The moon hung high in the sky. Not long after Zhongli Zixi had fallen asleep, Ye Jun rose as quietly as a shadow. But at his slightest movement, Zhongli Zixi startled awake. Sensing this, Ye Jun immediately lay back down.
Seeing that nothing was wrong, Zhongli Zixi drifted back to sleep. Yet, moments later, Ye Jun stealthily attempted to climb out of bed again, and once more, Zixi woke with him. Just as he was about to ask what was the matter, Ye Jun surreptitiously retreated under the covers.
After three or four rounds of this restless tossing, Zhongli Zixi’s patience finally snapped. When Ye Jun tried to sneak out of bed yet again, Zixi grabbed his wrist, suppressing his anger as he hissed, "Just what exactly are you trying to do?"
Ye Jun replied, "This subordinate is unworthy of sharing a couch with the Young Master. Naturally, I must go where I belong."
It was Ye Jun’s habit to forgo formal titles when he wasn't being serious. Now, despite there being no grand emergency, he was acting with such cold distance that Zhongli Zixi knew the knot in the man's heart would not be easily untied.
"Just focus on recovering. Don't worry about such things," Zhongli Zixi said irritably.
Ye Jun gave a soft affirmation and remained obediently still. Having been kept awake for half the night, Zhongli Zixi finally found peace and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke the next morning, the space beside him was already empty.
Remembering how Ye Jun was covered in injuries yet still so stubborn, a flicker of anger rose in Zixi’s heart.
He had no time to dally, however. A maid arrived to urge him to go and expel the *gu* parasites for Fourth Master Fang. Once that was finished, a crowd of Fourth Master Fang’s brothers—about a dozen men—lined up waiting for treatment. He was kept busy until noon before he finally found a moment to rest in the back courtyard.
Zhongli Zixi personally decocted the medicine. Holding the bowl, he swirled the dark liquid and called out, "Ye Jun."
Ye Jun appeared and knelt before him, his knees hitting the ground with a dull thud. He immediately adjusted his posture, kneeling upright with profound respect.
It had been a long time since Zhongli Zixi had seen Ye Jun kneel with such rigid decorum. In truth, Ye Jun rarely made mistakes and was seldom punished. The last time Zixi had disciplined him was several years ago, because Ye Jun had taken it upon himself to report on the Eldest Young Master’s movements.
Zixi hadn't wanted to hear a single word about which person his elder brother was spending the night with.
Technically, Ye Jun hadn't been in the wrong, but the Second Young Master required no reason to vent his frustrations on others.
*"Mind what you should mind, and look not at what you should not."* That had been his warning back then. Consequently, no matter what the Eldest Young Master did afterward, Ye Jun never mentioned it again.
Regarding the Eldest Young Master’s collusion with outsiders to rebel against the Zhongli Estate, Zixi had been blinded by his own position, but Ye Jun was not. He must have discovered it long ago.
What had Ye Jun been thinking as he watched Zixi walk toward his own ruin, watched as Zixi’s sincere heart was trampled under the Eldest Young Master’s feet?
He must have found it laughable.
The anger that had been simmering within Zhongli Zixi moments ago suddenly turned cold. Feeling a wave of exhaustion, he gripped the medicine bowl and asked, "Is it only today that you've remembered the distinction between master and servant?"
"This subordinate knows his fault," Ye Jun said, lowering his head.
Zhongli Zixi handed him the bowl. Ye Jun took it with both hands, drained it in one gulp, and took a step back. "Thank you, Young Master. This subordinate takes his leave."
"Wait!" Zhongli Zixi blurted out.
"Does the Young Master have further instructions?" Ye Jun stopped and turned to ask.
The man had stayed, but Zixi didn't know what to say. Ye Jun tilted his head, waiting for an order in silence. In the past, Ye Jun was always the talkative one; Zixi had never had to worry about conversation. Now that Ye Jun was silent, the atmosphere was excruciatingly awkward.
After a moment of silent stalemate, Zhongli Zixi could only wave his hand. "Forget it. Go back."
Over the next few days, Zhongli Zixi could hardly catch a glimpse of Ye Jun.
Even when forcibly summoned, the man wouldn't say a word, standing there as stiff as a post.
After several days of feeling stifled, Zhongli Zixi felt something was amiss.
Clearly, it was Ye Jun who had made a mistake and gone down a psychological blind alley, so why did it feel like *he* was the one being neglected and set aside?
*Am I supposed to lower myself to coax him? Wouldn't that be a massive loss for me?*
Yet Ye Jun maintained his boundaries with watertight precision. Zixi’s pent-up fury was like a punch thrown into cotton—there was no release. He began to gnash his teeth in frustration.
Gritting his teeth, Zhongli Zixi brewed the medicine and called Ye Jun to drink it.
Watching Ye Jun kneel before him with a bowed head, he couldn't help but mutter, "After several days of nursing, your external wounds should have healed. Why does your complexion still look so poor?"
He reached out to check the man's pulse, but in a rare move, Ye Jun tilted his head to avoid the touch.
Zhongli Zixi frowned. "Don't move."
Ye Jun: "Yes."
When Zhongli Zixi pressed his fingers to the wrist, he felt a strange heat. He moved his hand to Ye Jun's forehead; as expected, the temperature was alarmingly high.
"...You have a fever," Zixi said.
Ye Jun did not answer, seemingly well aware of his own condition.
Zixi asked again, "For how long?"
Ye Jun replied, "Three days."
Three days. Calculating the time, he had started burning up the day after seeing Ze Que. That nameless fire in Zixi’s heart flared up again. Displeased, he said, "Ye Jun, you've never failed to guess my thoughts. You should know very well that what I want right now is for you to lie honestly in bed and recover, not to be jumping about performing some drama of master-servant etiquette at a time like this."
"And what have you been doing these past two days, not eating or resting properly?" Zhongli Zixi grabbed a lock of the man's hair, forcing him to lift his head and meet his gaze. He hissed through gritted teeth, "Are you trying to act spoiled with me?"
Ye Jun blinked, staring at him in a daze. Zhongli Zixi suddenly felt he might have been too rough; he didn't actually want to punish or blame Ye Jun, and he certainly shouldn't cause further misunderstandings while the man was so low. Then, he heard Ye Jun ask in astonishment, "Young Master, are you... flirting with this subordinate?"
How on earth did he reach that conclusion?! Zhongli Zixi’s anger was like oil on a fire. He snapped, "Are you out of your mind? I obviously—"
Ye Jun immediately bowed his head to the floor again. "This subordinate knows his fault. I beg the Young Master for punishment."
Zhongli Zixi’s tone instantly shifted, his voice rising in a light, breezy lilt. "I am obviously flirting with you, yes."
Zhongli Zixi was exploding with rage inside, yet he forced himself to maintain a smile. This was the first thing Ye Jun had said in days that sounded like his old self; he absolutely could not scare him off now. Although the remark was truly outrageous, he missed that outrageous Ye Jun so much he could almost weep.
This time, it was Ye Jun who was truly frightened.
The fact that Ze Que had slipped through the net was a massive blow to him. He was not like ordinary people; he did not distinguish others by their faces, but by their internal breath and pulse. Therefore, it was impossible for him to mistake a person's identity, nor could someone have used a disguise to die in Ze Que's place. Unless Ze Que had truly returned from the dead, he could find no other explanation.
But such a thing was so inconceivable that it had completely shattered his worldview. Coupled with his recent failure to accurately gauge Ye Xiao’s strength during their clash, Ye Jun’s confidence in his own judgment had crumbled. He no longer dared to confidently set traps for the Second Young Master to walk into as he once had.
Ye Jun felt he had lost the Second Young Master’s trust. He no longer dared to harbor those overstepping, improper thoughts from before. He only hoped to live out his life quietly, preserving his safety and silently guarding the Second Young Master. That would be enough.
Who could have expected that after these few days, the Second Young Master—who had seemed calm and indifferent on the surface—would suddenly drop such an ambiguous bombshell?
Ye Jun thought sorrowfully: *I truly do not understand a single thing about this world anymore.*
Zhongli Zixi ordered men to carry Ye Jun back to bed and sent the medicine back to be re-brewed with a new prescription.
After giving the orders, he returned to the room. Seeing Ye Jun lying stiffly on the bed, he sat by the headboard and asked, "Do you understand what you should be doing now? Or do I need to give more orders?"
Ye Jun said softly, "This subordinate has failed the Young Master’s expectations. I dare not speculate on my master’s intentions."
Zhongli Zixi sighed softly, his heart aching for the man. That Ye Jun was so fearful and cautious was, in the end, a bitter fruit sown by Zixi’s own past volatility.
He didn't know how to comfort him. As for empty platitudes like "Don't worry about the Ze Que matter, act as if nothing happened," even he wouldn't believe them. So, he changed the subject. "Then what about you? What are you thinking?"
"I want to kiss the Young Master," Ye Jun blurted out.
Zhongli Zixi thought with a forced smile: *You're damn well addicted to this, aren't you?*
Ye Jun regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. He immediately tried to scramble up to kneel and beg for forgiveness. "This subordinate deserves death."
"Don't move." After a fierce internal struggle, Zhongli Zixi pressed Ye Jun down. He leaned in and lightly brushed the tip of his nose against Ye Jun’s cheek. To him, this already counted as a genuine kiss.
Ye Jun was already delirious with fever, but he found the temperature of his cheeks could still rise several degrees higher.
He suspected he had gone mad from the fever, to the point of hallucinating.
"I was afraid you wouldn't believe me if I just said it..." Zhongli Zixi forced himself to remain calm. He sat up straight with a stiff, expressionless face and said, "I just wanted you to know... it’s actually not as bad as you think."
***
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Fatal to Pretend With a Cheat | Chapter 92 | A Feverish Reassurance | Novela.app | Novela.app
