"Ah Li! Watch out!"
While Ye Li was thinking, she turned around suddenly hearing Mo Xiu Yao"s voice and saw a dart flying towards her. Ye Li threw her dagger out instantly. A figure appeared in front of her and brought her down to the ground.
"Mo... Xiu... Yao..." Ye Li called him hesitantly. She reached out for his back and immediately felt something wet on her hands.
Mo Xiu Yao fell next to her and smiled slightly: "It"s nothing..."
"Your Highness!" Ah Jin rushed towards them and supported Mo Xiu Yao up.
Mo Xiu Yao frowned with his face pale and said: "I"m good. Check if anyone else is alive."
Ye Li sat up and looked forward, that man who shot the dart was already dead with her dagger in his chest. That man... was knocked down by her earlier and regained consciousness without anyone noticing. Ye Li couldn"t help the bitter laugh in her. Did she forget to be on her guard since she had left the battlefield for so long? She actually left a few men alive in a fight like this. No... in fact she had killed no one except that man just now. If all of them woke up at some time... Ye Li couldn"t help but shiver at that thought.
A large and warm hand covered hers. Mo Xiu Yao looked at her with a faint smile: "Ah Li, I"m fine."
Ye Li bit at her lips slightly and said with regret: "How are you fine with an injury? Define not fine for me." Ye Li asked Ah Jin to support Mo Xiu Yao up and took back her dagger while cleaning it. She cut the clothes on Mo Xiu Yao"s back and found that the blood from his wound looked normal so she was a bit relieved by the conclusion that there was no poison on that dart.
Then she heard Mo Xiu Yao saying below his breath: "Fine means I won"t die."
Ye Li gritted her teeth and gave Ah Jin and the others a signal to take Mo Xiu Yao back to Moonless Convent. A secret guard already left quickly without any instruction from her. He must have sent for the doctors.
When they were back at Moonless Convent, as Mo Xiu Yao had said, it wasn"t disturbed by those a.s.sa.s.sins. Wen-shi had received their message and had waited for them by the entrance for quite some time. Seeing them coming, she walked over hurriedly and led them to a guest room that was readily prepared. Though for the time being Mo Xiu Yao didn"t seem badly hurt, Ye Li had checked the darts of that a.s.sa.s.sin and found out that they had hangnails on them. She could imagine when the dart was taken out, and by then Mo Xiu Yao would be dripping with blood. In fear that it would scare Wen-shi, Ye Li let her rest in her room first. Wen-shi looked at her with worry and went to prepare food for them.
Mo Xiu Yao sat back on the bed, frowning from time to time because of the wound on his back.
Ye Li asked worriedly: "Does it hurt? Doctor will be with us soon."
Mo Xiu Yao smiled bitterly and said: "All a doctor could do is to get the dart out. Let Ah Jin do it instead. He is quicker than those doctors."
Ye Li frowned and turned to Ah Jin: "Does he? There are hangnails on this dart." If it was an ordinary dart that didn"t hit his vital parts, they might as well take it out directly. But a dart with hangnails was extremely difficult to take out. If it was taken out by force, it could take out a big part of flesh with it. Ah Jin shook his head with all seriousness.
Mo Xiu Yao had no choice: "It could have been easier if it went through me."
Ye Li looked at him with cold eyes and couldn"t help but ridicule him: "It would have been truly convenient if it went through you several inches down your body."
"Ah Li... are you mad at me?" Mo Xiu Yao sighed, looking at her gently as if he wasn"t the one with a dart on his back.
"I! …" Ye Li lowered her head, upset. She calmed herself down after a good while and said: "Sorry, I"m mad at myself." If it wasn"t her who carelessly took her enemies lightly, who lost in her thought, Mo Xiu Yao wouldn"t have got hurt. All those years of life in comfort had worn down her vigilance. If she was on a battlefield of her previous incarnation, she would have died for 17 or 18 times.
As expected, the doctor came shortly afterwards since he was dragged here. The doctor was brave enough to be able to look at Mo Xiu Yao"s wound though he was dragged all the way here. After he finished looking, the doctor opened his mouth before checking the dart brought by Ye Li for a good while: "Cut the wound and get the dart out or stab it further inside and take it out from the front. What do you think?"
"The later one."
"Get it out from the front."
Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao said at the same time and looked at each other after they finished their sentences. Ye Li turned her eyes away as if nothing had happened and asked: "Doctor, what do you think?"
The doctor nodded with satisfaction and said: "Your choice is wise. The later approach seems hurt but it takes little time while cutting the wound with a knife takes longer, besides, the wound will heal slowly."
"Doctor, you seem familiar with this kind of wound." Ye Li supported Mo Xiu Yao while looking at the doctor who was preparing skillfully.
The doctor answered without looking up: "I was a military doctor."
That explained it.
The doctor cleaned the end of the dart and pushed it forward without mercy. Mo Xiu Yao"s body stiffened at once and he grabbed tightly at Ye Li"s arm. Ye Li supported him silently and saw the doctor pulled out the head of the dart which emerged from Mo Xiu Yao"s chest with a durable ribbon. A shot of blood spilled out of Mo Xiu Yao"s body and the dart left his chest immediately. The doctor took the liquor that was pa.s.sed to him and washed Mo Xiu Yao"s wound. Then he skillfully applied medicine on the wound and bound it up with a piece of white cloth before he wiped the sweat on his forehead: "Well, it didn"t hurt any vital part or bone in your body. Reapply the medicine once a day and let it recuperate."
Ye Li looked at the blood-red water in the basin colored by Mo Xiu Yao"s blood and a bunch of clothes stained with blood and asked: "Does he need to take anything? Something to build his blood?"
The doctor curled his lips: "His Highness is still young. He only needs to recuperate if he"s in good health. Princess, if you are indeed worried about him, you can make soup with four traditional medicines, Chinese angelica soup or red date soup for him." Then the doctor gave her the medicine for external use and walked out of the room. Ye Li felt a bit awkward since she thought those soup the doctor mentioned was meant for women. This doctor was... really somebody.
Mo Xiu Yao smiled slightly: "He"s the doctor of our manor. He used to be the military doctor of Hidden Could Soldiers."
Since Mo Xiu Yao was injured, Wen-shi asked the two of them to stay at Moonless Convent and go back to the capital when he was better. However, Mo Xiu Yao refused her and Ye Li didn"t say anything against his decision. Since those a.s.sa.s.sins were brazen enough to a.s.sa.s.sinate Mo Xiu Yao openly near the capital, they wouldn"t give it up after a mere failure. However, Wen-shi had decided to leave secular matters behind. They would only bring her unnecessary danger by staying here. When secret guards sent from Prince Ding"s Manor arrived, Mo Xiu Yao left some of them to protect Wen-shi and brought Ye Li back to the capital.
It was a big news that Prince Ding was seriously injured near the capital. But it seemed that Mo Xiu Yao had ordered to block the pa.s.sage of the news so those n.o.bles in the capital didn"t know that he was hurt when they were back. Anyway, Mo Xiu Yao didn"t need to go to court everyday like average ministers so he had nothing to do but recuperate his injury at home. Only one thing left Mo Xiu Yao and Ye Li in an awkward situation. Once they were back at the manor, Sun mama let the guards send Mo Xiu Yao to Ye Li"s yard by the reason that His Highness needed attentive care due to his injury. Lin mama, Wei mama, as well as Chief Steward Mo were happy about that. They ordered servants to take all of Mo Xiu Yao"s stuff to Ye Li"s bedroom with joy and excitement, as if they totally forgot their master had been a.s.sa.s.sinated earlier.
Due to the effort of the whole manor, Ye Li had no choice but to apply medicine for Mo Xiu Yao each day. Though she was once a soldier who had gone through fire and water, the scars over Mo Xiu Yao"s body were still a ghastly sight for her. Merely around his chest and back there were scars made by sword and some other wounds which people normally wouldn"t relate to Mo Xiu Yao who looked so gentleman-like. Ye Li finally understood what Mo Xiu Yao meant by "fine mean won"t die". He must have barely escaped with his life being able to survive with such serious injuries. Every time she applied medicine on his body, Ye Li"s heart ached seeing how calmly he was smiling to her. However, she wasn"t the type to dwell on such thought. She concluded that she had such strange thought since Mo Xiu Yao got hurt for her sake so she devoted herself to making up for her mistake.