Beneath The Embroidered Brocade - Chapter 122

Footsteps sounded from outside the hall. The footsteps belonged to someone who was walking briskly. The footsteps were heavy and dreary, making general Pei certain that this person was not one who practices martial arts.

“Madam!” The sound of a middle-aged woman came from outside the halls. The doors were opened, and in walked a middle-aged woman, who looked to be Li shi’s personal maid. The woman was dressed in brown clothes, carrying a wooden tray and placed on it, a bowl of steaming murky liquid with a pungent smell.

Upon smelling the unique concoction, the people within the room twitched their noses. Without a doubt, it was medicine. They had caught a whiff of it while entering the door. But smelling it from far away and being in the same room with the brewed concoction was a different thing.

General Pei looked at the bowl of murky brown liquid with a raised eyebrow. “If I may ask, what kind of medicine is this?”

“The doctors have come up with this prescription.” The middle-aged woman answered, making her way to the bed.

General Pei asked with interest, “Oh… I see, would it be of any help?”

“This old servant really doesn’t understand a thing about medicine. Best if you ask the doctors.” The servant replied, making her attention turned to Li Shi who was sitting on a small stool by the bedside, “Madam, do you want to feed old master the medicine?”

Li shi nodded mindlessly, wrapping the handkerchief around her palms and picking up the steaming bowl. With a porcelain spoon, she spooned some, blew on it, and placed it up to Wang Bo’s dried and cracked lips. Some of the medicine spilled out, and Li shi ended up having to use her handkerchief to wipe the traces of medicine around his lips.

Once that was done, Li shi had the middle-aged servant bring away the porcelain bowl and her soiled handkerchief. She rubbed her temples, her body exuding an air of exhaustion, as she got up from the stool. Official Tao came to help her steady herself, grabbing onto her arms and pulling her with all the strength a civil official could muster. Li shi gave a shallow smile and allowed herself to be helped by him.

General Pei observed their actions wordlessly. By this point, he had already blended well into the room, such that even if someone entered, they would not be able to detect him within the room. Seeing that they were prepared to leave, he made his presence known, “If I may be presumptuous, can I check your husband’s wounds?”

Hearing that voice again, both official Tao and Li shi froze. Only then did they remember general Pei’s existence.

Official Tao realized that he was still holding Li shi’s arm, and lightly coughed. Li shi shook his hand off, and official Tao placed his hands into his wide sleeves.

“Of course.” Li shi said as they both walked to the bed where the magistrate was resting.

Li shi lifted the blankets, while general Pei unwrapped the bandages. What was revealed was a flesh wound. It didn’t look exceedingly bloody, but it was inflamed, with the flesh surrounding the wound red. Looking at the inflammation, general Pei was able to make out the outline of the wound, which was about three inches. There was nothing else that gave away any clues as to the identity of the ȧssailant, aside from the ȧssailant being extraordinarily skilled. In recent years, there had been many strange deaths that were then linked to the secret organization

General Pei would have wished to dig deep into the wound, however seeing that Li shi was at the side, he decided against it. He bandaged the wound again without much thought.

“Do you know if magistrate Wang has had contact with anyone suspicious these days?”

Li shi shook her head and answered “No, aside from the brothel that he frequents and practically lives at, there is nothing out of the ordinary.” Even a normal person could tell she was bitter about Wang Bo visiting the brothel. After all, how can any woman stand not having her husband not staying in the manor and outside perhaps accompanied by someone much younger than herself?

“Has there been any change that is different than usual, did he seem more worried than usual?”

Li shi shook her head, she really did not know much about this husband of hers. They rarely sat together for a meal. On any given day, he would be in his place and she, hers’. Perhaps the only times they ever meet would be accidentally bumping into each other by accident. They were practically strangers who were coincidently married to each other, their level of understanding for each other did not even surpass that of newlyweds.

General Pei was understanding, seeing that she did not know, he did not press on, and instead prepared to leave. His face was a weary one, having rushed here from far away, he began to feel his head throbbing.

With his hands rubbing his temples, he looked towards Li shi and asked “Are the doctors still here, I would like to get a consultation.”

“General must be tired, why don’t you stay tonight?”

General Pei smiled. This was exactly what he was waiting for. “If I would not be a bother… ”

“Of course general will not be a bother. With general here, I will feel very ȧssured.” Li shi replied, preparing to order the servants to prepare a room.

It was not strange for general Pei to stay here overnight. The magistrate’s court was very capable of housing many people, and there were often lesser officials who would stay the night when on duty. There even a practice of officials living at the magistrate’s court to prevent them from easily getting bribed and doing harm to the people.

It did not take long for a spacious room to be prepared for the general. The room was situated quite close to the master room, if anything were to happen in the middle of the night, he was just in the position to take care of it.

As the sun set, it should have been a relief for those returning home. However, the town seemed even more restless than during the day. It was unknown if the curfew had slowly sunk deep in everyone’s minds, or the snow that seemed to be never stopping. The isolation of the border town was not something recent, but now with the ȧssassination attempt and the imperial capital situated far away that had not yet sent someone to investigate, there was the feeling of isolation in the air.