As soon as the door closed behind Leng Jin Yu, Qiang Wei turned to An Bai. "Thank you. I didn’t think of what this would mean for the relationship with His Highness at all. I only thought about how we needed to save him. It’s good that I asked you to come here."

An Bai gave him a smile and went back to Qiu Ling’s bed, kneeling down at the side again and looking at their king. "This is what I should do. I just tried to think of what His Majesty would want. And for him, His Highness will always be first. I think we should take that into consideration."

"There’s just one thing I’m worried about: That Leng Jin Yu said that it might take several months for him to return here. Will His Majesty be able to hold on for that long? After all, his body …"

An Bai sighed. "Normally, it would be difficult. But doesn’t he have us here now? I would suggest we start to prepare things to make sure his body will be able to take it."

Qiang Wei nodded. "Then tell me what you need. If there’s anything I can do …"

An Bai pondered but finally shook his head. "Actually, you shouldn’t be here. Aren’t you supposed to guard His Highness?"

"That might be true but that is in the case where His Majesty is able to defend himself. If he is like this, there’s almost no difference between him and His Highness right now. Neither of them would be able to defend themselves against any attacks. There should be somebody guarding him as well."

"That’s true. But you were the one who was supposed to guard His Highness. I could ask Xiang Yong or maybe Fu Heng over for this."

Qiang Wei gave An Bai a complicated look. "If I didn’t know you for so many years, I would think you have something against me and want to get rid of me. But I guess you might be right. Well, I think it wouldn’t be a problem for me to be here but you probably work better together with Xiang Yong. So he’ll probably be of more help in this situation. I’m just afraid of what this might mean for the dragon realm. Isn’t he running most things these days?"

An Bai sighed. "I also thought of that. I’m afraid you’re right. But at the very least, he could stay here for a while. We could set things up together and after that, I could ask for Fu Heng to come over. I think that would be the best way to go about this given the current situation."

"Alright. You know the best what you need to do. Anyway, there isn’t much we can do right now. We can only hope that His Majesty’s doing well in there."

The two of them fell silent and looked at Qiu Ling once again, wondering what might be going on in his inner self.

As for the person in question, he was currently sitting at a table in an originally neat-looking but now already worn-down hut, his gaze shifting from side to side.

If this was reality, he would probably say that he wouldn’t let others catch him in this kind of place even if he was dead. But, he distinctly felt that this place was indeed not quite real. It couldn’t be real. Never mind that this place looked eerily familiar, there was also the chattering of a woman floating in and out of the hut as if she was inside one time and then left only to return again later. It was nerve-wracking.

Qiu Ling slightly furrowed his brows but he didn’t dare to do anything else. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened in the first place and he wasn’t keen on finding out what would happen if he gave any reaction.

He should probably just stay where he was and wait this out. Wouldn’t he have to return sooner or later? Yeah, he was probably just having hallucinations. That type of thing could happen. It was just a question of time until he would feel better again.

Ah, if he was hallucinating, he might be sick. If he was sick, then his beloved would certainly take care of him. Just thinking about the care he would shower him with over these days, Qiu Ling cheered up. It was only a pity that he couldn’t witness it himself. When he came to again, he definitely had to pretend to be sick for a while longer so he could enjoy this as well. He felt like he deserved that.

Mn … Just imagining it made him feel better already. He closed his eyes and indulged in these thoughts for a moment longer. Yes, when he woke up, he would definitely enjoy Jing He’s care for a while.

Each day, his beloved would gently wake him up, his voice a soothing whisper because he was so worried about him. He would help him to get out of bed and wash up, afraid that the exercise would still be too much for him. His soft fingers would brush over his skin while they talked about nothing in particular, just happily spending time together. Afterward, Jing He would spend hours combing his hair and picking out a robe for him just like he normally did for himself. Then, he would go to cook for him and maybe even feed him.

Afterward, he might urge him to go out for a small stroll through his garden, just so he wouldn’t be cooped up in the palace each day and could exercise a little to get back to health. He would gently hold onto him, worriedly looking at his face every few steps that they took, fearing that his strength would leave him and he would collapse.

But naturally, his beloved’s worry would be without reason. After all, even though he might be sick, it wasn’t to the degree where he wasn’t able to keep upright. No, even in this condition, he would still be able to take care of both of them and defend them if anything happened.

So naturally, when they approached the pavilion in the garden, he would pull Jing He over and sit down with him, leaning over to give him a gentle kiss, thanking him with all his heart for how well he treated him.

Mn … His beloved’s lips were unbearably soft, making his heart beat faster and passion cloud his thoughts. He could barely hold back from picking him up and carrying him back to the palace.

In short, while Qiu Ling felt that he was hallucinating because of some injury, he was actually having delusions that had nothing to do with his inner self. And he couldn’t care less about when or how he would wake up again. The worry that his advisers felt … it really was wasted on him.