If Zhao Mian could barely sleep for two hours on the first night trapped in the bamboo forest, he did not sleep the whole night on this night.
There were only twelve hours left before the poison took effect, and he suddenly wanted to know what Wei Zhenfeng was doing now. Would he be like him, tossing and turning, struggling to make the final decision
Wei Zhenfeng’s evaluation of Wan Hua Meng the day before has been lingering in Zhao Mian’s mind.
Wei Zhenfeng said that Wan Huameng didn't care.
What if all the means in the world are ineffective against Wan Hua Meng, what if there is only one antidote left for the male and female poisons.
It is known that the only antidote is in Wei Zhenfeng's hands, but he is far from being Wei Zhenfeng's opponent.
Wei Zhenfeng always has a way out, he can even take the antidote now to ensure his life is safe. As long as Wei Zhenfeng wants, he can always stand on a high place, maintain a calm attitude, and appreciate his own anxiety and embarrassment in the pain of survival.
Would Wei Zhenfeng do this
Is Wei Zhenfeng also wondering what he will do
Would Wei Zhenfeng be worried that he would attack him, and would he be struggling like him about whether to strike first
Zhao Mian could feel that an invisible chain of suspicion was quietly entangled between him and Wei Zhenfeng. Before the final moment, they could neither break free nor tear it apart.
The next morning, Zhao Mian watched the room gradually light up from darkness to light as the autumn sun lit up the room. He calmly sat up and washed and dressed like he did the day before.
The disguise had been washed off long ago, he looked at his face in the mirror, picked up the hairband, and tied his hair into a crown with numb movements. Although he hadn't slept all night, his mind was unusually clear, and except for a little soreness in his eyes, he didn't feel any tiredness.
Walking out of the room, Zhao Mian glanced towards Wei Zhenfeng's room. He saw that the door was wide open and the person inside had disappeared.
Zhao Mian's heart sank and he quickly walked into the yard, but still didn't see Wei Zhenfeng.
Could it be that Wei Zhenfeng was really the same as he guessed... Would Wei Zhenfeng really be like that
Zhao Mian was lost in thought when he heard a sound like chiseling a stone wall from the backyard. He stood there for a while before walking towards the backyard.
Seeing Wei Zhenfeng busying himself with something beside the hot spring medicinal bath, Zhao Mian breathed a sigh of relief, then laughed at himself.
It's ridiculous that he has actually fallen to such a suspicious level.
Zhao Mian watched quietly for a long time before asking, "What are you doing so early in the morning?"
While Wei Zhenfeng was using the hoe he found in the yard to fight with the hot spring stone wall, he said, "I think this hot spring medicinal bath is a little weird."
Zhao Mian said absentmindedly: "Didn't you feel the same way the day before yesterday?"
"I have made a new discovery. Anyway, the hot spring is our only clue to finding the exit. Instead of waiting for death, we might as well dig a little deeper. There might be a surprise." Wei Zhenfeng stood up and looked at him. "Why don't you come and help?"
Zhao Mian said indifferently: "If you start digging now, will you be able to find the exit next year?"
Wei Zhenfeng said: "That's wrong. No matter whether our poison can be cured or not, we must find a way out in the end. Or do you want to stay here forever and become two giant pandas with me?"
All they have eaten in the past two days has been bamboo shoots. If they continue like this, they will starve to death before they turn into pandas.
"Not really." Zhao Mian said, "After tonight, Wanhua Meng will let us out."
Wei Zhenfeng raised an eyebrow: "Are you so sure?"
Zhao Mian said, "This is Wan Hua Meng's 'game'. The game time is over. If he doesn't come to personally check the results, what's the fun in that?"
Wan Huameng also said that he would come to see them after the moon became very round.
Wei Zhenfeng said helplessly: "If you don't want to help, you can just go and cook. I'm so hungry."
"There's no rice, only bamboo shoots." Zhao Mian turned around and said, "I'm going to dig bamboo shoots."
Wei Zhenfeng spent the whole day circling around the hot spring. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, neither of them mentioned the outbreak of the poison tonight. They were not in a hurry, as if they had already tacitly agreed on what would happen tonight.
Another sunset, the setting sun faded, and the sky was gradually shrouded in darkness.
Zhao Mian was trapped in the bamboo forest for only two days, but it seemed longer than two years.
Wei Zhenfeng would continue to battle wits and courage with the hot spring at night, so a bonfire was lit next to the hot spring pool. The burning bamboo made thunderous sounds from time to time, and a layer of shimmering light was spread on the water surface.
The two drank the bamboo shoot soup in silence, and Zhao Mian suddenly asked about something unimportant: "The apology gift you gave me when I was twelve years old."
Wei Zhenfeng didn't react for a moment: "What?"
"Among them is a fairy pillow."
"Oh, you mean that one." Wei Zhenfeng said with a smile, "That's a treasure. It's said that if you sleep with it, you will see the ten continents, three islands, four seas and five lakes in your dreams*—Have you used it?"
Zhao Mian nodded and smiled faintly: "I've used it several times, it's really good."
"As long as you like it." Wei Zhenfeng sighed, "You don't know, when my mother asked me to give you the Youxian Pillow, I was almost heartbroken. I haven't even used it myself."
Zhao Mian's expression suddenly disappeared: "Oh, since you are so reluctant to part with me, I will return it to you after we get out."
"That's not necessary." Wei Zhenfeng had been busy all day, and was chatting with Zhao Mian about pillows. He couldn't help but feel sleepy, "You've already slept."
Zhao Mian: “…”
Is Wei Zhenfeng disliking him again
Zhao Mian stood up with a sullen face. Wei Zhenfeng asked him from behind: "Where are you going?"
Zhao Mian said calmly: "Wash up."
Wei Zhenfeng was slightly startled. Looking at Zhao Mian's thin back, his ears felt inexplicably hot.
Go wash up now.
Wei Zhenfeng looked up at the bright moon in the sky. It would soon reach its highest point.
When Zhao Mian returned to the hot spring pool feeling cold, Wei Zhenfeng could no longer bear the tiredness and had fallen asleep.
Zhao Mian walked lightly, stopped one step away from Wei Zhenfeng, and called softly, "Prince?"
Wei Zhenfeng did not respond.
He leaned his back against the heap of stones, his face drooped to the right, his chest rising and falling gently with his breathing. His hands naturally fell to the side, with many new scratches of varying depths on them, which should have been left by his hard work all day.
Zhao Mian didn't have the mind to think too much, his attention was all on Wei Zhenfeng's chest where the antidote was placed.
This may be his only chance to get the antidote, and also his only chance not to kill Wei Zhenfeng, but Wei Zhenfeng will die because of him.
Zhao Mian calmed himself down and tightly grasped the dagger that Wei Zhenfeng had given him.
The blade was unsheathed, emitting a chilling cold light in the night.
Zhao Mian took a step forward and slowly raised the dagger towards Wei Zhenfeng's defenseless neck.
He was about to put the cold blade against Wei Zhenfeng's skin, and then take the only antidote under his shocked gaze and drink it alone. Then, he would watch Wei Zhenfeng... die
There was confusion and bewilderment in Zhao Mian's eyes.
He should have done so, that was his plan.
But…
Zhao Mian lowered his eyes and looked quietly at the sleeping boy.
The campfire reflected Wei Zhenfeng's obviously thin face, and his outline was unexpectedly clear, with a smoothness between a teenager and an adult man. This is probably the best time in a person's life.
Was it because the firelight was too dim and hazy, he seemed to be able to find some of the charm of the young Prince Beiyuan in his former years on this ordinary face
An unexpected crack appeared on Zhao Mian's stern face.
Later, Beiyuan wanted to destroy Xixia. Throughout his youth, he read the books of sages in the Nanjing Palace and learned how to govern the country; the little prince of Beiyuan, however, was on the land of another country, playing all kinds of plots and schemes, leaning on the railing with a moon sword, and riding a horse in the endless yellow sand.
During the past six years, whenever Zhao Mian heard the three words "Wei Zhenfeng" in the court, he would think of a pair of clear and free eyes, and the young man lazily leaning against the spring breeze.
As a man, he once longed for a life like the young prince of Beiyuan, traveling across four countries and taking revenge.
Even if this young man dies, he should die heroically on the battlefield, rather than die in Wanhuameng's absurd game, at the hands of someone who doesn't want to kill him.
Zhao Mian suddenly missed his father and the prime minister very much. If these two people were by his side at this moment, what choice would he make
There is no doubt that the prime minister would resolutely abandon Wei Zhenfeng and keep him alive. He would stand behind him, hold his hand holding the dagger, and tell him: "Hold it firmly and give him a quick death."
And his father, his father who was as soft-hearted as a sticky rice cake, would probably be entangled in this and that, entangled until he banged his head against the wall, and finally, with red eyes, he pulled his hand and spoke with difficulty: "How about Mianmian, let's just treat it as a dog bite? After all, it's a human life. Look, Wei Zhenfeng didn't take the antidote himself..."
Zhao Mian chuckled to himself.
No matter how much he has acted like a prime minister over the years, no matter how hard he has tried to disguise himself, perhaps deep down, he will always be the child who looks most like his father.
He had to admit that he didn't want, he didn't hope, he didn't want Wei Zhenfeng to die in his hands.
He really wanted to live with Wei Zhenfeng.
That's all.
Zhao Mian's strength gradually weakened, and when the hand holding the dagger was about to drop, his wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Wei Zhenfeng woke up at some point, and the coldness around him suddenly dropped the moment he opened his eyes.
Zhao Mian's mind went blank for a moment, but he immediately calmed down: "You're awake."
Wei Zhenfeng didn't look at Zhao Mian, but stared at their reflections in the hot spring.
The two looked at each other across the water.
Zhao Mian in the water was holding the dagger he had given him, with the blade pointing at his neck. If he took one more step forward, he could take his life while he was defenseless in his sleep.
Wei Zhenfeng slowly moved his gaze from Zhao Mian in the water to himself. Then, he stood up, from a height where Zhao Mian could look down to a height where he had to look up, his eyes firmly fixed on him, so sharp that it seemed as if he wanted to pierce his body.
The aura of the young man was completely different from what Zhao Mian was familiar with, and Zhao Mian couldn't help but his Adam's apple rolled slightly.
Wei Zhenfeng acted politely, but his voice was bone-chillingly cold, with uncontrollable anger: "Can you give me an explanation, Your Highness?"
Zhao Mian was stunned and spoke with difficulty: "I..."
Wei Zhenfeng asked, "Want to kill me?"
Zhao Mian didn't know how to answer.
He couldn't deny that he had thought about it, but it was just a thought.
Wei Zhenfeng thought Zhao Mian's silence was his consent.
Wei Zhenfeng suddenly exerted force on his hands and pulled Zhao Mian closer: "How can you be so cruel?" This was the first time Wei Zhenfeng was so angry that he lost his composure. It was also the first time he called his name, almost gritting his teeth, "Zhao Mian."
Zhao Mian was grabbed by the young man and it hurt so much that he felt his wrist was about to break. The dagger fell to the ground with a clang.
Zhao Mian tried to remain calm: "A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. I don't want to be manipulated by others."
Wei Zhenfeng laughed angrily, "You'd better understand that it's not me who brought you to this point. I have no problem with your pride, but you should go to Wan Hua Meng, not me." His tone was contemptuous, like a layer of ice blade, "If you show off in front of me now, you will only look like a loser who can do nothing but lose your temper."
As if a sore spot had been touched, Zhao Mian was completely enraged and blurted out, "I'd rather kill you than humiliate me - whether you live or die is none of my business!"
Wei Zhenfeng's eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression was extremely unfamiliar. Zhao Mian and Wei Zhenfeng had known each other for six years and met again at the age of eighteen. This was the first time he faced such a cold side of Wei Zhenfeng, and he was actually... a little at a loss.
Wei Zhenfeng said slowly, "After all, there are only two of us here. If you kill me, you can just say that I died at the hands of Wan Huameng and put the blame on Dongling, so that Beiyuan can send troops to Dongling, and Nanjing can just watch from the sidelines and reap the benefits." Wei Zhenfeng grabbed his collar and pulled him closer, their noses almost touching, and he could even see Wei Zhenfeng's long eyelashes sweeping down coldly, "That's what you think, isn't it?"
He should have explained. He should have told Wei Zhenfeng calmly and rationally that although he had thought about it, he had never done it.
Judging from the deeds and not the heart, why can't he think about it? Why did Wei Zhenfeng treat him like this
Zhao Mian gritted his teeth and said, "So what? I wanted to kill you when you forced me to kneel down. This is human nature. Don't say you have never done that to me."
They were too close, and Wei Zhenfeng's pupils reflected his unwillingness to give in. His eyes, which usually could shine into people's hearts, were now filled with coldness that showed his patience had been exhausted.
An inappropriate thought flashed through Zhao Mian's mind—Could it be that Wei Zhenfeng had never...
"I haven't." Wei Zhenfeng answered his question straightforwardly, "Never."
Zhao Mian was stunned for a moment, his guilt and embarrassment almost made him show his weakness. He turned his head away, trying to maintain his dignity: "Maybe for you, having sex with me is just a small matter, and you can do it if you can save your life. But for me, I don't want to, I don't want to, so I will do my best to avoid this from happening - I don't think I'm wrong."
I don't think I'm wrong.
As arrogant as ever, I only think myself the best.
Wei Zhenfeng looked at him intently for a long time, then suddenly laughed, with undisguised mockery in his laugh. It was unclear whether he was mocking Zhao Mian or himself: "I originally wanted to turn my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the ditch*—In that case," the young man lowered his eyes, his voice so cold that Zhao Mian's heart trembled, "Then come on. Let's see if you can kill me or I can take your life."
His appearance made Zhao Mian's chest constrict. The huge sense of oppression made Zhao Mian feel a little fear in his heart.
So, his previous cheerful and casual nature was all pretended. This is the true nature of the young Prince Beiyuan.
Wei Zhenfeng finally decided to kill him.
It was just what was expected, nothing to be shocked about. There was no reason for him to think this way, but he did not allow Wei Zhenfeng to be like him.
The victors are kings and the losers are bandits. This has been the case since ancient times.
Fortunately, he has a younger brother, otherwise how could his father and the prime minister survive.
The emperor will definitely cry, right? Even if he doesn’t cry, his father will.
Zhao Mian slowly closed his eyes. He felt Wei Zhenfeng lower his head towards him and whispered in his ear: "Don't ask me to save you, Zhao Mian."
After saying that, Wei Zhenfeng released the hand that was grabbing his collar and pushed hard on his chest.
Wow!
Zhao Mian fell into the warm spring.
The spring water with the scent of medicine rushed into Zhao Mian's mouth and nose, robbing him of his breath. He opened his eyes, his whole body was surrounded by warmth, and he could still see the hazy moon through the water.
Did Wei Zhenfeng want to drown him
This is not bad, at least the spring water is warm, it's too cold in the bamboo forest.
But Zhao Mian soon found out that he was wrong. Probably because it was for Wan Hua Meng's enjoyment, the hot spring was not deep enough for a normal boy to stand up.
But what could he do if he stood up? Would he just watch Wei Zhenfeng take the remaining antidote, then crawl at his feet, endure the pain of the poison, and die helplessly
Rather than this, it is better to die in this warmth.
Zhao Mian closed his eyes and let himself sink. When he was about to sink to the bottom of the pool, an arm wrapped around his waist and lifted him out of the water.
Zhao Mian's breathing became smooth again, and he coughed violently. The spring water was below his shoulders, and in front of him stood a soaked boy, looking at him without saying a word, letting him cough until he could hardly stand up, and the boy did not show any mercy.
Zhao Mian coughed for a long time before he stopped. His vision became clear again. He raised his head and looked at the boy.
Under the bright moon, he saw a pair of eyes that were all too familiar.
Two teardrop moles were symmetrically placed under his eyes, just as he remembered, on a young and handsome face, dangerously luring him into the boy's eyes, and then... drowning and strangling him mercilessly.
(End of this chapter)