Chapter 30 Nightmare

Chapter 30: The Nightmare

Jiang Wang sat at the table, his eyes still red-rimmed. He obediently extended his hand, letting the imperial physician treat his wound.

He didn't dare look as the wound was cleaned, so he turned his head away and tightly shut his eyes.

Suddenly, as the physician applied some kind of medicine, a soothing coolness was followed by a dense, needle-like pain.

The tears he had suppressed earlier threatened to surge again, but he fought them back.

He had already embarrassed himself by crying in front of Xiao Yan once; he couldn’t afford to lose face a second time in such a short time!

Jiang Wang thought he was disguising his emotions well, unaware that his tense lips and reddened nose had already betrayed his struggle.

Xiao Yan subtly signaled the physician with a glance, who quickly nodded and added more pain-relieving powder to the wound. Jiang Wang’s expression indeed eased considerably.

Once the bandaging was complete, the physician instructed, “Lord Jiang, avoid getting the wound wet. For now, don’t use your right hand to hold things or lift heavy objects. I’ll return tonight to change the dressing.”

“Very well, thank you for your trouble.”

Jiang Wang agreed verbally but inwardly disagreed.

The wound didn't look that bad, so using it discreetly shouldn’t be a big deal. After all, using his left hand was really inconvenient—everything felt awkward.

He slowly flexed his right hand; it didn’t seem too painful and was tolerable.

Xiao Yan had been sitting nearby the whole time. After the physician finished bandaging Jiang Wang’s wound, he proceeded to change Xiao Yan’s dressing.

The physician carefully removed Xiao Yan's outer robe, and through his inner garment, scattered spots of blood could be seen seeping through—the wound had definitely reopened.

A wave of guilt slowly rose in Jiang Wang’s heart.

He had survived Li Zhicai’s attack thanks to Xiao Yan’s timely intervention. If Xiao Yan hadn’t noticed, he would likely be a corpse by now.

Looking at it this way, Xiao Yan wasn’t entirely bad. Perhaps he didn’t need to hold so much prejudice against him in the future?

Jiang Wang cleared his throat and spoke somewhat awkwardly, “Your subject thanks Your Majesty for saving my life.”

“Hmm.”

Xiao Yan didn’t say much, merely giving a faint acknowledgment.

However…

“Why was Your Majesty in the rear garden earlier?”

Jiang Wang asked.

He had gone to the rear garden to calm down for a reason, but Xiao Yan had no apparent reason to be there.

“I… I naturally went for a walk. Commander Fang suggested it, saying it would aid my recovery.”

Fang Fengshi, who had been standing nearby all along, silently grumbled to himself.

Brother, you vanished in the blink of an eye—I almost couldn’t catch up. Could you even call that a stroll? If a warhorse moved at that speed, it would cover a thousand miles in a day.

And now you use me as a shield…

Of course, he couldn’t say this in front of Jiang Wang. He had to play along with his friend’s act.

Fang Fengshi walked over to Xiao Yan, appearing remorseful while actually helping him cover the lie.

“It’s all my fault for suggesting it. Otherwise, Your Majesty’s injury wouldn’t have worsened.”

Seeing Fang Fengshi’s furrowed brows and regretful expression, Jiang Wang quickly tried to console him.

“But I should thank Commander Fang. If you hadn’t suggested His Majesty take a stroll, I’m afraid I would have…”

“If we’re speaking of thanks, Lord Jiang is the one who contributed the most in the assassin case. If not for Lord Jiang, we wouldn’t have caught that scoundrel Li Zhicai!”

Fang Fengshi glanced at Xiao Yan and said, “Your Majesty should remember to reward Lord Jiang generously.”

As they were talking, a loud cry of “Young Master!” interrupted them. Changle burst in like a little cannonball.

He rushed in without even bothering with formalities and immediately began inspecting Jiang Wang from head to toe.

“Young Master! How could you not tell me about such a dangerous incident today! If Imperial Guard Ling hadn’t called me over, I wouldn’t have known you almost…”

Changle’s voice choked up slightly, clearly worried and terrified for Jiang Wang.

“Changle, don’t cry. It wasn’t intentional, and I’m fine now…”

While master and servant were comforting each other, Ling Shan quietly followed Changle back in and resumed his position beside Xiao Yan.

Yes, Xiao Yan had sent Ling Shan to fetch Changle.

Seeing Jiang Wang’s eager, testing movements while his wound was being bandaged, Xiao Yan knew the latter wasn’t taking the injury seriously and would likely use his right hand anyway.

In that case, the only solution was to call Changle over to “manage” Jiang Wang.

Fang Fengshi’s gaze shifted between Xiao Yan and Jiang Wang before he finally suggested, “Since Lord Jiang is injured, perhaps he should return to Biwu Hall to rest properly. I’ll keep watch over His Majesty here.”

At that, both Xiao Yan and Jiang Wang turned their eyes toward him.

Xiao Yan frowned slightly, his gaze carrying a hint of threat.

Jiang Wang, on the other hand, looked troubled and confused.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leave—he still had a task to complete!

The system had given him the mission to care for Xiao Yan for three days, and he had only finished two. He needed to stay one more night.

If he left now, wouldn’t the mission fail?

The 20 points he was about to earn would fly away!

And without those 20 points, the system’s permissions couldn’t be upgraded. These weren’t just ordinary points—they were crucial.

From every angle, he couldn’t leave. He had to secure those 20 points!

Jiang Wang’s mind raced, and he finally came up with a suitable excuse.

“But didn’t the physician say he would change the dressing tonight? Perhaps I should stay another night to save him the trouble of making an extra trip.”

The physician had indeed said that earlier, so he wasn’t exactly lying.

Jiang Wang looked intently at Xiao Yan, his eyes holding a barely noticeable hint of anticipation, afraid the latter might say something to refuse.

“Then Minister Jiang shall stay in the side hall tonight.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yan's tightly clenched hand relaxed.

＊

Night fell quickly. The imperial physician arrived on schedule to examine Jiang Wang's wound and applied a fresh dressing.

After dinner, Jiang Wang and Changle settled into the side hall together.

With Changle around, Jiang Wang truly had no chance to use his right hand at all.

Changle strictly followed the imperial physician's instructions, completely acting as Jiang Wang's right hand, bustling around him so much it made Jiang Wang dizzy.

"Alright, Changle, you don't need to fuss over me so much. It's just a minor injury. You should go rest too."

Only after Jiang Wang assured him several times did Changle finally go to his own bed, looking back every few steps.

The surroundings finally quieted down. Jiang Wang opened his mouth wide in a big yawn and flopped onto the bed.

He closed his eyes, and his hearing seemed to sharpen considerably. He listened to the faint crackle of the burning charcoal beside him.

Suddenly, all the crackling vanished, and the sound of metal hitting the ground came again, as if right beside him, making his ears ring.

Jiang Wang sat bolt upright, rubbing his ears, only to find the surroundings completely silent.

There was no one else in the room besides him, and certainly no sound of metal falling to the ground.

He was hearing things.

It had to be the sound of the dagger in Li Zhicai's hand falling onto the brick path in the garden during the day.

Even though the environment was so noisy at the time, he had latched onto that sound and deeply buried it in his mind, only for it to resurface repeatedly in the dead of night.

Jiang Wang thought this matter would just pass, and he hadn't even thought about the assassination in the busy daytime, but he hadn't expected it to affect him so profoundly.

Now, whenever he closed his eyes, the scene from that day would replay in his mind, and the sound of metal falling would repeat, fraying his already fragile nerves.

He even began to uncontrollably imagine.

He wondered how much it would hurt if he hadn't been saved, if that dagger had plunged into his chest.

How helpless he would have been, perhaps dying alone and despairing behind the tree, with no one discovering him even as his heartbeat gradually stopped and his breathing faded.

This deep fear gnawed at him relentlessly, making him afraid to sleep.

Jiang Wang lay in bed like this, staring wide-eyed until dawn.

But staying awake all night was its own special kind of torture.

When called for breakfast in the morning, he sat at the table like a ghost, with dark circles nearly reaching the floor and lifeless eyes.

While drinking porridge, he nearly face-planted into his bowl.

Even though he couldn't sleep at all at night, as soon as day broke, sleepiness surged over him like a tidal wave, and closing his eyes only brought nightmares...

Jiang Wang was on the verge of collapse.

Perhaps because he had grown up in such a peaceful era, as the young master of a wealthy family surrounded by flatterers, he had naturally never witnessed such real violence.

Now, facing it head-on for the first time, the impact was undoubtedly etched into his bones.

Jiang Wang finished his porridge in a daze, not even tasting its flavor.

"Minister Jiang."

Xiao Yan's voice sounded beside him. Jiang Wang turned around mechanically like a robot, his voice somewhat raspy.

"Your Majesty, is something the matter?"

"During the two days I was unconscious, I wonder if Minister Jiang heard any noises."

Huh? Noises?

At that time, there were only him and Xiao Yan in the inner chamber. What kind of noises could there possibly be?

"No, Your Majesty. Was it the wind outside the window or the sound of branches breaking that disturbed your rest?"

Xiao Yan frowned, pretending to ponder. "I seem to recall... someone swearing at me."

"How could that..."

Jiang Wang instinctively refuted, but halfway through his words, he suddenly realized...

On the first night, hadn't he sworn a couple of times?

Could it be that Xiao Yan heard that?!

Instantly, alarm bells rang loudly in Jiang Wang's mind. He pushed all other thoughts aside, mobilizing his numb brain cells to deal with the immediate problem.

"How could that be, Your Majesty? It must have been a dream." He forced a smile. "You were probably too exhausted at the time, and your body needed recovery, so you had an absurd dream."

"Really?" Xiao Yan seemed doubtful.

"Of—of course. I can testify. Not even a mosquito could fly in at that time, let alone someone swearing at you."

Xiao Yan shook his head and smiled. "Then perhaps I really misremembered."

Seeing Xiao Yan's attention shift away from this, Jiang Wang couldn't help heaving a huge sigh of relief.

If Xiao Yan found out it was him who had uttered those two disrespectful curses, he probably wouldn't need nightmares anymore—he might be dragged off to the dungeons the next moment.

But strangely enough, ever since Xiao Yan gave him that scare, Jiang Wang's mental state improved considerably.

He didn't feel as out of it as before; both his thinking and movements showed signs of gradually recovering.

So, was this... a happy accident?

"Ahem, Your Majesty," Jiang Wang looked at Xiao Yan, "I'll take my leave now after finishing breakfast."

Xiao Yan nodded his permission.

"Minister Jiang has also been through quite an ordeal. Go back and rest well."

As Jiang Wang left, Fang Fengshi cheerfully sidled up to Xiao Yan. "No way, you actually believe Jiang Wang's words? You were really dreaming?"

It was fine to fool Jiang Wang, but *I'm* not fooled—he knew Xiao Yan had been pretending to sleep those two days.

Suddenly, Fang Fengshi had an epiphany.

"You did it on purpose!"

Author's Note:

Xiao Yan: The King of Acting—On the Many Methods of Diverting Attention