The torrential rain continued throughout the night and into the next morning.
Jiang Wu was awakened early. As he blinked in confusion, he found himself staring into a pair of familiar eyes.
Familiar, because he saw those same eyes every time he looked in a mirror.
Yin Wuzhi had been right—if only the eyes were shown, no one would doubt that this wasn’t Jiang Wu.
He quickly realized that the person before him was the Crown Prince of the enemy state, Zhao Cheng, his half-brother.
“You’re awake,” Zhao Cheng said. “Hungry?”
It reminded Jiang Wu of how Yin Wuzhi always asked him the same question.
“You should know who I am,” Zhao Cheng continued. “We crossed paths four years ago. If it weren’t for you, King Qi wouldn’t have caught me.”
No wonder Zhao Cheng harbored such deep resentment towards his original self—Jiang Wu had played a role in his capture.
Jiang Wu thought for a moment and said, “Zhao Cheng.”
“Maybe calling you older brother would be more appropriate.”
“Enemy.”
Zhao Cheng smiled. “So you still know I’m the enemy.”
There was a hint of hidden resentment in Zhao Cheng’s gaze toward Jiang Wu, but soon, he stood up and said, “I brought you here because—”
“Kidnapped.”
“Yes, I kidnapped you,” Zhao Cheng responded without getting angry. “I need your cooperation to rescue my mother.”
“No.”
“If you refuse, then…” He paused, remembering that Jiang Wu wasn’t afraid of death, and continued, “I know you’re sick. I can cure your illness.”
Jiang Wu: “.”
You’re the one who’s sick.
He thought the idea of being a ghost was more appealing and freeing, which was why he wanted to become one.
What puzzled him was how Zhao Cheng knew that Yao Ji had been captured. Did he find out before coming, or did he discover it after arriving?
Or perhaps, the hidden spies from Zhao kingdom hadn’t been entirely cleared out during the operation four years ago.
Footsteps echoed from outside, and a familiar figure appeared in Jiang Wu’s sight—it was Gu Yan. Jiang Wu didn’t pay much attention to him, but it was true that he hadn’t seen Gu Yan in a while. The last time was when he and Yin Wuzhi fell off a cliff and were severely injured. After returning, he saw Gu Yan once, and then he disappeared.
So, Zhao Cheng must have arrived in Xia Kingdom long ago. Could it be that Gu Yan was the one who tipped him off about Yao Ji’s capture?
Yin Wuzhi already knew Gu Yan’s true identity early on, so why didn’t he detain Gu Yan? Why let him escape? That wasn’t like him.
Gu Yan avoided Jiang Wu’s gaze and said to Zhao Cheng, “I have something to report.”
Zhao Cheng stood up and walked out with him. Gu Yan whispered, “Half of the men we sent yesterday are dead or injured. Yin Wuzhi has discovered Emperor Jiang’s disappearance, but we haven’t found the Empress Dowager Yao.”
Zhao Cheng was silent for a moment and then said, “Understood.”
When they returned, Zhao Cheng said to Jiang Wu, “Imperial Physician Ku is the most talented young Imperial Physician in Zhao’s royal palace. He can definitely cure your illness. What do you think?”
“No.” Jiang Wu still refused.
Zhao Cheng took a few steps closer and suddenly revealed a small red insect in his palm. With a cold tone, he said, “This is the Heart-Eating Gu. If it’s planted inside you, it will gnaw at your lungs bit by bit, leaving you unable to live or die.”
To show his disdain, Jiang Wu shifted his gaze to Gu Yan.
Zhao Cheng gritted his teeth and asked Gu Yan, “Will this work on puppet drowsiness syndrome?”
Gu Yan hesitated before saying, “Your Highness, we can try.”
“That….” Zhao Cheng hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Will they feel it?”
“…” Gu Yan nodded. “Every feels.”
“….” Zhao Cheng put the insect away. Jiang Wu asked, “Who will feel?”
“None of your concern,” Zhao Cheng said, stepping aside. “Check him again.”
Gu Yan sat beside Jiang Wu, held his wrist, and took his pulse. Meanwhile, Zhao Cheng called out, “Prepare a meal.”
Jiang Wu’s palm was suddenly scratched, and Gu Yan, staring directly at him, wrote two words in his hand.
Jiang Wu: “.”
So that’s how it is.
Zhao Cheng returned and Gu Yan, without any expression, released Jiang Wu’s wrist and said, “His Majesty’s body is fine, but the heart needs healing. I truly have no solution for that.”
Jiang Wu laid there quietly, his face expressionless, giving off a certain purity and innocence. This version of Jiang Wu was vastly different from the person Zhao Cheng remembered.
Suddenly, Zhao Cheng produced a large spider from nowhere. The palm-sized spider appeared right in front of Jiang Wu, its tiny hairs visible. Jiang Wu’s eyelashes fluttered.
The spider was enormous and black. He wasn’t sure if it was venomous, but Jiang Wu reached out to test it.
Seeing him react, Zhao Cheng’s lips curled up. “What, afraid? This is Spider Mother. It’s highly venomous. One bite, and your body will rot away, and you’ll be dead—”
Before he could finish, Jiang Wu reached out and poked the spider’s mouth.
The spider hissed, bit his finger, and quickly retreated, crawling up Zhao Cheng’s arm and onto his neck.
Jiang Wu looked at the bite on his fingertip.
Gu Yan turned pale.
Zhao Cheng, enraged, shouted, “Someone get the antidote! Now!”
Jiang Wu was force-fed the antidote, while Zhao Cheng squeezed the poison out of his finger for a long time.
Jiang Wu muttered, “Hurts.”
Zhao Cheng tossed his hand away in frustration.
Then Zhao Cheng grabbed Gu Yan and dragged him outside, growling, “What’s wrong with him?”
Gu Yan calmly noted on his medical sheet, “Those suffering from this illness may have a strong desire for death.”
“But he’s afraid of pain.”
“It’s not necessarily fear…” Gu Yan hesitated. “Your Highness knows how painful Spider Mother’s bite is, something most people cannot endure. But he didn’t make a sound.”
“So, when he said it hurt just now, he was mocking me?”
Gu Yan: “…”
Zhao Cheng took a deep breath, pacing back and forth outside. When he returned to the room, he suddenly noticed the person on the stone bed had disappeared.
A piece of clothing was floating in the large hot spring nearby.
Zhao Cheng: “…”
Zhao Cheng: “!!!”
Without waiting for Gu Yan, he rushed over, pulled Jiang Wu out of the water, and dragged him to the shore. Jiang Wu collapsed on the side like a limp noodle. Zhao Cheng grabbed his face angrily and shouted, “Jiang Wu, are you insane? Don’t you care about yourself or your mother?!”
The two were so close that Jiang Wu spat out a mouthful of water, soaking Zhao Cheng’s face.
Zhao Cheng closed his eyes, his chest heaving with fury.
…Who is the real hostage here between the two of them?
Gu Yan, standing nearby, coughed lightly and said, “Your Highness, he’s soaked. Perhaps you should take him to change into dry clothes.”
“Who wants to change his clothes!” Zhao Cheng grumbled. He thought sparing Jiang Wu’s life was already being more than merciful.
Gu Yan stood at the door and commented, “It’s getting windy.”
Zhao Cheng directly picked up Jiang Wu, who remained limp in his hands. After taking a few steps and calming his anger, Zhao Cheng ordered, “Go get some clean clothes.”
He watched as the maid stripped Jiang Wu, wiped him clean, and dressed him in new clothes.
Jiang Wu was more than just wet on his body; his hair was soaked as well.
He was deeply dissatisfied with Zhao Cheng saving him repeatedly. He had assumed dying at the hands of his enemy would be easy, but he didn’t expect Zhao Cheng to care so much about his birth mother.
However, he also realized that this cave where Zhao Cheng was living was the same one he and Yin Wuzhi had stumbled into by accident. They had even bathed in that hot spring together, where Yin Wuzhi had mercilessly exacted revenge on him.
After the maid left, Jiang Wu laid back on the bed. His hair was still damp, and it was uncomfortable.
He started to miss how Yin Wuzhi used to warm his hair with a hand warmer.
His wet hair gradually soaked the pillow. Zhao Cheng picked him up again, placing him on a chair nearby. Turning around, Zhao Cheng called out, “Someone, dry his hair.”
The chair had a straight back with no armrests, making it impossible for Jiang Wu to sit comfortably. As soon as he sat down, he started leaning to the side and eventually fell to the ground.
When Zhao Cheng turned back, he saw that the freshly changed clothes and the still-damp hair were now covered in dust.
“…”
Zhao Cheng, surprisingly calm, said, “Strip him, dunk him in water, clean him, and then get a new set of clean clothes.”
With that, he left without looking back.
If he spent one more second with Jiang Wu, Zhao Cheng thought he might explode in anger.
Jiang Wu was washed clean once again, and the maids placed him on a recliner, carefully drying his hair before letting him rest.
He promptly fell asleep.
That evening, Zhao Cheng woke him up and placed a table full of food in front of him, though there was only one set of chopsticks. Zhao Cheng began to eat.
Jiang Wu closed his eyes again. Zhao Cheng waved the food under his nose, and when Jiang Wu opened his eyes, he saw Zhao Cheng eating elegantly.
After finishing his meal, Zhao Cheng placed the leftovers in front of Jiang Wu and climbed into bed without a word.
Jiang Wu said, “I want to sleep in the bed too.”
“You can sleep in the chair.”
Well, that wasn’t entirely unmanageable.
After a while, Zhao Cheng said, “Jiang Wu.”
There was no response.
A little later, Zhao Cheng asked again, “Do you want to sleep in the bed?”
Half an hour later, Zhao Cheng walked over and realized Jiang Wu had already fallen asleep.
…You’re something else.
Jiang Wu felt a long-lost sense of ease and contentment. He slept in the chair for two days and two nights, and during that time, Zhao Cheng didn’t feed him once.
Although Zhao Cheng would eat in front of him, perhaps to taunt him, he never forced Jiang Wu to eat anything.
This suited Jiang Wu perfectly.
On the third morning of being held here, Jiang Wu appeared serene. Despite the table of delicious food in front of him, he showed no interest at all.
The bliss of impending death had enveloped him. Once he died, he’d return as a wandering spirit, able to follow Yin Wuzhi wherever he went, free from the burden of his physical body.
Everything was perfect.
He was grateful to Zhao Cheng, his enemy and half-brother, for helping him along the way.
Just as he was about to drift further into his thoughts, his chin was suddenly grabbed, and a spoonful of egg custard was shoved into his mouth.
The custard was so smooth that before he could react, he had already swallowed it.
Having not eaten for two days, Jiang Wu was so weak that he could barely keep his eyes open.
Then, another spoonful was fed to him.
Jiang Wu: “.”
After weighing the effort of resisting against the ease of just accepting the feeding, he reluctantly chose the latter.
The entire bowl of custard was fed to him.
Zhao Cheng tossed the spoon into the bowl.
Gu Yan, standing nearby, said, “Your Highness, don’t be angry.”
“Angry? Ha! Why would I be angry at him?”
Gu Yan: “…”
Your expression says otherwise. There’s a hint of madness, frustration, and even a touch of helplessness. You look like you’re about to lose your mind.
Zhao Cheng rubbed his forehead and asked, “Was he always like this in the palace?”
“Yes.”
“Why did he get this illness?”
Gu Yan replied, “That, I do not know.”
Zhao Cheng looked at Jiang Wu.
He couldn’t understand what had happened to turn the once-determined perfectionist into this indifferent, detached person who seemed out of place in the world.
Zhao Cheng lifted Jiang Wu’s face, staring into eyes that mirrored his own. “Are you afraid of nothing?”
No, Jiang Wu feared living—feared people always being kind to him.
Zhao Cheng released him and told Gu Yan, “I will cure him.”
Gu Yan: “?”
“If I cure him, he’ll learn to fear me.”
Jiang Wu cracked one eye open, wary that Zhao Cheng might treat him like his grandmother had. He immediately said, “No.”
“Don’t want to be cured, or don’t want to fear me?”
“…”
“You have no choice.” Zhao Cheng asked, “Has the rain stopped outside?”
“Yes.”
“Take him outside to see the sun. And send some men to guard the edge of the cliff.” He added meaningfully, “Keep an eye out—someone might come down.”
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