Xiao Dezi went deathly pale. His legs trembled so violently that he nearly stumbled as he rushed over to help Ning Xuan up. “Master, what happened? Don’t frighten me, Master! Summon an imperial physician! Quickly, summon an imperial physician!”
Moon-Embracing Palace was instantly thrown into chaos. By the time the elderly imperial physician arrived, drenched in sweat, Ning Xuan had already fainted from the pain. Several servants carried him to the bed, changed him into clean clothes, and carefully wiped the sweat from his face with brocade handkerchiefs. The elderly physician knelt beside the bed, still panting heavily. He laid a white silk handkerchief over Ning Xuan’s wrist, placed his fingers upon his pulse, then closed his eyes and frowned.
Xiao Dezi watched anxiously from the side, waiting for the physician’s instructions. Unexpectedly, the elderly man’s eyes suddenly flew open. He stared at Ning Xuan in shock, examining him from head to toe for a long while as though unable to believe what he had discovered. His mouth opened, but not a single word emerged.
“Imperial Physician Xue, what is wrong with my master? Is it serious?” The elderly physician’s reaction nearly made the already terrified Xiao Dezi stop breathing altogether.
“It is nothing serious, nothing serious…” Imperial Physician Xue steadied himself, and the disbelief on his face vanished in an instant. His kindly, benevolent expression returned as he stood and stroked his beard with an air of composure. “The young master is merely suffering from exhaustion and an imbalance of the spleen and stomach. The unsettled weather over the past few days has also caused him some discomfort. I will prescribe several medicines. He need only take them on time. His diet must also be carefully managed. Give him light but nourishing foods and avoid anything greasy. He may have more soups and broths that replenish qi and nourish the blood. At the very least, they will do him no harm.”
“This servant understands. This servant understands.” Xiao Dezi followed close beside the elderly physician, nodding repeatedly. He committed every instruction to heart and attended to his duties with great care.
By the time Ning Xuan awakened again, it was already pitch-black outside, while the room was brightly illuminated. Seeing that the chamber was not crowded with a suffocating number of servants, Ning Xuan could not help sighing in relief. Yet just as he relaxed, the voice he least wanted to hear sounded above him.
“Are you feeling any better?” That deep, magnetic voice carried an enchanting quality wherever and whenever it spoke. A warm palm rested against his forehead, and the gentle heat slowly flowing through his skin like a quiet stream truly brought comfort to Ning Xuan’s ice-cold body.
“What does it have to do with you?” Ning Xuan could not afford to accept such warmth or tenderness from him.
The carefully cultivated tenderness instantly stiffened and congealed. Dark currents surged through the silence: one gaze burned like fire, while the other remained utterly indifferent.
The prolonged silence made the pressure in the room sink lower and the air grow colder, yet Ning Xuan ignored the stare that seemed eager to cut him into a thousand pieces. He closed his eyes and rested comfortably. Although a place deep within his abdomen still ached faintly, his mood was extraordinarily pleasant.
When his patience finally reached its limit, Feng Xuanyi swept his broad, bright-yellow sleeve aside, abruptly rose, and stormed out without looking back.
For five consecutive days after that unhappy parting, Feng Xuanyi did not appear at Moon-Embracing Palace again. Ning Xuan had to drink medicinal decoctions three times a day, and his face twisted bitterly with every dose. He could gradually learn to accept almost anything in this ancient world—except traditional medicine. Every time he finished a bowl, he felt as though he had died once. Ning Xuan knew the medicine had been prescribed because of the sudden stabbing pain he had suffered that day, so he did not resist too fiercely.
“Master must take proper care of his health.” Xiao Dezi hesitated, carefully studying Ning Xuan’s expression before choosing his words. “His Majesty has visited the inner palace quite often these past few days, but he has not come to Moon-Embracing Palace. Master ought to give the matter some thought.”
Everyone waited for the emperor as eagerly as they waited for the stars and moon. It was not only the masters of every palace in the inner court who longed for him—even the servants spent their days and nights “yearning” alongside them.
“Isn’t it enough that you’re doing all that longing for me?” The tears in Ning Xuan’s lower body had mostly healed. Although a faint ache remained, he could move freely again. Sitting comfortably upon a sandalwood chair cushioned with a soft gold-threaded pad, Ning Xuan leisurely drank his tea and flicked Xiao Dezi a light, featherlike glance.
Xiao Dezi dropped to his knees with a thud, like a frightened ostrich. He repeatedly knocked his head against the floor like a chicken pecking at grain. “This servant would never dare! This servant would never dare! Master, please judge clearly!”
“Reporting to Master, Attendant Han requests an audience.” The palace servant’s announcement dispersed the stormy tension gathering inside the room.
“Attendant Han…” Ning Xuan lowered his brows and murmured the title to himself.
Quick-witted as always, Xiao Dezi immediately sensed an opportunity to save himself. He stopped knocking his head against the floor as though intent on self-harm and hurried to make amends. “Xuanshi Han was invested as one of His Majesty’s consorts when His Majesty ascended the throne. He resides in the western side hall of Yonghe Palace. Xuanshi is a Proper Fourth-Rank position, and the young master’s personal name is Han Ruifeng.”
“Han Ruifeng…” Ning Xuan searched his memories for information about the man, but found nothing.
Sensing Ning Xuan’s distance and reluctance, Xiao Dezi hurriedly added, “Master might as well meet him and at least become acquainted. The consorts of the inner palace are supposed to pay their respects to Her Majesty the Empress in the Central Palace every day. However, Master has been ill ever since your investiture and has been unable to go. Fortunately, Her Majesty is benevolent and has not blamed you. Now that Xuanshi Han has personally come to visit, refusing to see him may only invite gossip and disputes and provoke further trouble.”
“Then summon him. I will meet him in the central hall of the main palace.”
Ning Xuan had nothing but contempt for the open and covert struggles among the imperial consorts, all for the sake of a single “true heart” divided into countless pieces by imperial power. The mere thought made him smile bitterly. People fought because they desired something, yet having no desires did not mean one could remain uninvolved and retreat unscathed. As long as he remained within the inner palace, the vortex of power and desire cared nothing for whether he wished to participate. If he did not want to become an innocent fish caught in someone else’s disaster, he would have to spend his energy maneuvering within it.
After five days, the person who came was not Feng Xuanyi, but an enormous surprise—one shocking enough to completely throw Ning Xuan off balance.
The person walking gracefully toward him, surrounded by attendants and dressed in magnificent, expensive robes—who else could it be but Mo Qi, the companion who had been sold into Prince Rong’s residence alongside him and shared both hardship and happiness with him?
“Mo…” Before Ning Xuan could finish saying Qi’s name, Han Ruifeng interrupted him by respectfully bowing in greeting.
“This subject pays his respects to Virtuous Jieyu. May Virtuous Jieyu enjoy endless blessings and peace.” The servants who had accompanied Han Ruifeng also knelt and offered their respects.
Han Ruifeng… Xuanshi Han… Mo Qi…
Too many thoughts flashed through Ning Xuan’s mind at once. He could not catch them, could not see them clearly, and could not even begin to understand them. The brother and close friend who had shared everything with him only a moment ago now stood before him as one of the inner palace’s richly dressed, beautiful, and honored consorts, surrounded by attendants. Barely half a year had passed. What exactly had happened within Prince Rong’s residence—and throughout the entire Hua Dynasty? Why, despite having been caught in the middle of it all, could Ning Xuan understand none of it?
After dismissing everyone else, Ning Xuan and Han Ruifeng were left alone inside the hall. Their eyes met, but Ning Xuan had still not recovered from his shock. “Han… Ruifeng?”
“Yes.” Han Ruifeng smiled, gentle and harmless. His gaze was calm as water, composed and steady—just like the taciturn Mo Qi of the past. No matter how fiercely Ning Xuan and Qing Zhu quarreled, he always looked as though he could not be bothered to become involved and wished to stay as far away as possible. Yet once the two of them had fought themselves to mutual exhaustion and neither could yield, he would unhurriedly offer a single remark that decisively left one delighted and the other miserable.
“Mo Qi.”
“Yes.” His smile remained as radiant as a flower.
He was Mo Qi, the brother who had shared hardship and happiness with Ning Xuan in Prince Rong’s residence. At the same time, he was Han Ruifeng, one of the emperor’s favored consorts.
Elio’s Notes: Jieyu (婕妤) and Xuanshi (選侍) are formal titles for ranked members of the imperial harem. Their precise standing varied between dynasties and fictional court systems. In this novel, Jieyu is a Proper Third-Rank position, while Xuanshi is Proper Fourth Rank, making Ning Xuan senior in rank to Han Ruifeng.
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