The abandoned palace was unlit, but the moonlight tonight was particularly bright, enough for Xueya to see the person behind him clearly. And when he did, he almost doubted his own eyes.
Had he really seen correctly?
The person was… Yin Qingxuan.
Before Xueya could fully process his shock, Yin Qingxuan, having tossed aside the hairpin, pressed forward, pinning Xueya down from the front as he turned around. Xueya immediately shouted, “Prime Minister!” while trying his best to push him away. But it was as if Yin Qingxuan hadn’t heard him. He lowered his head and bit Xueya again.
This time, the bite was on the other ear and much harder than the previous one, causing Xueya so much pain that tears almost fell from his eyes.
Yin Qingxuan didn’t stop at biting Xueya’s ear; his hand also slipped to Xueya’s waist. With the thin spring robe barely separating them, it felt as though their skin was touching, causing Xueya to panic even more. He used all his strength to push him away, desperately struggling. “Let me go!”
He couldn’t push him off, so he started kicking, but Yin Qingxuan grabbed his leg. When Xueya tried to pull it back, he suddenly felt Yin Qingxuan’s hand begin to lift his skirt.
Terrified beyond measure, Xueya struggled even more chaotically, and as his body lost balance, he fell to the ground. Yin Qingxuan followed closely, pinning Xueya between his arms and the floor.
Without the hairpin, Xueya’s hair had come loose during the struggle, now messily draping over his neck and chest. Yin Qingxuan lowered his gaze to the person beneath him, whose skin glistened like pearls between the strands of black hair. The light spring robe, the color of Xiangfei jade, made him resemble a freshly ripened lychee.
Just peel off the skin of the lychee, and you would reveal its snow-white, juicy flesh.
Xueya, meeting Yin Qingxuan’s gaze, grew even more frightened and tried to crawl away. But as soon as he made a move, a hand wrapped around his waist.
That hand pulled him back, and again, his ear was bitten as the sound of fabric being torn echoed in the room. Whimpering escaped from Xueya’s lips as his hands reached out in desperation. Suddenly, his fingers touched the hairpin that Yin Qingxuan had discarded earlier.
Stretching his fingers as far as they could go, Xueya managed to grip the hairpin in his palm and then, in one swift motion, he turned and stabbed upward with all his might.
Terrified, he didn’t even open his eyes. When he heard the sound of flesh being pierced, he was so scared that he let go and curled up beneath Yin Qingxuan.
Yin Qingxuan grunted in pain, clutching his shoulder where he’d been stabbed. Shaking his head, his eyes gradually cleared, and as they did, his expression darkened when he saw Xueya huddled beneath him.
Xueya looked utterly disheveled—his sleeve was torn, exposing a snow-white shoulder, and his undergarments were ripped, leaving his legs bare beneath his hiked-up skirt. Curled into a ball, his eyes were tightly shut, his face streaked with tears.
Perhaps because Yin Qingxuan hadn’t moved for a while, Xueya, afraid he had killed him, trembled as he opened his eyes, turning to glance at Yin Qingxuan. When he saw the blood seeping from Yin Qingxuan’s shoulder, trickling through his fingers and dripping onto his own forehead, his heart raced in fear.
Meeting Yin Qingxuan’s gaze and realizing he wasn’t dead, Xueya shut his eyes again in terror. His face was now a striking contrast of red and white—the pale skin and the blood on his forehead standing out starkly.
Yin Qingxuan raised a hand, wiping the blood from Xueya’s forehead, before sitting up.
“Get out,” he said, enunciating each word.
Xueya still had his eyes closed, unsure if Yin Qingxuan was lying. But when he heard him speak again, the words were even harsher, “If you want to stay here and have me ruin you, then by all means, stay.”
The vulgarity of his words was shocking, especially coming from a prime minister’s mouth. Having grown up around the brothels, Xueya was no stranger to lewd language, so he understood the threat in Yin Qingxuan’s words. He immediately tried to get up, but his body was weak, leaving him to crawl away, sobbing as he struggled to stand.
Yin Qingxuan didn’t look at Xueya. He stared at the ground, though the person beside him was so overwhelmingly present, sobbing and whimpering, irritating him to no end.
He wanted to grab that person back.
Finally, the door creaked open, and the sobbing gradually faded into the distance. Yin Qingxuan gripped the hairpin, pulling it from his shoulder, and stabbed it back into the ground.
***
Meanwhile, Xueya, weak and trembling, ran outside. After crying for a moment, he realized he couldn’t afford to cry anymore. If anyone found him like this, it would be disastrous.
He couldn’t let anyone see him in this state.
Thinking about this, Xueya tried hard to swallow his sobs as he stumbled toward Ningfu Palace, straightening his clothes as he walked. However, his clothes had been torn by Yin Qingxuan and couldn’t be fixed, and he had even lost one of his shoes.
Xueya didn’t dare go back to retrieve it, so he continued along a small path. Just as he emerged from a stone walkway, he unexpectedly ran into someone—it was He Xulan. Upon seeing Xueya, He Xulan’s expression shifted immediately, and he commanded, “Everyone, turn around.”
The palace attendants following behind him obeyed and turned their backs.
Seeing that the person he’d run into was He Xulan, Xueya was startled for the second time that night and tried to flee. But in his current state, he couldn’t run far before He Xulan caught up to him.
Without saying a word, He Xulan removed his outer robe and wrapped it around Xueya before picking him up in his arms.
Xueya struggled briefly but soon gave up, letting He Xulan carry him.
He was too exhausted to walk any further; his limbs were weak, and his feet were in great pain.
***
In the sleeping chambers of Ningfu Palace.
He Xulan placed the person in his arms onto the bed. After setting him down, Xueya didn’t emerge from the robe, curling up as if too afraid to come out. He Xulan waited for a moment. Seeing that Xueya wasn’t coming out on his own, he sat by the bed and pulled the robe open himself.
Without the robe to hide under, Xueya had nowhere to escape. When he caught He Xulan’s gaze, he anxiously turned his head away.
“Who was it?” He Xulan’s tone was calm, or at least it seemed so.
Xueya remained silent for a moment before whispering, “The Prime Minister… I accidentally…” ran into him.
His words were cut short when he saw He Xulan lower his head. Xueya bit his lip, holding his breath.
“How far did it go?” He Xulan asked, staring at Xueya’s tear-streaked face and still-reddened eyes.
Xueya froze at the question, and suddenly, he felt a hand lifting his skirt. Fear flooded Xueya again, but he couldn’t escape He Xulan’s grip, forced to endure his touch. His undergarments were completely gone, leaving only the flimsy skirt to cover his legs.
“No! The Prime Minister didn’t go that far!” Xueya cried, pleading with He Xulan through his sobs, almost fainting from fear. “He didn’t… I pushed him away! I pushed him away!”
But He Xulan still examined him thoroughly. By the time he released him, Xueya’s voice was hoarse from crying. He curled up on the bed, quietly sobbing, trying to hide his legs under his skirt.
He Xulan wiped the tears from Xueya’s face with a silk cloth and then picked him up, carrying him to the bath. When they returned from the bath, Xueya had finally stopped crying, leaning weakly against He Xulan, his eyelids slightly swollen from the excessive tears.
He Xulan laid him back on the bed and brought over a medicine kit, applying ointment to Xueya’s wounds.
There was a deep bite mark on his ear, a bruise on his waist where he had been pinched, and both knees were injured. There were also finger marks at the base of his thigh.
Although he had already noticed the finger marks earlier, He Xulan still paused when he saw them again while applying the ointment. Startled by He Xulan’s expression, Xueya immediately pressed his legs together. But when He Xulan gave him a stern look, he nervously returned to his previous position, resting one leg on He Xulan’s knee.
Once the ointment had been applied, He Xulan picked him up again. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
Xueya blinked once and then slowly nodded.
Earlier in the bath, his stomach had grumbled, but he thought He Xulan hadn’t heard it.
“Prepare some food,” He Xulan called out, noticing Xueya’s nod.
Soon, food was brought in.
The person who delivered it was Huang Gonggong, and the dishes were all light and easy to digest. Seeing He Xulan holding Xueya, Huang Gonggong’s expression remained unchanged as he reported, “Your Majesty, there was a fire at Ningfu Palace tonight. It started in the small kitchen and spread to the nearby woodshed, but fortunately, no one was harmed. Tomorrow, I’ll have people rebuild the kitchen and woodshed. In the meantime, we’ll set up a temporary kitchen elsewhere.”
He Xulan nodded and rolled up a few strands of noodles, bringing them to Xueya’s lips. “Have the imperial guards left?”
“They’ve already left. The Empress Dowager returned to the palace through the back gate, so no unauthorized individuals saw.” Huang Gonggong paused before adding, “However, Commander Liang noticed that Xueya was missing and asked about his well-being.”
At this, Huang Gonggong glanced at Xueya sitting in He Xulan’s lap. Though Xueya’s spirits seemed low, his appetite appeared fine. Huang Gonggong began thinking about how to report this to Liang Mu.
He Xulan stopped feeding Xueya and looked at Huang Gonggong. “Why was Liang Mu at Ningfu Palace when he was supposed to be on leave tonight?”
“I’m not sure, Your Majesty. Perhaps the Commander had other matters to attend to. But thanks to his help, the fire was quickly brought under control,” Huang Gonggong replied.
Xueya wasn’t paying attention to what He Xulan and Huang Gonggong were discussing. His focus was entirely on the noodles. Seeing that He Xulan had stopped feeding him, he wanted to lean in and take a bite but felt embarrassed. He looked at the noodles, then at He Xulan, feeling more and more aggrieved when He Xulan kept talking.
Having endured two traumatic events in one night, Xueya was emotionally fragile, crying at the slightest provocation. By the time He Xulan noticed, Xueya’s face was already covered in tears.
Huang Gonggong was promptly dismissed.
After leaving the palace, Huang Gonggong glanced at the young eunuchs standing guard. Tonight, his apprentice was in charge—someone known for keeping secrets. “Keep a close watch. Not even a mosquito gets in unless summoned by His Majesty. Understand?”
After giving his orders, Huang Gonggong walked away, shaking his head halfway through.
It seemed like it would be wise to treat Xueya better in the future. It wasn’t unlikely that he might climb higher in rank, and after tonight, it was almost a certainty.
***
Inside the palace.
After finishing the noodles and rinsing his mouth, Xueya wanted to lie down on the bed, but He Xulan wouldn’t let him, saying it would be bad for his digestion.
“Walk around a bit to help with digestion,” He Xulan said.
Xueya leaned against the bed, biting his lip as he placed his freshly bandaged foot on He Xulan’s lap. “No.”
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