บท 21: Being a Wingman
"Yao Lingyan, let me explain."
Before he could give a proper explanation, a chair was thrown at him.
*Wham*
He blocked the chair with both his hands, and it shattered midair. Bits of wood flew about in the air and Yi Gui rushed to shelter the waitress next to Chu Fan.
He made eye contact with the frail looking girl and she looked up at him. Yi Gui and Ling Er locked eyes and stood their as the world, seemed to slow down. All surrounding commotions disappeared; nothing else existed except them.
Chu Fan tapped Yi Gui's shoulder.
"Yi Gui, you sort of have a splinter in you."
He pointed at a sizable shard of wood lodged in Yi Gui's head; which he lightly tapped.
The sharp pain ran through Yi Gui's body. A stream of blood ran over his eyes, turning his vision red in one eye.
"Ah! It hurts so much! Somebody call a physician!"
Chu Fan looked at Yao Lingyan with a serious look on his face.
"Lingyan, now is not a time to be throwing a tantrum. Go fetch a physician this instant."
Yi Gui fainted from the pain he was in. He was caught by Chu Fan and his bodyguards.
"What do we do?"
"Master Yi will have our heads for this."
Chu Fan raised his hand to silence them.
"Stop it! This is my fault. I alone, shall take full responsibility for this."
While they were talking, Ling Er pulled out a medicine bag and fed Yi Gui a pill. She then took out a powder bottle and sprinkled his wound on his head with it.
After waiting a few moments, she gently pulled out the piece of chair lodged in his head. Yi Gui was lucky that the piece of wood didn't fracture his skull, it had merely went under the skin.
She pulled out a needle and thread and stitched up his head. She tore off a sleeve and started to wrap his head, bandaging the wound.
This all happened within a incense stick's worth of time. At this time, Yao Lingyan and a physician from nearby had already arrived. But they stood by silently as the girl performed surgery with utmost expertise.
After feeding him another pill, Ling Er took a step back and bowed.
"I'm so sorry! This is all my fault."
Chu Fan was holding up Yi Gui who was waking up at the moment. Yi Gui began to speak in a low voice, he had lost a significant amount of blood.
"Miss Ling Er, you have nothing to worry about. It was me who chose to block you from those shards of wood. I thank you for saving my life."
He forgave her and tried to lessen the guilt that she felt. He shortly passed out after speaking these words, the painkillers she gave him were very effective in .
"Young girl, the skill that you displayed just now. Where did you learn those skills?"
The physician was stunned by the girls young age and proficiency in medicine. She was not of normal origins.
"This girl, Ling Er, was the daughter of an innovative genius physician, Ling Zhi."
The physician sighed and shook his head.
"It is with deep regret that such a genius had to die so young. I can't believe he left such a young child to fend for themselves."
The owner walked up to Ling Er and shook her head as well.
"Ling Er, I am sorry to do this but I must ask that you not come back to work here anymore. Our establishment cannot have this kind of attention. You understand, right?"
Ling Er began to sniffle and her eyes turned red.
"Yes, I understand completely. Thank you for taking care for me all this while owner. I shall take my leave now."
She bowed and started descend the stairs.
Chu Fan ran to stop her.
"But miss, you can't leave yet. You still have not fully treated the patient yet. He is still very sick. I am afraid this physician here does not know what pills you have fed him. And he might give him the wrong medicine, worsening his condition. If you promise to become the personal physician for our Yi Gui. His father, would surely pay you a hefty sum."
The physician was bewildered by Chu Fan's claim.
"You! How dare you question my sk-"
Chu Fan gave him a look filled with killing intent. He meant to scare this physician into silence.
"Shhh!"
The physician's eyes widened as he backed away behind a pillar, only daring to peak at the situation.
"But, what will happen to my siblings? I must go home to take care of them."
Chu Fan waved his fingers.
"Just tell these bodyguards where you live and they shall go fetch your siblings. I can assure you that Yi Gui will provide you a place to stay in his home. Won't he Yao Lingyan?"
He looked at Yao Lingyan and winked at her.
She was still mad at him so she turned away and didn't make any eye contact with him in the slightest.
"Hmph! I can promise you, as the princess, that Yi Gui will have your family taken care of."
Ling Er only bowed and complied, she dared not disobey the princess.
"It's getting late, let's head on home. After what has happened, I no longer have an appetite."
The group of bodyguards split up, two escorting Yi Gui and Ling Er to the Yi family estate, and the other two to retrieve the younger siblings of Ling Er.
Chu Fan and Yao Lingyan were left alone to go back to the palace on their own. With their cultivation training, they hardly had anyone who was their match.
Yao Lingyan stayed quiet most of the way home. Chu Fan would only look over and not spark any conversation at all. He knew she was irritated and he had never dealt with this kind of situation before.
"Lingyan, you aren't still mad at me, are ypu?"
She harrumphed and shifted her head so as to not make any form of eye contact.
He walked over and grabbed her by the arm.
"Come on. I was just helping her set the table. I wouldn't be so audacious as to court another girl from this kingdom. I already have the princess. Please forgive me, alright?"
He shook her arm lightly and made the most apologetic face that he could.
She looked over and saw his horrendous attempt at looking pitiful and could not contain her laughter
"Pfft, hahahaha! Thst's not fair! You're not allowed make such an ugly face like that."
Chu Fan had made her laugh, meaning he had a chance at explaining himself.
"My sweetness, I really am sorry if I made you misunderstand some things. This girl Ling Er, even though we've only just met; she makes a good match with Yi Gui."
She looked at him with a serious expression.
"You mean to tell me you are just being a wingman?"
Chu Fan nodded without a second thought.
"Yeah, you saw how quick he was to protect her. Would the proud and arrogant son of the minister of wealth ever neee to go out of his way to protect a commoner?"
Yao Lingyan nodded as Chu Fan had a point.
"Is this why you insisted on her becoming his personal physician until he gets better?"
"Mhm! With your help, I was able to reassure her of the job security. Just wait, Yi Gui will have an incurable love sickness that only she can treat for the rest of his life."
Yao Lingyan was slightly irritated by him. She began to pound away at his shoulder.
"How dare you use me like that? You even made me hurt Yi Gui."
Chu Fan laughed at the pouting girl.
"Okay, I'm sorry alright. Let's go home now, shall we? I finally got my hands on some Frost Plums and I can't wait any longer. I want to start making my first batch of wine."
Yao Lingyan was shocked by his words. The main reason for her even going to such a place was to see if he had succeeded in his quest for Frost Plums. She had ordered the city guards to give her notice of Chu Fan's return.
After hearing the location he was heading to, she rushed over to find him holding onto another girls hands. Her worst fears had seemed to come true, muddling her mind. In a moment of madness, she had forgotten all about the status of his quest.
"Chu Fan, how many Frost Plums did you get?"
Chu Fan held both his palms up, showing ten fingers.
"Only ten? That's fairly good, considering how dangerous the treants are."
Chu Fan only shook his head, disagreeing with her.
"Hahaha, you underestimate my abilities, my sweetness. I meant fifty five. I have enough to make several batches of wine."
Yao Lingyan dug her fingers into her ear. She thought she was mishearing things.
"F-fifty f-five? How did you even accomplish such a feat?"
He made a chopping motion with his left hand.
"I cut a couple branches from a treant here and there. Nothing much."
Yao Lingyan rolled her eyes at his answer.
"Ah, right. Look who I am talking to. Why did I even lose sleep over you?"
Chu Fan looked surprised. His sweetness really did miss him; even though he had only been gone a night.
"Oh, did you really miss me? It warms my heart to see my sweetness yearn for my return. I really missed you too."
He pinched her by the cheeks and then proceeded to pat her on the head.
"Really though, it makes me happy to have someone waiting for me when I return."
Yao Lingyan could only blush and nod her head.
.......................
They returned to the palace where Chu Fan escorted her back to her room and he returned to his.
He quickly double checked to see if any maids or eunuchs were nearby. When he found that his courtyard was barren of any people, he opened up his tablet interface.
He rubbed his hands together and smiled sinisterly.
"Okay, time for some upgrades."
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