Chapter 6

"The date is set for the spring hunt next month, when we will escort Lord Cui out of the palace," Ziyan said.

Ziyan: "There is only one thing. At the palace banquet two days ago, Lord Song Zhao specifically asked you about it. You were not there that day, and His Majesty seemed to be displeased because of this. He drank more wine with Lord Song at the banquet."

"..." Lu Xuejin pondered for a moment and said, "My relationship with him is shallow, unlike his relationship with Xue Yi. Since he asked, he must have become suspicious and has been extra careful lately."

Ziyan: "Yes...this servant understands."

"For the spring hunt, His Majesty has approved the Ninth Prince to go as well. The historians are now reporting to the people daily, writing articles about His Majesty saving the Ninth Prince, and rumors are circulating that His Majesty has a compassionate heart… all good things are said. After His Majesty learned of this, he granted permission for the Ninth Prince to go as well," Ziyan said.

How the historians write it all depends entirely on the emperor's mood. Xue Yi spared Murong Yue's life only for a good reputation; in any case... it's fortunate that the boy is still alive.

Just as Ziyan finished speaking, a figure appeared outside; this person had recently become a regular visitor.

"This servant will take her leave now." Ziyan bowed and then left.

Lu Xuejin spotted the person from afar. After he told Murong Yue to send someone over, Murong Yue came every day. From his father's death to Xue Yi's ascension to the throne, he hadn't felt that anything had changed... Apart from occasionally missing his father and mother, everything else remained the same. He hadn't been troubled by being trapped in the situation.

Now that Murong Yue comes every day, it feels somewhat novel to him. He recalls the kitten that would suddenly appear on his windowsill when he was a child, during a break from reading. He was once captivated by the kitten, and the scene was very similar to that of his youth.

The boy's expression was unreadable from a distance, but as people approached, they could see the wounds on his face, as if he had lost a fight.

"Did you get into a fight?" he couldn't help but ask.

The boy's handsome, cold face turned pale, the color spreading all the way to the corner of his lips. He had been looking gloomy when he entered, but once he was beside him, he obediently composed himself and just stared at him, feeling rather uncomfortable sitting next to him.

"Did your classmate bully you again?" Lu Xuejin asked. The boy's skin was fair, and the mottled bruises on his face were somewhat frightening. He hadn't seen him for only a few days, and he was injured again. He found those scars very unsightly.

"I bumped into something by accident... These minor injuries are nothing serious," Murong Yue said, a cold smile flashing across his eyes before his expression quickly returned to calm.

"What exactly happened... If I wait until I ask someone, I can find out the reason. I'd rather hear Your Highness tell me," Lu Xuejin said. He didn't press the matter, staring at the person, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Does it hurt?" Lu Xuejin touched the boy's wound, and the boy let her touch it, gently shaking his head.

“It doesn’t hurt.” The boy stared intently at his movements and said to him, “Today I ran into Lord Liu. He’s Liu Mingde’s uncle. He was with the guards and said he wanted to test me. I couldn’t answer his questions, so he ordered someone to teach me a lesson. I didn’t want to obey him, so I got slapped… Later, the Grand Tutor came, and the matter was settled.”

Lu Xuejin listened quietly. Back in his school days, he only cared about his studies and never paid attention to relationships with his classmates. In that light, it was understandable that most of his classmates later became closer to Xue Yi.

"Lord Liu of the Ministry of Rites? I don't have much of an impression of him, but he humiliated you so much..." Lu Xuejin didn't finish his sentence. He naturally disliked anyone who bullied the kitten. He quietly pondered a solution while using a wooden stick to apply ointment to Murong Yue's mouth. When he touched the corner of the boy's mouth, the boy subconsciously grinned.

Lu Xuejin stopped what she was doing. "Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Murong Yue stared at him, remaining quiet and motionless. After staring at him for a moment, suddenly, he felt a cool sensation between his brows. The young man's slender fingertips, covered with thin calluses, touched his brow.

"Don't frown... I'm really fine. If this happens again, I'll have my own way of dealing with it." The boy leaned closer and whispered in his ear, as if to comfort him, his clear black and white eyes reflecting his image.

Lu Xuejin saw himself reflected in Murong Yue's eyes. Normally, he would never lower his brows and become engrossed in thought, but now, in the young man's eyes, he sat with his eyes lowered, a faint look of doubt in them.

"In that case... Your Highness, could you tell me what kind of solution to this?" Lu Xuejin asked, touching the wound on the boy's lip, his fingertip brushing against the boy's canine tooth. His mind had been elsewhere, but touching the boy changed his thoughts.

His fingertips touched something strange, slightly hard, and sharp against his index finger. He turned his head slightly to look at Murong Yue.

“Of course there is a way… then I won’t get beaten next time. My mother taught me before that I won’t take such a small matter to heart,” Murong Yue said.

“Your Highness means… you know what you’re doing. I understand… open your mouth so I can see.” Lu Xuejin pinched Murong Yue’s face.

As the young man drew closer, Murong Yue instinctively held his breath. His nose was filled with the other's scent, and he realized he was somewhat allergic to it; the mere touch made it hard to breathe. He could only feign composure, though his heart was pounding and his palms were sweating.

He was completely unaware of his own injuries, only noticing the young man's concern for him... He wanted to see the young man's worried expression, yet he couldn't bear to see the young man frown.

His face was numb when he was hit, but his mouth should be fine. Lu Xuejin told him to open his mouth, so he opened it instinctively.

Murong Yue met a pair of brownish-red eyes. The young man looked serious, and the way his face was being pinched made him very uncomfortable. His canine teeth were natural; his mother said it suited his zodiac sign of the Tiger. He felt uneasy opening his mouth towards the young man, worried about hurting Lu Xuejin, so he withdrew his sharp teeth.

His gaze traveled from the young man's face to his earlobes. The man was so handsome that he had always dreamt of Lu Xuejin as a goddess, and he would unconsciously blush whenever he stared at her. Now, he didn't know where to place his gaze, moving from the young man's earlobes to his neck... The young man's earlobes were a smooth, white expanse, and his neck was long and elegant, extending into his collar. For some reason, he suddenly felt a tickle in his teeth, an urge to bite something.

He was clearly well past the age of grinding his teeth... His face was still being pinched by Lu Xuejin, and he felt like a rag doll, completely at the mercy of the young man. Several times the other man touched his canine teeth, and he didn't know whether to open his mouth or bite. His lips brushed against the young man's fingers a few times, and he felt that the hall was inexplicably hot.

The person before him possessed such magic… everything he had suffered before could be forgotten once he arrived here. All that remained before him was the young man, the pleasant scent, the slender fingertips close to his nose, and the other's calm, composed face. He felt his ears growing increasingly hot, so hot that his breathing became erratic.

He couldn't help but feel annoyed, and a hint of irritability surfaced in his heart. Every time he tried to remain calm in front of this person, he always ended up losing control.

"...Is it done?" he couldn't help but ask, his dark eyes fixed on the person in front of him. If this continued, he might not be able to resist biting them.

When the young man released him, his heartbeat slowed down a bit, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"It seems you're alright, but Your Highness's face... did I pinch it too hard?" Lu Xuejin stared thoughtfully at her fingertips, then turned to look at him.

Murong Yue felt like he was about to faint. His ears were burning hot; he probably had frostbite, which had spread from his ears to his cheeks, making his cheeks numb. When the young man asked, he instinctively shook his head.

"It doesn't hurt."

"Young Master, His Majesty has arrived," Ziyan suddenly said.

"..." Lu Xuejin looked towards the door and then said to him, "Your Highness, would you please hide for a moment and go to the inner room?"

Murong Yue was initially worried that if he saw Xue Yi here, it would inevitably implicate Lu Xuejin. Lu Xuejin's suggestion was just right, and he was led to the inner room by Ziyan.

He had never set foot in the young man's bedchamber before. The bedchamber was as simple yet elegant as he had imagined, almost entirely in gray and white. Pleasant incense burned within, and a painting of birds soaring in the sky adorned the screen. Behind the screen hung the young man's outer robe. It was a silver robe embroidered with white clouds and cranes; the young man seemed to have a fondness for crane motifs. His temperament, it seemed, was like that of a snow crane… aloof and pure, utterly untainted.

Murong Yue walked behind the screen, intending to touch the young man's outer robe. But as soon as he touched it, the robe, which was about to fall off the screen, covered his head.

Besides the pleasant scent of spruce, there was another strange fragrance on the other person's clothes. As if possessed, he leaned down and took a closer sniff. The belt wrapped inside fell off, and he quickly caught the snow-white ribbon.

Inside the main hall.

Lu Xuejin stepped outside. When Xue Yi saw him, his dark eyes paused slightly. He said to him, "Since entering the palace, Changyou has never come to greet me. Is there some joyous occasion today?"

"..." Lu Xuejin's mind flashed with Murong Yue's face, and she replied, "His Majesty's visits every day must be a joyous occasion for Fangze Palace."

"What brings His Majesty here today?" Lu Xuejin asked.

When Xue Yi noticed the red plum blossoms in his room and was about to touch them, he immediately said, "These are red plum blossoms picked from the wild. Your Majesty should not touch them, lest you hurt your hands."

“…The color of these red plum blossoms is too bright and not suitable for your room.” Xue Yi touched them with his hand, and the petals of the red plum blossoms scattered.

Lu Xuejin's brown eyes were calm and still, reflecting the scattered red plum blossoms. They must have been branches that His Highness had picked. They were not easy to put away, but easy to destroy.

"I do like it very much... What does it matter if it's suitable or not? What do you say, brother?" Lu Xuejin slightly turned her eyes, her eyes reflecting a cold indifference.

"If you like it, I will have someone send it to you every day from now on," Xue Yi said in a low voice, his tone somewhat indulgent.

"Xue Yi," Lu Xuejin called out his name. He showed no impatience on his face and remained patient as he said, "You came here for this matter? Pointing out things in the palace like a palace maid is not the way an elder brother should act."

Xue Yi was not angry upon hearing this. His dark eyes lowered, revealing a small mole under his eye, and he sighed slightly.

"With the spring hunt approaching, I have ordered the guards to search the imperial palace... I am naturally at ease with Changyou's situation. However, the palace decree has been issued, and I have entrusted Song Zhao with full responsibility, as the Golden Palace is still within the palace grounds. In the coming days... how about Changyou stays with me for the time being?"

This appearance was very familiar. Lu Xuejin remembered that when they were young, Xue Yi would always act like this whenever he messed up his books or ruined his plants. Xue Yi knew that he looked weak, so he pretended to be a sickly young man. Whenever Lu Xuejin saw Xue Yi acting like this, he would let the matter drop.

Now they've learned to push their luck.

“Brother is absolutely right,” Lu Xuejin said, feigning concern. He placed his palm on the back of Xue Yi’s hand, which made Xue Yi glance at him.

A dark aura appeared in Xue Yi's eyes, an aura that seemed to taint him, constantly corroding and spreading towards him, pulling him along into the endless abyss.

My heart is filled with fear and trepidation, making it difficult to cherish each other.

“Indeed, everyone should be treated equally,” Lu Xuejin said. “It’s almost the anniversary of Mother’s death, so I’m going back to the manor to visit. I’ll leave this place to you, brother.”

More than ten years have passed since his mother's death. It's probably because of the long time that Xue Yi has been busy with political affairs that he has forgotten about her.

The air was quiet. Xue Yi looked at him for a while and then said "Okay".

After seeing Xue Yi off, Lu Xuejin watched him leave. His palace was usually very quiet, but when he heard intermittent noises, he remembered that Murong Yue was still there.

"Ninth Prince?" He watched Murong Yue emerge from his bedchamber. For some reason, the boy's cheeks flushed red, his handsome face was tense, and his voice seemed to drift all the way over.

"I'm going back now... Tengluo should be waiting for me to cook." With that, she dashed off.

"..." Lu Xuejin watched Murong Yue's back as he entered the bedchamber. His outer robe was hanging on the screen. There should be nothing hateful or detestable in his bedchamber, so she wondered why he had scared the prince away.

It wasn't until evening that Ziyan told him that his belt was missing.