Only the garden flowers and the moon know

That night, the wind was cold and biting.

Su Yuanbai came to the Qianqing Palace alone and stopped the palace servants from reporting the incident.

He quietly opened the door, took off his coat and stayed outside the tent for a while, waiting for the heater to drive away the coldness from his body. Then he slowly lifted the curtain and got on the bed.

On the dragon couch, Ji Mingxiu curled up with his back to the palace gate, and seemed to have fallen asleep long ago.

However, when Su Yuanbai got closer, he found that Ji Mingxiu's eyelashes were trembling, and his right hand was tightly grasping the quilt. She seemed to feel his approach, and even her breathing was deliberately lightened.

So cute...

Su Yuanbai's eyes curled up into a smile, and he resisted the urge to stroke the fur, and did not expose this flawed behavior.

He pretended to be clueless and even pretended to pull the quilt, then held Ji Mingxiu in his arms.

!!!

Ji Mingxiu was so frightened that he froze, but Su Yuanbai seemed not to feel anything. His lips pressed lightly against his ear, and even their warm breaths entangled with his, making him blush.

Not until the delicate fragrance of plum blossoms permeated his body did Ji Mingxiu seem to come to his senses from his furious state. He slowly calmed his breathing and his tense body gradually relaxed.

Behind the dim curtains, for a moment, there was only the sound of the two people's even breathing, and the sound of the wind howling outside the window, heavily filling all the blankness.

The candlelight outside the curtains gradually dimmed as time went by, but the smile in Su Yuanbai's eyes gradually faded. He waited patiently for a while, and finally, with a serious expression, he lifted up Ji Mingxiu's head that was buried in his chest.

"Um?"

Ji Mingxiu's eyes blinked, full of confusion, and he was not sleepy at all.

"Your Majesty won't sleep." Su Yuanbai moved closer, not wanting to miss any emotion in Ji Mingxiu's eyes. His voice was low and full of grievance, even a little self-loathing, "Is it because I'm here? Your Majesty doesn't trust me?"

"No, no, no, I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense, Imperial Master." Ji Mingxiu denied it three times in a hurry. Even if it was really because of Su Yuanbai, he didn't dare to admit it. Besides, it wasn't Su Yuanbai's fault. "I just couldn't sleep."

He paused and added, "I don't want to sleep either."

In fact, for him, a trance-like dream is better than a deeper sleep.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he would have long, endless dreams.

In his dream, he saw his brother sitting beside him, smiling at him and talking to him in words that he could never hear clearly. As he smiled, he was gradually drowned in the wind and sand, leaving him standing there alone, at a loss.

Sometimes, he would dream about the night when his father summoned him to the palace. Thick curtains blocked his vision, and only the strong smell of blood blurred all his senses.

At that time, he had just learned the news that his brother had died in battle. He was so angry and sad that he didn't even have time to cry properly. His father, who had always been as majestic as a mountain, collapsed in front of him in such a decrepit state, dying like a dying lamp and the setting sun, struggling on the sickbed. His father held his hand tightly, and the sticky and hot blood flowed on his body, almost completely covering him. All of this made him dazed. He seemed to understand what he was about to face, but he seemed to understand nothing.

I don't want to understand, and I don't want to understand.

In this trance he could neither hear nor see anything.

It was not until the sound of mournful cries rising to the soul of heaven awakened him from his stupor that he read only eight words in his father's eyes, which were wide open and refused to close.

National hatred and family feud, we will defend the border to the death!

It is a national hatred and a family feud.

He felt angry and terrified. What a heavy burden this was. How could he shoulder this burden of blood and tears?

He didn't know it, but every sleepless night tortured by hatred, he was breaking the naive self-righteousness of the first half of his life, using one not-so-shrewd or even clumsy calculation after another to make up for his own shortcomings.

Even though this is so difficult, no one dares to believe it.

Su Yuanbai was struck by lightning. He stared blankly at Ji Mingxiu who had been silent for a long time. Although he was always smart, he could not understand this short sentence.

Is it what he thought? He couldn't ask, nor did he dare to ask.

Even though His Majesty said nothing, he knew that this matter had been going on for quite some time. He came to the Qinzheng Palace almost every day, but he only saw His Majesty's body getting thinner and thinner. Why didn't he care about the growing fatigue in His Majesty's eyes?

"His Majesty……"

Su Yuanbai held Ji Mingxiu tightly in his arms. His voice was dry and weak, and his hands on Ji Mingxiu's thin shoulders trembled uncontrollably. The pain in his heart made him fall into bottomless self-blame. He had never regretted more than at this moment why he knelt outside the Yongyou Palace that day to beg His Majesty to ascend the throne and inherit the throne.

On the day of the emperor's coffin, he came to pay homage, only to see civil and military officials kneeling along the long stone steps led by the left and right prime ministers outside the hall, and the door of Yongyou Hall was tightly closed, even Qiu Ling was locked outside the hall. The former Prince of Chen, now the ruler of a country, was using the most clumsy way to maintain his inner anxiety.

Su Yuanbai didn't care about others. He just walked forward and knelt at the place closest to the palace door, and spoke loudly.

"Your Highness, I am Su Yuanbai, and I request to see you."

He is the prince's teacher, and will be the emperor's teacher in the future. He is the only one in the whole world who has this qualification.

The palace door remained tightly closed. After a long time, when he almost thought that His Highness would not see him, a crack appeared in the heavy palace door.

He knew that it was a tiny bit of weakness that His Highness mustered the courage to show through the high wall.

Su Yuanbai could not describe in words the moment he stepped into the Yongyou Palace and saw His Highness. In the first thirty-three years of his life, he had experienced high spirits and also experienced twists and turns. He thought that the joys and sorrows of this world were nothing special, but he had never known how a person's heart could be so painful. It was as if steel needles were rising from every inch of his flesh and blood, clamoring to tear him into pieces.

He saw His Highness kneeling in front of the late emperor's coffin in mourning clothes. His back was as thin as a piece of paper. When he looked back at him, the red corners of his eyes showed his fragility. However, His Highness' eyes were empty and without a single tear, so that people mistakenly thought that the deep red at the corners of his eyes were tears of sorrow.

And he could no longer control his every move. He just walked forward stiffly, knelt on the ground, hugged His Highness tightly in his arms, and repeated over and over again, "Don't be afraid, Your Highness, I am here." If he didn't do something, he almost felt sadly that this frail person in his arms would disappear in the next second.

Until the very end, His Highness never said anything, nor shed a tear. He just leaned against him and obediently let him hold His Highness's hand through the entire funeral ceremony and coronation ceremony.

What was he thinking at that time? He had never experienced the sorrow of Feng Mu, so he thought that everything was only temporary and that he would always be by His Majesty's side, no matter what form he took. He even felt ridiculously depressed because he could no longer monopolize His Majesty's little bit of despicable thoughts.

His lips trembled and he could not speak. He could not think of anything else to say except to apologize. However, he did not want to face His Majesty and apologize over and over again, even though he was almost driven crazy by this guilt. He had arrogantly promised His Majesty, but now he was cowardly hiding in his own shackles, complacent and self-satisfied, hoping to covet a little eternity.

At this moment, Su Yuanbai looked into Ji Mingxiu's still confused eyes and stepped out of the wall that had trapped him for twelve years.

Instead of waiting to lose it, it is better to take the initiative to fight for it.

Lip-to-lip contact is his most direct way of expressing himself, without the slightest hesitation.

Ji Mingxiu had never seen Su Yuanbai like this before. The Imperial Master always seemed calm and composed, like a banished immortal who did not eat fireworks. Instead of being so strong and irresistible as he was now, he held him in his arms and bullied him.

The delicate fragrance of plum blossoms no longer lingered around him, but was attacking him aggressively, trying to completely occupy him.

This sudden deep kiss made him a little scared, but he couldn't refuse.

Emotionally, they had done more intimate things before, so how could a kiss be missing? Logically, the Imperial Master was his teacher, and there were very few people in and outside the city whom he could trust.

He could only cling to Su Yuanbai's shoulders and endure it passively, his clear consciousness being gradually blurred.

"Um...Teacher..."

Su Yuanbai's attack suddenly paused, and the hand around Ji Mingxiu's waist tightened. His Majesty always called him the Imperial Master, and only called him to beg for mercy when the homework was not completed.

Just like a cat that has done something wrong and is now being behaved.

His Majesty didn't know that this title of "teacher" was clearly the most immoral and taboo title that he wanted to avoid the most, but it almost burned his cold blood to the bottom. He gritted his teeth and endured it again and again, with impulse and pity fighting each other, and in the end, his heartache for His Majesty prevailed.

His bony hand touched the corner of Ji Mingxiu's gorgeous rosy lips, then slowly stroked her snow-white, fragile neck, his eyes becoming increasingly deep and fiery.

The two of them were in a stalemate for a moment, and finally Su Yuanbai withdrew.

"Go to sleep, Your Majesty." His voice was low and hoarse, so heavy that it was frightening.

Unfortunately, Ji Mingxiu did not realize the hidden danger and foolishly walked into the trap.

………

Everything was like a wave, up and down. Until the waves burst out, the joy gradually came to an end.

At the hour of Mao the next day, the night was still dark, with not a single ray of light visible in the sky.

Su Yuanbai closed the door of the Qianqing Palace quietly and silently, just as he had arrived.

"Master Imperial Master."

A steady voice came from behind. Su Yuanbai stopped and looked back, and saw Qiu Ling's thin figure standing in the dark night. The shadows cast by the palace lights obscured his face, making it impossible to tell whether he was sad or happy.

"What's the matter, Eunuch Qiu?"

"For your majesty's sake."

"The Imperial Preceptor goes to the Qinzheng Palace every day, and all the officials praise His Majesty and the Preceptor as a wise ruler and virtuous ministers."

"But if you come to the Qianqing Palace every night, what do you say..."

Qiu Ling did not say anything else, because he knew that Su Yuanbai could understand what he was saying.

"I have nothing to do with other people's comments. Those who are innocent will be innocent."

"Heh." Qiu Ling seemed to be amused by Su Yuanbai's answer. His calm voice finally had some ups and downs, and he repeated it playfully with the chill of winter.

"The innocent will be innocent themselves?"

Su Yuanbai's face turned red. He suddenly realized that he was not innocent, so how could he use such words to refute it.

"I never cared about these things." He had worked so hard to cultivate this relationship for a long time and it finally showed signs of success, so how could he be willing to give in?

But Qiu Ling was prepared. He looked directly into Su Yuanbai's eyes and walked down the stone steps step by step.

"You are honest and straightforward and don't care about rumors. What about your majesty?"

"Your Majesty is the supreme ruler. Do you want to join me in attracting criticism?"

"The situation is unstable both inside and outside the court. Do you want all this to become a weapon for those remonstrants to attack Your Majesty?"

"Is this what you call love?"

"Master Imperial Master."

Qiu Ling's voice became deeper and deeper, and more and more fierce.

Only in front of His Majesty, he was the serious, calm, and somewhat old-fashioned Qiu Ling. In front of other people in and outside the palace, he was already the ruthless chief steward who was respected and feared by everyone.

He looked at Su Yuanbai's back with heavy eyes as he almost fled in panic. He had no control over who his majesty liked, but no one and nothing could harm his majesty.

This is his bottom line.