Did The Young Prince’s Kingdom Get Destroyed Today? Chapter 181

The odd sounds made Ah Wu pause, hand hovering over the window.

He waited for a while, and only after the sounds stopped did he push open the window and jump inside.

Once inside, he saw the person lying on the bed.

“Zai Zai?”

He walked closer, clearly seeing the flushed face of the boy on the bed, his eyes closed, looking utterly exhausted.

He called out again, finally receiving a murmur in response.

“Water… I need a bath.”

Lying amidst the blankets, Ling Rui murmured in a daze, his eyes still closed.

Ah Wu stared at him for a moment before ordering someone to bring water.

Ruo Liu, who had been kicked out earlier, was still lingering nearby, unwilling to give up. When she heard the call for water, she used it as an excuse to return.

She was about to offer to assist the young master with his bath, but upon meeting Ah Wu’s gaze, she instinctively shivered.

“Leave,” Ah Wu commanded coldly.

Ruo Liu pressed her lips together, clutching her handkerchief, and quickly left.

As soon as she exited the room, she pulled someone aside and asked, “Is that person in there really the young master’s friend?”

“He says he is,” replied the person carrying the bathwater. “I saw the young master being quite close with him earlier.”

With this “friend” suddenly appearing, Ruo Liu found it difficult to make another move. Frustrated, she stomped her foot and went to complain to the innkeeper.

Back in the room, Ah Wu was placing Ling Rui into the bath.

Ling Rui soaked in the water, peeling off his wet clothes and tossing them aside.

Ah Wu picked up the discarded clothes and draped them over a nearby chair.

The warm water helped Ling Rui regain a bit of clarity. Leaning against the edge of the tub, he half-opened his eyes, watching Ah Wu as he hung the clothes.

“Ah Wu, you’re here?”

“Mm,” Ah Wu responded, turning back toward him.

Their eyes met, and Ah Wu’s gaze lingered on Ling Rui’s flushed face, his brows furrowing slightly.

“How did you get so drunk?”

“I’m not drunk,” Ling Rui protested.

Drunk people never admit they’re drunk, and Ling Rui, still somewhat tipsy, tried to focus his eyes as he spoke slowly, “I only drank fruit wine.”

The sweet fruit wine couldn’t possibly make him drunk, or so he thought.

As they chatted aimlessly, Ling Rui finished washing himself.

“Ah Wu, I don’t have any clothes,” Ling Rui said.

Without a word, Ah Wu handed him a set of nightclothes.

He had requested the nightclothes earlier when ordering the bathwater. The fabric was soft, made from the finest silk.

“Put it on.”

Ah Wu handed over a towel and the nightclothes.

Ling Rui moved sluggishly. After slowly standing up and climbing out of the tub, he lazily dried himself off.

When he tried to tie the belt on his nightclothes, his head still spinning, he found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t manage it.

“Ah Wu, help me.”

Giving up, Ling Rui reached out and tugged on Ah Wu’s sleeve.

Ah Wu had been waiting for him to ask for help. Normally, Ling Rui would have asked for assistance right away, but for some reason, this time he had hesitated until the last moment to admit he needed help.

“Sit down.”

Ah Wu guided him to sit properly on the bed, then swiftly tied the belt of his nightclothes.

With the belt tied, Ling Rui looked down, touching the fabric of his nightclothes with slow, deliberate movements. After feeling the material for a moment, he suddenly reached out and cupped Ah Wu’s handsome face in his hands.

“Ah Wu?”

Ling Rui tilted his head. His already tipsy mind, now further clouded by the heat of the bath, had lost what little clarity it had. In a daze, he asked, “Am I dreaming right now?”

“I was just dreaming earlier.”

Ah Wu knew he was drunk and didn’t take his words too seriously.

“Mm, you’re dreaming,” Ah Wu said soothingly, going along with him. “Now, lie down, close your eyes, and get some rest. When you open your eyes again, you’ll be clear-headed.”

“I’m dreaming…” Ling Rui repeated, tugging at Ah Wu’s face, distorting his features, but refusing to let go. “Ah Wu, you’re in my dream too.”

Ah Wu: “…”

Ah Wu simply hummed in acknowledgment. He got on the bed as well, finding it easier to comfort Ling Rui this way.

“Ah Wu, just now… just now I…”

Ling Rui’s face flushed red as he struggled to say something. He thought about it for a long time but couldn’t get the words out.

He had experienced something significant earlier and wanted to tell Ah Wu, but when he opened his mouth, he found himself unable to speak.

Ah Wu had already laid down next to him, their faces close together.

“Zai Zai, be good and go to sleep,” Ah Wu said as he gently covered Ling Rui’s eyes with his hand.

Enveloped in darkness, Ling Rui protested by kicking off the blanket.

Even though he kicked off the blanket, Ah Wu kept his hand over his eyes.

After a bit of back-and-forth, Ling Rui finally settled down and drifted off to sleep.

While the two rested in the room, next door, Lian Qing had also spent half the night drunk before finally going to bed.

The next day, as expected, both the drunk adult and child slept until noon.

When Ling Rui woke up, his head was still a little uncomfortable. He rubbed his temples and frowned as he opened his eyes.

Memories from the previous night rushed back, and the most vivid one was of his first experience.

The flood of memories made Ling Rui’s eyes widen bit by bit in surprise.

He absentmindedly lifted his hand to pull back the blanket, but before he could, he noticed that Ah Wu was also lying in the bed.

Normally, seeing Ah Wu early in the morning would make Ling Rui immediately pounce on him without a second thought.

But this time, he froze in place, not moving at all.

“You’re awake?”

Ling Rui didn’t pounce, but Ah Wu still woke up, propping himself up on one arm and asking.

“Yes… I’m awake.”

Ling Rui averted his eyes, deliberately avoiding looking at Ah Wu.

He sat up, trying to change the subject. “What time is it? How did I sleep for so long?”

“You got drunk last night and kept fussing all night.”

If it weren’t for Ling Rui tossing and turning, Ah Wu wouldn’t have slept in so late either.

Ling Rui couldn’t remember what kind of fuss he’d made. The only thing he recalled was that he had soiled his clothes…

And when he had done that, his mind had been filled with inappropriate thoughts.

“Ah Wu.”

Ling Rui felt like he needed some time to gather himself. His head was still clouded with inappropriate thoughts, and at this moment, he had no idea how to face Ah Wu. “I want to get up. Where are my clothes?”

“Stay here for a while. I’ll fetch them for you.”

“Okay.”

After changing into clean clothes, a waiter brought in a table full of food.

The waiter’s overly eager attitude made Ah Wu raise an eyebrow.

“Zai Zai, how much silver did you pay to stay here?”

“I haven’t paid yet.”

Sitting at the table, Ling Rui ate as he explained to Ah Wu how he had ended up there.

After hearing the story, Ah Wu understood why the waiter had been so attentive.

Once they had eaten their fill, the three of them prepared to leave.

The innkeeper personally came to try to convince them to stay. “Honored guests, won’t you stay a little longer? We have performances in the afternoon. Ruo Liu has prepared a new dance that hasn’t been performed for the public yet. You should stay and watch.”

Despite the innkeeper’s best efforts, Ling Rui shook his head and declined.

He needed to return home and couldn’t afford to delay too long.

Seeing that Ling Rui was determined to leave, the innkeeper didn’t press further.

“Young master, next time you come, feel free to head straight to the third floor.”

With a big smile, the innkeeper was already inviting the “Crown Prince” to return.

Ling Rui found the innkeeper’s enthusiasm a little confusing.

After leaving the inn, Ling Rui and Lian Qing returned to the guesthouse where their luggage was still stored.

“Ah Wu, we’re leaving.”

With their luggage in hand, Ling Rui and Lian Qing were ready to hit the road again.

They needed to hurry back to Yanzhou.

“Do you want me to escort you?”

“No need, you’re so busy right now. You should focus on your tasks.”

The old emperor could pass away at any time, and when that happened, Ah Wu would have a mountain of responsibilities to deal with.

At such a critical moment, Ah Wu clearly couldn’t leave.

Ah Wu understood this too. He raised his hand to ruffle Ling Rui’s hair and said softly, “Take care of yourself on the road. Make sure to send me a letter when you arrive.”

“Mm! I know.”

Ling Rui nodded, picked up his luggage, and set off on the road back to Yanzhou.

After they had walked a good distance, Lian Qing suddenly realized something.

“Little Seven, how come this time when you parted from Ah Wu, you didn’t cry?”

Lian Qing was puzzled. In his memory, Little Seven, being the clingy one, could never bear to be separated from Ah Wu.

Every time Little Seven had to part from Ah Wu, his eyes would brim with tears.

“I’ve grown up, I don’t cry anymore.”

Ling Rui sat in the carriage, a bit absent-minded, his small face showing signs of distraction.

Lian Qing looked at him, and the more he looked, the more he felt something was off.

“Even if you’re not crying, you should still feel sad. Aren’t you the one who’s most reluctant to leave Ah Wu? When you left just now, I noticed you didn’t even turn back to look at him.”

This was just too unusual.

So unusual that Lian Qing squinted his eyes and reached out to pinch Ling Rui’s cheek. “Tell me, are you possessed or something?”

“I’m not possessed.”

Ling Rui slapped Lian Qing’s hand away, preventing him from pinching his face.

“I do miss Ah Wu.”

Ling Rui frowned and said, “I just have something on my mind right now, and I need to think about it myself.”

Lian Qing: “…”

Lian Qing was amused by his so-called “troubles.”

“Pfft, what kind of troubles could you possibly have? And besides, aren’t you the type to tell Ah Wu everything? This time, did you not talk to Ah Wu about it?”

“Sigh, Uncle Lian Qing, you wouldn’t understand.”

Ling Rui raised his hand to rub his face, looking troubled. “The things someone my age worries about, you just wouldn’t get.”

Lian Qing: “?”

Lian Qing glanced at him sideways, already forming a suspicion in his mind.

For the rest of the journey, Ling Rui sat there holding his face in his hands, sighing heavily.

He sighed all the way until they reached Yanzhou, and only then did things improve slightly.

There were few patients left in Yanzhou. The antidote Shui Shui had brewed had saved most of the people.

Seeing the situation in Yanzhou, the burden on Ling Rui’s heart finally lifted.

After talking with Shui Shui about the affairs in Yanzhou, the two sat in the courtyard, with no one else around.

“Shui Shui, I have something I want to ask you.”

Ling Rui had held it in for a long time, but in the end, he couldn’t hold it in any longer and wanted to consult Shui Shui about his worries.

In Ling Rui’s mind, Shui Shui was synonymous with reliability.

Maybe by telling Shui Shui, he could get an answer to resolve his confusion.

“Go ahead and ask.” Shui Shui cooperated readily.

Ling Rui summoned his courage and stammered, “It’s just, well, I have a friend, and he asked me to ask you this.”

“He was in a daze and dreamed about doing something inappropriate with the person closest to him. Do you think… do you think that’s really wrong?”

Shui Shui: “?”

Shui Shui was a bit confused. “What inappropriate thing?”

Ling Rui stammered for a while, avoiding the details.

Finally, under Shui Shui’s confused but innocent gaze, Ling Rui’s face turned red. He decided to just spill everything out in one go.

After he finished speaking, Shui Shui wore a calm expression of realization.

“That’s it?”

Shui Shui, still calm, didn’t even blush as he looked up at Ling Rui and nodded slightly. “It’s perfectly normal. You’re an adult now. Having these kinds of thoughts isn’t strange at all.”

“I’m not talking about myself. I’m talking about a friend.”

Ling Rui tiredly explained and then added with more exhaustion, “But isn’t this strange? It doesn’t match what they taught us in our biology class.”

The teacher in biology class said that when they reached a certain age and had a good dream, that’s when they’d truly grown up.

Ling Rui thought about his own “growing up,” and it didn’t feel good at all.

Ah Wu still treated him like a good little boy, yet behind his back, he had a bad dream.