Shen Nuo did not know how many hours he had spent there, sitting with his back leaned onto the jade slab and face hidden behind his knees. He did not want to cry. He clearly was not original Shen Nuo. But he did know why it caused him so much pain. He did not know why he couldn't stop his tears.
At times he would wonder for hours why he felt Li Yan so familiar. It was as if he had known him for a long time and accompanied him for years. As modern Shen Nuo, if someone accused him, he would probably get a little angry. But he did not refuse to admit that if Li Yan gets mad at him, he would feel sad. As for why, he did not know...
The night must be old. It was very gloomy and even the moon was hidden behind the thick sheets of mists that swept leagues above. Later, it started drizzling. And Shen Nuo still did not get up. He only raised his red face to look at the dark sky that randomly brightened as soundless lightnings flashed. Cold drops of water slapped on his face, like thin sharp needles. They mingled with his tears and felled down his chin, moistening his lapels. He burrowed his head behind his knees again.
It was cold.... It felt freezing... He wanted to get up but for some reason, he felt very weak. So he couldn't.
His body seemed aching, as if internal organs were being ripped apart. His limbs were slightly shuddering. What was happening? Did he drink too much wine?
At some moment unknown even to him, his conciousness slowly scattered away. His glassy red eyes unfocussed. His entire body felt lame and fingertips shuddered. When he thought he was going to freeze, a strong palm wrapped gently but firmly around his wrist and pulled him up to his feet. He felt weak. His eyes were closed as he struggled to keep his balance in vain. His forehead hit a sturdy warm chest and a strong familiar smell of sandalwood assailed his nose.
Warm...
Shen Nuo whimpered, feeling his head spin. He hardly heard Li Yan's voice calling his name repeatedly, alarm wrenched within that voice. Dizziness slowly devoured him again when he faintly felt that someone wrapping two strong arms around his knees and shoulders, easily raising him up like a doll. Then everything went dark, then black.
Li Yan's heart was in a turmoil. Shen Nuo's body was freezing cold, like a block of ice. What has happened to him all of a sudden? He brought Shen Nuo straightway into Mingyue Palace and immediately summoned the imperial doctor. Shen Nuo's body was icy cold. His face was deadly pale and lips were chapped and cracked. He had already passed out and wasn't even moving at all.
Jinyu and Liyi both looked stunned as they stared dumbstruck at Shen Nuo who was lying on the bed. Zhangsun stood by the Emperor silently with a lowered head.
Li Yan sat by the bedside and it was hard to read his expression but his fingers were still sweeping softly through Shen Nuo's wet hair.
"What is it, doctor?" He asked.
The old man checked Shen Nuo's pulse for a long time and was confused. But somehow he decided to spit it out. "Your Majesty, it's also a happy news and also a sad news."
He fixed the glass over his left eye and looked at Li Yan wearily. "The happy news is, Your Majesty, Consort Shen is pregnant."
Li Yan felt thunderstruck. Colour drained off his already pale face. Even Liyi and Jinyu were shocked. How was it possible? Even they both knew Shen Nuo had never spent a night with the Emperor alone. How could he possibly get pregnant?"
The bed post held by Li Yan almost cracked under his tightening fingers, his knuckles nearly going white. He suppressed the mad fire with force and looked at the doctor with red eyes.
"Pregnant?"
The old man did not know anything. It was his normal duty when a consort in a harem gets pregnant, to attend to her needs and cheer up the emperor. He nodded with a courteous smile. "Pregnant indeed. The pulse says so. But -"
Li Yan's eyes were already unfocussed. He withdrew his hand from the bed post but that hand clenched into a fist under the heavy golden sleeve. "But what?"
"But Consort Shen is also poisoned." The old man said gravely.
Liyi and Jinyu gasped. Li Yan did not know what to feel. His heart was already bleeding furiously. He spoke in a hoarse voice. "Will it harm the child?"
The old doctor furrowed his brows. "For now, no, Your Majesty. But it can be fatal. The baby..."
Li Yan's jaws tightened. "I need both of them safe. Both Shen Nuo and the baby." His voice was very hoarse. His eyes were red at the ends. He looked at Jinyu and Liyi for few seconds before silently looking away.
"How to detoxify the poison?"
"Your Majesty, this poison is not ordinary." The old man replied. "The attacker must have targeted his cultivation. This way, it's easier to deteriorate one's health slowly and painfully."
Li Yan's heart clenched. "What do you mean?"
The old man raised a little poison needle that he had pulled out of Shen Nuo few minutes ago. "Look, Your Majesty, this was caused by this poison needle. It pierced a vital point on the side of his neck. This doen't have any effect on people with higher cultivation. But Consort Shen has a considerably weak cultivation base. This poison affects it."
"Is there no way to remove it?"
"There is. This poison can be neutralized by a stronger cultivation base."
"Would it affect the child's life?"
"If the poison grows, it will. But still it's too early so as to have that of an effect."
Li Yan didn't say anything. He grasped from Shen Nuo's palm and interlocked his slender and pale fingers with his. Shen Nuo struggled slightly as if feeling highly uncomfortable. But Li Yan did not let go of Shen Nuo's palm. It might have looked casual and intimate to Liyi but Zhangsun looked grave. Li Yan was actually absorbing the poison from Shen Nuo to him.
"Your Majesty." Zhangsun reminded dutifully. "Your Majesty's cultivation hasn't recovered yet."
Li Yan nodded in acknowledgement. "Zhen knows." It was true. He hadn't recovered even a bit. He had been working too much lately and didn't even have time to recuperate back to normal health. But it did not matter him any more. Considering the things he had gone through in his life, he felt blind and insensitive to physical pains.
An icy coldness was running through his palm, reaching his heart, almost freezing it. He saw in his wrist, the veins turn black. His face drew paler and lips chapped. The familiar pain as if getting his internal organs being ripped apart, slowly rose inside him.
Fortunately the poison wasn't ordinary, or he wouldn't have been able to absorb it into his cultivation this easily. But he knew it won't be easy for him. His core was shattered and now he was poisoned. He did not know how long he will be able to hide this matter from others.
He did not want to think too much about Shen Nuo. His heart was in a terrible mess. The moment he heard Shen Nuo was pregnant, his heart was already dead. He was frustrated. He felt bitter. Was it Zhanhua? Might be, he did not know. Even that day at the deserted lane by the alley, he only waited until he saw Zhanhua huddle weak Shen Nuo into his arms and disappear. He did not follow them. Because he knew no matter what, it would break his heart. He pursed his pale lips and closed his eyes, concentrating his mind.
Few minutes later, when he opened his eyes, he saw a faint flush of pink in Shen Nuo's face. Li Yan let go of the hand and suddenly spat out blood. Bloodlines felled down, staining his chest lapels red. Jinyu and Liyi were horror-stricken. The old man gasped. Zhangsun was stunned. He immediately leaned forth, grasping Li Yan by his shoulders. "Your Majesty!"
But Li Yan gently pushed him away, shaking his head and wiped his bloodstained lower lip with his handkerchief.
"I'm fine." He turned to look at the doctor. "Is Consort Shen fine now?"
If it came to the point of spitting blood, it was definitely serious for Li Yan. He was weaker than Shen Nuo at the moment, if truth be spoken. But did he say that casually, as if it didn't matter him anymore? And even absorbed that poison to himself? The old man was speechless.
He was too stunned that it was a moment before he came back to his senses and realized the Emperor was talking to him. He immediately came forward and rechecked Shen Nuo's body. He nodded anxiously. "Your Majesty, the poison is gone."
"Completely?"
"Completely. Your Majesty."
Li Yan nodded. "Zhen just accidentally happened to shatter his core few days ago." He said, reading the old man's mind. "No one knows of this matter yet. And no one should know either."
The old man sensed the threat behind the words and bowed respectfully."I understood, Your Majesty..."
Li Yan did not say anything. He only silently nodded. "Doctor, you can leave. And say nothing of today's matters to anyone. And give me that needle."
"Yes, Your Majesty, this subordinate will take his leave."
When the doctor left, Zhangsun spoke immediately. "Your Majesty, something's strange. Why don't I feel a second existence inside Consort Shen's body?"
Li Yan furrowed his brows. "What?" He felt vulnerable. If he had his true cultivation, it won't be a big deal to check if Shen Nuo was pregnant or poisoned. But since the day he shattered his spiritual core, he was as weak as a mortal. He pursed his lips, tightening his jaws.
"Zhangsun, check it!"
Zhangsun did not refute. He silently leaned down to Shen Nuo's body and placed his palm above Shen Nuo's lower abdomen gently, but firmly. A light stream of spiritual energy left his palm and entered into Shen Nuo's body. Zhangsun had his eyes closed and brows tightly creased for a moment before he withdrew his hand quickly and stepped back.
"Your Majesty, Consort Shen really is not pregnant."
Li Yan's heart was suddenly beating so wildly. He thought for a while before he turned to look at Jinyu and Liyi. "Did Shen Nuo eat something out of the ordinary, like too much sour?"
Liyi and Jinyu thought for a moment. Then Liyi's eyes widened. "Replying to Your Majesty, master indeed lost a bet to Jinyu yesterday and had to eat curd with tamarind!"
And the way the Emperor stared at Jinyu. "..."
Jinyu bit his lower lip, scratching his head foolishly. "Um, yeah, Your Majesty, sorry about that..."
Li Yan face palmed, feeling a headache. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. He was speechless. He almost had a heart attack just now. He realized what was the matter with Shen Nuo. From morning until evening, at the banquet, he saw Shen Nuo drink sixteen jugs of strong wine. If Shen Nuo had really eaten curd and tamarind the day before, there was no wonder his pulse showed he's pregnant. He sighed. He suddenly wanted to eat Shen Nuo alive...
"Now, all of you, get out! And someone bring me hangover soup!" He said briefly glancing at his ancestor on the bed.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The maid and two bodyguards left the consort and the emperor alone and left the room quickly.
The lamp flame flickered ghostly, leaving the enormous chamber in giant shadows in the gloom. Li Yan ignored the ache in his chest, walked to the lamp and raised the needle in his hand, bringing it under the lamp flame. The needle looked ordinary, without a distinct speciality. His brows creased. Who might have done this? If it was Shen Nuo, Li Yan knew there were plenty of people who wants Shen Nuo dead.
But right now, he could not think of anyone. When Zhangsun brought the hangover soup, Li Yan handed over the needle to him. "Do you know who uses this kind of needles?"
Zhangsun observed the needle thoroughly before shaking his head blankly. "But master, let me investigate it, I'll find to where this needle belongs. I only need three days."
Li Yan nodded, waving his hand. "Ok, you can leave."
Zhangsun left. Li Yan stood silently, with the hangover soup still in his hands. He was thoughtful for a moment. He slowly walked towards the bed and shook Shen Nuo's hand gently. "Shen Nuo, drink this. Or you'll have headache tomorrow."
But Shen Nuo lied like dead. Li Yan shook his head. Why was Shen Nuo this hard to deal with? He sat by the bedside and looked at Shen Nuo's face. It looked calm and peaceful. Color had already returned to his face along with a faint blush. He slowly ran his fingers over Shen Nuo's supple cheeks. It was very soft and gentle to the touch. His sleep was very peaceful and cute. Li Yan didn't feel Ike bothering Shen Nuo's sleep.
He stood up and placed away the soup. If Shen Nuo doesn't want to drink it, maybe later. Li Yan slowly peeled off the outer robe which was stained with blood at the lapels. He got off his tall black boots and loosened his hair, that rippled down his shoulders like a glimmering raven waterfall. Then he loosened his waist laces.
Suddenly a pair of hands hugged him from behind tightly and did not let go.
______________________________________________
🤭 Sorry if the chapter was boring. Love y'all. ♥