The Eighteenth Chapter

A note from the author:

Here's today's second update~~~ You said I wasn't posting enough, so I've brought you another little treat. Kisses~~~

The Eighteenth Chapter

Splash! A sharp sound as someone hit the water.

"Glug-glug-glug-glug-glug." The miserable sound of bubbles rising.

Cold water flooded her mouth and nose, choking her. Waterweed drifted all around as she kicked hard for the surface, but when she looked back, she saw Li Chenjing slowly sinking. His long hair streamed out and tangled among the weeds. He looked like a sickly beauty asleep, his face pale and bloodless. He hadn't been joking: he truly couldn't swim at all, yet he had rashly jumped in after her.

Holding the last breath in her cheeks, she couldn't bear to leave him behind and save herself. If he died, wouldn't she have ghostly nightmares every night from now on? Weeds spreading everywhere, a man using his hair to drag at her feet—the thought was terrifying. For the sake of sleeping peacefully in the future, she turned and swam down toward him.

He seemed to have swallowed a great deal of river water. Through his daze, he opened his eyes and saw her swimming toward him with all her might.

"Glug-glug, glug-glug." Bubbles spilled from her mouth. She tried to pull him close, but couldn't get a firm grip. Fortunately, the water's buoyancy helped. She swung both arms around his waist. He coughed up bubbles and struggled in the water, but she refused to let go, holding him tighter and tighter, as though determined to repay him for protecting her earlier.

Don't thrash around! She knitted her brows and glared the command at him.

She tried to swim upward, but waterweed snagged his long hair, as though it meant to keep this beauty at the bottom. Furious, she opened her mouth and bit through the wretched weeds. The sight of her risking her life with such fierce determination made him laugh, but the laugh sent water down his throat and emptied what little air remained in his lungs. His hand tightened as he reached for her shoulder, only to fumble against her chest instead.

"Mm? Glug-glug-glug!" She shoved him away and covered her chest. He hadn't noticed, had he? Noticed she was a woman... What would she do if he had? She had slipped into Dongxu Mansion dressed as a man, deceiving the Holy Emperor. The crime could mean the execution of her entire clan...

Before she could tell whether her identity had been exposed, he lost the support of her arms and sank. She had no choice but to scoop him up again and meet his eyes.

His face was deathly pale. Fine bubbles escaped his thin lips as he coughed, his chest heaving violently. His lashes fluttered, and the haze in his eyes deepened as they began to close.

Oh no! He couldn't hold on much longer. She had to give him some air, now!

She cradled his head, feeling a faint warmth spread near her lips. She had no time to worry about anything else. She leaned in to give him the air in her lungs, but before her lips could touch his, a powerful hand in a black sleeve shot down from above. It barred her pursed lips, then flicked her mouth without the slightest courtesy.

Ow! Why had he smacked her mouth? And with such powerful internal energy! It hurt, hurt, hurt! Her lips went numb and her hands loosened. The beauty on the brink of death was snatched straight out of her reach. The newcomer held him securely against his chest. Without sparing her a glance, he brushed past her with cold eyes and raced toward the surface, every second counting.

Holding her aching, numb lips, Zhu Bafu innocently turned and followed them up. Her head broke the surface, and she drew a huge breath. Her lungs throbbed in relief. Once she had steadied herself, she hurriedly searched for the Young Master.

On the bank, she saw the Young Master sitting with his disheveled hair, leaning against the chest of a man in black. The man held him upright, running one hand along his back while the other pressed on his abdomen to force out the water he had swallowed. Several guards knelt beside them, all looking anxious.

"Lord Wei, is the Young Master all right?"

"Lord Wei, why did you hurry back overnight?"

"Lord Wei, have you finished the Ministry of Punishments business the Holy Emperor assigned you? You didn't forget to pick up cat food for the Holy Emperor while you were at it, did you?"

"Is this how you protected the Young Master while I was away?" His icy gaze swept across them. "Bring me my Fur Robe. Put it around the Young Master!"

"Yes!" They wrapped the black Fur Robe around Li Chenjing.

"What happened? How did the Young Master fall into the water?" When he saw the Young Master cough up several mouthfuls of river water and begin breathing again, he felt a little reassured. Then he glanced at Zhu Bafu, who had just climbed out of the river. "Who is he, and why was he with the Young Master?"

"He..." The guards exchanged glances. None wanted to speak first. After much shoving and jostling, one unlucky man finally said in a feeble voice, "He's the Young Master's... new sweetheart. The Young Master brought him home."

Zhu Bafu, busy prodding her lips where the burst of internal energy had left them numb, froze at being named. She met the black-clad man's probing stare head-on.

"The Young Master said that?" Lord Wei studied the dripping-wet young man before him as he questioned the guards behind him.

"It was because the Young Master took him to meet the Master that the Master flew into a rage! Why else would he have set the dogs on them in the middle of the night? Now that you're back, we can give that sissy who led the Young Master astray a proper lesson!"

Lord Wei said nothing. He carefully passed the Young Master in his arms to a guard behind him, then stood and walked toward the bedraggled Zhu Bafu.

"Hey, hey, hey! What I was about to do with him underwater was only to save your Young Master. I didn't mean anything else by it! Besides, I hadn't even touched him, so your Young Master hasn't lost anything. Don't hit me with your internal energy again!"

"..." He said nothing. His black boots carried him closer, step by step.

"Don't come any closer! Even if I did have some improper thoughts, I didn't actually do anything. There are still laws in this world! If you hit me again, I don't care what sort of lord you are—I'll take you before the Yamen!" Her lips had swollen. They were numb, itchy, and sore. Ugh! Why use such formidable internal energy against a novice like her? How much did he hate her?

"..."

"Hey, stop coming closer! Even if the Young Master and I really had... done that, we'd both have wanted it! If you hit me, I—I'll complain to him! I'll have him give you fifty strokes, a hundred strokes, a hundred and one strokes!"