The Untamed Princess

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Tearful Apology

Luo Jian had been too far away to hear what the two young people were saying to each other, but close enough to understand that their interaction was by no means one which could be easily explained.

Perhaps the crown prince had been making advances towards Ming Yue.  After all, both young men from Jin had seemed overly interested in her over the last few days.  And it had been Prince Wang Wei who had initiated the brief embrace that he had just witnessed.  Still, Ming Yue had not seemed particularly offended by the impertinence.

Try as he might, Luo Jian simply could not make sense of it.  The only thing he was clear on was that it was not the right time to tell Weisheng about it.  Ultimately, all he had seen was a personal interaction between two people, and he had no reason to doubt Ming Yue's loyalty and devotion to the prince.  She had shown it time and time again with the sacrifices she had made for him.

Still, Weisheng tended to lose his head when it came to matters regarding the woman, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't adjust his attitude towards the Jin crown prince in such a way as to cause significant offence if he knew what had just transpired.  No, it was best to say nothing at all at the present time.

Having made his decision, Luo Jian made his way back towards Weisheng's tent.

Ming Yue walked into her tent, feeling exhausted and a little dizzy.  The wound on her back was throbbing from when Wang Wei had unknowingly pressed against it when he hugged her, and the pain now radiated towards her neck.  But before she could even sit down to rest, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Tell me, do you ignore everything I say?  I distinctly remember ordering you to rest more often."

She turned, and any further thought of scolding the woman immediately disappeared from Weisheng's mind when he saw her face.  He rushed forward and took her by the arms, helping her down onto the bed. He pulled off her boots and gently pushed her down until she was lying flat.  She winced in pain and, equally gently, he repositioned her so that she was now lying on her right side.

"It's okay," she said.  "I just bumped against something earlier."

"Let me look at it."  He reached forward, but she moved a hand up in protest.

"I have to check," he said, insistently.  "The wound might have reopened."

Accepting defeat, she lowered her hand.

Weisheng reached for the material of her dress and pulled on it, exposing her left shoulder and back.  He leaned over her and looked carefully at the dressing, but there was no sign of any blood.  He ran his hands over the edges of it, to make sure that it was still securely in place.  Ming Yue lay completely still, fully aware of the intimacy of their current position, but the prince appeared to be thoroughly focussed on his task.

Finally satisfied that no lasting harm had been done, he went to pull Ming Yue's dress back to its original place.  But, as he did so, he caught sight of a mark just above her collarbone and his hand jerked involuntarily.  Raising his other hand, he gently traced his fingers over the scar his brother had left on the woman just a few months earlier.