The Attack of the Wastrel

Gu Lingzhi had actually won. She had defeated the person most likely to win in the Martial Practitioner category.

Everyone was staring in disbelief as Gu Lingzhi made her way slowly down the battle stage. Her left shoulder bone was broken and was hurting badly, causing her face to be extremely pale. In this manner, she dragged her injured self back to her room. As she returned to an empty living room, she instantly opened her mouth, ready to call for someone to help her. Before she could say anything, she remembered that Rong Yuan had been called away by Ding Rou earlier that morning and Yuan Zheng and Wei Hanzi had been sent off to do something else.

As for the others, they all had something on and were not around. The large empty space caused Gu Lingzhi to feel slightly empty inside.

As she limped up to her room on the second level, Gu Lingzhi haphazardly applied medicine on her wound. She was not able to withstand the pain any longer and fainted.

When Gu Lingzhi finally rose, it was already nightfall. Opening her eyes, the room was completely dark with only a single candlelight. Yesterday, she had people all around her and bothering her, but today there was not a single soul in sight.

“Hanzi?” Gu Lingzhi attempted to call out.

Since Rong Yuan was not around, the only person that could have lit the candle in her room would be Wei Hanzi.

Alas, as Gu Lingzhi’s voice sounded out. Wei Hanzi’s voice called from outside, “Yes, Mistress, I am here.”

Following that, the sound of the door being opened gently could be heard as Wei Hanzi’s silhouette appeared at the door. She was wearing a mask.

“Mistress, I heard that you were injured. His Highness gave me a bottle of bone-healing ointment to apply for you when you woke.”

Gu Lingzhi was mildly surprised as she nodded slightly, “Sorry to trouble you.” An unutterable sadness washed upon her.

Rong Yuan knew she was injured but did not return. All he did was give Wei Hanzi a bottle of ointment. This was something that had never happened before. What was so important with Ding Rou that he had yet to return even though it was already nightfall?

Pushing her robe off her left shoulder so it was easy for Wei Hanzi to apply the medicine, Gu Lingzhi blinked back the tears that had welled up in her eyes. Since when did she start feeling uncertain and weak?

Wasn’t he just slightly late? She was slightly annoyed at her own attitude, much less Rong Yuan.

“Master, your shoulder bone…” Wei Hanzi froze upon seeing Gu Lingzhi’s shoulder injury. She did not think her injury would be so serious.

From the messenger, she was only told that Gu Lingzhi had suffered a slight injury but had won the battle. How did this “slight injury” become so serious?

Gu Lingzhi simply smiled. This injury was already much lighter than she had expected. The strength at which Senior Zhuang had dealt this blow at, would have completely disabled others. She was lucky that her physical body had been strengthened by all the Spirit Essence Baths that she had taken and all she suffered was a broken shoulder bone. After half a day of resting, she was hurting a lot less.

Sensing the sadness behind Gu Lingzhi’s smile, Wei Hanzi paused her application of medicine and explained, “His Highness doesn’t know you are so badly injured, that is why he did not rush back. If he knew you were so badly injured, he would rush back as quickly as possible.”

“I know. He must be held back by something else.” Gu Lingzhi seemed to be reassuring herself as she replied. She then fell silent.

Wei Hanzi was not a person of many words and silently helped Gu Lingzhi apply the ointment. She then delivered dinner to Gu Lingzhi before leaving. Yet, she was also slightly confused, Rong Yuan was clearly extremely worried when he heard that Gu Lingzhi was injured, yet he did not immediately rush back.

When she was the only one left in the room, Gu Lingzhi lost her appetite after a few mouthfuls and lay back on the bed.

She thought the resentment in her heart would make it difficult for her to fall asleep. However, she fell asleep shortly after lying down.

As the night deepened, the tightly shut door suddenly opened as a very light shuffling sound filled the room.

A tall body entered. Closing the door, the figure made his way to the bed.

Due to her injury, Gu Lingzhi was not at peace when she slept, and her eyebrows were creased together. The figure laid down and lightly massaged the space between Gu Lingzhi’s brows. It was as if he wanted to rub away the pain she was feeling.

The gentle candlelight reflected off the person and showed his features. It was Rong Yuan.

“Is it so important to win the competition?” Rong Yuan muttered painfully under his breath. His gaze fell on the blanket that Gu Lingzhi had kicked off in her sleep and placed it on her once again.

He pulled the blanket to her chest as his large hands moved across the sensitive areas of her chest to her left injured shoulder. In a well-practiced manner, he removed her robe and exposed her slender and rounded shoulder.

Gu Lingzhi groaned and rolled slightly, looking as if she was about to wake. Rong Yuan immediately bit down on his lips as he touched her neck, causing Gu Lingzhi to fall back into a deep sleep.

After ensuring that she would not wake, Rong Yuan was gentle as he reapplied medicine on her wrapped wound. He then lay down beside her and took a short nap before leaving the room without a sound.

The minute he left the room, he saw Wei Hanzi who had appeared out of nowhere. After instructing her to take care of Gu Lingzhi, Rong Yuan was about to leave but was stopped by Wei Hanzi. She hesitated before saying, “Master, are you not going to wait for Mistress to wake up before leaving?”

Rong Yuan paused as he looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, “No, don’t mention to her that I was here.”

He then turned and left, leaving Wei Hanzi staring at his back. She blinked at him confused, it was so obvious that he was worried about her Mistress. Why did he not want her to know that he had visited her? Did he not see how sad her Mistress was?

The truth was that Rong Yuan was unaware. Gu Lingzhi was currently in a deep sleep and it was difficult to deduce anything from her expression.

Her shoulder injury however, angered him. How dare Senior Zhuang hurt the person he loved?

The following day, Gu Lingzhi was awoken by Wei Hanzi’s voice.

After breakfast, Gu Lingzhi pretended to be nonchalant as she asked, “Has Rong Yuan left?”

Wei Hanzi looked at her hesitantly before speaking carefully, “Master did not return home last night.”

“What did you say?”

Gu Lingzhi thought that she had misheard. Rong Yuan has never failed to return home for the night. Even if he was going to come back late, he would inform someone beforehand. But this time, he did not even return? This made Gu Lingzhi believe that she had heard wrongly.

Wei Hanzi looked guilty as she said what Rong Yuan told her to say.

“Master... Master did not return last night. He asked Yuan Zheng to pass on the message that Lady Ding is injured. Master is unable to leave as he needs to take care of her…”

Wei Hanzi did not dare to look at Gu Lingzhi’s expression.

Her own fiancé was not there to take care of her injury but was actually taking care of another woman. Would any woman be able to accept this?

At this very moment, Gu Lingzhi was feeling exactly like how Wei Hanzi guessed she would. A huge insecurity rested upon her.

It seemed like ever since they came to the North Qiu Kingdom and met up with Ding Rou and Ding Wei, Rong Yuan’s attention had completely diverted. At this point, no matter how oblivious Gu Lingzhi was, she would definitely be able to sense something was wrong.

In the past, she could have brushed him ditching her for Ding Rou and Ding Wei as a gathering between old friends. However, today, she found it impossible to lie to herself any longer.

Between her and Ding Rou, it was obvious that Ding Rou was more important to him.

As she clarified this point, Gu Lingzhi felt like laughing. It is no wonder Rong Yuan was the most outstanding prince of the Xia Kingdom. Even his acting was so exquisite and could fool her. She had never doubted Rong Yuan’s sincerity towards her previously. However, that was only true when Ding Rou was not around.

Maybe… even he didn’t know what kind of feelings he had towards Ding Rou?

Or maybe… he already knew but did not want to admit it. After all, both their statuses were of high profiles. He was the prince of the Xia Kingdom while she was the princess of the Dayin Kingdom. On the other hand, if she was to be together with Rong Yuan, it would definitely be complicated. Maybe he had shifted his affection to her as he knew he would not be able to be with Ding Rou and Gu Lingzhi was his second-best option…

In a flash, numerous possible scenarios floated into Gu Lingzhi’s imagination. In order to not go crazy at her thoughts, Gu Lingzhi tried her best to calm her inner thoughts. She then asked Wei Hanzi, “Do you know where His Highness is right now?”

Wei Hanzi’s eyes narrowed as she noticed the way Gu Lingzhi called Rong Yuan. She had switched the way she addressed Rong Yuan. She silently prayed for her own master.

Gu Lingzhi recollected the place where people from the Dayin Kingdom were staying for the time being while the Inter-school Competition was ongoing. It was not far from her place and would not take her more than an hour to get there.

It was so near, yet he did not even have time to visit his injured fiancée?

Gu Lingzhi laughed blandly. A slight coldness reflected from her smile.

“Since that is the case, let’s go visit the princess of the Dayin Kingdom. After all, she is someone that His Highness values. It is only natural for me as his fiancée, to pay a visit.”

“It’s…it’s not a good idea,” Wei Hanzi hesitated, “You have yet to recover and should not move around.”

“It’s alright. The medicine that His Highness gave you is very effective. In just a night, my broken shoulder has more or less healed. I only need a few days to recover,” Gu Lingzhi smiled.

If she did not go and see how badly Ding Rou was injured, to the point that Rong Yuan did not even have time to visit her, she would not be able to relax. Everything in her was calling for her to see Rong Yuan.

In her heart, she still carried a slight hope that Ding Rou’s injury was indeed very bad and that was why Rong Yuan could not come back for her.

But no matter how badly injured she was, was it necessary for Rong Yuan, an outsider, to take care of her overnight?

Numerous doubts filled her but Gu Lingzhi still maintained a neutral expression. When she saw Tianfeng Jin, who had a match today, she was still able to smile and encourage her. Wei Hanzi looked at her worriedly as she thought that Gu Lingzhi’s reaction was not normal. When they neared the dorms of the people from the Dayin Kingdom, her worries only deepened.

This was because the Dayin guard that was on duty outside their gates stopped Gu Lingzhi.

“I am sorry Lady Gu, this is a place for students from the Dayin Kingdom to rest. Outsiders are not allowed in.”