Chapter 59 [VIP]

Calm down. Calm down. Don't put your brother in a difficult position.

Murong Yue glanced coldly at the letters, which he saw as mere hindrances. He maintained his smile, a slight upturn at the corner of his lips, and said to the young man, "Brother, reply to the letter... It's a pity we can't go back to see Uncle and Aunt for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I'll deliver the letter for you after you finish writing it."

Slightly surprised by his words, Lu Xuejin's eyes lit up with a bright look as she said to him, "Then I'll trouble Your Highness."

This person has always been like this. Even though I know he is extremely jealous, I still trust him and am willing to entrust him with any request he makes.

He watched the young man write the letter, speaking gently and kindly. Even if the recipient wasn't Xue Yi, but Song Zhao, Lord Cui, or Sister Wei Ning, the young man would still write the same words. The young man was always gentle and patient with those around him. He looked at Lu Xuejin's features, gently tracing their contours with his gaze.

Good intentions can backfire and tempt people to take advantage of you.

After Lu Xuejin finished writing the letter, he took it away, but he didn't peek at it; he simply kept it in his bosom. The next day, before dawn, he went to the street and took a small portrait of Lu Xuejin. He had found the portrait among the wisteria vines; it depicted Lu Xuejin's face. He went to the streets of Luzhou to find a painter.

The painter was only in his early twenties. He had originally studied painting, but now he made a living by drawing portraits on the street and also took on some freelance work. He placed Lu Xuejin's portrait on the table and said to the painter, "Draw a portrait of me and him. Make it look loving, and ideally, you should be able to tell at a glance that we are a married couple."

"Alright. Sir, you don't have any other requests, such as what clothes to wear or body language? If you want an 18+ drawing, there will be an extra charge."

Murong Yue wanted to draw a book of erotic pictures of him and Lu Xuejin and send it to Xue Yi, but said from the side, "No need. Just draw them standing together, subtle and gentle, you know? It will let people know at a glance that he likes me."

He placed the silver on the table and asked, "How many days will it take to complete?"

The artist replied, "It will take at least three days. I still have several orders to finish."

That won't do. He only has a few hours; they'll be leaving soon. He glanced at the many books on the painter's table, many containing obscene content, and couldn't help but feel contempt. These people coming to the painter to have these kinds of drawings done was truly indecent. Thinking this, he looked at them several more times and added several times the amount of silver to the plate.

"Draw mine first. I'll give you two hours. Once you're done, I'll give you these." He pointed to the silver on the table at the painter.

The artist, with dark circles under her eyes, was about to recount her professional ethics—no cutting in line, no haggling—when she saw the bag the boy had placed on the table revealing a golden gleam, and she swallowed all her words.

"Alright, you wait and see."

She noticed that the boy kept looking at the sketchbooks she was drawing in. As she ground the ink, she said, "If you need anything later, you can write to me and ask for it. I can draw it for you slowly. Just write an address on the letter, and I will send it to you later."

Murong Yue turned his eyes away without answering, watching the woman paint. Seeing her quickly sketch the outline on the paper, his fan-shaped eyes immediately came to life, making him look lively and adorable. Lu Xuejin's face also appeared on the paper, but his brother's features were much sharper than his, and he was drawn taller, looking like a bird beside Changyou.

It was indeed drawn according to his requirements, and the painter finished it in less than two hours. After the ink dried, he picked it up and looked at it from left to right. He was beside Changyou, and Changyou was looking at him tenderly, which was indeed full of love, but he still felt that something was wrong.

He looked again at the sketchbooks the woman had drawn and the comic books piled up beside her. He recognized a few of them and realized that the comic books she read were the opposite of his own. He liked to read about his stepmother, sister-in-law, and teacher, while she preferred to read about her cousin, junior brother, and apprentice.

There was no time left, so he didn't ask the artist to make any more changes. He took the painting and left, but came back a little while later and asked for the artist's address. The artist also gave him a few comic books, all of which he didn't like.

He went to the post station, holding the official seal given to him by Lu Xuejin, and sent the letter written by Lu Xuejin along with the painting by the artist.

"Where did Your Highness go again?" He had just returned when he ran into Lu Xuejin looking for him.

Murong Yue: "I went to the post station, brother, don't worry. I didn't encounter any pursuers or suspicious people on the way."

“His Highness never tells anyone when he goes out,” Tengluo said, hugging the waterway. “This morning, the young master noticed that His Highness was missing and searched for him for a long time.”

Seeing Lu Xuejin looking at him quietly, he didn't know what she was thinking, but he also knew that he should behave himself at this time, so he hugged her and said, "When I left this morning, my brother was not awake yet... I know, next time I will definitely tell my brother before I leave."

Lu Xuejin did not pursue the matter, and said to him, "I can't feel at ease when I can't see His Highness, and His Highness likes to run around."

He chuckled, already imagining the scene after the painting was delivered, and leaned over to kiss the young man's ear, his little tiger teeth clinging to him, unwilling to let go.

The following day, Lu Xuejin's words came true. He noticed that His Highness was unusually happy that day, and saw several comic books in His Highness's luggage, perhaps he had gotten up early to buy books. He was also very lively on the way. After leaving the capital, there was no one to supervise him, like a caged tiger released into the wild, lively and full of life.

After leaving Luzhou, they encountered guards pursuing them on the road. Murong Yue went out and returned with several tokens bearing crescent moons, sometimes with bloodstains on his cheeks. Before he could wipe the blood from the boy's face, the carriage stopped, and the boy disappeared again in the blink of an eye. He went out to look and found that the carriage had stopped by the river, and His Highness had led Teng Luo to catch fish.

Murong Yue went into the water, tossing his outer robe aside. He grabbed a fish with his bare hands, splashing water everywhere, soaking Teng Luo and Zi Yan on the shore. Teng Luo immediately shrieked, calling out "Young Master" in displeasure. The young man wiped his face, which was still wet with water droplets. His eyebrows and eyes, as dark as ink, revealed a triumphant smile, and a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. He casually tossed the fish back onto the shore.

He then threw in several more fish. Seeing the boy playing in the water, he said from the shore, "Your Highness, the water is cold. Don't stay in it for too long."

The water didn't seem deep, but the autumn air was already chilly, and soaking in it like this might make him catch a cold. He stood guard on the bank, watching the water churn in front of him. Murong Yue emerged from the water and called out, "Brother!"

He was worried about people, so he stepped forward, only to have his wrist grabbed. Murong Yue pulled him down, and he felt a cold, snake-like touch on his wrist. He fell forward, and the boy pulled him into the water.

The icy river water rushed towards him from all directions, and he was completely embraced by Murong Yue. The boy's hair was all scattered in the water, as if he had become a water sprite clinging to him. He could only see the water spreading over his entire body, his eyelids half-closed, and the boy's slightly smiling face. The beams of light that pierced through the water mist fell on Murong Yue, and the boy was as beautiful as a gem formed naturally from the mist in the water.

Unlike him, who was always quiet and reserved, the boy resembled a radiant flame, and this appearance was what attracted him most. Although he was afraid of fire, he would always stop and stare when he saw a bright color while passing by.

In his eyes, Murong Yue was a flowing flame, the flame engulfing him, dragging him down on ordinary days, soaking his outer robe, disrupting his order, only following the boy's will, staining his heartbeat, making his heartbeat rise and fall like the sound of water passing by.

The delicate kiss landed on his ear, the river water dampened his eyelashes, and a heat rose on his cheeks. He couldn't tell whether it was the sun shining through the river or the warmth of the boy's body.

"Young Master—" Tengluo called out to him anxiously from the shore.

Murong Yue carried him out of the water. He looked at the boy's earnest gaze and felt that his strength seemed inexhaustible. He slowly floated up from the water.

"Brother Changyou, are you cold? Let me carry you upstairs."

"..." Lu Xuejin choked on the water and said to the boy, "No need. Your Highness, please come up with me."

The two of them came up one after the other. Tengluo and Ziyan had already prepared clean clothes; they would have grilled fish for lunch. The guards went to gather firewood, and the two of them huddled together to look at the map.

Ziyan: "Young master, the next city is quite far away and we can't reach it today. There is a temple less than ten miles from here called Leiyin Temple. We can spend the night there."

"Leiyin Temple?" he repeated. Ancient books recorded the existence of a Lesser Leiyin Temple. He asked, "Is it the temple mentioned in the book?"

Ziyan: "That's not the case. This is a small temple. The further south you go, the more temples are built. Near Liancheng, there are small temples every ten miles and large temples every fifty miles."

The Great Wei Dynasty was vast, with a stark contrast between the north and south and the central region. The north was prosperous due to its administrative center, while the southern cities, such as Gusu, Lin'an, and Mingzhou, were connected to the coast by waterways and were home to many prominent families. Song Zhao and several high-ranking officials in the court came from prominent southern families. The central region, centered on Liancheng, was the most backward, suffering from perennial drought and mountainous terrain, resulting in a closed-off state.

“Then I went to the temple to stay for the night, and I didn’t see any pursuers coming up,” he said.

"Chirp." The boy beside him sneezed, the sound like a bird. He looked over and met a pair of clear black and white eyes. Murong Yue was sitting beside him, looking at the map in his hand. He suddenly became very reserved, and his face turned red.

"Our Highness is not yet married, and he needs to maintain proper etiquette when meeting people." Seeing the young prince acting so pretentiously in front of her young master, Tengluo couldn't help but expose him, hoping that her young master would take a good look and not let the prince act so recklessly.

Murong Yue looked at Tengluo with a leisurely air and said to her, "Tengluo, after we return to the capital, I will tell Lord Song that you have been secretly keeping his handwriting in the library every day."

Tengluo had never told anyone about this, and she didn't know how His Highness knew. His Highness was always appearing and disappearing mysteriously, so she was stunned and forgot to reply for a moment, which made Ziyan look at her curiously.

“Don’t even think about it,” Murong Yue said. “Lord Song wants to marry an eight-year-old girl, and you are already sixteen. You are too old, so Lord Song will naturally look down on you.”

Lu Xuejin was somewhat helpless. He took the outer robe from Ziyan's hand and draped it over Murong Yue. Seeing that Tengluo's face was red with anger, he picked up the two children and made them face each other, staring at each other.

"You two are not allowed to quarrel anymore. A hug will make you make up. Your Highness, you must not be so harsh."

Tengluo: "This is Your Highness's true nature. Your Highness is getting worse and worse."

Murong Yue: "Men and women should not touch each other. Why would I hug Tengluo? She is a servant. I don't want her. Brother, let me go right now."

Lu Xuejin listened to the two children's endless bickering, so he simply picked them up and forced them to stand together. Tengluo and the little prince's cheeks were pressed together, one with an angry expression, the other with a sinister look. He only let go of them after they had finished pressing their cheeks together.

As soon as Fang released him, Tengluo reacted faster than Murong Yue, and the young prince took another punch, now his eyes were symmetrical. After beating him up, Tengluo didn't say anything, hiding behind Ziyan and watching the two of them, then turned her head with a snort.

"..." Lu Xuejin slightly rubbed her forehead. She saw Murong Yue grit his teeth, his eyes filled with anger. But when she saw him suppress his anger, she hugged him and snuggled into his arms.

"Alright, Your Highness, don't fight back. Does it hurt?"

Murong Yue hugged him and said, "Brother, the ancients said that men and women are equal. Tengluo hit me twice, so we must not spoil her. Today, we should punish her by not letting her eat dinner."

Lu Xuejin felt helpless upon hearing this, but felt sorry for the boy after seeing him being beaten. She said to the others, "The sage also said that she should eat properly, so we can't punish her by not letting her eat. How about punishing her by not serving His Highness today? I will take care of His Highness in her place."

Upon hearing this, Tengluo made a face behind Ziyan's back. Ziyan then picked a lot of spice leaves and put the prepared fish in them to marinate.

Lu Xuejin comforted Murong Yue, saying that His Highness was quite troublesome, but the young master was very patient. Ziyan rolled up a fish with a leaf, looked at the wisteria beside her, and asked, "Since you have someone you like, why leave the capital?"

“You and the young master are my family, how can I not feel at ease?” Tengluo said, then looked at the prince’s swollen eyes and said unhappily, “Besides, the prince is also here. The prince is always putting on an act, I don’t want the prince to die.”

During the meal, Tengluo picked a lot of mushrooms, which she strung together and placed on Murong Yue's plate. After Murong Yue finished his portion, he left the fish roe from his plate for Tengluo, and the two little ones made up.

They traveled after dark. Leiyin Temple was located outside Dingzhou, shrouded in mist among the trees, its outline visible in the distance, with incense sticks entwined around the green peaks. They arrived at Leiyin Temple in the middle of the night. The temple's vermilion walls formed a huge courtyard, with a main hall in the center housing Buddha statues, incense offering areas on both sides, and the monks' resting place in the back courtyard.

Murong Yue looked at the temple and said, "Brother Changyou, the book says that Xiaoleiyin Temple is full of yin energy and many demons and monsters live in it. This Leiyin Temple is also shrouded in mist now, and it doesn't look like a proper temple. Could it also be inhabited by various demons?"

“For example, monsters that specifically eat young boys and girls,” Murong Yue naturally took someone’s hand, “I’m still a virgin, and Brother Changyou protects me.”

"..." Lu Xuejin replied, "The stories written in the book are all made up. Your Highness can just read them and not take them as fact."

As he spoke, Lu Xuejin knocked on the door. The temple was very quiet; the only sound was the buzzing of mosquitoes in the bamboo grove. He waited patiently for a moment, and then footsteps came from inside.

He held the boy's hand beside him, while two girls hid behind him. The temple door opened, revealing the monk's face. It was the monk on night watch; he wasn't very old, but he possessed a pure and spiritual aura. Upon seeing them, he softly murmured "Amitabha."

"Esteemed benefactors, are you here to seek lodging at Leiyin Temple?"

A note from the author: