Those amber eyes revealed the ignorance and confusion of a newborn baby.
At this moment, he was dragged into the abyss little by little by the heavy pain.
The memories of the past that seemed to be hidden deep in my heart by the heavy snow seemed to be blown by the strong wind in an instant, becoming clear little by little.
Scarlet tears fell to the ground drop by drop.
Xie Bufeng stretched out his hand tremblingly, and like a madman, he placed his fingers on the side of Wen Qingci's neck and wrist, searching for his pulse.
No…
There was nothing beneath his fingers.
Magnolias dancing like phosphorescent flames and bird-scare bells ringing under the eaves.
In the courtyard of the Imperial Medical Bureau, a pot of scented tea was warming in a small red clay stove.
On the day they first met, he was forced to his knees.
Only Wen Qingci could see at a glance that his arm was injured.
Meals cooked by myself and medicine sent to me.
That was the first time he knew that food had other functions besides satisfying hunger.
Fireworks at Taishu Palace, a small house on a snowy night.
Wen Qingci sat beside the bed and watched over him the whole night...
The snow was still falling relentlessly.
Layer upon layer, it covered Wen Qingci's body, gradually hiding his features.
The young man, tormented by the belated pain, kept wiping the snow off his cheeks with trembling hands.
"Wen Qingci, my heart hurts so much, and... the wounds on my body hurt too," Xie Bufeng put his lips to Wen Qingci's ear, as if trying to warm him with his body temperature, or as if he was complaining to him, "What should I do? You are the imperial physician, you must know what to do... right?"
He let go of his calmness, his pride, and the childish thoughts hidden deep in his heart that he himself was not even aware of—Xie Bufeng actually just wanted Wen Qingci to give in and let him coax him.
Xie Bufeng whimpered like a wounded little animal.
He tried his best to gently touch the person in his arms, hoping to get help, or maybe just a gentle glance would be enough...
But today he understands what pain is.
There is no one around him who will worry about him or be nervous about him anymore.
On this snowy night, at this moment when Wen Qingci was sleeping.
From then on, he was either a "monster" or the "all-powerful" new emperor of the Wei Dynasty.
But no one would ever treat him as an ordinary boy who was just sick.
Scarlet tears slid down her cheeks and fell on Wen Qingci's pale skin.
The young man hurriedly reached out his hand to wipe it clean, but suddenly realized that the body in his arms had completely lost its temperature and merged into one with the snowy night.
Heng Xinwei, who had been hiding in the dark and launching a sneak attack, has been taken down by the soldiers.
One by one they fell to their knees in embarrassment.
But even Xie Bufeng's most trusted deputy general did not dare to disturb the young man at this moment.
Everyone was silent, with only the howling wind in their ears.
On the messy battlefield in Taishu Palace.
Xie Bufeng trembled as he hugged Wen Qingci tightly, repeating over and over again:
"Didn't you say that I was ruthless and vindictive? Why, why did you save me?"
"... Didn't you just treat me as a rabbit for drug testing? Why would you... risk your life to save a rabbit?"
Waves of unfamiliar pain shattered Xie Bufeng's sanity at this moment.
After saying this, the young man finally realized... Wen Qingci said that what he had fed himself was just a piece of honey.
Xie Bufeng's lips began to tremble at this moment.
"When you first mentioned 'deal', did you really mean it, or did you just... guess what I was thinking and come up with this method to make me... accept those good intentions with peace of mind?"
After saying this, he suddenly laughed out loud.
But that laughter sounded even sadder than crying.
All the past events, countless details that he had ignored intentionally or unintentionally, were all strung together in an instant.
Wen Qingci never thought of hurting him.
Wen Qingci, who was used to being seen as a "fairy-faced demon", had even given up defending himself.
Xie Bufeng once breathed a sigh of relief because Wen Qingci treated him as a rabbit for drug testing.
Later, she became unwilling to be just an ordinary rabbit in his heart.
But now, when everything that was happening before his eyes and his heart clearly told Xie Bufeng that he was really more important and special than that rabbit, Xie Bufeng suddenly regretted it.
Xie Bufeng found that he would rather Wen Qingci was really like what he had said when he was angry before, a stone that could never be warmed up.
That would be better than the current ending.
He was at a loss, lost and dejected.
The pain was still spreading through Xie Bufeng's body.
It was as if an invisible giant hand was tearing at him, trying to tear him apart.
The boy who grew up alone in malice never had the chance to clearly experience and understand what love is in the first sixteen years of his life.
In his heart, all the kindness and tenderness in this world have a purpose and cannot be obtained for free.
But everything that happened today, and the existence of Wen Qingci.
But it made him realize that all this didn't require so many prerequisites.
The sky is about to dawn and the morning light is dim.
A chaotic night is just a brief moment in the long time.
The soldiers in heavy armor stood in place, silent and not daring to make a sound.
Before I knew it, the snow had piled up into a small hill on the armor.
Xie Zhaolin was pinned down, lying prone on the long steps, completely devoid of the noble airs of an emperor ruling the world. His body was covered in blood, and he looked disheveled and disgusting.
After realizing that the situation was hopeless, Xie Zhaolin kept shouting and screaming like a madman, no longer having the will to struggle.
When surrendering, Heng Xinwei originally wanted to kill him directly to show his sincerity.
But at the last moment, he was stopped by someone.
—Wouldn't it be too easy for him to kill him with just one sword
I don’t know if he, who was completely crazy, understood what had just happened.
Seeing Xie Bufeng's distraught look from afar, Xie Zhaolin, who was lying on the ground, actually laughed softly again.
The soldier at the side stepped on his back and told him to be quiet.
Xie Bufeng finally remembered this person.
He carefully picked up Wen Qingci, kissed her on the forehead with great cherishment, and then slowly walked towards this direction.
Xie Zhaolin paused, then slowly raised his head and looked at the young man.
Xie Bufeng looked down at him:
"Don't you like bloodletting?"
"Then I will show my filial piety again and fulfill my father's dying wish, okay?"
Xie Bufeng said this with a smile, but his voice was full of coldness.
Xie Zhaolin’s eyes widened instantly.
Even if he really fell insane, he could still rely on his instinct to feel the murderous intent rising from the young man.
"What are you going to do..."
Xie Zhaolin struggled to retreat, but was pinned down by the soldier who stepped on his back and he couldn't move at all.
The young man smiled and said nonchalantly, "Take him to the round prison and let him bleed drop by drop. Experience it for yourself."
The "Round Prison" of the Ministry of Justice was built in the previous dynasty.
The interior of the cell is a complete sphere, and the inner wall is made of smooth stone. The person imprisoned here has one hand hanging from the ceiling and one foot barely touching the ground.
Not only was I unable to sleep, but I could only stand in the most tiring position.
What Xie Bufeng chose for him was a torture that could prolong the fear and pain of death.
Not to mention that Xie Zhaolin also suffers from hysteria.
For him, a place like the round prison was a double torture of both mental and physical torture.
"how dare you-"
"Thank you so much, how dare you do this!"
Xie Zhaolin's eyes widened, and he screamed in pain and madness.
The young man simply ignored his words and added as if he remembered something: "Remember to add some more water to the cell. I will go to see him in two days."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The heavy snow was still falling, but the wind had died down a lot.
The sounds of wind and fighting mixed together and made noise all night long, but now Xie Bufeng's ears finally quieted down.
The fragrance of magnolia was blown to his side again.
Xie Bufeng rubbed Wen Qingci's cold cheek gently like a little animal.
Then she carefully pecked and kissed him on the cheek, looking very gentle.
But when all this fell into the eyes of the people present, there was only horror.
After all, what Xie Bufeng was holding in his arms... was already just a corpse.
—
In the silence, the sounds outside the palace reached the young man's ears without missing a single one.
"… Coming, coming," Yu Guanlin's voice suddenly appeared not far away, "Please wait a moment, sir. I really can't keep up!" He said breathlessly.
"Time waits for no one! Give me the medicine box, I'll take it—"
“…Okay, okay,” the old doctor said reluctantly, “Be gentle!”
After saying that, the outside of the yard suddenly became quiet.
It turned out that the wind and snow were so strong just now that everything seemed to be hidden under a thick white veil.
Therefore, people who were standing a little further away did not see how seriously Wen Qingci was injured.
After seeing from afar a man falling heavily from mid-air and being held in the arms of His Majesty, a soldier standing at the edge of the open space hurriedly left and went to Taishu Palace to look for the imperial physician.
The Imperial Medical Bureau is located on the edge of the Imperial Palace and has always been guarded by the Hengxin Guards.
By the time he got there, the people on duty in the Imperial Medical Bureau had already died, or were injured, and were unable to come and treat the wounded.
Just when he thought he would return empty-handed, he met Yu Guanlin who was walking back at the gate of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Yes, Yu Guanlin!
How could I forget about him
Although he was not the imperial physician on duty, he also attended the celebration banquet last night. It was already late when the banquet ended. Being old and unable to work, he also chose to stay in the palace.
After realizing that the situation was not good, he, who had worked in the palace for most of his life, experienced two dynasties and knew many secrets, immediately turned around and slipped into the Taishu Palace, found a safe place, and hid there until now.
After confirming that the entire palace had been completely controlled by Xie Bufeng's men, Yu Guanlin came out and returned to the Imperial Medical Bureau to organize and count his things.
But as soon as he reached the door, he was bumped into by the sergeant and then brought here without any explanation.
The sound outside the courtyard reached everyone's ears.
The deputy general beside Xie Bufeng looked at him hesitantly, and then planned to send Yu Guanlin away.
But before he could go out, Yu Guanlin was dragged in by the soldier.
The next second, Heng Xinwei who was forced to kneel on the ground, as well as the soldiers in heavy armor, all looked at him in unison.
Yu Guanlin was startled out of nowhere and took a step back: "Hey!"
Finally, as if he remembered something, he immediately clasped his hands together and bowed to the person on the long steps.
—On the way here, the soldier beside him had told him that from today on, Xie Bufeng would be the emperor of the Wei Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, I, Yu Guanlin, greet you. Long live the emperor—"
After the ceremony, Yu Guanlin, who still remembered that he was called here for some serious business, couldn't help but look up and ask, "Is the person in your majesty's arms the injured person?"
Heavy snow fell, and although Xie Bufeng tried desperately to brush off the snowflakes on his body, the moon-white cloak that Wen Qingci often wore was still dyed the color of snow.
The wound was also frozen by the cold wind and hidden behind the cold white.
After saying this, the elderly and dim-sighted Yu Guanlin was stunned for a moment before he vaguely saw that Xie Bufeng's face was covered with blood for some reason, a bright red color.
And this open space was also somewhat eerily quiet.
Everyone was silent, and there was no sign of joy on their faces at having just won the throne.
what happens
Yu Guanlin intuitively felt that things seemed a little different from what he thought.
At this time, the soldier who brought him over finally saw who was in Xie Bufeng's arms: "... Wen Qingci?"
"What?" Yu Guanlin suddenly turned around and glanced at the man, subconsciously refutation, "Impossible, he won't come here."
The old doctor looked as if it was a matter of course, and didn't seem to realize that there was anything wrong with what he said.
"What do you mean?" Xie Bufeng suddenly asked.
His voice was hoarse and low, as if it had been blown by a cold wind. It seemed that overnight, he had lost his youthful spirit and became extremely old.
Even trembling.
Yu Guanlin kept his mouth shut and dared not utter a word. He lowered his head and knelt down in panic.
"I'm asking you a question!" Xie Bufeng walked over step by step.
Yu Guanlin found that he was completely unable to discern the emotion in Xie Bufeng's words.
"Reply... Reply Your Majesty," the old doctor said with a trembling voice, staring at the snow in front of him, "When the palace coup just now happened, I hid in a corner of Taishu Palace and saw... I saw Doctor Wen."
Xie Bufeng clenched his teeth.
Yu Guanlin, who was a master in the palace, was also overwhelmed by his aura. He didn't have time to think and blurted out everything: "I saw Doctor Wen with my own eyes. He had already gotten rid of the Hengxin Guards. At that time, he was walking alone on the palace road and was about to leave the palace. He was near the palace wall. He must have wanted to leave the palace temporarily and hide."
Yu Guanlin, who was hiding in the dark, saw Wen Qingci approach the palace wall with his own eyes.
At that time, Wen Qingci would only need to jump lightly to get away from this place of trouble.
How could he have gotten to the center of this chaos
Except that Wen Qingci left the palace not to temporarily escape the chaos but to fake his own death to escape, the old doctor saw everything else with his own eyes.
He was clearly just stating the facts.
But he didn't expect that in an instant, the young emperor in front of him would lose his composure.
“What did you say—” Xie Bufeng hugged the person in his arms tightly, he knelt heavily on one knee on the ground, grabbed Yu Guanlin’s collar, and pulled him up completely out of control, “You said Wen Qingci has escaped from Hengxinwei and reached the palace wall?!”
The huge pain came over me again.
In an instant, Xie Bufeng forgot how he should breathe.
"Yes Yes-"
Xie Bufeng stared at Yu Guanlin's eyes.
Suddenly he laughed out loud.
It was only then that Yu Guanlin discovered that the boy's eyes had turned red without him noticing.
The blood on his face was not from injuries, but from tears and blood.
An ominous premonition arose in Yu Guanlin's heart.
He finally mustered up the courage to look into the boy's arms.
"… "
Oh my god.
It was Wen Qingci. The lifeless person in Xie Bufeng’s arms was really Wen Qingci!
"Why is he back..." The old doctor was completely stunned and couldn't help muttering to himself. He clearly saw Wen Qingci walking to the palace wall...
"Ha ha ha ha… "
If it weren't for Yu Guanlin's words, Xie Bufeng would have thought that Wen Qingci was brought all the way here by the Hengxin guards who were responsible for guarding him.
It turns out that it is not...
It turned out that he already had a way out.
In fact, Wen Qingci clearly had one foot on it.
But in the end, he turned back.
The person in his arms lay quietly in Xie Bufeng's arms, as if he was sleeping soundly.
Xie Bufeng lowered his eyes in great sorrow and kissed the cinnabar mole on Wen Qingci's forehead.
The boy's lips were trembling slightly.
A tear of blood fell from the corner of his eye and hung on Wen Qingci's thick eyelashes like crow feathers.
"Why… "
Why did Wen Qingci come back here
—Because of himself, because he wanted to save himself from the beginning to the end.
This should have been a sweet answer.
In an instant it turned into a sharp blade and cut Xie Bufeng's heart in half.
(End of this chapter)