"Fu Xiaohan, please put him down, I'm begging you. You like this coral hairpin, right? I'll give it to you. Please put the prince down, okay?"
Upon hearing Cui Yulu's words, Fu Xiaohan suddenly stopped laughing and turned to look at Cui Yulu.
She held out a coral hairpin to him with both hands, but he didn't like it at all, even finding it somewhat repulsive, as it was something his mother liked.
This hairpin carries too many happy and unhappy memories, some of which he doesn't want to face.
"Hmph, you can keep it yourself, I don't need it."
After saying that, he left without looking back. Not long after, the jailer outside came and put Fu Xiaoyu down.
"Brother jailer, could you please give me a better mat?"
Cui Yulu secretly took out a silver ingot from her bosom and stuffed it into the jailer's hand. At first, the jailer refused, but remembering Fu Xiaohan's instructions not to mistreat them, he glanced at the silver ingot one last time, nodded, said "wait" and hurriedly left.
The dungeon door was locked again. Cui Yulu didn't see Lin Yun there, and didn't know how he was doing.
"You shouldn't have come here. I'll find a way to get you out of here."
Fu Xiaoyu spoke with difficulty; his voice was hoarse, and his expression was somewhat listless.
Cui Yulu didn't know what to say, but tears kept falling down her face. Thinking of the days she spent with him and the comfort he gave her when she was down, Cui Yulu felt a pang of sadness.
As tears fell silently onto the wounds on his bare upper body, Fu Xiaoyu frowned slightly.
"Why are you crying? I won't die. Have you forgotten what I told you? When I was fighting on the battlefield, I was also wounded, but I was still just a good person, wasn't I?"
The more he tried to comfort her, the harder she cried, her tears falling on him like beads from a broken string.
"You're injured like this, and you still say you'll get better? I think you're just being stubborn."
Cui Yulu finished speaking haltingly, sounding somewhat angry. Upon hearing her voice, Fu Xiaoyu finally smiled.
Cui Yulu looked at him with heartache and secretly took out some spiritual spring water to feed him.
Just then, the jailer brought over a thicker mat, and Cui Yulu struggled to move him onto it.
"I'm going to clean your wound now. It might hurt a little, so please bear with it."
"It's not necessary. If Fu Xiaohan finds out, he won't let you off the hook."
After drinking the water, Fu Xiaoyu finally had some strength, and her voice became more confident.
"Go and check on Xiao Fan. He must be terrified. I'm fine here for now."
Cui Yulu knew he would say that, but to put his mind at ease, she obediently went to Fu Xiaofan's side.
His body was still trembling, and he huddled in the corner, too afraid to look up.
It's clear that this emperor has been well protected, and he's obviously a soft-hearted person. A soft-hearted person is not suitable to be an emperor.
Cui Yulu pulled his hand, and Fu Xiaofan stared blankly at the coral hairpin in Cui Yulu's hair, asking, "Are you the woman Fourth Brother likes?"
"Your Majesty is mistaken. I am the prince's adopted sister, not the person he loves."
"No, don't call me Emperor. I don't want to be Emperor, I don't want to be."
Fu Xiaofan became agitated again, waving his hands repeatedly to refuse Cui Yulu's treatment.
Left with no other choice, Cui Yulu had to press his pressure point to induce sleep, making it easier for her to treat him.
After briefly taking his pulse and examining his body to confirm there were no external injuries, I fed him some spiritual spring water and gave him some calming and nourishing medicine so he could have a good night's sleep and feel much better tomorrow.
Fu Xiaoyu wanted to move his body to give the cushion he was on to Fu Xiaofan, but his injuries were too severe, and every time he moved, the wounds would bleed.
After Cui Yulu sprinkled some insect repellent and rat-repelling powder around Fu Xiaofan, she saw Fu Xiaoyu moving on the ground.
"Didn't I tell you not to move around? Why are you so disobedient?"
Cui Yulu spoke a little harshly because she felt sorry for him, but then she realized she had gone too far when she thought about how he was still injured.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken so loudly."
"No, it's okay, there's no need for us to apologize to each other."
Cui Yulu wiped the blood off his face and applied the wound medicine to his wounds.
"It might hurt a little, just bear with it."
"Don't be busy, sit next to me and talk to me. It feels like it's been a long time since I've seen you, and I have so much to tell you."
Hearing this, Cui Yulu felt a pang of sadness, and her nose stung with tears.
"It's all my fault for taking so long to come and save you. If only I had come sooner."
"How can you blame yourself? You should blame me. This trip to Kyoto dragged you into this mess. It was really my fault."
Cui Yulu was moved, but who could have foreseen this calamity?
With the candlelight flickering, Fu Xiaoyu was finally able to see the woman's face clearly. She was still as playful and cute as ever, exactly the same as he remembered.
This time, he reached out and touched her face; it was soft and plump, like a baby's face.
Cui Yulu didn't know what his purpose was in doing this, but seeing that he was injured, she didn't refuse.
"How about I tell you all my secrets today? After we get out, go back to the foreign land; it'll be safer there. Also, there's a mountain called Floating Cloud Mountain on the border between our two countries. It has a gold mine there, and if I can't get out, it will belong to you. I've already written the contract..."
Cui Yulu realized that he was making his final arrangements, so she quickly reached out and covered his mouth.
“I didn’t hear what you just said. If you want to tell me a secret, tell me about what happened between you and Fu Xiaohan, and also tell me the story of this coral hairpin.”
Cui Yulu stared at him with her big eyes, and used a handkerchief dipped in some spiritual spring water to wipe his eyes, which could reduce the swelling and pain in his red and swollen eyes.
Fu Xiaoyu held her hand and murmured, "Don't wipe anymore, rest for a while. You can leave tomorrow. I will ask Fu Xiaohan to send you out."
Cui Yulu lost her temper, shook off his hand, and said angrily, "Fine, fine, you're the hero. We all need your protection, but you never need anyone else, okay? You don't need to beg Fu Xiaohan. I have my own way to get out. You can just wait here to die."
After saying these words in a hurry, Cui Yulu walked to the entrance of the dungeon and kept her distance from him.
Fu Xiaoyu only moved her lips, but didn't say a word. Her eyes were fixed on her legs, and her expression was desolate.
But when she saw Fu Xiaoyu's forlorn figure, she felt that she had gone too far.
He was only trying to help himself, and I shouldn't have gotten angry at him.
But the thought of how I wanted to save him so badly, while he seemed determined to die, filled me with sadness.
"If I had known you didn't want to live, I should have stayed in the foreign land and been a saint, living a life of being revered by all. Why did I have to come to this dark place to suffer? I must be crazy."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com