Xuan Yang supported Qixue’s calf, his fingers pressing on the scar, but he fell silent.
Seeing his smile fade, Qixue thought his request had been too demanding. He quickly said, “I’m sorry, Holy Monarch. Did I ask too much? It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have spoken carelessly. Please don’t take it seriously…”
“I’m not angry with you.”
Detecting the panic in his tone, Xuan Yang softened his expression and reassured him, “I’m just thinking about how to heal you. There’s no problem; I can do it.”
He touched the skin around the scar, and Qixue felt a warmth in his calf. Then Xuan Yang continued, “Try circulating your cultivation technique and see how it feels.”
Qixue circulated his technique again and was delighted to find that the spiritual energy flowed without interruption this time. Not only was it endless, but it was also smoother than before.
He touched the scar and happily thanked Xuan Yang, “Thank you, Holy Monarch. Your Dao arts are truly profound and brilliant. A Xue is utterly impressed.”
Xuan Yang gave Qixue a deep look before saying, “The Baosui Pill takes time to take effect, and the duration varies from person to person. If your constitution doesn’t match the pill well, it might take years. If you don’t conceive within a few months, don’t worry or fret. Everything happens according to heaven’s will.”
“A Xue understands.”
Hearing that the Baosui Pill wasn’t immediately effective, Qixue felt a bit disappointed, but it didn’t matter. He would pester His Majesty every night, letting him pour in his seed time and again. He refused to believe he couldn’t bear His Majesty’s child.
Xuan Yang left, leaving behind not only the Baosui Pill but also a jar of tea he had personally grown. He only had a few tea trees, but since Qixue loved drinking it, he gave all his tea leaves to him.
Qixue reluctantly saw him off to the entrance of Chang Le Palace. “I’ll miss you, Holy Monarch.”
This wasn’t the first time Qixue had said this to him. This time, Xuan Yang stopped and turned back to look at him.
“I’ll miss you too,” he said.
–
After sending Xuan Yang off, Qixue happily changed into a beautiful set of clothes and waited for Helan Ji to return.
With Qixue’s company, Helan Ji’s health had improved lately, and he was even busier with state affairs. But unless he was attending court or meeting ministers, he spent most of his time with Qixue, even holding him on his lap while reviewing memorials.
“Your Majesty…”
Seeing Helan Ji appear at the door, Qixue joyfully went to greet him. He stood on tiptoe, hooked his arms around his neck, and passionately kissed his thin lips.
Eunuch Xue, following behind Helan Ji, was long used to this. He simply lowered his eyelids and quietly became part of the furniture, coming to life only when needed.
Qixue hugged Helan Ji and acted spoiled to his heart’s content. Finally, he deliberately complained, “A’Man brother, you made my leg so sore last night. Will you massage it for me?” He added, “I don’t want the Nightmare Demon to touch me. I only like it when brother massages me.”
He wanted Helan Ji to discover the scar on his leg quickly.
“Alright.”
Even without Qixue’s request, Helan Ji wouldn’t let others handle his affairs. He picked up Qixue, went to the soft couch, sat side by side, placed Qixue’s leg on his own, and massaged his calf.
Qixue deliberately lifted his leg a bit higher. If Helan Ji looked carefully enough, he should see the scar. But Helan Ji remained silent, seemingly unaware.
“Brother,” Qixue finally couldn’t hold back and asked proactively, “Have you noticed anything different about my leg?”
Helan Ji glanced at it. “It’s very beautiful.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
Qixue sat up and pointed to his scar. “There’s a scar here. Why don’t you guess how I got it?”
Helan Ji touched Qixue’s scar. “An arrow wound, right?”
Qixue was surprised that he guessed correctly on the first try. “Do you recognize arrow wounds?”
“No, but I once raised a white rabbit with an arrow wound on its right leg.”
Helan Ji gazed into his eyes. “You’re Yuan Yuan.”
Qixue froze because Helan Ji’s tone was so certain, as if he had long guessed his identity but simply hadn’t said it.
“Yuan Yuan…”
Helan Ji softly called the name he had given Qixue and gently stroked the top of his head. “Yuan Yuan.”
His Majesty had truly recognized him…
Qixue was stunned for a long time. For some reason, his heart grew increasingly sour, gradually turning into surging tears. With teary eyes, he threw himself into Helan Ji’s arms. “A’Man…”
“It’s really you.”
Helan Ji wrapped one arm around his waist and gently stroked his head with the other. “I thought it might be you, but then I doubted myself. Why is there no trace of demon qi on you?”
Qixue rubbed his reddened eyes and nuzzled Helan Ji’s palm with his head and cheek, just like he would in his original form, making up for all the coquetry he hadn’t done over the years.
He told Helan Ji, “A powerful senior cast an Illusion Spell on me. As long as I’m in human form, no demon qi leaks out. A’Man, look—now I have demon qi.”
Two pink-and-white rabbit ears suddenly appeared, standing straight up before flopping softly down, obediently lying on top of Qixue’s head. Faint demon qi spread out accordingly.
Helan Ji looked at Qixue’s soft ears but didn’t touch them right away.
Over a dozen years ago, when Helan Ji was still a little prince, Rabbit Tuan had refused to let him touch them, especially the ears. Whenever the little prince touched them, he would kick fiercely a few times and hop away.
Now, Qixue lowered his head and proactively placed his rabbit ears on Helan Ji’s hand. “Touch them.”
Helan Ji opened his palm and cupped the rabbit ear. It was very soft, very warm, fluffy, and extremely pleasant to touch.
Qixue was so pleased by the ear-rubbing that he simply lay down, pillowing his head on Helan Ji’s thigh, and said coquettishly, “Pet my head too, A’Man.”
Helan Ji indulged him, stroking from the base of the rabbit ears to the back of his neck. “Your temperament is very different from before. I thought you didn’t like me back then.”
“How could that be? I would never dislike A’Man.”
Qixue rolled over and looked up at him. “You were too young then. I was afraid that if I was too enthusiastic, you’d bully me and keep me as a pet forever. So I deliberately acted cold to make you let me go.”
In fact, if it weren’t for Helan Ji’s own brother, the Crown Prince of the East Palace back then, who had insisted on releasing Rabbit Tuan, Helan Ji might have done just that. He had wanted to take Rabbit Tuan back to Shangjing, but the Crown Prince believed little rabbits were born free and should be returned to the mountains.
Qixue continued, “After returning home, I always missed Your Majesty and wanted to repay your kindness from back then. Half a year ago, I finally cultivated a human form, so I rushed to Shangjing without stopping to see Your Majesty.”
“Did Your Majesty guess my identity long ago? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were so slow and hadn’t figured out who I was, or that you were too young and had forgotten the name ‘Yuan Yuan.'”
“I won’t forget you, but I couldn’t be sure you were Yuan Yuan.”
Helan Ji said, “If you were Yuan Yuan, you would have admitted it to me yourself. Why didn’t you reveal your identity earlier?”
Qixue said sheepishly, “Because I wanted to be Your Majesty’s consort. If you knew from the start that I was the little rabbit you raised, would you really have married me?”
“Later, I hoped Your Majesty would guess my identity. When I said my nickname was Yuan Yuan, I was hinting that I was that rabbit from back then.”
“I’ve never forgotten Yuan Yuan, just as Yuan Yuan never forgot me.” Helan Ji stroked Qixue’s hair. “Why did you want to be my consort?”
“Of course because I love Your Majesty.”
Qixue hugged Helan Ji’s waist and buried his face in his chest.
He wouldn’t tell Helan Ji the truth—that was too cruel. He would definitely help Helan Ji change his original fate and never let him die tragically at Ji Yuheng’s hands.
Helan Ji stroked Qixue’s hair. “Yuan Yuan, I hope you stay by my side until the day I die.”
Qixue blinked. “Stay by Your Majesty’s side for life?”
That would be nearly a hundred years. He wouldn’t let His Majesty die early. He would extend his life—at least another hundred years.
But staying in the palace for a hundred years… that was too long. Of course he loved His Majesty and was willing to bear his children, but he didn’t want to live in the palace for a century. He still wanted to return to Dali Mountain. He couldn’t stay in the Imperial Palace that long.
Helan Ji said, “It won’t keep you for long.” His voice was very low. “I only have a few years left to live.”
Qixue couldn’t bear to hear such words; they made him both sad and heartbroken. He flicked his rabbit ears against Helan Ji’s hand. “No, you’re not allowed to say such inauspicious things, Your Majesty. You’ll live to a hundred!”
Helan Ji gathered his rabbit ears. His ink-black phoenix eyes were calm and gentle, filled entirely with Qixue’s reflection. “Yes, with Yuan Yuan’s blessing, I’ll surely live to a hundred.”
He paused, then said, “I have a gift prepared for Yuan Yuan.”
“Another gift?” Qixue had seen so many rare treasures these past few days—most bestowed by Helan Ji, some from Xu Taifei—that he was somewhat numb to them. “What good treasure is it?”
“It’s not some treasure.” Helan Ji said, “It’s a wood carving and jade carving I made myself, of your original form.”
“Really?”
Qixue’s expression brightened instantly. To him, this was far more precious than those treasures. He sat up eagerly. “Your Majesty, take it out and let me see.”
Helan Ji led him back to the bedroom and had the Nightmare Demon retrieve a heavy chest. He opened the lid.
Inside were rabbits of all sizes—stone carvings, wood carvings, jade carvings. Some were crudely made, others finely wrought. Clearly, over a long period, Helan Ji had started carving from his youth, gradually improving until he created perfect jade rabbits.
Qixue couldn’t put down the little rabbits. He took them out one by one to examine closely. Most were very small, smaller than his original form.
Pretty or ugly, each was carved with great care, the surfaces finely polished, making them all smooth and round to the touch.
So His Majesty had truly never forgotten him. All these years, he had missed him too.
Qixue felt like crying. He sniffed, transformed back into the snow-white Rabbit Tuan, and jumped into the chest, weaving between the carvings with his tail tip twitching.
He commented, “This one looks like me, this one too… They’re all so cute. I like them all, so they’re all mine now. Since Your Majesty is giving them to me, you can’t take them back. I’m moving them to my Chenglu Palace right now.”
“Alright.”
Helan Ji reached out with both hands, scooped up the fluffy Rabbit Tuan from the chest, and kissed its pink nose. “They’re all yours. And so am I, Yuan Yuan’s.”
