Chapter 246 He didn't want you to endure the torment of inevitable hopelessness.
The carriage stopped at a secluded side gate of the Yongjia Earl's Mansion.
Erzhong struggled to carry the unconscious Gu Xian off the car, his steps faltering.
The gate to the mansion was ajar, but no one came out to greet them.
Yongfu leaned out of the carriage, suppressing the urge to get out and help him up. Clutching the blood-stained handkerchief tightly, he urgently instructed Erzhong through the window, "Erzhong, quickly carry Master Gu inside and let him lie down properly... Yuyao has already gone to fetch the imperial physician, he'll be here soon! You... you must take good care of him!"
Erzhong was covered in sweat and nodded heavily: "Your Highness, rest assured, I understand!"
Yongfu gazed deeply at the pale, paper-like face lying on Erzhong's back, his heart aching. Finally, he hardened his heart and said to the driver in a trembling voice, "We...go back."
The carriage slowly started moving.
Inside the carriage, Yongfu leaned against the wall. She opened her palm, and the glaring crimson stain on the silk handkerchief made her heart ache.
Inside the Yongjia Bo Mansion.
Erzhong struggled to carry Gu Xian back to his secluded courtyard and settled him on the couch in the inner room, already panting heavily.
The room was filled with the smell of medicine and the furnishings were simple, a stark contrast to the extravagance of other parts of the mansion.
After a long while, Madam Gu finally arrived upon hearing the news.
She stopped at the doorway, not stepping inside, but tightly covering her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, coldly scanning the room.
His gaze swept across the couch and landed on Gu Xian's ashen and lifeless profile.
She frowned and whispered to the old woman beside her, "What a curse! You're so reckless, clinging to the imperial family, and now you're in this wretched state, even needling the imperial physician to come to your door. Are you afraid that others won't know that my Yongjia Earl's Mansion has produced a sickly devil, needlessly tarnishing the reputation of the entire mansion!"
She hesitated for a moment, a calculating glint in her eyes, and instructed, "When the imperial physician arrives, be sure to treat him well and respectfully welcome him into the mansion to serve tea. Then go and tell him that the mansion's usual physician has already examined him and found it to be just a minor old ailment that only requires rest. We would never dare to trouble the imperial physician."
She paused briefly, then continued, "Return the doubled consultation fee, and politely... invite the imperial physician back."
The next day.
The imperial physician who was sent yesterday returned to the residence to report. Although he spoke respectfully, he could not hide the truth.
Upon hearing this, Yongfu felt increasingly uneasy.
He's already coughing up blood, how could it just be a "minor old ailment"?
She pulled the imperial physician aside and asked him in detail. The physician looked troubled, but finally replied in a low voice, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, the young master's illness... is probably 'dry blood consumption'."
As soon as the imperial physician finished speaking, saying "It's probably blood deficiency tuberculosis," Yongfu's face drained of all color.
She stared blankly at the imperial physician, his almond-shaped eyes, which were always full of smiles and curiosity, now filled with confusion, as if he couldn't understand the meaning of those simple words.
Then, fear overwhelmed her instantly.
"Dry...blood tuberculosis?"
She repeated it to herself, her voice as soft as a whisper.
She suddenly grabbed the imperial physician's sleeve, tears welling up in her eyes without warning: "No...no way! You didn't even examine him yourself, Young Master Gu...he just has a cough! He was flying a kite yesterday, he was perfectly fine..."
Her voice grew louder and louder, choked with sobs, and incoherent.
"Please save him! Imperial Physician Wang, you are the best physician in the palace, you must have a way, right?"
She looked up, her eyes blurred with tears and filled with pleading, like a lost child, "I'll use any medicine! I'll beg Mother for even the most precious herbs! You must cure him! I can't... I can't let him..."
She couldn't continue speaking and said urgently, "You! Come with me to the Yongjia Marquis's residence right now! We can't wait a moment longer."
Before she finished speaking, she turned around, lifted her skirt, and ran out of the palace, completely ignoring Yu Yao's calls behind her.
"Get the car ready! Get the car ready immediately!"
As she ran, she shouted orders to the maids who rushed over after hearing the commotion; her usually sweet and gentle voice now carried an undeniable resolve.
All thoughts of palace rules and etiquette, and the dignity of a princess, were completely forgotten the moment she heard the words "consumption."
The carriage came to an abrupt stop in front of the Yongjia Earl's Mansion.
Yongfu was almost staggered as his maid helped him down from the carriage. He didn't even bother to straighten his appearance before quickly walking inside with the imperial physician.
Upon hearing the news, the Earl of Yongjia hurriedly came out to greet her and led her and the imperial physician to the secluded courtyard where Gu Xian lived with impeccable manners.
However, the gate to the courtyard was tightly closed.
Erzhong bowed his head and stood in front of the door, his voice heavy with sorrow: "Your Highness, please forgive me... My lord has ordered that no one be seen..."
"Let me in! I brought the imperial physician with me!"
Yongfu's voice was choked with sobs as he tried to push Erzhong away, but was gently stopped by a maid.
No matter how much she pleaded or explained, the door remained unmoved, keeping her out.
Finally, all her resolve crumbled, and she collapsed helplessly onto the cold stone steps. Looking up at the crack in the door, her face streaked with tears, she choked out, "Brother Xian...please let Physician Wang go in and take a look, okay? Just one look...there's no incurable disease in the world, he can definitely cure me..."
The silence inside the door lasted for a long time, so long that it was suffocating.
Finally, a hoarse, weak voice drifted out from the crack in the door, barely a whisper: "Your Highness's kindness... I appreciate it. However, my illness is severe... beyond the reach of medicine... I dare not... trouble Your Highness any further... Please return."
Yongfu stared at the cold, hard wooden door, as if he could see through it the person inside, exhausted and dying.
The light in her eyes gradually faded, and she finally stood up slowly, looking utterly dejected.
Inside the door.
Gu Xian slumped back on the couch, listening to the footsteps fading away outside the door. Each faint sound of footsteps felt like a needle pricking his heart.
A sharp, unprecedented pain spread through my limbs and bones, even more intense than the excruciating pain of an illness.
This girl, as innocent as a child and as passionate as the morning sun, had quietly entered his desolate and lonely life without him even realizing it.
But precisely because of this, he had to push her away with his own hands.
His life was nearing its end, and his days were numbered. How could he possibly... make her fall in love with him, exchanging his short remaining life for her long-lasting pain in the latter half of her life?
When Yongfu returned from the Yongjia Marquis's residence, his heart felt as if a huge rock soaked in ice water was pressing down on it, and every breath he took was filled with a chilling cold and a sense of powerlessness.
She did not return to the princess's residence, but went straight to Yunshang Pavilion.
Upon seeing Lu Zhaoruo, the dam she had been holding up completely collapsed.
She threw herself into Lu Zhaoruo's arms, her body trembling violently from extreme fear and grief, her cries broken and desperate: "Sister Lu... he's coughing up blood... he has tuberculosis! Why won't he let me in? Why won't he even see me in his last... last few days?"
Lu Zhaoruo held her tightly, feeling the girl in his arms' grief that seemed to shatter, and felt a cold, knowing understanding in his heart.
She gently patted Yongfu's back and said softly, "Your Highness, speak slowly, I'm here."
Yongfu lifted her tear-streaked face, her eyes filled with incomprehension: "He knew... he knew his days were numbered, didn't he? But why did he still push me away so cruelly? Sister Lu, did he... hate me so much that he didn't want to see me even at the very end?"
Lu Zhaoruo gently wiped away the tears on her face with a silk handkerchief, her voice gentle: "Your Highness, quite the opposite. It is precisely because he knows the outcome better than anyone else that he has to do this."
Looking at Yongfu's bewildered and pained eyes, Lu Zhaoruo's voice became even softer: "Has Your Highness ever thought about how a person who is proud to the core can bear... watching the person he cares about most watch him wither away day by day, his body emaciated, heading towards the end? That is a thousand times more painful than the illness itself."
"When he pushes you away, it's not because he hates you, nor is it because he's heartless."
Lu Zhaoruo's eyes were filled with pity. "That might be the only thing he could do for you with his last bit of strength—to let you remember him as someone who was still somewhat dignified, not as someone who was completely destroyed by illness. This was his... final act of protection."
Yongfu seemed to understand, but the word "protect" was like a tiny silver needle, piercing through her heart full of grievances.
She murmured, "So... he doesn't hate me? He's just... afraid of making me sad?"
"He doesn't want you to suffer the torment of a hopeless situation."
Lu Zhaoruo answered affirmatively and pulled her into his arms.
Yongfu leaned on Lu Zhaoruo's shoulder and burst into tears. His sobs were no longer simply filled with grievance, but with a more complex and profound heartache mixed with understanding.
As Lu Zhaoruo gazed at the setting sun outside the window, her heart felt icy cold.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
