CH 58

Chapter 58 Nightmare

Liu Zhongming soaked in the water for a long time, panting slightly, lying still on the edge of the pool.

His whole body slumped with exhaustion and his mind was blank. He couldn’t tell whether he was comfortable or uncomfortable.

The pool water was dirty, and he knew he should go out, but the intense stimulation made him completely unable to think and his limbs had no strength.

He didn’t want to move and didn’t dare to think too much, for fear that his unsatisfactory brother would raise his head again.

The soft words like a cat’s meow was like an invisible thread, dawdling back and forth in his heart and ears. He could feel the existence of that thing, but he didn’t dare to listen carefully.

No one had ever made him feel so chaotic.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he could detect that person was still in a coma from his breathing and pulse, he even wondered if Qu Chenzhou had seen through his weakness and deliberately played a trick on him.

Obviously it was just a frivolous apology, but being stated with such a light humming, it turned into a desire like sutra in his ears.

If it wasn’t for his concentration and calling someone in to take him away when he sensed something was wrong, he was really afraid that he wouldn’t be able to guarantee that Qu Chenzhou would leave intact.

But when he lost control, the lips he kissed were soft and delicate. He had used all his self-control to avoid biting the tip of his pink tongue.

Noticing that his body seemed to be changing again, he scolded himself, not daring to think about it any more.

He flushed his body with cold water and then wiped it off hastily. A servant said to him outside the bathroom door: “Master Shizi, Dr. Qin requested you to please go and see Little Brother Qu.”

Liu Zhongming’s mood suddenly turned bad, as if he didn’t just have his shameful appearance earlier. He looked at the person and asked impatiently, “What’s wrong! He’s not even a young miss from a noble family, so why are there so many issues!” 

The servant shrank back from being scolded and murmured: “Doctor Qin said that the person hasn’t woken up yet, but refuses to take the medicine.”

“Doctor Qin can’t even feed a person medicine?!” Liu Zhongming put on a bathrobe, his hands and feet were weak. When he saw that the servant was still at the door, he was even more angry: “Is it possible that I need to feed him by hand?”

“No, no,” The servant panicked and replied quickly, “I also tried to give it, but Little Brother Qu’s reaction seemed a bit wrong. Doctor Qin said that he seemed to be caught in a nightmare.”

When he hurried to the bedroom, Liu Zhongming understood why they had to make a big fuss and alert himself – Qu Chenzhou’s reaction was indeed more intense than he imagined.

He also resisted drinking medicine when he was a child, but he had never seen such a big battle.

Qu Chenzhou was sprawled on the bed, with his head hanging on the edge of the bed, struggling desperately. Four or five people were pressing him down on the bed. The bedding was covered with yellow-brown medicine, and there were broken pieces of porcelain under the bed.

He was struggling extremely hard. He still had his lips pursed, clenched his teeth and said nothing, as if he was afraid that the others would have the opportunity to make him take medicine.

When Dr. Qin saw Liu Zhongming, it was as if he encountered his savior. He complained repeatedly: “Look Shizi! When Little Brother Qu first came out, he was in good condition. He didn’t even respond when his fingertips were pricked to release some blood, but when the medicine touched his mouth, he turned crazy. Even a few people can’t hold him down, how can this child get better without taking medicine?”

Liu Zhongming looked at the bed in horror, not knowing how he could be like this.

“Is there any more medicine? Feed him again!”

This time the medicine was put in a porcelain bottle, and someone raised Qu Chenzhou’s face.

When Liu Zhongming saw his face, he realized that he was having a nightmare. His brows were furrowed into a ball, his eyes were still closed, and he didn’t know whether it was due to the struggle or the fever, but his cheeks were scarily red, and he couldn’t stop shivering.

Not waiting for the porcelain bottle to come over, Qu Chenzhou was like a beast trapped in a prison. He was clearly having difficulty breathing, but he gritted his teeth and refused to speak, shaking his head desperately.

The person who was holding him behind him was anxious. He held his lower jaw with one hand and lifted it up, but he didn’t expect Qu Chenzhou to ignore the restraint and slam forward desperately.

The person feeding the medicine staggered and hurriedly stepped back, but the medicine still could not be poured in.

“Stop!” Liu Zhongming scolded, took a few steps forward, and opened the man’s hand.

“He’s stuck in his nightmare and can’t wake up. I just don’t know what he could be scared of to turn out like this.” Doctor Qin was helpless: “It’s just taking medicine, not torture.”

Torture!

Liu Zhongming was abruptly awakened by this word, and suddenly remembered Qu Chenzhou’s abnormality when he saw Liao Guangming. His heart jolted, and he hurriedly halted the servant who wanted to try giving the medicine again: “Don’t touch him!”

He took the porcelain bottle, then waved his hand to let everyone withdraw. He waited until the surroundings were quiet, then slowly stepped forward, and whispered, “Chenzhou? Chenzhou?

Qu Chenzhou’s head was on the side of the bed. Without anyone pressing him down, he had no strength to struggle, and he remained motionless.

Originally, he was still breathing heavily, but he trembled slightly with Liu Zhongming’s cry, as if he was trying hard to raise his head, yet he couldn’t hold himself up.

Liu Zhongming approached again and tried to lift Qu Chenzhou’s lower jaw.

“Chenzhou, I’m Liu Zhongming…”

His voice was soft and slow, like a humming to coax someone to sleep. His palm warmly and powerfully supported him.

Qu Chenzhou’s original struggle stopped. His small pointed chin rested quietly and weakly in his palm, and did not move again.

“Come, take the medicine.” Holding his breath with rapt attention, Liu Zhongming gently tried to put the porcelain bottle close to him.

He had guessed what happened to Qu Chenzhou and Qu Chenzhou’s unusual reaction in the rain also made him realize that this person might have confused his past and present lives in his dazed state. 

Those soft words showed weakness that made his heart feel mixed. He didn’t know who could have the good fortune to make Qu Chenzhou lower his stubborn head.

The medicine in the porcelain bottle touched his lips.

He didn’t know why, but Qu Chenzhou’s eyelashes trembled and his eyes rolled uneasily, then a strand of tear fell down, as if he was very sad, but he still opened his mouth obediently and drank all the medicine.

Like someone who had been in the dark for a long time seeing the warm sunshine in April, Liu Zhongming felt warm in his heart, but the tip of his nose was a little sour.

This recalcitrant little fox… willing to listen to his words, he felt even more distressed.

——He didn’t know what nightmare Qu Chenzhou just had.

——He didn’t know if Qu Chenzhou’s nightmare was related to his previous life that he didn’t want to talk about or…

His heart jumped.

For some reason, he always felt that such a fragile appearance should not belong to the little fox, but the slave who was kneeling in front of everyone.

Those long-standing worries resurfaced.

He was very afraid, afraid that the little fox would be affected by Qu Chenzhou’s humiliating past, no matter how hard his heart was.

Who is this person who was struggling and refusing to take medicine?

It was not until the porcelain bottle was empty that he realized that he had been holding his breath this whole time. He touched the obedient little head, and carried Qu Chenzhou to the bed in his inner room, and a strange idea came up.

When it’s time to go to Nianhua Alley, if he can meet that beautiful wild cat, he’ll bring it back to be a companion for Chenzhou.

These two…should be of the same kind.

After tossing for so long, it was already halfway through the night. Before Liu Zhongming rolled over onto the bed, he carried the person and put him in again.

He slowly wiped away the tears from the corners of Qu Chenzhou’s eyes before tucking the pillow under his waist and half-sitting against the head of the bed.

Too much had happened during this time and he needed some time to sort it out.

Mother’s character, he knew better than anyone else. With this riot, killing Dan Lang alone was not enough to quell her anger.

He was afraid everything will be as Qu Chenzhou said, the Empress will use his Mother’s affairs to push the responsibility from Ning Wang to Qi Wang.

Right as Qi Wang is being complacent, he will definitely leave his soldiers to protect the carriage and abandon Jiang Xingzhi.

Everything happened naturally. He should have been at the center of the storm, but to outsiders, all these causes had nothing to do with him.

It turned out that in the so-called strategizing where the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, someone really can do it.

He looked at the sleeping person beside him and put his hand naturally on the forehead beside him. After taking a medicinal bath and drinking medicine, the heat quickly subsided.

Touching Qu Chenzhou’s neck, his hand was filled with fine sweat. He hesitated for a while, then ripped open the front of his Zhongyi (white inner clothes) before sitting back again.

Maybe it’s God’s mercy, but his luck was really good. If it wasn’t for Qu Chenzhou, wouldn’t those terrible things in his dream repeat the same mistakes again?

He wanted to keep pace with the other and he didn’t want to be a chess piece in the hands of the other, but now, what leverage and ability did he have to walk with him?

But before these questions, the biggest problem he faced was – how to get more trust from this wild cat, at least not like this time, having him fight alone…

He was looking up at the tassel on the curtain in a trance when he noticed a movement around him. Before he had time to look down, Qu Chenzhou hugged him with both hands and feet, rubbing affectionately.

“You…”

Liu Zhongming’s whole body stiffened. He couldn’t help but scold him. He deliberately pushed the person away, but when he touched his hand, it seemed as if a heavy weight was tied to his wrist and he couldn’t help grasping it.

So soft and so hot.

Maybe there was too much confusion in his mind. He thought about it for a long time. Not only was he not willing to push him down, but he gently picked him up. His upper body was lying on his chest and his hands could just wrap around his slender waist.

“I’m warning you, just this once!” He turned his eyes to the side, rested his chin on the top of his thin head, and enthusiasm burned into the corners of his eyes, turning the intimidating voice into soft words.

“There will be no next time!”

This hug made both of them very comfortable. After a while, the breathing on his chest became much more uniform and light, and there was no more moaning like when he had a high fever.

“Just once…”

He calmed himself down as if chanting a spell, but another person seemed to have split from his mind, wanting to chat with him – why is Chenzhou so thin? Did he usually eat too little? Or was he too picky? He should keep an eye on it next time.

——He was already fifteen years old, why is he only this tall? Does he need to go out and run more and not stay in the house every day?

——Why is he still soft to the touch, was he that soft when he was fifteen years old? Not likely.

——He was clearly so thin, why was he so comfortable to hold?

——Why are there so many wounds on his back? Didn’t Doctor Qin say that it would grow back slowly?

Before he fell asleep in a daze, he fell into a dream with one last question – why can he feel the back injury so clearly, where was his hand?

This question was like a seductive spirit, leading him to wander in his dream and his hand was also wandering.

Someone whispered impatiently in his ear: “Zhongming, don’t…don’t…”

“Don’t what? Saying no now, isn’t it too late?” He bit down sneakliy: “Is it here? Or here?”

There was a sudden silence in his arms and it took a long time for him to regain their breath. He began to whimper and begged for mercy intermittently: “No, I know I’m wrong…”

“Now you’re saying no?” He turned the person over to face himself. Wrapped in his arms, he forced the man to stand against the wall.

“Who was sneakily touching me behind Qianqiu Palace today, then ran away? If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’re going to get even worst.” 

The sound of begging for mercy stopped and that kind of pleasure came up again. Before it reached the peak, he felt his arms empty and the person had disappeared.

He was stunned when he heard a long scream in the distance, as if someone had suffered great pain. It took only a moment for cold sweat to soak his clothes and he woke up, hearing a rooster crowing from somewhere.

It turned out to be just a fright from his dream.

He stood up sweating and found that his little brother, who was full of energy and ready to move, was being pressed down by a soft abdomen. He could only be glad that the person was not awake. Gently carrying the person who was still sleeping on his chest to the side, he got up and changed clothes and sat by the bed for a while.

It was another shameful dream he couldn’t speak about. Although he didn’t see that person’s face in the dream, he knew what this person looked like based on past experience.

It’s just that he hadn’t figured out why the person with whom he had been lingering repeatedly on was Qu Chenzhou.

Was it because the dream reflected his ulterior motives, or did he really have an intersection with this person in the past? This idea was too absurd.

How could he know Qu Chenzhou, who was a slave? What’s more, the place where they had a tryst was never Qi Sheng building.

He once had an extremely vague idea, but he never had any ideas or clues for him to see clearly.

It was already dawn. After resting for a while, he walked around the screen and was about to call someone to wash up when he saw a figure lingering outside the door.

“Housekeeper She?” He opened the door, lowered his voice and asked, “Is there something the matter?”

Housekeeper She didn’t know whether to disturb him or not, and when he saw him coming out, he quickly took out a letter: “Master Shizi, General Bai has a letter for you. .”

When he cleaned up and returned to the inner room, he happened to see that the person on the bed had just gotten up, propped up his upper body, and was staring at the surroundings in a daze, as if he hadn’t realized what happened for a while.

Between the two of them looking at each other, Qu Chenzhou suddenly woke up like a dream, and was about to roll to the ground.

“Where are you going!”

Liu Zhongming gritted his teeth, stepped forward, spread his arms, and wrapped his arms around him.