How Could I Ever Leave You? (xvii)
Edited: 04.28.2024
When Xiao Ziheng saw him taking the initiative to hug him, he couldn’t hide the surprise in his eyes and rubbed his soft hair: “Mnn, brother is the best.”
He rarely praised someone so frankly and sincerely. Ruan Qing immediately blushed and scratched his head in embarrassment: “It’s not a big deal…..By the way, the vaccine cannot be used immediately after it is developed, we need to test it on mice first to see the effects. Are there any here?”
Xiao Ziheng tilted his head and thought for a while: “Mice…? There are quite a lot of them. I’ll ask someone to catch some for you.”
Ruan Qing smiled at his words: “That’s great! If it goes well, the people of Huizhou will no longer have to be troubled by the epidemic and will be able to live in peace.”
Xiao Ziheng couldn’t seem to understand why Ruan Qing held the vial with his life. But he also felt sorry for him for staying up for several nights, so he bent down and picked him up. Ruan Qing also hugged his neck in a familiar manner and leaned against him obediently as he carried him back to the bedchamber.
The weather was getting cold and the heated floors in the room were very warm. Ruan Qing felt a little hot as soon as he entered and immediately took off his outer robe, leaving him with only his inner garment. A thin layer of sweat could be seen on his cheeks and when he noticed that Xiao Ziheng wanted to cover him with a quilt, he quickly interrupted: “Hey, it’s already so hot, there is no need for such a thick quilt, otherwise, I’ll get a heat stroke.”
Xiao Ziheng laughed at his words: “I thought brother was afraid of the cold, but I didn’t expect you to also be afraid of the heat. I’ll go get a blanket for you.”
Ruan Qing looked at his retreating figure and let out a soft hum, feeling his heart throb slightly in his chest.
Ever since Xiao Ziheng was injured and had a temperament change, he no longer had that majestic air to him like before. Ruan Qing felt that it was much easier to get along with him, allowing him to also realize that Xiao Ziheng had a lot of cute sides. For example, he was tender when taking care of others, as if he were caring for a little baby.
Xiao Ziheng came back with a blanket. Ruan Qing was afraid that he was going to try and make a move, so he immediately fell on the pillow and pretended to sleep. Naturally, the little trick didn’t seem to work on His Second Imperial Majesty, but he just laughed it off, tucked him in thoughtfully, and left.
Ruan Qing noticed that he was gone and wanted to be happy, but for some reason, his stomach ached and his pretend sleep ended up turning into real sleep as he closed his eyes in a daze.
He slept so deeply that when he woke up, it was already dark. Yu Shu stood in front of the bed and shook him, shouting in a low voice: “Brother Ruan! Brother Ruan is up!”
Ruan Qing finally woke up and saw Yu Shu with a hat and bright and clear eyes. He couldn’t help but smile: “Yu Shu, where have you been?”
Yu Shu took a few breaths and rubbed his hands together. With a flush face, he exclaimed excitedly: “It’s snowing! Brother Ruan, come and take a look! His Majesty and General Wang and I have been having a snowball fight for a while now.”
In modern times, Ruan Qing was someone from the south so he rarely saw snow and was very happy when he heard this. Just as he immediately lifted the blanket, wanting to get out of bed, his eyes suddenly went dark as he held his forehead with a pained hiss.
Yu Shu was startled and asked quickly: “Brother Ruan, what’s wrong?”
Ruan Qing finally suppressed his nausea, raised his head, and smiled with all his strength: “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve been very tired these past few days and have been been prone to dizziness and retching. Maybe I ate something bad.”
Hearing this, Yu Shu gently helped massage his temples and helped him up: “Then brother should put on more clothes so that you don’t catch a cold.”
Ruan Qing nodded with a smile, picked up the mink fur cloak beside the bed, and draped it over his body. He then followed Yu Shu excitedly to the backyard. From a distance, he could see Xiao Ziheng holding a handful of snow and standing under the tree with a smile, obsessively looking at the plum blossoms that bloomed in the snow and the cold. A petal even fell on the tip of his nose, but he didn’t even realize it.
Ruan Qing was also fascinated by it. However, he wasn’t looking at the scenery but at a certain someone. Xiao Ziheng was extremely handsome. As the old saying goes, a man full of poetry spoke volumes. This was what a gentleman should be like. However, the old Xiao Ziheng was too cold and too arrogant and it was rare to see any joy, anger, or sorrow in those glazed eyes. Now, the joy was all on his face, as if he had descended from an immortal realm to the human world, and his every frown and smile made anyone looking feel comfortable.
He stared blankly at him and it was only until Xiao Ziheng started running towards him that he finally came back to his senses with a smile: “Your Majesty!”
When Xiao Ziheng saw him, he naturally picked up his pace and wished he could hug him immediately. However, after running only two steps, he felt dizzy. In an instant, the world turned upside down and he stumbled and fell hard into the snow.
Everyone present was stunned. Ruan Qing immediately let go of Yu Shu’s hand and ran towards him. He quickly threw himself on top of him and checked his breathing. Xiao Ziheng’s breath was disordered and his brows were furrowed, as if he was in great pain.
“Brother……”
Ruan Qing held his hand and said anxiously: “I’m here! Your Majesty, what happened to you?”
“It hurts……” Xiao Ziheng clenched his hand, gritted his teeth, and uttered one word, then he couldn’t hold on and fainted.
“Your Majesty! Xiao Ziheng!” Ruan Qing was completely panicked now. He pulled up his sleeves to check the wound. Sure enough, a little bit of black blood spilled from it. Ruan Qing suddenly felt horrified. Based on the look, he wasn’t just simply poisoned by snake venom. He was probably infected with the epidemic raging through Liangzhou City!
“Your Majesty! Mr. Ruan, what is wrong with His Majesty?” Wang Qian, who had gone back into the room to get a cloak for Xiao Ziheng, was extremely anxious when he came back to find Xiao Ziheng lying on the ground motionless.
Ruan Qing forced himself to calm down. He wasn’t usually a person easily controlled by emotions, but every time it had something to do with Xiao Ziheng, he was always prone to becoming anxious. Seeing Xiao Ziheng’s face turning pale, he couldn’t help but reach for the small bottle in his bosom. It was a special medicine he tried to make based on the characteristics of the virus. However, the test had not yet been carried out. If something went wrong, even ten Bodhisattvas wouldn’t be able to save him.
What should he do?!
Ruan Qing closed his eyes and struggled internally for a long while. Finally, he made up his mind and went back to the west wing to get a syringe to inject the special medicine into Xiao Ziheng.
Xiao Ziheng was still mumbling in a daze as Ruan Qing waited anxiously and prayed silently. Thinking of everything he had done with Xiao Ziheng these days, he couldn’t help but feel his heart ache.
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Get through it, Your Second Imperial Majesty, you must get through it!
Xiao Ziheng was still fighting at first, but after a while he became silent and his hands and feet gradually became cold.
Ruan Qing touched his face in disbelief, but both his smile and bright eyes seemed to be missing. Only the hand holding Ruan Qing’s hand refused to let go, like a child clenching on stubbornly.
“Xiao Ziheng……” Ruan Qing couldn’t tell what he was feeling. His whole mind went blank. He murmured his name, feeling bitter and astringent in the back of his throat. He reached out and touched his cheek, feeling a slight warmth, only to realize he was crying.
When Wang Qian saw this, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He immediately threw himself on him and cried loudly, losing his majestic demeanor: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, wake up, wake up……”
Yu Shu was young and didn’t understand the meaning of separation. He only knew that Brother Ruan looked extremely sad. He watched as he sat there and retched, choking to the point where he couldn’t say a word, so he went up and hugged him sadly as tears fell.
Ruan Qing disbelievingly checked Xiao Ziheng’s breath again, but unfortunately, there was no response at all. He looked like a sleeping jade Guanyin in the white snow.
He really was gone……
Ruan Qing shook his head in disbelief, but the scene in front of him told him the bloody reality. Xiao Ziheng was gone and he had left him forever.
In the end, Wang Qian was a man who had been through extreme danger and had a clear vision of life and death. With reddened eyes, he comforted Ruan Qing: “Mr. Ruan, don’t be sad anymore. Living in this world is already hard enough, just think of it, just think of it…..” At the end of his sentence, his voice was choked with sobs, “Just think of it as His Second Imperial Majesty taking a step ahead of us to eternal bliss.”
As a surgeon, Ruan Qing had seen too many life-and-death situations in the hospital bed and had gradually become numb to such things. But now that he was facing it with someone close to him, he never imagined that it would be so painful.
Seeing that he was swaying and seemed about to faint, Wang Qian hurried over to help him, but he never thought that an eagle whistle would suddenly come from outside the residence, and a high-pitched voice was heard: “His Holiness has arrived!”
His Holiness? Wang Qian was stunned. Before he could react, the door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man wearing a dragon robe with a profound heavenly aura stepped over the threshold and came in. Behind him were Xiao Ziming, Longcheng Sangjiu, as well as a vast cadre of guards and suddenly the courtyard was filled.
“Heng’er! What’s going on here?!” Seeing Xiao Ziheng in this state, the Emperor could not help but be in shock and anger.
Xiao Ziming pretended to be surprised and quickly came over to help Xiao Ziheng up, crying loudly: “Father, Father! Second brother is dead!”
The Emperor was also surprised and hurriedly came up to check. Sure enough, he saw Xiao Ziheng lying motionless in Xiao Ziming’s arms. His face was pale and his body was stiff, as if he had been dead for a long time.
“You!” Xiao Ziming gave Ruan Qing a hard push and pushed him to his knees, right in front of the Emperor’s furious face.
“Ruan Qing! How dare you, Ruan Qing! We asked you to go to Huizhou with His Second Imperial Majesty just so that you can take care of him anytime and anywhere. But now that he is dead, it really was a waste of Our trust in you!”
Ruan Qing couldn’t defend himself at all, so he just knelt silently, his heart filled with despair.
The Emperor was so angry that he staggered a few steps and had to rely on the guards around him to support him: “Heng’er is Our most beloved son, but now……now he has died in your hand! Guards, beat Ruan Qing to death with a stick and behead all his relatives!”
“Your Holiness, please reconsider! There is something else behind this matter. His First Imperial Majesty…..” Wang Qian anxiously stepped forward and knelt down to defend Ruan Qing, but was blocked by the Emperor’s next words: “With a Prince passing away in a foreign place, you guys are also at fault for not being able to protect him. If you want to continue speaking for this bastard, don’t blame Us for looking past Our feelings and punishing you as well! The Wang family has three generations of elders, and your actions will determine their life and death so think it over!”
Wang Qian froze and lowered his head in humiliation, his teeth clenched tightly.
The guards had already brought up the paddles and pressed Ruan Qing onto the stool. Xiao Ziming gave the order: “Hit! Hit him hard! Unless his blood and flesh are spilled everywhere and his tendons and bones are broken, it will be difficult to relieve Father’s pain of losing a son!”
“Smack——” The paddles fell heavily one after another. Ruan Qing grunted in pain, his nails dug into his flesh, and his lower lips became a bloody mess.
After enduring for an unknown amount of time, Ruan Qing suddenly heard Yu Shu crying. His lower body had completely lost feeling and the slightest movement was torture, like needle pricks. His vision went dark and he almost fainted.
“Stop! We order you to stop, stop the beating!”
With a sharp shout, Ruan Qing suddenly felt warm all over his body, as if he was being held in someone’s arms. The person’s warm breath sprayed on his cheeks. He couldn’t help but open his eyes in surprise. When he saw who was in front of him, he couldn’t help but weep with joy: “Y-Your Majesty?”
Xiao Ziheng’s expression was extremely grim, but he smiled brightly, “I’m here. Ruan Qing, this Prince woke up late and made you suffer.”
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
You made him suffer, so now you need to make it up to poor bubu!
Thank You for the new chapter (๑´ლ`๑)♡
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