It was already late at night when Xie Shiguan returned home. All the lights inside and outside the mansion were extinguished. He dismissed his attendants and walked alone in the corridor.

The moonlight occasionally appeared in the night sky stained with cold ink. The night wind blew up snowflakes, which occasionally brushed against Xie Shiguan's crimson official robe and lightly wet the corners of his clothes.

He did not avoid the snow, but instead savored the scent of the winter snow and walked towards the bedroom.

But when passing by the small courtyard next to the bedroom, Xie Shiguan suddenly noticed something strange.

bright--

Why are the lights still on in the dark courtyard in the middle of the night?

The dim light was so inconspicuous that it would have been almost impossible to notice it if the prince had not had excellent night vision.

He slowly approached the small courtyard, his feet stepping silently on the snow. Through the ebony window embedded in the courtyard wall, the prince vaguely saw a figure.

There were no lights on in the yard. The light came from a charcoal stove. On the stove was a large tin kettle, with steam constantly coming out of the mouth of the kettle.

The figure bent his waist slightly and walked into the house carrying a bucket of water.

Xie Shiguan climbed over the wall gracefully, and then jumped onto the roof with the help of a water tank on the side of the house. The prince completed this series of actions in one go, and when he landed on the tiles, the slightest sound was immediately covered up by the sound of the wind.

After standing firmly, the prince squatted down again, and lightly lifted half of the tile with his index and middle fingers. Through the gap, he stared at the man in the room with interest.

In the cold winter, in the middle of the night, why was this little mute hiding in the yard to boil water?

Just as I was wondering, I suddenly saw the servants take off their outer robes unexpectedly, and then their short shirts, middle clothes, inner clothes, and lower clothes.

It turned out that he wanted to wash his body... But he was still a little confused. There was a bathhouse in the palace, which was specially designed for colleagues and guards. Chen was the highest-ranking guard besides Chen Xiangzhi. If he wanted to take a bath, he could just go to the bathhouse and order maids and servants to serve him. Why should he endure the grievance of boiling water for a bath in the yard again and again?

Others who were peeping were all very nervous, but Xie Shiguan was the only one who looked open and honest. When he saw Chen stripping him completely naked, he did not even look away.

Shen Que's skin was not very white, and there was only a thin layer of muscle under the skin. It looked hard and was not to the prince's taste.

It is true that Xie Shiguan is a homosexual, but he only likes delicate and beautiful women, who must be soft in every way, whether in body or temperament.

The prince watched him being whipped from the upper body to the lower body without blushing or beating his heart. The whip wounds on his back had already formed scabs, like thick ink that had been splashed and clumped together, which made people feel a little itchy just by looking at it.

Seeing that the little mute was about to bend down to wipe his calf, he paused and put his feet on the chair again, not knowing whether he had pulled the wound on his back.

What is that?

Even His Royal Highness Prince Yan, who prided himself on being well-informed, could not help but be stunned at this moment. There were only two short candles lit by the table in the room, which dimly illuminated only an area of three feet square.

Xie Shiguan initially thought he had seen it wrong, but the visibility in the house was too low, so he had to squint slightly, almost blinding his eyes, before he finally saw it clearly.

He was not wrong.

Shen Que's body structure is indeed different from that of ordinary people.

No wonder... No wonder he has never liked to get close to others since he was a child, and he is never seen mixing with other people in the mansion. Xie Shiguan used to think that he was just a loner by nature, but now it seems that this is not the case.

Xie Shiguan's eyes sank, and he stared meaningfully at the half-profile of the person in the room reflected in the candlelight.

Shen had served him personally for more than ten years, but he didn't even notice it.

At this moment, a gust of wind suddenly pushed away the dark clouds, and a half moon briefly appeared in the sky. The cold moonlight fell and passed through the half-open tile.

Chen below seemed to suddenly realize something and suddenly raised his head to take a look at the beam.

Although Xie Shiguan quickly closed the tile, Shen still saw it.

Shen Que's heart was beating fast, and the first thought that popped into his mind was to rush out and catch the man immediately. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. He had no clothes on his body and could only worry in the house.

After pulling on a set of clean clothes and putting them on, Shen immediately pushed the door open and went out to check.

After wasting some time, the thief on the roof had already disappeared. However, Chen suppressed his pounding heartbeat, touched the scimitar at his waist and searched the whole yard, but he only found a series of footprints on the snow that were covered by someone's feet.

He even remembered to take care of the footprints. This person must have been sure that he would not dare to chase him naked.

He must have seen everything, but Shen thought in annoyance, how come he didn't notice anything just now?

This person could come and go freely in the inner palace, and he had practiced martial arts. He was probably either a death warrior raised by the prince, or a personal guard like him. He remembered that there were several maids who knew martial arts around the prince. Shen had never fought with them, so he didn't know the depth of their skills, but he guessed that their skills would not be low.

what to do?

No matter who it is, if he tells His Highness his secret, what will His Highness do to him?

He couldn't help but think of a very pretty slave in the inner palace, who was very favored by the prince for a while. Unfortunately, her glory did not last long. When she went out, she was not careful and was kicked in the leg by an out-of-control horse. Although she saved her life, her foot was injured.

Just because of his slip, Xie Shiguan asked Shen Xiangzhi to send him away.

As Xie Shiguan's right-hand man over the years, he knows too many secrets of His Highness. By then, he might not even have a chance to be dismissed.

He will die.

He definitely will.

After so many years of fighting for King Yan and escaping death several times, Chen is no longer afraid of death, but he is afraid that Xie Shiguan will look at him as if he were a monster.

No matter how others look at him, only Xie Shiguan...

The prince, his highness.

He was so frightened that he was shivering slightly as he stood in the snow. His cheeks and lips suddenly lost their color and he looked even weaker than the day he was tortured.

The next day, the weather was sunny.

Shen, however, tossed and turned in his bed all night, unable to sleep, the informer in his imagination revealed his secret a thousand times, and Xie Shiguan killed him a thousand times.

Therefore, when he was suddenly summoned by the prince at the beginning of the morning, he became weak-legged almost uncontrollably.

"Your Highness, did you tell me why you called me?" Shen raised his hand and gestured to the unfamiliar servant.

The servant looked cold and shook his head when he saw him gesturing: "Don't gesture, I don't understand. Your Highness only told me to take you there, and didn't say anything else."

He couldn't read sign language, but he still answered Shen Que's question by mistake.

Shen Que had no choice but to put on his outer robe and followed the servant into the bedroom of His Royal Highness Prince Yan with trepidation.

There was an incense burner burning in the hall, with a strong scent of agarwood mixed with a little musk. It was the soft wood scent that we were used to smelling, and it made people feel lazy.

But now Shen couldn't relax at all. The further he went in, the faster his heart beat. The moment he saw Xie Shiguan's figure, Shen suspected that his heartbeat was about to overflow from his throat.

Perhaps in the next moment, His Highness would order people to strip off his clothes, exposing his hidden flaws in public.

Just thinking about it, he felt like he was about to burst into tears.

At the same time, the prince, who was being dressed by a group of maids, suddenly turned his head, his eyes fell on him for a moment, and he said lightly: "Shen Que."

Shen was pulled back from his nightmare by his voice.

He signed: "Your Highness."

"What are you doing standing there like an idiot? After a few days of rest, don't you know how to serve others?"

Chen Que hurried forward, took the jade belt from the maid's hand, and tied it around Xie Shiguan's waist with ease.

He lowered his head and leaned forward behind the prince. The prince turned around and saw the top of his head. His jet-black hair had a satin texture under the bright candlelight, and then his red ears.

Xie Shiguan wanted to tease him, and suddenly reached out to touch his earlobe with his fingertips. Shen was startled and looked at Xie Shiguan in surprise.

The prince said calmly, "Your ears look hot."

Chen Que quickly reached out to touch his ear, and it was indeed hot, burning. He gestured quickly: "I think it was steamed by the earth dragon in the hall."

Xie Shiguan just smiled and said nothing.

The next moment, Shen Xiangzhi knocked on the door frame and reminded, “Your Highness, the sedan chair is ready.”

Xie Shiguan then started to move. When he passed by Chen Que, he paused and asked knowingly, "Are you fully healed?"

Shen nodded quickly.

"Now that everything is fine, you will accompany me to the court meeting today."

Until he sent Xie Shiguan to the long steps, Shen Que was still pondering his words over and over again in his heart, but no matter how hard he pondered, he could not see that His Highness was any different from the past.

At most I spoke a few more words to him, and there wasn't even the slightest sense of estrangement as if we hadn't seen each other for many days.

It seems that the thief has not reported this matter to Your Highness yet.

Although he came to this conclusion, Shen still couldn't let go of his worry. If the thief didn't expose him now, he might do so in the future. At the moment, he didn't know the thief's identity, but the other party knew everything about him.

This man's existence is like a piece of gunpowder. No one knows where it is buried, but he is surrounded by fire and cannot move.

He looked up at the sky of the imperial city. The clouds had disappeared and the snow had cleared. The sky was blue, but the sun was still dazzling.

Xie Shiguan, dressed in crimson-purple court robes, climbed the stairs. His tall figure was as straight as a pine tree, making him more eye-catching than anyone else.

He would rather die than have Xie Shiguan know about his secret illness which he dared never reveal to others.