“Yaoyao… Ah Yao…”
Yet she had not misheard. That hoarse, weak voice repeated the name over and over, calling it with such intimacy and tenderness. It was unmistakably “Ah Yao.”
What Ah Yao? Which Ah Yao? Xie Yao felt as though her heart was about to burst from her chest. Instinctively, she let go of the cloth and took two steps back. Her lips trembled, but no words came out. For a moment, she even wondered whether Gu Changze had never truly lost consciousness.
But when she looked again, he still lay there pale-faced with his eyes closed. Aside from the faint murmurs slipping from his lips, nothing about him seemed unusual. That meant even in his dreams, he remembered this name. But who was the Ah Yao he was calling?
An unbelievable thought surfaced in Xie Yao’s mind. The moment it appeared, it threw her into complete turmoil.
Just then, noisy voices sounded from outside. She had no time to think further. Almost instantly, someone pushed the door open, and she instinctively rushed out.
“Good heavens, Miss Xie! You’ve scared this servant half to death. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
Seeing her run out in panic, Jiang Zhen immediately called after her. But Xie Yao did not answer.
After calling out twice with no response, Jiang Zhen could only continue into the room.
“Imperial Physician, please take another look at… Your Highness?”
His expression became as if he had seen a ghost. “Y-Your Highness… h-how did you wake up so quickly?”
Inside the room, Gu Changze had somehow already propped himself up and was sitting on the bed. His deep gaze remained fixed in the direction Xie Yao had fled. He paid Jiang Zhen no attention at all.
Other than a trace of fatigue, there was not the slightest sign of the pain and suffering that had accompanied his earlier attack on his strikingly handsome face.
“But… You’re fine? That shouldn’t be possible. Every previous time Your Highness lost consciousness, it took at least an hour or two before you woke up.”
Jiang Zhen fussed noisily, urging the imperial physician to come forward and take Gu Changze’s pulse.
Gu Changze expressionlessly avoided him. “I am fine.”
In truth, he had already regained consciousness the moment Xie Yao started shouting that the Crown Prince’s old illness had flared up.
His condition had indeed been acting up frequently these past few days. After the hurried journey that day, while he spoke with Xie Yao, his vision began to darken in waves, and he lost control and collapsed. But perhaps because he had taken his medicine on the road, this episode had not been particularly severe. When he saw how worried and panicked Xie Yao was, he had meant to wake up and tell her he was all right. Yet Xie Yao held him. The panic and helplessness in her eyes had all been because of him.
For a brief moment, Gu Changze found himself reluctant to let go of that version of Xie Yao. And so, as if possessed, he simply closed his eyes again. Later, after they returned to the inner chamber and she came in to wipe him down herself, he couldn’t help wanting to call her name. He no longer wanted to address her with the distant and formal title of “Miss Xie.”
Taking advantage of his supposed unconsciousness, he wanted to indulge himself just once more and call her Ah Yao again. He had never expected…
Gu Changze slowly closed his eyes. “In the end, I frightened her.”
Jiang Zhen and the imperial physician exchanged bewildered looks.
After a long silence, Jiang Zhen cautiously asked, “Should this servant… go after Miss Xie?”
Gu Changze’s long fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop. His voice still carried a trace of hoarseness. “What about Father Emperor?”
“His Majesty will be here any moment.”
No sooner had Jiang Zhen finished speaking than a cry came from outside: “His Majesty has arrived!”
Jiang Zhen immediately started toward the door to welcome the Emperor, but Gu Changze stopped him.
Lowering his voice, Gu Changze spoke lightly, “If Father Emperor asks about tonight’s events, you are only to say that the young lady of the Xie family discovered that my illness had flared up and saved me. As for anything else, about why I came to Shanglin Garden, or why I did not go see Physician Immortal Feng a few days ago, if you dare reveal even half a word more, I will have your life.”
Xie Yao ran all the way from Gu Changze’s quarters and did not stop until she reached a secluded corner. Pressing a hand tightly against her chest, she tried to steady the turmoil and panic inside her. The repeated cries of “Ah Yao” still echoed in her ears. She did not know why she felt such an urge to avoid the matter, but when she heard the imperial physician returning, she had instinctively fled.
If it was true that he had traveled despite his illness; if that “Ah Yao” had truly been meant the way she heard it, then who was the Ah Yao Gu Changze had been calling?
Xie Yao swallowed hard, unable to speak. At that moment, she desperately wanted to ask him directly. Yet reason told her otherwise.
Countless people in the world were named Ah Yao. She couldn’t be sure the Ah Yao he was calling was her.
Xie Yao remained hidden in that corner for a full half hour before finally coming out.
By the time Xie Yao returned outside Gu Changze’s quarters, the Emperor and Empress had already left.
Jiang Zhen was standing guard outside the door. The moment he saw her, he hurried over. “This servant was just talking about Miss Xie.”
Talking about her?
“Has His Highness awakened?” Xie Yao had been avoiding coming back, but in the end she couldn’t stop worrying about him.
“Not yet.” The words reached Jiang Zhen’s lips, but somehow came out differently.
Hearing this, Xie Yao finally sighed in relief. Just as she was about to step inside, she turned to Jiang Zhen and asked, “There is something I would like to ask Eunuch Jiang.”
By now, Jiang Zhen treated her like a living ancestor. He immediately replied ingratiatingly, “Please, go ahead.”
“Before this, did His Highness ever know someone whose name contained… forget it.” Xie Yao abruptly cut herself off halfway through the question.
No matter how Jiang Zhen pressed her afterward, she refused to continue.
“You should stay here and take good care of His Highness. I’ll be leaving now…”
Before she could finish speaking, a voice came from inside the room. “Is that Miss Xie?”
Xie Yao’s body immediately stiffened.
“His Highness is asking for you to come in.”
Xie Yao hesitated again and again before finally gathering enough courage to enter.
What greeted her eyes was Gu Changze dressed only in his sleeping robes. He lounged lazily on a couch, his face carrying the frailty of someone recently ill. The room smelled strongly of medicine. Several braziers burned inside, making the still-chilly early spring night pleasantly warm.
Most of Xie Yao’s suspicions dissipated. Looking at him now, it was obvious that he really had suffered an attack. In that case, he probably didn’t remember what he had said in his sleep. Her eyes flickered slightly, and she stepped forward as if nothing were amiss. “Is Your Highness feeling better?”
Gu Changze noticed how her gaze kept darting away from him. A trace of amusement hid beneath his lowered lashes, though his expression remained as gentle and refined as ever. “I’ve taken my medicine and am feeling much better now. Please, have a seat, Miss Xie.”
No sooner had Xie Yao sat down than he asked,
“While I was unconscious, I didn’t offend Miss Xie in any way, did I?”
Offend? Xie Yao immediately sprang to her feet again. “What exactly does Your Highness mean by that?”
She thought she had concealed her nervousness well, but Gu Changze could hear the tension in her voice from those words alone. He smiled softly and asked, “When my illness struck earlier and I ended up falling onto the grass while holding Miss Xie, that sort of offense… there wasn’t anything more than that, was there?”
Xie Yao had nearly forgotten about that incident. Now that he had brought it up, she immediately recalled the moment they had fallen together that evening. She remembered the scorching warmth of Gu Changze’s body and his clean, elegant scent enveloping her from every direction. Later, when she had entered his room to wipe away his cold sweat, it seemed as though that faint fragrance of green bamboo still lingered on her even now.
A slight blush colored Xie Yao’s cheeks as she quickly shook her head. “Of course not.”
Gu Changze nodded lightly. His gaze missed none of her expressions as he continued, “And there were no other inappropriate actions that crossed the proper boundaries?”
Xie Yao lowered her head. After a moment of hesitation, she answered in a muffled voice, “There were not.”
“That’s good.” Gu Changze seemed to let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Then I must thank Miss Xie for saving me today.”
Xie Yao pressed her lips together. Saving him?
“Eunuch Jiang said that Your Highness has not been in good health these past few days and ought to have remained in the Eastern Palace recuperating. Why did you suddenly come to Shanglin Garden?”
A trace of probing intent hid within her question.
Yet Gu Changze seemed completely unaware of it. “I haven’t been to Shanglin Garden in three years. Since this year’s event is being held on such a grand scale, I wanted to come and see it for myself.”
“Is that really all?”
“What answer is Miss Xie hoping for?”
Seeing the troubled look on her face as she lowered her head, Gu Changze’s eyes flashed with cunning amusement as he asked.
Xie Yao immediately fell silent again. She knew it. Jiang Zhen’s earlier words were probably not entirely true.
“There is medicine for me at Physician Immortal Feng’s place on West Mountain. I need to send a message asking him to have someone deliver it. Could I trouble Miss Xie to pass me the xuan paper and vermilion brush over there?”
Hearing this, Xie Yao stood up, picked up the items from the table, handed them to him, and returned to her seat.
“Am I very frightening to look at?” Gu Changze asked as he lowered his brush to the paper.
Naturally, Xie Yao denied it. “No.”
“If not, then why are you sitting so far away? I’m not going to eat you.”
Xie Yao: …
Of course, Gu Changze wasn’t going to eat her. But she had too many unspoken thoughts in her heart. The sight of him, and even that chair, reminded her of everything that had happened that evening. Naturally, she did not want to move any closer.
Yet when she remained seated, Gu Changze urged her again. “This vermilion brush isn’t writing properly anymore. Could I trouble Miss Xie to bring the inkstone over here?”
Xie Yao picked up the inkstone and carried it over to him once more.
“I’m a little thirsty. Could Miss Xie pour me a cup of tea?”
Xie Yao poured him another cup of tea.
“I’ve only just taken my medicine, and I still don’t have much strength. I can’t grind the inkstone by myself. Perhaps I should trouble Miss Xie to pass me the other vermilion brush as well.”
After being sent back and forth three times in a row, even Xie Yao’s good temper was wearing thin. “Your Highness, if there’s something you need, could you tell me everything at once?”
A trace of irritation had crept into her normally gentle voice.
It was the first time Gu Changze had seen her like this. He chuckled softly and, in no hurry at all, coaxed her, “There are only the two of us in this room. Since Miss Xie refuses to sit closer, and there is no one beside me to grind the ink, I naturally have no choice but to trouble Miss Xie again and again.”
Xie Yao glanced at the chair beside his bed. Gritting her teeth, she finally walked over and sat down. Yet once seated, she found she felt even more uncomfortable.
This spot was far too close to Gu Changze. He sat to one side of the table, writing something, while she sat nearby. Barely a few inches separated them. The scent of medicine on him, mixed with the faint fragrance of green bamboo, drifted toward her, inexplicably reminding her of their contact on the grass that evening.
Xie Yao bit her lip. Without realizing it, she shifted slightly, intending to move a little farther away.
“Miss Xie.”
Before she could, Gu Changze had already set down his brush. He turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. “You said just now that I don’t look frightening, and that I would certainly not eat you.”
“Then why do I feel…”
“…that you’ve been avoiding me all day today?”
A faint smile lingered in his eyes. He leaned forward, moving even closer to her. Their breaths intertwined.
In the quiet room, Xie Yao could even hear his heartbeat. The moment those words fell, her breathing abruptly caught.
Xie Yao almost jumped to her feet in panic. Afraid that Gu Changze might have remembered something, she avoided his gaze and backed away toward the door.
“Of course not. It’s getting late. Since Your Highness is unharmed, this subject will take her leave.”
Before she had even finished speaking, she was already hurrying out of the courtyard.
It had been a very long time since Gu Changze had seen her so flustered and uncomposed. He tried to hold it back, but in the end he could not help laughing.
“Your Highness, what are you laughing at?” Jiang Zhen rushed in from outside, looking puzzled.
How could someone be in such a good mood after suffering a relapse of his illness?
The smile at the corners of Gu Changze’s lips deepened as his gaze fell upon the chair where Xie Yao had just been sitting.
“Nothing important.”
“When one is bored, teasing the flower one has been carefully tending can be rather entertaining.”
He found it immensely amusing.