AFDPIRAB Chapter43

After nightfall, the cold winter wind made people shiver. The whole Prince An’s mansion was full of people, but it was so quiet that only the cold wind could be heard.

 

It was past Shenshi[mfn]3-5pm.[/mfn], and Prince Cheng and Yun Jiangli still hadn’t found Yan Muning.

 

At this moment, the two people’s faces could no longer be described as cold as frost. The murderous aura around them was multiplying as time passed.

 

Yun Jiangli’s phoenix eyes flashed with a sharp light, and his eyes were faintly red. His fingertips stroked Yan Muning’s short blade—

 

He regretted that he had not remembered to return the short blade to the youth these days. If he still had the short blade to protect himself, would he be safer?

 

Chen Bai hurriedly led the people who went to Prince Yi’s mansion to monitor the news, knelt on one knee in front of Prince Cheng, and clasped his fists and said, “Your Highness, Prince Yi has never left the mansion, but a family just sneaked into the mansion through the side door.”

 

Prince Cheng took a deep breath, stood up, and ordered in a cold voice, “Let’s go to Prince Yi’s mansion.”

 

Yun Jiangli walked out first. There was no other way at the moment. He couldn’t care too much. All the places that could be searched and explored in the whole capital had been searched. It was freezing cold, and the youth was already delicate and afraid of the cold. Now he is carrying his child…

 

He didn’t dare to think about it anymore.

 

Even if they had to force their way into Prince Yi’s mansion, he had to bring Yan Muning back tonight.

 

 

Prince Yi was fiddling with some newly acquired calligraphy and paintings in his study when he heard a servant from the front yard come to report that Prince Cheng was coming with a large group of people.

 

He was shocked. Could it be that Prince Huai, that idiot, hadn’t released Yan Muning yet?

 

“What time is it already?” Prince Yi asked coldly.

 

Chao Yan replied in a low voice, “It’s two quarters past Youshi[mfn]5-7pm[/mfn], Your Highness.”

 

Prince Yi closed his eyes and calculated that four hours had passed since he first received the news from Prince Huai…

 

He thought about the words that the guard had just brought back from Prince Huai and remembered Yan Muning’s sweet “Third Brother”. He smiled weakly for a long time with his head tilted up.

 

Maybe this is fate.

 

He had planned everything, but in the end he still lost to a brother who was devoted to him.

 

In the end, who can he blame?

 

Prince Yi stood in the front yard, quietly waiting for the people who came to call him to task.

 

“Lao Wu, do you really have to bring so many people to break into my Prince’s mansion?”

 

Prince Yi smiled as usual.

 

Prince Cheng snorted coldly: “Third Brother, you must know why I’m here now.”

 

“Yes, it was me who asked Prince Huai to take Lao Qi away.”

 

Prince Yi did not want to beat around the bush. Now that things had come to this, why should he implicate his two innocent brothers?

 

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft sword pointed directly at Prince Yi’s throat.

 

The two sides immediately confronted each other with swords pointed at each other.

 

Prince Yi did not dodge but raised his hand, signaling his men to put down their swords. His peach blossom eyes narrowed, and he looked at Yun Jiangli, who was holding a soft sword, with a hint of ambiguous emotion—

 

“Why? Young Hall Master Yun is distressed now? If you were willing to come to my side earlier, wouldn’t everything be fine?”

 

Where did Yun Jiangli’s sword come from, and how did he point the sword at Prince Yi’s throat under the eyes of the group of guards? It was so fast that no one could see clearly.

 

The cold and distant phoenix eyes were filled with a terrifying pressure, and they stared at Prince Yi solemnly. He ignored the provocation in his words and asked with some cruelty:

 

“Where is the person?”

 

 

The moment Yun Jiangli saw the youth in the cold, dark room, the calmness on his face seemed to crack instantly and fall apart in a moment.

 

He didn’t care about the people behind him at all and just ran towards Yan Muning.

 

He looked at the little prince with his eyes wide open, it was as if he recognized him. His eyes lit up for a moment, and he raised his hand towards him with trembling hands, but he only had time to show a pale and broken smile, and his arm fell down powerlessly…

 

The moment the youth’s arms drooped limply, Yun Jiangli’s heart seemed to be torn apart.

 

He rushed to the cold, dirty bed in two steps and wanted to hug his little lover with shaking hands, but he was afraid to touch his unknown wounds.

 

“Xiao Qi… Xiao Qi, I’m here.” Yun Jiangli said hoarsely and tremblingly.

 

The little prince’s lips opened and closed weakly twice, and his round eyes, which had long lost their former spirit, slowly closed.

 

Yun Jiangli used all his strength to force himself to maintain his remaining sanity and did not rush out to kill the two culprits outside.

 

His youth had just silently called him “Ah Li”, and he understood.

 

Now Yun Jiangli only wanted to take him home, away from these worldly disturbances, away from these entanglements of power and desire.

 

Du Zhong, who followed Yun Jiangli in, saw the little prince’s wet collar at a glance and hurriedly reminded him, “Young Hall Master, His Highness’s clothes are wet, it’s too cold here, we need to take His Highness back to the palace as soon as possible!”

 

Yun Jiangli had roughly checked Yan Muning’s condition and was holding the youth’s wrist to feel his pulse first, but the marks of the binding on his wrist and the blood marks on his wrist hurt his eyes, so he had to force himself to concentrate on the fingertips of the pulse.

 

The youth’s pulse was very weak, but fortunately his life was not in danger, and the child in his belly was well protected by him…

 

Yun Jiangli stood up and quickly took off his hood. Du Zhong took a dagger and neatly cut the rope that bound the little prince’s legs.

 

Prince Cheng watched Yun Jiangli walk out of the dark room steadily. Yan Muning was held tightly in his arms, tightly wrapped in a hood, revealing only a small part of his pale face.

 

“Muning!”

 

Prince Cheng came up with a sword in hand and called anxiously.

 

“Your Highness, I need to take Xiao Qi back to the mansion immediately.”

 

As he spoke, Yun Jiangli coldly glanced at Prince Huai and Prince Yi’s faces.

 

Prince Cheng stepped aside and said through gritted teeth, “Go, I’ll leave Xiao Qi to you. I’ll take care of things here, and I won’t let Xiao Qi suffer in vain!”

 

Yun Jiangli said nothing more and ran away with Yan Muning in his arms.

 

 

The lights in Prince An’s mansion were bright, and the servants in the mansion were running back and forth, delivering hot water and medicine to Prince An’s bedroom in an orderly manner.

 

At this moment, a row of anxious guards stood outside the bedroom, all with gloomy faces.

 

Yun Jiangli did not allow anyone to enter the room. He took off Yan Muning’s clothes by himself and put him in the bathtub to wash him carefully.

 

Some herbs were put in the bathtub, and the smell of herbs filled the whole bedroom with the water temperature…

 

The little prince, who had changed into clean and soft undergarment, was lying quietly on the bed. If it weren’t for his pale face, he would have looked like he was asleep.

 

The charcoal fire in the bedroom was burning brightly. Yan Muning had just used a warm medicinal bath to wash his whole body, but his hands were still cold.

 

Yun Jiangli was holding the youth’s hand, carefully cleaning the wounds cut by the porcelain pieces. Perhaps the pain of the medicinal water soaking into the wounds stimulated Yan Muning, and his fingertips shrank, and he was briefly awake for a moment.

 

Yan Muning, who was still in a state of stress, struggled violently the moment he woke up.

 

Yun Jiangli rushed over and hugged the youth, preventing him from making any dangerous moves that would hurt himself, and gently soothed him: “Xiao Qi, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, it’s me, I’m here…”

 

Yan Muning blinked blankly, perhaps he didn’t see the person in front of him clearly, but because of this familiar and reassuring embrace and Yun Jiangli’s gentle voice and breath, he stopped struggling and fell into a deep sleep again.

 

That night, perhaps because he was frightened and had a sense of self-protection in his subconscious, the little prince woke up countless times and was comforted by Yun Jiangli countless times too.

 

Yun Jiangli had treated all the external injuries on the youth’s body—

 

There was a slap mark on his left cheek, blood bruises on his slender neck, marks on his wrists and ankles from being tied up, several deep cuts on his hands from broken porcelain pieces, and bruises on his back from being whipped by a horsewhip…

 

Even his chest and collarbone were bruised, but his abdomen was protected by the youth without a single scratch.

 

Yun Jiangli’s eyes were red with sadness, and his finger joints were crackling from being pinched. His youth was desperately protecting their child.

 

Even though he was safe now, but Yan Muning, who was in a coma, would always unconsciously turn to the side, hunch his back, and slightly curl up his legs, trying to protect his lower abdomen.

 

Yan Muning’s external injuries were not serious. Compared with what Yun Jiangli saw when he found him in the woods, they were not worth mentioning.

 

But Yun Jiangli deeply realized that the feeling of heartache was not just a hypocritical expression of the literati. At the moment, his heart was more than just a feeling of heartache. It would not be an exaggeration to say that his heart was broken into pieces over and over again.

 

“Young Hall Master, please take a rest. I will take care of His Highness.” Shiyi whispered to Yun Jiangli.

 

Yun Jiangli shook his head, his eyes unwilling to leave Yan Muning for a moment: “Go and check Lao Qi, is the medicine ready?”

 

Shiyi was about to persuade him again, but Ah Xiao, who was standing beside him, shook his head slightly, and the two of them retreated together.

 

“Don’t persuade him anymore, Young Hall Master has a very stubborn temper.” Ah Xiao explained to Shiyi.

 

Shiyi sighed: “Didn’t you say that His Highness is fine? I’ll just watch over him. Young Hall Master has been tormented all day today as well.”

 

As soon as he finished speaking, Du Zhong and Lao Qi came over with medicine bowls: “Nothing serious, just for now. Xiao Wangye’s pulse is very weak. I’m afraid it will take a long time to recover from this torment.”

 

“His Highness is still not fully awake, and his whole body is tense. If this tension were to relax, he would suffer more after suffering from the cold and fright today.”

 

Du Zhong continued: “The dark room is very cold, and Xiao Wangye is freezing in there with wet clothes. This is not a joke.”

 

 

Sure enough, before the second half of the night, Yan Muning struggled to wake up once.

 

When he woke up, he clung to the edge of the bed and vomited bitterly. He had not eaten for a whole day, and except for the cold-relieving medicine he had just swallowed, he could not vomit anything else. His eyes were filled with tears.

 

Yun Jiangli held the person in his arms, feeling extremely distressed.

 

The light porridge had been prepared long ago and was kept warm on the stove. After Yan Muning recovered, Yun Jiangli carefully held him on his lap and coaxed him to drink a few mouthfuls of porridge.

 

“Ah Li…”

 

The little prince, who had been somewhat sober after the torment, nestled in Yun Jiangli’s arms and called him softly.

 

“It’s me, I’m here.”

 

Yun Jiangli’s eyes were red without him noticing, and his lips gently caressed the youth’s messy hair.

 

The little prince was enveloped by the familiar breath and said coquettishly in a soft voice, “Ah Li, my hand hurts so much.”

 

“Xiao Qi, be good, I’ve applied the ointment for you, and it won’t hurt anymore tomorrow.”

 

Yun Jiangli coaxed him, his voice a little choked.

 

The person who was holding the soft sword and had a cold and murderous look on his face just now seemed not to be him. Now there was only a gentle voice, eyes, and deep love.

 

“Was I whipped by a horse whip? Will it leave scars ah?”

 

Yan Muning half-closed his eyes and murmured softly, “If, if scars are left, Ah Li will probably think I’m ugly…”

 

“I won’t leave any scars on Xiao Qi, alright? Besides, when have I ever thought you were ugly?”

 

“My hands hurt so much, I can’t play with the little sparrow tomorrow…”

 

“What’s so good about that fat bird? I’ll accompany you every day, feed you food and medicine, and read you stories, alright?”

 

“Don’t touch me!” The youth suddenly hesitated.

 

“Go away, wuwu… I’m sorry, child…”

 

Yan Muning’s voice became lower and lower, and his words became more and more incoherent. In the end, he just kept repeating those few vague sentences.

 

Yun Jiangli watched the youth in his arms close his eyes again, a tear fell from the corner of his eye, and he kept murmuring, “Child… Ah Li…”

 

Yun Jiangli listened to his mumbling, as if being stabbed into the heart by a knife. Finally, he couldn’t help but raise his head, blink his sore eyes hard, and a choked sigh sounded in the bedroom.

 

“Little ancestor, you are trying to kill me ah.”

 

Yan Muning fell asleep again, but after a moment he began to shiver and feel hot all over.

 

Yun Jiangli held the person who was getting more and more scalded in his arms, frowned, and told Du Zhong to prepare medicine and ordered Lao Qi to take out his acupuncture needles.

 

But the little prince, who was dizzy from the fever, couldn’t sleep well. His hands, full of wounds, were still desperately grabbing Yun Jiangli’s clothes and refused to let go. Yun Jiangli didn’t dare to struggle at all, for fear of hurting him again, so he could only coax him in a gentle voice: “Xiao Qi, be good, I won’t leave. I can’t give you acupuncture while holding you like this…”

 

A high fever was raging, burning Yan Muning’s eyes red, his cheeks unnaturally flushed, and his lips pale and bloodless.

 

He was so confused that he didn’t listen to Yun Jiangli’s explanation at all and just relied on instinct to refuse to get out of this person’s arms.

 

Whenever Yun Jiangli made the slightest move to put the person on the bed, the little prince started to cry and groan and curse. He tried several times but failed. Instead, he cried even harder, and his breathing became so rapid that he almost couldn’t breathe.

 

“Lao Qi, come here!”

 

Yun Jiangli had no choice but to control the youth in this position and not let him struggle. He untied the belt of his undergarment with one hand and let Lao Qi start the acupuncture.

 

With the child, there were too many forbidden medicines for this fever. He had to use acupuncture and moxibustion with the help of herbs to reduce the fever as soon as possible.

 

Throughout the night, almost no one in Prince An’s mansion slept.

 

Yun Jiangli fed the medicine to the little prince mouthful by mouthful, and soon the little prince vomited it out with convulsions.

 

Throughout the night, the medicine to protect the fetus and dispel the cold and reduce fever was fed again and again. The undergarments were soaked with sweat and changed several times. The charcoal fire in the bedroom was constantly burning, and hot water was continuously delivered…

 

Yun Jiangli, who had been holding the youth for several hours, finally noticed that the youth’s breathing had become more stable around morning.

 

He held the youth in one hand, and with the other hand he smoothed the youth’s hair, which was soaked with cold sweat. He lowered his head slightly and put his forehead against his to test the temperature.

 

It was still burning, but it had finally subsided a little.

 

Yun Jiangli gently kissed the youth’s forehead, and his palm covered the soft curve of his abdomen through his undergarment, feeling the life connected to his blood.

 

 

The little prince suffered from this illness repeatedly for many days.

 

Every time he just got a little better, and everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that he was about to recover, but the little prince would have a fever again in the blink of an eye.

 

Yun Jiangli stayed by the little prince’s side day and night, and even the old hall master came to check on him twice.

 

Yuchi Zhao came to check on him almost every day. Prince Cheng was very busy, but he would come every other day, even if he was in a hurry and could only take a look before leaving.

 

Everyone seemed to have agreed not to mention the matter of Prince Huai and Prince Yi.

 

Although the little prince had been ill, except for the first two days when he was always in a coma and unconscious, he felt a little weak in the following days, but fortunately he was no longer in a coma.

 

Not sure if it’s because he’s sick or because he was frightened this time, but Yan Muning became particularly clingy, especially to Yun Jiangli.

 

Yun Jiangli was the same, when taking medicine, feeding, washing, and changing clothes, it was all done by him. Except for the fact that it was inconvenient to give acupuncture while holding him, he didn’t allow others to help with the rest.

 

Yan Muning seemed to have taken root in Yun Jiangli’s body, and he was always acting coquettishly.

 

One was willing to pamper, the other was willing to cling.

 

They were madly throwing dog food around without paying attention to anyone around.

 

That afternoon, Yun Jiangli was lying on the warm couch with a person in his arms. Taking advantage of the good sunshine, he held a storybook and read a story to the person in his arms.

 

The little prince was lying in the big beauty’s arms, and his fingers were picking up a strand of his long hair hanging in front of his chest and braiding it into a small braid.

 

“My back itches.” Yan Muning said coquettishly.

 

Some of the shallow whip marks are scabbing over. Since yesterday, the little prince always felt that some of the scars were itchy and always wanted Yun Jiangli to help him rub them.

 

Yun Jiangli’s big hands gently rubbed his back: “Don’t push it, it will leave scars. Be obedient.”

 

The little prince puffed up his face and said nothing.

 

“You’re so thin, I don’t know how long it will take for you to recover.” Yun Jiangli stroked the youth’s raised shoulder blades with heartache.

 

After a bout of illness, the little prince lost a lot of weight, and the little flesh he had gained a few days ago fell back again. Yun Jiangli felt it was uncomfortable to hold him in his arms. But the little guy had a very poor appetite after he fell ill, and he would feel uncomfortable and vomit if he ate a few more bites, which made Yun Jiangli very worried.

 

“Are you scared?”

 

Yan Muning suddenly asked without any context.

 

Yun Jiangli was startled, and the little prince continued: “At first I was actually very calm, I wasn’t scared. But…”

 

“But then I thought, what if you can’t find me and I haven’t forgiven you yet. What should I do?”

 

“Then I became more and more scared. It was too cold there. It was so long, so long that I thought I might die…”

 

Yun Jiangli couldn’t bear to hear this word and kissed him without thinking.

 

He closed his eyes, kissed the little prince’s lips fiercely, and moved away slightly, choking and saying, “Don’t say it, Xiao Qi, don’t mention this word. Don’t, don’t stab me in the heart again.”

 

Yan Muning had never seen Yun Jiangli like this before.

 

Tears welled up in those beautiful eyes, and the usually calm person’s voice was trembling, as if he was desperately enduring something, and his adam apple was shaking rapidly.

 

The little prince’s eyes suddenly turned red. He raised his hands and gently held Yun Jiangli’s face with his hands still wrapped in clothes, and whispered the last words: “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m just afraid that I will never see you again.”

 

After that, he gently pressed the tip of his left thumb on Yun Jiangli’s trembling adam apple and took the initiative to raise his head and kiss him…

 

“I forgive you, Ah Li.”