What’s Your Gender, Princess? Chapter 8

【8】

There were over ten princesses, but I could not recognize any of them, so I simply cried loudly for a few seconds and then pretended to faint.

With my eyes closed, I sensed that someone had lifted me up on the bed and then ma.s.saged me for a while. Then, the imperial physician left and the others tended me. I opened my eyes slightly when I laid down, but after realizing whose body I was in, I got up again. The important people had already left to handle the Emperor’s funeral matters, and only a few servants stood guard beside me. When I asked where Prince Wumin was, I unexpectedly found out that he was in a small lodge next to my Heaven Palming Palace. Thus, I got up and went to look for him.

When I got to the lodge, there were still three or four imperial physicians busy at work. When they saw me, they saluted me one after the other.

Even though I was previously a princess, everyone was cold and indifferent towards me. I didn’t really care about etiquette either, so in the end, when people saw me, they never made the proper courtesy. After becoming Prince Wumin, everyone would reveal an apprehensive expression and salute me one after the other if they see me. I could only say that there are more than a hundred different kinds of the same rice…

“How is Princess Changyi’s condition?” I asked seriously.

One of the imperial physicians among them replied while trembling: “Reporting to Your Majesty, there isn’t any real harm on Princess Changyi’s body. She ought to have fainted she had seen herself lose so much blood. She’ll be fine once we open some blood enriching medicine for her.

I nodded: “Have you guys finished? Then, you are dismissed.”

The few imperial physicians all withdrew in succession with their heads lowered. I sat beside his bed for a long while. After confirming that there were no others present, I pushed him: “Stop pretending to be dead, get up already.”

Prince Wumin slowly opened his eyes and said “You can just keep pushing.”

“I cannot bear to.” I honestly replied.

Prince Wumin laughed and slowly crawled up, as if moving was somewhat difficult. He said: “Stop staying here, hurry up and go to my royal father’s chambers. Now is the best time for you to show filial piety.”

I said with difficulty: “But I don’t know a single person there.”

Prince Wumin sighed: “Then I’ll go with you.”

“If you move randomly, the wound would open. I’m a girl, so it’s not appropriate for me to have scars.” I countered.

Prince Wumin said disdainfully: “You have so many injuries on your body, why does it matter if there’s one more…”

Before he finished his sentence, he immediately shut his mouth. It was clear that he realized how stupid he was for saying that…

I went crazy: “You peeked at my body?!”

Prince Wumin silently shrunk backwards: “No, errr, accidentally saw it… when the imperial physicians were putting medicine on it…”

I sat beside the bed and choked out: “Stop hiding, it’s not like I’ll hit you.”

“That’s true…” Prince Wumin laughed, and then scandalously offered, “Then how about this, if you don’t feel happy, you can look at my body all you want.”

I said slowly: “If that day actually comes, even if I wanted revenge, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh?” Engrossed, he raised his eyebrows, “Then what would you do?”

I looked at him and said with a soft voice: “I’ll go look for a man to keep me company and do a few things that are hard to speak about…”

“……………………”

As per my instructions, Prince Wumin continued to take care of my body, and I returned to the Heaven Palming Palace. Currently sticky with blood, it seriously did indeed make one feel uncomfortable.

I called for the palace maids to prepare hot water. I even did it in a way that looked as if I was still grieving. A few palace maids quickly readied everything and this time, I didn’t ask anyone to wait upon me. I only soaked calmly in the basin without doing anything aside from soaking.

But as I continued to soak like this, I kept having the thought of looking. How exactly does Prince Wumin’s body look?

Err, I wasn’t as vulgar as Prince Wumin, and have no interest in anything down there, but… looking at his back isn’t too much, right?

The was a huge copper mirror in Prince Wumin’s room and what it reflected was exceptionally clear. I decided to do it and casually wiped my body —— With closed eyes obviously. I also casually wiped a few other body parts and then put on a loose robe. I was still a bit damp when I ran in front of the mirror with my back to it. I slowly untied the robe and turned around to look.

Just one look startled me greatly. Prince Wumin’s back was indeed good looking and it was probably because he practiced martial arts. Saying that he didn’t have any excessive fat was not the least bit exaggerated. His form was pretty good, but…

Why are there so many frightening lines of scars on such a beautiful back?

Those scars couldn’t be said to be newly made, but they were nevertheless extremely distinct. They were a ghastly sight, and they went to show just how deep his original wounds were.

Because I was really curious when I was young, I had secretly went to the prison cells to watch people get tortured, so I knew there was this was a kind of whipping punishment. When hit the first time, even though the receiving party would feel pain, it wasn’t really that painful, and the scars wouldn’t be that deep either. But if a wooden stick were to be used the first time, and then the skin were to be moistened by water, it would become soft, and then were whipped with rattan on the very same spot. After that, they would use a scorching hot iron rod that had turned red to touch it again. Then… In short, they would continuously go on and on again until you could see the white bones under that spot. Only then would they change places.

And this kind of punishment was named the “Bone Revealing Whipping”.

With this, even the most toughest of men made of steel would not be able to take it and surrender.

This kind of perverted punishment was said to have been devised by a woman named Liu Shan. At that time, she was only in her tens, yet had thought up of many punishments that she had even personally carried out, so much that there were many proud and ruthless officials prevalent. Only until she vanished without a trace and withdrew deep into South Wen Country did this harmful practice slowly get suppressed.

Towards this, I felt completely speechless. Such a merciless person had unexpectedly been named Liu Shan…
(TL: Liu Shan means retaining benevolence)

But this wasn’t the main point. The main point was that… wasn’t Prince Wumin the crown prince? Why would there be so many kinds of these scars on his body?

I was frightened to the point where even my hands were slightly trembling. Absent-mindedly, I put the robe back on and then covered it with an outer robe.

Due to this matter, my mind became extremely unstable. I couldn’t help but look left and right in front of the mirror. I then discovered that there was a deep scar underneath Prince Wumin’s left ear. According to the many forms of torture I know, I’d reckon that this sort of torture was also one thought up of by Liu Shan, call something like “Shearing Ears”… But it still didn’t seem to be the same. After all, Shearing Ears was too b.l.o.o.d.y and would remove the entire ear, but it was only Prince Wumin’s earlobe that had a injuring scar mark. Unless it was someone who was trying to do that to him, and had stopped in the middle…

What exactly had Prince Wumin been through?

My heart hopped in fear as my footsteps floated outside the door. I wanted to find Prince Wumin and ask to clearly know the facts, but I was a bit worried that it would tug upon a serious event in his past, so much that he would go mad in rage…

Like this, if I don’t talk, I didn’t need to pretend. When the servants saw me, their eyes revealed an extreme anxiousness, so much that it was almost shock.

Trembling all over, I walked into Prince Wumin’s lodge and dismissed the others. As I slowly approached him, I actually saw that his eyes were closed. He was actually already asleep. Moreover, the corner of his mouth was raised, as if he was in a good mood…

This, this person’s father had just died not too long ago…

This made me unable to say that he was weird this time. His past was definitely not as simple as I had thought it was. His personality to have become like this, could now be pa.s.sable. When I was young, no matter how unfavored I was, apart from flesh wounds caused by practicing martial arts, I definitely had no others injuries, let alone suffer through any torture.