Dashing through the streets, Cui Xi ran until she heard her heart in her ears. Huffing and gasping, she screeched to a halt in front of her shop just as the Prince made to dismount from his horse.

 

“Mistress!” Xiao Hei cried in alarm when he saw her, jumping down to support her body as she held the stitch in her side and coughed, unable to catch her breath.

 

“Zhao Ling Xian!” she gasped out.

 

He jerked toward the sound of her voice and looked down at her in amazement, but the face that he turned towards her was slightly pale and twisted with pain. He swayed unsteadily, his boot slipping in the stirrup as he tried to swing his leg over.

 

“A’Xian!” she shouted, darting forward with both arms out.

 

THUMP!

 

“Aaagh!”

 

“Your Highness!” Murong Yan, rushed over.

 

“Mistress!”

 

Cui Xi stared up at the sky in a daze, crushed by dead weight. The Seventh Prince had fallen right on top of her, but thankfully she’d been there in time to prevent his head from hitting the ground.  His eyes blinked, but she wasn’t sure if he was seeing anything.

 

Gods…why did you have to be so huge…she winced.

 

Murong Yan and Xiao Hei lifted him off her and half dragged, half carried him, as she stumbled up to the second level calling for Xiao Yu.

 

“I’m here! Oh! Su Rou, quickly get hot water and cloths. What happened?” she asked, eyeing the Prince.

 

“The Prince was gored by a stag and didn’t say anything,” said Murong Yan grimly.

 

“Eh? General Murong! What are you doing here?” Xiao Yu exclaimed.

 

“Murong Yan take him into my room. Now!” Cui Xi snapped.

 

“XiXi,” the Seventh Prince rasped. “Did you call me by my name again?”

 

“Never mind!” she said angrily. “How could you not say anything when you were bleeding like that! Don’t you value your own life?” she shouted at him, as she helped Xiao Yu carefully strip his robe off.

 

Naked to the waist, he chuckled very quietly and then winced.

 

“Are you worried about me?” he asked.

 

“Don’t talk. If you weren’t hurt, I’d slap you!” she gritted. How could he still act in such an infuriating manner at a time like this. You idiot! Why didn’t you say anything to me?

 

She was so angry she felt like crying. She had not properly thanked him for pushing her out of the way when the stag had charged, and now he was lying here injured because of her. I don’t want to feel guilty! I don’t want to owe you anything! Why? Why? she shrieked inside.

 

“Don’t be anxious. It’s just a scratch…” he muttered, but he noticed that she looked close to tears. I’m the one who’s hurt…why are you such a mess?

 

He sighed.

 

Cui Xi only glared at him.

 

“Out!” Xiao Yu commanded, shoving Xiao Hei and Murong Yan out the door.

 

For a time, there was nothing except the sound of water being squeezed out of cloths, the clack of instruments being thrown onto a tray, and finally the snip of a thread as Cui Xi, Xiao Yu, and Su Rou worked silently. When Xiao Yu was satisfied that the stitching would hold, she then dressed the gash that ran from the Prince’s spine diagonally down across his ribs, ending just above his hip. Luckily it was just a flesh wound, missing his vitals, but he would bear the scar for the rest of his life.

 

God! His entrails could have been hanging out…that crazy person!

 

Sighing, Cui Xi made sure that Xiao Yu used the distilled alcohol which caused the Prince to flinch, but he endured it without complaint. Then Cui Xi insisted that Xiao Yu use the antibiotic ointment as well as the last of her precious pain killer pills.

 

When Xiao Yu was done, she went to brew medicine, leaving the two of them alone.

 

Exhausted, bloody, and muddy, Cui Xi sat on the floor with her back to him, leaning next to the bed as the Prince lay on his unharmed side facing towards the wall.

 

They silently ignored each other.

 

Outside, the two Murong men leaned against the rail. Murong Yan had breathed a sigh of relief after a brief discussion with Xiao Yu confirmed that the Prince was fine.

 

“I’m surprised to see you in the capital, Miss Yang,” Murong Yan murmured.

 

“As am I to see you, General Murong. I see now that the man in the hood back then was his Highness,” she said, holding a bowl of bloodied cloths. “I must attend to the medicine…Please excuse me.”

 

“Ennn,” Murong Yan grunted.

 

She dipped her head courteously and Murong Yan reciprocated, watching her go.

 

“So, you know the Mistress?” Xiao Hei asked.

 

“Ennn,” was the laconic response, but Murong Yan’s ears reddened.

 

Mistress is so troublesome…thought Xiao Hei realizing at once what that meant.

 

“Whatever it is…you should be aware that the Prince has feelings for her,” Xiao Hei said, staring into the distance over the roofs of the capital.

 

“Ennn.”

 

Xiao Hei made a face at his brother’s attitude. Whatever feelings A’Yan had they would be crushed in the face of the Prince’s indomitable personality and the draw of his position. The Prince was a far more desirable catch than the son of a concubine from the Murong General’s house regardless of how many merits A’Yan had already accumulated in the short time he had served in the An Xi army. Xiao Hei knew that Murong Yan was not prone to useless feelings…so what was this??

 

“Mistress took me in. When I was heavily wounded on the way to the capital, she and Xiao Yu saved my life. Despite her temper, she is soft-hearted.”

 

“So, Mother finally made a move,” sighed A’Yan, ignoring the bit about Cui Xi. He was afraid to talk about the girl until he had actually spoken to her himself, but he too could see that the Prince cared for her. He had also seen the look in her eyes when she had realized the Prince was injured.

 

For now…It’s enough that she is safe, he said to himself.

 

Regarding Shi’er’s matter, Murong Yan had already suspected that his adoptive Mother would not sit still with Shi’er coming out of exile from the northwest. He’d received a letter saying that his younger brother had been summoned to the capital, but he had been too busy fighting on the border when it happened. As a result, he had only received a report from a messenger two weeks after the siege to say that Shi’er was missing. So, it seemed that the men that his father had sent to protect his younger brother had all been eliminated. What a bloody waste.

 

Murong Yan’s own mother and his father were childhood sweethearts. She had married Murong Duan as the First Wife, but had died a few years after A’Yan was born. She had never been of a strong constitution which is why her sister had also entered the manor as a concubine at the same time. Despite the fact that his aunt had adopted him and loved him, his father had not elevated her status though she managed the affairs of the manor until his father had married the youngest sister of the Emperor.

 

Murong Yan had been nine years old when he was told by a servant that a new baby boy, Shi, had stolen his position as heir of the house. Lavishing love and attention only on him, Murong Yan’s adoptive mother had become twisted over her unrequited love for his father and poured that hatred onto his younger brother for no reason at all. In the end, Shi had been sent out the house to satisfy her rage and protect Shi from her multiple attempts to have him drowned or poisoned.

 

Although he cared for her deeply, A’Yan had never understood why his father had never thrown her out of the manor after the things she’d done. Perhaps because her face resembled his dead beloved, Murong Duan had allowed himself the only sentimentality he had ever felt in his life. Towards his sons and daughters, he felt no such feeling and the household had been intolerably strict. Murong Yan had left it as soon as he could to join the army.

 

“An old grudge,” scoffed Xiao Hei. “It’s all in the past, and I don’t blame you for it.”

 

Murong Yan smiled at his younger brother.

 

Despite the nine-year gap in age, and the machinations of an unhappy woman, the two brothers were closer than one would think. As the elder brother, Murong Yan had made every effort to see Shi when he was not with the army. He still remembered being twelve and carrying a chubby toddler on his shoulders, playing horse and soldier.

 

“Our sisters are well. They miss you,” said Murong Yan after a pause.

 

“Ennnn,” Xiao Hei grunted with mixed feelings.

 

It was Murong Yan’s turn to make a face.

 

“Do you intend to stay with Miss Yang forever? You cannot ignore an Imperial summons. You’ll have to present yourself at the palace sooner or later. To ignore it will create difficulties for Father.”

 

“Stay with Xiao Yu?” Xiao Hei asked in confusion.

 

“No, your Mistress.”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Shi’er…don’t hide from Father too long. Despite what you may think, he cares for you in his own way.

 

“Ennn,” Xiao Hei agreed on the surface, but he highly doubted that his father cared in that way. Father cares for his position, for his pride…not for a disappointing abandoned son who refused the family’s bow…The main problem lies with the Emperor…if I don’t present myself at some point, he will have an excuse against my family…

 

“Stag…” Murong Yan nodded downward. He had seen the mix of emotions go across Shi’s face. Now that he had found his little brother, there would be time to make preparations against the Emperor.

 

“Oh, that’s right…the stag…” Xiao Hei grunted.

 

While the Murong brothers were outside reacquainting themselves, inside Cui Xi turned to check on the Seventh Prince and gasped as her muscles protested the movement. Having been knocked over twice by the giant man, her back, legs and arms were already bruised.

 

“Are you hurt?” the Prince asked, still facing toward to the wall.

 

“I’m fine,” she said. “Are you comfortable? Can I bring you something?”

 

“Water…”

 

Dragging herself to her feet, she went to pour water into a cup, set it down next to the bed, and then put tried to help him sit up, careful to avoid tearing the stitches. However, when she went to duck out from under his arm, he snaked it around her waist and jerked, tumbling her down onto his lap.

 

“Ooof!” she cried in surprise.

 

“Stop struggling. You’ll tear my wound…” he muttered into her hair.

 

Sighing, she obediently stopped, reached around him and brought the cup to his lips. Smirking, he drank the water.

 

“What? You’re obedient now?” he snickered. “I should let myself get hurt more often.”

 

“Don’t speak nonsense,” she grumbled. “I’m only being nice to you because you are hurt. Otherwise, I dislike this immensely.”

 

“Ennn.”

 

“It’s not proper…sitting here with a partially naked man. You’ll ruin my reputation. Are you satisfied? Let me go,” she demanded.

 

“No, I’m not even close to being satisfied. You’re in my debt now.”

 

“No! I’ll call it even for threatening me, beating me, and stabbing me.”

 

“Hmmph, not really, but I will let it go if you kiss this Prince,” he teased.

 

“Dream on!” she retorted.

 

“Do you treat all injured people so callously? No compassion at all…”

 

He pointed to his cheek.

 

“Right here. One kiss.”

 

She sighed. He was trying to manipulate her, but something about his boyish grin softened her resolve…and she did feel guilty that he had ridden all the way back without saying anything while she had slept comfortably against him.

 

It’s just one peck on the cheek…just one…

 

Closing her eyes so she wouldn’t be staring right into his eyes, she turned to place the kiss against his cheek only to be tricked again as he turned his face so that her mouth landed right on his. Before she could react, he tangled his fingers in her hair, holding her in place as he kissed her, teasing her deeply with his tongue.

 

!!!!

 

The hot wet kiss drove every single rational thought out of her head, and without knowing how it had happened, she suddenly found that he was pressing her down onto the bed.

 

At that moment the door opened, and only Xiao Yu’s shocked gasp brought her back to her senses. Seeing them in such a compromising position, Xiao Yu immediately turned around and slid the door shut with a sharp crack.

 

Eeeek!

 

Scrambling up from the bed with her hand on her mouth, Cui Xi swiftly exited.

 

Groaning in frustration, the Seventh Prince leaned back against the bed post.

 

It was clear that the little cat’s attitude toward him had begun to change, and where he had wavered a bit before, for various reasons, he now fully committed to pursuing her to the ends of the earth.  However, this did nothing for his body which was currently fully roused by the devilish sweetness of that one kiss.