Hua Chongyang's nose tingled with tears, and before he could even lower his head to wipe them away, he heard Lan Cao speaking from inside:
"...Master, that Miss Chongyang...is outside, saying she wants to see you..."
The figure on the window paper paused.
Lan Wuxie remained motionless for half a day.
Hua Chongyang carefully wiped his eyes before hearing a hoarse and urgent voice from inside the room:
"When did she say? When did you see her?"
"Just now... at the garden gate..."
Lan Wuxie suddenly stood up and threw down the bowl of medicine in her hand:
"Lan Cao, quickly help me change my clothes."
"……"
"Fool, didn't you hear me? Where are your clothes? That light purple robe—go ask Anping where he left it..."
"Lord of the Pavilion--"
"Never mind, never mind. Wear this for now. By the way, what time is it? Go find Lan Shu and have some food brought over—"
Hua Chongyang listened outside, his eyes welling up with tears.
Lancao, mustering her courage, interrupted him abruptly:
"Master, I think you should think this through first! What if she's not here to reconcile with you?"
"……What did you say?"
I said, what if she's not here—
Lan Cao paused here.
After a long silence, Lan Wuxie coughed twice and cleared his throat:
"Chongyang is very stubborn... Since she's willing to come see me, she's probably not so angry anymore."
"Is that so... But Master, I still feel that she... isn't so easy to talk to..."
"Enough talk. Come here and comb my hair, and bring me that blue hairband—"
"Um, Master..."
"What?"
"Hua Chongyang...she's standing right outside the door right now..."
Lan Wuxie stopped moving.
The room fell silent instantly.
Hua Chongyang lowered his head to wipe the corners of his eyes, forced a smile at the corners of his lips, and then stepped into the house.
"Palace Master Lan."
The room was as warm as ever, with a brazier burning under the wooden couch. Lan Wuxie stood beside the couch, dressed in a snow-white undergarment, the collar of which was half-open and disheveled. In the candlelight, his long hair was as black as ink and his eyes were dark, but his face was snow-white, almost pale.
Hua Chongyang's address of "Master Lan" was delivered with utmost composure.
But as soon as she finished speaking and saw him, her heart started pounding wildly. She stared at his face, unable to look away.
Longing surged like a tide, overwhelming everything.
Lan Cao, understanding the situation, quietly slipped out and closed the door behind her. After standing there for a moment, Hua Chongyang hesitated, then finally sighed and walked over, picking up the half-eaten medicine bowl from the table and handing it to Lan Wuxie:
"Take your medicine first."
Lan Wuxie's lips trembled slightly as he took the medicine bowl, raised it to his lips, and drank it all without a sound. The two remained silent for a moment. Lan Wuxie put down the bowl and slowly sat down on the wooden couch.
"Did Anping...go to see you in private?"
Only then did he raise his eyes to look at him, his gaze gentle yet burning with expectation, his pointed chin slightly raised, revealing a faint smile.
Hua Chongyang nodded, but looked away.
"What...did he say?"
"He didn't say anything."
Another silence followed.
"You look so beautiful in this red dress." After saying this in a hoarse voice, Lan Wuxie coughed twice and raised her hand to hold Hua Chongyang's hand.
Hua Chongyang suddenly took a step back and dodged away.
Even without looking, she could sense Lan Wuxie's stiff expression; after a long pause, he slowly lowered his hand.
After several attempts and remaining silent, Hua Chongyang finally mustered his courage:
"Are you still hoping I'll come back?"
Lan Wuxie lowered her eyes slightly, and after a long while, a faint, bitter smile appeared on her lips:
What do you think?
Hua Chongyang looked at him and suddenly spoke:
"good."
He was startled, and slowly raised his eyes to look at her. Hua Chongyang smiled slightly and turned her face away:
"I'll stay with you, you can do whatever you want with me. But there's one condition: you have to give Ye Qinghua the antidote for the poison."
46. Antidote
Legend has it that there is a magical martial art that allows you to use your internal energy against someone, and if that person uses this martial art, the internal energy you used will be reflected back and injure them.
Hua Chongyang had this feeling when he looked at Lan Wuxie's pale face with its head slightly lowered.
She hated Lan Wuxie so much that her heart ached whenever she thought of him. She left with a calm smile, and she could greet him with a smile and call him "Pavilion Master Lan"—but that didn't mean she had truly let go. The day before yesterday, she pretended to be drunk and slapped him in public. It wasn't intentional; she just couldn't suppress her hatred any longer.
Who in the world doesn't know that Hua Chongyang is proud? She can get angry if anyone mentions Yan Zhao in front of her, but Lan Wuxie, after being all lovey-dovey with her, turns around and takes another woman to bed—what does he think she is?!
I just want a way to hurt him badly, to see him suffer because of her.
Is this what they mean by love turning into hate?
But when she saw Lan Wuxie's pale, bloodless face, and the way he was hunched over, desperately trying to suppress his cough, her chest trembled with pain, as if tiny needles were piercing it, going deeper and deeper. She wanted to hurt him, but it was herself who was in pain.
But to her surprise, Lan Wuxie remained silent for a long time, then smiled slightly and nodded:
"good."
Hua Chongyang was taken aback.
Lan Wuxie stood up, looked down at her, his voice hoarse, yet as gentle as ever:
"You won't leave as long as you give Ye Qinghua the antidote, is that right?"
He looked at Hua Chongyang, his bloodless lips curving upwards:
"I know I'm not pure, not like Situ Qingliu. He can say he likes you in front of everyone, but even though he has an unmarried fiancée, they all feel that liking you is an insult to you."
He paused, then spoke softly, almost to himself:
"I don't care. It doesn't matter if you have feelings for him; even if I can't keep your heart, I'll keep you physically."
After he finished speaking, he clasped his hands together and hugged Hua Chongyang tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
Even in the warm, cozy room, he felt icy cold.
Reason told Hua Chongyang that she should push him away, but she hesitated to make a move. At this moment, Lan Wuxie in front of her was so pale that he was almost transparent, as fragile as glass, as if she could shatter him with a single gesture and scatter him all over the ground.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, as if a lifetime had passed. Still seemingly immersed in a daze, Hua Chongyang heard a "bang" at the door.
She accidentally pushed Lan Wuxie away and looked up at the door.
The person standing at the door was Ye Qinghua, followed closely by Lan Cao, who looked surprised and stammered as she looked at Lan Wuxie:
"Master... I can't stop her..."
Ye Qinghua, her face pale, shifted her gaze from Lan Wuxie's to Hua Chongyang's, and spoke coldly:
"Weren't you going to fetch a doctor for me? I didn't know that Master Lan was actually a doctor."
Hua Chongyang couldn't utter a single word.
"Hua Chongyang, what did I tell you? What's the point of chivalry? What's the point of friends? You came to find him because of me, or because you can't let go and came back to him? You—"
Lan Wuxie coughed, interrupting her:
"I'll give you the antidote."
Ye Qinghua sneered and looked at Lan Wuxie:
"Palace Master Lan, didn't you say that as long as Hua Chongyang stayed in the brothel, I wouldn't have the antidote? Why are you giving me the antidote now? Too bad, I don't care!"
"Blue and white porcelain!"
Ye Qinghua approached fearlessly, grabbed Hua Chongyang's chin with her left hand, and ripped open his collar with her right, sneering:
"Don't you want to know what kind of person Lan Wuxie is? See this wound? It was left by the poison dart that planted the poison in me. If I don't take the antidote from Lan Ying Palace, the poison will flare up every forty-nine days. The last person who was heavily poisoned by him couldn't bear the flare-up and stabbed himself to death with one last knife after another—"
Lan Wuxie remained expressionless, then flicked her sleeve and struck Ye Qinghua.
Hua Chongyang stepped forward, blocking the impact and forcing Lan Wuxie to swing his hand to the side, smashing the wooden platform to pieces with a "boom." He slowly lowered his hand, looked at Hua Chongyang, and after a long while, softly asked:
"Do you want the antidote, or do you want to go with her?"
Hua Chongyang didn't turn his head, his voice almost caught in his throat:
"...The antidote."
Ye Qinghua's face immediately turned ashen:
"Hua Chongyang, if you stay, I'll stab myself to death as soon as I leave the house. I mean what I say."
Lan Wuxie ignored him, looking at the orchid with a blank expression:
"Orchid, bowl."
Lan Cao's face turned deathly pale, and her lips trembled:
"……yes."