Unfortunately, his hopes came to nothing. He glanced at the swaddled baby staring up at him with wide eyes, then handed him over to the guard serving as his nanny.
The "nanny" Imperial Guard accidentally touched the damp robe. On closer inspection, wasn't this the outer robe the Master so often wore?
How had it ended up on the baby?
He and the swaddled baby stared at each other, and he finally concluded that Lord Shen had wrapped him in it. That wouldn't do. If the baby peed inside the robe, his life might not be enough to pay for it.
After much deliberation, the nanny Imperial Guard responsibly stripped off his own outer robe and wrapped the baby in it. Then he found a reasonably clean stick and draped the Master's robe over it to dry.
After handing over the baby, Shen Yangge had dismissed the Imperial Guard and paid little further attention. He knew nothing of what the Imperial Guard had done.
The next day, Chu Xuanzhen still hadn't returned, and a vague unease stirred in Shen Yangge's heart. He asked the Imperial Guards nearby about the situation, but received only unclear answers. His heart remained lodged in his throat.
Seeing that Lord Shen was in a bad mood, Little Stutterer didn't dare approach and risk upsetting him. He stood nearby with his head lowered, not saying a word.
The midday sun was at its fiercest. Had Shen Yangge still been under punishment, exposure to that merciless sunlight would surely have turned his whole body red. Now that he was back to normal, however, he felt nothing. In fact, his constitution and physique had grown considerably stronger.
He recalled that the injuries he'd sustained before his previous punishments had all healed afterward, so he didn't dwell on it.