Jingting had no idea what happened when he decided to tell his real name, or what would happen to his family, to someone he had just met. But the way the two behaved towards each other. It showed him they value family bonds.
And he was tired of hiding.
His whole life was a constant fear of the invisible and always looking behind, in case there was someone ready to stab him in his back. Well, so be it. Now he told two strangers. Two imperial soldiers at that. And he was alone with them. At his home.
Once they would run or do something, he would kill them. There was enough poisons around him. In fact, he was already preparing a powerful incense sleeping pill. Once inhaled for a while, the person would fall asleep. And it was almost done. What remained was to put in the incense.
Jingting looked beautiful while placing the ashes into the incense lamp, pressing it down. His elegant fingers were rough from all the medicinal work and actually discolored. Yet, there was something deeply elegant in how he moved. How he sat. It didn't look like someone running from the law.
"Wasn't your father proven to be innocent once the Empress woke up? My father told me he was an innocent man," Cheng asked. Jingting shrugged his shoulders.
"No, father told me to never believe court people. I'm safe only here, and I should never let someone know who I'm. If they get to know. Kill them." Both brothers looked at each other. Somehow, they didn't think Jingting was bluffing, and they believed he would be capable.
He didn't light the incense on.
"There is poison or something in it, right?" Sheng asked, actually having a faint smile on his face. Cheng's eyes were now darting between Jingting, the incense burner, and Liu Sheng. Jingting nodded.
"Just a sleeping powder. Nothing will happen. And it really is just up to you." Cheng sat down on Sheng's bed and finally laughed.
"Oh, I thought you would kill us just because we know. To be sure, we owe you a blood debt. There is no chance we will tell anyone." Jingting put the cover on the burner, not lighting it on. The tension released, and all the people in the room could finally breathe.
"So, are we good?" Cheng asked, his smile making Jingting nod. He liked being around them. And also, he was surprised at their casualness and nonchalance when he planned to kill them. Were they around death so much that they became guarded against it?
"Are you going to continue with your story?" Cheng asked, suddenly curious about what happened when he was a child. He heard the story from his father because their father was a friend of old Wen.
"Didn't we have a promise to the Wen family?" Sheng looked at Cheng, who laughed. Their father made them promise that if coming across anyone from the Wen family, they should help them. Which was now funny, when they came across the sole heir of the Wen healing techniques. Yet, he was the one who helped them.
Jingting's confused face made them actually laugh. Somehow, this situation was so surreal to all of them. Cheng, who remembered the past, was the one surprised the most. He knew one thing. He had to say this to his father. Yet, no one else could even hear about this peak.
"I don't think anyone should know where you are now. And I don't think you can even send letters to anyone. I will tell father you are safe and recuperating. But no one else should know this place. " Cheng said to his brother, who nodded in agreement. They were now worried about this secret.
Then Liu Cheng faced Jingting, raised his hands in a greeting, and bowed. Jingting hurriedly helped him up.
"No need for this," he said, his face flushed. It's been a while since anyone greeted him this respectfully.
"I have a suggestion. We do owe you a blood debt, and it won't be repaid by this suggestion. But your traps are not effective. The only reason we fell into the hole was because that the little fox had baited us here. I would notice it normally, as I did with the others." Jingting had the answer to a question that bugged him from the beginning. He was wondering how they got so close to their gates; it was too close for his comfort. But he didn't want to ask.
"Your guards will have no chance against imperial guards. I will have to go back, but before Liu Sheng recuperates, he will stay here and help you with your security." Sheng nodded, and Jingting's mouth fell open. How did he suddenly get the Imperial Army general to guard him?
"No, it's okay. You don't have to have any debt. I'm a healer. I would help anyone in that situation." That stung Liu Sheng's insides. He felt special when he woke up, finding out this handsome, aloof doctor saved his life. And now even more when he came to know about the danger Jingting must have felt.
"I have one more request, if I may?" Liu Cheng ignored them completely, and Jingting nodded.
"I can't just say my brother is alive and not bring him back. Can I have a document of his illness? No stamp needed. I will make it plausible myself." Jingting smiled. Of course, he needed that. The imperial dogs can't run away from their owner, not for long.
"I have an even better idea." Jingting rose and went to his workroom. He wasn't followed by anyone, so when he came back with a paper, nobody raised even an eyebrow.
He wrote a few characters and called in Binbin. But it wasn't Binbin who showed up, it was Xuhua, and once she saw Liu Cheng in the room, she hurriedly took down one of her shoes and threw it at him. Both generals were skillful in dodging, so there was no surprise no one was hit. But Liu Cheng laughed.
"Oh, the little devil is here. I can't believe you missed me so much you had to run to me." Liu Cheng's mouth fell open. His brother loved women. But never joked with them. He was kind, but hard. This was something he did with his family. Yet, this girl made Liu Cheng to tease her?
"Can I give him something?" she asked, but Jingting rolled his eyes and frowned at her.
"Where is Binbin?" he asked.
"He is doing something urgent. What do you need?" With every step she took, Liu Cheng's face was glowing up more and more. When she stood next to him, his smile reached his eyes.
"Get this to my uncle. He will know what to do…" When he said that, two heads sharply looked at him. All smiles disappeared, and just wonder was left.
"What are you doing?" Liu Sheng asked, carefully threading on a thin line of becoming insane.
"Who else is better proof of your general being alive than a message from an imperial doctor that he had a record of a military hospital treating Liu Sheng? We still talk to my uncle. Coded messages, so don't try to intercept them." He still didn't believe them fully, yet he felt like it was okay to tell them this. Xuhua just nodded and, with lightning in her eyes, went outside, her gaze killing Liu Cheng at every moment.
This was amusing.