Chapter 64: What a pity

Sui Yan huddled in a corner the entire night, not daring to move. In the morning, when Sui Xun forcibly dragged him up to go to court, his whole body ached.

Sui Yan's face was filled with pain: "I don't want to go to court today, why did you call me?"

Sui Xun was tying his waist belt, and said coldly without turning his head: "You didn't tell me that you wouldn't attend court today."

Sui Yan almost fell back onto the bed.

Sui Xun said, "Now that you are up, come with me to the palace. If you do nothing all day, what great things can you accomplish?"

Sui Yan got up from bed, washed up, glanced at his breakfast, and said with no appetite, "I don't want to eat anymore."

Sui Xun frowned: "At least eat a little, don't act so annoying all the time, I'm used to you, right?"

Sui Yan whispered, "I'm going to the Crown Prince's place after court. A new chef has come to the East Palace, and he makes delicious snacks."

Sui Xun was not used to him always being so close to the prince, but she had no reason to stop him, so she could only frown and drink some porridge herself before picking up the umbrella and taking Sui Yan out of the house.

It snowed heavily all night, and the ground was covered with white snow, making the surroundings look bright and clean. It was still dark, and I could see the road clearly without a lantern.

Sui Xun put one hand loosely around Sui Yan, wrapped his thin body with his cloak, and protected him as he entered the carriage.

Li Zhao hung up the lantern, whipped his horse whip, and drove towards the palace.

The wheels rolled, leaving two gear marks on the white snow.

A moment later, the two of them entered the palace holding umbrellas.

Duan Mingchong probably guessed that Sui Yan would come to court today, and was waiting at the gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony early. At this moment, he saw Sui Yan and Sui Xun walking in the snow from afar, and quickly raised a gentle smile.

Sui Yan was yawning, and when he caught a glimpse of Duan Mingchong outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he suddenly woke up.

He ran out from under Sui Xun's umbrella: "Your Highness!"

Sui Xun was afraid that he would fall, and was about to catch him, but Sui Yan rushed into the wind and snow like a rabbit, ran a few steps quickly, and bumped into the bottom of Duan Mingchong's umbrella.

Duan Mingchong reached out to hold him, chuckling, "Be careful, don't fall."

Sui Yan raised his head and smiled at him.

It was snowing heavily. Under an ink-painted bamboo umbrella, two young men in black clothes stood tall and graceful. The cold wind blew past, whistling and blowing the snow, almost blinding people's eyes.

Sui Xun stood there, looking at the two people not far away in a daze.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a strange sense of violation, but when he thought about it carefully, he didn't know what that strange feeling was.

The elder brother, who had a vague sense of crisis but didn't realize it, walked over and saw Sui Yan trying to get under Duan Ming Chong's umbrella. He frowned and said, "Wang Gui, don't be too presumptuous."

Sui Yan went around Duan Mingchong and hid on the other side of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, pouting and turning his head away, not looking at Sui Xun.

Duan Mingchong changed the umbrella to his other hand to shield Sui Yan from the wind and snow, and said with a soft smile: "No need to be polite, the snow is too heavy, let's go in first."

Sui Yan nodded desperately, glanced at Sui Xun guiltily, and pulled Duan Mingchong's sleeve into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Sui Xun followed behind, staring at the back of Sui Yan's head with a sinister look, trying to see something.

Sui Yan was sweating profusely when he was looked at. He went to Duan Mingchong's side and whispered, "Your Highness, can I stay in the East Palace for one night today?"

Duan Mingchong looked at him in surprise: "Why?"

Sui Yan leaned towards him, seeking a sense of security: "I got carried away yesterday and offended my brother. He almost beat me up yesterday. I don't know if he will find fault with me again when he goes back today. I'm scared."

Duan Mingchong has always known that Sui Yan was afraid of Sui Xun, but seeing the usually domineering little bully shaking his paws and saying "I'm scared" in fear was too touching. If it wasn't inappropriate, he really wanted to rub Sui Yan's head.

Duan Mingchong couldn't help laughing and said, "Of course you can, but can you guarantee that General Sui will be calm by tomorrow?"

Sui Yan hesitated and said, "It's better to postpone it for a day. Your Highness should take me in, right?"

He blinked desperately at Duan Mingchong.

Duan Mingchong chuckled and said, "Of course I will."

Although it was against the rules for outsiders to stay in the East Palace, everyone in the palace knew that when it came to the matter of Lord Sui, the usually stern prince seemed to become a different person and would unconditionally tolerate any inappropriate behavior.

After a while, even the emperor was too lazy to care about them. After all, a playboy who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun wouldn't be able to cause any waves even if he moved into the East Palace.

Sui Yan received the permission and immediately became overjoyed as if he had received a life-saving talisman.

He had no interest in attending court in the first place, and when he encountered something happy, he was in no mood to listen to those tedious and lengthy political affairs. He just stared at Duan Ming Chong Meng the whole time.

In less than an hour, all the civil and military officials in the court dispersed.

Sui Xun, who was standing by, was about to catch Sui Yan, but he saw him running towards Duan Mingchong on the opposite side.

Sui Xun frowned and finally realized what was wrong.

Is my younger brother too clingy to the prince?

Are other people's best friends also so disgusting?

Sui Yan stretched out his hand and said, "Your Highness, do you want to take the memorial back to the East Palace? I will hold it for you."

Duan Mingchong couldn't help laughing and said, "No need, just go there."

Sui Yan readily retracted his hand and said, "Then let's go?"

Duan Mingchong glanced at him and said, "Did you tell General Sui that you would stay in the East Palace today?"

Sui Yan said: "It's okay, no need to tell him, just slip away first."

Sui Xun: “Heh.”

A sneer came from above his head, which scared Sui Yan so much that his hair stood up. He rolled and crawled onto Duan Mingchong and hid behind him tremblingly.

Duan Mingchong hurriedly protected him and said to Sui Xun with a smile: "It was I who invited the Marquis to stay in the East Palace for a while. I hope the general will not blame him."

Sui Yan nodded silently behind him.

Sui Xun wanted to catch Sui Yan and beat him up, but because of Duan Mingchong, he did not take action. He just bowed to the prince, looked at Sui Yan coldly, and turned away.

Sui Yan didn't breathe a sigh of relief until Sui Xun left.

Duan Mingchong led him towards the East Palace. Seeing that he looked listless, he chuckled and said, "Do you know you are wrong?"

Sui Yan nodded and said, "I understand. Even if I offend His Highness in the future, I must not offend my brother."

Duan Mingchong: “…”

Duan Mingchong looked at him helplessly. Okay, as long as he knows he is wrong, it's fine.

The two returned to the Eastern Palace. Duan Mingchong had to deal with some memorials that had not been processed from the morning court, so he sat at the desk in the study and corrected them.

Sui Yan simply lay down beside him and looked at him without blinking. Not long after he sat there, his stomach suddenly growled.

Sui Yan: “…”

Duan Mingchong looked up at him in surprise.

Sui Yan blushed, he was so obsessed with the beauty that he even forgot that his original purpose of coming to the East Palace was to eat steamed buns.

Duan Mingchong didn't mean to laugh at him, and his smile became even gentler: "Are you hungry?"

Sui Yan blushed slightly and nodded: "I had no appetite this morning, so I didn't eat much."

Duan Mingchong put down the cinnabar pen and said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I'll ask someone to go to the kitchen to make something to eat. Come on."

Sui Yan followed him to the outer room, and the palace maid brought in a jade plate filled with peeled and fried pine nuts.

Sui Yan was very fond of snacks sold in the market, but Duan Mingchong always felt that those things were not dry and clean, and it would be bad if he got sick after eating them, so he asked the people in the East Palace kitchen to make similar snacks for him in various ways.

Duan Mingchong pushed the pine nuts over and said, "Put some padding on them first. If you don't want to use a spoon, you can use silk to wrap them around your fingers and eat them. Don't eat them with your bare hands. Don't..."

Sui Yan had heard this countless times over the years, and he casually replied, "...It's not clean. Your Highness, I'm not a child anymore, and I don't chew my fingers. I only eat pine nuts, so I won't get sick."

As he spoke, he threw the spoon away and was about to catch it with his hands.

Duan Mingchong grabbed his hand and looked at him disapprovingly: "Your health is not good to begin with, you should be more careful on weekdays. Don't tell me that you also grabbed with your hands like a child in the Marquis' Mansion?"

Sui Yan had no choice but to put his hands down and obediently scooped up the pine nuts with a spoon, but he lost his appetite after just two bites.

Duan Ming Chong was surprised and asked, "What's wrong?"

Sui Yan said: "There is no artistic conception."

Duan Mingchong: “…”

So after all these years, what exactly is artistic conception?

Do you need artistic conception when eating?

Duan Mingchong didn't understand what was going on, so he said dryly, "Okay, okay."

After a while, the steamed buns from Wanhualou were brought up. Sui Yan immediately rolled up his sleeves and ate them heartily, his eyes narrowed.

Seeing him eating so happily, Duan Mingchong tried to pinch a small piece of the steamed bread, put it in his mouth and took a bite, then took a sip, and then his brows frowned.

Sui Yan asked in confusion: "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Duan Mingchong put down half of the steamed bread, picked up the tea and took a sip before saying, "It's too sweet."

Sui Yan tilted his head: "Really? I think it's just the right amount of sweet and refreshing. Your Highness, would you like to try it again?"

Duan Mingchong waved his hands: "No, I'm not used to it."

Sui Yan stuffed a mouthful of steamed bread into his mouth and ate it, thinking: "Then you tricked the chef who specializes in making desserts to come to the East Palace, is it just to make steamed bread for me?"

When Sui Yan thought of this, he instinctively curled up the corners of his lips to smile when he thought of the scene where Duan Mingchong used his elegant and handsome face to blush and ordered his subordinates to arrest the cook of Wanhualou.

Your Highness, this is so adorable.

In the court, he was as calm as a mountain in planning and strategizing, and in daily life he was gentle as jade and as kind as a spring breeze. However, he would secretly do such a ridiculous thing of abusing his power for personal gain just to please Sui Yan.

The more Sui Yan thought about it, the more he felt that Duan Ming Chongzhen was a treasure bestowed upon him by God. He was always sincere and generous with his love, and was always pure and honest with him.

Sometimes Sui Yan would feel like he was in a pipe dream, and he was always afraid that the most beautiful part of the dream would suddenly burst like a bubble. After that, he would wake up from the beautiful dream and return to the cold and desolate palace of his previous life.

Sui Yan looked at Duan Mingchong without blinking, which made His Royal Highness the Crown Prince feel a little uncomfortable. He lowered his eyes, stood up and went to the study to continue processing memorials.

Sui Yan finished his steamed bun and felt a little bored, but he didn't want to disturb Duan Mingchong. He sat there bored for a while, and suddenly he seemed to remember something and his eyes lit up.

He called the palace servants and asked mysteriously, "Where is the small kitchen in the East Palace?"

The palace maid was the one who served him three years ago. She had long known that this seemingly harmless young man was an extremely difficult person to serve, so she did not dare to neglect him and whispered, "I will take you there."

Sui Yan said hurriedly: "No, no, just tell me directly."

After a while, Sui Yan followed the guidance of the palace servants and finally found the small kitchen in the southwest corner of the East Palace.

The fire in the kitchenette must have just been put out; I could still smell the charcoal smell as I approached the door.

Sui Yan poked his head through the door and took a look inside.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Soon, an impatient voice came from inside: "If you have something to say, just say it. If you have something to say, just fart quickly. What kind of steamed bun do you want this time? Can I pinch a dead snake?"

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan heard the voice and quickly stood up and walked in.

The small kitchen was filled with clean dishes and pots and pans. He walked past the counter, lifted the curtain and walked in. He saw a burly man with his back to him, banging a piece of dough on the table. He gave off an aura that said "keep away from strangers".

Sui Yan: “That…”

The cook looked back and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?"

Sui Yan recognized him immediately: "Hey, you really are the chef of Wanhualou!"

The chef had a rough face, and it was hard to believe that he was the one who made those delicate pasta dishes. When he saw Sui Yan, he squinted his eyes and recognized him for a long time before he recognized him. He frowned and said, "Aren't you the one who goes to Wanhualou every two months to try to take me back to your house?"

The victim: “…”

Sui Yan's face suddenly darkened when he was called a sucker, and he looked at him expressionlessly.

The chef raised his eyebrows: "Oh, how come I see you here?"

Sui Yan said: "I am the current marquis."

The chef said "Oh" and was not afraid of the emperor's power. He said: "I thought you were a eunuch in the palace. You look so delicate and tender. It turns out that you are a noble who lives a life of luxury."

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan looked at him coldly, then as if he had thought of something, his expression suddenly changed and he smiled suddenly, but his smile looked so cold no matter how you looked at it.

He whispered with pretended regret, "What a pity, it is you who is trapped in the palace and cannot leave."

The cook choked.

Sui Yan said: "Originally I was thinking of asking His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to release you, but now I see, haha."

The cook was very flexible and said quickly, "Your Excellency can tell at a glance that he is a wealthy, wise and powerful man. I was blind just now and I hope Your Excellency will forgive my fault."

Sui Yan said: "I'm sorry, I'm a very petty person and I hold grudges very well."

Chef: “…”

Sui Yan lowered his eyes slightly and glanced at the cook, raised his thin lips, and said with a half-smile: "You deserve to live, stay here."

Having said that, he turned and ran.

The author has something to say: It’s so exciting to pretend to be cool and then run away. Let’s go.

Jun Jingxing: Hello? Hello? Lord Hou, are you still there? Come back, I'm sitting here to take root.