With each rainfall at summer’s end, the weather cooled a bit more.
In just two or three days, the heat accumulated over several months was washed away by heavy rain.
After waking up, Wen Qingci saw a stack of new clothes placed at the foot of his bed at some unknown time.
He paused for a moment before realizing these were prepared for him by Xie Bufeng.
Unlike the front courtyard, the rear courtyard of the Imperial Medical Bureau was deliberately maintained in its original state, unchanged.
Even after ascending to the throne, Xie Bufeng, who regularly resided here, still had no eunuchs or palace maids serving him, just like before.
Everything here was prepared by his own hands.
In the corner of the moon-white brocade, a small magnolia was embroidered with silver thread, barely noticeable unless closely examined.
This garment was clearly a tribute item from a prefecture, priceless in value.
Wen Qingci’s hand slowly brushed over the clothes, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat conflicted.
The clothes he had worn the past few days were all brought from Lianhe, all summer attire.
After the recent rains, those clothes had become somewhat thin.
Although his old clothes were still well-preserved in the Imperial Medical Bureau, if the “physician from Songxiu Prefecture” was discovered wearing “Imperial Physician Wen’s” clothes, it would certainly arouse suspicion.
While Wen Qingci was conflicted, a cold breeze blew in through the window gap.
Feeling this chill, Wen Qingci’s left arm instantly began to ache.
Forget it, forget it, survival comes first.
Feeling the cold, Wen Qingci stopped overthinking and directly put on the clothes.
In the Wei Dynasty, wide robes with large sleeves were popular, but the waist was not loose.
The slightly heavy brocade suppressed the ethereal air about Wen Qingci, instead adding a touch of noble elegance.
Combined with the bright red cinnabar mark on his forehead, he now resembled someone who had stepped out of a shrine—noble and aloof.
Though the heavy rain had stopped, a light drizzle continued.
Wen Qingci held a paper umbrella as he slowly walked toward the front courtyard.
Just as he reached the small courtyard where he usually verified medicines, Wen Qingci’s peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a small white figure flashing through the grass in a corner of the yard.
“…What’s this?”
The physician delivering medicine hadn’t arrived yet. Wen Qingci hesitated for a moment, then walked over with his umbrella.
With his movement, the white figure suddenly froze in place, motionless.
Cautious red eyes peered at him through gaps in the vegetation.
Only then did Wen Qingci finally see clearly… the white figure hiding in the grass was actually the rabbit he had left behind long ago.
Memories of his early days at the Imperial Medical Bureau were instantly awakened by this white rabbit.
—Just as hypnosis gradually loses effect.
It doesn’t suddenly stop working overnight, but instead slowly erodes one’s memories over about a month.
When Wen Qingci first arrived at the Imperial Medical Bureau, he hadn’t completely lost his memory.
Always mindful of his research, he had kept several rabbits here, using that time to conduct experiments.
This rabbit was the only “survivor” from back then.
On the day of the palace coup, the Imperial Medical Bureau was hit first. Wen Qingci had thought this rabbit had died that day, or had run away without a trace.
He never expected to see it again today.
Seeing that the rain had lessened, Wen Qingci, wearing his veiled hat, carefully closed his umbrella and set it aside.
Then he slowly crouched down, reaching out to pick up the little creature hiding behind the grass and held it in his arms.
Raindrops hanging on the vegetation flowed into his sleeves.
Wen Qingci’s arm involuntarily trembled slightly.
“How is it you?” Wen Qingci’s left hand still couldn’t exert much strength, so he used his right hand to hold the rabbit. Walking back to the house, he placed it on a stone table nearby and said, “Why aren’t you staying in your own nest instead of running around everywhere?” As he spoke, he gently stroked its head with his finger.
The rabbit seemed to understand Wen Qingci’s words, lightly nuzzling against his palm.
No one knew how long this rabbit had been running around outside; its white fur was somewhat damp and also carried traces of grass stains.
Wen Qingci took out a silk handkerchief and carefully dried it.
Then he picked up the rabbit and held it in his arms again: “There we go, I’ll take you back now.”
Just as Wen Qingci was about to stand, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him. He instinctively turned to look and saw Xie Bufeng, dressed entirely in black, walking into the small courtyard behind him, carrying a bamboo basket in his hand.
…If he wasn’t mistaken, that basket seemed to contain dried vegetables and fruits?
A somewhat absurd thought appeared in Wen Qingci’s mind.
Could it be that all this time, it was Xie Bufeng himself who had been taking care of this rabbit?
“Your Majesty, are you here to… feed this rabbit?”
Xie Bufeng placed the bamboo basket on the stone table.
He reached out to gently stroke the rabbit in Wen Qingci’s arms and said calmly: “During this time, I was the only one feeding it.”
Xie Bufeng’s tone was very calm, but Wen Qingci somehow detected a hint of restrained sadness in his voice.
It was as if… Xie Bufeng, the ruler of a nation, had been living with only this rabbit for companionship throughout the past year.
Reason told him this couldn’t be true.
Yet Wen Qingci’s heart still trembled slightly at Xie Bufeng’s words.
After stroking it a couple of times, Xie Bufeng took out some dried fruit from the bamboo basket and placed it near the rabbit’s mouth.
The white rabbit’s pale pink nose moved forward and sniffed a couple of times.
Then it began to nibble on what Xie Bufeng held in his hand.
“The rain hasn’t stopped,” Xie Bufeng said while feeding the rabbit, turning slightly with furrowed brows. He said to Wen Qingci, “Why isn’t my beloved subject using an umbrella? Be careful not to catch a cold.”
After speaking, Xie Bufeng placed the dried fruit on the table, unfastened his own cloak, and gently draped it over Wen Qingci’s shoulders.
“Beloved subject.”
Whenever Wen Qingci heard this term now, his scalp tingled.
He immediately averted his gaze, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart.
Only after several seconds did he slowly lower his head to look at the cloak on him.
The same brocade, the same subtle magnolia embroidery.
Even on a rainy day, its soft glow couldn’t be concealed.
Only when the ambergris scent enveloped him did Wen Qingci realize that the garment Xie Bufeng was wearing seemed to match his own…
The recently removed cloak still retained some warmth.
Xie Bufeng’s build was a size larger than Wen Qingci’s.
The cloak was similarly oversized.
Wen Qingci’s body was completely hidden under the dark garment, and the chill instantly vanished.
In that moment, he was surrounded by a familiar scent.
Wen Qingci instinctively placed his hand on the collar, intending to remove the cloak and return it to Xie Bufeng.
“Don’t move,” Xie Bufeng took control, gently pressing down on Wen Qingci’s right hand.
Now, only half an arm’s length separated the two.
The damp, clear breeze lifted the gauze of Wen Qingci’s veiled hat, lightly brushing past Xie Bufeng’s cheek.
A jade-white chin was faintly visible beneath the gauze veil.
Wen Qingci’s right hand, pressed by Xie Bufeng, rested against his own collarbone.
…He couldn’t help but have the illusion that Xie Bufeng was currently using his own hand to caress his vulnerable neck.
Wen Qingci’s body instantly froze, not daring to move.
Seeing this, Xie Bufeng held Wen Qingci’s wrist and lowered his right hand.
The ties of the straight-collared cloak were at the chest.
Long, powerful fingers inadvertently brushed across that area.
Xie Bufeng’s touch was extremely light, but it was precisely this lightness that transformed his movement into a feather, floating across the tip of Wen Qingci’s heart.
With just a few deft movements, Xie Bufeng secured the cloak.
“Done.”
The deep voice came from beside his ear.
Before Wen Qingci could breathe a sigh of relief, Xie Bufeng’s hand suddenly passed through the gauze veil, carefully touching Wen Qingci’s cheek.
At the same time, he caressed with his fingertips in a manner both incredibly intimate and reluctant to part.
Wen Qingci instantly tensed up: “Your Majesty, this is the front courtyard.” He reminded.
“I know.” Xie Bufeng slowly narrowed his eyes, looking at the person before him.
His voice had somehow become deep and hoarse, sounding extremely dangerous.
Wen Qingci instinctively wanted to avoid him, but after stepping back half a pace, he realized that Xie Bufeng’s other hand had already been waiting there—
His shoulder and back instantly pressed against Xie Bufeng’s palm, and his entire person at that moment fell into the other’s embrace.
The front courtyard of the Imperial Medical Bureau was too small; someone could pass by at any moment.
The rain had not yet stopped.
For a moment, Wen Qingci couldn’t distinguish whether what he heard was the patter of raindrops or the sound of someone approaching from afar.
His nerves instantly tensed.
Xie Bufeng still didn’t let go.
Under extreme tension, Wen Qingci gritted his teeth and lowered his voice, saying sternly: “…Let me go quickly, Xie Bufeng!”
The next second, Wen Qingci realized that he had just directly called His Imperial Majesty by his given name.
!!!
Even during their good relationship years ago, he had always called him “Your Highness.”
Wen Qingci instantly stopped struggling and looked up to see Xie Bufeng’s reaction.
Completely contrary to his expectations, Xie Bufeng’s face showed not a trace of anger, but rather… a hint of delighted surprise, his lips slightly curving upward.
As if he very much enjoyed hearing his name called directly.
Through the veiled hat, everything seemed somewhat indistinct.
Wen Qingci thought he might have seen wrong and instinctively wanted to observe more carefully, but at that moment, Xie Bufeng slowly bent down, embracing Wen Qingci and once again pressing his lips near his ear.
Xie Bufeng gradually tightened his arms.
Their bodies pressed tightly together.
Through the not-so-heavy clothing, Wen Qingci clearly felt Xie Bufeng’s heartbeat.
—Somewhat heavy, somewhat fast.
Xie Bufeng whispered in Wen Qingci’s ear: “This rabbit has gone more than a year without seeing its master.”
“It even thought its master had abandoned it…”
Wen Qingci’s breath caught.
…Was Xie Bufeng truly only talking about this rabbit?
“Or perhaps it thought its master didn’t want it anymore, leaving it all alone in Taishu Palace. Tell me, beloved subject, isn’t this rabbit… very pitiful?”
Xie Bufeng’s pace was extremely slow, extremely gentle.
Though it was his usual flat tone, falling on Wen Qingci’s ears, it became extremely dangerous.
“Beloved subject, why didn’t its master kill it early for experiments as previously planned? Why spare its life, showing such gentleness? Such indulgence?”
Wen Qingci was completely different from Xie Bufeng.
Throughout his past twenty-some years, he had studied medicine, studied the human “shell,” but never had time to study the human heart.
Yet Xie Bufeng, born with the ability to hear malice, was especially sensitive to this.
Indulgence.
…He had long been indulging Xie Bufeng.
Gentleness was a form of indulgence, and that night in Chang Yuan was even more so.
The left hand that had just been touched by Xie Bufeng, as well as the skin on his chest, suddenly felt scorching hot.
Perhaps realizing he shouldn’t press too hard,
