Several gorgeously decorated double-covered carriages slowly drove into Yongdu.
The copper bell on the corner of the car swayed gently with the bumps and jolts, making bursts of pleasant and crisp sounds.
Hearing the sound from afar, the people on the road scattered to both sides of the street.
The heat of late summer has not dissipated, and the noisy chirping of cicadas and the noise in the streets drag people back to the world of mortals.
The carriage passed through the palace gate without stopping. By the time Wen Qingci realized it, the familiar gate of the Imperial Medical Bureau had appeared before him.
What was slightly different from what he remembered was that the palace road outside the courtyard was now filled with guards.
"Your Majesty is staying here temporarily. Please come this way."
The attendant placed the horse stool in place and bowed to the carriage.
After a few breaths, pale and slender fingers gently lifted the curtain of the sedan chair.
After a pause, Wen Qingci slowly raised his eyes, passed the attendants, and looked at the familiar building in the distance.
In late summer, the century-old magnolia stands tall in the courtyard, filling the eyes with a rich green.
The red pillars and carved rafters in the courtyard under the tree exude exquisiteness everywhere.
A breeze blew by, ruffling the bird-scare bell, making a sound... that had long been engraved in his heart.
Wen Qingci couldn't help but be dazed for a moment.
Everything reminded him that he had finally returned to Yongdu.
Although he had already made up his mind, as soon as he stepped into the palace, Song Junran couldn't help but think of his parents... and Wen Qingci's bloody appearance last year.
This palace was associated with all his nightmares.
Before the carriage came to a complete stop, Song Junran jumped down and walked quickly towards Wen Qingci.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, a servant slowly raised his hand and stopped Song Junran.
The other party bowed to him with a little embarrassment, and said very embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty specifically asked this doctor with a veil to treat you. We will send you to other palaces to rest later, I hope you understand."
Song Junran frowned.
At this time, Wen Qingci also stepped down on the horse stool.
He slowly turned around and said to Song Junran, who looked worried, "Brother, don't worry. I will take care of this matter."
Wen Qingci's voice was gentle and calm, and he seemed to have made up his mind.
Although my junior brother is easy to talk to most of the time, no one can stop him once he decides to do something.
For example, he insisted on entering the palace to seek revenge.
Song Junran couldn't help but sigh softly.
“…Okay, then you must remember what I said before.” He briefly instructed Wen Qingci and finally went to another palace with his attendants.
The carriage drove away from the Imperial Medical Bureau with the ringing of bells.
Without any obstruction, the palace path suddenly became wide open.
"Sir, this way please—"
Seeing Song Junran leave, the servant standing aside finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hurried forward and took Wen Qingci inside.
"good."
The warm wind of late summer lifted the white gauze on the veil and brushed past Wen Qingci's cheek.
Like a gentle caress.
The moment you step into the gate of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Wen Qingci raised his head involuntarily and looked towards the plaque on the door.
The place where the wooden plaque with the three characters "Yao Sheng Chen" was originally hung was now empty.
Obviously, this courtyard has indeed been used for other purposes as people say.
Wen Qingci subconsciously held his breath.
For the first twenty years of his life, he lived for revenge.
Practicing medicine and planning to enter the palace are his whole life.
After his memory was restored, he focused on dealing with the plague and had no time to think about other issues.
How medically sophisticated he is.
How ignorant I am when it comes to love.
It was not until he got on the carriage back to Yongdu and had a few days of free time that Wen Qingci finally calmed down and thought clearly.
The reason why he returned to Yongdu was not just to ask Xie Bufeng for medical treatment.
As a doctor, Wen Qingci usually tries every possible means to explore the root cause of the disease.
It is not only to cure diseases and save lives, but also to comfort every deceased soul and prevent them from dying in confusion.
As a doctor, he believes that "being awake" is more important than anything else.
Therefore, the only thing Wen Qingci can be sure of now is that he does not want to spend his life in a muddle.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but clench his teeth.
Avoiding won't solve anything.
Wen Qingci has already realized that Xie Bufeng might be different to him.
But what exactly is this “difference”
The instinct of twenty years of medical practice forced Wen Qingci to wake up and get to the bottom of the matter.
Having died once, he is particularly aware of the fragility and impermanence of life.
This time, Wen Qingci wants to give himself a chance to think clearly about what kind of feelings he has towards Xie Bufeng
*
"This palace was originally the Imperial Medical Bureau," the attendant said as he led Wen Qingci inside, "so the entire palace is divided into two courtyards... Your Majesty has always been handling government affairs in the front courtyard."
"I have been recuperating recently and am also in the side hall."
Wen Qingci nodded slowly.
Although the Imperial Medical Bureau is not large, its architecture is exquisite and its structure is not symmetrical like most of the palaces in the Taishu Palace.
As they were talking, a person walked to a fork in the road.
The attendant raised his hand and was about to show Wen Qingci the way.
Unexpectedly, he turned around very naturally and went towards the side hall.
this…
The attendant was stunned for a moment.
Why did he feel that this doctor seemed to know the structure of the Imperial Medical Bureau very well
Before they had time to think, the two of them had already reached the door of the side hall.
The attendant paused for a moment, turned around and saluted Wen Qingci again, saying, "Sir, please, His Majesty is waiting for you here. Please go in and I will take your pulse directly."
"Take the pulse directly after entering the hall?" Wen Qingci couldn't help but ask.
Is Xie Bufeng’s illness that serious
The attendant nodded truthfully: "Yes, sir."
As he spoke, he placed his hand on the lattice of the wooden door.
As soon as he finished speaking, the wooden door that was carved with floral patterns creaked open.
The next moment, a faint scent of incense mixed with a strong medicinal aroma hit my face.
Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, I'm just taking your pulse.
Wen Qingci hesitated for a moment, prepared himself mentally, and finally took a deep breath, gripped the handle of the medicine box and walked in.
The servant left at some point and slowly closed the carved wooden door.
The world before Wen Qingci's eyes suddenly darkened.
This was clearly the side hall of the Imperial Medical Bureau that he had been to countless times, but when he stood in it this moment, Wen Qingci actually felt unfamiliar.
He paused for a moment, and after his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he took another step forward.
In the empty side hall, only the sound of Wen Qingci's footsteps echoed again and again.
At this moment, his heart seemed to jump into his throat.
Wen Qingci walked forward based on his memory.
The smell of ambergris in the hall suddenly became heavy.
The side hall of the Imperial Medical Bureau is not big.
But at this time the doors and windows were closed, and if you took half a step inside, your vision would become darker.
With the veil covering his eyes, after only a few steps, Wen Qingci was almost groping in the dark.
He vaguely sensed that there was a long staircase in front of him.
Remembering what the servant said before he left, Wen Qingci hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered up the courage to slowly step onto the long steps.
Fear comes from the unknown.
I was mentally prepared when I came here.
But at this moment, Wen Qingci, who had been forcibly deprived of his vision and trapped in darkness, couldn't help but feel nervous and even scared.
— At this moment, I feel like a lamb walking towards the altar.
As this thought came to his mind, Wen Qingci suddenly felt an unfamiliar chill on his forehead. He had been on edge the whole time, but he couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ah!"
At the same time, his body trembled heavily and he subconsciously retreated to the bottom of the long steps.
Immediately afterwards, there was a sudden crackling sound in Wen Qingci's ears, like a heavy rain.
He gasped involuntarily.
After standing still, Wen Qingci finally realized that what he had accidentally bumped into seemed to be a bead curtain.
“… Your Majesty?” Wen Qingci called out tentatively while adjusting his breathing.
His voice floated in the side hall, but no response was received until it disappeared.
After a pause, Wen Qingci mustered up his courage again and said, "Your Majesty, are you here?"
There was still silence in Wen Qingci's ears.
Is Xie Bufeng really so sick that he has passed out
This is how to do.
No one in the room answered.
After hesitating for a while, Wen Qingci had to take a deep breath again and move forward with the medicine box.
The long wooden steps made slight sounds as Wen Qingci's footsteps followed.
The smell of ambergris at the tip of my nose grew stronger.
He climbed up the long steps again, stopped near the bead curtain, put the medicine box aside, and groped for the lamp stand.
However, at this moment—
There was another slight sound in Wen Qingci's ears.
The bead curtain was suddenly pulled aside!
Wen Qingci subconsciously wanted to step back.
At the same time, he clenched his teeth and swallowed the scream.
However, by the time he reacted, it was too late.
The not-so-gentle ambergris attacked like a strong wind at this moment.
Before Wen Qingci could dodge, the new emperor, who was supposed to be seriously ill, slowly reached out his hand through the bead curtain and walked towards him.
He was a poisonous snake lurking in the jungle. In silence, he wrapped the white gauze from the veil around his fingertips.
Wen Qingci's breathing was completely disordered.
The fingers of his right hand subconsciously clenched the wide sleeves.
He only vaguely sensed... that person's fingertips, as cold as a snake's tongue, were stroking the gauze curtain beneath his hands.
Wen Qingci closed his eyes.
After pausing for a few moments, the snake seemed to end its caressing of its prey reluctantly.
He slowly raised his hand and pulled the veil down bit by bit.
The white gauze rubbed against Wen Qingci's cheek, slid down, and fell to the ground, making a slight sound.
That face was finally completely exposed to the people behind the curtain.
Her long eyelashes, as thick as crow feathers, trembled slightly with Wen Qingci's breathing.
Under the thin straight nose are thin lips with a hint of light red.
The cinnabar on the forehead is still as bright red.
The person behind the beaded curtain, who had already adapted to the darkness, was greedily tracing his face with his eyes.
The next second, Wen Qingci's left hand, which had been hanging weakly at his side, was suddenly gently lifted up by someone.
Ten fingers intertwined intimately.
"—Let go, thank you for not meeting me!"
Wen Qingci finally couldn't help but called out the name.
However, before he could get rid of it, the person behind the bead curtain suddenly exerted force, and Wen Qingci lost his balance and fell forward.
By the time he reacted, he had fallen into a cold embrace.
All this happened in the blink of an eye.
The large palm was pressed tightly against Wen Qingci's waist.
Completely cutting off his retreat.
The two people's chests were pressed together.
At this moment, Wen Qingci not only smelled the ambergris, but he could even feel the rise and fall of the other person's chest muscles through the thin fabric... with great clarity.
And the cold body temperature and abnormally fast heartbeat.
It's a mess, everything is a mess.
All that was left in Wen Qingci's ears was chaotic breathing.
For a moment, he couldn't tell whether the breathing sound belonged to him or Xie Bufeng
There was silence for an unknown amount of time.
Xie Bufeng finally responded by greedily reading his name.
"Wen Qingci."
"Qingci, Qingci..."
—
The long eyelashes trembled twice like butterfly wings.
Wen Qingci slowly opened his eyes.
After getting used to the darkness, he finally saw clearly—it turned out that Xie Bufeng was sitting behind the pearl curtain.
Everything that just happened happened between his breaths.
Xie Bufeng watched him walk towards him in silence.
Watching herself... falling into his arms.
The next moment, Xie Bufeng suddenly let go of Wen Qingci's left hand.
Without even waiting for him to catch his breath.
Xie Bufeng's hand slid to his thigh again and lifted him up.
By the time Wen Qingci reacted, he was already... sitting diagonally on Xie Bufeng's lap.
"… "
A buzzing sound came into Wen Qingci's ears.
My brain also went blank at this moment.
All the plans and intentions when coming here were thrown out of the window at this moment.
In a trance, Wen Qingci realized that he was nearly six years older than Xie Bufeng, but at this moment he was held in his arms as easily as a child.
Xie Bufeng's arms are strong and powerful.
He is no longer the boy he was when we first met.
He is an adult.
A... grown man with desires.
"Your Majesty, please let me go!" Wen Qingci gritted his teeth and said sternly.
However, because of this strange posture, after he opened his mouth, even Wen Qingci himself felt that his voice was full of guilt.
Xie Bufeng, who was no longer a young man, gently placed his chin on Wen Qingci's shoulder.
He shook his head and whispered in Wen Qingci's ear: "No. If I let you go, you will leave."
The low voice passed through Wen Qingci's heart like a veil.
As he spoke, Xie Bufeng's forehead rubbed against Wen Qingci's earlobe.
Wen Qingci's body trembled slightly.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that unlike his cold body temperature, Xie Bufeng's forehead was emitting high heat.
Does he have a fever
Wen Qingci's voice softened involuntarily: "Your Majesty, let me go first."
"… I returned to Yongdu just to diagnose His Majesty. How can I take his pulse if His Majesty doesn't let me go?"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will not... leave without saying goodbye." Wen Qingci gritted his teeth and said.
"real?"
"Absolutely."
After getting the promise he wanted, Xie Bufeng finally let go of her hand reluctantly.
He put his lips to Wen Qingci's ear and whispered, "Okay."
Wen Qingci couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After regaining his freedom, he had gradually adapted to the darkness and looked sideways.
Then he walked quickly to the candlestick and lit the lamp.
A little flickering warm yellow candlelight was not enough to fill the entire palace.
But it adds a bit of ambiguity here.
The candlelight makes people's hearts sway.
Xie Bufeng sat on the couch and slowly raised his wrist.
Wen Qingci paused for a moment, then placed his finger on it, then held his breath and concentrated to take his pulse.
From beginning to end, he never looked up at Xie Bufeng.
Wen Qingci has been practicing medicine for twenty years, and the method of taking the pulse has been engraved in his bones and turned into instinct.
The moment his fingers touched, Wen Qingci's heart calmed down.
However, after more than ten seconds, Wen Qingci was sure that there was indeed something wrong with Xie Bufeng's body.
But his pulse was extremely complicated, and it took Wen Qingci a long time to discover the pattern.
The pulse under the fingers kept stopping and starting, like a bird pecking at food, and then swimming and jumping like a shrimp.
It's a complete mess.
Wen Qingci slowly frowned.
Now that his memory has been restored, he is definitely not someone who can be easily deceived.
According to Wen Qingci's experience, Xie Bufeng was not sick, but poisoned.
The most important thing is, judging from the extremely chaotic pulse on his wrist, Xie Bufeng was definitely poisoned by more than one kind of poison.
Xie Bufeng was born with the ability to hear the evil thoughts in people's hearts.
It would be extremely difficult for someone to poison him.
Not to mention so much poison.
An absurd thought suddenly occurred to Wen Qingci's mind:
Xie Bufeng took the poison himself.
"Your Majesty is not ill, but poisoned."
The next moment, Wen Qingci's cold voice echoed in the hall.
After a moment of silence, he finally raised his eyes and looked deeply at Xie Bufeng: "Where did the poison in your body come from?"
Wen Qingci's expression was extremely serious.
He didn't like it at all when someone played a joke on his life.
But this is a life-and-death situation, not the time to dwell on this issue.
Wen Qingci had no choice but to suppress it in his heart temporarily.
The dark pupils are like a cold pond.
Xie Bufeng will be reflected in it.
Facing such a pair of eyes, Xie Bufeng had no way of lying.
Besides... he wouldn't lie to Wen Qingci.
Xie Bufeng smiled slowly, and his cold amber eyes suddenly became warm.
"Didn't Qingci guess it?" Xie Bufeng said softly, "I made the call myself."
His tone was very calm, as if he didn't think it was a big deal.
Wen Qingci gritted his teeth and said, "I'm asking where your poison came from?"
"This is not a joke. If you want to detoxify, you must first know what the poison is, so you can prescribe the right medicine."
At this moment, he was standing in front of the couch, with his hands hanging helplessly at his sides.
Xie Bufeng, who was sitting on the couch, did not answer Wen Qingci's question immediately.
He suddenly moved forward and gently embraced Wen Qingci's waist in his arms.
Wen Qingci's waist is so thin that it can almost be grasped with one hand.
At this time, he was completely imprisoned by Xie Bufeng.
Along with this movement, Xie Bufeng's cheek slowly pressed against Wen Qingci's waist and abdomen.
He smiled and finally answered the question truthfully: "You were the one who stayed in the Imperial Medical Bureau."
Wen Qingci: “…”
He instantly forgot to struggle and asked in disbelief: "Your Majesty, do you know what kind of medicine that is? Do you know what the consequences will be after taking it? You are the king of a country, how can you play such a big joke with your own body!"
Xie Bufeng shook his head slightly.
The slightly curly black long hair swept across Wen Qingci's waist and abdomen as he moved, causing a tremor and almost making the person in his arms lose strength.
Wen Qingci put his hand on Xie Bufeng's shoulder, trying to push him away.
But Xie Bufeng seemed to be stuck to him.
"Xuan Yue Dan, Chi Huo Dan, Li Yun Dan..." Xie Bufeng murmured, as if answering Wen Qingci's question, "I know, if I hadn't drunk your blood before, I would have died countless times."
The sound was accompanied by a slight vibration, spreading from the waist and abdomen throughout Wen Qingci's body.
He suddenly remembered the book "Xinglin Jie'e" that Xie Bufeng brought to Lianhe.
During the more than one year since he was away, Xie Bufeng seemed to have looked through the medical books he left behind.
He is not ignorant or fearless.
But he did it knowingly!
Wen Qingci's tone had never been so cold: "Your Majesty, are you crazy?"
Unlike "Tian Ci", other poisons in the Divine Doctor Valley are not uncurable.
But Xie Bufeng mixed so many pills together, isn’t he afraid that something might really happen
At this moment, Wen Qingci was already thinking quickly about how to detoxify in his mind.
And analyze what problems will arise if these poisons are mixed.
Xie Bufeng laughed deeply.
He saw worry and anxiety on Wen Qingci's face.
He knew that he was sick.
There are demons in my heart.
—At this moment he asked Wen Qingci for help.
In order to keep warm and moist, the walls of the halls of the Imperial Medical Bureau are thicker than those of other places.
It stands here, isolating all sounds outside the temple.
There was silence in Wen Qingci's ears, as if at this moment there were only himself and Xie Bufeng left in the world.
Seeing that Xie Bufeng was slow to speak.
Wen Qingci finally couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, you..."
However, almost at the same moment, Xie Bufeng suddenly looked up at Wen Qingci, and at the same time gently placed his finger on his lips, stopping him from speaking.
"Qingci, listen to me."
"… What I regret most is that I didn't express my feelings to you right away before I left for the North and after I returned to Yongdu."
Xie Bufeng's eyes became extremely fragile in an instant.
Wen Qingci's heart became empty.
The young emperor in black brocade robe slowly stood up and hugged Wen Qingci tightly in his arms.
There was no eroticism in this hug.
"I like a man."
“…I fell in love with a man named Wen Qingci.”
Xie Bufeng also said this when he was young.
But when these words came from the mouth of an emperor who was more than a head taller than him and could even hold him in his arms easily, there was immediately a certain solemnity and seriousness that was hard to ignore.
Xie Bufeng spoke his name clearly.
Wen Qingci can no longer play dumb and escape like he did in the past.
After a pause, Xie Bufeng slowly lowered his head and gently kissed the top of Wen Qingci's head.
He finally stopped pretending completely.
He took out the heart that was flowing with complicated blood.
"I have lust, desire, and even some... despicable thoughts towards you."
Ice-cold fingers slid across Wen Qingci's slightly numb left arm.
He said, "I think of that night in Nagahara."
"…Even after that, I wanted to do something even more extreme to you."
Wen Qingci's body trembled slightly, and he couldn't help but turn sideways, trying to avoid it.
But Xie Bufeng did not give him this opportunity.
Xie Bufeng was extremely presumptuous today. He once again put his lips close to Wen Qingci's ear and uttered a few sentences that he had never dared to say in Wen Qingci's ear before, for fear of scaring him or defiling him.
Xie Bufeng's voice was as soft as a whisper.
But the side hall was so quiet that every word fell clearly into Wen Qingci's heart.
Wen Qingci tried hard to speak and change the subject.
Xie Bufeng seemed to have guessed what he was going to do and directly covered his thin lips with his palm.
"Song Junran must not have told you why we were on the verge of a fight in the courtyard that day."
He smiled, closed his eyes and told him everything that happened that day.
In an instant, Wen Qingci's left arm, which was originally slightly numb, felt hot as if it had been burned by fire.
Xie Bufeng... He is indeed a madman.
Wen Qingci couldn't help but widen his eyes.
He was instantly confused.
After saying all this, Xie Bufeng finally stopped.
At this time, only the sound of shallow breathing remained in Wen Qingci's ears.
After a long silence, Xie Bufeng finally put his hand down.
He looked at Wen Qingci as if relieved, and at this moment, he revealed his ultimate goal for today:
"So you... hate me now?" The dim candlelight was imprinted in Xie Bufeng's eyes. He looked cautious and nervous.
Xie Bufeng slowly let go of Wen Qingci.
"What exactly do you want to do by telling me all this?" Wen Qingci asked with difficulty, trying to adjust his breathing.
Those two pairs of black pupils that showed no emotion actually revealed their owner's emotions clearly at this moment.
Uneasy, nervous, confused.
If Xie Bufeng wanted to force himself to save him, he could have kept all this in his heart.
Why did he say that
Why tell yourself all this
"I just want to tell you what kind of person you just wanted to save... I am very dangerous and have many despicable thoughts. I will not let go of these thoughts unless I die."
"I'm afraid I might... do something that would disgust you."
For example, if you go to Songxiu Prefecture, you can directly send a large army to find the location of the Divine Doctor Valley in the mountains and forests.
He was afraid that he would really lose control.
I am afraid that the prison of reason cannot trap the crazy beast in my heart.
Speaking of this, Xie Bufeng's heart ached.
Whenever he thought of the possibility that "Wen Qingci hated himself", he became extremely nervous and scared.
Xie Bufeng stared into Wen Qingci's eyes and said word by word: "If you hate me and don't want to see me again, you can leave Yongdu today or at any time. I will never stop you or interfere. After I suffer the consequences of my own actions and the poison takes effect, no one in this world will hinder your freedom anymore."
"As for everything today, just treat it as my willfulness."
Wen Qingci's voice was extremely dry: "Why do you say it's willful?"
Xie Bufeng's gaze fell towards the north.
He said: "When I attacked the Northern Di, I almost died on the battlefield countless times."
"I wasn't scared at the time, just... a little regretful."
Wen Qingci's gaze finally met his.
He heard Xie Bufeng say: "It's a pity that I can't see you before I die. I'll say goodbye to you properly."
As he spoke, the eyes of the young emperor were filled with nostalgia.
"So, if you really hate me and never want to see me again."
"Then don't hide, and don't leave without saying goodbye again, okay?"
"Say goodbye to me properly today."
At this moment, Wen Qingci suddenly forgot how to breathe.
His body trembled uncontrollably and his eyes turned red in an instant.
Throughout his career as a doctor, Wen Qingci has never been afraid of "death".
I even lived with death every day.
He thought he would have faced this problem calmly a long time ago.
At the same time, you can calmly accept the outcome of everyone's "death", including yourself.
But this moment.
The moment Xie Bufeng finished speaking.
Wen Qingci suddenly figured out the first question of the day.
—I don’t want Xie Bufeng to die.
Even though he said all this, I still don't want him to die.
(End of this chapter)