open them,” he commanded, his voice rising slightly.
Trembling, Ruan Ning cracked her eyes open.
“Don’t be soft-hearted towards those who insult you,” he warned, staring at her intently.
Before she could reply, he pulled the reins and rode away, stepping over Liang Fu.
I didn’t go soft on Liang Fu, I’m just afraid of your ruthlessness, Ruan Ning thought, not daring to speak.
Chu Yuan held her with one arm, walking towards the city gate. Liang Fu was alive but had been severely beaten. This was the first time he had left a victim alive to avoid frightening her.
Having hardly slept the previous night, he had dreamt of her terrified expression. He didn’t understand her fear, but felt he should be considerate of her emotions.
Moreover, with her in his arms, his irritable mood had calmed considerably, no longer feeling the urgent need to vent through killing.
An hour later, a large group of riders arrived at the city gate, where two sedan chairs were parked, clearly indicating important persons were present.
Chu Yuan reined in his horse but did not dismount. The sedan door opened, and a dignified, tall young man emerged, addressing Chu Yuan, “Prince Ning.”
“Your Highness,” Chu Yuan dismounted and lifted Ruan Ning down from the horse. “I’m taking her back to the palace.”
Ruan Ning remembered that Crown Prince Chu Xiang, a few years older than Chu Yuan, had cared for him for a long time after he entered the palace. Though Chu Yuan was not fond of Chu Xiang and had considered deposing him, he remained a loyal supporter.
Chu Xiang’s gaze was fixed anxiously on Chu Yuan’s injured right shoulder: “How did you get hurt? Has it been treated? Does it still hurt?”
“Careless, bitten by a wolf,” Chu Yuan said with a faint smile. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.”
“Quickly return to the palace, have the Imperial Medical Academy’s chief physician await at Prince Ning’s Bian Xiang Palace.”
Tell them Prince Ning was wounded by a wild wolf,” Chu Xiang instructed a young eunuch, who immediately ran into the city.
Chu Xiang glanced at Ruan Ning, quickly scanning her and finding her acceptable, then turned to Chu Yuan: “Come with me. The Emperor has been worried and hasn’t slept all night, waiting for news about you.”
Chu Yuan smiled mockingly, saying, “He sent people to watch me. Doesn’t he already know where I went? What is there to worry about?”
Chu Xiang patted his hand, softly saying, “Let’s go back.”
Ruan Ning found the situation strange. Although Chu Yuan was younger than Chu Xiang, he was technically his uncle, yet now Chu Xiang seemed more like an elder, showing deep concern.
Chu Yuan did not insist further. He placed Ruan Ning back on the horse and mounted behind her, holding her. Looking at Chu Xiang, he said, “I’ll bring her. Your Highness can take the sedan chair.”
Chu Yuan felt that since she worried about her fugitive slave status, he would walk through the capital with her, showing everyone he had her support, and see who would dare trouble her.
“Not necessary, I’ve already killed them all.” Chu Yuan sat casually, turning his shoulder towards the trembling imperial physician, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “If Your Majesty wants to monitor me again, find some experts who won’t be discovered. Those people were indeed useless.”
Chu Xiang lowered his head, pretending not to hear. The emperor had always planted informants around Chu Yuan, and there were spies among the palace maids, eunuchs, beauties, and guards. Yesterday, when Chu Yuan went out of the palace alone, the spy in his escort team followed him as usual. However, Chu Yuan unexpectedly flew into a rage and killed everyone without mercy.
Chu Yun Zheng showed no embarrassment. “I was concerned about your safety,” he said.
Chu Yuan snorted coldly and held Ruan Ning while the imperial physician cleaned and sutured his wounds. He seemed unaware of the pain. Ruan Ning watched the stitching, trembling as the needles pierced flesh, while Chu Yuan remained expressionless.
Noticing Ruan Ning’s shivering, Chu Yun Zheng asked, “Who is she?”
“The daughter of the beheaded Ning Minister, Ruan Ning,” Chu Yuan replied. “I want to clear her status as a slave. She’ll be with me from now on.”
“Crown Prince, handle this,” Chu Yun Zheng instructed Chu Xiang. “Quickly.”
“This son obeys,” Chu Xiang glanced at Chu Yuan, hesitated, but ultimately left.
“Ruan Ning,” Chu Yun Zheng warned, “Serve Prince Ning well. If you show the slightest negligence, I’ll have your head cut off.”
Ruan Ning’s bathroom in the Bian Xiang Palace was adorned with coral and tortoiseshell, featuring pearl curtains that created a dreamlike atmosphere. Hidden behind the curtains, Ruan Ning waited for Chu Yuanquan to undress. She could vaguely see him crossing into the pool wrapped in a cloth towel. Despite the obscured view, she discerned his tall physique, almost perfect except for the many scars.
Though afraid of him, her curiosity about the scars compelled her to peek.
Suddenly, Chu Yuan said, “Come and help me bathe.”
Ruan Ning lowered her head and moved closer, glancing at the pool as she passed. The cloth towel floated on the water’s surface, obscuring her view below.
She carefully removed his jade hairpin and crown, allowing his long, coarse, black hair to cascade down. Ruan Ning placed a cloth towel behind his neck and let him lean against the pool’s edge. Using a water scoop, she wet his hair, which quickly softened and lay obediently in her hand.
Across his broad shoulders, she could see his well-defined abdominal muscles—exactly six. Ruan Ning carefully moved his hair to the left, avoiding the wound on his shoulder, then lathered soap to gently wash his hair. Her hands were busy, but her eyes were fixed on his abs.
It was said that well-developed abs feel like steel when poked. She wondered if Chu Yuan was the same. He would probably let her help him bathe, or maybe she could take the opportunity to feel if they were hard.
Chu Yuan lay with his eyes closed, his sense of touch heightened. He felt her soft fingers caressing his scalp and hair. Her strength wasn’t great, and her technique lacked precision, making it less effective than a royal physician’s massage. Yet, every movement brought him calm—an experience rarely found in his life.
Bringing her back was indeed the right decision. Whenever she was around, his irritable mood could find tranquility.
Inhaling her subtle fragrance, Chu Yuan’s thoughts emptied, and he suddenly wanted to speak. “Bian Xiang Palace was my mother’s residence before her marriage,” he said softly.
Ruan Ning understood why the decor looked so girlish—it was where Princess Jinyuan had lived before her marriage.
“I entered the palace at three years old and always lived in Bian Xiang Palace. The decorations elsewhere have been changed, but the bathroom remains the same,” Chu Yuan continued.
