“Don’t cry, we are here for you.”
The Imperial Study…
There was only the sound of turning pages in the large study. Ji Yue did not like to be disturbed when handling official business during the day, so he was alone in the room.
Until the door was suddenly pushed open with a bang. Ji Yue’s hand jolted and his pen left behind a long, red streak on the memorial.
Just as he was about to scold the newcomer for their insolence, he raised his head and a young man closed the door before marching over to him. The young man placed his hands on the desk for support and fixed his gaze on him. “Your lover has been bullied, what are you going to do about it?”
…What lover?
First Ji Yue was stunned, then as the words sank in, he frowned and demanded, “Who bullied you?”
There was still someone who dared to cause Wei Lian anger in the palace? Even him, the Emperor, was irritated by Wei Lian to death.
“My dearest younger brother.” Wei Lian smiled, “He asked me how it felt to be on your bed, if you brought me pleasure or not, how long I lasted, and if my lower body is in pain.”
Ji Yue immediately had a coughing fit. He almost choked himself to death with his saliva.
These vulgar words…were very lethal coming out of Wei Lian’s mouth.
After coming to his senses, his expression turned chilly.
He naturally knew how insulting these words were to Wei Lian. Wei Yan did not pay the slightest regard to Wei Lian.
Seeing the big picture from the small and scattered hints, Wei Yan dared to be so disrespectful to his older brother in the palace of the Qin Emperor. He could imagine what kind of life Wei Lian used to live in the Chu palace.
How much injustice the younger man must have suffered.
Ji Yue suddenly felt pensive.
He got up, opened the window to let the cold breeze wash away the suffocated feeling.
“So,” Ji Yue turned to look at him. “Did you come to complain?”
“That’s right.” Wei Lian beamed. “This subject came to whisper sweet words in your ears, please listen to my pillow talk and teach him a lesson for me.”
Ji Yue’s lips twitched. “You’re too straightforward with your pillow talk.”
He suggested, “Can’t you put in more effort? More sincerity?”
Through the ages, consorts and concubines often swayed the emperor upon the pillow. After satisfying the emperor on the bed, why wouldn’t she speak softly in a roundabout way to make the emperor feel good, enough to promise her everything?
He had never heard of someone intruding into the imperial study and bluntly announce, ‘I’m here to sway you with my pillow talk.’
This was too perfunctory! Where was the sincerity?!
Wei Lian was surprised. “You want me to act it out?”
“Let me think.” Wei Lian pondered deeply.
In a flash, Wei Lian suddenly changed his expression, showing a dejected and sad face. He lamented, “Your Majesty might not be aware of this, but this subject’s younger brother does not pay any regard to this subject at all. This subject could stand being disrespected in the Chu Empire in the past, but to receive such verbal humiliation in the Qin Empire. It is really too much! To be bullied so intolerably!”
He threw himself into Ji Yue’s arms, wrapped around the older man’s waist and buried himself deeper in to his chest, crying, “Your Majesty needs to give this subject justice!”
Having a beauty suddenly throw himself into his arms, Ji Yue stiffened for a moment. Then he hesitated, put his arms around the younger man’s waist and promised in a trance, “All right…give justice, we will give you justice.”
“Guards!”
The door was opened again, and the guard stationed outside at the door bowed his head. “Your Majesty!”
“Go—” Ji Yue stopped, asking Wei Lian, “Where is Wei Yan staying?”
“Fuyun Hall.” Wei Lian whispered.
“Go to Fuyun Hall.” Ji Yue finished his order, “Yan Gongzi disrespected Guijun, thirty strokes. Execute this immediately.”
“Understood!” The guards did not hesitate in carrying out Ji Yue’s order.
“That’s done. You see, you have our support.” Ji Yue looked down at the man in his arms.
The young man’s head was still lowered, his forehead against the older man’s shoulder, revealing only his thread like inked hair.
Ji Yue bantered, “You can stop with the pretending. The task is done. You can put away the act.”
But Wei Lian made no movement.
Ji Yue felt something was wrong and forced the other’s head up. Only then did he find that the young man’s eyes were red. He was stunned.
“What’s wrong?”
Wei Lian lowered his eye, causing his long eyelashes to tremble.
Ji Yue joked, “You cannot put away your act? Wei Xiao Lian, you are really shiftless…”
Wei Lian’s eyelashes quivered again, as a tear fell down.
Ji Yue paused. “Are you crying?”
Wei Lian did not reply, but the tears fell down harder like raindrops.
Ji Yue immediately panicked as he hurriedly wiped away the youth’s tears. “What’s the matter? Everything is perfectly fine…we already taught the person who bullied you a lesson, and no one will bully you again in the future.”
It was fine if Ji Yue didn’t speak, but trying to comfort Wei Lian with words? It was making it harder for him to hold back his tears.
Seeing the younger man teary-eyed and quietly holding back any sound, Ji Yue felt dismayed by the distress he felt. Before he could think more, he leaned over and kissed the corner of the young man’s eyes.
Licking away the tears with his soft and warm lips and leaving behind traces.
From the eyes to the lips, extremely gentle and cherishing beyond words.
He held the man in his arms and whispered comfort.
“A-Lian, don’t cry, we are here.”
Why was he crying?
Wei Lain wondered the same question.
He clearly didn’t feel any grievance.
He never took what Wei Yan said to heart. Previously in the Chu Empire, Wei Yan said worse things. He had long been immune to the mocking. A jumping clown was not worth mentioning at all.
He also knew that Yan Fei would never stand on his side.
He was aware that he was not her real son and was fortunate to be adopted. Was she to be blamed for all of his unfair treatment? Everyone said how he should be grateful to Yan Fei, and no one felt that he was the one being wronged.
Since he had gained honour and glory from their deals, it should be natural for him to bear all the hardship, otherwise he would be known as someone who took advantage and forged his obedience.
Therefore, Wei Lian grew on a cold rift surrounded by a freezing lake for nineteen years. He was pierced full of holes by the cold. But he never once complained about the pain or shed a tear.
He knew no one would be in distress for him, no one would support him.
There was no benefit to shedding tears, it was only a display of weakness.
He never thought that one day, this tight feeling would cloud his mind with a single sentence, ‘You have our support’. As if he truly had been greatly wronged.
If a blade of frost could not make him yield, then a wisp of spring breeze could defeat him.
He was invincible in the siege of malicious intent, but he was utterly defeated by the gentle encirclement.
After calming down, Wei Lian sat in a chair and shut himself off.
Why did he suddenly become so affected…
Wei Lian’s crying was actually not that serious. As someone who was accustomed to emotional restraint, he still endured this moment of vulnerability quietly. Not once did he cry out, just quietly leaned against Ji Yue’s chest and shed a few tears. When he raised his head, he was back to his usual appearance.
But for Wei Lian, who had not shown weakness in front of others for years, this had been the most humiliating day in his life.
Ji Yue flattened his lips. “Say something. We won’t laugh at you.”
“It’s just a few tears, no big deal? Who doesn’t get sad once in a while? When we were a child, we were forced to shoot our beloved falcon and cried ourselves to sleep that night…”
Wei Lian stood up abruptly and said, “Please excuse this subject.”
Then he went straight out of the door of the imperial study.
He didn’t want to see Ji Yue for the time being.
He didn’t have the face.
Leaving Ji Yue silently looking at the closed door.
This was the first time that Wei Lian was the first to flee in their confrontations.
But this kind of victory…Ji Yue didn’t want to take it without even thinking.
It didn’t matter if he let Wei Lian win over and over again.
It was fine as long as the younger man didn't cry.
Fuyun Hall…
“Release me this instant! What do you think you’re doing! I’m the Chu Empire’s gongzi! Are you deaf?” Wei Yan was dragged out by the guards and put on the punishment bench.
Seeing the dreadful flogging rod, Wei Yan was scared into a cold sweat and shouted, “What offence have I committed? You have no authority to punish me! Just you wait, I will inform my father of this when I return, see how you explain yourself to my father! My father will remove your heads!”
The eunuch in charge of punishment sneered and gave the order, “Begin!”
What did it matter if he was a nobility from an empire? One from a defeated Empire, taking in more beating, do they even need to explain themselves?
The man didn’t even pay any mind to whose territory he was in. Let alone a gongzi, if the Chu Emperor was here, he also had to act humble with his tail between his legs.
When the guard heard the order, he raised the rod and smacked Wei Yan on the butt.
Wei Yan’s brain was blank for a moment followed by a howling, similar to the cry of a soon-to-be slaughtered pig.
How could a gongzi with delicate skin and tender flesh ever suffer such hardships? Just one stroke was enough for him to be in immense pain.
Wei Yan immediately burst into tears with a runny nose. He bellowed and scolded as his prior image was gone.
“You—I can’t wait for you to face your death!”
“Oh? Don’t know when to repent? Continue the sentence.”
“This Gongzi will have my father to kill everyone last of you! It will be a slow and painful death!”
“Hit him harder.”
“Ah! Stop hitting, all right, I was wrong. It hurts…”
At first, Wei Yan had the strength to throw foul language, but later, he turned into a begging mess. Finally, he didn’t even have the strength to speak.
Double shadows appeared in front of him.
He couldn’t die here, right…?
The boy had snot and tears running down his face, he looked battered and exhausted.
“Wei Yan, you can only handle this much?”
Who? Who is talking?
Wei Yan managed to open his eyes and saw a young man in white standing in front of him. Gazing down from his aloof position, both noble and cold.
“You, it’s you! You told on me!” Wei Yan roared.
If it wasn’t for how much pain he was in, he would have jumped up and torn Wei Lian into pieces by now.
When the person carrying out the sentence saw Wei Lian here, lowered the rod and saluted, “Gongzi.” Pausing the sentence for the time being.
Wei Lian squatted down to look at the pitiful Wei Yan. “Does it hurt?”
How much pain is your lower body in?
This was the same taunt Wei Yan said towards Wei Lian. Wei Lian couldn’t answer the question because he had never been in that position, while the pain in Wei Yan’s lower body was real.
Wei Yan made a spitting sound. “Experience it if you dare!”
Wei Lian said with a gentle smile, “I’m not the one hurting anyway.”
I’m not the one hurting anyway.
This sounded familiar.
This scene suddenly reminded Wei Yan of another that he had forgotten in the back of his mind.
* * *
Wei Yan was six years old while Wei Lian was twelve.
Wei Yan was very hostile to his older brother and opposed him everywhere.
There was once when Wei Lian saved a wounded bird and bandaged it. When he saw it, he wanted to snatch it away, but Wei Lian dodged his grasping hands.
“I can’t give it to you, it’s hurt.” Wei Lian explained.
“Give me it!”
“No, you will kill it with your rough handling.”
Between the pushing and shoving, Wei Yan suddenly fell on the ground on his butt and burst into tears.
“Yan-er, this mother brought—what are you two doing?” Yan Fei suddenly entered this scene, and her face immediately turned gloomy. “Wei Lian, what did you do to your younger brother?”
Wei Lian explained, “I didn’t…”
“Mother, brother pushed me!” Wei Yan sobbed, “He said that as long as I’m present, he will not be mother’s favourite child…”
Wei Lian flattened his lips and his eyes turned colder by a degree.
Needless to say, Wei Yan’s scoundrel friends taught him that.
Yan-fei turned to Wei Lian with disappointment. “Wei Lian, how could you be so hateful to Yan-er? How could you hurt him!”
Wei Lian stayed silent and stopped arguing.
Even if he refutes, Yan Fei would not believe him, just like countless times before.
“I’m very disappointed in you. You give me no choice but to punish you this time.” Yan Fei said coldly, “Guards, take Qi Gongzi out and give thirty strokes!”
* * *
As soon as Yan Fei left, Wei Yan changed his face in an instant.
He smiled brightly at the young man who was punished by the rod. He clapped his hands and ordered, “You need to put more force behind it!”
The young man did not utter a word during the whole deed, only sweating lightly from his forehead.
After the last stroke, blood was visible, seeping out from under his clothes, and Wei Lian lay on the punishment bench weakly.
Wei Yan pulled a face in front of him, “Does it hurt?”
The child laughed innocently, as well as cruelly. “I’m not the one hurting anyway.”
“Oh, and that bird, it turned out it was nothing special. I accidentally killed it.”
Wei Lian glanced at him weakly, hid the cold killing intent from the bottom of his eyes, and wearily closed them.
“You-you always hold a grudge, don't you!” Wei Yan’s eyes widened.
“Yan Fei was kind to me so I let you off that one time.” Wei Lian said lightly, “Wei Yan, you should be well aware of what happened to people who offended me.”
They were no longer in this world.
When Wei Lian finished, he lost interest, got up and walked away.
Wei Yan watched the other drifting away. The sentence was not over yet so the guard continued the punishment.
“Ah! Wei Lian, you get back here!”
“Brother! I was wrong, brother! You can tell them to stop hitting! I will listen to you!”
Unfortunately, the young man in white would never look back.
When the pain to his body increased, Wei Yan finally had some regret.
He remembered the older brother who spoiled him in the beginning, when he was about three or four years old…when he was ignorant. Brother really treated him like a real brother.
But later, after hearing the other noble children’s words, he decided that brother took away part of his maternal love as well as future authority…so he began to treat his brother as an enemy.
And that was when his brother stopped spoiling him.
Wei Yan was still crying and shouting towards the sky.
On the tall evergreen tree, a woman in red frowned with annoyance and suddenly got up. “So damn loud and annoying. Disturbing my nap!”
JY finally “won” a round, but it wasn’t a happy one. But he stands on our lazy cats side and that is good :3
Too late for regrets now.
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و