Watching Ashina Suwu's expression, Xiao Jinyu suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if his blood and energy were flowing smoothly. "The body is still in the camp. If Prince Suwu is interested, I can accompany you to take a look?"
"No, no... It's better if I don't get involved in your camp's affairs. Better not to get involved..."
Ashina Suwu quickly pulled Du Li over, hoisted him onto his shoulder like a sack, and vanished from the tent in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Jinyu silently let out a sigh of relief and looked at Chu Chu, who was staring dejectedly at the tent entrance. "Chu Chu... go take a bath and change your clothes."
"Oh..."
By the time Chu Chu returned, Xiao Jinyu was already lying in bed, seemingly asleep. Chu Chu climbed onto the bed and nestled into his arms as naturally as ever.
Xiao Jinyu was still awake. He had always struggled to fall asleep, and after the earlier commotion, there was no chance of him sleeping before dawn. So he knew when Chu Chu snuggled into his embrace, but his lingering irritation kept him from holding her as he usually would.
This girl... really needs to be taught a lesson.
But he couldn't bear to let anyone else discipline her—he'd have to think of a way himself...
If this kind of situation happened every now and then, with his frail health, he'd be lucky to live to thirty...
Before Xiao Jinyu could come up with a specific plan, the person nestled in his arms suddenly began to sob.
Xiao Jinyu panicked. He had only thought about it in his mind—he hadn't said it out loud, had he?
If anyone should feel wronged, it ought to be him...
The person in his arms cried more and more bitterly, and Xiao Jinyu couldn't hold back any longer. He wrapped his arms around her trembling little body. "Chu Chu... what's wrong?"
"Wang Ye..." Chu Chu tightened her arms around his waist, curling up in his embrace as she cried even louder. "I've never even seen what my mother looked like. Everyone says I'm a bastard... I want to be a mother. I want someone to call me 'Mother'..."
Xiao Jinyu froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered Chu Chu's background. His heart twisted with pain.
Her reluctance to part with Du Li wasn't about the boy himself—it was about the word "Mother" he had called her, even if it was in Miao language, a word she couldn't even understand.
He had been so blinded by anger that he hadn't realized it...
"Chu Chu... you're not a bastard. You're a child of the Chu family..." Xiao Jinyu gently stroked her hair. "And you're my wife."
"I know... I just miss my mother. I just want to see her, to have her hold me..."
Xiao Jinyu held the sobbing, trembling Chu Chu and hesitated for a moment before speaking in a slightly lowered voice, "Chu Chu... I've never seen my mother either."
"You're still better off than me... You know who your mother is. I don't even know who mine is..."
Xiao Jinyu's brow furrowed slightly as he gave a faint, bitter smile. "I don't know either..."
☆、78 Roasted Whole Lamb (XIV)
Chu Chu lifted her head from Xiao Jinyu's chest, blinking her tear-filled eyes. Two more tears fell from her damp eyelashes, rolling down her tear-streaked face and dripping onto Xiao Jinyu's chest. Xiao Jinyu stroked her hair and tenderly kissed the glistening tear tracks, his lips moving up to her red, crying eyes.
"Wang Ye... aren't you the son of the emperor from two generations ago? How could you not know who your mother is?"Xiao Jin Yu reached out to touch her delicate brows, his cool fingertips trembling slightly as he gave a faint bitter smile. "They all say my mother was the empress of the emperor before last... I don't believe it."
"Why not?" Chu Chu frowned seriously. "Haven't you ever seen her?"
"I have," Xiao Jin Yu's bitter smile deepened. "I should have seen her... I was just two years old when my father passed away, and my mother followed him in burial... Since I can remember, I've always been raised by wet nurses and palace maids. I've only seen portraits of my father and mother... and now I can't even remember those anymore."
Chu Chu bit her lip and gently touched Xiao Jin Yu's pale, thin cheek. "Wang Ye, I thought being a prince was always so impressive..."
Xiao Jin Yu caught her small hand in his. "Being a prince is exhausting, especially for one who lost both parents since childhood..."
Chu Chu propped herself up to look at him. "Wang Ye, then why don't you believe the empress was your mother?"
Just as Xiao Jin Yu was about to speak, his face suddenly turned pale. He pushed Chu Chu away, turned over, and vomited by the bedside. Startled, Chu Chu quickly scrambled up to support him, frantically patting his back.
What Xiao Jin Yu vomited was all amber-colored medicinal liquid. He kept vomiting until his stomach was completely empty, dry heaving before gradually recovering. Weak and limp, he leaned against the bedside, without even the strength to lie back down.
Chu Chu brought warm water for him to rinse his mouth and helped him lie down properly. Xiao Jin Yu still pressed tightly against his stomach, his brows knitted together, cold sweat streaming down in rivulets as he breathed heavily.
"Wang Ye, is your stomach illness acting up again?"
Xiao Jin Yu nodded slightly.
Chu Chu glanced at the empty medicine bowl on the bedside table. "Wang Ye, when you drank the medicine... was it completely cold?"
Xiao Jin Yu nodded again.
Chu Chu grew anxious. "How could you drink it when it's so cold! With your stomach condition so severe, how can you drink cold medicine!"
Xiao Jin Yu was in too much pain to speak, his entire body shaking like a sieve. Chu Chu quickly found the medicine, poured out two pills, and fed them to him. She moved his hand away from his stomach and slipped her warm little hand under his clothes, skillfully massaging and warming the area.
As the pain gradually subsided, after a long while, Xiao Jin Yu managed a faint smile. Looking at Chu Chu's tense face, he said half-seriously, "If I didn't drink it, wouldn't your efforts brewing it be wasted... I dare not make you angry. Who knows when another 'son' might appear from somewhere... and you'd stop caring for me..."
"Who says that! I'm your wife now, I'll take care of you forever!"
"You're also someone else's mother..."
Chu Chu froze for a moment, finally catching the plum-like sweet yet sour tone in Xiao Jin Yu's voice and realizing something.
Seeing her sudden moment of understanding, Xiao Jin Yu thought she had finally figured it out.
Looking somewhat flustered at Xiao Jin Yu, Chu Chu asked, "Wang Ye... you, you don't like children?"
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