A few days later, when Liu Cheng was sitting outside, watching his older brother to "spar" with the twin of Xuhua, Xicheng, who hated them both to the point he wanted to kill them, but couldn't because they were far better fighters, so he decided to learn from them instead… And Cheng wanted to join them. Yet, every time he suggested training a bit, a light spar, Xuhua ran to Jingting, and his doctor made him listen to an unending speech of how he saved his life, not for Liu Cheng to destroy it again by being impatient.
He was fine walking around. Finally, he could walk longer distances without feeling completely dead, and that made him think he could go back to training. Well, his doctor didn't think that.
"How long will it take for him to be completely healthy?" Liu Cheng once asked Jingting, sensing Cheng's restlessness.
"Six months. At least. It will take longer for him to be as agile as before." Both brothers' mouths fell open. They hadn't heard such a ridiculous amount of time before. And there was no chance for Cheng to stay away from the battlefield for that long. He was crucial for the army. One of the best warriors.
"Cheng! Your father wrote you." Xuhua ran with a letter in her hand and threw it to Liu Cheng. It didn't fly far and just helplessly fell down on the ground. Cheng had to bend down, and he did it while watching Xuhua's face.
"How do you know it's my father?" he asked, taking the open letter. He wasn't worried about what they could read in it as they used codes as well.
"Your code was the most boring one I've ever tried to decode. Ours is far better. He said that he went to the court and heard about Liu Sheng's time to heal. Everyone was actually impressed by Jin Hua's talent to save such a gravely wounded person. I don't know who Jin Hua is, but I guess uncle Wen took him as a doctor for Young Master." The letter fell out of Cheng's hand. And Sheng knew it was exactly what the letter said. It took a moment for Cheng to come to Xuhua and grab her by her neck.
"How did you know?" he hissed, pissed, scared. Sheng hurried to him and grabbed his hand, forcing him to let Xuhua go. But he didn't even arrive, and Xuhua slapped the hell out of him. He could see Xuhua's red handprint on Cheng's face, together with his shock.
"You idiot, I told you, you are too stupid for proper code. You are too stupid for anything. There is nothing good about you but your muscles!" She stormed off.
"Well, that was deserved," Jingting said, breaking the silence. He was leaning against the corner of the pavilion. Liu Sheng jogged to him as a lost puppy finding its owner. And he felt it. He felt like he was a moth coming to light. And when Jingting patted him on the head, something stirred inside him.
"I guess so," Sheng said, looking at his stunned brother, who was standing there looking like a fish out of water, with his mouth open.
"He had to have been struck on the head by a sword. So he is a bit stupid," Sheng continued and positioned his body behind Jingting, so that he was closer to Cheng, having nice access to him if he wanted to kill him.
"Xuhua is one of the best coders I've ever seen. No matter if you use numbers, symbols, letters, or even pictures, they are decodable for her. And she is actually required to read every letter that comes and goes. That's why Liu Sheng was able to send you one, because we knew he wasn't telling you the exact location." Sheng's mouth fell open, and he took a step back. Jingting knew he sent where he could be and that he sent for his brother to search for him. He felt like he was in deep trouble.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled and lowered his head. Jingting turned around and patted his head once again.
"That was expected. You were here alone, among strangers, and didn't know if we wanted to hurt you or not." He smiled and turned back to Cheng.
"You should go and apologize to her. Give her some sweets, maybe, she loves those. And kneel. Otherwise, you won't be allowed to send out anything in the future." Cheng lowered his head. But he looked more ashamed of himself than his brother, like a lost puppy. And he should have been ashamed.
"You come with me." Jingting left others behind, took Liu Sheng's hand, and led him towards a room. Sheng was never there before, and he was surprised to see many herbs and things he couldn't even name or identify. Jingting pointed at one of the flowers, which reminded Jingting of something.
"Have you seen it?" he asked, looking like a child waiting for a gift. Then it suddenly made sense. Liu Sheng remembered where he had seen it.
"My father has it," he said. Jingting's eyes filled up with light, and Liu Sheng's heart skipped a beat.
"Can I have a new shoot? Please. I would do anything for it… It's really important, rare, and you are the only family who had successfully cultivated one into a big plant." He grabbed Liu Sheng's hand and raised it in plea. Sheng had no idea how to answer, move, hell, he even forgot how to breathe.
"I will ask my father, but we would have to pick it up in the town, because it would need to be delivered by horse. It's extremely hard, and from what I know, my father takes care of it by himself. It was a gift from the precious emperor." Jingting understood what that meant. The Emperor's gifts were rare, noble, and extremely valuable. But so was this flower. He used the second-to-last he had carefully guarded to treat Liu Sheng's Yin energy and blood loss.
But when he heard he would have a chance to have his own plant. The excitement just overwhelmed him, and he hugged Liu Sheng. He jumped on him, full of happiness. But once he did it, he felt the surge of blood into his head, and suddenly he felt extremely dizzy and weak.
"Why are you so hot?" Liu Sheng thankfully caught him so he wouldn't slide down on the floor when his knees gave out. He placed his hand on Jingting's forehead. Then on his own. And because he couldn't feel any difference, he did what his mother sometimes did.
He pressed his own forehead to Jingting's forehead. Just then, Jingting's strength finally gave out, and he fainted.
"Someone, please help!" Liu Sheng shouted, carrying Jingting's body out of the room in a hurry, back to his own bed.
He was horrified to death, seeing the vigorous doctor, pale and sickly looking, in his arms. Someone, please, help…