Ye Yunting lay on the daybed, silently calculating what he should do next to convince the guards to let Ji Lian leave. However, the earlier commotion had been too draining. Dizzy and with blurred vision, he unknowingly fell asleep.
When he woke again, it was already the middle of the night.
Ji Lian, who had been dozing by the bedside, raised his head groggily at the sound of his movement and asked in a low voice, "Young Master, are you feeling better? Would you like some water?"
"What was the reaction of those guards during the day?" Ye Yunting sat up in the dark, pinching the bridge of his nose. His throat was terribly hoarse.
"They still refuse to let anyone leave, no matter what," Ji Lian said. "I had no choice, so I gave those two maidservants some more silver. I did manage to get a bit of information out of them. One maid said that those above have given orders: unless it's a matter of life and death, they are to pay it no mind."
The mouths of those two maidservants weren't as tight as the guards', and their hearts were a bit softer. Plus, Ji Lian had already tipped them before. This time, seeing him so genuinely anxious and distressed, they revealed a little more. They said that Ye Yunting didn't look too bad, and even if they reported it, no one would care. They even advised Ji Lian that instead of wasting effort begging the guards, he should focus on taking good care of his master.
After hearing this, Ye Yunting pondered for a moment. "Is there still water in the room?"
"Yes, there is," Ji Lian replied, unsure why he was suddenly asking but answering anyway. "Two buckets were fetched this afternoon."
Ye Yunting had slept through the afternoon. Ji Lian, fearing he might want to wipe himself down upon waking, had prepared the water.
"Go and bring the water here," Ye Yunting instructed, then turned to the side and began untying his sash.
When Ji Lian returned with the water, he saw Ye Yunting holding a bundle of clothing, his upper body bare, wearing only under-trousers.
He set the water down, puzzled. "Does Young Master wish to bathe? There's no hot water right now. It's better to just use a cloth to wipe down. Using cold water might give you a chill."
Ye Yunting, however, shook his head. He soaked the clothes he had taken off into the water bucket. After making sure they were completely drenched, he fished them out, gave them a slight wring, and proceeded to put the dripping wet garments back on.
Seeing this, Ji Lian nearly jumped up, reaching out to stop him. "Young Master, what are you doing?!"
Who puts soaking wet clothes on?
"Shh." Ye Yunting pressed his hand down, making a silencing gesture and signaling him to keep quiet. "If I don't genuinely catch a chill, I'm afraid it will be hard to deceive everyone."
Judging by the maids' words, it seemed that as long as he didn't die or leave this prince's residence, they wouldn't concern themselves with anything else.
If he wanted to give Ji Lian an excuse to leave, he had to fall seriously ill. When the guards saw his sickly state, they surely wouldn't dare take the responsibility. They would either report it upwards, prompting the palace to send a physician, or make an exception and let Ji Lian go out to fetch a doctor.
Either way, Ji Lian would have a chance to leave the prince's residence under the pretext of getting medicine.
In the deep autumn night, with its cold dew, the soaked clothes wrapped around his body quickly made Ye Yunting's face turn pale and his lips tremble.
He tightened the wet garments around himself, sat down against the cold corner of the wall, and hoarsely instructed Ji Lian, "Take the water buckets out and wipe up any water on the floor. If I truly fall ill with a chill tomorrow, you must go and make a scene at the guards' post. Make absolutely sure they know I'm sick and on the verge of death."
"Alright, I understand." Ji Lian sniffled, squatting before him, his heart aching with both distress and worry. "But what if they really don't care? What if you ruin your health, Young Master?"
Ye Yunting managed a weak smile, his face ghastly pale, but his eyes were resolute and sharp. "When you're taking a gamble, there's always the risk of failure."
He didn't actually have a hundred percent certainty, but with such a good opportunity before him now, he couldn't just sit and wait for death.
His fate was tied to Li Fengqi's. If Li Fengqi escaped his predicament, Ye Yunting would also be freed from this dead end. Moreover, having shared this hardship, Li Fengqi would likely remember this favor with more sentiment after he ascended the throne in the future.
Ye Yunting hugged his arms tightly, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. "Go to sleep. I'll sit here all night."
How could Ji Lian possibly sleep under such circumstances? He sat facing Ye Yunting, watching him without blinking. "I'll watch over you, Young Master."
Seeing that Ji Lian refused to sleep, Ye Yunting couldn't spare the energy to argue. He was terribly cold, his whole body weary. He hugged his knees, rested his head on his arms, and curled up tightly into a ball. The bone-piercing chill seeped from the surface of his skin into his very bones, as if all the blood in his body had frozen. His arms wrapped around his knees were frighteningly pale, the backs of his hands already turning a bluish-purple.
The night passed with excruciating slowness.
Ye Yunting fought to maintain his fading consciousness. In the latter half of the night, feeling the soaked clothes were almost dried by his body heat, he had Ji Lian take the garments and soak them in water again.
Ji Lian's eyes and nose were red, but he could only do as he was told.
When a sliver of dawn finally appeared on the horizon, Ye Yunting, who had been holding on by sheer will, finally collapsed.
His forehead was covered in cold sweat, his lips pale with a bluish tint, and his cheeks and neck flushed with an unnatural feverish redness.
Ji Lian reached out and touched his forehead, finding it frighteningly hot. Swallowing back a sob, he changed Ye Yunting out of the wet clothes and hid them away. Then, with a face full of panic, he pushed open the door and ran towards the main gate.
Ye Yunting's fever and illness were real, and Ji Lian's worry was genuine.
His expression was even more frantic and urgent than the day before.
The guards at the gate, annoyed by his disturbance yesterday, initially didn't want to pay him any mind. But Ji Lian became desperate, pounding on the gate with such force that it shook. "Open up! Open up! I need to get a doctor! If anything happens to my young master, can you bear the responsibility?!"
He was naturally strong, and now he was using all his force. The sturdy vermilion-lacquered gate shook incessantly under his pounding.
The two guards looked at each other. One said, "Looking at this, it seems he's really seriously ill. Should we go and take a look?"
Their master had only told them to keep an eye on the person, not to let him die.
In the end, Ji Lian managed to bring one guard along to check the situation.
The guard followed, thinking it might be another episode of madness like yesterday. But when he went to look, he saw Ye Yunting lying on the daybed, unconscious, his face burning red. He tentatively reached out and touched his forehead—it was scalding hot.
Ji Lian said, "My young master was distraught yesterday and caught a chill at night. This morning, he's completely out of his senses. I beg you, please let me go and fetch a doctor. If not, could you at least help request a palace physician to come and see him?" He wiped away a tear. "My young master is, after all, a son of the Duke's household. If anything happens to him, I will stake my life to seek justice for him!"
He cursed bitterly, "They say he's the Emperor himself who conferred the title of Princess Consort, but it seems to me, living in this prince's residence is worse than being a prisoner in the Ministry of Justice dungeons!"
Hearing this, the guard's brow twitched. After a moment's hesitation, he still didn't dare agree to let anyone out, only saying, "I will request a physician." Then he strode away.
Seeing the man leave, Ji Lian used his sleeve to dry his tears, then went to fetch a damp cloth to place on Ye Yunting's forehead to reduce the fever.
He had done everything his young master instructed. Now, all he could do was wait.
He kept his eyes wide open, watching over Ye Yunting by his side, occasionally lifting his sleeve to wipe his eyes.
He had no idea how long he sat there in a daze before Li Fengqi's voice suddenly called him from the inner chamber. Ji Lian glanced at Ye Yunting before reluctantly getting up and heading inside.
"How is your young master?" Li Fengqi's complexion wasn't looking good either, with heavy dark shadows under his eyes. The commotion in the outer chamber last night certainly hadn't escaped his notice. While Ye Yunting had endured the whole night, he too had stayed awake through it.
He hadn't expected Ye Yunting to be so ruthless with himself.
Listening to the sounds from the outer chamber last night, he had almost intervened on several occasions, but had restrained himself each time.
He knew Ye Yunting was right.
Although Li Zong often acted in unconventional ways, he was never a fool. Not to mention he had Cui Xi and Han Chan by his side—both were cunning old foxes, their minds deeper and more labyrinthine than the alleys of the capital.
Feigning illness versus truly falling gravely ill—the latter was clearly more credible and more secure.
Li Fengqi sighed inwardly, thinking of the gentle young man who had fed him porridge, and felt a pang of guilt.
Ye Yunting was only nineteen, not yet come of age. If not for being implicated because of him, he would never have had to inflict such suffering upon himself.
"The young master is burning with fever. The guard has agreed to send for a physician," Ji Lian said, barely holding back a sob.
"Stay by his side and watch over him well. The physician should arrive soon," Li Fengqi said, seeing Ji Lian's eyes swollen and red, looking utterly lost, and offered him some reassurance.
Ji Lian gave a muffled "Mm" and returned to the outer chamber to keep watch over Ye Yunting.
As Li Fengqi had guessed, it wasn't even half an hour before the physician arrived. And it was Cui Xi himself who brought the person.
Standing with his hands tucked into his sleeves before the bed, Cui Xi looked down at the unconscious Ye Yunting, momentarily uncertain whether he had misjudged the man.
His subordinate had reported that after Ye Yunting's mad episode yesterday, he had fallen gravely ill today, looking so frightful that his life might be in danger.
Originally convinced that the other party was feigning madness with some ulterior motive, his curiosity had led him to come see for himself.
But seeing the man now, burning with fever and completely unconscious, he was no longer so sure.
It truly seemed like a real, serious illness.
Cui Xi concealed the thoughtful look in his eyes and addressed the physician waiting nearby. "Doctor Chen, please examine him."
Only then did Doctor Chen step forward with his medicine chest to examine Ye Yunting. After observing, listening, inquiring, and feeling the pulse, he bowed and reported, "The Princess Consort's condition is due to pent-up melancholy and an invasion of wind-cold pathogens."
"Is it serious?"
Doctor Chen hesitated for a moment before replying truthfully, "This febrile disease came on violently. I can only prescribe some acrid-dispersing herbs to induce sweating and reduce the fever. Ultimately, it depends on whether the Princess Consort himself can pull through. If he does, a few doses of medicine and some recuperation should see him recover."
"Then prescribe the medicine," Cui Xi said. This Doctor Chen would never help cover anything up. If he said it was critical, then the man was indeed seriously ill.
Cui Xi's suspicions gradually dissipated.
Doctor Chen quickly wrote out the prescription. "We came in haste and did not bring many herbs—"
"I'll go get the medicine!" Ji Lian, who had been waiting nearby, quickly spoke up. "I can run fast. I'll fetch the medicine back quickly."
Cui Xi glanced at him, saw his red, swollen eyes and anxious expression, thought nothing more of it, and waved his hand in permission.
Seeing this, Ji Lian bowed, took the prescription from Doctor Chen, and hurriedly left the manor.
Cui Xi took another look at Ye Yunting, instructed Doctor Chen to keep an eye on him, and then went into the inner chamber to see Li Fengqi.
Li Fengqi on the bed had his eyes closed, seeming utterly indifferent to the commotion outside.
After surveying the surroundings, Cui Xi said slowly, "The Princess Consort has been taking rather good care of you these past two days, Your Highness. Now that he's ill, how come you show no concern?"
Li Fengqi's eyes snapped open, coldly fixed on him, his expression displeased. "Since when are Our affairs any of your concern?"
"Your Highness is still the same as ever," Cui Xi said, unperturbed by his attitude.
Even a wolf king without his claws would not lose an ounce of the pride in his bones.
Moreover, Prince Yong'an had always been cold-faced and cold-hearted, showing only a bit of protective affection towards the emperor in the past. Although Ye Yunting had taken care of him for two days, he had just suffered humiliation at the emperor's scheme. It would be strange indeed if he showed excessive concern for a man sent to disgrace him.
Cui Xi's doubts were completely dispelled, and he had no desire to engage in further argument. He turned and left, taking his people back to the palace to report.
Meanwhile, Ji Lian, who had finally stepped out of the prince's manor gate, headed for the address Ye Yunting had given him to retrieve the medicine.
