Chapter 26
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Feeling the water, Fu Nian greedily held onto the mouth of the pot, refusing to let go. He wanted to drink faster, to quench the dryness in his throat.
However, no matter how impatient he was, the flow of water into his mouth remained constant, denying him the satisfaction of drinking it all at once. The hand on his chest continued guiding the pot, as if afraid he might choke.
After what felt like a long time, Fu Nian finally felt the burning sensation in his throat subside. Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on the small-mouthed pot and laid back down.
While his thirst had been quenched, the discomfort brought by the high fever hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
Fu Nian sensed that every time he kicked away the thin blanket covering him, it wouldn’t be long before the hot, stifling sensation of the blanket would return.
During his bouts of tossing and turning in his illness-induced haze, he didn’t have the energy to kick the blanket off again. But he knew that someone must be around him, though he wasn’t sure who.
In the midst of feeling uncomfortably overheated due to the blanket, there was suddenly a bit of coldness on his forehead. It wasn’t extremely cold, but it did provide some relief from the discomfort caused by the fever.
Sensing the coolness, Fu Nian relaxed and attempted to move his limbs to struggle out of the blanket. He then peacefully fell back into a deep sleep.
The latter half of the night seemed to bring a touch of coolness, and Fu Nian slept soundly.
When he woke up again, sunlight was streaming into the room through the window frames, illuminating nearly half of the room. He squinted and glanced at the sun’s position.
It was almost noon…
Fu Nian sighed and suddenly remembered that yesterday, in a semi-conscious state, someone seemed to have given him water and covered him with the blanket multiple times. Finally, they even placed something refreshingly cool by his head.
Was he delirious or was it real?
As he pondered, Fu Nian turned his head and suddenly felt something fall from his forehead.
The object that had been resting on his forehead rolled to the side. It was a small piece of white porcelain wrapped in a silk scarf.
Fu Nian recalled that these porcelain pieces were usually stored in the icehouse and were often used for physical cooling. It seemed that someone had indeed taken care of him last night.
The noise of the porcelain piece falling caught the attention of the apothecary’s assistant. “Are you awake? If you are, I’ll call my master over to change your bandages.”
“Alright.” Fu Nian’s voice was weak. After speaking, he took a long pause before continuing, “Last night… thank you for giving me water and applying the cool porcelain. Thank you.” Finishing his words, Fu Nian looked at the apothecary’s assistant, who was still half a child’s size, with a puzzled expression. Fu Nian assumed his voice must have been too hoarse, making his speech unclear, so he didn’t say anything more.
“Um… Are you delirious? Last night, I was here by your side, but I didn’t give you any water or anything like that.” After a prolonged silence, the assistant said, doubting Fu Nian’s words.
Fu Nian’s first thought was whether Fu Zhen had come.
He still owed Fu Zhen money, and the incident in the palace last time had implicated Fu Zhen quite heavily. Fu Zhen wouldn’t let him die from his illness so easily. Moreover, Fu Nian could only think of one person who could come and go so stealthily within the palace. “Then, last night, did anyone else come?”
“No.” The assistant’s answer was resolute.
“I see…” Fu Nian turned his head.
Well, it made sense. Even his Senior Brother mentioned his name from his previous life with disgust written all over his face. It was highly unlikely that he would kindly feed Fu Nian water like this.
Fu Nian looked at the white porcelain piece and towel beside him, but there were no traces left that could prove the identity of the visitor.
Perhaps it was really just a fever-induced illusion, Fu Nian sighed.
When Physician Xu came to change the bandages, Fu Nian could hear him sighing frequently.
Fu Nian didn’t say anything. He knew that no matter what he said, the Physician would surely scold him.
When the gauze was removed, Fu Nian turned his head to look at his right arm. There were signs of flesh around the blood holes on his right arm, not a good sign. Despite the Physician’s attempts to be gentle, the excruciating pain still spread throughout his body.
Even if Fu Nian had a high pain tolerance, at most he could remain silent and still. But he couldn’t control the tears that welled up in his eyes from the intense pain, and his breathing was heavy.
“Last time, your leg and hand weren’t as severe…” Physician Xu muttered to himself while inspecting the wound.
Fu Nian didn’t reply.
That was because last time, he had casually stabbed himself a couple of times, but he hadn’t hit any bones. Also, the weather was cooler back then, and he hadn’t moved around much even when the injury was at its worst, so his condition had naturally been better.
“The gauze isn’t too tight. Maintain this posture and don’t move. It’s harder for wounds to heal if they’re covered in hot weather. Later, drink some rice soup before taking the herbal medicine.” After finishing his instructions, Physician Xu gave a few more orders to the assistant and hurriedly left the room.
Fu Nian remained still and let out a muffled groan to signal that he had heard.
Yesterday, when he hadn’t had a fever, he had planned on how to escape. But now, he had no strength even to move, let alone escape.
Lying there, his consciousness remained relatively clear. He knew that there were palace maids and eunuchs coming and going to see the Physician, or some guards were chatting with the female attendants from the apothecary.
But he didn’t remain clear-headed for long. Soon, Fu Nian felt his body temperature rising again. He quickly reached out and pressed the cool porcelain against his face to alleviate it.
Both the rice soup and herbal medicine were served in small bowls. After staring at them for a while, Fu Nian became increasingly convinced that the experience of being given water from a thin-mouthed pot last night must have been an illusion.
In the afternoon, Fu Nian successfully acquired a couple more pieces of the cool porcelain. Although his body temperature hadn’t decreased, it was much better than yesterday.
While using the cool porcelain to lower his body temperature, Fu Nian suddenly heard a commotion at the door.
“Master said not to disturb—”
“Just half a moment, half a moment. Please, Little Physician, I’ll come out quickly without alerting your master.”
Fu Nian heard what sounded like Rendong’s voice. He quickly cleared his throat and tried to speak as loudly as he could, “Let him in. I asked him to come.”
After speaking, Fu Nian took a long pause to catch his breath.
As expected, Rendong was allowed in. When their eyes met, Fu Nian could clearly sense Rendong’s momentary confusion. His face was filled with incredulity.
“It’s a good thing I had injuries yesterday. Otherwise, if you had come to see me today, you might have been searching for me in the Punishment Bureau,” Fu Nian explained preemptively.
After a long pause, Rendong cautiously began to speak, “It’s good that your original injuries are healing. They’ve all been saying that you can’t get up at the hospital… I thought, I thought that you were being punished for resisting the imperial edict, leading to your current state.”
Fu Nian: …
Well, after all, he was dragged away in front of a large audience yesterday. It wasn’t surprising that rumors like this would spread.
“By the way, someone came looking for you yesterday and asked me to pass this on to you.” Rendong seemed to remember something all of a sudden. He fumbled in his sleeve and pulled out a metal waist badge. It was densely engraved with “symbols,” and at first glance, it wasn’t clear what it represented.
Fu Nian took the metal badge.
At first glance, he recognized that the symbols carved on it were in his Senior Brother’s handwriting. Upon closer inspection, he could only make out “West Market of the Capital” written on it, but the detailed address was difficult to discern from the handwriting.
His head was already dizzy and his vision blurry. After staring at it for a while, Fu Nian could only give up trying to decipher the writing. He softly said, “Thank you…”
“No need to thank me. By the way, even Big Brother Lian… You seem quite serious? When you were just injured, I remember you could still run and jump.” After observing him for a while, Rendong cautiously asked, “Right, is there anything you’d like to eat? I can—”
As soon as the words “eat” were mentioned, the assistant guarding the door hurriedly intervened, “Don’t feed him randomly! It’s been half a moment already, you should leave!”
“Where is it half a moment? I haven’t fed him randomly—”
“It has been half a moment! You stay here, and I’ll go fetch Master!”
Fu Nian’s reaction was already half a beat slower than usual. He had wanted to say he wasn’t in such a serious condition, but when he turned around, he found that Rendong and the assistant were already in a heated dispute.
He opened his mouth to stop the assistant from pushing Rendong out. However, the voices of the two arguing completely drowned out his weak voice. Fu Nian repeated himself three times, but neither of them paid him any attention. In the end, Rendong was pushed out of the room reluctantly.
Fu Nian sighed and looked at the metal badge that Rendong had brought.
It seemed that Fu Zhen must have come looking for him yesterday, but he hadn’t found him, which was why he entrusted someone to deliver it. Fu Nian then recalled that the scholar from the Northern Frontier who had brought him news to the capital was also related to Fu Zhen.
But Fu Zhen’s habit of adopting disciples and godchildren was well-known to Fu Nian, and their numbers were scattered throughout the land. So, Fu Nian didn’t think much of it. It was just that he might meet that scholar again this time, which made him remember this connection.
After things settled, he should sneak into their residence to see what the situation was like. Fu Nian thought to himself.
After securing the metal badge close to his body, Fu Nian held onto the cool porcelain. Until he fell asleep at night, his high fever persisted. Despite having slept a lot during the day, Fu Nian wasn’t drowsy now. He was just weak all over, unable to do anything except lie down.
After changing the bandages, Fu Nian sensed that the potency of the soul-calming powder was much stronger than the previous night. It was clearly an increased dose. He inquired, “Why is there a change in the medicine from last night? Did your hand shake and add an extra dose of the soul-calming powder?”
“Last night, I saw that you were sleeping restlessly, so I asked Master to prepare a bit more.”
Fu Nian didn’t dwell on it and drank the herbal medicine in one go.
Before long, the effects of the medicine took hold. Fu Nian didn’t struggle with sleepiness but instead used the surge of energy from the medicine to get a good night’s rest.
However, before the first half of the night had passed, the effects of the medicine had completely worn off. When he woke up, Fu Nian didn’t rush to open his eyes; he remained perfectly still.
After lying there for a while, Fu Nian could hear some movement at the door.
Immediately after, a faint and gentle fragrance wafted in.
Regardless of how Fu Nian held his breath, the drowsiness grew stronger.
So, it was the strong dosage of soothing incense last night that allowed him to sleep peacefully…?
This time, Fu Nian resisted for a while longer, but eventually, under the influence of the incense, his awareness became hazy.
In a half-dream state, Fu Nian sensed that someone had come again.
Once again, a slender-mouthed water flask was brought to his lips, but this time, Fu Nian didn’t express any desire for it, and the flask was moved away.
Right after that, it felt like his clothes, soaked in sweat and blood, were being removed. A soft towel gently wiped over every inch of his body and patiently dressed him in new clothes.
Fu Nian wanted to open his eyes, but it was as if he was trapped in a nightmare, struggling to wake up no matter how hard he tried.
His senses were the only things awake, acutely feeling everything happening around him.
Being trapped in this dreamlike state was uncomfortable. Fu Nian tried to control his left hand and leg to move, but every attempt to move his left hand not only resulted in it not responding but also caused a tingling numbness to spread.
Changing out of the drenched clothes and being meticulously cleaned was indeed a very comfortable experience, especially with the persistent fever. Eventually, Fu Nian gave up struggling against the nightmare and peacefully drifted to sleep amidst the soothing incense and comfort.
The next day, Fu Nian woke up early.
He remembered what had happened in his dream—someone had helped him change and clean his clothes.
With this in mind, Fu Nian quickly lowered his head to look at his clothes.
Indeed, they were completely fresh.
Someone had definitely been here; it wasn’t a dream. Fu Nian was certain of that.
However, he soon realized that something was amiss.
When he went to sleep last night, he distinctly remembered putting the waist badge his Senior Brother had given him into his sleeve and pressing it against his arm.
Now, the sleeve felt light, and the badge was nowhere to be found!
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