The Prince Can Always Hear The Secret Servant Chanting The Qingxin Mantra Before Going To Bed

Chapter 85: I Just Want To See If You Have Any Injuries, Nothing Else.

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Granny Yao’s words were interrupted by a knock at the door.
For a brief moment, the words she had prepared choked up in her throat, so she decided to open the door first.

She wondered: ‘Who could be knocking at the door at this hour?’

“Don’t panic, go back to bed and rest for a bit.
I’ll talk to you later, there’s no hurry.” After persuading Bian Zhonghua to go back to the inner room, Granny Yao walked to the wooden door.

After Granny Yao gently opened the door, she saw a man standing outside.
Alone.

After seeing his face, Granny Yao was so stunned she became frightened and stood frozen in place.

That man’s long black hair was scattered all over, completely drenched.
His clothes looked as if they had been soaked in water for many days, to the point where they looked worn and rotten.
However, it was obvious that this person was unharmed, looking the same as the last time Granny Yao had seen him.

Qi Ci knew that he looked strange, but he didn’t even know what was going on.
The last thing he remembered was falling off a cliff with Bian Zhonghua, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying at the edge of the lake, unharmed…

Qi Ci then explained everything to Granny Yao, who was still standing frozen in place.
He briefly recounted how he ran into the Taotie, was attacked by the man in feathered clothes, and then woke up in this place after falling off the cliff.

Although Granny Yao had practiced medicine in this remote village hidden in the mountains for many years, she had also heard many strange and bizarre things throughout her life.
After the first shock, Granny Yao gradually calmed down and hurriedly invited Qi Ci inside the house: “Quickly, come in.
It’s cold outside.”

Qi Ci thanked her and went inside.
Since his clothes were all soaked, and it was quite cold at night, Qi Ci felt completely frozen, so as soon as he entered the house, he rubbed his arms, trying to bring some warmth to his cold body.
At that instant, Qi Ci suddenly heard the sound of a wooden chair falling to the ground.

It was Bian Zhonghua.

When he heard the sound of a familiar voice, Bian Zhonghua hurried out of the inner room and accidentally bumped into the table and chairs.

Qi Ci raised his eyes and looked at him.

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After meeting a familiar pair of eyes, Qi Ci’s chest began to rise and fall violently.

How abhorrent the Spring breeze is, blowing away their thin love.
Their hearts had been filled with sorrow, since life had been very depressing after several days of being apart1.
After all, they used to think that parting in life and death would be empty of sorrow.

Who would have thought that the Peng mountain wasn’t that far2, a beautiful letter would be replied back3, the luan mirror had not yet broken4, and a plum might bloom proudly in the snow5?

Their expectant gazes struck directly at their souls.

Qi Ci stumbled and ran recklessly to Bian Zhonghua, reaching out his arms to hug him as tight as he could.
As he buried his face in Bian Zhonghua’s shoulder, he sobbed: “I’m glad you’re alright….”

When Bian Zhonghua felt the warmth of the embrace, he was finally able to tell that it was real.
Like this, Bian Zhonghua sighed a long sigh, and without really noticing that Qi Ci’s clothes were wet, he hugged him back.
The panic he felt when seeing Qi Ci’s belongings stained with blood disappeared in an instant, leaving only joy and relief behind.

After so many days, Bian Zhonghua finally smiled again.
As he tightened his arms, he wanted to use all the strength he had at the moment to squeeze Qi Ci into his own body, but since he was afraid of hurting him, Bian Zhonghua tried his best to restrain himself, which only caused him to tremble slightly.
Bian Zhonghua wanted to say something, to tease Qi Ci the way he always did to express his feelings about this long-awaited reunion, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his voice sounded hoarse: “I promised to drink wine with you, how could something happen to me? But what happened? Why are we here? The last thing I remember is the Taotie running away, injured.”

Qi Ci wanted to explain, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his throat felt like it was blocked by something, while his eyes turned red.
In the end, he could only shake his head and hug Bian Zhonghua as tight as he could again.

Granny Yao wanted to say something but held back from saying it.
However, in the end, she couldn’t bear to watch this any longer and dared to say: “Qi Ci, hurry up and put on clean, dry clothes.
You’re going to catch a cold in those wet clothes! Gongzi, you hurt your knee, you shouldn’t be standing, go back to bed.
Oh, dear! Why are you two so idle inside my house?”

Finally, the two of them showed some willingness to part, and Granny Yao hurried to find a clean cloth so that Qi Ci could dry his still-damp body.
Qi Ci’s clothes were badly worn by the water and could no longer be worn, so he had to borrow some clothes from Granny Yao.

However, Granny Yao didn’t have any types of clothes he could wear.
After thinking about it, she asked Qi Ci to wrap himself with a quilt first while she went to the village to borrow a set of clothes for him.

Bian Zhonghua sat on the bed to rest and recuperate.
When he turned his head, he saw Qi Ci walking in, wrapped with a thick quilt.
He looked so comical that Bian Zhonghua had to restrain a laugh.

Qi Ci wasn’t aware of it, so when he sat down on the edge of the bed, he asked with worry: “How are your injuries?”

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“My wounds are–pfft….” Bian Zhonghua couldn’t hold it back anymore, and as he covered his lips, he laughed out loud.

Qi Ci tightened the quilt and his cheeks turned bright red: “Don’t laugh! My clothes were all soaked and damaged by the water.
Granny doesn’t have anything I can wear here.”

Bian Zhonghua paused.

‘Does that mean that Qi Ci is now….naked?’

“Cough….” Bian Zhonghua’s laugh disappeared as soon as it came, and even had to cover his lips and cough uneasily.

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt somewhere?” Qi Ci asked anxiously.

Bian Zhonghua looked at him and sighed in his heart, lamenting: ‘I have the will, but not the strength6.’ So, he replied: “I’m alright, nothing hurts.
What did you want to tell me before?”

Qi Ci then explained in detail what happened when Bian Zhonghua fainted.
Bian Zhonghua went from shock to anger, thinking that the man in feathered clothes was really cunning.
‘I should have chopped off his head with my sword when I had the time, to eliminate future problems.’

When Qi Ci explained how they fell off the cliff, Bian Zhonghua was so stunned he even held Qi Ci’s arm through the quilt, afraid he would suddenly disappear.

Qi Ci comforted him: “Nothing happened to me.
I don’t understand why I fell into the lake, but it was my fault you fell on the ground….”

As he spoke, Qi Ci’s words contained a lot of remorse.
At that time, Qi Ci was bent on protecting Bian Zhonghua, but he ended up failing in the end.
Qi Ci would prefer to be seriously injured himself rather than Bian Zhonghua.

“You….” Bian Zhonghua suddenly spoke.
“Are you really not injured anywhere?”

Qi Ci nodded.

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Unexpectedly, Bian Zhonghua said: “Maybe you are, right?”

Qi Ci froze, not understanding what Bian Zhonghua meant.

Bian Zhonghua continued: “Maybe you’re injured in a place you can’t see for yourself, like your back or the back of your head.”

Qi Ci said doubtfully: “But I don’t feel any pain….”

Bian Zhonghua said: “You haven’t relaxed yet, so you may not be able to feel any pain yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be injured.
Don’t let a small wound develop into a serious injury.”

“Then, I’ll wait for Granny to come back and I’ll ask her to take a look for me.” Qi Ci became more and more confused, only able to think that Bian Zhongua’s insistence must simply be because he cares for him.

Bian Zhonghua smiled, and his eyes curved playfully.
With a more serious tone, he said: “Why don’t you let me take a look right now?”

“Huh?” Qi Ci was stunned to hear this.

Bian Zhonghua then stretched out his hand and pulled down the quilt covering Qi Ci’s body.
Since Qi Ci was caught off guard, he couldn’t take precautions by holding the quilt tighter, and most of his bare chest was exposed.
Bian Zhonghua stared at the smooth skin and then said: “Come on, turn around and unwrap the quilt.
Let me see if you have any wounds on your back.”

Qi Ci felt that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t quite explain it.
Qi Ci thought carefully and came to the conclusion that Bian Zhonghua must really want to check whether he had any injuries or not, however, he couldn’t help but be distracted by various thoughts that told him that there was something strange going on.
In the end, Qi Ci decided to turn around.
As he unwrapped most of his upper body, wrapping only the lower half, Qi Ci presented his back to Bian Zhonghua.

The sound behind him inexplicably disappeared, and Qi Ci couldn’t prevent himself from feeling a pang of nervousness since he was being watched: “How is it? Am I really injured?”

Bian Zhonghua coughed lightly again, and then said: “Your hair is on the way, I’ll lift it for you and see.
Wait for a bit.”

As Bian Zhonghua talked, Qi Ci suddenly felt a burst of cold coming from the back of his neck, covered right after by Bian Zhonghua’s fingertips.

Qi Ci couldn’t help shrinking slightly.

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When the coldness disappeared, Bian Zhonghua’s voice was heard again: “What’s wrong? Was my hand cold?”

“It’s alright, don’t worry.
You can touch me, I’m not afraid of the cold.” Qi Ci lowered his head and hid his flushed face with his hands.
At that time, Qi Ci was glad that he was turning his back on Bian Zhonghua, so that he couldn’t see his blushing face.

“I’ll warm up my hands.” When Bian Zhonghua was done rubbing his palms until they weren’t cold anymore, he placed them back on Qi Ci’s neck.
The seriousness in his voice seemed more deliberate now as he spoke: “Is this better? Is it still too cold?”

“Fine, it’s fine.
It’s not….it isn’t cold.” Qi Ci stammered.

Bian Zhonghua lifted Qi Ci’s black hair and looked at Qi Ci’s smooth, clean, and unharmed skin.
Without knowing if it was due to the cold or something else, Qi Ci’s shoulder blades trembled imperceptibly.
However, Bian Zhonghua’s gaze was actually focused on the spine that extended down his smooth back, all the way down until it was hidden within the quilt that was wrapped around Qi Ci’s waist.

Bian Zhonghua said: “Since I can’t find any visible injuries or scars, I’ll have to press the skin.
Tell me if it hurts.”

“Huh?!”

Qi Ci didn’t expect Bian Zhonghua would press his skin.
However, as soon as he stopped being surprised, he couldn’t say a word….because he felt Bian Zhonghua’s fingertips touching the place closest to the tailbone of his spine….

Finally reunited!

Asdfghjkl Bian Zhonghua you’re acting like a pervet 

Footnotes

东风恶，欢情薄。一怀愁绪，道是离索 dōng fēng è, huān qíng bó.
Yī huái chóu xù, dào shì lí suǒ; From the poem《钗头凤·红酥手》by (陆游 lù yóu) Lu You [1125-1210] from the Song Dynasty [960-1279].
The poem is about the poet’s own tragic love story, recalling a Spring day where he reunited with his ex-wife (whom he was forced to divorce at the insistence of his own mother) after 7 years of being apart.
In this case, I think this poem is used to describe Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua’s brief separation (coincidentally, they were apart for 7 days). 蓬山 péng shān; A mythical mountain in mythology, later known as the land of the Immortals (whose path doesn’t exist for ordinary people).
In this case, I think the mountain not being far away is used as a metaphor for the meeting between Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua not seeming so impossible anymore. 锦书 jǐn shū; Mostly used to indicate a letter from a wife to her husband expressing her longing, and sometimes it also refers to a love letter from a husband to his wife expressing his love for her. 鸾镜 luán jìng; A reference from the ‘broken luan mirror’ that’s commonly used in poems as a metaphor for a husband and wife being separated by death/breaking up.
In this case, the luan mirror hasn’t broken yet because Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua reunited. 雪中傲梅 xuě zhōng ào méi; ‘The plum stands proudly amongst the snow, blossoming even in the coldest branch’.
The plum in the snow is generally used to express a noble quality and a strong spirit by defying some hardships.
Although the snow covers everything, the plum still blossoms, bringing some joy to the cold winter.
In this case, I think this phrase is used as a metaphor for: despite the difficulties, Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua will always find each other. 心有余而力不足 xīn yǒu yú ér lì bù zú; A common saying, describing the intention [to do something] but being objectively (as in physical) not allowed to do so / I really want to do it, but I don’t have enough energy.
From《论语·里仁》.