Water Mirrored Moon - 水鏡月

Part III - Beloved of the Seventh Prince: 49. Fever

It was already mid-morning when the Eldest Prince was startled awake by the sound of a knock and then the door abruptly sliding open. His personal attendant Tao entered the study with a tray of tea and a single bowl of medicinal soup. Tao paused for a moment taking in the sight of his dishevelled half-dressed master and then set the tray down.

Without a word, Tao helped him to sit himself up. After kneading his shoulders to loosen the knotted neck muscles, he placed a fragrant and steaming cup on the desk in front of his disordered master.

Zhao Ling Ye sighed and covered his face with his long slender fingers. His head still ached from the bloody candle of the night before, but perhaps his heart ached more. He didn't touch the tea and instead held out his hand for the bowl without uncovering his eyes. Tao obliged him and the master downed the bitter medicine without making his normal grimace.

Tao regarded his master balefully as the man slumped forward.

"Don't scold me Tao," the deeply elegant baritone sounded from behind a curtain of silver hair. "I don't have patience for it."

"Master...do you want me to prepare the bath?" the young man asked. The Eldest Prince was about to agree, but there was something about the way Tao was standing and looking off to the side that sent a trickle of fear down his spine.

"Is there something else?" he demanded.

After a pause, the young man took a breath.

"Master...the Young Mistress has fallen ill," Tao said quietly.

The Eldest Prince stood up immediately, his open robes flapping, and Tao followed him as he hurried down the corridor to the bed chamber.

Slamming the doors open, the Prince strode into the room and saw that the maids were already mopping Cui Xi's brow with cool cloths. He reached down to touch her forehead and instantly jerked back. His face darkened in anger, turning to glare at the maids. They stepped back in fright, eyes wide. The look on the master's face...

"Why was I not informed immediately?" he asked, his quiet voice whipping through them like a frigid wind.

Cui Xi's forehead was burning, but he could see that she was shivering under the blankets and moving restlessly in her sleep. Her tossing had caused the blanket to slide down and he noticed that her upper arms where bruised where he had tried to hold her down. This made him angrier.

"Master, before you say anything else, they didn't want to trouble you after...after last night. It's just a fever...The maids called her several times, but she didn't wake. It's an after effect of being drugged, poisoned, and running half naked and wounded through the garden...We have already called Doctor Yang to see her," explained Tao very quickly in an undertone.

Seeing that his master was not appeased, Tao, who knew about medicine and poison, reached out in an unconsciously intimate way to pull his Master's robe closed and said:

"I did everything I could for her...it's just that fatigue and emotional upheaval have caused a huge imbalance...she'll be fine after rest, but I wanted to be sure it wasn't residual poison. Calling Doctor Yang is just a precaution."