The most unexpected thing for Xie Jue during the trip to Zhongzhou was that Fang Chuning was no longer so resistant to him. Having once received soone’s excessive attention and affection, he could clearly see through the changes in his emotions. From the initial rejection in Jiangnan, to the awkwardness along the journey, and finally, after spending so ti in Zhongzhou, perhaps with Zhou Buyan and others discussing the past, Fang Chuning gradually considered him a special presence. This was a change Xie Jue was happy to see, but he was still not satisfied.
After the matters in Zhongzhou were settled, Xie Jue and Fang Chuning set out for Ningzhou. When they left Yangzhou, it was Xie Jue who prepared the luggage. Fang Chuning was disturbed and did not care about the travel arrangents, but this ti he took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility and prepared the luggage. Zhou Buyan, knowing he didn’t have much money, gave him a pouch filled with silver pieces, copper coins, and so gold leaves. Fang Chuning also prepared dry food, wine, water, and clothes for change, filling the carriage to the brim. Zhou Buyan even packed them a few pounds of beef jerky, worrying they might get hungry on the road. Fang Chuning, looking at him fussing like an old father, couldn’t help but say, "I have money; I’ll buy if I’m hungry. You don’t need to pack more."
"Better safe than sorry. What if you and the Prince have to stay overnight in the deep mountains? You’ll need sothing to fill your stomach. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but now you’re serving the Prince voluntarily. Since you’re also playing the gentleman now, you shouldn’t let him go hungry. I’ve noticed the Prince has lost quite a bit of weight over the past six months."
Fang Chuning, "Whose brother are you exactly?"
"Brothers are brothers, subjects are subjects!" Zhou Buyan patted his shoulder with a sincere look on his face.
Fang Chuning, "..."
The journey for Xie Jue and Fang Chuning wasn’t particularly rushed, so there was no need to ride hard. Zhou Buyan was thus allowed to pile a lot of food and supplies onto the carriage.
After leaving the Zhongzhou City Gate and heading north, the landscape changed significantly. Most of the areas north of Zhongzhou were deserts and wastelands, with fewer crops. Most people lived in towns or gathered in dense villages, so the population was relatively concentrated. They traveled through many desolate, uninhabited barren lands. Fang Chuning finally understood Zhou Buyan’s well-intended concerns. In the afternoon, they stopped at a water source, isolated from any village or store, and indeed, without the dried food in the carriage, they would have been starving.
The conditions being so harsh, Xie Jue insisted on brewing dicine for him. At the riverside, he set up a makeshift stove, collected firewood, quickly boiled water, and put in the herbs. His life skills were impressive, leaving Fang Chuning dumbfounded. He thought he could escape from drinking the dicine once they left Zhongzhou, but he didn’t expect Xie Jue to be so insistent.
Casually sitting under a tree, as Xie Jue seriously brewed the dicine, he couldn’t help but ask, "Are you planning to brew dicine for all three als?"
"Just once a day!" Xie Jue said flatly, "I specifically asked the doctor to change the formula. You only need one dose daily. We’ll stop at a water source each day, brew the dicine, eat, and then continue on. There’s no need to rush from Zhongzhou to Ningzhou. Take your ti. You’ll also get used to the northern climate and environnt."
"You seem to be the one who needs to adapt to the environnt."
"Hmm, I won’t deny that," Xie Jue said, "That was ten years ago."
Fang Chuning paused, watching the sweat fall from Xie Jue’s temples. He got up and drove him away, "Go rest in the carriage. I’ll watch the dicine."
"I’m not tired."
"You never sleep well at night, and with traveling as well, even if you’re not tired, just looking at you makes tired. Just go and stop arguing!" Fang Chuning’s tone was unfriendly, and his attitude towards Xie Jue had noticeably changed, much more casual and easygoing.
Xie Jue paused, glanced at him, "Fine, but if you dare pour out the dicine, you’re dead!"
Fang Chuning, who was planning to pour out the dicine while Xie Jue was resting, "..."
The thickets by the water source were not dense, and the trees grew slowly. The trunks were slender, and the branches were sparse. The weather was hot, with little wind. The carriage was parked in the shade, where there was a slight cool breeze. Xie Jue was indeed tired on this journey and, lulled by the sound of the wind, gradually grew sleepy and closed his eyes for a rest. He once dread with Fang Chuning about such a life—carefree als, using the sky as a quilt and the earth as a bed, wandering the world and seeing its beautiful mountains and rivers.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted by Xie Jue, and Fang Chuning sat not far from the carriage, just able to see Xie Jue’s sleeping profile. He couldn’t help but chuckle, "Even his sleeping posture is so precise. Tsk."
As he tended the firewood—dicinal decoction required a slow simr—he closed his eyes for a rest as the fire dwindled. He began humming a familiar tune, feeling an unprecedented sense of steadiness. Ever since losing his mory, Fang Chuning hadn’t felt such solid ground. His blank life, devoid of mories, made him anxious every day. At Lu Liu Villa, he didn’t know how to dispel his worries and resorted to fishing quietly every day. With Xie Jue, his life changed dramatically. Initially unsettling and absurd, now, as his relationship with Xie Jue deepened, Fang Chuning finally felt real.
While humming the tune, Fang Chuning suddenly had a thought; before losing his mory, he must have truly loved Xie Jue deeply. At this mont, he thoroughly believed Zhou Buyan’s words.
Zhou Buyan said, "From childhood to now, you’ve always revolved around him. Just wait, even if you lose your mory, your eyes won’t leave him. He is your vulnerability."
Humming the tune, Fang Chuning felt cheerful. This seed...not sothing he needed to hide.
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