69 The New Day
Xiao Ying stood behind Ming Cheng and Lan Chang, as the two of them watched little A-Yuan scamper off back to his brother and the office that the elder boy worked in.
Truthfully, he had no idea where an on earth Lan Chang and the brother's grudge had come from, really only adding the dynamic into the original novel for the sake of some comedic levity whenever Ming Cheng was sent to the Imperial Physician's Office whenever the bullying got bad enough to result in physical injuries that Lan Chang's basic skills weren't good enough to get a handle of.
It was a good enough thing to exploit at a later date if necessary, their dispute never actually being resolved and never being named in the page to allow it to be a constant that the protagonists could always default back on for laughs in dire moments and not so dire filler moments.
He honestly wasn't expecting their relationship to change.
If Xiao Ying was still receiving treatment from the Emperor's personal physician, then for all intents and purposes, they were all still living in stupid land.
Nothing more and nothing less.
The matter of what Xiao Ying was supposed to do today was still a question that needed answering.
He obviously couldn't go back to search around Concubine Jing's palace anymore, considering what had happened yesterday.
Xiao Ying shivered, rubbing his hands up and down his arms to try and relax himself, forcing the memories of the knife, the skulls, and the poisonous flowers from his mind, needing to calm himself down to keep some semblance of control.
He needed to stay collected.
Looking back over the prior day's events, he decided that it would just be best to shadow Ming Cheng and ensure that he would be alright for the day.
If his friends did turn on him and begin treating him back like they did in the original novel, then Xiao Ying, at least, could step up to the plate and make a concerted effort to keep his protagonist safe.
Ming Cheng holding a grudge was something completely foreign to his character in the work that Xiao Ying wrote, the kid being a Gary Stu, through and through, but now, with the changed events and after feeling the warmth of friendship, it was entirely plausible that Ming Cheng would internalise his suffering and become deeply scarred and damaged by it, remembering the prior and horrible context of his life before he entered the palace.
Xiao Ying's resolve strengthened, partially in part to the memory of Concubine Jing, but he was still determined to keep a watch on Ming Cheng on the day, ready and waiting to spring out at the slightest bit of discomfort emanating from the boy, just in case.
It should be an easy enough task.
Not once had Xiao Ying tired from all his watching over the boy.
He felt more and more like the ghost whose body he wore/
When was the last time that he slept?
