Jun Huailang had awakened somewhat by this point and could clearly see what was happening in the room.
He saw Consort Shu’s face covered in tears, yet with a relieved expression. He saw the Imperial Physician kneeling on the ground, looking delighted at having escaped death. He also saw Dian Cui turn around unnaturally and prepare to leave, seemingly intending to play dumb and carry out the order she had just received before Consort Shu could withdraw it.
Jun Huailang immediately called out to her.
“Auntie Dian Cui, I’m a little thirsty,” he said hoarsely.
This time, he had vaguely discovered something—although pretending to be weak and helpless was somewhat despicable, it really was useful.
Dian Cui was stopped by his call and had no choice but to turn around awkwardly. She poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him.
“His Highness has finally awakened. You certainly gave the Consort quite a fright.”
“It was only because I was exposed to the wind.” As he spoke, Jun Huailang slowly took a few small sips of the water. Then, pretending to be puzzled, he asked, “Auntie Dian Cui, where were you going just now?”
Dian Cui paused and looked toward Consort Shu.
Knowing that Jun Huailang had merely caught a chill, Consort Shu was relieved. She also did not want him hearing about those underhanded matters. She wiped away her tears and said, “I only asked her to take the Imperial Physician to prepare a prescription.”
As she spoke, she shot the Imperial Physician a sideways glance.
“Why aren’t you going yet?”
The Imperial Physician was as though he had received an imperial pardon. He repeatedly nodded yes, scrambled up from the floor, and smiled so broadly at Dian Cui that his teeth showed.
“Please, Auntie, lead the way.”
Dian Cui secretly gritted her teeth and led him out.
At this moment, only then did the palace maid guarding the door carefully say, “Your Ladyship, Fifth Highness and Chief Steward Zheng are here.”
Consort Shu wiped her tears clean and said calmly, “Let them in.”
The palace maid hurriedly acknowledged the order and let the two of them enter.
“What happened last night?” Consort Shu asked.
Xue Yan said nothing, and Zheng Guangde standing beside him did not dare speak either. Before long, Consort Shu grew impatient. She picked up a Buddha’s hand citron from the table beside her and threw it at Zheng Guangde.
“Are you mute?”
Jun Huailang hurriedly tried to speak. He was somewhat anxious, and his throat tightened, causing him to start coughing again.
This time, it was not an act. He coughed until an unnatural flush appeared on his face, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Consort Shu hurriedly turned to look at him.
A pair of cold, amber-colored eyes that had always watched everything from the sidelines also unconsciously fell upon him.
Afterward, Jun Huailang finally managed to stop coughing. In a hoarse voice, he first smiled to reassure Consort Shu.
“It’s nothing, Aunt. My throat is just a little itchy.”
Consort Shu immediately called for a palace maid.
“After the Imperial Physician finishes preparing the medicine, have him decoct a dose and bring it here before he leaves.”
Jun Huailang then raised his eyes. The tears brought forth by his coughing had not yet disappeared as he looked toward Xue Yan.
“Seeing you just now reminded me. I left my cloak at your place yesterday. If it’s convenient, please bring it back for me.”
A cloak was not worth much money, but Jun Huailang needed an opening to tell Consort Shu the things Zheng Guangde did not dare say.
Sure enough, Consort Shu asked, “What cloak?”
Jun Huailang smiled and said seemingly casually, “Yesterday, when I saw Fifth Highness arrive, I was curious, so I went to take a look before going to bed. I saw that his room had neither a heated floor nor charcoal, and there weren’t even any blankets prepared on his bed, so I lent Fifth Highness my cloak for the time being.”
At this point, he smiled shyly.
“Who would have thought I’d end up getting sick from the cold?”
Consort Shu frowned and looked at Zheng Guangde.
“You arranged things like this?”
Her voice had turned cold.
She had received the imperial edict but had not gotten what she wanted, so she had been throwing a fit these past few days. Everything had been left to the servants to arrange.
But disliking this boy did not mean she intended to mistreat him.
She could dislike him and let him lack clothes and food, but leaving him without even a bed or blankets while he was staying in her palace was simply too disgraceful. She absolutely would not do such a thing.
Zheng Guangde inwardly groaned and hurriedly said, “It was all this servant’s negligence. This servant will immediately arrange new accommodations for Fifth Highness! Your Ladyship, rest assured, this servant will make the arrangements properly!”
Jun Huailang added, “Also have someone take his measurements and make him several sets of clothes. I saw that Fifth Highness didn’t bring much luggage, so I imagine he didn’t bring many clothes suitable for keeping warm.”
Zheng Guangde hurriedly nodded again and again.
Xue Yan stood to the side like an outsider, saying nothing. Their conversation seemed to have nothing to do with him, and he did not join in.
Yet he heard every word.
He watched this young master of the Jun family, like a little fox, manipulate everyone with just a few words.
And his purpose was actually to obtain benefits for a complete stranger.
Xue Yan had never cared about such things.
Even if no one looked after him, spending an entire winter in that cold and damp side room was nothing. Last night had simply been an accident. Before long, he could find a way to get candles for himself, and then there would be nothing left to fear.
Yet this young master seemed even more anxious than he was.
Clearly still sick, the first thing he did was unexpectedly to secure these insignificant benefits for him.
An unfamiliar feeling rose in Xue Yan’s heart.
It was somewhat warm, yet also somewhat numb, like an organ that had been frozen for so long that it had lost all sensation, suddenly thawing slightly and regaining the feeling of being alive.
He suddenly remembered the cloak that had been draped over him last night.
It had been warm and soft, carrying the faint fragrance of birch.
He had wandered alone through cold nights for so long. Although he was not afraid of the cold, it did not mean he disliked warmth.
…It was simply that he had never felt it before.
His usually calm mind suddenly became somewhat disordered.
He looked at Jun Huailang and saw him sitting there weakly, taking tiny sips of hot water. From time to time, he would cough, and a layer of cold sweat had appeared on his forehead.
Xue Yan suddenly came back to his senses.
Although Jun Huailang insisted that he had fallen ill from the cold, Xue Yan would not forget that he was an omen of disaster, born that way, destined to bring misfortune to others.
Whether Jun Huailang’s illness had truly been brought about by him, no one could say.
After all, the people around him really had all suffered misfortune, and none of them had ended well. That was a fact.
He was different from every ordinary person.
This kind of accidental warmth was not something he should allow himself to hope for.
He should remain clear-headed.
He had never been worthy of it.
——
Jun Huailang remained ill for several days in succession. His body gradually recovered, yet whenever he fell asleep, he still had nightmares.
In his dreams, he seemed to become someone else. In any case, he was not himself. Whenever he woke, his entire body would be cold and covered in sweat, yet he could never remember what had happened in the dream.
Jun Huailang did not dare tell anyone.
Having been reborn once, he naturally did not believe the rumors that Xue Yan would bring death upon those around him.
Even if Xue Yan was a jinx, he was the kind who killed without mercy and was ruthless and violent—not someone who could kill people simply through some force of fate.
The nightmares naturally had nothing to do with Xue Yan either.
When Jun Huailang was almost recovered, Jun Linghuan was finally permitted to enter his room.
Jun Linghuan’s eyes were red. The moment she entered, she looked ready to cry, frightening Jun Huailang into hurriedly comforting her.
Only after confirming that her brother truly had nothing seriously wrong with him did Jun Linghuan relax and begin chattering incessantly about the trivial things that had happened over the past few days.
Jun Huailang simply sat there listening to her chatter, an uncontrollable smile appearing on his face.
He thought to himself that, compared with his previous life, everything really was getting better.
Now Xue Yan owed him such a huge favor, and no one in Consort Shu’s palace was bullying him. No matter how beastly he became, he absolutely could not do what he had done in his previous life…
Just then, Fuyi said from the doorway, “Young Master, Fifth Highness is here.”
Xue Yan?
Jun Huailang paused, then instinctively wanted to hide Jun Linghuan.
But immediately afterward, he came back to his senses and felt that this thought was far too childish.
They were living in the same palace. It was impossible to prevent Xue Yan from seeing Jun Linghuan even once.
…Although deep down, he still hoped that the two of them would never meet in this lifetime.
“Invite him in,” Jun Huailang said gently after clearing his throat.
Then he saw Xue Yan walk in.
The robes he wore were brand-new. At a glance, it was obvious that Zheng Guangde had not dared to be perfunctory and had used Shu brocade, a tribute fabric kept in storage.
The cloak in his arms was none other than Jun Huailang’s.
“Did you come to return the clothes?” Jun Huailang asked, somewhat surprised.
That day, he had used the cloak as an excuse to bring up everything that needed to be said, and afterward he had completely forgotten about it.
Xue Yan hummed in acknowledgment.
Fuyi was just about to take it when Jun Huailang naturally walked forward and accepted the cloak himself.
“Sorry to trouble you with the trip.”
“Brother, is this the older brother who moved here that day?” Jun Linghuan looked up at Xue Yan and asked.
Alarm bells immediately rang in Jun Huailang’s mind.
His grip on the cloak tightened.
Then he looked toward Jun Linghuan, gritting his teeth while maintaining a gentle smile.
“Yes. This older brother will be Aunt’s child from now on. If you count it that way, he is your cousin. From now on, you’ll have another older brother. Just treat him the same way you treat me—as your own older brother.”
He deliberately emphasized the words “own older brother.”
He refused to believe that after forcing this relationship upon Xue Yan, Xue Yan could still harbor any improper thoughts toward his “own” younger sister.
If he could still have such thoughts, then it meant he truly was not human. At that point, Jun Huailang would fight to the death to kill him.
Yet Xue Yan froze.
He looked at Jun Huailang’s natural and gentle smile, and at the words he had spoken.
It was as though Jun Huailang had drawn a line, enclosing Xue Yan within the territory beside him.
As if, from this moment onward, he had family and was no longer alone.
This feeling was strange and unfamiliar to Xue Yan.
Then he heard the little girl ask, “Oh—the Huai’er has another older brother now?”
Jun Huailang smiled.
“Yes. From now on, this older brother will also dote on Huai’er just like I do.”
As he said this, he raised his head to look at Xue Yan, his eyes filled with a gentle smile.
“Right?”
There were also two nearly imperceptible traces of warning in his tone.
He had not actually intended to wait for Xue Yan’s answer. He knew this man’s personality was cold and solitary, and that he hardly spoke, so he certainly would not play along.
He simply wanted to make his own attitude clear to Xue Yan.
He had given him a cloak a few days ago, then fallen ill because of it, and while sick had not forgotten to arrange better accommodations for him.
Now he was even willing to share with him his own sweet and adorable little sister, the best little sister in the world.
If Xue Yan still refused to behave like a human being after all this, then he was truly beyond redemption.
Yet Jun Huailang did not notice that the eyes that had always been filled with viciousness, brutality, and calculation were now somewhat blank.
He met Jun Huailang’s smile and suddenly felt dazed.
He thought that this time, the smile was directed at him.
He had not stolen this smile.
His heart tightened, and a fire suddenly burned within him, so hot that he could barely sit still. He even wanted to repay him somehow.
Anything would do, as long as he had something to give.
After all, only someone who had experienced those ten-odd years of Xue Yan’s life could understand just how precious such a sincere smile, directed at him without the slightest trace of disgust, truly was.
And so, as though possessed by some strange impulse, Xue Yan quietly hummed in response.
Jun Huailang froze.
“Hmm?”
He thought he had heard incorrectly.
But in the next moment, he saw Xue Yan raise his hand and somewhat awkwardly place it atop Jun Linghuan’s head.
“From now on, I’m also your brother.”
He did not smile. His face was expressionless, and his tone was extremely stiff, yet Jun Huailang could hear the promise in it.
…As well as a strange hint of tenderness.
Looking at the scene before him, Jun Huailang suddenly felt as though he could no longer reconcile it with the contents of the book he had read in his previous life.
He stared blankly and thought—
So this meant… what he had done these past few days really had not been wrong, right?