SWHCBB 78

Chapter 78: Zhiyu, What Did You Dream About?

General’s residence.

Just as Bai Yuan raised his hand, Jiang Chuang couldn’t wait any longer and anxiously asked, “How is he?”

On the bed, Wen Jue lay unconscious, eyes shut and face pale as paper. Several needles were inserted into his hands.

Bai Yuan calmly wiped his hands with a cloth. “The sword wound is no longer a concern.”

After the imperial physician from the palace had departed, Jiang Chuang had once again invited Bai Yuan to examine him, only then could he truly feel at ease.

The palace physician was competent and had managed to stabilize Wen Jue’s condition. It was also thanks to the treatment he received in Huazhou that he hadn’t suffered too much.

But Jiang Chuang still couldn’t understand. Exhausted and anxious, he asked, “Why hasn’t Zhiyu woken up? He’s been unconscious for five days.”

Zhuge Qing, standing to the side, watched Bai Yuan’s expression. Seeing that it was as calm as ever, he relaxed and reassured Jiang Chuang, “If Bai Yuan says he’s fine, then he’s fine. Trust him. This guy once brought someone back from the dead.”

The fact that Bai Yuan’s face showed no change told Zhuge Qing there was no serious issue. After all, the day Prince Jin was stabbed. Bai Yuan had, uncharacteristically, shown irritation and frustration, even glaring at Zhuge Qing as if blaming him for allowing the sword to pierce Prince Jin’s left chest.

That day hadn’t been particularly dangerous, but to make the act convincing, they had to mix truth with falsehood. Seven parts real, three parts performance, only then could they fool their intended targets.

As they spoke, Wen Jue suddenly furrowed his brows. His breathing grew rapid, his body tensed, and his hands clutched the blanket beneath him tightly, as if he was caught in something and struggling with all his might.

“Zhiyu?” Jiang Chuang cried out in alarm and instinctively looked at Bai Yuan.

Though Bai Yuan remained expressionless, he was feeling guilty. He sat at the edge of the bed and checked Wen Jue’s pulse and breath. “He’s fine. He’s just dreaming, likely something terrifying.”

Though he said that, Bai Yuan knew the truth. Because he had been treating Wen Jue, his spiritual energy had seeped into Wen Jue’s body, and Wen Jue had also consumed his blood…

Wen Jue’s body was already frail. Now, a few strands of his soul were unstable from his injuries, and under Bai Yuan’s influence, he might have entered some strange realm.

Or perhaps… he had broken through the restraints of this world and traveled across time and space to another world. That was entirely possible.

The ancestor of the fox clan had left this world just so. But that was the ancestor, Bai Yuan’s cultivation was nowhere near that level. Apart from being near death, he couldn’t normally achieve such a feat.

Therefore, Bai Yuan couldn’t be sure what Wen Jue was experiencing. He only knew that he had to stabilize his soul and heal his body. As long as that happened, Wen Jue would return eventually. As for when he would awaken, even Bai Yuan couldn’t say.

He got up and gave his seat to Jiang Chuang.

Jiang Chuang sat beside Wen Jue and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead and the tears that kept trickling from the corners of his eyes. He murmured softly, “Zhiyu, what on earth are you dreaming about?… Whatever it is, don’t be afraid. Remember, I’m always right here with you.”

Zhuge Qing and Bai Yuan silently left the room and closed the door behind them.

They hadn’t gone far when they saw Yuan Xiang standing under a tree, looking off at something.

Zhuge Qing raised a brow and crept up behind her, clearly planning to startle her. Bai Yuan wasn’t interested and turned away toward his own quarters.

Zhuge Qing was halfway there when Yuan Xiang suddenly turned her head, rolled her eyes at him, and then turned back around.

“What’re you looking at?” Seeing that he had failed to scare her, Zhuge Qing casually stepped up to greet her. “What? Hiding out while the manor’s in chaos? Be careful, or I’ll tell the general on you.”

Yuan Xiang scoffed and turned her lips in disdain. “Go ahead and tell him. It’s not like you’re some decent person. Otherwise, His Highness wouldn’t have left in perfect health and come back gravely wounded. I knew you all were up to no good!”

“We?” Zhuge Qing raised an eyebrow. “Wait, how am I not a decent person?”

Yuan Xiang glared at him and scolded coldly, “You know what you’ve done!”

Zhuge Qing was about to argue but paused. Thinking about it… yeah, she wasn’t wrong. Framing Yuan Xiang, luring Prince Jin into the scheme, all of it was true. Nothing unjust about her accusations.

So he chuckled and calmly admitted, “Thanks for the compliment, miss.”

Yuan Xiang stared at him in disbelief. “You… You just wait! One day, I’ll make sure His Highness sees your true faces!”

Was she talking about Jiang Chuang? Zhuge Qing grinned wickedly. “You do know, speaking like that to a bad guy just makes you die faster, right?”

Yuan Xiang went pale and took a step back. Zhuge Qing watched her retreat, thoroughly entertained, until she suddenly turned and ran toward the garden, shouting, “Changning! Help me!”

Changning?

Zhuge Qing looked up and saw him, running beneath the sun with several heavy sandbags tied to him. His face was flushed, body soaked with sweat, but his eyes held a determined gleam. The moment he heard Yuan Xiang’s cry, he changed direction and bounded over.

His movements were light, as if those sandbags weighed nothing at all.

Changning had thought some thief had broken into the manor. When he saw Zhuge Qing, he relaxed slightly, no trace of his usual teasing or meek demeanor. He nodded politely. “Strategist Zhuge.”

Yuan Xiang hid behind Changning like she’d found her protector and hurriedly complained, “He just said he wanted to kill me!”

Changning paused, even he could see Zhuge Qing’s twisted sense of humor. He explained, “He was joking. The strategist enjoys seeing people scared. The more afraid you are, the more fun he has teasing you.”

Yuan Xiang eyed Zhuge Qing suspiciously, unconvinced. “Is that so?”

Zhuge Qing smiled pleasantly, and Yuan Xiang quickly shrank further behind Changning.

Zhuge Qing reached out and lifted one of the sandbags on Changning’s back. “Wow, that’s heavy! What’s this about, why’re you carrying these?”

“Training.”

Zhuge Qing shook his head. “Training’s one thing, but isn’t this a bit much? Sure, you can handle the weight, but running in this heat and roasting yourself like this, aren’t you torturing yourself? Or… is this your way of punishing yourself?”

Changning lowered his eyes and held back tears. His voice was choked, “If I hadn’t been too slow, too weak, His Highness might not have been hurt. Even if he was, it wouldn’t have been this serious. It’s my fault.”

He knew this was all part of the plan, but His Highness had collapsed right in front of him, had really been injured, and now had been unconscious for so long.

Since Yuan Xiang was present, Zhuge Qing couldn’t say much to comfort him. So he raised a hand and patted his shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself too much. If you punish yourself too harshly, once Prince Jin wakes up, he’s the one who’ll be truly hurt.”

Changning silently nodded, head bowed, tears dripping to the ground unnoticed.

Once Zhuge Qing had left, Yuan Xiang muttered bitterly, “It’s all that damn assassin’s fault, making His Highness suffer like this!”

After ranting, she added hopefully, “His Highness is blessed, he’ll be fine. Unlike that other one~ got killed with a single sword strike by a thief. Tsk tsk! If anyone’s to blame, it’s the assassin not you.”

That other one, she meant the Sixth Prince, who died to an assassin’s blade in Huazhou.

But Changning still looked dejected, silently blaming himself. Yuan Xiang offered generously, “Alright then, when His Highness wakes up, I’ll let you into my chicken pen. You can personally kill a chicken and make soup to help him recover, how’s that?”

Changning glanced at her and sniffled helplessly. “Aren’t you generous.”

“Of course I am!” Yuan Xiang puffed up her chest proudly.