The Sickly Seedling Dresses Up As An Unfortunate And Muddled Monarch - Chapter 1

“A208, is the patient in A208 here?”

In the early morning, as the sun just tore open the night’s veil, casting scattered silver-white light through the cracks, the vibrant calls of a white-clad nurse echoed outside the corridors of the Capital First Hospital. Pushing a medical cart, she energetically called out while making her way towards the ward.

Following the direction of the cart’s wheels, the door at the end of the corridor slowly opened a crack. The first rays of daylight danced from the window sill onto the tiled floor of the ward. The reflected light inadvertently outlined a faint golden glow around the youth sitting by the window, enhancing his already handsome features.

The young man sat quietly at the bedside, holding a book. His eyes were a light, tea-like color, gentle and serene. Long eyelashes rose and fell over his pale, slightly pursed lips. Despite his frail appearance, there was no sign of illness on his face. His posture remained straight, resembling a slender bamboo bathed in the morning mist – elegant and graceful.

Hearing the sound, he slowly set down the book and turned his head in the direction of the nurse’s voice, revealing a face that could captivate anyone for a long time. Seeing the nurse, he smiled, creating ripples in one’s heart.

“Sister Lu.”

He said, “So early.”

“Yes, worried about your fever last night, afraid something might happen to you.”

Nurse Lu took out a thermometer from the medical cart, measured his temperature, frowned tightly, then pulled out medicine and water for him.

“Still running a fever.”

Glancing at the “Zizhi Tongjian” that was reversed on the bedspread, along with the stack of books beside him, Nurse Lu sighed lightly after a moment. She advised, “Let’s wait until the fever subsides before reading.”

“Okay.” Qiu Junyao still maintained his calm and gentle demeanor, like an elegant ink painting with a faint touch of coldness. However, his voice was warm.

“Thank you, Sister Lu.”

He said, “You can go busy yourself now.”

After seeing off Nurse Lu, Qiu Junyao casually moved aside the “Zizhi Tongjian” to reveal –

The hidden smartphone underneath.

The phone’s screen was still on the novel he was reading last night.

That novel was something Qiu Junyao stumbled upon while feverishly browsing through historical records the night before.

The synopsis of that novel touted itself as a “historical restoration,” so Qiu Junyao, in his confused state, casually spent fifty yuan to unlock it. However, the content turned out to be unsuitable, leaving his already chaotic mind even more disoriented.

The original story seemed to revolve around a man named Yin Yuan, who, disguised as a woman, married the shameless and alchemy-obsessed emperor, leading to a turbulent life with several princes vying for his attention due to his stunning appearance.

After reading the entire thing, Qiu Junyao found no historical content but plenty of explicit scenes. He closed the phone, coughed a few times, and, unable to bear the fatigue from staying up late, slowly sank into unconsciousness.

In a daze, he seemed to hear voices from the neighboring bed and the nurse discussing the unfortunate story of the polite and handsome youth next door. Despite securing a spot in the history department of one of the top 2 universities in the country, he was diagnosed with leukemia on the day he received his acceptance letter. They also talked about the cold-hearted CEO parents who, upon learning about the illness, promptly decided to have a second child. Since being hospitalized, they visited their son no more than three times.

A fiery pain began in his lungs, a metallic taste rose in his throat, and Qiu Junyao couldn’t help but curl up like a shrimp under the covers. However, the itching sensation in his throat prompted him to cough, and warm blood was expelled from his mouth, moistening his dry lips.

Salty.

In the moment of realizing he was coughing up blood, Qiu Junyao’s hazy brain buzzed loudly, becoming a blank canvas. Amid the faint sounds of panicked footsteps, beeping machines, and the clamor of rescue efforts, he could hardly think.

…He didn’t want to die.

The instinct to survive drove Qiu Junyao to try and open his heavy eyelids, stay conscious, and live. However, at the same time, his lungs seemed to be hammered heavily, blood surged through his veins as if gone mad, almost causing his heart to burst.

Uncomfortable tremors involuntarily ran through Qiu Junyao’s limbs. In a pitch-black moment, he struggled, until he could no longer bear it. Covering his mouth and nose, he forcefully expelled a large mouthful of fresh blood –

“The Emperor has passed away!!!!”

A sharp voice, like a swift sword, suddenly cut through the darkness, drawing streaks of light in front of Qiu Junyao. The machine’s beeping sound transformed into a muffled, low cry at this moment, mixed with the bustling noise of male and female voices…

All sounded young.

…Could it be that he was already dead, and his family was mourning for him?

As this absurd thought entered his mind, Qiu Junyao coughed up another mouthful of blood. Amid the lingering scent of medicine, he slowly opened his eyes.

At the same time, for some reason, his body trembled uncontrollably. He subconsciously waved his hand, and his fingertips suddenly touched something warm and soft.

…Who was it?

As Qiu Junyao pondered, he instinctively touched and caressed the “object.” After a moment of hesitation, he thought:

It’s a hand… Is it the doctor’s hand here to save him?

As this thought emerged, Qiu Junyao, feeling like a traveler stranded in a deep sea with no swimming skills, tightly grasped onto this “lifesaving straw” and hoarsely said:

“… Save me.”

“The Emperor!!!”

At the moment Qiu Junyao opened his eyes to speak, that sharp voice rang out again, causing him a headache. He wondered why the doctor’s voice sounded like a eunuch, but still responded good-naturedly:

“What’s the matter?”

Qiu Junyao initially thought he was speaking to a doctor, but unexpectedly, at the moment he opened his mouth, everyone present seemed to be paused or strangled by an invisible hand, as if a mute button had been pressed. The previously lively room suddenly became silent, and the temperature dropped sharply, making it as quiet as an ice chamber.

All eyes were fixed on him as if they had seen a ghost. Everyone, who had been kneeling on the ground in unison, looked like stiff puppets, frozen and motionless, as if they had been possessed, devoid of souls.

The air hung heavy for a moment.

“…….”

Qiu Junyao felt confused. He tried to widen his eyes, but what confused him even more was that—

At this moment, he was seated on a luxurious throne, overlooking a place resembling a palace. The space in front of his bed, aside from two shattered wine glasses, was crowded with people dressed in ancient costumes, resembling palace maids, eunuchs, and princes commonly seen in television dramas. They all knelt on the ground, looking up at him with a mixture of fear, astonishment, and disbelief.

Most importantly, a senior eunuch with a painted face next to him seemed to have lost his breath. Looking at Qiu Junyao, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, and in a hoarse voice, he exclaimed:

“Your Majesty, you…”

After hesitating for a while, witnessing the person who seemed to have “faked his death” and exhibited extreme confusion, the eunuch, in a fluster, blurted out:

“Your Majesty, you didn’t… pass away?!”

Qiu Junyao: “………”

He lifted his face slightly, revealing a handsome visage covered by long, flowing greenish hair. As he observed the people kneeling below and the shattered porcelain on the ground, his elegant face gradually became expressionless, lips pursed in silence.

Even someone with a deep understanding of human nature couldn’t perceive the panic that Qiu Junyao felt inside. He didn’t understand what had happened, but having been groomed as the successor by his CEO father for over a decade, he instinctively maintained composure and attentiveness, avoiding any signs of vulnerability in front of strangers. He couldn’t afford to expose anything that shouldn’t be revealed.

Remaining silent, he forcefully pretended to be calm.

At this moment, looking at Qiu Junyao’s unpredictable expression, the eunuch finally regained his composure. Realizing what he had blurted out in extreme panic, he was drenched in cold sweat. He fell to his knees, pounding his head rhythmically like a drum, pleading for the Emperor’s forgiveness. Meanwhile, the others kneeling on the floor, witnessing the unexpected “resurrection,” began to feign tears of joy, as if Qiu Junyao’s survival was a cause for celebration.

However, Qiu Junyao, always adept at observing subtle cues, sensed keenly that the disappointment in the eyes of those people in ancient attire was unmistakable.

…Who are they?

And why would they hope for his death?

Amidst the confusion, Qiu Junyao couldn’t comprehend how he had suddenly transitioned from the hospital bed to this eerie place. Was this scene a dream or an illusion?

These doubts sprouted and grew rampant in Qiu Junyao’s mind, casting a shadow over his thoughts. Yet, he maintained a calm facade, carefully scrutinizing everything around him until the person holding his wrist spoke:

“Enough.”

The one gripping Qiu Junyao’s wrist tightly was an elegant woman in red, seemingly the most prestigious figure besides Qiu Junyao.

As Qiu Junyao looked at her, he was momentarily stunned by her exquisite features. Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes sparkled like stars, and her lips were more red than cinnabar, creating a combination of features that radiated an irresistibly captivating beauty.

Simultaneously, her words were cold: “Stop crying.”

Her voice was icy, seemingly indifferent to Qiu Junyao, but he could feel the slight trembling of the hand gripping his wrist, as if it was suppressing something.

“The Emperor needs to rest. All of you, leave.”

The woman in red turned her head, and the golden hairpins in her cloud-like hair emitted a crisp sound. However, when her gaze fell on Qiu Junyao for a moment, he finally saw it – those cold eyes carried an undisguised intent to kill, causing his heart to skip a beat.

In the next moment, the woman’s delicate fingertips moved ever so slightly. It seemed like, in the moment when everyone bowed their heads and left, she discreetly pushed a small bottle into her sleeve, avoiding anyone’s notice.

“Mingfu… summon the imperial physicians again and let them examine His Majesty.”

Her voice contained a hint of gritted teeth, as if she didn’t want the physicians to come in and treat Qiu Junyao, but rather, she wanted to seize the opportunity, when no one was paying attention, to remove Qiu Junyao’s oxygen tube.

Qiu Junyao: “………”

Suddenly furrowing his brows, Qiu Junyao realized that things were not as simple as they seemed. A conjecture quickly filled his mind – Did this beautiful woman just try to harm him?