Ji Lian found the medical shop, passed on the password, and immediately rushed back to the palace after successfully getting the medicine.
He was still a little worried when he entered the palace gate carrying the medicinal materials. It wasn’t until he returned to the main courtyard and saw Cui Xi and the medical officer leaving that he breathed a sigh of relief. He hid Prince Yong’an’s share of medicinal ingredients in the cabinet before going to decoct the medicine for Ye Yunting according to the prescription.
Ye Yunting hadn’t woken up yet. In order to induce sweating, he was covered with two thick brocade quilts. The brocade quilts covered him up to his chin, wrapping his whole body tightly, leaving only his face exposed. His face was still burning red, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and nose, and the matted hair on his temples was soaked with sweat, strands sticking to his cheeks.
His eyes were closed, and his thick black eyelashes drooped downward, trembling slightly like butterfly wings. Even the eyes under his thin eyelids were trembling uneasily.
Ye Yunting dreamed of Li Fengqi.
In the unfamiliar main room, Li Fengqi, whose muscles and meridians were completely destroyed, was lying quietly on the bed. Most of the quilt had slipped to the floor. His exposed chest and ribs were clearly defined, rising and falling very weakly. He looked even weaker and more wretched than he had been when Ye Yunting first saw him.
Ye Yunting took a step forward and subconsciously reached out his hand to cover him with the fallen quilt. However, his hand went straight through the quilt and grabbed nothing.
He froze, staring at his palm in a daze.
There was a creaking sound from the door behind him. Ye Yunting turned around and saw a young man walking in with two chamberlains.
The young man was wearing a silver-white round-collared robe, a white jade crown with ascending clouds on his head, boots facing the clouds, and a transparent dragon pendant hanging around his waist. Bright yellow tassels hung down and swayed slightly with his movements.
The man seemed unable to see him, and walked straight to the bed. He looked at Li Fengqi with a complex gaze for a long time, and then said: “Yong’an-wang1, zhèn2 is here to see you.”
When Ye Yunting heard him calling himself, he was shocked to realize that this young man turned out to be Emperor Li Zong.
Li Fengqi, who was on the bed, slowly opened his eyes. He looked very weak, and even his eyes were no longer sharp. When he saw Li Zong, his pupils shrank slightly and he said hoarsely: “What are you doing here again?”
The chamberlain brought a chair and placed it behind Li Zong. Li Zong sat down and looked at Li Fengqi with a smile. “I am here to announce the good news to Yong’an-wang.” Without waiting for Li Fengqi to respond, he continued with a cheerful expression: “There was a mutiny in Northern Xinjiang half a month ago. Deputy Governor Zhu Wen led 50,000 Xuanjia troops with the intention of rebelling. Fortunately, I planned ahead and had countermeasures in advance. The rebellion was quelled the day before yesterday. Zhu Wen, the leader of the rebel army, was killed on the spot. The 50,000 Xuanjia troops refused to surrender, so they had also been killed as well.
“What a shame that you couldn’t see that scene with your own eyes. Ten large pits couldn’t be filled with the corpses of fifty thousand rebels. In the end, they had to be burned completely.” He narrowed his eyes and seemed to be sighing. “You see, even without you, I can do this well. From now on, there will be no Xuanjia Army in Beizhao. Only my Shence Army!”
“Foolish.” Li Fengqi’s eyes were burning with fire, but the corner of his mouth was pulled back in a mocking curve. “The 50,000-strong Xuanjia Army is the elite of Northern Xinjiang. Without them, if Xihuang invades, who will fight back against the enemy? What are you doing? You are destroying yourself.”
“You are still as self-righteous as ever.” The smile on Li Zong’s face faltered, and he stared at him with a sinister expression. “Then just wait and see. Without you, without the Xuanjia Army, I will still be able to sit firmly on this dragon throne.”
Appearing to be extremely angry, he threw up his sleeves and walked out furiously.
Li Fengqi, who was on the bed, stared at his back with a clenched jaw, and suddenly vomited out a mouthful of blood.
He struggled to turned his body half to the side, veins bulging on his forehead. Rivulets of blood spilled from between his clenched lips and teeth, dripping on the bed and the ground. The long hair behind him fell haphazardly, hiding his red eyes.
Ye Yunting was frightened by his appearance, and even though he knew he was in a dream, his heart seized up.
While he was anxious, another person walked in.
The aura around this man was very cold, as though he was carrying ice and snow, and even his voice was chilly. “Wangye, will you consider my proposal?”
He took out a thumb-length white jade vial from his sleeve and placed it in front of Li Fengqi. “If Wangye agrees, this antidote will be yours.”
Antidote?
Ye Yunting’s heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly woke up from his dream and sat up.
Ji Lian, who had just given him medicine, was so startled by the movement that his eyes widened. Then he rejoiced and reached out to test the temperature of his forehead. “Master, are you finally awake?!”
He said in a tearful tone, “You’ve been sleeping for a whole day and a night. I almost thought you wouldn’t make it through.”
After saying that and feeling unlucky, he hastily smacked himself in the mouth and clasped his hands together, bowing in all directions. “I was just talking nonsense. I didn’t mean anything, I didn’t mean anything.”
Ye Yunting had just woken up. His head was still a little groggy, and his body felt clammy and heavy. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his mind still on the plan. “It is done?”
“It’s done.” Ji Lian sniffed. “Nothing went wrong.”
Only then did Ye Yunting feel relieved, but as he glanced around, looking at the familiar furnishings, and recalling that extraordinarily-real dream, his heart began to beat like a drum.
He pushed aside the heavy brocade quilts, slowly put on his shoes and stood up to go into the inner room.
Ji Lian held him down and said urgently, “Master, you just woke up, you shouldn’t let yourself relapse3.”
Ye Yunting’s whole body was sore and weak, and he couldn’t move for a while when held down. He could only negotiate with him calmly, “I have some urgent matters to see Wangye with.”
What happened in the dream seemed too real. He had only seen the emperor from a distance a few times, but in the dream, he could see his appearance clearly.
And the person who came later was clearly the Taifu4, Han Chan.
Han Chan’s temperament was so distinctive that although Ye Yunting had actually only seen his back from a distance, his cold and earthly aura made him instantly certain of the other person’s identity.
The Northern Border Rebellion, Zhu Wen’s death, and the killing of 50,000 Xuanjia troops… and the bottle of antidote that Han Chan took out in the end.
Except for the antidote, every piece in front of him matched up with Ye Yunting’s memories of his previous life.
In his previous life, as Ji Lian had narrated in front of his grave, after the incidents that happened to Prince Yong’an, his confidants learned of the events and planned to return to the capital and fight to save him. However, the emperor seemed to have been prepared and sent a hundred thousand Shence troops to ambush and intercept them halfway. Zhu Wen was killed, and all the Xuanjia troops were slaughtered.
Later, Li Fengqi rose again and led the reconstructed and rebuilt Xuanjia Army. All the original elite members of the Xuanjia Army had been killed long ago.
The dream and his previous life matched up perfectly. Ye Yunting’s chest was roaring and his temples were beating.
So was what he saw a dream, or was it something that really happened in his previous life?
He wanted to make sure.
Ye Yunting pushed Ji Lian away and staggered into the room to look for Li Fengqi.
Li Fengqi opened his eyes when he heard footsteps, and saw Ye Yunting staggering towards him. He put his hands on the bed and looked at him determinedly. “Is the person who poisoned you Han Chan?”
Li Fengyan’s eyes flashed with surprise, and then disappeared quickly. He sized up Ye Yunting, who still looked very ill, and his expression became confused. “Why do you ask that?”
Although he himself had always guessed, how could Ye Yunting know?
Ye Yunting was dizzy and his forehead was covered with cold sweat. He couldn’t support himself anymore and fell down, almost folding over Li Fengqi. He gasped for breath and said: “The emperor may take action against the Xuanjia Army. If Wangye has a plan, you should send a message to Northern Xinjiang as soon as possible and tell the deputy governor not to act rashly.”
Fifty thousand Xuanjia troops, that was the best among the best. They were not only Li Fengqi’s stronghold, but also the backbone of Northern Xinjiang.
If what happened in the dream was true, then Ye Yunting must find a way to prevent the past from happening again.
“I know.” Li Fengqi lowered his eyes and looked at him. “I have asked my close associates to send the message, but nowadays, the gates of postal stations are tightly guarded, so it is difficult to send the message out.”
“You have to do it as soon as possible.” Ye Yunting grabbed Li Fengqi’s wrist tightly and said urgently, “Otherwise, I’m afraid it will be too late.”
Since Li Fengqi had expected it, he must have ordered someone to send a message to Northern Xinjiang in his previous life. However, he didn’t know if the letter went undelivered or if something went wrong, since Deputy Governor Zhu Wen still rallied troops.
Ye Yunting’s chest was heaving violently, his mouth and nose exhaling hot breath. His whole body was sore and weak. The dizzy feeling made him unable to focus his eyes. He half-closed his eyes and lay on Li Fengqi’s chest, repeating weakly, “As soon as possible.”
His hot cheek pressed against Li Fengqi’s chest. Li Fengqi had no time to think about the reason for his sudden insistence and quickly called for Ji Lian to come in.
Ji Lian arrived and saw that Ye Yunting’s face was flushed, becoming feverish again.
He wanted to pick him up hurriedly and take him outside, but Li Fengqi stopped him. “Let him sleep here. He is still sick, and the luohan bed is too small for him to rest.”
The door outside had to be opened and closed all the time, so it was inevitable for cold wind to come in. In comparison, this room was indeed more suitable for recuperation. Hearing this, Ji Lian carried the unconscious Ye Yunting to the other side without hesitation and put him down. He also brought a new quilt to cover him, and then went to get medicine to give him.
Li Fengqi looked to his side; he could only see half of the young man’s fragile face. His long eyebrows were drawn, and his eyelashes fluttered restlessly, as if he was struggling to wake up.
He was obviously very ill, but the first thing he did when he woke up was to remind him to send a message to the northern border.
For a moment, Li Fengqi’s heart felt sore and indescribable. After a long while, he said to Ji Lian who had finished giving the medicine, “After dark, prepare a tub of hot water for me, and add a pack of the medicinal herbs you took earlier.”
Ye Yunting had a high fever yesterday, Ji Lian had no time to look after him, and Li Fengqi was not in a hurry to detoxify the poison.
But Ye Yunting’s words just now reminded him that the crisis in the northern border had not yet been resolved, and he must hurry up.
*
It was late at night.
The room was filled with a strong medicinal smell. The pungent smell of herbs mixed with the warm steam made breathing difficult.
Ye Yunting wrinkled his face and opened his eyes in confusion to look for the source of this pungent medicinal smell. Then, he saw Li Fengqi soaking in the bathtub.
Li Fengqi’s upper body was naked, and he was soaked neck-down in brown liquid. His eyes were tightly closed, his thick black eyebrows knitted together. His hands resting on the edge of the tub were clasping the bathtub’s wall hard. The veins on his arms that were steamed red by the water vapor were bulging, as though he was suffering from great pain.
===Translator’s Note===
Well, well, well.
- 王: literally “king”, but since these are subordinate to the emperor in the setting, most translations (this one included) tend to translate it to “Prince” to be more fitting. (Every single mention of “prince” so far had been “Wang”. I thought I could keep up translating 王, but at this point it’s getting unwieldy, esp. since this translation retains “Wangfei” rather than “princess”. From now on, direct address of “Wang” will be “Wang”, while narration will probably use “prince” instead. ….I’ll go and edit the earlier chapters once I have the time.) ↩︎
- 朕: “I” pronoun used by emperor ↩︎
- My best approximation of “见风” (“see the wind”) in this context, which I think could figuratively refer to suffering a setback, but I’m not sure, my google-skills are failing me here. ↩︎
- 太傅: serves as the emperor’s teacher and auxiliary minister (i.e, they can manage the country on their behalf when the emperor is young or absent), in charge of formulation and promulgation of etiquette and law ↩︎
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I knew he was sus!! Oh, and thank the evil Emperor for his big mouth.
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