Was He Worthy?

Jiao Qingxiao looked down immediately. She was about to wipe away the tears from her face, when a sudden realisation took over her. Looking up she sharply looked at him. 

It was only then that Tang Yuanxiao realised he had given himself away. Masking the panic in his heart, he spoke in a nonchalant manner, "The palace had recently found a miracle doctor for me, so from time to time I can see." 

Thankfully she was yet to learn about the condition of his legs, or else it would truly be difficult to explain things to her. 

Jiao Qingxiao nodded understandingly. But was it truly the palace that found him a miracle doctor or was it Tang Fanghua? Could she ask directly?

Before she could contemplate more on this, he asked again, "So? What exactly happened?"

"It's nothing. My apologies for the trouble. If I may ask what brings the esteemed third prince here? The spring festival is still far away…

Her words trailed off. 

"It seems that Miss Jiao isn't happy to welcome me."

Before Jiao Qingxiao could refute his words with more politeness he continued, "But I am willing to make an ally with Miss Jiao. I need your help in certain aspects and in return I will help you with anything you need help with."

Jiao Qingxiao's eyes lightened up immediately. In that case, won't she be able to soon convince him against Tang Fanghua?

But before she could open her mouth again, Tang Yuanxiao spoke again, "So to strengthen our alliance let's start with what predicaments Miss Jiao is facing currently that made her tear up?"

His words sounded as if laced with mockery, yet when she looked at him all she saw was a face that seemed to care a tad bit too much.

She parted her lips, hesitant. While she was aware of the third prince's abilities, she wondered if voicing out her thoughts would also mean losing this golden opportunity. Afterall which sane man would be ok with a woman breaking the virtues of women and wanting to join the military? No matter how open minded or revolutionary thinking he held, he might as well report her to his father for treason. This is different. 

The gears inside her head were working overtime. She was thinking and thinking as moments passed by and Tang Yuanxio's anxiety only increased. 

Xiao Cui was urging him to go into another debt to be able to read her mind momentarily when finally he heard her words,

"Jiao Qingxiao wishes to contribute to the military by helping build newer defence systems and weapons to protect the country." It took her a long time to phrase the jumbled mess in her heart into a coherent sentence. 

She hardened her heart and stared right into her eyes, unwilling to let her fear miss even the subtlest of expression on his face. 

She braced herself to see contempt and a look of disbelief in his eyes, only to be surprised. There were no fluctuations on his facial expressions, only a calm clarity that seemed to have the power of calming her down too. 

"Miss Jiao can rest assured, I will arrange it for you."

Jiao Qingxiao's eyes widened in shock. Not even a why? Or what made her have this atrocious dream? Or or how dare she go against the Confucianism virtues? 

"Now what is Miss Jiao willing to offer in return?" 

"Anything." The words slipped her mouth without a second thought.

"Anything?" He asked, slowly repeating her word, as his lips curled into a suggestive smile.

Jiao Qingxiao furrowed her brows. There was something off about his expression, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it. 

"Indeed, Jiao Qingxiao promises to do anything for the third prince as long as…"

She took a short pause before bowing down sincerely on her knees and continuing, "as long as it doesn't put my life in danger, and..and as long as it doesn't put the Jiao Residence's prestige into shame…"

She stopped after some hesitation. 

"Oh? Any other terms and conditions Miss Jiao might want to put in?" 

She shook her head quickly, earning a slight chuckle from him.

"In that case, on the day of the spring festival Miss Jiao should stay prepared for the good news."

With a rare smile, he left her speechless rushing through the front entrance. 

As Tang Yuanxiao seated himself inside the carriage with the help of Tang Lao, the world in front of him was pitch black once again. And once again he could no longer feel his legs. 

While he was conversing with her inside the study, he could also see the incense burning in front of him to show how long he had left before he was going to run out of his skills. 

With the stick getting smaller and smaller anxiety was gripping his heart, he had to know what made her this upset before leaving. Thankfully he was able to get her to speak before he ran out of time. 

No wonder, in his last life, he often heard the palace maids murmur of how she always seemed to furrow at the sight of scripts that the palace women often read. How before entering the palace as the old senior palace maids were busy in training the concubine to be and they were all annoyed at how long it took them to teach her all the palace rules and manners. 

His fingers were now curled into a fist, as his knuckles had turned white. 

She clearly wasn't happy to be restricted within the bounds of the palace, tied down by rules, her every action constantly picked on by the empress dowager. And yet she had braced it all. For Tang Fanghua? Was he worthy?