With his lips gone pale, an unmistakable frailty crept over his whole demeanor — such a stark contrast to his usual bearing that it struck right at Hua Chun’s soft spot, making her itch to grab a blade of grass and tease him with it.

But thinking through the consequences of doing something like that, she managed to restrain herself, and watching the physician write out a prescription, she volunteered to help Eunuch Qin support the emperor and walk him toward the rear hall.

Yuwen Jie hadn’t expected to fall ill so suddenly, and standing up now his steps were unsteady. Leaning against Hua Jinghua, he only felt how soft and boneless the man seemed — surely his own weight, this heavy, would crush him.

With that thought, he still instinctively leaned toward Eunuch Qin instead.

Never mind that Eunuch Qin was already over fifty years old, an elderly man with a bad back.

Sensing the emperor’s reluctance, Hua Chun wasn’t discouraged either — being disliked by him wasn’t exactly a new experience, and honestly this felt like a return to normal. Seeing Eunuch Qin straining under the weight, she generously draped Yuwen Jie’s arm over her own shoulder instead and hurried them along.

In his hazy, half-conscious state, the emperor felt that the scent of milk and dried fish in his nose never quite faded, and with his eyes closed, unwilling to open them, after a spell of dizziness he seemed to collapse onto his own dragon bed.

“Take good care of him!” Eunuch Qin, worried about the emperor, spoke with unusual sharpness, startling a maid fetching water so badly that she spilled half her basin.

“What are you doing!” Eunuch Qin snapped at her.

The maid was even more frightened, her face turning paler than the emperor’s on the bed. His Majesty hadn’t fallen ill in a long time, and everyone was worried and anxious, naturally less composed than usual, and with Eunuch Qin scolding on top of it, the maid nearly burst into tears.

“I’ll take care of it,” Hua Chun said, unable to bear the sight, rolling up her sleeves. “It’s just a cold and a fever, nothing major. I can handle it.”

Eunuch Qin gave him a heavy look, then wrung out a cold cloth and silently handed it over.

Hua Chun carefully folded the cloth into a square, laid it on the emperor’s forehead, then reached out and touched his face.

“This weather’s so unpredictable, hot one moment and cold the next — catching a cold is only natural. You all don’t need to be this tense.”

Eunuch Qin said nothing. Under palace rules, if the emperor fell ill, the attendants serving him would all be held to blame — at best a fine deducted from their pay, at worst a beating with the rod. Easy for the Chancellor to say!

Still, having him volunteer to help was a good thing — if the illness worsened and the Empress Dowager came asking questions, there would be someone else to share the blame.

So Eunuch Qin held his tongue, and once the medicine was brewed, brought it over and handed it to the Chancellor.

“He’s already asleep,” Hua Chun said, looking at Yuwen Jie’s face. “How am I supposed to feed him this?”

“This medicine absolutely must be taken,” Eunuch Qin said. “You should prop His Majesty up first.”

Hua Chun nodded, sat on the edge of the bed, and with great effort managed to prop Yuwen Jie up against her shoulder, then brought the medicine over and blew on it to cool it.

Feeding medicine was quite the technical skill — plenty of stories had the male or female lead doing it “mouth to mouth,” and typically the one being fed would open their eyes right at that moment, their gazes meeting, thunder and lightning crackling between them, sparking a whole passionate romance.

But right now she was a man. If she dared do a mouth-to-mouth with the emperor, she might as well wait to be marched out and beheaded at the palace gate.

After thinking it over, Hua Chun handed the medicine bowl to Eunuch Qin instead and said, “I’ll hold his mouth open, you pour it in.”

Eunuch Qin: “…”

“Hey, hold it steady, don’t let your hands shake,” Hua Chun said, adjusting Yuwen Jie’s position, reaching over to pry his mouth open, and gesturing to Eunuch Qin. “Come on, come on, pour it in!”

This method of feeding medicine was crude but effective. As a child she hadn’t liked taking medicine either, and her father used to force it down her this exact same way! She’d swallow it before even tasting the bitterness — the only time she’d choke was when she didn’t cooperate.

The person leaning against her now was cooperating perfectly — even though she’d shamelessly turned his mouth into something resembling a goldfish’s, he wasn’t fighting back at all, was he?

Eunuch Qin’s face instantly went whiter than the wall, and with an expression of utter despair, he looked at Hua Chun. “Chancellor… this… this servant cannot bring himself to do it.”

“…” Hua Chun gave him a disdainful look. “You’ve served by His Majesty’s side for this long, and this is for his own good besides — how can you still not bring yourself to do it? Afraid he’ll blame you?”

Eunuch Qin said nothing.

If the emperor ever found out about this, it wouldn’t just be blame — it would be gross disrespect to the throne! It was only because the emperor had been so indulgent with the Chancellor lately that the Chancellor’s nerve had grown this outrageous!

He no longer knew what to say about how he felt, and could only silently hand the medicine bowl back to the Chancellor.

You do it, then.

Hua Chun puffed out her cheeks, turned and propped Yuwen Jie up against the headboard, then took the bowl and without another word pinched the emperor’s mouth open and started pouring it in.

Leaning in for a closer look, Yuwen Jie really was quite cooperative — his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and the whole bowl of medicine emptied out without a drop leaking from the corners of his mouth, his chin left perfectly clean. Only up close could one make out the faint blue-black shadow of stubble on the man’s jaw.

So masculine! Hua Chun smiled brightly and looked up, only to find herself gazing straight into a pair of dark, glinting eyes.

Yuwen Jie watched her calmly, letting her fingers grip his jaw without moving a muscle.

Hua Chun: “…”

Slowly she withdrew the bowl from the emperor’s mouth, pulled back her own claws, then gently wiped his mouth with the handkerchief and said with a smile, “How are you feeling, Your Majesty?”

Closing his eyes, Yuwen Jie had no interest in dealing with her, and simply lay back down under the covers to sleep.

He was sick, not unconscious. This person really did have nerves of steel, daring to treat him like this! And yet, he didn’t find it unpleasant — if anything, he felt a new closeness toward her, the kind of closeness Hua Jinghua shared with He Chang’an.

Forget it, he wouldn’t hold her accountable this time.

With the bitter taste of medicine lingering in his mouth, Yuwen Jie’s head was spinning, but he couldn’t fall asleep, and sensing the person beside him seemed to have gotten up and walked off, he opened his eyes to take a look.

A slender frame, a waist as slim as bamboo — no wonder He Chang’an had said he wanted to protect him. What an odd sort of man…

If only he were a woman.

The thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and it startled Yuwen Jie so badly that his eyes flew open.

“Your Majesty?” Hua Chun, returning with candied fruit in hand, was startled by his sudden zombie-like reaction and blinked.

Those eyes still carried their usual starlight, clear as a young deer’s.

His face grew warm, and Yuwen Jie quickly shut his eyes again, then felt something sweet being tucked into his mouth.

The person by the bed muttered quietly, “Sleepwalking, I guess… eyes opening and closing like that…”

Not sure who had given her the nerve to mutter to herself in front of the emperor like that.

With the candied fruit in his mouth, the bitterness of the medicine seemed to fade, and a flood of thoughts began racing through Yuwen Jie’s mind.

He’d spent the whole day thinking, and what he’d thought about most was that line He Chang’an had said — “If you’re out and about and see something interesting, and the first person you think of wanting to share it with is her, then you’ve fallen for her.”

Was that true? If it was, he might have become exactly the kind of person he despised most.

Hua Jinghua was a man, and yet he found himself happy being with him, not even bored after five days of not leaving the Purple Dawn Hall. He dreamed about him, and when he saw an unusual flower on the road he immediately wanted to share it with him.

Was a feeling like this… liking someone?

He was a sovereign above ten thousand, someone whose emotions could not show, let alone fall for someone he shouldn’t fall for. Hua Jinghua’s very existence was like a blade — it could shield him, but it could just as easily wound him.

He couldn’t go and foolishly hand his heart over to someone again.

His feelings weren’t deep yet — if he’d taken a wrong turn, there was still time to correct it. He could change course.

He could change, surely — after all, this man who smelled faintly of milk and loved dried fish snacks had nothing especially attractive about him.

Sitting by the bed, Hua Chun watched the emperor’s face grow redder and redder, and couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

She reached out to check — sure enough, the fever had gotten worse.

What kind of medicine had the physician prescribed — was it fake? Hua Chun grew anxious and hurriedly called for Eunuch Qin. “Quick, bring a jar of wine.”

Eunuch Qin blinked, puzzled, looking at her. “His Majesty is ill — even if the Chancellor wants a drink, now isn’t the time…”

“It’s not for me to drink — bring it to cool His Majesty down,” Hua Chun said. “Hurry, or he’ll burn himself into an idiot, and then all our heads will roll together.”

At those words, Eunuch Qin quickly sent someone to fetch the wine.

Without another word, Hua Chun went back and stripped off Yuwen Jie’s outer robe, leaving only his trousers, exposing his entire toned, muscular chest.

Wow, six-pack abs! Hua Chun’s eyes lit up.

Then she slapped herself. Beast! The man’s running a raging fever and she’s ogling his abs!

She quickly began rubbing wine over Yuwen Jie’s body to help him cool down.

Eunuch Qin had never seen anything like this and, worried out of his mind, kept asking the physician whether this was really all right. The physician stroked his beard and said, “This is a folk remedy — it’s effective for lowering fever. The Chancellor really is remarkably well-versed, living up to his reputation.”

Well, that put Eunuch Qin’s mind at ease, and he stood by attentively, watching the Chancellor rub the emperor down thoroughly.

After struggling with it for half an hour, Yuwen Jie’s fever broke.

Hua Chun let out a breath of relief and slumped down by the bed. “Once His Majesty is better, remember to reward me — this has been such an ordeal.”

The whole room of attendants fell silent.

Chancellor Hua must have gotten light-headed from the wine fumes, to say something that shameless!

Watching that handsome face gradually regain its natural color, Hua Chun yawned and simply fell asleep right there by the bed, so she wouldn’t have to be dragged out of bed again in the middle of the night if his condition took a turn.

Outside, dawn was breaking. When Eunuch Qin brought in water, he found the emperor already awake, leaning against the headboard, quietly looking down at the person beside the bed.

That gaze was as tender as the water in the basin he was carrying.

Eunuch Qin was struck dumb, unable to move for a long moment.

As if sensing him enter, Yuwen Jie lifted his head, his lips still somewhat pale, and raised a hand to wave him off, signaling for him to come back later.

Taking a deep breath, Eunuch Qin quietly set down the water basin and withdrew, his heart heavy.

He watched, with his own eyes, the emperor he’d served since childhood develop feelings for a man.

Eunuch Qin’s heart was in turmoil, and he had no idea what to do, nor could he possibly tell anyone about it. He’d still had some doubts before, but after seeing the emperor’s expression just now, nothing needed explaining anymore.

No sovereign would ever look at a subject with an expression like that.

He spent a long while steeling himself psychologically — His Majesty was someone who considered the bigger picture, and even if he truly did like Chancellor Hua, he wouldn’t do anything too outrageous, at most keeping it private… he could help cover for it.

If Chancellor Hua ever tried to exploit the emperor’s favor for some scheme, then even at the cost of his own life, Eunuch Qin would have to eliminate him, to keep the Yuwen dynasty secure — and worst case, he’d go answer to the late emperor afterward.

The grief in his heart deepened further, and Eunuch Qin had even begun imagining what would happen if, someday, the empress turned out to be a man.

Then, half an hour later, the door to the rear hall of the Purple Dawn Hall opened a crack.

The emperor’s expressionless face appeared before him, and with pale lips he said:

“Eunuch Qin, go find some handsome men to bring into the palace for me.”

…What?

Eunuch Qin was stunned, staring blankly at the emperor’s face.

Wasn’t he interested in Chancellor Hua? Then why… why would he want other men now?

Though he’d already prepared for this in advance, having had people search out plenty of handsome men and keep them on standby, whatever type he wanted — having men brought into the palace was truly a last resort after all other options failed, and yet the emperor had gone straight for it.

“…Yes.” With great difficulty, Eunuch Qin nodded, nearly moved to tears.

The doors of the Purple Dawn Hall closed once more, and standing outside them was a heart utterly wrung out with worry.

When Hua Chun woke up, her neck was as stiff as if it had been set in plaster, and no amount of twisting could work it loose.

Right as she was groaning and grumbling about it, a pair of warm hands reached up and began gently massaging it for her.