Chapter 31
Yuan Heng was stunned for a moment. He had always been good at disguising himself, but this was the first time he was exposed.
He didn't intend to hide it, leaning back in his chair, stretching out his long legs: "How did you know?"
Xiao Ziyu pursed his lips and did not answer. He knew Yuan Heng's status in Yuantai, but those directors flattered him but not respected him enough. Instead, they surrounded Old Wu. Coupled with Yuan Qi'an's attitude, the two of them seemed to be in a state of confrontation.
From Old Wu's perspective, the company's top boss has been bedridden for a long time, and his youngest son who owns shares is a good-for-nothing second-generation rich kid. No matter how ruthless Yuan Heng is, he has no real power, and once he falls out with his boss, he is doomed to step down in disgrace. If he still has ambitions, now is the best time to eliminate dissidents.
It is impossible for Yuan Heng to sit and wait for death, but Xiao Ziyu is not very clear about what chips he has in his hand.
Although Xiao Ziyu had never been involved in the imperial court in his previous life, he had been in the palace for several years, so he knew how to think ahead before taking one step.
He whispered, "Maybe I can help you."
"It's not that easy to help me." Yuan Heng interrupted him.
Wu Xianyong is an old fox. If he hadn't buried his tail deep, he wouldn't have stayed with Yuan Qian'an for so many years.
Xiao Ziyu first asked in return, "If I can help you, what are you going to do?"
"I'll leave the management of Yuantai's foundation to you." Yuan Heng was also very frank.
He seemed to understand very well what Xiao Ziyu would care about. In his previous life, Prince Liang was warlike, and every time he recovered a city, Xiao Ziyu would bring people to open a charity to give alms, and when there was a shortage of food, he would even give out porridge and rice. Many villages secretly offered incense to the prince and worshipped him as a god.
After the king passed away, Yuan Heng did not allow anyone to celebrate the funeral and handled state affairs as usual. The entire palace was shrouded in a quietness as if a storm was about to come, but the common people spontaneously hung mourning clothes to help the king's soul pass away.
Sure enough, Xiao Ziyu agreed: "A gentleman's word is his bond."
"I am not worthy of this honor," Yuan Heng smiled like a hipster, "I won't break my promise."
He seemed calm and composed in the car, but when he returned to the apartment, the fingerprint authentication failed and Xiao Ziyu discovered that Yuan Heng's palms were wet with sweat.
He used his fingerprint to open the door and helped Yuan Heng into the house. The smart home appliances started operating in an orderly manner again, but Xiao Ziyu no longer marveled at the advanced technology. He just felt that there was no living person.
The painkillers that Yuan Heng often took were in the drawer of the coffee table. There were both Chinese and foreign language ones, and even addictive drugs that were banned on the market. It was obvious that he often didn't care when he was in pain.
It was still bearable now. Yuan Heng only ate the most basic kind. He lay on the sofa with his brows furrowed, watching Xiao Ziyu busying himself in and out.
Finally, Lord Wang Jun successfully boiled a cup of water with the smart appliance, and brought it to Yuan Heng as soon as it started to boil: "Drink it while it's hot."
Yuan Heng said: "Are you planning to take my life while I'm sick?"
Xiao Ziyu was stunned for a moment, then he picked up the cup of water and brought it to his lips. Yuan Heng stopped him in time, and finally hooked his finger helplessly: "Come here."
Xiao Ziyu was reluctant, but seeing that he was in so much pain, he still approached him reluctantly: "What's wrong?"
Yuan Heng said, "You can press my head, right? Press it for me again."
Xiao Ziyu thought to himself, you haven’t washed your hair, I don’t want to touch it. But he had just boarded Yuan Heng's pirate ship. If Yuan Heng died of pain, he would probably flip over, so he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Don't move."
Yuan Heng didn't move, but he leaned on the sofa. No matter what Xiao Ziyu did, he felt awkward. Finally, he spread his legs and half-knelt on him, using his knuckles to press against his head.
He had just brought the hot water, and his palms were warm. After covering them with his hands, they first soothed Yuan Heng's restless heart. Yuan Heng closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
"Have you had this disease since childhood?" Xiao Ziyu asked.
"Yes," Yuan Heng nodded and told the truth, "I have been to many hospitals, but it's useless."
Xiao Ziyu's eyes wandered, and he was thinking secretly in his mind. Yuan Heng's illness came strangely. It started after he was stabbed by him in his previous life. At that time, they had turned from lovers to enemies. He was placed under house arrest in the harem and no longer asked about the affairs of the previous dynasty.
But one morning, it was heard that Yuan Heng lost his temper at the morning court, the imperial desk was kicked in pieces, memorials and teacups were thrown all over the floor, and the old minister who was reporting on his work almost fainted from fright. Yuan Heng left the court directly and went to the harem.
"Xiao Nanzhu, come out here!"
Xiao Ziyu became ill because of the water dungeon and has not yet recovered. In addition, there was no medicine to suppress the poison, and it had already attacked several times. He was so thin that there was not much flesh left. His hair was not tied up yet. When he struggled to get up from the bed, his face looked even uglier than Yuan Heng's.
After being placed under house arrest, Yuan Heng often came to see him at night. Xiao Ziyu did not expect that he would abandon the morning court and indulge in lust during the day. "What does Your Highness want from me?"
Yuan Heng kept a gloomy face and said nothing. Finally, he walked to the bed and hugged the person in his arms, saying in a low and hoarse voice: "Don't move."
"Don't move, let me hold you."
Xiao Ziyu was about to reach out to push the person away and put his hand on Yuan Heng's neck, but he felt cold sweat on his hands.
Yuan Heng gritted his teeth and murmured, "You bald ass, you're going to make me die of pain."
Xiao Ziyu: “…”
Although he was sick, he still had long hair, so the bald donkey must not be talking about him.
He had too many things to worry about. After the mission failed, he could not contact his fellow teachers and friends, and there was no medicine to cure the poison in his body. He just thought that Yuan Heng must have taken the wrong medicine, or that his old injury had not yet healed, and did not take it seriously.
However, he never expected that Yuan Heng's headache would last for several years, and it did not disappear even after his reincarnation.
Now that I think about it carefully, I realize that there are many doubts. When he died, Daliang was prosperous, so there is no reason why his death should not be recorded in history books. The Liang Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years and experienced more than 20 kings, but Yuan Heng's name was not mentioned in the history books. Could it be that Yuan Heng did not ascend the throne to become king?
He can now basically conclude that the Yuan Heng in front of him is the Crown Prince of Daliang, but for some reason he has lost his memory and is left with only a stubborn illness.
Xiao Ziyu suddenly thought of the camphor tree they encountered when they went to the mountains to film. It was insect-free and harmless, but it withered alone in the vibrant mid-spring, abandoning a beautiful spring scene.
Looks very much like Yuan Heng.
He felt an urge to ask Yuan Heng what happened afterwards, why he didn't ascend the throne, whether he treated the people of Shu well, and what happened to his headache... But he couldn't open his mouth because Yuan Heng no longer remembered anything.
Xiao Ziyu was distracted and used more force. Yuan Heng groaned, his voice very hoarse: "Hmm..."
Xiao Ziyu quickly withdrew his hand: "Sorry..."
Before he finished speaking, Yuan Heng opened his eyes and narrowed them dangerously. The next second, he spread his legs outward, and Xiao Ziyu, who was kneeling on top of him, immediately lost his balance, struggled and fell on him.
Yuan Heng caught it easily, pinched his long hair behind his neck with his big hand and put it on his shoulder: "Don't move, let me hold you for a while."
It seems that if I get closer to this person, the tearing pain will be alleviated a little.
Xiao Ziyu felt a little pain when his hair was pulled, but surprisingly he did not resist. He just lay on Yuan Heng, his body covered with the cold fragrance of ambergris.
After an unknown amount of time, the force behind him finally relaxed slightly, and he whispered, "Are you feeling better?"
Yuan Heng closed his eyes, nodded, and let him go.
Xiao Ziyu combed his hair again, stood up and said, "I'll go cook something to eat."
When he was a child, he fell ill and his master had no money to find a doctor for him, so he could only think of ways to make something delicious for him. Xiao Ziyu's lips turned pale from the fever, so his master made soup for him and added a little precious salt, so that the delicious taste would linger in his mouth for a long time.
Later, he entered the palace and served the emperor, but he still didn't know how to take care of people. At this moment, he finally realized that he was stretched to the limit. Yuan Heng had a headache and after thinking about it, the only thing he could do was to cook soup.
There is actually a special restaurant in the apartment, and meals can be delivered by just making a phone call, but Yuan Heng did not remind him, but just asked: "Do you know how to use a gas stove?"
"There's everything on the phone," said Xiao Ziyu, who was looking up soup recipes and found the one with the highest views, which seemed to have good reviews.
"It tastes good, my husband likes it very much."
"It's very healthy and much more effective than taking medicine."
"Drink it for dinner, and then fight for three hundred rounds."
Xiao Ziyu didn't quite understand what this meant. He turned off his phone without much concern: "I'm going downstairs to buy some ingredients."
There is a supermarket downstairs, but he has never been there alone. After Yuan Heng fell ill, he was finally able to act alone for once, which was a new, interesting and thrilling experience.
Yuan Heng saw him go out in a serious manner, and soon came back with a lot of bags. He went to the kitchen and fiddled with it for most of the day. Finally, he smelled the aroma of food before dinner.
He rarely cooks in this house. The neat and orderly kitchen looks like a typhoon after being used. When Xiao Ziyu brought out the soup, he muttered, "The fire is a little too high."
The sharp headache had eased a little. Yuan Heng went to the table and took a look. It was not a big deal. The pot of water had been boiled down to only a bowl of water. It was thick milky white and had a faint smell of medicinal herbs.
Xiao Ziyu was a little embarrassed, "You drink it, I'll go get something else to eat."
"Don't do it," Yuan Heng asked him to come back and threw a menu over. "Call the restaurant and ask them to deliver whatever you want."
While waiting for the meal, Luo Li sent the script. The audition was scheduled for tomorrow morning. The crew only sent the story outline and detailed character settings. The specific audition clips will be randomly drawn on the spot.
After drinking the soup, Yuan Heng went back to his room to rest. Xiao Ziyu made himself a cup of tea and planned to stay up late to do some research.
This time the script is called "Green Jade Fan". The protagonist Wei Zhouqi is a prince born to a palace maid. Because his mother was of low status, he was raised by the queen since childhood and suffered bullying from other princes.
In order to survive, Wei Zhouqi hid his ambitions deeply and pretended to be humble and honest, but he kept developing his own power inside and outside the palace until he forced the emperor to rebel in a palace coup and ascended the throne.
Xiao Ziyu was shocked by what he saw. He didn't know whether it was because Wei Zhouqi's life story was too legendary, or because he had some subtle similarities with the Crown Prince of Daliang. From the hardships of his youth, to learning how to disguise himself, to secretly taking advantage of the situation and launching a coup, and even his achievements in taking back the twelve cities of Tubo in one go, they are all similar.
Moreover, as a palace drama, "The Green Jade Fan" does not describe Wei Zhouqi's emotional life in detail. It only says that he often hangs out in brothels and has a good relationship with the tutors there.
The role that Xiao Ziyu is going to audition this time is the instructor Fang Jingshi.
Fang Jingshi is the youngest son of a general. His father, Fang Huaizhi, holds a high position as a commander of border garrisons. His eldest brother, Fang Jingxing, was originally a companion to the crown prince and was often by the emperor's side in the palace. He also has two older sisters, daughters of generals, who were able to shoot eagles with a bow at a young age.
The Fang family has few members. Fang Jingshi's mother Wanqiu was originally a singer in Yanyun Pavilion. She was accidentally noticed by the general and forcibly raped. After she became pregnant, she had to leave Yanyun Pavilion and make a living on her own, and gave birth to Fang Jingshi in a dilapidated firewood room.
From then on, the mother and son sang and danced on the streets and barely survived. However, when Fang Jingshi was five years old, his mother fell ill and died. Before she died, she took him to the general's mansion, told him her life story, and begged Fang Huaizhi to take their old relationship into consideration and adopt her young son.
At that time, the general's mansion had no children except a son and a daughter, so Fang Jingshi was kept. Unlike his elder brother and second sister, Fang Jingshi was not interested in academic studies, nor in martial arts, but preferred romance, poetry and songs. When he grew up, he became even more playboy, often going in and out of Yanyun Pavilion, and became a tutor there, playing the piano and painting every day.
It would be laughable if the young master of the general's mansion became a brothel instructor, but the old general was old and Fang Jingxing was at the peak of his career in the court. It was better for Fang Jingshi to be a playboy than to enter the court as an official and fight with his elder brother.
The Fang family didn't take the child born by this singer seriously at all and let him hang out in Yanyun Pavilion. However, they did not know that the brothels were crowded with people and were the most suitable place to conceal their tracks. Fang Jingshi used the protection of the General's Mansion to build a comprehensive intelligence network. The geisha girls he trained were sent to the kings and became sharp rose nails, collecting information about the world for him.
Wei Zhouqi’s ability to reach the top of the human world was inseparable from Fang Jingshi’s intelligence network.
Xiao Ziyu took a deep breath. This role was actually not easy to play. It was true that Fang Jingshi was a playboy and had great ambitions. He wore a mask just like Wei Zhouqi, so the two of them could appreciate each other and achieve hegemony together.
In addition, he was also curious about the director and screenwriter of the script. The history of Daliang was not recorded in detail in history books. How did they get a glimpse of it and write out the clues of Crown Prince Yuan Heng?
Xiao Ziyu was struggling with his conscience when he suddenly heard a sound behind him and Yuan Heng walked out of the room. He was wearing a dressing gown, with his hair raked back, and he looked a little irritated.
The room was dim, Xiao Ziyu only left a desk lamp on to read the script. In the warm yellow, Yuan Heng pulled open the collar of his nightgown: "Xiao Ziyu, what did you give me to drink?"
Xiao Ziyu: Recipes recommended by a book OuO
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