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Join the ServerThree or four more days passed.
By now, Lin Xiaoque had completely wilted.
Shanxiu told him stories to relieve his boredom, but he could barely pay attention. Most of the time he simply lay in the carriage, drifting in and out of sleep.
That day, when they arrived at another imperial palace, the Emperor once again sent someone to summon him for dinner.
Lin Xiaoque absolutely refused to go.
The eunuch came to invite him again and again, but Lin Xiaoque only insisted that he was ill and genuinely unable to attend, asking the eunuch to apologize on his behalf.
The final time, the eunuch actually brought a sedan chair and intended to have Lin Xiaoque carried there.
Lying weakly on his bed, Lin Xiaoque didn’t even bother responding.
Seeing the eunuch press the matter so aggressively, Shanxiu snapped,
“Who’s the master here? You or the Young Lord?”
“How dare you throw your weight around in front of him? Are you tired of living?”
The young eunuch immediately apologized and dared not argue.
He could only retreat and report the matter.
After hearing the report, Zhang Shu didn’t hesitate.
His first order was to have the young eunuch dragged out and beaten.
The eunuch was bewildered.
Not understanding what he’d done wrong, he cried out and begged for mercy.
Zhang Shu sneered.
“You useless thing, borrowing a tiger’s power to bully others.”
“I told you to invite him. I didn’t tell you to drag him there.”
“If the Young Lord refused, all you had to do was report it to me.”
“Instead, you carried a sedan chair over to pressure him.”
“A servant trying to establish dominance over his master?”
“Who gave you such confidence?”
He waved a hand.
“Drag him away.”
“Stop only when he understands his mistake.”
Only then did the eunuch realize what had happened.
Crying bitterly, he grabbed Zhang Shu’s leg.
“Godfather! Godfather! I know I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong! Please spare me this once!”
Zhang Shu kicked him away.
Several young eunuchs had acknowledged him as their godfather.
He had thought this one was clever.
Instead, he turned out to be hopeless.
“I don’t have a son that old.”
“Stuff his mouth and drag him away.”
Evening arrived.
The setting sun spread waves of crimson across the sky.
Lin Xiaoque lay on the bed and asked Shanxiu to open all the windows.
The sunlight poured in like rouge dissolved in water.
Like the petals of withered red flowers.
Raising his hand, Lin Xiaoque tried to catch a ray.
The light became like a fish.
Swimming across his wrist.
Sliding along his forearm.
Refusing to be captured.
At last he managed to trap a strand within his palm.
The moment he closed his fingers, it slipped through the gaps and scattered like handfuls of golden dust.
His fingers.
His wrist.
His arm.
All seemed stained with golden powder tinged with rouge.
Like a mural painted in gold and vermilion.
As though he himself had become a figure inside a painting—
silent forever, immersed in a soundless world.
Suddenly, Shanxiu grabbed his hand.
A trace of panic showed in his eyes.
Lin Xiaoque looked up at him.
Shanxiu couldn’t voice the thoughts hidden in his heart.
Instead he simply said,
“You’ll get burned.”
Summer’s scorching heat had long since passed.
Autumn’s sunlight was warm and gentle.
How could it possibly burn anyone?
Lin Xiaoque laughed.
“Even if I were a porcelain vase, I wouldn’t shatter from autumn sunlight.”
Shanxiu replied,
“What if you’re candy?”
“It might melt.”
Lin Xiaoque couldn’t help laughing.
“I’ve drunk so much medicine I’m bitter through and through.”
“If you call me candy, even children would argue with you.”
“No.”
Shanxiu lowered his eyes.
His voice was quiet.
“They wouldn’t.”
The child he referred to wasn’t some imaginary child.
It was himself.
If he possessed a piece of candy like his master—
Even if it was bitter all the way to the heart—
It would still be sweet.
The sunset illuminated Shanxiu’s face.
After speaking, he immediately pressed his lips together.
A faint blush appeared.
Yet loneliness lingered within his eyes.
The sun aged.
And sank into the grave of heaven and earth.
Dark gravestones seemed to rise everywhere.
Then Emperor Xiao Juan arrived in person.
Lin Xiaoque immediately hid beneath his blankets and pretended to be asleep.
Xiao Juan sat beside the bed and waited quietly.
After some time, Lin Xiaoque showed no intention of emerging.
Instead, he burrowed deeper.
Only a few strands of hair remained visible outside the blanket.
Xiao Juan reached out and touched one of them.
Soft.
Cool.
Even the finest silk lacked such a texture.
Like dipping one’s hand into a mountain spring.
Clear water flowing through hidden valleys.
Cool and transparent to the bottom.
The freshness of water carrying the faint fragrance of mountains.
“What are you hiding from?”
Xiao Juan asked.
“I won’t eat you.”
Indeed, he wouldn’t.
No matter how beautiful a person looked, they weren’t edible.
Inside the blanket it was unbearably stuffy.
Lin Xiaoque wasn’t comfortable at all.
But he simply didn’t want to deal with Xiao Juan.
He was tired of flattering him.
Tired of speaking words he didn’t mean.
Tired of performing loyalty.
Xiao Juan withdrew his hand and summoned the imperial physician.
The physician was practically a regular visitor to Lin Xiaoque’s residence and felt no need for courtesy.
Without hesitation, he pulled away the blanket and reached for Lin Xiaoque’s wrist.
Caught completely off guard, Lin Xiaoque glared at him in annoyance.
The physician simply stroked his beard and smiled.
After taking his pulse and examining his complexion, he declared:
“The fatigue from travel.”
“He’s eating too little and sleeping poorly.”
“Tired, drowsy, exhausted.”
“Perfectly normal.”
“Once we reach Luobei in a few days and he rests properly, he’ll recover.”
Having been exposed, Lin Xiaoque deliberately argued.
“But I feel dizzy.”
“My head hurts.”
“I have no strength in my limbs.”
“I can barely walk.”
The physician nodded.
“Because you’re hungry.”
“You need to eat more.”
“Even without an appetite, you can’t skip meals.”
Lin Xiaoque glared at him twice more.
Pulling the blanket back over himself, he muttered that he wasn’t hungry—just sleepy.
Xiao Juan wasn’t interested in indulging him.
He ordered dinner brought in immediately.
“If your head hurts, you’re dizzy, and have no strength, then the eunuchs can feed you.”
Lin Xiaoque immediately sat up.
“I can eat by myself.”
Xiao Juan raised an eyebrow.
“A moment ago you were too ill to attend dinner.”
“Now you can eat?”
He turned toward the eunuchs.
“Feed him.”
Unable to disobey, the eunuch began feeding Lin Xiaoque one bite at a time.
Being force-fed completely ruined his mood.
He desperately wanted to knock the bowl over.
Unfortunately, he didn’t dare.
At last he muttered,
“I’m really not hungry anymore.”
“My head doesn’t hurt.”
“I’m not dizzy.”
“I’m not weak.”
Xiao Juan stepped forward.
Grabbing Lin Xiaoque’s chin, he lifted a spoon toward his mouth.
Lin Xiaoque stubbornly kept his lips sealed.
Xiao Juan squeezed his cheeks.
Forced into opening his mouth, he suddenly resembled a baby bird waiting to be fed.
Lin Xiaoque struggled.
“Don’t move.”
Xiao Juan’s voice was calm.
“If you dirty my hands, I’ll make you lick them clean.”
Lin Xiaoque immediately froze.
Not daring to move anymore, he obediently accepted several spoonfuls.
Seeing his unhappy expression, Xiao Juan commented,
“The Emperor himself is feeding you.”
“Instead of crying with gratitude, you’re making that face.”
Only then did he finally put down the spoon.
Freed at last, Lin Xiaoque sat in silence for a long time before suppressing his emotions.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“A thank-you without sincerity is merely unpleasant to hear.”
Lin Xiaoque repeatedly reminded himself to endure.
Then he forced a bright smile onto his face.
“Your Majesty, I am sincerely grateful.”
“Your kindness overwhelms me.”
“I am deeply moved and eternally thankful.”
“I shall remember Your Majesty’s grace day and night.”
Xiao Juan snorted.
“Flowery words without substance.”
Despite the criticism, he finally let the matter drop.
Had anyone else dared feign illness and refuse an imperial summons, Xiao Juan would have ensured they became genuinely too sick to leave their bed.
As for Lin Xiaoque—
Looking at his already frail condition, a small punishment and a warning seemed sufficient.
At last the Emperor departed.
Yet the physician lingered.
Lin Xiaoque immediately asked,
“Why is Physician Zhang still here?”
The old physician smiled.
“I came to apologize.”
Lin Xiaoque’s anger had mostly faded.
“Even high officials don’t dare defy the Emperor.”
“Your apology only makes it seem like I’m the unreasonable one.”
Physician Zhang stroked his beard.
“The Young Lord is magnanimous.”
“Then this old man won’t nag any longer.”
“We’ll arrive in Luobei in two or three days.”
“When we do, go outside.”
“Take walks.”
“Stop staying cooped up all day.”
“A little exercise will help you sleep better at night.”
“Understood, understood.”
Lin Xiaoque waved him away.
“Go do your work.”
After packing his medicine chest, Physician Zhang spent quite some time giving instructions to Shanxiu before finally leaving.
Lin Xiaoque knew perfectly well that the physician had been trying to help him.
If he had continued hiding beneath the blankets, Xiao Juan’s temper might have become far worse.
This small punishment had allowed the matter to end peacefully.
After thinking for a moment, he told Shanxiu:
“Remember this.”
“When we return to the palace, prepare a gift for Physician Zhang.”
“I remember he has a granddaughter he dotes on.”
“Perhaps some jewelry girls like?”
Shanxiu hurriedly shook his head.
“That wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“His granddaughter is nearly of age.”
“If Your Highness sends jewelry, people might misunderstand…”
Lin Xiaoque immediately realized the problem.
Damaging a young woman’s reputation while trying to be kind would be disastrous.
“Then you decide.”
Shanxiu was always reliable.
Lin Xiaoque rarely worried about such matters.
That night, he washed his face several times.
Brushed his teeth repeatedly.
Only after thoroughly cleansing away all the bad luck Xiao Juan had brought with him did he finally crawl into bed.
Soon afterward, he fell fast asleep beneath the autumn night.
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore Crow's Golden Fragment. Start reading now!
Read : Crow's Golden Fragment
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