Now that Ning Lin was away from the palace, Jinghua could control everything. He didn't care about Chisheng Wei or her sister or anyone at the moment. And he had forgotten about Xue Quan. Jinghua took Bingwen to the master bedroom of the palace. The bedroom that was meant for his mother and his father. But since his mother was not around anymore, his father slept in a different room.
Jinghua placed Bingwen on the bed. A maid entered the room. "Fetch a cloth and warm water and medicine please. And a pair of robes. Now!" Jinghua said to the maid and she left right away. Jinghua put his hand over Bingwen's forehead. He clearly had a fever for he was out in rain for a while, they all were. And it had started to rain again and since it was winter, it was a mix of January rain and snow. But it seemed, to Jinghua, that ever since Bingwen was brought back from the dead, he had gotten weaker and weaker.
The maid came back with a tub of steaming water, a cloth, a tray of medicine, and a pile of folded clothes. She left as soon as she arrived. Jinghua shook Bingwen slightly. "Yusheng Jin, are you alright?" he asked, Bingwen's eyes flickered and he groaned in pain. Jinghua sighed, relieved that his fathers disciples hadn't killed Bingwen. "Can you turn over and lay on your chest for me? I need to clean your wounds." said Jinghua, and Bingwen listened. He slowly turned over. Jinghua was shocked. There were more wounds on Bingwen's back than he had expected. "What did they do to you?" Jinghua asked, squeezing the water out of the cloth and placing it on Bingwen's wounds. He flinched in pain.
But Bingwen didn't answer. Instead he said something else. "I need to go home, Ning Cheng," the tone of his voice was quiet and filled with despair. "My…sister is gone. My family needs me." tears streamed down his face. "What feelings am I supposed to express? Anger, sadness, regret, hate, pity? Tell me.." Jinghua got up from the bed to get more hot water but before he could leave, Bingwen turned over and grabbed Jinghua's hand. "Please don't leave again, Ning Cheng. I don't want to be alone again." Bingwen said, his eyes filled with tears. Jinghua sighed and sat next to him, Bingwen still holding onto Jinghua's sleeve.
Rain outside hit against the roof of the palace. It was a calming sound. Bingwen closed his eyes, ignoring the pain all over his body and only listening to the rain. Jinghua hesitated on a thought he had. He wanted to lay next to Bingwen but only to calm him. Bingwen still clung to Jinghua's sleeve. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you," Jinghua began to say, "This is all my fault. You got injured because of me. If I had just controlled the situation, we wouldn't have ended up like…like this. So don't blame yourself for this because it isn't your fault." Jinghua stared at Bingwen's face. His heart began to pound against his chest. But why? He was confused by the way he felt. Did he feel the same way about Bingwen?
Jinghua had the intention to stroke Bingwen's hair. He twirled it in between his fingers. Bingwen had surely fallen asleep as Jinghua pulled Bingwen closer to him for comfort. Jinghua had a brief memory of his mother holding him as a child the same way he's holding Bingwen at that moment.
Jinghua could feel Bingwen's breath against his chest. His heart was beating even faster, his face was red. So he spoke his mind,
"Bingwen, when you remember again, remember our promise. The promise we made. The promise I broke. We promised to stay together forever and to always have each other's backs. This moment..you won't remember but I know I will. I don't understand this and if I tell you you might not understand either. But, Bingwen, I.."
Bingwen's eyes opened as Jinghua said that last sentence. He would never have expected it.