Someone come here! Apply the medicine!
"Yes, right! It seems that the general was the one who fought in the northern frontier that year!" Hu Xingche suddenly realized as well.
"I remember that year the late emperor ordered my father to lead an expedition to the northern frontier. At that time, the northern frontier was in turmoil, and my father fought for more than a year but was unable to completely quell it. Moreover, in that same year, the situation in the Shuo Dynasty changed drastically. The late emperor died suddenly, and the crown prince at the time—"
Tang Qi suddenly paused: "Emperor Ming wasn't the crown prince back then, right?"
He looked at Hu Xingche, who simply shook his head in surprise: "I don't know."
That was over a decade ago. Not to mention Hu Xingche, even Tang Qi was only a few years old back then. At an age when remembering who the reigning emperor was would earn praise for being smart, who would care about so much?
"How did the late emperor pass away?" Tang Qi continued to mutter to himself, seemingly lost in thought, while Hu Xingche beside him simply chewed on his plate and watched silently.
—At that time, he couldn't even walk.
"Tiger, go to Luocheng for me." Tang Qi suddenly snapped out of his reverie and looked up sharply at Hu Xingche.
Hu Xingche, who was drinking water, was startled by the man's words and coughed repeatedly, but still managed to say, "Go...go to Luocheng? What for? Boss, do you want me to go to the Marquis of Jianbei's residence?"
Tang Qi shook his head and continued, "I asked you to go find someone."
"Who?" Hu Xingche asked.
"Cheng Wang".
As soon as Tang Qi finished speaking, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Tang Qi, lying on the bed, stared blankly at the person who came in.
Hu Xingche stared blankly at the person standing at the door for half a second, then scratched his head and said, "Boss, it seems we don't need to look anymore."
"You were looking for me?" Cheng Junshi heard his name as soon as he pushed open the door. He made eye contact with Tang Qi across the room, then stopped at the door. He only walked in after seeing Tang Qi give him a big laugh.
"Cheng Wang! I've discovered that we're truly on the same wavelength. I was just thinking about you, and the next moment you appeared at my door."
As Tang Qi spoke, she deliberately covered her chest with her hand, frowned, and looked at Cheng Junshi warily, saying, "Tell me honestly, can you hear my thoughts?"
Cheng Junshi put his things on the table and rolled his eyes at him as usual, saying, "I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at your face. Do you really need to listen to your thoughts? Do you think you're hiding your feelings well?"
Tang Qi chuckled and beckoned Cheng Junshi over. But as Cheng Junshi slowly walked over, Tang Qi pulled his arm and stopped him in front of him.
"Hiss." The movement was so big that Tang Qi let out a soft cry, but he didn't care at all. He smiled happily at Cheng Junshi and said, "Now guess what I'm thinking?"
Cheng Junshi was pulled so hard he couldn't move and could only squat down, forced to stare into Tang Qi's eyes.
In fact, he had very beautiful eyes, with amber pupils and peach blossom eyes. From childhood, Tang Qi was always the one surrounded by people, laughing the most brightly and happily. His energy seemed to be inexhaustible. Sometimes he was noisy, sometimes he was happy, and he never seemed lonely or sad. It seemed that he was born to be the protagonist in the crowd.
Cheng Junshi, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He was a loner, as if covered by a layer of frost, resembling a solitary traveler in the world. Yet, it was precisely this solitary traveler who would stop for the scorching sun.
"I'm wondering if Cheng Wang knows what I'm thinking?"
Tang Qi was stunned. She leaned back and couldn't help but shout in surprise, "Cheng Wang! You can't really read minds, can you?!"
Cheng Wang chuckled softly, then pulled his arm away from Tang Qi's grasp and walked back to the table. Amid Tang Qi's shocked expression and tone, he calmly continued, "No, I was just guessing."
"You guessed so accurately! Cheng Wang, I realize I really underestimated you before."
Cheng Junshi simply smiled faintly and didn't say anything more.
Even without uttering a sound, Tang Qi could decipher what Cheng Junshi was saying simply by reading his lip movements. This wasn't because Cheng Junshi possessed any special abilities, but simply because he had observed so much and for so long.
However, these things could not be told to Tang Qi.
Cheng Junshi brought over several packets of medicine. He untied the rope and just as he opened the medicine shop, Hu Xingche, with remarkable foresight, grabbed the medicine and said, "Um... Shaoqing, I'll go and brew this medicine. You can stay here for a while longer."
Cheng Junshi, of course, would not refuse to let Hu Xingche take the medicine from his hand, and then very helpfully closed the door behind him. Before leaving, he winked at Tang Qi and gave up all the space.
Cheng Junshi took two steps and sat down next to Tang Qi. Tang Qi's line of sight was just enough to see the hem of his clothes—spotless and impeccably neat.
Tang Qi sheepishly tucked the wrinkled corner of her clothes that was sticking out inside her clothes.
"What do you want?"
"How old were you when the late emperor was alive?" Tang Qi asked.
Cheng Junshi frowned: "Isn't it similar to yours? Why are you asking this?"
"Do you still remember what the late emperor died about?" Tang Qi continued.
These words made Cheng Junshi's face fall, and he thought about it carefully for a while before slowly saying, "Died of illness."
"Died of illness?" Tang Qi frowned and asked again, "Are you sure?"
"This happened more than a decade ago. At the time, the rumor was that the late emperor died suddenly, and it was announced that he died of illness. As for the specific reasons, only those who were in the palace at the time probably knew."
Cheng Junshi still didn't understand why Tang Qi was asking this question.
"I remember that our current emperor was made crown prince and ascended the throne after the late emperor's sudden death." Tang Qi continued to speak to himself, "But I clearly remember that he wasn't the crown prince at that time. Why didn't the crown prince succeed to the throne when the late emperor died suddenly? Why was the emperor, who was still the second prince at the time, chosen instead?"
"Because the Crown Prince also died of illness. Even before the late Emperor passed away, there were rumors in the palace that the late Emperor died of a sudden attack of anger, which caused his heart to rush to his head." Cheng Junshi spoke up, resolving Tang Qi's doubts.
"The Crown Prince also died of illness?" Tang Qi was shocked, the doubt in his eyes still lingering. He swallowed hard and then said, "How could it be such a coincidence?"
"When His Majesty made his will, had the Crown Prince already passed away?" Tang Qi continued to ask.
"Probably, otherwise why would they choose a different heir?" Cheng Junshi replied from the side.
After he finished speaking, Tang Qi fell silent again, his expression calm as he continued to think. Cheng Junshi looked at his back.
Tang Qi was still wrapped in bandages, with only half of his body showing through his clothes. Because of the injury on his back, Tang Qi's belt was not tight, and his clothes were loose and you could see what was underneath at a glance.
Cheng Junshi coughed lightly and awkwardly looked away.
"I always feel something is strange. There was no news of the late emperor being unwell at that time, so how could he suddenly die after the crown prince passed away?" Tang Qi said, resting his chin on his two fists.
"How could news of the Emperor's illness be so easily spread? You're being far too unrealistic."
"But I just find it strange—Cheng Wang, why are you turning your head that way?" Tang Qi looked up and saw Cheng Junshi turning away and asked in confusion.
Cheng Junshi had no choice but to turn back to look at Tang Qi again, his voice tinged with irritation: "What's wrong? Is something strange?"
"Think about it, the late emperor was a pioneer who expanded the territory and saw all kinds of storms. If he was really ill at the time, he should have prepared his will long ago on his deathbed. But what did he do at the last moment?"
Tang Qi stared intently at Cheng Junshi, but Cheng Junshi unconsciously swallowed hard: "What did you do?"
"Send my father to the north!" Tang Qi suddenly became excited, pulling so hard that half of his arm almost fell apart. He clutched his shoulder and couldn't help but groan a few times.
"Are you afraid you're not badly injured enough? Just behave yourself and don't move around!" Cheng Junshi couldn't help but say a few words, then walked up to Tang Qi, lifted his clothes, and glanced at the bandages underneath: "How badly are you injured?"
"Oh, it's nothing serious—hiss," Tang Qi smiled generously at him, "It'll be fine soon."
"Don't you need to change this medicine?" Cheng Junshi put down his hand that was picking at Tang Qi's clothes, his voice falling over Tang Qi's head: "The bandage is soaked with blood, what kind of rotting do you want to look like?"
"Oh right, you reminded me. It seems like it's time to change the dressing now." Tang Qi raised his chin and pointed in a direction for Cheng Junshi, then winked at Cheng Junshi and said with a smile, "The medicine and the new bandage are over there."
Cheng Junshi followed his gaze, then froze, saying incredulously, "I...you want me to change it for you?"
"Otherwise what? I can't change it myself in my current state—Cheng Wang, we've been through thick and thin together for a while, can't you really bear to watch a patient like me apply the medicine myself?"
Tang Qi, caught up in his acting, spoke in an increasingly pitiful voice, while Cheng Junshi panicked and said, "That's not what I meant, I meant—"
"Thank you for your hard work, Young Master Cheng!" Tang Qi immediately cut off his hesitant words.
Cheng Junshi was completely cornered by Tang Qi's words and had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to get the medicine and new bandages that Tang Qi pointed to. As soon as he got them and turned around, he saw that Tang Qi had already torn off his belt and thrown it aside. The tattered clothes instantly became loose. The key thing was that this guy still didn't realize anything and looked at him with bright eyes. Cheng Junshi felt his breathing become heavy.
Cheng Junshi didn't know what he was thinking as he sat down by Tang Qi's bed and carefully took off his clothes. Cheng Junshi only felt his heart pounding, as if some unspeakable emotion was about to burst forth, but he was still rational enough to suppress it and not let it show at all—at least now was not the time.
"If the late emperor was ill at the time, why would he have thought of sending my father to the northern frontier? The war in the northern frontier would not end anytime soon, and the late emperor could not have been unaware of this. Therefore, on his deathbed, the late emperor would never have gone to fight a battle he was not confident of winning."
Tang Qi had already sat cross-legged on the bed, stretched out his hands to make a big "X" shape, and asked Cheng Junshi to change the bandages on his wounds. He continued to ramble on and on.
Cheng Junshi's hands were warm, but when they brushed against Tang Qi's back, he was still startled by the heat. His breath hit Tang Qi's back and bounced back, landing directly on his face. Cheng Junshi's face instantly turned red.
"Though everything changes, the spirit remains serene and tranquil. Untouched by worldly dust or defilement, unblemished by vulgarity. All things are one. Amidst falling blossoms and leaves, the heart remains open and humble..."
After reciting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra in his heart, Cheng Junshi felt much more comfortable.
He continued to carefully avert his gaze, trying to avoid touching Tang Qi with his hands as he unwrapped the bandage. Tang Qi naturally noticed his cautiousness and laughed heartily, saying, "Cheng Wang, why are you being so careful? It's nothing if the wound gets touched. It'll make me feel terrible."
Cheng Junshi remained silent, his mind at ease, but a sense of bitterness settled in his heart.
It might not kill you with pain, but it could kill me.
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