The Great Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Wen were not as easy to deal with as Yao Ji. If they truly intended to send Yin Wuzhi away, Jiang Wu wouldn’t be able to stop them.
Yin Wuzhi was determined this time, and after speaking, he took a step forward.
Suddenly, his sleeve was tugged, and looking down, he saw a hand.
….Jiang Wu’s hand.
The Emperor was looking up at him and said, “Not allowed to leave.”
If Yin Wuzhi left, Jiang Wu would be forced to go back to the study and deal with state affairs. While the less urgent matters could be postponed, any urgent reports would require immediate attention.
What if he accidentally became a wise ruler… Although it seemed unlikely, there was always the possibility. And if that happened, how could Yin Wuzhi rightfully ascend the throne in the future?
Jiang Wu was filled with worry.
After thinking for a moment, he said, “I can bully you less in the future.”
Yin Wuzhi looked at him coldly.
Jiang Wu thought again and added, “I just saved you.”
Yin Wuzhi remained unmoved.
“…Let me see your injury, hmm?”
Yin Wuzhi’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. Finally, in a soft voice, he expressed his true wish: “I don’t want to stay in the palace any longer. Please, Your Majesty, grant my request.”
“I won’t allow you to leave.”
The hand gripping his sleeve tightened. Jiang Wu, using all his strength, said, “You’re not allowed to leave.”
He regretted bullying him too much. He should have known better. But Yin Wuzhi was so weak; this was nothing, yet he was already angry enough to leave.
Why leave? Why not just kill him?
Killing him would solve everything. If Yin Wuzhi was this angry, why not kill him?
Jiang Wu couldn’t understand why every time Yin Wuzhi was bullied, his first instinct was to run. If he kept acting this way, how could Jiang Wu carry out his next plans? How could Yin Wuzhi kill him and reshape history, recreating that glorious era that people would praise for generations?
Why was Yin Wuzhi like this? In history, he was so formidable, so powerful. Wasn’t he supposed to lie in wait like a venomous snake, patiently biding his time to strike?
Yin Wuzhi grasped Jiang Wu’s hand, slowly and firmly pulling his sleeve free. “I still want to go home,” he said.
With that, he turned and walked away without hesitation. Unexpectedly, Jiang Wu reached out again and grabbed him, causing Yin Wuzhi, who had been moving forward, to pull him off the chair.
Jiang Wu fell heavily behind him.
Qi Hanmiao cried out in alarm, “Your Majesty!”
Yin Wuzhi stiffened and looked back.
That grab had clearly used all of Jiang Wu’s strength. He was now lying face down on the ground, hand outstretched. His pale fingers had their nails pulled back, revealing traces of blood.
Yin Wuzhi felt a sudden jolt in his scalp and turned around to pull Jiang Wu up from the ground. The Emperor looked disheveled from the fall, his long hair covering his face.
“Your Majesty…”
Jiang Wu felt a numbness from the fall, the kind of numbness that comes from suddenly hitting the ground. He had only meant to grab Yin Wuzhi, but he hadn’t expected Yin Wuzhi to be so strong—or perhaps he hadn’t realized how light he was himself—to be dragged down like that.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty,” Yin Wuzhi brushed his long hair aside and anxiously checked his face. “Are you hurt? Did you injure anything?”
His voice was trembling, his face pale and panicked.
It seemed like he was very scared.
Although Yin Wuzhi didn’t know how much damage such a fall could inflict on a human body, it surely must have caused some injury.
Yin Wuzhi must be worried about being blamed.
Should he pretend to be dead for a moment and scare him? See if he would dare to run around again?
…No, better not. What if it scared him away?
“I’m fine,” Jiang Wu finally spoke.
Hearing those words, Yin Wuzhi finally relaxed.
Jiang Wu was lifted into the air—Yin Wuzhi had picked him up. From Jiang Wu’s angle, all he could see was his Adam’s apple and the clean line of his jaw.
Jiang Wu stared motionlessly, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.
It was just like before—lying in someone’s arms, watching as either tears or sweat rolled down their jaw and slid along their throat.
But tracing back to long, long ago, all he could remember was being a being without thought or senses, floating aimlessly like a speck of dust, simply existing in the vast world—or perhaps in nothingness.
The light brightened before him, and Jiang Wu was gently placed on the dragon bed.
His gaze passed over Yin Wuzhi and settled on the frightened faces of a few eunuchs in the background.
What were they so scared of? He didn’t understand.
At worst, wasn’t it just death?
Why were humans afraid of death? After death, one could become a free spirit, roaming the earth unrestrained. Even if one returned to nothingness, wasn’t that another form of contentment? Eternal rest was the truest form of ultimate happiness.
“Should we summon the imperial physician?” Qi Hanmiao asked, puzzled by Jiang Wu’s calm and serene demeanor, which didn’t seem like the reaction of someone who had just fallen.
“There’s no need for now.” Yin Wuzhi sat beside him, ordered some hot water, and began wiping the dust off Jiang Wu’s face with a wet cloth. “Are you alright?”
Jiang Wu finally looked at him and said calmly, “I’m fine.”
Too bad his soul hadn’t been knocked out of him. If he’d realized he was being lifted into the air, he should have lowered his head a bit—maybe he could have hit it just right and died instantly.
That way, he could claim to have been killed by Yin Wuzhi.
No, that wouldn’t work. If he died like that, Yin Wuzhi would surely be blamed.
Ah, so troublesome.
“Yin Wuzhi.”
“Yes?”
Yin Wuzhi had finished wiping his hands clean and had called for scissors to carefully trim his damaged nails. As pain tingled at his fingertips, Jiang Wu asked, “Are you still planning to leave?”
Yin Wuzhi’s expression grew complicated. “I really don’t want to stay in the palace anymore. I have my own home. I want to go home.”
“Why?”
Yin Wuzhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he lowered his eyelashes. “I haven’t been happy in the palace.”
Jiang Wu followed his gaze and saw his swollen fingers, bruised from being stomped on.
Yao Ji really was a terrible person—pinching him and stepping on Yin Wuzhi.
Of course, he was awful too, always bullying Yin Wuzhi.
What was wrong with Yin Wuzhi? He was so aggrieved yet never exploded, always bottling it up. It was strange.
“Qi Hanmiao,” Jiang Wu called out, “bring some ointment.”
Once the ointment was brought, Jiang Wu dismissed all the servants.
Yin Wuzhi was confused but watched as Jiang Wu sat in silence for a moment. Suddenly, with a deep breath, he elegantly straightened up.
His shoulders pulled back, long hair cascading down his back, and his neck arched into a graceful curve.
How fortunate Yin Wuzhi was to witness the Emperor himself sitting up from the bed.
This small action had drained much of his energy. After a brief moment of weakness, Jiang Wu turned his face and said faintly, “Hand.”
Yin Wuzhi snapped out of his daze and immediately hid his hands behind his back. “I’m fine.”
Jiang Wu decided to be a little kinder to him, at least for now, to keep him around. He reached for the ointment nearby, dipped his fingertip into it, and spoke again with an air of quiet authority: “Hand.”
Yin Wuzhi’s ears started to burn.
After a moment of hesitation, he extended his hand, which was gently held by the Emperor. His fingers, cool to the touch, soothed the pain from the swelling.
“…It’s just a small injury.”
“Why didn’t you avoid it?”
With his skills, Yin Wuzhi could easily have avoided injury.
“I didn’t want to offend the Empress Dowager.”
Was it really that he didn’t want to offend her, or was it because he planned to use this injury to plead his case to the Great Empress Dowager and increase his chances of leaving the palace?
Jiang Wu didn’t ask further. He focused on applying the ointment, raising Yin Wuzhi’s hand and blowing on it gently.
Yin Wuzhi: “…”
He was blushing so hard, it was as if he were no longer himself.
Jiang Wu’s movements were slow and deliberate, not because he was being especially gentle but because he was lazy. Yet, from an outsider’s perspective, it seemed as if he was carefully tending to the injury. The slow pace made everything feel soft and tender… like being thoughtfully cared for.
Heat radiated from Yin Wuzhi’s ears.
Although he was the only son of King Dingnan, he had grown up under strict expectations. His father had high demands, and training injuries were a daily occurrence. His mother’s soothing voice was comforting, but never in this meticulous, gentle way.
Even though he knew this care was due to the Emperor’s laziness, who wouldn’t overthink it seeing such attentiveness?
After Jiang Wu finished blowing on Yin Wuzhi’s hand, he very slowly released it.
Yin Wuzhi immediately pulled his hand back, hearing Jiang Wu say, “Bandage.”
“I’ll… I’ll do it myself.”
Yin Wuzhi turned away from the bed, cutting some gauze and haphazardly wrapping it around his hand.
By the time he had calmed his emotions and expression and turned back, Jiang Wu had already laid down again.
He was exhausted.
Indeed, a man like him didn’t deserve to be human. Those few small movements today had drained nearly all his strength, and now he just wanted to sleep.
But Yin Wuzhi still hadn’t given him a definite answer. Jiang Wu thought about it and opened his eyes again. “Are you still going to leave?”
If Yin Wuzhi insisted on leaving, he didn’t have the energy to stop him. He’d just rest for a while, and after Yin Wuzhi left, he could suffocate himself in silence.
If Yin Wuzhi decided to stay, he couldn’t continue bullying him so blatantly and mindlessly.
…Even being a tyrant required some planning. He needed to think carefully about how to waste the people’s resources and make them hate him.
Yin Wuzhi approached the bed, and when their gazes met, he quickly looked away. “I don’t understand why Your Majesty insists on keeping me here.”
“You’ve been recovering for a while.”
“Yes…”
“I left a lot of memorials for you to handle.”
Yin Wuzhi gave him an annoyed glance, frowning as he knelt by the bed. “Is that all?”
“Yes.” Jiang Wu added a kinder sentence, “I don’t want you to leave.”
Yin Wuzhi looked at him for a moment, then lowered his gaze and gave a brief smile, quickly suppressing it. He then said stiffly, “Aren’t you about to marry the Empress?”
Jiang Wu was too tired to speak but had to reply, “Who?”
“How would I know who?”
“…Who told you?”
“Attendant Qi.”
So that was it. Jiang Wu’s mind was too exhausted to process the connection between Yin Wuzhi leaving the palace and his marriage. He simply said, “Indeed.”
Yin Wuzhi’s face stiffened, and his tone turned cold. “Are you really going to marry Qiu Wuxia?”
Jiang Wu yawned and replied, “No.”
“Not Qiu Wuxia.” Yin Wuzhi moved closer and asked, “Then who?”
Could it be that Jiang Wu intended to…
Nothing like this had happened in history.
If Jiang Wu truly intended it, his father certainly wouldn’t agree, and his mother would likely be furious.
Yin Wuzhi’s mind was in turmoil.
Jiang Wu’s next words saved him from his confusion: “Qiu Wuchen.”
“…”
Just as Jiang Wu was about to fall asleep in the quiet room, Yin Wuzhi’s voice sounded in his ear. “Your Majesty, all this time you’ve been looking after Qiu Wuchen for the sake of the late Crown Prince, right?”
Jiang Wu forced himself to think.
Previously, he had been torn about whether to marry. All the formalities were such a hassle, so he thought about bullying Yin Wuzhi instead.
But now, every time he bullied him, Yin Wuzhi wanted to go home.
Having no other choice, he had to shift tactics.
This forceful marriage to his sister-in-law was a key criterion for becoming a tyrant. A gentleman like Yin Wuzhi would surely find it despicable, shameless, and utterly detestable.
“No,” Jiang Wu told him. “I’ve been looking after Qiu Wuchen because I have ulterior motives.”
“My plan,” Jiang Wu’s voice was faint, but Yin Wuzhi could hear it clearly, “is to wait until I become the ruler of the world and forcibly marry her as my Empress.”
Just before he drifted off to sleep completely, Jiang Wu heard the scolding he had been hoping for: “How can you do this to the late Crown Prince?!”
“Shameless scoundrel!”
“Disgusting!”
“Devoid of morals, breaking all ethical codes, ruining the family’s honor! You’re not fit to rule the world!”
“You tyrant.” A hand shook his body. “The late Crown Prince treated you so well, and yet you dare have such filthy thoughts about your brother’s wife? Jiang Wu, how can you still sleep?”
“…A disgrace, a beast in human clothing!”
