Chapter 7 Lying

Duan Zhisu was really good to Sui Yan. His mother's family had no power and he himself was not favored by the emperor. Some good things were hard to come by, but most of them were often given to Sui Yan.

Sui'an Marquis's Mansion was deserted all year round, and Sui Yan was uninhibited by nature and did not have many playmates. Youth is the softest time of one's heart, and even if Sui Yan was a stone, the warmth flowing like water over the years would be able to warm him up.

Duan Zhisu dragged him to sit on the soft couch beside him, threw a piece of charcoal into the charcoal basin casually, and said, "You have been ill for more than half a month. The Grand Tutor was so angry that he complained to the emperor every day, scolding you for not making progress and corrupting the atmosphere. You must apologize to the emperor at the family dinner today."

The old scholar's impression of Sui Yan as a cynical person had already been established. Even if he was really ill, he would think that he was just pretending to be sick and being lazy. After all, before Sui Yan fell into the water, he was jumping up and down all day long and did not look weak at all.

Sui Yan said innocently: "I am really sick, why did he scold me again? Didn't you explain it to me?"

"Song Xian said a few words for you, and was grabbed and scolded by the Grand Tutor. Now he is still copying books in the mansion." Duan Zhisu said helplessly, "Today I see that you seem to be better than before. What do you say when Doctor Meng Yu comes?"

Sui Yan repeated the quack's words and said, "I followed the doctor's instructions and stayed at home to recuperate. I didn't even leave my room."

Duan Zhisu glanced at him and said calmly, "Then why did I hear that you appeared in Wanhua Tower today?"

Sui Yan's face froze.

It seems that this time the executioner came to deliver the lucky oranges in a false way, and he really wanted to bring an army to call for punishment.

Sui Yan was desperate and explained without any hope: "To eat steamed buns."

Duan Zhisu frowned, and his expression unexpectedly softened: "You, I am the only one who believes you. If it were someone else, they would probably say you are talking nonsense and you are not even sincere in lying."

Seeing that Duan Zhisu's reaction was most likely to be believing, Sui Yan then asked, "Who did you hear that from? Jiang Enhe?"

Duan Zhisu nodded: "You are still young, so you should go to those places as little as possible. It would be easier if you could hire a chef to come to your house to cook what you like. Recently, because of Lao Wu's incident, the children of the noble families in Beijing have been avoiding those places full of fireworks. Why are you so eager to go there?"

Since his rebirth, Sui Yan has either been sick or on the way to being sick. The entire mansion is in a state of chaos and has no energy to care about what is happening outside. Sui Yan said calmly, "What happened to the Fifth Prince?"

"It's a long story." Duan Zhisu said, "Some time ago, the Ministry of Medicine's Shaoqing was imprisoned for corruption and bribery. I guess it's just a coincidence..."

The Ministry of Official Medicine benefited from the people all over the country and made countless profits every year. Although the management regulations were proper, there were inevitably loopholes. After discovering that the Shaoqing had embezzled official funds, the emperor was furious and ordered the Ministry of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation. Within a few days, a bunch of officials were implicated, and the involvement was very wide. The ministers were unwilling to take all the blame, and finally they even blamed the fifth prince.

The emperor loved the fifth prince very much. Although he confined him to his house for this matter, he did not impose any substantial punishment. Instead, he attributed the matter to the misconduct of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials and Medicine and punished him severely.

And the most coincidental thing is that Yin Lingfeng, the minister of medicine and medicine who had just been serving as the county governor for only a year and was very diligent in dealing with people, suffered an unreasonable disaster. Within half a month, he was accused of unwarranted charges and his house was ransacked. The crime was settled in three months.

Duan Zhisu sighed and said, "The culprit of this matter was Lao Wu. Yin Lingfeng's family was destroyed because of him, and he was sentenced to house arrest for several months, but it seemed that nothing happened. After the ban was lifted, he went to the place of fireworks in a swagger, and it seemed that he had taken a fancy to a prostitute..."

Sui Yan had heard of this somewhere before, and continued with a murmur: "That woman sold her art but not her body, she was chaste and stubborn, and under pressure she actually jumped down from the fourth floor of the carved wooden building..."

Duan Zhisu was surprised and asked, "Did you hear about it?"

Sui Yan stretched out his hand and pressed his chest, whispering: "I heard... I heard someone say that."

Duan Zhisu said: "This matter is too big, and it was reported directly to the emperor. The fifth brother was punished again, but it was a punishment that had nothing to do with itching."

Sui Yan pressed his chest, sneered, and said, "As long as it's not a crime of treason, the emperor can't touch him."

Duan Zhisu's expression turned cold, and he whispered, "Wang Gui, be careful with your words."

Sui Yan lowered his head.

Duan Zhisu saw that he looked a little unwell, reached out and touched his forehead, frowned and said: "You don't have a fever, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

Sui Yan shook his head and said, "It's okay. Is there a family dinner today? Please tell the emperor for me. I can't go."

Duan Zhisu said: "What nonsense are you talking about? Today, Doctor Meng Yu returned to the palace and told Father that you are not in serious condition. All the royal family members must attend the family banquet today. You cannot refuse."

Sui Yan forced a smile and said, "But didn't Doctor Meng Yu tell me not to go out for no reason before he left?"

"The emperor is hosting a banquet, is this a small matter?" Duan Zhisu walked to the cabinet beside him without any hesitation and casually rummaged through it. He took out a set of court robes and threw them to him, saying, "Put them on. I will go to the palace with you."

Sui Yan felt pain in his chest and head all over. He lay on the bed groaning for a long time, but was finally dragged up by Duan Zhisu and had to put on the thick court robes with great difficulty.

He was very serious and didn't act like a prince. When he saw that Sui Yan's collar was folded inside, he stood up to help him straighten his clothes and said nonchalantly, "How are you going to live without others?"

Sui Yan's hand, which was fastening his waist belt, trembled violently. He wanted to laugh but couldn't. He wanted to raise his head and tell the young man in front of him that in his last life, no one was by his side, but he still managed to stand firm in this capital city full of dangers.

You said I avenged you, and I used my own way to bring down those two bastards. You don't know how ridiculous they looked when they were defeated.

Say I even got the supreme position for you...

Say...Do you know all these things?

When he didn't hear any answer, he raised his head and saw Sui Yan taking a deep breath. He smiled helplessly and said, "What's wrong?"

Forcibly suppressing the sour emotion, there was still some glimmer in Shun Yan's eyes. He smiled and said, "Nothing..."

He didn't say anything, but suddenly he felt a sense of frustration rising in his heart, and the exquisite waist belt inlaid with silver thread was wrinkled by his pinch.

Duan Zhisu: "Hmm?"

Sui Yan stared at him blankly. After a moment, he seemed to have made up his mind and suddenly said, "If... one day, you have to exchange my life for something extremely important, you will..."

Sui Yan tilted his head back, his lips trembling slightly.

"…Change?"

When he was young, Sui Yan was always joking around and looking frivolous. This was the first time that Duan Shisu saw him being so serious. He thought about it and said seriously, "No."

Sui Yan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, his expression looking like he was crying and laughing at the same time: "Really?"

Duan Zhisu said: "That's natural."

Sui Yan thought, "What if this extremely important thing is the throne? Would you still be so ruthless?"

Thinking of this, he realized how ridiculous his question was. In his previous life, hadn't Duan Shisu already made his choice?

That cup of stigma is the best proof.

Sui Yan gently waved the hand that had been placed on his neck, turned around, and said with a trembling voice: "Don't bother your highness, I can do it myself."

Duan Zhisu frowned and was about to say something when there was a light knock on the door beside him. Haitang walked in cautiously, carrying the boiled medicine.

Sui Yan quickly calmed down, tied his waist belt casually, and wiped his eyes casually.

Haitang said, "I have seen your highness - Master, Doctor Meng Yu left a prescription before he left today, and asked us to watch you drink it and not boil it into a medicinal meal..."

Sui Yan made a random response and took the black medicine with shaking hands, but his face still looked a little absent-minded.

The more Duan Zhisu looked at him, the more he felt something was wrong, so he walked up to him and asked, "Wang Gui?"

Sui Yan raised his head slightly and looked at him.

Duan Zhisu didn't know why he couldn't say what he wanted to ask, so he could only coax her, "Drink the medicine first, and then we'll go to the palace. Be good, it's not bitter."

Sui Yan took a sip absentmindedly and suddenly said, "It's a lie."

Lie.

You still gave me wine.

Duan Zhi frowned, pinched the edge of the medicine bowl, leaned forward slightly and took a sip, and said, "It's okay, it's not bitter, how could I lie to you?"

Sui Yan still stared at him blankly.

Duan Zhisu had no choice but to say to Haitang, "Bring some candied snacks to your young master."

Haitang agreed and was about to go, but Sui Yan stopped him, brought the medicine bowl to his lips, drank it all in one gulp, and then covered his mouth.

In the past, Siu Yan had never had the problem of vomiting after taking medicine. Duan Zhisu was startled and asked quickly, "What's wrong? Is it really bitter?"

Sui Yan's eyes sparkled. He forced himself to swallow the disgusting medicine and said with a tearful voice, "Hmm... it's very bitter... so bitter. Does that quack have a grudge against me?"

Duan Zhisu patted him on the back immediately, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "No matter how hard it is, you shouldn't cry, right? How come I didn't know you would cry so easily?"

Sui Yan blinked his eyes, blinked away the tears in his eyes, forced a smile, and said: "It's okay, it will be fine in a while, soon... it will be fine."

Duan Zhisu waited for him to calm down for a while, until his complexion looked much better, and then he took his people in a sedan chair and went all the way to the palace.

Every year on the eve of the Chinese New Year, the emperor would hold a family banquet in the palace. When he was young, Sui Yan always treated the family banquet as a place to eat and drink for free and ask for gifts. It was not until he grew up that he realized how many turbulent undercurrents there were beneath the seemingly happy surface.

It took less than half an hour to get from Sui'an Marquis's mansion to the palace. When the carriage arrived at Cheng'an Gate, the guards asked the two to get off the carriage and go in. However, Duan Zhisu lifted the curtain and said, "Young Marquis is not feeling well and cannot stand the wind. I have already asked my father for permission to drive the carriage into the Taihe Outer Palace."

The guards saw Sui Yan's pale and sickly face through the cracks in the curtains of the carriage and did not dare to stop him, so they quickly let him go.

Soon, the carriage arrived at the outer gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Sui Yan got out of the carriage wearing a thick cloak. A cold wind blew through the hall, and the golden tassels on his hair crown made a slight sound.

Duan Zhisu said: "Let's go, almost all the clan members have arrived."

Sui Yan stretched out his hand, and a snowflake fell into his palm and melted quickly.

He murmured, "It's snowing."

Snowflakes were falling. A man was jogging towards me on the road. Before he even came to me, he shouted, "Your Highness!"

After a quick look, it was Song Xian. It seemed that the book had been copied.

Sui Yan retracted his hand and put his cold hand into his robe. Duan Zhisu and Song Xian had said several words to him, but his hand was still so cold that it hurt.

Sui Yan sighed quietly.

At this time, a sedan chair slowly stopped and a young man in black clothes came out from it. It was Duan Mingchong.

Sui Yan took a look and quickly retreated to the wall. Just as he was about to kneel down to salute, Duan Mingchong took a few quick steps forward and stood in front of him, gently taking his hand out from inside his robe.

Sui Yan's face was bewildered.

Duan Mingchong quickly stuffed a small hand warmer with a crabapple embroidered on it into Sui Yan's hands, turned around and ran away without saying a word.