Chapter 15
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There really were rats in the dungeon.
The moment Cheng Yun descended the stairs, he saw several of them scurry away, their long tails trailing behind as they squeaked.
The cells near the entrance were all dark and unoccupied, save for one in which a lamp was burning.
Naturally, no one else had been granted such a privilege. Cheng Yun immediately determined where the prisoner was. Taking the lantern from the eunuch holding it, he said, “Go back up and wait.”
“Yes.”
When he approached, the prisoner was sleeping with his face turned toward the wall. Beneath the bed, a rat was gnawing at one of its bamboo legs.
Sensing his arrival, it dragged its tail away at once.
Only when it fled did he realize that there had actually been three rats chewing on the bed.
The gnawing had been loud enough to grate on the ears, yet the person on the bed had not reacted in the slightest.
Cheng Yun came to the cell door and gently unlocked the chain. Amid the faint clinking of metal, he carefully hung it aside before pushing the door open.
Only when he had drawn close did Wen Biesang suddenly push himself upright and stare at him with wide eyes.
The next moment, he darted toward the inner wall and raised the blade in his hand toward Cheng Yun, his face filled with terror.
Cheng Yun studied the toy-like blade for a moment, then turned and hung the lantern from the iron bars. Returning to him, he said, “Throw away the blade.”
Wen Biesang said nothing, but tears once again gathered in his eyes.
Cheng Yun: “…”
He gathered up his robes and sat down at the foot of the bed. Sure enough, the fiend shrank back toward the headboard, still pointing the blade at him.
From his sleeve, Cheng Yun took out the medicine bottle he had brought. His hand was wrapped in gauze. He gazed at Wen Biesang and silently held the bottle out to him.
Wen Biesang did not accept it.
After a brief standoff, Cheng Yun said, “Wound medicine. Treat the injury on your hand.”
The events of the day were still vivid in Wen Biesang’s mind. There was no way he would trust Cheng Yun so easily.
Cheng Yun gritted his teeth. He felt he had already lowered himself enough. If this fiend continued to resist him like this, he could not guarantee what he might do.
Another long silence passed between them.
Cheng Yun suddenly reached out. Wen Biesang immediately slashed at him with the blade in his hand. The sharp edge grazed Cheng Yun’s forearm. Furious, Cheng Yun seized his wrist, forcing Wen Biesang’s five fingers to spring open. Yet the thin blade did not fall.
He had clearly been clutching it for far too long. It was stuck to his fingertip by the viscous blood.
Cheng Yun pinched the blade free and tossed it aside. At that very moment, something warm and wet brushed his ear. He abruptly turned his head and heard the sound of teeth snapping together.
Only afterward did he realize that the fiend had just tried to bite his ear.
“You lunatic,” he hissed. “I came to apply medicine!”
“I don’t believe you!”
“Then why would I come here in the middle of the night?!”
“…”
Wen Biesang studied him for several breaths, the moisture in his eyes trembling with the movement of his uneasy gaze.
“You—you came to torture me…”
“If I wanted to torture you, why wouldn’t I have come during the day? Do you think I have nothing better to do than come here at night after stuffing myself?”
“Then if you came to treat my wounds, why didn’t you come during the day?”
Cheng Yun: “…”
Certain now that Cheng Yun meant him no good, Wen Biesang kicked at him despite having his wrist restrained. Cheng Yun caught his leg. When he saw that the man still refused to behave, he hooked an arm around him and twisted, pulling him firmly against his chest.
“I told you, I’m not here to cause you trouble. Calm down!”
“You came to torture me.” Wen Biesang’s back was pressed against his chest, both hands clamped tightly in Cheng Yun’s grasp. His overwhelming fear made his voice hoarse. “You wicked man, all false kindness…”
“I told you I came to treat your wounds!”
“You refuse to perform such a good deed in daylight, yet sneak here under cover of darkness…”
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“You made me look so wretched in front of everyone today. Don’t I have any dignity?!”
At last, Wen Biesang stopped struggling.
Cheng Yun was nearly driven mad with anger. He shoved the man away, then glanced at his own right shoulder.
Wen Biesang’s twisting and squirming had caused the wound to split open again.
Wen Biesang turned to look at him. His expression was somewhat bewildered. When his gaze fell upon the blood seeping from Cheng Yun’s shoulder, his eyes grew cold once more.
“Why are you being so kind?”
“…Can you die if you ask one fewer question?”
“Is there poison in the medicine?”
“…”
Cheng Yun turned, fetched the water jug from the table, then picked up the gauze from the floor and tore it open before soaking it.
“Give me your hand.”
Wen Biesang not only refused to extend it, but hid it behind his back as well, continuing to stare at Cheng Yun with icy suspicion.
Cheng Yun ground his teeth. “There’s no poison.”
“I injured you, yet you still want to treat my wounds.” Seeing Cheng Yun’s dark expression, Wen Biesang instinctively shrank back again and said stiffly, “And you came sneaking here in the middle of the night…”
“If I wanted to kill you,” Cheng Yun said, each word deliberate, “why didn’t I kill you during the day? Why would I come here at night to poison you, only to be questioned by you? Do I look that idle?”
“Because the Third Young Master of the Chang family said he likes me…”
“So what if he likes you? Who does he think he is?!”
Wen Biesang had not even finished speaking before Cheng Yun cut him off. Wen Biesang pressed his lips together and merely stared at him.
With great restraint, Cheng Yun said, “Can his affection save your life from my hands? You think far too highly of him.”
Wen Biesang stared at him, thinking slowly. “You’re not killing me because you still want me to work for you.”
Cheng Yun seemed finally to have found a way down from his anger. He said coldly, “Exactly.”
He reached for Wen Biesang’s hand again, but the other man still refused to give it to him.
Cheng Yun’s face flared with anger. “What now?!”
“You want to poison me, then control me with the antidote.”
“…”
Cheng Yun rose from the bed and said coldly, “Use it or don’t.”
He bent to pick up the blade from the floor, then turned and walked toward the cell door.
Wen Biesang silently watched him leave the cell and ascend the steps. Just as he was about to disappear from sight, Cheng Yun suddenly turned back.
The force of his presence made Wen Biesang’s hair stand on end. He searched both sides for anything he could use as a weapon, but finding nothing, could only curl up in the corner.
Cheng Yun reached the doorway and paused.
This rabbit was timid to the point of absurdity, yet whenever he fought, his movements were cleaner and more decisive than those of a battlefield general.
He pushed open the door and walked inside. Stopping five paces from the bed, he said, “Look carefully.”
He pulled up his sleeve and poured the medicinal powder over the place on his forearm where Wen Biesang had cut him.
“I used it. There’s no poison. If you still insist otherwise, I’ll leave right now.”
In all his life, Cheng Yun had never humbled himself before anyone like this.
And all for someone who humiliated him every night—and had genuinely tried to stab him earlier that day.
Cheng Yun swore that if this fellow dared question him again, he would turn around and leave, abandoning him in the dungeon for the rest of his life.
He swore it. He would count to three, and once he finished, he would leave.
Three, two…
Two…
Two…
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His face stiffened as he silently counted in his heart: Two—
He gritted his teeth and thought, Just give him a little more time…
Wen Biesang remained coldly wary, showing no sign of being moved.
Cheng Yun: “…”
Why was he giving him more time?! If he wanted to imprison him, he could imprison him. If he wanted to treat his wounds, he could treat them. Why should he wait for the man’s response?!
He abruptly strode two steps forward. Wen Biesang’s breathing immediately became disordered, and the look in his eyes turned desperate, as though he had been driven to the edge of a precipice.
“…Yes.” Cheng Yun stopped three paces away and said, “Because of those dreams, I was prejudiced against you. But have you ever made things easy for me? From the moment you entered my residence, you wore my clothes, used my servants, ate my ice treats—and now you’ve even beaten me into this state!”
He pointed at his shoulder.
“In the dreams, you ordered me around and made me work like an ox and a horse, summoning and dismissing me like a dog. Is it really so unreasonable for me to ask you to do a few things?!”
“And now I’ve come to help you treat your wounds. I came out of kindness, and I still have to beg you…” Cheng Yun’s voice hardened. “Wen Biesang, do not forget that I am the Crown Prince of Great Liang!”
A woman’s laughter rang out through the dungeon.
Cheng Yun’s expression tightened. His five fingers curled into fists as he restrained the murderous fury surging through his entire body.
“I’ll ask you one last time. Are you going to let me apply the medicine or not?”
At the same time, his gaze shifted toward the depths of the dungeon. A savage glint of murderous intent appeared in his dark eyes.
That madwoman had lived long enough. It was time for her to descend into hell—
A pair of bloodstained hands hesitantly reached out.
Cheng Yun gazed at those timid hands, and the murderous aura surrounding him suddenly vanished without a trace.
He silently sat down beside the bed. The rabbit spirit’s eyes were rimmed red, and the outstretched hands instinctively withdrew by half an inch. Noticing that Cheng Yun was watching his expression, Cheng Yun forced his own features to soften. He shifted sideways, drew the small table closer, and, in the candlelight, reached out to support the back of Wen Biesang’s hand.
The touch was cold. Wen Biesang flinched away slightly again.
Cheng Yun did not forcefully seize him. Instead, he unconsciously made his movements as gentle as possible.
“Let me see.”
Wen Biesang allowed him to lift his hand, but remained on guard, like a cat ready to retract its friendly little paw the moment it sensed malice.
Cheng Yun softened even his breathing. Without saying a word, he wiped the blood from around the wounds on Wen Biesang’s hand.
Most of the injuries were shallow cuts, the result of his repeatedly clutching the blade. The deepest wound was in the center of his palm, likely caused when he had stabbed Cheng Yun and, in his panic, accidentally pierced himself.
Only after Cheng Yun had thoroughly applied the medicine did Wen Biesang watch him wrap the gauze around his hand. He seemed finally to believe that Cheng Yun meant him no harm.
In a soft voice, he asked, “Who is the woman in there?”
Cheng Yun had expected the question. Carefully, if somewhat awkwardly, he continued winding the gauze around Wen Biesang’s hand.
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes.”
Cheng Yun glanced at him. “Want to leave?”
Wen Biesang said nothing, but his eyes clearly asked: Who would want to stay here?
Cheng Yun: “…”
He had wanted to say something else to assert his authority, but when he saw the tear tracks not yet dry on the other man’s face, he closed his mouth.
Once the gauze was secured, he turned expressionlessly toward the darkness outside the cell.
Wen Biesang had stabbed him. If he released the man just like this, those who knew the truth would probably assume that Cheng Yun had fallen into his hands and would be controlled by him from then on.
Wen Biesang stared at his hand, which had been wrapped up like a dumpling, and felt that it looked rather clumsy.
He flexed his bandaged fingers, making them look even more awkward.
After weighing the matter for a moment, Cheng Yun turned his gaze back to his face. Wen Biesang lifted his clear, spotless eyes and met his stare.
“If you are willing to work for me, I will let you out.”
Wen Biesang: “…”
He turned away, rolled onto his side, and faced the wall.
Cheng Yun felt a blockage rise in his chest. He stood and walked out.