Chapter 266: [Emperor Chapter 18] Clearing the rotting skin

"Ah Jiao."

"Ah Jiao."

The youth's coquettish calls made Chu Jiao's heart turn soft. She raised her hand and gently stroked the back of his head, "Why do you still wear this when you sleep? Didn't I tell you that it isn't good when your skin doesn't breathe?" She worriedly said before taking off his mask.

"Don't..." Jing Chen couldn't stop her in time, and the distance between them immediately disappeared. All at once, Chu Jiao took off the youth's mask and abruptly held his face in shock.

The disturbed skin underneath the boy's mask, which originally resembled the texture of tree bark, appeared corroded by some sort of drug. The half of his face seemed to be completely destroyed, the surface skin was missing, only leaving behind the pink tender flesh wrapped around the bones, which looked strange and ugly, seen by the eye.

"What happened!?"

"Were you hurt when this slave was recuperating!?"

"Who did this!?"

"Was it the Third Prince or the Fourth Prince?"

"Or, was it that spoiled Eighth Prince?"

How much pain could he have been enduring? Chu Jiao's quivering palm floated right before the youth's cheeks, but she did not dare touch them for fear that she would hurt him, then a ruthless look flashed across her eyes.

She had worked so hard to raise this child, not even daring to raise a hand against him in the slightest while doing so. Who was so brazen as to do that?

Regardless of who it was, she didn't plan on letting the person off that easily!

Even though she was merely an insignificant character inside this huge palace, it was not as if she couldn't do anything at all. She only didn't want the youth's horrible childhood to hinder his path of becoming a monarch. Moreover, even though he still wasn't doted on by anyone today and was hardly left at peace, she was still able to live peacefully as a small eunuch until at present. Otherwise, she had a hundred other ways to gain the old king's favor and ask for protection under her sleeve.

But now that someone had flagrantly come knocking on their doors, she definitely wouldn't just watch with folded arms and allow the youth to bear all the hardships himself.

After traversing through so many worlds, Chu Jiao no longer meekly submitted to insults and abuses. Perhaps it was because she had stayed with the male lead for so long that she had also grown to have a possessive desire for protecting those who she considered as 'her people.'

"Don't worry. No one is bullying me, Ah Jiao."

Seeing that her eyes only contained distress and not disgust, Jing Chen finally felt at ease, hooking his lips up slightly in a small arc. He slowly raised a hand and placed it behind Chu Jiao's, allowing her palm to press against his cheek.

"Look, it's fine."

Even though the pink flesh under her palm appeared bloody, there were no blood stains left on her hand as if the tissue was just freshly made.

"Then, what is going on?"

Chu Jiao's fingertips travelled lightly along the edge of his cheek, feeling a smooth sensation that was much different from before, and a conjecture suddenly surfaced in her heart.

"Imperial Tutor Jiang became my master." Jing Chen's words confirmed her surmise.

"He had travelled around for many years and had seen many strange diseases in his days. Master said that my disease was caused by the poison from my mother's womb, but there was still hope for treatment, and that consists of clearing away the rotten skin for the new ones to grow..."

"Does it hurt?"

Chu Jiao interrupted him.

"...It hurts," Jing Chen stared at the clear bright eyes of the person in front of him, unable to tell a lie, but seeing her eyes overflow with sadness from his answer, he quickly remedied it, "But it only hurt for a bit. Master also gave me some anesthetic powder, so I soon couldn't feel it..."

"Besides. Compared to my usual appearance, this pain is nothing worth speaking of..."

In recent years, even though he had always worn a mask, which resulted in the fear and dislike in people's eyes decreased substantially, he still couldn't forget his early memories and knew that his appearance was far too terrifying for anyone to take in. If he wanted to put his plan into motion, he couldn't remain the way he was right now.

So when Imperial Tutor Jiang mentioned that he still had hope, he couldn't care less about how much pain the treatment would cost him and agreed to it instantly.

"Don't look. Now that the root of the rotten skin has just been cleared, my appearance is too unsightly for any words..."

Though Jing Chen was pleased that Chu Jiao cared about him so much, he still disliked his current appearance for being too harsh on the eyes. After Imperial Tutor applied the medicine on him that day, he immediately checked his appearance with a mirror and was resolved to not ever look at it again.

"Ah Chen, you are not ugly at all," Chu Jiao then placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, making a solemn promise to this somewhat down-hearted youth, "No matter what you look like, you are still the best looking prince in my heart."

The youth's face quickly turned red as he snatched the mask from Chu Jiao's hand, fumbling to put it on again.

"You always knew how to coax me."

Chu Jiao burst out into a chuckle, she was only speaking the truth.

No matter what you look like, I will always like it, because it's you.

Jing Chen stared at the person in front of him, whose smile was just like a blooming flower, and couldn't help but respond back, "You too."

Chu Jiao c*cked her head out of curiosity, 'You too, what?'

"No matter if you're a man, or a woman, or a eunuch, I don't mind at all," Jing Chen wore a serious face while speaking, "As long as you don't leave me, nothing else matters."

"Why would I ever leave Your Highness? You are my master. Wherever Master goes, Little Dumpling will follow." Chu Jiao's attention was focused on the latter half of his words while she responded with a bright smile, but she soon then realized that the youth's first few words sounded a little odd.

"Master," She probingly added, "This slave is definitely a eunuch, what are you thinking?"

"Oh, is that so?"

Seeing that she still insisted on concealing the matter, Jing Chen's face darkened.

He expressionlessly reached out a hand so quickly that Chu Jiao was caught off guard, concluding his palm to rest on her chest.

Even though the two rounds of flesh were tightly bound by something, it was impossible to ignore the soft sensation.

"Then, what is this?"

[Completed]