Chapter 43

Lou Yun was sorting through the ointment and gauze she had been using lately. Pei Qing always forgot to change his dressing because of one thing or another, or simply did a slapdash job himself. He was a physician, yet he would not even follow medical advice properly. Left with no choice, she had ordered the young man to come to her once a day so she could change it herself. That was better than letting Pei Qing go through the motions.

"If you aren't going to talk, shut up."

Already immune to Lou Yun's cold, merciless replies, Bu'er shrugged without surprise and leaned toward her. "Because there's no trace of me here~ How can a place with A Xie in it be missing its man of the house?"

Lou Yun shot the glib-tongued Bu'er a cutting look. "Don't say things like that again."

"Why?" Bu'er idly twirled the porcelain bottle in his hand and countered, "A Xie will become my wife sooner or later anyway."

"Keep running your mouth and get out."

Bu'er narrowed his eyes and held the porcelain bottle beneath his nose for a sniff. His tone was unreadable as he asked, "A Xie, you never used to mind me saying these things."

He glanced again at the ointment and gauze Lou Yun had carefully arranged. He had smelled no ointment on her, nor had he noticed any difficulty in her movements. Who, then, had she prepared these things for?

"So what?" Lou Yun said indifferently.

"Since you aren't injured, A Xie, surely these things aren't for some stray man?" Ferocity surfaced in Bu'er's eyes. His bright, youthful air vanished, replaced by something dank and vicious.

"Say that again, and you'll never open that mouth of yours for the rest of your life."

Bu'er's eyes instantly reddened, but not with Pei Qing's tearful look. This was anger surging to his head, the offspring of fury.

The youth circled behind Lou Yun with a sinister air and stared at her neck for a long moment. A rattlesnake emerged from his collar and hung behind her, flicking its tongue with a hiss, looking ready to sink its fangs into her neck at any moment.

The woman under its gaze continued leisurely arranging her belongings. When the rattlesnake attacked, she kicked both snake and owner away.

Bu'er instinctively raised his fists to block, then seemed to think of something and lowered his hands, intending to take the blow head-on.

Though Lou Yun had not once looked back, she guessed his plan to win sympathy through suffering and warned, "If anything in my room is damaged, even the slightest bit, you'll repay it with something from your body."

At that, Bu'er firmly caught her kick and replied with a grin, "Why would that happen? A Xie, you really don't understand me. I can still take this much force. Besides, blows are affection and scolding is love. Whatever A Xie gives me, I'll accept it all."

The youth returned to her side with a smile, showing no sign of having learned his lesson. The gu insects on him stirred restlessly. Lou Yun glanced at the one that had already climbed onto the table and sent a palm strike toward it with lethal force.

Bu'er's smile abruptly vanished. He hurriedly swept his sleeve across the table, gathering his precious gu insect back inside. Only after lowering his head to check his sleeve and seeing that his darling was still alive and well did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"A Xie, look at you, getting worked up again. This is a treasure I painstakingly raised. If it died, I'd die of heartache." The youth sprawled over the table, stretching his head across its entire width to bring it before her eyes.

"Keep away from my things." Lou Yun shoved him aside and, as though afraid that had not cut deeply enough, added, "Merely dying of heartache would be far too easy on you."

Perhaps her words were too hurtful, for even Bu'er's ever-present smile faltered. He gave a few awkward laughs and joked his way past the subject.

"A Xie is still so fierce. Honestly, look-there's no one in this world but me who could accept you like this, and you still won't treasure me."

Lou Yun glanced sidelong at Bu'er without speaking, yet conveyed her disdain to the fullest.

"Can't you accept me, A Xie?" the youth suddenly asked with a hint of seriousness.

"Do you think I'd accept someone who spends every day thinking about controlling me with gu insects?" Lou Yun retorted without hesitation. The trace of a mocking smile in her eyes stabbed him deeply.

He muttered resentfully, "That's only because you refuse to accept me no matter what, A Xie. Otherwise, I wouldn't resort to such a desperate measure. How could I hurt you? You're my favorite person."

Lou Yun paid no heed to the youth's madman-like muttering. She looked up at the sky. It was about time for Pei Qing to arrive.

She told him to leave. "Since you still have no intention of saying why you came, find yourself a room and settle in. Come to me when you feel like talking."

"A Xie! You haven't even seriously asked me! You're just throwing me out like this? I refuse!" Bu'er protested loudly.

Faced with the troublesome youth, Lou Yun's expression darkened. "Out," she said coldly.

Just then, Pei Qing opened the door with practiced ease. Seeing the two at an impasse inside, he froze. For some reason, he blurted out, "Then I'll leave for now."

He was about to close the door when he suddenly realized something was wrong. This was Lou Yun's room. Why was there a strange man inside? His retreat stalled.

It was Lou Yun's words that rescued Pei Qing from his dilemma. "You come in. He goes out."

Pei Qing entered as instructed. Bu'er's appearance drew a few extra looks from him, only to earn several fierce glares from the youth.

"What are you staring at? Keep looking and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

A cup flew from Lou Yun's direction as the youth's words fell.

"Disrespect him again, and I'll have your tongue with my wine."

Bu'er bit his lip hard at that. In the end, he said nothing more, but refused to leave no matter what, stubbornly sitting beside Lou Yun without shifting his backside an inch.

Pei Qing went to sit on Lou Yun's other side. He did not know why, but although this was his first time meeting this person, he felt an inexplicable dislike for him, and even a groundless hostility arose within him.

What the young man did not know was that Bu'er, sitting opposite him, had reached the height of his malice toward him the instant he pushed open the door. He had never seen A Xie treat anyone so gently!

He wanted this man dead!

As anger gradually clouded his mind, Bu'er secretly directed his gu insects to crawl toward Pei Qing, keeping it from the other two.

Sensing something, the young man lowered his head. The rattlesnake that had attacked Lou Yun earlier was already coiled at his feet, poised to strike.

Lou Yun was concentrating on changing his dressing. Without raising her head, she said, "If you can't stand the sight of it, just kill it."

Pei Qing chuckled. "Not at all. I merely think this little snake has been raised quite well. I wonder whether it's more venomous than my Little Green."

Keeping his upper body still, the young man lowered his other hand and softly told the rattlesnake, "Come."

Seeing Pei Qing court death like this, Bu'er ordered the rattlesnake to bite him, a mocking smile curling his lips.

Yet the scene he imagined, of the young man dying from the potent venom, never appeared. The rattlesnake obediently coiled in his hand, its tail slipping tamely into his sleeve and winding around his arm.

Pei Qing raised the rattlesnake before Lou Yun and smiled happily. "Your Highness, look. This little snake is rather better behaved than Little Green."

"You!" Bu'er had never imagined that the gu he had raised would be so docile toward a stranger. "What did you do to my snake?"

"This is a gu you raised, isn't it? I know there are people in foreign lands skilled in witchcraft and gu poisons. I originally planned to take the opportunity to study them properly during my travels, but never found a suitable chance. In any case, medicine, poison, divination, and witchcraft all belong to the same family. I found some ancient texts and explored a little, and then I knew

"how to control these gu insects."

Pei Qing made it sound easy, but this only infuriated Bu'er completely. "You make it sound so easy!" he shouted. "It was nothing but coincidence! Watch out, or my gu insects will bite you to death one day! Arrogant fool!"

He pulled a flute from inside his robes, intending to drive the rattlesnake to attack the young man. At first, it reared up and flicked its tongue just as he wanted, but every time it opened its mouth to bite, it suddenly became as docile as a cat again, leaving only a few scattered drops of saliva on the back of the young man's hand.

Pei Qing stroked up and down the snake's body with his fingertips as a reward. "It seems your little snake isn't as venomous as my Little Green."

The young man kindly pointed out why the rattlesnake would not bite, but received no thanks from the youth.

Bu'er snatched back the rattlesnake and snorted. "Hmph. I simply haven't brought out my other gu insects. Otherwise, you wouldn't survive a quarter of an hour."

"All done. It should be completely healed before long," Lou Yun suddenly interjected. She straightened the young man's robes and patted his head, signaling that he could return.

Pei Qing, who always hurried back to his work after having his dressing changed, remained motionless in his chair today, for once.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Pei Qing shook his head, yet could not help glancing at Bu'er again. He wanted to ask about this foreign youth, but did not know how to begin, so he could only draw Lou Yun's attention by behaving differently than usual.

How could Lou Yun fail to guess his thoughts? She gave him a pill of reassurance. "He's someone I know. He won't hurt me. Don't worry."

No, that's not it. Pei Qing opened his mouth, but could not say just what it was. Frustrated with himself for being unable to explain, he could only nod obediently and answer, "All right. I'll go back, then."

Seeing his miserable expression, Lou Yun affectionately pinched the soft flesh of both his cheeks and tugged outward, coaxing, "Go back and rest early. I've told Mo Chi to keep an eye on you. If I ask next time and you've stayed up late again, you'll be punished."

Remembering how he had been punished by having to call her "wife-master" last time, Pei Qing actually felt a faint anticipation. Seeing Bu'er still beside them brought him to his senses, and he inwardly scorned himself. How could he entertain the idea of deliberately misbehaving because he wanted to be punished?

"All right. Rest early too, Your Highness."

Chapter 43

After Pei Qing left, the last trace of gentleness about Lou Yun vanished completely.

"Either talk or get out."

The youth pursed his lips and complained, "You're so gentle with him, but so fierce with me."

Lou Yun ignored his complaint and called, "Ying Yi."