World of Chessboard

"Yun Mo, are you alright?" Lu Sobbing stretched out her hand to press down Zhao Qingyan, who was about to get up. She looked worried. "You should rest for a while first."

Zhao Qingyan did not even bother to nod. She closed her eyes to catch her breath and waited for the pain to subside before she opened her eyes again, "What do you want to know?"

Lu Sobbing wiped the sweat from his forehead with a wet handkerchief. You don't look too bad. You'll be fine after a short rest. I don't really care. I just want to know if it's okay for you to cause such a ruckus. "

Zhao Qingyan shook her head and said in a low voice, "Pour me a bowl of water."

Lu Sobbing smiled helplessly, "You really know how to order people around." He went to pour him a bowl of lukewarm water and helped him sit up.

Zhao Qingyan drank two mouthfuls from his hand, then he lay back down slowly and said, "Thank you."

"No need, I'm not used to being too polite." Lu Sobbing put the bowl back on the table and sat back down on the stool. "You've put on such a show. Even I was scared."

Zhao Qingyan smiled weakly and said, "It's not all an act. I guess it's just because I feel bad."

Weeping Lu was clearly surprised. "Unwell?"

Zhao Qingyan tilted his head and looked at him, asking back softly, "What's wrong? I'm still a living person, can't I feel wronged? "

Lu Sobbing's smile faded a bit, "I didn't mean that. I was just a bit surprised. "You always pretend to be completely indifferent, and many times, I would forget that those are all fake. It's all your fake calmness and indifference."

Zhao Qingyan blinked his eyes. "Actually, I was very calm before as well. I didn't care too much. It's just that I'm a little tired now." When I wake up and get some rest, I won't be like this. "

Lu Sobbing was slightly startled, and then slowly laughed: "Yeah, you're just a little tired. Rest well. I'll see you tomorrow. "

"Weeping Lu." Zhao Qingyan called out to him, "If Royal Father and the rest are outside, tell them I'm already asleep. Let them go back first."

Lu Sobbing frowned, not understanding what was going on. "Why?"

Zhao Qingyan shrunk his face under the blanket and said in a low voice, "I don't want them to see me like this."

After a while, Weeping Lu nodded. "Alright, I understand. Don't worry."

When he turned around to look outside, Zhao Qingyan had already turned around to face the wall. Lu Sobbing silently shook her head, closed the door, and leaned against the wall by the door.

"How is he?" The Qi King's voice was hoarse.

Lu Sobbing said, "There's nothing wrong with his body. He has already taken the medicine, so he should be fine after a few days of rest."

Closing his eyes, the Qi King spoke slowly, "I just want to ask, is he pretending?"

Lu Sobbing bluntly asked, "What does the Prince think?"

Lu Sobbing chuckled. "Your highness also knows that it's just a lie. Why do you need to ask me?"

Duke Huan gritted his teeth in regret, "I shouldn't have agreed to accompany him in acting."

"It's just an act, not real," Weeping Lu said flatly.

Duke Huan laughed bitterly, "But even if he knew it was just a play, he still wouldn't be able to convince himself to ignore his pain, right? Mo'er's appearance … I was really shocked. "

Lu Sobbing's eyes moved slightly. She only murmured in a low voice, as if she was talking to herself, "He's just drunk."

Duke Huan and the Qi King looked at each other and nodded, "That's right, he's just drunk."

Lu Sobbing laughed, stood up and walked outside, "I will wake up."

Prince Huan watched as Lu Qing's figure disappeared before looking at the door in front of him. After a while, he asked, "Aren't you going to go in and take a look, Fourth Brother?"

The Qi King hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "He should be asleep by now, don't disturb him, come back tomorrow."

Duke Huan nodded silently and replied in a low voice, "That's right, he should have already gone to sleep."

The Qi King looked at him, "Shall we go?"

Prince Huan said, "Yes, let's go." He took another deep look at the wooden door that blocked his sight and thought to himself: "Have a good night's sleep, once you wake up it will probably be over — I hope."

After they had left for a long time, Zhao Qingyan suddenly sat up, holding on to anything that could support his body. He walked to the door, pushed it open and walked out, sitting on the stone steps in front of the door.

In the darkness, the grass garden was as quiet as usual, or it could be said that it was deathly still.

"Why did you suddenly hate the night so much?" He raised his hand and pointed his fingertips at the bright moon, smiling faintly, "Such beautiful moonlight, it's a pity that there isn't even a pot of good wine."

"If you want to sing, you will have to give up; if you want to, you will have to hate it. "Today is the day where one gets drunk, and tomorrow, one worries about tomorrow." Zhao Qingyan groaned and lay down on her back. The curve of her lips had a hint of helplessness and bitterness. "Who can give me a pot of wine?"

"So what if we have wine? Long night, who with drink? It's just a single drink! "

"If I get drunk, I should be able to get a good night's sleep, right? The best taste in the world is to be drunk, to forget to worry, to forget to worry, and there is nothing to be afraid of. "

"Then when I wake up tomorrow, I'll have to look at something I don't want to see, right?"

"Drunk, you still have the strength to open your eyes tomorrow. With a sleepless night, I probably won't even have the strength to stand up tomorrow. "

"Using wine to escape is just to increase one's worries and to make others laugh."

"Alone, how can there be a spectator? "Then let him laugh, drunk to the point of being free and easy, why should he care so much?"

Zhao Qingyan muttered to herself in a low voice. She was talking nonsense with him, but after a long while, she suddenly stopped herself and laughed, "In the end, I don't even have a pot of wine, do I? Why are you saying all this? "

Narrowing his eyes, he opened them wide and looked at the eaves on top of his head. He raised his hand to rub his eyes, "Am I really drunk? That's right... "Since I'm drunk, then go to sleep."

"I'm so sleepy, go to sleep." He curled up his body, closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

A figure slowly walked out from behind a nearby tree. He hesitated for a long time before walking to Zhao Qingyan's side.

His face was as pale as paper, making him look exceptionally haggard. His hair, which was as black as ink, was scattered randomly on the stone steps, and his thin white shirt was slightly opened, revealing a small chest that was as pale as the cloth. His wide pants showed the corner of the bracket, and the scar where the brace had cut him over and over again.

Zhao Shu looked at his cousin with a complicated expression. He slowly crouched down and gently brushed the hair off his face, carefully examining his sleeping appearance.

He had gentle eyebrows, a straight nose, and a thin, bloodless lip. One could even see his well-behaved and exquisite appearance when he was young. In his eyes, there was still clearly a tinge of sadness and worry, but there was a peaceful smile on his lips. The skin he touched with his fingertips was ice-cold. On his forehead, he could even see the cyan colour that seeped out from under the almost transparent white skin.

The cold feeling from her fingertips caused Zhao Shu to wake up from her daze, and she sighed as she looked at Zhao Qingyan. This person was no longer the soft little fellow from before. He was already King Mo of the Song Dynasty, the only prince in the Song Dynasty that had been bestowed the title of prince.

"You probably still hate me? Hate me for doing this to you. Or are you wondering why I've changed? " As she had done ten years ago, Zhao Shu covered his face with her hands, making the icy coldness in them more distinct. She spoke softly, telling the story to her sleeping cousin and herself.

"Yes, I did. I alienated you, even treated you as a stumbling block, hurt you, made you sad. It's not like I promised to protect you, to protect you forever, to do everything I can to prevent you from getting hurt. "

"I admit that I broke my promise, but I have never treated that promise of mine as a joke of youth. I have truly remembered it in my heart and intend to fulfill it."

Zhao Shu looked at his cousin, who did not answer, and smiled wryly. "I am not making excuses for myself, although it sounds very similar. You have your own reasons, but am I not? I'm sorry, but I don't think I did anything wrong. "

"People change. But in the end, the one who changed first was you. "

Zhao Shu stood up, walked into the room and grabbed a quilt, carefully covering Zhao Qingyan with it before sitting down on the stairs beside him. She rested her arms on her knees, holding her face and looking at the stars in the sky.

"Brother Mo, I don't know if you remember, but we used to sit on the roof and look at the moon and the stars in the sky. "Yun Yi said that you can't count. You had to drink your second brother's stubbornness. You had to hold your head up and count until your neck. Only then would you unwillingly admit that your second brother was right."

"Then you were about ten years old? It was also a summer night like this, but that night was especially hot. There wasn't even a gust of wind. You must lie down on the stone steps to sleep, but your health was not good, so the maidservants naturally wouldn't agree — even if you were in good health, a dignified Crown Prince Qi could not lie down on the stone steps to sleep. In the end, you actually woke me up from my rest and made me agree to let you sleep outside. I remember that I coaxed you for a while, then you went back to sleep obediently. "Hmm, yes, I agreed to sleep with you."

At this point, Zhao Shu couldn't help but laugh. "Isn't it hotter to have one more person? It was so hot that I didn't sleep well.

He tilted his head to look at the still sleeping Zhao Qingyan, "Tonight, I have to go back and rest early if I wake up." You are no longer a child, don't get sick from greed. " He stood up and brushed off the dirt on his clothes before letting out a long sigh. "I'm leaving. When you wake up tomorrow, I hope there really will be some change."

His steps were very light, and he only let them go after walking for a long distance.

Zhao Qingyan was still lying there motionlessly, with a tranquil expression on her face. She probably didn't hear anything and was still immersed in her own dream.