The Beautiful Top Being Pursued Relentlessly [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 41

The cold came on silently and caught everyone off guard.

However, the physician of the Zhao Prince Estate was well-accustomed to such things. Late into the night, an elderly doctor with a snow-white beard arrived carrying his medicine chest. After taking the pulse for a moment, he stroked his beard and said, “His Highness has been invaded by a perverse wind again. We must adjust the previous prescription and focus on nourishing his spirit while he recovers.”

As he spoke, he scribbled a prescription. While Butler Liu went to brew the decoction, the doctor’s gaze shifted to Young Master Jiang currently the most prominent figure in the estate. The young man was wringing out a damp cloth, placing it gently on Xie Cheng’s forehead with movements so light he barely seemed to breathe.

“Young Master Jiang, there is no need for such worry.”

The old doctor finished rolling up the silver needles spread across the table. “It is a common cold; a few doses of medicine will see him right.”

Jiang Yi sat on a low stool by the bed, soaking a fresh cloth to carefully wipe Xie Cheng’s hand. “Was the Prince always like this?”

“His Highness was born with a weak constitution, a frailty brought from the womb. He must be nurtured with care; not a moment of negligence can be spared. Every year around this time, he usually falls ill once or twice.”

The doctor paused. “But His Highness is blessed by heaven; he will surely pull through safely.”

Jiang Yi gave a low, quiet response.

Suddenly, the fingers beneath the cloth twitched slightly.

Jiang Yi held his breath and leaned in close. On the bed, Xie Cheng’s eyes remained tightly shut, but his breathing grew slightly heavier, and his dry lips moved.

Jiang Yi pressed his ear close and caught a few blurred, breathy sounds that formed a sentence:

“So noisy”

Though the soft grumble was faint, Jiang Yi’s eyes lit up instantly. He whispered back, “The Prince thinks we’re being too loud.”

The old doctor followed suit, whispering as he hoisted his medicine chest. “Then it is nothing serious. Young Master Jiang, please look after the Prince carefully. I shall go see how the medicine is brewing.”

“Alright,” Jiang Yi replied.

The sound of the door closing was very soft. Only the sound of the two men’s intertwined breathing remained in the room, peaceful and undisturbed.

The decoction was soon ready and delivered.

Perhaps because Xie Cheng was not entirely unconscious and retained a sliver of awareness, Jiang Yi was able to pry his lips open with a silver spoon. He soon managed to feed him the entirety of the bitter medicine.

However, the moment Jiang Yi turned to set the bowl down, Xie Cheng rolled over on the bed. His lips were pressed into a downward pout, looking quite displeased.

Jiang Yi stared at the “angry” back of the Prince, stunned for a moment before realizing: “Did the Prince taste the bitterness?”

Xie Cheng, whose mouth was indeed bitter, did not respond.

“How about I give the Prince a sugar-preserved plum to taste?” Jiang Yi pulled a handful of plums from the sachet at his waist and waved them before Xie Cheng’s half-opened eyes.

Xie Cheng swiped the cloth off his forehead and buried his face in the pillow.

“My Prince?”

“Don’t want it.”

A muffled voice came from the pillow.

Xie Cheng shifted again, his messy hair tangling into a fuzzy ball. He refused to show his face.

He thought sluggishly with his feverish brain: Asking for candy after medicine is something only children do.

“Just try one, My Prince.”

Xie Cheng, burning with fever, was gripped by the shoulders and easily flipped over by Jiang Yi. He was forced to reveal his flushed face, his bangs clinging messily to his sweaty forehead.

Xie Cheng was a bit angry, but he was too weak to voice any rebuke. He simply pursed his lips tightly and let out a fierce, “Hmph!” from his throat.

Bold. How bold.

Jiang Yi’s heart softened into a puddle. He held a plum to the Prince’s lips. “I’ve tried them; they are very, very sweet.”

Xie Cheng continued to “Hmph.”

I’m not eating it.

However, the sugar coating on the plum touched his lips, melting into a thread of sweetness that seeped into his mouth, chasing away the previous bitterness.

It’s a little bit helpful.

But I’m still not eating it.

Xie Cheng rolled over again, burying himself back into the pillow.

“You really won’t eat it?” Jiang Yi popped the plum Xie Cheng had touched into his own mouth.

“Cold”

“What did the Prince say?” Jiang Yi leaned in.

“So cold”

Jiang Yi pulled several layers of thick cotton quilts upward. “Do you still feel cold?”

“Cold,” Xie Cheng repeated.

Despite the heavy quilts pressing down on him, he couldn’t feel a shred of warmth. The chill had settled into the marrow of his bones, as if countless fine needles of ice were stabbing into him a piercing, painful cold.

In his clouded consciousness, he felt someone busying about. The quilts were tucked tight, and a warm cloth was placed on his forehead.

Then, a sudden mass of warmth pressed close.

It wasn’t the stiff warmth of a bed-warmer, but something vivid and soft.

A body. A bare, naked body.

The young body was so healthy, tensing up from nerves, radiating the warmth of living blood.

Jiang Yi’s discarded inner robe lay on the floor, and the bed curtains on both sides slowly fell.

Xie Cheng curled up from the cold, and that nervous body curled up with him. It was both stiff and soft, embedding itself against Xie Cheng without hesitation.

When cold toes accidentally brushed against the warm body, both of them shuddered involuntarily.

In his stupor, Xie Cheng let out an unconscious sigh, instinctively drawing closer to the heat source. His arms wrapped around Jiang Yi’s waist, pressing himself close.

“My  Prince”

Jiang Yi let out a soft gasp.

The sound came too quickly; even if Xie Cheng had heard it, he wouldn’t have cared. He was desperate to claim the warmth.

Only a thin pair of trousers remained.

They were soon hooked away by wandering fingertips.

Xie Cheng woke up from the heat.

Waking up from heat.

For him, that was a rare occurrence.

According to countless novels, a protagonist poisoned with “Cold Toxin” would have to seek out a legendary doctor, find rare herbs, use silver needles forged from special materials, and go through endless ordeals just to barely be cured.

It sounded far too troublesome, so Xie Cheng never intended to seek treatment. As long as he could stay alive, it was enough.

To actually feel “hot” was incredible.

Sickness leaves like silk being pulled from a loom.

The physician’s skills were superb; after one dose of medicine, most of the “perverse energy” had been drawn out. Yet even so, Xie Cheng’s limbs felt sore and weak; he would have to stay in bed for a while to recover.

He moved his stiff fingers and unexpectedly touched a smooth, strange texture.

It was bouncy, sleek it was a person.

As fragments of memory returned to his mind, Xie Cheng became more alert. He forced himself to lift the quilt and look inside.

However, in the blink of an eye, the unclothed Jiang Yi had transformed into a large, fluffy tiger.

That’s right  a tiger.

The tiger, which was originally only as long as an arm, had transformed right before Xie Cheng’s eyes into a beast as long as a grown man.

Xie Cheng was squeezed into the thick fur, nearly losing his breath. The bed was only so big, and the tiger occupied most of it.

Xie Cheng stared at the upright tiger ears in front of him and reached out to pinch them. “You’re squeezing me to death. Move over.”

“Awoo”

Let the Prince sleep a bit longer.

Prince.

“AWOO!”

PRINCE!

Jiang Yi couldn’t speak human words and snapped his eyes open.

What was going on?

“When did you sneak up here last night?” Xie Cheng pinched his other ear.

“Awoo.” Jiang Yi was having a minor breakdown.

Only minor, because he soon realized he had grown larger truly becoming a majestic. medium-sized tiger.

Xie Cheng kneaded and rubbed his soft, bouncy tiger ears, intentionally saying, “Jiang Yi is neglecting his duties. I’m this sick, yet he’s nowhere to be found.”

“AWOO!” No, no, he’s here!

“Tell me, how should I punish him?”

Jiang Yi helplessly covered his tiger face with his paws.

“How about I punish him by not letting him eat braised chicken legs?”

“Awoo awoo!” No good, no good!

Jiang Yi retracted his four paws, intending to curl into a ball and roll off the bed onto the floor.

Xie Cheng rolled over and caught his fluffy tail with unerring precision. “Where do you think you’re running? Come back.”

“Awoo awoo!”

Let go of me, Jiang Yi will be right back!

“Lie back down.”

Xie Cheng found strength from somewhere, dragging the man-sized tiger back and wrapping his arms around it, spreading the entire fluffy tiger flat across the bed.

Then, as if he had found an incomparably comfortable giant heater, he flopped onto it without reservation, burying his cheek deep into the warm, thick back-fur.

“Awoo?”

Xie Cheng lay on the tiger’s back, casually stroking the softest fur beneath its belly. “So comfortable.”

Jiang Yi froze like a rug, not daring to move.

“Growing this large… if you wander around as you please, won’t you scare people?” Xie Cheng said.

“Awoo.” I won’t.

Jiang Yi still didn’t know how to explain the mystery of growing so big overnight, but hearing Xie Cheng say that, he immediately let out a soft cry to protest, proving he was a “good tiger.”

“In the Zhao Prince Estate, naturally no one will drive you away. But if you run outside, I can’t guarantee what kind of cage you’ll be locked in,” Xie Cheng said.

Jiang Yi flicked his tiger ears.

“From today on, without my permission, you are not allowed to leave the estate. If you understand, give me a cry.”

“Awoo,” Jiang Yi cried.

“I’ll consider you obedient,” Xie Cheng said with satisfaction.

Obedient.

That word touched Jiang Yi’s heart.

He cried out several times, repeating in his mind: Third rule of being a Princess Consort be obedient.

“That’s not quite enough.”

As Xie Cheng spoke, his cold hand moved up, touching the area near the tiger’s neck. “I should make a medallion for you to hang here. Do you want gold, silver, or jade?”

Jiang Yi’s round tiger eyes sparkled.

A medallion!

A medallion with the seal of the Zhao Prince Estate?

Does this count as a token of love?

As Jiang Yi’s thoughts ran wild, he heard Xie Cheng continue: “Cry once if you want gold, twice for silver, and three times for jade.”

“Awoo.”

A pause.

“Awoo awoo.”

Another pause.

“Awoo awoo awoo.”

Xie Cheng tapped his tiger head. “Greedy.”

Jiang Yi raised his head proudly.

“Hanging three medallions around your neck. wouldn’t that look stupid?” Xie Cheng tapped his head again.

“Awoo.” Not stupid.

Jiang Yi wasn’t annoyed at being tapped; instead, he rubbed his fluffy ear-tips against Xie Cheng’s palm, a “purring” sound vibrating in his throat.

Now that the tiger was bigger, his sounds were different too.

Under the influence of this “stupid tiger,” Xie Cheng began to act a bit silly himself.

He shifted his body upward and wrapped his arms around the tiger’s neck, burying his face in the comfortable fur. “I’ll get a gold-inlaid jade collar to go with it, adorned with a few bells. Wherever you go, you’ll jingle, so you’ll have nowhere to hide.”

Nowhere to hide?

Staying by the Prince’s side every single second?

Hearing this. Jiang Yi grew even happier.

“Roar!”

Jiang Yi’s big tail wagged rapidly, brushing against Xie Cheng’s exposed calves over and over.

Put it on, put it on now! Put it on tight so he can never take it off!

Seeing him so overjoyed practically begging to be locked down by a collar and medallion 

Xie Cheng’s long eyelashes flickered slightly.

The curve of his lips softened for a fleeting moment, turning upward ever so slightly, like a small pebble dropped into a dark, deep pond, sending out a single ripple.

The air of detachment that usually surrounded him began to melt away silently, wrapping around Jiang Yi.

Faced with Jiang Yi’s burning, direct reliance, Xie Cheng’s heart felt incredibly soothed.

For once, Xie Cheng didn’t call him “Stupid Tiger.” Instead, he stroked the fur and whispered:

“Good tiger.”

Good Jiang Yi.

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