After being thoroughly violated, he ran away with the enemy emperor's child.

Both logically and emotionally, he couldn't blame Mo Yan.

After a moment of contemplation, he spoke: "...Your Highness, take care."

"You too."

After saying this, Mo Yan turned and left. Xue Wu watched his retreating figure and sighed heavily.

As her memories returned, Xue Wu continued, "—After that incident, my junior brother and I haven't seen each other much."

"I sent a message to my master on the day he passed away."

"The Floating Life Ashes was always Master's obsession. He was still talking about it before he died. He said..."

Xue Wu knelt on the ground, as if he had lost all his strength overnight: "He said that the medicinal baths he gave his junior brother were all experiments he conducted."

"He knew that the medicinal bath would not work, but he still wanted to observe the reactions of the poisoned people in the medicinal bath in order to improve his understanding of the Floating Life Ash."

"For those ten days, I could hear my junior brother's screams almost every day. That thin man, soaking in a tub, his whole body crawling with poison..."

"Your Majesty, I feel ashamed."

Even after more than ten years, I still can't forget the scene from that day.

"..."

Chu Junci listened silently, his right hand, hidden in his embroidered robe, slowly clenching.

Below him, Xue Wu continued, "Back then, Junior Brother was so eager to get rid of the poison, partly for his life, and partly for a promise."

"…promise?"

"Yes, he said he felt like he had forgotten a very important promise, and he had to remember it no matter what."

"This belief sustained him, making him eager to eliminate the toxins from his body, but unfortunately..."

He shook his head and sighed, "Unfortunately, he didn't remember until the very last moment."

After saying this, Xue Wu finally revealed his intention: "Telling His Majesty this story is not just common gossip, but rather..."

He moved his lips and pressed his forehead to the ground: "If I am not mistaken, Your Majesty and my junior brother, namely His Majesty Mo Yan of Zhao Kingdom, know each other and have a close relationship."

"..." Chu Junci remained silent, tacitly acknowledging something.

In fact, he had already guessed some of it when Xue Wu told the story.

Chu Junci pressed his fingertip to his brow and said, "The reason I'm telling you this story is because the divine physician couldn't bring himself to do it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

In any case, let Xue Wu do it herself...

He can't.

However, he was entrusted by His Majesty, and after thinking it over all night, he decided to tell His Majesty everything and let him make his own choice.

After a long silence, Chu Junci finally waved his hand and said, "I understand, you can go now."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xue Wu took his leave, leaving only Chu Junci in the hall. He rested his forehead on his hand, his mind in turmoil.

Xue Wu didn't know what the promise Mo Yan had forgotten was, but Chu Junci did.

It was Mo Yan's words after being cured of the poison: "I will remember that it was A Ling who saved my life, and I will never forget it"; it was also the letter exchange they agreed to before leaving.

Although Chu Junci guessed that Mo Yan had forgotten these things because he was poisoned again, she did not expect that Mo Yan would push himself into a desperate situation in order to remember his promise.

Fifteen years ago, fifteen years ago...

Chu Junci was somewhat lost in thought, and in a daze, he recalled that memory.

He actually went to see Mo Yan off on the day he left the city, but unfortunately he was a step too late.

Holding the candied hawthorn, he watched the carriage drive away and could only turn back to the palace.

Ten days later, the day he should have received the letter, Chu Junci received nothing.

Gradually, he forgot about it.

Looking back now, if Mo Yan hadn't been poisoned again, perhaps everything would have been different.

Just like the "other self" and "another Mo Yan" he saw in another world.

Can……

Things have come to this point, and the "what if" moment has long passed; there's no point in dwelling on it.

He was still in a state of turmoil, but he still whispered, "Someone come here."

"His Majesty."

A young eunuch appeared: "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"...Go to the Imperial Medical Academy and invite the head of the academy here."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After the eunuch left, Chu Junci stared at the table, his emotions unable to calm down for a long time.

After a while, he got up and went to another palace, which was not far away, only a short walk away.

The guards followed at a distance. Chu Junci looked up at the plaque, his gaze sliding over the three characters "Ji'an Hall".

Ji'an Palace was once the residence of my father and father. It was completely closed two years ago. Chu Junci had given instructions that no one except the palace maids and eunuchs who went in to sweep and clean was allowed to enter.

The last time he visited Ji'an Palace was three months ago, when he was preparing to go to Snowfall Cliff…

Pushing open the palace door, Chu Junci sat down at the table by the window, calmly brewed a cup of tea, but did not drink it.

He stared at the tea in his cup, his mind a jumble of thoughts, unable to make a decision.

His emotions, which he had been trying so hard to suppress, surged up, and he was caught in a dilemma.

Outside the hall, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy waited at the entrance, feeling uneasy.

For the time now, His Majesty's pulse has been monitored by the so-called "Divine Physician Xue," and now His Majesty has suddenly summoned him, I wonder...

He waited for a while, his unease growing stronger.

After a moment's hesitation, he asked the young eunuch beside him, "Young Master, is His Majesty unwell?"

After thinking for a moment, the young eunuch finally replied, "His Majesty's complexion is rosy and his condition is normal; he does not appear to be unwell."

"That……"

The rest of the words stuck in his throat. He paced around in place a few times, thinking to himself: Oh well, I'll just wait.

Inside the room, Chu Junci poured himself another cup of tea. Smelling its delicate aroma, he asked himself a question—

Will you establish an empress in the future?

Influenced by his father and grandfather, he only wanted one wife in this life. According to his previous idea, the child he had with his wife would become the crown prince, just like he had in the past.

But the moment he fell in love with someone, he could no longer accept anyone else.

But that "one person" turned out to be Mo Yan.

Even if it's impossible for them, even if he and Mo Yan won't have a future, he still can't accept other people.

But the Yong Kingdom cannot be without a crown prince.

Reaching for the teacup with his right hand, Chu Junci grasped it: "Father, if you knew what I wanted to do, would you blame me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a breeze drifted in from outside the window, gently ruffling his hair, as if someone were softly stroking it, relieving him of his guilt.

"Father..."

Chu Junci murmured something, put down his teacup, and in a daze, he seemed to see his father saying to him, "A-Ling, your father will always support your decision."

"A-Ling, do whatever you want. Go ahead and do it without worry. Your father will never blame you."

A moment later, the father's figure appeared beside the emperor, and he smiled and said, "A-Ling, do what you want to do."

"Your father will always support your decision."

A tear slid down her cheek and landed in the teacup. Chu Junci closed her eyes, and when she stood up again, she had returned to her usual self.

It was at that moment that he heard a voice call out, "Brother!"