Wei Lian was really a beautiful freaking scourge.
Did he really do nothing after he got drunk that day?
Wei Lian pondered over this question for several days. In the end, he classified it as an unsolved mystery and tossed it in the back of his mind to collect dust.
He also noticed a slight shift in the Qin Emperor’s attitude towards him since that day.
The other man became...a little gentler.
It was only just a tiny bit.
It was limited to being threatened by punishment at every turn only, especially ones with physical pain. As for the Qin Emperor’s unforgiving mouth, his words were still harsh when it was necessary, but strangely, he would be left speechless by Wei Lian’s effortless counters.
The antidote for the poison was not mentioned at all, he was still under the Emperor’s control.
He did not know what stimulated the Qin Emperor’s mental health during this period, but he was no longer to be kept in the Yangxin Palace Hall. The only thing worth celebrating.
The Qin Emperor gave him a separate palace and thereafter, fewer opportunities for them to meet, which gave Wei Lian some freedom.
He was finally able to relax for a rare moment as he could stop putting on a facade in front of the other man day and night.
Both of them were tacitly aware of the move. Wei Lian had previously lived in the Yangxin Palace Hall as a show to bring his favoured status to life. Now that the selection on adding the harem was postponed, there was no longer a reason for him to stay consistently by the Qin Emperor’s side and in his bed.
As a man, staying in the Yangxin Palace Hall for a period of time meant receiving favour, but scandalous when he appeared to be staying forever. Moreover, he and the other man were not truly in love. When things were solved, it was natural for him to retire after his success.
Even if he moved out of Yangxin Palace Hall, no one would think he lost the Emperor’s favour. Zhongling Palace was one of the palace residences for the four Imperial Consorts in the former dynasty, and it was second only to Jiaofang Palace Hall, where the Empress lived. Zhongling Palace also had a luxurious layout and was the closest to Yangxin Palace Hall.
To grant sanction on staying in Zhongling Palace would make Wei Lian appear even more in the Qin Emperor’s good graces.
Wei Lian was very satisfied with this arrangement.
Chang Sheng and Chang Shou were also very satisfied with this arrangement.
Only heaven knew of their suffering lives in the Yangxin Palace Hall. Because the day their Gongzi was favoured, both held the mentality of ‘Gongzi is bearing the heavy burden of humiliation’. Since the agreement between Wei Lian and the Emperor was kept quiet to any outsiders. The two attendants always thought their Gongzi was offering his body to the tyrant, as every time they saw him, there was sympathy in their eyes.
In the sympathy inside of their eyes, there was compassion...Wei Lian got goosebumps from his two attendants’ eyes. Made him feel like he was suffering patiently while firmly fixed on revenge, a brave knight not afraid of dying.
The two of them were the most excited when Wei Lian moved out of Yangxin Palace Hall.
“This is great! Gongzi, you don’t have to face the Qin Emperor all day long!” Chang Shou could not contain his emotions as joy filled his face, his desire to run out and set off a series of firecrackers to celebrate was written across his face.
“Watch your mouth,” Wei Lian knocked on Chang Shou’s head with his fan. “Be more mindful. The wall has ears.”
Chang Shou hastily covered his mouth and nodded, to indicate he understood.
But his mouth was still grinning from ear to ear, and the joy within his eyes looked as if it would flow out at any giving moment.
Wei Lian joked, “How can you be happier on my relocation than the Lunar New Year?”
“This servant is congratulating on your house moving, and to escape the abyss of suffering!” Chang Shou soon forgot Wei Lian’s advice from his excitement as he continued, “How hard it must be for you to deal with the moody Qin Emperor daily! When this servant was in front of him, I didn’t dare to breathe or say any more words. Only Gongzi, could you act daring in front of the Qin Emperor...”
“Chang Shou!” Chang Sheng warned, “Although there are only the three of us here, do not lose your composure. It was only thanks to Gongzi’s cautious execution that he survived this hard time, we do not want your big mouth to ruin that.”
Chang Shou knew his tongue had slipped as he silenced his resentment.
“Moody?” When hearing someone else’s thoughts on the Qin Emperor, there was this strange feeling in Wei Lian’s heart.
He faintly recalled the young Emperor’s ever-changing face, mostly by his anger.
Chuckling, he uttered, “Pretty cute.”
Chang Shou was dumbfounded as his jaw dropped.
Cu-cu-cute???
Gongzi, you must not be proud of being favoured! That is the Qin Emperor you are talking about!!!
Using cute to describe the Emperor, it was scarier than a fierce mastiff getting a name like A’Meng.
Chang Sheng, who just warned Chang Shou not to lose composure: “...”
His poor, hurting face.
His Gongzi was the most reckless one.
* * *
Wei Lian pushed open the window, allowing the floating snow to enter the room. The accumulated snow remained and covered as far as the eye could see. The Zhongling Palace was covered in snow on this winter wonder day, insignificant as an air particulate, but as beautiful as a painting.
He saw a palace worker in the distance putting up a ladder and hanging a red lantern under the eaves.
Chang Sheng uttered softly, “Gongzi, it’s almost New Year.”
Being in the last third of the twelfth month, the New Year was approaching, and the palace became busy these days, buzzing with activity as lanterns and coloured banners were put on display.
It was very festive.
They had been in the Qin Empire for more than a month. After New Year’s Eve is the New Year, and then Lantern Festival, afterward is the Birthday of the Flowers then Double Third Festival, as the spring would soon be upon them.
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the seasons change as time waits for no one.
There was someone among the crowd that felt the time passed too slowly, as if a day dragged past like a year and needed to be counted minute by minute.
In the past years in the Chu Empire, the three of them also spent New Year together. Noble Consort Yan would be with her own son, Wei Yan. He was the ninth son and did not like his seventh brother, feeling like the other kid was a fledgling of a brood parasite that seized his nest and mother by force. So Wei Lian naturally would not interfere with the mother-son’s time together.
Wei Lian was not close to his other siblings at all. When he was a child, he had a good relationship with Princess Xiang as they used to celebrate the New Year together. Wei Xiang was the second daughter of the Chu Emperor. Her biological mother earned no favour from his Majesty and was of equally low status. She probably felt mutual sympathy as a fellow sufferer and took great care of him when he was young. Later, when Wei Lian was regarded as an heir by Noble Consort Yan, Wei Xiang was conscious of the difference in their status and dared not approach him again.
Wei Lian treated her the same but she eventually drifted away. Wei Lian was powerless, but he still protected Wei Xiang and her mother in the dark from harem drama. While on the surface they remained as nodding acquaintances.
Later, when Wei Xiang grew up and met her peerless and talented seventh brother, she only bowed her head during their brief encounter; they could no longer return to how they once were.
He understood that if he strove to gain something, there would always be something lost to offset.
For a person who had no home, New Year’s Eve had no meaning to him other than growing one year older.
“When we first arrived at the beginning of the month, there wasn’t even a pot of charcoal in Qingzhu Pavilion. The servants even informed us that it would be warm once spring arrived.” Chang Shou sighed. “This servant did not expect to live in such a grand palace by the end of the same month. It was all thanks to Gongzi’s ability.”
Wei Lian smiled, and did not mind mocking himself, “My ability to serve someone with my body?”
Chang Shou panicked, “It was the slip of this servant’s tongue again!”
“That’s enough. The Qin Emperor and I are not...” A fond smile appeared on his face as he was about to explain to his two attendants that the outrageous imagination they came up with between him and the other man was not as sadistic as they made them out to be. But halfway through his explanation, Chang Sheng suddenly interrupted, “Eunuch Li is here.”
The words stopped at Wei Lian’s throat.
He turned around and saw Li Fuquan entered with two young eunuchs following behind.
“What brings Eunuch Li here?” Wei Lian asked.
Li Fuquan’s attitude towards Wei Lian was much more respectful than before. The Emperor’s affection for him after all, was obvious to everyone.
He also did not dare to act pretentious in front of Wei Lian and answered with a smile, “This servant greets Lian Gongzi. Tomorrow night is New Year’s Eve and his Majesty has given the order for you to eat the reunion dinner in the Yangxin Palace Hall.”
Wei Lian nodded. “All right.”
Li Fuquan smiled, stepped forward and lowered his voice, “In the past years, his Majesty dined that night alone, it’s too lonely. His Majesty treated you so differently, so this servant proposed to his Majesty on you accompanying him and also wished that you could bring a smile to his Majesty’s face.”
Wei Lian said with a straight face, “Eunuch Li, thank you. Wei Lian will take this kindness into consideration.”
Li Fuquan was offering him a good deal.
Anyone who could stand out in the palace was a sophisticated person. He could tell who was worth making friends with and who was not worth his attention. The first half of the month he was making peace with Li Fuquan, the second half of the month was Li Fuquan taking the initiative to express goodwill in hopes of burying the hatchet.
There was nothing wrong with having more friends, it would give him more options in life.
* * *
When night arrived, Ji Yue was sitting on the bed alone. He was not accustomed to the empty space beside him.
He stared at the top of his bed, lost in thought.
He was the only one who knew his motives in having Wei Lian relocated out of the palace hall. The delay they achieved on the harem selection issue was one of them.
But there were two other reasons.
The first reason was that...since Wei Lian’s drunken action, Ji Yue would often dream of that night—the youth conducted outrageous actions before putting his slender fingers into his mouth...
The dream was so realistic and beautiful that his body reacted in an uncontrollable manner.
Every time he suddenly woke up and felt the unbearable feeling, then saw the youth sleeping peacefully beside him, words could not describe the feast for his eyes. Ji Yue almost wanted to repay it without conscience, and made the culprit to his numerous sleepless nights cry out and beg for mercy.
But this was tightly restrained by his reasoning side.
To make matters worse, with Wei Lian sleeping beside him, he dare not relieve himself in fear of waking the youth up from his movement.
Just the thought of their eyes meeting, it was embarrassing enough to go down in history.
Ji Yue rejected this imaginary situation.
He chose to endure.
This endurance lasted a few days. Now with dark bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep, a trace of tiredness appeared on his face.
Li Fuquan also politely reminded him, “...Is better for your Majesty to have some restraint. Too much indulgence could harm one’s body. It is not good for Wei Gongzi’s body as well.”
Ji Yue replied with great difficulty, “...We know.”
We are not indulging in sexual desire! We are suppressing our sexual desires!
Wei Lian is in perfectly good health from sleeping so well!
Ji Yue finally understood the punishment he had considered that day at the hot spring, the three rounds, was not enough!
He should have trapped the other person in unbearable pleasure without relief, it was a much crueller punishment.
Unfortunately, it was too late now.
He himself experienced it before he could let Wei Lian do so.
In the end, Ji Yue could no longer bear it and drove Wei Lian out to Zhongling Palace.
And finally had a round of pleasure and peace.
As for reason number two.
Ji Yue came to his senses and lowered his eyes.
After Wei Lian was gone, his mind often wandered off as he had just done.
He felt that Wei Lian was different. There was something so attractive about the younger man that made everyone under heaven love him, as long as Wei Lian was willing.
But we could not love him.
We as the Emperor must love all the land under heaven, all the commoners, and never just one person.
The love of the Emperor must be evenly distributed like the rain dew, life water essential to commoners’ lives. There must not be a weakness, there must not be an exception.
Since ancient times, every emperor knew love would never bring a happy ending.
Ji Yue was not a good ruler, but he certainly understood such reasoning, and knew how to avoid it.
In just the first sign of the bud, it must be coldly removed. This was the correct choice.
He had a good opinion of Wei Lian, and it was only natural for good feelings to give birth the longer they spent time together and shared the same interests.
It was fine as long as the bud was removed in time.
As long as he distanced himself from Wei Lian, decreasing the chances they met, the temporarily hot-blooded desire would soon cool off.
...But he had always been daydreaming these days.
When he saw the chair that Wei Lian had sat on, the bed he had slept on, the scrolls that he had read over, and the teacup that he had held, they all could draw his attention.
Even in the evening, when Lian was saying something to him, Ji Yue was lost in thought and did not fully catch what the other said, only offhandedly agreeing to it.
He was even distracted when reading the memorial to the throne in the imperial study, remembering the time when Wei Lian ground inks for him.
In the moment of his gloom, he ordered someone to replace the inkstone, but the result was harder to concentrate on his task.
...He disliked the inkstone that was not touched by Wei Lian. The ink it produced did not have the right feel.
When Wei Lian was not in sight, he was also everywhere.
His head was filled with Wei Xiao Lian, so annoying.
When Ji Yue tossed his brush, he thought in anger, Wei Lian was really a beautiful freaking scourge.
We have not fallen in love with him yet, but he has already allured our heart.
Hahahaha, I almost feel pity for him xDD
And I’m proud of him that his lust didn’t win in the end, good job. (But I still want to know who would win between the two if they fought each other x’D)
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و