Der beste Minister

Kapitel 19

She took a few more steps, only to see the young master standing with his back to her, shirtless, by the Little Mirror Lake, his back covered in bloodstains, a truly shocking sight.

He seemed to be cleaning his wounds, but since the wounds were all on his back, in places that were not easy to reach, his movements were somewhat difficult and clumsy.

Chu Xia watched silently for a while, then suddenly remembered his white robe stained with blood last night... Wasn't that blood from his enemies? She was also a little confused, then why were her own clothes so clean now?

Getting closer, one could see the wound on the young master's back. It was thin and long, yet it cut into the muscle. With the slightest movement, it would spread more violently, which was quite terrifying.

In early summer, I washed my hands by the lake, then walked to the stone wall and examined it closely before plucking several plants with purple roots and round leaves.

The young master remained with his back to her and did not speak.

She remained silent, chewed the leaves, applied them to his wound, looked around, then took the clothes she had taken off the night before, tore them into strips, and used them to bandage his wound.

The young master was a full head taller than her, so it was quite difficult for Chu Xia to treat the wound on his shoulder. However, she didn't want to speak, so she pressed his shoulder, gesturing for him to sit down.

He sat down as expected, his head slightly bowed, his black hair falling over his shoulders, making it impossible to see his expression.

His skin was a light wheat color, and his back was long and muscular. At the beginning of summer, she was completely focused on bandaging him, not noticing anything amiss. But towards the end, she suddenly remembered she was wearing his clothes, and her face flushed slightly. She became less careful, her fingernails lightly scraping a wound. The young master seemed to let out a soft groan.

"You—where did you get so many injuries?" Chu Xia blurted out in a panic.

These words broke the awkward yet tacit silence. The young master casually replied, "I accidentally injured myself last night."

He was lured into the "armor" last night, and although he managed to break free, he still had more than a dozen cuts on his body.

Chu Xia was silent for a moment, then said sarcastically, "Aren't you supposed to be very strong? How come you got hurt so badly!"

The young master was not angry, but he did not answer, and for a moment the two were speechless.

The last wound, however, was a tooth mark on his neck. Chu Xia remembered how angry she had been last night, how she had bitten him mercilessly, deeply and severely, and now the tooth mark was still clearly visible on the wound. She reached out and grabbed some herbs to apply it.

The young master suddenly reached out and grasped her wrist, saying softly, "It's not needed here."

Chu Xia stiffened, pulled her hand away from his, and turned to leave. She squatted by the lake to wash her hands, her fingertips touching the water as if disturbing a clear mirror.

The reflection in the lake was fragmented, and she suddenly remembered something, subconsciously touching her cheek.

This is a real face.

Without homemade glue and slime, there was nothing.

She turned around abruptly, and the young master stood behind her, looking at her as always, gentle and indifferent, without the slightest sign of anything amiss.

You saw...me?

His eyes were deep, so deep that it seemed unfathomable: "I saw it last night."

Chapter Nineteen

Chu Xia sat blankly for a while, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, seemingly at a loss.

The young master chuckled slightly, sat down beside her, turned her face towards him, wrapped his arms around her, and supported the back of her head.

Chu Xia felt a cool sensation on the back of her head where she had wounded, and knowing that he was applying medicine to her, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you bring medicine for your wound?"

The young master hummed in agreement.

"Then we won't need those little bitter herbs," Chu Xia said softly.

The young master withdrew his hand and said calmly, "My injury is nothing serious."

In the deep, quiet mountains, birdsong could be heard, yet the more they sang, the quieter it became.

"Did you change my clothes?" Chu Xia asked, mustering her courage.

The young master did not deny it, but said, "The clothes are all washed clean. Don't worry."

Seeing the doubt in Chu Xia's eyes, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "I dried it with my internal energy."

"That's not what I meant!" Chu Xia stood up, her face flushed red. "You—you saw me without clothes on?"

The young master calmly turned his face away, but said, "My eyes are closed."

Chu Xia was skeptical, staring intently at the young master's profile as if trying to find some clue.

The young master let her look at him without saying a word.

Chu Xia seemed to ponder for a long time before finally saying, "Jun Ye'an, I won't hold anything that happened on this trip against you. Just give me back my indenture and let me go home."

The young master raised an eyebrow slightly: "Where is your home?"

"I—" Chu Xia stammered, "I could just marry anyone, it's none of your business."

The young master laughed, his starry eyes sparkling, his tone gentle yet firm: "But I will never let you go again."

Chu Xia stood up abruptly, her body trembling slightly: "You! You really think I don't know what you're thinking?"

The young master said "Oh" calmly, and then said, "Why don't you tell me what I think?"

“Dongting Lake, Junshan Mountain,” Chu Xia said coldly. “Right now, only the two of us know this. Naturally, you don’t trust me to leave, fearing that this secret will be revealed.”

The young master lowered his eyes, seemingly speechless for a moment.

Seeing that he remained silent, Chu Xia continued, "If you continue to bully me like this, I—I'll—"

"What will you do?"

"I tell everyone I meet that there is a treasure hidden in Junshan Mountain in Dongting Lake!"

He smiled and looked away, avoiding her furious expression.

"If you laugh again!" Chu Xia roared, "I'll tell everyone I meet once I leave this mountain!"

The young master's expression suddenly turned cold and stern: "Then do you believe me... to kill him to silence him?" As if to prove his point, he gently pushed open the scabbard of the Yuyang Sword with his thumb, revealing a section of the blade with its sharp edge exposed.

Chu Xia was immediately dumbfounded and took a step back.

The young master continued to look at her coldly, but then he saw that the little girl's eyes were red again, and she burst into tears.

"Jun Ye'an, you are...a villain! You are a hundred times worse than He Butuo!" She cried, unable to breathe. "You not only lied to me, but you also scared me!...What did I do to offend you?"

The young master sheathed his sword, stood up, reached out and embraced her, his smile as gentle as a flower blooming in a clear pool: "You know I was trying to scare you? Did I do a good job of pretending?"

Chu Xia tried desperately to push her away, but the person held her as firmly as a rock, never letting go even an inch.

“I’ve said it before, whether ‘The Ballad of Mountains and Rivers’ is a treasure or a martial arts manual, I don’t care.” He continued to whisper in her ear, “If you want to tell others, I’ll go with you and tell everyone, okay? Tell whoever you want.”

Chu Xia was stunned when she heard him say that—what? He didn't even use his trump card?

The young master sighed and said, "I set up this scheme to annihilate the Tian Gang. In fact, it has nothing to do with 'The Ballad of Mountains and Rivers'."

"Tian Gang...do you have a deep-seated grudge against him?" Chu Xia asked, her tears still fresh with curiosity.

The young master slowly released her and gestured for her to sit down beside him: "Destroying Tian Gang was my father's last wish. I am merely fulfilling his will."

Seeing the bewilderment in Chu Xia's eyes, he didn't elaborate, but instead sighed, "My father always told me that the spirit of righteousness will endure forever. Someone has to do something to maintain this righteous spirit. I practiced martial arts, wielded a sword, and roamed the martial world, always thinking that I was right."

"Only this time, Suzaku saw through my intentions and used you as bait to set an ambush, but I'm starting to regret it. In the name of justice, I dragged a weak woman like you into this. Is this the right path? Isn't it... my own selfish motive?"

"You made a promise with me on the first day of the fourth month, when the new moon was in full bloom. I forced myself to endure until the very end—early summer. The torment in my heart was no less than yours. Fortunately, you are alright, otherwise... I really don't know how I would have handled it."

Chu Xia stared blankly at the young master. His tone was no longer casual, no longer indifferent, and no longer unfathomable; every word he spoke was extremely sincere.

This man, who could turn the world upside down with a flick of his wrist, seemingly a god, said, "I am tormented... I don't know how to deal with this..."

Chu Xia shook her head abruptly, her eyes still wary, and said, "So, you really care about me? You won't lie to me anymore?"

The young master smiled and said, "Yes."

"Then... bring me the indenture—" Chu Xia stretched out her hand, calculating before acting, "Your Jun family is rich and powerful, why would you need a servant?"

The young master's eyes were full of astonishment, and his smile was quite indulgent: "I'll give it to you when we get back to Cangzhou."

"Okay, I believe you!" Chu Xia said with satisfaction, smiling sweetly. "I won't thank you much; this is something I earned with my life."

The young master smiled faintly: "I can give you a contract of servitude, but you cannot leave. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

“We made a promise that unless… you find your fiancé.”

Chu Xia gritted her teeth, raised her head and said, "Fine! I'll just stay here and eat and live here for free, so please don't go back on your word."

The young master smiled, as if she were just speaking in a childish anger, but he reached out and touched the whip marks on her cheek, sighing softly, "These whip marks... did they hurt a lot back then?"

Chu Xia turned her head away somewhat awkwardly and asked softly, "Why...why didn't you ask me this?"

She pointed to her cheek and glanced at the young master with some hesitation.

"Ugly or beautiful, you are Chu Xia. What's there to ask?" The young master didn't seem to care and laughed. "It's just that your disguise is far more impressive than Qinglong's. Even I couldn't see through it."

Chu Xia hummed in agreement and said in a low voice, "Qinglong's disguise is to turn you into someone else. I'm just going with the flow and slightly concealing my original appearance, so it's not easy to detect."

"You don't like your appearance, do you?" the young master suddenly asked, his eyes sharp.

Chu Xia was taken aback, unconsciously reaching out to touch her cheek. Instead of answering, she asked, "And what about you, young master? Would you like someone more just because they're good-looking?"

“If the person you like is good-looking, that’s a bonus. But if…” the young master said slowly, “if you truly care about someone, whether they are beautiful or ugly doesn’t matter.”

“My elders often say that having this appearance is a blessing or a curse.” Chu Xia spoke somewhat indifferently, but her tone was as if she were talking about someone else. “I was forced to dress like this because I was traveling alone. My father once told me that I should not let anyone see my true face unless I met my husband.”

The young master's eyes flickered slightly, but he did not press further, only saying, "So that's how it is."

The shimmering lake water was right in front of her, making Chu Xia's features appear delicate. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest for a long time before looking up and saying, "But now that you've seen me, I won't need to hide my face anymore."

The young master smiled slightly: "With you by my side, you don't need to worry about so much."

Both of them were injured and only managed to pick some wild fruit from the trees beside the stone wall. The fruit tasted very sour and astringent. Chu Xia ate two with difficulty and sighed, "When can we get out?"

The young master remained quite relaxed: "They'll be here soon."

"Can't we go out by ourselves?" Chu Xia glanced at him, then looked at the gloomy sky around her, feeling a little scared.

"I am injured and have difficulty walking," the young master said frankly.

Chu Xia was immediately speechless with anger: "I'm injured too, on my head... You're a martial artist, are you really inferior to me?"

"Then you should go out alone. Do you know the way?" the young master asked with great concern. "Just go around this small Mirror Lake. The corpses of the Tian Gang people are still there. You are timid, so you should be extra careful."

Chu Xia shivered slightly and muttered softly, "Who said I was going out alone..."

The lake was still as water, with phosphorescent lights glowing all around. Chu Xia yawned, just about to lean against the stone wall to fall asleep, when she suddenly heard a soft sobbing sound not far away. At first, she thought it was a hallucination, but after a while, the sobbing became longer and longer.

Chu Xia opened her eyes with a start, only to see the young master sitting cross-legged, practicing his internal energy. Ignoring whether she was disturbing him, she exclaimed, "Young master... there's a ghost!"