I, The Substitute, Am With The Main Character Chapter 85

After Xueya snuggled in He Xulan’s embrace for a while, he finally felt hungry. Just as he was about to ask He Xulan to take him for a meal, a voice came from outside, belonging to the apprentice of Huang Gonggong.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor’s imperial chariot is headed towards Ningfu Palace.”

Upon hearing that Cui Lingjing was coming, Xueya tightened his grip on He Xulan’s clothing in fear. Sensing this, He Xulan gently patted Xueya’s back to reassure him, and responded to the person outside, “Is the palace gate locked?”

“It’s been locked as per Your Majesty’s orders.”

“Then keep it locked. If the Emperor arrives, tell him I’m unwell and have already retired for the night,” He Xulan said coldly.

Xueya was startled for a moment. After the apprentice left, he quickly asked, “Brother, won’t the Emperor get angry?”

“He probably will. But let’s not talk about him now. Are you hungry? I think I heard your stomach growling. Let’s go eat,” He Xulan said, steering the conversation away and leading Xueya to a meal.

With He Xulan by his side, Xueya felt much more at ease. Before, in Ningfu Palace, he was always afraid someone would break in, take him away, and force him to do something horrible, like the rain sacrifice. Or worse, he feared Yin Qingxuan might suddenly appear and bully him again. But now, it seemed there was nothing to fear. With He Xulan present, he would handle everything.

Thinking this, Xueya got out of bed again and ran to He Xulan, who was sitting at the desk. “Brother.”

He Xulan glanced at Xueya and pulled him onto his lap. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Maybe I slept too much during the day. Now I can’t fall asleep,” Xueya said, leaning against He Xulan. He looked at the half-drawn picture in front of him. “Brother, what are you drawing?”

“The defense map of the capital.”

Xueya asked in confusion, “What’s a defense map?”

He Xulan pointed to a spot on the map with his slender fingers. “This is the southern city gate of the capital. The guards change shifts every four hours, and the route they take goes from here to here.”

Xueya followed He Xulan’s fingers.

“This is the eastern city gate. Because it’s the closest to the palace, the shift changes every two hours, and the route looks like this.”

Xueya blinked after hearing a bunch of explanations about guard shifts, then tilted his head to look at He Xulan. “Brother, why are you drawing this?”

He Xulan looked at Xueya’s innocent face and straightened his posture, wrapping his arms around him from behind. He rested his chin on Xueya’s shoulder and asked, “What does Xueya want to become in the future?”

Without much thought, Xueya immediately answered, “Someone powerful.”

He didn’t want to be bullied anymore, nor did he want to live with his life in the hands of others. Xueya actually wanted to ask when He Xulan planned to rebel, but he didn’t dare, fearing it would reveal the dreams he’d been having.

“Someone powerful…” He Xulan softly repeated Xueya’s words. He stared at the half-finished map in front of him for a moment, then picked up his brush again. Xueya had intended to keep watching He Xulan draw, but before he knew it, sleepiness overtook him. When he woke up, he found himself lying in bed, with daylight streaming in through the windows.

He Xulan was not in bed. Xueya put on an outer robe and went to find him, only to be surprised that He Xulan was still sitting at the desk, just like the night before. When he got closer, he realized He Xulan hadn’t slept all night.

He Xulan’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the two maps on the desk. There was now one more map than when Xueya had fallen asleep. It wasn’t until Xueya approached that He Xulan seemed to snap out of it. He pulled Xueya closer. “Xueya, could you memorize these two maps for me?”

Xueya looked at the densely detailed maps, then at He Xulan, biting his lip and asking pitifully, “Do I really have to memorize them?”

“Yes.” He Xulan picked up the top map. “Especially this one. You must remember the route the Imperial Guards patrol at every hour inside the palace.”

Just hearing that made Xueya’s head spin, but since He Xulan was asking him to memorize it, he had no choice but to try. The information was too much, and it was easy to get confused. After breakfast, Xueya was still trying to memorize the maps when a report came in saying that Cui Lingjing had arrived again.

He Xulan told Xueya to continue memorizing while he went alone to meet Cui Lingjing.

Cui Lingjing had just finished the morning court session and was still wearing his dragon robe. Upon seeing He Xulan, he called out, “Godfather.”

“Does the Emperor still call me Godfather? I thought you no longer recognized me as such,” He Xulan said indifferently.

Cui Lingjing forced a smile. “Godfather jests. How could I not recognize you? Yesterday, you returned to the palace in a hurry, and I didn’t have time to arrange a banquet to welcome you. I’ve already instructed the Ministry of Rites to prepare one for tomorrow night.” Then, his tone shifted as he brought up another matter. “Godfather, you returned to the capital so urgently this time. Did something happen along the way?”

While Yi Yefeng was dealing with Lei Qiurong, He Xulan had fought Lei Qiurong’s lieutenant. Cui Lingjing had received news that the battle He Xulan fought had concluded more than twenty days ago. Given that He Xulan had not returned to the palace in all that time and still commanded a large army, Cui Lingjing, despite his fondness for He Xulan, could not help but feel suspicious.

For the past few days, thoughts of whether He Xulan might rebel had been lingering in Cui Lingjing’s mind. This was also why he had allowed Yin Qingxuan to investigate Ningfu Palace. However, after days of investigation, Yin Qingxuan had found nothing unusual, nor any evidence of collusion between He Xulan and external officials.

Cui Lingjing asked his question, watching He Xulan closely. Just then, a voice came from outside.

“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, the Imperial Physician has arrived.”

Hearing this, Cui Lingjing was momentarily stunned. “Is Godfather ill?”

He Xulan shook his head. “Not ill, just an injury that hasn’t healed. The Imperial Physician is here to change my dressing. Please have a seat, Your Majesty, I’ll return after the treatment.”

“Why don’t you change it here?” Cui Lingjing suddenly suggested.

He Xulan paused, looked at Cui Lingjing, and calmly replied, “Very well.”

The Imperial Physician entered, greeted them, and proceeded to change He Xulan’s dressing. He Xulan did not avoid Cui Lingjing and removed his upper garment in front of him. As soon as He Xulan’s back was exposed, Cui Lingjing saw the injury. Although the wound had mostly healed, Cui Lingjing could still tell how severe it had been — the cut ran from his shoulder blade to his lower back, nearly splitting him in half.

Even the Imperial Physician frowned upon seeing it. After changing the dressing, he advised, “Your Majesty must be cautious in the coming days, avoid strenuous activity, and mind your diet. I will return this afternoon to change the dressing again.”

“Thank you, Imperial Physician Li,” He Xulan said as he put on his outer robe and ordered someone to escort the physician out.

Once alone with Cui Lingjing, the Emperor couldn’t hold back any longer. “Godfather, is this injury the reason you…”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty, I’ve mostly recovered. I was unconscious for only a few days. Unfortunately, the two servants sent by Minister Yin to protect me perished. If not for them, I might have died under that blade,” He Xulan sighed.

Cui Lingjing pressed his lips together, and after a moment, said, “I will see that they are properly rewarded. Godfather, rest well, I will visit again tomorrow.”

***

Back at Fengrui Palace, Cui Lingjing summoned the imperial physician who had previously treated He Xulan’s injuries. “Imperial Physician Chen, can you tell when the Empress Dowager sustained the injury on his back?” he asked.

“In my humble opinion, it looks to be about twenty days to a month old,” the physician replied.

The timing matched.

After thinking for a moment, Cui Lingjing waved the physician away. Once the physician had left, the head eunuch brought over some tea. Noticing Cui Lingjing’s furrowed brow, he hesitated briefly before softly suggesting, “Should Your Majesty summon Minister Yin to the palace?”

“Isn’t Minister Yin on leave? He’s been quite busy these days, so it’s good to let him rest a bit. By the way, what illness does he have?” Cui Lingjing asked.

“They say it’s an ill wind that entered his body,” the head eunuch paused, “but the young eunuch who escorted Minister Yin mentioned seeing blood on his robe yesterday and that his steps were unsteady. Before that, the Empress Dowager summoned Minister Yin for a private audience.”

“Hmm?” Cui Lingjing frowned even more.

Seeing his reaction, the head eunuch added, “Perhaps Your Majesty could send an imperial physician to check on Minister Yin’s condition, to assess how serious his illness is.”

While arrangements were being made to send a physician, Xueya was fully engrossed in memorizing maps. He had been studying from morning till night, and after a whole day, he had only barely memorized a portion. When He Xulan quizzed him on that part, Xueya mixed everything up again.

Frustrated by his inability to retain the information, Xueya tried to act cute to avoid the test, but He Xulan, like the strict teacher he had been when teaching Xueya to write, showed no leniency on this matter.

“Brother, I really can’t remember,” Xueya groaned, his head aching from just looking at the densely detailed maps.

In response, He Xulan had someone bring several gold ingots from the treasury. Picking up one, he said, “If this gold is placed in the Shuixi Hall, and you need to retrieve it, at what time should you go, and which path should you take to avoid the Imperial Guards? If they see this gold, it becomes theirs.”

At these words, Xueya immediately sat up straight.

After several days of intense training, Xueya finally managed to collect all the gold ingots. Meanwhile, Huang Gonggong recovered and returned to serve He Xulan. Not long after, Yi Yefeng returned to the capital, bringing Lei Qiurong in chains.

Upon learning that Yi Yefeng had captured Lei Qiurong alive, Cui Lingjing was overjoyed and immediately arranged a grand banquet in his honor. Xueya, however, noticed that Yi Yefeng’s banquet was much grander than the one held for He Xulan and felt indignant.

“They both went to war, so why is there a difference in treatment?” he muttered.

Seizing the opportunity during the banquet, when many people were toasting Yi Yefeng, Xueya slipped into the crowd and secretly stepped on Yi Yefeng’s foot.

To Xueya’s surprise, quite a few people saw him do it.

Sitting at the head of the banquet, Cui Lingjing noticed the scene immediately. Most of those toasting Yi Yefeng were generals, but Xueya, dressed in bright, flamboyant clothes and being the smallest in stature, stood out among them.

“What is he doing?” Cui Lingjing asked, confused.

The head eunuch, having seen Xueya’s actions, replied, “Your Majesty, Xueya just stepped on General Yi’s foot.”

“Why did he step on General Yi’s foot?”

“That, this servant does not know.”

Cui Lingjing was curious but still remembered the time when Xueya had refused to go to the Beauty Pavilion. Not wanting to lose face by calling Xueya over, he instead summoned Yi Yefeng.

“Do you know Xueya? He just stepped on your foot,” Cui Lingjing said.

Yi Yefeng’s expression briefly showed confusion as he looked down at his boots. “Did someone step on me?” he asked.