1.6

When he entered Wei YunXiao’s room, a maid had already prepared a bath in the adjacent room. When she saw him she gave a squawk of surprise.

“Please take your time.” The Second Prince said courteously, indicating the maid should come over.

“Thank you but.. I can do it myself.” Being washed by someone was something that Liu Yue was sure he would never get used to, no matter how long he stayed in this world.

Wei YunXiao dismissed the maid and walked over to his closet as Liu Yue drew the folding screen to cover the wooden bathtub. 

Liu Yue was busy calculating the timing in his head. To be safe he needed to hurry over to the female protagonist's room as soon as possible. There couldn’t be much delay. What was the Second Prince doing? Why wasn’t he leaving?

Very well then, Liu Yue thought. I’ll see how long you can stay, you pervert!

At first Wei YunXiao meant to only gather a few of his things before going to a guest room but unexpectedly he caught sight of a svelte silhouette moving behind the screen. From the movements it was quite clear that the owner of the silhouette was taking off his clothing.

His breath hitched and his breath caught in his throat. If it were possible to be strangled by your own breathing then Wei YunXiao probably would have passed out. As it was his cheeks went red and he was seized by a strong urge to wrench the folding screen aside and see with his own eyes the slim, naked body.

What is wrong with me! Wei YunXiao berated himself. He’s a man and… your brother! Although they were not really brothers, as a traitorous voice in his mind informed him.

Inside the screen Liu Yue made his movements deliberately suggestive as he removed each item of clothing. Hurry up and leave!

But the tall, broad shouldered figure behind the curtain didn’t leave.

What’s wrong with this guy?! Does he not have any shame?

Liu Yue sighed. Left without choices except for being blunt, he peeked his head from behind the wooden partition and was surprised to see Wei YunXiao staring back at him.

“Ah… do you think you could…?”

He left the question hanging. For a long moment the Seond Prince didn’t move. He didn’t even blink. Then very slowly he bent his head slightly.

“I’ll be going then.. Crown Prince. Rest well.”

Relieved, Liu Yue ducked back behind the screen and only waved his hand languidly.

***

He bathed quickly before changing into some simple clothing laid out for him. After thinking about it for a few moments he changed his hairstyle so that he had only a small top knot and the rest of his hair flowed out behind him and covered his face with a piece of cloth.

Liu Yue had only a small amount of confidence in his actions. Because his task was quite difficult. How to let the other maid think she had wounded Song LingLing and yet at the same time prevent her from doing so.

According to the script the Empress’ planted maid, called Dong Ru, first used a sleeping fume in Song LingLing’s room to lull her to a deep sleep. Song LingLing and the maid shared a room but Dong Ru had covered her nose up to prevent herself from falling asleep. Then she took out a sword identical to the one in the banquet and used it to cut Song LingLing’s hand. 

In the movie all that was initially shown was Song LingLing falling into a deep sleep and waking up to find the wound on her hand had opened up again. The rest of shown in a flashback later on in the movie.

In the end it wasn’t very graceful but it worked out according to Liu Yue’s plan. He was forced to crouch outside Song LingLing’s window for almost an hour before he finally saw Dong Ru get up from the bed. Then, with an agility that surely was not quite natural, he leapt in through the window and behind her. As she reached over and held the blade over Song LingLing’s hand he came up behind her and knocked her out. As Dong Ru’s body fell to the ground, she accidentally upset a nearby vase which smashed with a loud noise.

Liu Yue froze for several moments but thankfully there was no sound from outside. After a few moments he picked up Dong Ru’s body and returned her to her bed. He picked up the sword and tucked it in safely with her under her blanket. Then he returned to the female lead. He took out a fruit knife he had stolen earlier and very gently reopened the wound on Song LingLing’s hand. The scar was really quite severe. It was nothing like his own palm which, hidden under the bandages, was already almost completely healed.

Sorry, he thought. But it’s to protect you. When Song LingLing woke up the next morning she would tell Dong Ru that her hand was bleeding again. Dong Ru still had the sword and would most likely assume that she couldn’t remember everything that transpired because of the sleeping fume. In any case if she had any suspicions she wouldn’t voice them. To fail to complete a task for the Empress was death in itself, she would simply tell the Empress everything had gone according to plan to save her own skin and then pray for the best.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he put the fruit knife into his clothes and turned away. As he leapt up with a superhuman jump into the window, Song LingLing, half woken by the noise from the smashed vase, opened her eyes groggily and frowned with a confused expression…

Thank you to everyone for your comments :)

Sorry I need to change the update schedule to every 2-3 days, real life is getting a bit in a way but I will definitely update steadily until the arc is finished.