Arrives at Li Mansion, everyone surprise to see their Master sudden comes back, carrying a woman. Tong Elders who sees the arrival of Prince, quickly examining the situation. They recognize the woman as HuaMutan, is wounded at her back, the wound looks very bad.
"Uncle Tong, quick call a physician to come..." Prince Li doesn"t stop his steps, he rushes inside the mansion... and then he is entering a room, where there are the MuTan plants at outside of the room. Aunt Tong is following behind.
He immediately put HuaMuTan on the bed slowly....make sure HuaMuTan lays on her side, with her face facing inside bed wall. With that position, Aunt Tong can see her back which covered by blackish red blood marks.
"This...! What happened, Prince Li?"
"I"ll explain later...Just hurry, clean her wound, Aunt Tong...and change her cloth...I will wait at outside..."
Prince Li then went out and closed the door of the room. He stood silently, thinking for what just happened.
Not too long, Uncle Tong comes with a n.o.ble old man. That old man doesn"t come alone, he is accompanied by a beautiful lady, the same lady who witnessed Prince Li at the street before.
Prince Li gets a little surprised seeing them. He planned to call just the common physician, not the Physician Huang, the royal physician who is also his adoptive father.
"How do they know it so quickly?"
Prince Li greets Physician Huang politely, he bows a little bit,
"*Yi Fu...."
He smiles nervously to the lady,
"Shuang *Mei..."
Lady ShuangAi smiles back to him,
"Li *Ge, when I saw you entering the city, I knew something wrong has happened. So I take Father come here to check."
"That"s why they can come so quick. But the wounded one is HuaMuTan, should I let YiFu to treat her?" Prince Li becomes hesitated regarding for their past with HuaMuTan
"This..."
"Well, where is the patient?" asks Physician Huang impatiently.
Right that moment, Aunt Tong has finishing change TanTan"s cloth... she opens the door,
Due to the situation, Prince Li decided just let Physician Huang enters the room to check HuaMuTan and followed by Lady ShuangAi ...
Physician Huang and her daughter were a little shock to see the wound on TanTan"s back. Physician Huang immediately asks her daughter to help him open TanTan"s cloth and put the medicine on the wound. When ShuangAi takes off TianTian"s cloth, Prince Li turns around, as a gentleman. Although they are husband and wife. Prince Li was never see HuaMuTan"s naked body even when their first wedding night coz he never slept in the same room with her since the beginning of their married.
It takes a while to treat TanTan"s wound. After done, Physician Huang takes Prince Li out from the room, while ShuangAi and Aunt Tong helps to clean up the unconscious TanTan.
"How is she, Yi Fu?"
"The wound is not hurting her bones but she lost a lot of blood. She"ll be fine, she just need a lot of rest and take times to recover. Only..."
"Only what YiFu?"
"The wound I am afraid is quite deep ,it will leave a big scar on her back...what an unfortunate..."
"Is that so?" Now Prince Li felt responsible coz he knows what a scar means for a woman pride, especially HuaMuTan"s pride. He feels HuaMuTan will use it to threaten him to follow what she wants later. Prince Li takes a deep sigh.
Physician Huang seems can guessing Prince Li"s mind, he feels sorry for him. He knows how trapped his adoptive son in this marriage.
"What is actually happened, Li Er? Did that woman once again purposely hurt herself like before?" He remembered how HuaMuTan threaten to kill herself in front of King"s Mother which finally successfully make the King issued the marriage decree for her and Prince Li. He was also there to treat HuaMuTan as the King"s order although he was not willing to.
"No...YiFu...this time is different. She... She is wounded because of me. "Then Prince Li recited what had happened to Physician Huang.
Meanwhile inside the room, Aunt Tong can"t hold any longer to speak her mind to ShuangAi, she sits and pours some tea for ShuangAi.
"This...evil woman...how can she return and trouble us again!!"
ShuangAi takes the tea and thanks Aunt Tong. She sips it and then responds to Aunt Tong,
"Don"t say like that, Aunt Tong, she is wounded right now..."
"Ah...Ai Er ah...you are too kind...Do you forget that she had subducted Prince Li from you in evil way? How can you still come and help your father to treat her? I won"t blame you if you want to hurt her now... Go on..."
"Aunt Tong, you tease me! You know i won"t do it. No matter who, when they are treated by my father. That means they are my patient too."
"AiEr ah...how comes you too good,...ah if my Prince Li can married to you...how live this house can be... if not because of this evil woman...I probably already raise your children with Prince Li..."
"Aunt Tong...stop it...don"t talk like that, I and Prince Li are nothing than just like a sibling. Now, Lets go out, leave this wounded woman to rest..." ShuangAi pulls Aunt Tong out of the room. But before ShuangAi closes the door, she looked with sadness to TanTan who laid on the bed.
At outside, Physician Huang was just finish hearing Prince Li"s narration, Physician Huang speaks his mind,
"It seems fishy..."
"Do you think so, YiFu?"
"We can"t be sure if this is not HuaMuTan"s own plan? You can"t be too soft with this woman, LiEr..."
"Do you really think this woman is crazy enough willing to give herself scar just to subdue me?"
"I don"t say it for sure...but regarding how she sent some killers and trying to harm ShuangAi...HuaMuTan seems like a crazy woman who can do anything to get what she wants." It is still fresh in their memories, Physician Huang still can"t forgive HuaMuTan about it.
"I know YiFu...Don"t worry, I won"t let this woman to hurt ShuangAi again. I swear for my life to watch her away from ShuangAi." Prince Li is also can"t forgive HuaMuTan for that.
Physician Huang takes a deep sigh and looking at Prince Li sadly, his sympathy on his adoptive son was so deep,
"LiEr, This is really troubling you,.... "
The door is opened, Physician Huang stops his word, and expecting her daughter to join. Aunt Tong has instructed by Prince Li to prepare the medicine according the receipt that be given by Physician Huang and after giving proper greet to all, she goes to the kitchen.
"Father...." ShuangAi walks toward them,
"Li Ge, MuTan *Cie is still not conscious. She might have fever this night, so better having someone to watch her over the night..."
"I see....thanks Shuang Mei...I am sorry, that its troubling you for nothing..."
"Don"t say that...how about you, Li Ge. Are you fine? Actually what had happened in your journey?"
Then once again Prince Li retell the situation but this time he chooses the words carefully especially to the part when TanTan protected him and got wounded because of him.
Seeing ShuangAi standing beside Prince Li, Physician Huang feels pleased but also deeply frustated. As a father, he ever dreamed to see Prince Li and his own daughter, ShuangAi together in marriage, but it was already becomes past. Deep inside his heart, he is still cannot accepting the fact that Prince Li was no longer can be his son in law. So in his heart, he cursed this HuaMuTan, "Maybe it would be better if she is not to be healed at all". But he knows it is against his physician"s heart, his job is to help patient not to harm patient.
After hearing what happened, ShuangAi looks so worry to Prince Li,
"It seems MuTan Cie has unknown enemy. You must put some guardians to protect her later..." Prince Li and Physician Huang widened their eyes, hearing ShuangAi"s words.
"Ai Er, what makes you think these enemies aim to Hua MuTan and not to Prince Li?" her father asks her curious.
"I am sorry, Father. This is just my a.s.sumption. Before LiGe married to MuTan Cie, we never hear any attacks toward LiGe in his any journeys but this time? Just when Li Ge went to pick up MuTan Cie, then suddenly we have this attack? I am feeling that someone doesn"t want MuTan Cie return here. I may be wrong, but its better to be cautious."
"..." Both of Physician Huang and Prince Li shook their head, just now they were thinking that most likely HuaMuTan is the actor behind the attack. and here a naive ShuangAi is thinking that HuMuTan is really a victim.
"AiEr, do you remember that this Hua MuTan ever wanted to kill you, don"t you?..."
Physician Huang recited it because he felt her daughter is too fool to concern about HuaMuTan.
"Yes, Father....I know, but I am also understand the reason she did that. Li Ge had too kind to me and it made MuTan Cie misunderstood about us. I don"t blame her ,its Li Ge"s fault actually..."ShuangAi gives a teasing tone and smiles innocently to Prince Li.
"What a naive and kind-hearted ShuangAi... the woman who I love more than anything..."
Prince LiZouWei smiles back to her but his eyes looks at her in sadness.
"You can"t blame me, ShuangMei. If I have to choose to save, between you and her. You know for sure , I choose you rather than her. You are... you are my precious sister"
"See...that"s my point..!! Father, don"t you see? Li Ge is actually just using me as the reason to run away from his own wife...he just don"t want to be banded in a marriage..." ShuangMei always feel that this his adoptive brother is never being serious to her words. She is always be treated as a little girl and she is always upset about it.
"What? I"m not..." Prince Li protests
"Ehm, enough...please behave to Prince Li, Ai Er. I think its time for us to leave, There"s nothing else we can do here."
Physician Huang greets properly by giving a little bow, ShuangAi is also doing the same.
"Thank you for your treatment, I am sorry that I had bother you this time, YiFu."
"Just be careful LiEr, like AiEr says, you may put more guards just in case."
"Thanks for your advice, YiFu. Let me escort you out."
Prince Li walks away with Physician Huang and lady ShuangMei to the gate of the mansion.
From behind the bushes of Peony flowers, comes out a little girl, chasing her red ball. She dresses like n.o.ble little tomboy girl, with her long pants. She looks around and feeling weird for the door which is not closed properly...
She seems nervous coz she is remembering that it is a room of that evil woman stays, but she is also curious for she saw her YiFu came out from that room just now. And as she knows that the room is empty lately, so she steps closely to the door and takes a little peek. She sees TanTan sleeping and suddenly she hears TanTan is murmuring something,...it shocks the little girl, as she thought TanTan is awaked. It scares her so she leave the room rashly until she fells down, stumbled by her own feet. When she arises and run away, that little girl doesn"t realize that she drops her jade pendant close to the door. Because she is busy screaming in her mind,
"No...the evil CieCie has come back...Nooo...."
Notes:
*w.a.n.gZi: *prince (the proper calling)
*YiFu: the proper calling for adoptive father
*Mei: the proper calling for younger sister...
*Cie: the proper calling for elder sister from younger sister.
(*please forgive me for any misspelling in Chinese calling formality. I try my best to describe the atmosphere of old Chinese times with my limit of knowledge. I will accepting any corrections. *Kowtow)