Chapter 503: Drink your medicine
Besides the Duke of Qin’s estate, Han Yunxi had lived for the longest period of time here. Even the Han Estate couldn’t compare. She stood in front of the gates and stared at the spacious, inscribed horizontal signboard hanging over the doorway, her mind blanking out at the unexpectedness of it all.
Here, he had stood behind her and recited the same poem she had won with against Duanmu Yao at the Plum Blossom Meet.
Here, he had asked her what was the most valuable thing in the world, and she had told him, ‘someone who treats you with a sincere heart, and stays with you until your hairs turn white from old age.’
Here, she had gotten used to leaning against his shoulder before falling asleep, and he had spent his time with her passing through Tianning’s coldest winter.
Here was none other than Jiangnan’s famous Plum Blossom Sea, the most well-known park within Jiangnan’s top three orchards. That was due to how every year the plum blossoms that bloomed here were absolutely breathtaking.
Here was the gift that Long Feiye had given her for New Years, with a token that proved she was the owner of the place. The token itself was currently resting in her missing medical pouch.
She recalled all the events of that memorable last winter. Back then, she had even wondered if they could come here again for next winter, but now….but now…
But now, Long Feiye, summer isn’t even over yet and we’ve… Why have we become like this?
Are you inside that house right now?
“Esteemed wangfei, please go on ahead,” the mermaid soldier presented the token of the plum blossom orchard, interrupting Han Yunxi’s thoughts. Without a doubt, Long Feiye had her medical pouch in his possession and had taken the token out from there.
Han Yunxi hesitated for a long time before she mustered up her courage and ventured to ask, “Is His Highness…inside?”
“Esteemed wangfei, please forgive this subordinate. This subordinate isn’t clear. This subordinate only received this token yesterday with orders to escort you here.”
Han Yunxi quietly took the token and stepped out into Jiangnan’s Plum Blossom Sea. Once inside, she shifted her steps to head for the hot springs house, her heart unusually anxious. She simply ran to the building before skidding to a stop.
There was no one inside.
He’s not here.
She smiled faintly, mocking herself for her anxiety. What am I so anxious about?
What does it matter whether I see him or not?
He probably doesn’t want to see me. Otherwise, he should have shown up by now since it’s already been a month…
Still, why did he send me here? If I can’t have him, what’s the use of all these material things?
Han Yunxi found another mermaid soldier and asked, “Where is the Han family?”
“His Highness has already made living arrangements for them within South Ning Prefecture. May esteemed wangfei set your cares at rest,” the mermaid soldier replied respectfully.
“Prepare the carriage, I wish to go to South Ning,” Han Yunxi said briskly.
Without specific orders from His Highness stating otherwise, the mermaid soldiers could only comply with their mistress’s wish. Still, they’d hardly prepared the carriage when clouds suddenly gathered in the sky. Thunder boomed in the distance before it began to pour.
Han Yunxi had no choice but to wait until the rain stopped. She sat on the doorstep while staring at the grey curtain of rain, gradually spacing out again. She had no idea that Long Feiye was simply watching her from nearby. Over the past month, Tianning had descended into chaos, but the man who held power over everything had done nothing except to follow Han Yunxi’s carriage all the way south. He had secretly guarded her from the shadows as a silent companion.
He was the one who had said he wanted to see her, but he’d been able to see her everyday while she had no idea he wa watching over her. Even now, it wasn’t clear whether he was staring at the rain, at her, or was simply lost in thought. His black pupils were darker than the deepest seas, his eyebrows furrowed like a pair of sharp swords clashing.
He had the entire world within his grasp, yet he had failed when it came to a single woman.
Suddenly, a white figure streaked past Han Yunxi’s back. Sensing the movement, she turned and caught sight of Long Feiye before he had time to slip away! Lil Thing gasped for breath nearby. It had been feeling conflicted for the entire month, torn on whether to draw Mama Yunxi’s attention to Papa Long. But it didn’t have any chances to do so until now.
This rain had given it the perfect opportunity. It only wished that the next time Papa Long picked it up by its tail, the consequences wouldn’t be so grave… Han Yunxi had never expected to see Long Feiye right there. She gave a start and felt like she was still dreaming. Long Feiye glanced expressionlessly in the direction where Lil Thing had fled, allowing Han Yunxi to stare as much as she wished.
Damn it, we have nothing to talk about again…
In the end, Long Feiye simply turned to leave.
“Hold it right there!” Han Yunxi shouted coldly.
Long Feiye actually stopped, his figure still and silent.
“What did you…find me for?” Han Yunxi asked.
Long Feiye didn’t reply, he only stood around a while. Then he started to leave again. Han Yunxi watched him walk away step by step until her rage sent her chasing after him out in the rain. She threw the orchard token at him and cried, “Give me back my medical pouch!”
Long Feiye didn’t accept the porcelain token, so it fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. He lowered his head and glanced at it. She did as well, feeling her fingers ache with pain at the sight of the scattered fragments.
“Alright,” he finally spoke.
Her head whipped up to face him only to see his heavy gaze and chilly, quiet face. “Your lordship will go get it.”
“When will you bring it back? I wish to leave this place!” she snapped back.
He fell silent for a while longer before intoning, “I don’t know.” Then he vanished for real this time, his figure disappearing into the misty rains. Han Yunxi stood still, zoning out under the downpour, feeling like the entire world was drowning in a sea of rain!
After the rain finally let up, Long Feiye still didn’t come back, but Han Yunxi had fallen ill with a serious chill and high fever. The retainers hastily found a doctor to write her a prescription. Unfortunately, Han Yunxi refused to drink the medicine, breaking three whole bowls in the course of just one morning.
In the end, Long Feiye was forced to show himself.
She woke up from a fever haze to see him sitting by her bed, looking at her with a soft, gentle gaze. She only thought she was dreaming again and quickly shut her eyes, afraid to wake up.
“Drink your medicine.”
Her senses grew alert as soon as he spoke. When she took in his silent expression once more, she knew this wasn’t a dream. He personally raised the bowl to her lips, urging her to drink, but she simply turned away and ignored him. Once again, he lifted the bowl to her lips, but she picked it up in another fit of fury and smashed it onto the floor.
“Long Feiye, just what do you want to do?!”
“Drink your medicine,” he said simply.
“Answer my question!” she raged on. She had waited for an entire month only to get nothing but his silence and refusal to answer her questions. Is he fooling around with me?!
A high-fever patient would turn frightfully red when they lost her temper. As soon as Han Yunxi had finished speaking, she broke into a coughing fit severe enough to make even her insides ache. His voice grew frantic at her exertions. “Drink your medicine first, then I’ll tell you.”
“And if I don’t?” she provoked him with her cold glare. She wasn’t acting arrogant from being spoiled, but from being genuinely angry.
Instead of answering, he suddenly drank a large mouthful of her medicine before pressing his lips against hers. Like that, he forcefully pushed open her mouth and slipped the medicine into her mouth . She struggled for her life and even hit him, but he refused to let go. Once he finished feeding her once, he drank another mouthful and fed her again.
Han Yunxi was so enraged that she punched him. Coincidentally, her hand struck right at the site of his injury. He abruptly released her and turned aside to spit up a mouthful of blood. His internal injury was only halfway healed, so even a light strike at such a close distance was enough to aggravate the wound. Han Yunxi was completely flabbergasted by the sight playing out in front of her. She stared blankly at his quickly paling face, completely at a loss at what was going on.
What’s wrong with him?
He wiped the blood from his lips and raised another bowl of medicine to her lips. “Finish this one.”
“Long Feiye, you’re injured!?” she said in fright. Although she didn’t understand what was going on, she could guess it was an internal injury from his lack of obvious scars or outward pain.
His martial arts are so highly skilled, so how could he have suffered an internal injury? Who hurt him like this?
Just how much strength could her punch carry? Yet a single strike was able to make him cough up blood. How serious are his injuries?
Long Feiye ignored her question, as obstinate as a child. Once again he insisted, “Finish this.”
“What’s wrong? What happened to you? Talk to me! What have you been doing for the past month?” she frantically pushed his hands aside, wanting to inspect his chest, but he stubbornly brought the bowl of medicine back into her sight.
“Finish this!”
“Long Feiye, what’s wrong with you? Tell me!” Han Yunxi was crying now, her heart filled with fear. All of the grievances she’d held back for the past month came rising to the surface. “Long Feiye, just what’s the matter? What has happened to you?”
He hastily helped her wipe her tears, but she still couldn’t stop crying.
“I’m…fine,” he finally replied.
“Liar!” her voice was fierce. You clearly spat up blood, how can you be fine?!
“I’m really fine. Be good, drink your medicine first,” he soothed as he picked up the bowl. Your body’s finally getting better, you can’t ruin your health now.
“I’m not drinking it!” Han Yunxi grew willful. In truth, he was wholly helpless against her whims.
In the end, he could only reply, “Someone from the sword sect injured me, it’s not that important anymore.”
“Your master?” Han Yunxi was stunned. Duanmu Yao wouldn’t have the skills to hurt him like this, so she figured that he was the only option. Why did he leave without saying a word with Duanmu Yao that day? And why was he in such a rush? He not only refused to explain anything, but wouldn’t even let me come along.
“No, it was my martial uncle, Cang Qiuzi,” Long Feiye replied simply. If it was anyone but master, I would’ve let you know. But he would neither speak of his master nor allow Han Yunxi to see the man.
“What happened?” Han Yunxi asked in all seriousness.
“Internal struggles between different factions of the sect. It’s been resolved since then.” He spoke of it lightly, but how could he have gotten so injured if he hadn’t opposed Cang Qiuzi in the first place?
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why do you never tell me anything?” she demanded.
“It happened too suddenly…” So speaking, he lifted the bowl of medicine again.
“I won’t drink!” she refused him. “Let me see your injury.”
“Drink your medicine first,” he coaxed earnestly.
She furrowed her brows, her eyes red with her tears as she refused to budge. Left without any other choice, he could only set the bowl back down and take off his clothes. Over a month had passed since the incident, but the handprints on his chest were still as clear as day one, a stark testament to Cang Qiuzi’s ruthlessness. The sight made her heart ache, and she lightly brushed against the marks, afraid that she’d hurt him. “Just then….I really deserved to die!”
“Drink your medicine first, won’t you?” He was close to begging her now, something he’d never done a single time in his life. Outside, the three prefectures of the central region and the fifteen cities of Jiangnan were all waiting for him to take command over them, but he had chosen to stay in this house and plead with a belligerent woman to take her medicine.
But that woman still refused to drink.
“You suspected me of illicit relations with Gu Qishao! Then you looked down on me!” This wasn’t an interrogation, but a flat out accusation.
His hands stiffened slightly from her words. “That’s not it.”
But then he quickly added, “I’d never be able to kill you. But I will murder Gu Qishao.”
He took offense!
“I didn’t do it on purpose! Back then it was because…” She quickly summarized the entire situation. For the sake of evading the black-robed assassin, she and Gu Qishao had no choice but to act that way. Then she’d accidentally forgotten to get dressed while treating his wounds. Even if the person wasn’t her lifesaver, she’d still worry about the injuries first under such desperate circumstances. Gu Qishao was really far too seriously hurt. Saving lives was a fight against time!
Despite her explanation, his expression remained as gloomy as before. “I’ll never forgive you. Drink your medicine.”