Chapter 40 The Truth

At first Duan Mingchong thought that he was half asleep, so he reached out and half held him in his arms, wanting to take him to the bed. But Sui Yan suddenly jumped out of his arms for some reason, and continued to lean on the incense burner, touching the carvings on the incense burner with his hand in a trance.

Duan Mingchong was shocked and hesitant.

The palace maid beside him whispered, "Young Master has been like this for an incense stick. No matter how we persuade him, he won't listen and insists on staying by the incense burner."

Duan Mingchong then realized that something was wrong. He tried to walk forward and touch Sui Yan's forehead, but it was burned wherever his hand touched.

Sui Yan probably felt comfortable, and tilted his head slightly to rub his hand.

"Go find the imperial physician."

The palace maids ran away in a hurry.

Duan Mingchong took a deep breath and whispered, "Ayan, do you still recognize me?"

Sui Yan stared at him blankly, and after a while he said, "Ming, Ming Chong."

Duan Mingchong's voice became softer: "It's cold down there, why don't you go to bed and sleep?"

Sui Yan stared at him blankly, then tilted his head after a while and said, "Then can you give me some incense?"

Duan Mingchong was confused. Light incense?

Duan Mingchong hurriedly coaxed him: "Okay, light the incense, light it right away."

Sui Yan then stretched out a hand to him and said aggrievedly: "I can't stand up, please pull me up."

Duan Mingchong sighed, and simply half-picked him up and finally put him on the bed.

Sui Yan lay on the couch, tossing and turning, mumbling: "Incense, Ming Chong, light the incense."

Duan Mingchong sat beside the couch and held his hand to prevent him from hurting himself, and consoled him, "Okay, okay, I'll light some incense for you right away."

Soon, the palace maid placed the calming incense in the incense burner and lit it.

Sui Yan sniffed it and suddenly got angry, slapping Duan Mingchong's hand away: "This is not my fragrance!"

Duan Mingchong: "What?"

Sui Yan struggled to crawl under the bed, Duan Mingchong quickly held him down, holding his hands in his arms and saying, "A Yan?!"

As the addiction to the medicinal fragrance came on, Sui Yan had very little strength left. After struggling a few times, he was held in Duan Mingchong's arms.

"Ming Chong, Ming Chong..."

He kept calling Duan Mingchong's name softly, crying and laughing at the same time, clamoring for that incense.

Duan Mingchong held him tightly the whole time, and in the chaos he even scratched his neck, leaving a bloody mark.

Not long after, Doctor Meng Yu, who was on duty at the Imperial Hospital, came hurriedly. When he saw Sui Yan's condition, he had someone hold down his hands, examined him from head to toe, and then had someone boil some tranquilizer and gave it to Sui Yan to drink.

It was not until the fifth watch that Sui Yan finally fell into a deep sleep.

Doctor Meng Yu looked worried and said, "Your Highness, it seems that the young marquis is addicted to a certain kind of medicinal fragrance."

Duan Mingchong looked tired and frowned, "Addicted?"

"It's just like Wushisan," Doctor Meng Yu explained. "Maybe the stigma was too toxic at the time, so they had to use this medicinal fragrance to relieve the pain, and they became addicted after a while."

Duan Mingchong was somewhat stunned, and said with difficulty: "Can it be cured...?"

Doctor Meng Yu said, "Looking at the state of the young marquis, it probably won't work for long. When it strikes, it will be just like what happened just now, clamoring for incense. It will be fine if you just endure it. But you can't touch that kind of medicinal incense again in the future."

Duan Mingchong nodded blankly.

After sending Doctor Meng Yu away, Duan Mingchong returned to the side hall.

Sui Yan didn't sleep very well because there was a circle of finger marks on his wrist where he was pinched during the struggle, which was shocking to see.

It was soon time to go to court, and Duan Mingchong had no intention of sleeping. He simply found the ointment, applied it little by little to the fingerprints on Sui Yan's wrist, and then gently wrapped it with a white gauze.

He sat on the edge of the couch and stared at Sui Yan's sleeping face for a long time before he was urged by the palace servants to change into court clothes and go to court.

Sui Yan slept until noon before waking up. He rubbed his eyes dazedly, and when he sat up, he found that his wrist was aching and had been wrapped with a white gauze several times.

He had no recollection of what happened last night, and looked back and forth in confusion. At this moment, Duan Mingchong pushed the door open, saw that he had woken up, and smiled, "It's good that you're awake. The medicine has just been boiled."

Sui Yan was confused: "What medicine?"

Duan Ming Chong asked curiously, "You don't remember?"

"Ah?" Sui Yan lifted the quilt, picked up the clothes beside him and put them on, and said vaguely, "What happened last night? I have a fever again?"

Seeing that Sui Yan didn't look like he remembered, Duan Mingchong nodded calmly and said, "Yeah, that's right."

Sui Yan was helped to wash up and sat at the table obediently.

When the palace maid brought him medicine, he did not make a fuss like he did in the Marquis's Mansion. Instead, he took the medicine very meekly and drank it all up, without even a drop of medicine left.

Duan Mingchong saw that he had finished drinking, and smiled and said, "How about having a medicinal meal at noon?"

Sui Yan was stunned: "Ah? I'm not going back home?"

Duan Mingchong reached out and touched Sui Yan's palm, and found it was a little cold, so he asked someone to bring a small hand warmer and put it in his palm, and said lightly: "I went to your place a few days ago, and heard from the servants that you didn't want to see the imperial physician. What's going on?"

Sui Yan didn't know why he suddenly brought this up, so he blinked and said, "Now that the Fifth Prince is injured, the Imperial Hospital is in a mess. I just have a minor illness and pain, and I can take some medicine. There's no need to bother Doctor Yu to go out of the palace."

Duan Mingchong seemed to have expected this answer, and smiled: "If that's the case, then you should stay in the palace for a few more days. The East Palace is also closer to the residence of the Fifth Brother. Doctor Meng Yu will come by every day to treat you. It won't be a big deal."

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan couldn't understand how the world had become like this after just a nap - yesterday he was still stubbornly staying in the East Palace and was unwilling to leave, but today Duan Mingchong actually took the initiative to keep him, and kept him for many days.

Sui Yan naturally had no objection to being able to be with Duan Mingchong in the East Palace. He nodded and said, "Then Your Majesty..."

When Duan Mingchong heard his agreement, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I have informed my father this morning and he has agreed."

Sui Yan said "Oh" and felt even more confused. He didn't quite understand why Duan Mingchong had made such thorough preparations in advance.

After the meal, Doctor Meng Yu came over again, took the pulse of the reluctant Sui Yan, and left a prescription before leaving.

Sui Yan hated it the most when the imperial physician prescribed medicine for him. He pouted and said, "Your Highness, how long do I have to drink it? It's just a fever, it's not a big deal."

Duan Mingchong smiled: "Don't you like taking medicine?"

Sui Yan whispered, "Who would like to take medicine?"

Duan Mingchong handed the prescription to the palace maid to boil the medicine, and handed the finished cake to Sui Yan, saying, "Then I will accompany you to drink it later."

Sui Yan was lying on the couch by the window, reading a book. Upon hearing this, he almost fell off the couch and stared at Duan Mingchong with wide eyes.

"Your Highness?"

Duan Mingchong asked: "What's wrong?"

Sui Yan saw that he was serious, and hurriedly said, "All medicines are poisonous. Your Highness is in good health, so don't bother with it. I'll drink it, I'll drink it obediently, okay?"

Duan Mingchong covered him with a small blanket and said, "Take good care of your body and don't let your imagination run wild."

Sui Yan lay on the small couch and said innocently, "I'm not having any crazy thoughts."

Duan Mingchong said nothing.

Doctor Meng Yu examined Sui Yan's pulse that day and found two more serious symptoms. One was the cruelty of stigma, and the other was the stagnation of qi due to depression.

If you take good care of the toxins in your body, they can be gradually eliminated, but the other one is not so easy to cure.

Duan Mingchong recalled what Doctor Meng Yu had said, and his face darkened slightly.

"From what I can tell, it seems that the young marquis has been worrying too much for many years and is now depressed. Normally, he may not be in any serious condition, but if the condition gets worse, he may have thoughts of self-harm or suicide."

Doctor Meng Yu's words reminded Duan Mingchong of the banquet in the palace a few years ago, when Sui Yan walked towards the lake like a madman.

Sui Yan usually looked full of energy, and if it weren't for what Doctor Meng Yu said, Duan Mingchong could hardly imagine that he could have symptoms of emotional depression.

“Is there any medicine that can cure it?”

Doctor Meng Yu said in embarrassment: "It depends on you, young master."

Duan Mingchong couldn't understand why Sui Yan, who grew up in a honeypot, would have such wild thoughts for years to the point where he was depressed. And how much of his usual joking and unrestrained behavior was real?

Duan Mingchong took a deep breath and forced a smile after a long while: "It's good not to think too much."

In the afternoon, Duan Mingchong sent someone to the Sui'an Marquis's Mansion to get some replacement clothes. Not long after, two carts of clothes arrived. Those who didn't know would have thought that the young Marquis was going to marry into the East Palace.

Duan Mingchong was also surprised. Seeing the palace maids carrying boxes one by one, he asked hurriedly, "Didn't they say they only needed to carry a few days' worth of supplies? Why did they carry so much?"

The palace maid also looked gloomy: "The housekeeper of Sui'an Marquis's Mansion said that the young marquis is extremely difficult to serve. Even if he is idle every day, he has to change several sets of clothes. He also stuffed all his small toys and snacks into his mouth."

Duan Mingchong: “…”

The servants moved the book carefully in the side hall. Duan Mingchong couldn't send it back, so he sighed and returned to the bedroom. He found Sui Yan covering his face with the book and had fallen asleep without him knowing when.

Duan Mingchong was a little amused and helpless. He was heartless and slept very soundly.

Duan Mingchong gently carried him to the couch and covered him with a quilt. Sui Yan was moved in a daze, but he did not wake up. He murmured something, turned over and continued to sleep.

At this moment, a servant came in holding a box: "Your Highness."

Duan Mingchong snorted at him, lowered the curtain and walked out of the inner room, then asked, "What's in the box?"

The palace maid said, "The housekeeper said it was the incense that the young marquis usually used."

Duan Mingchong's pupils shrank. He walked forward, opened the lid and took a look. Seeing that it seemed to be a brand new incense, he thought of something and closed the lid without changing his expression.

"Don't put it in the side hall yet. Take it to Doctor Meng Yu for a checkup."

The palace maid said, "Yes."

Sui Yan became extremely sleepy after drinking the medicine and slept in a daze for the whole afternoon. In the evening, Duan Mingchong coaxed him into taking some medicine and he fell asleep again.

After Duan Mingchong waited until he fell asleep, he got up and went to the study, where the palace servant who was doing work for him was waiting with a box in his hand.

"What's the problem with the incense?"

The palace maid said, "Dr. Meng Yu said it was just an ordinary tranquilizing incense with a few special herbs added to it, but it won't cause any trouble."

Duan Mingchong nodded: "How is the matter I asked you to investigate going?"

The palace maid put the box down, knelt on one knee, and said in a low voice: "Young Marquis was disgraced at the Third Prince's birthday banquet last year."

Duan Mingchong's hands trembled, and he almost knocked the inkstone to the ground. He said in disbelief: "Duan Zhisu... Isn't he very close to Sui Yan? Why would he want to harm him?"

The palace maid turned pale, kowtowed, and said with difficulty: "The Third Prince doesn't want to harm the young marquis, but you, Your Highness..."

Duan Mingchong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes wide.

He suddenly remembered the wine that he had not had time to drink, and Sui Yan, who was extremely clear-headed the moment before but suddenly became drunk and bumped into him when he was about to drink.

Duan Mingchong figured this out and suddenly felt a chill all over his body.

The reason why Sui Yan is so frail and sickly now is all because...

Because of myself?