A knock on the door interrupts Ming'er and his thoughts. Chen Jun and Ruofei widen their eyes and spring onto their feet as soon as they hear it.
The two of them seem to be on high alert and especially protective over Ming'er. Then again, it's only natural that they were behaving as such. After all, they'd nearly lost their dear friend to an assassination attempt.
Still, Ming'er couldn't help but choke back a snigger at the comical sight of Chen Jun and Ruofei with their fists balled up. They kind of look like little kids getting ready to square up with somebody.
Ming'er would've burst out laughing had it not been for the severity of the situation that he'd apparently nearly lost his life in.
"Chen Jun, Ruofei," a deep and sonorous voice sounds from the other side of the door, "Is he awake?"
Ming'er doesn't have to see the speaker's face to know how was behind the door. Just like for Chen Jun's and Ruofei's, he knew his voice like the back of his hand.
"Yes, Father," Ming'er beats Chen Jun and Ruofei to an answer. He figures that it'd be more reassuring to the Emperor if he's the one answering to him rather than his two best friends. "I'm awake."
The door immediately bursts open as soon as Ming'er says this. However, the first face that Ming'er sees isn't his father.
"My dear, sweet Ming'er!" an unmistakably soft and gentle feminine voice cries out.
It's his mother. His father was standing beside her, his face half concealed by the sliding door. There was a slightly surprised look on his face.
It seems that the Empress had gotten so excited at the news that her son was finally awake that she'd unconsciously shoved her husband, the Emperor of the nation, aside.
Ming'er couldn't help but cackle internally at the thought of his frantic mother pushing his unsuspecting father to the side.
As if things couldn't get any more comical, the Empress stopped in her tracks. Her demure gaze turned into a judgemental one as she raised her brow at Chen Jun and Ruofei, who still had their fists balled up in the air.
Chen Jun and Ruofei widen their eyes and visibly shrink back upon realizing that they were raising their fists at the Empress as though they were challenging her to a fight.
They immediately put their fists down so forcefully and quickly that their arms would've detached from their torsos had they used any more force.
"Y-Your Majesty!" Chen Jun and Ruofei stammer as soon as they'd recovered, clasping their hands together as they bowed respectfully.
The Emperor clears his throat from behind. Chen Jun and Ruofei widen their eyes comically again as they turn their heads so quickly that Ming'er is surprised that they didn't get whiplash.
"Y-Y-Your Majesty!" Chen Jun and Ruofei greeted the Emperor even more fervently than they'd greeted the Empress. They must've been panicking as they'd greeted the Empress instead of him first.
"Rest assured that Ming'er is in good hands!" Ruofei decides to add for some unknown reason. Chen Jun shoots him a look and slaps him on the shoulder slightly, only to immediately retract his hand.
Chen Jun is so used to being touchy-feely with Ruofei that he'd momentarily forgotten that he was in the presence of the Emperor and the Empress.
Even though they were their best friend's parents, Chen Jun and Ruofei were nevertheless intimidated by them.
Chen Jun and Ruofei somehow felt guilty for letting the Emperor and the Empress down by failing to protect Ming'er even though there was nothing that they could've possibly done. After all, they'd been at Qilin Academy during the Choosing.
As soon as the sort of 'misunderstanding' was cleared, the Empress lunges forward and captures Ming'er in her embrace.
Her grip is even tighter than that of Ruofei's. Alas, Ming'er holds himself back from shoving her away as he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. Ming'er decides that he'll just try his best not to get suffocated.
"My poor, sweet Ming'er!" the Empress exclaims, tears brimming in her eyes as she holds her precious son close. "How are you feeling, sweetheart? You gave us a big scare!"
The Empress holds her son even closer. She's holding Ming'er so tight that he's practically on the verge of motorboating his own mother.
Ming'er blushes at the thought as he finally pulls back, effectively extracting himself from the tight and fervent grasp of the Empress.
"I-It's okay, mother," Ming'er stutters, trying to overcome his embarrassment and sound as reassuring as he could, "I'm fine."
It's Chen Jun and Ruofei's turn to snicker slightly. However, their amusement is short-lived as they immediately zip their mouths when the Emperor shoots them a disapproving look. Chen Jun and Ruofei gulp as they immediately lower their eyes.
"Could the three of you step outside for a bit?" the Emperor asks, his voice as powerful and authoritative as always. It's more of a command than a request, really. "I want to speak to Ming'er in private."
Ming'er couldn't help but fidget with his fingers under the sheets. He hasn't heard the Emperor use that tone in a while.
It's the kind of tone that his father would use on him whenever he got into trouble or did something that he disapproved of.
Ming'er couldn't help but feel like he was in hot soup even though he hasn't even done anything wrong.
"Y-Y-Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Jun and Ruofei exclaim and bow so deeply that Ming'er heard their backs crack. They got up so quickly that Ming'er couldn't even see their faces as they scurried out of the room.
"Have a good talk with your father, okay?" the Empress coos as she lovingly caresses her dear son's face, "I'll be back with you shortly."
With that, the Empress gets up from the bed and exchanges a glance with the Emperor before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.
The room immediately plunges into deafening silence. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Ming'er continues to fidget with his fingers under his sheets. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know why, but he somehow feels like he'd let his father down.
It felt wrong. After all, Ming'er rarely let his father down. In fact, he probably never let his father down.
Ming'er simply couldn't when, even though it was unspoken, it was a known fact that his older brother had already let his father down enough by being a cripple.
"Ming'er," the Emperor finally says after a long moment of silence. Ming'er looks up for a brief moment before immediately lowering his head back down. The sheets suddenly look more interesting than he has ever found them.
"Yes, Father?" Ming'er replies quietly. His voice is so soft that it feels like he's cautiously testing the waters, trying his best not to mess up even though he hadn't even messed up in the first place.
The Emperor sighs as he takes a seat on his son's bed. Ming'er unconsciously shifts back slightly when his father does so. He did so to give him space to sit, but also because he was bracing himself for what was to come.
"You're..." the Emperor starts, before cutting himself off. He scrunches up his face as he looks like he's trying to think how he can phrase his thoughts. He eventually gives up and sighs.
"You're supposed to be strong." the Emperor states matter-of-factly. Ming'er's heart sinks at this.
Maybe that wasn't what the Emperor meant, but Ming'er kind of feels like his father is placing the blame for his own assassination attempt on him.
It didn't really make any sense. After all, how could Ming'er possibly have seen the assassination attempt coming? He hadn't even actually been in his own body when it happened, for crying out loud!
Ming'er still hasn't quite figured out that part yet, but he decides that he'll come to it later.
"I..." Ming'er tries to say something, only to find that he didn't know what to say at all.
He stayed silent for a while before he finally comes up with what he thought was the best thing that he could say at the moment.
"I'm sorry," Ming'er apologizes even though he hadn't even done anything wrong. The Emperor somehow seemed to be putting him at fault for allowing himself to nearly get assassinated. Nevertheless, Ming'er accepted the blame without any questions.
"You're better than this, Ming'er," the Emperor sighs, contorting his face as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "You're the star pupil of Qilin Academy and have always been talented at cultivation, be it sword fighting or theory."
"I know," Ming'er murmurs and hangs his head like he's a convict who'd just been rendered guilty for a crime that he didn't commit. "I'm sorry, father," he repeats, "I should've done better to defend myself."
"Don't be sorry to me," the Emperor scoffs, "Be sorry to yourself. How are you going to rule the nation when you'd narrowly escaped an assasination attempt?"
Ming'er sucks in a sharp breath at the Emperor's mention of him ruling the nation one day.
It all started when Mingyi contracted the mysterious illness that rendered him sickly and crippled. None of the top physicians in the country could figure out what was wrong with him.
That was the moment when the Emperor stopped treating Mingyi exceptionally well as compared to his other sons. Instead, he turned his affection towards Ming'er, who'd pretty much been treated as a back-up up until that point in time.
Just like that, the pressure to be perfect that'd been placed on Mingyi was shifted to Ming'er, who started to feel like he was never enough despite of his astounding and sheer talent for cultivation.
No matter how much he did, Ming'er always felt that he could do better, and better, and better.
Even though it'd never been spoken of due to how controversial and sensitive the topic was, everyone knew that Ming'er and not Mingyi was next in line to the throne despite him being the second born son.
Ming'er had never said it out loud. Heck, the Emperor would probably skin him alive if he did, but he resented the idea of taking over the nation one day.
After all, it wasn't his place to take.
It was Mingyi's.
"We don't know who the assassin was," the Emperor suddenly reveals, "Investigations are ongoing as we speak."
Ming'er blinks. Maybe it was the Emperor's earlier words, but his heart now felt heavier than it had before.
/There's someone after my life.../
This realization sinks into Ming'er's heart so deeply that it may as well have pierced right into.
"I've ordered increased security for you from now onwards" the Emperor continues, "More Imperial Guards will follow you and guard you around at all times."
Ming'er stays silent as he quietly accepts this. Even though he'd never really liked the Imperial Guards following him around, be knew that he had no choice. After all, he was born a prince.
It's the next part that he couldn't accept.
"Also," the Emperor adds, "You're not to leave this room for one whole week."
Ming'er immediately looks up and widens his eyes at this. He cherishes his freedom, which he already had so little of, more than anything.
Alas, who was Ming'er to go against his father?
"W-What?" Ming'er stammers as he blinks dumbly. He tries his best not to make his unhappiness and dissatisfaction apparent.
However, he couldn't help himself.
"So basically," Ming'er mutters under his breath.
"You're placing me under house arrest."