Chapter 85
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The little child prodigy finally understood the prince’s intentions.
Xie Duo turned around contentedly and said, “Go, I will wait outside the door.”
Han Jiao took a step forward, blocking the big boss’ path. He opened his arms and sternly said, “Your Highness, please give up and return to the palace. I will not let you pass.”
Even with such strong reasons, Xie Duo couldn’t convince the little child prodigy. He said unhappily, “The difficulty is too low. It’s not fair for me to win.”
“What do you mean by ‘difficulty is too low’?”
“I can easily pass you even when I’m juggling ten balls at the same time.”
Han Jiao’es widened, realizing the logic behind it. He sighed and lowered his arms, staring at this stinky little brother with a challenging look. “Your Highness, just return to the palace with peace of mind. I won’t be in danger. If His Highness ever lose control, I’ll notice any abnormal behavior quickly and slip away immediately.”
“You react quickly?”
Han Jiao disdainfully let out a cold snort, shaking his head and sighing. “Your Highness has never truly seen my full strength before.”
As his words fell, Xie Duo swiftly struck with a backhand palm!
Before anyone could even register the movement, a sudden rush of wind slapped against Han Jiao’s left cheek.
Xie Duo’s hand came to a halt, just half an inch away from Han Jiao’s cheek, and the gust subsided.
Startled, Han Jiao cried out and quickly raised his hand to cover his face, but he found Xie Duo’s palm in his grasp instead.
“It doesn’t count, it doesn’t count!” Han Jiao pushed the hand away. “That was a sneak attack! I wasn’t ready!”
Unable to contain his amusement, Xie Duo grinned and tilted his head at the little child prodigy. “Are you ready now?”
Han Jiao took a deep breath and assumed a stance reminiscent of Ip Man.
Before he could fully settle into his posture, he felt a light tap on his left cheek.
This stinky little brother had sneak-attacked him once again!
“We haven’t even started yet!” Han Jiao seethed with anger.
Xie Duo laughed heartily. “Hurry, Master, you need to practice more Tai Chi. I’ll have to endure more punishment when I return to the palace.”
“This is Wing Chun, not Tai Chi!”
“Whatever, are you ready now?”
Han Jiao stood prepared. “Bring it on!”
“Tap, tap, tap…“
In an instant, Han Jiao, who had taken a stance, was lightly tapped on the cheeks and forehead.
“You can’t use both hands!”
“Tap, tap…“
“You can’t tap the forehead!”
“Tap…“
“Aaah!” Han Jiao, unable to dodge the relentless onslaught of head taps from all directions, gave in. He pounced onto this stinky little brother, wrapping his arms around him to prevent any movement.
The assault of head taps finally ceased. Han Jiao lifted his head, meeting Xie Duo’s amber eyes, who was wearing a sly smile.
In despair, Han Jiao released his grip, turned away, and spoke with a heavy heart, “It’s hopeless, it’s hopeless. Your Highness won’t cooperate, so let’s just watch Seventh Prince suffer.”
Silence followed.
After a while with no response, Han Jiao slightly turned his head and stole a glance at the big boss’ reaction from the corner of his eye, but there was no sign of him. He turned to look in another direction, using his peripheral vision to search.
Still, there was no sign of the big boss!
Han Jiao turned around and realized he was alone in the courtyard. He hurriedly ran to the archway and asked a young eunuch who was sweeping leaves, “Did the Ninth Prince just leave from here?”
The young eunuch looked puzzled and shook his head, indicating he hadn’t seen anyone.
Han Jiao thought for a moment and then smiled.
Perhaps he frightened him away? After all, only he, Han Xiaobai, had the ability to heal Seventh Prince. The big boss was sensible when it came to crucial matters.
Han Jiao returned to the courtyard, feeling triumphant, and walked into the side hall with his head held high.
Not far away, on the rooftop of the main building, Xie Duo quietly watched the back of the little child prodigy disappear from view.
The treatment had finally begun according to the plan.
First, there was a conversation.
It was necessary to gather more information about the condition and establish a psychological doctor-patient alliance.
Han Jiao had often worked with patients he had helped as a volunteer in the past. They would usually open up about their past willingly. With a bit of guidance, they could recall both positive and negative events.
However, Xie Xiu was different. He relied entirely on Han Jiao’s questions, and many times, he struggled to express his feelings clearly.
The first step was getting Xie Xiu to sync his breath with Han Jiao’s rhythm, helping him relax both body and mind.
Then, Han Jiao began to inquire about moments from Xie Xiu’s childhood that had brought him joy and asked him to recall specific experiences.
Xie Xiu provided examples of some inventions he had created, explaining how they worked. He also shared details about the times he had encountered challenges and how he had come up with solutions.
Han Jiao politely smiled, pretending to understand, and patiently asked, “Apart from inventing equipment, were there any memories of spending time with family or friends that made Your Highness feel truly happy and relaxed?”
Xie Xiu’s gaze drifted into space, and after a long pause, he spoke, “While I worked, Mother Zhen would sit nearby, fanning herself or doing embroidery. She loved to embroider butterflies and peonies.”
Indeed, his wetnurse was the one who made him feel most secure.
“Where did Mother Zhen usually sit, and how close to you?” Han Jiao rose and moved his own chair to the position Xie Xiu had indicated, settling down. By mimicking Xie Xiu’s familiar surroundings, Han Jiao aimed to further ease his emotions.
“What other times do you find yourself feeling particularly secure, at ease, and joyful when you’re in the company of others, relishing the everyday moments and eagerly anticipating the future?”
This prompted another period of contemplation.
“A’Duo will talk after a while.” A bright smile lit up his face. “A’Duo will speak clearly not long after, so that everyone can understand.”
Han Jiao nodded. “Why do you like it when the Ninth Prince speaks?”
Xie Duo’s bright eyes shifted as he tried to describe his feelings. “He… when he wants something, he says it. If I make him happy and give him what he wants, he likes me.”
“Others aren’t like the Ninth Prince? They don’t tell you what they like?”
Xie Duo shook his head. “Fourth and Fifth Brothers, they’d ask me to play pranks on the lecturer, and I’d get punished with copying lines. They’d laugh, but still call me a fool, saying my head was kicked by a donkey. They’d say a lot of strange things and ask me to do weird stuff. I’d do it, but they’d tease me. If I didn’t do it, they’d hit and scold me. But he told me not to mind them. He’d deal with them.”
Han Jiao’s eyes brightened. “Who? Who would take care of Fourth and Fifth Princes for you?”
Xie Duo trembled slightly, shrugged his shoulders, lowered his head, and didn’t answer.
Han Jiao knew Xie Duo was referring to Prince Yan. It was only Prince Yan who used to protect Xie Duo in those days.
“You can’t mention that person, can you? Even if it’s something from childhood,” Han Jiao gently probed.
Xie Duo remained still, not responding.
“So, let’s continue discussing the Ninth Prince,” Han Jiao shifted the topic, “Was the Ninth Prince a well-behaved child when he was young? Did he listen to you?”
Xie Duo took a deep breath and answered honestly, “I used to listen to him very much.”
“If the Ninth Prince was happy, that made you happy, right?”
Xie Duo nodded happily.
“What made you the happiest?” Han Jiao inquired. “Think carefully, was there a day or a moment when you felt immensely joyful and full of anticipation for the future?”
This time, Xie Duo took a long time to think before answering, “A kind of cart, a cart that doesn’t need oxen to pull it.”
Han Jiao didn’t quite understand.
Xie Xiu hurriedly got up to fetch paper and a pen, and he drew it for Han Jiao.
After thorough questioning, Han Jiao finally understood that it was essentially an automatic harvester, an invention Xie Xiu had come up with when he was nine years old.
“You truly are a genius,” Han Jiao observed as he looked at the drawing. “You should continue to specialize in crafting machinery.”
Xie Duo displayed a rare expression of pride.
Han Jiao looked up at Xie Duo and asked, “Did you actually make that cart?”
Xie Duo nodded.
“I’m truly proud of you.”
After some thought, Xie Xiu smiled and replied, “He was proud too.”
Xie Duo used “he” when referring to Prince Yan and avoided using “Sixth Brother.”
Han Jiao could sense that Xie Duo intentionally steered away from his childhood memories of happiness with Prince Yan. However, when discussing the happiest moment, Xie Duo inevitably mentioned “him.”
Han Jiao resumed counting beats, having Xie Xiu perform several rounds of relaxation breathing exercises, and then continued to ask, “Building that cart, did it make him particularly proud of you?”
“He used to say that the things I made were useless, but that cart,” Xie Duo proudly lifted the corners of his mouth, “he said that in the future, every peasant working the fields should have one. He said all the people in the world would be grateful and fond of me.”
Han Jiao nodded in genuine admiration. “I’m truly proud of you. You indeed have the ability to continue realizing various ideas.”
Xie Duo lowered his eyes and spoke with a sense of loss, “Without Mother Zhen, I can’t think of anything new.”
“Is it because you ran out of new ideas that you gave up on making machinery?”
Xie Duo remained silent, his face returning to a numb expression.
Han Jiao said solemnly, “Please, Your Highness, look into my eyes.”
Xie Duo obediently lifted his head.
“It’s not because your Mother Zhen left that you’ve lost your ability to think of new ideas,” Han Jiao emphasized. “It’s because the little Prince Duan, who has real consciousness, was trapped in that day seven years ago. That’s why you’ve lost your previous creative thinking. Once we release him, you will be reunited, and your brilliant ideas will return.”
Xie Duo’s eyes held both anticipation and apprehension.
“Next, Your Highness needs to work harder to stay calm,” Han Jiao continued to gaze at Xie Duo. “Let’s recall together the difficult experiences you’ve had, especially the most painful one.”
The first painful memory that Xie Duo recalled was when he was separated from his wetnurse at the age of four.
This kid’s memory was truly astounding. He could remember many details from when he was four years old.
He explained that at the time, the Empress had taken him back to the Kunning Palace to take care of him, and he couldn’t see his Mother Zhen for several days. He felt very upset and couldn’t stop crying, but the Empress comforted and held him.
The Empress told him that she was also his Mother Zhen and would always be with him from now on. [T/N: Mother Zhen (zhen niang) literal translation: precious mother]
However, Xie Xiu continued to call for his Mother Zhen day and night. The Empress, sleep-deprived and on the verge of a breakdown, locked him in a side chamber, demanding that he call her “mother” before she would come in and hold him.
“Being locked in a dark side chamber in the middle of the night, you must have felt very scared,” Han Jiao encouraged him to express his feelings.
Xie Duo lowered his head, and after a while, he gritted his teeth and said one word at a time, “I… was… very… angry!”
Han Jiao looked at him in surprise.
Xie Xiu clenched his fists tightly, trembling slightly, and with his head down in anger, he said, “As long as I said ‘mother,’ my Mother Zhen would never come back again. I knew it, I knew it! Mother Empress said she was my Mother Zhen, and she would replace my Mother Zhen. I didn’t want that! I didn’t want that!”
“Take a deep breath.” Han Jiao immediately initiated two rounds of relaxation breathing exercises. Once Xie Xiu had calmed down, he steered the conversation back on track. “I understand. The Empress couldn’t replace your Mother Zhen. After your Mother Zhen left, the Empress put on your Mother Zhen’s clothes, which made you feel very…”
“Take them off… take them off…” Suddenly, Xie Xiu raised his head, his gaze fixed on an imaginary figure in the empty space, his expression growing more and more ferocious and enraged. “Take them off! Take them off! Take them off!”
“Your Highness, take a deep breath! Your Highness! Can you hear me?”
Xie Xiu’s focus was drawn by Han Jiao’s voice. He abruptly stood up, lunging towards Han Jiao, reaching out to tear at his clothing!
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