Chapter 59
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“Has the medicine for Royal Uncle been prepared?”
“It was prepared a while ago and was about to be delivered to you, but who would have thought you’d come in person.”
“Li Gonggong, please take it.”
“….”
Listening to the conversation outside the room, which had nothing to do with him, Fu Nian sighed in relief. He then took off his upper garment and examined his injuries in front of the bronze mirror.
The marks on his neck were particularly prominent, having turned a deep purple from the bruising. There were also bite marks on his shoulders and numerous bruises.
Fu Nian dipped his prosthetic limb into the ointment and carefully applied it to the injuries.
After dealing with his upper body, Fu Nian straightened his clothes and rolled up the right pant leg to inspect his severed limb.
The severed limb had been hidden from sunlight for years and was noticeably paler, with clusters of bloodstains more conspicuous.
Just as Fu Nian was about to apply some ointment, he realized the box was empty. He was about to ask the medicine child for more when he turned around and saw that the person at the door was no longer the medicine child. Instead, leaning against the door frame, holding a few small embroidered boxes in hand, was a person who was silently staring at him.
“Your… Your Majesty, I pay my respects.”
Fu Nian had just intended to say something more when he saw Chu Zhaoyi silently closing the door and walking towards him.
…
This was extremely awkward. Fu Nian kept his head down and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Chu Zhaoyi had always been a man of few words. Yesterday, when he took the initiative to apologize, Fu Nian had suspected he had taken the wrong medicine.
He hung his head and saw Chu Zhaoyi’s hand opening a porcelain box. Before he could even touch the ointment, he took the initiative to speak, “I’ll handle it myself.”
Chu Zhaoyi turned a deaf ear and scooped out the ointment. Before it could touch Fu Nian’s leg, Fu Nian moved back a bit.
“No need to trouble you…” After saying that, Fu Nian hastily snatched the ointment and turned around to tend to the wounds on his severed limb.
After using up the entire box of ointment, he finally heard a faint voice from behind.
“Aren’t you going to yell at me to get lost today?”
Fu Nian:…
He couldn’t help but clench his fist.
To be honest, Fu Nian himself couldn’t recall just how rude he had been with his words yesterday. It seemed like he had let out all his grievances in one go. However, the more he yelled and scolded, the more Chu Zhaoyi seemed to become relentless in his actions while not engaging in verbal arguments.
Chu Zhaoyi paused, as if he had been contemplating for a long time, looking somewhat awkward. He asked, “Yesterday, it seemed like you… had a lot of complaints that you hadn’t finished expressing. Do you want to continue today?”
Listening to Chu Zhaoyi’s serious tone, Fu Nian couldn’t distinguish whether the question was intended to provoke him or if Chu Zhaoyi genuinely wanted him to “continue.”
Seeing that Fu Nian remained silent, Chu Zhaoyi scratched his sleeve with a hidden hand.
Before coming here, Chu Zhaoyi had deliberately read examples of reconciliations in history books. However, after going through all of them, he found that there was no precedent for a situation like theirs, where they had a fierce argument upon reuniting and then had an explosive confrontation.
“Also, about the young man who was arrested with you, is he really your son?” Chu Zhaoyi asked, pinching himself afterward. He hadn’t intended to ask this, but the question slipped out unintentionally.
“He made that up. A Junior Brother the old man found named Fu Bie,” Fu Nian answered in a slightly hoarse voice.
After answering, he felt that Chu Zhaoyi seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, and his whole demeanor relaxed compared to before.
Afterwards, a dead silence enveloped the two of them.
Fu Nian silently applied the ointment to himself, and when he put down the rolled-up pant leg, he noticed a small box of ointment still on the table.
This ointment had a different scent from the herbal medicine for sprains and injuries and had a distinct color. Fu Nian looked at it for a while but couldn’t quite remember what this ointment was used for.
Chu Zhaoyi said, “I told the imperial Doctor that you were beat, so he naturally prepared standard medicinal herbs for you.”
Fu Nian instantly realized the purpose of this box of ointment, and his face showed a range of emotions for a moment.
“It’s clear that you’re not very willing to talk to me, but don’t hold a grudge against your own body.” Chu Zhaoyi took the ointment box from Fu Nian’s hand and gestured for Fu Nian to lie down.
Fu Nian hurriedly said, “There’s no need—”
“Are you implying that you want the imperial Doctor or the medicine child to come?” Chu Zhaoyi didn’t give him a chance to refuse and continued to press.
Fu Nian: …
The right arm’s prosthetic was made of stone, significantly colder than body temperature. The surface wounds could indeed be treated with the ointment on the prosthetic limb…With this in mind, Fu Nian lowered his head to look at his broken left arm.
“No need, it will get better in a few days,” Fu Nian still refused.
“In a few days, it won’t get better. Your injuries are quite severe, and I know better than you,” Chu Zhaoyi replied earnestly.
Fu Nian remained silent.
Treating the infection and fever with ointment was indeed not worth it. Besides, no matter how much they disliked each other, Chu Zhaoyi was the head, and they knew each other’s roots and backgrounds better than anyone else. This was certainly more dignified than having a palace doctor or a medicine boy see them.
In the end, Fu Nian reluctantly agreed and lay down on the bed.
“Does Zhen have thorns on my knee?”
Before he could even lie down, Fu Nian heard a grumbling complaint from above.
He still didn’t speak and tentatively touched Chu Zhaoyi’s knee with his elbow, as if he was checking for thorns.
After gently pressing a few times, Fu Nian finally dared to place his head on Chu Zhaoyi’s knee, keeping his body tense and not putting all his weight on it.
“How can you apply the ointment if you don’t relax?” Chu Zhaoyi saw that Fu Nian was as vigilant as a thief, feeling a mix of anger and amusement.
In the past, his Ah Nian was at least someone who trusted him unconditionally…
Fu Nian forced himself to relax.
From this angle, he could see Chu Zhaoyi’s arm protruding from his court attire, with blood occasionally seeping, staining the cuffs of his inner robe.
When he looked up, he could see traces of dried blood around the collar, and there were faint scratch marks on his neck. The blood on his ears had stopped, but the bite marks were still prominent.
Fu Nian couldn’t bear to look anymore.
“….” When he touched the wound, it hurt much more than he had imagined.
Fu Nian instinctively grabbed the embroidered dragon on Chu Zhaoyi’s court attire.
However, the tearing pain quickly turned into something else.
The rough calluses on his fingertips contrasted sharply with the gentle touch. For the first time, Fu Nian was being treated with such tenderness.
“These years, have you been well outside?” Chu Zhaoyi realized that Fu Nian was sweating profusely on his forehead and temporarily paused to give him some time to catch his breath. “I mean, after you left the palace and went south, were you doing well?” Chu Zhaoyi actually wanted to ask him if he had ever thought of returning, or more precisely, if he had thought of him, but in the end, he didn’t dare to ask.
“Exceptionally well. I had wealth, a mansion, and a leisurely life. I didn’t have to get up early and work until late every day, and I didn’t have to constantly suspect others’ intentions. It was like living the life of an immortal,” Fu Nian replied in a heavy tone, his gaze not falling on Chu Zhaoyi at all.
“Since you were living freely outside, why did you come back to the capital in the end?”
Fu Nian remained silent.
He buried his head, avoiding reality like an ostrich.
“After you left, for a long time, you were still ‘living’ in the palace. You know that, right? This time, when you came back, you deliberately went to the sleeping palace to investigate, and you even checked the daily records of the Imperial Attendants Bureau,” Chu Zhaoyi said, sighing. “If you wanted to know the ’empress’s’ true identity, why didn’t you just ask?”
“I know,” Fu Nian whispered, “I wasn’t curious about the empress’s appearance. I was only curious about how living in the palace was like after my death. When I saw those records, I realized that I had underestimated the extent of your madness.” As he spoke, Fu Nian couldn’t help but recall the sparse words in the books, outlining Chu Zhaoyi’s terrifying madness.
In fact, when he first saw Chu Zhaoyi embracing his corpse and sleeping together night after night, he didn’t feel disgusted or scared as his initial reaction. Instead, he felt a kind of indescribable joy and peace. For so many years, it wasn’t a one-sided longing for Chu Zhaoyi; the feelings he had given were reciprocated, even if that response came after his death and in the most absurd way.
“The Imperial Attendants Bureau’s records only contain the embellished version.”
Hearing this, Fu Nian’s breath caught for a moment.
“Did I startle you?”
Fu Nian: “As expected.”
Chu Zhaoyi: “Back then, you couldn’t speak or resist when you laid in Chengyuan Hall. When I tried to dress you in bridal attire and put on the phoenix crown, everyone said I was insane. Especially Royal Uncle, he repeatedly tried to wake me up, saying we should bury you. In fact, I knew in my rational mind that when a person dies, they should be buried. But the one who died was you… I’m sorry, this must have been a great shock to you.”
“It was quite shocking,” Fu Nian admitted truthfully. After a moment of thought, he asked, “By the way, when did you realize that I was still by your side?”
“Seeing how well you adapted to the prosthetic limb and didn’t attempt to contact Xi Wangfei when I suspected you, I began gathering evidence. I have to admit, your choice of identity this time was really well done. If it weren’t for the slackening of the Lian and Qiao families after becoming wealthy, which gave us a chance to catch them, you might have actually made it through,” Chu Zhaoyi said, then continued to dip the ointment from the box, carefully tending to Fu Nian’s wounds. “At that time, when the leads went cold and I was in a dilemma, I even considered going to interrogate you. Even if you were innocent, I thought of forcing a confession out of you. But in the end, I thought about it. Back then, I drove away Ah Nian with my temperament… I’ve regretted the incident where I forcibly took your prosthetic and kept you confined in Chengyuan Palace just to keep you by my side.”
Fu Nian remained silent.
It had to be said that Chu Zhaoyi was indeed skilled at reading people’s minds, especially his.
The period of confinement was indeed the final straw that broke the camel’s back, but it was only the last straw. If one were to look back further, misunderstandings, conflicts, and disputes… even if Chu Zhaoyi hadn’t confined him in the end, leaving the palace was still inevitable.
However, after leaving the palace, Fu Nian had been reluctant to face his own innermost feelings and the fact that he still missed Chu Zhaoyi.
Seeing Fu Nian fall into silence again, Chu Zhaoyi showed no expression on the surface, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit anxious inside.
“I’m not saying all of this to make you let go of all your past grievances, and I’m not forcing you to reconcile forcibly. I just hope that you…” Chu Zhaoyi had rehearsed the second half of his sentence in his mind a thousand times, but when it came to actually saying it, he still felt a bit embarrassed. “I just hope that you, this time, don’t rush to leave the palace. You don’t need to take on official duties either, just stay within my sight. I don’t ask for anything more…”
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