Chapter 51

Jin Wang's palm had been patting Ye Shu's back in a slow, steady rhythm. At those words, the motion paused.

He had not often seen Ye Shu cry. In the hardest days of the past, it was only when hurt had reached its absolute limit that this person would shed a few tears in private, away from his eyes.

Stubborn by nature — and even when crying, doing it silently. So quietly it made one's heart ache.

Jin Wang could only feel the body in his arms trembling steadily. He wanted to wipe Ye Shu's tears, but Ye Shu wouldn't lift his face — he only tightened the embrace with more force.

Jin Wang was at a loss and could only wrap one arm around the person in his arms. He said slowly: "Woke up and didn't see you, then waited this long for you to come back. I was just thinking about what crime I should charge you with."

He paused, then gave a small laugh. "…Were you afraid I'd blame you, and came back to put on this little scene?"

"I was not——" Ye Shu instinctively protested, but the moment he opened his mouth, a sob made him choke, and he turned aside coughing.

Jin Wang quickly helped him steady his breathing.

When Ye Shu recovered, he looked up — and saw blood seeping faintly through the bandage on Jin Wang's shoulder.

"The wound has split open." Ye Shu immediately called toward the door: "Someone summon the physician at once!"

The attendants of Yangxin Hall were the most perceptive of readers of atmosphere — the moment Ye Shu had rushed into Jin Wang's arms, they had one by one withdrawn from the hall. Now a crowd of them were pressed together outside the doors, and upon hearing the call, immediately went to carry out the order.

Jin Wang took Ye Shu's hand and sat him down at the edge of the small couch.

The blood on the bandage was growing more visible. Ye Shu's eyes went even redder, but he didn't dare touch him. "Why didn't you push me away just now — didn't it hurt?"

"It didn't. Nothing hurts as much as watching you cry." Jin Wang wiped the tear tracks from Ye Shu's face with the pad of his finger, and gave a casual smile. "Besides — I'm supposed to be performing well for you. How could I push you away."

Ye Shu lowered his head without speaking. Jin Wang said: "Come closer."

Ye Shu leaned in.

Jin Wang's kiss landed on his eyes.

Ye Shu's lashes trembled faintly. A tear that hadn't yet fallen was kissed away.

Jin Wang kissed him carefully — warm lips brushing across the outer corner of his eye, the side of his face, down to his lips. After a long moment, Jin Wang rested against the corner of Ye Shu's mouth and asked quietly: "Where did you go just now?"

Ye Shu's voice was muffled. "You don't know where I went? No one told you?"

"I didn't ask." Jin Wang said. "You don't like me always investigating where you go. So I stopped asking."

Ye Shu had never mentioned this to him.

This man held the power of life and death over all under heaven — and yet he had always been working to understand him, changing himself for his sake.

Ye Shu looked away. The rims of his eyes grew warm.

Jin Wang didn't press further and pressed Ye Shu's head into the hollow of his shoulder.

With an announcement, footsteps came from outside the hall. Several young eunuchs were practically carrying Imperial Physician Feng through the doors.

Ye Shu quickly stood and turned away, wiping his eyes.

Imperial Physician Feng greeted the two of them. Jin Wang gave a brief nod, his attention still on Ye Shu. Ye Shu had his back turned, his hair and clothing in slight disarray — looking quite disheveled. From the physician's angle, the faint redness and swelling around his eyes was visible.

He had clearly just been crying.

Imperial Physician Feng looked at Ye Shu, then at Jin Wang, and said with great care: "What… what happened here? Did you two quarrel again?"

Jin Wang: "…"

Ye Shu: "…"

Ye Shu went to bathe and change. Several attendants helped Jin Wang onto the dragon bed, where the physician unwound the bandaging and began to re-dress the wound.

The atmosphere in the hall was a little awkward. After a stretch, Imperial Physician Feng finally couldn't stop himself. "Your Majesty…"

Jin Wang cut him off. "We did not bully him."

"Then how did he get reduced to tears?"

Jin Wang: "…"

Imperial Physician Feng let out a sigh and launched into earnest counsel. "Your Majesty — a kun-sovereign's temperament does become somewhat temperamental during pregnancy, and their emotions run high, but that isn't reason for you to provoke them."

"Young Master's constitution is delicate and he cannot sustain shock. Swinging so dramatically between joy and sorrow is bad not only for himself but for the child as well."

Jin Wang: "…"

I didn't do anything. I have no idea what happened. I know nothing.

Jin Wang pressed his fingers to his brow. "It genuinely wasn't me…"

Imperial Physician Feng's expression was thoroughly unconvinced.

If it wasn't you, then who made him cry? Could it have been Consort An again?

Imperial Physician Feng's expression immediately became very complicated.

Ever since handing the abortifacient to Ye Shu, he had been paying careful attention to news from Yangxin Hall. Medicinal abortion, after all, left traces on the body, and the Imperial Medical Bureau would certainly have been called in if it had been used.

But no such call had come.

From that day until now, Ye Shu had never raised the matter again, and Imperial Physician Feng had never found an opportunity to ask.

It seemed most likely that Young Master was simply too kind-hearted to go through with it.

Imperial Physician Feng thought it over, finished re-dressing the wound, and then dropped to his knees.

Jin Wang frowned. "What are you doing?"

Imperial Physician Feng pressed his forehead to the floor and said with resolution: "This servant has an important matter to report. This servant requests that Your Majesty dismiss those present."

Jin Wang waved the others out.

The hall doors were pulled shut. Jin Wang said: "Speak."

Imperial Physician Feng closed his eyes, and began slowly: "This matter concerns Consort An…"

He told Jin Wang everything about his secret arrangement with Ye Shu from beginning to end. When he finished, Jin Wang took a long time to respond.

Imperial Physician Feng didn't dare raise his head. He added an explanation: "Young Master also feared that such a scandal might leak out, which is why he kept the secret until now. This servant hopes Your Majesty will understand. If Your Majesty wishes to assign blame, this servant is willing to bear it entirely."

Jin Wang still didn't speak.

The vast hall was completely silent. Cold sweat ran down Imperial Physician Feng's back.

After a long pause, Jin Wang gave a quiet laugh. His expression carried a note of helplessness. "So — he asked you for an abortifacient?"

Imperial Physician Feng: "…Yes."

"And then lied to me that it was a supplement — you little deceiver…" Jin Wang let out a sigh and said to Imperial Physician Feng: "Help me up."

Imperial Physician Feng quickly rose and helped Jin Wang sit up.

Jin Wang looked at the man's trembling, apprehensive manner and only felt a wave of amusement. "Relax — We are not blaming you."

He paused, then said: "Would you like Us to tell you a secret in return?"

A short while later, Imperial Physician Feng walked out through the doors of Yangxin Hall, his expression dazed.

Ye Shu finished his bath and returned to Yangxin Hall. Jin Wang was leaning against the bed waiting for him.

Seeing him come in, Jin Wang tossed the memorial in his hand aside and pointed to the teacup on the small table at the bedside. "Ginger soup. Drink it while it's hot."

Ye Shu's eyes were still a little red. He nodded like a little rabbit and obediently drank the tea.

"Come up here." Jin Wang patted the inner side of the bed. "It's still a while before dinner. Sleep for a bit — I'll keep you company."

Ye Shu startled and shook his head. "No need — I might bump your wound…"

Jin Wang: "Listen to me."

The two looked at each other. Ye Shu removed his shoes and socks, climbed up from the foot of the bed, and settled in beside Jin Wang.

Jin Wang pulled him close.

"Relax — the physician said the wound is healing well. It's fine." Jin Wang patted his shoulder and said gently.

Ye Shu gave a quiet murmur of acknowledgment.

Jin Wang added: "Don't go back to Yongshou Palace tonight — otherwise you won't sleep properly again."

Ye Shu said quietly: "Alright."

Jin Wang's embrace was warm. The air carried a faint trace of medicinal herbs mingled with the incense he habitually burned — a smell that settled the mind.

Ye Shu drew a deep breath and said: "Jin Wang — I went to the cold palace just now."

Jin Wang's eyes shifted faintly.

"I… I found out some things. I actually… I…" Ye Shu's voice was rough and dry — he didn't know where to begin.

There was too much the system had told him. Too tangled together.

The ten years spent here for the sake of a task. The unannounced departure in the middle of it all. The storyline reset so many times over. And… this man's painful end, repeating again and again.

To the system, it might have been nothing more than a simple failed run. But the person before him was flesh and blood — and everything he had suffered had been real.

Ye Shu couldn't fathom what those storylines — each one beginning with his execution — had made this man endure.

How much despair would it take to reduce this person to what he had finally become.

Ye Shu's eyes quietly went red.

"All right — what's wrong now." Jin Wang said softly. "If you can't say it, don't. Don't force yourself."

Ye Shu: "But…"

Jin Wang let out a sigh. "I'm almost regretting pressing you so hard, honestly. From New Year's Eve until now, have you had a single good night's rest? At this rate, how is your body going to hold up?"

"From now on — put away whatever's been troubling you. Stop thinking about it. If there's something you want to say, rest up properly, and we can talk about it slowly."

Jin Wang pressed a kiss to his forehead. "We have a long time ahead of us — there's no rush. Listen to me."

Ye Shu: "But I promised…"

Jin Wang's eyes curved with a smile. He bent down and kissed the corner of Ye Shu's mouth. "You little fool — you've already given me my answer."

From the moment a certain fool had been holding the abortifacient in their hands and had still, foolishly, agreed to give Jin Wang a chance to prove himself — and thus let the best window for taking the medicine pass entirely — the answer had been all but spoken.

Ye Shu blinked in bewilderment. "When did I…"

"Now I'm telling you to sleep and you won't even do that?" Jin Wang narrowed his eyes. "Do you really think I can't deal with you just because I'm wounded?"

"I…"

Before Ye Shu could say another word, Jin Wang turned over and pressed him firmly into the bedding.

His Majesty the sovereign demonstrated in practice that even with one arm out of commission from a wound, the remaining one was perfectly sufficient to hold someone thoroughly in place.

A short while later, Ye Shu's lips were thoroughly pink. He lay beside Jin Wang in complete submission, thoroughly managed.

The only inconvenience was that Imperial Physician Feng, who had not yet made it out the palace gates, was obliged to turn around and come back to rebandage someone's wound a second time.

Over the following days, Jin Wang rested and recovered in Yangxin Hall.

The investigation into the mastermind behind the assassination at the Ye estate also progressed rapidly, owing to Ye Shu's involvement. Within a few days, the full background of the incident had been established. The case was closed and announced.

Ye Shu personally brought the closing documents back to Yangxin Hall. The moment he stepped through the door, he found Jin Wang seated at the writing table, drafting something.

"Why are you up?" Ye Shu hurried over. "Didn't we agree — I handle these things and consult you as needed. Your wound—"

Jin Wang set down his brush. "These surface wounds are nothing. After lying around for this many days, I'm fully recovered."

Ye Shu didn't accept that argument. He said firmly: "That's not for you to decide — the physician decides. The physician said you're to stay lying down. Go and lie down. Whatever needs writing, I'll do it."

"It's already been written." Jin Wang said. "The only thing left is the imperial seal."

Only then did Ye Shu notice that an imperial decree was laid out in front of Jin Wang.

Jin Wang shifted over to make room and indicated Ye Shu should sit beside him. "Good timing that you're here. Have a look — if there's anything not right, let me know. If it looks fine, apply the seal."

Ye Shu ran his eyes quickly over the decree, then turned to look at Jin Wang. "You…"

Jin Wang covered Ye Shu's hand on the table and said earnestly: "I want to restore your name."