T/N: I’m posting the last two chapters at the same time!

---

He bathed in the hot spring all the way from dreamland to reality, and Liu Xian’an was confused. He really couldn’t remember how he got back to the bedroom tonight, and seemed to have moved to the bedroom in the blink of an eye while eating. The lights in the room were extremely dim, and it was pitch black outside. The north wind caused the few withered yellow leaves on the branches to rustle. Liu Xian’an habitually thought that the small waterwheel in the courtyard was probably going to spin again.

Sure enough, a familiar “squeaking” sound came from outside the door.

His heart was suddenly at ease, and he felt as relaxed as a feather floating among the clouds. It turned out that returning to a familiar home was like this.

Liang Shu asked: “What are you smiling about?”

“It’s hard to explain. Wu, beautiful things can only be enjoyed by oneself.” Liu Xian’an stretched, then reached out and wiped the face of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, who was like a drowned rat. He couldn’t wait to return to his familiar big bed, so he said to Liang Shu: “Turn around.”

Liang Shu shook his head: “Won’t turn around.”

Liu Xian’an visually measured the distance from the tub to the bed, and still felt that he needed to turn around somewhat.

Liang Shu smiled and came closer: “I took it off with my own hands, why are you embarrassed now? I won’t turn around.”

Liu Xian’an said: “I didn’t know you took it off.”

Liang Shu suggested, you can continue to close your eyes now and pretend not to know.

Liu Xian’an just barely agreed, that’s also fine. In any case, after closing his eyes, the person guarding the bathtub could be a prince or chaotic nothingness, and in the realm of nothingness, there were definitely not so many rules, so it was fine to wear clothes or not to wear clothes.

Liang Shu wrapped him back on the bed with a big, soft blanket, then took a cloth and wiped his hair bit by bit. Before he was finished wiping, Liu Xian’an fell asleep again, sleeping without any distractions and completely relaxed. After being tucked back into bed, he immediately rolled sideways into a wild posture, as if he would never wake up from a long dream.

Liang Shu smiled and lowered his head to kiss his ear. A-Ning had been standing guard outside the door. Calculating that the time was almost up, he gently knocked on the door and came in to remove the bathtub. The boy lowered his head and worked quickly. He also asked with caution: “Your Highness, tonight….”

“I’ll stay here,” Liang Shu said.

A-Ning responded affirmatively and quickly asked someone to bring new hot water. Anyway, when the prince returned to Baihe Mountain Village, he also lived in the waterside pavilion. So long as the door was closed more tightly this time, the others would think that the prince was still sleeping in the guest room, so it was not a breach of etiquette.

His Royal Highness Xiao Wang in the hot spring pool opened his eyes again and asked lazily: “Why are you here again—”

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Xian’an had already found a comfortable position in his arms. The sky was full of pink clouds, and there were colorful fallen flowers on the shore. This scene was truly suitable for sleeping, so he muttered: “Don’t talk.”

Liang Shu brought his ear closer: “What?”

Liu Xian’an didn’t say anything more. He lay on the bed with his face turned sideways, only revealing a bit of his smooth earlobe. Liang Shu gently twisted it with his fingertips, and then remembered the dream he had when first staying in at the waterside pavilion, soaked with rain and dew and dyed crimson.

The soundly asleep Second Young Master Liu was shaken up by the clouds and flowers everywhere. He awoke in a dizzying fantasy, and reality was even more dizzying. Liang Shu held his hands, and his teeth wandered around the knot of his throat and went all the way down. Liu Xian’an frowned slightly. His muscles and bones, which had been warmed and softened by the hot water and quilt, now felt like they were being completely pulled away from his body. When he couldn’t bear it anymore, he raised his leg to kick, but his ankle was held instead.

Liang Shu slowly re-tied the loosened red rope on his ankle for him. When he raised his eyes again, his expression was as if he had returned to that fantastical, bone-eroding dream. He looked down into those beautiful eyes that were exactly the same as those in that spring dream, looking at them for a long moment before kissing them with a somewhat constrained devotion.

Liu Xian’an thought, then…..this is also fine.

But it was a bit difficult to deal with. It turned out that the simple sentence, “Spring comes and flowers bloom all over,” could stretch out so endlessly when placed within the bed tent. Liu Xian’an felt that he was about to be hit by this fierce storm and had nowhere to hide. Finally, he stumbled into the Three Thousand Worlds in a daze, not thinking that he wouldn’t be safe there either. 

His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, with his unusually strong and beautiful figure, held his thin waist in his hands and moved it slowly, asking with a half-smile: “What did you say?”

Lying in the thick petals beside the hot spring, Liu Xian’an realized tiredly and vaguely that the worlds seemed to no longer be decided by him alone. He was immediately gloomy, but not for long. This was because for quite a while, he was forced to go back and forth between waking reality and drowsy dreaming, facing two different yet identical people until he finally fell asleep completely due to exhaustion.

I must sleep for a hundred years this time, he thought.

Two hundred years is also fine.

In the end, he only slept for less than five hours. For a lazy fellow who had just returned home from a long trip, this was already a short period of time. When he opened his eyes, the sky outside had turned slightly pale. The north wind still made the water wheel squeak, but made the surrounding area quieter and quieter. Liu Xian’an turned sideways and stretched out his arms, burying his face in Liang Shu’s arms with the intention of lying down for a while.

Liang Shu smiled and didn’t open his eyes, but only held him tighter in his arms.

The two of them thought at the same time, let’s just live like this for the rest of our lives.

. . . . . .

This small Jiangnan city seemed to have a light snowfall specially to welcome His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Although there were a few drops of rain mixed in, a circle of white accumulated on the top of the mountain, which attracted people all over the city to climb up and have a look. 

Liang Shu asked: “Do you want to go see it?”

Liu Xian’an didn’t want to go. He held the heater and shook his head firmly. Snowfall was nothing unusual, and now that the city was full of people running around, a lot of them would certainly suffer from frostbite. It’s going to be busy, let’s not join in the fun.

“Okay.” Liang Shu said, “Then let A-Ning play with A-Yuan and the others, and let’s go for a walk on the street.”

Liu Xian’an didn’t want to go out on the street, but was dragged out in the end by Liang Shu. The city was very quiet, and the two of them held the same umbrella as they walked along the wet alley.

After walking for a while, Liu Xian’an said: “Slant the umbrella over there.”

Liang Shu refused: “You’ll get wet if I slant it over.”

“But your shoulder is all wet.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“…..You’ll get sick when you get older.”

“There are doctors in the family.”

Liu Xian’an had no choice but to pull him into a small shop to escape the rain and snow. The shopkeeper was from the Min ethnic group, and had brought his sick wife to Baihe City for medical treatment when he was young. After she recovered, they stayed in Baihe City. They were old and couldn’t climb the mountain, so they didn’t go to see the snow, but continued to stay busy in the kitchen, one making cakes and the other making fish balls.

Liu Xian’an asked for a clean handkerchief and had Liang Shu sit down, standing beside him to wipe his wet shoulders. He also asked for two bowls of hot soup. The two of them sat on the same bench. Liu Xian’an bit into a fish ball and said: “I asked Father yesterday to take a look at your old illness. When you are almost healed, we can return to Wangcheng. Will the emperor make you hurry?”

“No, we’ll stay in Jiangnan,” Liang Shu said. “It’s so cold now that it’s not suitable to rush. Everyone says that spring in Jiangnan is the best, where the sun rises and flowers bloom. We will wait until the spring warms and the flowers bloom before going back. Emperor Brother won’t be anxious.”

Thus, Liu Xian’an believed that the emperor was not anxious.

He wasn’t anxious, mainly because Liang Shu would write a letter every now and then. One day his heart ached, the next day his stomach hurt, and the day after that he felt that his eyes were blurry. Every letter was opened by Liang Yu in public during the morning court. Therefore, all the civil and military officials expressed concern. It sounds like he still needs to rest, but there are many miracle doctors in Baihe Mountain Village. Heaven helps the worthy, so the emperor need not be anxious.

Gao Lin mingled among the officials, his head buzzing from the noise.

He had already obtained a large palace given to him by the emperor. It was said that it was the former residence of an elderly man and had not been taken care of for many years. The weeds in the courtyard were taller than a person, and the growth of the weeds in Xiao Wang Palace next to it was just as impressive.

“……”

Liang Yu kindly instructed: “Aiqing, keep an eye on the craftsmanship and tidy up the two palaces together. Otherwise, it will be truly embarrassing for the people coming and going to see it in this desolate state.”

Gao Lin received the edict and expressed his gratitude, but he hadn’t even touched the shadows of the beautiful flowers in his dreams when he took on the role of a supervisor again. He felt miserable and wanted to go back to the southwest. 

And his family’s lazy general who was addicted to gentleness and warmth, spent the New Year in Jiangnan and enjoyed the spring. He didn’t even think about returning to the capital as soon as possible, and Liu Xian’an didn’t rush him. He lay on the table and drew maps of the Baihe River one after another, and Liang Shu added detailed annotations on every picture he drew. After saving enough for a carriage, they would rush 800 li to the royal city.

It caused Liang Yu to be unable to scold him. Moreover, he had to pay out of his own pocket from time to time to send some money to this unlucky brother, so that others wouldn’t criticize him for eating and drinking for free and not doing anything productive.

But in fact, the disciples of Baihe Mountain Village quite liked this Royal Highness Xiao Wang. They were gradually no longer afraid of him, and Madam Liu didn’t seem to want to charge for food and accommodation. She often cooked soup herself and delivered it to the waterside pavilion. When she came in, Liang Shu was tinkering with the water wheel, because the old thing had been getting louder and louder recently. It was as thin and weak as a ghost’s shriek, which really disturbed people’s dreams. 

“I heard it again.”

“I heard it.”

“…..Then you can repair it.”

Liu Xian’an sat under the overhang with his hands folded, watching him repair it. However, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang had not done carpentry since he was young, so he was not very familiar with the job. It looked like it was breaking more and more as he repaired it, and it was finally put together in a twisted fashion. Before it could be placed back on the rockery, pieces of wood fell to the ground with a clatter.

Liu Xian’an suppressed a smile.

Madam Liu also wanted to laugh.

In the end, Liu Xian’an repaired it himself, standing on tiptoes to install the water wheel. When he moved it with his hand, there were dots of silver light and ripples.

Liang Shu held his shoulders and said: “Emperor Brother has written another letter urging us to return to the capital.”

“Okay, then let’s go back to the capital.” Liu Xian’an wiped his hands. “It just so happens that your injuries are almost healed. Now when we return to the city, we can still make it in time for the summer. Father was still saying yesterday for me to pack up a batch of medicine and deliver it to the Imperial Hospital.”

Liang Shu asked: “A dowry?”

Liu Xian’an said: “It’s mainly to treat the deficiency of qi and blood.”

Liang Shu changed direction, no good, ah, that’s not a dowry. It’s inauspicious.

Liu Xian’an was puzzled. How can illness be auspicious?

“It’s hard to tell. For example, if the yang energy is too strong, the fire needs to be lowered.” Liang Shu touched his chin with his finger, with pride that came out of nowhere. “This illness sounds like it should be fine.”

Liu Xian’an: “……”

Forget it, I don’t want to talk to this medically blind person.

---

Consider donating via Kofi here!

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven