Because Jinling City was now in need of rebuilding in every respect and there were countless matters to attend to, Duke Yong stayed overnight at the government office that evening and did not return home.
He merely sent a yamen runner back specifically to relay a message to Jun Huailang, telling him that everything was fine and nothing had gone wrong, and that he should simply rest well and not worry.
Jun Huailang knew that his father was very bad at handling intimate relationships. These seemingly cold few words of arrangement actually concealed far too much of his father’s concern.
Jun Huailang smiled and acknowledged the yamen runner’s words, then had him take some pastries and food from the residence with him, in case his father worked too late and there were no meals arranged at the government office at night.
After finishing these things, Jun Huailang sat beside the bed, found a book, and quietly kept watch over Xue Yan.
It was not until the middle of the night, after the third watch had been struck, that Xue Yan slowly woke up.
Hearing a low hum from inside the bed curtains, Jun Huailang turned his head and saw Xue Yan slowly raise one hand and cover his eyes with the back of it.
The light must have been too bright, so Jun Huailang was about to get up and extinguish some of the candles.
But before he could rise, Xue Yan grabbed his wrist.
“Where are you going?” Xue Yan’s voice was hoarse.
Jun Huailang said, “Isn’t it too bright? I’m going to put out two of the lamps.”
But Xue Yan clicked his tongue and tugged him back.
“It’s not bright.”
As he spoke, he propped himself up with his arm and sat up, then pulled Jun Huailang straight into his arms.
Before Jun Huailang could react, Xue Yan’s arm had already wrapped around his waist, completely encircling him.
“Don’t move. Let me hold you for a while,” Xue Yan said.
The hand Jun Huailang had originally been using to support himself withdrew.
Xue Yan quietly held him, and for a moment, neither of them said anything.
After an unknown amount of time, Xue Yan began to laugh softly.
Jun Huailang raised his head to look at him, only to see Xue Yan lower his head and kiss him once on the lips.
“It’s actually real.” Xue Yan laughed softly. “I thought I was dreaming just now.”
His eyes rested deeply on Jun Huailang’s face, filled with a smile that seemed almost ready to spill over.
The tips of Jun Huailang’s ears reddened. He lightly patted him.
“You were simply confused from sleeping,” he said, sitting up.
Xue Yan continued to stare at him with a smile.
“Not confused. I’m perfectly awake,” he said.
Jun Huailang sat on the edge of the bed and raised a hand to tap him on the forehead.
“Awake?” he said. “Then why did you get injured and not say a word about it? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
Only then did Xue Yan belatedly realize that the wounds on his body had already been rebandaged.
His expression immediately darkened.
It was such a tiny wound, like it had merely been scratched by a cat. Who had been so long-winded as to tell Jun Huailang?
Jun Huailang saw what he was thinking at a glance and said seriously, “No one told me. I discovered it myself.”
Xue Yan’s arrogance immediately diminished by a large amount.
“…They were too talkative,” he muttered.
Jun Huailang said nothing, merely giving him a淡 look.
Xue Yan immediately said, “I just forgot. There won’t be a next time.”
Jinbao, who had come in carrying the medicine, happened to witness this scene and almost laughed aloud.
Was this timid and obedient person really his own master, the one who was usually like the King of Hell?
Could it be that some dog spirit had possessed him, and he had even learned how to act spoiled and wag his tail?
Jinbao pursed his lips and held back his laughter as he brought the medicine inside.
When Xue Yan saw the medicine, he immediately looked at Jun Huailang.
“You’re not recovered yet?”
Jun Huailang said, “This isn’t for me. It’s for you.”
Sure enough, Xue Yan’s brows immediately furrowed.
“I don’t have a fever,” he said.
Jun Huailang glanced at Jinbao, only to see him desperately signaling with his eyes. From the look of him, he clearly did not want to speak himself and wanted Jun Huailang to persuade him.
Jun Huailang looked at Xue Yan with some amusement.
“Just in case. Now everyone in all of Jinling has taken this medicine. The divine physician said that even if someone has been infected with the poison but has not yet developed symptoms, drinking this medicine can still cure it.”
Xue Yan nevertheless said, “I’ll drink it when I’m sick.”
Jun Huailang burst out laughing.
“Jinbao said you’re afraid of taking medicine. Is that actually true?” he said.
Upon hearing this, Xue Yan’s expression changed. He immediately tried to get up and go after Jinbao.
This servant really had become too pleased with himself. With such a huge mouth, did he have to go around saying everything indiscriminately?
Afraid of taking medicine? Did he look like someone who was afraid of taking medicine?
It wasn’t as though this damn medicine was a knife. Who the hell would be afraid of it? It was only a little bitter… Who liked drinking this damn stuff that made all five of his internal organs taste bitter?
Jinbao saw at a glance that Xue Yan’s eyes were full of anger. He clearly had been exposed and was furious from embarrassment.
At this rate, it would not even be impossible for him to be cut down with a sword right then and there.
Jinbao was so frightened that he let out a small “aiyo,” and both his legs began to tremble. Yet his feet seemed nailed to the ground, leaving him unable even to run.
But then Jun Huailang stood up.
At this, Xue Yan’s movement to rise stopped, and feeling returned to Jinbao’s legs as well.
Jun Huailang took the bowl of medicine from Jinbao’s hands and said, “You can go out first.”
The Bodhisattva had come to save him.
Jinbao was deeply moved. He repeatedly agreed, then ran away carrying the empty tray.
Jun Huailang turned around and sat back down beside the bed.
Xue Yan was sitting on the bed. Although he had no particular expression, it was immediately obvious that he looked like a large wolf with its head hanging in dejection.
“I didn’t…” he still muttered softly, trying to refute it.
Jun Huailang smiled lightly. “It’s all right even if you are afraid.”
Xue Yan looked at him, only to see Jun Huailang scoop up a spoonful of medicine, blow on it until it cooled, and hold it to his lips.
He was going to feed him personally.
Jun Huailang had been accustomed to taking care of Jun Linghuan since childhood, so this sort of thing came naturally to him and he did it with great ease.
Yet he did not know how good-looking he appeared under the lamplight.
Xue Yan’s gaze changed.
Unbeknownst to him, in Jun Huailang’s eyes, Xue Yan was merely a child throwing a tantrum and acting spoiled. But Xue Yan’s expression had unknowingly become somewhat dangerous.
“You’re feeding me?” Xue Yan asked.
Holding the medicine, Jun Huailang remained completely unaware. “Yes.”
Xue Yan stared fixedly at him.
Jun Huailang saw that he had not opened his mouth for quite some time and looked at Xue Yan in confusion.
He saw Xue Yan looking at him, his light-colored eyes like those of a greedy beast.
“…What’s wrong?” Only then did Jun Huailang sense a hint of danger.
But Xue Yan raised his hand and grasped the hand holding the spoon. With ease, he turned Jun Huailang’s hand around and sent the medicine into Jun Huailang’s own mouth.
Jun Huailang was caught off guard and was fed a mouthful of bitter medicine.
But immediately afterward, a hand pressed against the back of his neck and pulled him forward.
Caught completely off guard, Jun Huailang could only steady the bowl of medicine in his hand, preventing the warm medicinal liquid from spilling over the two of them.
His lips suddenly grew warm, and warm lips covered his own.
Then the man roughly pried open his lips, the tip of his tongue invading his mouth.
The medicinal liquid was clearly completely swept away, leaving nothing behind, yet those lips greedily refused to leave. He kissed him deeply, as though asking something of him.
After a moment, the kiss stopped.
Xue Yan rested his forehead against his and looked deeply at him, his eyes full of amusement.
“It isn’t bitter anymore,” he said in a low voice. “It’s sweet.”
——
By the time Xue Yan finished an entire bowl of medicine, the tips of Jun Huailang’s ears were already burning unbearably hot.
He lowered his eyes as he put away the medicine bowl, and, lacking much force in his voice, scolded Xue Yan with a single “Nonsense,” which earned several smug low laughs from Xue Yan.
Both of them had slept for a long time during the day, so now that it was deep into the night, neither of them was particularly sleepy.
After putting the medicine bowl away, Jun Huailang was pulled by Xue Yan onto the bed and stuffed into his arms.
“There’s nothing else to do anyway. Let me hold you for a while,” Xue Yan said, completely justified in his shamelessness.
When it came to acting spoiled, Jun Huailang had never been Xue Yan’s match.
He could only let Xue Yan hold him while the two of them chatted intermittently.
As they talked, the conversation eventually turned to the epidemic in Jinling this time. Jun Huailang told Xue Yan his speculation, and after hearing it, Xue Yan deeply agreed.
“Back then, when they made this Yunnan Prince, they simply weren’t using their brains,” Xue Yan said disdainfully. “They wanted to save trouble, and they were afraid the border troops would establish a separatist regime, so they directly enfeoffed the borderlands.”
He gave a derisive laugh.
“Who knows what had gone to his head.”
Jun Huailang slapped him lightly.
The people of the world placed great importance on rites and propriety. Whenever anyone did anything, they had to consider whether they would be too ashamed to face their ancestors afterward. Where would anyone have as much nerve as Xue Yan, casually daring to discuss the founding emperor with such irreverence?
Xue Yan shut his mouth, but he remained unconvinced.
“Keeping the Yunnan Prince alive will become a major threat sooner or later,” Jun Huailang continued.
Xue Yan nodded.
“Right now, His Majesty is still furious. He’s thinking of ways to bring Prime Minister Xu down,” Xue Yan said with a cold laugh. “That old man really is highly skilled and bold enough to make His Majesty unable even to concern himself with balancing the imperial court.”
Jun Huailang hummed in agreement.
This time, Prime Minister Xu had indeed touched Qingping Emperor’s bottom line, but at the same time, he had left Qingping Emperor helpless. Even though he clearly knew that the matter had been done by Prime Minister Xu’s people, there was no evidence whatsoever that could prove the official’s actions were related to Prime Minister Xu.
This time, Prime Minister Xu had made Qingping Emperor swallow a bitter pill without being able to say anything.
“So, if His Majesty learns about the matter concerning the Yunnan Prince, he will definitely put all his effort into dealing with the Yunnan Prince,” he said. “As for the Xu family, even if they don’t fall immediately, they will lose His Majesty’s favor because of this, and lose an arm.”
Xue Yan hummed.
Jun Huailang fell into thought again.
“It’s just that although Prime Minister Xu has suffered a heavy blow now, his claws and teeth are still spread throughout the court and the realm. How can we get the memorial safely into His Majesty’s hands, and then have him smoothly issue this imperial edict?”
After all, a memorial had to pass through layer upon layer of officials before reaching the emperor’s hands. Once it reached His Majesty, there would inevitably be another round of discussion in court. At that time, if the court officials used the nation’s economy and people’s livelihood, as well as the founding and second emperors, to apply pressure, Qingping Emperor’s imperial edict to suppress the Yunnan Prince would not be issued so easily.
But then Xue Yan let out a low laugh.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” he said. “Once the investigation results are out, I’ll send the Embroidered Uniform Guard back and have them deliver it directly into the emperor’s hands.”
Jun Huailang looked at him in surprise.
Xue Yan gave a low laugh, looking rather like a child showing off to someone.
“He already issued a secret edict earlier. My memorials can be sent directly to him through the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They don’t have to pass through anyone else’s hands,” he said.
Jun Huailang was quite surprised upon hearing this.
He knew how cautious and suspicious Qingping Emperor was. In his eyes, the officials of the imperial court were tools for balancing one another. He would not deliberately favor anyone, nor would he stop them from fighting among themselves. Whether they could handle affairs well was another matter; what mattered most was not allowing anyone to pose a threat to him.
How could he be so exceptionally partial toward Xue Yan?
Xue Yan saw the confusion in his eyes.
“Because he believes that my fate will no longer take his life,” he slowly smiled, completely unconcerned. “As for the rest, it’s all because of my mother’s face.”
He looked at Jun Huailang.
“Before, I didn’t understand how he was thinking either,” he said. “But now, I seem to understand.”
Jun Huailang met his eyes in confusion.
Xue Yan lowered his head and intimately touched his forehead against Jun Huailang’s, then lightly kissed his lips.
His tone was filled with teasing ambiguity.
“If you had the ability to give me a son too, then even if he were a little bastard who thought about taking my life every day, I still wouldn’t refuse to give him what he wanted.”