What was I Thinking when I Ditch the Second Male Protagonist Chapter 86

Chapter 86

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Xie Duo was sure there was an odd noise in the hall just now.

If it were Old Eighth, he would have likely rushed into the house by now, but Xie Duo did not.

A cuju master should remain calm, so he merely leaped down from the roof like a silent cat and listened carefully.

Panting?

Seven Brother’s panting came from inside the house.

But there was no cry from the little child prodigy.

Perhaps it was just heightened emotions during the treatment.

Xie Duo straightened up, calmly standing there, feeling that everything was under control.

However, right after that, he heard the voice of the little child prodigy—

“Don’t rush, Your Highness. Take it slow. Let me unfasten the robe.” 

Xie Duo’s narrow, phoenix-like eyes widened, his tightly sealed lips opening instantly!

Completely out of control!

Inside the room, the little child prodigy’s gentle voice came again, “Don’t tear my clothes, Your Highness. Be gentle. I haven’t even undone the belt yet.”

THUD!

Han Jiao, pinned in the armchair by Xie Xiu, shivered in fear. When he turned his head, he saw the big boss, who had broken through the window, with ice-cold eyes fixed on him and the Seventh Prince.

“Why are you still here?” Han Jiao panicked and gestured to the big boss. “Your Highness, quickly get out! Hurry!”

Surprisingly, Xie Duo took long strides closer. “Is this why you didn’t want me to guard the area?”

Han Jiao glanced at Xie Xiu, who was still working on the fastenings, thankfully undisturbed. He turned to the big boss in a hurry. “I’m in the middle of treating Prince Duan. What are you planning to do?”

“I should be asking that question.” Xie Duo swiftly reached out and grabbed Han Jiao’s collar from behind.

Seeing the big boss about to pull him away from the chair and the Seventh Prince, Han Jiao clenched his teeth. He quickly pushed aside Xie Xiu, deftly removed his own outer robe, and stuffed it into the Seventh Prince’s arms. He declared loudly, “Here, it’s all yours. I’ll never touch your Mother Zhen’s belongings again in the future. Your Mother Zhen will always be the one who takes care of Your Highness. She won’t be replaced by me or anyone else, and her feelings for Your Highness will never change!”

Xie Xiu held Han Jiao’s pale tea-colored robe in his arms, standing there dumbfounded for a moment. He looked down at the clothing and then at Han Jiao, who now only had a pristine white undershirt left. The rage in Xie Xiu’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by bewilderment.

“Your Highness, please sit down. The treatment isn’t finished yet,” Han Jiao, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the big boss’ gaze beside him, instinctively crossed his arms and curled up in the armchair.

Xie Duo had fully understood the situation from the words Han Jiao had just spoken.

Although he hadn’t witnessed Seven Brother removing Mother Empress’ robe with his own eyes, he had heard various rumors about it when he was young. Xie Duo’s ears were calloused from all those stories, so he naturally grasped the situation.

Han Jiao glanced at the big boss from the corner of his eye, feeling his ears heating up. He urged quietly, “Quick, Your Highness, you can’t disrupt the treatment.”

Xie Duo didn’t follow orders. He raised his head, took a deep breath, as if he wanted to explain his recent outburst, but he realized it wasn’t the right time. He hesitated for a moment, turned around, and almost as if escaping, jumped out of the window.

Han Jiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It felt strange to be stripped of his outer robe in front of the big boss. But now, it was much better. He sat up straight and continued guiding Xie Xiu in relaxation breathing exercises.

“Where does it feel uncomfortable?” It was clear that Xie Xiu was beginning to have flashbacks. Han Jiao guided him to describe his sensations in detail.

Xie Xiu huddled back in his chair, holding Han Jiao’s outer robe, painfully pounding his chest a couple of times, lips tightly sealed, unable to speak.

“Is it a tightness in your chest, and your heart beating fast?” Han Jiao had to describe for him.

Xie Xiu nodded slightly.

“You’re very frightened. You feel like something is about to happen.” 

Xie Xiu furrowed his brow, closed his eyes, and held his breath.

“What did you see?”

Xie Xiu didn’t answer.

“Xie Xiu, what did you see? Tell me, saying it out will make it stop, it won’t happen again.”

After a long silence, Xie Xiu began to painfully pound his chest.

“Breathe, relax,” Han Jiao gently guided, “Tell me.”

“He came from… that place… rushing towards me…” Xie Xiu raised his trembling right hand, pointing only to the southeast corner of the room. “He rushed over and grabbed me…”

Xie Xiu choked, released the clothing in his hands, and covered his neck with both hands.

Han Jiao hurriedly got up, took a quick step forward, grabbed Xie Xiu’s hands, and gently patted his back, softly soothing, “Relax, relax.”

Xie Xiu saw his twelve-year-old Sixth Brother, his face twisted in rage, pressing down on him, full of anger and hatred.

“There are two scratch marks here.” Xie Xiu’s pupils dilated. Numbly, he gestured in the air. “I scratched him. There’s blood… blood here, flowing into his lip crack. He was grinning, and his teeth were all red…”

Xie Xiu’s voice was hoarse as he described the scene he had witnessed.

When Xie Xiu’s body relaxed slightly, Han Jiao moved closer and bent down to speak to him, “Very good, very good. Next, your eyes need to follow my finger. Keep your head still, only your eyeballs can move. While you move them, you will see everything that happened that day again. This will be the last time, remember it all, and it won’t happen again in the future.”

Flashbacks in post-traumatic stress disorder occured because excessive stimulation during the traumatic event caused the adrenal system to collapse, trapping the scenes, sounds, and bodily sensations of the trauma in the nervous system, making it difficult for the memory system to process and integrate them.

EMDR therapy mimicked the eye movements that occur during sleep, helping patients gather the fragmented memories that were locked within the brain so that the brain could integrate and reprocess them.

Han Jiao began assessing the level of distress. “How do you feel now, Xie Xiu? You saw his teeth stained with blood, and you felt very uncomfortable. What’s more distressing, seeing your Mother Empress wearing your Mother Zhen’s clothes or this?”

“This.”

“Is it the most distressing now?”

Xie Xiu nodded in agony.

“Good. After the treatment is over, you won’t feel this pain anymore. Do you believe you can recover, Xie Xiu?”

Despair filled Xie Xiu’s eyes.

“Do you want to become your old self again?”

Xie Xiu nodded.

“Do you believe you can recover?” Han Jiao guided him once more to enhance his cognitive processing.

Xie Xiu nodded.

Han Jiao lifted his right hand, using two fingers as markers, establishing a parallel plane and the range of movement. With verbal cues, he initiated eye movement therapy.

Once he ensured that Xie Xiu was following the rhythm, he gradually accelerated the movement.

Whenever he noticed Xie Xiu displaying an expression of unbearable pain, Han Jiao paused the treatment and asked what he had remembered.

Xie Xiu’s memories were fragmented, quite random, yet precise and detailed.

He could recall the soup splashed on the Empress’ dress, the scent mixed with spices, and even Prince Yan’s breathing sound and frequency at the time. Everything was so vivid, but he couldn’t differentiate the chronological order of these events.

After twenty rounds of eye movement, the pained expression on Xie Xiu’s face slightly eased.

Han Jiao asked, “Has your heartbeat slowed down a bit?”

Xie Xiu nodded in a reserved manner.

“Can you still see his expression?”

Xie Xiu hesitated but nodded.

“Is it still as frightening?”

“It’s like… it’s distant now…”

“Feels like it happened a long time ago, doesn’t it? It won’t take you back to that time, right?”

Xie Xiu nodded.

Han Jiao immediately performed a positive installation therapy, followed by two sets of eye movement treatments.

During the third set of eye movement therapy, Xie Xiu’s eyes, increasingly calm, suddenly glistened with tears of sadness.

“What do you remember?” Han Jiao paused the treatment.

Xie Xiu choked for a while, his voice hoarse as he said, “He was crying, his eyes were red, as if he wasn’t angry. He was… scared too…”

Those sharp fragments of memories slowly pieced together Xie Xiu’s complete recollection.

Xie Xiu’s brain was no longer hindered by fear. He saw Sixth Brother’s menacing face, the tears in his eyes, his blood-red teeth, and trembling lips clearly.

The intense ringing in his ears had vanished, and Xie Xiu heard Sixth Brother choking back tears, pleading, “Don’t mess around, Old Seventh… I’m begging you!”

Hot tears streamed down Xie Xiu’s face, and all the fear and despair seemed to melt away with this teardrop.

Xie Xiu looked urgently at Han Jiao, not sure what to say, unable to express his thoughts.

Han Jiao quickly instructed him to take deep breaths and asked, “Have you recalled some other details?”

Xie Xiu nodded eagerly, “He was very scared.”

Han Jiao gazed at Xie Xiu and softly inquired, “Who was very scared?”

Xie Xiu’s gaze flickered for a while, then he answered calmly, “Sixth Brother.”

Han Jiao struggled to contain his excitement, leaned in, and shook Xie Xiu’s left hand. He encouraged, “You’re very brave. I’m really proud of you.”

The unexpected success of the first EMDR therapy session was that Xie Xiu could now say “Sixth Brother” without triggering flashbacks, and the locked memory fragments had been integrated.

Han Jiao stopped while things were going well, concluding the first session and reminding Xie Xiu to write down any strange dreams he might have over the next two days to discuss them next time.

The two agreed to have the second session in three days.

Han Jiao put on his own outer robe, the front partially torn by Xie Xiu. He had to carefully tuck it into his collar.

Xie Xiu, standing nearby, looked a bit guilty and softly reminded Han Jiao, “In the east wing, there are plenty of clothes. You can pick one to take with you, Master.”

Han Jiao blinked, turned to look at Xie Xiu, and asked, “Your Highness, what did you just call me?”

Xie Xiu lowered his head and said, “Han… Jiao.”

“You just called me ‘Master’,” Han Jiao turned and walked up to Xie Xiu, smiling brightly, “Am I not your bad grass anymore?”

Xie Xiu nodded.

Han Jiao pushed his luck, “Do I have the honor of being Your Highness’ teacher now?”

Xie Xiu lowered his head even further and replied, “You are a Hanlin Expositor-in-waiting, and all lecturers are referred to as ‘Master’.”

“Well, that’s different,” Han Jiao playfully acted like a rascal, “Just heard Your Highness call me ‘Master,’ and as the saying goes, ‘One day as a teacher, a lifetime as a…'”

“You better stop it, Han Xiaobai!” Suddenly, a warning from the big boss outside made Han Jiao gulp and hurriedly fasten his belt.

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