Lan Ming Yue

The arrow grazed past the cheek. Wang Dian rushed forward and caught the falling Liang Ye, being pressed down heavily to kneel on the steps by the weight of his body, yet feeling no pain at all.

“Liang Ye!” Wang Dian watched the color rapidly draining from his face, frantically trying to cover the wound. However, the sharp arrow had penetrated deep into Liang Ye’s chest. He instinctively tried to stop the bleeding with his hand, his voice trembling as he called out, “Liang Ye?”

Leaning in Wang Dian’s arms, Liang Ye gave a pained smile. Just as he was about to speak, blood uncontrollably spilled out. Wang Dian’s mind went blank, his face pale as he wiped the blood from Liang Ye’s chin with his hand, his voice filled with panic, “Liang Ye!”

Liang Ye gripped his cold, frightened hand tightly, “It’s alright, just… a bit painful.”

“Painful?” Wang Dian repeated his words mechanically, holding him tighter, “It won’t hurt, it won’t be painful.”

About ten seconds passed before he seemed to suddenly come to his senses, turning his head and shouting almost hoarsely. “Imperial physician! Where’s the imperial physician?! Quickly find the imperial physician!”

Hearing the cry, Yun Fu stumbled and crawled through the rain of arrows, shouting, “Imperial physician!”

Bian Yunxin, holding onto her hairpin, crawled on the ground dodging arrows, frantically crawling towards Liang Ye, “Ye’er, Ye’er!”

Wang Dian pressed hard on Liang Ye’s wound, yet dared not move the arrow embedded deep in flesh and bone. He glared at Bian Yunxin with bloodshot eyes as she tried to touch Liang Ye, roaring with a grim expression, “Get lost!”

Bian Yunxin cried with her face covered in tears, but his shout made her tremble violently, not daring to come any closer.

“The imperial physician will be here soon, Liang Ye, hang on.” Wang Dian looked down at the person in his arms, asking with red eyes. “Was this all arranged by you? You—”

Before he could finish, Liang Ye spat out another mouthful of blood, weakly curling the corners of his mouth, “Yes… don’t be afraid.”

Wang Dian looked at the arrow so close to his heart, his eyes suddenly reddening, and he said through gritted teeth. “You f*cker.”

Liang Ye struggled to raise his hand to touch the corner of his eye, smiling at him, “Wang Dian, why are you crying?”

Wang Dian grabbed his hand, looking up frantically, “Where’s the imperial physician?! Li Bu! Yun Fu!”

Liang Ye’s breath grew increasingly weak in his arms, the surrounding noises becoming distant and hazy. He stiffly moved his neck, forcibly focusing his somewhat scattered gaze on Liang Ye’s face, “You can’t die, you’re mine, if you die then there’s nothing left.”

Liang Ye closed his eyes briefly, covering the flash of surprise in them, then struggled to open them again, “…Won’t die.”

Wang Dian’s lifeless gaze met his, tugging at the corner of his mouth, “You’d better not.”

Bian Yunxin, hiding nearby watching the two of them, shrank back violently. Although she was surrounded and protected by palace maids and eunuchs, she still felt a bone-chilling cold. The way this Wang Dian looked at Liang Ye carried a strange possessiveness and aggression, as if he wanted to grind Liang Ye to dust and scatter his ashes.

Wang Dian and Liang Ye were surrounded by a group of palace maids and eunuchs willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the emperor. However, they were all too frightened to approach, scared by Wang Dian who held the emperor tightly with bloodshot eyes, refusing to let go. Further out, over a dozen armed guards were desperately fending off the rain of arrows.

Cui Yuxian, protected in the middle by Yang Man and others, said gravely, “Quickly protect the emperor! Where is the imperial physician? Summon the imperial physician to save the emperor!”

Tan Yishuang was similarly protected by guards. She tightly gripped her personal maid’s arm, discreetly looking outside. The other officials and nobles weren’t so lucky to have protection. Occasionally someone would cry out in pain from an injury, and worse, some were killed instantly by arrows, causing their family members nearby to burst into tears.

“This minister, Jian Ling, arrives late to save the emperor!” The tightly closed palace doors were kicked open from the outside. A young man in black armor with a bloodied face led the way, striding in with a long sword in hand. Behind him was a sea of black-armored guards who had rushed over.

Cui Yuxian’s eyes showed slight relief. Jian Ling quickly took control of the situation with his men and strode towards Cui Yuxian. Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Jian Ling’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He leaped forward with his sword, thrusting it towards Liang Ye.

“Jian Ling!” Cui Yuxian shouted in shock, trying to stop him.

“Your Majesty!” The ministers and guards who had just relaxed instantly paled.

Jian Ling’s speed was astonishing. Those around had no time to react before Jian Ling’s sword was at Liang Ye’s throat.

But then it was firmly grasped by a blood-stained, sinewy hand.

Blood dripped steadily from the hand onto Liang Ye. Wang Dian’s hand didn’t even tremble. Jian Ling was stunned for a moment, then a heavy blade came flying, striking his wrist directly. Countless imperial guards burst through the windows. Their leader, a burly man, roared, “Minister Wei Wanlin comes to save the emperor! Execute the traitors!”

Without giving the black-armored guards in the hall a moment’s respite, the imperial guards struck swiftly. In an instant, the great hall was awash with blood.

Jian Ling and Wei Wanlin fought fiercely, but Jian Ling quickly lost the upper hand and was kicked heavily to the ground. Wei Wanlin’s long blade pressed against his neck as he shouted, “The traitor has been captured!”

Some black-armored guards fought to the death, even desperately attacking nearby officials trying to hide. For a time, there were countless casualties.

Standing at the highest point, Cui Yuxian’s expression changed from initial shock to pallor. She looked incredulously at Liang Ye lying on the ground, barely alive, her expression inscrutable. She grabbed Yang Man’s hand, slipping a token into his sleeve, and said in a low voice, “Leave the palace immediately and give this to elder brother.”

Yang Man gripped the token tightly and left as instructed.

When everything finally settled, the once luxurious and peaceful great hall was left with only a thick smell of blood and bodies strewn everywhere.

“The Black Armored Guards rebelled and attempted to assassinate the emperor… Execute them all!” Though Liang Ye’s voice was low, it was particularly clear in the silence. “Until the mastermind behind this is investigated, no one is to leave without permission. The Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, and Imperial Concubine are to be confined to their respective palaces…”

“Ziyu.” Cui Yuxian had just taken a step forward when Wei Wanlin’s heavy blade blocked her path.

“Grand Empress Dowager, Jian Ling and the Black Armored Guards were under your command,” Wei Wanlin said firmly, not budging an inch. “Please.”

Yun Fu finally arrived late with Imperial Physician Li. Wang Dian held Liang Ye tightly, looking at the corpses of officials on the ground. In his floating consciousness, he recalled the list of officials he had seen earlier in the inner court. He finally belatedly realized what had happened and stiffly lowered his head to look at Liang Ye.

Liang Ye gave him a weak smile, then furrowed his brow, “…It hurts.”

For a moment, Wang Dian sincerely wanted to strangle him, but seeing Liang Ye suddenly close his eyes with barely perceptible breathing, he panicked, “Liang Ye!”

****

The blood-stained arrow was pulled out of the flesh and tossed onto a plate.

Wang Dian instinctively held his breath, staring intently at Liang Ye. However, Liang Ye’s brows were tightly knitted, not even making a sound, but his hand gripped Wang Dian’s tightly, as if he wanted to crush it.

Wang Dian wiped the cold sweat from Liang Ye’s forehead with his sleeve and called his name several times, but Liang Ye had no response.

“The arrowhead was extremely close to the heart, just a little more and it would have…” Imperial Physician Li said to Wang Dian, “His Majesty once instructed this old minister that if he doesn’t wake up, all medical decisions are to be made by Wang Daren. If anything unexpected happens, Wang Daren may take his place.”

Wang Dian looked at the unconscious Liang Ye, taking a while to understand the meaning behind Li Bu’s words. After a moment of bewilderment, he pointed at Liang Ye’s wound and said, “You’re just going to wrap it up like this? Aren’t you going to stitch it? Has it been disinfected? What if it gets infected? You don’t even have anti-inflammatory medicine here!”

Li Bu paused, then lowered his eyes and said, “Wang Daren, His Majesty will have a high fever tonight. If he wakes up tomorrow, he will have survived the danger.”

“And what if he doesn’t wake up?” Wang Dian glared at him, still holding Liang Ye’s hand.

Li Bu sighed and bowed, “His Majesty has great fortune and a strong life force. He will surely be safe and sound.”

Wang Dian moved his lips, forcing himself to calm down, and called for Yu Ying.

“Issue an order that no one is allowed to visit. All palace maids, eunuchs, and guards in the bedchamber are not to enter or leave. Those who violate this order will be executed,” he said, looking down at Liang Ye. “Have all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Courtyard wait in the side hall. Have Wei Wanlin send men to guard Xingqing Palace… Send several reliable people to inform Commander Jiao that His Majesty is safe.”

Yu Ying’s eyes flashed with surprise, then he lowered his head and acknowledged the order.

“Send someone to Mount Shizai to invite the Taiji Temple’s Abbot to the palace.”

While Wang Dian calmly considered what else might have been overlooked, his rationality and composure were on the verge of collapse. After dismissing everyone, he sat on the footstool by the bed, staring at the unconscious Liang Ye with a pale face. Too many things had happened too quickly today, and his mind was now in chaos.

The wound on his hand finally began to ache belatedly. He couldn’t even remember who had bandaged it. His knee also hurt terribly, as if it were shattered. In comparison, the abrasion on his wrist hardly counted as an injury. His body was covered in blood and dust, yet he had no inclination to clean up.

Exhausted beyond measure, yet his mind was extremely agitated.

Liang Ye’s previous actions and traces finally all connected, forming a clear line that vividly displayed the emperor’s decisiveness and ruthlessness.

He pulled out a small red box from his sleeve and opened it. Inside was the pill Quan Ning had given him to counter the poison.

Wang Dian placed the box by the pillow, twisting his mouth in self-mockery. Liang Ye had never taken this pill away, simply keeping it as a means to test him. That fellow’s tests were always crystal clear—

Even now, Liang Ye dared to use his own life to test Wang Dian’s loyalty.

Zhen has placed Zhen’s life in your hands, will you betray Zhen?

Yet amidst truth and falsehood, Liang Ye seemed to be asking: Zhen’s life is right here. If you dare to take it, do you think Zhen wouldn’t have a contingency plan? Zhen will die with you.

Wang Dian had no doubt that if Liang Ye really died, he would not survive either.

This madman had never been reasonable.

But he wouldn’t believe a word of what Li Bu had said—he knew Liang Ye too well, as well as he knew himself.

However, he no longer wanted to ponder the intricacies. He just wanted to know if Liang Ye would open his eyes tomorrow.

Wang Dian reached out and grasped Liang Ye’s jaw, looking at him tenderly, “If you don’t wake up by midnight tonight, I’ll kill you first, and we’ll die together, okay?”

Liang Ye, with his eyes closed, frowned slightly, probably uncomfortable from having his jaw held.

Wang Dian chuckled softly, kissing the tip of his nose, “I’m kidding. Go ahead and die by yourself, you stupid fool.”