After Xiao Bai returned with the herbs and food, Li Chang Bo prepared the ointment. The preparation took almost all of his strength, which annoyed him because he did not like being weak. Originally, he wanted to put the ointment on his body himself, since he was not a fan of being touched by strangers, but since he was unable to do so, he called Xiao Bai for help.
"Miss, Xiao Bai needs to take off your clothes to correctly apply the ointment on your body. Please tell Xiao Bai if the miss is in pain." Xiao Bai said before helping Concubine Li undress.
Li Chang Bo was uncomfortable with the process, having never been undressed by anyone other than Feng Yu Han. After the ointment was applied and Xiao Bai dressed Concubine Li, the two ate. Li Chang Bo shared the food he had bought and gave Xiao Bai the other half.
"Xiao Bai doesn't dare. This is miss' food, how can Xiao Bai share the food with miss. Miss must eat it all up so Miss will get better sooner. Xiao Bai still has tasks to do." Xiao Bai said as she slowly walked backwards and then quickly walked away before Li Chang Bo could stop her.
Li Chang Bo exhaled loudly and put the other half of the porridge on the table and only ate his half. When Xiao Bai came back at night to check on the Miss, she saw the porridge on the table and tears welled up in her eyes.
'My poor miss. Why did you leave some for Xiao Bai, even though you need it yourself? You are far too nice for your own good' Xiao Bai thought and cried while eating.
Moments of Concubine Li's suffering in the past popped into her mind and every time he said nothing after he lit. He didn't complain, didn't talk behind the backs of the people who hurt him, buried all his pain in his belly, and didn't show anyone that he was unwell. But Xiao Bai knew, she knew that he was not well and that his condition was worsening day by day. Every evening, she sat outside the door and listened to her miss stifling his cries, sometimes choking on it and coughing hard. Each time, Xiao Bai wanted to go in and keep her Miss company and help her as much as she could, but Xiao Bai knew that Concubine Li would not want Xiao Bai to see him in this condition. Xiao Bai got up after eating and looked at Concubine Li once more before closing the door.
'I hope that you will soon be released from your pain and that only happy days lie ahead of you, Concubine Li.'
_____________
During the next month, Li Chang Bo concentrated on treating his sick body and bringing it out of its life-threatening condition as best he could. He also discussed with his system how they could make Consort Fu's life a living hell and take revenge on her for Concubine Li. Because of the system at Consort Fu's side, Li Chang Bo had to be especially careful not to reveal that he was not of this world. Through his system, Li Chang Bo found out what kind of system Consort Fu had bonded to and what he had to do to break their bond. Although it was not easy and also quite dangerous, Li Chang Bo had to interfere in all missions involving Feng Yu Han so that Consort Fu would stop earning points and even lose some after some time. When the system loses the points he earns through Feng Yu Han, it becomes weak as it relies on the dragon energy in Feng Yu Han's body to power itself. After losing energy, the system would then untie from his bond with Consort Fu to connect with someone with more potential, who would then be Li Chang Bo. If the system then appeared in Li Chang Bo's consciousness to force him to bind himself, his system would devour it without the world's consciousness finding out, since all this is happening in Li Chang Bo's consciousness.
After planning what they would do about Consort Fu and his system, Li Chang Bo was finally free and the problem he had been trying to suppress since his arrival in this world came to light - Feng Yu Han. Li Chang Bo really wanted to see his husband as soon as possible, but he knew that he was unable to do so at the moment. He knew that Feng Yu Han wouldn't push him away just because he had scars on his body and looked the way he did now, but Li Chang Bo still felt insecure. This was the first time he had encountered his husband in such a bad state, and all sorts of bad scenarios were circulating in his head, lowering his mood even more.
Numerous variations of their first meeting ran through his mind, but none of them ended well, with Li Chang Bo being left behind by Feng Yu Han in the end, which really pained him. Li Chang Bo wanted to stop thinking about such things because he felt that he did not trust and respect his husband's feelings for him, but it seems that the first separation between them left a deeper scar in his heart than he thought. Moreover, it made him uncomfortable to know that his husband had so many concubines and was close with the person who made living a torture for Concubine Li in this world.
Emperor Feng on the other hand was restless. He was always absent-minded and always felt stuffed in his chest. His strange behavior was noticed by all the ministers, who tried to find out what was wrong with the emperor, but they were unable to find anything. The chief eunuch himself was stressed and puzzled, for he had never seen the emperor like this before. Since that time when his heart began to ache and he felt that the person he was waiting for was finally here, Emperor Feng dreamed of a young man every night. He knew that this man was very important to him, so he tried to find out who he was in his dreams.
The young man was tall, but still almost a whole head shorter than him. He was slim and surrounded by an elegant air, but he himself was mischievous and loved to tease people, but at the same time he was the laziest person Emperor Feng had ever seen in his life. But one thing was certain: everything this man did made Emperor Feng love him more and more. These feelings confused the emperor because he could not understand why he had feelings for a man he did not know, but he subconsciously accepted these feelings without really questioning them.
Emperor Feng wanted to send his dark-guards to look for the person he dreamed about every day, but there was nothing he knew about that person. Not his name, not his place of residence, not his appearance, which was always obscured by fog in his dreams, nor his voice, or even his age, he knew nothing at all about this person. Frustrated, he sat down on his throne and continued to work on the reports.
It went on like this for a whole month until he finally thought of a way to find the person. Ever since the day he had felt that pain in his heart, Emperor Feng felt it two more times, which in turn meant that the person he was looking for was nearby, and that he was not well, which he did not like because the thought of him being hurt caused a deep pain in his chest.
Emperor Feng called his dark guards to him. "Look for a man who is under 25 years old and seriously injured. He is in the palace. If you find him, give me a portrait of what he looks like. You're dismissed." he ordered them and turned back to his work. He had a feeling that if he saw a portrait of that person, he would recognize him immediately. But who would have thought that they would come back with more than 20 portraits of different people.
Frustrated, he flipped through the portraits, wondering why he was so restless. At one portrait, he stopped and his heartbeat increased drastically. Every cell in his body told him that it was him, the person he was looking for, and that pleased him, but when he saw the scratches on his face, he drew his eyebrows together and read seriously and with full concentration the reason for his suffering. After reading it, he slammed his table angrily and it collapsed in two. "He dares. Where does his courage come from to have the guts to touch zhen's person. Insolence" He threw off his sleeves and folded his arms behind his back.
"Call the imperial doctor for us. He has less than an hour to get to the cold palace or his head will roll" he announced with a threatening tone that chilled everyone standing outside his room. Emperor Feng strode to the Cold Palace at a fast pace, and a gloomy and menacing aura surrounded him. He was accompanied by his confidants and his dark guards who were hiding.
In the month that Emperor Feng kept dreaming about Li Chang Bo, he distanced himself from his consort. Consort Fu's entire life depended on Feng Yu Han, for he had traveled to this world to conquer him and take over the empress's seat. His missions revolved around him, and now that he was ignored by him, he could not accomplish his missions.
Failing a mission meant that all the skills and props he possessed would be weakened to the point where he lost them completely, and that drove Consort Fu insane. The thought of returning to his former appearance scared him to his bones. Restless, Consort Fu paced around his chamber, biting his nails and muttering something under his breath.
"What should I do?"
[The host should buy some props and use them on the emperor]
"What good would that do?"
[There are numerous props that could be used on him, such as hypnosis], Consort Fu immediately stopped.
"Are you telling me to hypnotize him into doing whatever I tell him?" He asked euphorically.
[Yes, but to activate the props, you have to touch him, or it won't work on him].
Consort Fu glared at the floor, "How am I supposed to touch him if the guy won't allow me to get close to him?! Useless."
"I need to calm down."
"Prepare the carriage, we are going to the cold palace."
Arriving at the cold palace, Consort Fu found Concubine Li squatting in front of flowers, picking some up without a care. The sun shone on his face causing him to look even more angelic. Consort Fu looked at the maid beside him, and she immediately understood what he wanted.
The maid went to Li Chang Bo, grabbed him rudely by the arm and dragged him to his feet, "How disrespectful! Can't you see that Consort Fu has arrived? Quickly kneel down and greet him!"
The servant kicked Li Chang Bo in the calves and forced him to kneel on the ground. Li Chang Bo groaned in pain and wanted to get up again, but that would be against Concubine Li's character, so he stayed on his knees. "Greetings"
"No need for greetings, Concubine Li. From the looks of it, you're doing better. That's great. I just came here to accompany you, because I couldn't bear you staying here all alone. I also brought you a little something." Consort Fu clapped his hands and a servant came with a tray.
"Open it." After the tray was opened, a pungent smell emanated. Inside was a plate of spoiled food.
"This consort thought you wouldn't have enough to eat, and it hurt this consort's heart, so I brought you some food. I hope you don't mind." Consort Fu said with a smile and looked at Li Chang Bo with pity. Seeing Li Chang ignoring the consort, the maid beside him gave him a kick.
“Can’t you see the consorts though?! Why don't you thank her? It’s already good enough that she came to visit you but she even brought you some food because she is benevolent and has a kind heart. But you, you are so ungrateful. Can’t even see when one shows you kindness even though you don’t deserve it.”
Consort Fu interrupted the servant with an aggrieved face and said “Stop. stop saying such things. I’m sure that brother Li didn’t mean that. …”
‘Can’t you do anything against his mouth. The only thing that comes out of his mouth is barking.’ Li Chang Bo complained.
[Host you can’t say that. You are hurting the dogs feeling.]
‘Heh, that one was good.’ Li Chang Bo praised.
[I know. But no I can’t do anything against that mouth. You have to keep enduring it.]
Ignoring this sultry feeling, Consort Fu put his hand on Li Chang Bo's face and held it tightly. From the outside it looked like he was stroking him lightly, but a closer look would show that his fingertips were digging into Li Chang Bo's cheeks and blood was forming slightly where his nails were. Tears formed in Li Chang Bo's eyes because of the pain.
Li Chang Bo held Fu Xi's arm and applied light pressure to it. Consort Fu's hand trembled and he loosened his grip around his face. "This lowly one is grateful for Sister's mercy, but I cannot accept it. Sister should eat it alone, this lowly one would only soil it." Li Chang Bo said with a saddened expression, but inwardly he chuckled at Fu Xi's distorted expression.
'Bitch, this king can play too.'
"No, no, please don't talk like that, I'd think I'd done something wrong." said Fu Xi through clenched teeth. Consort Fu made a hand gesture and the servant with the tray stepped forward.
"Here, this sister knows you are not feeling well at the moment, so I will help you eat. Eat it all up." Consort Fu took a spoon full of spoiled soup and held it to Li Chang Bo's lips, but before he could push it into his mouth, the spoon in his hand was knocked to the floor.
Incensed, Consort Fu turned and shouted " Who dares to slap this consort's hand." But standing before him was not a servant but the emperor himself.
Feng Yu Han looked down on him with a scowl and forced Consort Fu to his knees, trembling with fear and terror.
"Y-your Majesty. This Consort greets, the Emperor." He said with a tremor in his voice.
"Save it. This Emperor wants to know what you were up to just now." Feng Yu Han said while trying not to openly stare at Concubine Li, not wanting to intimidate him. He knows that Concubine Li has been through a lot, so he doesn't want to put him under pressure with his presence.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
A/N: here is the long awaited chapter. Sorry🥹 But I literally just wrote this chapter in school for you. Hope you like it.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Nahema.K.