The news sent to Wuzhou left the city overnight.
Yan Muning did not ask many questions. He just gave a general account of the situation in Jinzhou in the letter and listed in detail the herbs needed. As for his own affairs, he only wrote a few words cautiously at the end of the letter: I am doing well. Please ask how my brothers are on my behalf.
It’s not that he didn’t believe Yun Jiangli. In fact, he was not afraid of the big beauty asking him questions.
Isn’t it just Prince An’s identity? He is someone who will be taken back home to be his princess consort. Shouldn’t he have known this long ago?
He didn’t dare to say much in the letter, he was just worried that if the letter accidentally fell into someone else’s hands, he would really be in trouble.
In addition, considering his understanding of Tao Bai and how cautious that person was, it was no exaggeration to say that even if he only put a few more dots on the letter, Tao Bai would be able to guess something, not to mention that he had written ten words!
.
It rained for two days in a row, and the sky finally cleared up this morning.
The message had been delivered successfully, the problem of herbs and supplies had been temporarily solved, and the conditions of the children in the shelter were visibly improving. Everything was developing in an orderly manner in a gratifying direction.
Yan Muning, who had been busy day and night for several days, was so tired that he leaned against the window and fell asleep.
“Young Master Xiao Qi.” Ah Xiao stood by and looked worried. He whispered, “We don’t need any more manpower right now. Why don’t you go back and take a nap? It’s not a good idea to stay up all the time like this.”
Ever since Yun Jiangli sent him to follow Yan Muning that night, he has been working with the youth these past few days.
He has to say that his boss has a really good eye. This youth is not only good-looking and likable, but he is also serious and smart in doing things. He is many times cuter than the icy face of his young hall master.
Seeing that his complexions looked really bad, Ah Xiao was worried to death.
On one hand, he feels sorry for this youth, and on the other hand, if he doesn’t protect him well, his boss might assign him to collect herbs in the deep mountains and forests for half a year.
Fortunately, the little prince is a well-behaved boy.
Hearing someone calling him, he sleepily opened his eyes, his mind was still a little confused. He paused for a while before answering in a hoarse voice, “Alright, then I’ll go take a rest. If anything happens here, remember to come find me in time.”
Yan Muning really couldn’t hold on any longer.
In fact, he had been feeling unwell for some time already, perhaps because he had been caught in the rain that night and had caught a cold. But he had been busy since then and had no time to care about it. Now that he had a little free time, the discomfort came all at once.
After giving instructions to Ah Xiao, the little prince walked out dejectedly with his head hung.
Ah Xiao, who was standing behind him, looked at his unsteady steps, turned around without hesitation, and ran towards Renji Tang.
.
Yun Jiangli, who was checking the types of medicinal herbs with Shopkeeper Qi at Renji Tang, heard what Ah Xiao said and just said, [I’ll go and take a look], and quickly walked out.
Behind them, Ah Xiao and Shopkeeper Qi looked at each other and saw the raging fire of gossip in each other’s eyes.
If they were not worried that their fighting ability was inferior to that of their boss, these two would have followed to watch Yun Jiangli’s rare gentle scene already.
After Yun Jiang entered the house, he went straight to the bedroom, but after looking around, he didn’t find anyone.
He didn’t even have time to think about why he suddenly felt panicky. He just quickly searched for the youth in the rooms along the corridor.
It was not until he pushed open the study door and saw the youth in a cloak, sleeping on the table, that he finally let go of his tense heart.
Yun Jiangli leaned against the door to calm himself.
Then he walked closer with lighter steps and saw that the youth’s face, which had obviously become thinner, was abnormally flushed, his brows were wrinkled, and his pale lips were slightly parted as he breathed.
Half of his long black hair was somewhat messy and hidden under his cloak, while the other half was scattered on the table. He looked thin and fragile.
Yun Jiangli reached out and touched the youth’s forehead. The skin under his palm was slightly hot.
He frowned and walked around the table, leaning over to hold the youth’s thin shoulders. His movements froze, and his expression became even colder—how could he have lost so much weight? Even through the thick cloak, he could feel the bony shoulder blades under his palms.
The youth looked really tired, perhaps because he was sick, Yun Jiangli’s actions failed to wake him up.
In order to check on the youth’s condition more conveniently, Yun Jiangli gently changed the youth’s position from lying on the table to leaning on the back of a chair and concentrated on pinching his wrist and taking his pulse.
Then, he gently untied the belt around his waist. The moment his fingers tore open the collar of his robe, the person who had been sleeping suddenly woke up…
.
Yan Muning was drowsy and vaguely felt someone pulling at him in his sleep, but his eyelids were too heavy to open. It took him a lot of effort to open his eyes a little. His vision was still not focused, but he could only see a figure swaying in front of him.
The next moment, he felt a sudden chill on his chest, and his robe was torn open!
The little prince suddenly woke up, opened his eyes, raised his hand, and slapped the face of the scoundrel in front of him…
Damn it, you dare to take advantage of this king, you must be tired of living!
The little prince really cursed, but his words came out in a vague way: Humph…%&!
The voice was hoarse and nasal, but to Yun Jiangli it didn’t sound like a curse at all, but rather like a coquettish hum.
Yun Jiangli: “……”
He reacted quickly and caught the soft and powerless paw and said helplessly, “Don’t be angry, be good.”
At this time, Yan Muning had already clearly seen who was leaning in front of him. His mind was still not very clear after just waking up. He shook off the big beauty’s hand that was squeezing his hand, pursed his lips, sat up straighter, and casually raised his collar.
After regaining consciousness, he covered his lips and coughed a few times: “You-Why are you here?”
“Ah Xiao said you didn’t look well, I’m worried.” Yun Jiangli frowned as he heard him coughing and took away his hand that was squeezing his collar: “Let me take a look.”
Yan Muning knew what Yun Jiangli wanted to see and quickly said, “There is no rash. I checked it myself already.”
After saying that, he suddenly remembered something and added, “I’m not even a child anymore…”
“Why don’t you go directly to the bedroom to sleep?” Yun Jiangli seemed a little tired from bending over all the time, so he simply squatted in front of the youth, slightly tilted his head, and looked at him.
“I haven’t changed my clothes in a few days. I hate it.”
After thinking for a while, he continued to explain, “I didn’t let you see it because… I don’t smell good anymore.”
The more the little prince spoke, the lower his voice became.
Yun Jiangli curled his lips and sneered, “Tsk, when I picked you up, you were like a mud monkey. Do you think I’m disgusted with you?”
Having said that, he ignored the youth’s objection and directly checked it.
“The injury has almost healed.” Yun Jiangli nodded with relief, “There is no rash either. You are indeed not a child anymore.”
The little prince pursed his lips and muttered softly, “That’s… I’m so…”
“Then how could you have caught a cold? En?” The big beauty interrupted him rudely, “Why don’t you take care of yourself?”
“Aiya.” The little prince was unhappy. “I’m fine. I just felt sleepy and wanted to take a nap. It’s just a slight cold. You should go back soon. In Renji Tang, there are still many…”
Yun Jiangli simply stretched out two fingers and pinched the little mouth that was chattering non-stop.
Don’t say anything, you just irritate people when you open your mouth, he thought.
Originally, the two of them were very busy these days, and even when they met, they could not say a few words either. After spending these days together, he had already gotten used to the little youth making noises in his ears every day. When he suddenly couldn’t hear him, he felt empty in his heart, as if something was missing.
But at this time, it’s better not to say anything with this mouth, lest he can’t help but want to give him an acupuncture to put him to sleep.
.
Because he caught a cold these two days, the little prince was ordered by the beauty to stay in bed and rest at home.
Fortunately, the pox in Jinzhou was discovered not too late, and Yun Jiangli’s prescription was quite effective. No new children with the disease were sent to Renji Tang in the past two days. Today, Ah Xiao, who came to deliver medicine to him, said that many children have recovered and returned home.
According to the current situation, Jinzhou’s difficulties should be over soon.
The little prince lay in bed, counting on his fingers. According to the day he sent the message, it shouldn’t be long before the guards arrive.
But the progress bar of him kidnapping his princess…
It’s really worrying ah.
The little prince stared at the bed curtains and sighed heavily—what should he do? He couldn’t just force the person back to the capital, right?
He is not that kind of person.
But if he pats his chest and say, I am Prince An, the younger brother of the current emperor. I am attracted to you and want to marry you as my princess consort!
The little prince imagined this scene. Not to mention that he couldn’t do it, if he really did it, he would probably be regarded as a lunatic by the big beauty…
Two days later, Jinzhou City had returned to its former bustle, and all the resettlement sites had been ventilated, disinfected, and evacuated.
The little prince was worried for two whole days. The longer he spent with Yun Jiangli, the more he was attracted to this man.
A certain prince, who really didn’t know where to start, finally made a decision and prepared to sneak out to the bookstore to find a storybook to learn!
Yan Muning, who covered himself tightly from head to toe, went straight to the bookstore in the west of the city.
Faced with the shopkeeper’s enthusiastic inquiries, the little prince hesitated for a long time and was too embarrassed to say that he wanted to find a book of romance. However, he didn’t know that his hesitant look actually caused the shopkeeper to make another guess.
“Ah…” The shopkeeper suddenly smiled meaningfully, “I understand!”
“It’s obvious that this Young Master is inexperienced. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Wait, I’ll get it for you from the back.” The shopkeeper said and walked towards the back room.
Yan Muning was confused. He hadn’t even told him what kind of storybook he was looking for, so why did he act like he knew a lot about it?
The shopkeeper quickly handed him two books in a mysterious tone, “Take a look. I guarantee that you won’t find anything more suitable than mine even if you search the entire Jinzhou!”
The little prince thanked him, raised his hand to take the book, lowered his eyes, and opened it casually.
The whole person suddenly stood there in a daze as if struck by lightning, so shocked that he couldn’t speak.
The shopkeeper obviously misunderstood his silence and took out another book from his sleeve, flipped it open, and handed it to him: “Or is it that the Young Master is looking for this type of book?”
Yan Muning came to his senses and stuffed the books in his hand back into the shopkeeper’s hands as if his hands were burned, then turned around and fled.
The little prince secretly felt lucky that he was wearing a veil to cover his red face and his embarrassed and flustered eyes; otherwise, he would have been too ashamed to see anyone again.
Suffering from excessive shock, the little prince’s steps were unsteady and stumbling along the way.
All that came to his mind was the picture in the book he had just seen—the two people entangled together, their lifelike expressions…
At first it was a man and a woman, and then… then it was two handsome men.
After only staring at them for a moment, the postures of the two people depicted on the paper were imprinted in the little prince’s mind.
He was a simple person all along, and even though he had been taken by his bad friend Yuchi Zhao to see some explicit pictures, he had never read such an excessive book.
Yan Muning entered the house in a daze and went straight to the bedroom. He now just wanted to find a place to bury himself. It was really shameful!
.
Yun Jiangli returned from Renji Tang in the afternoon. When he entered the bedroom, he saw the youth wrapped in a fur blanket, sleeping soundly. However, his face was too red, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.
He frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. He raised his hand to feel the temperature of the youth’s forehead. It was normal ah.
Just as he was about to let go, his hand was grabbed by the sleeping youth and pressed against his rosy cheek.
Yun Jiangli paused for a moment but did not pull his hand away. His slightly cool palm was pressed tightly against the youth’s delicate and warm skin, and an indescribable feeling rushed through his chest.
The little prince had a dream during his nap. The pictures in his dream were the same pictures he had seen today, except that…
The faces of those two people actually resembled himself and the big beauty, so real.
He pressed the half-dressed big beauty onto the bed, gently lifted his soft long hair, and kissed the seductively red little mole on his earlobe.
The big beauty stroked his cheek with his cool fingers, his eyes were filled with a hazy light, his rosy lips slightly parted, and he sighed softly in a low, cold voice: Xiao Qi—
“Xiao Qi?”
The voice calling him was getting closer and clearer.
Yan Muning woke up with a start, breathing rapidly, his heart beating like thunder, and his eardrums buzzing.
“Xiao Qi, are you awake? Did you have a nightmare? Don’t be afraid.” Yun Jiangli comforted him softly.
No, what Laozi had might just be a wet dream.
The little prince had a numb face and held the fur blanket tightly, not daring to let go. He was finished.
Is there anything more terrible than not being able to catch up with your wife?
The little prince wanted to say, yes, he had a dream that was brewing a lot of desire in front of his wife whom he hadn’t caught yet.
Yan Muning suddenly realized that he had some intention of breaking the jar and throwing it1To let oneself go and not give a damn. Basically, to be reckless since he’s helpless. This relationship must be further improved today!
He boldly said, “Jiang, Physician Jiang… you and I have experienced life and death together a few times already, right?”
Yun Jiangli, not knowing what the youth was thinking, nodded obediently.
“Then it would be too strange for me to always call you Physician Jiang. How about I call you… Ah Li?”
Yun Jiangli: “……”
It’s not a big deal either, just let him be happy.
The little prince watched the big beauty nod in agreement, and then he consciously ignored the helplessness in his eyes and happily began to press further, starting to ask questions in a row—
“Ah Li, where are your parents now?”—Getting married means that he has to meet his parents.
“Ah Li, is there anything you want to do?”—This king will fulfill your wish!
“Ah Li, are you willing to leave Jinzhou and go somewhere else?”—Take you back to the capital.
……
Yun Jiangli looked at the youth in confusion, wondering if he had some hysteria from the nightmare he had just had.
Thinking of this, he raised his hand, pinched the youth’s wrist, and took his pulse.
It’s not a big problem, he guesses that he just needs to wake up and take a nap.
He took out the white bird he had just brought back from his arms and put it into the youth’s hands: “Be good, play with the fat bird.”
The little prince, who did not get a response, seemed to have suffered another blow. He felt that his progress in pursuing his princess consort was too difficult!
For several days in a row, Yan Muning stayed around Yun Jiangli, seizing every opportunity to attack him from all sides.
But even when he kept talking until his mouth was dry, the big beauty always looked unmoved and always looked at him as if he was a fool. What’s going on?
.
Speaking of worry, the little prince is not the only one who has been worried these two days.
Yun Jiangli was also worried.
It would be fine if the youth just kept chattering around him, but lately he was being extremely clingy, always asking questions that he couldn’t figure out, and even secretly crawling onto the couch at night to sleep with him…
Yun Jiangli looked at the youth’s innocent round eyes, and several times he turned the words around and swallowed them back.
There is no doubt that this youth is special to him. His principles and bottom line were defeated when he met the youth.
He is willing to pamper him.
.
After several days of consecutive attempts that all ended in failure, Yan Muning sat in the yard with the white sparrow in his arms with a sad face, looking towards the direction of the setting sun and sighing one after another.
“What should I do ah?” The little prince looked at the plump and white bird.
“Chirp, chirp—” The white bird poked his finger with its short beak.
“Don’t just think about food. Give me some advice.”
“Ji—chirp, chirp—”
“Forget it, you’re too stupid…”
“Chirp! Ji, Ji! Chirp, chirp—”
Every time the little prince scolded the white sparrow for being stupid, the little thing seemed to understand. This time was no exception. It flapped its wings and chirped nonstop, looking like it wanted to jump up and have a fight.
“Chirp2Chirp is ‘jiu’ and sounds the same as wine.? Wine…? Is it that drinking to drown my sorrows is the only option left for me…”
The conversation between the man and the bird ended, and the conclusion was to go find some altar wine to drink.
When Yan Muning was in the capital before, Yuchi Zhao would always drag him to drink whenever he was in a bad mood. After getting drunk, he would cover his head and sleep all night, and when he woke up the next day, he would be good again!
Now that he thinks about it, it seems to be a good idea.
He vaguely remembers seeing the wine jar in the pharmacy, and the little prince took the white sparrow to find a way to relieve his worries.
Looking at the several wine jars neatly placed in front of the medicine cabinet, a certain prince, who thought he had a good alcohol tolerance, took two jars back to the bedroom without hesitation.
Then……
Half an hour later, Yun Jiangli, who had just returned from Renji Tang, smelled the strong aroma of wine before he even stepped into the bedroom.
He walked into the room with a frown on his face and caught a drunk youth who was totally disoriented.
“Xiao Qi! Why did you drink so much?” Yun Jiangli asked with a little anger.
Hearing the familiar cold voice, the confused prince was not afraid at all and smiled and said, “You’re back!”
The youth’s two thin arms had already wrapped around Yun Jiangli’s neck, and in order to not argue with a drunkard, he tried to pull the person off his body.
“Listen, you’re drunk.”
Yun Jiangli didn’t expect that the youth was so strong. He was afraid that he would hurt him badly, so he didn’t dare to use too much force. “Xiao Qi, stop making trouble. I’ll go make you some sobering soup.”
“I don’t want to!”
It turns out that it’s useless to try to reason with a drunk.
Yun Jiangli’s steps staggered as the youth led him, so he had to hold his thin shoulders with both hands, trying to maintain the balance of both of them.
But a certain prince, who absolutely refused to cooperate, finally became bolder due to the alcohol, and pushed Yun Jiangli onto the couch. He stood there stupidly, staring at the big beauty with a pair of confused, drunken eyes.
“Xiao Qi!”
Yun Jiangli, who was always good-tempered towards the youth, was about to explode.
“Don’t, don’t yell!” The youth raised his hand and slapped Yun Jiangli on the face. “Why are you so fierce?”
Yun Jiangli was completely speechless.
The next moment, Yan Muning’s fingertips trembled slightly as he stroked his face: “Ah Li ah…”
Yun Jiangli raised his eyes and met the youth’s eyes that seemed dazed but contained a clear and serious look—
“Big beauty, Ah Li, how about I marry you?”
The author has something to say:
Kidnapping the princess consort progress bar: +10
