Chapter 266: The unscathed Great General Chen
About an hour later, Grand Preceptor Xie was close to losing his patience in the main hall. Meanwhile, née Xu had finally arrived at the front gates with her guards clustered around her. The guards of the Grand Preceptor were surprised to see her arrive with so many men in tow. Do you need that many servants just to see your husband? Then he looked behind Lady Xu at the people in question and saw that they were all strong and powerful men. Immediately, he began to suspect whether the Great General's wife was preparing to seeking vengeance for Great General Chen as soon as she checked on his status? (Author: You're overthinking it…)
"Your ladyship, please enter," one of the Grand Preceptor's stewards invited as he stepped outside.
"Lead the way," Lady Xu said calmly. The steward hastened to take Lady Xu inside.
Inside the main hall, Grand Preceptor Xie sat in a until Lady Xu walked in. He beckoned to her with his hand, gesturing for her to step forward. She politely bowed to her in exchange.
Grand Preceptor Xie said, "It's good that you've come. You should take a look at Shenyan1 now."
On the roof, Ning Xiaoyao asked Lou Zigui. "Who's Shenyan?"
"That's Chen Lu's courtesy name," Lou Zigui explained in a low voice.
Ning Xiaoyao furrowed her brows before she finally understood. Then she whispered back, "How come she's not thrashing him yet? This is really nerve-wrecking!"
It was impossible for Supreme Commander Lou to follow up after that statement. Née Xu might be a tigress, but that didn't mean she could just saunter in and make a scene in front of Grand Preceptor Xie.
Inside the hall, née Xu asked Grand Preceptor Xie in a voice choked with sobs. "Grand Preceptor, how is my husband doing?"
The Grand Preceptor only had a grieved expression. "Shenyan's prognosis is very bad. The doctors have already given their best. But, aye, you should see for yourself. At a time like this, you should be by his side." In other words, he was telling née Xu that Chen Lu was already on the verge of death.
Née Xu scrutinized Grand Preceptor Xie, but aside from sadness, there was no other expression on his face. It seemed as if her actions against the Xiang sisters had nothing to do with this old man at all.
"You're still not going?" Grand Preceptor Xie narrowed his eyes when née Xu only continued to stared at him. "Is there something else?" he asked.
Née Xu began to harbor suspicions in her heart again. If those guards weren't sent by the Grand Preceptor, then the Xiang sisters might still be a ploy to trick me again. Who's the Grand Preceptor's current enemy? It could only be His Majesty who sent those women.
In other words, née Xu thought as she suddenly felt her soul leaving her body. My husband's really on his deathbed?
"Someone come," Grand Preceptor Xie called hastily when he saw that Lady Xu was growing unsteady on her feet.
"Hurry in," the steward called for two of the Chen estate's nannies still waiting outside the door. The two old women entered just as Grand Preceptor Xie spoke up.
"Support your mistress and help her to your master's side."
The two women hastened to help Lady Xu, but they'd hardly touched her arm when she pushed them aside. As they reeled back in shock, Lady Xu turned on her heel and ran towards her husband's quarters.
"She's out," Ning Xiaoyao muttered to Lou Zigui from the roof. "Hurry, we need to switch spots to catch the show."
Before Lou Zigui could react, Ning Xiaoyao had already pulled him along to 'fly' into the back courtyard. Supreme Commander Lou could only stare in silence at their joined hands as his feet left the ground in the wake of Ning Xiaoyao's dash. Meanwhile, the steward had to run for his life to catch up with Lady Xu and lead the way. By the time he arriving huffing and puffing at Chen Lu's quarters, all of the doctors emerged from the room. Seeing them all at once made Lady Xu lose all nerve to enter the bedroom.
Lou Zigui crouched on the wall and asked Ning Xiaoyao, "Xiaoyao, Chen Lu's wounds are really alright now?"
Ning Xiaoyao only chortled as she waited to see a good show. "Don't worry, Chen Lu should be waking up about now."
"He got lucky," Lou Zigui muttered.
"Hm?" Ning Xiaoyao questioned.
"Shouldn't a man like him deserve death?" Lou Zigui asked.
Ning Xiaoyao rubbed her chin as her expression turned somber. "How do I put this? Regarding Chen Lu, I've already looked into his case."
"What did you find?" Lou Zigui asked.
"Now Chen Lu," Ning Xiaoyao began, "Might be the Grand Preceptor's number one subordinate in the capital, but he wasn't as heavily used as Tao Chen. Still, we can understand that, right? Tao Chen was the Grand Preceptor's son-in-law and part of his own family. Chen Lu is that Xu guy's son-in-law instead."
Lou Zigui was already feeling lightheaded. "Just what are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that Chen Lu's never done any awful, despicable, atrocious, absolutely unforgivable beneath Heaven deeds," Ning Xiaoyao replied quietly.
Hearing this, Lou Zigui understood what she meant at last. "But it's impossible for Chen Lu to turn his back on Xie Wenyuan."
"It's forsaking the darkness to turn towards the light," Ning Xiaoyao explained. "There's no issue of betrayal when it comes to the Grand Preceptor."
Lou Zigui corrected himself. "I don't think Chen Lu will forsake the darkness to turn towards the light."
"We have to give him a chance at least–both for him and ourselves," Ning Xiaoyao rubbed at her itchy nose. "Moreover, he's the son-in-law of Xu Jing! Xu Jing, oh!"
Supreme Commander Lou only felt that her goal seemed very difficult to accomplish!
"Let's give it a try and see, Ning Xiaoyao gave herself a fist pump for encouragement. "Villains will get their retribution eventually. We're basically saving him from his fate, aren't we?"
Lou Zigui only felt that he had nothing to say after thinking things over. It was impossible for him to stop anything this girl wanted to do.
"Oho," Ning Xiaoyao tugged at his hand. "Look, Lady Xu's entered the bedchambers!"
Now even Oil Jar was sticking his head out of the sleeve to peek. Lou Zigui glanced at Lady Xu walking inside before turning to Ning Xiaoyao to speak, only to catch sight of Oil Jar instead. His first instinct was to smack the mouse, who squeaked in response to his fists.
Ning Xiaoyao hastily looked down and stroked his head. "What's wrong?"
"He wants to beat me up!" Oil Jar pointed at his paws towards Lou Zigui.
Ning Xiaoyao looked back and saw Lou Zigui's fists. "Don't," she said in a hurry. "This is my little Oil Jar, he's one of us."
"……." said Lou Zigui.
"Say hello," Ning Xiaoyao said as she patted Oil Jar's head.
"Squeak~" Oil Jar gave a friendly hello towards Lou Zigui. He promptly turned away. Can someone raise a mouse while raising a cat at the same time? Sometimes I really don't understand what Miss Ning is thinking.
"This is a bit far from the main event. Supreme Commander, I'll take you to the roof," Ning Xiaoyao before hauling him handily over. Since all of the doctors and Grand Preceptor's servants were clustered in front of the bedroom door to listen for sounds inside, none of them notice the pair slip onto the roof. After laning, Ning Xiaoyao quickly lifted a roof tile and sprawled down with Oil Jar to peer inside the room. Both mouse and human had sparkling eyes.
"……" said Lou Zigui.
Inside, Lady Xu couldn't help but feel that her general didn't look like a dead man at all. His face was ruddy and his breathing normal. Was this really someone at death's door?
"Husband?" Lady Xu cried.
Chen Lu remained with his eyes shut.
Lady Xu reached out a finger to test his breathing, then raised her voice. "Husband?"
Chen Lu's eyelids fluttered, but he still didn't wake. Lady Xu pulled aside his covers. There was a strong stench of medicine coming from Chen Lu's body, but once she undid his clothes, she discovered that he wasn't wounded at all!
"Why isn't Chen Lu waking up yet?" Lou Zigui asked by Ning Xiaoyao's side.
"He will very soon," Ning Xiaoyao was staring fixedly at the scene.
"Chen Lu!" Lady Xu shouted before she shoved the man, who rolled off the bed and crashed head first onto the ground. Outside, the listeners heard Lady Xu's shout and assumed that Great General Chen had passed away. Quickly, some of the Grand Preceptor's men ran off to report the news to their master while the rest followed the doctors into the room. Some of the more clever, quick-witted servants who wanted to curry favor with their superiors were already bursting into tears before they ever entered the room, wailing for the Great General. The rest picked up on the sobs and joined in naturally.
Inside the room, Chen Lu was sitting on the bed with only a nightshirt on, looked at Lady Xu in confusion.
"Great General, ah, sooobbb—" The crying masses immediately stopped at the sight of him sitting up, completely floored by the sight.
"W-why did you come?" Chen Lu asked his wife.
Hearing his voice, many of the spectators were frightened to death. This doesn't look like his last flash of lucidity before impending death! The doctors ran to the bed and nearly crowded Lady Xu to the side. Eyes wide, they stared at Chen Lu and saw his spotless skin and bare thighs. The old wounds there had all disappeared! Some of them even reached out to shove him experimentally. Since Chen Lu was still groggy, he didn't dodge in time and fell sideways from the force. At this, the doctors all saw his bare back, the skin completely whole and free from all signs of injury…
On the roof, Oil Jar murmured to Ning Xiaoyao, "Xiaoyao, quick. Look at Lady Xu."
Ning Xiaoyao glanced over and saw that the woman's eyes were turning red. "Is she getting ready to eat someone whole, or skin them alive?" she muttered back.
Lou Zigui added, "Lady Xu's got a sword on her."
"…." said Ning Xiaoyao. So she's going to hack them instead?!
"How could this be?!" one of the doctor finally shouted. None of the others could speak. They couldn't have all been experiencing the same nightmare, right? That was impossible. Chen Lu sat back up, somewhat back to his senses. When he recalled how he'd been first shot, then sliced by the Lord Protector, he quickly looked down at his body and found the whole situation absurd!
He was perfectly fine without a speck of injury to his skin. Now thoroughly confused, he began to wonder whether he'd dreamed up the murder attempt in the first place.
"Shenyan, ah!" Outside the doors, Grand Preceptor Xie's sorrowful voice floated in. "Shenyan!"
Ning Xiaoyao and Oil Jar both held their breaths. Even Lou Zigui had stopped to fixate on the scene inside the room. Chen Lu opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get a handle on the situation. Even if he wanted to speak, he didn't know what to say.
"Heh," Lady Xu chuckled coldly. Are they taking me for a monkey to be fooled?
"Shenyan, how could you leave just like that? You…" Grand Preceptor Xie was in the throes of lamenting Chen Lu's passing as he hurried into the room when he suddenly stopped at the sight before him.
Just who was the bastard that told me Chen Lu was guaranteed to die?!
Shenyan (慎言) – together this means "discretion in speech." ↩