Who says the prince is weak and can't take care of himself?

The wind and rain stopped, and the weather cleared up. There was only one day left of the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that the moon is fullest on the 15th and 16th. Qi Xiao did not want to miss it. Even though he was injured, he still wanted to take Tang Ling out to play.

It was almost dusk and the carriages were harnessed. Qi Xiao and Tang Ling were preparing to go out when a guest arrived in the courtyard.

The guard came to report that the man called himself Chi Yue.

"Bring it in quickly."

When Chi Yue saw Qi Xiao and Tang Ling, he smiled and knelt on one knee: "Chi Yue greets His Highness and Young Master."

Chi Yue did not disguise himself, and he looked exhausted, and it was obvious that he had come here in a hurry.

"Hurry up and get up. Chi Yue, why are you here?"

Chi Yue blinked: "Your Highness, are you asking this question even though you already know the answer?"

"Zongsheng is waiting for you in Luxi."

Qi Xiao knew Chi Yue would come. He had faked his own death and escaped, and His Majesty, filled with resentment, would certainly not let him and Tang Ling off easily. It was only a matter of time before the Tian Ce Camp arrived. Because of this, Tang Ling had deployed extra guards in the courtyard and even nearly barred Qi Xiao from attending the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Chi Yue smiled: "I know."

"Where's Munemori? Did you come here alone?"

Chi Yue did not stand up, but instead knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying: "Chi Yue is here to ask His Highness and Young Master to save my life."

Tang Ling stepped forward and helped Chi Yue up: "You get up first and talk slowly."

"Chi Yue, under the order of His Majesty, came to the State of Zhou to assassinate the prince."

Tang Ling and Qi Xiao were not surprised to hear this. Neither of them interrupted Chi Yue and waited for him to continue.

"The more I fail to complete this mission pool, the more I can only ask Your Highness and Young Master for help. I don't know whether His Majesty has sent anyone else out. Your Highness and Young Master, please be careful."

Tang Ling asked, "With your disguise skills, it should be easy for you to escape. Since you came to find us but didn't kill me, I owe you my life. There's no need to ask for a word. What can we do?"

Chi Yue smiled and said, "Young Master is very clever and can guess everything."

Chi Yue pulled a small porcelain bottle from his bosom and handed it to Tang Ling. He suppressed his smile and said seriously, "I've been poisoned for years. The medicine in this can keep me alive for six months. If my mission fails after six months, or I flee without receiving the medicine Your Majesty has given me, I will die of festering ulcers within three months. The process will be extremely painful and the death will be tragic. Please, Your Highness and Young Master, have pity on me and save me."

Qi Xiao looked at Chi Yue. He wasn't shocked. If the Tiance Camp didn't have such a method, Chi Yue would have escaped without a trace with his disguise skills. Why would he endure the humiliation and torture that ordinary people couldn't bear? But even though it was expected, he still couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.

Tang Ling called Qinglan without saying a word.

Qinglan came very quickly. He originally thought that something had happened to Tang Ling, so he ran all the way over. He was relieved to see that Tang Ling was fine. However, after hearing Chi Yue's poisonous words, his face turned grim again.

Qinglan held a small pill in the small porcelain bottle in the palm of her hand and smelled it, then took Chi Yue's pulse with a frown on her face.

"how?"

"I've never seen this poison before. I need Chi Yue's blood, a small piece of flesh, and this medicine. I also need to study it carefully. But, Chi Yue, do you only have one medicine? If I dissolve it, what if I can't make a similar medicine... But if I don't dissolve it, I won't be able to detect the medicinal ingredients in it."

Chi Yue looked at Qinglan for a long time before saying, "The last time I took the medicine was three months ago, so I still have six months left. Qinglan, you take the medicine. I'll come back in five months."

"Ah? You're not staying here?"

Chi Yue shook his head: "I'm going to find Zong Sheng."

Qinglan opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

Chi Yue then said to Qi Xiao and Tang Ling, "Chi Yue has one last request for your Highness and Young Master."

Qi Xiao and Tang Ling were both stunned for a moment and looked at each other. They guessed what Chi Yue wanted, but neither of them wanted to agree.

"If Qinglan fails to prepare the medicine, please ask Your Highness and Young Master to keep it a secret from Zongsheng for me. Never tell him. Even if that piece of wood has to wait foolishly in Luxi for the rest of his life, don't tell him."

Chi Yue lowered his head slightly, and couldn't help but have a ripple in his eyes. He was such a selfish person. Even if Zong Sheng had to wait for him all his life, someone who would never appear again, he still hoped that he would wait, and didn't want to be replaced by others.

Qi Xiao and Tang Ling remained silent for a long while. Chi Yue waited, but couldn't wait any longer. He raised his face and said with a smile, "I'll assume that Your Highness and Young Master have agreed to this. I'll come back in five months. Chi Yue would like to thank Your Highness and Young Master, as well as Qing Lan, in advance."

Qing Lan said: "Chi Yue, come with me, I need a piece of your flesh."

"it is good."

Qinglan took Chi Yue to the side room. Qi Xiao and Tang Ling looked at each other, still speechless for a long time.

Qi Xiao considered Zong Sheng a family member. If Chi Yue died because of him, he didn't know how he would face Zong Sheng in the future. Chi Yue's final request was perhaps partly to prevent Qi Xiao from having to deal with such a situation, but Qi Xiao couldn't bear it himself.

Tang Ling held Qi Xiao's hand and said softly, "This is not your fault."

"I should have thought of it earlier..."

"Qi Xiao, leave it to Qinglan, we will find a way."

Qi Xiao sighed and nodded, "Qinglan is a skilled doctor, he will find a way."

In the side room, Qinglan cut off a piece of flesh from Chi Yue's arm, and blood immediately gushed out. Chi Yue didn't say a word, but Qinglan took a breath of cold air.

"I'll bandage your wound. Don't touch water for the next few days. I'll also give you some wound medicine. Remember to change the dressing every day."

"Thank you."

Qing Lan looked at Chi Yue and said, "Come here every month. I won't dissolve the medicine yet. If I can extract the poison from your flesh and blood, I may not need to dissolve the medicine."

Chi Yue's eyes lit up: "Is it possible?"

Qing Lan was silent for a moment, then said, "I can only try. This poison has been in you for over ten years, and you've been taking the medicine for over ten years. The toxicity and the medicine have blended together, and I'm afraid it's no longer the same as the original poison."

Chi Yue smiled and said, "I understand. Thank you very much."

***

Chi Yue came out of Tang Ling's courtyard and rode his horse at full speed towards Luxi. He finally arrived when the moon was at its zenith.

Today is the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even a small place like Luxi is very lively and decorated with lights and colors.

Chi Yue led his horse through the crowd. The hawking sounds from the street stalls and the laughter of people passing by him seemed to urge him to hurry up.

The lotus pond was bustling with people and there were lotus lanterns lit in the pond, which looked like night pearls decorated on the inky forged iron, which was extremely luxurious.

Chi Yue asked Zong Sheng to wait here, but there was such a huge sea of ​​people that he had no idea where to start searching among the millions of people.

Chi Yue stepped out of the crowd, looking at the bright lights and the surging crowd. A sudden pang of sadness gripped him. If he only had six months left, wouldn't it be better for him not to come to Zong Sheng? He would be living a life worse than death in those last three months, and he didn't want Zong Sheng to see it. If he went to find him now, Chi Yue was afraid that when that time came, he wouldn't have the courage to leave Zong Sheng.

Chi Yue held the reins in his hand, not knowing where to go.

If there were only six months left and he couldn't even spend his final moments with Zong Sheng, he might as well just die right now. Why would he have to endure the torture of having his intestines ruptured and his body rotten?

Hearing the sound of clothes rustling in the wind, Chi Yue turned around vigilantly. A figure was approaching him, but he did not move.

Zong Sheng hugged the person tightly, without saying a word, with a faint smile on his face.

"You...how..."

"go home."

Zong Sheng held Chi Yue in one hand and took the reins with the other, leading Chi Yue home. He had bought a house by the lotus pond, spending a considerable amount of money on it, and it didn't take long for them to arrive.

The plaque read "Chi's Residence." The surname Chi was very rare in Zhou State, and Zong Sheng had thought it would be easy to find. However, he didn't expect Chi Yue to be standing outside the crowd in a daze.

Chi Yue stared at the plaque on the door in a daze for a moment and asked, "How did you find me?"

The house is easy to find, but it is not easy to find people in the crowd.

Zong Sheng raised his hand and pointed at the high wall: "I have been sitting there."

"Squatting on the wall?" Chi Yue laughed, looking really silly and cute. "Have you been waiting for me?"

"Ah."

Chi Yue pushed the door open and entered the yard, pulling Zong Sheng in with him. Without even closing the door, he pounced on Zong Sheng and kissed him fiercely.

Zong Sheng hugged Chi Yue tightly in his arms. The only sounds he could hear were his breathing and heartbeat. He felt as dry as firewood in the dog days of summer and caught fire in an instant.

Chi Yue felt something pressing against his legs and couldn't help laughing: "Are you in such a hurry?"

"……Um."

Chi Yue laughed for a while, then rubbed Zong Sheng with evil intentions, adding fuel to his fire. Hearing Zong Sheng's suppressed groans, he laughed even more happily.

Chi Yue was smiling when he suddenly heard a noise in the yard. His face darkened. He turned his head and saw a small figure emerge from the corridor a moment later.

"Hey?" A little girl of seven or eight years old was holding a rabbit lantern and staring at Chi Yue and Zong Sheng who were pressed tightly together with her big round eyes.

Chi Yue reached out and grabbed Zong Sheng's neck, but he didn't really use any force. "It's been a long time since we last met. Has your daughter grown up this big?"

Zong Sheng blushed: "Nonsense, I picked up this child."

"Picked up? To be my child bride?"

"..." Chi Yue was inexplicably jealous, and Zong Sheng didn't know how to explain it. Zong Sheng picked Chi Yue up and walked straight to the inner courtyard room.

Chi Yue couldn't help laughing, turned to the little girl and said, "Good girl, close the door and go play by yourself. If you hear anything, don't disturb us."

Zong Sheng put Chi Yue on the bed, undressed him, and asked, "How did you get hurt?"

When he was holding Chi Yue just now, Zong Sheng vaguely smelled the smell of blood on his body, which was from a fresh wound.

Chi Yue ripped off Zong Sheng's belt with one hand and smiled nonchalantly, "It's just a flesh wound, it's nothing serious."

Zong Sheng leaned over Chi Yue and gently kissed the bandaged wound.

"It doesn't hurt."

"I hurt."

Chi Yue lifted Zongsheng's face and kissed him, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

……

In the middle of every month, Chi Yue would always go out and be away for three or four days. When he came back, he would always have a wound on his body. The wound was not serious. As he said, it was just a flesh wound, and it was slowly healing after applying medicine.

Zong Sheng asked every time, and Chi Yue’s answer was always the same: It’s okay, just a minor injury.

Zong Sheng guessed where Chi Yue had gone, but he could never find out why. He didn't like Chi Yue hiding things from him or lying to him, but he had no other choice but to wait for Chi Yue to tell him himself.

Just after the Chinese New Year, Chi Yue spent the Lantern Festival with Zong Sheng, but he left again the next day. Before leaving, he kissed Zong Sheng and repeated the same words: "Wait for me to come back."

This time, Chi Yue was away for a long time.

"Brother, it's cold outside, go in and wait."

The little girl sat next to Zong Sheng at the gate of the house, looking at the frozen pool of water. When she spoke a word, the cold wind rushed from her mouth all the way into her stomach, making her shiver.

"You go in."

"Brother," the little girl covered her mouth with her sleeve before she dared to speak again, "What if Brother Chi Yue doesn't come back?"

"I promised to wait for him."

"Brother, are you stupid?"

Zong Sheng sighed softly: "Maybe."

"Actually, you know where Brother Chi Yue went, right? Why don't you go find him?" The little girl was very smart. Compared to her, Zong Sheng was really stupid.

"He'll be mad if I'm not here when he gets back."

The girl rolled her eyes: "I'm here, I'll tell him you went to see him."

Zong Sheng glanced at the little girl and said, "He doesn't need me to go find him. He just needs me to wait for him here. As long as I keep waiting, he will come back."

Chi Yue, come back.