Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

239. A Mysterious Visitor

Translator: Bryan

For the troops, the operation during which they had robbed their enemies of a batch of winter clothes had been a great success that was well worth celebrating, but as their military counselor was still sick in bed, the soldiers were all willingly standing by their posts. None of them had any complaints about it.

The diagnosis offered by Luo Feng was worrying. At first he had been uncertain. After examining Du Chuxuan for three consecutive days during which his condition worsened inexorably, Luo Feng finally succeeded in identifying the poison. “I’m sorry, sire, but I have no way to detoxify this poison.” The poison was very potent. Developing an antidote to it was not impossible.

But the process of developing an antidote would be quite time-consuming, and they didn’t have the luxury of time. Yuxing Tianrui, naturally, was aware of that. Even in these circumstances, he was still filled with resentment and frustration, for as the crown prince of Shenglan country, he was the last person who got to tell Du Chuxuan he couldn’t do it.

Even if he had known about it before Du Chuxuan’s departure, the only thing he could have done was go there in Du Chuxuan’s stead. Since one of them had to suffer this fate, Yuxing Tianrui wished it were him, for at least Du Chuxuan would be safe.

“Why do you guys have that sad look on your faces? It’s not like I’m dying or something,” Du Chuxuan said with a frown, sitting in a wheelchair which a skilled artisan had built for him. He didn’t like lying in bed, so he had decided to get something like this. It would make it more convenient for him to get fresh air when he needed it.

He wheeled himself forward a few yards. This wheelchair was very handy. The handle was right above the armrests. He could wheel himself forward or backwards whenever he wanted, and he had no less mobility than a normal person did, except for the fact that he couldn’t jump. Du Chuxuan wheeled himself to the side of Yuxing Tianrui, a smile on his face.

“Actually, I feel pretty good in this thing. Although I’m feelble, I get to sit all the time and it spares me the trouble of having to walk.” Knowing that Du Chuxuan was trying to console him, Yuxing Tianrui didn’t say anything. He swiveled his head around and flicked Luo Feng a glance, indicating that Luo Feng should resume speaking. Yuxing Tianrui felt that he should at least get enough information about how to detoxify the poison.

Luo Feng was just about to speak when a gust of wind blew over, tilting the tent before the guards outside could forewarn those inside. Yuxing Tianrui promptly stepped in front of Du Chuxuan, guarding against potential attack, a curved saber sliding from his sleeve into his hand, looking on full alert.

“Ha-ha… Look at you. Actually, I’m not really uncomfortable with the idea of letting him stay with you for some time,” a very cocky voice said to the two of them. As a cloud of mist dispersed, a figure slowly walked out from behind. All members of Sect Luo looked at the intruder warily.

Yuxing Tianrui was astounded momentarily when he saw the intruder’s flamboyant red overgarment. Naturally, he remembered this person. After all, Du Chuxuan liked people in red because he felt that it went well with his air, and this man seemed to be the only one. “May I ask why you’re paying us this visit and making such arrogant remarks?”

“Why?” Ashina Yi looked as if he had heard a funny joke. He didn’t so much as glance at Yuxing Tianrui. Instead, he was trying hard to see the one that Yuxing Tianrui was hiding behind his back. “So, you haven’t told him about me yet. Good.”

Du Chuxuan felt a throb in the heart. Would anybody please tell him why this man, who was clearly sane, was acting so eccentrically? Du Chuxuan felt that by saying such words in the presence of so many people, Ashina Yi could easily cause the others to overthink and misunderstand. He was just about to say something when Yuxing Tianrui caught on to the situation and blurted, “You’re Ashina Yi?”

Ashina Yi stiffened momentarily, and his smile froze on his lips. Face cold, he snorted, “Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t a good thing for you. I’m here only because I want to deliver something to the one I value. Please take good care of my man. Take this. I need to get going.”

As he finished speaking, another large cloud of smoke came out of nowhere before anybody could react. This time the smoke was very pungent. Yuxing Tianrui had quick reflexes. He promptly covered Du Chuxuan’s mouth and nose with his sleeve and drew him backwards. When the smoke dispersed, Ashina Yi was gone. On the ground reposed a lot of phials.

Luo Feng could tell at a glance that those were medicine phials. After a brief moment’s hesitation, he walked over, picked up the phials and, to his surprise, found that there was a slip of paper beneath them. “Your Highness, he left a note.”

The message read, “Take good care of him for me, and your service won’t go unrewarded. Keep those winter clothes as your remuneration. As the crown prince of Shenglan, you won’t say no to such a good deal, I suppose?”

Unsurprisingly, Ashina Yi’s words were quite condescending. Du Chuxuan sensed that Yuxing Tianrui instantly became jealous, and his jealousy would probably last several days. Du Chuxuan buried his face in his hands, wondering what he had done to deserve this. Both Ashina Yi and Yuxing Tianrui seemed to be mentally ill.

“Sire, the words on the reverse side are—” Luo Feng was somewhat amazed, for when Yuxing Tianrui picked up the note, he had a glimpse of the words on the reverse side. Though it was only a glimpse, he had still seen that those words were names of medications, but he was unsure as to whether or not it was the antidote to the poison in Du Chuxuan.

Yuxing Tianrui reacted very quick as well. He immediately flipped the note over and saw the contents. He promptly shoved it into Luo Feng’s hand. “Luo Feng, find out what this formula is for right now, and if those pills on the ground are the antidote! Luo Wu, Luo Xing, stay by his side and protect him!”

When they had left to execute their respective orders, Du Chuxuan slowly wheeled himself out from behind and said, “You’re jealous.” He was positive that Yuxing Tianrui was jealous, otherwise Yuxing Tianrui would definitely have told him about the formula straight away. No matter whether Yuxing Tianrui would admit it or not, Du Chuxuan was certain of it.

Yuxing Tianrui gave a snort. There was nobody else in the room, anyway. Ada and the others had been sent to guard the city gate as punishment, for Yuxing Tianrui was still angry at them for their previous actions.

Du Chuxuan smiled. “Well, now you’re doing me an injustice.” Having noticed the confusion in Yuxing Tianrui’s eyes, he threw up his hands and added, “Even if you want to leave this place or bully me or do anything else, I wouldn’t be able to stop you, and don’t tell me you’re not thinking of doing any of those things.”

Yuxing Tianrui slapped away Du Chuxuan’s hand which was getting increasingly unruly and frowned with a frigid face. “That’s nonsense. I’m not thinking of doing that.” Yuxing Tianrui, though filled with jealousy, looked in deadly earnest.