Chapter Text
Lin Shu had been a healthy young animal: well-fed, well-exercised, and hot-blooded. Discomfort, when it came, was in the form of saddle sores, aching muscles, or tasteless field rations. Fleeting and bearable. At the end of the day, Lin Shu retired to bed in the serene expectation of a well-earned and uninterrupted night of sleep.
Mei Changsu, in contrast, was prone to restlessness. Even when he was tired—which was frequently—he slept fitfully, interrupted by night terrors or his own aching bones. It was an aspect of his health that he had never intended Jingyan to find out about.
But then, well.
Looking at things optimistically, he was quite sure Jingyan would never guess his true identity from their time in bed together. On the other hand, having Jingyan see him like this was not only humiliating but also invited questions he would rather not answer.
After all, it was impossible to hide when Jingyan insisted on sleeping wrapped around him like a cloak, nose pressed into Mei Changsu’s neck and open palm splayed across his ribs. Of course he would be awakened by Mei Changsu’s tossing and turning, the jerk into wakefulness that followed a nightmare, the sweating, the coughing.
Mei Changsu had fully expected for Jingyan to turn away in the face of such unpleasantness. To draw back, and retreat to his own chambers after their liaisons. Instead, he got solicitous hands rubbing his back, stroking his hair, bringing him water and damp cloths and braziers.
“Your Highness,” he rasped, half out of bed as Jingyan rose and lit candles. “Please, go back to sleep.”
“I am awake now,” Jingyan said calmly. “Do not worry, I am used to keeping odd hours.” He climbed back under the covers, running a hand down Mei Changsu’s flank as if he was soothing a startled horse. Strange, he had never recalled Jingyan being so tactile when they were young. “Stay up with me for a while. Tell me about Langya Hall. I have never been, what is it like?”
“I have something for you,” said Jingyan, when they next met.
“You do?” said Mei Changsu blankly, and Jingyan looked...abashed?
“A small thing,” he said. “I only thought. Well.” He drew a small package wrapped in silk from inside his robes. “My mother has a medicine that aids in peaceful sleep. I thought it might help you.”
“Your Highness,” said Mei Changsu, “I would not dare to accept such a valuable gift—and from Noble Consort Jing herself, who is such a learned physician. Any discomfort I suffer is much too trivial to warrant something so precious.”
“It’s quite alright,” said Jingyan. “It’s for you. I asked her to make it.”
Mei Changsu drew breath to respond, and then stopped.
“You asked her, you say?” he asked. Oh dear. He was feeling—rather faint, all of a sudden.
“Why, yes,” said Jingyan, as if that were obvious.
“And you told her—“
“That I wished for something to ease my good friend’s troubles.”
Good friend, thought Mei Changsu a touch hysterically. Good friend, indeed! He wanted to put his head in his hands.
Noble Consort Jing was no fool. In fact, her skills might be unmatched in the whole of Jinling. She had deduced who he was based on nothing but a chance reading of an obscure travelogue. To deduce the relationship between him and her son would be like child’s play, especially since Jingyan—foolish buffalo Jingyan—would never think to hide it from her.
So, not only had Mei Changsu defiled Noble Consort Jing’s son, which she now knew, but he had done so on a bed of lies. Which she also knew.
He eyed the packet of medicine apprehensively, weighing the possibility it would make him break out in a painful and embarrassing rash. Surely Noble Consort Jing, who was of upright moral character, would never do something so petty to her own nephew.
Right?
“Sir Su?” asked Jingyan. “Is something wrong?” He sounded so concerned that Mei Changsu looked up, which was a mistake, because Jingyan’s face immediately went wooden and fixed.
“I have overstepped,” he said. “I apologize.”
“No,” said Mei Changsu, and tried to think of something to say that wasn’t about how he had just made an enemy of his honored aunt. “No...it’s just that I wouldn’t want Noble Consort Jing to trouble herself over someone as humble as myself. Your Highness has been more than generous, truly, I could not ask for anything more…”
Jingyan frowned.
“It is no trouble,” he said. “My mother was more than happy to do such a small thing; she knows that you and I are close. That you are someone I...care for.” He pressed the packet into Mei Changsu’s hands. “Please. Take it.”
Mei Changsu took the packet. Bowed so Jingyan would not see his face. Somehow, he managed to keep his tone measured.
“Thank you, Your Highness."
The medicine worked. For the first time in months, Mei Changsu slept soundly through the night.