Tang Zhuyun looked over in alarm, only to find Linlin holding up the brush, his expression dazed. He had clearly been frightened out of his wits too.
"It's all right, it's all right." Tang Zhuyun came over and hugged him, pressing his head against her so he couldn't see as she looked into the water.
"You bastard, you won't get away today!" Chang Zhi's familiar voice rang out from the stone bridge in the distance.
A group of constables in black followed him, along with... the Prince of Jin???
Tang Zhuyun felt much the same way about the Prince of Jin as he did about her. Why was he everywhere she went, haunting her like a lingering ghost?
"Who can swim? Jump in and catch him, now!" Chang Zhi couldn't swim and shouted in a towering rage, wishing he could jump in himself.
Hearing that the yamen was after someone, the women on the bank hurried away with their children.
None of the constables moved.
Tang Zhuyun could swim, but she wasn't capable of catching someone underwater.
Just then, a white figure suddenly leaped down, moving with clean, nimble grace. Once in the water, he skimmed across it like a silver fish, swimming straight toward the person sinking to the bottom.
It was the Prince of Jin.
A moment later, his lackey Song Jingyang arrived and jumped in as well. Together, the two searched the long, wide river.
"Auntie, are they catching a bad man?" Linlin asked in a muffled voice.
"Mm-hmm," Tang Zhuyun said. "Shall we go home first?"
Tang Baixin also said, "Linlin, go home with Auntie first. Father needs to stay here a little longer and see if I can help."
Linlin didn't want to leave, so he said, "Maybe Auntie can help too. Why don't we wait a little longer?"
"They've got him, they've got him!" Chang Zhi shouted excitedly from the bridge, a saber at his waist. "Come on, hurry and help His Highness. I've finally seen what His Highness can do today."
After a while, the Prince of Jin and Song Jingyang came ashore, both dripping wet. Each held one of the fugitive's arms, dragging him onto the bank like a dead dog.
The Prince of Jin was soaked through. It was between spring and summer, and his clothes were thin. The white fabric clung to his body, revealing his solid chest and abdominal muscles, as well as a very obvious outline she shouldn't have seen...
But the Prince of Jin quickly shook out his robes, so it was no longer visible.
Tang Zhuyun was very angry. Stingy! Who wants to look at you anyway?
Tang Baixin quietly tugged at her sleeve, trying to make her withdraw the gaze glued to the Prince of Jin.
He was a little afraid his sister was mooning over a handsome man again.
They had only enjoyed a few days of peace. She mustn't go down that same old road again.
"Damn it," Chang Zhi cursed dejectedly after checking the fugitive. "We finally caught this brat, and I thought we could make some progress, but he turned out to be dead. Lord Tang will have another headache now."
The Prince of Jin frowned slightly. "He's not breathing?"
"Mm-hmm." Chang Zhi looked like an eggplant withered by frost.
Hearing that it was her father's case, Tang Zhuyun hesitated briefly. Looking at the motionless "dead man" on the ground, his belly swollen like a toad's, she said, "Let me try."
With that, she pushed Linlin, whom she had been holding, into Tang Baixin's arms and covered his eyes with a handkerchief. "Don't let Linlin watch," she instructed. "He'll have nightmares."
Tang Baixin asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Save him. Isn't he important to Father?" As she spoke, Tang Zhuyun had already walked up to the man. She said to Chang Zhi, "Let me take a look."
She first cleared the man's mouth and nose, then had Chang Zhi lay him face down over Gale to drain out the water. After that, she had him put the man on the ground.
"Brother Chang, breathe air into him, like this." She reached for her handkerchief but couldn't find it. Only then did she remember giving it to Linlin.
The Prince of Jin noticed her gesture and offered her his own handkerchief.
Tang Zhuyun didn't notice who it was. Seeing a slender hand offering a square pale-blue handkerchief, she took it, unfolded it over the man's mouth, and demonstrated artificial respiration. The crowd burst into an uproar.
Tang Zhuyun said, "What's all the fuss about? If you want to save him, hurry up!"
Chang Zhi immediately took over himself.
Tang Zhuyun began performing CPR.
But it was exhausting. As she worked, she asked breathlessly, "Can someone take over and let me catch my breath?"
"I'll do it." The Prince of Jin's voice sounded like fragments of jade. As he spoke, he had already crouched down.
Tang Zhuyun moved aside and plopped down on the ground without any regard for appearances. This baby's exhausted to death.
Song Jingyang asked skeptically, "Will this work?"
Tang Zhuyun had no good impression of either master or servant, so she immediately shot back, "If you're so capable, you do it!"
Song Jingyang: "..."
At this point, Tang Baixin said calmly, "We're treating a dead horse as though it were alive. There might still be a glimmer of hope."
Just look at how well her own big brother spoke, how cleverly he left her a way out.
But she probably wouldn't need a way out. Tang Zhuyun thought the man could be saved.
Sure enough, after a little while longer, the man coughed twice and woke up.
What the man did then was almost comical. Seeing that he wasn't dead, he tried to bite off his own tongue, but the Prince of Jin, who had been prepared, casually dislocated his jaw.
Hearing that crack, Tang Zhuyun couldn't help shuddering.
That move was terrifying. As an older unmarried young woman who had grown up drinking sweet drinks and reading sweet romances, her head was full of sweet love, all right!
Wasn't such a beautiful hand meant to hold the heroine's chin-pretend it was hers-and draw her into a kiss, both tender and domineering?
But in the hands of a freak like the Prince of Jin, there was just a crack, and the jaw came loose. Unbelievable.
She pitied his future woman for three seconds.
Chang Zhi laughed heartily and slapped Tang Zhuyun on the shoulder, hard enough to nearly hurt her to death. "Little sister, you really did me a huge favor today."
"Hehe, it's nothing." The pain made Tang Zhuyun want to roll her eyes. "Hurry and take him back to report. I still have to go home and cook."
"I'd like to come eat too, but I have business today. What a pity," Chang Zhi said with a hearty laugh. "Now that we've caught this little thief, this major case will soon be over. Once I have time, I can teach Linlin to ride a horse."
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
If she hadn't seen the eager longing in Linlin's eyes, Tang Zhuyun would have thrown a handful of salt into Chang Zhi's bowl next time and salted him to death.
But when the constables were about to take the little thief away, Tang Zhuyun said, "Wait."
Everyone stopped in their tracks, and the Prince of Jin looked over at her too.
"First, lay him down and hold him still."
Tang Zhuyun had noticed something wrong at a glance just now and strongly suspected there was a problem with the thief.
Sure enough, after stepping forward to examine him, she suddenly raised her head and looked at the Prince of Jin, smiling without mirth. "Your Highness is truly mighty."
Song Jingyang jumped out. "What are you trying to do? Don't think that just because you used a few trifling tricks today, my prince will see you in a different light!"
Damn lackey!
Tang Zhuyun said coolly, "Your prince broke his ribs. You'd better find a bone-setting doctor to set them first. Otherwise, if they puncture his lungs, he'll still die, and there'll be no witness left to testify."
Just what kind of ferocious creature was the Prince of Jin? She really pitied his woman.
His daughter had no mother. Had he killed her?
That night, Tang Mingfan came home very late. His weary face could hardly conceal his smile. "A-Yun, you helped Father a great deal today."
Tang Zhuyun looked proud. "I told you long ago that I knew medicine, but none of you believed me."
"Hahaha." Tang Mingfan's face was full of pride. "When the Prince of Jin asked me today, that's exactly what I said. A-Yun, you're making Father see you in a new light more and more."
"Auntie, I want to learn too," Linlin said as he shovelled rice into his mouth.
Tang Zhuyun picked up a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. "All right. I'll start teaching you tomorrow. I'll teach you boxing and arithmetic too. In short, your grandfather and your father only need to teach you to read. Leave everything else to me!"
"Auntie, haven't you forgotten something?" Linlin kept blinking at Tang Zhuyun, a pleading look on his face.