After two chaotic and absurd days, Wang Dian finally woke up and saw the morning sun.
Liang Ye was sleeping soundly in the hospital bed, his long hair spread across the soft pillow. His neck and shoulders were covered with purple-red kiss marks and bite marks. One of his long legs was arrogantly pressing on Wang Dian’s stomach, with bruises at the root of his thigh that looked somewhat shocking. His arm tightly wrapped around Wang Dian’s waist. Perhaps sensing that he was awake, his wet black eyelashes moved slightly, then he buried his head back into the crook of Wang Dian’s neck.
Wang Dian smiled silently. The feeling of reuniting with Liang Ye was like a beach gradually exposed after the tide receded—damp and heavy—making his mood slowly but firmly grow excited.
He reached out to touch Liang Ye’s warm cheek, leaned in to kiss his forehead, and called to him softly, “Ziyu, Liang Ziyu, Liang Ye.”
Liang Ye frowned, grunted a couple of times, and pulled him into his arms. He lazily nibbled on Wang Dian’s collarbone, then his breathing gradually became even again.
“Liang Ye.” Wang Dian lovingly ruffled his hair, his palm slowly sliding down the back of his neck, trying to wake him up. “Liang Ye, wake up.”
“Hmm…” Liang Ye grunted impatiently, raising his hand to cover Wang Dian’s mouth.
“No more sleeping.” Wang Dian lowered his head to bite Liang Ye’s hair, then kissed his nose. “I can’t sleep anymore.”
Liang Ye wrinkled his nose, yawned drowsily, and opened his eyes. He stared at Wang Dian with sleepy eyes, his face full of displeasure. “Zhen hasn’t woken up yet. Keep Zhen company and continue sleeping.”
“No more sleeping.” Wang Dian slowly caressed his warm skin and said softly, “Let’s go downstairs for breakfast. These two days have been too exhausting.”
“Heh, Zhen’s body is just fine.” Liang Ye sneered contemptuously with his eyes closed. “Zhen is strong and vigorous. Two more days wouldn’t be a problem.”
Wang Dian held him and laughed, kissing his ear again and again, his voice slightly hoarse. “Get up, no more sleeping, Ziyu, get up.”
Liang Ye’s ears tickled from his kisses. He turned his head and rubbed his ear vigorously, saying coldly, “Zhen sees you’re becoming increasingly presumptuous.”
Wang Dian bit down on a small piece of soft flesh on his earlobe, grinding it gently with his canine teeth. “No sleeping.”
Liang Ye grabbed his waist and sat up, instinctively feeling Wang Dian’s back. “Is your depression acting up again?”
“What do you think?” Wang Dian stared at him intently, his gaze looking as if he wanted to eat him alive.
“How are the doctors around here?” Liang Ye’s learning ability was strong. He frowned and thought for a moment. “I heard your mother say she made an appointment with a psychologist for you, to treat depression, anxiety? Personality… something?”
“Mm.” Wang Dian showed little interest in the doctor’s treatment. He got out of bed and started dressing, then turned to Liang Ye and said, “Having you here is enough.”
Liang Ye glanced at the chaotic scratches and bite marks on his back and clicked his tongue flirtatiously.
Wang Dian didn’t even button his shirt; he turned around with his shirt wide open, placed his arms on either side of Liang Ye, and exchanged a somewhat rough kiss with him.
“Stop staring at me.” Wang Dian’s gaze lingered from Liang Ye’s lips to his eyes, then he turned and casually continued dressing.
Liang Ye licked his painful lips and narrowed his eyes to examine him. “You never used to notice when Zhen looked at you.”
“I’ve been missing you.” Wang Dian buttoned his shirt all the way up, hiding the intimate, messy marks all over his body. Without turning back, he asked, “Want to wear my clothes?”
Liang Ye reached out to grip his belt and pulled him to the edge of the bed. “You still haven’t told Zhen exactly what you remembered?”
Wang Dian looked down at him, his voice slightly hesitant. “Nothing more than those messy things from the past life. It’s pretty much the same as what you experienced. Nothing worth talking about.”
“Your skill at lying has truly become more refined.” Liang Ye raised his hand and poked Wang Dian’s waist dimple, curling his lips as he met Wang Dian’s gaze. “Now should Zhen call you Wang Dian, or Liang Ye?”
Wang Dian’s breath suddenly stalled. He raised his hand to press on Liang Ye’s shoulder, slowly bending down, and flashed him a gloomy, cold smile. “What do you think?”
Liang Ye grinned at him and said coldly, “Either way, you’re Zhen’s. Don’t think about abandoning Zhen again.”
Wang Dian looked down at him from above. “What do you want to know?”
Liang Ye frowned slightly, raised his hand to hook the back of Wang Dian’s neck, and poked his cheek, saying with dissatisfaction, “Zhen wants the original Wang Dian back.”
“I am him.” Wang Dian kissed the corner of his mouth, smiling with false gentleness. “Even if I’m not, could you bear to let me go?”
“Liar.” Liang Ye opened his mouth, intending to bite Wang Dian’s stomach, but Wang Dian caught his chin, forcing him to look up.
“Tell me, what do you want to know?” Wang Dian felt his hard jawbone through the skin.
Liang Ye rested the weight of his head on Wang Dian’s hand and bared his teeth at him. “You tried everything to return to Northern Liang. Was it to help Zhen or to take Zhen’s place?”
“How did you know I wanted to go back?” Wang Dian’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Zhen is smart and guessed it.” Liang Ye said proudly.
Wang Dian’s expression darkened slightly. “If I say I wanted to help you, would you believe it?”
Liang Ye let out a light snort.
Of course, he wouldn’t believe it.
“I did indeed want to deal with you first, you fool.” Wang Dian pinched his face irritably. “Unfortunately, I took too many anti-anxiety medications, and I forgot everything I remembered in my first dream. You were lucky to survive.”
“Heh.” Liang Ye sneered. “Even if you remembered, you might not have been able to take Zhen’s life.”
“If I dared to go back, I naturally had a way to take your life.” After Wang Dian finished speaking, he suddenly changed his tone. “But it’s fortunate that I forgot.”
Liang Ye raised his eyebrows arrogantly. “With your amateur skills, if you didn’t look exactly like Zhen and weren’t barely worth a glance, Zhen would have killed you from the start. If you were really that capable, you wouldn’t have—”
He stopped halfway, suddenly realizing he’d said something wrong. After a moment of silence, he frowned at Wang Dian and said stiffly, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You’re not wrong. If I were truly capable, I wouldn’t have ended up being pierced by countless arrows and torn apart by five horses.” Wang Dian gave him a very faint smile. “I still remember the feeling when Wen Henshen took the bone from the back of my neck. He tore through skin and flesh, ripping apart sinews and bones. It was unbearably painful yet I was powerless—”
“Wang Dian.” Liang Ye trembled all over and suddenly grabbed his wrist, sitting upright. “Stop talking.”
Wang Dian lowered his eyes and stared at him. The smile on his face seemed both self-mocking and relieved as he spoke slowly and softly, “If I don’t tell you, how will you understand? Sometimes I envy you so much it drives me crazy. Why were you so lucky that you didn’t have to experience everything I went through?”
He placed his hand on the back of Liang Ye’s neck and looked at his slightly reddened eyes with a smile. “Liang Ziyu, are you feeling sorry for me?”
Liang Ye tightly gripped his wrist, silently staring at him for a long time before finally saying, “No.”
Wang Dian chuckled lightly. “I just like that heartless appearance of yours. Keep it up.”
“If you weren’t capable, why blame it on Zhen?” Liang Ye said fiercely. “Useless thing.”
“Useless as I was, I still helped you secure the throne.” Wang Dian tugged at his cheek. “It’s good that you have some conscience. If I had to watch you forget me and then peacefully reign as emperor for decades, I would have eventually gone mad with envy.”
Liang Ye’s face was distorted from Wang Dian’s tugging, making his speech unclear. “Narrow-minded.”
“It’s already good enough that I could fit you in.” Wang Dian snorted with laughter and pulled him up from the bed, helping him get dressed.
Only after Liang Ye had finished dressing did he belatedly realize what Wang Dian had meant earlier. He turned around in shock, staring at him. “Wang Dian, can’t your mind be a little cleaner?”
“Everything except you is f*cking dirty.” Wang Dian primly patted his waist. “You should know what kind of person you are.”
Liang Ye said solemnly, “Zhen isn’t as dirty as you.”
“I’ll teach you well.” Wang Dian smiled maliciously. “Although I’m not as smart as you, not as capable as you, and not as lucky as you, I can make you as dirty as me, Your Majesty.”
“You must have been a much worse emperor than Zhen.” Liang Ye watched curiously as he pressed the elevator button, not forgetting to critique him.
“Of course.” Wang Dian held his hand as they entered together. “My posthumous title was ‘Li.'” (TL: 戾 = “violent,” “hostile,” “fierce,” or “rebellious”)
The hand holding his suddenly tightened.
Wang Dian watched the numbers on the elevator gradually change and smiled. “It does feel a bit weightless, don’t be afraid.”
“Oh.” Liang Ye responded with a dull sound.
After exiting the elevator, Liang Ye still seemed somewhat dejected, having lost interest in observing the curious things around him. Wang Dian led him forward for quite a distance before speaking. “For me, that life as Liang Ye was nothing more than a dream of the past. Once the dream ended, it should be forgotten. I still prefer modern life.”
“If it were as easy to let go as you say, then why did your obsession persist? Why did you go to such lengths to use that damaged immortal bone to return to Northern Liang?” Liang Ye stopped walking.
“…Can you not understand what I’m trying to say?” Wang Dian turned his head and stared at him glumly. “Would it kill you to leave me a bit of face?”
Liang Ye flashed him a smug smile.
Just as Wang Dian was about to curse again, the next second he was pulled firmly into an embrace.
“Zhen’s posthumous title was ‘Wu Zhao.'” Liang Ye said while hugging him, proudly adding, “Zhen chose it personally.”
(TL: 武=”martial” or “military”; 昭 = “bright” or “illustrious”)
“…F*ck.” Wang Dian cursed in exasperation, caught between laughter and tears. “How can there be someone as shameless as you in this world?”
“It’s all what Zhen deserves.” Liang Ye said matter-of-factly, then after a pause, he added, “Zhen had that dragon throne smashed and a new one made. It was still uncomfortable.”
“That thing can never be comfortable to sit on.” Wang Dian patted his back and said impatiently, “Are you trying to strangle me to death?”
Liang Ye reluctantly let go of him and casually turned to look at the hospital building. “Although your home is tall, there are too many doctors, and the rooms are small and numerous. It’s very uncomfortable to live in. You must buy Zhen a large mansion to live in.”
“This is a hospital, not my home.” Wang Dian held his hand as they walked forward. “Your Majesty, could you please have some awareness that you’re living under someone else’s roof?”
“Zhen has gone through the trouble to find you, so you should properly reward Zhen.” Liang Ye said cheerfully. “Zhen saw something called a ‘palace’ on the phone that seemed nice. It’s barely livable.”
“…That’s a tourist attraction.”
