Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

235. I’m the Only One Who Remembers

Translator: Bryan

Ashina Yi had surprisingly quick reflexes. He abruptly sat up. Carefully avoiding Du Chuxuan’s eyes, he said, “You must be thirsty. I’ll go and get you a glass of water. I’m sorry for overreacting last night.” With that, he handed Du Chuxuan a glass of water which he had been keeping warm. This was something of a luxury in a military encampment.

Du Chuxuan wet his throat with some water. Oddly enough, he was not nervous at all. Maybe because Ashina Yi still struck him as the fellow apprentice who always followed him, who never stopped getting himself into trouble, Du Chuxuan believed that Ashina Yi wouldn’t do him any harm. “You–”

Du Chuxuan had barely finished the first word when the look in his eyes changed slightly. He looked at Ashina Yi and pointed his finger at his throat. The meaning of the gesture was only too obvious. Ashina Yi, eyes glinting with remorse and resentment, said, “I’m sorry.” He held his own head, not daring look Du Chuxuan in the eye. “I’m sorry!”

Du Chuxuan closed his eyes with a heavy heart, feeling a sense of loss, not knowing what to say. Anybody who had lost the power of speech would find the fact difficult to accept. He took a deep breath, glimpsed the paper and writing brush beside his hand and quickly wrote down a few words.

“Is it permanent or temporary?”

Ashina Yi glanced at the words and inhaled deeply. “I don’t know that yet, but you may rest assured that I’ll never give up seeking a cure, no matter how slim the chances are.” As if worrying that Du Chuxuan might not believe him, Ashina Yi abruptly grabbed Du Chuxuan’s hand. “Actually, the poison in you is not that scary. All you have to do is dampen it.”

After hearing his words, Du Chuxuan mobilized his inner power and circulated it once around his meridian network. Only then did he come to find out why he had been rendered unable to speak overnight. The poison was very potent. His fellow apprentice, Ashina Yi, was probably the only one who could invent something like this. Du Chuxuna wondered whether Jiu Dengdan had predicted this situation when taking Ashina Yi as his apprentice.

Having perceived that Du Chuxuan was not in a good mood, Ashina Yi was very nervous. He clapped his hands and with that a couple of men filed into the tent to place many dishes onto the table. The smell of the dishes alone was enough to convince Du Chuxuan that those were all delicacies. Ashina Yi must have a hard job preparing these things, given the rough conditions of this place.

Du Chuxuan didn’t reject the offer. Since these delicious food had already been cooked, it would be an awful waste if he refused to eat them. After a glance at the sky outside, he frowned slightly and wrote down some words. “Is it still night or–”

“It’s been a full day. You were comatose for a full day.” Ashina Yi put a chicken drumstick into Du Chuxuan’s plate, which was the latter’s favorite food. “The guard you brought here, I’ve had him locked up. Don’t worry. He’s safe here,” Ashina Yi promised. He had forgotten that there were other people in the encampment.

But Du Chuxuan whose head was down wasn’t thinking about Luo Er. He had no room in his mind for anything except for Yuxing Tianrui whose eyes had been filled with apprehension when he left. Du Chuxuan had been away from the city for a day and a night. Yuxing Tianrui must be terribly worried. What was even more confusing was the purpose of Ashina Yi’s actions.

The two of them sat at the table. Though eating the same dishes, they were thinking of entirely different things. Knowing that Du Chuxuan hated it when people spoke with their mouths full, Ashina Yi had no choice but to subdue his urge and watched quietly as Du Chuxuan ate.

Preoccupied, Du Chuxuan was unable to enjoy the delicious foods. Ashina Yi, naturally, had noticed it, unnoticeable distress in his eyes. After a long moment, when there was nobody else around, Ashina Yi finally broke the silence. “So, you’ve really developed feelings for him?”

Du Chuxuan was puzzled momentarily and looked up at Ashina Yi. He didn’t understand why Ashina Yi was asking about this. Ashina Yi looked at Du Chuxuan as memories of their childhood came flooding back. “You once told me you wanted us to go out there to seek our fortune when we grew up. Just the two of us, sword in hand.

“You also said if I failed to find a girl I liked when I came of age, you’d stay with me forever, that we’d go to a desolate mountain alone, a mountain even our master wouldn’t be able to find, where we’d settle down and do things we liked to do for the rest of our lives. Have you forgotten all that?”

Words eluded Du Chuxuan. He looked at Ashina Yi, somewhat baffled as to why Ashina Yi was bringing this up. Was it what he thought it was? Since when had Ashina Yi begun to feel about him this way?

Ashina Yi chuckled. He didn’t have to lift his eyes to know what kind of look Du Chuxuan had on his face right now. It turned out that he, Ashina Yi, had always been the only one who saw their relationship this way. Ashina Yi stroked the locust made of straw at his throat, as if it were the only way he could be the invincible prince.

“It’s pointless to say such words now. You’re my prisoner now, Chuxuan.” Ashina Yi sprang to his feet. “You’ve delivered yourself to me on your own initiative. I have no reason to set you free.”

“It’s you!” Du Chuxuan seemed to have suddenly thought of something and he quickly wrote on the paper, “The man in red at the Wulin Assembly was you!” On that day he had felt that that man looked very familiar, but he couldn’t remember who that man was, but now, with Ashina Yi standing right in front of him, Du Chuxuan instantly caught on.

Ashina Yi smiled mirthlessly. It turned out that after all those efforts he had made, his fellow apprentice had never perceived anything. Now all of it was meaningless. He was just about to tell Du Chuxuan to get some rest when one of his personal guards reported outside the tent, “Your Highness, there’s a secret letter for you from the capital city.”

Ashina Yi frowned, but he knew that he must not take it lightly. He hurriedly instructed the servants to take good care of Du Chuxuan, then turned around and went to another tent in which he usually dealt with military affairs. It had never crossed Ashina Yi’s mind that this decision would cost him all his chances of being with Du Chuxuan.

Or maybe he had never had any chances of starting a relationship with Du Chuxuan. All he could do was just keep Du Chuxuan by his side for a little while longer. For Ashina Yi, maybe even an extra second was enough to delight him.

“Your Highness, a secret letter from the capital city says your brother’s on his way towards this encampment with his men. We were a bit late when we got there to receive the letter. I think your brother’s men read it before us.”

Ashina Yi knitted his brows. If Ashina Fei brought his men here, it would be very difficult for him to ensure Du Chuxuan’s safety.