It's been three days since that night at the watch tower, and their days have gone by just like the snap of a finger. Liu Sheng had to spend the entire day in the barracks as he would soon go to war, following the other generals. And Jingting, fearing another war, was helping Fang Tao to stock up on medicine and taught him how to stitch, dissect, cut, and clean wounds and surroundings. He taught him a few other things regarding medicine and healing.
"No. This should be less. If you add too much of it, it will not help and instead wreak havoc and burn them…" he was giving one of his lectures to Fang Tao. They were just preparing many blood-stopping powders.
"Master Li," someone behind him said, and Jingting, used to the Li Peien name, actually turned around. He looked at the servant Liu Sheng called Zhang Bo. He nodded at him.
"Master is waiting for you in the house. He sent me to fetch you," Jingting nodded.
"Wait a minute. I'll just finish something here," he said, and continued the lecture on portions and what herbs to put into the powder and how to do it.
"You can also ask Xuhua. She knows how to do it. But do it today. Tomorrow we are leaving." Jingting took off his apron, which covered the expensive clothing Liu Sheng bought for him. At first, he did not want to wear it, but later it felt… nice. The fabric was not scratching him, it was so soft on his skin, so airy. He felt like he had nothing on. Nothing was weighing down. So he started wearing it, but covered his robes with a white apron and tied the sleeves with a strip of fabric if needed. But some of them did not have wide sleeves, so he wore those if he knew he was going to the medical rooms.
Jingting followed Zhang Bo and walked with him to the duke's mansion. He already knew where to go, but was still taken directly to Liu Sheng's quarters. The Bravery and Knowledge Pavilion. He thanked the servant and dismissed him. He knew that what they were going to talk about should not be heard by others.
"You are here!" Liu Sheng was sitting on the old, worn-out swing with a flute in his hands. Well, it was by his mouth, but Jingting couldn't hear a sound even when he was walking towards the pavilion. But when Jingting walked in, Liu Sheng put it aside.
"You can play?" Jingting asked, Liu Sheng looked down at the flute and nodded with a smile still plastered on his face.
"I can play for you sometimes later." Jingting bit his lip. That suggested he would survive the war, but both of them knew that was never for sure.
"Look, I got you this…" he started and ran inside the room. Just a few moments later, he emerged with his hands full of heavy-looking pot.
"Do you remember the orchid you wanted? Well, I talked to father and the gardener who takes care of it after I left the sanctuary. We couldn't give you the plant itself as it was an imperial gift… But we managed to take a budding and make it into a new plant. Also, I asked the gardener for instructions, and he wrote down how to take care of it." Jingting was staring at the greenish, small blooms on the long stems with leaves.
"Tie Pi Shi Hu! It's the Dendrobium!" he shouted out, throwing away his cold persona and showing his enormous happiness. He grabbed it and yanked it out of Liu Sheng's hands. He was looking at the flower with stars in his eyes, and Liu Sheng was suddenly feeling a bit jealous of the plant.
"I will take care of it. Thank you." He looked up from the pants, and with smile, he walked away with the instructions in his hands. He had to share it with Xuhua.
The next day, Jingting woke up in the general's room as usual, only today, because he came late, he threw himself on the Arhat bed after taking the bedding from Liu Sheng's bed.
Well, he looked around and frowned. Where was Liu Sheng? Why was he not here. Jingting was leaving today. And even though he did not want to say farewell, he wanted to see Liu Sheng and talk to him. He summoned the closest servant he could find and asked him.
"The General is at the North Gate. The army is already moving out. He said… he said he couldn't come to say goodbye in person, but he wants you to watch from the wall."
Jingting felt his heart skip a beat. He looked at the servant, who was looking at him with a worried face. He didn't say a word, he just grabbed a small bag of his with the gift he had just made last night and ran. He just ran toward the North Gate.
Jingting ran, out of his breath, swearing he had to exercise more. He pushed through the crowds, his eyes searching only for Liu Sheng. The noise of the drums and the heavy armor was deafening. There, right at the front of the line, he saw the Liu family banners. And underneath them, Liu Sheng on his horse.
He was in his full armor, looking cold and distant, but Jingting couldn't help but feel a bit of heart ache of how beautiful he was.
"General Liu Sheng!" Jingting shouted, shoving past the onlookers and soldiers on the side until he reached the middle of the road, the middle of the ranks.
Liu Sheng's head turned toward him. For a moment, his cold expression broke with a longing light smile. He pulled on his reins and moved his horse through the other soldiers until he was right in front of Jingting. He leaned down from the saddle, the heavy armor clanking, and parted Jingting's head.
"You came," Sheng at first whispered, but his voice was swallowed by the crowd, so he shouted out loud again, his voice rough.
Jingting couldn't find his breath or his voice. So he only reached into his bag and pulled out the smaller pouch he had stayed up all night filling with medicine. He shoved it into Sheng's hand.
"Don't you dare die," he said, his voice trembling. Sheng squeezed the bag, his eyes locking onto Jingting's. He placed it under his armor, right over his heart.
"General! We are moving!" General Zhu's voice cut through the air. He was staring at them, his eyes narrowing while staring at them.
"Wait one more help…!" Jingting shouted and took out the heart mirror. Well, it was a decorated plate, big enough to cover part of Liu Sheng's chest. He placed a hand on his armor right where he knew a heart was and patted it.
"Right here. Other places I can heal, but this… I would die trying to save you…" Liu Sheng bit his lip, nodded, and put it under his armor once again. His jaw tightened, and he gave Jingting's head one last caress and straightened up. He didn't look back as he turned his horse, his face dark and ominous.
"Forward!" The army marched out of the gates. A cloud of dust rose, and Jingting stood in the middle of the road, watching until the red banners disappeared.
"Jingting? We have to also go," Xuhua said, touching his arm. He was staring at her, where did she pop up out of nowhere, but given Liu Cheng was also going, he did not wonder.
Jingting took a shaky breath, looked at the gate, and turned away. He started the long way back to the mountains, leaving the blue silk life behind. Back to his old life of brown cotton.