Chapter 87: A Kiss is the Cure
Back in the corridor of the Hall of Purple Empyrean, when Fu Jun had suddenly stopped, Wei Wanlan should have realized that Fu Jun was not as indestructible as he appeared.
He half-supported Fu Jun, waiting for that white haze to fade from his eyes. It wasn’t easy. He even secretly made a face at Fu Jun to test him, but Fu Jun didn’t react at all.
This astonished Wei Wanlan even more. His breathing, which had just settled, became unsteady again, as if an invisible hand were suddenly choking him.
At that moment, Fu Jun pulled him close and spoke in a low, heavy voice:
“Reinforcements will enter the Imperial Villa through the Imperial Bridge. If I am not here, you must go to the Imperial Bridge. The main gate, at the Imperial Bridge.”
Fu Jun’s tone was solemn.
It sounded almost like a final farewell, causing a sense of foreboding to explode through Wei Wanlan’s body.
He absolutely could not allow Fu Jun to walk alone in this state. Yet, Wei Wanlan held a helpless awe for the somewhat arbitrary Great Hero; Fu Jun was completely unwilling to show weakness, resisting even the support Wei Wanlan offered.
Wei Wanlan’s heart clenched tight. He was terrified that if they delayed any longer, the pursuers would realize they had been tricked and come back for them.
So, Wei Wanlan chose to show weakness himself.
Wei Wanlan was an expert at showing weakness. It was his specialty—a mix of acting spoiled and vulnerable. If the other party didn’t dislike him, it was incredibly effective.
“But Fu Jun, I’m scared of walking in the dark. Even with all these lights, it feels so dark. If another Yuan Xizai or Fang Xizai shows up, I definitely won’t be able to handle it. Please, can you stay with me?”
On the surface, he was asking Fu Jun to accompany him.
In reality, Wei Wanlan had already hoisted Fu Jun’s arm over his shoulder and was moving toward the Hanyuan Hall. He supported Fu Jun steadily. As they rounded the outer wall of the Jixian Hall, both had to breathe with extreme caution.
The teasing laughter of the girls inside the hall had died down due to the earlier chase, leaving only the scent of rouge and powder permeating the air, strong enough to seep through the walls.
Fu Jun walked very slowly.
Even if Fu Jun had any brave words he wanted to say right now, there was no guarantee that speaking wouldn’t attract attention.
Fu Jun could only suppress all his words and the wave of manic helplessness rising within him. His vision was blurred, seeing only faint shadows of warm orange light, like watercolours smeared across a page.
And Wei Wanlan became his faithful eyes.
When Little Wan was being friendly, he was truly so well-behaved.
He pretended to be scared while holding onto him tightly. But in reality, one could feel that if Fu Jun were to suddenly stumble, Wei Wanlan was ready to grab him by the waist and pull him back upright at any moment.
Little Wan would even squeeze his hand to signal a stop, squat down to move a stone blocking his boot, his breathing becoming labored as he lifted the rock, move it away, and then stand up to hold his hand again to continue…
Becoming suddenly useless in front of the person he loved was the most humiliating thing the Regent King had ever encountered in his life.
This was why he had used a different identity to stay by Wei Wanlan’s side. He had to avoid these situations as much as possible because he was usually powerless to stop them.
Yet, he could clearly feel that he was being considerately protected by Little Wan.
The concept of “being protected” had rarely appeared even in the Regent King’s childhood. The Regent King had always been the one protecting others. Even his family had borne the burden of protecting the realm for generations.
But now, Wei Wanlan was undeniably protecting him.
All the way, Little Wan whispered updates to him:
“Be careful. We’ve passed the Jixian Hall.”
“We are now outside the main gate of the Central Secretariat. No enemy troops.”
“I can see the flying eaves of the Hanyuan Hall; it’s just ahead. It’s not as grand as the one in Chang’an. There are no lights inside, but there are guards—Fu Jun, are you feeling any better? Can you see now? Why did you suddenly go blind? How can I help you?”
It was still the same Wei Wanlan who said he was scared.
Yet, from the moment he discovered his companion’s vision was impaired, Wei Wanlan hadn’t shed a single tear.
Fu Jun’s heart ached. Before, he thought the little fool was delicate, soft, and clumsy, so he worried about him constantly.
But discovering that the little fool could actually be strong and reliable made him feel incredibly sour. He felt he shouldn’t let his beloved bear these burdens. He had to get the little fool out of here immediately, by any means necessary.
Fu Jun said to the little fool:
“I lost my sight because I was poisoned.”
“But actually, you can help me. Turn around and close your eyes.”
They were in a secluded spot, still some distance from the Hanyuan Hall—a square inch of space under a nameless eave. Cast in the shadow of another pavilion, a narrow, alley-like gap formed between the two buildings.
Wei Wanlan squeezed Fu Jun’s hand a little tighter.
“I… can help you?” Wei Wanlan whispered back in confusion. He couldn’t imagine how turning his back and looking away could help this blind hero.
But he could only obey blankly. After all, heroes and big shots often had unique and magical ways of healing—probably some folk remedy for major illnesses, right? Wasn’t the big bad Regent King the same, claiming that just grabbing his clothes could cure all his ailments?
Wei Wanlan turned around, supporting himself with both arms against the wall.
Because it was just him and Fu Jun in the narrow alley, Wei Wanlan’s mind began to wander again.
In this dim, narrow passage, with his back to Fu Jun, he couldn’t help but smell the man’s rich, slightly aggressive woody scent.
Wei Wanlan felt like he was becoming bad again, a naughty child. Before, he was afraid of having cubs, but now he frequently thought about making them.
Why did he always associate this man with making cubs?
It must be because the Hero talked nonsense, always saying things like “five per litter,” scaring him so much that he kept thinking about this person and baby-making. QAQ
Behind him, the sound of rustling fabric came from Fu Jun.
The Hero seemed to carry some treasure with him; Wei Wanlan could hear a small box being opened. He didn’t know what was being taken out, and his small face flushed redder.
Then, the small box fell to the ground.
Behind him, Fu Jun couldn’t control a sharp, deep intake of breath.
Wei Wanlan mirrored him, tilting his head back slightly and taking a deep breath, unable to imagine what the other was doing.
But he could hear the tremor in Fu Jun’s breath, as if he were enduring torture and pain unimaginable to ordinary people.
The butterfly bones in Wei Wanlan’s back trembled lightly. He wanted to turn his head, his round, fluffy head moving for a second, but he was stopped by Fu Jun’s voice, pressed thin as a silk thread: “Don’t… turn around.”
In front of him was the cold wall.
Behind him was Fu Jun, hiding whatever he was doing.
Wei Wanlan’s throat bobbed.
For some reason, a deep sense of sorrow floated up. He held back for a long time to stop the tears from falling. His heart felt incredibly sour, and not knowing what pain the other was suffering made his insides twist in a thousand knots.
After a long while, he heard Fu Jun seem to put something back into the portable brocade box. The lid made a rustling clicking sound.
Fu Jun’s breathing became even more unbearable.
Wei Wanlan didn’t know that for this trip out of the palace to Luoyang, the Prince’s military doctor had prepared two items for the Regent King. One was pills to suppress the manic mood swings during a toxic flare-up—those had all been swallowed by the Regent King at the Luoyang Prefect’s mansion.
The other was a silver needle for piercing the Yuyao acupoint (in the eyebrow).
The military doctor had predicted that with the frequency of the Regent King’s current flare-ups, he would certainly encounter blindness again on the way to escort His Majesty back to the capital. So, he instructed the Regent King to administer the needle himself at a critical moment.
And so, in the inch of space Wei Wanlan couldn’t see, the Regent King, with a trembling needle tip, hurriedly administered the acupuncture to himself amidst a chaotic field of vision.
Then he was in a state of immense bodily pain, agony that threatened to tear his very soul apart. The Regent King’s nerves were pulled tight. His muscles were tense. The muscles in his neck twitched faintly—the result of clenching his teeth too hard against the pain.
The warm orange glow of the palace lantern cast only a sliver of light into the alley.
The warm light illuminated his brows and eyes, handsome as a god.
Wei Wanlan couldn’t resist anymore and finally turned around. He was struck, stunned and startled, by this face slightly beaded with thin sweat. And because Fu Jun’s brow was furrowed tight, he felt the expression looked like winter snow that refused to melt.
As if possessed, Wei Wanlan reached out and touched Fu Jun’s brow. Even the space between his eyebrows was sweating. However, Fu Jun’s state had indeed changed slightly from before; Wei Wanlan saw the layer of cloudiness in Fu Jun’s pupils gradually dispersing.
“Does it still hur—mph…”
His back slammed solidly against the wall.
It made a heavy thud.
Wei Wanlan was tightly trapped by Fu Jun’s arms.
Suddenly, as if drawing strength, the other man pressed his lips against the side of Wei Wanlan’s neck, causing Wei Wanlan to shudder violently.
He was squeezed so hard by Fu Jun that his entire skeleton felt like it was falling apart.
Fu Jun used his lips and teeth to gnaw on the warm soft flesh of Wei Wanlan’s neck, taking a bite as if venting. He successfully felt Wei Wanlan tremble. Then, tightening his arms further, he lifted Wei Wanlan’s chin and imprinted his lips upon his.
Fu Jun deepened the kiss significantly.
Caught off guard, Wei Wanlan’s defenses completely collapsed. Under Fu Jun’s dominance, his lips and teeth were left open for the taking.
Kissed until his body and mind were filled with the intense woody scent, Wei Wanlan was dazed and confused: “Woo… mmph…”
He thought this was the method that could help detoxify the poison.
Therefore, he only whimpered a few times but did not resist.
However. At first, he remembered this was to detoxify Fu Jun, but gradually, he became lost in the deep kiss.
A tendril of itchiness rose from the bottom of his heart.
That itch sprouted from the depths of his lower back like a spring bud, climbing lingeringly up along Wei Wanlan’s thin, slender spine, forcing Wei Wanlan to let out weak hums in the gaps of the “detoxification.”
“Woo. Mmph…”
Instead, that pitiful response only provoked a fiercer storm from Fu Jun.
Fu Jun’s offensive became extremely violent. The back of Wei Wanlan’s head was tightly held by Fu Jun, the “detoxification” performed with even more effort, kissing Wei Wanlan until he was dripping wet like a boiled shrimp.
Only then did Fu Jun let him go, his voice carrying a damp heat.
“Breathe.”
Wei Wanlan gasped for air several times. After a long while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice, his face burning: “You… can see?”
Fu Jun said indifferently: “Mm. Seven or eight parts.”
—Does this cure actually work???
Wei Wanlan’s mouth hung half-open, lips swollen from the kiss. He completely hadn’t expected that in this political intrigue novel, the methods for detoxification and healing would be more imaginative and magical than in a martial arts novel.
This Fu Jun was even weirder than the Regent King.
The big villain only needed him to scratch his clothes to cure a headache, but Fu Jun actually needed kisses…
Does the severity of the illness dictate that more must be done?
Wei Wanlan’s imagination ran wild in the Luoyang Imperial Villa. His reverie was accompanied by the villa’s warm orange lights, illuminating the peach blossom dust in the glow.
His heart was still pounding heavily.
Wei Wanlan swallowed. He pushed down the inexplicable throbbing emotion. He wasn’t a bad kid; this was a critical moment, they were in danger, he couldn’t think about making cubs.
No cubs, no cubs, absolutely no cubs—
Not one, and certainly not five!
He tidied his hair, which had been messed up by Fu Jun’s kissing; his two bangs still curled softly.
Fu Jun, holding his sword, said solemnly:
“Many thanks.”
“No. It’s okay.”
Wei Wanlan felt even more guilty. Such a handsome, strong hero; the hero was truly treating an illness seriously. Far purer than his own thoughts.
They exited the Luoyang Imperial Villa first.
Wei Wanlan followed behind Fu Jun out of the alley, gently soothing his cub-less but hungry belly.
But as he looked down to touch his stomach, his gaze inadvertently fell on Fu Jun’s heroic back. Through the faint mist, he felt that Fu Jun’s figure almost overlapped with someone in his memory. But then he felt his thoughts were too absurd, tarnishing the purity of Hero Fu Jun’s intentions.
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