Chapter 49: Wrongly Accused

 

Scattered bits of the conversation drifted into the main courtyard. Ming Yi pieced together most of it.

Deaths in the arena weren't unusual. Fighters lived by strength; she understood that. Ji Bozai wasn't wrong, just not soft. And the people outside meant well, even if they didn't know the full story. She kept her voice low.

"Master, you'll have to work with those people eventually. A hidden blade is harder to dodge than one you can see. If you can avoid killing, it's better to."

Ji Bozai said nothing. He sat rigid, jaw tight, anger sitting just below the surface.

She didn't push further. She picked up the thin porridge and held it out to him. "Eat first. Recover. Then I'll bring you the stewed goose."

"Get out," he said.

What a temper. Can't take two sentences. Ming Yi bit back the thought, set the bowl down, and stood.

As her skirt shifted, his fingers moved. He almost reached for her.

He didn't. His face stayed cold, still locked in the anger he hadn't let go of.

She didn't look back. She stepped out and pulled the door shut behind her.

The cracking of melon seeds stopped. The room felt hollow. Ji Bozai sank against the pillow, stared at the window for a moment, then pulled the blanket over his head.

Ming Yi had barely cleared the courtyard when Yan Xiao came hurrying toward her.

He'd spent the whole night at the inner court after the Grand Judge suddenly fell ill, and the moment he got out, he'd come straight here. Before he could even step through the gate, Ming Yi held up a hand.

"Don't. He's fine. He just needs a couple of days. Don't go stirring him up."

Yan Xiao relaxed and fell into step beside her. "You sat with him all night?"

"Yes. But he's still in a foul mood. Could you write him something to cool the heat, Physician Yan?"

Yan Xiao read her face and knew Ji Bozai was genuinely out of danger. He let out a short breath. "Let him be angry. He earned it. He went to that match in good faith, just wanted to trade skills fairly. He didn't expect what he walked into. If he weren't as strong as he is, we'd be burning incense for him right now."

Ming Yi turned. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know?" Yan Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Xue Sheng. They agreed to use Yuan Power only. But the man had poison needles hidden on him. So fine and so many that they nearly riddled Bozai through."

The selection meeting was supposed to be clean ground. Ji Bozai had come wanting to find a few people worth fighting beside. Instead, he got ambushed the moment he stepped up.

"He wanted to keep Xue Sheng alive. Wanted to ask why. But Xue Sheng had already decided how it would end. He banked on Ji Bozai not daring to kill in front of the Grand Judge, so he pushed it to the edge. Bozai doesn't do half measures. He finished it."

Yan Xiao shook his head. "The blood set off the Grand Judge's condition. I pulled the needles out of Bozai and got dragged to the inner court before I could do anything else. Honestly, the fact that he survived it all on his own—" He paused. "Miss Ming? Where are you—"

She was already running.

He watched her go, confused. Hadn't she just told him not to go in?

Ming Yi ran hard, sleeves snapping behind her. She pushed through the main room door, dropped back into her seat, grabbed the melon seed tray she'd abandoned, took one breath, and started cracking them again.

Loud. Deliberate.

From under the blanket came a low growl. "Get lost."

"Can't," Ming Yi panted. "This servant's legs gave out."

He dragged the blanket down just enough to glare at her. Then she leaned in close, close enough that their eyelashes nearly touched, and kissed his eyelids.

Ji Bozai went still.

He frowned at her. "What are you—"

She kissed him on the mouth before he could finish. Her lips were warm and tasted faintly of melon seeds. His irritation shifted into something he couldn't name.

He tried to sound severe. "Keep that up and I'll kill you too."

Ming Yi pulled back, eyes bright. "This servant came to apologize. I said something careless earlier. I don't know what you went through, so I had no business telling you to be merciful. You didn't do anything wrong yesterday. I was the one who spoke out of turn." She set her jaw and drew a finger across her own throat. "Next time you meet someone like that, send them straight to the Yellow Springs. Don't give them a second chance."

Ji Bozai wanted to laugh. He pressed it down and kept his expression stern. "You don't think I'm too brutal?"

"Not at all. Master is stunning and unmatched. That's not a killing aura, that's a celestial one." She picked up the porridge bowl, filled the spoon, and lifted it toward him. "How could this servant presume to correct you? Whatever you did was right."

The tight knot in his chest eased. He drank the porridge without argument. After a moment he spoke, voice low.

"That man was insufferable. All reputation, no real power. His Yuan Power was pathetic, and he knew it. He thought his name would carry him through the conference. Maybe that buys him something in Muxing City. It's worthless at the Six Cities level."

"Exactly." She nodded.

"That last strike, if I'd held back, he would have killed me first. No one has tried to kill me to my face since I was fifteen." A pause. "He had nerve. I'll give him that."

"Exactly." Her fists tightened.

"And those people outside are no better. A few small favors and their heads turn completely. They're not worth having beside me."

"Exact— well." She hesitated. "Master, the best fighters in Muxing City are all out there. You may not have many other options."

Ji Bozai was quiet. "If only I knew more people..."

Her scalp prickled. "No one person can carry everything, master. Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone says next year's conference falls on you, but no one expects you to win it alone."

He looked at her, something shifting in his expression. "If I do win it, I become the next Grand Judge. You'd have real standing. A life you couldn't build any other way. Why are you telling me not to push for it?"

Ming Yi smiled, small and even. "This servant is a small woman. This life is already more than enough. I don't want anything beyond it. I just want master to be well."

Not like the legitimate son of the Ming family. He poured everything into his family's glory and ended up a discarded piece when the game was over.

Her hand twitched. The bowl nearly tipped.

Ji Bozai caught her wrist, steadied her, and studied her face. "Get some rest yourself. You're no use to me if you collapse after getting me back on my feet."

"Yes, master." Ming Yi finished feeding him the last of the porridge, looked toward the window where the dark shape of the dragon circled slowly in the distance, and said, "This servant will find a way to quiet things down so you can sleep."

The crowd outside was still churning over Xue Sheng's death. She was one woman, and not a fighter. Ji Bozai didn't want her out there. But she'd already made up her mind, and once that happened there was no stopping her. She was through the door before he could say another word.

He watched the empty doorway for a moment.

"Zheng Qiao." He raised his voice toward the side room. "Go after her."