Chapter 28 - 2#
He was ill and muddled, yet His Majesty refused to let him go, clutching his collar and pressing the back of his head, holding him firmly in his embrace.
His Majesty held him, pinched him, kissed him, licked him, bit him, and teased him.
Yanzhi tried to struggle, wanting to wave his arms forcefully, but only his fingers twitched slightly.
The more he struggled, the more he couldn’t break free.
The more he couldn’t break free, the more anxious and afraid he became.
His Majesty in the dream was like a high mountain, pressing down on him.
Yanzhi shook his head, trying to tell himself it was fake, it was a dream, don’t be afraid.
But it was to no avail.
The deeper the nightmare, the more real the Emperor’s image before him became.
For a moment, Yanzhi watched as the bedroom door was kicked open from the outside.
In the next instant, His Majesty appeared outside the door.
His Majesty was wearing the imperial robes and crown. His eyes, hidden behind the beads of the crown, were brewing a monstrous fury that almost burned his painstakingly tidied courtyard to ashes.
His Majesty strode before him, grabbed his collar, dragged him from the covers, and barked at him—
“Idiot! Why did you run? What is there to run from?”
“Do you know I’ve been searching everywhere for you? I’ve almost gone mad searching for you!”
Yanzhi’s eyes turned red as he stared blankly at the roof beams.
His Majesty was searching everywhere for him; did that mean His Majesty cared for him even a little bit?
No, His Majesty didn’t care; His Majesty wouldn’t…
Sure enough, he then heard His Majesty continue—
“So many soldiers searching for you—how are you so good at hiding?”
“The salaries of these soldiers will all be repaid by you!”
Yes, that was His Majesty.
His Majesty only cared about gold and silver.
Hiding under the covers, Yanzhi’s tears flowed.
His Majesty finally said: “Come! Follow me back!”
Yanzhi shook his head with effort, whispering his refusal: “No…”
“What did you say?”
“No…”
Yanzhi snapped his eyes open, waking from the nightmare.
“No! No!”
Yanzhi suddenly thrust his hands out from the covers, pushing hard against the empty air before the bed.
“No! I won’t go back to the Daliang Palace! Won’t go back to the Taiji Hall! Won’t go back with His Majesty!”
“I want to stay here! I want to stay with Mother! This is my home!”
“I’m not going back… not going back…”
Yanzhi shouted for a while and soon lost his strength, falling softly back onto the bed.
He turned his head, buried his face in the pillow, and broke into a loud wail.
Throughout this journey, busy with escaping and traveling, he had been forcibly suppressing the feelings in his heart, neither crying nor making a scene, remaining calm when things happened.
Only now, because of the illness and his muddled head, could he cry out loud.
He had lied.
Actually, he wasn’t carefree at all.
He hadn’t let go of His Majesty at all; he still cared.
Love had turned to hate; he loathed His Majesty! He hated His Majesty! He hated him to death!
He hated that His Majesty always bullied him, hated that His Majesty looked down on him, hated that His Majesty didn’t care for him.
He just wanted to scold His Majesty, wanted to hit him, wanted to bite him—bite a piece of flesh off him until he was covered in blood.
He just wanted His Majesty to get sick, preferably to be bedridden for three to five years!
Every night before sleeping, he made a wish in his heart for His Majesty to fall ill.
But why was he the one who was sick?
Why was it him again?
It wasn’t fair at all! Heaven was not fair to him and His Majesty!
He had fallen ill so many times; why had His Majesty never been sick?
“Wu-wu—”
The soft bedding muffled Yanzhi’s cries as he hid alone under the covers, sobbing.
Finally, gathering his courage, he opened his mouth and, through his tears, slurred out curses.
“Damn you… damn you, Xiao Cuan! Why won’t you get sick? Go away! Get away from me! Stop pestering me!”
“You’re the big dog! You’re the idiot! I hate you! I hate you to death!”
“Wu-wu…”
Seeing him crying so hard, Tanggao circled the bed anxiously, not knowing what to do.
A moment later, Tanggao turned, squeezed through the crack in the door, and ran outside.
“Ao… wang wang wang! Wang wang wang!”
Yanzhi didn’t know whose little dog was barking; Tanggao didn’t bark like that anyway—he’d taught it several times, and it only ever said “ao-ao.”
Yanzhi cursed for a while until he was truly exhausted. His head hit the pillow, and he fainted.
Before losing consciousness, he still heard the little dog barking incessantly.
“Wang wang wang…”
A bit noisy.
*
“This Young Master has just arrived and isn’t acclimated yet. Plus he’s exhausted and caught a draft, which led to this cold. It’s nothing serious; I’ll prescribe some medicine to dispel the cold, and he’ll be fine after taking the decoction.”
“Fine, then prescribe the medicine.”
“And the fee?”
“Naturally he’ll pay when he wakes up! Do you expect me to pay? He lives here; where’s he going to run? Old Man Qian, no wonder your surname is ‘Qian’ (Money); you’re truly obsessed with it.”
“How can you say that? Weren’t you the one who called me here?”
“That was because his little black dog suddenly rushed out, bit my hem, and dragged me over! Have the little dog pay then!”
“Ao-wu—”
“You surnamed Chu, don’t be unreasonable!”
“I just steam brown sugar cakes every day; where would I get the money? Saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda, don’t you understand?”
—"Cough, cough… please stop arguing…"
Yanzhi was woken by the argument between the two men and the dog by his bed. He raised a weak hand.
“I’ll pay, I’ll… cough, cough…”
Hearing the person on the bed was awake, the two stopped their bickering and turned to look at him.
“How are you feeling?”
Yanzhi struggled to open his eyes.
He saw Tanggao lying by the bed, closest to him, wagging its tail and staring at him seriously.
Two men stood by the bed.
One was an elderly man around forty or fifty, dressed simply and carrying a medicine chest; he looked like a doctor.
The other was a youth around his own age, his hair tied with coarse hemp rope, wearing a coarse cloth short-tunic convenient for work. Most importantly—
He carried a sweet and fragrant scent.
So fragrant!
The youth, seeing Yanzhi staring at him, hurriedly clutched his pocket and took two steps back.
He declared in advance: “I have no money!”
“You got a cold and collapsed at home alone.”
“Your little dog suddenly ran out and barked all over the alley.”
“When no one paid it any mind, it rushed straight into my house, took a bite of my leg, and literally dragged me over here.”
“I saw you’d fainted and were burning with fever, so I called the doctor for you. Don’t even think about swindling me! I have no money! I don’t have a single copper on me!”
Yanzhi sniffed, supporting himself against the bedding as he tried to stand.
The youth became even more nervous, retreating repeatedly until he hit the wall: “You… don’t come over here…”
Yanzhi truly had no strength in his body and couldn’t stand, so he could only sit.
He cupped his hands toward the youth and said in a raspy voice: “Thank you… thank you, Young Master, for your rescue…”
The youth froze, his cheeks reddening, his tongue tripping slightly: “Y-you’re welcome… I’ve been to so many places, and this is the first time anyone’s called me ‘Young Master’.”
“The medicine fee, I will naturally pay it myself. I swear to heaven I won’t swindle you.” Yanzhi raised his right hand, then looked at him with concern. “Also, my little dog bit you; I wonder if it’s serious, if it needs bandaging…”
“No, no.” The youth waved his hands repeatedly. “It didn’t bite my flesh, just tore my trouser leg.”
Yanzhi looked down.
Sure enough, there was a tear in the youth’s trouser leg, about the size of Tanggao’s canine teeth.
But Tanggao had done it to save him, so he couldn’t blame it.
“Then I will compensate you for the clothes…”
“No, no.” The youth lowered his head, embarrassedly covering the exposed skin. “I’ll just sew it up when I get back.”
“Alright. If you were frightened, please tell me; I will certainly do my best to make amends.”
“What? It’s just a little dog; what’s there to be frightened of? It’s fine.”
The youth turned to the old doctor: “Now that the person is awake, can you go back and prescribe and decoct the medicine?”
Yanzhi felt under the pillow for a piece of silver and handed it to the doctor: “This is the medicine fee; take it first.”
“Very well.” The old doctor took the silver and hurried off. “Rest for now, Young Master; I’ll go decoct the medicine immediately.”
“Okay.” Yanzhi nodded.
The youth from before brought a teacup and pot to the bedside and poured a cup of water for him.
“Drink some water; your voice is completely hoarse.”
“Thank you.”
Yanzhi took the cup, cupped it with both hands, and took a small sip.
He looked up and, seeing the youth had nowhere to sit, hurriedly moved his quilts inward.
“I’ve just moved in, and the furniture hasn’t been made yet; there’s only this small couch. If you don’t mind, please sit here…”
“No, I was just working in the kitchen; I don’t want to get your bed dirty.”
“It’s fine… please sit, otherwise it would be too impolite…”
“No, no, no…” The youth’s face turned even redder, almost unable to handle it. “Stop calling me ‘Young Master’. I’m Chu Yu. I live next door to you; I just steam brown sugar cakes.”
Yanzhi instinctively said: “Young Master Chu…”
Chu Yu was shocked: “Huh?”
“Oh.” Yanzhi hurriedly covered his mouth. “Sorry.”
Yanzhi thought for a moment, trying to change the subject: “You smell so fragrant!”
Those words… why did they sound so strange?
Yanzhi explained hurriedly: “I mean… the smell of brown sugar cakes… ever since I moved in, I’ve smelled it every day…”
Chu Yu truly couldn’t take it anymore and turned to run: “Stop talking, stop talking! I’ll go back and bring you a couple of brown sugar cakes. Just wait!”
Those words… why did they sound even stranger?