Chapter 2 — Contract Husband (2)

What was that?

Curious, she set down the fish, washed her hands in the stream, and went over. It was a person. A badly injured one at that.

It was impossible to tell exactly how long the man had been there, but his clothes were already dry. Wet clothes didn’t dry very quickly in autumn, so he’d been there at least since last night. There was a waterfall up on the cliff. If he’d been washed down it, the fall wouldn’t necessarily kill him, but it could definitely knock him unconscious.

He must have lain as still as a corpse after being washed up on the bank, because Ping An hadn’t tried to eat him. Bears didn’t like dead meat, and besides there was plenty of food in the valley. Ping An might have had a curious sniff but would’ve left him alone if he didn’t find anything interesting. The bear was a picky eater, not a scavenger.

Zhao Xi knelt down beside the body. If he’d been flushed down here yesterday, then surely, he should be awake by now?

It turned out the stranger was merely resting, eyes closed, to save the last reserves of his energy. His eyes flickered open at the sound of Zhao Xi’s approach, gave her a calm once over, and deciding she was no threat to him, he closed his eyes again.

She only touched him lightly, but his whole body trembled. He must be a very withdrawn person. Maybe he’s not used to being touched by other people? she thought.

She continued her examination once he settled down, lifting his head and checking for any injury to the back of his skull. He was done for if there was any damage to his brain. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t fallen headfirst, but feet first. Still, there might be damage to his legs.

The waterfall was high, the current quick and deadly. The impact from falling from such a height could shatter his bones. If he’d been a woman or an old man, he would have been dead. But he was young and fit, perhaps even a warrior, so he’d only broken a few bones.

Zhao Xi felt his chest and collarbones with the tips of her fingers, trying to see how bad the break was. Perhaps she’d used too much pressure because the man lifted his head, a look of pain creasing his face.

His clothes were made of shimmering silk and a beautiful jade charm dangled from his waist. Such a man must either be wealthy or a noble. She hadn’t found any clues to his identity yet. The jade hanging from his waist was broken in half, the words unreadable.

The broken side of the jade was sharp and smooth, reflecting the sunlight into Zhao Xi’s eyes. These things could be easily faked, however. It was the man himself that made her believe he was a noble. Although she didn’t deliberately try to touch his skin, she couldn’t help but notice that it felt smoother than silk. Only rich women who bathed every day in goat milk and rose petals had skin like that.

Perhaps rich children did the same. If he bathed in precious milk every day, didn’t have to work from sunrise to sunset like everyone else, and practiced martial arts in specialized training rooms, then it made sense he was so smooth and unmarred.

Such privileged people ate well, slept well, had no material worries or pressures, and were escorted by a small army of servants whenever they left their luxurious homes. He probably had a servant that would hold an umbrella above his head whenever he ventured out, keeping the wind and the sun from his skin. Little red marks appeared instantly where her fingers pressed against him; his skin was delicate.

She felt a pang of guilt, as if she was tainting him by her touch alone. Leaning over him, she found that his face was the prettiest part of him. He had exquisite features, and his eyes were bright like stars. As she gazed down into those bright eyes, she realized that she wanted to save him.

I don’t want to see such beautiful eyes go dark.

She spoke to him. “You have broken three ribs, injured your left shoulder, fractured your right hand, and you have a wound on your abdomen. You won’t live past tonight.”

The man listened in grim silence, as if he had already come to this conclusion himself.

“It would cost me too much to save your life. It would take all of my precious medicine and even then, I’m not sure it would save you. If you live, your legs will still be damaged. I don’t know you, we share no blood, so it’s not worthwhile to spend all my savings and time to take care of you for however many months.”

It would be foolish indeed to expend all her resources and effort on a stranger who was probably going to die anyway. The man seemed to accept this, lying in impassive silence with his eyes shut.

“Unless…” Zhao Xi started.

His eyes opened. Perhaps it was an illusion, but Zhao Xi thought she saw a flicker of hope there. So, he really doesn’t want to die. Maybe he just seemed calm because he thought there was no hope for him. He wants to live if there’s a chance.

Zhao Xi was silent for a moment, before finally laying out her condition. “I want you to be my husband for a year.”

It was customary for a man to tie up all of his hair if he was married. This man hadn’t, so he must be single still.

It would take at least a year for his wounds to fully heal. Zhao Xi would only need a ‘husband’ for a year. That should be long enough for her to deal with the people who kept trying to set her up with their brothers and sons and nephews.

“After a year,” she said decisively, “you can leave or you can stay, depending on what you want.”

If he left at the end of the year, she could just make an excuse and say he went to take the exam in the capital or left on business. As long as no-one thought they were divorced, she would finally be free of harassment and unwanted matchmaking.