Chapter 13: Surviving the Ordeal

Chapter 13: Surviving the Disaster

The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out, and the fierce wolf fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Shuoan was lifted and placed onto the horse's back.

The chest behind him was lean—the build unique to a young man.

Yuan Rang pulled hard on the reins, and Chen Shuoan was trapped in his embrace, feeling the tension in his muscles.

They were heading back.

The rain grew heavier, stinging as it hit them.

A scorching heat spread across Chen Shuoan's neck.

It was Yuan Rang, breathing him in.

The young man's breath washed over him, scorching hot, a stark contrast to the sticky rain drenching them.

Suddenly, Chen Shuoan heard Yuan Rang's voice by his ear.

"Chen Shuoan, you're not looking too good."

Chen Shuoan felt numb all over from the heat rolling off the other man, thinking Yuan Rang was the one who looked bad.

He sat up straight in Yuan Rang's arms and looked at him worriedly. "Your Highness, you're running a fever."

Yuan Rang pressed his thin lips together, his breathing heavy.

He gently rested his head on Chen Shuoan's shoulder, his cold lips brushing against the shell of the other's ear, whether on purpose or not, feeling the other's body shiver at the brief contact.

"I'm running a fever, Chen Shuoan." Yuan Rang pressed his lips fully against Chen Shuoan's earlobe, still baiting him. "When we get back, you'll have to help me."

The touch was soft and delicate, still cold from the rain.

Yuan Rang's eyes were red, his body shaking with excitement.

Chen Shuoan turned to look at his condition and thought, *Oh no*—his eyes were burning red, and he was shivering all over.

He tried to pry loose the hand Yuan Rang had clamped around his waist.

Yuan Rang kept riding, but moved his hand from Chen Shuoan's waist to grip his jaw, forcing his head back.

His Highness the Sixth Prince looked down at him, his pale lips parting to say two words: "Don't move."

Furious, Chen Shuoan slapped away the hand that was pinching his face hard enough to hurt.

"Rain got in my eyes!"

Yuan Rang paused, then immediately pulled Chen Shuoan into his arms.

Chen Shuoan rubbed his eyes, and seeing Yuan Rang still wouldn't let him go, he squirmed like a worm in Yuan Rang's embrace.

Yuan Rang didn't care how much he squirmed—as long as he didn't leave his side.

Suddenly, a piece of clothing was thrown over both their heads, and with the rain blocked out, their vision cleared up.

Yuan Rang stared at the snow-white nape exposed when Chen Shuoan had taken off a layer, couldn't help licking his teeth.

With one hand on the reins and the other locking Chen Shuoan in place as he pulled him closer, he said helpfully, "Get closer and you won't be cold."

Yuan Rang and Chen Shuoan rode hard all the way back to camp, and the moment they dismounted, they overheard people discussing tonight's assassination attempt on His Majesty.

Before Chen Shuoan could even listen closely, Yuan Rang's body suddenly went limp and collapsed against him.

At that, Chen Shuoan completely lost interest in eavesdropping. He felt Yuan Rang's forehead and helped him back to their quarters.

Yuan Rang's steps were unsteady, and most of his weight was on Chen Shuoan.

Chen Shuoan laid him down on the bed and moved to remove Yuan Rang's soaked outer robe, but Yuan Rang caught his wrist.

"Chen Shuoan..."

"Here!" Chen Shuoan jumped, nearly scared out of his skin.

Yuan Rang's fingers traced lightly over his skin, feeling the warmth, and only let go after a long pause. He said hoarsely, "Go change your clothes."

Chen Shuoan said yes but did nothing of the sort, rubbing his hands together eagerly, ready to go after Yuan Rang's clothes.

Yuan Rang's eyes darkened. Staring at Chen Shuoan's pale, bloodless lips, he held back his rising anger and repeated, "You go change. I can handle it myself."

Chen Shuoan was finally chased back to his own room.

He called for a bucket of hot water, specifically telling them to make sure Yuan Rang took a bath before bed.

Then he went to the medicine hall, grabbed a few fever-reducing, cold-dispelling prescriptions, and brewed them, planning to bring them over when Yuan Rang woke up.

After Chen Shuoan enjoyed a nice hot bath and brought the medicine to check on His Highness, he realized something was wrong.

He knocked several times with no answer, then immediately burst through the door to find Yuan Rang passed out on the bed.

He was still in his soaked clothes, which had now soaked the velvet blanket beneath him.

What did he mean, "I can manage on my own"—could he manage to burn himself to death?!

Chen Shuoan was furious, wishing he could give this Sixth Prince, who was hard all over except for his mouth, two big slaps across the face.

But that was just a wish. Chen Shuoan still dutifully called out "Your Highness" as he started stripping off the Sixth Prince's clothes.

When he removed the black outer robe to reveal the inner garment, Chen Shuoan was so shocked his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

The snow-white inner robe was covered in blood.

Hadn't the injury from falling off the horse healed yet?

Chen Shuoan's heart skipped a beat. He tucked the blanket around Yuan Rang, ran back to his room to grab some medicine, and came back.

He also prepared hot water and clean towels.

Chen Shuoan stripped off all of Yuan Rang's clothes from the waist up, revealing lean muscle and a back covered in crisscrossing wounds.

Those wounds had been soaked white by the rain, the flesh turned outward.

Chen Shuoan was at a loss for words.

There was no fall injury—these were all whip wounds, inflicted by someone.

And on Yuan Rang's not-so-broad back, there were also many old scars, long healed, barely visible traces of past pain.

Chen Shuoan's throat started to close up.

Yuan Rang on the bed opened his clear eyes, staring hard at Chen Shuoan's red-rimmed eyes, and said, "It hurts."

Chen Shuoan abruptly stood up, raised a hand to wipe his eyes, and said, "Let me put some medicine on for you, Your Highness."

Yuan Rang really loved seeing him this worried about him, though he didn't let the craziness show on his face: "Alright."

Chen Shuoan wrung out a towel soaked in hot water and wiped Yuan Rang's back, carefully steering clear of the nasty wounds, and said softly, "Tell me if it hurts, Your Highness."

Yuan Rang felt the gentle pressure on his back, like a kitten making biscuits, and couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle: "Alright."

After Chen Shuoan nervously finished applying the medicine, he hadn't heard a single peep from the Sixth Prince—the same guy who'd just said he was in pain—and he couldn't help but silently marvel at the Sixth Prince's toughness.

Although the original book mentioned that the Sixth Prince was not favored, it never said he was this badly treated.

Who the hell could have done this?

Yuan Rang seemed to see right through Chen Shuoan's thoughts and said, "It was my mother."

Chen Shuoan's eyes widened.

"Because I slacked off on my studies and got punished badly. I didn't tell you the truth because I felt ashamed, so I made up that story about falling off a horse." Yuan Rang explained with an indifferent expression.

Chen Shuoan nodded, feeling uneasy after hearing that.

He was already sticking his nose where it didn't belong, and the Sixth Prince was still explaining things to him—he didn't want to know this much!

Chen Shuoan completely dispelled his doubts, thinking that even if he wasn't favored, no one would really dare to cause trouble for a prince.

So he slung an arm around Yuan Rang's neck and whispered, "Let me tell you, man, I really don't agree with your mom's approach. You gotta remember, reading isn't the only way out, but your mom's beating with a stick is absolutely wrong! You gotta be the one to fire the first shot of the revolution, stand up and say no to tyranny..."

Chen Shuoan got himself all hyped up with his impassioned speech, completely failing to notice the darkness in Yuan Rang's eyes.

Yuan Rang waited quietly for Chen Shuoan to finish, then spoke slowly: "There aren't any other clean mattresses in the camp..."

Before Yuan Rang could even finish, Chen Shuoan had already called it.

"Then we'll just sleep together, Your Highness."

As a straight man as straight as an arrow, he had no problem climbing into bed with him.

Yuan Rang ran his tongue over his teeth, a barely perceptible move, and lowered his voice: "All right."