Chapter 2: CH 2

Water rushed towards him from every direction.

In the chaos, Sui Yan felt muddleheaded. He suddenly began to suffocate. His instincts made him reach out to grab at something, and he felt a hand pull him up. 

Air rushed into his lungs, and he panted hard. He struggled to open his eyes to glance at the person in front of him, and he froze.

A drenched youth stood before him, glaring, “Sui Wanggui! Are you seeking to die? So close to the shore, it serves you right to drown!”

Sui Yan was stunned, and he belatedly realized that things didn’t seem right.

Hadn’t he just been poisoned to death by the bottle of wine in Prince Jing’s Manor? 

How was he still alive?

The youth in front of him became increasingly familiar. When he began to speak, Sui Yan recognized that this was Song Xian.

He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. He was immature, and he was panting angrily.

When he saw Sui Yan staring at him without blinking, he became even more furious.

“What are you looking at? I was almost killed by you just now, Little Young Master. If you want to die, please find a quiet place to jump into the river, don’t drag me along.”

Sui Yan looked at him expressionlessly. He stood up and jumped into the river again without hesitating.

There was a loud splash.

Song Xian, “……” 

Ever since the Third Prince Duan Zhisu fell from favor, Sui Yan kept a low profile in the capital. He lurked for three years before returning to court.

He then proceeded to do everything he could, both openly and covertly, to drag down every prince who had the potential to become the crown prince. The emperor was terrified, and on his deathbed, he instructed the Third Prince to grant Sui Yan poisoned wine. Thus, Sui Yan met his tragic end in a deserted courtyard.

When he plotted for the death of the first person, Sui Yan already knew of the consequences. He understood that once the emperor passed away, he would soon follow, so he didn’t hate the Third Prince, who had granted him the glass of Stigma. Instead, he was grateful for the glass of poisoned wine.

The words he had said before his death were only to make the arrogant Song Xian feel uncomfortable. He had always been the type of person who would ruin others’ moods when he felt unhappy. That’s why he hadn’t been afraid and had talked so boldly with Song Xian. 

For a long time, he had nothing to look forward to, so the glass of Stigma was unnecessary. He was only looking for a justifiable way to die.

It’s just that Sui Yan had never expected to wake up again, so his first thought when he was rescued by the young Song Xian was that he was hallucinating.

When he was fifteen, he had wandered in the city with Song Xian and fallen into a cold river by accident. As a result, he became frail and sickly. His condition steadily deteriorated, and he was barely hanging on by the time he was twenty-five.

Sui Yan was confused. He thought, Even if it’s just a hallucination before death, why should I see the scoundrel Song Xian? 

To make sure this was really a hallucination, he jumped back into the river without any hesitation.

I don’t have any nostalgia or regrets. It’s better to die quickly. So annoying, Sui Yan thought before jumping.

It was freezing. Through the murky water, Sui Yan seemed to see someone leap into the water and swim towards him.

Sui Yan wildly thought, Who is this foolish person? Don’t come. Don’t lose your life to save mine. 

A corner of an ink-colored shirt seemed to float in front of him, but Sui Yan had already lost consciousness.

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There seemed to be a crowd arguing in his mind, and he was very annoyed. 

“Third Prince Duan Zhisu, convicted of conspiring to murder his brother, granted death.”

Next, he heard the sound of porcelain shattering.

“Wanggui, you really want to risk everything and get involved in this dispute? Duan Zhisu has already been sentenced, and you have no chance of winning.”

“Sui Yan! Sui Yan, are you still alive?” 

“Prince Jing is really defending his honor, but at times like these, how much is honor worth? You either die or live today. Choose one.”

“When you are close to an unfavored prince, nobody would care even if you were to shamelessly warm a man’s bed.”

“The Third Prince…Has already returned to the capital from Canglin Temple. Can you…wait?”

“Ah——” 

There were too many people, and too many voices were clamoring in his ears. Sui Yan felt angry, sad, and desperate. These feelings weighed upon his chest, and he nearly exploded.

His fever was too high, and he couldn’t even tell what year it was. He vaguely said, “Uncle Zhao……”

He heard the sound of shattering porcelain, followed by distant crying.

Sui Yan felt someone pull open his mouth and feed him a bowl of bitter medicine. 

He was long used to the bitter taste, and Sui Yan swallowed the medicine without protest.

Someone on the side said, “He finally drank the medicine. He will be fine after a few days.”

Sui Yan was confused. He thought, What type of quack doctor is this? The sickness has been in my bones for many years, and no medicine can cure it. What does he mean by there being no big problems? This is ridiculous.

However, the medicine prescribed by the quack doctor seemed to have worked. After a while, Sui Yan felt his strength return to him. He weakly opened his eyes. Glancing at his side, he was met with a face that was both familiar and foreign. 

“Haitang?”

The feminine name Haitang actually belonged to an immature boy.

His face was currently streaked with tears. He leaned on the side of the bed and looked at Sui Yan aggrievedly, “Little Young Master, you have been in a coma for three days. That person surnamed Song is really hateful. He didn’t rescue you and let you stay in that frozen river for so long. Wu– if something had really happened to you, I would have asked the Second Young Master to seek an audience with the emperor. This way, that person surnamed Song can be convicted of his crimes. Fortunately, someone saved you in time…”

A low, hoarse voice came from the side, “Enough, Haitang. Don’t bother Little Young Master. Go get the medicine.” 

Sui Yan turned his head and saw a middle-aged man wearing a butler’s uniform. He froze and said, “Uncle Zhao?”

Li Zhao was calm. He reached over and touched Sui Yan’s forehead, frowning, “It’s still a little hot, are you uncomfortable?”

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Sui Yan stared at the two people in front of him blankly as his memories slowly returned to him.

A moment later, he took a deep breath and fainted again. 

Haitang, Li Zhao, “……”

“Help! Young Master fainted again!”

Three days later, Sui Yan woke up dazed from the fever and accepted the fact that he had been reborn.

Ordinary people would either be frightened or happy when encountering a rebirth. However, Sui Yan was extremely calm, and he even felt cold. He thought blankly, Doing everything all over again, wouldn’t I still die in the end? Why bother? 

He had no intentions of survival to begin with. Thinking about it, he became even more disheartened, and he didn’t even bother to drink the life-saving medicine that Haitang carefully carried over.

The bitter medicine was covered in white steam. Haitang looked at the sickly Sui Yan, who was resting on the soft bed, and whispered, “Young Master, it’s time to drink your medicine.”

Sui Yan lazily responded. He took the bowl and sniffed at its contents. Instantly, his expression changed, and he nearly threw up.

Haitang rushed over to pat his back, “Young Master?” 

In the past, Sui Yan had no choice but to drink medicine to prolong his life. Now that he was too lazy to continue living, why should he bother to drink something this bitter? Wouldn’t he be pointlessly suffering?

Thinking like this, he put the medicine down and shook his head to indicate that he was alright, “I heard you say that I was saved by someone when I fell into the water. Who was it?”

Haitang hesitated, “He happened to be doing errands outside of the palace…”

Sui Yan’s heart thumped. 

Haitang mumbled, “……It was the Crown Prince.”

Sui Yan was at a loss. In his previous life, Song Xian had frozen in shock, and by the time he reacted to save himself, it was already too late, and Sui Yan remained sickly for the rest of his life.

In this life, he even jumped into the river twice. Why did the Crown Prince jump in to save him?

Sui Yan’s head began to hurt as he thought about it, and he gave up on figuring it out. 

Haitang said, “Young Master, drink the medicine.”

Sui Yan absentmindedly replied, “Alright, alright.”

Haitang urged him again before bowing and leaving.

Sui Yan slowly got up from the bed and glanced out the window, only to realize it was snowing heavily outside. The floating snow seemed like goose feathers, and it was very dazzling. 

In a daze, he remembered that the sky was also full of snow as he died.

Sui Yan slowly walked over to the window and opened it halfway. The heavy snow was blown in by the cold wind, and he nearly got a faceful of snow.

Outside the window, the large manor with its rock garden, pavilions, snow-covered trees, and candlesticks looked the same as the one in his memories.

Sui Yan lazily leaned by the window. His expression was complex as his gaze swept over the scenery in the courtyard. He carried the bowl of medicine in his hand and neatly poured its contents outside the window. 

The snow outside was dyed black.

He lowered his gaze and lazily watched as fresh snow covered the snow that had been stained. Then, he closed the window and laid back on the bed, quickly falling asleep again.

The Sui Family was full of warriors and martyrs. They had guarded the frontiers for generations and fought year-long battles to expand the territory of Beilan.

But something went wrong with the Sui Family’s Little Young Master. Ever since he was young, he disliked fighting. Instead, he was unruly and careless. Everybody in the capital knew the Sui Family, known for generations of gallant generals, had produced an arrogant and willful Little Young Master. 

When Sui Yan was young, his father and two elder brothers were still alive. The Sui Family didn’t need to rely on him. In addition, the Old Madam pampered Sui Yan because of his weak constitution and didn’t want him to join his father on the battlefield. As a result, Sui Yan simply did whatever he liked.

It was not until Sui Yan was ten years old that his two elder brothers and General Sui died in battle. The Old Madam soon followed in grief. Sui Yan was forced to leave his hometown for the capital, and he learned to survive in this scheming place fraught with danger.

In his previous life, he didn’t know how to conceal his abilities and bide for time. He insisted on becoming the right-hand man of the Third Prince, and he schemed for the prince both openly and covertly.

But in this life, Sui Yan didn’t plan to get involved in such murky waters. It was too annoying. 

Because the Sui Family had been martyred at the southern borders, the emperor took great care of its last remaining member.

Within hours of his falling into the water, imperial physicians were sent from the palace to treat Sui Yan. However, the expensive medicine they prescribed was poured on the bare osmanthus tree outside by Sui Yan.

Sui Yan still looked sickly seven days after the accident, and the imperial physicians were all helpless. After much discussion, they nervously proposed to perform acupuncture on the Little Young Master.

Sui Yan’s lips curled slightly. His features made it seem like he was smiling even when he was expressionless. Not to mention, he had spent ten years cultivating the habit of smiling in front of others in his previous life. He couldn’t change it so quickly. 

He stared at the imperial physician and gently said, “If you poke me with any needles, I will tell my Imperial Uncle that you are injuring innocent people.”

The imperial physicians, “……”

The imperial physicians hurriedly knelt down and said, “Little Young Master, th- this….”

What kind of words were these? 

Haitang, who was on the side, said, “If the two sirs don’t know, my Young Master is afraid of needles. You should prescribe some more medicine. His condition hasn’t improved after so many days. If you guys don’t put in some more effort, be careful when I report you to the emperor for being so careless.”

The imperial physicians, “……”

Servants really acted in the same way as their masters. This master and servant were clearly acting in collusion.

The imperial physicians fearfully prescribed some more medicine and gave multiple warnings before slipping away in a hurry. 

In his previous life, Sui Yan hated taking medicine the most. At first, he vomited so hard that he nearly threw up blood, but he forced himself to swallow it to survive. Sometimes, he looked even worse after taking medicine.

This time, he wouldn’t torture himself anymore. When Haitang carried over medicine to nourish his health, he would accept it. However, as soon as Haitang left, he would go through the familiar process of pouring it outside the window. If the osmanthus tree were still alive, it would probably have lost all of its leaves by now.

Today’s medicine was filled with many supplements and it smelled a little sweet. Clearly, a lot of thought had been put into it. However, Sui Yan just glanced at the bowl before leaning by the window and pouring it onto the ground.

When he put the empty bowl on the lattice of the window and lazily glanced up, he spotted a figure nearby. The man looked to be nearing adulthood. He was tall, dressed in an ink-colored cloak. The man looked over with a smile, and it was clear that he had seen Sui Yan’s previous actions. 

Sui Yan, “……”

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