The Little Consort's
Eps. 8: Sewing Wounds

"Sonly Eunuch's brother!"

A eunuch? Inner Wang Tianshi shouted loudly. It's really incredible. This was the first time he had seen a woman regard her king as a palace eunuch. Most of the women here had always adored him, thinking of him as a god. But here, in a corner of Xingyue Palace that was rarely touched by others, this woman instead acted impolite even lowering her king's degree to the level of a eunuch. A truly brave woman!

Li Anlan helped lift Long Ji Man's body which was covered in incision wounds on his upper arm and shoulder to Xingyue Palace. Since it was already very dark and the guards had been drugged and tied up in the backyard, the three people could freely enter without anyone watching.

Long Ji Man was laid in Li Anlan's bed. Li Anlan took her P3K box from the drawer. Wang Tianshi looked at the woman as if asking what was in Li Anlan's hands. Li Anlan signaled that the object in his hand was not something important to discuss in an emergency situation like this. Saving Long Ji Man's life was more important.

The woman then told Wang Tianshi to help her undress Long Ji Man so that first aid could be done freely. Panicking, Wang Tianshi instantly tore off the clothes Long Ji Man was wearing without thinking of the consequences.

"Take him, keep him conscious!"

Long Ji Man let out a stifled scream as a clear and cold liquid touched his wound. Perih, the liquid makes the wound more painful. His entire wound was opened like being doused in salt water.

Li Anlan cleaned the wounds on Long Ji Man's upper arm and shoulder thoroughly. He knew Long Ji Man was restraining himself from shouting out loud. Men have too much self-esteem. They always refused to make a sound when treated like this because her image would drop like a woman.

Finished cleaning the wound, Li Anlan took out a needle and thread. He told her that this might hurt a little, so Li Anlan allowed Long Ji Man to shout as loudly as possible.

Li Anlan sewed a tear wound on Long Ji Man's shoulder. The man stomped for a moment each time the needle and thread in Li Anlan's hand pierced and rubbed his skin. Long Ji Man chose not to scream until he just let out a stifled moan.

About half an hour later, all the tears on Long Ji Man's shoulder had already been sewn up. Li Anlan again cleaned the blood dripping from Long Ji Man's body with a clean cloth. After that, he bandaged the wound and stitched Long Ji Man with cotton that had been smeared with betadine liquid, and attached it with plaster. The wounds covered in cotton were then wrapped in gauze.

"What water did you use to clean those wounds?"

"Alhcohol."

"If this?"

Wang Tianshi held the bottle of betadine that Li Anlan had just used.

"Ruby."

Wang Tianshi had no idea what technique Li Anlan had used to treat Long Ji Man. Ever since the woman cleaned Long Ji Man's wounds with a strange clear liquid, Wang Tianshi was already unable to turn his attention to anything else anymore. He watched with his own eyes every action Li Anlan took.

"It's a good thing that he didn't lose much blood" Li Anlan said as he tidied up his belongings and stuffed them back into his P3K box. The woman shrank the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Why is he unconscious?"

"The wound just finished stitching. He just fell asleep from exhaustion."

Li Anlan put her P3K box back into the table drawer. The woman then took a straw broom that she made herself to clean the scarred cotton swabs that were scattered on the floor of her room. He also cleaned the blood that was splattered with a mop.

Seeing Li Anlan doing everything by herself, Wang Tianshi could not hide her admiration. The woman of this king is so independent. She did not even call a servant to help her, even though her status was that of a concubine of the king.

The woman also did not complain when she saw so much blood splattered on the floor of her room. On the contrary, Li Anlan actually considered all of that as a matter of course.

"I will take a change of clothes for him," Wang Tianshi said after being satisfied to admire Li Anlan. Li Anlan replied with a small nod. In an instant, Wang Tianshi was already lost in the darkness of the night.

Li Anlan thought, why would a eunuch like Long Ji Man be able to get that wound? Did he offend someone so much that he sent criminals to attack him? But, what advantage did he get after killing a eunuch?

In a matter of an hour later, Wang Tianshi returned with a set of sleeping clothes. The man understood the situation that Li Anlan had yet to know Long Ji Man's true identity. So, he only carried ordinary nightgowns, not a king's nightgown that Long Ji Man used to wear.

Li Anlan turned her body around when Wang Tianshi helped Long Ji Man change clothes. For twenty-three years of his life in the modern world and in this world, he had not been used to seeing the whole body of a man. Li Anlan only dared to look at Long Ji Man after Wang Tianshi told him that he had finished changing into Long Ji Man's clothes.

"I'll leave my friend here."

"Is this eunuch really important to you?"

And to you as well, Wang Tianshi nodded with the voice of his heart.

"Wait a minute!"

"What else?"

Li Anlan handed over some medicinal caplets of thrush to Wang Tianshi.

"Drink twice a day. The disease in your mouth will surely disappear soon."

After which, Wang Tianshi jumped through the window. It was fortunate that the window was open, so Li Anlan did not need to fix it because the window had not been torn through by Wang Tianshi.

At midnight, Long Ji Man's consciousness slowly recovered. His open eyes stared at the foreign mosquito net he had never seen. For a moment, he digested everything that had happened to him. A flash of memory of his fight with three intruders on the shore of Houchi Lake flashed back through his brain.

Long Ji Man clenched his hands in anger. The pain spread throughout his body as his nerves stiffened. Long Ji Man touched his right shoulder with his left hand then stared at his entire lying body. His clothes were no longer the eunuch clothes he had used during the fight earlier.

Long Ji Man felt something heavy overlap his right hand. As soon as he turned his head, he found the head of a woman sleeping in a sitting position on the side of the bed where she lay.

The woman's face was the one she had often met in her disguise as a eunuch a few nights ago. If that woman was here, then Long Ji Man was inside Xingyue Palace, Li Anlan's residence palace.

Slowly, Long Ji Man began to recall the times when he was in a semi-conscious state. As he endured the pain the injuries inflicted, he heard the voices of Li Anlan and Wang Tianshi. He also heard Li Anlan say some strange words that he had never heard. It was certain that it was Li Anlan who gave him help and treated his injuries.

Long Ji Man had no intention of interrupting Li Anlan's sleep. Li Anlan's tired face that was asleep made Long Ji Man have a desire that he had never had. He wanted to touch the woman's face. He wanted to touch the face that was poking out from within Lake Houchi with a bloody forehead. Long Ji Man wanted to touch the face of the woman he first met in that unusual condition.

Long Ji Man's left hand slowly reached towards Li Anlan's head. The man touched Li Anlan's face hesitantly. Realizing something that was beyond his usual, Long Ji Man immediately pulled his hand back.

"Burning sweet acid...."

The corner of Long Ji Man's lips lifted. At such times, this woman still had time to dream of good food and delirious. Long Ji Man closed his eyes. He hoped that this night would soon pass so that he could return to Hongwu Palace as soon as possible before the entire people in this palace woke up.

...***...

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