“Your Majesty, the Regent has awakened!” As soon as Ah Xing left, the imperial physician hurried over.
“How is he?” Liu Jun asked while walking.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the Regent seems… much calmer.” The physician wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
In order to prevent others from disturbing Lu Yue, Liu Jun instructed everyone to wait outside. However, when he hurriedly walked into the room and met those calm, expressionless eyes, Liu Jun’s body suddenly froze, unable to take another step forward.
At this moment, Lu Yue’s gaze was unusually calm, and his face, which usually lit up with a smile upon seeing Liu Jun, was now cold and indifferent.
Lu Yue looked at the flustered man who had walked in and then stopped, his eyes briefly showing an imperceptible emotion before he looked away, no longer acknowledging him.
“You… remember everything?” Liu Jun’s voice trembled slightly.
“Yes.” Lu Yue’s voice was extremely indifferent, without the slightest hint of emotion.
After hearing this, Liu Jun’s body stiffened completely. He moved his lips, and wanted to say something, but it was as if something was stuck in his throat, preventing him from making a sound.
After the suffocating pain subsided, he seemed to regain his will.
“I’m sorry…” That weak, pain-filled voice emerged, adding a heaviness to the air.
Lu Yue’s eyelashes trembled, thinking he had misheard. He suddenly looked up and saw the man’s deep, ocean-like eyes fixed on him, the overwhelming remorse and intense emotion almost burning his eyes.
In a panic, he averted his gaze and simply said, “I don’t want to see you right now.”
Liu Jun’s body wavered almost unnoticeable as he desperately restrained his tears. She curled her lips and stiffly smile: “Then rest well, I’ll visit you another time.”
After saying this, Liu Jun immediately turned and left, his tall figure filled with desolation and sadness.
He knew that his harm to Lu Yue shouldn’t be forgiven, but facing Lu Yue’s indifference still caused him unbearable heartache.
Indeed, there was no anger, no ridicule, just only a piercing indifference.
To what extent must one be hurt to completely exhaust the energy needed to resist and vent?
Liu Jun didn’t dare to imagine, because every time he thought about it, he wished he could kill his past self.
How cruel!
Lin Xin, who had just arrived, saw his emperor in such a state and immediately guessed that something must have happened. But before he could ask, he received an order: “Send someone to protect him well.”
“Yes…” Lin Xin watched his emperor from afar, then turned to carry out the order. Only then did he learn that Lu Yue had regained his memory.
No wonder his emperor had that expression just now. Of course, Lu Yue would be afraid of him now and wouldn’t want to see him.
What should be done? Lin Xin tilted his head, deep in thought.
While others might not understand why Liu Jun hadn’t taken concubines, how could Lin Xin not know?
The day after Lu Yue woke up, Liu Jun ordered him to be sent back to the Regent’s Mansion.
Lu Yue stared blankly at the vibrant spring scenery outside the window, but his eyes reflected no light. His face was pale and thin, so fragile it seemed that a gust of wind could knock him over.
These days, Lu Yue couldn’t sleep well. Whenever he closed his eyes, he would recall the humiliation and ridicule he had endured, seeing Liu Jun’s cruel expression as he loomed over him. In those moments, it felt like he was falling into an endless abyss, and his body gradually swallowed by darkness.
But every time, another memory would intrude. In this memory, the man was tall, his handsome and resolute face softened by a gentle smile. The unfamiliar version of himself would cling to the man, acting spoiled. The man would affectionately stroke his face, hold him close as they slept, patiently coax him when he threw tantrums, and even get hurt for his sake.
In the end, the memory would always end with the man’s eyes brimming with pain and regret. At this point, Lu Yue would always wake up in a start, unable to fall back asleep until dawn.
He didn’t understand why Liu Jun suddenly seemed like a different person. He clearly wanted him to die before, but when Lu Yue had lost his memory, he become extremely gentle and considerate. What was Liu Jun thinking?
Lu Yue’s heart sank further and further. He no longer wanted to ponder these questions.
—
Liu Jun knew that Lu Yue didn’t want to see him, so he could only have Lin Xin keep an eye on him. Lin Xin had to report daily on how much Lu Yue ate, whether he slept well, if he lost weight, and whether he took his medicine on time. This report had to be presented to Liu Jun every evening.
Every time Lin Xin saw his emperor frowning at a piece of paper for a long time, he felt frustrated. If he was so worried, why not go to the Regent’s mansion to see him directly? Even though he had done many things to wrong the Regent, he had been deceived back then. Why didn’t the emperor just explain everything clearly?
After returning, Lin Xin sighed all night, and finally made a decision: he would tell Lu Yue about what happened three years ago. If Lu Yue still refused to forgive Liu Jun after that, there would be nothing more he could do.
So, early the next morning, Lin Xin was already waiting at Lu Yue’s door. When Lu Yue opened the door and saw him standing there, he was startled.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I have something to tell you,” Lin Xin said bluntly, his straight to the point action made it hard for Lu Yue to refuse.
After letting him in, Lu Yue lowered his gaze and asked, “What brings General Lin to see me?”
Unexpectedly, as soon as Lu Yue finished speaking, Lin Xin suddenly bowed to him and said, “Your Highness the Regent, Lin Xin has offended you many times before, please forgive me!”
Seeing the stern man suddenly half-kneeling in front of him, Lu Yue was surprised. He quickly said, “General Lin, please get up. You have done nothing to wrong me.”
Lin Xin replied solemnly, “No, it was I who knocked you unconscious in the forest and brought you back, and I looked down on you and was disrespectful. This was misbehavior.”
Lu Yue pursed his lips. “So, you all know now?”
Lin Xin stood up. “Yes, it was Huan Chong who swapped out your people and claimed you sent assassins to kill the emperor, so we misunderstood you.”
Lu Yue’s eyes flickered. “So, you are here to persuade me to forgive him?”
Lin Xin said, “No, I am here to tell you that His Majesty loves you.”
Oe Tef’r qeqlir vlijafv lcrajcais, jcv tlr tfjga revvfcis qbecvfv.
“Perhaps you don’t know, but His Majesty has likely been in love with you since three years ago, though he didn’t dare to tell you. To be honest, he is quite pitiful. Even in our Nanyue Kingdom, it was known that Beiyang Kingdom had a useless emperor whom almost all ministers treated as a plaything. As his only relative, you ignored him for a long time before finally taking him back. So, when those assassins falsely claimed you sent them to kill him, how could he not doubt you?”
“The Regent may not know this, but at that time, His Majesty was stabbed in the chest and nearly died. For three years, he harbored hatred towards you, and now that he knows the truth, he lives with regret for what he did to you.”
“You may not forgive our emperor, but please do not hate him. He truly loves you.”
Coafg rjslcu atlr, Olc Wlc ifoa, yea Oe Tef rabbv atfgf, ogbhfc obg j ibcu alwf.
Olc Wlc’r kbgvr tjv ragemx tlw ilxf j atecvfgybia, mjerlcu tlr tfjga ab agfwyif nlbifcais.
Ole Aec ibnfr tlw? Lbk mbeiv atja yf? Ktgff sfjgr jub, tf kjr pera j mtliv!
Lu Yue’s eyes widened in shock, completely unprepared for this revelation. He was stunned by both Liu Jun’s forbidden feelings for him and the truth about the assassination attempt three years ago.
He collapsed into a chair, feeling as if he were being sucked into a giant whirlpool.
That evening, in the imperial study, Lin Xin reported on the situation at the Regent’s residence as usual. Liu Jun frowned immediately after reading it. “He hasn’t been eating well?”
Seeing his emperor’s instantly gloomy face, Lin Xin felt nervous and said, “Well, I arranged for the Regent’s favorite foods, but he only takes a few bites and then stops eating. There’s nothing more I can do. Maybe… Your Majesty could go see him yourself?”
Lin Xin suggested cautiously, but his emperor’s eyes immediately darkened as he replied softly, “He wouldn’t want to see me.”
Lin Xin thought, ‘So he doesn’t have the courage to go.’
Lin Xin continued, “Your Majesty could go secretly, without letting the Regent know.”
Thus, with Lin Xin’s encouragement, the young emperor of Beiyang Kingdom climbed the high walls of the Regent’s mansion that night.
It was almost midnight, but the lights were still on in the Regent’s bedroom. Lu Yue was sitting on the bed in thin inner garments, holding a book. A lamp on the nearby table cast a gentle light on his serious, delicate face, creating an unexpectedly warm and peaceful scene.
Liu Jun, hidden in the shadows, gazed greedily at the man, the suppressed longing of the past few days nearly bursting from his chest. He longed to step forward and hold the man in his arms, never to let go. But he couldn’t do that. After hurting him so deeply, how could he have the right to be with him?
The guilt and desire in Liu Jun’s heart twisted together like two entwined vines, tightly squeezing his heart and causing him immense pain.
The light in the room finally went out, but Liu Jun remained standing there. The overwhelming longing eventually drove him to push open the door.
Just this one last time, let him kiss him once more.
001: [Host, the male lead has sneaked in!]
Pretending to sleep, Lu Yue: [I know. He’s taken so many days to come see me. I was beginning to doubt if he loved me.]
001: [How could the male lead not love you? Perhaps he loves you too much, which is why he didn’t dare to come.]
Lu Yue: [Oh, I think he’s just too cowardly.]
001 refused to speak with this cold-hearted human.
A tall figure silently entered and stood by the bed, quietly watching. Lu Yue seemed to be deeply asleep, completely undisturbed.
The moonlight outside the window fell gently on Lu Yue’s serene face, making him look even more like a piece of warm jade.
Unable to help himself, Liu Jun touched that face, gently, like a feather. Then he leaned down and kissed his forehead, eyes, the tip of his nose, cheeks, and finally his lips.
He thought Lu Yue was sound asleep, but he didn’t realize Lu Yue was actually wide awake. When someone entered, he immediately noticed but decided to pretend not to. He never expected the person would kiss him!
Lu Yue was so startled that he couldn’t pretend to sleep any longer. He suddenly opened his eyes and met a familiar gaze.
“What are you doing!”
Liu Jun was also surprised. He completely never expected for Lu Yue to be awake. Faced with the man’s sudden question, he was at a loss.
He looked at the man with a wary look on his face, feeling a sharp pain in his heart. His voice trembled as he explained, “I’m sorry… I just wanted to see you. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll leave right away.”
Liu Jun turned away dejectedly. At this moment, he resemble a stray dog that was cast out by its owner, both pitiful and embarrassed. Watching him, Lu Yue’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and a thought flashed through his mind: ‘Do you really want him to leave?’
After Lin Xin left that day, Lu Yue had come to understand many things. The reason Liu Jun hated him so much was because of the false accusation three years ago.
Ultimately, it was his own cold indifference during those years that made Liu Jun unable to fully trust him. It was his own fault too. How could he let Liu Jun bear all the guilt alone?
“Wait.” Just as Liu Jun was about to step out of the room, a gentle voice called from behind. Liu Jun froze, thinking he must have misheard. How could Lu Yue possibly call out to him?
“I have something to say to you.” This time, Lu Yue’s voice was clearer, making it hard for Liu Jun to deceive himself.
He quickly turned around, his gaze fixed on Lu Yue, and asked, “What do you want to say to me?”
Seeing Liu Jun’s bewildered expression, Lu Yue couldn’t help but smile slightly. “Come sit here first.”
Liu Jun was so taken aback by the man’s faint smile that he almost forgot to react. He forced his tense legs to move step by step, and even after sitting beside Lu Yue, he still felt somewhat unreal.
What would he say to him? Liu Jun’s heart pounded furiously as he anxiously wondered.
Although he had sent Lu Yue back to the Regent’s mansion these past days, he had actually been having him watched. Had Lu Yue discovered something and come to confront him?
Holding his breath, Liu Jun remained still, only to hear the person beside him suddenly ask, “How is the wound you received three years ago?”
The unexpected question left Liu Jun momentarily stunned. As he contemplated how to respond, Lu Yue continued, “I’m sorry. At that time, I didn’t know that Huan Chong wanted to kill you. If I had known, you wouldn’t have been stabbed and almost died.”
Although Lu Yue’s voice was soft, to Liu Jun’s ears it felt like a thunderbolt striking his heart, and made him trembling and speechless.
His eyes were bloodshot from staring unblinkingly for so long, and his fists clenched so tightly they made a creaked sound. The pain in his heart was almost unbearable.
His lips trembled, but his throat was too dry to form words.
Why apologize? Why say sorry? He’s the one who did wrong! He should be the one apologizing! It’s all his fault!
“It’s my fault for not protecting you. It’s natural for you to hate me,” Lu Yue said to himself, completely unaware that the person beside him was on the brink of collapse.
“I’m not worthy of being your uncle.”
After finished saying this, the person beside Lu Yue suddenly stood up, then knelt in front of him with an eyes filled with bloodshot veins, as if tears of blood were dripping from his heart.
Lu Yue exclaimed, “What are you doing?” He reached out to pull Liu Jun up from the ground, but the man stood there like a statue, unmoving.
His voice seemed to be filled with tears, “It’s my fault, I’m worse than a beast for hurting you. If you want me to die, I’ll die. If you don’t want to see me anymore, I’ll… leave.”
Before Lu Yue woke up, Liu Jun feared he would mercilessly mock and avoid him. But when he saw the man apologizing so gently, he felt the pain of wanting to die. He would rather endure the man’s anger and indifference than see him burdened with undeserved guilt.
Tears finally flowed uncontrollably. The towering man knelt before the gentle-faced man, as if wanting to release all his pain and guilt in his heart.
“You… don’t cry… I don’t blame you,” Lu Yue said somewhat bewilderedly. He didn’t understand why Liu Jun was crying like this. So all he could do was awkwardly console him.
But the more he comforted him, the more tears flowed down the man’s face.
He had already forgiven him, so why was he still crying? Lu Yue’s face wrinkled in confusion, reminding him of three years ago when he forcibly brought the young Liu Jun to the Regent’s mansion. Back then, the young man would often throw tantrums, and he didn’t know how to comfort him, so he just waited for him to calm down on his own.
However, that young man from years ago had grown into a real man taller than himself and he couldn’t treat him so casually anymore.
Lu Yue suddenly cupped Liu Jun’s face, making him look at him, and said word by word, “Listen to me, I don’t blame you, I won’t let you leave or die. It wasn’t all your fault in the past, and you don’t need to keep apologizing. I’ll forget about it, and you shouldn’t dwell on it anymore.”
Liu Jun looked into Lu Yue’s extremely gentle eyes, wishing he could dig out his own heart and give it to him. How could he ignore his words? He almost trembled as he said, “I’ll do as you say.”
[Ding! Male lead’s blackening value -3! Current blackening value 0! Congratulations to the host for completing the task!]
Lu Yue feeling tired: [It wasn’t easy, not easy at all!]
001 immediately: [Great job, host!]
Lu Yue: [Stop with the flattery. Since I’ve agreed to stay for a few more days, I’ll naturally do so. Besides, it’s also a chance for me to relax in this world and unwind a bit.]
When Lu Yue said he wanted to relax, he really did mean it. However, when he suggested going out, the man in the palace immediately sent over a dozen people to protect him.
When he led the servants and went to buy a seat at the legendary brothel and seek out a courtesan, the man suddenly appeared in the room, emitting an aura of darkness. He looked as if he wanted to tear down the brothel, frightening everyone present to tremble and cower aside.
Lu Yue was furious, but the man turned around with a look of grievance, as if Lu Yue had done something to wrong him. With this distraction, Lu Yue had no mood to continue and reluctantly returned to the palace.
Seeing his host angry, 001 offered a friendly reminder: [Host, with the task completed, you don’t have to worry about OOC!]
Lu Yue frowned: [What do you mean?]
001 pretended to cough: [It means you can do whatever you want.]
Lu Yue finally smiled: [Oh, is that so?]
That night, when Liu Jun returned to his sleeping chamber after handling government affairs, he was shocked to find someone lying on his bed, the same person who appeared in his dreams every night.
His first reaction was that he must be seeing things. But as he blinked hard and looked again, the person was still there, even waving and smiling at him.
He approached Lu Yue step by step, while his heart gradually accelerating. When he was close enough, the person he had longed for about day and night unexpectedly kissed his lips.
Liu Jun’s heart pounded violently in his chest, almost bursting out.
“Am… am I dreaming?”
Seeing the man’s incredulous expression, Lu Yue chuckled lightly and whispered in his ear, “You’re definitely not dreaming.”
Liu Jun trembled all over, then immense joy surged up in his heart, causing him to almost uncontrollably shake. It was simply unbelievable!
He suddenly embraced the man tightly, tears streaming down his face.
A certain troublemaker Lu, had expected to be pounced on immediately, but suddenly had three black lines appearing on his head now, and tears welled up in his eyes as well.
Lu Yue: [In this situation, shouldn’t he first give me a possessive kiss followed by devouring me? Why are we going down the path of melodrama?]
001 cautiously: [How about trying a different approach?]
Feeling frustrated, Lu Yue quickly adjusted his mood. His eyes, which were about to erupt in flames, suddenly turned into a timid shyness.
“You… let go of me first.”
Thinking he had hurt the man, Liu Jun quickly released him, only to see the man’s face turn almost crimson. His heart skipped a beat, and he stared at him wide-eyed, like a large dog wagging its tail obediently in front its master.
Lu Yue’s gaze was unfocused, and a faint sweet fragrance emanated from his slightly parted lips. It was only then that Liu Jun realized—he was drunk!
He suppressed the slight disappointment in his heart and he said, “How are you feeling? I’ll take you back.”
But Lu Yue was unusually stubborn. “No… I’m not going back. I want to sleep with you,” he said, attempting to undo Liu Jun’s clothes.
Liu Jun’s breathing suddenly became erratic. He suppressed his restlessness and firmly grabbed Lu Yue’s misbehaving hand. “Behave yourself. You’re drunk. I’ll take you back.”
“No, I’m not drunk!” Lu Yue suddenly looked into Liu Jun’s eyes with utmost seriousness, as if he had truly sobered up in that instant.
Liu Jun paused, listening blankly as the man said, “Ah Jun, I missed you. I don’t want to sleep alone. I want you to hold me!”
The man’s voice sounded like a spoiled child, and that “Ah Jun” instantly ignited Liu Jun’s body. His dark eyes looked extremely serious as he asked, “Are you sure you want to sleep with me?”
“Mm.” Lu Yue nodded earnestly.
“You won’t regret it?”
“No.” Lu Yue’s tone was resolute, and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Liu Jun was one of familiar dependence.
Liu Jun no longer restrained himself. He gently kissed the man’s lips, while slowly removing their clothes. He observed the man’s expressions closely, ready to stop immediately if he frowned or showed any signs of disgust.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yue, aside from a few soft hums at the beginning, cooperated obediently with Liu Jun, as if he trusted him completely.
For Liu Jun, that night was like a surreal dream, almost unreal. However, when he woke up the next morning and saw the man next to him, panic immediately welled up in his eyes.
However, as he nervously waited beside the bed for the man to wake up, before he could even apologize, he heard the man say, “What happened last night is not your fault. I did it willingly.”
Liu Jun had never thought that he could still earn the man’s affection. His heart almost stopped with joy.
After doing so many despicable things, to still receive forgiveness and affection from the man, he thought it would be worth dying for.
From 001’s perspective: little troublemaker Lu, not only enjoyed a wonderful night but also moved someone profoundly. Truly, humans are the most advanced species in cultivating emotions. Even this highly advanced intelligent system deeply admires it.
This took a turn 💀 #1 Gaslighter Lu Yue, playing with people’s emotions since 1998/j
He promised not to make him too obsessed… Well it never was an option anyway.¯\(ツ)/¯