[BL] Eternal Spring

第三十九章

A/N finished editing this chapter to escape from studying T-T my exams are next week I'm scaredddd

"Quick, come quickly!"

"Get the doctor, hurry!"

"More water! More!"

The chaotic shouts rang out in the night, startling countless people from their beds. The lights in the imperial living quarters gradually turned on, revealing the streams of maids and servants making their way hurriedly in and out. One maid stepped out of the imperial bedchamber carrying a bronze basin of bloody water. The water sloshed slightly with her frantic movements, the wooden doors behind her sliding shut with a bang. Not a moment later, they opened again to allow another maid to enter. The door-servants silently wiped the sweat on their foreheads.

Inside, Jiang Zhilan stood anxiously by the head of the bed. His hands clenched within the wide sleeves of his white inner robes, the ends stained with blood. An outer robe had been haphazardly thrown on and Eunuch Shuang stood by his side, equally as anxiously trying to get him to sit down.

"Your majesty! Your leg is still wounded!" Jiang Zhilan ignored him, only staring at the bed. Liu Qingyuan lay prone, his shirt opened to reveal his blood-stained chest and the hideous wound on his abdomen. The smaller injury on his shoulder had been hastily bandaged and had already stopped bleeding, but the injury on his stomach still slowly bubbled dark red. The imperial doctor was sweating as he placed a fresh piece of gauze down and applied light pressure.

"Y-your majesty, it...it won't..."

"What? What is it!" The doctor raised a sleeve to wipe his sweat. It had been so long and the bleeding was finally showing signs of stopping but the patient had been in the cold snow for who knows how long and his body was already weak.

"It's best to...prepare yourself." Jiang Zhilan stood uncomprehendingly for a few seconds before the meaning hit him like a stone. He stepped forward, grabbing the doctor by his collar.

"What do you mean?" He said coldly, "If you don't save him, I'll have your head!" The doctor frantically sputtered, stuck between heaven's will and the king's power over his own life. If king Yama decided to take Liu Qingyuan away, what could he, a mere mortal, do about it? Aiya, the grievances of the palace servants were always the heaviest.

"Your majesty," Eunuch Shuang tried to coax the king away. Jiang Zhilan threw off his arm, letting go of the doctor's shirt. He felt a gentle touch on his knee. He turned immediately, nearly getting whiplash on his neck.

"Qingyuan!"

Liu Qingyuan managed to open his eyes, his eyelashes trembling. "Cough...I'll be fine," he squeezed out the words, his voice hoarse and far too weak, and his face a few shades too pale to be healthy. That wasn't far from the truth; his consciousness was still floating as he tried to grip Jiang Zhilan's hand. Jiang Zhilan squeezed his hand, the corners of his eyes turning red. The entire room had quieted, no longer stirring with anxiety or loud shouting. The doctor held his breath, not daring to look up. If the patient woke up, it might still be okay. But his relief was still tentative as Liu Qingyuan slipped back into unconsciousness.

It wasn't until the dawn sky spread its wings and the snow was filled with the blinding light of the new morning did the activity around the imperial chambers finally cease. The doctor collapsed with shaking knees into a chair and tremblingly accepted the cup of water Eunuch Shuang offered him. His assistants were cleaning up the last of his equipment, along with the used bandages and gauze.

Actually, the wound had stopped bleeding early on but Liu Qingyuan kept startling out of unconsciousness as he was trying to stitch him up, kicking the doctor away tens of times. It was a blessing that the king was here, otherwise the doctor didn't know if his old bones could have survived.