Since Ke Feng and Mu Ting had already said that, how could he not listen?
So he had no choice but to quiet down and continue wiping Feng Muting's sweat.
Another hour passed before the physician finally stopped: "Alright, Your Highness, you have an injury on your back, so you have to sleep on your stomach for the next few days. Once you feel a little better, you can sleep on your side. In any case, you absolutely cannot sleep on your back."
"Um."
"I will come again tomorrow to change the dressing for Your Highness."
"Um."
The physician nodded, then looked at Su Fuliu: "You'd better not leave the prince's side. You must keep a close eye on him. Although the wound has been treated, today and tomorrow are relatively dangerous times because the wound is prone to causing a fever during this period. You must pay close attention to the prince. If the prince develops a fever, you must come and call me immediately."
Su Fuliu nodded: "Okay, I understand. I will definitely take good care of Your Highness."
"Well then, Your Highness, I shall take my leave."
After the physician left, Feng Muting said, "Alright, you can sing now."
Su Fuliu was still thinking about the physician's instructions and was feeling a little apprehensive when she heard Feng Muting ask her to sing a song. She was puzzled and asked, "Why is Your Highness only asking me to sing now?"
Chapter 69 Fair and Clean
"You used to be the top courtesan of the Forget-Worry Pavilion. People had to pay you for your songs. But now, you're no longer the top courtesan of the Forget-Worry Pavilion. I am your master, so I can listen to you sing anytime. No one else has that right."
Feng Muting replied.
Su Fuliu was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "So the prince didn't want the royal physician to hear it."
"Of course, you are the top courtesan of the Forget-Worry Pavilion, so your singing is naturally unparalleled. And now that you are my servant, you can only sing for me from now on. If I find out that you are secretly singing for someone else, I will poison you so you can't hear!"
Feng Muting started threatening again.
"..." Su Fuliu was speechless and choked with emotion. Well, now her voice wasn't even her own anymore.
Broken legs, pulled out tongues, poisoned muteness—bring it on!
"Did you hear me?" Feng Muting asked again when he didn't answer.
Su Fuliu nodded: "I heard that, but I don't have a chance to sing for others now."
"From what you're saying, you'd rather sing for someone else if you had the chance?" Feng Muting raised an eyebrow at him.
He shook his head: "That's not what I meant. What I meant was that I would never sing for anyone else. From now on, I will only sing for Your Highness."
“That’s more like it, so let’s sing now?” Feng Muting said.
Su Fuliu said, "Actually, when Your Highness massaged my shoulders earlier, I said that I would definitely thank Your Highness properly after I recovered. At that time, I was also thinking of playing the zither and singing a little tune for Your Highness. Now, it's perfect, I'll sing it all at once."
Feng Muting said with dissatisfaction, "Singing it all at once? That's too perfunctory. Of course, each time should be sung separately. How can you do it twice in one go?"
“But I promised Your Highness that I would only sing for you from now on, so whenever Your Highness wants to hear me sing, I can sing for you anytime,” Su Fuliu replied.
After listening, Feng Muting thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense. You can sing first. I've never heard you sing a ditty before. As the top courtesan of Wangyou Tower, your skills in playing the zither and singing must be unmatched."
Su Fuliu snorted: "That's right. I can't guarantee anything else, but when it comes to talent, I have few rivals."
Feng Muting chuckled and said, "Then it seems that I won't be at a disadvantage by making you my attendant."
"Hmph, of course Your Highness is not at a disadvantage. Where else can you find a servant as talented as me?" Su Fuliu said with a smug look on his face.
"Tsk, I wonder whose tail is wagging so high." Feng Muting said.
Su Fuliu snorted again, then asked, "Would Your Highness like some water?"
"No need, go back and take a shower first. Look at you now, you're all black, like a lump of coal," Feng Muting said.
"Your Highness has the nerve to talk about me like that? Your Highness is just as thin as a lump of coal."
"You're even darker."
“Your Highness is even darker. Your Highness’s skin was never as fair as mine to begin with, so now that we’ve all turned into lumps of coal, it’s natural that Your Highness is even darker,” Su Fuliu argued.
"Fine, fine, I'm even darker, I'm even darker." Feng Muting stopped arguing with him.
Su Fuliu, with a triumphant look on her face, said, "That's exactly right."
"Yes, yes, that's right. So, may I ask, could this dark little thing in front of me go and get washed? Otherwise, I won't be able to see it when it gets dark."
Su Fuliu pursed her lips and stood up: "Then I'll go wash up. After I'm done, I'll fetch some water and help Your Highness wipe down."
"Mm." Feng Muting nodded.
Su Fuliu then quickly went to take a shower.
He didn't dare to bathe for too long, after all, the royal physician had instructed him to keep a close eye on Feng Muting, as these two days were the most vulnerable time for him to get infected and develop a fever.
So, as soon as he finished washing, he rushed over and brought water to help Feng Muting wash up.
When Feng Muting saw the fair-skinned Su Fuliu arrive, he smiled and said, "This is the beautiful Su Fuliu. What was that thing before? It was so ugly."
Su Fuliu snorted: "I'm clean now and look better, while Your Highness is still dark-skinned. If anyone's ugly, it's Your Highness!"
"You're getting bolder and bolder, daring to insult me now, huh?" Feng Muting replied, feigning seriousness.
Su Fuliu is easily frightened; once she saw Feng Muting's expression change, she naturally dared not joke with him anymore.
He immediately went over and said, "I was wrong, Your Highness. I will clean it up for you right away."
Feng Muting didn't say anything, he just watched as Su Fuliu wrung out a handkerchief and came over to wipe his face, neck and hands...
"Your Highness is so dirty, the water is all black," Su Fuliu muttered.
Feng Muting asked, "Wasn't your bathwater black?"
"..." Su Fuliu pursed her lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Feng Muting chuckled softly, then his expression gradually turned serious.
Seeing his expression, Su Fuliu couldn't help but feel a little scared: "Your Highness, why are you so stern again? Have I done something wrong again?"
Chapter 70 Paying the Price
Feng Muting shook his head: "It has nothing to do with you. I just thought of something. Go and call Su Yan here."
"Yes." Su Fuliu put down the handkerchief, got up and went out to find Su Yan.
Su Yan arrived. He knew why Feng Muting had come to see him and replied, "Your Highness, I have found out the cause of the fire in the kitchen."
Su Fuliu looked at Su Yan, as if she remembered something, and said, "When the fire started, I was about to run, but when I got to the door, I found that I couldn't open the kitchen door no matter what I did."
Su Yan nodded: "Yes, this was indeed done by someone."
Feng Muting frowned: "Who is so bold as to dare to do such a thing in the Prince's mansion?!"
"Your Highness, it's Sister Fang from the kitchen."
Su Fuliu knew this Sister Fang. The last few times he went into the kitchen and didn't know where to find something, Sister Fang told him.
“Sister Fang? How could that be? She usually seems quite helpful, and why would she be burning down the kitchen for no reason?” Su Fuliu asked.
Su Yan glanced at him: "You know that when you tried to escape, the door wouldn't open. She didn't just want to burn down the kitchen; she wanted to burn you to death."
Su Fuliu was astonished: "This... I've never had any conflicts with her, why would she want my life?"
"Your Highness, I have already interrogated her. What Sister Fang means is that she really wants to keep her job as a cook in the Prince's mansion. If she leaves,..."
She certainly wouldn't find a place with such good wages, but because Su Fuliu had gone to the kitchen to cook a few times, she noticed his excellent culinary skills, and the prince also enjoyed his cooking.
She feared the prince would leave her to work in the kitchen and abandon her. She said her whole family depended on her for survival and she couldn't afford to lose this job, so in a moment of confusion, she made a mistake.
After hearing what Su Yan said, Su Fuliu and Feng Muting both felt sorry for each other and were filled with remorse.
Su Fuliu felt that if he hadn't insisted on showing off his skills to coax Feng Muting, he wouldn't have incurred Fang Dajie's jealousy, which led to this incident and caused Feng Muting to suffer such serious injuries.
Feng Muting felt that if he hadn't always wanted Su Fuliu to cook for him, Su Fuliu wouldn't have been envied by others, and he almost ended up losing his life.
Fortunately, he rescued Su Fuliu from the fire in time; otherwise, if something had really happened to Su Fuliu, he would have felt guilty for the rest of his life.
Feng Muting said coldly, "Doing something like this cannot be excused by simply saying it was a moment of confusion. She will inevitably pay the price for her actions."
After hearing this, Su Yan cupped his hands and said, "I understand."
"Um."
"Then I'll go and make the arrangements."
"Go."
After Su Yan left, Su Fuliu was still clicking his tongue in disbelief. He never imagined that his accident was caused by someone deliberately doing it.
He thought that he got along well with the people in the Prince's mansion. If they were petty, they would at most make things difficult for him. But he never expected that someone would want his life.
He stood there, sighing once again that a place like the Prince's mansion was not a place for someone like him.
He's suited to places without backstabbing and scheming; scheming all day is just too tiring.
But he also knew that wherever there are people, there will always be intrigue and backstabbing; it's just a matter of how deep the scheming is.
Feng Muting looked at him, knowing what he was worried about, and said, "What are you afraid of? This time it was my oversight. I will use this incident to give the people in the manor a good warning. Anyone who dares to mess with you again is messing with me."
Su Fuliu looked at Feng Muting and smiled slightly: "When did Your Highness become so kind to me?"
Feng Muting frowned: "Have I always treated you badly?"
Su Fuliu shook her head: "Your Highness is the best person to me in this world, and the only one who is truly good to me."
"Now that you know I treat you well, you should follow me diligently from now on and repay me with the same sincerity, understand?"
Su Fuliu nodded again: "Mm!"
Feng Muting looked at Su Fuliu, and he didn't miss the fleeting sadness on his face.
Could it be that this guy didn't have a comfortable time at the Forget-Worry Pavilion before?
Su Fuliu was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Why is Your Highness looking at me like that? Haven't I already said that I will be truly devoted to Your Highness from now on?"
“I don’t seem to know much about you. I only know that your name is Su Fuliu, that you are the top courtesan at Wangyou Tower, and that you are now my personal attendant. That’s all I know,” Feng Muting said, looking at him.
Su Fuliu paused, her eyes flickering slightly: "What does Your Highness want to know? If it weren't for my greed, I might still be the top courtesan at Wangyou Tower right now."
Feng Muting frowned slightly: "So you regret it?"
"What?"