CH 74

Ch 74 “Did my older brother really want to cry just now?”

Xie Chaoling was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, resting. Wang Jin entered the room quietly and reported to him in a low voice, “Master, we found it.”

He handed over a dirty and bloodstained handkerchief that had already been ruined.

When Xie Chaoyuan went out with his men earlier, Xie Chaoling had instructed him to find a servant in the house to collect dirty laundry and to search for the thing Wang Rang had thrown away last night.

Xie Chaoling reached out and took the handkerchief, staring at the bloodstains for a while without moving. In the letter, Tebumu had written that the gu would backfire on the person who planted it, and spitting blood was only the beginning. Xie Chaoyuan was already spitting blood, and he had intentionally hidden it from him.

“Master…” Wang Jin called out in a trembling voice.

Xie Chaoling came back to his senses and threw the handkerchief back. “Take it back and don’t let anyone find it.”

Xie Chaoyuan did indeed return to the mansion early today, after the hour of the Monkey, probably afraid that Xie Chaoling would be bored and had brought back several books he had purchased outside.

“Are you going out today?” Xie Chaoling asked.

Xie Chaoyuan smiled, “Since you won’t let me drink, I won’t go today.”

After a few words, Xie Chaoling pushed open the half-open window. It was raining outside again, and the intermittent rain was annoying to watch. It seemed even colder outside.

Xie Chaoyuan came over and closed the window again. “Don’t open the window, be careful not to catch a cold.”

Xie Chaoling sighed softly. “I don’t know how Little Huang is doing. It’s a pity I didn’t bring it out.”

“In the Eastern Palace, are you still afraid that no one will feed it? No one will harm a bird.” Xie Chaoyuan said casually.

Xie Chaoling smiled and said no more.

He sat on the bed and looked at the books Xie Chaoyuan had brought back from outside.

Xie Chaoyuan leaned on his side and asked, “Brother, you don’t seem to be in a good mood today.”

Clearly, he was very happy when he tried the auspicious clothes early in the morning, but now he seemed to be in a low mood and had to force a smile.

Xie Chaoling’s gaze shifted from the book in his hand to Xie Chaoyuan’s face, and he paused.

“It grew up looking good, but…”

“What?” Xie Chaoyuan raised his eyebrows.

It’s just that he’s stubborn and paranoid, and he won’t repent even if he plays himself to death. Xie Chaoling shook his head and didn’t continue. Since Xie Chaoyuan didn’t want him to know, he pretended not to know.

“Little brother, …just behave yourself in the future. When you were young, you did some foolish things, and others didn’t hold you accountable because of your youth and ignorance. As you get older, if you continue to act like this, others will say you are disrespectful to your elders.”

Xie Chaoyuan chuckled, “Disrespectful to the elderly? I don’t think so. After all, it’s older brother who is leading the way.”

He leaned in close to Xie Chaoling and lowered his voice, “But that’s just my opinion.”

Xie Chaoling punched him on the shoulder, “You little brat.”

Xie Chaoyuan groaned and bent over, holding his shoulder.

Xie Chaoling was taken aback, remembering that both of them had knife wounds and were not fully healed yet. He quickly supported Xie Chaoyuan and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Chaoyuan’s entire weight was on Xie Chaoling’s body, and he rested his head on his shoulder for a while without saying a word. Xie Chaoling couldn’t help feeling a little anxious and looked down at him, “Sixth brother?”

Xie Chaoyuan looked up with a smile in his eyes, “Little brat? Do you curse me like that in your heart every day, brother?”

Xie Chaoling was played, but he breathed a sigh of relief and coughed lightly without admitting it.

“If you don’t want to admit it, brother, it’s fine. But I know you must be cursing me,” Xie Chaoyuan said with a smile, winking at him.

Their eyes met, and Xie Chaoling’s heart trembled slightly as he leaned in and kissed Xie Chaoyuan’s lips.

…Well, he could never win against Xie Chaoyuan.

A few days later, Wang Jin went out to buy some snacks for Xie Chaoling again. There was a piece of paper with detailed instructions on how to use the “heart blood cure” hidden inside one of the snacks.

After reading it, Xie Chaoling fell silent for a while. Wang Jin whispered to him, “Master, do you really want to do this? You were injured before and haven’t fully recovered. I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it…”

“What else can we do if we don’t do this?” Xie Chaoling asked, “Just watch His Highness die?”

He said, “Prepare everything according to the instructions on this paper, but don’t let anyone see it.”

Wang Jin wiped his eyes and quickly prepared everything.

Xie Chaoling leaned against the bed and looked out the window. The rainy weather had been going on for several days, and there was no sign of it stopping. It was definitely not a good sign.

Wang Jin quickly prepared everything and brought it to Xie Chaoling. His hands were still trembling as he said, “Master…”

Xie Chaoling’s expression was calm: “You can follow me back to Daliang with me afterwards.”

Wang Jin knelt down with a thump and said, “This servant is willing to follow Your Highness.”

“Get up,” Xie Chaoling said, “I must make this happen, don’t reveal anything to anyone.”

“If Your Highness doesn’t mind, let me try it first. If this method works, then you can…”

“No need,” Xie Chaoling interrupted him, “I don’t have time to waste. Let’s begin now.”

It must not be interrupted for seven days and must be resolved before the wedding. He didn’t want any regrets on the day of the wedding.

Wang Jin couldn’t persuade him, so he had to follow his orders. Fortunately, they brought two local doctors from Daliang with them, who were currently in the mansion. If anything went wrong, they could be called over immediately.

Xie Chaoling took out a silver needle and rubbed it in his hand. It was twice as thick as the needles used by the physicians he had seen before, which Wang Jin bought under the pretext of getting him wedding gifts in the afternoon.

The tip of the needle was shining with a cold light. Xie Chaoling used his fingertip to test it and placed it on the candlestick.

Wang Jin knelt down again and choked, “Since Your Highness has allowed me to follow you in the future, I am yours. I still want to persuade you to think twice. The use of gu was not your wish, and now resolving it should not be your burden either. Your Highness should consider your own well-being.”

Xie Chaoling ignored him and forcefully pierced the needle into his finger, which was burnt by the fire. A sharp pain hit him, and the pain in his fingertips seemed to be much more acute than in other places. Xie Chaoling gritted his teeth and pulled out the needle. Blood spurted out and quickly dripped into the porcelain bowl in his hand.

Wang Jin watched him with fear and trembling lips. Xie Chaoling kept squeezing his fingers and repeatedly puncturing his fingertips with the needle, from the middle finger to the index finger and then to the ring finger. The blood drained from his face, and the pain and dizziness from the blood loss made him feel faint, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted. When the bowl was full, he immediately asked Wang Jin to replace it with a new one.

“Pour this blood into the flowerpot and don’t let anyone see it,” Xie Chaoling hoarsely instructed.

Wang Jin wiped his face, took the bowl tremblingly, and poured it into the flowerpot by the window. When he came back, he saw that the second bowl was about to be filled, and he couldn’t help but persuade him again, “Your Highness, why don’t you rest for a while, drink some water and eat something before continuing?”

“No need,” Xie Chaoling squeezed out these two words from between his teeth.

It was too painful. He kept piercing his fingers with the needle and squeezing out blood, and the pain had almost numbed him. He was afraid that if he stopped, he would lose the courage to continue.

Soon his lips also began to turn white, and he felt tightness in his chest and shortness of breath, almost unable to breathe. There were wounds on all ten of his fingers that had been punctured, and his hands were dripping with blood.

Wang Jin cried and kowtowed continuously, begging him: “Your Highness, please stop, I beg you, please stop…”

This was only the first day of seven days of bloodletting, and even the servants couldn’t bear it. How could someone as precious as Xie Chaoling endure it?

When the third bowl of blood was filled, Xie Chaoling collapsed on the bed, covered in sweat, and all his strength had been drained. Wang Jin hurriedly got up to call the doctor, but Xie Chaoling stopped him: “Clean up… pour out the blood, hide everything, wipe the blood off my hands, don’t let anyone see these wounds, otherwise, it’s only you who will be questioned.”

After saying the last word, Xie Chaoling’s eyelids drooped, and he fainted completely.

When he woke up again, he didn’t know how long had passed. In a daze, he heard Xie Chaoyuan’s voice, and slowly opened his eyes.

As soon as he moved, Xie Chaoyuan leaned over, looking at him with concern and raising his hand to brush his forehead.

Xie Chaoyuan frowned tightly, unable to hide his worry. “You fainted just now, do you know that?”

Xie Chaoling moved his fingers, biting his tongue in pain.

Xie Chaoyuan’s brow furrowed even more tightly.

Xie Chaoling closed his eyes and opened them again, shaking his head slowly. Wang Jin was clever enough to put on the fur gloves that the Xirong people wore in the autumn and winter, so Xie Chaoyuan shouldn’t have seen the wounds on his hands.

“How long was I out for?”

“Nearly two hours,” Xie Chaoyuan said in a deep voice.

Xie Chaoling was too weak to say anything more. Xie Chaoyuan gestured to the doctor beside him to come forward and take his pulse.

The two doctors would never have thought that Xie Chaoling had bled himself, and after listening to his pulse for a while with a serious expression, they could only say that he had caught a cold from the cold weather, plus he was not acclimated to the local conditions, so his blood and energy were seriously deficient and he needed medication and diet to slowly recover.

This answer was obviously unsatisfactory to Xie Chaoyuan. Seeing that his expression was darkening and he was about to explode, Xie Chaoling spoke first: “I understand, you can go down and prepare the medicine.”

Xie Chaoyuan looked at him, and Xie Chaoling managed to force a smile. Xie Chaoyuan’s expression was not happy, but he managed to hold it in.

The two doctors were overjoyed and quickly got up to leave.

“What about Wang Jin? Did you have him beaten again?” Xie Chaoling said helplessly. “He’s still my attendant, so give me some face and don’t just dispose of my servants at will.”

“Brother is sick himself, so stop worrying about other people’s matters,” Xie Chaoyuan reminded him in a cold tone.

Xie Chaoling really didn’t have the strength to say much and closed his eyes again.

Xie Chaoyuan carefully held him in his arms and softened his voice: “Why did you get sick?”

“It has been raining outside, and I walked in the back garden in the morning for a while, so I probably caught a cold,” Xie Chaoling breathed out lightly, “or maybe I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days.”

“It’s my fault.”

Xie Chaoyuan’s hoarse voice was mixed with defeat for the first time: “I took you out, but didn’t take good care of you, and made you sick and faint. It’s my fault.”

Xie Chaoling didn’t expect him to say that, and his emotions were complex for a while. He didn’t know what to say, so he finally patted him on the back: “Forget it, it’s not your fault.”

The servant brought the boiled porridge, which Xie Chaoyuan took and fed Xie Chaoling spoonful by spoonful.

Xie Chaoling’s complexion was finally not as ugly as before, and the color on his lips gradually returned, but he was still weak and powerless. His sickly appearance really made him look fragile and vulnerable.

Xie Chaoyuan no longer looked at him and fed him porridge silently, his frowning brows never relaxed.

“Are you really upset?” Xie Chaoling asked softly.

“Should I be happy when you are not feeling well?” Xie Chaoyuan looked up.

Xie Chaoling was at a loss for words.

Xie Chaoyuan tucked him in and didn’t want to talk about it.

Earlier, when he was in the palace, he heard that Xie Chaoling had fainted and returned without even greeting the Xirong King. When he entered the room and saw Xie Chaoling lying on the bed as white as paper, it seemed like he had lost all vitality. He didn’t even want to think about that moment again.

If Xie Chaoling was not well, what was the point of everything he was doing now?

“…Then don’t be angry,” Xie Chaoling could only say helplessly, “I feel very uncomfortable, dizzy. Please smile for me and make me feel better. Don’t keep a straight face.”

Seeing that Xie Chaoyuan still didn’t speak, Xie Chaoling could only give up. After drinking the porridge, he leaned back into the bed and closed his eyes again.

Xie Chaoyuan got up and left.

Hearing his footsteps receding, Xie Chaoling may have been too uncomfortable and confused due to his illness, but he suddenly felt a strong sense of loss in his heart. The sour taste spread from his heart to his throat, and even his eyes became sour.

The person returned and sat back beside the bed, holding him again.

“Brother looks like he’s about to cry.”

Xie Chaoyuan’s voice was in Xie Chaoling’s ear, and Xie Chaoling opened his eyes dazedly to look at him. Xie Chaoling’s fragile state was rare, and Xie Chaoyuan stroked his hair and sighed softly, “Get up and drink your medicine.” He had just gone out himself to get the medicine.

Xie Chaoling was stunned for a moment, realizing that he had misunderstood, and felt a little embarrassed. Xie Chaoyuan saw that he didn’t respond and looked down at him, “Don’t want to drink it?” Xie Chaoling cleared his throat and was helped up by Xie Chaoyuan.

Those melodramatic thoughts disappeared in an instant, and now he felt a little embarrassed. Xie Chaoyuan fed him spoonfuls of medicine and asked, “Brother, were you really about to cry just now?” 

Xie Chaoling replied, “…Don’t talk about it.” 

Xie Chaoyuan’s expression finally improved, and he stopped teasing him and continued to feed him the medicine.

Finally, he put down the bowl and embraced Xie Chaoling, patting his back lightly and saying, “Get better soon.” 

Xie Chaoling closed his eyes and leaned on Xie Chaoyuan’s shoulder without moving.

Author’s note: The discussion about bloodletting and exorcism is purely nonsense.