Chapter 30 Onset

The little girl hugged him and cried for a long time. He Yanchen had to interrupt her: "Can you still walk?"

Yueli sniffed and whispered, "I think I sprained my ankle."

The man helped her sit on the ground, squatted in front of her and held the woman's ankle.

It was a rainy day with no moonlight and the sheep-horn lamp was out, so He Yanchen could only rub her based on his feeling.

His hand touched her sensitive ankle, and his fingers rubbed and pressed it up and down. Yueli couldn't help but groan a few times: "It hurts..."

"Hold on." The man frowned. "I'll see if you dare to run out on your own next time."

"I don't dare anymore..." Yueli sniffled twice, "From now on I will stay by your side and won't go anywhere else."

"You'd better remember this."

While talking to her, He Yanchen suddenly exerted force with his hand, and with a "click" sound, Yue Li's scream was stuck in her throat, and she couldn't even scream out in pain.

"Wow..." After the severe pain, she pouted and cried.

"Don't cry." The man stood up and rubbed her head vigorously. "There are wolves in the forest. If you cry again, you might attract a pack of wolves."

"Your Majesty..." Yue Li hugged his strong waist fearfully, and only by smelling his scent could she feel at ease.

The rainy night obstructed vision, and He Yanchen did not take her for a wandering trip. After all, the imperial guards had already searched the mountains and forests. Although the forest was large, they would find them in a day or two at the latest.

only...

He glanced at the full moon covered by dark clouds.

Tomorrow is the fifteenth.

"Your Majesty, it hurts..." Yue Li suddenly groaned, and He Yanchen realized that his hands holding her shoulders were particularly tight.

He took the woman to a rock right under a tree, forming a small hole that could block some of the cold wind and rain.

Yueli hesitated and didn't want to go in: "There are bugs in there..."

He Yanchen was almost amused by her: "Then you stay outside. When the wolf comes, you can help me lure it away and then I can eat you."

Yueli curled her lips and asked, "Why are you speaking so harshly?"

She shrank into the cave, her whole body pressed against the man's arms, hugging him tightly, her tender little face pressed against the man's warm neck, like a little animal afraid of being abandoned.

He smelled like a mixture of earth and rain, which wasn't as pleasant as usual, but it made her feel at ease.

He saved her again.

Yueli looked at him quietly. The only two times in her life when she was chosen by someone were both by He Yanchen.

He is so nice, I like him so much.

She nuzzled the man with her cheek.

He Yanchen stroked her back unconsciously. In the darkness, all his senses were infinitely magnified. The woman's wholehearted dependence on him gave him an indescribable satisfaction.

Yue Li's tense nerves relaxed after meeting He Yanchen, and she fell asleep in a daze while hugging the man.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already bright outside.

"His Majesty..."

Yueli noticed that the man next to her looked a little strange.

He leaned against the stone wall with his eyes closed, his lips pale and bloodless.

Yue Li hugged his arm and shook it, and He Yanchen opened his eyes instantly and keenly.

The defensiveness and murderous intent in his eyes frightened Yue Li. She bit her lip and whispered, "I thought His Majesty was ill..."

She touched his forehead and asked in confusion, "No fever..."

He Yanchen clenched his hands on his knees into fists. For some reason, the pain came earlier this time.

"Just stay here and don't move." He held the woman's head and was the first to leave the cave.

Yueli sat at the entrance of the cave and looked at him: "Where are you going, Your Majesty?"

"Don't leave me..."

"I won't abandon you." The man stood in front of her, his tall figure blocking the light in front of him. Yue Li always felt that his back was a little unstable.

She suddenly remembered that today seemed to be the fifteenth.

On the eighth day of March, everyone set out from the capital, traveled for two days, hunted for five days, and returned to the palace on the morning of March 15th.

Thinking of the abnormality she discovered on the fifteenth day of last month, Yueli suddenly felt a little worried.

"Your Majesty, please sit down." She suddenly stood up and pressed the man to the ground forcefully.

It is said that in the past, with her limited strength, she could not move him at all, but today, He Yanchen sat on the ground under her force.

With the brighter light outside the cave, Yue Li realized that his face was extremely pale.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell?" Her eyes were full of worry.

He Yanchen endured the pain in his chest as if it was being gnawn, and the veins on the back of his clenched fist were bulging.

"Nothing." He said, "Just wait here, Chu Yi will come soon."

Yueli didn't know what was wrong with him, so she could only stay close to the man, staring at him without missing a single moment, fearing that something might happen to him.

But nothing should have happened to him. In his previous life, until the wise king's rebellion, at least he was safe and sound.

He Yanchen leaned against the stone, his chest heaving, and huge beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

He clenched his teeth, unwilling to make even the slightest sound.

He had experienced more pain than this twice in his life.

In a trance, he recalled the time when he was eighteen years old.

That was his first time leading troops to war. The Western Rong had been a major threat to Da Zhao for decades and was extremely difficult to deal with.

Two years after he entered the court, he was entrusted with an important task and led troops to war.

During the six months at the frontier, he was almost covered in wounds and on the verge of death several times, but he only thought about not disappointing his father and mother, and he managed to get through it.

Before returning to the court, He Yanchen always thought that this was a sign of his father's high regard for him.

But it was not until he returned to the palace that he realized that his father just wanted him to die.

He still remembered hearing his father and Concubine Zhong say outside the Linde Hall: "Ming'er was carefully raised by us, but now the Third Prince has great prestige in the court, which is really a problem."

"If that's the case, why did Your Majesty send him to conquer the Western Rong?" Concubine Zhong asked angrily, "If he returns victorious, wouldn't he be even more popular?"

The late emperor laughed. "You, don't you think about it? The Western Rong have been wreaking havoc on the border for decades. Even our ancestors couldn't conquer them. How could a young boy like you possibly be able to return alive?"

"I will remove everything that stands in Ming'er's way."

He Yanchen stood outside the hall, his fingertips digging into his palms inch by inch.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty!"

It seemed like someone was calling him in his ear.

He Yanchen opened his eyes with difficulty, and what he saw was Yue Li looking so anxious that she was about to cry.

Her originally fair face was now dirty, like a little dirt bag.

Only a pair of eyes are still sparkling.

"Your Majesty, please don't bite yourself..." Yue Li was extremely anxious when she saw him biting his lips until they bled.

She hugged the man, feeling him getting colder and colder, and wanted to use her thin body to give him some warmth.

"Go away..." He Yanchen's breathing was very weak, and the pain in his body became more severe with every breath.

Every fifteenth day of the month when the poison kicks in, he loses control of himself.

"Stay away." He would hurt her.

Yueli didn't listen and just hugged his trembling body. Why did this man, who was so strong in the past, become like this on the fifteenth day?

He Yanchen's eyes gradually turned red, and he suddenly bit Yue Li's neck hard.

"Ugh..." Yueli groaned, tears streaming down her face in pain.

But she didn't let go, and hugged the man even tighter, her small hands stroking his back in vain.

There was a strong smell of blood between his teeth. He Yanchen buried his head in her arms. The woman's sweet blood seemed to ease his pain.