Under Ji Bozai’s day and night supervision, the relocation of Chaoyang City progressed rapidly. As soon as the new inner court was completed on the floating island, he ordered everyone from the inner court to move there.
“Your Majesty,” Buxiu came to report, “Zhou Zihong refuses to move, saying he wishes to see the Mistress.”
Ji Bozai’s hand, holding the reports from the six cities, tightened involuntarily as he glanced at the person in the room.
Mingyi sat at the table, looking at Chaoyang City’s report with an expressionless face. Upon hearing the news, she looked up.
These days, he had placed her in the main palace but dared not live with her, only guarding her from outside. Her mood seemed normal, eating and walked daily, occasionally attempting to disrupt his Yuan Power network.
At the mention of Zhou Zihong, she suddenly perked up.
Of course, Zhou Zihong was her lawfully wedded husband, the noble son-in-law of the city lord. They had a good relationship. If he hadn’t forcibly brought her back, they would surely be enjoying their days together under the moon and flowers.
Ji Bozai wanted to be generous and let her meet him, but he knew he had kept her by force. If he let her go see others, he would lose everything.
Pulling the report over to block her gaze, he said in a muffled voice, “Today… is not suitable for visitors. You should rest well first.”
“I’ve been resting for over a month since returning from Cangxue,” Mingyi raised an eyebrow. “How much more rest do I need?”
Ji Bozai fell silent.
From Mingyi’s perspective, his hand holding the memorial was trembling slightly.
Mingyi found it quite intriguing. The fearless Ji Bozai now seemed ill—oh right, he was indeed sick. Yanxiao had said he’d been suffering from insomnia for over two months. Now, out of twelve hours a day, he had headaches for ten. Despite this, he still refused to sleep.
Every night before she slept, she could sense him standing outside the door. When she woke up and got up, she could still sense him standing outside.
Mingyi tried to talk to him calmly, but before she could speak, he would say, “I won’t allow you to leave.”
It seemed he had been severely affected by her grand wedding.
Sighing softly, Mingyi rested her chin on her hand and glanced at the cover of his memorial: “Are you so afraid of losing me?”
Ji Bozai was stunned and pressed his lips tightly together.
The room fell into silence. Just when Mingyi thought he wouldn’t answer, he mumbled against the memorial: “Mm.”
“What?” His voice was too muffled; she didn’t hear clearly.
He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, but his voice was still hoarse and trembling: “I… am afraid… of losing you again.”
“…” Her heart skipped a beat, and Mingyi smiled.
She let out an amused “Oh my,” switching hands to prop up her chin as she continued to look at him: “The mighty lord of six cities, bowing his head to me, don’t you feel like you’re losing face?”
Compared to struggling day and night with nightmares of her being with someone else, Ji Bozai now felt that face didn’t matter much.
He coughed twice, pressing his hand against his throbbing temple: “Anyway, don’t go see him.”
“Not even for a glance?”
“Not even for a glance,” he groaned, hugging his head.
Mingyi watched him for a while, then finally stood up and walked towards him.
Ji Bozai tensed at her movement, his dark eyes looking at her in panic. But he saw her sit down beside him and then reach out to touch his temple.
“You’re too tired,” she said flatly. “Get some sleep.”
Her warm fingertips pressed against his skin. Ji Bozai stared at her eyes in a daze, feeling for a moment that his head didn’t hurt as much.
But he still shook his head: “You want to go see him while I’m asleep. That’s impossible.”
Mingyi rolled her eyes.
She said impatiently, “Didn’t I disrupt your Yuan Power network the day before yesterday?”
He tightened his grip and nodded.
“If I wanted to run, I had a few moments of opportunity then. Why didn’t I run?”
His mind was foggy as he pondered this question. Ji Bozai couldn’t come up with an answer for a long time.
“Sleep,” she was getting impatient and pulled him to rest his head on her lap. “This way I can’t run away, right?”
Seeing that she was about to get angry, Ji Bozai instinctively closed his eyes.
As soon as he did, an overwhelming tide of drowsiness swept over him, like rolling waves, dragging him into the abyss.
He dreamed of his grand wedding, and also of Mingyi’s grand wedding. He dreamed that their wedding carriages passed each other, each heading towards two lines that would never intersect again.
He dreamed that Mingyi had an adorable daughter, whose features were identical to Zhou Zihong’s.
He also dreamed that Mingyi looked at him coldly, saying Zhou Zihong was a thousand times better than him.
Then, he could no longer find her. He ran all over Chaoyang City and Muxing City and searched through Feihua City and Cangxue City, but her figure was nowhere to be seen.
This sleep was so long, so long that he ran until he was exhausted, sitting on an icy cliff, losing strength and sliding down—
Someone caught him.
Warm hands gripped him, and Mingyi’s voice was full of disdain: “For someone who claims to be the top physician of the six cities, you’re helpless against insomnia and nightmares?”
Yanxiao sounded quite helpless: “My lady, this is a problem of the heart. What can I do?”
“You should have just given him a dose of knockout medicine and let him have a good sleep back then.”
Yanxiao’s mouth twitched: “Who in all of Qingyun dares to force him to drink medicine? We don’t have the courage or the ability.”
Mingyi shook her head, taking the medicine bowl from beside him, preparing to pour it down Ji Bozai’s throat as he continued to mutter in his sleep.
However, as she turned her head, she met his slightly opened eyes.
Ji Bozai looked at her, his hand gently squeezing hers in return as if the dream had finally ended and he had found the person he was looking for.
Mingyi said expressionlessly: “Open your mouth.”
He obediently opened his mouth, not even asking what was in the bowl. As long as she offered it, he drank it in large gulps.
After finishing a bowl of knockout medicine, he squeezed her hand and fell asleep again.
Mingyi turned her head to look at the dumbfounded Yanxiao: “Is it that difficult?”
Yanxiao: “…”
Putting down the medicine bowl, she stood up, stretched lazily, and walked out.
Yanxiao was so scared that a cold sweat broke out. He immediately stepped forward to stop her: “My lady, you can’t leave now. If he wakes up and you’re not here, we’ll all be doomed.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t go far,” Mingyi waved her hand. “My master is outside the main palace. He seems to want to see me.”
Yanxiao looked at her hesitantly.
“I’ll be back in half an hour,” Mingyi passed by him, waving her hand casually.
She Tianlun had deliberately released his Yuan Power outside the main palace, indicating he wanted to see her.
Mingyi crawled out from a corner of the wall that Ji Bozai had always overlooked, patted the dust off her clothes, and greeted the worried-looking man: “Master.”
She Tianlun hurriedly came forward, looking her up and down: “I came as soon as I sensed his Yuan Power weakening. How are you?”
Mingyi turned around in front of him, smiling: “I’m perfectly fine.”
Seeing her expression, she didn’t look like a prisoner, but rather like someone who had come to the main palace for a leisurely visit.
She Tianlun raised an eyebrow: “Don’t you want to return to Chaoyang City?”