Chapter 149: I Won’t Touch You

February 25, 2023Merchie

Pei Zheng’s hands instantly stiffened like rocks, and an unexplainable fear flooded up from the depths of his heart.

Qi Changyi suddenly shoved Pei Zheng away, but because he had overexerted himself, he exploded into violent coughs; a sweet, fishy taste began to spread in his throat.

His resolute refusal rendered Pei Zheng too scared to act rashly, afraid that anything he did would provoke him.

“Don’t come over here, don’t touch me-” Qi Changyi muttered, “It hurts when you touch me, it’ll hurt so, so, so bad…”

Although he couldn’t tell where this faint aching pain was coming from, the wounds from the past were likely too severe and too deep, which caused his body to react instinctively.

“All right, I won’t come over.”

Pei Zheng’s eyes had reddened, stung by the wind. The fingers beneath his cuff were tightly clenched; only then could he suppress the urge to approach the small man.

He could ignore anyone else’s opposition. He didn’t care about what anyone else thought. But only the little prince in front of him deserved to be cradled in the depths of his heart, so he refused to allow him to endure even the slightest bit of mistreatment or pain.

But how could he forget that all of that mistreatment, all that pain, had been caused by him?

“The ground is cold, can you stand up by yourself?”

Qi Changyi pressed his hands against the ground, his arms wobbling slightly; he seemed exhausted from the effort.

A figure suddenly hurried over from the side and helped the small man off the ground.

Zhao Litang had just returned from the training grounds. He didn’t even have the chance to return to the barracks when he saw what was occurring from the distance.

When he spotted that small man collapsed on the ground while Pei Zheng stood there without trying to help him, rage flooded into Zhao Litang’s chest.

And when Pei Zheng saw who had just come over, he reached out. But, slowly, very slowly, his hand fell back down.

“Your Highness, how are you, are you all right? Are you hurt?”

Zhao Litang looked the small man up and down, trying to see if he had scraped himself anywhere.

Qi Changyi stared at his face, and it gradually melded with the one from his memories. He remembered everything that involved Zhao Litang, even that period of time when Zhao Litang had rescued him from the Imperial City and sheltered him in the barracks.

As for why Zhao Litang had to rescue him from the Imperial City, it was because of that man in front of him.

“Tang-gege…”

QI Changyi called softly, his voice so quiet that it almost couldn’t be heard. But Zhao Litang heard it clearly.

Pei Zheng, who was standing at the side, also heard it.

Zhao Litang froze, “Ch-Changyi, what did you just call me?”

“T-Tang-gege…”

Qi Changyi called out again, and his eyes filled with tears.

Zhao Litang had always treated him well. He always made decisions with him in mind, never tried to force him to do anything, and took better care of him than his own blood brother.

It had been a long time since Zhao Litang had been addressed in this way, and for a moment, he was stunned.

The small man who always called out to him so softly and sweetly… had finally returned.

But after Qi Changyi called out to him a few more times, he couldn’t hold on any longer and fainted. His entire body had become burning hot, and blood began to spill out of his lips.

Zhao Litang hurriedly lifted him bridal-style and strode toward a tent not far away.

When he passed by Pei Zheng, Zhao Litang lifted his eyes to glance at him, before he left without looking back.

Pei Zheng stood there, too scared to turn his head. He just stared at his empty palms with his head lowered.

Ice-cold wind blew through the gaps of his fingers, illusory and unpredictable. It was as though something was drifting away with the wind, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t grasp onto it.

Qi Changyi had been taken back to the tent. Shen Huan and the others hurried over moments later.

Many soldiers were standing guard outside the tent. The lanterns inside were brightly lit. Everyone was extremely anxious, but there was nothing else they could do.

“Master Shen, how is he?”

Zhao Litang asked Shen Huan.

Shen Huan bandaged the bloodstain that was still expanding on the little man’s arm, before she said with tears in her eyes, “He’s in a terrible state, if we don’t perform the blood transfusion soon, he won’t… last past tonight…”

When Yue Nu heard these words, his legs went limp and he collapsed onto the floor, before he covered his mouth and began to cry silently.

Zhao Litang couldn’t believe it, “Master Shen, is there no other way to keep him going for a little longer? The people from the Imperial City should be here soon, he only needs to hold on for a little longer, don’t give up, we can’t give up! If we give up at this point, what about Changyi? He’s just sleeping right now, he’s definitely waiting for us to save him!”

Shen Huan’s tears flowed uncontrollably, “There isn’t, there isn’t , there isn’t any other way! I don’t have a way! I’ve already used every remedy I can possibly use! He can’t keep holding on, you understand me?”

The moment she said these words, everyone lowered their heads. Wu Quan also turned away and wiped at the corners of his eyes.

Shen Huan continued to mutter, “I’ve already saved his life before, who knows how much energy I’ve spent during these past few years to restore him to him to his running, jumping cute self? Who knows that, when I just saved him, he was hardly better than he is now? Every day, he relied on a single breath to hang on. Who knows that he isn’t just my disciple, but that there’s a binding blood connection between us? I’m the person who wants to save him the most, but I’ve really done all that I can…”

Zhao Litang didn’t say anything more. The corners of his eyes reddened, and he walked over to the small man’s bedside, wobbling slightly. Seeing him quietly lying there, his heart throbbed painfully.

He looked around inside the tent, but he didn’t see the person who was supposed to show up at this moment.

Outside the tent, night had fallen.

Standing in the bleak, cold wind, a black-clad figure quietly looked at the tent glowing with yellow light. He didn’t move at all, and stared for a long while.

Cheng Feng walked over, and asked in a low voice, “Master, why aren’t you going in there? I just heard that His Highness… tonight, His Highness might-”

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“He won’t.”

Pei Zheng’s voice was as cold as the night surrounding them.

“But, Master Shen said it herself. Master Shen is the best doctor in the entire world. If even she doesn’t have a solution, what else can be done?”

Pei Zheng slowly shifted his gaze away.

Right now, everyone in that tent seemed to be saying goodbye to the little prince, but Pei Zheng wouldn’t. So he refused to enter that tent.

“Nothing will happen to him. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

Cheng Feng was about to say something else, but he was suddenly interrupted by a sound in the distance.

It was the rattling of a carriage; the sound was incredibly vivid against this serene darkness.

Cheng Feng’s eyes widened slightly, “Master! It’s the carriage from the Imperial City!”

The carriage stopped right in front of the tent, and the driver was the shadow guard that Pei Zheng had sent to pick up Jiang Yubai and Qi Yirou. The shadow guard had taken a shortcut, which allowed them to reach the barracks sooner. Otherwise, who knew how long the journey would have taken.

“Master, they have arrived safely.”

After that shadow guard gave his report, he left.

Jiang Yubai got off the carriage, before he promptly bent over and began to retch violently.

After he straightened up, he saw Cheng Feng, who had rushed over, and complained, “Do all of the shadow guards in your Prime Minister’s Manor fly their carriages?”

Cheng Feng patted his back. When he saw Qi Yirou climb out of the carriage as well, he hurried over to help her off.

“Greetings to the Third Princess. His Highness and Master Shen are all in there waiting for you. The situation is urgent, please hurry, Princess!”

Qi Yirou sensed the seriousness of the matter, so she followed Cheng Feng and hurried into the tent.

When they passed the entrance of the tent, Qi Yirou spotted Pei Zheng standing outside. She gave him a nod, before she entered the tent.

After the curtain was pulled open, someone cried out in surprise at the sight of Qi Yirou, but that cry was muffled by the curtain as it fell.

“You aren’t going to take a look at him?”

Jiang Yubai walked over to stand next to Pei Zheng.

Pei Zheng didn’t answer. He only lifted his eyelids and cast him a sidelong glance.

“Are you done vomiting?”

Jiang Yubai snorted coldly, “If it weren’t because you were doing it to save His Highness too, I would’ve definitely blamed that all on you, I can’t believe you’re shameless enough to even ask me that-“

The corners of Pei Zheng’s lips silently hooked upward.

When he saw Qi Yirou show up at such a critical moment, it felt like he had exhaled in relief. His expression suddenly relaxed; only then did he realize that his entire body had tensed up earlier. Just what had the panic and fear done to him?

Jiang Yubai prodded Pei Zheng’s shoulder.

“Hey, Lord Pei, it’s already come to this point, what are you standing here for? If you’re worried about him, just go in and look after him. If you’re afraid, just say it. Right now, you’re standing out here, scared out of your wits. I think it’s because you haven’t got the guts to face him, which is why you’re too scared to go in there.”

Pei Zheng froze, “That’s not the reason.”

Jiang Yubai’s fingers swiftly grabbed his wrist, before he smiled, “It isn’t? Then why is your hand shaking? Your pulse is so fast, and your heart is beating even faster.”

Pei Zheng clutched his hand with the other. It really was shaking, and right now, it was shaking quite intensely. It seemed that he really was terrified.

That was natural. He had already experienced the feeling of losing him; he would rather die than go through it again.

Inside the tent, after Shen Huan spotted Qi Yirou, her eyes instantly widened, before she smeared her tears. It was as though she were looking at a life-saving straw1 as she stepped forward and grabbed her.

“Th-Third Princess, is that you, Third Princess? I’m not hallucinating, right?”

Wu Quan also blinked hard, “Master Shen, I think I’m also hallucinating.”

Cheng Feng said, “She’s not a hallucination.”

Qi Yirou also held onto Shen Huan, “Master Shen, I’m Qi Yirou, I’m here to save my little brother.”

Shen Huan nodded enthusiastically, and hurriedly began to make preparations. She had Qi Yirou lie down on the bed as well.

Everyone else was kicked out of the tent, while Jiang Yubai entered to assist Shen Huan.

The blood transfusion went on for a long while. Everyone waiting outside was extremely anxious.

Zhao Litang stood next to Pei Zheng.

“This time, when he wakes up, he’ll probably have recovered the rest of his memories.”

Zhao Litang said, “He’ll remember everything, even all the things you did to him before. Do you think he’ll ever want to see you again?”

But Pei Zheng continued to stare coldly at the curtain and didn’t say a word.

Zhao Litang wasn’t happy with frigid bearing, “Even if you want to start treating him well now, are your feelings genuine? Can you swear to yourself that everything you’re doing isn’t because of your guilty conscience? That it isn’t because you want to atone for what you’ve done? If it had been someone else, would you have gone to this point as well?”

 

Notes

Thanks for reading~

1.救命稻草 (jiù mìng dào cǎo): it refers to reaching out with a straw to a drowning person, as if it will be enough to save them. The meaning is ‘trivial things that are treated as useful when one is in danger’, but in this case, it probably means ‘last resort’.

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