Consort of a Thousand Faces

“Third Imperial Prince, if you insist on thinking that way, this servant also can’t do anything about it,” Su Xi-er replied indifferently, respect evident in her words.

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Situ Li glanced at her before he shifted his gaze to the wooden table, his finger slowly tracing the last two words.

 

“Third Imperial Prince, did you see the woman who set fire to the shed just now?” Su Xi-er asked. When did he arrive? Was it before or after I kicked the door?

 

“It appeared to be extremely easy for you when you kicked the door open. Your skills are pretty good. Have you trained before?” Situ Li could tell what she was hinting at, unreservedly stating that he had arrived right when she kicked the door.

 

Su Xi-er could only spin a lie. “This servant carries out heavy manual labour for work, so my strength is simply better than the typical palace maid. With how panicked I was at the woman setting fire to the shack, I used my maximum strength to kick the door.”

 

“I suppose that is a reasonable explanation.” Situ Li didn’t take this matter too seriously. Ever since I saw her for the first time, I knew that she wasn’t a simple person. As for what makes her special, it remains to be seen.

 

“There are still two more characters carved on the table.” Situ Li’s brows were creased as his hand slowly slid along the outline of the words.

 

However, the damage to the table was too severe that it made those two words unreadable.

 

Su Xi-er’s gaze landed on the wooden table as her eyes traced the contours of the characters.

 

Although she couldn’t read them either, she had a good idea as to what they might be thanks to the silk fabric she had discovered earlier.

 

These two words are ‘Xie Yun’.

 

The relationship between Liu Ye-er and Commandery Prince Xie is definitely not simple. It’s already beyond the common connection formed with a puissant personage.

 

At this moment, the corner of Situ Li’s mouth suddenly raised upwards and he lifted his hand from the wooden table. “I see, so that’s what it is.”

 

Su Xi-er looked at him. It seems like he has also found out what those two letters are.

 

But, how did he only figure it out now? Based on his identity, he should definitely be aware of the relationship between Liu Ye-er and Commandery Prince Xie.

 

“It doesn’t look like his style. Otherwise, why would she be able to live until now?” Situ Li muttered lowly. Then, he looked at Su Xi-er.

 

The ‘he’ and the ‘she’[1] Situ Li mentioned didn’t clearly point to anyone, but Su Xi-er could faintly surmise that he was referring to Commandery Prince Xie and Liu Ye-er.

 

“Cruelly bullied by people again?” He pulled Su Xi-er to his side.

 

With Situ Li pulling on her still injured left hand, Su Xi-er had to bite her lips to prevent herself from making a sound.

 

Situ Li noticed the subtle changes in her countenance and immediately looked at her left hand. Then, he rapidly grabbed it and caressed her wrist slowly.

 

He’s stroking it so seriously. The expression in Su Xi-er’s eyes changed and she quickly retracted her hand.

 

“Who set your bone for you?” Situ Li gave her a probing look, his eyes deep.

 

The moonlight streamed past the door of the room and shone on his face, painting it a sickly ashen white. Coupled with his current expression, there was an eerie feel to it.

 

“Or perhaps I should ask you why the bones in your wrist were displaced? Because of scrubbing the chamber pots?” Situ Li took one step forward, causing the distance between them to be extremely close.

 

Su Xi-er was very averse to having a man being so close to her, causing her to take a step back. “I simply sprained it by accident. It went out of alignment and I set them back properly.”

 

Her words resulted in Situ Li chuckling. “That’s fortunate. Here, use these medicinal herbs to apply to the injury three times a day; otherwise, there’ll be plenty of pain waiting for you.” He then sized her up from top to bottom, causing Su Xi-er to feel very uncomfortable.

 

“This figure of yours is too skinny. Eat more to nourish yourself. If something were to happen in the future and you have to suffer a beating from the plank, you wouldn’t even survive ten strikes.”

 

Su Xi-er raised her head to look at him. “Third Imperial Prince, based on what you said, the reason for taking care of my body is to suffer a beating from the planks?”

 

“Is the number of injuries you have received small? Your arms are filled with welts, right?”

 

I didn’t reveal my arms in front of outsiders, so how did he know that my arms are covered with welts?

1. ‘He’ and ‘she’ sound the same when spoken in Mandarin.