Seeing that he had already understood, Li Fengqi asked him to get a piece of letter paper, and wrote the words “around” and “because”. After writing, he added a private seal, so that the contents of the letter would still be incomprehensible even if it got intercepted halfway.
Ye Yunting watched him roll up the letter paper methodically and enclose it in a special tube. He finally couldn’t hold back the doubts in his heart. “Wangye just told me the cipher like this; aren’t you afraid that I’ll leak it out?”
“Don’t doubt the people you employ, and don’t employ the people that you doubt.” Li Fengqi handed him the sealed letter, his face full of certainty. “Besides, after spending these past few days together, I now know that the Young Master is a smart person.”
Ye Yunting was not stupid. From the moment he stepped into the palace, he had clearly known that their fates were tied together.
Besides… after spending the past few days together, Li Fengqi could tell that Young Master Ye was truly a man with insight.
His temperament was gentle, but didn’t let anyone manipulate him; he was smart and capable, but not very calculating. If he hadn’t been forced to this point, he would’ve been more suited to the academy, to hold books and study them carefully, like the spring breeze in March, warm and bright.
Although it was somewhat inappropriate to say so, Li Fengqi felt that he was really fortunate to have met Ye Yunting now.
If it had been anyone else at this time, his plan would not have gone so smoothly.
Li Fengqi lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, patted the place beside him, and motioned to Ye Yunting to sit down and talk.
Ye Yunting complied and sat down on his side, and the two of them unconsciously leaned very close toward each other. One was half-lying down with his back on a soft pillow, and the other was sitting sideways on the edge of the bed. There was only less than two fists-length of distance between them. Even the bitter medicinal fragrance of each other’s bodies blended into one.
But Ye Yunting had gotten accustomed to taking care of him in the past few days, and didn’t feel that they were being overly-intimate. He even leaned over slightly and looked down at Li Fengqi. “Does Wangye still have anything else to say to me?”
Li Fengqi huffed softly from his nose. He considered his words before saying solemnly, “Getting the letter delivered now will solve the crisis in Northern Xinjiang. As long as nothing happens in Northern Xinjiang, the Yong’an Palace will not fall. “
His upturned phoenix eyes stared deeply at Ye Yunting. “Do you understand what I mean?”
The Yong’an Palace–or rather, he–relied on the Northern Xinjiang Governor’s Office and hundreds of thousands of border soldiers. As long as he still held the military power in his hands, even with this temporary trap he fell into, it would only be a matter of time before he got back out of trouble.
Ye Yunting naturally did not fail to understand. He nodded gently. “I understand.”
Seeing his clear comprehension, Li Fengqi’s lips curled up and he continued: “Li Zong has already broken with me. After I suppress the poison in my body, there will be no shortage of overt and covert fights between me and him. And even if you’re just my Wangfei in name, you will inevitably be involved.”
Li Zong was the emperor, but he was the emperor whom Li Fengqi had single-handedly elevated. He was still young, his thinking and methods were too immature, and his foundation in the court was not deep enough. He was sitting firmly on the dragon throne only because Li Fengqi had ruthlessly eradicated dissidents and intimidated people’s hearts for him over the years.
Although Li Fengqi was now a fallen tiger, this was all because his poisoning had him bed-ridden and unable to move. The officials following him received the message from Wu Geng and did not dare to act rashly. Other officials who were not firm in their stance and feared that he was not long for this world opted to sit back and watch the situation develop.
Once people realized that he was not dying for the time being, and that all the military power in Northern Xinjiang was still in his hands, the situation would be reversed immediately.
And when that day came, Ye Yunting, who was personally named Yong’an Wangfei by Li Zong and given to him in marriage, would inevitably be caught in the middle and become a target.
Li Zong would hate Ye Yunting for actually “curing” his “disease” and regard him as a thorn in his side; meanwhile, Li Fengqi’s faction of officials would be suspicious that Ye Yunting was Li Zong’s spy.
“You sent me charcoal in the snow1 to aid me. I wouldn’t want to involve you in this court dispute. But after all, you are the Yong’an Wangfei that Li Zong personally chose. Now that you have entered this palace, it is no longer possible for you to return to the Duke’s household.” Li Fengqi raised his eyes to face him. His eyes were deep, but from the depths of his eyes shone some sincerity. “Besides, even if I let you go back, Ye Zhili will not protect you.”
He felt grateful to Ye Yunting for his help and was sincerely making preparations for him.
At this time of crisis, only the Yong’an Palace, only he, could protect Ye Yunting.
“So I have to temporarily oblige you to stay in this palace, to be my Wangfei.” Li Fengqi reached out his hand towards him. “Young Master, will you believe in me?”
The palm reaching out in front of him was long and slender, with a complexion as fair as that of a pampered prince or aristocrat, but the palms of his palms were covered with calluses. The nails were trimmed very short and the knuckles were slightly thick, but they were not ugly to look at. On the contrary, they exuded a sense of composure and calm strength.
Ye Yunting lowered his eyes for a moment, then slowly put his hand up and held it. “I believe in Wangye.”
In his previous life, he had never done anything on his own initiative. He just accidentally drank a bowl of poisoned soup and died. At that time, Li Fengqi still managed to remember his promise to him, and several years after his death, he still fulfilled his promise.
Now the two of them could be considered as sharing weal and woe, and he believed that Li Fengqi would not go back on his word.
Their hands briefly interlocked before Ye Yunting quickly withdrew his hand. Li Fengqi twirled his fingers and promised: “When the dust settles, I will give you a good home.”
…
In the afternoon, another person from the Duke of Qi’s residence arrived.
This time, it was not Second Master Ye who came in person, but his personal servant. There was a strong hunting falcon on the boy’s arm, and behind him were two servants, working together to carry a cage of gray rabbits.
“This is the falcon our young master specially sent to Wangfei to relieve his boredom. You should be careful.”
The boy wanted to send it in personally, but the guards refused to let them in, so his tone was not very polite. “These rabbits are wild rabbits bought from hunters in the mountains, and they also need to be fed carefully. You need to give one every two days. “
He rambled on for a while, and when he saw the faces of the two guards getting increasingly unpleasant, he snorted and took out a booklet. “This booklet records the falcon’s daily feeding method. You must pass it on to Wangfei. “
The guards didn’t want to provoke a fight with him, so they could only pinch their noses and take it.
The servant was used to being Ye Wang’s domineering behavior, and couldn’t bear to see the chaotic rules of the palace. After handing the falcon to the guards, he rolled his eyes and walked away.
The two guards held back their anger, but still had to send the hunting falcon to Ye Yunting. Otherwise, they were afraid that Ye Wang wouldn’t let them get away with it if he found out.
Ye Yunting didn’t expect Ye Wang to act so quickly. He sent the falcon after only half a day. When he saw the gray falcon on the guard’s arm, he couldn’t hide the surprise on his face.
The hunting falcon had been brought often to his yard by Ye Wang to show off, so it naturally knew him. After Ye Yunting wrapped the leather sheath on his arm, the falcon flapped its wings and landed on Ye Yunting’s arm.
Ye Yunting felt the heavy weight on his arm, and then a fluffy bird’s head nuzzled him.
He obediently stroked the falcon’s feathers, signaled Ji Lian to put the cage of rabbits in place, then took the falcon into the house.
Although Li Fengqi had never raised a hunting falcon, he did know a little about how to domesticate it. After the two of them spent two days getting familiar with the falcon, they released it on the evening of the third day.
For the past two days, the falcon has been circling in the courtyard, occasionally flying out of the palace. The guards were no longer surprised when they saw this.
Ye Yunting stood by the window, his eyes following the falcon as it flew higher and farther away, then let out a long breath. It wasn’t until the falcon was out of sight that he closed the window and whispered, “I hope the letter gets delivered safely.”
Li Fengqi was picking medicinal herbs at this time. When he heard this, he raised his head and said comfortingly, “The falcon is smart and often travels to Weizhou. You don’t have to worry too much. If the letter arrives, Zhu Wen will find a way to reply to us as soon as possible.”
He had just finished selecting medicinal herbs in his hand when he said that.
This medicinal herbs were bought by Ji Lian when he left the house the day before yesterday. In order to cover his tracks, the medicine they needed were mixed together. After bringing them back, Li Fengqi would then pick out the parts meant for Ye Yunting to use to regulate his body, and the other parts meant for Li Fengqi to suppress the poison.
Tonight would be Li Fengqi’s third medicinal bath.
During the second medicinal bath, he had regained some sensation in his upper body. This time, Li Fengqi adjusted the dosage of the medicine. As long as nothing unexpected happened, his upper body should be able to return to normal.
He wrapped the two medicinal materials and handed them to Ye Yunting. “I’ll be troubling Young Master to please watch over me tonight.”
In order to suppress the toxicity as quickly as possible, after two attempts, he took the risk of increasing the dosage of the drug this time, which would inevitably increase the pain and danger.
Ye Yunting thought about his instructions and frowned. “Isn’t it too risky?”
Li Fengqi shook his head. “Counting the days, it’s almost time for Mother to come back from Rongyang. When Li Zong receives the news, he will definitely take action. I must suppress the poison as soon as possible.”
Seeing his firm expression, Ye Yunting knew that he could not persuade him, so he could only nod in agreement.
Late into the night, Ji Lian took advantage of the darkness to quietly bring over warm water from the kitchen.
He was very strong and could walk lightly and quickly even while carrying two large buckets of hot water. After making two trips walking back and forth in the dark, the half-height bathtub was filled with water.
Ye Yunting put the medicinal herbs into hot water. After the herbs were soaked through, he tested the water temperature and said, “It’s ready.”
Hearing this, Li Fengqi took off his clothes, leaving only a pair of thin inner pants, and nodded slightly to him. “Thank you.”
Ye Yunting and Ji Lian worked together to pick him up and put him into the bathtub.
The water temperature was still very high, and Li Fengqi had already regained sensation in his upper body. His face twitched after entering the water, and he gritted his teeth to endure the initial burning sensation.
Ye Yunting waited for him to sit down, then ordered Ji Lian to keep watch outside. He moved a stool, sat down by the bathtub, and watched over Li Fengqi quietly.
Li Fengqi said that with increased dosage of the medicine for the third bath, the pain would be much worse. In the event that he couldn’t endure and passed out, he requested Ye Yunting to wake him up. The medicine needed to be changed twice during the bath, which lasted for an hour. No matter what, he couldn’t give up halfway.
Dense vapor filled the room, and his nose was filled with the strong, bitter smell of medicinal herbs.
Li Fengqi bit the cloth in his mouth, one or two pained moans escaping from his throat from time to time. His hands resting on the edge of the bathtub had been wrapped up by Ye Yunting with cloth to prevent him from hurting his hands like before.
Ye Yunting sat by the side. Although he couldn’t feel his pain personally, looking at the veins popping out on the side of his neck and arms, he could imagine how much pain he must be in.
He opened his eyes somewhat anxiously, staring at Li Fengqi without blinking.
But the longer he looked at him, the more difficult it felt in his heart. Every subtle expression on Li Fengqi’s face, every bulging vein, and even every drop of sweat revealed his pain.
Ye Yunting’s heart clenched when he saw this. He didn’t dare touch Li Fengqi. He could only suppress his worry. He said softly, “You have been sitting in silence for a long time. How about I read to Wangye?”
After saying that, he took the medical book that Li Fengqi had been reading daily over the past two days, turned to a page, and read it carefully word by word.
===Author’s Notes===
77: Good home = me
===Translator’s Notes===
Oh that is so sweet. They are so sweet.
- Helping someone out in a time of need ↩︎
omg I love this development!
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