Someone pulled open the door!
In a split second, Wen Mingyu stiffened up—vigilant and on guard—he tightened his grip on the sword, and stabbed it without hesitation.
One hand grasped his wrist—then, with a yank, drew him into an embrace.
Wen Mingyu was engulfed by the comforting scent of pheromones, so close that it filled him with an immediate sense of safety.
It was Mu Zhan.
When Wen Mingyu realized who the visitor was, the rim of his eyes got painful and red—and soon misted up, thickening and coalescing into teardrops that finally flowed quietly.
Mu Zhan grew aware that the person in his arms was trembling. He tossed away the blade as the light in his eyes dimmed. He embraced the person even tighter and carried him to the bed, enveloping him in the thick, warm quilt and rubbing his hands over his back, benignly and carefully consoling him.
“It’s alright, don’t be afraid, it’s this one’s wrong for not noticing it…”
Mu Zhan, who had usually spoken with the sharpness of a blade, appeared to be unable to articulate at this moment. He stopped mid-sentence and could only hug the person securely in his arms. He covered Wen Mingyu’s ears, preventing him from hearing the noises of the rebels being apprehended outside.
A long time passed.
Outside, there were no voices or sounds, and Wen Mingyu’s emotions gradually subsided.
“I am fine,” he said in a muffled voice. “How is Your Majesty?”
Mu Zhan shook his head and looked at him with downcast eyes. “This one is also fine.”
He observed Wen Mingyu’s mien and perceived only tiredness and restlessness as a result of great mental stress.
“Do you want to take a nap first?”
Wen Mingyu nodded, but his clothing was splattered with blood, so he said, “I want a bath first.”
Mu Zhan nodded and released him very thoughtfully and very carefully.
Wen Mingyu’s fingers were still hanging onto Mu Zhan’s cuffs instinctively, and he didn’t even realize it.
Mu Zhan cast a glance at it. “This one will accompany you?”
Wen Mingyu’s reaction was a touch sluggish. He approached him after a few seconds before shaking his head and abruptly declaring, “Your Majesty, I have killed someone.”
A cold gleam flickered across Mu Zhan’s eyes. As he stretched out and caressed Wen Mingyu’s head, his thin lips pressed firmly. “Don’t be afraid; you’re not at fault; they deserve it,” he whispered softly.
Wen Mingyu pulled Mu Zhan’s sleeves tightly and hooked his fingers. After a little pause, he enquired,“…San Xi and the others, are they okay?”
Mu Zhan turned to face Zhao Dequan and winked, and the latter promptly summoned San Xi.
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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This time, the soaking was shorter than usual.
Wen Mingyu really wanted to wash off the blood odor and conceal it with incense, but he also wanted to meet Mu Zhan as quickly as possible.
So he hurried up his movements, cleaned up as fast as he could, changed into new clothes, and headed out.
Mu Zhan had also washed and replaced his clothing, leaving no evidence of blood behind.
They went to another resting place, where everything was spotless and there was no dried blood, as if nothing had happened and it was all a hallucination from Wen Mingyu.
They lay on the bed together.
Mu Zhan supported the person in his arms, placed his hand on his back, and massaged it lightly.
At this time, the typically assertive pheromones turned surprisingly affectionate, like a trickle of water softly flowing around and washing away the dread and worry in Wen Mingyu’s heart.
Wen Mingyu was safely cradled in his arms. His eyelids drooped, and he soon succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep.
In the late hours of the night, he suffered from a nightmare. He was frowning, shivering, and making painful sounds.
Mu Zhan patted him attentively and mumbled soothing words to him for a long time until he awoke from his dream and fell asleep again.
The result of the palace insurrection that took place.
Despite the fact that the hunt was over, the return trip to the palace was prolonged.
Two days later.
Wen Mingyu had made significant progress, but he still experienced nightmares at night—when he was hiding in a cupboard, the door creaked open, and rather than Mu Zhan, it was a troop of hideous-looking rebels who raced over to torture him. Among them, the rebel he had murdered was there, his corpse festering and weirdly sneering, and the blade repeatedly pierced him in the heart.
Wen Mingyu was not in his usual easygoing or chipper mood.
Mu Zhan gazed at him in this state, his face forbidding. He couldn’t disguise his annoyance; he had seldom been in such an irritated mood since Wen Mingyu came to him.
Mu Zhan grabbed his wrist and took him somewhere.
In the secluded courtyard, a handful of rebels were kneeling on the ground, newly flogged, with shredded clothing and multiple lacerations on their flesh. The stench of blood lingered.
“Stay put and watch.”
Mu Zhan had him wait a few feet away, close enough to see the rebels but not so close that the odor covered him.
Mu Zhan loosened his grip and approached the sinners.
Grabbing a sharpened bayonet, he marched to the nearest rebel and, without remorse, jabbed him in the back of his hand. He then impaled and gave his wrist another violent twist. The blade’s point churned in and out of the flesh and blood. The rebel instantly shrieked in anguish, the sound as if it had been corroded, giving bystanders shivers.
Mu Zhan held the bayonet, but his face was anything but merry. His eyes were claret-red, and he was domineering and oppressive. His heart seemed to be encased and smothered by viscous, foul-smelling muck that gushed forth in torrents, engulfing his entire body.
A tinge of self-loathing hides behind the savagery and madness.
Mu Zhan was disgusted at himself for failing to anticipate the appearance of rebels in his bedchamber. He claimed there was nothing to fret about, but the reality smacked him, and Wen Mingyu was nearly killed by the rebels.
Mu Zhan’s visage was detached, and his ways of slaying the rebels were merciless. He turned back and glanced at Wen Mingyu, and said gently, “Don’t be scared. He’s no longer alive, and he’ll never hurt you again.”
Wen Mingyu looked blankly at the spectacle, unable to react. While Mu Zhan continued to stare at him, Wen Mingyu eventually woke up and nodded in answer.
Wei Yingwu was also present. Seeing that Mu Zhan had fully eliminated the rebels, he grimaced and wanted to say something. “The questioning hasn’t ended yet…”
But his remarks were cut short by Wen Changlan, who bumped his arm and restrained him with his eyes.
Wei Yingwu was quickly silenced.
They merely watched as Mu Zhan and Wen Mingyu walked away.
Mu Zhan let go of the sword. With blood on his hands, he looked attentively at Wen Mingyu to check whether there was any dread in his eyes, especially the fear of himself.
Neither of them, however, Wen Mingyu’s eyes were unsullied and limpid. There was just wonder, worry, and anxiety, but no fear.
Mu Zhan dropped his gaze to conceal the surging and crashing dark tides and rinsed the blood from his hands.
Before falling to slumber at night, Mu Zhan wrapped his arm around Wen Mingyu and enquired, “Are you still afraid? Are there any nightmares? ”
Wen Mingyu sensed his purpose of drawing himself over and took the initiative to approach Mu Zhan, virtually snuggling into his arms. He replied solemnly, shaking his head, “I’m perfectly fine. Thank you, Your Majesty. ”
That midday show was certainly meant to look gory and brutal. Wen Mingyu, however, was oddly unafraid, yet an incomprehensible sensation welled up in his heart.
He no longer suffered from nightmares of being killed.
That night, he was hiding in a cupboard. In complete darkness, the door suddenly opened and Mu Zhan stretched out his hands and scooped him out; all of the negative emotions were replaced at once by the tenderness of his embrace.
After a couple of days, he finally got a good night’s sleep; his brows eased and his sleeping face tranquil.
The shadow in Wen Mingyu’s heart dissipated, and he reverted to his former self.
When Mu Zhan saw that he was indeed alright, he was relieved and returned to his work. The palace insurrection was over, but there were still a lot of issues to deal with.
Wen Mingyu had just come through a terrifying ordeal that had nearly cost him his life. The palace servants were concerned about him, so they sought to distract him and lift his spirits. In the face of such enthusiasm, he couldn’t resist, so he took a stroll in the vicinity.
He came to a halt in front of a tree that was full of pink blossoms with overlapping petals, vividly flowering and entrancing.
Wen Mingyu looked at the familiar Haitang blossoms and suddenly felt worn out. He crouched on the ground, hands on his knees, and shriveled into a little ball as he silently contemplated things.
He remembered his escape plan from the start of his crossing and kept plotting his path and making preparations.
If we’re being honest, there’s a higher possibility of escape here on the hunting grounds. It would be considerably more difficult to flee once they returned to the heavily guarded Imperial Palace. And, because Mu Zhan was now extremely occupied, he could take advantage of the chance to flee.
However…
He doesn’t really want to go.
He had never had a sense of belonging, no one to lean on, so it didn’t seem to matter where he went, whether it was the interstellar era or the olden times. Mu Zhan, on the other hand, was different. After a while, he just forgot about his being a tyrant and felt a rare sense of kinship with him.
What would the point of escaping be? Would it lead to a happier life?
Wen Mingyu shook his head, pulled himself up on his knees, and patted his clothes.
He’s not going anywhere.
After coming to this conclusion, his entire body felt lighter, as if a heavy load had been removed. The edges of his mouth curled up, revealing an unmistakable grin.
Wen Mingyu returned to his bedchamber after ending his stroll. The palace servants brought a great pile of items, all of which were consolation gifts.
Gifts were given by some unknown people as well as friends.
Wen Mingyu began opening his gifts, naturally beginning with the friends he cared about. Huo Hongyu gave some amusing distractions, Wen Changlan gave a story-telling script, and Wei Yingwu provided…a clump of weed?
When Wen Mingyu lifted it and examined it, his confused brain was full of questions.
He could understand any other gift, but what did giving this one mean?
It soon dawned on Wen Mingyu.
Because emanating from the unappealing grass was a really peculiar scent that caused him to get oddly thrilled, making him more giddy than intoxicated. When confronted with this scene, all he wanted to do was nuzzle the grass, fling himself to the ground, and tumble around. His entire rabbit seemed to float on a fluffy cloud, his tiny paws unable to touch the ground.
ChiFu: I’m grateful to everyone for your heartwarming comments. My family’s second son is a very handsome half-Siamese black cat. We are still observing his condition and have already given him some medicine. I hope we get through this with him biting and putting scars (medals) on my arms!
Thank you supporters for the kofi. I apologize if I’m not adding any extra chapters, I don’t really have the time for it now, but I will try my best to update on time!
This chapter was so heartbreaking yet soothing at the same time. WM has had a rough life but he finally found his true home with the man who’ll defend him to the ends of the earth when no one else would. Thanks for the chapter and I hope your cat recovers. If you don’t do it yet, I really recommend giving cat treats after giving meds (and petting them during or after) so the cat doesn’t see the act as a punishment and maybe they’ll tolerate it more. It helps with my cat who needs anxiety meds. Take care of yourself and don’t stress over extra chapters!
Thanks for the chapter. Hope your family’s second son has a speedy recovery.
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
I’m at such a loss
Thank you very much for the translation 🤍🤍🤍
But natural bracelets are beautiful~ my cat loved giving me those
Thank You for the new chapter (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
I knew Mu Zhan would take care of him – as well as regret sending him to their bedroom by himself 😕. I did not know that Wei Yingwu would get him high😄. What a relief Wen Mingyu saw the the position he’s in for what it really is and that it’s a good place to be!
I appreciate the time it took to finish this one and not leave Wen Mingyu in the cupboard!
Thanks for the update ❤️💕
Is that a rabbit grass or something? Soon i guess the emperor will find out our bunny’s secret
MZ going all yandere for waifu to soothe him mentally is, hmm, My Aesthetic. I approve. Also, uh-oh, rabbit catnip?!