Xi Yu and Fuying fled all the way out of the palace, having no idea where they had ended up by the time they managed to find a place to settle down. Noticing Fuying staring intently and worriedly at his arm, Xi Yu realized he had been wounded.
“It only looks terrifying, but it doesn’t actually hurt.” Xi Yu ended up comforting Fuying instead.
Fuying’s expression was filled with such intense worry that it looked as though the wound were on his own body.
“That’s such a huge tear in your flesh and blood, how could it not hurt?” Fuying widened his eyes, carefully wrapping the injury for Xi Yu.
The place they found to hide was crude, located right out in the wilderness, so everything had to be kept as simple as possible.
“If only this wound were on me, then Big Brother Xi Yu wouldn’t have to suffer,” Fuying said with complete sincerity, causing Xi Yu to pause for a moment.
In all his life, he had never received such honest and straightforward goodwill, as if someone were handing over a heavy, heartfelt sincerity without a single reservation.
Without caring whether Xi Yu could catch it, or whether he would return an identical weight of sincerity, Fuying offered it simply because he wanted to.
Terrifyingly innocent, yet movingly pure.
“Big Brother Xi Yu, if any deities are listening, I wish right now that they will always protect you. If any suffering must ever befall you, please, let me bear it in your stead.”
“No matter what kind of pain?” Xi Yu asked him.
“No matter what kind of pain, I am willing. My mind is slow to begin with, so if I can’t even do this much for Big Brother Xi Yu, what use am I to you?”
Xi Yu’s heart softened instantly, and he gently stroked Fuying’s head. “Fuying, you are already more than enough.”
Many people were good to Xi Yu either because they wanted something from him or because they held a certain wariness toward him, but Fuying seemed to want to be good to him purely out of instinct, driven entirely by a genuine heart.
Xi Yu had never believed that someone in this world could treat another person without asking for anything in return. Having survived a difficult childhood by fighting his own way through and learning many harsh lessons along the way, he always maintained a sense of detachment toward others, in other words, caution and defense.
Yet with Fuying, he found himself willingly dropping those old boundaries and principles, feeling an involuntary urge to trust him.
After tending to the wound, the two of them realized they had been running about all day and were naturally famished.
Out in the wilderness, however, there was no sign of the luxurious delicacies of the palace; even ordinary food was difficult to find.
Scanning their surroundings, they discovered that the only thing available to fill their stomachs was a fruit tree growing tall overhead.
Just as Xi Yu made to stand up to pick the wild fruit, Fuying pressed him back down.
“Big Brother Xi Yu, your arm is injured and you shouldn’t climb trees. Let me do it.” Fuying rolled up his sleeves with absolute determination.
Xi Yu chuckled softly. “You grew up in the palace. Have you ever climbed a tree?”
Fuying nodded. “I have. After I fell into the water, His Majesty stopped liking me, so the Imperial Brothers started bullying and teasing me. Once, they tried to set my hair on fire. I was scared, so I climbed up into a tree and stayed there no matter how much they mocked me from below.”
Fuying’s eyes suddenly brightened. “My imperial brothers didn’t have as much patience as I did and couldn’t outlast me. I stayed up in the tree the whole time, and when they got bored and left, my hair was still completely fine.”
He wore the eager expression of a puppy seeking praise, but hearing the story only filled Xi Yu with heartache. “How long did you hide?”
Fuying tried hard to recall. “I don’t remember clearly, maybe an hour and a half, or two hours. I only remember that it was already dark by the time I climbed down, my legs were weak, and I limped all the way back to my quarters.”
Xi Yu was left speechless for a long moment.
“So Big Brother Xi Yu, you have to trust my tree-climbing skills.” With that, Fuying nimbly scrambled up the fruit tree, gently plucked the ripest and sweetest-looking fruits, and gathered them in the hem of his robe.
When he climbed back down, his lap was full of a large cluster of fruit.
After carefully inspecting the harvest, Fuying selected the sweetest-looking fruit, wiped it clean against his clothes, and handed it to Xi Yu.
“Big Brother Xi Yu, have a bite.”
Xi Yu took it and took a light bite, letting the sweet, sugary juice fill his mouth.
Looking at Fuying, he evaluated, “It’s indeed very sweet.”
Hearing this praise, Fuying beamed with happiness. “That’s great! Big Brother Xi Yu, I don’t have many strengths, but whenever I get anything good from now on, I will always give you the best and sweetest piece.”
Xi Yu was stunned. Fuying was talking about a future, but he wasn’t even sure if he could give him one.
Yet at the very least, these memories at this moment were real. If he eventually had to return to his original world, he had to leave Fuying with some wonderful memories, didn’t he?
After sharing the fruit, Xi Yu instructed Fuying to close his eyes.
A moment later, when Xi Yu told him to open them again, a wreath woven from fresh tree leaves rested upon Fuying’s head, placed there by Xi Yu’s own hands.
Xi Yu’s hands were nimble, and it seemed he could do almost anything. Whenever he set his mind to a task, he excelled at it; even though this wreath had been woven in such a short time, it was exquisitely crafted.
Resting on Fuying’s head, it complemented his striking features perfectly.
“I’m sorry, I’m only fulfilling a childhood wish of yours now.”
Having inherited the original host’s memories, Xi Yu knew how much Fuying had cherished that floral wreath back then, yet the original host had given it away to that scoundrel Ye Weifeng right in front of him.
The sight of those hopeful eyes masking their bitter disappointment replayed repeatedly in Xi Yu’s mind, making it impossible for him to ignore.
Right now, he simply wanted to make amends for that regret.
Looking at the wreath Xi Yu had personally crafted for him, Fuying’s eyes filled completely with moved affection and delight.
With shining eyes, he finally couldn’t help himself and pulled Xi Yu into a tight hug. “Big Brother Xi Yu, this wreath is ten thousand times prettier than the one from when we were kids.”
“Really? But that one was made by the most famous artisan in the capital, whereas I’m just an amateur at handcrafts.” Xi Yu inevitably curved the corners of his mouth. Though he tried to act indifferent, he couldn’t deny that Fuying’s words genuinely pleased him.
Fuying shook his head firmly. “No matter how good the technique or how pretty the wreath is, what does it matter if you didn’t make it? To me, Big Brother Xi Yu, you are the best, and the wreath you made is naturally the best too.”
Xi Yu found himself breaking into a dimpled smile, the lingering sweetness of the wild fruit echoing in his chest. Who said a slow-witted person couldn’t say sweet things? His companion was exceptionally good at it.
While Xi Yu and Fuying successfully escaped into the wilderness to evade pursuit, Ye Weifeng was busy smashing several more tables inside the imperial palace.
“A bunch of useless fools! Just two people, and after searching for days, there’s still no result. Could those two possibly have grown wings and flown out of the capital?” Ye Weifeng unleashed a furious tirade upon the group of subordinates kneeling before him.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger. That Xi Yu is extremely cunning; having led troops and fought in wars, he is intimately familiar with counter-tracking, which caused our men to lose his trail quickly,” the head subordinate explained cautiously.
The moment those words left his mouth, a massive inkstone flew straight at his face. The subordinate didn’t dare dodge and took the full force of the blow.
“You dare utter the name Xi Yu? Is his name something you’re permitted to say?” Enraged, Ye Weifeng harshly reprimanded the subordinate.
Though feeling wronged and bewildered, the subordinate didn’t dare utter a sound, managing only to stammer, “I meant to say Lord Xi…”
Ye Weifeng remained unsatisfied. “He is a traitor who attempted regicide, and his official title has long since been stripped away. You still call him Lord, are you trying to rebel alongside him?”
Damned if they did, damned if they didn’t, the subordinates truly had no idea what to do, so they could only cry out in unison begging the emperor to calm his wrath.
Ye Weifeng issued a strict ultimatum: either track down Xi Yu and Fuying’s whereabouts immediately, or return with their heads.
Under this immense pressure, the subordinates didn’t dare slack off for a single second, refusing to spare even the most remote corners. After half a month of grueling effort, they finally caught a glimmer of a lead.
“Your Majesty, we’ve found them.”
Half a month had passed, and Ye Weifeng looked visibly haggard, having shed a considerable amount of weight.
The ministers below couldn’t quite comprehend it; the emperor hadn’t even suffered serious injuries during the banquet assassination attempt, so why had he withered away into this state of despondency?
Yet they didn’t realize that the old Ye Weifeng had always moved with calculated confidence, treating everything as though it were within his grasp, solely because Xi Yu was by his side.
He knew that no matter what happened, Xi Yu would always be there to cover for him, giving him total peace of mind.
Now that Xi Yu had abandoned him, he had lost his anchor and backbone, leaving him completely untethered and letting state affairs fall into utter disarray.
For the past half month, the single thought keeping him going was finding Xi Yu and Fuying, dragging them back, and passing judgment upon them himself.
Only now did news of the two finally arrive.
Hearing that they were hiding out in the wilderness and didn’t even dare stay in an inn, Ye Weifeng let out a cold laugh.
“Xi Yu, do you finally realize how miserable your situation becomes once you leave me?”
Impatiently, Ye Weifeng pressed his subordinate for details, eager to hear about the misery and wretchedness of Xi Yu and Fuying’s hiding arrangement.
“Speak, aren’t they disheveled, starving, sighing away all day, and utterly exhausted?” Ye Weifeng asked with rising excitement. “Or perhaps because things are so difficult, they’ve lost all the sweet affection they had in the palace, and spend every day arguing and blaming each other?”
The subordinates looked at one another, exchanging troubled glances.
Their hesitation stemmed from not knowing how to break the news to the emperor before them. Ever since the day of the banquet when the former Chancellor shaved off a large portion of the emperor’s hair, the ruler had acted somewhat unhinged, losing his former sharpness and flying into rages at the slightest provocation.
Over the past half month, that temper had only worsened, causing the men to pass the buck back and forth, with none of them willing to step forward and report to Ye Weifeng.
Finally, the head subordinate, unable to pass the task off any longer, bit the bullet and stepped forward to brief him.
“Your Majesty, the two of them…”
“What about them? Speak plainly! Finding them means you’ve performed a great service, go collect your rewards later, I’m rewarding everyone!” Ye Weifeng declared to the room.
He looked in high spirits, likely deriving immense satisfaction from the fantasy that Xi Yu was suffering after leaving him.
However, the subordinate’s next words shattered his pleasant dream completely.