Chapter 22: A Daughter’s First Menses

Han Zichuan and I were locked in a…rather questionable position.

This, I understood very clearly.

Fang Hua watched the two of us quietly, and a flash of loneliness appeared in his eyes. His eyebrows twisted into an expression of melancholy, making him look wholly desolate. I hurriedly pushed Han Zichuan aside and straightened up with an awkward smile.

A moment later, Fang Hua's eyebrows smoothed out, and the chaotic feelings he’d shown before gradually dispersed without a trace. As if everything I saw before was just an illusion. When I looked at him again, he was wearing a small smile. An aura of gentle refinement hit me full-on in the face to steal my breath away.

“I brought over some iced syrup drink for you two, but neither of you showed up after I called.”

I was shaken.

He took the chance to place a bowl of iced pickled plum soup into my hands, eyes drifting to the place on my waist where Han Zichuan had rested his hand, and smiled. It looked rather pained.

“Thank you…” I murmured softly.

Yet Han Zichuan only rudely took the other bowl from his hands before wrapping his hand around my waist to speak. “Brother Shao isn’t feeling well, hurry and take his pulse.”

I recovered my breath and hastily refused. “It’s already a bit better, don’t trouble yifu.”

Fang Hua raised his eyes at me, before pulling up a sleeve and wrapping a hand around my wrist. I was afraid to even take a deep breath.

Frowning, he briefly muttered to himself as his fingers jabbed here and there. The face staring at me had a rather strange expression.

“What’s going on?” Han Zichuan couldn’t help but speak.

He gave voice to what I wanted to ask most.

Yifu seemed unable to make up his mind. “I’ve never come across a pulse like this before. It’s a little strange…as if you’re missing Qi and blood.”

Han Zichuan jerked as if he’d heard history's biggest joke. “You’re talking about him? How is that possible? Every time there’s something tasty, he eats two-thirds of it. How could he be missing Qi or blood?”

I gave him a vicious glance.

“Jerk, I have a big appetite.”

I grabbed his bowl of iced pickled plum soup, taking two towards the stone table in the courtyard. I allowed him to feel as flustered and exasperated as he wanted, ignoring him the whole time I took sips from both bowls. Yaah…it’s really tasty, nice and pleasantly cool.

Fang Hua smiled faintly and followed behind me, selecting a clean stool[1] to sit on. Today he was wearing red robes, and his shiny black hair was tied up in a side twist. lazily trailing over a shoulder. One hand rested on his cheek as he lowered his head, and a pensive look on his face made his eyebrows seem even longer. He was a male, yet his appearance had a female’s alluring charm, making it hard to look away.

Han Zichuan sat on one side, cooling him furiously with a fan from who-knows-where, giving a look full of resentment towards the two bowls of iced pickled plum soup protected within my grasp.

A slow breeze wafted across the three of us.

The folding fan in Han Zichuan’s hands carried Fang Hua’s unique scent over my way. It was extremely refreshing with the wind that occasionally stirred through my strands of hair.

From the angle I was sitting at, I could indistinctly make out Fang Hua’s clothes rippling slightly. His outer robes were red, but his inner robes were snow-white, giving his entire person an incomparably cool and refreshing aura. His long fingers tapped lightly against the stone table, pondering for a long while. Suddenly, he spoke.

“Shao’er, how much silver did you get from selling the pills this time?”

I blinked my eyes and determinedly said, “Five taels.” So speaking, I dug out the goods from my robes and placed the silver on the table, shiny and white.

“Not bad at all,” Han Zichuan propped his elbows on the table, giving them a glance. “You bought something so expensive, but still had this much silver left over.”

Fang Hua’s eyes turned into smiling crescents like he was laughing. “Haven’t I said it? Shao’er is wonderful.”

Ah…

I was very self-satisfied, and my mood turned excellent.

I drank another mouthful of sweet syrup, looking up in time to see Fang Hua patting the object he’d placed in his own robes. I narrowly avoided choking when I saw the corner of the pornography book peeking out. On the other hand, Han Zichuan kept up his fanning, but snuck his other hand over Fang Hua’s shoulders, furtively trying to steal the book.

“Shao’er, what’s wrong?” Fang Hua carefully turned to look at me.

My heart panicked…

I quickly lowered my head and drank a big mouthful of ice pickled plum soup. Originally, I wanted to get over my shock, but I didn’t expect my insides to give a start as the cool liquid settled in my stomach. A sharp pain spread out from my stomach, so agonizing that my hands started trembling and dropped the bowl, splashing myself all over.

The shocked cleared out my mind and I quickly stood up, dazed.

“Silly Shao’er,” After his surprise, Fang Hua stood up as well, somewhat at a loss as he wiped me off with his sleeves. “How could you be so careless?”

My robes were a bit wet, but as he cleaned me up, they quickly grew wetter, especially the clothing by my legs, which were stuck together and a bit cold.

“Why is you face so white? Is it heatstroke? I should have been more careful in this heat, and not given you something so cold. Look at me…so muddleheaded.” His movements quickened.

It was a little painful…

I took a deep breath and pressed a hand against my stomach. He gave an exclamation of surprise, and slowly straightened, drawing up his sleeve to inspect the cloth.

There were a few spots of blood by the cuffs.

He raised his eyebrows and looked at me…

I gave a start.

The two of us couldn’t help but look down. It wasn’t unclear when my snow-white robes had become speckled with cherry blossoms. Bloody flowers covered the entire gown, scattered about by the water I’d poured over myself. It was extremely eye-catching…

Curses.

I’m bleeding!

-o- [Most up to date translations for this series can be found on volaretranslations.]

[1]stool (??) ?dengzi, for outdoor tables, it’s probably some sort of barrel-shaped stone stool like these.