Jiang Suizhou stayed in the study until twilight closed in around him.
Earlier, he had received an invitation from two Ministry of Works officials, asking if he’d like to share a drink with them later that evening. Considering he had only arrived here a few days ago, he didn’t know how well this body tolerated alcohol yet. After thinking it over, he ultimately decided against attending the dinner.
After a brief delay, Jiang Suizhou had Meng Qianshan personally deliver the invitation back to the officials, along with a polite excuse that he had caught a cold after not resting well the night before and was spending the day recuperating in his residence.
Fortunately, since he was notoriously in poor health, the two officials accepted his excuse without question and didn’t insist on his attendance.
Once this matter was resolved, Jiang Suizhou left the study. After all, he couldn’t skip dinner just because he happened to be housing an injured but ferocious tiger.
And so it happened that Jiang Suizhou approached the entrance of the main hall just as Taozhi began to shower Huo Wujiu and the servants with verbal abuse.
The maid stood in front of the table with her hands planted on her hips, completely blocking his view of Huo Wujiu. Her shrill voice made its way over to him long before he reached the doorway.
Meng Qianshan’s expression changed at the sight of her, but as he was about to speak, Jiang Suizhou lifted a hand and stopped him.
While he couldn’t see the girl’s face from this angle, he could tell from her clothing and accessories that it was the same maid who ran into Huo Wujiu earlier today as she was moving a chest. Jiang Suizhou had assumed that she wouldn’t dare to behave this way after he’d reprimanded her. He hadn’t expected her to be so unbridled.
For a moment, Jiang Suizhou wondered if she had some sort of death wish. Perhaps she thought that her own life was too long, or maybe just his.
He watched quietly as she lashed out, all fire and venom, until finally she noticed him standing there and sank to her knees, folding in fear.
Jiang Suizhou was left a bit speechless by her complete and immediate shift in attitude. A second ago, she had acted so high-and-mighty, and now she trembled pitifully on the floor.
What’s the point of being scared now? Why didn’t you know to be afraid when you were mistreating Huo Wujiu?
As a person born a thousand years into the future, Jiang Suizhou was aware he couldn’t help viewing these situations through a modern lens. He thought of himself as someone who tried to treat all living creatures with the dignity and respect that they deserved. However, he’d met people just like Taozhi in his previous life as well. There were always some people who felt the need to trample over other people’s dignity to make themselves feel better, unable to even return any respect they were shown.
Even though she herself was under a slave contract, when she was granted the smallest measure of authority, she promptly used it to brutalize others.
When Jiang Suizhou stayed silent and stony-faced, Meng Qianshan hastily took a step forward.
“Taozhi, what an imposing young lady you are!” he barked. “Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were the mistress yourself! Have you forgotten that Madam Huo is your master here?”
Quivering, Taozhi kowtowed again and again as she rushed to make excuses for herself.
“Your Highness, your servant did no such thing! It…it was the boy tasked with pushing Madam’s wheelchair! He bumped the wheelchair into your servant, which is why your servant accidentally spilled the soup onto Madam…”
“Do you think I’m blind?” Jiang Suizhou interrupted her, frowning.
Taozhi trembled in terror and squashed her forehead against the floor as she prostrated herself.
“Meng Qianshan,” Jiang Suizhou said tonelessly, looking away from the maid.
Meng Qianshan understood at once.
“Why is she still here, sullying His Highness’s mood with her presence? Take her away!” he ordered.
Almost immediately, two manservants came to drag Taozhi away.
Jiang Suizhou had full faith that Meng Qianshan would handle it for him. He massaged the space between his eyebrows before he walked over to Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu’s robe was drenched and clung to his legs, and steam was still rising faintly from the bowl lying nearby.
It was already incredibly humiliating to be splashed with soup. To add insult to injury, the maid had intentionally targeted Huo Wujiu’s legs, as though she was trying to rub salt into his wounds.
For some reason, Jiang Suizhou’s chest ached a little when he saw Huo Wujiu sitting in the wheelchair, completely silent.
Jiang Suizhou tore his gaze away with some effort.
He definitely had to do something, considering the unfair treatment Huo Wujiu had been subjected to. But as a haughty, coldhearted prince, he couldn’t just apologize to Huo Wujiu as he pleased.
Jiang Suizhou’s head throbbed.
“Take Madam to the back to change into fresh robes first,” he said.
He needed some time to organize his thoughts.
Sun Yuan quickly obeyed and pushed the wheelchair behind the folding screen in the inner room.
Meanwhile, Jiang Suizhou sat down and rubbed his temples. He was about to try and get some thinking done when Sun Yuan, who had just vanished behind the screen, suddenly shuffled back out alone.
“What is it?” Jiang Suizhou asked, looking up from the table.
Sun Yuan’s hands were empty, and he seemed a little bewildered standing next to the screen.
“Madam said that your servant wasn’t needed.”
Jiang Suizhou couldn’t help but glance at the folding screen, where he could just make out a sitting silhouette.
He hesitated for a moment before he made a noise of acknowledgment and didn’t comment further.
He wasn’t sure why, but he found himself unusually in tune with Huo Wujiu’s current frame of mind. Perhaps it was because he had studied history for nearly a decade, and in fact, he had written several papers analyzing Huo Wujiu.
Jiang Suizhou knew better than most that Huo Wujiu didn’t need anyone.
Injured and disabled as he was, he didn’t require another to take care of him as though he were helpless. He was a falcon born in the sandstorms of Yangguan, hardy and tenacious, not to mention especially independent and proud.
It wasn’t easy to kill him, but it was even harder to lock him in a cage and force him to be lavished with expensive clothes and fine cuisine. That wasn’t what he wanted or needed, anyway. So how could Jiang Suizhou go about earning his favor without risking doting on him?
Deep in thought, Jiang Suizhou was supposed to be contemplating the countermeasures and phrasing that he was going to use, but his train of thought had derailed considerably, beyond his control.
All was quiet in the room. The only noise came from behind the folding screen—the indistinct rustling of fabric, the creak of the wheelchair rocking slightly. Soon, Huo Wujiu rolled himself out from behind the screen, having changed into clean robes.
Sun Yuan hurried forward to push the wheelchair for him.
Huo Wujiu didn’t have any clothes he could change into yet, and none of the other concubines in the residence shared his tall, broad-shouldered build. For the time being, he had changed into the coarsely woven short robe and pants typically worn by the male servants.
Jiang Suizhou gazed in his direction.
Given how handsome Huo Wujiu was, he looked like a model in anything and everything. Even though he was wearing simple, somewhat crude gray garments, he seemed to have the dashing air of a general caught in the midst of urgent military duties.
Sun Yuan nimbly pushed Huo Wujiu’s wheelchair back over to the table. As Jiang Suizhou picked up his chopsticks, he sneaked a look at Huo Wujiu.
He couldn’t help but wonder about the wounds on Huo Wujiu’s calves. They hadn’t been in the immediate splash zone, but there was still a high chance that they had been splattered by the hot soup. Then again, maybe not? Huo Wujiu’s taciturn, unbothered behavior indicated otherwise.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to impulsively summon a doctor for this. However, he knew that Huo Wujiu was remarkably good at enduring pain. Jiang Suizhou couldn’t confidently say whether he had or hadn’t been burned.
With that thought in mind, he cast a few more worried glances at Huo Wujiu.
At that moment, Huo Wujiu lifted his eyes and looked straight at him, catching him directly in the middle of a furtive look.
Jiang Suizhou made a transparent attempt to look away when he realized that Huo Wujiu was gazing at him with a calm, placid expression, seemingly waiting for him to speak.
Caught red-handed, unable to escape, he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Did the bandages get wet?” Jiang Suizhou asked, casually picking up a bite of food with his chopsticks.
“No,” answered Huo Wujiu.
His voice was quite pleasant in a low and deep way, diffusing into the darkness of the night like rich, mellow liquor.
Jiang Suizhou hummed a neutral “mmm” in response.
“That maid was acting above her station. She won’t appear here again,” he said.
Huo Wujiu remained silent.
Jiang Suizhou wasn’t expecting him to reply in the first place. Instead, he raised his head and glanced at Meng Qianshan, who nodded swiftly and gave a shallow bow.
“Rest assured, Master! This will not happen again!”
Jiang Suizhou didn’t say anything else. He just made another little sound of acknowledgment and resumed eating.
Maybe I can act a little remorseful because of what happened today, and from there, slowly transform my attitude toward him, he thought to himself.
At least now he knew he truly didn’t need to worry about the other servants in the hall. Nobody would dare to slight Huo Wujiu again after today’s events, that was for sure.
Although he was well aware that Huo Wujiu didn’t require this kind of care or attention, Jiang Suizhou needed to seize this opportunity to prove himself an ally and make his intentions clear. At the very least, he had to show Huo Wujiu that he did not intend to actively harm him, even if he didn’t like him.
They finished eating in silence.
Once the meal concluded, the maidservants cleared the dishes and cups from the table before heading to the bedroom to make evening preparations.
They had to ensure that everything was arranged and in order, from the books that His Highness was going to read at night to the bed that the masters were going to sleep on.
Jiang Suizhou sat to the side with a book in his hand, staring blankly as Meng Qianshan led the other servants into the bedroom.
His eyes were somewhat unfocused.
At that moment, he realized that that blissful time spent alone in the study had been too peaceful, to the point that he had inadvertently let a critical issue slip from his mind.
Jiang Suizhou’s gaze landed on Huo Wujiu, who was sitting nearby, before he looked gravely down at the book in his hands.
…If Huo Wujiu slept in his bedroom, where was he going to sleep?