Xiao Chi Zhan had walked out of a sea of corpses and blood; how could she have hurt him that much?
He was doing it on purpose, directly using the momentum to hug her waist, resting his firm chin on her fragrant shoulder, sniffing the subtle fragrance emanating from her.
"Luan Luan, it hurts so much, won't I dislocate my bones?"
When Ye Luan heard this, how could she not see that this scoundrel was faking it?
She said lightly, "Then why don't you get up and go find a doctor?"
"Holding you for a while will make it stop hurting."
"Oh, so I have pain-relieving effects."
Xiao Chi Zhan was amused by her words, hugging her tighter and more fiercely, humming softly.
The moon overhead was big and round, and the wind around them was a bit cold.
Ye Luan pushed him, "Let's go back first."
So eager to give him medicine?
Xiao Chi Zhan tasted the implied meaning, "What's the hurry?"
"Didn't you want to leave and return to Daliang earlier?"
He liked to hear this.
"Then let's go."
Upon arriving at Lu Fei Bai's courtyard, there were candlelight flames within.
"He's awake?"
Ye Luan's eyes lit up, and she quickly strode in.
Xiao Chi Zhan lowered his gaze to his empty palm, his eyes turning sinister.
"A Luan."
Lu Fei Bai was leaning by the bedside, his pale cheeks weak and listless. Seeing the two enter, his expression shifted slightly.
Xie Bei Han was sitting on a round stool by the bed, his shoulder injury already bandaged.
He was holding a bowl of soup and feeding it to Lu Fei Bai.
"Young Master, this is the medicine refined. Here."
Xie Bei Han raised his eyebrows, "Can this medicine really save him?"
Ye Luan's eyes dimmed slightly, "It can delay the onset, but I don't know how long he can last."
If it had been refined earlier, it could have at least delayed it for a year or a half, but the Han Dan Zhu was found too late, and his condition--.
She didn't know how long he could last.
"A Luan, thank you."
Lu Fei Bai reached out his slender, pale hand to take the porcelain bottle. A smile flickered on his gaunt face, his cheekbones protruding.
Ye Luan felt a pang of sadness seeing this, and said, "I'll stay in the courtyard tonight. If you have any abnormalities after drinking it, just call me."
After speaking, she glanced at the ginseng soup in Xie Bei Han's hand, "Don't let him drink this for now."
"Mm," Xie Bei Han replied, "You don't need to stay. I'm here. If there are any problems, I'll have someone call you."
Ye Luan said, "Alright."
After the two left, Xie Bei Han put down the ginseng soup, looked at the weak Lu Fei Bai on the couch, and said lightly, "Give it to me."
Hearing this, Lu Fei Bai weakly handed the porcelain bottle in his hand to him.
"A Luan would not harm me."
Xie Bei Han opened the stopper, smelled the contents, and said leisurely, "She wouldn't harm you, but there's a madman by her side."
"Bei Han, my body is probably failing. A Luan she--"
"What? You expect me to save her?" Xie Bei Han sneered, "She doesn't want to leave with me either."
Lu Fei Bai lowered his eyebrows and managed a weak smile.
"She loves freedom, but you all want to break her wings."
Inside the room, candlelight flickered, and the scent of medicine was strong.
Xie Bei Han stood up, directly pinched Lu Fei Bai's face, and fed him the medicine with decisive action.
"You're already halfway into the coffin, yet you still meddle so much."
Lu Fei Bai almost choked from his roughness.
After drinking the medicine, he leaned weakly against the bed and coughed a few times.
Xie Bei Han threw away the porcelain bottle and said lazily, "Don't worry about her matters anymore."
The woman he desired, he had never failed to snatch.
"Are you playing, or have you truly fallen for her?"
The weak and powerless questioning voice echoed in the quiet, dark room.
Xie Bei Han walked lazily to the window, pushed it open, and leaped to sit on the windowsill, letting out a scoff.
"Xiao Chi Zhan's woman, do you think I would fall for her?"
Hearing his words, Lu Fei Bai's already pale face grew even paler, a sickly hue.
He coughed a few times and warned, "If you're just playing, then stay away from her."
Xie Bei Han said nothing, his gaze drifting to the moon outside.
The desolate cold moon hung alone in the vast sky, its chilling silvery light illuminating the green bamboo by the window. The faint glow fell upon the man in the purple robe, his sinister features flickering in and out of the light.
"Jing Zhi, how many years have we known each other?"
Hearing his words, the deathly pale Lu Fei Bai leaned back with difficulty and closed his eyes, as if recalling something.
"When I was twelve, I, with my ailing body, went to Bei Qi and was saved by you. It's been nine years in the blink of an eye."
A full twenty-one years. He had been tormented by this illness for twenty-one years.
Dying sooner would be a release.
"Yes, nine years. It will truly be boring without you from now on," Xie Bei Han smirked self-mockingly. "Jing Zhi, that Eastern Palace is truly too cold."
Lu Fei Bai had witnessed firsthand how he had risen step by step from a废皇子 (disgraced imperial prince) in the cold palace to the position of Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace.
The pure and innocent person of the past had ultimately transformed into the ruthless and bloodthirsty individual he was now.
In his mind, he couldn't help but recall events from when they were in Bei Qi, and he couldn't help but smile.
That could be considered a ray of light in his otherwise bleak life.
Without family schemes or hidden daggers, with Bei Han's help, he only needed to hide behind him and offer strategies.
"She is so bright and interesting, she will surely bring vitality to that cold Eastern Palace."
Lu Fei Bai didn't hear his murmuring and asked, "How is Princess Danyang?"
"Dead."
He turned his head slowly, a wicked smile on his sinister face.
"She was just a running dog of that old emperor, daring to pressure this Prince. The old regent's skin, I personally peeled it off and made a mask."
"Fierce flames burned down the entire prince's mansion, and those pleasant screams echoed through the capital. The old emperor was so terrified that he fainted in the concubine's bed in the middle of the night."
"Tsk, truly pathetic."
His sinister laughter sounded particularly eerie in the room.
Lu Fei Bai's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, "Now in Bei Qi, no one can restrain you."
But he would ultimately not live to see the day he ascended the throne.
"Bei Han, my body is failing. You don't need to stay here with me. Bei Qi has border troubles; you should go back soon."
He had wasted more than half a month here with him. A dying person caused too much trouble.
Xie Bei Han leaped down from the windowsill and walked to the round table to pour him a cup of warm water.
"Don't worry so much. Focus on recuperating."
Lu Fei Bai drank from his hand. The warm water slid down his throat, and his dry, pale lips regained some moisture.
Xie Bei Han said, "I wonder if that little girl's medicine will work."
"The pain in my abdomen has eased considerably. It seems the medicine is indeed effective."
Since it had become increasingly severe, he had been tormented by illness every night and unable to sleep. But after drinking that medicine today, within a short time, he felt much more comfortable all over.
"This Frost Sickness is a world-renowned incurable disease. Even my master had no remedy. We can only count the days he has left."
Xie Bei Han furrowed his brows and sat down on a nearby round stool, "You should sleep. I'll keep watch for you."