Chapter 59 String of Beads

Yu Yuan’s smile gave the coachman goosebumps all over his body.

The coachman was trembling¹lit. shaking like a sieve; shivering with fear as he carefully asked, “Lord Yu, did I say anything wrong just now?”

“No,” Yu Yuan retracted his smile and took out a silver draft from his sleeve, “Buy some delicious food for your wife and son.”

“Also, you can go now.”

Yu Yuan closed his eyes, then pretended to be weak and unable to take care of himself again.

The autumn breeze was slightly cool, swirling up the yellow leaves.

When Yan Mu entered the room, the coachman had already left.

She dampened a cloth, wanting to remove the teenager’s blood-stained jacket.

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She wouldn’t have had the pleasure of meeting him.

Yan Mu felt sad from the bottom of her heart.

“I’ll help you clean your wound first,” she hoarsely said.

If the wound was contaminated with dirt, then it would become inflamed overnight.

Who knew that the teenager’s grip on her hand wouldn’t loosen at all.

Yan Mu was a little stunned, and she saw him lower his eyes, his eyelashes slightly trembling.

“Ah Mu, men and women should keep their distance²男女授受不亲 (nánnǚshòushòubùqīn) – men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things (citation, from Mencius). Didn’t you say we shouldn’t get too close?” Yu Yuan looked extremely aggrieved.

Right now he looked like a fragile piece of glass, delicate and weak.

However, he had a unique beauty.

Yan Mu forcefully pulled her hand back and angrily said, “How are you still saying that in this kind of situation!”

Tears pooled in her eyes, and finally couldn’t help but fall.

Drop after drop fell onto his blood-stained clothes.

Yu Yuan’s movement paused, and he softly asked, “Is Ah Mu crying for me?”

“I’m not crying.” Yan Mu wiped her tears away and reached out to remove Yu Yuan’s jacket.

This time, Yu Yuan didn’t stop Yan Mu.

He was lost in thought as he quietly watched her movements.

Yan Mu’s hands were slightly trembling. She placed her hands on his lapels and mentally prepared herself before pulling them open.

 The blood had already dried in certain spots. Yan Mu didn’t dare to pull too hard, so she could only use the wet cloth to slowly dissolve them.

As she wiped, Yan Mu’s tears dripped down again.

In the end, Yu Yuan couldn’t watch it anymore and tore off the stuck clothing.

“What are you doing!” Yan Mu was stunned.

“With this, Ah Mu can apply medicine.” Yu Yuan’s face grew paler and paler, but he still smiled as if he couldn’t feel any pain.

In a trance, Yan Mu seemed to see that future cold and paranoid minister, who would step on the bones of the dead.

But surprisingly, she didn’t feel afraid.

Yan Mu pursed her lips and turned away to go wash the cloth.

When she came back, the teenager had already removed his jacket in advance.

The teenager was pale, and the muscles of his upper body were well-defined and covered with various kinds of old and new wounds.

The most conspicuous part was his abdominal wound. It was deep and long, looking extremely scary.

Yan Mu finally saw the wound completely and couldn’t help but draw a cold breath.

Her hand couldn’t stop trembling, and she could barely hold onto the piece of cloth. 

“It must hurt a lot, right?” Yan Mu asked in a trembling voice.

“The imperial physician said that it’s not serious, and after Ah Mu applies medicine for me, I won’t be in pain anymore,” Yu Yuan said.

“It already looks like this and you’re still saying it’s not serious, so what would be considered serious!” Yan Mu’s eyes were red as she sprinkled medicinal powder for Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan laughed.

Actually, the imperial physician shouldn’t be blamed, as his wound really was originally not serious.

Seeing Yan Mu’s look of worry, Yu Yuan felt like his heart was sour and stuffy.

He quietly held her hand.

Yan Mu’s movement paused, but in the end, she didn’t pull back her hand.

Yu Yuan won an inch and wanted a foot³得寸进尺 (décùn-jìnchǐ) – an idiom; fig. not satisfied with small gains, so he moved closer to Yan Mu and leaned his head on her shoulder like a child.

“Ah Mu finally stopped pushing me away.” Yu Yuan took a deep breath of Yan Mu’s hair fragrance.

There were only the two of them in the room. Yu Yuan’s eyes were fixed on Yan Mu’s face as she applied medicine for him, and in a trance, he seemed to feel like they had returned to the old days.

During those dark times in Qingshui Village, when he was injured, only Yan Mu would care about his injuries.

Only Yan Mu would apply medicine for him with red eyes.

His arm moved slightly, wrapping around Yan Mu’s waist.

In close contact, burning body heat spread from the teenager’s bare skin.

His nose was filled with the smell of the bitter medicine, and the scent of their bodies almost merged into one.

Yan Mu held up the medicine bottle, and in a flash, many thoughts crossed her mind.

In the end, she didn’t push Yu Yuan away.

She realized something terrible.

Right now, she simply couldn’t face Yu Yuan’s injury. She was the author and she knew exactly how difficult the road ahead was for him.

He would suffer more injuries than this. Yan Mu was a little crushed.

Yu Yuan felt a wetness from the crook of his neck, and was shocked to find Yan Mu choking with sobs.

“Ah Mu, what’s wrong with you?” Yu Yuan panicked.

His mood was a little complicated. He wanted Yan Mu to only cry for him alone, but he also didn’t want to see her tears.

Yan Mu didn’t speak and just silently bandaged Yu Yuan’s wound.

“Rest well, I’ll go buy you something delicious.” Yan Mu wiped away her tears.

After speaking, without waiting for Yu Yuan to respond, she hurriedly headed out.

Yu Yuan looked at Yan Mu’s back in silence.

Yan Mu clearly treated him meticulously like he’d expected, and she’d clearly shed tears for him alone.

He’d clearly achieved all his objectives.

He should’ve been happy.

But Yan Mu’s tears seemed to weigh a thousand catties, smashing his heart, making him unable to breathe.

Why? Why don’t I feel happy at all?

Yu Yuan lay on the bed, staring at the top of the pink tent, feeling perplexed for the first time.

*******************

Ah Yu had just gotten up from his nap when he saw Yan Mu hurriedly leaving with red eyes.

Yu Yuan must have made Yan Mu jiejie sad!

Ah Yu suddenly became energized. He aggressively pushed open the side room door, only to smell the strong scent of medicine and blood. 

Ah Yu was dumbfounded.

It turned out that Yan Mu jiejie was so sad because she was worried.

He’d misunderstood Yu Yuan.

Ah Yu suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed.

He slowly moved step by step towards Yu Yuan, and softly asked, “Are you alright?”

Yu Yuan was leaning sideways on the bed, fiddling with a string of beads in his hand.

The light in the tent was dim, Ah Yu vaguely felt like the string of beads looked familiar, but he couldn’t see its precise appearance clearly.

Yu Yuan didn’t immediately answer Ah Yu.

After  a while, he let out a soft “mmm”.

“Ah Yu, how was your parents’ relationship?” Yu Yuan suddenly asked.

Ah Yu was momentarily stunned.

He looked a little down while remembering his dead parents, then softly said, “They had a great relationship.”

“Say, what should be considered as really liking someone?” Yu Yuan asked with his eyes downcast.

Yu Yuan rarely spoke so calmly with Ah Yu.

Usually, Ah Yu would provoke him, then Yu Yuan would coldly lift him by the collar and throw him out.

“H-how would I-I know…….” Ah Yu was only eight years old this year, so how would he know all this?

“But it certainly wasn’t like you.” Ah Yu didn’t forget to mock Yu Yuan.

“My father was also injured before, but he would hide it from my mother, afraid that she’d be sad if she knew.” Ah Yu squinted his eyes at Yu Yuan and said, “However, you’re different. When you’re injured, you’ll definitely be the first to show it off in front of Yan jiejie.”

Yu Yuan glanced at Ah Yu coldly.

Ah Yu shrunk his neck back from his gaze.

Yu Yuan wanted to refute Ah Yu’s words, but realised that he was right.

He fiddled with the string of beads in his hand, feeling even more irritable.

“Yu Yuan, you won’t be able to chase Yan Mu jiejie like this.” Ah Yu didn’t forget to add salt to Yu Yuan’s wound⁴补刀 (bǔdāo) – (fig.) to attack somebody who is already under fire.

He sat on the bed, his short legs dangling in the air.

“In spring, my dad would make spring wine together with my mum. In summer, they would enjoy lotus flowers, and in winter, they would build a snowman together.” Speaking of his deceased parents, Ah Yu’s expression was nostalgic and sad, “Unlike you, always making Yan jiejie worry!”

“My dad said that men who make women cry are the most useless.” Ah Yu was filled with indignation⁵义愤填膺 (yìfèn-tiányīng) – righteous indignation fills one’s breast (idiom); to feel indignant at injustice, “How come you don’t even know this?”

As soon as he turned his head, he found that Yu Yuan was looking at him coldly.

Most of Ah Yu’s arrogance immediately vanished.

“I don’t have parents.” Yu Yuan lowered his eyes.

Don’t have parents, don’t have friends, absolutely no one taught him how to love.

Ah Yu felt like he’d said the wrong thing.

He wanted to apologize, but his childish temperament simply didn’t allow him to do so.  

However, Ah Yu felt too ashamed to face Yu Yuan.

Ah Yu’s brain went blank and he simply escaped the situation by turning around and running away.

He’d just taken a step when he was lifted back up by Yu Yuan.

“W-what do you want to do?” Ah Yu gestured threateningly⁶张牙舞爪 (zhāngyá-wǔzhǎo) – to bare fangs and brandish claws (idiom);, pretending to be tough.

Yu Yuan didn’t speak and threw Ah Yu on the bed.

Ah Yu covered his butt and let out an “Ouch!”.

He frowned, and used his little chubby hand to take out the thing that he was sitting on.

It was the high quality string of beads that looked so very familiar.

Ah Yu seemed to have seen it somewhere before.

The more he looked at it, the more familiar it felt, as if there was just a thin piece of paper between him and the truth that would break with just a poke.

Just a little bit more.

Just a little bit more and he could remember it.

Ah Yu was racking his brain while staring at the string of beads, but Yu Yuan took it back.

“Where did you get this string of beads from?” Ah Yu tentatively asked.

Yu Yuan took out a piece of cloth and carefully wiped them. After a long time, he said, “My mother gave them to me.”

Ah Yu couldn’t hear any emotion in Yu Yuan’s words.

The string of beads was of excellent quality, so it must have been owned by someone with a noble identity……

A thought flashed across Ah Yu’s mind, and he suddenly remembered a certain woman beside the Eldest Prince on the day of the large fire.

That woman had the exact same string of beads!

I can’t be wrong!

Back then, he’d hidden in the tree and seen everything clearly.

Ah Yu’s expression suddenly changed and he jumped off the bed with a ‘bang’.

“What does your father usually do to please your mother……” Before Yu Yuan could finish asking, he saw Ah Yu jump off the bed, looking defensive.

Ah Yu’s eyes were filled with vigilance and disgust, even more intense than when they’d first met.

……?

Yu Yuan was inwardly puzzled, but on the surface, he still remained calm.

“What’s wrong?” He indifferently asked.

Ah Yu kept a stiff face, with grief and indignation in his expression.

He stared at Yu Yuan for a while before angrily saying, “……Hypocrite⁷虚情假意 (xūqíng-jiǎyì) – false display of affection; hypocritical show of friendship!”

After speaking, he ran out without turning back.

Leaving Yu Yuan sitting on the bed, dumbfounded.

******************

When Ah Yu ran out, he coincidentally bumped into Yan Mu, who’d just come back.

There was another person behind Yan Mu, but Ah Yu’s mind was so confused right now that he didn’t look carefully.

He rushed into Yan Mu’s arms like a calf, and while sobbing, he said, “Yan jiejie, you must stay away from Yu Yuan, he’s not a good person!”

As soon as he spoke, the person behind Yan Mu trembled and suddenly quickly walked forward.

Ah Yu’s chin was pinched, and his head forcefully lifted.

There was still some trepidation left in Ah Yu’s eyes.

But when he saw the person in front of him, his pupils contracted and he burst into tears.

“Your Second Highness, this is Ah Yu, don’t scare him.” Yan Mu was puzzled.

She’d just gone out to buy food when she happened to meet Chu Cong, who’d come to visit his subordinates and incidentally inspect the bookstore.

“Yan Mu, do you know who this child is?” Chu Cong’s voice slightly trembled, he rarely displayed his emotions like this.

“……Who is he?” Yan Mu asked.

Chu Cong hugged Ah Yu with sadness and joy on his face, “He’s the son of King Xiang, and he’s also my cousin.”

“His name is Chu Yu.”

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The author has something to say:

The basis of love is equality and respect, not through deception to gain the other party’s attention.

Yu Yuan has never been loved since he was a child, so he doesn’t know the right way to love. Now, he has realised the problem and will slowly correct it in the future~

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Edited by: Gaze