Hubby is sick. (Part Two)
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Dobhsh
The rainstorm in the Imperial City poured down from above and washed everything clean.
Lin Bozhou tossed his horse whip aside and stood outside the Gate of the Thriving Imperial Clan. His clothes were soaked in the rain. The eunuch knelt down to help him change, removing his shoes and socks, drying his hair, and putting him in a clean outfit.
Lin Bozhou asked, “How is His Majesty?”
Pei Xiyi, the Supervisor of Ceremonies who was charged with record keeping, had a clean and gentle appearance. In his thirties, he was an attractive young man. He knelt down and lifted Lin Bozhou’s feet to put on fresh footwear. “Replying to Your Royal Highness, His Majesty is hiding in his bed and refusing to see anyone. His Majesty is waiting only for Your Royal Highness.”
Now finally in a clean and dry outfit, Lin Bozhou’s lips were pale from the cold, but his eyes were calm and gloomy. After humming an affirmative, he pushed the group of people away and strided into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The large hall was empty.
Only a strong wind blew through the hall, sweeping up the curtains.
On the bed sat a child’s figure, shivering in the breeze. The Xuanhe Emperor’s face was pale. Then he heard a call at the door. “Your Majesty, this humble subject has arrived.”
He jumped out of bed and exclaimed, “Royal Brother, you finally came!”
Lin Bozhou entered the hall and glanced at the medicine bowl that had been tossed to the ground. The residual medicinal soup had dried up, but His Majesty didn’t allow anyone to clean it up.
“Royal Brother, we have a headache, stomachache, and diarrhea. It must be those servants who poisoned us, trying to end our life!” The Xuanhe Emperor burst into tears. “Royal Brother, you must find the killer who’s behind this and bring us justice!”
Lin Bozhou lowered his head and checked what was left in the bowl.
It just smelled like a very ordinary medicinal liquid for common colds.
Lin Bozhou approached again, raised his hand, and felt the Xuanhe Emperor’s forehead.
It was very hot. It seemed like the Emperor was running a fever.
“Royal Brother…” The Xuanhe Emperor said, with bruises around his eyes, “Our stomach hurts. Are we going to die from the poison?”
Lin Bozhou patted him lightly on the shoulder. “Your Majesty is overthinking it.”
The Xuanhe Emperor’s voice began to tremble, “We had that nightmare again…”
About two or three decades ago, the Zong Dynasty took a sudden turn for the worse after its flourishing period. In the current Zong Dynasty, the financial situation was strained, the bureaucracy had become rigid, and the officials were only interested in factional fighting and competing among themselves.
The imperial authority over the ministers became weaker and weaker, which allowed the emergence of a grand secretary, or eunuch, with overwhelming power over the court and the people.
At the time, Lin Bozhou’s father, Lin Luan, who was the crown prince, didn’t win the favor of Xu Ye, the Grand Secretary at the time. To the world’s shock, he was singled out for error and demoted to king.
After a new crown prince was appointed to the throne, Xu Ye gained control of the imperial court. Utilizing the power of court eunuchs, it took ten years for the new crown prince to get rid of this powerful minister. But by then… the court eunuchs’ influence had begun to rise drastically.
Working continuously night and day, the new crown prince spit his heart and spilled his blood; thus, his weakened body ruined all of his hard work. The government began to be dominated by the powerful eunuchs. So, the young man who slayed the dragon had become an evil dragon himself… After his passing, the seven-year-old eldest legitimate prince was the only heir he left behind.
On the day of the former emperor’s death, the violent fight for the crown prince was a sight to behold. Whoever gained control over the crown prince had ownership of the dragon as well as his power. Moreover, this Crown Prince was wonderful, as he was only seven years old.
This was an age at which he could easily be manipulated without effort or brains. The most perfect puppet.
In the middle of the night that day, the eunuchs, the cabinet, the Empress Dowager, the senior marquises—all these parties with substantial influence—blocked the Eastern Palace with their forces. Whoever could take away the new Emperor first would become the ruler of the new dynasty. They fiercely exchanged blows, turning the original ceremonial disagreements into an all-out brawl.
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.
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He wept bitterly and wet himself from the shock. Everyone said this was for his own good, yet none of them really cared about how terrified he was.
Over time, the Xuanhe Emperor became sensitive and gloomy. He understood that everyone wanted to use and manipulate him.
The only exception was… On that day, the cabinet brought in an elder brother of his from Guzhou, who was said to be the son of the former crown prince, and gave him the title of the country’s Prince Regent. His name was Lin Bozhou.
On the first day of his arrival, he played Weiqi with him.
On the second day, he played Weiqi with him.
On the third day, he played Weiqi with him.
Lin Bozhou was extremely intelligent and had an excellent memory. Among the different ways of playing Weiqi, there was one called ‘blind playing’. Lin Bozhou would cover his eyes with a black veil. Even without seeing the board with his eyes, the man was able to defeat him.
Lin Bozhou had no demands for him except that he must learn the ways of governing the country, study, and become a calm and mature ruler. Other than that, Lin Bozhou would manage the affairs of the court in an orderly manner and not let the Xuanhe Emperor worry.
The Xuanhe Emperor’s fears finally subsided. He found that this young, older brother was smart, capable, closest to him by blood, and very loyal to him.
He began to rely on Lin Bozhou and finally found a sense of security.
But those nightmares still came back to haunt him from time to time, making him wake up screaming.
A cool breeze entered the hall, bringing in cold air.
“It’s nothing.” Lin Bozhou said, “Sleep, Your Majesty.”
With tears on his face, the Xuanhe Emperor lamented, “Royal Brother, we can’t sleep.”
Lin Bozhou closed his eyes and said, “Your Majesty is thirteen already and should be steadier. The past has passed. Your Majesty is the Emperor now, with everyone’s eyes on you, and should look more like a wise ruler.”
The Xuanhe Emperor cried, “But we are really scared!”
There was a sense of powerlessness in Lin Bozhou’s heart.
The Emperor… was too ignorant and weak.
Over the past few years, even though Lin Bozhou had relentlessly tried to rebuild his self-confidence, increase his courage, and even train his bloodthirsty spirit, the Emperor still remained naive and weak.
Lin Bozhou said, “Your Majesty, be at ease. No one can harm Your Majesty in this humble subject’s presence.”
The Xuanhe Emperor shook his head, buried himself in the quilt, and stared at the ceiling with tears streaming down his face.
After a while, he murmured, “Elder Brother, we will try to get some sleep.”
The clothes on Lin Bozhou’s back were cold and clinging to his skin, probably because he rushed in before he was fully dried. As a result, he was ice cold all over.
He answered, “Sleep, Your Majesty.”
The Xuanhe Emperor requested, “Royal Brother, don’t leave.”
“This humble subject is not going anywhere.”
Lin Bozhou knelt in front of the bed and said, “This humble subject will watch over Your Majesty from here.”
Finally feeling at ease, the Xuanhe Emperor closed his eyes and patted the blanket.
Originally, he wanted to share his blanket with Lin Bozhou, but he knew the man was as firm as iron and would never do anything to overstep his status as a subject.
Soon, the Xuanhe Emperor fell asleep.
In the dark, Lin Bozhou lowered his gaze and relaxed his shoulders slightly, slowly remembering that he had broken his promise to Meng Huan.
The youth’s eyes had been bright, and he wasn’t disappointed when he heard this; he had just nodded.
Maybe… their relationship was still missing something.
“…”
His lips twitched slightly. He was exhausted from riding and staying up late, but the strings inside his body were so tight that he dared not relax even a bit. He kept his eyes open and stayed kneeling.
The Xuanhe Emperor was mentally sensitive, so there had been many nights like this.
In the past, Lin Bozhou could only rely on reciting the theory of governing the country to pass the long night.
But now… the face of the youth appeared in his mind again.
The corner of his lips curled inexplicably once more.
It appeared he had something new to get him through the dark nights.
–
It rained all night.
As a result, in the afternoon of the next day, the road was muddy when Meng Huan returned to the compound, making the carriage ride very bumpy.
This shaking made him feel like he was sitting in a coin-operated kiddie ride.
“Nevermind.” Seeing that the horses were struggling to pull the carriage that he was sitting in, he felt bad and suggested, “I’ll come down and walk back.”
Then Meng Huan stepped onto the pavement, and after only a few steps, he fell on his butt in the mud with a splash.
“……”
Shan Xing wanted to laugh but dared not, so he desperately held it back and ordered Feng Zhi, “Hurry and help the Royal Consort up!”
Feng Zhi was also holding back her laughter as she said, “Yes, right away. Royal Consort, what’s wrong with you? Are you alright?”
Meng Huan climbed to his feet in frustration. His butt was already hurting from horseback riding all morning, but it hurt even more after falling. He pressed his lips together tightly, a little upset with himself.
So annoying.
The first thing he did when he got back to the compound was get a change of clothes and take a bath.
When he was about to have dinner, he remembered he had not seen Lin Bozhou yet and asked, “Where is His Royal Highness?”
Feng Zhi folded the clothes and replied, “His Royal Highness? This servant heard that His Royal Highness just returned with a cold after being caught in the rain last night and staying in the palace for the whole night.”
“…” Meng Huan turned to her. “He is sick?”
“It appears so.”
So a paper man really could get sick?
Last night, when it was raining heavily, Meng Huan reassured himself that perhaps Lin Bozhou wouldn’t get caught in the rain because of his male lead halo. It turned out he could also get sick for real.
However, Meng Huan bit on his chopsticks and wondered, “Should I go and check on him?”
Feng Zhi smiled and said, “If the Royal Consort wants to go, you should.”
If he did, it might appear that he was striving for favor.
“…”
But if he didn’t, it might appear he was being indifferent to the man.
If he was the sick one, Meng Huan would have liked to have someone check on him and care about him. Besides, Lin Bozhou helped him deal with Xu Ruolin yesterday, and he hadn’t thanked the man yet.
Stuffing a few pieces of meat into his mouth like he was inhaling the food, he quickly filled his stomach, and after a simple round of his nightly routine, he declared, “I will go and see him.”
Then he was on his way to the main hall, where Lin Bozhou was staying.
When he reached the door, You Jin, the head eunuch, said, “Greetings to the Royal Consort.”
“Can I go in?” Meng Huan asked.
“His Royal Highness is sleeping right now.” You Jin lowered his head. “The Royal Consort may enter.”
It was rare to hear Lin Bozhou sleeping in the afternoon.
When Meng Huan entered, the hall was cold and quiet. The servants stood silently and wordlessly saluted Meng Huan upon seeing him.
Meng Huan walked to the bed, on which lay the figure of the man, covered to the waist with a thin quilt. On the bedside table was a bowl for medicine, which was completely empty.
Lin Bozhou’s hand was resting over his eyes, as if to block the light, and he seemed to be asleep. The light shone on his jaw, illuminating a part of his pale lips.
He looked sickly.
Meng Huan looked at him for some time. For a while, he didn’t know whether he should wake the man up or not. He just sat on the edge of the bed and looked around in boredom.
There was a brush and paper on the table. Perhaps the first thing Lin Bozhou did after coming back was to write letters, and it was likely that he only started taking medicine and sleeping when he was a bit too seriously ill.
Meng Huan gazed down at the man.
—Go ahead, work hard, and overachieve. Overworking when young is just overdrawing one’s life.
Lin Bozhou seemed to be uncomfortable, with cold sweat rolling down his forehead.
Was the man running a fever?
Meng Huan looked for a moment, raised his hand, and tried to brush away the loose hair from Lin Bozhou’s forehead before it was drenched in sweat.
But as soon as his fingers made contact, Lin Bozhou’s eyes twitched and opened.
Meng Huan kept his hand up awkwardly and smiled. “Your Royal Highness, you’re awake?”
The author has something to say:
Cuddle monster (Loading—)
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Nobody panic! Drunk Huan will definitely happen.
GLOMP!!!
I feel really badly for the Emperor and hope he can marry a warrior princess to guard his sleep.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME!!
+1 Wishing for the emperor to marry a warrior princess!!
+2 warrior princess seems like a good match for him.
+3 warrior princess all the way or maybe a dominatrix for our baby boy if you get what I mean👀😏
I FORGOT THE EMPEROR WAS A LITERAL CHILD 😭😭 I take back what I said about him, with his mother dying in front of him as well as others left and right, I’d be traumatized too!!
people with this type of high power has every right to be paranoid, i mean, i know a lot who have been assassinated and had an untimely death because of their power, as you can see in the earlier chapters, although, he is definitely not your usual kid of modern times and was a little rough withhis methods but he’s still literally a child who’s like trying to appear like a tiger infront of any possible danger, also he sounds like a tsundere to me base on his interaction with mc
I don’t really like the Emperor but I think he’s a very interesting character. His behaviour makes sense given him circumstances and I like what it adds to the story. The ML having to deal with this child everyone else is trying to use as a puppet is a much better showcase of the ML’s abilities then dealing with some stereotypical and one dimensional “evil” emperor. I hope the author takes the time to develop the Emperor’s character and give him some character growth instead of just killing him off so the ML can take his place on the throne.
The cold hall and the thin quilt aren’t how they treat colds in this setting are they? Isn’t it usually a little too warm and buried in blankets with lots of tea next to the bed? He needs his wife! Oohhh, and they always have to wipe their sweat 😉. Meng Huan reads the same stories so I’m curious if he’ll remember what to do 😊
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Thank You for the new chapter (๑˙❥˙๑)
Even emperor has his elder brother,yet the elder brother has no one 🙁
Why everyone panic about drunk Huan Huan? I prefer clear agreement instead of drunk agreement
Thank you for your translation 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
Nurse Huan Huan is here! Take care of your hubby babes lol
I like how the Emperor has been given a tragic backstory to explain why he is as he is. In the end he is only a child who has been given too much power and has no one to guide him.
On saying that, although I have my sympathies for him, I’m not overly fond of the Emperor either. Yes he’s a child that doesn’t know better, but he has been given power to ruin peoples lives and he doesn’t seem to take that seriously (remembering his first introduction when his actions caused the death of all the maids, guards, and eunuchs gathered, and he felt no remorse except for loosing one eunuch whom he played chess with). Without proper guidance he will turn into a tyrant (I fear he already is one).
It’s so upsetting that people are usually driven by their greed, not even taking into account the impact it may have on others. The Emperor is still so young, I feel really bad for what he had to go through.
Thanks for the chapter!
I swear all emperors are neurotic and terrified of assassinations and it’s like they’re born without the ability to sympathize or recognize someone else’s suffering. How could he not see his Regent is still soaking wet and not ask for someone to bring him a furnace or blanket and expect them to stay the whole night. It’s probably more horrible for the eunuchs.