Chapter 97 [VIP]
Snowflakes drifted past the vermilion eaves, the cold weather plunging the entire Wei Palace into silence. Icy snowflakes pelted my eyelids; I opened one eye, watching the snowflakes slowly fall before my eyes.
My knees felt incredibly heavy; the ice shards seeped into them layer by layer, penetrating deep into the snow. The laughter of palace maids and guards drifted from afar. A barrage of cold stares, accompanied by mocking, sarcastic remarks, pressed down on my back, heavier than the snowflakes themselves.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, snow fell in Shengjing. Only a month had passed since his seventeenth birthday. He knelt on the ground, dazed and confused, having just celebrated his birthday a few days prior… and now he was back here. Why had he returned? He had never been trapped in snow before. Never.
He soon found out.
A bamboo umbrella was unfurled not far away, and the young man's figure appeared under the eaves. The newcomer's appearance was as pure as snow, and his deep brown eyes blended into his kneeling figure, filled with boundless pity. His pale fingers rested on the edge of the umbrella, which tilted towards him.
"elder brother--"
Upon seeing the person approaching, all his physical sensations vanished. The bitter cold of the snow, the stinging pain of his eyes about to burst, and the piercing pain running down his knees—all those aches disappeared. His body regained its mobility, and he instinctively moved towards the young man.
"Brother Changyou—"
He lunged at the young man, touching his soft, warm body, and the young man caught him. Before he could even speak, the young man vanished from his embrace.
The snow disappeared in an instant, and dark clouds shrouded the palace. The gray-black sky looked as if it had been coated with foam, with rain hanging down. The rain grew denser and denser, weaving an impenetrable net through the palace.
The palace maids and guards beside him had all disappeared. He looked at the vermilion city walls on both sides. The palace had become a silent city. The trumpet creeper on the palace wall was faintly visible in the rain, quietly stretching its branches.
"Brother Changyou—"
"elder brother--"
"elder brother--"
He walked along the road calling the young man's name. The palace suddenly seemed chaotic and disorderly to him. He didn't know where the roads led, nor where his brother was. The harder he shouted, the more his voice pierced through the entire palace, echoing layer upon layer, as if he were the only person left there.
With a deafening crash, a bolt of lightning pierced the clouds and struck the red plum tree, splitting it in two. The sudden brightness of the sky brought light to the window, and he arrived outside Fangze Palace, where he saw a figure by the window. The torrential rain lashed his face, and the old wound in his heart, which had been healing, suddenly reopened, returning to the moment it had been pierced.
The actor's shrill voice echoed in his ears, and his fear shone through the darkness. The intertwined shadows transformed into an endless, eerie nightmare, clinging to him in a damp, sticky embrace, dragging him toward a swamp of terror.
"I killed your parents and brothers. You should ask your father why he mistreated my Xie Prince's Mansion before. I will spare your life today. If you want to live, go to the city wall and see how your elder sister's corpse was eaten by wild dogs. Three days later, I will send guards to bring you back. You can continue to be the Ninth Prince in the palace."
Father, mother, elder brother, eldest sister.
His father's and brother's heads were hung on the city wall, and his eldest sister's body was slowly rotting. There was so much blood. He knelt beside the snow and watched the blood slowly flow from his eldest sister's body, from his father's and brother's eyes. He sensed something cold and cruel growing within him.
A twisted heart grew from the cold, fearful mud.
He wanted to set the entire palace ablaze, burning it to the ground.
He watched as the King of Wei emerged from the palace, followed by two figures, Song Zhao and Xiao Qi standing guard behind him, and countless other figures behind them. These people wove a magnificent and exquisite cage, trapping the young man within.
"elder brother--"
Murong Yue suddenly opened his eyes. In his dream, he saw a young man imprisoned in a palace, a nightmare that jolted him awake. His heart pounded violently, almost leaping out of his chest. His eyes were bloodshot, and he gasped for breath, fear controlling his body as he slowly rose to his feet, all his senses gone.
He's going to find someone.
"Brother...brother...brother..."
His broken wrist was wrapped in gauze, and his abdomen was stained bright red from his movements. His exhausted body was sluggish and heavy from the strenuous activity. His fingers were swollen and shiny like buns from being frozen in the snow for days. His eyes were covered with a layer of haze pierced by the snow, and his canine teeth were almost shattered from the cold.
A loud "clang" was heard.
Fang opened the door to the room, where a beautifully woven fur carpet covered the floor. He placed his hands on the door, and Hongying and Lanyue, who were guarding outside, heard the noise and quickly came in.
"His Highness has woken up... Go quickly and inform the King."
"Your Highness...?"
Murong Yue couldn't hear what the two were saying; his thoughts were in a state of chaos, his mind filled with images from his dream. All his actions ceased to be conscious, driven solely by his subconscious. He needed to find someone, to see his brother. Nothing else mattered.
The architecture of the Hu people differed greatly from that of the Wei Palace. He left the room and touched unfamiliar beams and pillars. A fox statue atop one of them stared down at him with its eyes raised. He touched the fox's eyes and recognized that this pillar was different from the one in his dream. His body instinctively sensed that this was not Fangze Palace.
"Brother Changyou—"
When Jaeger arrived, he saw this scene. The awakened boy was clearly disoriented, clinging to a pillar in his palace, shouting incessantly. His movements were filled with a stubbornness, yet also carried a ridiculous absurdity. He watched for a long time, noticing that the blood had soaked through the gauze in the boy's abdomen, and the wound that had just healed the day before was about to reopen.
"Is this how it is when you wake up?" he asked.
Hongying: "Lanyue and I heard the commotion outside. After His Highness woke up, he wanted to go out, and we couldn't stop him no matter what we did... Now he seems to be unable to listen to anything we say."
Without saying a word, Yeger stepped forward and approached his crazed nephew, striking the boy on the neck with a palm strike that knocked him unconscious.
“If he wakes up and is still acting crazy, just knock him out,” Jaeger said.
Hongying: "...Yes."
The unconscious boy clung tightly to the pillar, his strength so great that it took Hongying and Lanyue a great deal of effort to bring him back to the room.
Upon hearing that the man had woken up, Wei Ning rushed to Murong Yue's room. When she arrived, the man had fainted again, and she only saw Hong Ying and Lan Yue tending to Murong Yue's wounds.
Hongying said to Wei Ning, "Miss Wei, don't worry. We're here to watch over things. His Highness's injuries will heal soon. If you have time, Miss Wei, why don't you go and see the King? He's been very worried about you lately."
Worried about her? Wei Ning didn't think so. She already knew the relationship between the Hu King and His Highness, so she could rest assured that he was here. However, the Hu King's reluctance to make any demands was what was causing concern.
Hongying and Lanyue stood guard outside Murong Yue's room, and he woke up several times. Each time he woke up, his face was filled with terror, as if he had just had a terrible nightmare, and his mind seemed not to have returned to normal. Following Yege's instructions, they knocked the boy unconscious before he recovered.
"Brother Changyou—"
The cool moonlight shone on his face, and Lu Xuejin suddenly woke up. In his dream, he seemed to hear His Highness calling his name. Thinking of His Highness, he was lost in thought for a long time, noticing several cracks appearing in his calm heart. The moonlight seemed too distant, too unattainable, yet it stirred up a few unsettling emotions within him.
Wei Ning has already written to him, confirming that His Highness is safe and sound and is currently with the King of Hu, so there's no need to worry. However, not being able to see him in person still causes concern for the young man's condition. He is no longer a child, but His Highness is still a child; how can he not worry?
I wonder how badly he's injured? Has he woken up yet? Is he angry because he left? Has he been eating properly? Has he been listening to his uncle?
A pair of innocent, fan-shaped eyes flashed in his mind, their handsome and adorable appearance impossible to erase. He watched as His Highness transformed into a lively doll, circling around him, only to soon revert to his volatile temper, smashing everything in his anger.
The more he thought about it, the more worried he became, and he couldn't sleep because he was worried about His Highness.
They were almost at the capital. Shengjing remained unchanged. Song Zhao had already written a letter, inviting him and Xue Yi back to the palace. He pushed open the door of the inn, intending to go downstairs for a walk, when he saw another figure reflected in the doorway.
Xue Yi stood silently under the eaves, and when he heard the noise, he looked over. The two of them looked at each other and paused for a moment.
“Brother?” he asked.
Xue Yi: "I don't know why... I had insomnia tonight, so I decided to go for a walk. Did I disturb Changyou's rest?"
“Never,” he said.
"The night is too long... I was thinking of going out for a walk, but I didn't expect my brother to be here too."
Xue Yi asked him, "Changyou, would you like to come with me?"
He followed Xue Yi downstairs, watching Xue Yi's back as he walked away. Xue Yi was much thinner than before due to his illness, and the inn was utterly silent in the dead of night, save for the sound of their footsteps. Xue Yi held a lamp in his hand, illuminating the path beneath their feet.
“We were on Mount Buwen before, and the moonlight that day was just like today,” Xue Yi said.
The fifteenth day of the lunar month has passed, yet the moon still hangs round in the sky, casting a hazy, indistinct glow. Its light envelops the sleeping flowers and grasses, creating a serene beauty that gently lulls all things to sleep.
“It’s really not much different from today,” he said.
Upon hearing this, Xue Yi looked at him. His handsome face softened considerably, and his sickly air was completely suppressed by affection. His dark eyes, like ink on paper, transformed into the boundless darkness of night, enveloping him like a plant bathed in moonlight.
"How are you feeling today, brother?" he asked.
Xue Yi: "I am much better now... This is the only time I've had insomnia recently. Perhaps it's because I'm in sync with Changyou. I used to be plagued by nightmares in the palace, but recently all those nightmares have disappeared."
"Why can't Changyou sleep? Is it because he's thinking about his father and mother?"
He stopped, gazed quietly at the person before him, and replied, "...There are always times when I can't sleep, no matter the season."
"It looks like it's almost dawn, and in about half an hour... the morning market should open," he said.
He watched as blood dripped from the wonton soup bowl, and saw the pustules and blood flowing from Xue Yi's body. The pustules spread from Xue Yi's front, flowing into the shadows, and then down to his feet. When he stepped on them, he could smell a bitter, bloody stench.
"Brother, would you like to go to the morning market for some food?"
Xue Yi walked and stopped frequently, always pausing halfway to look at him when he was ahead. His eyes turned, reflecting his image, and emotions welled up in them, lingering on him and blending him with the moonlight.
"Changyou...is it to compensate me?" Xue Yi asked him.
He paused slightly. The scene from that day was still vivid in his mind. He felt his thoughts had been guessed, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "...It's not necessarily a bad thing not to eat wontons."
Xue Yi: "Changyou was like this when he was young. He could always sense the emotions of the people around him, much more so than ordinary people. I am the same way. I always see Changyou busy. Whether it is feeding the cat with dried fish, escorting the tiger cubs down the mountain, or helping classmates in distress... Although Changyou rarely says what he is going to do, I can always see the reason."
"Changyou always considers the feelings of others, but I always feel that I can hardly reach that level."
Memories of his youth flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't help but say, "My brother has guessed all my thoughts. With that, I feel it's hard for me to reach him."
He sometimes had to admire Xue Yi's keen perception. He had helped countless people, whether they were classmates or women in distress, Xue Yi had never interfered. Only His Highness... when he developed feelings for someone, Xue Yi would notice it before he did.
He was slow to realize it.
Vendors gradually appeared in the streets and alleys, steaming hot buns came out of the oven, steamers were pulled by carts, and sweet potatoes were roasted until fragrant and wrapped in oil paper... The sweet fragrance of plum blossoms wafted over, and bonsai plants bloomed in clusters in vases, while fish tails were being handled in transparent jars.
The koi's tail swayed briefly among the gold-carved lotus leaves. Small fish sang bubbles as they swam around in the tank.
Every time Lu Xuejin saw the little fish, he couldn't help but stop and stare. He stared at the fish tank, and Xue Yi saw it too; the fish tank reflected their images. Their faces were close together, blending into a blurry, indistinct black shadow amidst the golden lotus leaves.
"Changyou likes it? Do you want to buy it?" Xue Yi asked.
He stared at it for a while, then looked away, saying, "I just thought it was very beautiful, but I never thought about keeping it."
“It requires a great deal of patience to maintain. I am currently taking care of my elder brother and I am afraid I will not have the extra time to look after it.”
"..." Xue Yi looked at the fish tank and followed the young man away from the street. As he left, he looked back one last time, and the various sizes of fish tanks reflected the shadows of different small fish.
The lotus leaves, carved from gold thread, were no longer in bloom this season, so a beautiful lotus pond couldn't be created. Instead, many red plum branches clustered in the water, their blossoms adding a touch of elegance. He stared at the small fish for a long time; the fish in the tank seemed unable to distinguish the gold-threaded lotus leaves from those in the previous lotus pond.
The little fish rammed its body into the lotus leaf, inflicting many wounds. Its body turned white and rolled belly up, indicating it was about to die.
He watched indifferently as the little fish flipped over belly.
"Brother?" the young man called out to him from ahead, and he quickly followed.
They ordered steaming hot wontons, freshly baked plum blossom cakes, sweet tea, and red date soup at the morning market.
Lu Xuejin specially separated the wontons and served them separately to Xue Yi. There was only one golden wonton in the small bowl, and all the soup was skimmed off, as if she wanted to erase all the memories of that day.
A note from the author:
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