Waiting until the person's figure vanished from sight, Yan Si only then stepped slowly to the side of the water basin that was still driftingly billowing with steam; the moment he touched the water, he drew his hand back in a panic.
"So... so warm..." It truly gave him a start: "Is this genuinely meant for bathing?"
Throughout his entire life, he had never been permitted to live in a warm place, let alone experience the luxury of bathing in hot water like that.
Once more, Yan Si lowered his hand into the water to swirl it around, feeling that it was indeed extremely comfortable... Pondering in hesitation for a long time, he decided to shed the entire mass of filthy clothes on his person and stepped slowly into the interior of the water basin.
"So pleasant..." It was truly pleasant beyond measure... Yan Si had genuinely never thought there would be a day like this, which surpassed even a dream.
His hands paddled a few times on the surface of the water, then he splashed it up to wash his face and scrub his entire body... The moment he reached the spot of his injury, he paused to contemplate for a bit...
This injury had currently dried and scabbed over, and the flesh that had previously been scooped out was also gradually regenerating; nonetheless, it still remained sunken down, exceptionally unsightly.
"At present, if it is treated, there is still time; seeing it thus, eldest brother will definitely be happier." He had once promised the man that he would live well, therefore he resolutely had to change; only by doing so could he make him pleased.
Finishing his bath, Yan Si reached for the set of clothes placed on the table beside the water basin to put them on, and immediately afterward, stepped to the side of the bed to lie down, drifting off to sleep...
Not long afterward, someone stepped gently over to shake him and call him awake: "Young master... young master... dinner is already available, please rise quickly to partake of the meal."
Yan Si heard the call and dimly opened his eyes; beside him was the domestic servant from earlier, who said, "The dinner is placed over there; His Highness enjoined that young master partake of it quickly lest it grow cold. If anything is lacking, just call out; this servant will stand waiting outside."
RongCheng was indeed thoughtful; prior to departing, he had instructed the servant thoroughly that he must absolutely look after him well, and definitely not permit anything to go amiss.
Even though Yan Si was thin and skeletal, he was nonetheless a person whom RongCheng held in extremely high regard, therefore no one dared to treat him with disrespect, merely acting according to orders.
The servant assisted Yan Si up and then escorted him to the side of the table, taking the initiative to pull out a chair and speaking politely, "Young master, please be seated!"
Yan Si looked at the servant, then nodded and hurriedly sat down.
Having arranged everything properly, the servant immediately went outside while simultaneously pulling the door gently to close it.
Meanwhile, Yan Si looked at a table completely full of food and felt thoroughly dazed; never had he seen this much, and furthermore, the aroma billowing up was densely fragrant, causing his saliva to flow down naturally—an indescribable sensation of stimulation and craving.
"What... what is this?" Yan Si's hand trembled slightly as he picked up the chopsticks...
"Am... am I dreaming?" This much food surpassed even a dream; should he taste a bite just to know the flavor?
Pondering for a moment, Yan Si decided to poke his chopsticks down to pick up some food, but unfortunately, before he could even bring it to his mouth, there was suddenly the sound of a door being broken open outside, and immediately following that, two guards clad in official uniforms burst straight inside.
Seeing such a situation, Yan Si stood up with a start in a panic, stammering, "I... I..."
He truly did not know what matter he had done wrong.
Those two people swiftly came before Yan Si, knelt down, and said, "Young master, we request that you enter the palace in great haste with us."
"What!? Enter the palace!?" How could it be in such a haste? Did eldest brother not say it would be a few days later?
At this time, one person then spoke, "Time is pressing, we request that young master quickly set out; His Highness is waiting."
Hearing up to this point, Yan Si seemed to understand; it must absolutely be that something had happened to RongCheng for it to be thus, therefore he could no longer continue to hesitate and followed the group of guards to enter the palace.
Immediately afterward, Yan Si was escorted out to a large carriage parked outside the villa; the guards quickly drove the horses and sped away.
At present, despite already sitting inside the carriage, Yan Si still kept remembering that table of food from just now, silently feeling regret in his heart: "Ah, it truly was just a dream after all."
Precisely because it was a dream, he did not even get to know what a single bite tasted like; though his regret was like that, reflecting on it, RongCheng's safety was nonetheless more important to him.
Nearly an hour later, the carriage stopped before the gates of the imperial city; the moment Yan Si stepped out and beheld it, he nearly fell down from astonishment.
"So massive..." The gates were terrifyingly massive, and furthermore stood towering and majestic.
A guard stepped over to the sentries to present a command tablet; the moment they saw it, they immediately ordered the city gates to be opened.
The moment the gates opened, the remaining guard said, "Young master, please step inside."
When Yan Si stepped inside, not yet over his amazement, there was unexpectedly another carriage waiting ready; the guards urged him to climb up and quickly drove the horses on.
The imperial at night was inherently exceptionally still, with only groups of crown soldiers, guards, and sentries frequently running in formations to conduct strict patrols... Yan Si lifted the curtain to look for a moment then let it drop, continuing to sit properly inside the carriage.
This place... truly surpassed the capacity of his imagination.
Not long afterward, the carriage abruptly came to a halt; the guard said, "Young master, we have arrived."
Yan Si heard the call and stepped outside, while simultaneously being assisted down from the carriage by the guard.
Before his eyes was a large, magnificent palace bearing the three characters "Zi Xuan Dian"; right at the entrance, there were a great many people kneeling flat on the ground, everyone's countenance utterly sallow with fear.
Thinking that there was indeed an ominous matter, Yan Si hurriedly stepped inside; however, everything was not as he had imagined.
RongCheng was still perfectly fine; he was clad in a radiant golden robe, sitting beside the bed while simultaneously gripping someone's hand tightly. In the distance, Yan Si could additionally hear clearly the sound of his unceasing calls: "A Yuan... A Yuan, wake up quickly... wake up quickly to look at me..."
The fingers of that other person were swollen and appeared covered in blood... it seemed not a single soul dared to touch them, and even RongCheng was the same.
Standing before that situation, for some unknown reason, Yan Si's heart ached to the point of numbness—a sensation that could not be clearly expressed in words.
The moment he saw Yan Si arrive, RongCheng immediately placed that person's hand down; he stepped over to his side, pleading earnestly, "Little brother, come quickly... come quickly to see how he is... please help me save him."
RongCheng's eyes currently were bloodshot; he appeared immensely anguished and furious, as if the moment anything happened to that person, the entirety of those people kneeling outside would have to follow the person onto the pyre to be burned alive.
Looking at him like that, Yan Si nodded faintly, not daring to say anything.
His heart suddenly thwacked heavily with each footstep; he was about to behold the countenance of that person named A Yuan...