Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 172: Preening Black Dahlia — XIII

The day bled into night, indigo turned black and clouds accompanied the brightness of twinkling stars long before Li Xinyuan could gather himself.

The surgeon needed to clear his thoughts, thus chose respite over immediately jumping into the clinic again.

As he lay in the bed, donning the white all the doctors working for the Divine Phoenix were mandated to, his thoughts wandered once more.

But this time, rather than towards the dark shadows of his previous life, Li Xinyuan’s thoughts found their path in the reprieve of worrying over the Crown Prince.

He raised the letter towards the ceiling, grasping the edges of their most recent correspondence, his fingers stroked the yellowing paper in fondness evident in his golden eyes.

Carefully, he brought the paper down, pressing it against his nose to take a deep breath and allow the distinct scent of Liu Mingyun flow in his lungs.

Sometimes, when free of labours, Li Xinyuan wondered, ideally enough, what this pleasant scent of his betrothed came from.

Tilting his head, the surgeon’s eyes narrowed in thought. It didn’t smell of flowers, and certainly not any tree he could think of. It was neither sandalwood nor any herb he knew of.

So what was it?

Li Xinyuan allowed a small smile to dance upon his lips, holding the paper to his chest as he stroked it gently.

Next time we exchange letters. I must ask. It is quite an addictive scent.

Now that he knew the name of his feelings of the Crown Prince, the surgeon was not so hesitant to think of him and wonder behind the privacy of his closed doors.

Carefully folding the letter, he placed it between the pages of a book he rather frequented and naturally was fond of. The lack of file organisers in this era led him to storing all the letter he received from Liu Mingyun in this book.

Sitting up against the headboard, the surgeon carefully closed the book, rubbing the corners of its cover between his fingers, eyes distant and lost.

The peony gifted by the four-tailed fox sat bloomed in his hair, perched with care against the silver hairpin he had taken to wearing. Though the flower had lost its blue luminescence, it had yet to wither. Perhaps its seemingly eternal bloom had something to do with Bai Huiqi creating it himself.

Li Xinyuan would never know for sure. And he knew better than to ask.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sudden sound made him jolt, brusquely pulling him out of his thoughts.

Li Xinyuan’s head snapped towards the door of his room.

"Ah, the door is open." He tucked away the book and began tidying his bed-rested appearance as the door opened.

Gingerly, the door opened to reveal Doctor Mun standing at the doorway, looking rather out of his depth.

"Doctor Baek, could I come in?"

Something about the way he stood and the cadence of his speech set off alarms in Li Xinyuan’s mind anew.

"Why, yes, of course." He gave him a smile strained at the ends, moving to sit on the side of his bed. "Have a seat."

Doctor Mun nodded, closing the door behind himself as he scuttled forward, eyes flitting around. Seeing an open window, the doctor moved to swiftly shut it and draw the curtains.

Sitting on his bedside, Li Xinyuan’s eyes silently followed the clearly anxious man’s every move.

With an ominous premonition in his heart, Li Xinyuan leaned forward, unable to withhold a frown.

"Is something the matter?" He couldn’t help but ask as Doctor Mun finally seated himself in the chair facing him.

The doctor fidgeted, uneasily. Almost too uneasily.

Li Xinyuan’s heart squeezed with anxiety, golden gaze bouncing from the man to the window he had closed just now.

"Doctor Mun," he began cautiously, hands clenching the bedsheet, "is something the matter?"

After what felt like an eternity of hanging by a sliver of thread on the edge of a canyon, Doctor Mun finally spoke.

"Doctor... Baek." The doctor paused, the fine lines of worry around his eyes deepening only for a moment. "I am unsure if you have heard the news," another pause that made Li Xinyuan’s skin crawl, "but one of the orthodox clans have put a huge bounty on your head."

Li Xinyuan could feel his throat closed at the news. "... What?"

In JiangHu, were orthodox clans not above doing such things? Stooping so low?

But of course, history is written in black and white. If something is deemed evil and thus in black, then another — one opposing it — must be good, hence dressed in white.

When in reality, neither is black nor white. Just grey.

Swallowing inaudibly, the surgeon took a deep breath. Was this a new bounty or an old one? He could feel his head spinning, trying to pinpoint a name.

"The bounty is said to be without a name nor a face, just that whoever finds and brings the head of the surgeon — who helped the Heavenly Demon Cult — will be generously rewarded," Doctor Mun looked down before glancing at him. "But of course, none have yet succeeded."

"Who put out the bounty?"

He needed to know. He needed to plan.

"It is the... Huashan Sect. And if the rumours are to be believed, they have sent a single assassin to sniff out your trail."

Hua... What sect?

And so, Li Xinyuan’s heart settled. Oh, that guy. Don’t worry, he’s dead and ashes in the river.

But. He couldn’t say that, could he?

Now this was awkward. The surgeon became anxious for nothing. A dead man couldn’t come after him.

Especially one he packed up himself.

"Just to be certain," awkwardly, the surgeon pressed a fist to his lips and coughed, "if one assassin couldn’t find me, would they send another one? Publically?"

Doctor Mun paused at the strange questions. "Ah," his eyes widened, finding himself flustered, "that... I cannot say with absolute certainty. But I surmise they would not do so. Publically, at least."

He stumbled over his words, raking his brain to find an easy way for explaining it to Doctor Baek.

"Because doing so would be equivalent to them admitting the assassin they sent after him was not good enough. One trained by them at that." Li Xinyuan couldn’t help a small smile from watching the man flounder, and decided to put him out of the misery.

"Yes, yes," Doctor Mun nodded, repeatedly, concealing his relief. "If their chosen assassin does fail, it is highly likely they will send another after you, in secrecy, especially." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

After a beat, Li Xinyuan waved his hand, shifting to lie down instead. Appearing wholly unaffected by the news, much to Doctor Mun’s bewilderment and worry.

"In that case, you can rest your heart, Doctor Mun. I will make certain to be cautious. Please, go back to your work without fretting." The surgeon gave him a benign smile.

And so, Doctor Mun did. With a bow and a nod, the older doctor walked out of Li Xinyuan’s room, befuddled and dazed.

That assassin is gone, Li Xinyuan thought, toying with a corner of the book. But others would eventually follow.