Chapter 17#
Chapter 17#
In the dim, cramped room, there was not a trace of light. No windows, no candles—not a single glimmer of light could enter, making it pitch black.
The young Lin Huaiyu wore a set of ragged clothes, unpatched and worn thin to the point of near-shredding from constant washing.
A small, mochi-like figure huddled in the corner, clutching himself tightly and leaning against the wall, as if this could provide some sense of security.
There was no one else in the room—no, to be precise, there were three people. Besides himself, there were two corpses.
Lin Huaiyu’s eyes were perhaps the only light in the room.
He stared at the two corpses lying in the center of the room, clutching himself even tighter.
Those were clearly his parents, yet he seemed to fear them, not even daring to approach. Even though they were dead, there was no grief on Lin Huaiyu’s face—only fear.
He had been locked in here for two days already, along with those two corpses. At first, he was tied up and unable to move. Later, the ropes were untied, but the door was sealed shut, and he couldn’t get out.
Darkness enveloped Lin Huaiyu, bit by bit, devouring him.
Just like right now.
No light could be seen in the secret room, and there were no other sounds. The clanking of the iron chains was particularly crisp, striking directly at Lin Huaiyu’s heart.
In the corner of the secret room, a thin figure knelt on that cold stone bed. He had no clothes on, and his whole person was suspended. His hands were bound by iron chains and hung high, pulling his upper body up. His knees could only kneel on the stone bed, and his legs were also locked by iron chains.
His slightest movement would cause the iron chains to clank, easily waking him from his dreams.
Lin Huaiyu actually couldn’t sleep. His consciousness was somewhat blurred, not because of drowsiness, but because of some mental issues.
Perhaps because of that nightmare in his youth, he now had a psychological fear of such dark and cramped spaces. This fear hadn’t disappeared with the passage of time; instead, it reached its peak the moment the secret room’s door closed.
That memory from his youth, which he was about to forget, rushed out like a tide. That nightmare-like existence made the current Lin Huaiyu tremble all over.
The coldness of the stone bed seeped into his marrow, and his knees began to go numb again. He began to cough wave after wave.
From soft coughs to heart-wrenching ones, Lin Huaiyu didn’t even know how long he had been imprisoned.
His consciousness was confused and blurred, and a bloody smell gradually spread in his throat. He subconsciously tried to swallow that fresh blood, but after pressing it down a few times, it was no longer useful. That fresh blood gushed out from Lin Huaiyu’s mouth uncontrollably.
The air was full of the smell of blood. Lin Huaiyu closed his eyes, helplessly letting the blood overflow from his mouth.
He remembered what Zhou Li had said to him that day when he was taking his pulse—
“If one day Master coughs up blood, then no medicine can save you.”
Lin Huaiyu let out a helpless laugh, which sounded so clear and abrupt in this cramped and quiet room.
This day had finally come. Although he had anticipated it long ago, when it actually arrived, it still made him feel somewhat unspeakable.
But at this moment, Lin Huaiyu didn’t have much mind to put on this. Fear was still spreading in his heart. He struggled to unlock the chains on his hands, but in the end, he only rubbed the skin on his wrists until they were swollen and red, all for nothing.
Time passed bit by bit, but for Lin Huaiyu, it became incredibly long. Every breath was stretched out. His consciousness was occupied by fear and drowned by darkness. In the darkness, his already pale face was now as white as paper.
He couldn’t hold on much longer…
After an unknown amount of time, the secret room’s door finally opened slowly. Light rushed in through the gap, illuminating Lin Huaiyu in the corner.
Su Yang’s gaze landed accurately on Lin Huaiyu. But when he saw Lin Huaiyu’s disheveled and weak appearance and smelled the thick bloody smell coming from the air, his expression changed suddenly.
He lit the candles in the secret room and walked quickly to Lin Huaiyu. He saw the patch of bright red blood in front of Lin Huaiyu, which stung his eyes.
There was also the blood winding down from the corner of Lin Huaiyu’s lips.
His heart suddenly beat very fast, so fast it was about to jump out of his chest. At this moment, Su Yang didn’t even have the heart to appreciate Lin Huaiyu’s soul-stirring appearance. He quickly unlocked the chains and carried the dying man out.
De Fu was originally guarding the door of the Imperial Study. When he saw Su Yang rushing out in a hurry, his expression also changed, and he hurriedly followed. He only heard Su Yang’s anxious voice ordering him: “Go call the Imperial Physician!”
De Fu didn’t dare to delay and hurriedly responded, heading toward the Imperial Academy of Medicine.
Su Yang carefully placed Lin Huaiyu on the bed in Qinchun Palace, put a robe on him, and covered him with a quilt. His gaze fell on Lin Huaiyu’s wrists.
Lin Huaiyu’s fair and slender wrists now had red marks one after another. The marks had already rubbed the skin until it was swollen, and blood seeped from where the skin was broken, looking like he had been abused.
Su Yang grabbed Lin Huaiyu’s wrist, avoiding the areas where the other person was scraped, and gently rubbed it.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but mutter: “I just punished you to kneel in there for a while. Why did you become like this?”
Lin Huaiyu couldn’t answer him.
Soon, Zhou Li followed De Fu to Qinchun Palace. He thought it should also be just some minor problems like a cold, and wasn’t as worried as before. But when he saw Lin Huaiyu’s breath as thin as silk, his heart was suddenly raised to his throat again.
According to his prescription for recuperation, Lin Huaiyu should have at least held on for a year. It had only been two months—how did it become like this?
Zhou Li peeked cautiously at Su Yang, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Su Yang received his gaze and also glanced over: “Come and see what’s wrong with him.”
Zhou Li hurriedly responded and stepped forward to take Lin Huaiyu’s pulse.
After a long time, Su Yang saw that Zhou Li hadn’t responded for a long time and couldn’t help asking: “How is it?”
Only then did Zhou Li let go of his hand, but his expression was exceptionally grave: “Reporting to Your Majesty, Master Lin’s pulse is very chaotic and weak. Not to mention the years of physical deficiency, it seems he just experienced something that made his heart palpitate, frightening Master Lin and causing his old illness to relapse…”
Zhou Li picked some things he could say and told them to Su Yang.
Su Yang lowered his eyes, looking at the person with a pale face on the bed, and said in a low voice: “Old illness relapsed… is it that serious? Why did he cough up blood?”
Hearing this, Zhou Li’s expression changed suddenly: “Master Lin coughed up blood?!”
Su Yang raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Zhou Li: “Why are you so excited?”
Zhou Li also realized that he seemed a bit too excited. If he caused the Emperor’s suspicion and forced him to tell the truth that Master Lin didn’t have long to live, his whole family wouldn’t be able to keep their lives!
Zhou Li hurriedly said: “Coughing up blood is no small matter. Master Lin was already weak, and coughing up blood causes deficiency. He needs to be well-rested and taken care of.”
Su Yang was half-doubting, shifting his gaze back to Lin Huaiyu, and asked again: “I know Teacher has always been weak. Write a prescription for him. I will supervise him to drink the medicine.”
Zhou Li hurriedly agreed, but in his heart, he silently thought that with Master Lin like this, drinking medicine was also useless—there was no way to save him.
Zhou Li and De Fu left. Su Yang looked at Lin Huaiyu and couldn’t help saying: “I knew there was nothing wrong. You’re just frightening me, wanting me to let you out, wanting me to let you leave the palace. You always have many kinds of means to want to leave me. Lin Huaiyu, I won’t believe it. No matter what, you can’t leave me.”
As he spoke, he seemed to be talking to Lin Huaiyu, and also seemed to be talking to himself. At the same time, he took out an ointment for external injuries, took Lin Huaiyu’s hand out of the quilt, and gently applied the medicine to Lin Huaiyu’s wrist.
Su Yang applied medicine to both of Lin Huaiyu’s hands, carefully wrapped them with gauze, and tucked them back into the quilt.
After doing all this, Su Yang didn’t leave, but sat by the bed and looked at Lin Huaiyu heavily. He looked at Lin Huaiyu’s faint breathing and gently heaving chest. After a long time, he said again: “You frightened me, Lin Huaiyu. You succeeded. When you wake up, I want you to know the consequences.”
Lin Huaiyu woke up again the next day. He turned his head and saw Su Yang lying on the edge of the bed, his court robes not even changed. His gaze paused slightly.
But yesterday’s memory was reminding him how detestable the person in front of him was.
He moved and found his palm was being held by Su Yang. He quickly pulled his hand back, which also woke the napping Su Yang.
Su Yang looked at the already-awake Lin Huaiyu. The other person’s indifference and clarity in his eyes told him that Lin Huaiyu was fine, just some skin was broken on his hands and he was weak and coughed up some blood.
Zhou Li also said that just some good rest would be enough.
Teacher’s body has always been like this.
“Teacher truly is resourceful. I almost forgot how many means you have. The trick of self-injury is truly perfected. Are you going to ask me to let you leave the palace again?” Su Yang saw Lin Huaiyu turn his head and not even want to look at him, and felt another pang of bitterness in his heart, and couldn’t help but speak mockingly.
Lin Huaiyu ignored Su Yang, but his gaze caught a set of magnificent wedding robes hanging on a clothes rack nearby.
It was a male style.
Lin Huaiyu’s gaze paused, his voice slightly raspy: “Your Majesty’s wedding robes are finished?”
Hearing this, Su Yang let out a light laugh and walked to the clothes rack. He touched the complex wedding robes, seemingly very satisfied: “Yes, what does Teacher think?”
Lin Huaiyu didn’t answer Su Yang’s question, but asked Su Yang again seriously: “Does Your Majesty truly like Lady Bai and truly want to marry her as the Empress?”
The smile on Su Yang’s lips dropped because of Lin Huaiyu’s words. He turned back to Lin Huaiyu’s bedside and looked down at him: “Teacher asks me this as soon as you wake up. It seems Teacher cares a lot about me appointing an Empress. Then why do you still want to leave me?”
Lin Huaiyu only shook his head gently: “If Your Majesty truly likes Lady Bai, you should treat her well.”
Seeing this, Su Yang said coldly: “Yes! I just like Bai Jianqing, and I just want to marry her as my Empress. Lin Huaiyu, what right do you have to tell me how to treat her? You’re just my plaything. Get your current status straight.”
Lin Huaiyu didn’t speak again. Between him and Su Yang, there was completely nothing left to say.
Su Yang saw that Lin Huaiyu refused to say another word to him, and left in a huff.
Lin Huaiyu looked at the back of the other person’s black dragon brocade robe, his slender figure carrying the dignity of an emperor.
Lin Huaiyu sighed softly.
He propped himself up from the bed. After Su Yang was far away, he took out an already written letter from the drawer under the desk and left Qinchun Palace.
It was also time for him to leave.