Whether it was because of the impenetrable guards making any attempt seem futile, or because the Void Sect was too occupied to seek revenge on the true culprit, the Su residence remained eerily calm inside and out.
Su Yan lazed about like a rice worm for two days before he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Today must be the twelfth, right?” he asked.
Jinghong Zhui corrected him, “It’s the thirteenth.”
“Tomorrow is the fourteenth of the second month, the Longevity Festival!” Su Yan frowned. “By tradition, within one month after the Longevity Festival, executions are forbidden to avoid bloodshed, so local courts usually rush to execute death row prisoners right before the festival.”
The fugitive who had attempted to assassinate a royal answered indifferently, “Oh.”
“Oh what?!” Su Yan knocked on the table in annoyance. “Do you know what I’m thinking about?”
“I know. Yesterday I already sent a note to two commanders under Shen Qi, asking them to find an excuse to keep Wan Xin alive until after tomorrow. That way, you’ll have another whole month to maneuver.”
Su Yan nodded. “What about the evidence Wan Xin provided—how’s the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s verification going?”
“Almost done. Are you really going to submit it? When?”
Su Yan walked up to Jinghong Zhui and looked directly into his cold black eyes. “Ah Zhui, aren’t you happy? You’ve always wanted to tear Wei Jun to pieces. I’ve been the one holding back your desire for revenge, promising you that I’d make his crimes known to the world, that he would be brought to justice, condemned by the masses, and punished as he should. I even vowed not only to take down Wei Jun but to topple the entire Wei family.
“Now, it’s finally time for me to fulfill that promise. But you don’t look pleased—what are you thinking about?”
Jinghong Zhui’s slender fingers tightened around his sword hilt.
He had dreamed of personally skinning Wei Jun alive to avenge his tragically killed sister and to put out the poison and hatred burning in him day and night. Until that blood debt was repaid, the cries in his ears would never cease.
—So why was he feeling so uneasy now?
“My lord…” Jinghong Zhui finally spoke after a long silence, his voice dry. “Could you let me take the evidence and go to the Shuntian Prefecture to file the charges myself?”
Su Yan shook his head. “That won’t work. You’re still wanted under two warrants. Besides, if the prefect asks where you got the evidence, what would you say?”
Jinghong Zhui had no answer. After a pause, he said, “Then let the Northern Surveillance Bureau handle it. Say that Wan Xin wants to formally accuse Wei Jun.”
“Wan Xin doesn’t have the guts for that. And that would just shift the responsibility that should be mine onto the Northern Surveillance Bureau’s chief. Qilang is still badly injured—do you expect him to personally confront Wei Jun in court?”
Su Yan smiled and patted Jinghong Zhui’s shoulder. “Ah Zhui, I know what you’re worried about. You heard everything I discussed with Yu Wang. You’re afraid His Majesty wants to protect the Wei family for the Second Prince’s sake, and that if I submit the impeachment now, I’d not only offend His Majesty and the Empress Dowager at the same time, but I’d also become an easy target for punishment.”
Jinghong Zhui said, “Am I wrong to worry? If you submitted the evidence privately to the Ministry of Justice, that would be one thing. But you’re planning to accuse them publicly. If that d*mn—if His Majesty is dead set on protecting the Wei family, wouldn’t you be throwing yourself straight into the cannon’s mouth?”
“But if we don’t impeach them now, we’ll miss a great chance to bring them down. If we can search both marquis estates and find evidence or witnesses of their collusion with the Void Sect, that would be irrefutable treason—even the Empress Dowager couldn’t save them then.” Su Yan patiently explained, “Wan Xin overheard some estate managers drunkenly saying, ‘The Marquis has the best strategist in the world by his side,’ and ‘The Second Prince enjoys the protection of the immovable Zhenkong and is destined for greatness’—all of this is written in the testimony. If His Majesty still has any intention of punishing the Wei family, he won’t ignore this.”
Jinghong Zhui retorted, “You’re gambling your life on guessing the Emperor’s thoughts?”
Su Yan replied, “I’m doing what I believe must be done.”
Jinghong Zhui’s hand clenched tightly on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles turning white. Through gritted teeth, he said, “I’ll go tonight and kill Wei Jun and Wei Yan.”
Su Yan shook his head and laughed softly, “Even if you succeed, I will still submit this memorial. This is no longer just your personal vendetta, Ah Zhui. On a small scale, the Wei family is a roadblock I must eliminate in my political career. On a larger scale, if this malignant tumor isn’t removed, the Crown Prince is in danger like an egg precariously stacked, and the nation will face calamity and rebellion.”
Jinghong Zhui understood all this reasoning, but why did it always have to be his lord who took the risks? It was always like this. He was only seventeen or eighteen, yet he worried about more things than officials in their seventies or eighties. His wounds hadn’t fully healed, yet he had to return to the court to fight with words as his weapons and the pen as his sword. And the court was no less dangerous than the battlefield.
For a fleeting moment, a reckless thought arose in Jinghong Zhui’s heart: to throw everything aside and take his lord far away, to escape the storms and power struggles, and to live a peaceful life that belonged only to the two of them.
But that reckless thought was ultimately just a cold arrow that could never see the light of day. It brought him silent pain but could never be revealed in front of his lord, for fear of being misunderstood as trying to cut off his lord’s political future for selfish reasons.
Slowly, he loosened his grip on the sword, knelt on one knee, and said as if making an oath, “Whatever you wish to do, do it. Even if there are mountains of blades and seas of fire ahead, I will do everything to protect you.”
“You really don’t treat your own life as life.” Su Yan showed a disapproving expression and bent down to help him up. “If it really is blades and fire, accompanying me means dying with me. Better one survive than neither.”
Jinghong Zhui suddenly wrapped an arm around Su Yan’s waist and forcefully pulled him into his embrace. “What I said just now was as your subordinate. But now it’s Ah Zhui speaking to… Qinghe.” He seemed to have overcome his shame and sense of overstepping to finally utter this courtesy name that was never his to use.
Su Yan was briefly taken aback, then chuckled softly, “So what does ‘Ah Zhui’ want to say to ‘Qinghe’?”
Their noses touched, their breaths mingled. Jinghong Zhui’s ears turned red, but his expression was firm and resolute. In a low voice, he said, “I am your man. Fighting for you is my right, and no one can take it away—”
Su Yan froze.
Jinghong Zhui hardened his resolve and added, “Not even you.”
Su Yan remained silent.
Jinghong Zhui began to panic and stumbled over his words, “L-Lord can… do whatever you like…”
“Shut up,” Su Yan sighed, “but don’t shut your mouth too tight, or how can I kiss you?”
—
Su Yan left the house and got into a carriage, preparing to head to the Eastern Palace.
The Eastern Palace was on the east side of the outer court. With the waist token given by the Crown Prince, he could enter directly through the Donghua Gate, which was much closer than going through the Meridian Gate.
Zhu Helin was still attending lectures at the Wenhua Hall and hadn’t returned. Su Yan waited for him in the hall, sipping tea and chatting idly with Fu Bao.
Fu Bao said, “Lord Su, you haven’t come to the Eastern Palace in a long time. His Highness used to always talk about you, but lately he doesn’t mention you much. Sometimes, he just stares at the couch you used to rest on or the tea set you used, completely lost in thought. I don’t know what’s on his mind—his gaze is kind of scary.”
“Scary?” Su Yan couldn’t help but laugh. “Forgive me, but I find that hard to imagine.”
Fu Bao scratched the back of his head awkwardly and corrected himself, “Not that kind of scary. It’s just… ahem, I don’t know how to put it exactly. It’s like His Highness has grown up, his thoughts are more complex now, and sometimes even I don’t know what he’s thinking. His gaze just… kind of reminds me of His Majesty.”
“That’s not surprising. After all, they’re father and son.”
Su Yan took another sip of tea and asked, “How has His Highness’s mood been these past couple of days?”
Fu Bao replied, “He hasn’t been smiling much, but he hasn’t lost his temper or smashed things either. So… I guess he’s okay.” His tone was a little unsure on those last three words.
As they spoke, the Crown Prince returned to the palace. Before he even entered, he heard from the eunuchs that Lord Su was there, and he eagerly hurried in, calling out, “Qinghe! Where’s Qinghe?”
When he saw Su Yan, his expression immediately turned displeased, “You were running a high fever just a couple of days ago. Why aren’t you resting at home? What are you doing running around? If you needed something, you could have sent someone to tell me. I would’ve gone to you.”
Su Yan mimicked the blank expression of his own personal guards and simply said, “Oh.” Then he stood up to take his leave.
Zhu Helin quickly grabbed his wrist, “You’re already here, don’t leave!” Seeing that Su Yan was unmoved, he leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “So many palace people are watching—give me some face, will you?”
Su Yan chuckled, cupped his hands in salute, and said formally, “Your subject, Su Yan, greets His Highness the Crown Prince and wishes Your Highness good health.”
Zhu Helin laughed as well and waved the surrounding attendants away, “All of you, leave, go stand farther from the hall entrance. No sense of propriety at all!”
The palace attendants hurriedly retreated, leaving only Cheng Sheng and Fu Bao guarding the hall entrance. The older and younger eunuch stood on opposite sides, hands folded respectfully. Cheng Sheng gestured toward the hall, “Shall I have the kitchen prepare Lord Su’s lunch?”
Fu Bao thought for a moment and suggested, “Better prepare dinner as well.”
Inside the hall, Zhu Helin habitually pulled Su Yan toward the couch, kicked off his boots, crossed his legs, and completely disregarded all formalities.
Just as Su Yan was about to speak, Zhu Helin leaned over and tugged at his collar.
“What are you doing, hands all over me?” Su Yan scolded in a low voice while guarding his collar, “Stop fooling around, I’m here to talk business with you!”
Zhu Helin grinned, “I just wanted to see if the mark I left last time is still there.” Relying on his superior strength, he forcefully held Su Yan down and tugged his collar open slightly. Seeing that the vivid red mark above his collarbone had already faded, Zhu Helin ground his teeth in dissatisfaction, as if he wanted to leave a new one.
Su Yan snapped, “Is this really the time for fooling around? Do you truly not know why I came to the Eastern Palace?”
“So what if I do?” Zhu Helin said nonchalantly, his eyes burning as he looked at him. “When I can’t see you, I miss you. When I see you, I miss you even more. Whatever business it is, it can wait—I want a kiss first.”
As he spoke, he pressed his lips over in a completely unreasonable manner.
Su Yan knew the Crown Prince’s temperament well—if he didn’t let him have his way, the prince would only act even more stubbornly and shamelessly. Left with no choice, he reluctantly gave in, feeling the guilty weight of corrupting a minor as he kissed him back.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Su Yan forcefully pushed the Crown Prince away. When that didn’t work, he protested with his elbows and knees: “You said just one kiss, but you’re clinging like a dog and won’t let go, still sucking—are you nursing or something?”
Zhu Helin got jabbed painfully in his ribs and had to pull back. He gasped for breath as he rubbed against Su Yan.
Su Yan really wanted to kick him. He scolded, “Are you ever going to stop taking advantage of me?!”
“I did ask for permission before I kissed you,” Zhu Helin said, full of grievance. “The one who’s been secretly taking liberties with you is Fourth Uncle. I can’t beat him.”
“—What? When?”
“When you passed out with a high fever, he took advantage of the situation.”
“…That b*stard Zhu Xujin, a dog can’t stop eating sh*t!”
“Exactly, he’s a dog in heat going around everywhere. He used ‘feeding you medicine’ as an excuse and almost devoured you—”
Su Yan suddenly caught on. “You’re saying I’m sh*t?”
Zhu Helin slipped up and quickly tried to defend himself, panicking: “I didn’t! That’s not what I meant… Don’t hit me… I’m the Crown Prince, after all!”
Su Yan flipped the situation, pinned him down on the couch, and punched him with his knuckles: “So what if you’re the Crown Prince? If you piss me off, I’ll still beat you! If you’ve got the guts, chop my head off!”
After giving him a good roughing up, Zhu Helin contentedly hugged his personal attendant: “This little master really missed you to death.”
That line sounded oddly familiar—Su Yan’s heart skipped a beat. Swap “little” for “big” and wasn’t that exactly what the brothel patrons would say to their favorite girls?
He twisted the increasingly firm muscles in Zhu Helin’s arm and interrogated: “His Majesty ordered you to take charge of the disaster relief—what kind of shady places were you wandering around instead? You’ve even come back with that slick, silver tongue!”
Zhu Helin protested: “I didn’t! I worked myself to the bone—I even lost weight, and now you’re falsely accusing me!” He pinched Su Yan’s waist back and front, then grinned: “But you seem to have gained a little weight. Hugging you isn’t all skin and bones anymore.”
“This isn’t fat! These are abs!” Su Yan retorted angrily.
Zhu Helin lifted his own robes to show what real abs looked like.
The muscles of the young man weren’t bulky, but they were firm and defined—clearly more impressive than Su Yan’s. Su Yan felt a bit dejected and changed the subject: “Let’s not compare this. Sit up, I need to talk to you about something serious.”
Zhu Helin didn’t sit properly. He rested his feet on Su Yan’s thigh, reached toward the nearby table, and hooked over a plate of preserved fruits. He stuffed a big piece into Su Yan’s mouth and said, “This one’s sweet and tangy—you’d probably like it. Come on, let’s eat and talk.”
