CH 49

After dinner, Ye Zi reapplied Gu Yan’s medicine.

The sword had pierced his abdomen and almost went all the way through. Fortunately, Gu Yan’s martial arts foundation was still there and he was able to quickly avoid a vital point so it didn’t cause a catastrophe.

But even so, the freshly scabbed bright red wound against his white porcelain-like skin still seemed a bit shocking.

Ye Zi’s fingertips clenched and loosened as he trembled slightly while helping Gu Yan with the medicine. After he re-wrapped his bandage, he looked up at him: “The wound is healing well. You need to be more careful these days, don’t reopen the wound again.”

Gu Yan didn’t think too seriously of it: “Actually, I’m already fine but you guys keep making a big deal out of it.”

Ye Zi helped him dress and said angrily: “I can’t believe you’re blaming the Imperial physician for your sickly body! If you don’t rest for a few more days, you’ll probably pass out outside again tomorrow!”

Gu Yan didn’t answer but just looked at him with a smile on his face.

Ye Zi felt uncomfortable and tilted his head to ask: “Why are you looking at me?”

Gu Yan teased: “I just think……that the way you’re talking is sounding more and more like a mistress in charge. Isn’t that right, Princess Consort Rui?”

“Stop spouting nonsense.” Ye Zi’s ear burned up from his stare. He busily avoided his gaze and buried himself in packing the gauze and ointment he had taken off.

Gu Yan leaned against the head of the bed leisurely: “Princess Consort Rui, this Prince wants to take a bath.”

Gu Yan’s wound couldn’t touch water so Ye Zi was the one who took care of him during this time.

Ye Zi placed the hot water down gently and carefully helped him into the washroom. 

Gu Yan didn’t put his hair up when he was sick and just casually tied it with a hair tie. Ye Zi helped Gu Yan onto the soft couch, took off his hair tie, and his long jet-black hair immediately billowed down.

During the half month of Gu Yan’s recovery, he had lost a lot of weight, and his outline became more and more pronounced. Under the washroom’s warm light, his skin was pale and almost transparent.

Ye Zi’s breath hitched as he stared before quickly looking down to collect his thoughts. 

After a long time, Gu Yan suddenly said: “I have sent someone to investigate what Siwei said today, to see if it is true or if someone is deliberately spreading rumors.”

Ye Zi scooped up a ladle of hot water to help Gu Yan soak his hair. After smearing it with some shampoo powder, he massaged it in gently: “Okay.” 

Gu Yan tilted his head to look at Ye Zi’s movements and said in a warm voice: “Don’t worry, with me here, no one dares to touch you.”

Ye Zi’s movements paused for a moment.

This was what Gu Yan had said to him in his dream, to be precise, it was to Huaiyuan……

Ye Zi’s momentary dissimilarity didn’t escape Gu Yan’s eyes as he asked in a low voice: “A Zi, you have something on your mind.”

Ye Zi was stunned and shook his head: “I don’t……”

Gu Yan sighed softly and raised his hand, wiping away the foam that accidentally stained Ye Zi’s face: “Do you know how terrible you are at hiding your thoughts?” 

Gu Yan brushed Ye Zi’s cheek lightly with his fingertips and said in a gentle voice: “You have been preoccupied almost every day for a while now. All that’s missing is slapping the words ‘bad mood’ on your face.”

“A Zi, I don’t want to force you, but……I also don’t want to see you stay like this, my heart aches.”

Ye Zi’s nose twitched as he asked in a low voice: “Why?…..” 

“What?”

Ye Zi took a deep breath and looked at him with downcast eyes: “Why are you being this nice to me?” 

Gu Yan laughed softly: “Didn’t I tell you already? I like you.” 

Ye Zi pursed his lips and stopped talking again.

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He helped Gu Yan wash his hair and wrung out a handkerchief to wipe his body. There was a moment of silence in the washroom until Gu Yan suddenly took his hand: “A Zi, this is the first time I’ve treated someone like this.”

Gu Yan raised his eyes to look at him and for the first time, his eyes showed a bit of unease. He pursed his lips and said after deliberation: “I don’t know how to treat others well and I can only do my best to give you what I think is the best, but I don’t know if it’s because I’ve done something wrong that you’re unhappy.”

“If something offends you or makes you feel unhappy, tell me and I can change. I just……don’t want to see you like this.”

Ye Zi asked hoarsely: “This is the first time you’ve treated someone like this?”

Gu Yan nodded: “Mnn.”

“Then……” Ye Zi closed his eyes and forced down the name that was about to come out of his mouth. He paused for a moment and asked again: “Did you not treat others well in the past?”

“Why do you ask?”

Ye Zi’s eyes flickered for a moment and he didn’t say anything more.

Gu Yan held Ye Zi’s wrist and looked up at the wooden beam at the top of the washroom, like he was looking far away: “A long time ago, there was indeed a person who treated me very well, so well that he was even willing to sacrifice his life for me.”

Ye Zi’s fingers trembled and a coldness arose from his heart.

Gu Yan’s eyes narrowed and he said softly: “But I was naïve.”

“I took everything for granted and accepted his contributions openly, but never considered his feelings. I….I never even treated him well, not once.”

“……By the time I realized this, I had already lost him completely.”

He didn’t know what came to Gu Yan’s mind, but Gu Yan had turned away his gaze and the color of blood faintly showed in his eyes. He lowered his face and his voice became a little hoarse: “I don’t want to follow in those footsteps again, I can’t……bear to lose anything anymore.”

He unconsciously exerted some force from his hand, which made Ye Zi feel pain.

Ye Zi lowered his head and gently embraced him.

“You won’t.” Ye Zi whispered in his ear: “Your Majesty……Zicheng, you won’t lose anything, never again.”

Gu Yan’s eyes turned: “What did you call me? Say it again.”

Ye Zi paused for a moment and obediently obeyed: “……Zicheng.”

The blood in Gu Yan’s eyes faded a little as he fell down on the soft couch wearily, smiling softly: “Help me back, I’m tired.”

Ye Zi wiped Gu Yan’s body clean, put on his clothes, and helped him back to bed. He ordered the maidservant to bring charcoal to warm the room and then found a clean handkerchief to help dry Gu Yan’s hair.

Gu Yan closed his eyes and fell on the bed. He had a severe headache and grabbed his hand haphazardly: “That should be good, lie down with me for a while.”

Ye Zi paused: “No, you have to wait for your hair to dry before you sleep, otherwise, you will have a headache tomorrow.”

“It won’t hurt more than now.” Gu Yan tried his best to maintain his sanity and whispered.

Ye Zi thought for a moment and burned the charcoal fire in the room a little more vigorously before laying down beside Gu Yan in his clothes. The room was warmed by the charcoal fire which heated up the droplets of water on Gu Yan’s body. It was mixed with the fragrance of soap and herbs and Ye Zi’s mind gradually calmed down.

He gently massaged Gu Yan’s temples while saying in a warm voice: “Your Majesty, you don’t have to feel guilty about this.”

Gu Yan’s brows furrowed and he didn’t know whether he heard him or not.

Ye Zi said softly: “If that person was me, I definitely would not blame you.”

“During a person’s lifetime, how they want to live and how they treat others are all their own decisions and have nothing to do with the bystanders. Since it was his own choice, how could he have expected anything in return? I don’t think he would have cared.”

Gu Yan’s eyes closed tightly, his voice low: “You’re lying to me.”

Ye Zi’s movements paused as he replied: “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” Gu Yan opened his eyes, the bottom of his eyes now bloodshot, “You are lying to me right now.”

His appearance was a bit scary and Ye Zi flinched. Before he could respond, Gu Yan added: “Own choice and wasn’t asking for anything in return? Do you think you are that kind of person? No, of course you aren’t……you never were.”

“No one is selfless. Everything you do for me, whether intentionally or intentionally……is because you want me to remember you forever, so that I can’t forget you or leave you, right?”

“I was at fault in the past. I shouldn’t have ignored your feelings like that, so you took revenge on me. You walked away cleanly and left me in this world alone to always miss you and think of you……”

“……You’ve succeeded.”

His voice was low and muffled, almost making Ye Zi breathless.

Ye Zi’s heart ached and his eyes slowly turned red: “Your Majesty, your sickness is acting up again, let me go bring you medicine.” 

“I won’t let you go.” Gu Yan grabbed his wrist and pressed him firmly on the bed.

Ye Zi was frightened and he struggled a bit, but he didn’t dare to use any force since he clearly felt the bandages on the opponent’s waist loosen during this movement: “Your Majesty, your injury……”

Gu Yan couldn’t hear anything. His eyes were terribly red and his whole complexion was gloomy. Ye Zi wanted to say something more, but overwhelming kisses immediately fell on his face. Gu Yan’s actions seemed fierce, but when he actually touched Ye Zi, he was still as gentle and compassionate as ever.

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Ye Zi soon indulged in his excessively gentle kisses, he lost all his struggling strength, and couldn’t help but reach out to grab the man’s lapel.

Gu Yan kissed him delicately and whispered: “I won’t let you leave me again, absolutely not.”

Ye Zi’s movement paused, as if a basin of cold water had been poured on him from head to toe.

Ye Zi opened his eyes to look at him and suddenly spoke softly: “Who are you talking about?”

His voice trembled and his throat was hoarse: “……Me or Huaiyuan?”

Gu Yan’s consciousness was muddled. He touched Ye Zi’s face, leaned up to kiss his eyes, and said softly: “You are Huaiyuan.”

Ye Zi froze, his brain buzzed continuously, and he even forgot to react. After an unknown amount of time had passed, Gu Yan exhausted all his strength and finally couldn’t support himself any longer as he fell asleep on Ye Zi’s body.

It took Ye Zi a while to realize that the person on his body had already stopped moving. He carefully placed the person on the bed, got up, and took a look. The bandages on the latter’s body had completely loosened and the faint blood had stained the white gauze, making a stark contrast.

Ye Zi silently re-bandage Gu Yan’s injuries then dried his wet hair and covered him with the quilt.

After doing so, Ye Zi dropped to the bedside and stared blankly at Gu Yan’s sleeping face.

A few moments later, a white light flashed in the room and the little green plant changed back to its original form, slowly crawling out of the clothes.

He silently jumped out of the bedroom through the window and climbed into the grass.

Ye Zi curled up in the center of the grass. His flower bud buried low into the blades as his soft and slender stems and leaves shivered gently with the night wind.

Outside the window, the night sky was starless and moonless with dark clouds shrouding the entire Chang’an City——it felt stuffy to the point that one could hardly breathe.

When Gu Yan woke up the next day, he only felt a splitting headache. He whimpered impatiently and someone immediately reached out to help him up. A bowl of water was brought to him and as Gu Yan took a sip from the person’s hand, he tasted a mouthful of bitterness.

Gu Yan frowned: “What is this?……”

Qiu Tang replied: “This is your medicine.”

Gu Yan opened his eyes and his expression immediately turned cold: “How come it’s you, where’s the princess consort?”

Qiu Tang responded: “Since your wound reopened yesterday, the princess consort went to get a doctor for you early in the morning.”

Gu Yan took the bowl of medicine: “He could have called for someone to fetch the doctor, why did he need to go himself?”  

Qiu Tang shook her head: “This servant doesn’t know.”

Gu Yan didn’t say anything else. He finished the medicine in one gulp and ordered: “You may leave and have someone find Siwei.”

Qiu Tang answered and headed out of the room. Gu Yan leaned on the bed and rested his eyes. Before long, he heard the door of the room gently push open.

Siwei walked in: “Master, you were looking for me?”

Gu Yan opened his eyes and asked: “Remember how I asked you to look into Princess Consort Rui’s matter, how is it going?”

Siwei looked hesitant for a moment and Gu Yan asked rhetorically: “Still nothing?”

Siwei lowered his head: “Yes.”

Gu Yan pressed his temples and sighed softly: “Did you tell him about the villa outside the city?”