Chapter 86 Big Mistake

Sui Yan didn't have much strength to begin with due to his illness. He only cried for a short while while holding Duan Mingchong before dropping his hands in exhaustion.

His eyes were filled with mist and tears were falling, but he still struggled to grab Duan Mingchong's hand.

Duan Mingchong's eyes were slightly red. He gently wiped the tears from his face and said softly, "I'm staying here and not going anywhere."

Sui Yan took a few quick breaths and choked up as he spoke, "Your Highness... am I going to die?"

Duan Mingchong took a breath and coaxed him in a softer voice: "You will be fine, it's just a minor illness. You will get better soon after taking the medicine."

Sui Yan's voice was filled with tears, as if she didn't believe him, but she still wanted an answer to put her mind at ease: "But I made a big mistake..."

Duan Mingchong held his hand and gently rubbed it against his face, suppressing the sadness in his eyes and said in a hoarse voice: "I am wrong, it has always been me."

If I hadn't been so indecisive and unable to tell right from wrong, you wouldn't have had to suffer all this pain.

It was unknown whether Sui Yan heard what he said or not. He shook his head gently and kept saying in a crying voice that he had made a mistake.

Duan Mingchong brushed the sweaty black hair on his cheek aside, leaned down and kissed the corner of his lips lightly, like a dragonfly touching the water, but for a moment, the somewhat confused Sui Yan was stunned where he was.

He looked at him blankly with tearful eyes.

Duan Mingchong lowered his trembling eyelashes and whispered, "With me here, are you still afraid?"

Sui Yan was stunned for a long time before shaking his head in astonishment.

"No, I'm not afraid."

Duan Mingchong smiled softly, touched Sui Yan's forehead and said, "Be good."

Sui Yan hooked Duan Mingchong's sleeves, knuckles turning white from the force, and after Duan Mingchong comforted him like a child, tears began to fall uncontrollably.

Duan Mingchong turned his head and said to Haitang beside him: "Bring the medicine."

Jun Jingxing and Sui Xun had left the inner room without her knowing when. Haitang was frightened by Duan Mingchong's kiss and broke out in a cold sweat. She stood there for a long time before she suddenly shuddered and ran away in fear.

Sui Yan's vision was blurred, but he kept staring at Duan Mingchong, as if he was afraid that he would disappear.

After a while, Haitang came over with the new medicine and handed it to Duan Mingchong timidly. Without waiting for Duan Mingchong to say anything, she ran away.

Duan Mingchong's heart and eyes were filled with Sui Yan, and he had no time to care about anyone else.

He added a soft pillow behind Sui Yan's pillow and let the weak and powerless Sui Yan lean on it, then he picked up the medicine.

Sui Yan couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality at this moment, he just stared at him closely.

Duan Mingchong stirred it with a spoon, lowered his head and took a sip. When he felt it was not so hot anymore, he said softly, "It's not bitter. Just drink a little."

Sui Yan had been ill for too long, his lips were pale and cracked, and when the spoon was passed to his lips, he instinctively turned his head to avoid it, but because he had no strength left, Duan Mingchong fed him.

Sui Yan said vaguely: "No..."

He took a sip and then struggled to spit it out.

Duan Mingchong said: "Don't vomit..."

Before he could finish, Sui Yan leaned over and vomited.

Duan Mingchong held Sui Yan in his arms and let him lean against him. He wiped the medicine stains on Sui Yan's lips without getting dirty. When Sui Yan came back to sleep, he said softly, "Can you drink another sip?"

Sui Yan instinctively wanted to shake his head, but he felt Duan Mingchong lower his head slightly and kissed the corner of his lips again.

Sui Yan looked up at him blankly.

Duan Mingchong said: "I just drank a little, very well behaved."

In fact, most of what Sui Yan drank was vomited out, and there was no such thing as drinking anything at all. However, Sui Yan himself was so sick and groggy that he believed his words in a trance.

Sui Yan murmured, "Okay."

Duan Mingchong chuckled and fed him another mouthful gently.

This time, Sui Yan did not resist as before. He obediently bit the spoon and forced himself to swallow the bitter medicine bit by bit.

Duan Mingchong waited for a while and found that Sui Yan didn't seem to want to vomit again, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

He was about to feed her again with the spoon, but Sui Yan weakly tugged at his sleeve.

"Your Highness?"

Duan Mingchong lowered his eyes: "Hmm?"

He responded and handed the spoon of medicine over, but Sui Yan turned his head away again.

Duan Mingchong's heart was lifted again: "What's wrong?"

Sui Yan tilted his head slightly and said blankly: "I... I took another sip. Am I being naughty?"

Duan Mingchong looked at him in confusion, and it took him a long time to realize what Sui Yan meant.

He sighed helplessly, then lowered his head and kissed the corner of his lips.

This trick was indeed effective. From then on, no matter how much medicine Duan Mingchong fed him, as long as he gave him a rewarding kiss after Sui Yan swallowed the bitter medicine, he would force himself not to spit it out.

By the time he was fed a bowl of medicine, Duan Mingchong had some sweat on his forehead.

Sui Yan leaned in Duan Mingchong's arms, frowning and breathing weakly. Just drinking a bowl of medicine had exhausted all his strength.

Duan Mingchong put down the empty medicine bowl and gently placed Sui Yan on the couch.

Sui Yan was startled from his half-sleep. He opened his eyes weakly and looked at Duan Mingchong in panic.

"Are you leaving?"

Duan Mingchong hurriedly grabbed his hand and said, "I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere."

Sui Yan looked at him with half belief and half doubt, but his body could no longer bear it and he fell into a deep sleep with his head tilted to the side.

Duan Mingchong had been sitting beside the couch, holding Sui Yan's hand, staring at his pale and weak face with cold eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Sui Xun had already drunk two cups of cold tea in the outer room, and tried hard to suppress the urge to break in.

Jun Jingxing held a box of medicinal incense in his hands, looked at the pearl curtain with a frown, and thought for a long time before walking in with an expressionless face.

As soon as he entered, before he could say anything, Duan Mingchong, who had his back to him, whispered, "Get lost."

Jun Jingxing choked, and his hands holding the wooden box suddenly exerted force, his knuckles turned white, and his jaw was clenched.

Duan Mingchong sat beside the couch, gently grasping Sui Yan's hand and holding it in his warm palm, as if he was going to sit there until dark.

Jun Jingxing took a deep breath and said, "His illness cannot be cured by coaxing him a few words or drinking a few sips of medicine. Your Highness, you should know the toxicity of stigma better than I do. He was lucky to be able to save his life back then. Do you think he will still be able to survive if he continues to endure like this?"

Duan Mingchong didn't even look at him, still staring at Sui Yan's face. He said calmly: "You can't save him, which only shows that you are incompetent."

Jun Jingxing: "You..."

Duan Mingchong said: "There are many doctors in the world who are more skilled than you. If you really insist that the medicine that damages the body can save him, then there is no need for you."

Jun Jingxing looked at him in amazement.

Duan Mingchong then turned his head gently, and his originally gentle eyes were now ice-cold. When he looked at people indifferently, Jun Jingxing felt a chill down to his bones.

Duan Mingchong said: "I still say the same thing, if you destroy him, you will be buried with him."

Jun Jingxing tightly grasped the wooden box and said through gritted teeth: "These meaningless things, could it be that... they are more important than his life?"

Duan Mingchong said: "Yes."

Cold sweat ran down Sui Yan's forehead. He must have had a nightmare again. Duan Mingchong wiped the sweat off his face. His voice was soft and gentle, but the words he said were chilling.

"I would rather strangle him now than let him go crazy for the rest of his life."

Jun Jingxing said with difficulty: "You...you are really a lunatic..."

Upon hearing this, Duan Mingchong actually laughed softly, his eyes curved, as gentle as ever.

"If you let A-Yan choose for himself, he certainly wouldn't choose your damn medicinal fragrance."

Jun Jingxing looked unhappy, but he couldn't refute it - according to his understanding of Sui Yan, such a proud and unruly person would rather die of illness than go crazy all his life just to save his life.

Duan Mingchong opened his thin lips and said softly, "So, get out."

The medicine box in Jun Jingxing's hand fell to the ground. He stood there stiffly for a long time before turning around and leaving in a panic.

Sui Yan lay on the soft couch, unaware of the confrontation between the two.

Ever since he became ill, whenever he closed his eyes, he would fall into a nightmare from which he could never escape.

In that bizarre dream, in his previous life, he was wearing a purple robe and holding an umbrella while walking in a vast snowfield. Behind him was the vast snow-covered ground, leaving no trace.

Soon, he walked up countless steps and arrived in front of a Buddhist temple.

The morning bell rang, echoing through the quiet mountains.

Yue Jian stood behind him wearing a large red cape and said calmly, "You don't believe in Buddhism, but you come here every year. Why is that?"

Sui Wanggui raised his head slightly, looked at the half of the Buddha's body covered by snow, and said with a smile: "If I don't believe it, can't I come?"

Yue Jiandao: "The gods and Buddhas may not be interested in the offerings from those who do not believe in Buddhism."

Sui Wanggui chuckled: "Buddha has mercy on me, how can you be so mean?"

Yue Jian did not laugh. He tilted his head to look at the golden Buddha in front of him and said, "What did you mean by asking Master Geng Xue a few days ago?"

Will gods and Buddhas punish those who commit suicide?

Sui Wanggui said, "It's nothing, I just asked casually."

A monk braved the snow and came forward to hand the lit incense to Sui Yan.

Sui Wangui took it, nodded slightly and lowered his eyes, which was considered a greeting. He casually handed the incense back to the monk and watched the monk insert the incense into the cauldron full of incense ash.

The white mist curled up and intertwined with the falling snow.

When Sui Wanggui opened his eyes again, he found himself in the desolate palace.

Song Xian left in a hurry, and the wine glass filled with infamy was thrown to the ground by Sui Yan casually. It broke into pieces and flickered in the candlelight.

Sui Wanggui lay on the couch, humming an unknown tune, and after a while he said with a smile: "You're here to see me off?"

Yue Jian said: "I will collect the body for you."

Sui Wanggui just thought it was funny. He made a few jokes casually before lowering his eyes to look at his pale palm and whispered, "I'm going to die."

Yue Jian sneered and said, "You replaced the cup of infamy that the emperor prepared before. You won't die immediately even if you drink that wine. Don't be so hypocritical."

Sui Wanggui still looked at his hands, and after a while he smiled and said, "Really?"

He tilted his head slightly, blinked his eyes and looked at Yue Jian, and suddenly smiled slyly: "But I stole a bottle of poison from you, did you know that?"

Yue Jian was startled, and then his face turned pale as paper in an instant.

He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Sui Yan's collar, and said coldly: "You... you really don't want to live?"

Sui Wanggui looked at Yue Jian, who was usually cold and aloof, and suddenly became angry. He seemed to find it very funny and he could not help laughing. However, before he could laugh a few times, traces of blood flowed out from the corners of his lips and fell on his clothes like a blooming flower.

Yue Jian looked at his gray face, her anger quickly receded like the tide, she let go of her hand in shock, and looked at him with some despair.

Sui Wanggui smiled until tears were about to burst out. He coughed a few times before he could hold back his laughter and said, "Yue Jian, I always thought you understood me, but why are you so inflexible in this matter?"

Yue Jian gritted her teeth and said, "I don't want you to die..."

Sui Wanggui said, "But what's the point of living?"

Yue Jian did not answer.

"Rather than spending the rest of my life in misery, I'd rather end it now, once and for all, cleanly and thoroughly."

Yue Jian glared at him with gritted teeth.

Sui Wanggui winked at him and said with a smile: "Don't forget what you promised just now, to collect my body."

Yue Jian's eyes were red, and after a while she said in a hoarse voice: "I don't want to collect your body..."

Sui Wanggui leaned on the couch, squinting his eyes and said, "My biggest wish now is to be buried in the ancestral tomb, but I don't know if it can be fulfilled?"

Yue Jian tried to hold back for a long time, but couldn't hold back any more, tears trickled down his cheeks, and he trembled as he said, "I..."

Sui Wanggui added, "But I don't want to be buried in the ancestral tomb. If I go to the underworld and my father, mother, and my two brothers ask me how I've been doing these years, I don't know how to answer them."

"I have become neither human nor ghost, and have turned myself into the most disgusting person I have ever been. How can I face them?"

"Bury me somewhere with beautiful scenery. A small grave will do. I'm not picky."

Yue Jian couldn't listen any more: "Stop talking..."

Sui Wanggui closed his eyes lightly, with a smile on his lips, and said lightly: "Yue Jian, I'm leaving first, don't miss me."

Yue Jian cursed: "I won't..."

Before he finished speaking, he burst into tears.

The wind and snow blew in and soon covered half of his body.

Yue Jian's shoulders were shaking slightly. After an unknown amount of time, he finally calmed down his emotions that were about to collapse and took a deep breath.

"Sui... Yan?"

No one answered.

Yue Jian trembled again and asked, "Forgot to return?"

Sui Wanggui lowered his eyes, his wrist fell on the broken snow on the hem of his clothes, and he was silent.

The wind and snow were blowing, mixed with Yue Jian's sad sobs.

After a long time, Yue Jian said, "Go to sleep."

Go to sleep.

When you fall asleep, you know nothing.

Sui Yan seemed to step on empty air, took a breath, and suddenly opened his eyes.

He suddenly woke up, and Duan Mingchong, who had been watching for half a day, noticed it immediately.

He rushed over, only to find that Sui Yan seemed to be in a state of sleepiness, breathing rapidly as if he was about to die, with fear all over his face.

After a long while, a low sob of despair emanated from his throat.

"I……"

Duan Mingchong hurried to hug him.

Sui Yan's tears fell again. He buried his head in Duan Mingchong's arms and said in a hoarse voice: "I was wrong... I don't want to commit suicide..."

Duan Mingchong was stunned.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, save me..."