CH 79

November 13, 2022Merchie

The skin around the collarbone is thin, so safely tattooing it is not easy; the needle must be handled with care in order to prick the skin without piercing the bone.

Qi Changyi’s collar was open. He laid on the bed, looking sleepy and exhausted; he didn’t even have the strength to keep his eyelids open.

The tattoo artist first took a brush and painted the fiery-red design over the bite marks. The row of neat teeth marks bloomed into flower petals, coquettish and flamboyant.

This wasn’t an easy task, and with a pair of gloomy and cold eyes pinned on his back, the tattoo artist was extremely nervous and drew upon every skill he had learned over this lifetime to paint over this small patch of smooth white skin.

He finished painting and put down the brush. The red lotus was remarkably lifelike; every long, slender petal bloomed outward, gently wrapping around the delicate stamen.

It was time to start pricking. The silver needle was long and thin; one would have to pierce the skin one pin prick at a time to make small cuts in the flesh, and let the beads of blood roll out. The blood would mix with the cinnabar and meld with the flesh. This way, the cinnabar would remain beneath his skin forever.

Unless that patch of skin was peeled away, the design would always be there.

Pei Zheng had actually ordered someone to fetch the cinnabar from the palace’s treasury. The powder was red as blood, superfine and even shone with a soft golden light. It was indeed very beautiful.

The tattoo artist held up the needle and stared at it for a long time, but he didn’t dare to start pricking.

“My Lord, why don’t you wake him up? I’m afraid that if he suddenly wakes up while I’m piercing him with the needle, it will hurt him.”

Pei Zheng didn’t speak. Li Yu simply walked to the side of the bed and called Qi Changyi in a low voice.

“Your Highness, Your Highness, wake up… Your Highness, Your Highness?”

He called for a long time, but Qi Changyi didn’t respond at all, still in a deep sleep.

“Forget it.” Pei Zheng walked to the side of the bed, lifted the small man, leaning him against his chest. Then, he gripped each of those little hands and cradled them in his own.

He had never seen the little prince in his arms sleeping so heavily before; he was so well-behaved, letting others fiddle with him as they wished.

Pei Zheng smiled silently, before rubbing his chin on the top of the small man’s head.

He had been bullied so severely that he couldn’t sleep a wink for several days. Now that he had finally fallen asleep, he couldn’t be woken up so easily.

“My Lord, this is…”

Pei Zheng adjusted the small man’s position so that his clavicle was exposed, while the rest of his body was tightly covered by his robe.

“Just tattoo him like this.”

The tattooist was visibly embarrassed; what kind of weird position was this supposed to be? But he didn’t dare to say a thing in front of His Lordship, nor dare to ask any questions.

“Yes sir.”

The tattoo artist took a deep breath, and the silver needle stabbed through delicate skin, digging around for a moment before being pulled out. Blood immediately began to trickle downward.

The artisan immediately tried to wipe the blood with a cloth, but a cold glance from Pei Zheng made the fabric fall from his hand.

He didn’t even have time to pick it up before he saw Pei Zheng take out a white handkerchief and gently dab up the oozing blood.

He had only been pricked once, so it wouldn’t be too painful just yet. The sleeping little prince merely frowned slightly but didn’t awaken.

The tattoo artist hurriedly continued to pierce his skin, the pinpricks were accumulating and becoming densely packed – the pain became increasingly intense, and the small man slowly began to writhe, and his eyes opened slightly.

But his body was being held, and his hands were clutched in someone else’s. He couldn’t move no matter how he tried. He could only see that the person in front of him was stabbing him with a long, thin silver needle. The piercing pain hit little by little and eventually piled up, becoming unbearable.

His forehead was covered in a layer of sweat. His fingernails dug tightly into the soft flesh of his palm, and his face paled from the pain.

Pei Zheng saw that he was suffering, and trying to remain silent. Even though his body was clearly trembling in agony, he didn’t let out a single cry.

Pei Zheng lowered his head and kissed his hair, before leaning into his ear and whispering, “It’s almost over, endure it for a little longer.”

Endure it for a little longer?

He had been enduring this entire time.

Finally, the silver needle was withdrawn; the outline was finished.

Qi Changyi breathed a heavy sigh of relief, panting slowly to dispel the pain in his chest bit by bit.

The tattoo artist took the high-grade cinnabar and looked at it, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

“My Lord, this cinnabar is of high quality indeed. Using this will allow the color to be retained for much longer, and it will be much brighter than normal cinnabar.”

He paused, “It’s just, this kind of cinnabar will make it a little more painful when I start coloring the outline. The Young Master’s complexion doesn’t look very good, I don’t know if he can withstand it.”

Upon hearing these words, Qi Changyi knew that there was only more pain in store for him. His eyes immediately became hot and wet, and he unconsciously gripped Pei Zheng’s sleeve.

Pei Zheng’s cuff tightened against his wrist, and he looked down at the small man with white lips; his heart throbbed painfully.

But he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Be good, endure it for a little longer, it will be over soon, okay?”

The tears at the corners of Qi Changyi’s eyes suddenly rolled down, and Pei Zheng reached out to stroke them away. He said to the tattoo artist, “Continue.”

The man hesitated, but didn’t dare object, and could only pick up the cinnabar and begin to color the outline.

The feeling of a foreign substance seeping into his flesh and blood was unbearable; it was as though the cinnabar had grown tentacles- the moment it touched him, it squeezed through his flesh and hid beneath his skin.

Stabs of heart-piercing, bone-penetrating pain came one after another, it felt as though the skin at his collarbone had been torn off, then sewn back on.

Qi Changyi’s tears hadn’t finished flowing before his entire body suddenly went limp, and he fainted from the pain.

The tattoo artist glanced at Pei Zheng, wondering if he should stop for a bit.

But Pei Zheng didn’t move from his position, and continued to hold the small man in his arms, so the tattoo artist had no choice but to continue.

After a while, the coloring was complete and the only thing remaining was to wait for the skin to heal, and for the cinnabar to fully meld with his flesh, which would only take about one or two days.

Li Yu escorted the tattoo artist – who was layered with sweat- out of the little pavilion.

Pei Zheng shifted and placed the little prince in his arms back onto the bed.

There was now a red lotus blooming over the bite marks. Delicate and flame-red, contrasting that snow-white skin; it was truly an alluring sight.

Pei Zheng stroked the area twice and found that he was unable to tear himself away. He leaned down and planted a kiss on it, before he got up and left.

***

Five days passed. Tomorrow would be the big day.

When Li Yu escorted the tattoo artist back to the little pavilion, Qi Changyi was still unconscious.

It was quiet inside the pavilion. The little beauty lying on the bed merely seemed to be a beautiful shell, whose soul had been torn away and crushed to dust.

Li Yu was worried about Qi Changyi’s condition. The tattoo wasn’t big, so it was reasonable to complete it in one session. But His Highness’s body wasn’t the same as it was in the past, and he could no longer withstand this kind of torment.

It was almost dark when Qi Changyi finally woke up.

After he opened his eyes, he didn’t speak or move. He merely stared in a daze at the elaborately-carved wooden beam above his head.

Li Yu was a little panicked, “Your Highness, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything, does your throat hurt? This servant will pour you some water.” Li Yu poured a cup of water and lifted it to Qi Changyi’s lips, but he still didn’t open his mouth.

“Your Highness, are you feeling sad? If you’re sad, just say it, it’ll make you feel better. Or you can cry for a little bit, you’ll feel much better after you cry…” Qi Changyi’s spirit seemed to have left his body, who knew where it had floated off to. It seemed as though he hadn’t heard a word of what Li Yu said, and didn’t respond at all.

“Your Highness… is it because tomorrow, Pei Zheng and the Second Princess are… Your Highness, think of it this way, maybe, when Lord Pei marries the Second Princess, he’ll let you go, and you can return to the palace!”

Return to the palace?

Qi Changyi blinked. He could really go back?

But what would he do once he went back?

The royal palace was just a cold, empty dwelling now; there was no Mother, no Royal Father, no Brother Pei…

What would be the point of going back? Now, he really had nothing left.

Qi Changyi closed his eyes again. He was exhausted, he didn’t want to think about any of this anymore.

He wasn’t smart; he was a stupid child, he just couldn’t figure it out.

His chest hurt so much. The outside hurt, and the inside hurt too.

If he dug out his heart and threw it away, it wouldn’t hurt anymore, right?

But if he didn’t have a heart, wouldn’t he be dead?

If he was dead, it wouldn’t hurt anymore, right?

With these thoughts in his mind, Qi Changyi slowly fell back asleep.

When he woke up again, it was already the next day.

Today was the first auspicious day of the Celestial Dynasty in ten years. It was also the day of the wedding between Prime Minister Pei Zheng and the Second Princess Qi Bingzhi of the royal family.

When Qi Changyi woke up, he felt that he had finally recovered some of his strength.

Li Yu helped him sit up, and the lapel over his chest slipped down a little, exposing a few flame-red petals, leaving Li Yu staring, utterly dumbstruck.

The color of this cinnabar really was one of a kind; it was even more beautiful than a real red lotus. It also glowed with a soft golden light, equal parts demonic and holy.

No wonder Lord Pei insisted on giving His Highness such a tattoo; anyone who saw it would never forget it.

Qi Changyi ate some breakfast, but after only a few bites, he was unwilling to eat anymore. Afterwards, he wanted to go out for a walk.

The weather had gotten colder. One’s body would be frozen to the bone the moment they stepped outside.

Li Yu had originally been unwilling to let him go outside, but Qi Changyi insisted. In the end, Li Yu helped him don a cloak and they walked out the door.

Strangely, the garden was full of people, running around and busying themselves; it was unclear what they were all fiddling with.

Upon seeing Qi Changyi, everyone was startled, and they quickly hid the things in their hands, fearing that he would see them. Yet no one had expected that Qi Changyi didn’t seem to care. He simply lowered his head, looked at the ground, and walked slowly along the winding path.

He said he had wanted to come out for a walk and it seemed that it was truly his only intention.

When he reached the gate of the back garden, he didn’t wait for anyone to stop him; Qi Changyi simply silently turned around and walked back.

He walked like this for a long time. He didn’t know how many times he had gone back and forth; he walked until he was out of breath, and his body couldn’t take it anymore. Only then did Li Yu support him to walk back to the little pavilion.

It seemed that he had only come out to experience a shred of freedom for a short time.

As soon as the door to the little pavilion closed, the people in the garden quietly busied themselves once more.

Qi Changyi took off his cloak, sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked out the window at the bare branches.

“Your Highness,” Li Yu walked up to him and called out.

Qi Changyi didn’t react at all.

Only when Li Yu shouted twice more did Qi Changyi slowly turn his head to look at him.

“Your Highness, you want to know what’s going on outside, right? Or, in other words, you want to know what Lord Pei is doing right now, correct?”

Notes

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