Chapter Ninety-One: A Childlike Heart

With the antidote in hand and the medicinal guide secured, her condition truly began to improve day by day.

The poison in her body slowly dispersed, and the bruising and rot on her skin began to heal as if by miracle.

Everyone wept with joy, and the entire palace was bathed in the happiness of impending relief.

Of course, the Crown Prince understood how much truth and falsehood lay beneath that joy.

Still, it did not matter.

The fact was that she was growing better each day.

And yet, she remained unconscious.

The imperial physicians said that once the poison had fully dispersed, she would wake.

Only then did everyone at last feel at ease.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress were finally able to loosen the taut nerves they had been straining for so long. Aside from their daily visits to the Palace of Cloud and Mist, they could at last sleep in peace and eat with appetite.

As for the Emperor, once he learned that Bright-City’s Long-Awaited had returned, he was as good as cured without medicine, radiant and invigorated.

Once the Emperor resumed attending to affairs of state, the Crown Prince naturally felt some relief. Yet his heart remained heavy.

Her gradual recovery was a blessing, but what was worse was that the condition of Long-Awaited was worsening by the day.

The wounds on Long-Awaited’s body seemed to have lost all ability to heal. No matter how they were dressed and medicated, they continued to inflame and fester.

What was more, he had begun to suffer an unrelenting fever. Several imperial physicians took turns trying to reduce it and administer medicine, yet his body remained terrifyingly hot, while cold sweat streamed from him without cease. Even the time he could remain conscious grew shorter and shorter, until the fever drove him into delirium.

According to the physicians, if not for that last shred of conviction and willpower forcing him onward, Long-Awaited would have already departed this world.

But that very explanation only made the Crown Prince feel worse.

What else could sustain Long-Awaited’s conviction and willpower except the resolve that, even if he himself must die, he would first save her?

Standing in the courtyard outside the hall, the Crown Prince lifted his eyes to the night sky. Dark clouds pressed low overhead; not a single star could be seen.

His heart was heavy. Little Eunuch Ji, who attended him closely at all times, naturally understood what this was about. Looking at the Crown Prince’s sorrowful, desolate figure, he could only sigh inwardly.

“How is he today?”

Little Eunuch Ji knew that “he” did not refer to the princess, but to General Long-Awaited, and hurried to answer, “Reporting to Your Highness, his condition has still not improved. In fact, today he was unconscious all day, his fever would not break, and he kept speaking in delirium.”

“Did he... did you hear what he said?”

“Seems to be... calling out for the princess, Bright-City... and saying things like ‘I can hold on,’ ‘I must be able to hold on,’ ‘I can definitely save you’...”

When Little Eunuch Ji finished, his eyes were already brimming with tears as he sincerely exclaimed, “General Long-Awaited truly has a heart of pure devotion toward the princess.”

The Crown Prince gave a bitter laugh. “What good is pure devotion if no one can see it? Look—besides the few imperial physicians attending him in the side hall of the Eastern Palace, who knows that he is enduring inhuman torment? Who knows that he is on the brink of death, with life hanging by a thread? Who knows that Bright-City’s growing better day by day has been bought with his life, with his blood? Who knows?”

“No, everyone knows.”

After speaking, the Crown Prince answered himself with a voice of weary irony. “And yet, who cares? Father Emperor and Mother Empress would never care. They only know that Bright-City survived. As for whether Long-Awaited ultimately lives or dies, they would never give it a second thought, because he is nothing more than a mere military officer from humble origins. If he dies, then he dies. To have died saving the princess would even count as a blessing from his ancestors.”

“Your Highness...”

Hearing this, Little Eunuch Ji felt even more anguish and choked up.

He understood that the Crown Prince’s words were steeped in sarcasm, because the Crown Prince knew full well that they were the truth. Yet he was powerless, having witnessed it all with his own eyes and being able only to watch helplessly, unable to do the slightest thing for General Long-Awaited. That was why the Crown Prince’s mood had remained so despondent.