She…? His Highness…? Tao Hua repeated, the thought heavily monotonous and distorting each time it repeated. Shouldn't she be with His Highness?
The math was simple. "His Highness" meant Shan Si, and "she" meant woman. Therefore, a woman accompanied Shan Si into his bedchambers during the late hours of the night, when none other should dwell within a noble's personal space.
Let alone a prince.
It was a gut-wrenching, unsolvable equation for someone of Tao Hua's calibre.
Languidly, his tepid and wary eyes followed the older woman as she chased after the rambunctious child across the grounds. One look at his peach eyes, and anyone could tell they'd significantly dulled.
But the woman wasn't paying attention, nor was she aware of those watching her. Every bit of her attention was dedicated to her distressed pleas and cries, aiming straight at the hollering child.
It…it was a rather miserable thing to witness, admittedly, and perhaps Tao Hua was being far more judgmental than he'd ever been in his life; doing onto her what others had done to him.
A very unusual reaction, and one he couldn't understand.
It was difficult to control, and even more to ignore. He first assessed her appearance, scanning her from head to toe.
Hair bundled up in a low bun, flying askew in many random directions, and some of it stuck to her flushed face that dripped terribly with sweat.
And her body? She somehow still had enough energy in her bony frame to continue the chase, refusing to relent even though she was on the brink of collapse.
And that child! Well, Tao Hua couldn't quite make him out, and a part of him wasn't overly concerned, either. Besides, there was too much grime, dirt, and mud on him to even describe what this kid looked like, enough that one would have assumed he'd been recently unearthed from the ground.
But just from witnessing how energetic he was, Tao Hua suspected he must have been around the age of seven or eight.
With a troubled wrinkle on his forehead, Tao Hua's attention immediately returned to the woman. Helplessly, he thought, Is that Fang Jian?
The very woman Wan Mie and Shan Si discussed back when he first arrived at Chuhen Palace, and the one Tao Hua couldn't seem to avoid thinking about. She was described as often bored, enough to play around with makeup and slather it on the servants.
Using this knowledge, Tao Hua could assume she was a rather stylish individual.
But the woman running along the martial grounds? Grey, that was the best way to explain her. She wore a plain robe, similar to Suo Han's, yet designed for a woman, and there was not a speck of rouge nor ornament on her.
However, Tao Hua wasn't a skilled mathematician; therefore, his deductions would be fruitless, and he'd be nonethewiser to who this person truly was.
All it did was trouble his mind more than he wanted, and the answer could have been so easily procured had he just asked Suo Han.
That was problem number two. Even if he wanted to ease his mind and ask, each attempt had him snap his mouth shut and look away.
What if the answer was something he didn't want to hear?
The likelihood that she wasn't romantically acquainted with Shan Si was a mere fifty percent, if not less, given her position as concubine. But even if it was only half, that still left the remainder empty.
It would be better if that glass was chucked at the wall and broke entirely.
Why else would a woman stay with a highly regarded man while he rests…?
The very idea made Tao Hua want to vomit. He wasn't the arbitrator of Shan Si's love life and had little to no say as a "friend."
So, he shoved the thought to the back of his mind and turned to look up at Wan Mie, who was equally observing the poor woman run along the martial grounds, carefully watching her steps with squinted eyes.
Then, they slowly shut with a long exhale of frustrated air, and he finally spoke. None of it sounded playful, as was typical for this jester of a man.
"Poor woman," he said with a restrained look of disapproval. "Seems she can't get a break."
"Serves her right for being closely acquainted with His Highness," said Weng Jing. "Nothing good comes from standing at his side, mark my words."
The shouting continued, repeating the same "FEIFEI" over and over as she continued to stumble a few times, alerting Wan Mie.
With a frustrated grunt, he pressed his hand to his forehead. "Someone needs to help her. This is pitiful to watch."
"Karmic justice." Weng Jing replied, unsought. He pressed a hand on Tao Hua's back, leading him toward the bathhouse. "Nothing for pure eyes to witness. Come."
"Is this any way to treat a woman who's been nothing but kind to you, Weng Jing?" asked Wan Mie.
That alone made the guilt cause Tao Hua to stiffen up. They were one and the same, except Tao Hua didn't outright announce his thoughts, nor did he know why they existed.
"I have told her many times to drop His Highness, yet she insists on such loyalty. There is nothing more I can offer someone so willingly ready to throw away her pride," Weng Jing said. "Why she is around these parts of the palace, I still fail to understand and I have lost the will to try and understand. Was she not supposed to be with His Higness in the Palace of heavenly Purity?"
Wan Mie merely ignored Weng Jing's question, adjusting his view and falling on Tao Hua. Though from the way he was acting, it wasn't hard to tell the man knew the answer.
However, that shifted. Within Wan Mie there was a moment of clarity, and in doing so, his head tilted and his eyebrows rose.
Moving past the two, he hooked his arm around Tao Hua's and dragged him out of Weng Jing's hold. Toward the bathhouse the two travelled, Wan Mie trotting along with Tao Hua failing to keep up.
"Absurd!" Weng Jing cried, swiftly following behind. "Why must you meddle in every affair?!"
"Bark, bark." Wan Mie held up his hand, pinching it in the shape of a dog, and turning to look at Weng Jing. Impassively smiling, he added, "Guard dogs love to sniff, didn't you know? We're nosy little bastards."
Gritting his teeth, Weng Jing vibrated a bit before crossing his arms and pushing past them. "Fine. I don't care any longer. I'll be inside, Daoist Master Zhuan. Meet me on the women's side and leave these men to their own disgusting habits."
And with that, he was off, his brown hair and white robe flowing along, almost blending in perfectly with the scenery. Shoving Li Zhou out of the way and practically waking him from his slumbering state, he entered the building and slammed the door behind him.
All Li Zhou could do was blink his tired, makeup-smudged eyes and stare at the still shaking door, arms still crossed.
"What a personality," said Wan Mie, releasing all the pent-up stress he seemed to hold within Weng Jing's presence. "I hope he dies."
But even with all the noise and hollering, Tao Hua couldn't quite excite himself with it any, nor did he react. Wan Mie looked down at him and said, "Don't worry, Suo Han is waiting for you on the men's side. He won't let that grimy man touch you."
"Hm?!" Tao Hua shot his head up to look at Wan Mie. It was that same parental smile he had from time to time, the one that somehow had the ability to ease anyone around.
Yet, Tao Hua was more flustered than before, as if he'd just been caught doing something he shouldn't have. Wan Mie quickly caught on to this, reading Tao Hua better than Tao Hua could read himself.
"Nothing." He turned to look at Li Zhou, who, amid waking up, now has his attention on the woman. "Curious?"
"What's she doing here?" asked Li Zhou. "Hasn't it only been three days?"
"Healing has no timeline. Three days, a week, a year—two hundred. It all depends on the wound." Lifting his hand, Wan Mie motioned Li Zhou away. "Go on and help her before her head falls off. Restrain the child—lock him up if you must."
Tao Hua merely took that as a joke, given that locking a child up was a rather intense action. Still, with how often he screeched…even he was edging toward accepting such an atrocity.
But the healing part of Wan Mie's statement caught him off guard. Was Shan Si so exhausted that he needed healing?
Was this all Tao Hua's fault?
Li Zhou tilted his head, then shrugged. Before darting in the woman's direction, he said, "Sure thing, General."
Both Wan Mie and Tao Hua watched as Li Zhou approached the woman and then ran past her. He was a quick and able man, and because of this, the child was swooped up against his will and tossed over Li Zhou's shoulder.
In the act, the cat was dropped and happily scampered away, now free of the awful grip it was once in.
The relief on the woman's face was enough to light up an entire country. Her head bobbed with a sigh, and she appreciatively smiled at Li Zhou. As for the child…he thrashed about, but there was no escaping Li Zhou.
Holding the child with one hand, Li Zhou pointed his other toward Wan Mie and Tao Hua, just as the lady turned to look over her shoulders. First, she saw Wan Mie, who just smiled at her, and then Tao Hua.
At the sight of Tao Hua, she immediately whirled her head back to Li Zhou. It was almost as if Tao Hua startled her, as her actions became more frenzied.
"Well! That's our cue to leave!" said Wan Mie. Arm still locked with Tao Hua's, he pried open that sliding door, swung Tao Hua into the darkened hall, and quickly shut the outside world behind them.
Everything was done so instantaneously that Tao Hua didn't have time to register anything. Instead, his senses were enriched with the sharp scent of medicine and a blast of humid air.
Enough to make him dizzy.
Chapter end.