SWHCBB 24

Chapter 24: Hugging My Little Husband and Wailing Like a Baby

Later, when Jiang Chuang rescued Wen Jue from Prince Yi, he was even thinner and frailer than before. Held in his arms, he felt weightless, abnormally so, as if he could be blown away by a breeze.

No matter how Jiang Chuang tried to provoke him, he couldn’t stir the slightest spark of life. Wen Jue was like a still, dead pool. He stared blankly at the wounds on his own body, barely spoke, and refused to eat.

He was waiting to die. Jiang Chuang had thought he’d been tortured by Prince Yi, but now, thinking back, Wen Jue had likely already reached the terminal stage of his illness, enduring pain deep in his bones every single day. How could he still have had any hope of living?

He was much like the current Zhiyu, stubbornly resigned to his fate, calmly accepting it.

On top of that, Jiang Chuang had said so many cruel things to provoke him, mocking him coldly, every word like a thorn stabbed deep into his old wounds. So Zhiyu had convinced himself he deserved it all… as a form of atonement.

Just thinking about such a Zhiyu made Jiang Chuang’s heart feel like it was being torn apart. It ached with dull, suffocating pain.

The only time Zhiyu had ever cried out “It hurts,” during their escape, was when Jiang Chuang was tending his wounds and coaxing him gently.

He hadn’t been able to hold back. Jiang Chuang had seen his eyes filled with sorrow and grievance, tears falling like broken pearls, huge, heavy drops crashing down.

“It hurts… it hurts so much…”

It hurt.

That was what Jiang Chuang felt now too. The pain in his chest spread to his fingertips, making him tremble uncontrollably. He curled his fingers, only to feel the pain stab even deeper.

Later, he had still kissed Zhiyu, unable to stop himself, just so he wouldn’t cry anymore.

Jiang Chuang now stood before the door, head bowed, shoulders trembling. A tear dropped to the floor. Then another. One after another, they fell, exposing his helpless loss of control.

Suddenly, the door was opened from the inside.

“Yunchuan, is that you?”

Jiang Chuang quickly looked up, hurriedly wiped his face, and stared awkwardly at the person inside, his voice thick with tears. “It’s me.”

He saw Wen Jue let out a breath of relief, his shoulders relaxing. Without waiting for Jiang Chuang to speak, Wen Jue stepped across the threshold, groped forward until he found his arm, and gently wrapped his arms around him.

“Why are you just standing outside and not coming in? Are you still angry at me?”

Jiang Chuang sniffled. Finally, he couldn’t hold back, his tears poured down like rain. His arms, wrapped around Wen Jue’s waist, slowly tightened, as if he wanted to merge him into his own body.

“I’m sorry…”

He hadn’t known, hadn’t known he had hurt that much.

His body trembled. Wen Jue’s shoulders were soaked with his warm tears. It was the first time Jiang Chuang had cried in front of him. Wen Jue panicked. It made him ache.

He gently patted Jiang Chuang’s back.

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly saying this?… You never have to say ‘sorry’ to me, husband.”

Because the one who should say those words… was Wen Jue himself.

Jiang Chuang shook his head, unable to speak. As soon as he opened his mouth, he burst into sobs. This brawny, muscled general held his frail little husband and cried like a child.

Wen Jue couldn’t see, and he had no idea what had happened. He could only hug him, flustered.

Outside the window, perched in a tree to give them space, Changning squatted silently:

…He really hadn’t expected General Jiang to be such a crybaby.

Well, cry then, cry it all out. Maybe it’ll soften His Highness’s heart and get him to properly start treatment.

He didn’t know what His Highness was so worried about. Over the years, Changning always felt he secretly took some comfort in knowing his eyes couldn’t be healed.

After Jiang Chuang finally cried himself out, he followed Wen Jue inside and closed the door.

The tea on the table was quickly drained. Jiang Chuang drank another cup in one gulp. Wen Jue gently rubbed his back.

“Slow down. No one’s going to take it from you.”

Jiang Chuang set the cup down and fixed his bright gaze on Wen Jue. Though his voice was hoarse, his tone was dead serious.

“Zhiyu, tell me, do you not want to get better?”

Wen Jue clearly froze. Then he fell silent, smiled, and tried to act like he didn’t understand. But this time, Jiang Chuang wasn’t so easy to fool.

“You don’t want to grow old with me?”

Wen Jue’s smile stiffened.

“You don’t want to ride by my side, wild and free?”

Silence.

“You don’t want to see the sunset at Xiang Lake? Don’t want to know what I look like?”

Jiang Chuang tried to joke, “What if I’m really ugly? Then you’ll have gotten the short end of the stick!”

“I do.”

Wen Jue raised both hands and gently touched Jiang Chuang’s face, slowly tracing his forehead, brow bone, eye corners, nose bridge, lips, sketching his appearance in his mind. Then he smiled.

“You’re not ugly. You’re very handsome.”

He had touched Jiang Chuang like this more than once, each time he slept, Wen Jue would quietly trace his features, wondering what he looked like.

Jiang Chuang had a prominent nose, a high brow ridge, big eyes, strong features. He was tall, Wen Jue only reached his chest.

He was muscular and strong, unlike the fragile scholars or noble officials in the palace. When he held Wen Jue tightly, his body felt like solid rock, a wall of safety.

In fact, Jiang Chuang had a stellar reputation among the people, brave and loyal. Many officials wanted to marry their daughters to him. Even the Second Princess had been enamored after seeing him once at a banquet.

So if not for the Emperor’s jealousy, Wen Jue might never have had the chance to marry him.

Jiang Chuang was coaxed again and immediately followed up,

“Then be good and work with Bai Yuan. Let him treat your eyes, alright?”

Wen Jue nodded with a helpless smile.

“When did I ever say I didn’t want treatment? You didn’t cry just because of that, did you?”

“No, I didn’t cry at all! You must’ve misheard—”

Jiang Chuang belatedly realized how shameful it was and thickened his skin to deny it, but Wen Jue squeezed his cheeks hard, cutting him off.

“Really didn’t cry?” Wen Jue asked.

Jiang Chuang panicked and shouted all in one breath,

“I cried! I cried!”

Wen Jue’s eyes curved with a smile as he released his hands.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Then Jiang Chuang scooped him up into his lap, pressed his forehead to Wen Jue’s, and rubbed against him. His hoarse voice was laced with a manly kind of sweetness.

“Zhiyu, get treated, okay~? Once the border is at peace, I’ll take you around the world to see all its beauty!”

Worries had drowned Wen Jue for years, but Jiang Chuang dragged him out, piece by piece, with sheer stubbornness. Wen Jue couldn’t resist, softened by his coaxing, and smiled.

“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll get treated…”

“You said it yourself!” Jiang Chuang cheered, planting a heavy kiss on his cheek.

“I don’t care what you’re thinking or what you’re afraid of, now that we’re married, you have to think of me more! You have no idea how much it hurts just hearing Bai Yuan describe what might happen to you… And you still don’t want to get better? Don’t you know how painful that is for me?”

“I’m sorry…” Wen Jue kissed his face messily, his way of apologizing.

Hearing Jiang Chuang’s heartfelt words, Wen Jue finally realized he had never considered his feelings, never thought he’d be hurt.

Or maybe, deep down, he didn’t dare believe Jiang Chuang would be hurt. Even after they married, even after all the sweet words, suspicion was carved into Wen Jue’s bones.

He didn’t know how to love. Once the mask came off, he could only bristle like a hedgehog, always expecting the worst from others.

Even when Bai Yuan had said he was beyond saving, that he was terminally ill, Wen Jue had thought, what if this was Jiang Chuang’s trap? A way to “justify” getting rid of him?

Wen Jue wrapped his arms around Jiang Chuang’s neck and gently bit his earlobe, whispering in his ear.

“Should we have a few more rounds before the treatment starts? Once I start taking medicine, I won’t be able to enjoy it as much…”

The little mole at the corner of his eye had been rubbed away, but the drooping lashes still carried a dangerous allure, like a seductress reincarnated.

And this time, Jiang Chuang, naturally, couldn’t hold back.