SC Chapter47

The strong bitter smell of medicine diffused throughout the room.

Shen Guan’s body sinking listlessly into the bedding, while his long sparse eyelashes shading his dull, grayish eyes. It wasn’t until Xiao Ning held a spoonful of medicine to his lips that his long lashes slightly trembled, revealing a trace of life.

“The Prince Mansion is gone… then where is the Young Master…” Shen Guan’s voice was hoarse.

Xiao Ning helped him up into his embrace, fed him a spoonful of the medicinal soup, and said, “He’s dead, died in the Imperial Prison.”

The color drained completely from Shen Guan’s lips as a layer of mist condensed in his lifeless eyes. Xiao Ning couldn’t feed him the medicine anymore as Shen Guan’s teeth were clenched shut with blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Xiao Ning was startled and immediately threw down the medicine bowl, struck a palm against Shen Guan’s back, and pinched his jaw open with his fingers, forcing him to open his mouth. The blood made Shen Guan cough repeatedly.

Xiao Ning’s anger surged, making him feel slightly dizzy. The hand holding Shen Guan’s jaw didn’t dare loosen, and with a dark expression he demanded, “Are you trying to bite your tongue off?”

Shen Guan’s breathing grew weaker. Xiao Ning’s grip left bruised finger marks on his lean cheek.

Xiao Ning was so angry he laughed instead: “You killed him with your own hands. What do you have to be so distraught about? Didn’t you enter the Prince Mansion for this very day? Shen Guan!”

“Yes…” Shen Guan squeezed the blood-tinged, hoarse sound through his teeth.

Xiao Ning slowly released the fingers restraining his jaw, allowing Shen Guan to fall back weakly into his arms. After a long while, he said calmly, “Don’t die. Even in the afterlife, Xie Yunyi wouldn’t want to see you. Shen Guan, you don’t have the right to be with him.”

The words were heartbreaking. Shen Guan closed his eyes as tears streamed down his face and wet Xiao Ning’s collar.

“Do you want to know what happened during the years you’ve forgotten?” Xiao Ning used his cool fingertips to wipe away the dampness from the corners of Shen Guan’s eyes.

Shen Guan opened his eyes to look at him.

Xiao Ning expressionlessly poured another bowl of medicine: “Be obedient and take your medicine.”

As the bitterness filled his mouth, Shen Guan felt somewhat drowsy, but he stubbornly kept his eyes wide open, waiting for Xiao Ning to tell him. Xiao Ning cleaned up the medicine bowl, poured a cup of bitter tea, drank half of it himself, before placing the remaining half on the bedside.

“Close your eyes, and I will tell you.”

Shen Guan hesitated for a moment but ultimately closed his eyes obediently. A strong wave of drowsiness washed over him. Xiao Ning’s cool, steady voice drifted near and far, falling into his ear.

“In the thirteenth year of Yong’an, there was no more Prince Wujing Mansion. Lord Shen took Xie Yunyi’s life with a dagger in the Imperial Prison that same year…”

Shen Guan frowned in pain, his long lashes trembling as he tried to open his eyes, but Xiao Ning covered them with his hand.

“Don’t move…”

Shen Guan stopped struggling. A moment later, Xiao Ning felt a dampness in his palm.

“Prince Wujing Mansion fell, Xie Yunyi also died, and there was no longer Shen Yunjie in the world, only the high and mighty Young Division Master Shen Guan of the Tianyi Division. Enduring hardship with resolve and virtue, his future was limitless… but he chose not to live a good life, instead doing something foolish. Guess what he did?”

Shen Guan was in a daze, the voice by his ear growing further and further away. He struggled to stay awake, but the powerful medicine was overwhelming. He heard a sigh mixed in Xiao Ning’s voice, the frosty coldness slowly melting.

“He was truly foolish; he even gave birth to a child for Xie Yunyi.”

“How do you think he managed it in a place like the Tianyi Division? How did he hide it from those people? How many trusted people could he have around him? Who could care for him? He kept everything hidden, walked on eggshells every day, and perhaps only found a moment of peace late at night.”

Xiao Ning released the hand covering Shen Guan’s eyes, sighing as he leaned down to kiss away the tears at the corners of his eyes, and whispered softly, “He never told anyone a single word about the suffering he endured. To this day, I don’t know how he managed to safely give birth to that child…”

As Shen Guan heard the last word, he completely fell into a deep sleep. Xiao Ning stared blankly at him for a long time, then placed a gentle touch on his brow.

The second flare-up of the Ghost Face Flower poison still occurred at night. This time, Xiao Ning was no longer helpless, he calmly holding the person in his arms. Shen Guan covered his forehead and moaned against his shoulder, continuously calling out “Young Master”.

“I am here.” Xiao Ning tightly clasped Shen Guan’s slender waist, letting him incoherently tear open his own clothing.

Shen Guan was muddled, his hands trembling. He couldn’t manage to undo the sash around Xiao Ning’s waist at all, and his eyes turning red with urgency. Xiao Ning caught his wrist, kissed it, and neatly pulled off his own waist sash to tie Shen Guan’s hands to the headboard.

Shen Guan struggled wildly. The addiction to the Ghost Face Flower nearly took his life. He began to cry and twist his waist desperately, incoherently begging Xiao Ning to hold him. Xiao Ning remained silent while watching with cold eyes. People in withdrawal were mostly like this, disgraced and out of control. Shen Guan exhausted all his harsh words, then started to soften, crying and begging for intimacy like a rutting small animal.

Xiao Ning waited for the better part of an hour, watching Shen Guan cry his eyes red, shout his voice hoarse, and weakly curl up in the corner of the bed, before fiercely pulling him into his arms, pressing him underneath, and thoroughly ravishing him. Shen Guan could only see the swaying ceiling beams until something poured into his body in successive waves, filling his lower abdomen, before it finally ended.

Shen Guan closed his eyes, his mind dull as he thought: Did he give birth to a child for his young master? What was that child’s name?

T/N: I accidentally posted ch50 yesterday🥲what a mess, I’ve already retrieved it, it will be up again later. Apologies~