Chapter 87: Zhu Zhuqing's That Time Came, Every Woman Has Those Days of the Month
"I know quite a bit about the Star Luo Empire's royal family and the Zhu family as well. As for how I came to know, that's not something you need to concern yourself with. Among the direct line of Zhu family women arranged for political marriage with the royal family this generation, there are only three."
"Zhu Zhuyun, the eldest daughter of the Zhu family, is engaged to the Crown Prince Dai Weisi. The second daughter, Zhu Zhuyu, was betrothed to the second prince. But both of them died in the competition for the heir's position, didn't they?"
"That leaves only one—Zhu Zhuqing, the fourth daughter of the Zhu family, engaged to the third prince of Star Luo, Dai Mubai. Judging by your age, you must be Zhu Zhuqing. Do you understand now?"
Ye Wen's explanation was logical and well-founded. Upon hearing it, Zhu Zhuqing finally lowered her guard, a trace of apology flashing through her eyes. She took the initiative to apologize: "I'm sorry. I was being overly cautious. Apologies."
"It's fine. I understand," Ye Wen said indifferently and turned to continue walking.
"You're injured and in a weakened state, so don't go straight to that godforsaken Shrek Academy. Come with us to Soto City first."
"Rest up in Soto City and recover. We were planning to go there first anyway, stay for a day, then head to Shrek Academy," Ye Wen explained.
Zhu Zhuqing looked a bit surprised and asked, "Your goal is also to join Shrek Academy?"
"Something like that."
Ye Wen gave a vague answer. If Tang San and Xiao Wu had already joined Shrek Academy, and he wanted to win over Xiao Wu, the best approach would probably be to blend in as a student.
Otherwise, it would be hard to get in. If he could solve things in human form, better to use that than reveal his true form.
"After a day of rest in Soto City, if you don't mind, you can come with us to Shrek Academy. If you don't want to, suit yourself."
"Mm, thank you. I understand," Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, following Ye Wen's steps toward Soto City.
"Oh no… why now of all times…"
As they walked, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stopped. Her expression shifted, and after a moment's hesitation, she called out, rather embarrassed, "Wait… could you guys wait for me for a moment?"
"What now?" Ye Wen turned back with a confused look.
Zhu Zhuqing looked extremely awkward, a bit embarrassed and clearly in pain. This only puzzled Ye Wen further. He walked up to her and asked, "You don't look so good… is it a serious injury somewhere?"
He didn't understand. He had observed her during the earlier fight—most of the damage was internal, and the external wounds were minor.
"N-no, that's not it…" Zhu Zhuqing's face flushed red. She was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
She had felt fine just a moment ago, but then it suddenly came. She had guessed it would be around these days, but didn't expect it to hit right now.
"Then what is it??" Ye Wen looked at her, full of question marks.
"I-I… ah, just—can you please just wait a moment? Sorry for the trouble!" As she finished speaking, her pants were already stained with a red patch of blood.
Ye Wen noticed the blood-stained area instantly and immediately understood: "Ah, I was wondering what was going on—so it's your period! You could've just said so! Go take care of it, we'll wait for you."
"You—You… you idiot! If you knew, why'd you have to say it out loud~~" Zhu Zhuqing was instantly mortified, her face flushing bright red.
Didn't he know how embarrassing something like this was for a girl?
And he just had to say it out loud.
Unbelievable!
Zhu Zhuqing, completely flustered, quickly clutched her stomach and ran off into the nearby bushes.
"Hey, that's far enough. Don't go too deep—we're not going to peek," Ye Wen called out from a distance.
"This guy…" Zhu Zhuqing's face was still burning. Why did it have to come now of all times?
And whenever her period came, the first day was always extremely painful. It would get much better by the second day, but on the first day, even walking could be agonizing.
"Xie Hu, let's sit and wait."
"Mm."
Xie Hu nodded. The two brothers found some stones by the roadside and sat down to wait.
They ended up waiting over half an hour before Zhu Zhuqing finally staggered out.
She had changed clothes and put on a sanitary pad, but her complexion was still poor. Clutching her belly, she walked out slowly and unsteadily.
"Sorry, I… I might…" Zhu Zhuqing stammered, unsure how to finish her sentence.
Ye Wen could already tell what was going on. After living for years in the all-girls Tianshui Academy, how could he not understand how this "time of the month" affected girls? For some, it was a mild inconvenience. For others, it was excruciating.
Zhu Zhuqing clearly belonged to the latter group. And with internal injuries on top of that, it was no wonder she couldn't walk properly.
He glanced at the sky and said, "Forget it. It's getting dark. If we kept going, we wouldn't get to Soto City until midnight. Let's find a spot nearby to camp for the night."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing's heart warmed. She, who always had a cold and indifferent expression, actually showed a hint of a smile to Ye Wen for the first time: "Thank you."
"No problem. Come on, let's find a patch of grass and pitch some tents."
"Alright."
The three left the road and walked into the surrounding grassland. Soon they found a clean, green clearing, where they decided to pitch two tents and spend the night there.
"You just sit and rest—I'll set up the tents," Ye Wen said.
His spatial soul tool had just about everything in it. Soon, he pulled out two tents, a soul tool that could automatically boil water, and an unopened bottle of water.
He handed it to Xie Hu: "Xie Hu, go boil some water for her."
"Oh, got it, boss."
Xie Hu poured the water into the soul tool kettle, which began heating immediately.
Within minutes, the water was boiling hot.
"Amazing… you even have this kind of soul tool," Zhu Zhuqing said with wide, curious eyes.
"Heh, I've got plenty of these," Ye Wen chuckled. When it came to daily life soul tools, he had just about everything you could think of.
"Plenty!?" Zhu Zhuqing was shocked. Who exactly was this guy? What kind of background did he have?
Zhu Zhuqing was now very curious. So young and already at the Soul Sect level… she could only assume he came from a powerful background. And he had so many soul tools.
Everyone knew that even daily-use soul tools were extremely rare across the entire continent, since the techniques to make them had long been lost.
"Here, drink more hot water. It'll help with… that," Ye Wen said as he poured the boiled water into a cup and handed it to Zhu Zhuqing.
This level of care wasn't anything special.
But for someone like her, raised in the cold, distant Zhu family, even this small gesture felt incredibly warm.
(END CHAPTER)
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