Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

17. The One Behind the Poison

Translator: Flying Lines

Taking Prince Rui’s leaving as a complete giving up on Su Jie, Yu Jiang kowtowed heavily on the ground, “Your Highness, please save my childe…please.”

Xiao ShengNian still left without saying a word, leaving Yu Jiang helpless and desperate on the spot.

However, Xiao ShengNian got back in a few minutes with a pill in his hand which he immediately stuffed into Su Jie’s mouth. “Swallow it,” so he commanded.

The pill worked magic as Su Jie felt much better in just a few seconds, the twitching pain disappeared and he himself being pulled right back from hell.

Exhausted, Su Jie felt it even impossible to open his eyes. This was the first time he felt so dog-tired. He had never suffered such exhaustions, not even when he sparred with the Guqin Master.

“Clean up the mess and let him have a good rest,” Xiao ShengNian ordered, hands behind his back. After that, he looked at the unconscious Su Jie and complained, “What a day of trouble you’ve caused me!”

Su Jie’s response was his steady breathing in sound sleep. [LOL]

Xiao ShengNian, with a slight frown, sat by the bedside and tucked Su Jie in before he turned around and saw Yu Jiang staring at him with teary eyes. He couldn’t help but say in a helpless tone, “Why are you still such a crybaby?”

Yu Jiang stuttered but didn’t manage a word out of shame.

Yu Jiang had an elder brother, Yu Che, who was one of Prince Rui’s close guards. Yu Jiang, the youngest boy in the mansion, used to be liked by many. But his timidity and his easily shed tears over the years gradually annoyed others. Plus his clumsiness when serving masters, he was more like an idler in the mansion who would have long been driven out had it not for his elder brother’s protection.

After long time of being unoccupied, Yu Jiang volunteered to wait upon Wen Nianxuan to demonstrate his competency and to show that he was not a good-for-nothing. Luckily, Su Jie was an independent person who barely had any request for a servant nor did he have any lofty bearing of a master. So the two got along quite well.

“Go fetch my books,” Xiao ShengNian ordered.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After Yu Jiang left, Xiao ShengNian kneaded his temple, quite bothered. He knew who had poisoned the food the moment he saw Su Jie’s symptoms – his brother, Xiao ShengXian.

His younger brother was not a master of the art of poisoning but he himself was a skilled doctor who had quite a profound knowledge of the art of poisoning. His brother had taken from him a lot poisons in the name of protecting himself.

The poison Su Jie had had was one of the poisons he had concocted, a poison only he and his younger brother had accessible to. Or he wouldn’t be able to identify the poison and got the antidote so fast.

Su Jie was unlucky indeed. This poor kid had to go through flogging and poison in the same day, and both because of Prince Xian.

“Your Highness.” Yu Jiang came in with a pile of books in his hands and put them down on the table as instructed. Getting no further instruction from the prince, he sensibly took his leave and left the room for the two.

While Su Jie was in his sound sleep, Xiao ShengNiian sat by the bedside, with an unfathomable look in his eyes. He fiddled with the jade pendant by Su Jie’s pillow as traces of interest being piqued glinted in his usually smiling eyes. “An identical pattern with that on my medicine case…” slowly he muttered.

Unable to get anything from Su Jie’s face even after quite a while of stare, he picked up a book to kill some time when there came from the door the voice of Yu Jiang, “Your Highness, would you like me to bring your food here?”

“No, I don’t want any,” answered Xiao ShengNian in a bland tone as he turned a page.

His reply gave all the guards and servants around a fright. Shocked, they all believed Su Jie was favored by Prince Rui because His Highness not only personally took care of the boy the whole time but also lost the appetite after seeing him in pain. The rumor spread quickly across the whole mansion and as a result, all servants and guards respected Su Jie and took his orders seriously from this day on.

After a while, Xiao ShengNian got tired from reading and took a look at Su Jie, his brows slightly knitted looking somewhat hesitant. But after some thought, he gave up the idea of sleeping in his own room next door and lay down beside Su Jie.

A silent night, two approaching souls.