The Untamed Princess

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Promising Introduction

***

The journey back to the Han capital was entirely uneventful.  Whoever was behind the attack on the prince had clearly run out of options and was now taking a lying low approach for the time being.  Still, even though there was little to occupy the travellers, Weisheng and Ming Yue had spent hardly any time together.

In truth, Weisheng had realised that it had been a little selfish of him to coax Ming Yue into spending the last night of the summit in his pavilion.  Even though all they had done was sleep, in hindsight it would have been better for her to continue recuperating from her injuries in her own tent, without any distractions.

Consequently, he had resolved to leave her be for the duration of the journey home, and he was delighted to see that his self-restraint had been rewarded.  The young woman had now regained all of her former vitality, and Doctor Xiao had assured him that she was not far from a full recovery, although he clearly had lingering questions about Ming Yue's extraordinary healing capabilities.

Now, they were back in the prince's mansion, and Ming Yue and Eunuch Wang were fully occupied in cataloguing all the gifts they had received from Jin while Weisheng made arrangements to report to his father on the successful meeting.

Strangely enough, Luo Jian was absent.  Almost as soon as they had arrived back at the palace, the young man had made his excuses and left to run an errand somewhere in the city.  However, Weisheng did not give too much thought to his whereabouts.  He was entitled to his privacy, after all, and it would be unfair to expect him to be at the prince's side all of the time.

***

Luo Jian was currently stood in the shadow of a building, quietly observing a young woman.  He seemed to be doing a lot of that nowadays, he thought to himself.

It had not been difficult to find her and her brother's clinic.  He had merely returned to the restaurant where he had first seen the pair and asked around from there.  Fortunately, the brother and sister were local to that area and, after only a few inquiries, someone had pointed him in the right direction.

Luo Jian watched as the young woman handed a servant a small packet and gave some instructions for its use.  He was pleased to see that she was warm and friendly, as he had imagined her to be, and she appeared to be confident in her abilities but lacking in anything that could be called arrogance.

As she turned to go back into the building, Luo Jian waited a few moments, then followed her inside.

The large room was clean, but cluttered, with jars and pots everywhere.  Still, it gave off a reassuring scent of medicinal herbs, and Luo Jian felt his hopes begin to rise.  Perhaps, this would not be a wasted trip.

His mind went back to the conversation he had overheard between Ming Yue and Weisheng back at the border, and how utterly distraught his friend had sounded at the time.

Suddenly, he was pulled from his sombre thoughts by a light, pleasant voice.