She lowered her head and said this, her expression as calm and undisturbed as ever, yet she never once looked into his eyes.
Pei Yunng lowered his gaze to watch her movents.
Lu Tong cleaned his arm wound with a handkerchief. The assassin’s blow hadn’t been deep; he had dodged just in ti. She took a dicine bottle and applied the ointnt on his wound, then chose a clean white cloth to bandage him.
Throughout the process, neither of them spoke; outside the window, the snowfall was silent, occasionally broken by the crisp snapping of branches under the weight of the heavy snow.
In the quiet, Lu Tong felt that penetrating gaze resting on her, intense and impossible to ignore.
There was no brazier burning in the room. Shengjing was short on supplies, and heating materials were prioritized for the Plague Hospital and the people of Shengjing. Although it was the cold heart of winter, Lu Tong felt her cheeks growing warm.
"Since my arrival in Shengjing, you’ve been avoiding ,"
Pei Yunng’s voice ca from above her head.
"What are you afraid of, thinking I would cling to you forever?"
Lu Tong was startled, looked up, and t his gaze.
His tone was light, his expression indifferent, his handso face lacking the usual humor and warmth. Lin Danqing had asked her privately several tis if anything undisclosed had happened between her and Pei Yunng, which might explain why this reunion seed especially distant.
She deliberately avoided Pei Yunng, and he did not attempt to get closer, maintaining an indifferent distance like two acquaintances who didn’t know each other well.
Lu Tong didn’t answer his question, but asked instead, "Why send soone to protect in Shengjing?"
He looked at her for a mont and then averted his gaze, "A matter of convenience."
"It was because of that you missed the chance to take revenge on Qi Qing personally," he said, "so I should take full responsibility."
Lu Tong remained silent.
He always made these matters seem light and easy.
Lu Tong’s eyes fell again to the wound on his chest: "Is this wound from Qi Shui?"
His body had accumulated many scars, fresh and ferocious, alongside that crude and naive cut from years ago, all leaving marks on the body of a cheetah.
Pei Yunng glanced at it and replied with little concern, "It’s almost healed."
Lu Tong lowered her head.
She had heard from Cai Fang and Li Wenhu about Pei Yunng’s imposing presence in quelling the rebellion at Qi Shui. They praised his bravery and skill in battle in front of the dical Officers countless tis, but Lu Tong knew that the Rebel Army in Qi Shui had been a scourge for a long ti, and previous attempts to quell it had not gone smoothly; it mustn’t have been easy.
From what she could see, it must have been very difficult.
Pei Yunng looked down at her for a mont, then suddenly asked, "Are you worried about ?"
Before Lu Tong could respond, he continued lightly, "In what capacity are you worried? As a dical Officer, or sothing else?"
Lu Tong felt a tightening in her throat.
Clinging to the cloth, she felt as if she’d been seen through and couldn’t stay a mont longer; if she did, his cleverness might reveal what she was hiding.
She stood up and placed the dicine bottle on the table.
"Your wound is bandaged now; I’ll leave the ointnt here. Change it again tonight," she said, "I will bring so soup dicine later."
Having said that, she bent down to pick up the water basin from the table and headed for the door.
Pei Yunng watched Lu Tong.
Her voice was calm, but her steps were frantic and disordered.
Lu Tong had lost a lot of weight since her ti in Shengjing, perhaps due to the toil of fighting the epidemic. Her already slender fra seed frailer, her complexion pallid. The grey cotton robe made her look like a small animal about to freeze stiff, about to succumb to a long sleep amidst this cold and cruel snowstorm.
Sothing stirred in him, and he couldn’t help but call out, "Lu Tong."
She stopped, "What else do you require, Lord Pei?"
The whistling snow and the vast, chill winds outside brought a sobering coldness.
After looking at her for a long ti, he said, "It’s nothing."
...
Lu Tong returned to her lodging.
In the dicine basket on the table, the unfinished herbal pouches had already been taken away. The room was empty; she sat down by the window.
The window overlooked the courtyard, where amidst the swirling snow, one could vaguely discern the silhouette of Luoi Peak, and within the cold forest, glimpses of bright red.
Lu Tong was slightly distracted.
The Red Plum blossoms of Luoi Peak were always spectacular, blooming more intensely against the snow, capturing the gaze with their rich hue. In the past, she would sit under the tree, emulating Lady Yun, finding serenity as the plum blossoms seed to ease even the most troubled mind.
Today, however, she couldn’t find peace.
So things, it seed, couldn’t be controlled as completely as one might think, nor could they be cleanly cut away with a single stroke. They were like endless strands of willow, breaking only to grow anew, without end.
Suddenly, an itch arose in her nostrils, as if tiny insects were wriggling out.
Lin Danqing, carrying a dicine chest, entered from outside and smiled, "The snow is light today, and the soup dicine Marshal Pei sent is not bad. I just went to the Plague Hospital to look, and everyone seems much more spirited. We can have so later too... "
"Clang—" a sound.
Lin Danqing dropped his dicine chest in shock, "Younger Sister Lu, why are you having a nosebleed!"
Lu Tong looked down in bewildernt, taken aback.
Bright crimson, the glaring red began to drip from the tip of her nose.
One drop, and then another.
Like the vivid blooms of the Red Plum at Luoi Peak, their delicate crimson gradually spreading across her clothing.
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