The courtyard had been left in disarray by the two of them. Zhang Ting’an steadied himself on one hand and knelt half-upright on the ground, unable to gather his senses for a long while.
Chen Baoxiang moved to help him up.
But someone suddenly appeared outside the moon gate, speaking in disbelief: “What happened?”
Chen Baoxiang looked up.
Having bathed, the Great Immortal had changed into a moonlit flowing-cloud robe, its wide sleeves rippling in the night breeze — the very image of an immortal descended from the heavens.
He strode quickly in her direction, and those habitually serene eyes revealed something rare: urgency.
“I’m fine.” She grinned and instinctively reached her hand out toward him. “Just now, your elder brother and I—”
“Elder Brother!” The moonlit figure swept past her side and rushed to help the man on the ground.
Chen Baoxiang froze.
Her outstretched hands drew back awkwardly. She turned her head and saw Zhang Zhixu gripping Zhang Ting’an by the elbow, catching with astonishment the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, then lifting his gaze to look at her in stunned bewilderment.
Meeting his eyes, she explained, somewhat dazed: “We were sparring.”
“What kind of sparring requires such heavy-handed blows?” He frowned.
The tips of Chen Baoxiang’s fingers, pressed against the ground, curled in slightly.
“Second Brother, it was Elder Brother who proposed this sparring match.” Yinyue tugged at his sleeve. “Baoxiang Sister is injured too.”
Zhang Zhixu startled, his heart tightening, and immediately reached out to check Chen Baoxiang’s arm.
“I’m fine.” Chen Baoxiang quickly moved away from him. “Have the physician see your elder brother first — I’m alright over here, but he’s coughing up blood.”
“And the one who was beaten inside — have the physician see him too.”
Zhang Yinyue’s face went pale and she immediately ran toward the side chamber. Zhang Zhixu also collected himself, hoisted his elder brother onto his back and went to find a bed for him.
Chen Baoxiang took a deep breath, set down the meteor hammers, and slowly made her way toward the room.
With a ringing in his ears, Zhang Ting’an gripped the bedframe and it was quite some time before his vision finally cleared.
He exhaled heavily and turned his head to look beside him.
“Elder Brother?” Zhang Zhixu frowned at him.
He said with irritation: “You have quite the timing — showing up precisely when I’m at my most embarrassing.”
“Baoxiang didn’t do it on purpose.” Zhang Zhixu pressed his lips together. “She was simply born with exceptional strength, and doesn’t know how to hold back.”
Zhang Ting’an snorted and coughed twice, then looked over at Chen Baoxiang, who had drawn herself into a corner: “You.”
“Please forgive me, General.” Chen Baoxiang pulled her neck in. “I was wrong — I truly know I was wrong.”
“What I want to ask is this.” Zhang Ting’an said, none too pleased. “Who is the master teaching you your boxing at the Military Affairs Bureau?”
“I have no formal master.” Chen Baoxiang lowered her head. “I follow along whenever someone is taking on disciples to pick up what I can. Occasionally, when Senior Official Xu Buran has time, he teaches me a move or two as well.”
“No wonder it’s all street-learned tricks.” Zhang Ting’an snorted coldly, but his expression softened somewhat. “One of these days I’ll find you a proper master. Study under them properly — you might actually amount to something.”
Chen Baoxiang was dumbfounded.
She had beaten the man to this state, yet he bore no grudge and was even going to find her a master?
“Elder Brother has always had a deep appreciation for talent.” Zhang Zhixu said quietly. “Are you not going to thank Elder Brother?”
“Many thanks, General.” She obediently cupped her hands in a bow.
“Go see the physician next door as well. I showed no mercy just now.”
“Very well.” Chen Baoxiang rose.
Zhang Zhixu also stood to follow, intending to check on her injuries, but his elder brother said: “You stay — I have more to ask you.”
Chen Baoxiang slipped out quickly without a backward glance.
Zhang Zhixu watched her retreating figure, and the crease between his brows deepened again.
“What’s the matter — worried?” Zhang Ting’an leaned himself upright against the headboard and glanced at him twice. “That’s rather unusual.”
“Elder Brother doesn’t know her.” He pressed his lips together. “That woman — when she’s injured, she suffers terribly.”
Now that was the sort of thing one would least expect to hear from him.
Zhang Ting’an found it hard to believe: “These past few years I’ve been away from Shangjing — did something drastic happen to you?”
“Nothing did.”
“Then how did you come to take in such a woman as your mistress?”
Zhang Zhixu was caught between laughter and tears: “Who said she was my mistress?”
“She isn’t?”
“She’s a records clerk in the Military Affairs Bureau. She truly had nowhere to stay, so I took her in.”
Even their deflecting answers were word-for-word identical — they had most certainly coordinated their story.
Zhang Ting’an cast a glance at the wall of the room and suddenly asked: “So you don’t have feelings for her?”
Zhang Zhixu paused.
What would it feel like to have feelings for someone?
Like the way Chen Baoxiang felt about Pei Ruheng?
The moment he thought of all the foolish things Chen Baoxiang had done in front of Pei Ruheng, Zhang Zhixu’s face darkened and he shook his head repeatedly.
“Truly no feelings?” Zhang Ting’an raised an eyebrow. “If there are none, so be it — but why does your expression look so thoroughly disdainful? If the young lady were to see that, she’d likely be hurt.”
“There’s no hurt or anything of the sort. Elder Brother, I haven’t thought that far.” Zhang Zhixu produced an imperial memorial. “What I’m thinking about now is only this case. I respectfully ask Elder Brother to help file the complaint.”
Zhang Ting’an took the memorial and began reading it over, while Zhang Zhixu beside him started explaining the entire sequence of events.
When Yinyue came back from Zhang Xilai’s side, she found Chen Baoxiang sitting alone against the wall, lost in thought.
A maidservant stood in the room, and upon seeing Yinyue enter, quickly made way. Yinyue looked on with puzzlement, just about to ask why no physician had been called, when she heard the voices of her elder brother and second brother drifting clearly from the next room.
This room…
Zhang Yinyue realized and hurriedly helped Chen Baoxiang up and guided her away.
Only after rounding several corridors and putting a good distance between them did she speak, her voice indignant: “Baoxiang Sister, don’t pay any mind to my elder brother — he simply doesn’t want you and Second Brother to be together.”
Chen Baoxiang rubbed her aching shoulder with a pained smile: “Understandable. I haven’t taken it to heart.”
“That’s all the better for it.” Yinyue exhaled with relief, and explained as they walked: “My grandmother’s branch of the family descended from the nobility of a minor country. They kept to that small country’s old customs — forbidding men and women from meeting alone or exchanging things, and absolutely forbidding any contact without a proper name and title. Elder Brother was raised by our grandmother from a young age, and being immersed in that environment, he also became quite rigid and old-fashioned in his ways.”
“So you see — the moment he came back, Zhang Xilai had to be beaten. If you hadn’t arrived quickly today, he truly might have beaten the young man to death.”
“Didn’t you say that Young Official Zhang was raised by your elder brother?”
“He was.” Yinyue deflated somewhat. “To be fair, Elder Brother never mistreated Zhang Xilai. Food, clothing, schooling at a private academy — everything he had was no different from the legitimate young masters of the household. On Zhang Xilai’s thirteenth birthday, Elder Brother even made the journey back from Ximing, traveling day and night, just to make him a bowl of longevity noodles.”
Chen Baoxiang grew more confused the more she listened: “Doesn’t that mean the relationship is quite good?”
“It is quite good — but the moment anything involving me comes up, Elder Brother seems to become a different person entirely.” Yinyue sighed. “I still don’t understand why Elder Brother refuses to let Zhang Xilai be close with me. We’re family too — what reputation could possibly be ruined by going out together?”