CH 148

February 23, 2023Merchie

And at this moment, Qi Yirou and Jiang Yubai were about to hurry over to the borderlands.

When the news spread to the Imperial City, it stirred up quite a storm; the Imperial Court was no exception.

But this storm left as quickly as it came.

After all, no one had ever paid much attention to that prince. Few actually cared whether he was alive or not; they merely regarded this as an interesting topic that was as fleeting as the aftertaste of tea.

But great waves were shaking the palace.

Although the Empress had already been deposed, the Second Princess, Qi Bingzhi, was not implicated, because she had married another court official, and was now pregnant.

After she heard that Qi Changyi was still alive, Qi Bingzhi rushed to the palace, and just so happened to bump into Jiang Yubai at the palace gate.

Jiang Yubai was waiting for Qi Yirou so they could head to the borderlands together. He had received Cheng Feng’s secret letter, and had already explained everything to Qi Yirou. Indeed, Qi Yirou had agreed to be Qi Changyi’s blood donor.

Before Qi Yirou came out of the palace, Qi Bingzhi ordered her servants to block Jiang Yubai’s carriage.

“Imperial Physician Jiang, oh wait, Doctor Jiang, who are you waiting for?”

Jiang Yubai rolled his eyes at her, and wanted nothing more than to ignore her. He wasn’t an official anymore, so there was no need for him to report his every move to her.

“Naturally, I’m waiting for someone.”

Qi Bingzhi was infuriated by his attitude; Qi Bingzhi’s current personality was completely different from what it had been in the past. She was extremely irritable; she couldn’t even spare the effort to put on an act anymore.

Just as she was about to make a fuss, a sedan came out of the palace.

Qi Bingzhi climbed off the sedan. She also ignored Qi Bingzhi, and simply boarded Jiang Yubai’s carriage.

The carriage was about to turn and head in the opposite direction, but because of the people blocking the path, the carriage couldn’t move at all.

“Second Princess, please move aside. I have important matters to attend to, it’s not in your place to hold us up.”

Qi Yirou spoke with indifference, her tone frosty.

“Rourou, how can you talk to me like this? Where are you going, couldn’t you have told your Second Sister about it?”

Qi Yirou was anxious to get going. For every moment they dallied here, the situation on the other side would worsen a bit. However, Qi Bingzhi’s stomach was a bulging bump; no one dared to lay a hand on her.

Jiang Yubai couldn’t care less about this. He ordered the driver, “Go.”

The carriage swiftly turned in the other direction. The horse whinnied, which frightened Qi Bingzhi. She fell to the side, clearing a path for them in the process.

Someone supported Qi Bingzhi to stand. She raised her voice, “Jiang Yubai! Don’t think that I don’t know where you guys are going! You’re definitely going to find him, aren’t you? You’re going to bring him back, and let him continue being a prince! Why?! He’s been gone for so many years, he can stay gone! Why does he still have to come back?!”

Jiang Yubai lifted the curtain and smiled.

“Second Princess, you’re half right. We’re going to find His Royal Highness. However, we’re not the ones who are going to bring him back. His Majesty ordered Lord Pei to bring His Highness back.”

Jiang Yubai knew how he could enrage Qi Bingzhi even more. He took a golden silk scroll out of his robe and unfurled it.

“I’ve received the decree on behalf of Lord Pei. Second Princess, if you don’t believe it, would you like to personally examine it?”

Qi Bingzhi stared at the edict; it seemed that she was in extreme disbelief.

But Jiang Yubai backhandedly stuffed the edict back into his robe, “Since the princess won’t look at it, then I’ll be leaving now. Princess, you really cannot bear the consequences of delaying His Majesty’s will.”

The carriage immediately raced off.

Qi Bingzhi watched at the carriage gradually disappeared into the distance, but suddenly felt a throbbing pain in her stomach. Then, the servant beside her shouted:

“Princess! Y-your stomach is bleeding!”

***

In the borderlands of the Celestial Dynasty, a spacious tent was heated by a charcoal fire; it was very warm.

The small man lying on the bed slowly opened his eyes into slits, but he still felt cold.

The moment he woke up, he had a terrible headache. More and more scenes and memories were swarming about and attacking his mind.

The barracks, becoming ill, escaping, as well as everything in his vision being bathed in blood-red.

“Ngh…” The small man’s brow creased tightly, and his breaths quickened slightly. He reached up and held his head, cold sweat dripping down his skin.

Shen Huan’s heart twisted, “What’s wrong? Disciple, what’s wrong? Does your head hurt? Don’t think about it anymore, if it hurts, don’t think about it…”

But the small man on the bed couldn’t hear a thing; his head was hurting so badly that it was about to split open. He began to beat himself with his fists, landing blow after blow on his own body.

Shen Huan gripped his arms, not allowing him to hurt himself. He prodded her wounds as he struggled, and a bit of blood flowed out, but Shen Huan didn’t let go.

“Disciple, Disciple, calm down, look at me, I’m your shifu-”

The tent flap was lifted; a figure walked in, accompanied by a gust of cold wind.

Shen Huan looked over and saw that it was Pei Zheng; she instantly felt relieved.

Pei Zheng walked over to the side of the bed, and reached out to gently clasp those thin, fragile wrists; the small man couldn’t muster any more strength.

“Let me.”

Pei Zheng sat at the side of the bed and smoothed the small man’s hair.

Shen Huan nodded silently, before she turned and left the tent.

The small man’s head was still aching terribly, but with his wrists restrained, he had no way to struggle anymore. He began to sob, his tears flowing more furiously with every passing moment.

Pei Zheng placed both of his wrists in one hand, before he used his other hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of the small man’s eyes.

Those tears were like a broken string of beads; they seemed to flow endlessly.

But the small man felt that the pain in his head had lessened somewhat, and had gradually begun to quiet, merely shedding tears in silence.

His face was covered in tearstains, but he remained completely silent. It made one’s heart ache even more.

Pei Zheng let go of his wrists and readjusted his collar.

Earlier, the small man’s collar had loosened as he was struggling, exposing a bit of his pale collarbone.

Those slender fingers suddenly paused. A faint splash of bewitching red peeked out from beneath his collar. Pei Zheng’s breaths froze, and he gently lifted the small man’s collar. Indeed, it was that dazzling red lotus tattoo, blooming into fiery red over his fair skin.

But why had this red lotus tattoo appeared again? Could it be that something about the small man’s condition had changed?

While he was Qi Changyi, that red lotus remained on his skin. While he was Shen Shijiu, that red lotus would disappear.

Now that the red lotus had bloomed again, did that mean…

Pei Zheng’s expression remained calm as he closed the small man’s collar.

“Does your head still hurt?”

He asked softly as he kneaded the small man’s temple, his movements gentle and tender.

The small man lifted his eyes. He was blinded by tears. Little beads of water hung on his long lashes, reflecting the muddle and dazedness in his gaze.

But his gaze gradually changed, and a peculiar gleam emerged from within his eyes.

Then, Pei Zheng’s hand was suddenly waved off.

The small man’s eyes stared unblinkingly at him. He shrank away, his breaths becoming rapid, his eyes full of shock and fear.

Pei Zheng’s heart jumped, stabbed by his hostility and guardedness.

“You don’t want me to touch you? Then I won’t, okay?”

The small man bit his lower lip; it seemed as though he was trying his best to hold his tears back, his lips were already turning pale due to how hard he was biting.

He propped himself up and sat upright, before he turned over and rolled off the other side of the bed.

The moment he got off the bed, because of his limp legs, he fell right to the ground.

Pei Zheng wanted to hurry over and help him up, but the small man tried his hardest to dodge him; Pei Zheng’s hands caught a palmful of nothing.

The small man ended up climbing back up himself. He still hadn’t completely recovered his memory. Right now, he had only recalled a portion of the past, and they were all bad memories.

He stood up and walked out, swaying, by himself.

It was terribly cold outside of the tent; one would panic if they were caught in this freezing weather.

When the guards outside saw that the person inside had actually come out, they were quite shocked. Just as they were about to kneel and greet him, they were interrupted by Pei Zheng, who had followed him.

Pei Zheng waved his hand, and had all of those guards leave.

The small man continued to walk extremely slowly up front. His footsteps were uncertain and wobbly; it appeared as though he would collapse at any moment.

He glanced dazedly in every direction, before his eyes suddenly pinned themselves onto a small building.

Pei Zheng looked over as well. There was nothing special about that building, so why was he staring at it like that?

But he suddenly remembered; that building was just like the one the small man had once stayed in. Could it be that he had remembered something else?

A pained expression came over the small man’s face, his eyes full of a palpable grief that couldn’t be melted away.

He muttered to himself, but his voice was too quiet, so Pei Zheng couldn’t hear what he was saying.

A soldier suddenly ran over; it seemed as though he had something urgent to report. When he saw the pair standing on the path, he hurriedly knelt to greet them.

“Greetings to Your Royal Highness, greetings to Prime Minister Pei.”

That small man saw the person kneeling in front of him. When he heard that title, he quietly repeated it to himself.

“Your Royal Highness…”

Pei Zheng had already stepped forward, and gave that soldier a cold glance, “Get out of here.”

That soldier broke out into a cold sweat, and practically sprinted away.

“Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness, Your Highness…”

He repeated again and again. Every time he recited it, more and more scenes would rush into his mind.

He was a prince. Then who else was he? What was his name?

Why did this barracks seem so familiar? Had he come here before?

And that person behind him, who was he? Why was he in almost every single one of these scenes? Why would he feel such a wrenching, aching pain whenever he came too close?

His entire body hurt, everything hurt. Even his heart was flooded with pain.

The wind suddenly picked up, spraying sand into the air and blinding him.

The small man also staggered as a gale swept over him, and his light, fragile body fell backward.

Pei Zheng didn’t care about anything else; he hurriedly stepped forward to hold him steady.

But the moment the small man was caught, he was enveloped in a faint sandalwood fragrance.

This scent had already become light and faded, but at this particular moment, it could still pierce into the small man’s heart.

He remembered.

The Prime Minister’s Manor, the secret dungeon, the back garden, the little pavilion, the blood, and the whip wounds. Then, the veil of joyful red over his vision, and the snowstorm beside that cliff.

The pain and sadness that had been forgotten… he remembered it all.

“I’m a prince… My name is Qi Changyi…”

The small man’s lips were bloodless, and his body was also terribly cold, but his mind was much more lucid than before.

“My name… is Qi Changyi.”

Notes

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Thanks for reading~