After Jiang Suizhou laid down, he lost consciousness in a trance.
He seemed to be wrapped up in a chaotic dream, with the time and world
jumbled.
One moment, he was back to his childhood when his half-brothers from
unknown mothers pushed and bullied him in their father's mansion. He
went to his mother with his grievances, but through the door, he saw his
mother sitting alone in the room crying silently, as if she had lost her soul. It
made him timid and afraid to share any of his grievances.
The next moment, there was the disgusting smile of the emperor, and a
bunch of courtiers he had only seen in portraits. They were staring at his
every move with various expressions, making him nervous, fearful, and
reluctant to speak out.
A moment later again, Huo Wujiu was holding a bloody knife in his hand.
His eyes were as cold as the day Jiang Suizhou took off his veil. Huo Wujiu
was staring at him as if he would immediately cut off his head and take it to
the city walls to air-dry.
Jiang Suizhou wanted to run, but his legs were rooted in place. He watched
as Huo Wujiu drew nearer and stretched out his blood-stained hand at
him…
Jiang Suizhou simply closed his eyes tightly and waited for death, but
unexpectedly, Huo Wujiu did not kill him.
…He actually reached out and touched my face.
Jiang Suizhou only thought he was trying to figure out where to bury his
knife on his neck, and he touched his face because it was crooked.
But to his surprise, Huo Wujiu's hand pressed against his face and wouldn't
let go.
Jiang Suizhou also woke up groggily at this time.
Like in a dream, he was muddled, and his body was burning. He opened his
eyes in a daze and could only see a candle flame swaying, so bright that he
could not open his eyes.
Hl body felt unbearably heavy. He slowly inhaled and choked out a hoarse
cough before he could speak.
"Master!"
It was Meng Qianshan's voice.
Jiang Suizhou had a coughing fit that blurred his eyes. Just then, something
he was holding in his hand suddenly gripped his hand.
It was quite cold and very strong, and a hand pulled him to sit up.
Then, another other hand fell on his back, slowly patting him until his
cough gradually eased.
Only then did Jiang Suizhou open his eyes that were blurred by tears.
He saw Meng Qianshan kneeling in front of his bed and lying on the edge
of the bed under the bright lights. His eyes were red with anxiety, and he
was staring at him closely. His mouth quivered, but he didn't dare to make a
sound.
Also, he was holding a large, bony and veiny hand in his own hand.
Jiang Suizhou was feverish, and his brain was sluggish. When he saw the
hand, he froze and looked up at the arm of the hand.
Then he met a pair of cold, dark eyes.
Jiang Suizhou was so scared that he let go of the hand.
Huo Wujiu calmly stopped patting him on the back and pulled a pillow
behind him. He pressed him down and had him lean on it. He then turned
his head and said in a low voice, "You're awake."
A young doctor hurriedly came forward, knelt down in front of the bed, and
took Jiang Suizhou's pulse.
Huo Wujiu rolled his wheelchair back and retreated.
No one noticed that his right hand which Jiang Suizhou had just held was
placed in his lap. He slowly curled his fingers and clenched his fist.
As if retaining some kind of touch.
When the people around them saw that Jiang Suizhou had woken up, they
stopped what they were doing and gathered around the bed.
The doctor diagnosed his pulse for a moment, got up and said, "His
Highness is weak and overworked. The dampness and cold invaded his
body, and he is suffering from windchill. I have boiled the medicine
outside. In a moment, let His Highness drink it and have him go to bed. I
think his fever will get better early tomorrow morning. He just needs to rest
in the house for a few days. He shouldn't go anywhere until his windchill is
gone."
Meng Qianshan replied repeatedly beside him and ordered a maid nearby to
bring the medicine quickly.
Jiang Suizhou leaned on the soft pillow and rubbed his temples
painstakingly before he roughly digested the words of the doctor.
…Oh, so I'm exhausted. It rained today, and the cold made me sick.
It was already spring, and the rain was not cold. There was probably no one
else except him who would catch a cold without getting caught in the rain this season.
Jiang Suizhou sighed in resignation.
However, that was also good news. He was sick, so he could rest peacefully
in the house for a few days. He wondered if he could stay sick for a longer
period, preferably until the emperor's birthday banquet. That way, he could
peacefully claim to be sick and not attend. Huo Wujiu naturally wouldn't
have to go as well…
Reminded of Huo Wujiu, Jiang Suizhou's muddled brain paused.
Just now…was he h-holding Huo Wujiu's hand?
But he did not have the slightest impression of how Huo Wujiu came to his
bedside, and how he took his hand with him.
Jiang Suizhou felt that he was really sick and confused.
However, before he could delve deeper into it, an extremely domineering
bitterness drifted in from afar.
Jiang Suizhou frowned in the wake of it.
Then he saw a bowl of medicine soup as dark as ink. It was filled in a white
jade bowl and brought to him.
The bitter taste wafted to the end of Jiang Suizhou's nose and immediately
triggered a cough. The coughing caused a dry retching in his throat, which
scared Meng Qianshan to pat his back and call out to his master repeatedly.
When the coughing stopped, Jiang Suizhou turned his head.
Before he transmigrated, he particularly disliked drinking Chinese
medicine, but he didn't expect that ancient Chinese medicine tasted even
worse than modern ones.
Meng Qianshan discerned the refusal in his reaction and said bitterly,
"Please, Master. You'd better drink this medicine!"
Jiang Suizhou held his breath and said nothing.
The medicine was right in front of him. He was afraid that if he took one
more breath, he would choke and lose half his life.
Meng Qianshan was so anxious that he was about to cry.
"Master! If you don't take the medicine, how can you recover from this
illness?!"
Jiang Suizhou froze.
…That's right.
If he didn't take this medicine, he wouldn't get better, right?
If he was ill…would he be justified not to take Huo Wujiu to the emperor's
birthday banquet?
——
Since that day, Jiang Suizhou had rested in the mansion as a matter of
course.
Many courtiers from top to bottom of the court sent him gifts of sympathy,
and even the emperor rewarded him with an imperial doctor, grandly in the
name of diagnosing and healing him.
Jiang Suizhou knew that the emperor was afraid that he was pretending to
be sick, so he sent someone to take a look.
But Jiang Suizhou was indeed seriously ill. The imperial doctor also went
back and reported that His Highness King Jing's body was really unfit for
anything. The next spring rain would probably drench off half his life. The
emperor was so happy that he rewarded Jiang Suizhou with a pile of
worthless gold, silver, and jewels the next day. He allowed Jiang Suizhou to
take a good rest, and he didn't have to worry about anything in the court.
Ji You from the Minister of Rites also heard that Jiang Suizhou was down
with a cold and became ill because of the assignment he assigned to him.
That day, Jiang Suizhou asked Meng Qianshan to bring a letter to Ji You. Ji
You was so guilty that he asked Meng Qianshan to bring back several books
of unofficial history as his apology.
Jiang Suizhou was between tears and laughter. He asked Meng Qianshan to
quickly put those faulty books away and store them somewhere he couldn't
see.
The next day, his fever went down, but he still hadn't recovered from his
wind chill.
Jiang Suizhou had never been so uncomfortable with a cold.
The original owner must have had a particularly weak respiratory system.
When he caught a cold, his throat and lungs felt extremely uncomfortable.
Because of his poor health, his illness has always recurred these days. His
body was as cold as ice one moment, and he would be suffering from a low
fever the next.
Jiang Suizhou was viciously tormented, but did not forget to secretly ask
Meng Qianshan whether they should move Huo Wujiu out, so as not to
infect him.
This was just an excuse. Jiang Suizhou wanted to use this excuse to move
Huo Wujiu out.
After all, the emperor and Pang Shao were now thoroughly convinced that
he was gay. They even thought that he was a gay with a penchant for some
excitement. If that was the case, there was no need for him to keep Huo
Wujiu in his room and let him sleep on the couch every day for nothing.
But Meng Qianshan shook his head repeatedly.
Hearing Jiang Suizhou's words, he smiled so broadly that he ended up with
a toothy grin.
"No need, Madam Huo doesn't mind this." He relied on the fact that Huo
Wujiu was not in the room at the moment and whispered his reply to Jiang
Suizhou.
Jiang Suizhou frowned.
Meng Qianshan said, "You might not know this, but the day you fell ill, it
was Madam Huo who discovered it. From the time the servant came in,
Madam Huo kept holding your hand and didn't let go until you woke up!"
Speaking of this, Meng Qianshan was already laughing ecstatically.
Jiang Suizhou was a bit speechless.
He had an impression that perhaps…, it wasn't Huo Wujiu who was holding
his hand, but him holding onto Huo Wujiu and refusing to let go.
However, even if he shared these thoughts, Meng Qianshan would not
believe it. Even if Huo Wujiu was deprived of his martial arts skills, he
could definitely remove himself from a sick man with a fever such as him,
right?
Then he heard Meng Qianshan smilingly continue, "Master, I think Madam
Huo treats you somewhat…Ah! No difficulty is indeed insurmountable if
you're sincere. Sincerity can make metal and rock crack!"
Jiang Suizhou maintained his composure and drove him away.
Sure enough, once you tell a lie, you will pay for it sooner or later.
Looking at Meng Qianshan's triumphant backside, Jiang Suizhou gritted his
teeth and shook his head. He could only put away the thought of moving
Huo Wujiu out for the time being.
Although his illness was recurring, he was getting better day by day.
Initially, the emperor had sent an imperial doctor, but there was no more
movement after that. Then, unexpectedly, another imperial doctor from the
palace came within a few days.
This time, Jiang Suizhou saw the obvious difference in this doctor.
The one that the emperor sent before only diagnosed his pulse. When he
saw that Jiang Suizhou was seriously ill, he bade farewell and left.
But this doctor was different. After he came, he gave Jiang Suizhou a
detailed diagnosis. He even clearly checked what medicine Jiang Suizhou
had eaten in the past few days.
Jiang Suizhou guessed that this imperial doctor was 80% sent by Pang
Shao.
The emperor merely wanted to see Jiang Suizhou fall ill. Since he really
was ill, the emperor was happy and didn't care about him anymore. But
Pang Shao was different. He was keeping an eye on Jiang Suizhou to see
how he was, to see when he would get well, and to see if he could take
advantage of it to pull other tricks.
Jiang Suizhou was dead tired of this kind of surveillance.
But he couldn't drive this imperial doctor away. He came once every few
days.
Until today.
It was the third visit of the doctor. After diagnosing Jiang Suizhou, the
doctor smiled meaningfully and said, "Your Highness has recovered well. I
think you'll be well in two or three days. Just as well, the emperor's
birthday banquet is in four days' time. His Majesty has been concerned
about you every day. Now that you can attend, His Majesty will not be
disappointed."
After saying that, he raised his head and left.