Meng Zhuqing didn’t wait for Tobanya to respond and wanted to call someone to treat Tobanya’s wounded hand, but Tobanya grabbed him with her other unharmed hand, preventing him from getting help.
Tobanya then said softly, "Who told you not to drink with me."
At this point, Meng Zhuqing felt like cursing.
He wanted to curse Tobanya.
Was it because he didn’t drink with her that she had to injure her hand ? How could she be so careless with herself?!
But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Even if he wanted to curse, those harsh words just couldn’t leave his mouth.
"Commandery Princess, please let your wound be treated first. Afterward, this general will accompany you to drink, alright?" he compromised.
The priority was her wounded hand.
"Mmm," she paused, "Don’t want anyone else."
"Hmm?" Meng Zhuqing didn’t understand what Tobanya meant by not wanting anyone else.
Drunk, Tobanya swayed, severely intoxicated, yet her tone was insistent: "You deal with it."
Piecing together her previous words, Meng Zhuqing understood. Tobanya wanted him to tend to her wound, not allowing others to do so.
Meng Zhuqing’s heart was instantly filled with mixed emotions.
Despite this, Meng Zhuqing agreed: "Fine, this general will take care of it. Can you now come inside with this general?"
Otherwise, she might catch a cold from the chill before her wound is even treated.
For now, he decided to treat this drunken mess as if she were a child to be coaxed.
"Mmm," Tobanya responded softly, then, leaning on the table, she tried to stand up. However, because the alcohol had taken full effect, dizziness overwhelmed her and her legs were too weak to stand, leaving her without any strength. As she tried to stand, she collapsed.
"Be careful!" Meng Zhuqing could only rush to support her.
Originally, Meng Zhuqing intended to assist Tobanya into the room, but she was utterly unable to stand, leaning completely on him and unable to walk; with no other option, he had to carry Tobanya horizontally, quickly taking her into the courtyard where she lived, and then swiftly into her room.
At this moment, Meng Zhuqing was relieved that Tobanya had not left any maidservants or servants in the courtyard to attend to her.
Now, aside from him and her, there was no one else in the courtyard.
The guards had already patrolled the area around the courtyard a quarter of an hour before, and it would be some time before they patrolled again.
It could be said that no one had seen what had happened between him and her in the pavilion, nor his carrying her inside.
He wasn’t Gong Juechen; he cared a lot about her reputation and didn’t want her to be bothered by gossip. He just wanted her to be well.
As soon as Meng Zhuqing brought Tobanya into the room, he sat her down at a round table and then hurried to fetch a basin of water to clean her wound.
Tobanya obediently sat there, too drunk to see clearly who was treating her wound, but she kept watching.
Perhaps the alcohol numbed her nerves because, at that moment, Tobanya felt no pain from the wound. She just watched blurily the person who was so careful not to hurt her while treating her, as if he would disappear if she stopped watching.
Meng Zhuqing was absorbed in tending to Tobanya’s wound, for fear of causing her pain, and didn’t notice that Tobanya had been watching him all along.
After removing all the porcelain shards from Tobanya’s wound, Meng Zhuqing applied golden sore medicine, a remedy so precious that he seldom used it himself.