“Febrile diseases in spring, febrile diseases in summer, malaria and dysentery in autumn, cold and coughs in winter: these are all unhealthy qi in the four seasons, and are collectively called typhoid fever…”
Ye Yunting’s voice was clear and gentle, and as he read word by word, his voice was like a gurgling stream falling into a pond, with splashes of water overflowing, giving off the coolness of spring.
With that calm and unhurried voice in the tormented Li Fengqi’s ears, even the unrest in his body calmed down somewhat.
He opened his eyes with great difficulty. The sweat on his face clung to his eyelashes, blurring his vision. He blinked and shook off the sweat, and only then could he clearly see the young man’s serious features.
Ye Yunting lowered his head slightly, holding in his hand the book “Confucian Affairs”1 that he often read. There were light lines between his calm eyebrows, his two thin lips opened and closed regularly, and his clear and his clear voice came out slowly, sounding very serious.
Li Fengqi’s chest rose and fell. He gasped several times, and his eyes stared at him for a moment.
It wasn’t only his voice; the young man sitting there quietly exuded a peaceful and unperturbed aura. Li Fengqi tried to direct his attention to him in order to ignore the unceasing pain in his body, as well as the agitation and violent emotions that were bred from this pain.
Perhaps his gaze was too intense. Ye Yunting, who was concentrating on reading, raised his head and met his direct light of sight.
He didn’t know if it was because of the steam or the pain, but Li Fengqi’s eyes were bloodshot. At first glance, his eyes looked fearfully red.
Ye Yunting froze for a moment, then put down the book, picked up the handkerchief on the side and gently wiped the beads of sweat from his face. No one made a sound as he wiped him. Ye Yunting seemed as though he were doing a perfectly ordinary thing. After wiping the sweat for him, he put the handkerchief down and continued reading where he left off.
“If the disease does not occur in spring but is severely affected by heat, then it is a summer fever; if it does not occur in summer but is affected by dampness…”
He simply sat quietly on the stool and read the book. After every two pages, he would wipe Li Fengqi’s sweat with a handkerchief, or ask Ji Lian to bring hot water to change…
What he had thought would be a very long and torturous hour passed with the sound of his leisurely reading.
Li Fengqi remained conscious throughout the whole process, but when the medicinal bath was over, his entire body slid down the tub in exhaustion. Ye Yunting was quick to half-hold him, preventing him from slipping into the water. The body in the arms was still steaming with heat, his skin was tight and warm, and the prominent muscle lines on the arms were palpable. He uncomfortably averted his eyes and called Ji Lian, and the two of them worked together to get the person out of the bathtub.
After drying his body and putting on clean clothes, Li Fengqi was tucked under the covers.
At this time, he was a little drowsy, his eyes were half open and half closed, and only his willpower kept him from completely passing out.
“You can rest now.” Ye Yunting saw that his mouth was still clenched around the cloth in his mouth. He reached out to remove the cloth from his mouth, but realized that he was still biting down on the cloth hard.
He frowned and hesitated for a moment, then gently patted Li Fengqi’s cheek and called out twice before Li Fengqi let go.
On the light-colored cloth were traces of blood.
Ye Yunting took a deep breath. Although he’d been told that this medicinal bath would not be easy, seeing with his own two eyes the the pain that Li Fengqi inadvertently revealed still made his heart skip.
No wonder Li Fengqi had been able to fight back from the brink in his previous life. Prince Yong’an’s willpower was truly unparalleled.
He slowly exhaled the heavy air from his chest and gently patted Li Fengqi’s arm. “Wangye, please rest well. I will keep watch.”
Li Fengqi, whose eyes were still half-open, finally closed his eyes slowly after his words. Although his brows were still furrowed, his tense body slowly relaxed.
Seeing this, Ye Yunting finally relaxed. He put down the curtain and moved the candle away, before he and Ji Lian gingerly cleaned up the room together.
*
Li Fengqi’s suffering was not in vain.
When he woke up the next day, he could move his upper body normally. Only his legs remained insensate.
But this was already much better than what he expected. The only flaw was that, with the medicinal material being very strong his sudden dosage increase, although the poison’s toxicity had been suppressed, his body was left feeling much weaker than before.
At first, with Ye Yunting taking care of him during the past days, his complexion had improved a lot. But after the medicinal bath, his appearance was much worse than before. His face was bloodless and he looked weak to the naked eye.
Ye Yunting was worried. “I still have the rabbits sent by Ye Wang. Why don’t I ask Ji Lian to butcher one and make a stew for you?”
The three daily meals in the palace never varied. People in good health could subsist on such simple meals, but Li Fengqi was so weak that he still needed greater nourishment.
“It’s just that I couldn’t handle the backlash of the medicine for a while. After a few days, the effect of the medicine will wear off and everything will be fine.” Seeing the worry on his face, Li Fengqi made a rare joke: “The falcon traveled thousands of miles to deliver our message. If we secretly eat its rabbits, that would just be too shameless.”
Ye Yunting couldn’t hold back his laughter. He pursed his lips very hard to avoid smiling too much, but even so, his eyes were like a clear lake, with sparkling waves on the surface that almost dazzled Li Fengqi’s eyes.
His eyes softened. “Laugh if you want to. With the friendship between you and me, there’s no need to hold back.”
Ye Yunting rolled his eyes with a smile, but insisted: “I asked Ji Lian to stew a rabbit to nourish Wangye. When the falcon returns, we will make up to it with a few more.”
It was obvious that Li Fengqi was in distress, and they could not even get a bite of meat to eat. But there was confidence in his tone that by the time the falcon returned, they would have turned the situation around.
Li Fengqi nodded in agreement. “Good.”
…
At noon that day, through the blessings of Ye Wang and the falcon, the three of them finally had a bite of meat.
Although Li Fengqi’s face was still frighteningly pale, after eating, he was able to slowly sit up on his own.
Ye Yunting watched over him by the bedside. He observed him maneuver his body, which was no longer as limber as it used to be, with anticipation in his eyes.
Just when Li Fengqi was sweating profusely from his exercise, he heard Ji Lian outside say loudly: “But Taifu-Daren? Wangye and Wangfei are resting. Please allow me to go in and pass the message.”
When the two people inside heard his voice, Li Fengqi’s eyes flashed with deep thought and he quickly lay back down. Ye Yunting covered him with the quilt, collected his expression, and straightened his clothes before opening the door and going out to greet him.
Taifu Han Chan came alone. He stood at the door dressed in white. His temperament was cool and elegant, giving off a sense of being detachment from the things around him.
Ye Yunting’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t need to look closely at his features. Just by his white clothes and cold temperament, Ye Yunting was sure that the person in his dream was indeed Taifu Han Chan.
In the dream, Han Chan had also come alone to find for Li Fengqi, bringing a bottle of antidote, intending to negotiate a deal.
He didn’t know the exact time in the dream, and Ye Yunting couldn’t tell if it was now the time that had seen in the dream. The hands hidden in his sleeves clenched hard. He put on a polite smile and greeted him: “I didn’t know that Taifu Han came to visit. I’m sorry to have only welcomed you from afar.”2
Han Chan’s gaze swept over him with no emotion on his face. “I have something to discuss with Prince Yong’an. Wangfei should wait outside for a while.” Saying so, he walked right in and smoothly closed the door behind him.
The two were so unceremoniously blocked outside the door.
Ji Lian was furious and muttered a couple of complaints. Ye Yunting, however, looked at Han Chan’s back pensively, thinking about his intentions.
At this moment, in the inner room:
Han Chan walked to the edge of the bed, looked down at the frail-looking Li Fengqi, and said quietly: “More than half a month ago, Li Zong sent supervisory troops to Weizhou. I just received a letter back today that the men have arrived. Zhu Wen, as well as the entirety of the Governor’s Office, should know by now that Prince Yongan had been targeted for assassination and is now recuperating in his palace in Shangjing.”.”
He used the blandest tones to say the most alarming things.
Needless to say, both of them knew what the arrival of the supervisory troops sent by Li Zong in Weizhou meant.
In the past month or so since Li Fengqi was poisoned, Li Zong had blocked messages and cut off information exchanges with the norther border in order to keep the news muffled in the capital. At the same time, he sent his close associates to Northern Xinjiang as supervisory army as a provocation.
After all, when Li Fengqi had been there, there had never been a supervisory army in Northern Xinjiang.
When Li Fengqi heard this, he only sneered. “Li Zong wants to make a move against the Xuanjia Army. I already expected this.”
Han Chan stroked his sleeve and said, “The lives of one hundred thousand Xuanjia troops are at Wangye’s hands. Will Wangye be willing to consider my proposal now?” He took out a thumb-length white jade vial from his sleeve. ” If Wangye agrees, the antidote will be yours.”
His expression was indifferent, as though he was certain that Li Fengqi would not refuse.
Li Fengqi looked at the small jade bottle, the bottle that might contain the antidote to his poison——
——As long as he agreed to Han Chan’s proposal.
Frost and snow encroached on his brows as he let out a cold laugh. “You were indeed the one who poisoned me. I already said that Li Zong didn’t have the guts to do this.”
“It’s just to allow Wangye to certain matters clearly.” The corners of his lips curled mockingly. He placed the jade bottle within Li Fengqi’s reach. “After all this, has Wangye not seen clearly? “
Han Chan’s eyes were misty and distant, seemingly looking at him, but also seemingly looking through him at something else. “You treat him generously and sincerely, but he treats you as a great danger to his life. Is it worth it? Why don’t you work with me? I’ll help the Prince win the throne and support the country; wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?
“What does Wangye think?”
“Not at all.” Li Fengqi sneered, looking at him coldly. “I will collect the debt owed by Li Zong myself. As for you…” He paused and did not finish his words, but said: “Is what you said that day true?”
“Whether it is true or not, Wangye will know once you go and seek the old Wangfei.” He looked at Li Fengqi, and the corner of his mouth curled up. “Has Wangye never once wondered why theold Wangfei only has one child, but never became close to you? What I said that day is the answer. It’s simply that Wangye doesn’t want to believe it.”
Li Fengqi’s eyes darkened as he recalled what Han Chan said when he first came to look for him. However, his face did not show any signs of this, and he only said: “Whether this Prince believes it or not is no concern, Taifu. You only need to know one thing.”
He raised his eyes to stare at Han Chan, and said word by word: “This Prince will never cooperate with you. You must protect the head on your neck, and wait for this Prince to come and take it in person.”
“Then Wangye, please take care of yourself.” Han Chan’s face turned cold, but he didn’t dwell. He put away the medicine bottle and laughed softly. “I will come again on the day when Li Zong is gone and the Xuanjia Army is wiped out.”
After saying this, he flicked his robe sleeves lightly, turned around and left.
===Author’s Notes===
77 (Sharpening): Do I look so easy to bully?
Tingting: …Yes (whisper)
——————
“Febrile diseases in spring, febrile diseases in summer, malaria and dysentery in autumn, cold and coughs in winter: these are all unhealthy qi in the four seasons, and are collectively called typhoid fever…”, “If the spring does not occur and the summer heat is severe, then Summer is a fever; if summer does not occur and you are seriously affected by dampness…” The original text is from “Confucian Affairs”.
===Translator’s Notes===
Falcon be like: “Where’s my food?!? WHERE’S. MY. FOOD!?!?!?!”
(YYT & FLQ are so cute. Sooo cute.)
What an awesome confrontation.
- Thank you, Author! Yes, for more info on “儒门事亲”, according to here, it is a Chinese medicine work compiled by Zhang Congzheng of the Jin Dynasty. It has fifteen volumes and was written in 1228. ↩︎
- Basically, he failed to wait for him and greet him at the door, which is what would have been the more hospitable reception. ↩︎
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Ye Wang thanks for the food lol
ReplyDeleteAhhh... why do I feel like this HC guy is like a rich patron forcing our ML to accept his support? Lololol...
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