After an unknown amount of time, the door opened again.
When Pei Zheng pushed the door open, he saw the little guy sitting by the bed listening to Li Yu talking, with a relaxed expression and a gentle face.
When he saw Pei Zheng coming in, the expression on that little face disappeared instantly. He lowered his head and didn't even want to look at Pei Zheng.
There were signs that the food on the table had been touched, so Pei Zheng felt relieved and asked someone to clear the table away.
"You go down first."
Pei Zheng said to Li Yudao.
Li Yu walked out of the room, looking back every few steps.
As soon as the door was closed, the little guy's eyes were filled with tears, wetting his long eyelashes and looking like they were about to fall.
Pei Zheng strode over and sat down beside the bed. He wanted to reach out to wipe the little guy's tears, but saw him hide behind him.
The fingers paused for a moment, but still followed and gently stroked the little cheek. The tenderness between the fingertips wiped away the tears.
"Does it still hurt?"
Pei Zheng slightly lifted his collar and took a look. The wounds should have started to heal.
"Did you eat enough just now?"
The little guy turned his face away, pursed his lips and said nothing, but the expression on his face looked extremely aggrieved and pitiful.
Pei Zheng smoothed his hair and said, "Do you think it tastes good? If you like it, I'll buy Yipinxiang and have them cook for you in the future, okay?"
Seeing that the little guy still didn't speak, but seemed to be less resistant to his contact, Pei Zheng moved closer to him and put his arms loosely behind him.
"I had someone bring Li Yu back from the palace. He's smart and didn't suffer any grievances in the palace." Pei Zheng was getting more aggressive and hooked the little guy's little finger with his index finger. "If you want, don't let him return to the palace, okay?"
As expected, when Li Yu was mentioned, the little guy slowly raised his eyes and nodded very slowly.
This tiny response made Pei Zheng very happy, and he directly held the little hand in his palm.
"Just let him stay by your side and serve you as long as you want him to stay."
The little man nodded again.
Pei Zheng took the opportunity to hug him into his arms, his voice a little hoarse, "You finally pay attention to me, finally look me in the eye... Even if you reject me, hit me or scold me... Just don't ignore me..."
The little guy didn't struggle at first, but suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and pushed Pei Zheng's chest twice with his little hands.
The force was insignificant, and even though Pei Zheng was reluctant, he still let him go.
The little man stared at the arm that Pei Zheng had just cut, without moving, with his head slightly tilted, and there seemed to be worry between his eyebrows.
A warm feeling suddenly surged up in Pei Zheng's heart. This little guy couldn't help but care about him.
Pei Zheng took advantage of the situation and took a deep breath, then secretly used his internal energy to force open the wound that was almost healed.
Blood instantly dripped down his bony fingers. Pei Zheng pretended not to care and hid his hands in his sleeves, then hid his arms behind his back.
Unfortunately, the blood had already smeared onto the little man's white robe, and it was eye-catching bright red.
"Are you worried about me?"
Pei Zheng whispered, "I'm fine. The wound just broke open and some blood is flowing out. It doesn't hurt."
But the little girl's eyes were still looking at his back, her beautiful brows were tightly furrowed, because blood was clearly still dripping from there.
How could it not hurt? There was no wound on my body that didn’t hurt. It hurt when I spoke, and it hurt when I didn’t speak. It hurt when I was awake, and it hurt when I was asleep. Even breathing hurt.
"I need to...bandage..."
The little man lowered his head and spoke in a small and soft voice.
But Pei Zheng heard it clearly.
He was delighted, but the corners of his lips were only slightly raised, "Let's talk about it later. I have only one hand, it's not convenient."
But the tone clearly showed that he didn't care about his own injuries.
The little guy raised his head, looked into Pei Zheng's eyes, and said again, "It needs to be bandaged... otherwise... otherwise... it will hurt..."
Pei Zheng felt a sudden pain in his heart. He knew that his methods were despicable and shameless. He took advantage of the little man's kindness and the little love he had left for him and greedily wanted to occupy his entire heart.
However, Pei Zheng also decided to return his heart to him, so he gave him his broken heart.
"Then what should I do?" Pei Zheng looked at the little guy with deep and heavy eyes and asked softly, "Can you help me?"
The little guy thought about it seriously, then shook his head.
Pei Zheng suddenly leaned over, so close to those lips, his watery eyes widened slightly in shock.
But Pei Zheng searched behind him and stood up, with the ointment box in his palm.
He rolled up his sleeves, moved the wound closer, and then put the ointment box into the little man's hand.
"It's very simple. I'll teach you, okay? Just like I helped you apply the medicine just now, you can also help me apply the medicine, okay?"
Perhaps it was because Pei Zheng seldom showed such a gentle and fragile look, and his tone of inquiry was low and sounded like a plea. The little guy tightly grasped the medicine box with his fingers, and wanted to shake his head again, but a slightly cool hand stroked his chin.
The hand did not pinch his chin, but gently and slowly caressed it lovingly, and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Good boy... please..."
The corners of the little man's eyes turned red again. Finally, he lowered his head and opened the ointment box.
Pei Zheng stretched out his arm, took the ointment with one hand, and gently applied it on the ointment. The distance between the two was very close, so close that Pei Zheng could see the long eyelashes trembling uneasily when he lowered his eyes.
He held his breath, not daring to disturb the little guy again.
But when the wound was coated with medicine and bandaged, the little guy looked up and ran straight into a pair of dark eyes.
Pei Zheng quickly lowered his head, kissed him on the lips, and then smiled gently.
The little guy seemed to have his tears flooding back, and hot tears fell down one after another.
Pei Zheng hurriedly reached out to wipe his tears, and apologized in a low voice while wiping, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Don't cry, dear, don't cry..."
"You... bullied me... and bullied me again... I, I already helped you apply the medicine... Why do you still bully me... I hate you so much... wuwuwuwu"
It was as if the emotions that had been pent up for a long time were stimulated by a gentle kiss. The little guy sobbed for a long time, muttering bad things about Pei Zheng while crying.
Pei Zheng was not angry at all. Instead, he hugged him and coaxed him more gently.
After coaxing him for a long time, the little one in my arms finally stopped crying, but his eyes were red and swollen.
"If I say that I know I was wrong about everything that happened before, would you still be willing to stay with me and give me a chance to make amends?"
The little guy looked at Pei Zheng for a while, then sobbed and lowered his head, "I... I don't know... I really don't know... Can you please stop asking me... I feel so uncomfortable..."
Pei Zheng patted his back soothingly and whispered, "Okay, I won't ask. It won't be painful if I don't ask, right? Then I won't ask."
After stroking the little guy's hair, Pei Zheng continued, "I'll do whatever you want. I won't force you or threaten you. Just do whatever you want, okay?"
After a moment of silence, the little man's voice came, "I... I want to go out..."
Pei Zheng's body stiffened for a moment. He knew that if he left the Prime Minister's Mansion, he would be rescued by Zhao Litang's people just like before.
"I want to go to the street..."
Pei Zheng smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take you there tomorrow."
The little guy was still weak and cried loudly again. After drinking the medicine, he fell asleep soon.
After Pei Zheng walked out of the room, his eyes suddenly became solemn.
He asked Li Yu some questions, and Li Yu nervously knelt down.
"Master Pei, I didn't understand what you said. I... I haven't seen General Zhao for a long time!"
Pei Zheng said calmly, "You don't need to hide anything from me. I know everything about what Zhao Litang is going to do tomorrow. I just want you to tell him again, don't kidnap him. I will wait for him at Yipinxiang tomorrow night."
Li Yu was full of doubts and fears, but he still followed Pei Zheng's orders and went to the general's mansion to deliver the message.
When the little guy woke up, it was already afternoon.
There was no one in the room. He stared blankly at the dark bed curtains above his head for a while, then propped himself up and stood up.
He walked slowly to the door and was about to open it to go out, but the door was pushed open from the outside. He was startled and almost fell backwards, but fortunately an arm held him steadily in the arms.
"Awake?" Pei Zheng held him close to his chest, shielding him from the cold wind outside. "Where do you want to go?"
The little man just looked at the dim sunlight outside without saying anything. He just wanted to go outside and see the sun.
Pei Zheng first put a thick robe on him, then protected him under his cloak before allowing him to walk out of the room.
The two of them walked aimlessly in the huge Prime Minister's Mansion, followed by two little maids, and unknowingly walked to the small building in the back garden.
However, Pei Zheng saw a small bulging mound of earth under a tree in the back garden. There was a small stone standing next to it, as if something was buried inside. When the little man saw the mound of earth, he obviously showed sadness.
Pei Zheng asked, "What's buried inside?"
The little maid explained, "Sir, there is a rabbit buried here."
Pei Zheng's heart skipped a beat.
Rabbit, when has a rabbit ever appeared in the Prime Minister's Mansion before? The only time I returned to the hunting ground last time was when I gave a rabbit to the little guy.
"Is the rabbit injured?"
"Yes, an arrow wound in the hind leg."
That’s right, that’s the one.
Pei Zheng hugged the person in his arms tighter, "When did this rabbit die?"
The little maid thought about it, but hesitated and dared not say anything.
"explain."
"My Lord, he died on the day when His Highness was imprisoned in the secret cell..."