MLIAM Chapter 47
by VolareChapter 47: Don’t Leave (Revised Edition) If you leave, I’ll die for you…
Yu Shuli made a pact with everyone, and finally, the entire Northwest army set off overnight, risking the great crime of deceiving the Emperor and facing execution, heading towards Quzhou.
Chen Li kept shouting “A general abroad may disobey some orders from the Emperor” while instigating Yu Shuli to take the opportunity to start a rebellion, only to be scolded by Yu Shuli.
Yu Shuli said, “The Second Prince’s throne must come justly. A pure and kind person should not be stained with any blemish.”
“Then what’s considered a blemish?” Chen Li said aggrievedly, “Throughout history, many emperors have seized the throne, and I haven’t seen any blemishes on them.”
“His Majesty will abdicate sooner or later, so why bother with unnecessary actions? Instead of working on him, it’s better to eliminate all of the Second Prince’s competitors first.”
Chen Li exclaimed upon hearing this, “What’s the difference?!”
Yu Shuli stubbornly shook his head, “It’s different.”
“Alright, alright, it’s different. I won’t argue with you about that.” He said, “Do you really think you can enter Quzhou right now?”
Chen Li grabbed the terrain map, “I’ve studied it. This terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, extremely suitable for establishing dominance and claiming territory. If they want to target the Second Prince, isn’t this the best location?”
He lowered his voice, “Junior General, you may not have the thought of rebellion, but others might.”
Yu Shuli took the terrain map, his expression suddenly sinking.
Chen Li asked, “When did the Second Prince’s letter say he would pass through Quzhou?”
Yu Shuli was slightly stunned, “The fifth.”
“Even if we rush as fast as we can, we won’t arrive at Quzhou until the eighth.” Chen Li pursed his lips, “Hopefully, nothing major will happen in these three days.”
“Wei Yan is in Quzhou, it’ll be fine,” Yu Shuli said.
But Chen Li suddenly had a strange expression, “Junior General, I’ll ask again, are you really sure that Wei Yan isn’t on the side of the Crown Prince or the Third Prince?”
Yu Shuli frowned, the fingers of his hand hanging by his side curled slightly, his eyelashes flickered, “I…”
Chen Li sighed, “Forget it, I didn’t ask. Anyway, once we get to Quzhou, we’ll know everything.”
Chen Li’s tone wasn’t exactly good, and Yu Shuli’s gaze was ambiguous, making it difficult to discern the emotions within, “Why are you suspecting Wei Yan again?”
“Junior General, from your amnesia to your imprisonment with him for harming the Crown Prince, to my matter, to catching internal spies in the military camp, which of these things didn’t he participate in? Isn’t it normal for me to suspect him?” Chen Li said, “He unknowingly has too many handles on us, but we don’t even know which side he’s on now, do you think that’s normal? Is that reasonable?”
“But he told me to trust him, that he’s only on my side.”
Chen Li stomped his foot, “My Junior General! Men’s words are just casually spoken, how can you take them seriously like that?”
Yu Shuli defended, “But he saved my life…”
“Whether he saved you or harmed you, there were no third parties present. You have amnesia now, isn’t it just based on his one-sided account?” Chen Li’s tone turned cold, “Junior General has unknowingly been brainwashed by that fellow. If you fall in love with him in the future, that will be a truly irreversible disaster.”
Yu Shuli pondered for a long time before reluctantly nodding, “Don’t worry, I won’t fall in love that easily.”
“That’s not necessarily true. After all, you grew up together, so it’s understandable that you have deep feelings. But with interests at stake, anyone can change. Do you have the confidence to guarantee that he’s still the same as before, unchanged? These three years of memories, what unknown stories made you lose your memory, and you don’t care?”
Chen Li’s tone gradually became sharp, making Yu Shuli feel a trace of unease. “You weren’t… seemed to be that opposed to Wei Yan before?”
“After talking with you that day, I contacted my brother-in-law, and from my sister, I learned something.” Chen Li glanced at Yu Shuli, “Among those who were chasing my sister that day, there were people from The Censorate.”
“Junior General… perhaps… Wei Yan isn’t as clean as you imagine.”
*
The Northwest army braved wind and dew, traveling under the stars and moon, accompanied by the sounds of interwoven hooves, finally arriving at Quzhou late at night on the sixth.
They called at the city gate for half a day, but it wouldn’t open. The large army was given the cold shoulder at the gate.
Chen Li raised an eyebrow and looked at Yu Shuli, “What did I say?”
With the death of the Quzhou governor, the official with the highest authority in the city is naturally Wei Yan.
There wouldn’t be anyone else who could issue this kind of lockdown order.
Yu Shuli only felt as if his whole body was ignited by sparks, burning from head to toe, so angry that he couldn’t speak.
Ignoring the crowd who were setting up camp outside the city for a brief rest, he turned his horse around and went to knock on the city gate alone.
The city guards of Quzhou had been replaced after Dong Lingqing’s death. The new ones didn’t recognize Yu Shuli. Seeing the imposing figure coming, clad in armor and carrying a lance, they didn’t dare to let him in.
“Get out of the way, I want to see Wei Yan.” Yu Shuli’s eyes were stern and sharp.
Zhong Nian came over, “You have no eyes, this is Flying Dragon General Yu, General Yu! His Royal Highness, Prince An of our Da Liang! There’s no reason not to open the city gate!”
The two city guards were also stubborn, “Without official documents, no matter what fish General, cat General you are, we can’t just let you in.”
“Junior General, use this.” Zhong Nian took out a piece of bright yellow cloth.
Yu Shuli’s eyes paused, then he suddenly took the Imperial Decree from Zhong Nian’s hand. “Open your dog eyes wide, which is more important, official documents or the Imperial Decree?”
The city gate slowly opened with a creaking sound. Yu Shuli spurred his horse in, stirring up a cloud of dust.
The bright yellow Imperial Decree fell from the sky, the city guards were so frightened that their faces turned pale as they tried to catch it, but Zhong Nian took it first. “Who’s on duty at the city gate today? Have him come see me.”
“You… who are you?” Seeing the Imperial Decree, the city guards finally stopped arguing and cautiously asked the identity of the kind-looking but very majestic military officer in front of them.
Behind him was a vast expanse of well-equipped and solemn soldiers.
Zhong Nian looked ahead, chest held high, “Northwest Army Deputy General, Zhong Nian.”
*
Outside Wei Yan’s residence, there was a deathly silence.
Yu Shuli threw the reins to the gatekeeper and barged in.
Dozens of guards and servants couldn’t stop him. Yu Shuli broke into the courtyard, startling a few hiding birds.
When the guards in the residence surrounded Yu Shuli with their knives, Wei Yan finally appeared, draped in heavy clothing.
He glanced at Yu Shuli and signaled to the servants, “Step back.”
The servants and guards glared, not moving.
“What? My words don’t work anymore?” Wei Yan’s voice coldly echoed through the corridor.
Dry leaves rustled in the wind.
The servants and guards sheathed their swords, but still didn’t move.
Yu Shuli sneered, “Aren’t you going to get out?” He spun the lance in his hand, showing off a flourish, “Those who aren’t afraid of death, stay, I’ll stab anyone who does.”
With a “thud”, the lance landed, and the finally cowed men scattered.
Yu Shuli glared at Wei Yan, “Is this the kind of good dogs you have in your residence?”
Wei Yan ignored his mockery, instead, he composed himself, straightened his clothes, and sincerely smiled slightly, “Junior General has traveled a long way, you must be tired.”
As he led Yu Shuli towards his room, he asked, “I had the kitchen make your favorite spicy lamb leg, should I have it brought up now, or wait a bit?”
“Wei Yan, what exactly do you mean?” Yu Shuli couldn’t hold back and asked, “No reply to my letters, the city gates tightly closed, the servants blocking me, what do you want to do? Can I really still trust you?”
“Don’t be impatient.” The two entered the room, Wei Yan closed the door, turned back to examine Yu Shuli, and wanted to affectionately rub Yu Shuli’s face, but the other party dodged.
Wei Yan’s eyes dimmed for a moment, then quickly returned to normal, only complaining, “We haven’t seen each other for months, Junior General has become estranged from me.”
“Estranged?” Yu Shuli waved his fist, “It’s good enough that I’m not hitting you.”
Wei Yan chuckled, “It’s my fault, I kept Junior General waiting. There were some small accidents in the city, I was busy with some things, so I didn’t welcome you in time.”
“This isn’t just a matter of whether you welcomed me or not.” Yu Shuli walked inside, “What’s going on with these servants and guards of yours? They don’t even listen to you?”
“They… I will reprimand them.” He lowered his eyes, making it impossible to see what he was thinking. “Junior General came this time, is it for me? Are you… worried about me?”
Yu Shuli was still angry, and ignored the second half of his sentence, retorting, “Reprimand? If you, Wei Yan, truly wanted to do something, you would have prepared in advance, and wouldn’t have waited until they offended me today to fix things after it’s too late.”
He entered the room, turned around and sat on Wei Yan’s couch, his expression dark and unclear, “Wei Yan, so I really don’t know whether I should trust you or not. Are you truly care about me? Or is it just a pretense, fake affection, I can’t tell at all.”
The smile on Wei Yan’s lips froze, his chest felt sour, and he struggled to defend, “Ji’an, it’s not what you think. I didn’t want you to get involved in this matter…”
A faint light flickered in his eyes, “In short, I’m very happy that you could come… I don’t…”
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Lord, you haven’t taken your medicine today.” It was a woman’s clear voice, neither humble nor arrogant.
Yu Shuli suddenly raised his head, pretending not to see the instantaneous gloomy look on Wei Yan’s face. Before Wei Yan could explain, he flung open the door.
The little maid had a stunningly beautiful face, not timid and shy like the young ladies in the capital. She looked Yu Shuli in the eye, smiled, “This must be General Yu? I’ve heard the Lord mention you before.”
Yu Shuli politely glanced at her, withdrew his gaze, “Are you a maid in the residence?”
The little maid smiled lightly, “Yes, this servant takes care of the Lord’s affairs.”
Yu Shuli nodded knowingly, with a faint smile, looked behind him, “Wei Yan, do you have anything else to say?”
Seeing his smile, Wei Yan only felt cold all over, an indescribable panic washing over him. Even the three months of winter weren’t as bone-chilling and painful as this.
It hurts so much…
“Get out.” His face was as dark as ink, almost losing control as he roared at the little maid.
The little maid’s smile stiffened, “Lord… this servant always comes at this time…”
Yu Shuli sneered, “So this is what Prime Minister Wei means by having something to do? Then you two chat, I’m going back.”
“Yu Shuli!” Wei Yan coughed a few times, grabbed Yu Shuli’s hand, “Let me explain.”
“Let go.” Yu Shuli glared at him, not understanding why his emotions would become so unexpectedly big just from seeing a strange maid serving him.
He seemed to be deceiving Wei Yan, and also trying to deceive himself as he said resentfully, “I didn’t misunderstand at all! And I didn’t come for you at all, Wei Yan, give up.”
His raised head looked like a noble crane, but he didn’t understand that the more proud he was, the more he aroused covetousness.
“You didn’t come for me…” Wei Yan tightly pursed his lips, his cheek muscles clenched, trying to suppress his jealousy, “So, you came… for the Second Prince?”
“Yes!” Yu Shuli raised his neck, “I’m not worried about you at all, let go of me, let me go.”
“I won’t let go, don’t even think about me letting go, I won’t let go even if I die.” Wei Yan lowered his eyes, his voice muffled like a water jar filled with water. He clenched his hand tightly, fiercely staring at him, “You’re not allowed to be with the Second Prince! If you dare to be with him, don’t blame me…”
“Tsk tsk tsk…” The maid leaned against the door with interest, interrupting casually, “I really didn’t expect Prime Minister Wei to be so deeply in love.”
Wei Yan seemed not to hear.
Not getting a response from Yu Shuli, he still held onto Yu Shuli with one hand, while shifting his gaze to the little maid, his eyes as cold as if looking at a dead person, but his voice was directed at Yu Shuli, so soft that it was terrifying, “Ji’an… if you don’t want to see her, let her die, okay?”
With a flick of his finger, a silver thread appeared in his waist, the little maid gasped when she saw this, and looked over in astonishment. “You… you were pretending all along?!” She took two steps back, “But you clearly know, you can’t touch me. If you kill me… aren’t you afraid of alerting the enemy, and killing that person?”
Wei Yan’s face was calm, “What does it matter to me whether others live or die?”
“Aren’t you… weren’t you always investigating that person’s whereabouts?” The little maid showed fear, retreating hatefully.
“That person… who is it?”
Yu Shuli didn’t understand the conversation between the two, asked but didn’t get a response from anyone.
But seeing the silver thread on Wei Yan’s fingertip, his eyes sank.
“Wait.” He interrupted Wei Yan.
Wei Yan’s eyes were dark, but he couldn’t wait.
“Ji’an.” He wrapped the thin blade around the little maid’s neck, and earnestly asked, “If I were to ask you to choose between the Second Prince and me, and abandon the other, who would you choose?”
Yu Shuli frowned, “Aren’t you not supposed to be in conflict?” He cautiously asked, “Wei Yan, aren’t you on the Second Prince’s side?”
Wei Yan shook his head, “No…”
The cooperation has ended, who wins and who loses, it only truly starts now.
Yu Shuli’s face changed. He seemed to know what Wei Yan wanted to do.
The silver thread tightened, the little maid’s face was pale, looking over with hatred, not saying a word.
Yu Shuli raised his hand to intercept, his palm embedded in the silver thread, leaving behind streaks of blood. “You’re going crazy again, but not to the point of threatening me with a little girl!”
“You’re protecting her?” Wei Yan turned his head, looking incredulous.
He laughed lightly, “I’m not even as good as her, am I?”
Yu Shuli didn’t speak, raised his hand to tighten the thin thread in his palm. “If you’re not afraid of hurting me, you can not let go.”
Seeing the blood on Yu Shuli’s palm, Wei Yan panicked, he hurriedly loosened the silver thread on his waist, his face frighteningly gloomy. “Ji’an, I don’t understand. Let’s choose one more time, you choose, the Second Prince, right?”
Yu Shuli heard something wrong in his voice, threw off the silver thread and suddenly turned his head, only to see Wei Yan biting his teeth, blood already overflowing from the corners of his lips.
His heart panicked, “Wei Yan, what’s wrong with you?!”
Wei Yan didn’t speak, the fingers holding Yu Shuli’s hand were trembling, convulsing all over, and the blood at the corners of his mouth was increasing.
“I’ll go help you call a doctor.” Yu Shuli shook off his hand and turned to leave.
The person behind him suddenly pounced over, embracing him fully. “Don’t leave! If you leave, I’ll die for you to see.”
Yu Shuli’s expression changed. “Is dying all you can think about all day long? Are you even human?!”
“Ji’an, in your eyes, am I just not as good as Zhao Lan?” Wei Yan’s eyes turned red, “Do I look like a black-hearted, murderous villain? Besides threatening to die, what else can I do? If I say something else, will you choose me? Have pity on me?”
“You’re just saying that yourself.” Yu Shuli grabbed Wei Yan’s lower back, supporting him, “Why are you comparing yourself to the Second Prince?”
He only realized now that the person behind him was soft and weak, his whole body seemed to be drained of strength, yet he was still stiffening his muscles to hug him, looking fierce and helpless.
If he had allowed him to act just now, hurting his internal energy, I’m afraid it wouldn’t have just been as simple as vomiting blood.
He was already so seriously ill, but he hadn’t shown even a hint of weakness, utterly like a fake person.
Yu Shuli sighed in his heart. Wei Yan always disregarded his own body like this, if he stubbornly ignored him, he would eventually torture himself to death.
“If you want to choose him, I’ll insist on comparing myself!” Wei Yan fiercely raised his eyes, his face extremely pale.
“Save some strength…” Yu Shuli was used to his jealousy and madness, and could only perfunctorily pat his head, feeling embarrassed, “There’s no Imperial Physician Yang here.”
After placing his hand on Wei Yan’s pulse, he suddenly “eh”ed, frowning: “That’s not right… your pulse…”
Wei Yan broke free. “In short, I’m going to compete.”
This competition had many meanings.
“Wei Yan, what do you mean?” Yu Shuli was distracted, his face also turning cold: “Do you mean, you also want to compete for the throne?”
Wei Yan didn’t speak.
But Yu Shuli knew his answer, pushed him away, and suddenly smiled mockingly: “So all this time, Chen Li was right, you are the sparrow hiding behind.”
He turned around: “Since that’s the case, then I have nothing to say to you today. Thank you Prime Minister Wei for telling me today.”
“You’re not allowed to leave!” Wei Yan grabbed him, his voice trembling, his fingers digging into his own flesh and blood to maintain his strength: “If you leave, you won’t want me anymore.”
Yu Shuli pulled Wei Yan’s fingers apart as he glared at him, still not holding back: “Who said they wanted you?! Don’t be so sentimental!”
He knew that Wei Yan was cunning, but he didn’t expect him to have thoughts about the throne.
He, Yu Shuli, was truly a pitiful fool, the Second Prince kindly told him not to come.
But he came thousands of miles to give himself up because he was worried about Wei Yan.
If Wei Yan didn’t have some affection for him, I’m afraid he would have become Wei Yan’s hostage for his future coup, right?
Yu Shuli didn’t hold back, and pushed Wei Yan away.
Wei Yan fell to the ground and laughed: “So Zhao Lan is really that much more important than me…”
He grabbed the silver thread on his waist, his fingers all digging into the flesh and blood, but he didn’t feel it at all on his face.
Yu Shuli was very angry at his self-harming behavior, he pulled out the silver thread from Wei Yan’s waist and threw it away. “This ghost thing, if it’s not used to protect yourself, but to hurt yourself, don’t bring it again in the future.”
Wei Yan knew martial arts, he had hidden this for more than ten years.
Yu Shuli smiled: “Wei Yan, pretending to be weak to deceive me, is it fun?”
Wei Yan’s gaze was fixed on the silver thread, as if watching his feelings being abandoned and stripped away. “I used it to kill many people, Ji’an, do you know?”
Yu Shuli muffled “um”ed. “You don’t need my protection at all, all these years, I was just being sentimental.”
“No, you don’t know!” Perhaps stimulated by something, Wei Yan shouted and stretched his neck towards Yu Shuli, murmuring: “Why don’t you just kill me? Kill me, and I won’t compete with Zhao Lan for the throne.”
“Kill what kill? You’re really not well.” Yu Shuli still felt a little unbearable looking at Wei Yan’s crazy appearance.
He walked over, staring into Wei Yan’s eyes for a long time.
There was no light in those eyes now.
Yu Shuli sighed and reluctantly pulled the person up.
Fortunately, Wei Yan was still obedient to his movements, but Yu Shuli realized that the strength in his hands wasn’t right…
He took the opportunity to pinch Wei Yan’s spine, step by step, feeling upwards from the arms around him, and the more he felt, the more shocked he became.
Wei Yan slowly leaned over, seeing that Yu Shuli wasn’t repulsing him, he simply threw himself into Yu Shuli’s arms.
The bones in his whole body were terribly soft, how could it be as simple as a relapse of an old illness? Linking his previous difficulty in walking a few steps and his poor complexion, Yu Shuli was stunned.
Just now, when he came out to meet him, God knows how much willpower Wei Yan used to make himself look normal? A person who has been drugged with muscle-softening powder has difficulty even getting up, but he was able to come to the door to meet him with a normal expression…
It was just a little later in time.
Yu Shuli gritted his teeth, secretly cursing himself for being a piece of trash.
What exactly had Wei Yan gone through in Quzhou these past few months?!
He only felt that his heart was filled with anger and heartache.
The words of scolding stopped abruptly, and Yu Shuli’s body no longer struggled. He hugged Wei Yan unmoving, making him more comfortable, while thinking about how to forget all the things they had argued about before, and then coax the person in his arms to let him see if there were any other injuries.
Wei Yan nestled in his arms, seeing that he wasn’t leaving, his emotions stabilized slightly, but the blood stains at the corners of his mouth didn’t decrease but increased.
Yu Shuli only realized now that the blood stains weren’t from his bitten gums, but from his coughs…
He tried to pull Wei Yan up a bit to wipe the blood stains from the corners of his mouth, so that he would be more comfortable, but Wei Yan suddenly fell face down.
Suddenly, there was a violent retching sound.
The ground was a mess.
Yu Shuli couldn’t avoid it, and the filth that Wei Yan vomited splattered on his feet.
Wei Yan’s body trembled violently, the rare moment of clarity made him feel as if he had suffered a disaster, and belatedly felt ashamed, wanting to push Yu Shuli away.
Yu Shuli was horrified, but ignored the traces on the ground, held the person firmly, and moved him further away.
The little maid brought the medicine over again. The door wasn’t closed, and this scene was seen by everyone.
Yu Shuli covered Wei Yan’s body, turned to look at the maid, and cursed angrily: “Is this how you usually serve your master?”
The little maid wasn’t alarmed at all, stood further away, instead, looking disgusted and accustomed, leisurely looking at Wei Yan, and said: “Lord, this servant has said it long ago, you should take your medicine.”
Something had happened to Wei Yan, and Yu Shuli finally began to pay attention to this unusual maid in front of him.
She was tiptoeing, with enough energy in her chest, she was actually a trained martial artist!
The medicine bowl in her hand emitted a strange fragrance, the heat turning into a mist, melting into the air.
“Ji’an…” Wei Yan fell into confusion, only darkness remained in front of him, only knowing to call Yu Shuli’s name.
Yu Shuli’s heart ached.
Wei Yan was suffering alone in Quzhou. But he came up and indiscriminately accused him.
“I’m here.” Yu Shuli sighed, hugged Wei Yan horizontally, and walked towards the bed.
“Ji’an, don’t leave.” Wei Yan murmured while convulsing. His limbs curled up uncontrollably, Yu Shuli hugged him tightly, afraid that he would fall.
“I won’t leave, I’ll feed you the medicine, okay?”
Wei Yan nodded slightly, mustered a little energy to squint at him, and was relieved when he saw that he didn’t seem to be lying.
Yu Shuli glanced at the maid on the side, leaned close to his ear, and whispered: “That medicine, can you drink it?”
Wei Yan “um”ed.
Yu Shuli put the person on the couch before taking the medicine bowl from the maid. “Give it to me.”
The maid glanced at Wei Yan, who was rolling on the bed, chuckled, and turned to let them go.
Before leaving, she said to Yu Shuli, who was closing the door: “Junior General, unfortunately, he tried his best to protect you, but you still have to enter the game. Good luck.”