AYM Chapter 23

Yan Yihuan had no idea how many days had passed or how many places he had been moved to. Every time he barely managed to fall asleep, he would be dragged up again, his head spinning as he was taken away.

 

The cloth covering his eyes had never been removed, and his hands and feet remained bound. Later, when they saw he had no real ability to escape, they loosened the restraints slightly.

 

He was given only stale, hardened mantou[mfn]Steamed buns [/mfn] and cold water of unknown origin every day. Eventually, it triggered his old sickness, causing him to break out in cold sweats from the pain from time to time.

 

Even the cloth covering his eyes had been soaked with tears over and over again, which ended up drying into a rough, hardened texture that chafed painfully against his skin.

 

It was hard to bear with, but the only thing that gave Yan Yihuan reassurance was that these people truly had no intention of taking his life. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept his eyes covered since the beginning.

 

Another wave of stomach pain struck. Crying only made the cloth wet and the discomfort worse, but after enduring days of suffering and fear, he was already on the verge of collapse. He didn’t know how else to vent his emotions except for silently shedding tears.

 

“Is anyone there…?”

 

Yan Yihuan couldn’t bear it any longer. He wanted someone to at least untie his hands, but after calling out softly a few times, there was no response.

 

Something felt off.

 

Having been blindfolded for so long, Yan Yihuan had lost all sense of time. He didn’t know how long he had drifted in and out of consciousness, but ever since waking up, he hadn’t heard a single sound.

 

“Is anyone there?”

 

The guards watching him had always threatened to gag him if he spoke too loudly, as if afraid his voice would be heard by others. But now, even when he shouted, no one responded.

 

A chill of terror swept through him. Had these people abandoned him and left?

 

Yan Yihuan had no idea where he was, and there was no chance they would have left any clues for others to find him. Worse yet, they hadn’t even untied him. If no one came looking for him, would he just die here without anyone ever knowing?

 

By the time someone finds him, would he only be a pile of bones?

 

No… He had no identifiable items left on him. Even if someone did find his remains, they wouldn’t know who he was. He… he would never be able to return home again.

 

Yan Yihuan had never been so afraid before. These past few days, he hadn’t even dared to cry out loud, but now, he finally sobbed out loud.

 

At first, he cried softly. But after crying for a while and realizing that no one was coming, despair overwhelmed him, and he began to wail louder. He thought about how, when he left Linjing, he had been looking forward to visiting the capital and have a good time sightseeing, before heading home after a simple meal at the palace.

 

But looking back now, all he had experienced other than being bullied, was living in fear, and in the end, he was going to die alone far away from home, with no one knowing what had become of him.

 

He didn’t know why, but in his dazed state, he suddenly thought of Zhao Chufeng. Such a handsome person, why was he so fierce?

 

But actually, maybe he wasn’t that fierce. Thinking carefully, as long as he wasn’t doing that kind of thing, he’s quite alright. He was a bit like his eldest brother, as long as Yan Yihuan didn’t do anything wrong, he would indulge him quite a bit.

 

But he hadn’t done anything wrong ah…

 

Yan Yihuan didn’t even know what he was thinking anymore. His mind grew more and more groggy. He thought about trying to struggle free from the ropes, or rubbing his head against something to remove the cloth over his eyes, but his strength failed him. After only a few attempts, he was already panting, completely exhausted.

 

Just as his consciousness was slipping further into a haze, the sound of a door opening suddenly pulled him back to his senses. Had they come back?

 

It’s good that someone has come back.

 

The tension that had been holding Yan Yihuan upright instantly loosened. But before he could even feel relief, a piercing whistle of a sword rang in his ears.

 

“Who?!”

 

“Third Young Master, don’t blame me in the afterlife.”

 

The moment those words were spoken, Yan Yihuan froze. It felt as if all the blood in his body had been drained in an instant. But before he could even process what would happen next, the sharp whistle of arrows cut through the air heading in his direction. A muffled grunt sounded, and then a body crashed heavily onto his own.

 

“Ah—!”

 

Yan Yihuan was terrified. But in the next moment, the weight on him was lifted, and he was suddenly pulled into a cool embrace.

 

“Yan Yihuan!”

 

Hearing that familiar voice left him momentarily dazed. For an instant, he even thought he was dreaming.

 

“Zhao Chufeng…?”

 

A sharp clang of a sword rang out beside his ear. The next thing he knew, the ropes binding him loosened, Zhao Chufeng must have cut them. Then, his vision abruptly brightened as the cloth covering his eyes was removed.

 

The light he had longed for so desperately now felt like a blade slicing into his eyes. With a sharp cry, Yan Yihuan instinctively lowered his head, hands tightly covering his face.

 

In the next moment, he was tightly embraced by a pair of arms. A hand cradled the back of his head, pressing his face against a firm chest, shielding him completely beneath a thick cloak.

 

Yan Yihuan buried his face deep into the warmth that was gradually spreading across the chest. Darkness fell over him as he was wrapped securely within the heavy fabric. An overwhelming sense of safety and stability flooded over him, and he could no longer resist the pull of unconsciousness, finally sinking into the abyss.

 

Fortunately…

 

The person was finally firmly in his arms, yet his heart still pounded wildly, unable to calm down for a long time.

 

Although they had already locked onto their target two days ago, they had feared alarming them, worried they would kill Yan Yihuan to silence him. Even so, with a meticulous plan in place, a fish still slipped through the net[mfn]’a fish still slipped through the net’: A metaphor for someone or something that escaped a trap or plan by chance. Referring to that one enemy that almost killed Yan Yihuan a few paragraphs above. (The one who said, “Third Young Master, don’t blame me in the afterlife.”)[/mfn], nearly causing a major disaster.

 

“Your Majesty.” Han Zhen appeared at the doorway, quickly glancing at the unconscious figure in Li Xuanming’s arms before withdrawing his gaze.

 

“This attacker is dead.”

 

“Go to Imperial Physician Sun’s residence immediately and bring him to the house on Xi Street.”  Li Xuanming clearly had no interest in discussing the identity of the captors with Ming Zhang[mfn]t/n: Seems like a typo, either the author intended it to be Han Zhen here as he was the one reporting to the Emperor earlier, or the author intended for the one reporting earlier to be Ming Zhang. I’ll just leave the names the same as in the original text.[/mfn] right now. All that mattered was that the person in his arms had an abnormal body temperature and had fallen unconscious.

 

“Understood.”

 

He immediately obeyed the command, then turned and left. Simultaneously, a seemingly ordinary carriage set off towards Xi Street at high speed.

 

Li Xuanming held Yan Yihuan tightly in his arms, taking a deep breath before carefully slightly lifting the cloak covering his head.

 

His face was very dirty. If Yan Yihuan were awake, he wouldn’t even tolerate a speck of dust on his face, let alone being this dirty. He would have wiped it off immediately in utter disgust.

 

That was why no matter when one saw him, he was always impeccably clean, looking bright and full of spirit.

 

Li Xuanming’s gaze held an unrestrained ruthlessness. Yet his lips pressed gently against Yan Yihuan’s forehead, smoothing out the tightly furrowed brows with a soft kiss.

 

If keeping you safe in the shadows is no longer possible, then from now on, I will let you stand openly by my side.

 

Since keeping my identity hidden still couldn’t keep you safe, then from now on, I will let you stand by my side publicly.