Yifan patiently fed Luhan his medicine, one spoonful at a time. Luhan kept trying to hide from the spoon. Yifan warned, "If you don't take your medicine I'm going to forbid you to go to the kitchen." Luhan quickly pouted and whined weakly, "Yifan-gege is so bad. You don't spend any time with me so I feel neglected. When I'm neglected I want to eat. Now you won't let me eat." Yifan laughed at Luhan's cuteness. He said, "Eunuch Chen was lecturing me last night about how I only spend time with you. How could you say I neglect you, you little monster?" Luhan pouted even more, his bottom lip sticking out. Yifan leaned down and nibbled on the soft pink flesh. Luhan moaned, patting Yifan on the arm. 

 

Yifan stopped and whispered, "I'll let you off this time. Once you're better I'm going to punish you." He continued spooning the bitter medicine into Luhan's mouth. Feeling much more conscious after taking the medicine Luhan finally noticed the blood stains on Yifan's robe. His eyes widened as he asked, "Gege! Are you hurt? Why is there blood on you?" He tried to sit up but Yifan kept him down. He comforted, "Don't worry, Luhan. It's not my blood. I didn't get hurt. It's--It's Joonmyun's. He blocked an attack for me and got stabbed. He's at the Medical Chamber right now." Luhan nodded and grabbed onto Yifan's index finger with his small hand. He whispered, "I want you to stay with me. I know I'm being selfish but I want to have you by my side when I'm feeling unwell." 

 

Yifan nodded and promised, "I'm not going anywhere. Once I heard that you had a fever I hurried over here. Joonmyun have a group of talented doctors taking care of him. But you only have me." He wrapped his long fingers around Luhan's hand and gently squeezed it. Luhan yawned and said sleepily "I'm tired, Yifan-gege. I want to sleep but I'm scared you will leave me." Yifan doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at Luhan's childish behavior. He cooed, "Go to sleep. I promise I won't leave. Besides, you're holding onto my hand. You'll know if I left or not." Luhan nodded and slowly closed his eyes. He mumbled something and fell asleep. 

 

Yifan stared at Luhan's sleeping face. He realized how childish and young Luhan looked compared to Joonmyun, even though the two are the same age. Luhan had baby fat and big round eyes. Joonmyun, on the other hand, was mature and calm. Unlike Luhan, Joonmyun is very quiet and well-mannered. Unfortunately, thinking about Joonmyun made Yifan even more worried. He regretted leaving Joonmyun but he had no other choice. Luhan and him were cousins and childhood friends. Because of Luhan's innocent personality, Yifan felt the need to protect him. Before the Lord died Yifan promised to take care of Luhan and to love him forever. No matter what happened he must be by Luhan's side. 

 

A short eunuch entered the room and greeted, "Your Majesty." Yifan turned and recognized him to be from the Medical Chamber. Immediately a wave of uneasiness rushed upon him. He asked, "What is it?" The eunuch reported, "Doctor Lee said Consort Myun lost too much blood and is going to die. He wanted to see if Your Majesty would like to see Consort Myun for the last time." Yifan quickly shot up but was pulled back by Luhan, who woke up. Luhan whispered, "You promised you would stay." Yifan knew he had to stay but his heart was already gone. He said, sadly "I'm sorry, Luhan. I know you will forgive me. But I have to go see Joonmyun." He pushed away Luhan's hand away and went out following the eunuch. Luhan laid on the bed sobbing. 

 

Yixing's heart broke as he watched Joonmyun cry in pain. The blanket under Joonmyun was already tainted red. Yixing asked, "Is there any way to save him? I'll do anything to save him!" Doctor Lee hesitated and said, "There is a dangerous procedure we can try but...General Zhang, are you willing to help? You would be at risk as well." Yixing shook his head and said, "I don't care. As long as there's a chance to save J--Consort Myun." Doctor Lee nodded and went to retrieve something from his equipment cabinet. He pulled out a long thin tube like with two needles attached on each end. He explained, "There is a record of a procedure called 'blood transfusion' where a healthy person transfer his blood to another. Right now the only way to help Consort Myun is this." 

 

Yixing rolled up his sleeve and said, "Do it right now. If anything happens you must save Consort Myun first." Joonmyun regained a bit of his consciousness and quicky said, "Y-Yixing...Don't d-do it..." Yixing kneeled down beside him and whispered, "Don't worry, Joonmyun. I won't let anything happen to you. If anything happens we will die together." Then he stood up and said, to Doctor Lee, "Please start the procedure." Doctor Lee nodded and made Yixing sit down. Then he wiped a cloth dipped in alcohol on Yixing wrist and Joonmyun's wrist. He poked the needle into their veins. Immediately a trail of blood rushe through the tube and into Joonmyun's arm. 

 

Joonmyun looked at Yixing tearfully. Yixing smiled and reassured, "I'm fine. Now rest and when you wake up everything will be fine. If we both make it out if this alive I'm going to take you away from here. We'll leave here forever." Joonmyun didn't want to but was too weak and fell asleep. Doctor Lee said, "I'm going to tend the cut now. You and Consort Myun's lives are connected now. If anything happens you will both die." Yixing nodded and closed his eyes. Doctor Lee started working on Joonmyun's wound. As time passed, Yixing's face became pale white. Finally when Doctor Lee finished he removed the needles. He warned, "General Zhang, Consort Myun is already out of danger. But you need to take care of your body. You lost a lot of blood today." 

 

Yixing nodded, feeling dizzy. He stood up and said, "Thank you, Doctor Lee. I still have a lot of work waiting for me. I'm going to leave now. Please look after Consort Myun." Doctor Lee's eyes widened. He quickly said, "No, General Zhang! You need to rest! You lost a great amount of blood." Yixing sighed. He frowned and said, "I work for Your Majesty and my life belongs to him. He gave me a lot of responsibilities and j need to follow up on them. I'm grateful for your concern though. Just take care of Consort Myun." He staggered away weakly, trying to keep strong. After Yixing left, Yifan ran in through the doors. He quickly sat down beside Joonmyun and asked, "How is he right now?" Doctor Lee greeted, "Welcome Your Majesty. Consort Myun is already out of the danger zone. He will be better after rest and care." 

 

Yifan gently held onto Joonmyun's hand and whispered, "Joonmyun, how are you feeling? I'm here to see you." Joonmyum slowly opened his eyes when he heard someone calling him. Once his eyes opened he saw Yifan's worried face. He whispered weakly, "Yifan?" Yifan smiled happily and squeezed Joonmyun's hand. He said, "What you did for me today, I will never regret. Tomorrow I'm going to raise yout status to Grand Consort. I love you, Joonmyun. I will never let you go." He leaned down and hugged him, not noticing the tears running down Joonmyun's eyes. Joonmyun was worried about Yixing. 

 

Luhan's servant, Chun-hua was snooping outside the door. Once she heard what Yifan said she quickly hurried back to find Luhan. Eunuch Chen saw and shook his head. He thought, "This harem will be a battlefield very soon." An eunuch walked up to Eunuch Chen and said, "Gong Gong, there is a problem with the new eunuch. We need you to check him out." Eunuch Chen nodded and followed him away. He went to the Servant Room and saw a skinny boy hiding under the table. Eunuch Chen closed the door and slowly approached the table. He kneeled down and said, "Come out, little eunuch. It's only me." The boy lifted up his head from between his knees. 

 

He had a skinny face, long almond eyes and very dark eyebags. Eunuch Chen remembered him and chuckled, "You're the panda boy. Why are you hiding under the table? Come out and tell me what's wrong. If I keep kneeling my back might snap." The boy agreed and crawled out. Eunuch Chen noticed a hand mark over his face and scratch marks on his arms. He asked, "What's your name? And who do you follow?" The boy was trembling. He replied shakily, "I--I am Zitao. I f-follow Consort F-Fung..." Just the thought of that woman brought tears to his eyes. Eunuch Chen knew that Consort Fung is the granddaughter of the previous Prime Minister and even Yifan can't do anything about her. She is spoiled and treated the servants an eunuchs horribly. 

 

He sat down and said, "We are servants and our duty is to keep a closed mouth, ears, and eyes. I understand how 'strict' Consort Fung can be. Since she's unsatisfied with you then I'm going to assign her a new eunuch. You can follow Your Majesty from now on. Can you handle that?" Zitao's eyes immediately filled up with tears of gratitude. Eunuch Chen smiled and said, "And your name will be Tao-zi from now on, not Zitao. Once you follow Your Majesty you won't be bullied anymore. You just need to remember to keep your eyes, mouth and ears closed." Zitao nodded and dropped down on his knees. Eunuch Chen's eyes widened. Zitao said, "Thank you so much, Gong Gong. I will never forget your help." 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 

Luhan was sitting on bed spacing out. After Yifan left him he's been sitting quietly. Tears stained his pale white face. Chun-hua rushed into the room and reported, "Kim Joonmyun is out of the danger zone right now." Luhan's eyes lit up. He asked, hopefully, "So is Yifan-gege going to come back to me?" Chun-hua scrunched up her nose and said, "Your Majesty promised that vixen to make him Grand Consort. He also said he won't ever leave his side. He's just like every other man! Once he finds something new he loses interest in his old love. Concubine Lu, you shouldn't destroy your body for a person like that." 

 

Luhan's eyes filled up with red veins as more tears rolled out. He screamed and started throwing the teacups and plates of snacks and chopsticks on the ground. "Why! Why did he lie to me! What did I ever do wrong!" Chun-hua hurried over to stop Luhan. She grabbed onto his arm and warned, "Be careful! You can hurt yourself!" Luhan was still weak on his legs and leaned onto Chun-hua. He sobbed, "Why, Yifan-gege...I never wanted to fight with anyone. I just want you to be with me..." Chun-hua patted Luhan's back soothingly and said, "The only way to gain back Your Majesty's love is if you could produce an heir for him. Once you have a son he will only love you and throw that vixen aside." 

 

Luhan looked at her in disbelief. He said, "Chun-hua, men can't get pregnant. It's impossible. It's preposterous!" Chun-hua squeezed Luhan's hand assuringly. She whispered, "I know a Taoist who practices Black Magic. He might have a way for you to get pregnant and produce a son. It's worth a try." Luhan bit his bottom lip, hesitating at the suggestion. Chun-hua frowned and asked, "Do you want to lose Your Majesty forever?" Luhan felt scared; he didn't want to lose Yifan. His parents are dead and Yifan is his only family left. He nodded and said, "Bring him to me. But make sure no one finds out. It's forbidden to use Black Magic in the palace." 

 

 

Yifan gently placed Joonmyun onto his bed, careful not to tear his wound. Then he fetched a clean cloth and wiped the sweat off Joonmyun's forehead. He stopped midway and said, breathlessly, "Joonmyun, you look beautiful even in the worst state." Joonmyun lowered his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, Joonmyun is really tired and cannot serve you tonight. Your Majesty should go find Concubine Lu." Yifan continued wiping Joonmyun's face. Joonmyun suddenly felt at ease under Yifan's touch. When Yifan wasn't being arrogant or unreasonable he was pretty nice. However Joonmyun's heart is already filled with worries regarding Yixing. 

 

He thought, "The one that I wanted to see when I opened my eyes was Yixing. Why did he leave me? He promised me that if we both survived he would take me away." A pair of arm wrapped around him gently. He involuntarily leaned in Yifan's chest and greedily took in his scent. Yifan whispered, "Joonmyun, I want you to stay with me forever. Today i realized how much I need you in my life. I will never let you leave my side." Joonmyun's heart dropped. He quietly brought up, "You promised me that I can have anything I want if I could solve the--" Yifan cut him off with a kiss. Joonmyun knew better and didn't struggle. He just waited for it to end and waiting for Yixing to take him away. 

 

Yixing was very tired and dizzy when he arrived outside his mansion. Even outside he could hear his wives arguing with one another. His children were bawling their eyes out and their mothers are too busy fighting to take care of them. With his last ounce of strength he barged in through the doors, rushed into the Main Hall and yelled, "Will all of you be quiet? I didn't marry you so you could argue all day! Huanhuan, Zhizhi and Shangshang are crying! The place is a mess! There are mahjong pieces everywhere! If all of you can't stay peaceful under the same room then pack up and leave!" Suddenly, an iron taste rushed into his mouth and he fainted.