Chapter 37

Since that incident happened at the thicket, Zhanhua changed completely. He never smiled after that. He was in a terrible mess. He knelt outside the Court Hall with a lowered head.

On the other hand, the Emperor turned a blind eye. He did not care at all. He still remembered what a foul soul was hidden behind that handsome and innocent mask. Forget it since it was something that happened in the previous life. But he could not let him go for hurting Shen Nuo. Is letting him go without killing not already being merciful enough?

But the Court Officials knew nothing of this matter at all. They were highly confused. But they dared not inquire the matter further. The Emperor was in a really bad mood these days. They saw their conflicting gazes with each other and could only shut their mouths.

So every time the court was summoned, they would silently pass him by and enter the hall. Li Yan did not seem to care even if an important minister like the Minister of Revenue was absent inside the Court. What the officials couldn't understand was what kind of a grave mistake Zhanhua must have committed to warrant this sudden coldness from the Emperor.

It rained heavily and thundered during the night. But Zhanhua didn't speak a single word. No matter how much the guards guarding the entrance of the Court Hall pleaded him to leave, he refused.

The third day morning, he was coughing violently. Still he did not get up. His face was pale. He was weak. But he would not get up. He wanted the Emperor to forgive him for his mistakes. He was loyal. He did not want to get the Emperor mad at him.

Besides, when such a serious matter had happened, still the Emperor not only did not punish him, he also helped him to unseal his core.

Zhanhua had a terrible guess in his heart. Could it be that, the Emperor had known his identity even from the beginning?

Zhanhua felt lost...

The next day early morning, he barely had the power to keep his head straight. His straight back was rigid but his head was lowered unusually. His dress and hair were drenched by the gentle rain from the last night. Water drops drooped down the scattered hair at his temples and felled down drop by drop, staining the stony floor with wet marks. He sniffed once or twice and coughed out in a horse voice.

Suddenly a pair of black leather boots came to his slightly blurry line of sight followed by the hem of familiar golden silk. Zhanhua's eyes widened. He bowed his head and pressed his forehead against the cold stony floor.

"Your Majesty!"

Li Yan looked cold and hateful to the extreme. "What are you waiting here for, Zhanhua?" He asked in a gloomy voice. "What will other ministers think of Zhen when they see you kneeling in the public like this? Do you want them to think that Zhen is exceptionally hard on you, or do you want to announce to the court that you are our biggest enemy?"

Blood left Zhanhua's face. He felt as if stabbed. Why didn't he thinks of it before? He was too blind by guilt that he forgot this matter completely. His behavior was alarming...

He immediately got up but collapsed down at loss of energy. He lowered his head in embarrassment. "Forgive me, Your Highness!"

Li Yan didn't look moved in the least. He narrowed his phoenix eyes even darker and leaned forth to whisper in a frightening voice.

"From this onwards, Zhen hopes you won't dare to cross your limits. Just remember two things! Never think of betraying Zhen. Secondly, don't ever think of touching Shen Nuo again. If I catch you doing either of these, that will be the day you die!"

Then left coldly and never looked back at him. He had no time to spare for ones like Zhanhua right now.

He was busy again. The Spring Hunt was coming and he had to check the arrangements himself.

Amid that, in the afternoon, he received a letter by Eagle Post from Xu Lin Pass saying that Martial Shendu had already besieged back the lost pass and had captured Prince Altai alive.

Li Yan replied back ordering Shendu to come to the Capital with the prisoner. Deputy Martial Shen Hao was at Northern Border Fortress so everything should be fine...

At Mingyue Palace, Shen Nuo was walking up and down his room with a worried look. He was baffled. So Li Yan remembered everything. No wonder he was different completely than what the novel mentioned. But what happened to him to have a this drastical change?

He did not know. It was already evening. He heard a soft sound of footsteps. Liyi was inside the kitchen, preparing dinner. Jinyu was sitting on the floor, fixing a broken wooden chair. His sharp ears perked up at once. But before he could get up, Shen Nuo smiled to him gloomily. "Jinyu. Go out. Inform me if someone is coming, ok?"

Jinyu bowed and left.

A slow silence followed. Shen Nuo spoke in a grave voice. "You can come out."

Nothing stirred for a moment. Then suddenly Zhanhua came out from behind the screen. Shen Nuo did not want to know how or when he had come inside. But he did not mind. The only thing that mattered him was...

He looked at the pale and half wet face of Zhanhua. It looked weary and grave. "Consort Shen." He said in a hoarse voice. His heart sank when he saw the deep teeth mark upon the side of Shen Nuo's fair and pale neck. His eyes dimmed in guilt.

"Yes?"

"I... I can't keep this anymore. The thing I wanted to say that day was ... Minghe's assassination is going to happen at the Spring Hunt."

He spoke hoarsely. He knew he shouldn't come here at this moment when the Emperor had already warned him. But he did not know that Li Yan remembered the past life. He only knew he could not trust anyone to relay this message personally to Shen Nuo...

However, Shen Nuo who heard this was flabbergasted. It was no wonder Zhanhua wanted to come himself to give this message. This matter was important. But what made Shen Nuo even startled was that the Emperor had announced that he would be taking Minghe out with him this time. Last time it didn't happen like this...

He was distressed. Could it be that this time Li Yan decided to take the kid with him because he knew his son was not safe at the palace anymore? It had to be. Since he clearly remembered everything in the previous life, he might have thought of doing it different this time...

That being the case...

Shen Nuo shook his head slowly. Looks like he had to meet Li Yan to speak about this matter. He looked at Zhanhua and nodded.

Zhanhua patiently waited with down casted eyes until he assured Shen Nuo got it. Then he stole an extremely brief glance at Shen Nuo before speaking again. "I'm sorry."

Shen Nuo felt lost. He was not dumb. He did not know what to say. Zhanhua was referring to that incident. But Shen Nuo felt that he was wrong too. When Zhanhua repeatedly warned him not to come near him, he had not heeded his words. If he had listened to Zhanhua that day, he wouldn't have faced that incident either. So Zhanhua was not at fault.

Shen Nuo shook his head again. "Don't say that."

Zhanhua laughed softly. That laugh was wrenched with so much pain and regret. His red eyes were grave and misty. "Consort Shen is being too courteous. You shouldn't be. I'm not what you think I am. I'm a sinner." He turned to go.

Shen Nuo gulped.

"Wait!" He said in a hard voice. He caught Zhanhua's hidden meaning and was in a turmoil.

Zhanhua paused. His eyes were slightly red and moist. He did not turn to look at Shen Nuo.

Shen Nuo's eyes were red too. He was silent for a long time. Then he asked in a hoarse whisper. "When did it start?"

The meaning was very obvious. Zhanhua's heart skipped a beat. His eyes moistened to look even glassy.  He tightly closed them in the attempt to stop his eyes from tearing.

Shen Nuo didn't seem to let him go. "Zhanhua, I'm asking you a question!" His voice slightly shuddered. So much pain was wrenched within. "For how many years had you secretly liked me?"

Zhanhua pursed his thin lips. "Ten years..." He gulped and his adam's apple slid down his throat slowly. No matter how hard he had resisted, still the tears felled down his eyes.

Shen Nuo felt as if he was stabbed. So actually Zhanhua had liked him since a very long time. For a moment, he was at a loss and did not know what to say.

"Zhanhua..." Shen Nuo spoke in a hoarse voice again. "If that thing never happened between you and me and if you did not accidently sprout out that nonsense while you were out of your mind, would you have ever revealed it to me?"

Zhanhua was silent again. His heart was in a mess. What was he doing!!? Was this something he should have spoken? How dare he!!? He committed such a grave crime and still the Emperor forgave him. But he??? What was he doing???

This was very wrong. He wanted to immediately leave. But suddenly without warning, Shen Nuo grasped from his wrist firmly. Caught off guard, Zhanhua turned at once and pressed him onto the wall. He was breathing hard. Shen Nuo's wrists were pinned above his head.

"Don't!" He said in a furious voice. And for a split second, his dark brown eyes flashed with a tinge of amber. "You don't touch me!"

Shen Nuo was stunned. He was speechless. "But, you're are the one who is touching me..."

Zhanhua let go immediately feeling horrified. He did not know what happened to him just now. What was happening? Why was he like this?

His heart was racing. Since the moment he... marked Shen Nuo accidently that day, he was in a mess. He was attracted to Shen Nuo to the point he would forget the limits. This was one reason he was cooling himself down in the thunderous rains meanwhile kneeling under the night. This was very bad. His eyes widened.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." His heart was in a turmoil.

Shen Nuo didn't say anything. "It's alright!" He walked towards the closet where he had kept his medicine box. But if truth be told, behind his so called perfectly fine mask, his heart was thumping too. He did not understand that feeling at all...

Close shave...

"I stopped you because I didn't want you to catch a cold." Shen Nuo said fetching a certain phial with medicine pills. But his fingertips slightly shuddered. "I heard you were kneeling infront of the Imperial Court for three days long even when it rained."

Zhanhua gulped. Half the truth was he wanted himself to be forgiven. The other half of the truth was that he wanted to calm down himself.

When Shen Nuo gave him the phial with the pills, Zhanhua's fingertips brushed past the back of Shen Nuo's palm unintentionally. Shen Nuo immediately drew back his hands feeling electruded. He suddenly felt dizzy when the alluring fragrance of Camphor hit his nose. His face was pink around his neck and cheeks.

Before, he only had this kind of a reaction forth the Sandalwood fragrance of Li Yan. But now... Could it be because he got marked by Zhanhua? A cold shudder ran down his back. Why was things getting even messier?

His face was blushed under the gloomily light. "Don't forget the pills. Have thrice daily." He said hoarsely, trying to cover up the awkward moment. "It will also help you recover your sore limbs as well."

Zhanhua did not move his eyes from Shen Nuo. Just now when their hands brushed past against each other, he clearly saw Shen Nuo flinch convulsively.

Was he that scary? He felt distressed and angry for no reason. He knew he was not fair. He shouldn't be thinking  this way of something like this about someone who already belonged to another person. It was sinful. But he couldn't help. Even he did not seem to understand why he had become like this...

And now he wished if Shen Nuo could stop caring for him further. The more Shen Nuo cares for him, the more he feels he reluctant to leave him... He looked at the pills Shen Nuo gave to him and looked at Shen Nuo's eyes again. "Are you sure you want to do this? Aren't you mad at me for what I did? You shouldn't be caring for me."

Shen Nuo shook his head. "It's fine. I'll help you with anything since you've already helped me a lot."

Zhanhua felt a stab in his heart. He couldn't help but blurt out lamely. "You help me now only because I helped you?"

Shen Nuo was flabbergasted. Zhanhua's eyes widened in shock. He immediately apologized. "I'm sorry!"

He did not want to repeat the same mistake again. He shouldn't repeat the same mistakes again. He had already costed Shen Nuo a lot. He did not know if he wait here for longer, what he would do, so he pursed his thin lips and spoke in a hoarse voice. "I shall take my leave."

Outside it was already dark. It was very quiet except for the alluring cry of a night hawk faraway.

Shen Nuo was thoughtful for a while. Then suddenly color drained off his face. That was Jinyu's warning whistle!

Damn it! He thought. He had been hearing that sound for quite a long while now! Who had barged inside???

He immediately turned around and pushed Zhanhua under the enormous bed. "Shhhhhhhhhhh!"

On the other hand, Zhanhua looked horror-stricken. He was confused. But no time passed when suddenly the door of the chamber slid opened.

Li Yan entered inside.

Shen Nuo couldn't help but blurt out in shock. "You! Why are you here!!?"

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