Chapter 58: Multiple

Jing Hu waited nearly all afternoon without seeing Ke Mingxu return. Feeling rather restless, she decided she would go out and look for him.

Having handed the flowers to Huifeng to arrange in a vase, Jing Hu stood up with the burn ointment in hand, intending to head in the direction of the Chongming Hall to search for him. The medicine was her excuse; she held it tightly in her palms, pressed against her chest.

"Little County Princess," she had only taken a few steps when she heard someone calling her.

Jing Hu turned around to see him walking toward her from behind her back. This direction was not from the Chongming Hall; if she remembered correctly, that way led to the residence of the Lady of Huaiyi.

He had likely gone to visit Qi Yuanfang, as well as her.

Jing Hu walked toward him. "Where is Lord Ke returning from?"

Ke Mingxu stopped in front of her, lowering his gaze slightly to look at her. "I just came back from Yuanfang's place. I saw the Little County Princess coming out of my quarters—were you looking for me for something?"

Jing Hu raised the burn ointment in her hand and waved it in front of him. "I got some medicine from Third Brother, not knowing if it might come in useful. I have no particular friendship with the Lady of Huaiyi, so I wanted to ask Lord Ke to accompany me there."

She had no friendship with the Lady of Huaiyi, but he did. Just as Huifeng had said, there was a faint trace of sorrow between his brows, yet when he spoke to her, his tone remained as gentle as a spring breeze.

When he was with Qi Yuanfang just now, speaking with the Lady of Huaiyi, had he been like this as well?

Were his worries mostly for Qi Yuanfang, and for the common people of the realm suffering from the floods of the Yellow River, or were they more for her?

She knew she ought not to think this way, yet she had never liked being a sensible and well-behaved young lady, and she could not help but feel her spirits sink.

Usually, he was always able to quickly sense what she was thinking, but today he did not.

"The Little County Princess need not go over there; Yuanfang has not yet woken up. Peiniang has also been tending to him with great effort. Having such a kind thought is already more than enough."

"Mm," Jing Hu acknowledged. "Then I suppose this medicine won't be of any use after all... I brought a bunch of wildflowers for Lord Ke, but since I have nothing else to do, I'll head back first."

With that, Jing Hu turned and walked back toward the side hall where she was staying. While she was facing him earlier, it had been fine, but the moment she turned around, an inexplicable wave of dejection threatened to overwhelm her.

She had originally wanted to speak with him a bit more. Living in the Jianye Temporary Palace just as he did, she had grown so tired of waiting for him that she had simply come to find him herself.

She had wanted to tell him that he broke his promise—he had said he would come to see her, yet in the end he had not. Perhaps she was truly useless; having witnessed that scene, even though nothing had actually happened to her, she had been frightened enough to fall ill for a long time.

She had even wanted to go with him to see Qi Yuanfang, and to see how he and the Lady of Huaiyi interacted. Fortunately, she had not; fortunately, she had not seen it, for just the thought of it brought tears unbidden to her eyes.

"Little County Princess." He called out to her again, but this time she did not turn back as she had before. "Is there something Lord Ke needs?"

At last, the turn came for her to ask him that question.

"When you fainted a few days ago, although it was partly due to the fright, catching a summer cold in such weather indicates that your constitution is still somewhat weak. I have drafted a medicinal prescription that you may take; when you return to your manor, you can consult a renowned physician to see if it should be used."

Since he had already drafted the prescription, why hadn't he simply brought it over himself? He had clearly said he would come to see her—wouldn't it have been perfect to bring the prescription along? Besides, she had fainted after all, and now that they were finally meeting, he didn't even ask how she was feeling.

It was as if he could see right through what she was thinking. "I have been attending meetings in the Chongming Hall every single day lately, and I haven't had a single moment of leisure." He hadn't intentionally neglected to visit her.

By the time he managed to leave the Chongming Hall, the sky had long since grown pitch dark, making it improper to pay a visit.

Though she thought thus, she still turned around quite honestly. "In any case, Lord Ke has broken his word to me. I happen to hold grudges, you know."

Ke Mingxu suddenly laughed, causing even the evening glow behind him to pale into insignificance. "Although I did not go to visit the Little County Princess, it is not as though I did not inquire after you. I happened to run into the Heir, and he said the Little County Princess had recovered long ago, and was skipping and jumping about by the very next day."

"I only wonder why, for some reason, you still refused to stay out of bed, and lay resting for two whole days."

Jing Hu's face flushed red. Jing Xun truly was her fine third brother—more a hindrance than a help, lacking even the basic discernment of a maid like Doulu.

She could only wonder how someone as empathetic as her third sister-in-law managed to live with a man like him.

Ke Mingxu continued, "That was naturally because your body was still somewhat weak. The Heir is a man and does not understand the delicate constitution of a young lady; that is only to be expected. Therefore, since the hour is not yet too late, would the Little County Princess care to come inside with me to fetch that prescription?"

Jing Hu put her hands behind her back and smiled. "Lead the way."

Ke Mingxu smiled at her once more and walked ahead toward his side hall. He was tall and slender, and his shadow cast upon the ground was exceptionally long. Jing Hu walked closely behind him, deliberately stepping on his shadow.

Her eyes had been slightly red just moments ago, and she had no idea whether he had noticed or not. She did not want him to think of her as a young lady who would burst into tears over the smallest trifle.

She was the daughter of the Prince of Yongning, renowned for his martial prowess; she was strong as well.

Jing Hu followed Ke Mingxu into his quarters. He stood beside a bookshelf, pulled out a volume, and quickly located a dark cyan Xie-gong letter paper tucked between the pages.

Before he could hand her the prescription, Jing Hu, ever talkative, could not help asking first, "Lord Ke seems to be very fond of using Xie-gong paper."

He merely nodded, his gaze fixed on the prescription as though still weighing something. "Years ago when I had idle time, a fellow student at the academy had a method for achieving an even dye, so I tried making some myself. There are still many left at home."

No wonder she had felt that the Xie-gong paper she bought on Vermilion Bird Avenue last time was not nearly as good as the one he had given her.

Jing Hu smiled. "If Lord Ke cannot use them all up, I can gladly take them off your hands."

Ke Mingxu walked toward her. "They are all kept at home; once we return, I shall have someone send them to your manor." He stopped in front of her, looked at her carefully for a moment, and then looked back down at the prescription.

"Is there something wrong with the prescription?" She felt a bit embarrassed, yet she couldn't bring herself to ask if there was something wrong with *her*.

Ke Mingxu's expression turned serious. "The dosage of this prescription depends upon the physical stature of the person taking it. Although I carried the Little County Princess on my back at the beginning of the month and thus have a rough idea..."

"Yet looking at you now, it seems the Little County Princess has grown slightly plumper; I fear the dosage must be adjusted."

Jing Hu looked down at herself. She had done no such thing! Recently, in order to practice the Whirlwind Dance, she had clearly lost weight if anything.

The moment she raised her head, she met Ke Mingxu's eyes, brimming with a smiling warmth. To think he would actually tease her like this!

Since he was teasing her, she might as well play along. "Lord Ke, don't move." Jing Hu circled behind him and, making up her mind, hopped straight onto his back.

"If you want to know how much I weigh, visual estimation is unreliable; you simply have to try it for yourself."

The moment her words fell, an enraged man's voice rang out from outside the hall: "Jing Hu!"