Covering his face, Ye Shanshan made a heart gesture!
When they met Gong Ji again, it was in a small glass greenhouse.
The butler led Ye Shanshan and Gong Yue to the door, bowed politely, and said, “The madam left 20 minutes ago due to an urgent matter. Please forgive the lack of hospitality. The young master is inside. Please, go ahead.”
Afterward, the butler remained standing in place.
Ye Shanshan thanked him and followed Gong Yue inside. The room was warm, and exquisite objects were placed everywhere. Ye Shanshan tugged at Gong Yue’s sleeve and blinked seriously, wanting to ask if it was his plan for Catherine to leave suddenly.
Gong Yue nodded.
Ye Shanshan’s smile immediately brightened—He and His Majesty truly have an unspoken understanding, we’re a perfect match!
Walking past the scattered displays and collections, Ye Shanshan saw Gong Ji. This time, Gong Ji was neatly dressed, leaning on a specially designed wheelchair. His posture seemed a bit awkward, and a blanket was draped over his legs, covering them. He was watching a lotus bloom in a small round water pool, and the scene felt quiet and serene.
Hearing footsteps, Gong Ji struggled to turn the wheelchair, facing Gong Yue and Ye Shanshan with a smile. “I’m really happy to see you again.”
His gaze then landed on Gong Yue. “Big brother, long time no see.” He seemed a bit thinner, but his eyes were bright, clearly happy.
“Long time no see,” Gong Yue replied with rare patience.
The three sat around a small round table. From this angle, they could see the butler standing at the door, and not far away were two caregivers, always keeping an eye on Gong Ji’s condition.
“My mother worries about me too much, so before leaving, she specifically told the butler and caregivers to take good care of me.” Gong Ji’s smile was weak, but not forced. “Did you find it? The thing I mentioned last time?” His voice carried a hidden nervousness.
Ye Shanshan took a record out of his bag and placed it on the table.
“I found it. Teacher Hess knows you still remember his early works and is very honored and touched, so he asked me to bring you this limited edition as a memento.”
He handed the record over.
Gong Ji took it and, looking at the name printed on it, his smile deepened. He looked at Ye Shanshan. “This is a rare item, but I knew you would find it.”
At that moment, Ye Shanshan again confirmed in his heart that this was indeed the message Gong Ji wanted to convey.
“After hearing you, I was curious and looked into the work when I got back. The music is beautiful, but the story behind it feels strange,” Ye Shanshan tentatively brought up.
Hearing this, Gong Ji gently stroked the surface of the record. “I really like the work, and I’ve studied the story for a long time. I should be able to answer your questions.”
“When I asked Teacher Hess about it, he had forgotten some details,” Ye Shanshan said casually. “So I’m really curious—why did the prince fall asleep on rough ground and then meet the fairy in his dream?”
It was a tricky question, but Gong Ji smiled faintly. “Because at the palace banquet, the prince’s father, the king, fed the young prince a glass of wine. The little prince drunkenly rode a horse around, then ended up lying on the rough ground, falling into a deep sleep and dreaming of a fairy.”
Ye Shanshan tightened his grip on his tea cup—sure enough, Gong Ji had been drugged by his own father at a young age.
At this moment, Gong Yue, who had been sitting quietly beside him, placed his hand on Ye Shanshan’s hand, gently helping him put the cup down. “Be careful, it’s hot.”
After calming himself, Ye Shanshan continued, “Then, how did the prince find out that the king wanted to use him as a puppet, and ended up escaping alone?”
“The story doesn’t explain it clearly,” Gong Ji replied, “but because the environment in the tower prison was so bad, the prince suffered greatly and soon fell seriously ill. Because of the queen’s intervention, the king had to bring in a doctor for him.”
He met Ye Shanshan’s gaze, his voice soft. “The prince was very sick, but he wasn’t unconscious from the high fever, so by coincidence, he overheard the king and the doctor plotting and talking about other people.”
Ye Shanshan inhaled slowly. “Is it the crown prince from a neighboring country?”
Hearing Ye Shanshan, Gong Ji smiled and nodded, not looking at Gong Yue, but shaking the record in his hand.
“When the prince fled the tower, he originally wanted to say goodbye to his mother. But his mother loved the king, and she had to be responsible for her own country, so the prince gave up and left on his own. Luckily, he found the fairy he had dreamed about.”
He took a sip of tea, coughed lightly, and his face turned a sickly shade of red.
“Of course, that’s just the beautiful ending of a magical story, but I’ve always thought the story should end after the prince drank that wine,” he lowered his eyes, looking at his legs, a fleeting sadness crossing his face. “Isn’t that right?”
Without needing sympathy, Gong Ji soon smiled again, changing the subject and looking at Gong Yue. “I’m really happy to see you, big brother. I always caused you trouble when I was a child.”
“It wasn’t trouble.” Gong Yue recalled the little boy in his memories and paused for a moment. “Wait a bit longer.”
Gong Ji understood his meaning and forced a smile. “Alright, one must always have hope.”
—–
The car had driven far away. Ye Shanshan sat in the back seat, resting his head against the car window, watching the scenery blur past. He wasn’t feeling great. Making sure no one else could hear, Ye Shanshan asked the question that had been bothering him.
“Why would a father do something like this to his own child?” He didn’t have any family, so all his understanding of “family” came from Gong Youli and Gong Yue. So, he couldn’t understand why Gong Ze treated his son like this.
Gong Yue held his hand. “Shanshan, human nature is very complicated. Morality and law only exist when people acknowledge and need them.”
Ye Shanshan leaned on Gong Yue’s lap, his voice dry. “I understand that.”
But just seeing Gong Ji made him feel a mix of sadness and anger.
After returning home, Ye Shanshan closed the study door, laid a piece of white paper on the table, and began discussing the new clues.
“Brother, so, Gong Ji was drugged by his father when he was a child, but the drug didn’t have the intended ‘transformative’ effect. Instead, it caused severe adverse reactions, leading to a mutation in the genes on his long chromosome arm, which is why he now suffers from progressively worsening ossification of muscles and bones.”
“And because his father wanted to gain ‘great power,’ he brought in doctors to continue the research. We also know that in their conversations with the doctor, they mentioned your name.”
Ye Shanshan circled the word “doctor” in red. “I think the doctor, the one who took Gong Ji to see, is Dr. Dumont, who should be Youli’s mother’s mentor, Durant.”
He wrote with such force that the pen almost pierced the paper.
“Because according to Uncle Bernar, when he and Youli’s mother were working with Durant in the lab, the projects Durant was running didn’t meet the investors’ expectations, so the funding was cut, and the lab was shut down.
The drugs you and Uncle Bernar used were made by Youli’s mother, so the side effects mainly affected memory. But the drugs Gong Ji used were made by Durant, and the risks were clearly much higher, with severe side effects.”
That’s why Gong Ji ended up in his current condition.
Gong Yue took the pen from his hand and, next to the red circle around the word “doctor,” wrote the name of his uncle, Gong Ze. His voice was heavy.
“And when did he contact Durant? And how much are these two involved in the ‘God-making’ project?”
[mfn]You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️ -TL: Ysiad [/mfn]
