"Princess Yura, Brother Yunxi..." Hanying came running. "I overheard the other maids gossiping. They were saying he lost a lot of blood."
Princess Yura stood immediately. "What?"
Hanying nodded. "I didn't hear much, but I think something bad happened," she added.
"Brother Yunxi, quick, help me get changed. We need to go see." She walked to the unpacked suitcase to change. "I heard there is going to be a court. I will attend."
But Hanying didn't move. Her gaze followed the Princess's movements until she looked away.
Princess Yura turned and saw her still standing there. "Hanying! We need to go," Yura reminded her, continuing to search for clothes.
"Princess… you cannot attend." Her voice was small and shy. "You are not allowed to leave these walls. It's the Emperor's order."
Hanying knelt down. At this point, even if she wanted to help her friend, her life and Jing's life would be in danger.
"I'm sorry…" she added, head falling down.
Yura sat down. "Am I a prisoner now?" she asked, more to herself, but loud enough for her maid to hear.
Hanying crawled to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry to be this useless to you, Princess. If we dare leave these walls… me and my brother shall die."
Yura broke in her arms, crying like a baby denied food.
...
"Quick, open it."
Jihwan tensed in his house the moment he heard of the Emperor's return. Ajing had been following behind carefully so as not to get caught. The moment they entered the city, he had ridden to his uncle and informed him of their misfortune.
"So that boy is the messenger?" Jihwan had asked. Ajing told him the whole story of what had happened at the inn. Since they couldn't leave their house in any way, their last option was to write to the Emperor. They had to beg and plead so Yunxi could be forgiven.
"Arrest all of them!" someone ordered.
Jihwan turned to look at Ajing, his outfit would give them away.
"Take it off, now."
Ajing ran to the back of the room to changed.
"Quick, open it!" Another voice yelled.
Jihwan walked to the door and swung it open before they could break it.
"Mr. Kim," the soldier who had led the raid spoke first. "Where is your boy?"
Kim Jihwan's face fell.
"Oh, not that one. We have that one. I mean the older one," the soldier mocked.
Seeing the silence, he continued, "As we were returning, I thought I saw him. But it seems I was indeed ri...." He cut himself off upon hearing the weak voice of Ajing.
"What's going on?" Ajing came from the bedroom, his pale face and dry lips showed how sick he was.
Jihwan's eyes narrowed.
The soldier looked back and forth between Ajing and Jihwan. He had come purposely to arrest the two, determined to destroy this family for good. Shame crept onto his face. He had been sure this man was not here...so sure he had seen him on their way back.
"Let's go," he muttered, leaving in shame.
Jihwan closed the door after making sure they had gone.
The soldier stood midway and looked back at the closed doors.
"Those sons of bitches," He sneered outside. What was his problem? "How did he fool me?" He turned to one of his fellow soldiers in fury siezing his collar. When he didn't get an answer, he shoved the man backwards, sending him falling and breaking the pottery flower vase behind him.
"Fuckin rubbish."
...
Nim Si woke up to the stinging pain on his back. He gritted his teeth upon realizing he was being flogged.
What the hell?
He had fallen unconscious due to too much blood loss, only to wake and find himself tied upside down and flogged.
"Ugh…" he groaned, pain shooting through his veins.
"The Emperor didn't give you this permission," someone said.
"Oh yeah? Tell me about it," the other person answered.
Nim tried to concentrate, but the pain wouldn't let him. His shoulder...now without a hand, burned like hell. And now he was being flogged. What the fuck?
As he swung with every strike, his body twisted, and he caught sight of the two people arguing. He recognized one of them, though he couldn't recall where he had seen him.
How much longer was he going to be injured than this? He didn't know what was going on with Yunxi. He last saw him injured and passed out. Where had that man taken him to?
Gosh..this was stressing
...
Yunxi's eyes opened slightly. He tried to scan the room through his blurred vision. After many attempts, he still failed to recognize anything and blacked out again. This was the third time it had happened.
"I knew he would do this. I was lucky I didn't call for the Emperor again. Otherwise I would have been in trouble," the maid murmured.
Eunuch Song came in.
"Excuse the Emperor."
The maid bowed and left the chambers.
These were the Emperor's private quarters. Yunxi lay on a fancy, large slumber, his eyes closed, his long wet lashes trembling. His lips were dry and pale, small cracks stained with blood. The Emperor looked down at the boy. His bandaged forehead was drenched in sweat. His fists clenched endlessly, as though trapped in a dream too cruel to let him breathe.
"Get a wet towel," Han Ji ordered.
Yunxi's head turned left and right countless times. If it is indeed a dream, then it was a bad one.
"Your Majesty!"
Han Ji turned and took the wet towel from the old man's hands, then sent him out.
"Leave me. Close the door, and no one is permitted to enter."
With that, the eunuch left.
Han Ji placed the towel in a basin the Eunuch had brought along beside himself. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the boy's weak body closer.
Yunxi was still lost in his dreams, not understanding anything. It had been two days, and he had woken up thrice. Each time, he opened his eyes halfway for a few seconds and then blacked out again.
'What have you been doing at night, you stupid boy?' Han Ji thought to himself.