Chapter 1181: Helping him pick up the pieces (2/2)

Xu Donglin heaved a huge sigh of relief when he saw her shut the door as if he’d just passed a massive test.

--

Gu Beiyue told Gu Qishao about Mu Linger arriving in Medical City. Days passed as he sent men and horses to track down new strains of poisonous medicine from the plague victims of Northern Li. Gu Qishao knew his body best, so he remained wrapped in black robes daily and stopped letting Gu Beiyue examine him.

Many doctors were fierce with their patients, either from fear or impatience, but Gu Beiyue was the world’s gentlest physician. He didn’t push Gu Qishao when the latter refused him. The doctor knew very well how much his body was deteriorating; moreover, the search for medicine had no direct connection with the state of his health.

On this day, Gu Beiyue personally went to the kitchen and cooked up a hot bowl of tangyuan.

“Taste some, it’s my first time,” Gu Beiyue smiled.

Gu Qishao lifted his head from the robes and gave him an ashen smile. “So it’s the Lantern Festival today. Poison lass should have passed through the halfway point of her confinement period, right?”

“Mm, almost,” Gu Beiyue hadn’t gone to Rear Camp. In fact, he never left this house unless it was necessary. He was afraid that Little Qi would feel lonely.

“Can Poison lass eat tangyuan during her confinement period?” Gu Qishao asked seriously.

“It depends on the fillings. There’s Zhao mama and Fourth Young Miss Ren to take care of the--”

“Mm, then I won’t worry about it,” Gu Qishao interrupted before Gu Beiyue finished.

Gu Beiyue only smiled faintly with a nod.

“They should be lighting lanterns at night, right?” Gu Qishao asked next.

“Yes, it’ll be very lively. Do you want to go see?” Gu Beiyue asked.

But Gu Qishao only pulled up his black robes to reveal his feet. Factually speaking, he had no feet anymore. Gu Beiyue thought as much, but the sight of the tree roots extending into the dirt provoked his long-buried sorrow into full force.

He turned away and didn’t speak for a long time.

“I don’t want to go,” Gu Qishao dropped his robes and stared at the sky before laughing. “Beiyue, it’s fine if we watch the moon from here too. That’s the brightest lantern of all.”

His smiled brightened as his mood improved. “In any case, Poison lass won’t be lighting any lanterns either. At most, she’ll be looking at the moon too!”

That’s right!

While in her confinement period, Han Yunxi didn’t light any lanterns. But she couldn’t even see the moon. Although Zhao mama had urged her otherwise, she insisted on looking after her own child. Thus, she’d been tormented half to death over the past ten days by the little fellow. Even Long Feiye, who insisted on sleeping in the same room, was losing sleep.

Han Yunxi and Long Feiye’s baby was simply here to make them pay back their debts! He was extremely fussy!

During the past ten days, he’d been rowdy during daytime and restless at night. He needed a feeding every hour and would cry whenever they were slow to satisfy him. Despite his tiny age, his howls were loud enough to wake all of the surrounding tents.

At last, Long Feiye could take no more. It wasn’t that he had no endurance or disliked his son, but that he couldn’t bear to see Han Yunxi being tormented like this. Ignoring her refusals, he had Zhao mama find four experienced mamas and two wet nurses. The baby stayed with Han Yunxi during the daytime, but slept elsewhere at night.

When Han Yunxi was in deep sleep, Long Feiye would secretly get out of bed and go check on the little fellow’s status before he felt at ease. All of the servants knew his habit, but Han Yunxi was left completely in the dark.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, Han Yunxi pleaded repeatedly until the pitiful little fellow was allowed to sleep in the same room as its parents again. Han Yunxi’s eyelids were shut in exhaustion while Long Feiye was dividing his time between taking care of his wife and dealing with Northern Li. Today the family of three had reunited, causing the couple to realize they had yet to give a nickname to their son.

“Long...Long…” Han Yunxi thought for awhile before she picked a rather vulgar nickname. “Long Long!”

Zhao mama, the servants, and nurses couldn’t help giggling at the choice.

Long Feiye was all seriousness. “My surname isn’t Long. That’s the last name of the Tianning imperial clan. The East Qin Dynasty went by ‘Xuanyuan,’ so my real name is Xuanyuan Ye.”[1]

“Long Feiye...Xuanyuan Ye...Feiye….” Han Yunxi muttered to herself before she got it. The Fei (非) character in Long Feiye was hiding a secret all along![2]

“Long Feiye’s” name was secretly implying that “Ye” was not (“fei”), part of the Long Clan!

1. Xuanyuan Ye (轩辕夜) － Xuanyuan is a double-character surname that is also another way to refer to Huangdi (皇帝), or the Yellow Emperor. Ye means night.

2. To put it simply, one of the meanings for LFY’s “Fei” is “wrong” or “not.”