The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 49 - Recovery

Su Ning fully recovered within two days. He indeed noticed the difference in treatment of Qiang Yong that An Shu had mentioned. The Emperor was quite busy after he came into contact with the Yao Kings, but his instructions were clear enough: meals were always prepared hot and with fresh food, the servants were available to prepare his bath at any time and the sweaty robes were changed regularly and as soon as the fever subsided for clean, silky inner robes.

The change was so radical that the doctor was shocked. He expected to have a friendly relationship with the dragon, but this was much more than he could have expected. It was a behavior that exceeded even the care of the Empress Dowager! Was Qiang Yong really that grateful?

When Qiang Ling came to visit, he found the doctor perplexed. She laughed at his clumsiness. "You were such a lovely child, you should have been more pampered... Otherwise how will you be able to bear all our flattery?" She shook her head and went on to talk about the books she had borrowed.

Qiang Ling was a tactful woman and also now knew the details of the life of the doctor she idolized so much. And faced with her son's acceptance, she was even happier than before. Her worries about Qiang Yong had halved. The Emperor was now no longer so lonely and had someone to trust.

The Empress was happy to see her son carefree and satisfied, although this change had been too drastic and in addition Qiang Yong and his sister were acting strangely mysterious. As if they were hiding something from her. Maybe she should pressure Ren Loo since Qiang Yong was stubborn and would never say anything.

In the evening, the Emperor finally got some free time to go and see Su Ning. The doctor smiled kindly at him. However, he soon frowned, noticing a certain paleness on the yao's face. "Are you okay? Han Chia said you didn't let him see you."
The Emperor smiled. "I'm perfectly fine. I had some bruises, nothing serious. But today you're the patient. You shouldn't be evaluating others."

Su Ning laughed. Even the Emperor's way of speaking had changed. "I think it's impossible for me not to do that."
Qiang Yong sat next to him. Su Ning had found his actions strange but even his posture towards him had changed. The Emperor always looked at him with suspicion and even disdain. But now his eyes were gentle and tender.

His once mocking smile became affable and respectful. Su Ning felt his body become slightly warm at this and he didn't know how to behave in the face of this change. This Qiang Yong was a completely foreign person to him and difficult to interpret. He decided to follow up on the kindness shown.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me these days, Emperor. I'm sorry for the inconvenience I caused."
Qiang Yong made a nonchalant gesture. "No problem. In fact, I was incompetent. I couldn't stop the enemy from entering and you still took care of it for me." He laughed with a slight hint of regret.

What would become of me if you had died? He reflected and a shiver ran down his spine. He couldn't even bear the thought. Su Ning lowered his eyes, he looked very different indeed. He wondered what had happened while he was under the curse... the Emperor wouldn't change so much about him just because he sympathized with him as a child!

Qiang Yong was staring at him with such intensity, as if he wanted to commit every detail of Su Ning to memory, that the doctor even felt embarrassed. Surely he must have said or done something very wrong during this period!

"Hmm... Emperor, if at that time when I was not... I must say, in my normal state, if I was inconvenient, I ask you to overlook that." He scratched his chin, laughing awkwardly. "After all, young people sometimes act and speak without thinking."

"There is nothing for you to worry about. As a child you could very well pass for a literary man's son and by the age of twenty you were almost a cult leader. There is no way you could offend anyone unless you wanted to."  Qiang Yong teased him with a mischievous smile.

He was amused by this unnecessary concern from the doctor. Only then did he realize how rude he had been treating that person. He swore to himself that he would reward him accordingly. He also saw that he could spend hours and hours admiring the contour of that jade face, those large black eyes with curved corners, the high bridge of the nose and the mouth, thin and pink, like a peach flower petal.

It was a shame he couldn't touch it. For now.
Doctor Su was still on the defensive, it took some time to win him over. And when that happened, Qiang Yong  would close it in his hands, leaving no opening for escape. Now he could only mourn for his nonsense from before.

Su Ning was still a little reticent. He didn't want to talk about the Sect or the past, he didn't want to stir up this mud any further. He thought about what he could talk about, but avoiding the subject only raised more suspicions about him. He decided to speak seriously.
"I believe that now you are no longer at risk, right? Xing Ou Yang probably planned this all alone since the Barrier was insurmountable on both sides, except for one of the Yao Kings."

"Yes, I believe that none of the Kings were displeased with me or capable of any treason." Qiang Yong commented thoughtfully. He took the trouble of talking to each of them personally, so he could see their reactions. None of them seemed to be involved in the case, not even the last yao left to fortify the barrier. He was an ancient black turtle and he was quite surprised that he didn't need to go there from now on.

"I'm glad this is finally over." Now Su Ning relaxed a little, thinking about talking about banalities.
"What was the mountain like where you lived?" Qiang Yong suddenly asked. Asking about that past probably wouldn't hurt so much and he wanted to know everything he could about the doctor.

Su Ning was caught off guard by the question but it wasn't something he wanted to hide or forget.
He described his life on the mountain and the Emperor seemed to have switched places with the Empress,  wanting more and more details and stories. He stayed with him until Su Ning started to feel tired.

"Are you going to stay here until I fall asleep?" The doctor laughed.
"Yes, I already did that once." Qiang Yong supports his head with his arm.
"When did you do that?!"
"Hehe, there was a certain child who wanted to meditate until he remembered the past. But it was easy to convince him to sleep by being together. It's difficult for someone who was always with someone to suddenly be alone."

Su Ning felt a tightness in his throat. For many years he lived with this feeling and thought he had overcome it. He remembered the dream he had and the empty feeling next to the bed. Suddenly he felt sad again.
"You asked so much about my childhood... you should tell me yours too."

"I tell you, but there's nothing more to my story. I was the oldest brother, I really wanted to be like my father. Ren Loo and I grew up in this fortress and it was always like that. It seems like it only grew in height. Her room was full of strange objects that she collected and it remains that way to this day!"

Su Ning laughed. Ren Loo always showed him an item from his collection of rare objects whenever he could.
"And you, what was it like?" He felt drowsiness begin to dull his muscles, but he also wanted to talk more. Maybe Qiang Yong could actually be a good friend.
Little by little that mysterious kindness was weakening his defenses.

Su Ning always focused only on work and didn't realize that he was being consumed by loneliness. Living with that family, he felt lonely again.
"I thought my mother would have told you that. I was a bit grumpy." Qiang Yong laughed at the memory and started to tell about events from his past as well.

Su Ning listened to him with interest, but his senses were dull enough for him to blink a few times.
"Time to sleep doctor." Qiang Yong closed his eyes with one hand. "You'll have enough time to get to know me well, I promise you."

Su Ning was a little startled by the sudden contact, but he soon got used to it. He nodded slightly. "You promised then. Have a good night, Emperor." He whispered, giving in to the emptiness of sleep.
"I always keep my promises." Qiang Yong stood up and kissed his forehead. "Sleep well, Su Ning."

Author's Note

I drooled over this chapter! So cute! I also want to see Qiang Yong as a child, he must be a copy of Ren Shyu 😅.