Saving the Prince Regent - Chapter 50

Chapter 50 – Left Behind (1)

Shen Fei had finally woken up. He had dozed off in the sun. And he wanted a bath. Shen Fei seriously would only think about bathing, even if the world was ending around him. Zhao Xi couldn’t understand his thought process. It was cold, and Shen Fei was already sick. If he caught a cold, it might worsen his already fragile condition.

“ I already bathed you. Perhaps you forgot in your dazed condition,” Zhao Xi lied, hoping it will convince him, “I will get you some food, you must be hungry.”

“Zhao Xi, I don’t know how long I have slept, but all the sweat feels sticky, and I really need a bath,” he pleaded. Zhao Xi sighed. She should have bathed him earlier when the sun was still up, but he was sleeping like the dead then. She had called him, yelled at him, but he remained undisturbed. He only woke up because of the discomfort that sweating caused him. Zhao Xi did feel that it might be mighty uncomfortable sleeping in sweat, all drenched and sticky.

“Alright, wait for me here. I will go and heat some water,” Zhao Xi turned towards the door, “Shen Fei, do you want to go for a hot spring bath?”

Shen Fei was speechless for a moment. She knew he didn’t like it when he had to depend on her for a bath. He tried to wipe himself with soaked cloth sometimes, but that was hardly a bath.

“Is there a place where I can?” he asked, hopeful. Indeed, he loved his baths.

“Of course! I almost forgot about it, but there is a hot spring in the valley. In cold weather, hot water rises from the depths and pools in the area, but dries up in the summer,” Zhao Xi remembered now. The hot spring had followed this pattern for three years now. It was a mysterious spring that appeared one day out of nowhere and remained. She hoped it was still there.

“Is it very far away?” asked Shen Fei, excitedly gripping the side-arm of the wheelchair, his fingers white from the grip. Zhao could tell that he really wanted that bath.

“Just some walks away, not very far,” Zhao Xi lied. It was further than that, but she couldn’t bear to dampen his spirits. It would be good for him anyway, physically and mentally.

She could see that he wanted to insist to go to the hot spring but didn’t want to trouble her with the request. He would never ask for anything from her, he always kept it to himself. Even if she refused, he would accept it. This was the first time he had ever shown any kind of enthusiasm, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.

“Wait for a while. I will get ready and we will go,” she said.

It was getting colder, and the mountains were even more chilly. The trip would be long and freezing, so she wrapped Shen Fei in thick clothes, and added an extra blanket over him. She tied the blankets around him because if the wind blew it over, he still couldn’t use one of his hands properly to cover himself. She packed some towels, shower pods, some food and water.

She packed two bamboo tubes with food and one more with Shen Fei’s medicine. That was all she needed for now. She double-checked to make sure she had packed everything they needed and got ready for the trip. While packing, she came across the fabric that she had draped across a trunk. She had meant to ask Aunt Liu for help in embroidering and stitching the clothes to make them suitable for the wedding. Aunt Liu had two children to raise, and she wasn’t suited for farming work, so she took on tailoring and embroidery to earn a living for her family. Zhao Xi could pay her for it. She was the best embroiderer she knew.

She decided to bring Ping An along, it could carry the things or even Shen Fei if she got tired. Ping An usually slept during the day and hunted at night, but today its sleep patterns will be disturbed.

Zhao Xi was worried about Shen Fei, he looked pale. She didn’t think he could survive six acupunctures, performing just one had made his conditions so severe. She hoped he wouldn’t die along the way. She made several stops to check on him.

Ping An was unexpectedly helpful, it obeyed Zhao Xi diligently. Perhaps, it knew how sick Shen Fei was, and how stressed Zhao Xi was. It would help clear the path ahead for them. Ping An tried to clear the path as well as it could, snapping brambles and ripping out bushes. Zhao Xi pushed along the wheelchair through these cleared paths. With the combined effort from Zhao Xi and Ping An, they reached the hot spring in about two hours.