Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw

Chapter Nineteen,
An Old Friend

Two days passed by, and He Xuan then sent someone to urge Xiao Zuo to go to his residence to choose a few maidservants. Xiao Zuo agreed, and then changed before saying, “It is enough with Zi Wan, you two first return to the crown prince residence and resume your duties.”

Those two people naturally couldn’t wish for any more, and hurriedly bid farewells and left.

Zi Wan also changed into informal clothing. The Nan Hun ducal residence was not far from the crown prince residence, and today by coincidence, the driver’s wife gave birth to a child and returned home, so Xiao Zuo prepared to go walk over by himself.

When the two walked by a small little alleyway on the east corner of the outer main street, Xiao Zuo smelled a peculiar bloody scent. His steps gave pause, and he said with knitted brows, “This alleyway has some problems, let us hurry.” Zi Wan nodded her head, and just as she was about to turn her head back, the corner of her eyes saw there was some meandering bloodstains mixed with the thick juices of vegetables flowing out from beneath a basket of rotten vegetables in the alleyway. She let out a small gasp and pulled at the corner of Xiao Zuo’s clothes, holding her breath in and using a breathy voice to speak, “Duke, look……”

“Do not pay heed to other people’s business.” Xiao Zuo shook his head at her. All of a sudden, that basket of vegetables shook a bit, and a hand full of bloodstains reached out from within, and then, was a face of black and white lines propping up a rotten leaf. That person narrowed their eyes and took a breath, and called for help intermittently, “Save…… save me……”

Zi Wan froze, like she had seen something, and her voice even shook. She pointed at that person in a tremble, saying, “Du…… duke, it’s a Nan Liang dialect!”

It was clear Xiao Zuo heard it too. He extended his head over and looked around outside the alleyway, there wasn’t anyone, and then moved a few broken baskets piled on the side and blocked the alleyway, then made a small run over to the side of that rotten vegetable basket, and crouched down, “Don’t speak, we will take you back.”

At this time, that person already lost too much blood, and was all dizzy and a bit faint. He moved his ears and tried his best to make out Xiao Zuo’s words, and probably felt that there was no malice, then closed his eyes, and completely fainted over. Xiao Zuo picked up the outer leaves of some white cabbage and stuffed them into the basket, and placed ones that look still alright over the top, and then lifted it back to the ducal residence along with Zi Wan.

“Duke, why have you brought this back?” A small servant boy in the residence shrunk his neck and strangely looked at that worn basket. Xiao Zuo glanced at him, and fabricated a tale without changing expressions.

“I met a small beggar on the way, oh how pitiful they were, their shoulders were injured, kneeling at the corner selling vegetables with a face all black. Zi Wan got soft, and then gave him some money. Who knew that small beggar would pull on Zi Wan’s clothes and not leave, saying that his father back home had been injured by a local tyrant, and begged us to give him some money to seek treatment. Once that small fellow cried, Zi Wan could not take it anymore. Once that small beggar got money, they insisted on giving this basket of rotten white cabbage to us, really……”

“Heh, this small beggar……” That small servant sneered, Xiao Zuo saw he was still not leaving, and then instructed him, “Just when I was coming in, I saw that there wasn’t anyone at the courtyard sweeping, hurry and sweep it.”

That small servant then went off. Xiao Zuo and Zi Wan saw that there wasn’t anyone around anymore, so the two sneakily brought that basket into Xiao Zuo’s bedchambers, and placed it in the area where the bathing tub was normally placed at, separated by a partition with the front hall, where others would not casually come in either.

“This servant will go out and get a pan of hot water, and bring some medicine.” Zi Wan put that person to the side, “Duke, please change his clothes then place him to the couch.”

Xiao Zuo nodded his head, then Zi Wan went out the door. That person hung his head with his eyes down leaning on the partition, but the more Xiao Zuo looked, the more familiar he felt he was, and in the end, could not help but push back his messy hair and lifted it up. Xiao Zuo only took one glance, but felt the blood in his entire body all congeal, going so cold it made a crunching sound, and the crumbs of ice stuck out, about to break through all his blood vessels, to bleed out with a gushing sound.

He stiffened his body while looking at him in a daze for a moment, the lips all shook, and he clutched at the corners of his clothes in bewilderment, and called out like he was dreaming, “Zi Wan?” Zi Wan was bringing a pan of hot water into the room, and got startled into a jump by his voice that sounded like he had seen some ghost, and quickly walked over to ask, “What is it?”

Xiao Zuo caught at Zi Wan’s sleeves as he trembled, took a deep breath in, and said with a slight choking sound, “He…… he is Fu Run……”

“Young Sir Chang?” Zi Wan also froze, her hands paused, and after a short while, then placed the wash basin on the wooden rack, and took down the towel from her shoulder and soaked it in water, then crouched down and wiped the face for him, “Duke, hurry and help him change, the ground is cold, after all.”

“How could Fu Run……” Xiao Zuo muttered while taking off Chang Fu Run’s unbearably tattered outer robes and tossed it to a side. The two placed him on the couch to the side with a totter, and then Zi Wan wrapped over his few exterior injuries, fed him a bit of medicine, then sat down to speak, “It can only be like this for now, as for whether or not the young Sir Chang can wake up, we will need to see his luck.”

Xiao Zuo idly sat to the side, and when he heard this, he vacantly nodded his head, then sniffled, “Wasn’t Fu Run not in the capital at that time? How could he be reduced to this kind of situation……”

“Duke, don’t be too grieved, each person……” Zi Wan twisted the handkerchief in her hands, then covered it over Chang Fu Run’s forehead, and sighed, “Each person has their own fate.”