Chapter 119
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Heavy rain splashed along the eaves into the corridor, making the palace attendants take a step back to avoid getting hit by the water from these men.
Gu Yuanbai wiped his hands, put on his coat, and glanced at them, “Where did you go?”
One of the guards hurriedly replied, “Your Majesty, before the rain started, we saw someone passing by the courtyard three times, arousing our suspicion, so we went to investigate.”
The heavy rain poured down like beads on a string, creating a misty atmosphere. In the dim light, only the bright colors of their clothes stood out.
Gu Yuanbai stepped out of the room, feeling the damp air hit him. He moved aside to avoid the wind blowing through the doorway, “Who was it?”
“It was a monk from another temple here to study Buddhism at Jingchen Temple,” a guard replied. “When we caught up and questioned him, he said he had mistaken someone else for us.”
Gu Yuanbai turned to the palace attendants, “Fetch some clean towels for them.”
The palace attendants had already brought the towels and handed them over. The guards took them and began wiping the water from their hair and clothes. “Your Majesty, we checked the monk’s documents, and he is indeed from a famous temple in Hebei, which explains his slight Hebei accent. After confirming his identity with the abbot of Jingchen Temple, we were caught in the rain on our way back.”
The heavy rain had come suddenly, drenching them completely. Gu Yuanbai nodded casually. Seeing that the towels were already wet and they were still not dry, he said, “Go back to your rooms and change your clothes.”
The men had only the clothes they were wearing. To avoid catching a cold, the only solution was to take off their clothes and lie in bed wrapped in blankets until the clothes dried.
The others left one by one, leaving Xue Yuan standing there soaked, his clothes heavy and dripping with water. “Your Majesty, the temple doesn’t have a heated bed. How was your nap?”
Gu Yuanbai, his face partially hidden by the fur coat flapping in the wind, looked up at him with dark eyes and jade-like skin, like a figure moving in an ink painting. His voice was indifferent, “Nothing notable.”
Xue Yuan grinned. Gu Yuanbai thought he was about to make some inappropriate comment about warming the bed, but Xue Yuan simply bowed and went back to his room to change clothes.
Gu Yuanbai’s face turned cold.
He watched Xue Yuan’s back silently, a cold smile on his lips, and then returned to his room.
Late at night.
The sound of rain outside was even fiercer. Amidst the storm, someone whispered a few words outside, and the wooden door creaked open and then closed softly.
Someone approached Gu Yuanbai, but before they could lean in, the Emperor harshly commanded, “Get out!”
The person stopped, obediently freezing in place. His voice, hoarse with moisture from the rain, said, “Your Majesty, I consulted the imperial physician yesterday. You are almost fully recovered.”
Gu Yuanbai turned over and pulled the blanket over himself, ignoring him.
The white blanket seemed to glow faintly on the bed, a corner pressing against the Emperor’s face, casting a gentle light on his earlobe. His partially exposed face was half-hidden, half-revealed.
Xue Yuan looked at him for a long moment, finally daring to lift his eyes and gaze at him fully for the first time today. Once he had satisfied his shallow desire, he felt ready to do something else.
Xue Yuan lifted his knee and pressed it down, pinning a corner of the emperor’s blanket. Gu Yuanbai couldn’t pull the blanket away, his voice growing colder. “Xue Jiuyao, I told you to get out.”
“Your Majesty, let me explain,” Xue Yuan said. “After I managed to climb into your bed that day and served you diligently, the next day Steward Tian brought the imperial physician to see me. The physician said that Your Majesty’s body was weak and would be powerless and fatigued for a while after the incense was cut off.”
Xue Yuan’s voice grew hoarser, “I didn’t dare touch you after that.” He paused, his voice even raspier, “I didn’t even dare to look.”
Yet the Emperor, like a flower, kept appearing before him, carrying his fragrance and water droplets, his stern expression making it harder to bear.
Gu Yuanbai kept his eyes closed and remained silent. Xue Yuan, his back stiff, but still physically agile, continued, “Don’t be angry, Your Majesty. Tonight…”
“Why do you have such a strong sandalwood scent on you?” Gu Yuanbai wrinkled his nose, “Have you been praying?”
Xue Yuan’s expression turned strange, and he blurted out, “Dog nose?”
Gu Yuanbai was so angry he laughed. Outside, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. He pointed at the lightning outside the window, “If I have a dog’s nose, then you are a coward. Xue Jiuyao, flying kites in clear weather doesn’t make you a hero. If you want to seek lightning, now is the perfect opportunity.”
“I misspoke. Your Majesty’s nose is like jade, beautiful in every way.” Xue Yuan laughed and, after a moment, said, “I can’t fly kites in the rain. But if Your Majesty agrees to one request, I can stand in the rain for a while and prove I’m not a coward.”
Gu Yuanbai lazily said, “I have no interest in playing these games with you.”
“Your Majesty, there is an osmanthus tree in the center of the courtyard. A new bud has sprouted on its top, the leaves fresh and tender, the branches soft,” Xue Yuan said enthusiastically, “I’ll fetch it for you. Shall we make a bet? If I can…”
Gu Yuanbai couldn’t help but ask, “And if you can?”
Xue Yuan clenched his fist, and the sound of his knuckles cracking revealed his pent-up desires over the past month. “If I can, Your Majesty, I request to borrow your foot for half an hour.”
A foot? What could a foot possibly do?
Although Xue Jiuyao’s request seemed odd, it didn’t appear to be particularly difficult. But knowing that he surely had ulterior motives, Gu Yuanbai had no desire to humor him. Closing his eyes, he was about to instruct him to warm the bed and then leave immediately.
Once Xue Yuan made his request, he grew excited, leaning close to the Emperor’s ear and coaxing continuously, “Your Majesty, if I can’t get the twig, I’ll listen to you and do whatever you ask.”
Gu Yuanbai countered, “Are you saying you wouldn’t do as I command now?”
Xue Yuan was momentarily stumped and replied honestly, “I would.”
Gu Yuanbai rolled his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. But Xue Yuan was persistent, whispering incessantly in his ear until Gu Yuanbai couldn’t stand it anymore. “Fine, then go!”
Xue Yuan immediately jumped out of bed and ran outside. Just as another flash of lightning split the sky, Gu Yuanbai sat up abruptly, his expression changing, “Xue Jiuyao!”
Lights were lit both inside and outside the room, and the palace servants moved quickly. Before Gu Yuanbai could call for the reckless Xue Yuan, a guard brought someone inside. The person was cloaked in a raincoat, obscuring their face and figure, and the guard said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, this person came in the middle of the night, requesting an audience.”
The Emperor, dressed in his regular clothes and not revealing his identity, was immediately recognized. The guards, not daring to delay, quickly brought the person to him.
Gu Yuanbai glanced through the person’s shoulder at the torrential rain outside and said coldly, “Come in.”
The rain-cloaked figure stepped into the side room, their voice intentionally hoarse, “Your Majesty, it would be best to dismiss everyone else.”
Gu Yuanbai sharply replied, “Speak.”
The straw-coated figure paused, then reached up to remove the straw coat. With a loud “boom,” a flash of white light split the sky, illuminating the face of the straw-coated figure.
Plain and ordinary, with a sallow complexion and signs of a cold—it was none other than the second prince of Xixia, Li Angyi.
Li Angyi looked directly at the Emperor of Great Heng, whose expression changed drastically. The Emperor stood up and walked towards Li Angyi, who was about to smile when the Emperor passed him by, opened the door, and shouted into the storm, “Xue Jiuyao, you might as well die on that tree!”
After shouting, the cold air rushed into his throat, making Gu Yuanbai cough a few times. He closed the door and sat back down, still coughing.
Li Angyi said, “You don’t seem surprised.”
Gu Yuanbai took a sip of warm tea, his gaze calmly sweeping over him, “Second Prince of Xixia, I’ve been expecting you.”
Li Angyi raised an eyebrow and sighed, bowing, “Then you must already know why I’ve come.”
Gu Yuanbai smiled, “Do you represent Xixia?”
Li Angyi gave a bitter smile, “That depends on whether you’re willing to let me represent Xixia.”
Gu Yuanbai slowly ordered a new cup of tea, “Where did the incense come from?”
Li Angyi replied, “From a man of Great Heng.”
Gu Yuanbai turned his head sharply, his gaze piercing.
Li Angyi hesitated, then said, “A Great Heng man from Fusang.”
***
As the door opened, cold air mixed with wind and rain blew inside. The rain-cloaked man took a step outside, coughing twice, his voice hoarse and weak, “Even if I am in good health, this past month has nearly broken me. I hope you’ll spare me so that I might recover from this cold.”
Gu Yuanbai’s tone was unpredictable, “No rush, you’ll recover in another month.”
The rain-cloaked man said no more and left quickly in the wind and rain.
The door was left open, and a palace attendant stepped forward to close it. Gu Yuanbai’s face turned dark, like a storm about to break, holding the calm before the tempest.
He thought about many things, but no one knew what he was thinking. Eventually, he collected his thoughts and calmly sipped his warm tea.
Fusang was in a feudal state, supposedly very backward.
“Tian Fusheng,” the Emperor said calmly, “what gifts did Fusang send for my birthday?”
Tian Fusheng perked up, “I remember clearly. On your birthday, the gifts from Xixia and Fusang were the most lavish. The most precious among them was…”
He went on for a while, detailing each rare and valuable gift. Gu Yuanbai closed his eyes briefly and sighed.
It was infuriating to realize the clues had been there all along, but he had only just noticed something was wrong.
Where did Fusang get so much incense, so many raw materials?
“Is their land capable of cultivating such addictive substances and mass-producing so much spice? Even if they have so much spice, who are the people from Fusang secretly selling it in Xixia? Who are the traders? Who is helping Fusang distribute the spice so widely in Xixia? And who has such grand ambitions, seeking to use this opportunity to invade Great Heng?
The conversation replayed in his mind over and over.
The second prince of Xixia, with an earnest expression, said, ‘After I learned about the harmful effects of the spice, I found that Xixia had already become deeply addicted to it from Fusang. I alone could not reverse the entire situation, so I had to act in secret and wait for an opportunity. Your Majesty must also understand my predicament and feelings. Without the capability, one can only pretend not to see it.’
A truly self-sacrificing and patriotic second prince.
Gu Yuanbai asked, ‘Tian Fusheng, do you believe what the second prince of Xixia said?’
Tian Fusheng cautiously shook his head. ‘The second prince of Xixia has been undercover for many years, usually pretending to be completely harmless. With someone like that, I can’t fully trust anything he says.’
‘If even you don’t believe him, how does he expect me to believe him?’ Gu Yuanbai scoffed. ‘Speaking seven parts truth and three parts falsehood—missing a bit here, lacking a bit there—that’s how you make a lie undetectable.'”
He stood up and walked to the window, glancing sideways into the courtyard, where he saw a tall figure running towards this building. With long legs moving swiftly, exuding an uncontrollable excitement.
Gu Yuanbai had a sudden flash of realization, thinking of Xixia’s straightforward attitude when compensating Great Heng.
Could it be that all these things were paid for by Fusang?
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