Jinshi and Maomao Short Stories Collection

Stay with me! Part 3

I thought this would be a rather short chapter, but nope, haha!

Eventually, the next morning had arrived and chased the darkness away by leading the sun back to the sky, allowing it to shine through the windows of Jinshi's residence. Its light entered the room of a certain apothecary and fell on a figure lying on her bed.

Bothered by the bright sun shining directly into his eyes, the young noble, who was still lying on his stomach, started to stir and groan in annoyance.

“Urgh…”

Jinshi sleepily opened his eyes and rubbed them, letting out a yawn. Then he lifted his upper body, propping himself up on his elbows, and looked around in slight confusion, not understanding where he was at first.

A few seconds passed, before he remembered in whose room he was and how he had gotten there the previous night in the first place.

“I… really fell asleep here,” he thought and ran his hand over the apothecary's pillow his face had been pressed against just a mere few minutes ago, staring at it as if he couldn't believe that fact himself. His cheeks turned a shade of pink. “I really did.”

But then another, more urgent matter came to his mind, making him widen his eyes and basically jump out of the bed, completely forgetting his awkwardness and bewilderment.

Maomao! He had to go check on her, to see whether she had finally woken up! Quick! There was no time to waste!

Focusing his thoughts on the apothecary alone, the young lord didn't even notice that he wasn't wearing any shoes and was, indeed, about to run out of the room just like that, barefoot.

But before he could do something as unseemly of his position as that, he saw the door open and his aide step inside.

“Are you awake, sir?” Gaoshun asked, as if having his lord sleep in his maid’s bed was the most normal thing in the world.

Jinshi stared at him, dumbfounded, thinking about the right words to explain the situation, but it seemed as if that wasn't needed. To his surprise, Gaoshun didn't mention it at all.

“I have some news from Suiren for you.”

And the worry was immediately back again.

The young noble almost threw himself at him, grabbing him by the arms and giving him a desperate look, as if his own life depended on the other's words.

“What is it!? Is the apothecary awake!? Has something happened during the night!? How is she!?”

“Please calm down, sir. No, nothing happened, and yes, Xiaomao has just woken up. According to Suiren, she is alright.”

Jinshi let go of him, feeling his agitated heartbeat and breathing calm down as soon as these words reached his ears.

A huge smile appeared on his face, as he stood there, beside himself from joy.

“Basen will arrive shortly, as well,” Gaoshun continued informing him. “And then we can go and interrogate Xiaomao about how she managed to find out what would happen during the ritual.”

Jinshi snapped out of his relief and happiness and cast him a slightly doubtful gaze, arching an eyebrow.

“So soon? Shouldn’t we be a bit more considerate? She just woke up after having received a blow to her head, after all.”

He really didn't want to burden Maomao with such things right after her awakening, even if she really was fine.

“I’m afraid we can't afford to do that in this case, sir.” According to Gaoshun's expressions, the aide regretted that fact as well. “That was an assassination attempt on a member of the imperial family, hence it’s vital to gather all the information we can and investigate the matter.”