In the dim light, Yin Wuzhi’s voice was low, as if unwilling to show weakness.
Jiang Wu knew he was in pain and said, “Let go.”
Yin Wuzhi didn’t reply, but his arms tightened even more.
“Your wound needs treatment.”
“It’s fine if we don’t treat it.”
At first, Jiang Wu could still smell the scent of herbs, but soon the strong scent of blood overwhelmed it. His chin felt damp.
He had never been injured like this before and didn’t know if it mattered, but Yin Wuzhi certainly did. If he thought it didn’t matter, then it must not.
“I still want to sleep.”
The next moment, his shoulder was suddenly bitten hard, and the pain brought his mind into sharp clarity. “Yin Wuzhi, how dare you hurt me.”
His body collapsed back onto the bed, and Yin Wuzhi passed out holding him.
An incense stick’s time later, Jiang Wu sat at the edge of the dragon bed, gazing at the unconscious Yin Wuzhi lying there. At his feet knelt Qi Hanmiao, looking guilty. “It’s all my fault, Your Majesty. I shouldn’t have given the prince alcohol, and I definitely shouldn’t have let him, injured, guard you.”
Jiang Wu ignored him.
At the bedside, Gu Yan and Chen Ziyan treated Yin Wuzhi’s wounds and changed his robe. As Chen Ziyan picked up the clothes, something suddenly fell out.
He casually picked it up and unfolded it, instantly freezing. “This is…”
Gu Yan glanced at it as well.
“What is it?” Jiang Wu asked.
“It seems to be of Your Majesty.” Chen Ziyan walked over and handed it to Jiang Wu, saying, “But for some reason, only a pair of eyes were drawn.”
“Leave it.” Jiang Wu said, “Gu Yan, how is he?”
“The shizi has been injured for some time, and the journey was exhausting, so the wound wasn’t properly treated. Last night, for some reason, the wound reopened, causing excessive blood loss and resulting in unconsciousness.”
“Will he die?”
Gu Yan smiled reassuringly, “Your Majesty, rest assured, he won’t die now.”
“Not now” — that meant he nearly died at first.
Didn’t Yin Wuzhi say it was fine? Why did he have to be so hard on his own body?
Yesterday, he said he was going to marry Qiu Wuchen. The Great Empress Dowager had already been angry once, and Empress Dowager Wen had come to speak with him, so today had been a rare moment of peace.
After being disturbed by Yin Wuzhi last night, Jiang Wu hadn’t slept well. He gave the dragon bed to Yin Wuzhi and dozed off in a chair for most of the day.
Life felt terribly boring.
Jiang Wu wanted to sigh, but even sighing felt exhausting, so he simply didn’t bother.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard movement behind him. Someone approached the table and picked up the painting again.
Jiang Wu heard a voice ask, “Who has seen this?”
Qi Hanmiao replied, “Minister Chen, Imperial Physician Gu, Your Majesty, and this servant.”
The paper was folded again, and the voice said, “Please get me something to eat.”
“Your Highness, don’t be so formal with this old servant. His Majesty already punished me by making me kneel for half a day, probably blaming me for letting you guard him while injured.”
“Don’t overthink it,” Yin Wuzhi said. “You knelt on your own. He was probably just too lazy to tell you to stand.”
Yin Wuzhi pulled over a stool, no longer looking at the lazy person under the veranda.
Soon, Qi Hanmiao brought over a meal. Yin Wuzhi picked up a bowl and silently fed himself. Nearby, Qi Hanmiao brought a bowl of egg custard over to Jiang Wu, cautiously saying, “Your Majesty, it’s past noon. Please eat something.”
“Hasn’t he eaten today?” Yin Wuzhi asked.
Qi Hanmiao sighed and shook his head, “Since the shizi left, His Majesty eats only once a day, and very rarely twice. You see how much weight he’s lost.”
Yin Wuzhi recalled how he had undressed Jiang Wu last night. The weight he had finally regained was gone again.
His face darkened. “What kind of servants are you? So many people surrounding him, and you can’t even get him to eat.”
Qi Hanmiao had never seen him so angry before. He stood frozen for a moment before muttering, “Since the shizi left, His Majesty refuses to eat. If we force him, we’ll be punished.”
“What kind of servant are you if you’re afraid of punishment?” Yin Wuzhi slammed his bowl down.
“…” Qi Hanmiao shivered from the scolding and immediately knelt.
For a moment, he had no rebuttal.
Indeed, if he were so afraid of being beaten, why not become a high official instead?
Yin Wuzhi pressed a hand to his shoulder wound, bowed his head for a moment, and his disheveled hair concealed his expression.
“Sorry.” After a pause, he said, “I was out of line.”
Qi Hanmiao shook his head quickly. “The shizi is absolutely right.”
Not right at all. He was just venting.
Yin Wuzhi hadn’t expected himself to become this kind of person. “I’ll feed him myself later. Leave it.”
Soon, a small table was placed in front of Jiang Wu, with light congee and simple dishes.
Yin Wuzhi sat across from him, ordering a servant to bring a warm towel. Without asking, he began wiping Jiang Wu’s face. Jiang Wu grumbled softly, and the next second, a cold towel was suddenly pressed against his face.
Jiang Wu shivered and opened his eyes, trembling slightly. “Yin Wuzhi.”
“Eat.” Yin Wuzhi scooped up a spoonful of meat congee and held it to his lips. “Open your mouth.”
“I don’t want meat.”
“If you don’t eat, you won’t be sleeping tonight.”
Jiang Wu looked at him uncertainly. “Are you threatening me?”
Injured and still daring to threaten him.
“Finish eating. I have something to report.”
“I’m not eating.”
“Then I’ll put ice in your bed tonight.”
Jiang Wu never expected him to treat him like this. He said, “I’ll hit you.”
“You can certainly hit me,” Yin Wuzhi said, tugging at his pale lips. “You can even kill me.”
He added, “You don’t care whether I live or die, do you?”
Jiang Wu sensed some resentment in his tone, but it wasn’t quite what he had imagined.
Yin Wuzhi wasn’t venting his resentment on him but seemed to be giving up, directing it at himself.
The spoon came to his lips again, and Yin Wuzhi coldly said, “Eat.”
Jiang Wu hesitated.
Yin Wuzhi suddenly extended his left arm, forcefully prying open Jiang Wu’s mouth and pushing the congee inside.
Jiang Wu: “Mmph.” Instinctively, he swallowed.
Just from that action, cold sweat broke out on Yin Wuzhi’s forehead again. “You just want to bully me, don’t you? Seeing me hurt, seeing me in pain, it makes you happy, doesn’t it?”
Jiang Wu’s mouth was pried open again, and more congee was fed into him.
Recalling Gu Yan’s words, after swallowing another mouthful, Jiang Wu said, “Don’t move.”
Yin Wuzhi’s face remained expressionless.
Jiang Wu’s gaze fell on his left shoulder. “I’ll eat on my own.”
Yin Wuzhi pressed his lips together, then used his right hand to pick up a napkin, tucking it into Jiang Wu’s collar before offering a piece of vegetable to his lips.
Jiang Wu said, “Just the congee.”
Yin Wuzhi gave no response.
Jiang Wu glanced again at his shoulder, and with reluctance, finally opened his mouth.
He ate slowly, his expression listless. Yin Wuzhi didn’t rush him, patiently waiting until he finished before feeding him more.
By the time they were done, Jiang Wu had eaten more than half a bowl of congee, along with eight bites of vegetables and a piece of meat. When he was finished, Yin Wuzhi wiped his mouth with a napkin, showing a look of approval: “Well done.”
Jiang Wu lowered his lashes, ignoring him.
Yin Wuzhi dropped the expression, ordered the dishes to be cleared, and then took out that picture, beginning to report official matters: “I encountered this person in the Qi region.”
Jiang Wu was too tired to care.
Yin Wuzhi continued, “This pair of eyes looks exactly like Your Majesty’s.”
Jiang Wu still showed no interest.
“I was shot because I was chasing him.”
Finally, Jiang Wu glanced at the paper. “That’s not me.”
Yin Wuzhi, with a tone of helplessness, replied, “Of course it’s not Your Majesty. He’s from Zhao, and I chased him all the way into Zhao territory.”
Jiang Wu didn’t understand what point he was trying to make.
“The moment I saw him, I knew he wasn’t Your Majesty, but he resembled you so closely that I was worried… that he might pose a threat to you. So I risked it and pursued him further to get a clearer look.”
At first, he hadn’t wanted to give up until he found out the truth, but then he received Chen Ziyan’s letter and suddenly felt an urge to return quickly.
Jiang Wu didn’t quite grasp his concern. After all, everyone in the world has two eyes, and sometimes people look similar. “Maybe the person was deliberately disguising themselves, trying to lure you into a trap.”
Yin Wuzhi looked at the portrait and softly said, “Not everyone knows how much I admire Your Majesty.”
“Besides,” Yin Wuzhi reasoned, “if someone really wanted to lure me, why not reveal their whole face? Why wear a mask? Just a pair of eyes looking like Your Majesty’s wouldn’t be enough to make me chase after them. Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?”
“Hiding behind a veil…”
“Anyone who thinks I’m that easily fooled isn’t capable of devising such a flawless plan.”
True enough.
Jiang Wu, having spent some effort earlier, now didn’t want to think: “Just tell me what you think.”
“That’s why I’m more inclined to believe he didn’t want me to know who he was, nor did he intend for me to notice his resemblance to Your Majesty.”
Jiang Wu, feeling fuzzy, said, “Then there’s even less to worry about.”
“No.” Yin Wuzhi was insistent. “That makes it even more dangerous. Someone in Zhao looks exactly like Your Majesty, yet we know nothing about him. This is a hidden threat we cannot defend against.”
So exhausting. Couldn’t this topic end soon? Jiang Wu, feeling drowsy, said, “It’s just a pair of eyes, Beloved Minister Yin. There’s no need to be so…”
“It’s exactly because it’s just a pair of eyes,” Yin Wuzhi said firmly. “They resemble Your Majesty’s too much. Even with his face covered, I almost mistook him. What if someone else sees him with his face concealed and he commits a crime in the capital? Your Majesty would have no way to clear your name.”
“Beloved Minister Yin, you speak wisely.” Jiang Wu finally understood his concern, though he felt that without other circumstances, like committing a crime beforehand, a mere resemblance wouldn’t endanger him.
The idea of the emperor going around committing crimes in disguise—who would believe that?
Then again, maybe I should commit more misdeeds in the future, Jiang Wu thought.
Perhaps that person would turn out to be the perfect scapegoat when the time comes.
With that, another thought crossed his mind, and he boasted to Yin Wuzhi: “I’ve decided to build a golden palace.”
Yin Wuzhi replied, “I’m already aware.”
What a lackluster response.
Jiang Wu said, “A palace made of solid gold—entirely of pure gold.”
Yin Wuzhi, still preoccupied with the masked figure, gave no reaction and was lost in thought. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this person wasn’t simple. When he saw that man, an inexplicable sense of dread washed over him.
Perhaps, as King Qi said, this person posed no threat to the empire. But what if he posed a threat to Jiang Wu’s identity, reputation, or even life?
Without much thought, he casually dismissed, “That kind of place won’t be fit for living.”
“I will live in it,” Jiang Wu grumbled, displeased by Yin Wuzhi’s attitude. Determined to press on, he said, “I’m going to summon the best craftsmen in the world, and the most skilled builders to construct this palace. I’m already awaiting the Ministry of Works’ designs. Then, I’ll gather one hundred thousand laborers, and assign ten thousand soldiers to oversee them. Anyone who disobeys will be whipped… cough, ugh, cough, ugh.”
After that long-winded speech, he was left utterly breathless. Yin Wuzhi, unable to stand it, reached over and gently massaged his chest. “I know.”
Jiang Wu: “.”
It must be because I spoke too softly. Yin Wuzhi didn’t hear me clearly.
Tomorrow, I’ll eat less so I can speak more forcefully.
