Chapter 58

Li Yan entered into the cave in a hurry and froze stunned at what he saw. He felt his heart stop beating. He couldn't believe his eyes. He did not know how or when, but when he came back to his senses, he was already pressing Zhanhua against the stony wall of the cave.

Zhanhua's legs weren't touching the ground. They were struggling furiously as Li Yan with the strength of a single arm, raised Zhanhua by his throat.

At some unknown moment, Shendu had also returned. His face looked pale than a dead person. He quickly got off his cloak and wrapped it around Shen Nuo who was shivering on the floor.

Shen Nuo's neck was bleeding. His glassy eyes were unfocussed and slightly closed. His lips were trembling as he blinked trying to gather his conciousness. Shendu let out a sigh of relief the moment he saw that Shen Nuo's clothes at the lower body was intact.

Li Yan's eyes were burning. His grasp tightened more and more onto Zhanhua's throat, his hand shivering in wrath. "You really don't understand it when I tell you not to, don't you, Zhanhua?" That voice was murderous.

There was the sound of bones cracking and a blood line trailed down Zhanhua's lips.

Zhanhua didn't say anything. He knew even if he try to clear his name now, it was too late. Would anyone believe even if he say he only marked Shen Nuo temporarily so that his heat would be gone? He felt embarrassed when he thought of what the Emperor and the General might be already guessing about him. He gulped in pain and slowly closed his eyes.

"Your Majesty..." He said in a hoarse voice. "It wasn't Consort Shen's fault. It was the... fault of this subject... This subject was muddleheaded and... did something... improper. Please punish -"

Li Yan's eyes flashed. "ZHANHUA YOU SHUT UP!!!" He groaned, going even mad. His freezing murderous aura intensified in several folds, causing other people to feel their bodies go numb. "What more is there for you to say after going this far!!?"

Shendu's eyes widened. He knew Li Yan's temper. If it goes like this, Zhanhua would be a soon dead. He quickly hurried to Li Yan. "Your Majesty, no!"

But Li Yan was too mad to hear it. His grasp tightened until his veins bulged on the back of his palm. More and more blood gushed down Zhanhua's mouth.

"LI YAN!" Shendu shouted, forcefully tearing Li Yan's arm away. Zhanhua slid down the stony wall weakly.

"Your Majesty! Take Shen Nuo away! He needs treatments!"

Li Yan clenched his hands into fists, restraining himself hard. His entire body shivered in wrath. His red eyes were already covered in a layer of blood vessels. His blood was boiling. He looked really frightening.

"Throw him to the prison!" He spat out in disgust and vehement anger. "I shall sooner deal with him myself!"

Shendu nodded his head reassuringly. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Yan picked up Shen Nuo who was wrapped in a cloak. Shen Nuo looked very weak, signs of after heat. Li Yan did not know whether he should be angry or sad. He huddled unconscious Shen Nuo in his arms and mounted his steed and rode towards the direction of the camp.

Shendu patiently waited until Li Yan's figure disappeared. Then suddenly he turned around and gave Zhanhua a deadly kick in the chest. Spiritual light gathered at the base of his foot and exploded as it met with Zhanhua's chest in a furious blow. Zhanhua was thrown off and he crashed right way onto the stony wall with a heavy thud. The wall cracked behind him in the terrible force. He slid down again.

Three of his ribs broke and he vomited blood. He was grasping his chest, breathing hard.

Shendu held back only because Li Yan was near. Li Yan might be out of control and might have accidentally killed the minister in his venture. But Shendu was different. He was trained to torture and kill. He was trained to kill people alive without killing. He knew the limits to be well concerned of. And now he would not let Zhanhua go.

He advanced and half knelt infront of him, hooking his jaws. "Minister Yue, have you forgotten what I told you five years ago?"

Zhanhua's blood stained face was deadly pale. His eyes were unfocussed. His core almost cracked now in the sudden kick. Yes, five years ago, Shendu clearly warned him not to get too close to Shen Nuo... He still remembered it like now.

"You repeatedly keep doing things what His Majesty ask you not to do, aren't you already tired of it? Minister Yue?"

"..."

"Or should I call you Your Honored Lord Xian Yujun, the Seventh Prince?"

"!!!"

"You secretly helped to arouse the rebels from four years ago, your underlings are working inside the Wolf Head Organization, you exchange letters with Xian Yan secretly. You even dared to conspire with the Prime Minister to kill His Majesty, you think he doesn't know?"

Zhanhua's face went even paler. It was almost ghostly white.

"He knew everything, and still he forgave you. Do you know that? On what ground should he forgive you now for molesting his wife?"

Tears slid down Zhanhua's face. "I'm ready for any punishment..."

Shendu smirked. His face looked really like a demon. "Any punishment? But you must know His Majesty might have gone easy on you. But-" He tightened his grasp around Zhanhua's jaws until they cracked. "This time you messed up with the wrong person. Shen Nuo is my little brother. Would you think I would let you go?'

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It was already night. Shen Nuo was lying on a camp bed inside an enormous tent... Li Yan's tent. A quilt was draped over his shoulders and his neck was bandaged. The discomfort in his body seemed to have disappeared. Instead, he felt twice as weak as before.

But his face was deadly pale. There was no emotion in it. It was as if he was dead.

Jinyu stood beside, paler than a ghost. A doctor  was examining Shen Nuo.

Li Yan also stood in the corner of the tent. His face was also pale. And his eyes did not have it's usual cheerful brightness. They looked already dead. "What is it, doctor?"

The old man checked Shen Nuo's pulse in the wrist and knotted his bushy brows. "Consort Shen, did you drink the heat suppressant soup or pill for the heat?'

"Yes." Shen Nuo replied weakly. (And Jinyu flinched).

The old man thought further for a while. "Then from how long did you start to feel uncomfortable?"

Shen Nuo thought hard for a while. "I felt too hot and dizzy since the night before I went to heat."

The doctor coughed uneasily. "Then, cough... Umm, did you, I mean, did you by any means got...aroused?"

Even the thick faced Shen Nuo couldn't help but blush.

Emperor Li Yan looked at the old man coldly. "What do you mean, doctor?"

"Forgive me Your Highness, Consort Shen is a ger. And gers are not women. They monthly suffers from the heat when they come of age. So they are given heat suppressants until they get married."

Li Yan narrowed his eyes. "But he clearly said he got the medicines." He said darkly.

The old man shook his head slowly. "Still it's possible in one condition. Consort Shen, you say you started feeling uncomfortable since the night before the day you went to heat. Forgive me for the offence. Did something happen?"

Shen Nuo's eyes were almost in tears. He narrowed his eyes darkly and looked at the Emperor with disgust. What was there to ask? It was Li Yan who forcefully hugged and kissed him that night. So it turns out to be he was forcefully pulled into heat by the Emperor that night!

And he had unknowingly forcefully suppressed it until the next day, until finally he couldn't bear it and came to heat. Zhanhua who happened to pass by wanted to help and got unexpectedly involved...

Emperor Li Yan had a different thought. Had not he been intimate with Shen Nuo before? Even though he hadn't kissed him or slept with him, yet he had hugged him a numerous times. How was this merely possible?

Shen Nuo was a strong person. It was impossible for him to loose his control like this. Li Yan looked suddenly pale. He had a terrible guess in his heart. His eyes were suddenly red. He threw Jinyu a swift glance but he did not speak.

The old man was honest. "But it was pure luck that Consort Shen met Minister Zhanhua, who was able to suppress the heat with his internal force, or Consort Shen would have ..."

Li Yan gritted his teeth, pursing his lips and tightening his jaws. His hands clenched into fists under the heavy golden sleeves. "Doctor, if there's nothing else, you can leave."

The old man bowed silently and walked out of the tent, leaving the Jinyu, Emperor and his consort alone in the room. Shen Nuo kicked way the quilt and struggled out of the bed with rolled eyes.

Li Yan barred his way. "Where are you going?"

"To Shendu's tent!" Shen Nuo said arrogantly. He did not want to wait here anymore.

But Li Yan pushed him back onto the bed. "No exit without my permission again!" He said in a softer but more dangerous voice. "Haven't you embarrassed me enough?"

Shen Nuo stubbornly stroke off Li Yan's arm, that was holding his shoulder. His eyes were almost tearing. "Feeling guilty already?" He shouted in pain. "If it wasn't for yesterday night, how can I possibly go to heat?"

Li Yan's eyes flashed. But he endured his anger with force. His eyes went completely red in the attempt. "Shen Nuo, at least from now on, try to behave like a consort. This is my last warning!"

Shen Nuo's eyes were very dark. "You never cared about me, Li Yan, you only cared if I could commit to my duties as a consort. I clearly said that I'm under aged. But you? All the day around, you only know how to order me and use me at your will." He choked in his sobs. "Aren't you already tired?" He pushed the Emperor away. His eyes were red as if to drip blood. "Get the hell out!"

But Li Yan caught him from the wrist and pressed onto the bed with force. Jinyu's eyes widened. He immediately looked away.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes. Their faces were so close. "I always forgave you everytime but you didn't seem to be learning from anything either. So it's fine, I can teach you it in the hard way."

Shen Nuo sobbed. His face looked very pitiful. He lied weakly in Li Yan's arm helplessly.

"So let's make things simpler as possible. Rule number 01." Li Yan leaned forth reaching Shen Nuo's ear. "You're confined and not allowed out of Mingyue Palace unless I let you out!"

Shen Nuo gulped. His eyes were misty again.

"Rule number 02, from now onwards, no herb or medicine for heat is allowed into Mingyue Palace. Your only choice is to come find me."

Li Yan flicked Shen Nuo's forehead with the tip of his fingers and a golden light flashed. Shen Nuo dropped down unconscious again. Li Yan tightened his jaws and looked at Shen Nuo's face for a long time without moving. There were tears in his eyes.

He finally sighed, pulling the quilt over Shen Nuo's shoulders and leaned forth and pressed his lips against Shen Nuo's forehead. Those scorching tears rolled down his eyes and felled onto Shen Nuo's cheeks and slid down to the sides.

Jinyu couldn't take it anymore. His eyes were glassy. He silently knelt down infront the Emperor who sat by the bedside.

"Your Majesty, this subject is ready to accept his punishments! Please punish him!"

Li Yan looked at him emptily. "Shen Nuo still thinks he ran into heat because of me." He said in a broken voice. "He would not believe if I say what you gave him were aphrodisiacs."

Jinyu did not know what to say. He silently waited with a lowered head. Tears dropped down his tightly closed eyes and stained the floor wet.

But neither of them saw Shen Nuo's lashes tremble slightly. His fingers under the quilt tightly grasped onto the sheets. A tear left the corner of his closed eyes.

After a long time, Li Yan sighed again. "Just go away." He waved his arm. "If I punish you now, he will find another tantrum to throw at me tomorrow. He needs rest. It's your duty to protect him without involving him into dangerous plays. So I hope you would stop being a child from now on."

Jinyu silently bowed. "I will!" He whispered in a hoarse voice and left the chamber.

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Spoiler: The chapter that you've been dying to read will just be within five or six more chapters. 😅🤭 And all the misunderstandings will be cleared.

I know you hate dragging the story. But I've already decided one in my mind and because that I'm busy, I only have time to type down the planned chapter in a hurry and update it.

But as y'all said, I want to change the plot too but I can't afford time to think about it again and make a different plan. I'm not in a mentality to do that. So I hope you could do with this. And if you hate the story, it's also fine.

But I assure you that this story isn't a tragedy. Everything will eventually be cleared out. And after lots of ups and downs, it will have the end that you want and like. So I hope you would bear with it.

Love you all. ♥💕