Lotus in a Bottle - Chapter 14

Section 22

In all my life, the most harrowing thing I’d ever experienced was helping my dog deliver her puppies.

But Tan Lian was bleeding far more than Huniu had back then.

I forced myself to stay calm, gritted my teeth, and hoisted Tan Lian onto my back. Avoiding crowded streets, I carried him to an extremely secluded clinic.

The Assistant Magistrate of Xiangyang County had arranged our current lodgings. I didn’t know whether Gu Nanzhou had planted men in the local government office, but with Tan Lian so badly wounded, I couldn’t risk taking him back there.

Tan Lian and I had stumbled across this clinic during one of our outings a few days ago. Its only physician was a foul-tempered old man with a graying beard.

Despite his temper, all the neighborhood children adored him, so he clearly wasn’t a bad person.

When he saw me carrying in a man drenched in blood, the old physician merely raised an unruffled eyelid and pointed to the narrow bed at the very back.

“Put him there.”

Then he rose at a leisurely pace and shut the clinic’s front door.

I was speechless.

What had this physician been through to handle a situation like this with such practiced ease?

After the old man inserted a row of silver needles, blood finally stopped gushing from Tan Lian’s wound.

Once I had carefully applied medicine to his wound, the old physician pushed a bowl of pitch-black liquid toward me.

“Feed him this. If he can keep it down, he’ll be fine.”

But Tan Lian was still unconscious, so there was obviously no way to feed it to him normally.

The old physician and I stared at each other. He smacked his lips.

“What are you acting shy for? I’ve seen plenty of couples like you. Do I really need to teach you how to feed it to him?”

Tan Lian’s eyes remained tightly shut, with no sign that he would wake anytime soon.

I stroked his face and murmured, “This is all so you’ll recover faster. You’d better not blame me when you wake up, okay?”

Tan Lian’s lashes fluttered slightly. Maybe he had heard me in his dreams, but since he didn’t say anything, I took his silence as consent.

So I stood and politely borrowed a flat silver spoon from the old physician.

Then I shoved it into Tan Lian’s mouth, pried his teeth apart, and poured the medicine through the gap.

The old physician: “…”

Tan Lian, who had silently opened his eyes: “…”

Section 23

Only after I had poured the entire bowl down his throat did I realize that Tan Lian had woken up at some point.

I was overjoyed. “This medicine works that fast?! Sir, would you be willing to sell me the prescription?”

The physician rolled his eyes and walked away. Tan Lian took my hand and muffled a few painful coughs, forcibly drawing my attention back to him.

I hurried to support him. “How are you feeling? Does it hurt? No, of course it hurts… Maybe you should’ve stayed unconscious a little longer. At least then you wouldn’t have suffered as much.”

Tan Lian gazed at me in silence for a long moment, then suddenly raised a hand and touched my face.

“Baoping, don’t be afraid. A wound like this is nothing.”

My hand stiffened around his.

I forced up the corners of my mouth. “I’m not afraid. You’re the one who’s hurt, remember? What do I have to be afraid of? I delivered Huniu’s puppies myself. I’ve seen blood before. This is… This is…”

Tan Lian pinched my face and kneaded it like dough, slowly rubbing away the blood smeared across my skin.

I kept rambling without even knowing what I was saying. Tan Lian showed no trace of impatience, humming in agreement no matter what came out of my mouth.

By the time my mouth went dry, I realized he had pinched my cheeks red.

I pouted. “Tan Lian, I miss home.”

My family were merely merchants. Everyone in the Xie Family cherished their lives so much that we wouldn’t even sell weapons like swords or sabers. This was the closest I’d ever come to death.

But as long as I remained beside Tan Lian, this would surely happen again.

Tan Lian didn’t understand what I meant. “Then we’ll leave for the capital tomorrow. If you’re frightened, we can transfer more guards to our residence once we return.”

I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I meant I wanted to return to the Xie Family.

“Tomorrow won’t do. There’s no need to rush.” I glanced at the wound on his shoulder. “We should at least wait until your wound has healed some more.”

Otherwise, a few jolts on horseback would render all the medicine he’d taken today pointless.

Naturally, Tan Lian had no objections. He said we would do whatever I wanted.

While he recuperated, we stayed at the old physician’s clinic. The conditions were rather rough, but at least we felt safe there.

Tan Lian never asked why I was afraid to return to our lodgings, just as he had never asked why I’d cursed Gu Nanzhou out that day.

I’d considered telling him everything, but each time the words reached my lips, I silently swallowed them again.

What good would it do? Tan Lian was technically still Gu Nanzhou’s subordinate. Telling him would accomplish nothing except make him worry alongside me.

All I could do was endure it.

But… why should I have to?

Why did Gu Nanzhou get to act without restraint and treat human lives like weeds? Just because I’d taken the place at Tan Lian’s side, he could openly send people to kill me?

In a romance novel, he might have been the wickedly charming, wildly arrogant second male lead whose love ran deep. In real life, I found him revolting.

Meanwhile, Tan Lian remained completely oblivious to all those covetous gazes. Surrounded by wolves in a mire of filth, the White Lotus continued to exude his enticing fragrance, blissfully unaware of the danger.

I pursed my lips and stared at the man before me, who found the medicine too bitter and stubbornly refused to open his mouth.

“Just one teeny sip.”

Of course, after that sip came “one more,” “the last one,” “this really is the last one,” and “the last last one.”

Tan Lian looked at the pitch-black medicine, raised his eyes to my lips, and then lowered them to the medicine again. He repeated this several times, making his hint painfully obvious.

As if talking to himself, he murmured, “The medicine is so bitter. If only I had something sweet to balance it out.”

I remembered that the old physician had some sugar.

But I didn’t go and get it.

At that highly inappropriate moment, I thought of Gu Nanzhou.

I remembered all the gossip on my wedding day, the trouble I’d faced at Fengguo Temple and the Princess Royal’s Manor, and everyone saying I wasn’t worthy of Tan Lian. Then I remembered that lonely figure from my dream.

I lifted the bowl and took a mouthful of medicine. Then I gripped Tan Lian’s chin and kissed him.

Fuck them all.

He was my husband. We had bowed to Heaven and Earth and were lawfully wed. Why should I surrender him to those vile bastards?

I wouldn’t.