Shen Que half propped himself up, and Lin Xie finally let go. As he lowered his head slightly, he noticed a thick bandage wrapped around his shoulder. It seemed like his rib was broken, and every movement felt like a sharp spike was being driven into the bone.

His internal organs felt out of place, with a dull, swelling pain. The bitterness of Chinese medicine mixed with a hint of iron rust lingered in his throat. Even though he didn’t need to speak, it was still uncomfortable.

He couldn’t help but cough a few times, each movement tugging at his wounds, making every part of him ache.

Shen Que sat up, slipped on his short black boots, and wobbled over to the tea table, reaching out to pour water from the teapot.

The water, who knows when it was boiled, had long gone cold. His hands trembled so much that half of the water spilled onto the table.

Lin Xie, not being polite, leaned on the table with one hand, watching him pour with interest, showing no intention of helping.

Watching from the sidelines was one thing, but after seeing Shen Que drink the water, he couldn’t help but ask, “Not pouring me a cup? Is this how Master Shen treats his guests?”

Shen Que looked at him.

Lin Xie didn’t avoid his gaze, meeting it openly, “Besides me, who else would come to see you in this mansion? You were crying in your dream just now, and I was the one who wiped your tears.”

He said this without a hint of embarrassment, as if he had done something significant. Shen Que felt a bit dizzy, unsure if it was from anger or fever.

After drinking the cold water, his mind cleared a bit, and he gestured to Xie Shiguan, “I’ll pour you water, but you have to leave after drinking it, okay?”

Surprisingly, the man nodded, agreeing readily, “Alright, go ahead.”

Shen Que, skeptical, poured only half a cup of water for him, fearing he wouldn’t finish it in one go.

Lin Xie took the celadon cup, examining it. The glaze was uneven, and the texture was naturally poor. The turquoise painting was carelessly done. Such teaware would never have appeared before him in the past.

He only looked at it without any intention of drinking.

Seeing Shen Que glaring at him, Lin Xie chuckled, “What to do, I don’t seem to be thirsty.”

Shen Que didn’t move. He had anticipated that Lin Xie wouldn’t leave easily. Last time, he let him look carefully, and this time, he must be here to collect a debt.

Ignoring him, Shen Que turned away and returned to the bed. As he sat down, he suddenly noticed a green sandalwood bracelet hanging by the bedside, with a green tassel as thick as a finger.

This was Shen Luo’s item. He was a Buddhist, and every rest day, he would go to the temple to offer incense. He said that following the Prince, they had seen countless souls perish, both deserving and undeserving, and they would come crying in dreams at night.

So he dragged Shen Que along to seek Buddha’s grace, obtaining a bracelet that had been in front of Buddha for over ten years. However, Shen Que, who was dragged along, was not included. The old monk said his heart was not sincere, and Buddha would not save him.

Shen Que indeed wasn’t sincere, but he guessed the reason Buddha wouldn’t save him was simply because he didn’t offer enough, not enough incense money.

He touched the green sandalwood bracelet, thinking of Shen Luo, “Is Shen Luo still around?”

Lin Xie pretended to be confused, deliberately asking, “Who are you asking about?”

Shen Que, probably feverish and dizzy, didn’t have the energy to be angry with him, slowly gesturing, “Besides me, who else is in this room?”

If it weren’t so late, and he couldn’t go around asking, Shen Que wouldn’t have asked him.

“You curse me in your heart,” Lin Xie leaned closer, his hand propped beside him, his nose almost touching Shen Que’s, smiling with a hint of teasing, “yet you still come to ask me. You despise me so much, why should I answer?”

Shen Que turned his face away. At such a close distance, Lin Xie’s breath fell on his lips, making him feel a bit at a loss.

He pushed hard on Lin Xie’s shoulder, then gestured, “If you won’t answer, then don’t. Just stay away from me.”

But he underestimated this person’s shamelessness. The more he pushed, the closer Lin Xie got. Finally, Lin Xie simply pinched his chin and leaned in.

This wasn’t a mere brush of lips; their lips pressed together, and the tingling breath was even closer. Shen Que struggled weakly, but the man wouldn’t let go.

Shen Que, already dizzy, felt the suffocation growing stronger. He mustered all his strength and punched Lin Xie’s chin.

Perhaps due to his sluggish movements from illness, Lin Xie dodged, but finally let go. Shen Que collapsed weakly onto the bedding, gasping for air.

Lin Xie wasn’t done with him, leaning down, staring at his flushed face from embarrassment and anger, “You’re so clumsy, is this your first time kissing someone?”

Shen Que picked up the tiger-shaped porcelain pillow beside him and threw it at him. Though the pillow was hollow, it was still heavy. If it hit someone, it would surely bruise.

Lin Xie caught the pillow leisurely, teasing with a smile, “A mute’s lips, besides being hot, aren’t any better than others. You’re so clumsy and not pretty, what do you have to hold me?”

In Shen Que’s eyes, this person was a madman. He spied on him from the beams, broke his secrets, and used it to blackmail and humiliate him. He hated him too much to even think of holding onto him.

What a delusion.

“You don’t have what I want,” perhaps guessing his thoughts, Lin Xie leaned down, his hair brushing lightly against Shen Que’s cheek. He reached out his thumb, gently brushing it aside, “So why should I keep your secret?”

Shen Que’s heart trembled, his slightly curled eyelashes quivering.

He struggled to free his hands, just about to speak, but Lin Xie firmly held them down, “You want to ask what I want, right?”

He guessed correctly. Shen Que, cornered by his gaze, could only nod.

“I want you to be obedient, to listen,” Lin Xie smiled again. He loved to smile, but though his brows curved, there was no warmth in his eyes, only a cold mockery, “and then to please me.”

Shen Que understood. This man saw him as a wronged plaything, even lower than the little singers in the brothels. He had nothing to be coveted, only this body with its unusual defects…

Even he found his own body disgusting, how could this pervert…

Shen Que didn’t respond, his heart a mix of emotions. For a moment, he hated the man before him, hated his high and mighty mockery, hated his filthy, twisted heart.

He also hated his own weak, sentimental self, daring to love someone so out of reach with such a lowly body.

He even hated his mother who died early, hated why she didn’t leave him a bag of arsenic that day, why she left him, a broken person, to linger in this world.

Just then, his door was suddenly knocked, followed by Shen Xiangzhi’s voice outside, “Ah Que?”

There was no response inside, so Shen Xiangzhi reached out to push, but no matter how he pushed, the door wouldn’t budge. Clearly, it was bolted from inside, indicating Shen Que was awake.

“Shen Que,” Shen Xiangzhi continued knocking, “Are you asleep?”

The next moment, Shen Xiangzhi heard two knocks from inside, a signal Shen Que used when he couldn’t immediately answer the door after falling asleep.

He waited a moment, and then the wooden door creaked open, revealing Shen Que in a long coat.

“Are you still feverish?” Shen Xiangzhi asked as he walked in.

Shen Que coughed lightly, slowly gesturing, “It’s better now.”

Shen Xiangzhi circled around the tea table, then walked straight to a window on the side wall, discreetly peeking outside before closing it, “The wind and snow are fierce outside. Your body is still weak, why did you leave the window so wide open?”

Shen Que’s heart pounded. Lin Xie had left through the side window earlier, and he wasn’t sure if he remembered to erase the footprints in the snow in his haste.

He didn’t often lie, so he lowered his head slightly, “I just woke up and felt stuffy inside, so I opened the window for some air.”

Shen Xiangzhi didn’t say anything, just returned to the tea table. The cup of water Shen Que poured for Lin Xie was still there. He sat down, his gaze falling on the bed.

The tiger-shaped porcelain pillow was casually placed by the bed, and the bedding was in disarray.

He had watched Shen Que grow up. The child was always neat, even when sick, he wouldn’t leave things on the bed in such a mess.

This wasn’t like him.

Shen Que seemed to realize this too, deliberately sitting on the bed, trying to hide the porcelain pillow behind him.

He was quietly trying to smooth out the messy bedding when Shen Xiangzhi suddenly spoke again, startling Shen Que, who had a guilty conscience.

“Did someone else come to see you in the middle of the night?”

Shen Que shook his head, making up a story, “I had a nightmare and kicked the bed into a mess. I was just about to tidy it up when you came.”

His words were half true. He did have a nightmare, and his face still didn’t look good.

Shen Xiangzhi, whether he believed it or not, took out a plain letter from his pocket and handed it to Shen Que, “Shen Luo asked me to give this to you before he left.”

Shen Que took it, seeing that the letter had no words, only a few lively little drawings depicting sign language. The little figures were vivid, and Shen Que’s mouth twitched before he couldn’t help but laugh.

Shen Luo left him a message, saying: “Please don’t worry.”

Many in the mansion knew he was illiterate, but only Shen Luo was considerate of his illiteracy.

“When did Senior Brother leave?” Shen Que asked.

Shen Xiangzhi replied, “On the 29th, the winter solstice, before dawn.”

Shen Que paused, suddenly remembering the peace amulet he sought at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple that day. He instinctively reached for his waist, but found it empty.

His eyes searched around, finally spotting his clothes from that day, washed clean and neatly folded at the foot of the bed.

Only the sachet hadn’t been washed, somehow stained with blood, even the peace amulet inside was slightly tainted.

He carefully hung the peace amulet by the bed, alongside the prayer beads. This amulet was for the Little Prince, but unfortunately, it was stained with blood, which was considered unlucky.

The other peace amulet must have been taken by Shen Luo. The night he returned from prison, he felt like he was burning up, and in his haze, he saw Shen Luo’s face.

He suddenly remembered something, tremblingly trying to untie the sachet at his waist with his blood-stained hand.

Seeing him take out a peace amulet, Shen Luo burst into tears, leaving his colleagues helping him dumbfounded, “Men don’t cry easily, what’s wrong with you?”

“You know nothing,” Shen Luo wiped his tears fiercely, his voice choked, “This is my own brother!”

Shen Xiangzhi watched him carefully arrange the items hanging by the bed, speaking softly, “Although Miao Zongping and his servants accused you of being an assassin, and even brought out a few monks as witnesses, there were many clear-eyed people in the temple. Plus, those witnesses, a few strokes from the jailers, and they recanted.”

“This matter reached the Sage, and His Majesty knew he was venting his anger on you, so he had him apologize to the Little Prince, settling it privately.”

What he didn’t say was that those monks who falsely testified, regardless of age, had their tongues cut by Xie Shiguan. As for the dozen or so servants Miao Zongping brought, they all had a rough time in prison. Even if they survived, they were left disabled.

“Miao Zongping knows how to pick soft targets. If he had caught any other of the Little Prince’s guards, using private punishment would have been a serious crime.”

But he caught Shen Que, a purchased slave. The laws for male and female servants were akin to livestock. No matter how they tried to pin a crime on Miao Zongping, it would only amount to robbery.

Shen Que returned intact, albeit heavily injured. The Little Emperor, weighing the situation, couldn’t really punish his own uncle for a lowly slave, so he let it go lightly.

This outcome was within Shen Que’s expectations. He didn’t feel wronged. As long as the Little Prince wasn’t implicated by his affairs, it was a good thing for him.

**Author’s Note:**

Thank you all for your comments and collections. I’ll keep working hard!