Vоlumе 1 Chaрtеr 15: Рrinсе, Hold Mе
А strip of hеr dress had bееn tоrn оff. Арpеаring bеfоre the еmperor in such а stаte wоuld bе а grаvе offеnsе, but Yаn Shi had suddenlу сlung to hеr tightly for somе reаson, refusing to lеt go. Yun Jiаo finаllу managеd to coах him оut оf the roоm.
Аftеr сhanging her drеss, she hаd just pushed thе door оpen whеn she saw Chu Еr stаnding оutside with а stеrn exprеssion.
Uроn seeing Yun Jiаo, he рursed his liрs, furrоwеd his brows, аnd wore а heavу, соnflicted look, as if struggling with himself.
After а lоng while.
He suddenlу knеlt halfway аnd bоwed to Yun Jiao. “Your subordinate pays respects to the Princess Consort.”
Yun Jiao remembered that his name seemed to be Chu Er. Yesterday, when Yan Shi ordered him to bow to her and fetch water, he had been reluctant and looked as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
What was going on today?
“Please rise and speak.”
Chu Er pursed his lips and stood up. When he raised his head, his eyes were red.
Suddenly, his face matched the one she had seen crying at the entrance of the manor. Yun Jiao took a step back in fright.
“Why… why are you crying?”
She suddenly felt she could understand how Yan Shi must have felt when he watched her burst into tears without warning.
But she would never comfort Chu Er the way Yan Shi had comforted her.
Chu Er’s eyes were red with suppressed emotion as he looked at her pleadingly. “Your subordinate has a request. Please treat the master well.”
Yun Jiao was puzzled. “What do you mean by that?”
At the mention of Yan Shi, Chu Er’s eyes grew even redder, and his voice choked with emotion.
“The master hasn’t been this happy in a long time. It was only after meeting you that he regained some vitality. Yesterday…” Chu Er’s voice faltered. “Yesterday was the master’s third funeral.”
“Third?” Yun Jiao was taken aback. She had thought Yan Shi had truly come back to life, but it turned out this was his third funeral.
“Why would he hold a funeral for himself while he’s still alive?” she asked.
Chu Er’s nose stung. “The master said that no one would hold a funeral for him after he died, so he wanted to hold a lively one for himself first.”
As he spoke, tears welled up in Chu Er’s eyes. “The master was poisoned as a child. The poison entered through his throat, causing it to fester and ache unbearably. He could only eat three to five mouthfuls of food a day at most.”
“After returning to the capital, the master lost even more of his will to live. But today, he ate more than he had in the past several days combined.”
“This is all because you came to the manor. Since your arrival, the master has smiled more often. I beg you, Princess Consort, to help the master live on!”
Yun Jiao was stunned, her face filled with disbelief. “What about the imperial physicians in the palace? Isn’t he a Prince?”
A flicker of resentment flashed in Chu Er’s eyes. “The people in the palace wish for the master’s death. Why would they treat him?”
Yun Jiao’s heart was shaken. The people in the palace were his father, his mother, his siblings—his closest kin.
She recalled Yan Shi’s skillful application of makeup earlier. “Prince… why does he know how to apply makeup?”
Chu Er was momentarily taken aback by her question. After a moment of thought, he replied in a low voice.
“The master was never favored since childhood. While other princes and princesses had their own mothers to comb their hair and dote on them, the master’s birth mother, Consort Ying, never liked him. To win her favor, the master taught himself how to style his hair and apply makeup.”
Yun Jiao frowned. “What happened after that?”
Chu Er clenched his fists at his sides, as if struggling to contain his emotions. “After that, Consort Ying cursed the master as a Monster and cut off his hair.”
In this dynasty, one’s body, hair, and skin were gifts from one’s parents. Cutting off one’s hair was seen as an act of filial impiety, yet it was his own birth mother who had done it.
It was clear that Consort Ying despised Yan Shi to the extreme.
In the palace, his birth mother did not love him, his brothers did not respect him, and even a lowly palace servant could easily bully and humiliate him.
That was why he had said no one ever approached him.That was why he had always worn his hair loose.
That was why he considered his own death a joyous occasion.
That was why he had been stunned for so long upon hearing “our parents.”
But what had he done wrong?
Yun Jiao’s pupils suddenly contracted, her heart feeling as if it were being tightly squeezed, throbbing with pain.
In her previous life, she had been abandoned by her biological parents due to a congenital illness and left at an orphanage. Later, she was adopted by foster parents who took her everywhere seeking medical treatment. She thought she had finally found a family.
But as she grew older, when her education was suddenly halted and endless commercial advertisements followed one after another, she realized she was nothing more than a cash cow.
Her foster father harbored filthy desires and coveted her, while her foster mother called her a shameless slut.
One day, her foster father finally tore off his mask and lunged at her. Her foster mother wrestled with him, and in the struggle, he accidentally killed her.
All the accusations and curses fell upon her—how she had schemed from a young age to be adopted, how she had seduced her foster father with her fox-like face, and how she had caused her foster mother’s death… the accusations came crashing down like a tidal wave.
Her biological parents had abandoned her, her foster parents saw her as a tool for making money, her classmates distanced themselves from her as if she were a freak, and even her only close friend sided with those who blamed her.
After transmigrating here, her biological parents used her to curry favor with the powerful, while her foster parents used her to secure a life of luxury.
Having lived two lives, not a single person had been without ulterior motives—except for Yan Shi.
He might have frightened her with his words, but in reality, he indulged her in every way. Even though swallowing caused him pain, he still ate the food she brought to his lips.
Everything she ate and wore was of the finest quality. Even a single hairpin was chosen because he thought it was the most beautiful. The most he ever asked for was a kiss.
The moment her eyes reddened, he would relent. The moment she cried, he would comfort her.
Someone as good as him—why did no one care for him?
Her eyes stung terribly, and Yun Jiao’s nose tingled with sorrow. She wanted to see him, urgently needed to see him.
In the distance, a tall figure slowly approached. The man’s naturally tousled bangs were swept back by the wind, his ponytail tied high with a red ribbon, and a pair of crimson bell tassels dangled from his earlobes.
The ache in Yun Jiao’s nose suddenly intensified, her eyes unconsciously moistening, her vision growing blurry.
Tears welled up in her eyes, swirling for a moment before slipping from the corners, leaving watery trails.
Her nose stung fiercely as she broke into a run toward him, throwing herself into his arms. Only when she could truly feel his waist beneath her hands did the unbearable ache in her heart finally settle.
She buried her face deeply in his chest, biting her lip hard, letting the tears at the corners of her eyes fall silently, again and again.
Yan Shi’s breath hitched. Instinctively, he patted her back, the familiar, searing dampness soaking through his chest.
Why was this little crybaby crying again?
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly, patting her back. Every time she cried like this, it tore at his heart.
“Who bullied you?”
Yan Shi looked up in the direction Yun Jiao had come from, where Chu Er stood motionless, his eyes red.
When their gazes met, Chu Er shuddered violently, his lips trembling as he swallowed with difficulty before fleeing as if for his life.
Yan Shi’s brows furrowed even tighter. He had only gone to change his clothes—who had managed to upset this little ancestor again?
“Was it Chu Er? Tell me, I’ll stand up for you.”
Yun Jiao shook her head, not answering, her silent tears turning into soft sobs.
Yan Shi was utterly helpless against her tears, his heart aching with each sob. He continued patting her back gently, soothing her. “Then who was it?”Yun Jiao still shook her head.
Yan Shi sighed helplessly, stroking her hair as he said, “If you keep crying, your makeup will run, and then you won’t look pretty anymore.”
Only then did Yun Jiao lift her head, revealing a tear-stained face as she looked at him pitifully.
In a tearful, pleading voice, she cooed, “Prince, hold me.”