Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Fang Zhihe was half-asleep and half-awake all day. Before dawn the next morning, he rose to dress. A pile of memorials sat on the desk; he glanced at them without comment, then looked at Qi Guan standing by his side, waiting on him. He lifted his eyelids slightly and said flatly, "Go rest."

Qi Guan didn't look well. He had stayed awake all night watching over the man before him, not closing his eyes. His clothes were a bit rumpled, and the table beside him was cluttered with acupuncture tools, medicine bottles, and bowls.

At these words, he gave a slight nod. "Your Majesty, I don't know what you're thinking, and I don't have time to care what you're up to. The body is your own. Go ahead and ruin it if you want. But next time, if you summon me, have someone give me a heads up first: tell me you don't wish to get better, and I'll naturally not exert myself. That'll save you the trouble of going out of your way to destroy yourself."

Fang Zhihe had just sat down, not yet opened a single memorial, when he heard this. His eyelids trembled.

Helplessly, he turned and tried to soothe, "Lanning, don't be angry with Huaishu..."

Qi Guan packed his stuff and said flatly, "I don't give a damn."

Fang Zhihe fell silent, watching Qi Guan's retreating figure as a dull ache struck his chest like thunder. He hid his curled, painful hand under the desk and forced a soothing smile. "Don't say that. In this life, you're the only one, Lanning, who cares about me... You can't abandon me."

Qi Guan whirled around, his eyes blazing with fury that threatened to consume him. He almost roared, "Fang Huaishu! Are you out of your mind?! Is it that you must do whatever I tell you not to do? Who are you trying to impress with this heartlessness? Look at yourself—what have you become?! Your imitation of Fang Zhanglin is pathetic—a total mess! It's obviously a clumsy copy! You're so foolish!"

After he finished shouting, he saw Fang Zhihe's stunned expression and couldn't help a bitter, sneering smile. "Guess why you got sick this time?"

Fang Zhihe looked at him silently.

Watching him with cold eyes, Qi Guan said softly and flatly, "Because you took that drug."

Fang Zhihe narrowed his eyes slightly. An unexpected emotion was carefully gathered and silently concealed behind his gaze.

"It's not really medicine—it's a poison." Qi Guan reached out and picked up a strand of Fang Zhihe's loose hair. "Years ago, the Medicine King Valley unearthed a herb called Stone Withered Grass from the Western Mountains. Simmered with coptis root, it becomes a decoction for clearing heat and detoxifying. But if ground into powder and consumed alone, it damages the dantian; if a martial artist takes it, they lose all their inner strength."

Fang Zhihe came to his senses after a long silence. He gave two dry laughs, rubbed his nose, then his stomach, and fell silent once more.

"Lucky for you, you already lost all that when you gave birth to Lu Yuan, so there's no need to grieve." Qi Guan added a remark, as if he hadn't seen the faint bitter smile on Fang Zhihe's lips.

He wanted to make him hurt, to make him wake up.

Fang Zhihe smiled faintly. "Don't make fun of me, Lanning."

Qi Guan stood up to leave, then thought of something and turned back, staring into Fang Zhihe's eyes. "If you sleep with him, you have to come to me afterward for the birth control stuff. Do you hear me?"

Fang Zhihe was dazed. "...It was fine when I had Xiaoyuan, right?"

Qi Guan sneered. "Fine? It just meant you'd be waiting to die if you had another one."

With that, he turned and left.

Fang Zhihe let out a light sigh, rubbing his palm. He remembered how Lu Wuyou wouldn't let Lu Yuan touch that braised pork, and a sharp, aching pain spread from the very core of his heart.

That man hated him so much. So dead set on taking everything from him.

During the morning court, Lu Wuyou stood at the front of the ministers. Fang Zhihe glanced at him casually and said offhandedly, "Minister Wang, what about that thing from last time?"

Wang Yinhai immediately bent low. "Your Majesty, I ordered everyone in the Fang house to move ten li away from the city walls, and some fines in silver and land have been imposed to settle the matter."

Fang Zhihe looked at him. "Mm. Add another rule."

Lu Wuyou looked up at him. Fang Zhihe said coldly, "Men entering the city get made into palace eunuchs; women get sent to the army as prostitutes."

From the corner of his eye, Fang Zhihe caught Lu Wuyou's dark glare, and his eyes curved into a smile. "The day before yesterday, I heard a joke. It seems some commoners, under the pretext of accumulating merit for me, have been looting wealthy families to aid the poor."

"Those with hands and feet should earn their own keep. Relying on charity—using other people's money—how does that accumulate merit for me? What do you think, Minister Lu?"

Lu Wuyou looked up and said flatly, "Even if Your Majesty accumulated merit, you would still go to hell and suffer flaying, disembowelment, and boiling oil. Why bother with this pointless act?"

"..."

Fang Zhihe fell silent. The entire court dared not breathe.

Lu Wuyou looked at him expressionlessly. "Your Majesty, am I wrong?"

Fang Zhihe tasted blood in his throat. He curled his hand, coughed lightly into it, and wiped the blood into his palm, then smiled softly. "You are right. I... in this life, have no good deeds to speak of. After death, I will surely suffer the torments of flaying and skinning every day. Minister Lu speaks wisely."

As he spoke, he didn't notice the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, only faintly maintained a smile.

His heart ached so fiercely that he could no longer speak. He could only wave his hand, signaling the chief eunuch to announce the dismissal of the court.

In unbearable pain, he reached out and hugged the armrest of the dragon throne, almost curling up on it, shrinking into a very small ball.

He didn't dare lower his head in front of Lu Wuyou, except when begging. He refused to lower his head unwillingly. He had spent years studying Fang Zhanglin, learning his tenderness, his brightness, his smile, his demeanor.

But he could never learn to make Lu Wuyou love him.

What he wanted most, what he longed for, was the one thing he could never have.

He just couldn't understand—why couldn't Lu Wuyou treat him just a little better? Just a little bit.