Two years went by and Zi-ning still remained at Taishan, continuing her daily routine of copying the scriptures in the morning and learning the physician's art from the abbot in the afternoon. Although Shujin and Hana could not understand why she still refused to return home, nor could they understand why she went through the trouble of learning the craft of a physician when her family already had access to the best physicians the capital had to offer, they remained loyally by her side looking after her daily needs.

Although the conditions at the temple were a far cry from what they were used to back at the capital, they still led a fairly comfortable existence with no shortage of food and warm clothing. Over the two years, Zi-ning had shed the last vestiges of her childhood and blossomed into the alluring young lady that she now was. Even though she now wore plain and simple cotton dresses instead of the luxurious silks that she used to, there was no disguising the beauty that was growing with each passing day.

However, despite the length of time that she had been here, she had yet to have an audience with the elusive Lady Li.

"Miss, it's getting late. Shall we go back in? You'll catch a cold if you continue reading out here," Hana said, placing a shawl over Zi-ning's shoulders. It was dusk, and Zi-ning was sitting out in front of her quarters poring over the new medical volume that she had borrowed from the abbot.

Looking up, Zi-ning smiled. "It's still early. I'll read for a little while longer, until the sun sets."

"I'll bring out another burner then. The winds are getting more and more chilly nowadays." Hana shuddered, wrapping her own shawl more tightly around her shoulders and hurrying back indoors. It was only autumn, but already the winter winds were starting to blow.

Zi-ning turned her attentions back to the book, her smooth forehead furrowing slightly as she tried to comprehend the depths of knowledge it contained. Learning the skills of a physician hadn't been an easy feat, but she was a fast learner and by now she was possibly only second-best to the abbot himself here at Taishan. When the abbot was unavailable, she would help out with the free clinics that the temple organised once a month for the poor and needy from the neighbouring areas.

The sudden flapping of wings distracted her from her reading and Zi-ning looked up to see a huge flock of birds taking to the skies, apparently having been startled by some commotion in the woods. There was a rustling from the bushes behind her, and when she turned around, Zi-ning saw a man emerge from the darkness, collapsing onto the ground in a heap. Her eyes widened, shocked by the intrusion.

The man was dressed in black from head to toe, his face masked by a piece of black cloth, only leaving his eyes exposed. The only distinguishing factor about him was that alarming splash of silver at his fringe, falling gracefully across his eyes. When she was certain that he wasn't moving, Zi-ning got up hesitantly from her seat and walked over. Standing beside him, she gently tapped his side with the tip of her shoe—but he didn't stir.

Zi-ning bent over and took hold the man's wrist, instinctively trying to feel for his pulse.

"Miss! What's going on? Who is this?" Hana exclaimed, dropping the burner onto the ground in alarm. She immediately rushed over to her young mistress, wanting to pull her away.

"It's alright," Zi-ning replied. "He's lost a lot of blood. Come, help me get him indoors."

Hana did not look convinced by what her young mistress was telling her, but she obeyed regardless and helped Zi-ning to lift the man up and haul him inside. She helped Zi-ning to remove the man's shirt, revealing a grim gash that stretched from the centre of his chest all the way down to the left side of his waist.

"Miss, I don't think this is a good idea. Should we call the abbot?"

"The abbot is away on a short pilgrimage, have you forgotten?" Zi-ning shook her head. "There's no time. If we don't do something about this right now, this man will be dead in less than an hour."

"But Miss, he's... he's a man. If anyone finds out that you have a man in your quarters, your reputation will be ruined."

"A physician doesn't discriminate. This man needs my help. Go—get me a basin of water and clean cloth," Zi-ning said, dismissing her maidservant quickly. Once Hana had shut the doors behind her, Zi-ning immediately got to work with inspecting the man's injury. It looked like he had been slashed by some sort of blade and judging from the blackening edges of the wound, that blade had been laced in poison. The open wound was the easy part, but the poison, not so.

When Hana returned with the basin of warm water, Zi-ning quickly cleaned the wound and disinfected it with a mixture of lavender and sage leaves. Unrolling her set of silver needles, she sealed his major acupoints to prevent the poison from spreading any further, before using a different set of herbs to purge the poison from the open wound.

"Hana, go and brew the medicine according to this prescription," she said, handing over the sheet of paper that she had just written on. "Be quick. I've managed to stop the poison from spreading for now, but if we don't get it out of his system soon then we might still lose him."

It was a race against time.

"Can we really save him?" Hana asked, after she had returned with the freshly-brewed medicine. She watched worriedly as Zi-ning fed the mixture into the man's mouth, one spoonful at a time.

"It depends on whether he can get the medicine down," Zi-ning replied. Much of it was trickling out from the corners of his lips, so it wasn't until she caught sight of some movement at his throat that she heaved a sigh of relief. As long as he could swallow it down, then she could be fairly confident that he would be alright.

Minutes after the medicine had gone down, the man suddenly burst out in a fit of coughs, a dark liquid spilling out from his mouth and into the small bowl that Zi-ning was holding in front of him. After he had coughed out everything, he slipped back into unconsciousness once again.

Zi-ning sighed. Handing the bowl over to Hana, she said, "He'll be fine. He's coughed out all the poison. We'll have to wait until he wakes before we know whether or not there'll be any side effects."

#

The man remained asleep for three full days before he finally opened his eyes.

"Miss, he's awake!"

Zi-ning blinked, getting up from her chair and walking over to the bed. "How do you feel?" she asked, reaching down to take the man's pulse. It had stabilised over the past few days, so the worst was already over.

"Where am I?" he whispered, voice hoarse and cracked. He looked around the room warily, his hand instinctively reaching for his hilt but only grasping empty air.

"Try not to move around too much or else your wound will split open. You're at Taishan temple. When we found you, you were unconscious and bleeding." Zi-ning helped the man to sit up, handing him a cup of water to soothe his parched throat. She continued to explain the extent of his injury and the man's brows knitted tightly into a frown when she mentioned the poison that he had been inflicted with.

There was something about the intensity of his gaze that rattled Zi-ning slightly. Even though his countenance was still deathly pale from the excessive blood loss, his eyes seared with a certain darkness and strength that made her subconsciously turn away. He was most definitely considered handsome, with chiselled features and a sharp jawline—perhaps even more handsome than the fifth prince himself—but the coldness in his eyes made him come across as distant and unapproachable. Like a wolf, watchful and wary.

"You were the one who rescued me?" the man asked, his right brow arching upwards questioningly.

Zi-ning nodded.

"You don't look like a physician."

"Excuse me, our young miss is the best physician you'll find for miles!" Shujin interjected, indignant at the man's condescending tone. "You're lucky she rescued you, else you would have been food for the wolves."

"Shujin." Zi-ning shot her maidservant a warning glare.

"What? I didn't say anything wrong. He would have died if you hadn't rescued him in time but he's not even the least bit grateful. I told you we should have just left him out there—we don't even know who he is! He's probably some fugitive on the run. Why else would someone be after his life? We could get into trouble for keeping him here," Shujin grumbled.

When she found out about what the young mistress had done, Shujin had been adamant about throwing the man back out. The man obviously had enemies and if they found him here then there was a high chance that all of them would become collateral damage. Unfortunately, Zi-ning was far too stubborn to listen to her maidservant's words, insisting that it wouldn't be right to throw an injured man out into the wild.

"I'm sorry," the man said, looking a little apologetic. "I didn't mean to sound rude. Thank you, for saving my life." He tried to lift himself off the bed, but winced in pain the moment he moved his torso.

"Where are you going?" Zi-ning reached out her hand to grab hold of his arm, but retracted it immediately when it struck her that it was slightly inappropriate to be doing that. Close physicial contact between an unmarried man and woman was taboo in society. "You can't go anywhere in this state. Although I've managed to stop the bleeding, your wound could still open up if you move around too much and that will interfere with the healing process. You'll have to rest in bed for at least another two to three weeks, until the wound seals up properly."

The man's frown deepened as he contemplated her words. "Where are my belongings?" he asked, looking around the room.

"They're in that top drawer over there." Zi-ning pointed at the set of wooden drawers at the corner of the room. "We asked one of the monks to help change you into a fresh set of clothes because the ones you were wearing were too dirty and stained. Everything else that you had with you is in there."

There had been a sword, a white piece of jade that he had been wearing around his neck, and something that was wrapped up in a piece of black cloth that had been tucked at his waist. Zi-ning beckoned to Shujin, who promptly went over and brought all the items over to the bed.

The man only seemed interested in whatever it was that was wrapped in the black cloth, taking hold of it immediately once it was brought over to him. "Did any of you look at this?" he asked, his tone suddenly turning harsh and aggressive.

Shujin stepped in front of Zi-ning protectively, as if afraid that the man might just launch himself at her, but Zi-ning gently patted her maidservant on the shoulder to reassure her that things were alright.

"No one looked at it," Zi-ning replied calmly. "Is it important? If it is then you should keep it somewhere safer. There's a drawer that has a lock and key. You might want to store it in there until you're fit enough to leave."

The man studied her face carefully for a couple of moments, then he shook his head. "It's alright, I'll keep it with me." He slipped the small black package beneath his shirt. "I'm sorry if I sounded too harsh. I didn't mean it."

Shujin opened her mouth to say something, but a sharp slap at her wrist by Zi-ning immediately shut her up. Pulling a face, the girl flounced over to a corner and stood there stiffly like a piece of wood.

"Hana is brewing your medicine right now. It should be ready in about half an hour. Why don't you get some rest and we'll wake you when it's ready," Zi-ning said. Sensing his wariness, she added, "Don't worry, you're safe here. Taishan has few visitors and hardly anyone comes to my quarters. No one will be able to find you here." Smiling, she stood up and turned to leave.

"Miss," the man called out.

"Yes?"

"Who are you?"

"Just someone who happened to pass by," Zi-ning replied. "I don't think we'll ever meet again after this, so I guess names won't be necessary." She had saved the man's life because it was the right thing to do, but she had no intentions of getting caught up in whatever it was that he was involved in. Shujin was right—from the way the man had been dressed and the situation he had found himself in, there was little doubt that his identity spelled trouble. She had enough of her own problems to settle without getting caught in someone else's.