Chapter 48: Calling Him by His Name
Lin Xueyi blinked a few times. "Huh?"
Rong Shuyan met her eyes calmly. "When we’re alone."
She looked at him in confusion. "But... wouldn’t that be disrespectful?"
"No." His answer came without the slightest hesitation. "I call you by your name, and you call me by mine. It doesn’t sound like a bad thing."
Lin Xueyi lowered her eyes, feeling a little embarrassed, before speaking in a soft voice. "That... actually sounds nice." She hesitated before adding, "If you really don’t mind... then I’ll call you... Shuyan."
[It would be even cuter if I could call him Yanyan... but I shouldn’t push my luck too much.] she thought. [Maybe someday...]
Even calling him "Shuyan" already made Lin Xueyi feel shy, let alone giving him an even more affectionate nickname.
On the other hand, Rong Shuyan also felt a little awkward. The only people who had ever called his name out loud were the members of his awful family.
Whenever his Imperial Father or his brothers called him by name, all he felt was anger and disgust.
But when Lin Xueyi softly called him "Shuyan," those feelings disappeared. Instead of feeling disgusted, he found himself wanting to hear her say his name again.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Aside from that, there’s actually something I’d like to ask you."
Lin Xueyi looked at him with curiosity. "What is it, Shuyan?"
Rong Shuyan tightened his grip on the armrest of his wheelchair. It seemed she would be calling him by his name much more often from now on.
"The military border has always been short of physicians. Even now, we only have three, and I don’t think Yunzhou will ask the Emperor to send more." He let out a quiet sigh. "That’s why I asked Physician Liu to help them. Since you’ve learned a great deal about medicine over the past few weeks, would you like to help as well?"
Lin Xueyi let out a small gasp because she had never expected him to place so much trust in her.
[I don’t even know that much about medicine yet. How could he trust me to help his precious soldiers?]
[What if I give someone the wrong amount of medicine?]
[What if I have to stitch someone’s wound?! I can’t even draw a straight line, let alone stitch a wound!]
"You’ll be learning under Physician Liu’s guidance," Rong Shuyan added gently. "You won’t be responsible for treating serious injuries. Besides, the military border is a good place to gain experience because there are always patients who need treatment."
The more Lin Xueyi thought about it, the more she realized it really was a wonderful chance to learn.
"But what if I make a mistake?" she asked in a low voice. "I don’t want to accidentally kill someone."
"Whenever you want to give someone medicine, you must first make sure Physician Liu has approved it. As long as you follow that rule, everything will be fine," Rong Shuyan said, trying to reassure her.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Xueyi finally nodded. "Alright, then. I’ll do it. But I’d rather be Physician Liu’s assistant than treat patients on my own."
Rong Shuyan nodded in agreement. "That sounds good to me."
To be honest, Rong Shuyan wasn’t too worried. After all, there were many physicians at the military border who were far less capable than she was.
At least Lin Xueyi was genuinely afraid of making a mistake and accidentally taking someone’s life. Meanwhile, some of the physicians stationed here no longer thought much of it. To them, death had become so common at the border that they simply accepted it as part of life.
Because of that, Rong Shuyan believed her fear could one day become one of her greatest strengths. It would remind her to stay careful, and that alone could help her become a truly good physician in the future.
After their conversation came to an end, the two of them began getting ready for bed.
To her surprise, taking a bath at the military camp was much easier than she had expected.
Because of Rong Shuyan’s status as a prince, a servant had already prepared a large wooden tub inside a smaller tent set up beside their sleeping tent. Buckets of hot water had been brought over from the camp kitchen, filling the air with warm steam that chased away the evening chill.
Lin Xueyi’s eyes lit up. [I can actually take a hot bath here!]
She had been worried she would have to spend days without bathing.
Mei Lu helped pour a few more buckets of warm water into the tub before bowing. "Princess Consort, everything is ready."
"Thank you."
Mei Lu then helped Lin Xueyi take a bath. To be honest, when she first arrived in this world, it had felt strange to let someone else bathe her. But now, she had completely gotten used to it and wasn’t sure she could even go back to bathing by herself anymore.
After she finished, Mei Lu gently dried her with a clean cloth and helped her change into a fresh set of sleeping robes. Only then did Lin Xueyi return to the main tent while Rong Shuyan took his turn bathing in the smaller bathing tent nearby.
Because of his disability, Rong Shuyan always needed more time to bathe. But it gave Lin Xueyi the perfect chance to think about the two folding camp beds the soldiers had pushed together earlier, turning them into one large bed for the two of them.
She had shared the same bed with Rong Shuyan before, but it had only been for a single night.
This time was different.
She had no idea how long they would be staying at the military border, and she couldn’t help worrying that Rong Shuyan might grow uncomfortable if they kept sleeping beside each other every night.
"Yeah... I think it’s better if we sleep in separate beds," she murmured to herself.
A moment later, she carefully pulled the two folding beds apart.
Fortunately, there were plenty of thick quilts inside the tent. She placed most of them on Rong Shuyan’s bed while keeping only two quilts for herself.