Chapter 111
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Early the next morning, as the palace attendant was tying Gu Yuanbai’s hair, he exclaimed, “Your Majesty, there’s a red mark behind your ear!”
Gu Yuanbai remained expressionless, not responding to what he said. Tian Fusheng took a closer look and gasped. Oh no, there was a thumb-sized mark behind the Emperor’s ear, red and even purplish, looking terrifying against his fair skin. “There wasn’t this mark before bed last night. Could it be a bug bite?”
But at this time of the year, where would there be bugs? They took such good care of the Emperor; it couldn’t be.
The location behind the ear was hidden, and if it weren’t for tying the Emperor’s hair, the palace attendant wouldn’t have seen it. Gu Yuanbai looked at himself in the bronze mirror, his face surely not looking good. He sneered, “Put a mirror behind and let me see.”
The servants brought a clear mirror, and Gu Yuanbai looked at the mark behind his ear through the bronze mirror. The mirror was a bit blurry, but you could still see a thumb-sized red mark. Gu Yuanbai touched the mark, chuckling several times.
When he was in the northern border, he heard that Gu Yuanbai was going to take a concubine, so he hurried back to touch him, wanting to reassure him. But all the ropes hanging in the mansion were filled with filthy words, big and small. And what happened in the middle of the night? Just licking the earlobe?
They were all adults, Gu Yuanbai thought. Xue Jiuyao, you can still pretend to be innocent.
“Your Majesty, your ear is red,” the sharp-eyed eunuch almost cried, “You can even see the blood vessels.”
Gu Yuanbai was taken aback, “I don’t feel any pain.”
In the end, Gu Yuanbai didn’t let Tian Fusheng call the imperial physician. He just had him apply some ointment. When his long hair hung behind him, nothing could be seen.
The Xue Mansion had already prepared breakfast. When Gu Yuanbai walked out of the bedroom, he turned a few corners along the corridor and heard a sharp whistling sound in front of him. He walked forward and saw Xue Yuan wielding the curved blade bestowed upon him in the open space.
The curved blade was slender and exquisite, like a curved Tang blade. When held by Xue Yuan, the wind whistled, and it seemed as if a tiger was roaring.
Gu Yuanbai stood at the corner, with servants holding Xue Yuan’s clothes and scabbard beside him. They wanted to bow when they saw the Emperor, but Gu Yuanbai stopped them and continued to watch Xue Yuan without moving, his expression ambiguous.
“Does the eldest young master come here to practice martial arts so early every day?” Gu Yuanbai asked.
“He practices every day, but the eldest young master got up early today. He has been practicing until now,” the servant said cautiously, “He didn’t use to get up this early before.”
In fact, Xue Yuan hadn’t slept all night.
But no one could tell that Xue Yuan hadn’t slept all night. Gu Yuanbai felt displeased when he saw him now. He was about to leave when Xue Yuan heard his footsteps, turned around, and put away the big blade he had thrust out, striding over to Gu Yuanbai with clasped hands, “Your Majesty.”
He paused for a moment, then casually asked, “Did Your Majesty sleep well last night?”
Gu Yuanbai countered, “Did Lord Xue sleep well last night?”
Xue Yuan’s eyes flickered, “Yes.”
Gu Yuanbai smirked silently, not wanting to see his face anymore. So he lifted his steps and walked past him with the others.
Xue Yuan took the scabbard from the servant and put away the curved blade before quickly catching up with the Emperor, “Your Majesty hasn’t had breakfast yet. I’ve already ordered the chef to prepare yam porridge. Would you like to have a small bowl to warm your stomach first?”
The Emperor seemed not to have heard him, so Tian Fusheng took the opportunity to grab Xue Yuan and complained, “Lord Xue, is there anything unclean in your mansion?”
Xue Yuan stiffened all over, then relaxed, “Steward Tian, what do you mean?”
Tian Fusheng lowered his voice, “Lord Xue, please don’t blame this old servant for speaking unpleasant truths. This morning, when His Majesty got up, we noticed a deep red mark behind his ear, which looked quite alarming. Not only that, but there were also a few traces of blood in His Majesty’s right ear. It looked fine from the outside, but inside, it seemed like it was about to bleed. Yet, His Majesty didn’t feel any pain. What kind of strange occurrence is this?”
Blood vessels? Xue Yuan furrowed his brow, powerful enough to squash a mosquito.
Couldn’t withstand that much pressure?
Tian Fusheng was also wondering, “His Majesty slept for a while, how did it end up like this?”
For a moment, everyone was buried in contemplation, forgetting to speak.
***
After finishing breakfast at the Xue Mansion, Gu Yuanbai returned to the palace. Just as he left, Chang Yuyan entered the Xue Mansion. He saw Xue Yuan sitting at the main seat having his meal.
Chang Yuyan raised an eyebrow and smiled, “What a coincidence. Servant, bring me a set of utensils.”
The servant led him to sit down, “Young Master Chang, these utensils haven’t been used by our eldest young master. You can use them.”
Chang Yuyan pointed at the utensils in Xue Yuan’s hand, “Since these belong to your eldest young master, whose utensils is he using?”
The servant remained silent and lowered his head before retreating.
Chang Yuyan was about to ask further, but Xue Yuan suddenly pulled out a dagger from his chest. The cold, gleaming blade reflected on Chang Yuyan’s face. The one holding the dagger didn’t seem to think much of it and asked in a normal tone, “What do you want to eat?”
Chang Yuyan choked back his words, “Anything will do.”
Xue Yuan picked up a fruit with the dagger and tossed it across the table. With a “ding,” the dagger pierced the wooden table in front of Chang Yuyan.
“You deceived me, Chang Yuyan,” Xue Yuan said, “During the summer palace, His Majesty clearly mentioned me when playing chess with you.”
Chang Yuyan nervously blurted out, “Don’t listen to rumors—”
“I don’t know if it’s a rumor or not,” Xue Yuan chuckled gently, “But it’s true that you don’t want me to have much contact with His Majesty.”
Chang Yuyan couldn’t find words to respond. Xue Yuan finished the last bite of yam porridge, stood up, and walked past the table, pulling out the dagger. With a humming sound, he removed the fruit from the dagger and placed it in Chang Yuyan’s hand.
The sticky and sour juice from the fruit, so tart it made his teeth ache, slowly spread, drenching Chang Yuyan’s hand.
“You should be familiar with this dagger,” Xue Yuan flipped the dagger between his hands, “It’s not the one I played with when I was a child. Yuyan, do you remember when we were young, you were bullied by the servants in your house? I pinned down the servant who bullied you in front of you, right at the dinner table.”
“You asked me for a favor, so I had to do it. At the dining table, with your parents and elders present, I spread the servant’s fingers apart and pinned them down, then drove a dagger between them. I asked you whether this cut should sever his entire hand or just one finger.”
Chang Yuyan tightened his grip on the fruit, his sleeve dampened. He smiled, “Jiuyao, we’ve never seen eye to eye since we were young, always at odds with each other. But we were also childhood friends, birds of a feather, no better than the other.”
Xue Yuan laughed as well. “You spoke of mercy and compassion, saying you wouldn’t cut off someone’s fingers. The servant was so moved he cried, grateful to you. The next day, you took him to the lakeside and gave him a choice: either drown himself in the lake or cut off one of his hands and his tongue.”
Chang Yuyan responded, “That was a long time ago; there’s no need to bring it up now.”
“Chang Yuyan, you have a cold heart,” Xue Yuan said in a low voice. “But look at you, no matter how cold-hearted you are, you still fear me when I pull out a dagger, just as you did when we were young.”
The smile slowly faded from Chang Yuyan’s lips, his face becoming expressionless, losing the charm of a refined young man.
“You spoke to His Majesty about me but didn’t dare to tell me,” Xue Yuan laughed quietly, patting Chang Yuyan’s shoulder. “Yuyan, this time you were a bit naive.”
Chang Yuyan moved his mouth slightly, “I would never harm you.”
Xue Yuan replied, “But that doesn’t mean you won’t use small tricks.”
“However, that’s fine. You may continue,” he continued leisurely. Chang Yuyan looked up at him in surprise. Xue Yuan’s dark eyes were deep and his lips curled as he looked down, “It’s amusing to have a scholar be jealous of me. It makes me happy.”
***
After returning to the palace, Gu Yuanbai was wiped with medicine by Tian Fusheng again.
Tian Fusheng, who wasn’t yet at the age of blurred vision, felt more and more strange as he applied the medicine. Hesitating for a moment, he said, “Your Majesty, the mark behind your ear seems to have been sucked out.”
Gu Yuanbai responded indifferently, “Hmm.”
Tian Fusheng understood in his heart and didn’t ask further, focusing on applying the medicine to the Emperor.
The scent of the medicine overwhelmed the fragrance in the hall. When the smell of the medicine dissipated, Gu Yuanbai noticed something was off, “Why does this fragrance smell different from before?”
The palace attendant who lit the incense stepped forward and replied, “Your Majesty, this is incense brought up from Xixia. It’s said to be their national fragrance. The imperial physician at the Taiyi Palace said that this incense has the effect of calming the mind and soothing the nerves, so I lit it.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded, “The smell is quite pleasant. Xixia has really made a bold move this time.”
“The compensation has been sent to the capital first, and the ransom is still on its way with the Xixia people,” Tian Fusheng whispered, “Your Majesty, according to what people along the way said, Xixia has really brought a lot of things this time. They’ve been on the road for two or three months, led by the Second Prince of Xixia.”
Gu Yuanbai leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and tapped the table rhythmically, “The Second Prince of Xixia?”
“The Second Prince of Xixia is named Li Angyi,” Tian Fusheng said, “This person is different from the Seventh Prince of Xixia, Li Angshun. He has a humble background, not favored by the Xixia Emperor, and has been helpless since childhood, but he’s tough and has survived. Because of his gentle temperament and some timidity, no one in the Xixia royal family has paid much attention to him. Only when they need the Second Prince will they remember him.”
“Like this time, this thankless task was handed to the Second Prince of Xixia,” Gu Yuanbai understood. He smiled, “I don’t care about this matter, I’m curious about another thing.”
Gu Yuanbai furrowed his brow and murmured, “Why did Xixia agree to compensation so readily…”
Without even negotiating.
This was even more puzzling than Xue Yuan sneaking into Gu Yuanbai’s room in the middle of the night and doing nothing.
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I don’t think he did nothing buddy… I’m
afraid he did something… Just not to you 👀