Chapter 24: Asking for a lady's name
Zhao Xing lay in bed, the inconsistent images she saw transformed into a dream, or rather some memories she didn't want to recall, that made her wish she had the ability to stop it, or wake up, presently she didn't know if she had fainted or was just asleep.
"It's just a business trip, Dad won't be gone for long." In her dream she saw someone she hadn't dreamt about in a long time.
"But I also want to go with you, you always go alone, I'm just afraid you'd be lonely, I'm being kind, appreciate it."
"Humph! She's just worried, if you insist on coaxing her it's not going to work, you'd be late to catch your flight." Mrs. Zhao said as she brought her husband's coat.
"Baby, don't worry, dad will be back soon, I've always kept my promise, right?"
Zhao Xing remembered this scene, it was four years ago. Her father was going on a trip, but his birthday was coming up soon, and she had prepared a surprise for him, but his trip would take two weeks, and his birthday would have passed by the time he was back.
But after begging him to stay, he had told her that it was important, and that he couldn't miss it. But she still insisted and even wanted to follow him. She had even asked to at least follow him to the airport. But her mother wouldn't let her.
Who would have known that would be the last time she'd see him?
Zhao Xing felt her so much pain in her heart. She didn't want to see this. Tears streamed down, wetting the pillow in the process.
"Grand Tutor?" Nuo Nuo was by her side at the time, and saw that her mistress was crying. She approached her and felt for her temperature.
'She's burning'
The Crown Prince was in the study and rushed to the side room when he heard Nuo Nuo call out to her mistress.
"What happened?" He asked as he stood at the door, refraining from entering.
"Master, Grand Tutor has a fever."
"??"
'Didn't the physician say she just needed rest and she'd be fine?' Zhang Zhengyang thought.
Lan'er had just entered the study to deliver freshly brewed medicine on a tray. Zhang Zhengyang turned to her, and collected the bowl of medicine from the tray, "Go send for the physician."
Lan'er's eyes widened a little as she wondered what had happened for the prince to summon the physician again. But she bowed and said "Yes" before quickly leaving.
He then asked Nuo Nuo to collect the medicine and feed it to her mistress.
He had been busy with work, but now that he had been distracted, he didn't want to continue, and stood at the door, neither going in nor leaving.
The physician came again, told them what to do and left. Zhang Zhengyang who had never been in such situation before, was restless.
Zhao Xing didn't wake up until three days later.
During those three days, her body had slowly loosened and wasn't as stiff as it was. It became easier to feed her medicine. The dreams had ended and she had been able to sleep soundly.
That day she felt hot and uncomfortable. She slowly opened her eyes, the sun was shining through the window. She could feel the warm breeze on her face but she was really hot.
She looked around and saw she was in an unfamiliar room.
'Where did I land this time?' She thought.
She tried to get up or even move a bit but she felt she didn't have the strength to do so.
'Heavens, what has happened to me?'
She felt a bit muddled and couldn't process a lot of things, like where she was, what time it was, but she slowly began to regain herself.
'Am I at the Crown Prince's manor?'
She tried to open her mouth and speak, "Ah…" Her voice came out very hoarse and weak.
She suddenly felt frustrated. What had happened to her? This wasn't even her room if she remembered correctly. It even had the scent of the Crown Prince. Where exactly was she, and what was she doing here?
She had only said an incomprehensive syllable and she already felt out of breath.
"Zh…Zhang Zhengyang…" She heard some movements and attempted to call the only person she felt could be close by at the moment. But her voice was too soft, and she didn't believe she even herself could hear it.
She struggled to move her hands, in the end she managed to turn to lie on her side, the consequences of this was that she was breathless and ended up sweating even more. She didn't dare sit up, when she tried she felt lightheaded.
She moved her body a bit to the edge of her bed.
'Even Nuo Nuo and Lan'er aren't here.' She inwardly shed tears.
'What will I achieve doing this?' She thought. She was already feeling dizzy. But she still pushed herself. She didn't know how else she could get the attention of whoever was outside.
There was a loud 'Bump' coming from the room, the sound startled Zhang Zhengyang who had come to take a few documents. These few days for convenience he didn't stay in the study anymore, and moved to his main quarters. He'd visit Zhao Xing every day, then proceed to work, so there were a lot of his documents that he still left there.
He quickly rushed to the room, not caring if it was appropriate or not for him to do so, and found Zhao Xing on the floor.
On the other hand, the young girl who had achieved her goal, smiled dumbly as she stared at her 'savior' who had just arrived.
"Grand Tutor!" He rushed to her side and helped her get back in bed.
"Aiya, don't…I don't want to lie down…here it's so hot!" She said.
Zhang Zhengyang couldn't hear her properly and could only heard a few words 'don't' and 'hot'.
"Grand Tutor has to lie down, you're still weak. How can you treat yourself like this? If you want anything can't you call for someone?" He said as he awkwardly tucked her in.
Zhao Xing stared at him as if he was stupid. Her maids weren't anywhere in sight, She couldn't even call out to them even if they were here, her throat was dry, and her voice was soft and dry, how would humans hear her?
It was only after he had spoken that he realized his mistake, seeing her look at him like that he was a bit embarrassed.
He raised his hands to touch her forehead. Her fever had gone down. He felt relieved.
Seeing his actions Zhao Xing wanted to know what happened to her, but before she could ask, someone already started to speak. "You have been unconscious for a few days, do you know how you worried this prince?"
'Unconscious, for a few days?'
"Water…" She'd hear more about it later, right now it'd be better to drink something first.
Zhang Zhengyang seemed to have heard her, and quickly went to the table, poured her a cup, and gave her to drink.
Zhao Xing saw his awkward actions and wanted to laugh, though she refrained from doing so, lest it hurt her very dry lips.
'Right, just drink your water first, we can laugh later.'
"Thank you." She said after drinking, but couldn't stop herself from smiling.
"What?" Zhang Zhengyang asked when he saw her smile.
"The crown prince is really bad at serving people." Her remark was a slap on his face, but he didn't say anything. He had indeed never needed to actually serve anyone, he just needed to supervise, and that was that.
He didn't get angry, right at this moment he felt relieved. The manor had been really gloomy, the time she had been unconscious. She had just woken up and it already felt as if the clouds had departed and the sun could shine again.
He wondered, 'Was this manor originally that silent and gloomy?'
Well, it probably was since his ninth brother who liked lively places had always complained about it.
"So what happened to me?" Her voice a bit clearer now, at least audible.
"You suddenly went unconscious, startling everyone." He briefly explained what had happened.
"How? Why?" She asked in confusion.
"The physician said it was because of stress." He didn't want her to know, he was sure she was going to blame him. But he couldn't lie to her either.
And indeed, Zhao Xing stared at him with eyes that said 'you're the culprit.'
He placed the cup back at its place, and returned to her side. He sat on the stool by the bed, and asked the question he had promised himself to ask once she had woken up.
"Grand Tutor has never told me your name."
"Huh?"
The Crown Prince asked again, "Grand Tutor knows my name, but I don't know yours, don't you think it's unfair?"
Zhao Xing stared blankly into space. 'Right, I didn't tell him my name…'
She turned to him. Well, she did know his name…she might as well let him know hers. "I'm surnamed Zhao, my name is Xing." She said with a bright smile.
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