With Liang Ye beside him, Wang Dian slept particularly soundly. When he woke up, the tent was dim, making it difficult to tell what time it was.
“It’s the second watch of the night,” Liang Ye’s sleepy voice sounded near his ear, teasing. “You really can sleep.”
Wang Dian had just woken up, his mind still foggy. He fumbled around in the darkness, turned over and embraced Liang Ye.
The embrace was rather tight. Liang Ye was stunned for a moment, then his eyebrows nearly flew up with joy. After sparring with Wang Dian for so long, he finally enjoyed the treatment an emperor deserved. Wang Dian’s wholehearted dependence on him greatly satisfied certain aspects of his male pride.
So he vigorously rubbed Wang Dian’s back, saying half-dismissively and half-proudly, “Such a delicate one.”
He was both Wang Dian’s husband and sovereign, so he deserved such special treatment.
Wang Dian kissed his neck, as if talking to himself, “It was a dream.”
“What dream?” Not knowing which wound had been kissed, there was a slight sting. Liang Ye licked his lips and contentedly stroked his head.
“I dreamed of skinning and dismembering you with my own hands, making a voodoo doll, burning it to ashes and scattering them.” Wang Dian felt Liang Ye’s features in the darkness.
“…” The intimate, coquettish embrace instantly took on a different flavor.
“I think that’s inappropriate,” Liang Ye gave a vivid example to persuade him, “I previously thought about skinning your face and hanging it by my bedside, but that would’ve been too boring.”
Wang Dian held him and laughed, gently kissing his forehead, “What a pity.”
Liang Ye remained silent for a moment, then got up to light a candle, finally dispelling the chill on his back.
Wang Dian lay on his back on the bed, smiling at him, twirling Liang Ye’s sleeve around his fingers while looking drowsy. “You changed clothes?”
“Zhen dealt with official business all day.” Liang Ye, who had always been energetic, pulled his sleeve from Wang Dian’s hand.
Wang Dian unhappily rubbed his suddenly empty fingers.
Lifting the tent flap, Liang Ye gave some quiet instructions to those outside, then closed the curtain well and walked to the table to pour water. “Want some?”
Wang Dian shook his head, staring intently at him. “Ziyu, come here.”
Liang Ye drank some water, but still thoughtfully brought him a bowl of warm water, pulled him up and held it to his lips. “Drink some.”
Wang Dian twitched his nose and took a sip as Liang Ye held the bowl. Just as Liang Ye was about to coax him to drink a bit more, Wang Dian held the back of his neck and transferred all that warm water into his mouth without spilling a drop.
Wang Dian’s cool fingertips pressed against his throat, forcing Liang Ye to swallow it all.
Liang Ye stared at him for a long while with an unreadable expression, then put the bowl back to his lips, saying eagerly. “Have another sip.”
“…” Wang Dian took the bowl disinterestedly and drank it all.
Liang Ye watched him dryly, silently reproaching this behavior.
“I get headaches sleeping when I drink too much of the calming medicine.” Wang Dian lowered his eyes, wiping the water from the corner of Liang Ye’s mouth with his fingertips, his voice slightly cold. “I don’t like drinking it. Next time you mix it in the water, I’ll feed it all to you.”
Liang Ye took the empty bowl from his hands and sniffed it hard, puzzled. “There’s clearly no smell.”
“Indeed there’s no smell, but with the army’s noise, I couldn’t sleep so soundly without medicine.” Wang Dian pressed his brow hard. “If you’re trying to use this to discourage me from going to Eastern Chen, stop now.”
Liang Ye slammed down the bowl in his hand with a dark face.
The tent fell into a suffocating silence.
“Zhen won’t let you go to Eastern Chen,” Liang Ye said. “You can’t go anywhere except by Zhen’s side.”
“I don’t know how to fight. Staying with the army would only be a burden to you,” Wang Dian said calmly. “You think it’s fun for me to watch you risk your life in battle?”
“Zhen has already promised not to take risks anymore,” Liang Ye frowned.
Wang Dian laughed. “Liang Ye, do you even believe what you’re saying? It’s just a way to coax people.”
Having been so bluntly exposed, Liang Ye slightly raised his chin and looked at him. “Then what do you want Zhen to do?”
Having drunk the bowl of drugged water, Wang Dian’s drowsiness began to flood back. He suppressed the irritation in his heart, “Let’s talk properly.”
Liang Ye supported his arm, letting him rest on his shoulder, gently patting his back, saying perfunctorily, “Alright, let’s talk properly, I’ll do whatever you say.”
Wang Dian laughed in exasperation, but he was terribly sleepy, mumbling, “I’m not sure about the cause of the depression either. You don’t need to keep testing. Perhaps a trip to Eastern Chen and back will help.”
Liang Ye held him tighter, whispering in his ear. “But if I’m under your watch, I wouldn’t dare go to battle recklessly. Wang Dian, don’t you want to watch over me personally?”
Wang Dian involuntarily closed his eyes. In his daze, someone lifted his chin and transferred an extremely bitter medicine into his mouth. He instinctively wanted to spit it out, but Liang Ye copied his earlier move, pressing firmly on his throat, making him swallow.
Liang Ye patiently fed him an entire bowl of bitter medicine, then licked his lips, “Wang Dian, are you a three-year-old? So difficult when you’re sick.”
Wang Dian had already fallen unconscious against him.
Liang Ye mischievously pinched his face, put him to bed and covered him with a blanket, before taking the medicine bowl out of the tent.
Chong Heng held a tray and glanced at the tightly closed tent, squinting in the Gobi Desert sun. “Master, Xu Daren and the others have already passed Chengyuan County and are about to enter Eastern Chen… Is it appropriate to keep this from the Prince?”
Liang Ye carelessly tossed the bowl onto the tray, dusted off his hands and walked forward with them behind his back. “Can’t you see what Wang Dian is planning?”
“Huh?” Chong Heng followed in confusion. “He wants to go to Eastern Chen to negotiate their retreat.”
Liang Ye snorted. “Do you know why he came to find Zhen?”
Chong Heng nodded, “He missed you, Master.”
Liang Ye’s eyebrows twitched as he turned to look at him. “Did he tell you that?”
“Yeah.” Chong Heng nodded, then added after thinking. “He said something about noble families before, but I don’t remember.”
“Only a simpleton like you would be led by the nose.” Liang Ye couldn’t suppress the pleased smile in his eyes. “Use your brain.”
Chong Heng struggled to think while holding the bowl. “Ah.”
The sun was quite strong today, so hot.
Liang Ye narrowed his eyes, “He could have stayed in the capital to root out the people behind Tan Yishuang and Qi Ming, but he came to the Ningming battlefield instead. On one hand, he fears the noble families might retaliate if he handles the trouble too cleanly; on the other hand, he fears Zhen might become wary if he does things too perfectly. He’s leaving himself an escape route.”
“Of course, ultimately it’s because he missed Zhen too much,” Liang Ye added, clearing his throat.
“Oh.” Chong Heng nodded.
He was hungry, it was time to eat, but he didn’t want vegetable soup… Ah, he wasn’t wrong, Wang Dian did miss Master.
“You really think those assassins who infiltrated the battlefield were there to take arrows for Zhen?” Liang Ye’s voice dropped very low, as if speaking to Chong Heng yet also to himself. “If Wang Dian couldn’t stabilize the situation in the capital, or if Old Shen Yao hadn’t fallen ill giving us a chance to breathe, once Northern Liang showed signs of defeat, Wang Dian would have turned on Zhen.”
When Northern Liang was strong, Wang Dian was his most powerful sword; when Northern Liang was weak, that sword would unhesitatingly turn against him, separating him from Northern Liang, making Liang Ye completely his possession.
If Wang Dian went to negotiate with Eastern Chen, he would help with all his might if the situation favored Northern Liang, but if things were already beyond salvaging beyond his predictions, Wang Dian would definitely choose the most beneficial approach. Even turning against Northern Liang wouldn’t surprise Liang Ye at all.
Wang Dian was too unpredictable. He wouldn’t harm Liang Ye, but similarly, he didn’t care about Northern Liang as much as he appeared to.
“From beginning to end, what he wanted was Zhen as a person,” Liang Ye said coolly. “Too bad, since he won’t let Zhen have his way, naturally Zhen won’t let him have his either.”
After all, even now, his intention to keep Wang Dian by his side hadn’t changed one bit. It was just that Wang Dian was too difficult to handle, so he had to compromise and choose a method that Wang Dian might relatively accept.
On this point, Wang Dian had never hidden his hostility.
Chong Heng followed him into the main tent, put the tray on the table, pulled over a plate, and secretly stuffed snacks into his mouth.
“But Wang Dian has one fatal weakness.” Liang Ye tossed Chong Heng a cup of water in an excellent mood.
Chong Heng caught it without spilling a drop, asking bewilderedly, “What?”
“He’s easily softhearted.” Liang Ye lounged back lazily, crossing his legs on the table, saying smugly, “Especially when he sees Zhen in person.”
Even knowing it was sleeping medicine, as long as he fed it, Wang Dian would willingly drink it.
Chong Heng licked the snack crumbs from his mouth corners, roughly hearing the gist, and nodded vigorously.
Liang Ye glanced at him, knowing he barely listened, and concluded. “He cares about Zhen so much, Zhen almost feels guilty.”
“But Master, you didn’t hesitate at all when putting medicine in his water, you poured it all in,” Chong Heng said.
You even shook the paper, not wasting a single bit of powder.
The willow-leaf knife spun rapidly in Liang Ye’s hand as he justified righteously, “He hasn’t slept for two days and nights. What’s wrong with Zhen caring enough to let him sleep more?”
Chong Heng, half-full from eating, worried somewhat. “But when Wang Dian wakes up, he’ll surely be angry.”
Although Wang Dian always appeared gentle and kind, while he wasn’t afraid of Master, he was vaguely afraid of Wang Dian.
He could deal with people effortlessly without showing it, and still make them feel grateful for his mercy.
Kind face, dark heart.
Liang Ye straightened up, tossing the tiger talisman in his hand, an excited smile appearing on his face. “Then Zhen will make the most of this time to play properly with Yu Polu, cut off his head and present it to Wang Dian to appease him.”
“All troops, move out.”
The vast army silently crossed the endless Gobi Desert.
In the carriage, Wang Dian couldn’t wake from his deep, dark dreams.
Yunshui side, Xu Xiude patted his big belly and looked north miserably.
In the palace, Cui Qi sat in a wheelchair watching Liang Huan knock down the stacked building blocks.
Battle cries shook the heavens, blood flowed like water, and tattered battle flags fluttered in the gunsmoke. Liang Ye sat on horseback, long sword pointing southeast, giving Yu Polu a sinister yet confident smile.
A stern-faced youth led two young children, stepping over muddy, blood-stained puddles.
“Uncle, where is this?” asked the little girl with her hair in small buns.
The youth looked up at the weathered characters on the city gate, “Huadong County.”
