Jiang Suizhou sat on the bed. He was so furious that his breathing was
unsteady.
He knew that this was Pang Shao threatening him. Pang Shao was telling
him that he knew about his health condition, that he could not escape, and
that he must bring Huo Wujiu to the palace to amuse and entertain the
emperor.
At this very moment, Meng Qianshan came in with the boiled medicine.
Jiang Suizhou took a look at the medicine, and then turned his eyes away.
For this period, he felt that he had soaked in bitter medicine, and there was
a bitter taste all over his body.
He might as well not drink this medicine and continue to stay in poor health
instead. If worse came to worst, he'd just stay sick for a few more days. It
was better than having those people get their way and subject Huo Wujiu to
humiliation again.
With this in mind, Jiang Suizhou said to Meng Qianshan, "Put it down. I
will drink it later."
Meng Qianshan watched him cautiously.
He knew that his master was not in a good mood at the moment, so he
assumed that he lost patience drinking medicine. However, Jiang Suizhou
was quite proactive in drinking medicine these recent days, except the first
time, so Meng Qianshan didn't express his refusal.
Meng Qianshan was at ease with him. Hearing him say so, he put the
medicine aside obediently and withdrew.
Jiang Suizhou and Huo Wujiu were the only two people left in the room.
Jiang Suizhou glanced at Huo Wujiu, and saw him sitting quietly alone at a
distance, looking down at a book.
He got off the bed and picked up the medicine on the low table next to him.
Unbeknownst to him, when Huo Wujiu nearby heard the noise, he
immediately raised his head and looked at him.
He saw the oblivious Jiang Suizhou wearing thin bedclothes and carrying
the medicine bowl with one hand. His pace was a little slow as he walked
towards a purple sand clay pot with an ornamental tree in the corner.
Jiang Suizhou thought that as long as he poured out his medicine for two
days to ensure the recurrence of his old disease, he could only be carried
there if they wanted him to attend the emperor's birthday banquet.
With that in mind, he walked over to the purple sand clay pot and tipped the
jade bowl over.
But when he was about to pour the medicine down, a hand suddenly
reached over and took hold of his wrist.
Jiang Suizhou looked back and saw that Huo Wujiu appeared next to him at
some point.
He sat in his wheelchair and clamped a hand on Jiang Suizhou's wrist to
prevent his hand from moving. Although Huo Wujiu was looking up at him,
his sharp black eyes were cold and awe-inspiring.
His gaze made Jiang Suizhou's heart inexplicably guilty.
"What are you doing?" He heard Huo Wujiu ask.
Jiang Suizhou got a grip of himself and replied coldly, "Mind your own
business. Get out of the way."
Huo Wujiu didn't let go.
"Drink it." The declarative sentence came out of his mouth, especially like
an order.
"Are you talking to me?" Jiang Suizhou took out his fierce bearing typically
used toward Meng Qianshan. His countenance turned chilly, and he looked
arrogantly down at Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu didn't make a sound, but the force of his hand increased. He
yanked Jiang Suizhou's hand inch by inch, holding his wrist and forcing
him to bring the medicine back to the front.
Huo Wujiu was using his actions to order him to drink the medicine.
The bitter taste blew against Jiang Suizhou's face.
Jiang Suizhou frowned at the fragrance and looked down. Huo Wujiu
looked cold and tough, as if he wasn't leaving him any room for discussion.
For some reason, Jiang Suizhou's heart was flooded with grievances.
He was well aware that the emperor loathed him. Since he came here, he
had suffered quite a bit of humiliation and had been enduring it for long.
He also knew that being sick was unbearable. During this period, he
suffered terribly every day from his illness. In all his life, he had never been
so sick for so long and so serious.
For him, rather than being so ill, he might as well let the emperor have a
taste of his quick tongue.
What was he afraid of? Wasn't he afraid that the ancestor in front of him
would be humiliated and put it on his account and then offset it with his
life?
Jiang Suizhou laughed coldly.
"General Huo, why do you think I'm dumping the medicine?" He asked.
Huo Wujiu did not make a sound and only quietly held his wrist,
confronting him with silence.
Jiang Suizhou continued, "You heard what that doctor said just now, right?
Why does he always come to see me and remind me of that? It's because
the emperor ordered me to bring you to attend his birthday banquet. He
wants to see you."
It had been a long time since Jiang Suizhou said such long sentences in a
row that he was out of breath. After he spoke, he choked and coughed a few
times. He forbeared and then added, "Why does he want to see you? You
don't need me to say it, do you? Although I don't want to care about it, I
don't want to humiliate myself in front of the officials. Dumping this
medicine and letting me stay sick for a few days is beneficial both for you
and me. Do you understand?"
After speaking, Jiang Suizhou took a few labored breaths to even out his
breath.
He lowered his eyes to look at Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu raised his eyes and looked at him indifferently. He listened to
him finish his speech, but his expression remained extremely calm.
It was only after Jiang Suizhou smoothed out his breathing did Huo Wujiu
speak quietly.
"I know," he said, "So, drink the medicine."
Jiang Suizhou's eyebrows knitted.
He found that Huo Wujiu's deep black eyes were firm and quiet.
He was obviously unable to stand up anymore. He was in an enemy country
and a prisoner of war that everyone had trampled on, but those eyes were somehow reassuringly powerful to Jiang Suizhou.
"They won't kill me, so I have nothing to fear. If he asks me to go, then I'll
just go," he said.
After a pause, Huo Wujiu spoke somewhat stiffly and awkwardly. "So,
don't be afraid either."
…Don't be afraid?
This was the first time Jiang Suizhou heard someone say such a thing to
him.
He didn't know where Huo Wujiu got his confidence. Even if he was
considered a War God that killed gods and Buddhas, he was now just a clay
statue. Any hot-tempered person with rough hands and feet could smash
him to bits.
However, when these words came out of his mouth, they sounded
extremely convincing. For a while, Jiang Suizhou felt that Huo Wujiu was
really trying to keep him safely behind him.
Jiang Suizhou was a bit overwhelmed for a while.
Under his grip, Huo Wujiu felt Jiang Suizhou stop struggling. When Huo
Wujiu looked up, he found that the man's expression was still cold, but his
eyes were a bit empty.
He couldn't help but sigh deep inside.
This man; he was obviously harmless, but he just had to wear the mask of a
vicious tyrant.
He let go of Jiang Suizhou's wrist and took away the jade bowl he was
holding in passing.
Only when Jiang Suizhou's hand was emptied did he snap back to his
senses.
He found that Huo Wujiu had taken his bowl away, and was now holding
the medicine in one hand. He raised a pair of cold, calm eyes and regarded
him quietly.
"Go back to bed." He heard Huo Wujiu speak.
His tone was still brusque and cold, quite like giving orders to his soldiers.
That was when Jiang Suizhou realized that he was wearing only thin
pajamas with his ankles exposed.
It was not too cold in early spring, but it was much for his sickly body to
endure. In just a while, he was completely frozen.
Jiang Suizhou could only return to the bed and sit in embarrassment.
Huo Wujiu rolled his wheelchair with one hand and moved to the bedside.
He placed the medicine bowl on the low table beside him.
Huo Wujiu put down the medicine, but did not leave. When Jiang Suizhou
looked at him, he saw Huo Wujiu looking at him indifferently. Although he
was silent, his stance told him that he was waiting to see him drink the
medicine before withdrawing.
Jiang Suizhou secretly gritted his teeth.
…Are you the King or am I?
In any case, Huo Wujiu was only a concubine. His arrogance was evidently
an offense to his superior.
Jiang Suizhou muttered his grievances in his heart, and pursed his lips. He
took the medicine bowl, tilted his head and drank it.
…It's bitter as hell.
——
Jiang Suizhou's illness had really been cured.
After that day, he also thought it through. Anyway, Huo Wujiu had already
known what the emperor wanted to do and also said he was not afraid. No
matter how the emperor courted death, it was none of Jiang Suizhou's
business.
After all, what he really feared was that Huo Wujiu would settle accounts
with him later. With this arrangement, he naturally could sleep in comfort.
However, he and Huo Wujiu shared the same room day after day, and
sometimes when Jiang Suizhou raised his eyes, he could see Huo Wujiu in
the room.
Recently, when he met eyes with Huo Wujiu, he couldn't help but
contemplate. What would General Huo do on the day of the emperor's
birthday banquet?
The emperor's birthday was a big day for him, so no blood would be shed at
the banquet, and Huo Wujiu was unlikely to be hurt physically.
The emperor was a fool with no brains. Once Huo Wujiu was really in front
of him, the emperor would come up with some humiliating slurs, but the
harm would only be superficial.
But Jiang Suizhou didn't forget that Pang Shao, who was beside the
emperor, was treacherous, and had a belly full of evil tricks.
Needless to say, Jiang Suizhou knew that he would definitely suggest to the
emperor a dirty trick or two.
Of course, all these tricks were aimed at Huo Wujiu. Since Jiang Suizhou
had already chosen to wash his hands off of it, he didn't have to be afraid.
But he was still a little worried. The closer the birthday banquet
approached, the more unsettled he was.
Jiang Suizhou could only attribute this mentality to the fact that he and Huo
Wujiu were grasshoppers on a rope. They were bound together for good or
ill.
What other reason could there be?
Three days passed quickly. When Jiang Suizhou's wind chill had recovered,
it was close to the day of the emperor's birthday banquet.
A day prior, Jiang Suizhou once again welcomed the imperial doctor that
Pang Shao sent.
When the doctor arrived, Jiang Suizhou was no longer bedridden. He was
already dressed properly, draped in a thin cloak and sitting in the main hall
reading a book. The doctor stepped forward and diagnosed his pulse, then
took two steps back and knelt down.
Jiang Suizhou withdrew his hand, picked up the cup of tea on the table and
glanced at him lightly.
Then I heard the imperial doctor kneeling on the ground say,
"Congratulations, Your Highness. Your health has improved greatly. I can
report to His Majesty when I return to the palace that you can attend
tomorrow's banquet without any delay…"
Jiang Suizhou raised an eyebrow.
The next moment, the teacup in his hand shattered in front of the imperial
doctor with a resounding clang.
The servants in the room were frightened. Even Huo Wujiu, who was by the
window, raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Suizhou.
He saw Jiang Suizhou sitting crookedly on a spacious wooden armchair.
His arms were resting on the armrest, and his overcoat spread out. He was
quite relaxed and indolent.
Jiang Suizhou was born extremely delicate with an ice-cold countenance.
When he was looking down at someone, he looked arrogant and aloof, but
also exuded an inexplicable poppy-like attraction. Once people laid eyes on
him, they would be scared, but at the same time, wouldn't be able to resist
the desire to get closer.
In front of him, the teacup shattered into pieces on the ground, and hot tea
splashed onto the doctor's robe, making him tremble with fright. Even the
words he was about to say got stuck in his throat.
Jiang Suizhou's voice slowly reverberated: "The emperor's birthday
banquet…His Majesty's birthday banquet. Why are you reminding me one
after another? Do you think I am reluctant to go?"
He knew that this doctor was the dog that Pang Shao kept. While
monitoring his health in the name of consultation, Pang Shao instructed him
to annoy him even further, one way or another.
The first time, Jiang Suizhou couldn't rebel, but the next time…Pang Shao
thought Jiang Suizhou was easy to bully, so he deliberately let others flaunt
his power.
Of course he couldn't leave it alone.