Cough, cough…
A luxurious golden curtain draped over the bed, and through a gap emerged a celadon porcelain bowl. The veins standing out on the back of the hand holding it were darker than the bowl itself. The wrist seemed unable to bear the weight, trembling slightly as it drooped.
The personal guard Zhu Ling immediately stepped forward to take the bowl and carefully offered a cup of warm water. The coughing from within the bed curtains paused briefly before a hoarse voice, rougher than bricks grinding together, rasped, “…It’s too bitter. How many more days until I can stop taking this medicine?”
Taking back the teacup, Zhu Ling answered honestly, “Lord Wei, the Imperial Physician prescribed a month’s worth of medicine. Today is only the fifth day.”
After being poisoned during the banquet that night, Wei Fu had remained unconscious for two days, vomiting blood continuously. Only after repeated acupuncture treatments and forced doses of medicine had he finally awakened. The Imperial Physicians concluded that although his life was no longer in danger, the poison had been exceptionally vicious and had damaged the vital qi of his lungs and internal organs. He was ordered to remain bedridden for a month, avoid unnecessary movement, and continue taking medicine to purge the lingering toxins from his body.
This man was a true living ancestor. From the king down to the Imperial Physicians, everyone was terrified something might happen to him. They prescribed medicine with extreme caution, afraid that if anything went wrong and he suddenly dropped dead, Xiling would hear the news and immediately send troops to flatten Longsha. If that happened, everyone would end up buried alongside him.
The bedchamber fell into an awkward silence. Wei Fu cleared his throat as though nothing were wrong and said considerately, “You’re an official. There’s no need for you to handle these servant’s chores like delivering medicine. Let the attendants do it from now on. Go get some rest.”
Zhu Ling did not move an inch.
Half reclining against the bolster, Wei Fu said weakly, “What? Do my words no longer carry any weight?”
“Protecting Your Excellency’s safety is the duty of the Egret Guards,” Zhu Ling replied honestly, his expression so straightforward it was almost wooden. “Previously, the Egret Guards failed in our vigilance, resulting in Your Excellency being poisoned and endangered. We have all received strict disciplinary measures. In the future, we will carry out our duties with utmost diligence and never allow such a mistake to happen again.”
Hearing this forceful declaration, Wei Fu could not help sighing. “I knew it. You people definitely filed a complaint against me behind my back and hauled it all the way to the Southern Heavenly Gate. What did Commander Zhong say?”
Zhu Ling immediately straightened and began, “His Majesty said—”
Pfft—cough cough cough!
“What did Commander Zhong say?”
Wei Fu nearly sat upright from his sickbed in alarm. Unfortunately, he was too weak to actually sit up, so he simply collapsed back onto the pillow and closed his eyes, pretending to be dead.
“What did His Majesty say?”
Zhu Ling replied, “His Majesty said that although he doesn’t enjoy having Your Excellency constantly creating work for him, he also doesn’t want the only time people remember he’s alive to be when they ask, ‘Does Xiling not have anyone left?’”
Feeling guilty, Wei Fu tugged the quilt up until it covered everything below his eyes.
Zhu Ling continued reporting with complete sincerity. “Commander Zhong has ordered the Egret Guards to strengthen security throughout Your Excellency’s recovery period to prevent any enemies from making further attempts. He also instructed this subordinate to tell Your Excellency that a person’s life lasts longer than three years, and he sincerely hopes Your Excellency will take good care of yourself.”
Wei Fu: “……”
The two lashes delivered from afar left him speechless and unable to refute a single word. All he could do was nitpick.
“So your idea of strengthened security is standing beside my bed like Commander Zhong himself all day long?”
Zhu Ling answered methodically, “Thirty Egret Guards have been divided into three shifts to guard the inner courtyard. The Longsha Imperial Army patrols the outer courtyard day and night. Everyone entering or leaving is searched and questioned. Furthermore…” He paused and lowered his voice. “Based on my observations over the past few days, several familiar faces have been loitering outside the residence. They appear to be conducting surveillance in secret.”
There was really only one possible group.
Anyone daring to do such a thing in Bihan City besides that supposedly disbanded organization…
“We generally call that house arrest,” Wei Fu sighed. “Are they guarding against assassins, or guarding against me?”
Zhu Ling did not quite understand what troubled him. “This way, Your Excellency can recuperate in peace without worrying about anyone attempting an assassination.”
“Yes,” Wei Fu sighed again. “I’m far too safe.”
After all, assassins could not get in, and he could not get out. His plan to use his illness as an excuse to slip away and meet up with Yu Gong Zhao Ye could now only be realized in dreams.
“How is the investigation progressing? Any news from the palace lately?”
Zhu Ling replied, “His Majesty has ordered the Court of Judicial Review to take primary responsibility, with the Capital Security Bureau assisting and all relevant government offices cooperating. At present, no major developments have been announced.”
The Court of Judicial Review handled major criminal cases throughout the realm, while the Capital Security Bureau was responsible for protecting the capital’s security. Both were highly relevant and important departments.
After listening, Wei Fu merely nodded.
“The scale is impressive. They’re certainly making a grand show of it. We’ve been given plenty of face.”
As a minor leader within the Egret Guards, Zhu Ling was not especially skilled at reading people, but he could at least detect hidden implications. He vaguely sensed that Wei Fu’s tone did not sound particularly complimentary.
“Your Excellency’s assassination attempt shocked both court and country. Perhaps there are investigations taking place behind the scenes as well…”
Wei Fu smiled soundlessly.
“The medicine’s taking effect. I’m going to sleep for a while. You can leave now.”
The room grew quiet.
After listening for a moment and confirming the presence of a long, steady breathing rhythm, Zhu Ling carefully secured the curtains and windows before quietly withdrawing.
Wei Fu claimed he was going to sleep, but in truth he was only slightly tired. He closed his eyes to rest while sorting through his thoughts.
Then suddenly he felt the bed curtains sway.
A faint current of air brushed across his face.
The mattress dipped silently.
Someone had entered uninvited and sat quietly beside his bed.
Who?
A dry, cool, slightly rough touch settled against his cheek. The wrist carried the faint scent of smoke and dust. The force behind the touch was restrained to the extreme, gentle enough that even a butterfly among flowers would not have been startled into flight.
It felt less like a hand than a tender, cherished kiss.
Who else could enter his bedchamber—and even his bedside—without announcement, without alerting anyone, and move through the residence completely unhindered?
…No way.
In truth, Wei Fu was not particularly good at pretending to sleep. But seeing him lying there pale and silent with his eyes closed, visibly more haggard than when they had parted, Yu Gong Zhao Ye found his hand moving of its own accord toward the area beneath Wei Fu’s nose.
Several days earlier, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had departed ahead of the others and traveled day and night from Yun Lake. He had intended to bring news of Jiang Feng Xun to Wei Fu. Yet the moment he reached the first Longsha outpost after crossing the border, he received an urgent message from the royal capital informing him that Wei Fu had been poisoned and had fallen unconscious, ordering him to return to Bihan City immediately upon receipt of the letter.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye was not someone who liked dwelling on the past or chewing over his own hardships, yet at this moment an indescribable anger rose uncontrollably in his chest. He had spent so much effort saving this person, exhausted so much fate and fortune just to meet him again, and yet after looking away for only a moment, Wei Fu had been tormented into this state.
Never before had he experienced so much helplessness and regret because of a single person. His hesitation, his retreat, his tendency to weigh every possibility before acting… all the things he had thought were for Wei Fu’s good had ultimately become poison flowing through Wei Fu’s veins.
Being touched until every hair on his body stood on end, Wei Fu could no longer keep up the act of sleeping. His eyelashes trembled as he thought, I’m not daydreaming in broad daylight, am I? He cautiously opened one eye and found himself staring directly into Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s cold, murderous gaze.
Wei Fu blinked.
Huh?
Was that really the expression someone should have upon seeing him?
Noticing that he was awake, those clear amber-colored eyes shifted slightly. Yet the severity in them did not lessen. If anything, the overly calm tone made him seem even more dark and ominous, like a storm about to break.
“I was gone for a few days,” Yu Gong Zhao Ye said. “Not dead for over a decade, was I?”
Wei Fu: “…”
Did people born into families with thrones always talk this ominously?
Rustling beneath the blankets, he stretched out an arm and caught the hand Yu Gong Zhao Ye was trying to withdraw. Pulling it closer, he pressed a kiss against the knuckles and curved his eyes in a smile, silently mouthing:
I missed you so much.
For one brief moment, Yu Gong Zhao Ye suddenly felt that Cheng Yu was no longer the person in the world most similar to a puppy.
“And you’re still smiling.”
His voice was low and soft, drifting down like a sigh.
“Does it hurt?”
Wei Fu stared at him for a long moment. Then he suddenly pushed himself upright from the bed. Unsteady though he was, he moved decisively and wrapped both arms around Yu Gong Zhao Ye, holding him tightly as though embracing a block of ice that stubbornly refused to melt no matter how long it was warmed.
The one who looked like he was hurting right now was you, Your Highness.
Long hair spilled over relaxed shoulders and down his back, smooth and dense as silk, providing the perfect cover for the person resting there to hide his face within its cool softness.
Held in Wei Fu’s embrace, Yu Gong Zhao Ye could feel the steady warmth of his body and the beat of his heart through the thin layer of clothing between them. There could be no more tangible proof of being alive than this. The lingering fear that had hung over him like a spider’s thread suspending him over a cliff finally settled as their bodies touched.
Like someone thawing after freezing solid, he remained still for a long while before slowly exhaling and lifting a hand to stroke Wei Fu’s back.
“I’m sorry, Xiao Guan.”
Perhaps surviving three brushes with death without crossing over had given him the courage to court disaster. Wei Fu vaguely felt that the line between himself and His Highness could move just a little closer. So he turned his head and pecked the tip of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s ear, using the gesture in place of saying It’s alright.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “……”
Pinching the back of Wei Fu’s neck, he pulled him away and scolded in a low voice with a stern expression, “You’re a sickly invalid and still this unruly. Did all those medicines for clearing heat and removing toxins end up in a dog’s stomach instead?”
He did not even dare raise his voice while scolding him.
Wei Fu was not afraid of him at all. Tightening his arms around Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s waist and back, he pulled him closer again as though he could never hold him enough, rubbing contentedly against his shoulder.
This sort of affection carried little aggression yet was so pure and overwhelming that it proved remarkably effective against conditions such as saying one thing while meaning another and refusing both soft and hard approaches. Yu Gong Zhao Ye found himself completely helpless against it and could only let him do as he pleased.
After quite a while, he suddenly realized something was missing.
“Wait.”
Wei Fu softly responded, “Mm?”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“How come I haven’t heard you speak this whole time?”
Wei Fu: “……”
“Don’t play dumb.”
Pulling away from Wei Fu’s embrace, Yu Gong Zhao Ye grasped his chin and examined him from side to side.
“I heard your throat was injured, but you should still be able to talk. It wasn’t damaged badly enough that you can’t make a sound at all, was it?”
Pressing his lips together, Wei Fu lowered his head and quietly pulled Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s hand into his own. Acting as shy as a bride about to lift her wedding veil, he wrote in the other’s palm:
My voice is rough and hoarse. It sounds awful.
Turning his hand over, Yu Gong Zhao Ye trapped Wei Fu’s hand in his own and leaned closer with obvious interest.
“If you’re putting it that way, then I absolutely have to hear it. Go on.”
Wei Fu: “……”
What kind of hobby was that?
He still remembered the first time he spoke after waking up. The funeral-like atmosphere that had filled the room vanished instantly. Everyone had laughed as though it were New Year’s already. Zhu Ling had needed two whole days before he could speak to Wei Fu without accidentally laughing.
Wei Fu shot Yu Gong Zhao Ye a resentful and deeply accusatory look.
Unfortunately, the blockheaded prince clearly could not understand his fragile feelings.
“What are you afraid of? It’s not like it can’t be cured.”
I’m afraid you’ll still laugh when you remember it at eighty years old.
Silently sighing, Wei Fu parted his lips and produced a hoarse sound resembling a frog and a duck arguing for three days and three nights before breaking into song together.
“It just sounds awful.”
He was not the sort of peacock who needed to appear dazzling at every moment, but he did harbor a small selfish wish. He wanted to be a pitifully beautiful invalid in the eyes of the person he loved, not some miserable and ridiculous unlucky fool.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye visibly froze for a moment.
Then he lowered his eyes and laughed softly.
“It sounds nice.”
He poked at Wei Fu’s displeased lips until they curled upward, then declared approvingly,
“You are Longsha’s number one songbird.”
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