TBR CH166 [IF]

Ji Ying stumbled into the prison cell, coughing heavily, his throat feeling hoarse beyond recognition.

The scene before him struck him as absurdly comical. His vision swam for a moment before his eyes adjusted to the pitch-black, windowless lights of the imperial prison, the iron-black walls and bars, still stained with the blood of the previous occupant.

As for where that person was now, Ji Ying didn’t care—he couldn’t bring himself to care about anything more. Imagining that his own family members might have been imprisoned here only brought him a numbing pain.

The lingering poison in his body, like a parasite, slowly gnawed at his nerves. He leaned against the wall and slowly sat down.

Dressed in a pale prisoner’s uniform, Ji Ying had lost the right to wear the deep purple official’s robe adorned with venomous snakes. After several days without rest, his face in the gloomy prison still looked visibly terrible.

“Oh, isn’t this Minister Ji?”

Someone on the opposite side called out in a hoarse voice, full of malicious mockery, “Haha, this is no injustice. When you were the emperor’s dog, doing all sorts of evil, did you ever imagine a day like this?”

Ji Ying looked up and saw that it was an official he had seen daily in court.

He was not Ji Ying’s political enemy, but rather an accomplice, who had engaged in many heinous acts with him. Many of the people currently in the imperial prison were like this. These individuals had once been adorned with fame and immense wealth, but now they were prisoners.

Seeing him, they found a kind of solace, as if finding a reference point to compare themselves to, mocking Ji Ying’s current plight.

Look, Ji Ying, who was once omnipotent, is now even more miserable than us.

For such people, Ji Ying felt only contempt.

In the past, he had to deal with them at the emperor’s behest. Now that both he and they had lost their value, Ji Ying merely raised his eyes, giving the other a cold, scornful glance. The heavy mockery seemed to foretell the other’s miserable end.

The other’s face turned ugly, and he glared at Ji Ying, saying nothing more.

Ji Ying slowly took a breath.

He had no particular feelings about being here now, merely that he had gotten what he desired. He even felt a sense of relief.

He had been stripped of his official position and thrown into the imperial prison, becoming a criminal, primarily because the emperor had finally died in the palace today.

Ever since Chu Huaicun led his army in rebellion, the imperial city had been battered by storms, and everyone was in danger. Battle reports from the front lines arrived one after another, the messengers’ faces always looking worse than a dead man’s. The emperor’s muddled eyes were filled with madness and fear.

For several days, Ji Ying had dealt with various military affairs day and night.

The old emperor clearly realized that he had only Ji Ying at his side whom he could use, and believed that if Chu Huaicun invaded, Ji Ying would certainly not have a good end, so he trusted him even more.

This morning, he had even revealed a secret to him.

The situation was not optimistic. Chu’s army had already reached the city walls. The emperor planned to quietly escape from the palace through a secret tunnel to outside the city, only intending to bring Ji Ying and a trusted eunuch, awaiting an opportunity to make a comeback.

Ji Ying stood in the empty main hall, looking at the frail old man dressed only in common cloth, pinching his palm, suppressing the urge to smile maniacally. He slowly walked to the secret tunnel and gently said to the eunuch:

“Let me help His Majesty.”

Perhaps his gaze was too sinister; the eunuch stiffened, subconsciously releasing his grip on the emperor.

The next second, Ji Ying stepped forward, thrusting the pre-prepared dagger into the old man’s chest. The emperor only had time to widen his eyes, foam at the mouth, and curse him before taking his last breath.

The emperor died too easily, Ji Ying thought, but the death of an old man was, after all, the most insignificant thing in the world.

Then he trembled and knelt on the ground, the knife clattering to the floor. The backlash from killing the蛊主 (Gu-master) overwhelmed him.

…It hurt too much.

He curled up, and the eunuch beside him watched everything unfold with terror, picking up the knife from the ground.

At this moment, the palace gate was suddenly pushed open, revealing everything that had happened to the newcomers outside.

The eunuch beside him let out another scream. Ji Ying bit his lip until it bled, just to maintain a shred of consciousness, hearing the newcomer ask the eunuch in a gentle voice: “Who killed His Majesty?”

“It was…”

The eunuch wanted to point at Ji Ying on the ground, but looking into the other’s eyes, he suddenly changed his words: “It was me.”

Ji Ying felt a layer of pungent irony welling up in his chest.

He wanted to laugh, but felt no strength in his body.

Since the emperor was already dead, what would those most opportunistic courtiers do? The Eastern Palace was under Chu Huaicun’s control, Prince Duan had long been expelled from the imperial capital, and the emperor had no other heirs. At this moment, the best option was, of course, to immediately change allegiance, open the city gates, bow down to the new king, and at the same time, immediately turn coat, offering those who should be abandoned as spoils of war and tokens of loyalty.

He was notorious, alone, and thus the perfect sacrifice.

Indeed, the newcomer’s voice became even gentler:

“You killed that tyrannical ruler; you have performed a great service. You may come with us to welcome the new emperor into the capital. As for Ji Ying, he is venomous and malicious, and even now does not forget to defend the tyrant. He is truly a vile character. Men, take him to the imperial prison, to await the new emperor’s judgment.”

Ji Ying finally matched the voice to the face, and in an instant, he could recount five or six absurd things this minister had done, some of which were even dirtier than the things he himself had handled.

However, he was too much in pain to speak at this moment, and he supposed he wouldn’t have the chance to speak later either.

For this person, the credit for killing the old emperor certainly couldn’t fall into Ji Ying’s hands.

Subsequently, Ji Ying’s consciousness came and went intermittently, until he finally sat against the wall, gasping for breath in the imperial prison, gradually getting used to the pain and finding a small window for thought.

He knew his current situation was terrible. There were too few people in the world who could save him. He only knew of one, but in such chaos, that person must have long since fled.

Then, he would just have to die.

Ji Ying calmly thought of death, and then for some reason, thought of Chu Huaicun.

His pupils suddenly trembled again, revealing endless pain and regret in the calm cracks. He found it difficult to describe the fear he felt at the beginning of the year when he finally used the excuse of standing with the emperor against powerful ministers to gain an opportunity to see the light of day again, only to unexpectedly collide with the other’s cold eyes.

At that moment, he didn’t even have time to put on his mask, nor could he utter a single word. Besides the endless verbal battles in court, Ji Ying tried his best to avoid Chu Huaicun, fearing that the other would see him in this state.

Even though he knew there was nothing to fear about his current appearance.

Even if at first the cold and unyielding powerful minister might have had some doubts, the moment he first stained his hands with blood, the moment he twisted right and wrong in court, the moment he showed that hypocritical smile that even he himself utterly detested, the doubt in the other’s eyes gradually vanished without a trace. He must have seen through his dark nature.

He was now such a person.

Most of the people confined in the same prison as him had done many unsavory things. This was indeed his rightful place.

Thinking this, Ji Ying even felt a strange sense of comfort. After the new emperor ascended, none of these people, including him, would have a good end. Those who tried to deceive him would also suffer.

And the Lin family, imprisoned deep within the palace, might even have a chance to see the light of day again.

Only by then, he would already be dead. If Lin Bo was wise, he would know that his name should best not be associated with the Lin family. Chu Huaicun would arrange everything well. Chu Huaicun—

He was as sharp as that sword, like cold water.

That was the young man he liked in his youth. How could he not understand him? How could he not be proud of him?

As Ji Ying thought, many, many memories flooded back.

He remembered the cold young swordsman who only smiled at him, remembered them walking slowly by the Green Fish Lake, agreeing upon a future that never happened; he remembered the great fire at that time, and finally, looking into Chu Huaicun’s eyes illuminated by the flames, pushing him out of the fire, as timbers crashed down, cutting off the figure who wanted to rush in.

He remembered telling Chu Huaicun at that time: “Don’t forget me.”

But now he regretted it. The moment he saw Prime Minister Chu, he regretted it completely. Chu Huaicun spent over a decade accustomed to the white clothes he often wore, using his favorite incense, wearing a masterless jade pendant, traveling alone into the deep mountains in the spring fog, waiting by an unmarked grave for someone destined not to return.

If he could do it again, Ji Ying thought, he would tell him: Don’t wait anymore.

This was merely the muddled thought of a condemned man in the imperial prison. He coughed heavily again, feeling his consciousness blur a little. He began to calculate how much time it would take for the city gates to open, for Chu Huaicun to march into the capital, and for the dynasty to change.

As he calculated, he lost the ability to perceive everything else, falling briefly into a coma.

His consciousness gradually regained amidst a commotion in the prison.

Ji Ying slowly realized he was still alive, feeling a dull, aching pain in his ribs, as if they were broken.

He hadn’t fully grasped the current situation, only feeling a faint light penetrating from afar. He slowly blinked, suspecting he was seeing a hallucination.

Was he too desperate to see the other person again?

No. Ji Ying quickly calmed down. He estimated he had been unconscious for two or three hours, enough time for Chu Huaicun to take the imperial city into his grasp.

The new emperor was now heading to the imperial prison, perhaps simply to inspect them, the condemned, and determine who still needed to be dealt with. Otherwise, he couldn’t think of any other possibility.

Chu Huaicun walked step by step into the bottomless imperial prison.

When Ji Ying realized this, he almost forgot the pain, feeling as if even his breathing had stopped.

Ji Ying hadn’t even dared to imagine he would have a chance to see him again in his remaining life.

Chu Huaicun, now the supreme ruler of the land, seemed to have arrived in haste, his snow-white clothes still stained with battleground blood. The ceremonial sword remained always at his waist, gleaming coldly, exuding a certain sharp aura. And that warm, moist jade pendant was still carefully treasured by the emperor.

It’s so good, Ji Ying thought, confused and with no other thoughts, only feeling it was so good, so good, all sweetness, only the base still bitter. Why was he bitter?

When Chu Huaicun reached him, he could barely bear to blink.

He was afraid that everything before his eyes was an illusion, but he forced himself to move into the shadows, unwilling for the new emperor to see him in his current state. His dark pupils were hidden in the darkness, greedily and boldly looking at Chu Huaicun.

Had he lost weight? Was he injured? Had everything he went through gone smoothly? Why did he look so…

As Ji Ying, he had never seen the person, as cold as ice and snow, before him reveal a look bordering on terror.

But over a decade ago, during that great fire, when the flames illuminated the other’s eyes, the other’s expression was exactly the same as it was now.

At that moment, an intense fear also swept through Ji Ying’s heart. He didn’t know why his heart was trembling, but he couldn’t avoid the new emperor’s gaze, meeting his eyes directly. He wanted to quickly look away as he usually would, but he was fixated, stubbornly meeting his gaze as if rooted to the spot.

…If this is the last glance, it doesn’t matter if I’m a little willful.

Ji Ying thought, while trying hard to ignore the burning sensation in his eyes. He couldn’t cry at a time like this, after holding back for so long, waiting for so long, and heading towards the end with a sense of relief, until now.

If he cried now, wouldn’t it seem like a villain’s deathbed repentance, making him appear even more hypocritical, vicious, and utterly ugly?

He blinked, swallowed his tears, his throat dry.

He forced himself to briefly calm down in the darkness, then opened his eyes again, only to find that Chu Huaicun hadn’t left.

Not only had he not left, but his white robe was coming towards him.

He almost violently broke the prison cell’s lock. The trembling jailer beside him didn’t even have time to offer the key before seeing the lock cleaved in half by a sharp sword.

And Chu Huaicun, who had just become the new ruler of the world today, pushed open the cell door with terrifying concentration, then knelt down without hesitation, reaching out to touch the shoulder of the imprisoned traitor.

His sigh was even very soft: “I found you.”

His snow-white clothes were cold and gentle.

Ji Ying dazedly fell into an unexpected embrace. A cold, bloody scent and a faint aroma of incense enveloped him, making him unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

Chu Huaicun’s body was cold. He dully rubbed against him, only feeling a cool sensation on his forehead, which was burning from a high fever. Perhaps it was this coolness that left him dazed and unable to react. The tears he had painstakingly swallowed welled up again, and his eyes became sadly moist.

“You…”

Ji Ying had barely uttered a word when he felt it was wrong. His reason struggled to pull him back to reality, even though reality made him unable to understand the situation before him.

He bit his lip, using his greatest willpower to pull himself away from the other’s embrace, forcing himself to change his address:

“Has Your Majesty misunderstood? This humble subject…”

He looked at Chu Huaicun before him, and his voice, half-spoken, suddenly stopped.

The new emperor hadn’t had time to wear his crown, hadn’t had time to inspect his courtiers, hadn’t had time to survey his victory, yet now, before him, he slowly blinked. Chu Huaicun’s eyes were like ancient, unmelting snow mountains, but at this moment, they melted a drop of cold water, suspended in the eyes that reflected himself.

He disregarded everything, seemingly seeing himself as a kind of relieved survivor, with lingering fear.

“I almost…”

Chu Huaicun paused, “I almost thought I was too late.”

Ji Ying helplessly realized that his rationality had once again extinguished. He trembled as he reached out, first cautiously touching the new emperor’s shoulder, then slowly moving downwards. Just as his hand was about to reach Chu Huaicun’s, it was instead caught by him and pressed against his chest. Ji Ying felt his tongue tied for a moment before he finally said:

“I’m fine. You… are you worried about me?”

He realized after speaking that he had long forgotten all honorifics.

But what did it matter? He had long given up trying to understand the current situation, only hoping that the person before him would not show any signs of unease.

Being looked at this way, Ji Ying suddenly had a terrible thought, but before the poison revealed its grim core, the sugarcoating was light. He ignored the occasional sharp pains throughout his body and appeased the monarch before him:

“Truly. I am right here in front of you now.”

He didn’t know if his lie had been seen through, but these few sentences were indeed too informal. The imperial prison was not empty; when Chu Huaicun had just entered, it had been noisy, but now it was deathly silent.

The jailer beside the new emperor was clearly still struggling to comprehend all this, clutching the cell keys pitifully.

And the former colleague in the opposite cell was clearly completely speechless.

At the time of dynastic change, everyone tried their best to establish even the slightest connection with Chu Huaicun. However, while Chu Huaicun was protective of his own internally, he was exceptionally cold externally. Ultimately, people despaired when they realized that those who could claim any acquaintance with the new emperor were one in ten thousand, and that slight acquaintance’s influence was unknown.

Now it seemed—

They wouldn’t have locked the most connected person in the imperial prison, would they?

Chu Huaicun did not speak for a moment, simply quietly feeling the man’s heartbeat transmitted from his palm. Although the heartbeat was steady, it was somewhat weak, sometimes so faint that only a slight tremor remained.

But Ji Ying still forced a smile, his pale lips curving slightly, and he said softly, as if in jest, doing his best to hide the fear in his voice:

“I don’t know—Your Majesty, I didn’t expect you to value a condemned man so highly. I thought we were just enemies.”

“You killed the old emperor.”

Chu Huaicun stated softly, and Ji Ying blinked as if understanding.

“Oh,” he put on his usual smiling expression, “Then I am truly… flattered. Those people definitely wouldn’t want you to find out, but what does it matter? A two-faced person like me, either has long harbored resentment towards his master and seized the moment to kill him to his satisfaction; or is precisely trying to claim credit from the new emperor at this time. Now, it seems, it has had a little effect.”

Ji Ying glanced at the person in the opposite cell out of the corner of his eye.

The other desperately blinked at him, evidently unable to imagine him saying such a jumbled mess of words under such advantageous circumstances, completely clearing himself of any credit while adding several layers of greed and venom to his character. He looked as if he wanted to rush over and thank Chu Huaicun on Ji Ying’s behalf.

Ji Ying bit his tongue, swallowed a bit of nausea, and calmly finished speaking these words.

But Chu Huaicun was clearly unmoved. He continued:

“It was you who planned the military affairs for the emperor—but it was also you who sent intelligence from the imperial palace. You were intimately familiar with the news of the rebel armies in various regions, which means you must have been working closely with the emperor, as his confidant. Why did you help me?”

This question was difficult for Ji Ying to answer. He hadn’t expected Chu Huaicun to actually suspect him.

He was silent for a moment: “Who knows? Perhaps it was just because Prime Minister Chu seemed benevolent. I act on impulse and have no particular reason.”

Now, the person in the opposite cell began to look at Ji Ying with a hint of awe.

This person was by the emperor’s side, yet had turned against him early on. A subtle betrayal, the foreshadowing only revealed now. The efficiency of his treachery was truly a model for their kind, who constantly shifted allegiances.

Chu Huaicun suddenly said, “Your heart is beating irregularly.”

Ji Ying lowered his eyes, allowing his expression to be shrouded in shadow. He had revealed too much; the more Chu Huaicun spoke, the more alarmed he felt.

His greatest fear was that Chu Huaicun knew his identity. Although this was impossible, if he guessed—if he guessed, he couldn’t imagine how he would face Chu Huaicun, nor could he bring himself to speak of his body’s true condition.

At that moment, what would separate them was genuine death.

No, a tremendous fear made his fingertips tremble. Chu Huaicun had already waited for him once; he couldn’t be plunged into endless waiting again.

What should he do, what should he say, to prevent him from even thinking about that name?

In his overwhelming fear, Chu Huaicun repeated himself a second time before Ji Ying finally heard him ask:

“Did you just say: ‘seeing me benevolent’?”

“That was just—”

Ji Ying skipped the step of thinking and directly retorted, his voice even trembling, and was immediately interrupted by Chu Huaicun.

“If that’s the case, why did Minister Ji always leave in a hurry, unwilling to meet me privately? Besides in court, I had no other place to find you. Even if I found you, why did Minister Ji never look into my eyes? If we had met before, or if I reminded Minister Ji of someone, you shouldn’t treat me with such an attitude.”

“Or perhaps,”

Chu Huaicun seemed to have already laid a trap, patiently waiting for his prey to fall into it. His ice-like eyes now looked at Ji Ying brightly and irresistibly: “The person I remind Minister Ji of, is someone you deeply dislike?”

“How could that be.”

The words escaped lightly from his tongue. Only after they vanished into the air did Ji Ying realize what he had said.

He felt his disguise being peeled away bit by bit in front of Chu Huaicun, and it was a little hard to imagine that the other had paid so much attention to him so early on. He racked his brains trying to come up with words to refute, but he dared not touch the young man in his heart, unable to say anything bad.

The person in the opposite cell had already begun to look at Ji Ying with awe.

At first, he had misjudged him. Now, in hindsight, Ji Ying’s feigned indifference was perfectly executed. The new emperor must have been utterly enchanted by now and would certainly not lay a hand on him—Ah, if only I had such brilliant tactics.

Ji Ying couldn’t speak, and then saw Chu Huaicun curve his lips slightly.

Even when he merely caught a distant glimpse, or when they were at loggerheads in court, he could restrain himself.

But the snow-clad figure before him just smiled gently, as if a river that had just thawed in early spring, a gentle ripple of spring water reflecting before him. Ji Ying’s heart skipped a beat, and in a daze, there was only one thought in his mind:

How long has it been… It’s been many years since I’ve only seen him smile at me like this in dreams.

And at this moment, Chu Huaicun leaned slightly forward. Their distance instantly became very close, so close that their breaths could be clearly heard by each other. Layers of clothing once again covered him, like a thin layer of snow.

He broke through all barriers, saying directly:

“Yuan Ya, I knew it was you.”

That was a name that had disappeared from the world for a long time.

Ji Ying’s expression visibly panicked, and he immediately forced himself to show a bewildered look, about to offer some explanation.

And Chu Huaicun maintained a posture ready to embrace him at any moment, his heart filled only with “Thank goodness I made it in time,” blocking all of Ji Ying’s excuses:

“I knew it a long time ago. It took some time, but perhaps earlier than you can imagine. This is something I have recognized; refuting it now is futile. I think you don’t need to lie to me anymore. I told you, I can recognize you, even if you don’t want me to find out, it doesn’t matter. After all, to me…”

Ji Ying opened his mouth as if to stop him, but only uttered the name in a low voice: “Chu Huaicun.”

“You are more important to me than anything.”

Chu Huaicun released the hand he had placed on Ji Ying’s heart, softly calling him “Yuan Ya,” and at the same time, reached out to wipe his tears.

His long, slender fingers were a little cold. Ji Ying had to bite his lip to restrain his whole body from trembling, hearing the new emperor continue to say,

“I can always recognize you.”

At that moment, all pretense collapsed. Only Chu Huaicun’s eyes remained, gazing at him.

—Everything you cannot say, I understand.

—All the injustices and grievances you have suffered, I understand.

—Even you yourself, the scarred you deliberately hidden, will always be as you were in my eyes.

He finally couldn’t help but burst into tears, burying his face in the other’s shoulder. He felt a reassuring darkness before his eyes, and the physical pain, amidst such intense emotion, was almost imperceptible. He only felt it was incredibly difficult to control himself and not cry until he was exhausted, because it was too bitter.

He had never imagined he would have such an opportunity in this life, and thus he judged that this was not a dream. Because he no longer dared to dream of such good things.

Chu Huaicun gently stroked his hair, slowly smoothing his rising and falling back with his hand.

But after all, they couldn’t linger here any longer. Ji Ying still had the lingering poison in his body. After letting him vent for a while, the new emperor gently pressed the other’s shoulders, looking into his eyes:

“I’ll tell you the rest later. Yuan Ya, your current condition is very serious; you must receive treatment first.”

…Treatment.

Ji Ying slowly began to consider this problem he had deliberately avoided, only feeling his body and mind slowly become heavy again. He found it difficult to speak to Chu Huaicun, who knew nothing of this. The poison in his body could probably only be cured by a handful of people in this world.

But finding them would take time, and he had killed the Gu-master, suffering a backlash, so he certainly wouldn’t live long enough to wait.

He trembled his eyelashes, almost not daring to face it.

He hadn’t expected to survive at all, but now he was too unwilling to die, and afraid to leave Chu Huaicun alive alone.

He forced a slight curve of his lips, trying to carefully choose a slightly more optimistic phrasing to explain his currently riddled body to Chu Huaicun, but then he froze the moment he looked up.

He looked incredulously at the person behind Chu Huaicun.

—An old man standing casually with his hands behind his back, sporting a goatee, and possessing a somewhat ethereal air.

“…Master Fang??”

It took Ji Ying a long moment to find his voice again. “How are you here?”

Master Fang wore a disgruntled expression, puffing out his beard and glaring. Hearing Ji Ying’s question, he merely glared at him with a hint of annoyance:

“I generally don’t treat disobedient patients, especially the kind who run off to seek death halfway through treatment.”

Ji Ying belatedly realized that his actions were indeed very ungrateful towards his doctor. Had it not been for his people accidentally finding Master Fang and persuading this great figure, he would have died long ago due to the virulence of the “Half-Face Makeup” poison.

Master Fang had treated him for several courses, but he had unexpectedly run off to kill the Gu-master. It was only thanks to half of the poison in his body having already dissipated that he wasn’t immediately killed by the backlash.

“I’m sorry,”

He could only say respectfully, lowering his eyes, and then impatiently revealed his most pressing concern, “Master, you and Huaicun…”

“His master and I are old acquaintances. Prime Minister Chu asked me to be ‘accidentally’ discovered by you,”

Master Fang, seeing his good attitude, reluctantly accepted his apology and took his hand to check his pulse.

“He also asked me to stay in the capital, continue treating your illness, and protect you amidst the chaotic situation. I am old and don’t quite understand the minds of young people, so I was a bit careless. I thought everything would end today, but who knew Minister Ji had to go and torment himself in the imperial prison—”

Chu Huaicun interrupted without changing his expression:

“It’s good that Yuan Ya is fine.”

Master Fang, however, didn’t quite grasp the new emperor’s hint. He let out a “hmph” and turned to him, continuing, “Leaving that group of people behind—though none of them are good people—but His Majesty was practically frantic looking for someone. Hearing he was in the imperial prison, he even disregarded verification and charged into the imperial prison. My old bones couldn’t even keep up. Minister Ji, you tell him off too.”

This time it was Chu Huaicun’s turn to feel guilty. He paused, then simply looked at Ji Ying without any explanation, letting him fulfill Master Fang’s so-called responsibility of reprimanding him.

Ji Ying slowly blinked and said softly:

“It’s good that you’re safe.”

Chu Huaicun’s reason for leading troops out of the capital was originally to suppress the rebellion. Under the old emperor’s rule, there were rebel armies everywhere, and this time the situation was particularly severe. Chu Huaicun cooperated with these rebel armies, incorporating them into his own forces, and at the same time, somehow persuaded the Northwest Army, thus grandly advancing to the capital.

The process sounded simple, but each step was profoundly unsettling.

Swords had no eyes. Ji Ying worried about him getting into trouble on the battlefield, which almost became a new constant in his nightmares. He was incredibly fearful, almost even believing in deities and wanting to go to Peace Temple to pray for a talisman for Chu Huaicun. However, he ultimately realized that a person like him would only defile the purity of Buddhism if he went, and any talisman he obtained might even have an adverse effect.

It was too difficult.

The paths they walked were all too difficult.

Chu Huaicun ascended the throne today, without official title or lineage, initiating a change of dynasty. How to appease the doubts and criticisms he faced, how to distinguish between those courtiers who sacrificed their lives for remonstrance and those who pledged allegiance, and how to quell the murmuring voices of the common people throughout the land were all issues that needed to be resolved slowly.

But now they had finally found each other.

All of this could be faced together, since they would have a lot of time.

Ji Ying leaned weakly against the cold wall of the prison cell, yet he felt as if the world had never been so bright. That bright world he had not touched for many years had finally opened a corner to him again.

“Now that the Gu-master is dead, Minister Ji’s body is extremely weak, just a little short of irreversible damage. Fortunately, I am here.”

Master Fang stated without self-praise: “It’s just that the backlash is extremely deep. You must slowly recuperate to avoid any lasting ailments.”

The physician frowned and glared at him, but still dutifully spread out the long needles wrapped in bean-green cloth, and this time Chu Huaicun handed his hand to him.

Chu Huaicun naturally handed his hand to him.

A thought suddenly flashed through Ji Ying’s mind. They were no longer their youthful selves, but their physical contact was more natural than anything. When he had uncontrollably leaned on Chu Huaicun’s shoulder just now, his lips lightly brushed his neck, like scattered kisses. The other seemed to have no resistance.

He paused, took Chu Huaicun’s hand, and slowly intertwined their fingers.

And at this moment, Chu Huaicun’s heart also suddenly stirred. He looked at Ji Ying. For some reason, the moon-like lobe of his ear, which he had sought for so long and finally found, was slightly red, yet he shared the warmth between their two hands without hesitation, little by little.

At this moment, both of them fleetingly thought of the word “love” in their hearts.

There are many more stories to tell, such as Ji Ying slowly emerging from the prison, his eyes and heart illuminated by the sunlight, or the expression of the person who tried to impersonate him upon seeing him alive and well—a sight beyond words. Or perhaps it’s about them stabilizing the court, quelling rebellions, governing the land, and surveying the empire side by side. A time of peace and prosperity, with calm seas.

And then, on some later night, Ji Ying, unable to control his emotions, happened to kiss the new emperor, who was covered in frost and snow.

But these are all stories for later.

—Let the long passage of time slowly tell them.