The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 41 - Nightmare

Su Ning had the impression that Ren Loo looked at him differently during lunch. She wore a wide, interested smile as she watched him eat.
"You eat very little! Here, have another dumpling, otherwise how will you grow?"
"A-niang don't talk nonsense! Dr. Su is a little shorter than his uncle!" Ren Shyu criticized.

Su Ning, who had just accepted the dumpling, looked at Qiang Yong in awe and a little joyful. "Am I going to get this high then?"
"Pffff!" Qiang Yong blurted out.
It was the first time he had revealed any childish behavior. Apparently he didn't like being so small.

"Are you unhappy with your size?" Ren Loo laughed. Su Ning lowered his head, red up to his ears. It could be said that smoke was even coming out of her head.
"Ah! Not that I don't like it, but it's difficult to reach things in high places. All the boys my age are taller than me..."
The Empress laughed too. "The doctor doesn't need to worry. Ren Shyu is right, you as an adult are a little shorter than Yong-er."

Su Ning looked relieved, perhaps he didn't need to eat so much to grow. It was something he always heard from strangers, but it only worsened his appetite.
Ren Loo and the Empress confiscated him in the afternoon with the excuse that a child should have fun. In fact, it was more to take advantage of his diminutive condition. The Empress had even ordered sleeping clothes for Hu Long to make.

Qiang Yong thought that they believed he would stay like this for a long time and the doctor practically became a toy for those needy mothers with young children. Even at night, the two made a point of putting him to sleep! All that was left was for them to sing a lullaby.
Qiang Yong was agitated by all this commotion. Su Ning could remember the trauma at any time and he spent the day watching him from afar. Now, that small human figure was branded in his mind with iron and fire.

It was close to pig time and he decided to check on the boy. As he suspected, Su Ning was sitting in the lotus flower posture, meditating. He didn't have time to meditate all day, being fawned over by the dragons, and was frustrated at not being able to recover his memories. Qiang Yong was impressed that at no point did he doubt his word or think that he had been kidnapped by them.

Coming closer, he noticed that Su Ning was evaluating something in his hands. It was the chrysanthemum stone pendant. It was probably always hanging around his neck. The Emperor touched him lightly on the thin shoulder and the boy shivered, turning towards him with frightened eyes like a rabbit's. "Emperor Qiang!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I figured you wouldn't be asleep yet." He sat on the bed, next to him. "You don't mind talking a little since you're awake." He felt strange talking like that, like a child.

When Ren Shyu was younger, he was always the one looking for him, talking his ear off. The Emperor could barely utter a word in front of his euphoric nephew. So talking to such a quiet child was new to him.
"Who did you get this pendant from?" Qiang Yong asked, unable to bear the curiosity any longer.
"It's strange actually... my mother has one just like that, but it's her treasure. She wouldn't give it to me."

Qiang Yong frowned. So it was a pendant from his mother... at some point Su Xue gave it to her son. He thought it best not to dwell on this for now, as it could speed up the recovery of some painful memory too quickly.
"Unfortunately when your memories come back you will forget the time you spent here with us."

"And even?" Su Ning frowned in disgust.
"Yes, because there is no way those memories exist in your past. At your age, I was still a teenager, Ren Shyu wasn't even born..."
Su Ning nodded, a little sad. He would like to keep these memories... Qiang Yong crossed his arms thoughtfully.

"That's why I came here. It sounds silly, but I want to get this off my chest so badly! A person once saved my life. I really wish I had the chance to say thank you for that. But this person never came to me to receive any reward!" He watched him from the corner of his eye. The boy was looking at him intently. Su Ning's large, slightly upward-curved eyes were one of his most beautiful and striking features.