Chapter 59 Humiliation
How could anyone rush to sleep in bed?
This thought suddenly popped up in Lu Yan's mind. He saw Shang Junnian frowning and came back to his senses from his daze. He chuckled and said, "My beautiful lady, why are you in such a hurry? Even if you want to perform the Zhougong etiquette, you have to wait until this prince takes a bath and changes his clothes."
Shang Junnian obviously didn't mean that.
But the teasing in a man's eyes is disturbing.
After an awkward silence, Shang Junnian finally got up from Lu Yan. He knelt beside him without saying a word, his eyes lowered, the candlelight illuminating his profile, making it look even colder. "Junnian did not mean that. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Lu Yan sat up and said nothing, "You lie down. I will go take a shower and change clothes first. If you are tired, go to sleep first."
There was a pool made of warm jade in the compartment. It was neither near nor far, but people who practiced martial arts had sharp ears and sharp eyes. Shang Junnian could hear the faint sound of water coming from inside as soon as he closed his eyes.
Lu Yan's bathing process was particularly troublesome, requiring both incense and floral dew. After about an hour, he finally walked into the house wearing a white satin lingerie, with his long hair loose, looking lazy and casual, with a beauty that was difficult to tell whether he was male or female:
"Didn't I tell you to go to sleep first? Why are you still kneeling?"
Shang Junnian was a cautious man. Now that he was a prisoner, he would not go beyond the rules. He knelt silently in his original position, his brows were dull, and although he lowered his head, his back seemed to be three points more proud than others:
"Wait for your highness."
Lu Yan smiled and said, "Well, it's getting late, let's go to bed."
He put out the candles, and in the dim darkness, he threw off the quilt and went to bed. Shang Junnian could only smell the scent of Luoshen sandalwood water between his nose, and he calmed his mind and thought that he was indeed a prince who was raised in luxury and lived a delicate life.
Shang Junnian waited until Lu Yan was lying down before he lifted the quilt and quietly crawled in.
In fact, Shang Junnian had regretted it when Lu Yan was bathing just now. He was a prime minister at a young age, and he was a man of both civil and military talents. His arrogance was even greater than others. But when he needed to stay alive, his worthless arrogance would always come out in the middle of the night to kill people, accusing him of abandoning his integrity and becoming a plaything on someone else's bed.
Please have mercy on me, Your Highness.
Having said this twice, I can never say it a third time.
Shang Junnian thought so, but his body did not move. He knew that he could not escape, and he was so hopeless that he could not even think of regrets. He just couldn't control his hands that clenched into fists, and veins appeared on them.
Lu Yan noticed that Shang Junnian was too tense, so he closed his eyes and said lazily, "Are you so vigilant even when you go to bed, Prime Minister? Relax a little. What if the wound you just healed gets torn again?"
Shang Junnian spoke in the darkness: "A lowly cripple, not worth caring about."
He still had that stern tone of a dead person, as if the person lying next to him was not a stunningly handsome nobleman, but a white-haired old man who was too much to even look at.
Lu Yan: "Where are your family members?"
Shang Junnian: "I was orphaned at a young age and have no family."
Lu Yan thought thoughtfully: "No wonder..."
No wonder he was sent as a hostage by fairies, abandoned twice, and no one was willing to save him.
When Shang Junnian heard these two words, he felt that there were countless sighs hidden in them, which moved his heart. He wanted to ask, but he felt that he should not open his mouth, so he had to remain silent.
Lu Yan felt sleepy and yawned: "Go to sleep, your wounds are not fully healed yet, and you are bleeding. I am not interested."
This slightly disgusting remark was like a pardon to Shang Junnian, and he felt relieved, as if a huge stone had fallen off his chest. He listened to Lu Yan's long and steady breathing, and his tense body finally relaxed a little. It was only at this moment that he felt a little sleepy.
Maybe not a little, but a lot.
The time when he was locked up in the dungeon was the coldest time of winter, and even the seams of his bones were frozen. The guards whipped and scolded him every day and did not allow him to sleep. In addition to the pain from his wounds, Shang Junnian had not had a good night's sleep for a long time.
The room had floor heating, so the biting cold wind outside was not felt at all. The four-legged beast incense burner was filled with a sweet fragrance that made one feel soft all over. The bedding beneath one's body was soft, and the quilt was thick. It was a world of difference from the scene in the dungeon.
Even though Shang Junnian was used to being alert, he couldn't help but fall into a deep sleep at this moment.
I slept until the next afternoon.
As soon as Shang Junnian opened his eyes, he saw the bedside table with a Kirin pattern embroidered above his head. He suddenly realized that he was no longer in the dungeon, but in Fengling Palace. He sat up from the bed as if he had been electrocuted, with a look of doubt and uncertainty on his face.
"woke up?"
A voice that sounded like a smile was heard, breaking the silence in the room.
Lu Yan sat at a round table filled with delicacies, with a pot of Jiuxia wine bubbling on the charcoal stove in front of him. There were no servants in the room, so he raised his sleeves and poured two glasses of wine himself: "My beautiful lady, since you are awake, why don't you put on your clothes and accompany me for dinner?"
Shang Junnian only then noticed a set of plain clothes beside the bed. He put them on without hesitation in front of Lu Yan, then lifted the quilt and stood up, walked in front of him, and asked without emotion: "Why didn't your highness touch me last night?"
Lu Yan took a sip of wine, then lazily fell into the chair: "Didn't I tell you that your wounds haven't healed yet, and you have no interest in seeing blood spurting out."
There was no emotion in Shang Junnian's eyes, only a dark ghost, which made him look even more lonely against his pale and bloodless face:
"In this case, I beg Your Highness to let Jun Nian go back."
Lu Yan became interested: "Where to go back to? The dungeon, or the hostage house?"
Shang Junnian lifted his robe and knelt on the ground, his long eyelashes drooping, casting a faint shadow: "All is fine."
Both are fine.
He would rather stay in a dungeon without seeing the sun, or in a sour and dilapidated proton palace, than stay in the Fengling Palace with its luxurious living.
Lu Yan shook the wine glass in his hand, but he didn't seem angry: "My beautiful lady, this is not a decent thing to do. I have worked so hard to get you out of the dungeon, but you haven't even tasted any benefits yet, and you want to go back?"
Shang Junnian lowered his eyes and remained motionless: "If your Highness needs Junnian's service, I will be there at your command."
As soon as he finished speaking, the air fell into silence, with only the sound of bubbling in the clay stove.
Lu Yan thought that what he wanted was not only Shang Junnian's service, but also his loyalty. He shook his sleeves, stood up from the chair, helped the man up himself, and asked with a smile: "Isn't it good to live in the palace?"
Shang Junnian didn't expect that he would personally help him up, so he subconsciously withdrew his hand: "Although the palace is good, it is not a place for Junnian to stay."
Putting aside the fact that Lu Yan has always been kind to women, just because Shang Jun had protected him until his death in the previous life, he would not make things too difficult for him. After a moment, he said, "First, accompany me to finish my meal, and then I will send you back to the hostage house. Is that all right?"
This is a request that is not a request.
Shang Junnian sat opposite Lu Yan, looking at the table full of delicacies. It would be a lie to say that the food was tasteless. He had not eaten or drunk anything for many days in the dungeon. If he had not relied on the internal strength of a martial artist, he would have starved to death long ago.
Seeing Shang Junnian not moving his chopsticks, Lu Yan pushed the bowl of bird's nest porridge in front of him and said lazily, "Eat it. Don't you want to go back to the hostage house? I will let you go after you finish eating."
Shang Junnian finally stopped talking and started eating after hearing this. Although he was extremely hungry, he did not eat like a wolf. At most, he ate faster, with a bit of the efficiency of a soldier. He ate whatever Lu Yan picked up. In the end, most of the food on the table was eaten up by the two grown men.
Finally, Lu Yan called a maid to rinse her mouth and wash her hands, raised her eyes and asked with a smile: "Are you full?"
Shang Junnian knelt down again and saluted: "Thank you for your hospitality, Your Highness."
He didn't know why the man in front of him was so nice to him. After all, he was a disabled man and had nothing worth plotting. The worst that could happen was that he would be humiliated on the bed.
He had been in the dungeon for several days, living a life worse than death. He had already suffered the greatest humiliation in his life, and everything else was nothing.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yan walked up to Shang Junnian, leaned over to look him in the face, and his slender jade-like fingertips deliberately fell on the other's collar, and then slowly slid into the gap. It was unknown what he touched, but Shang Junnian's chest shook violently for a moment, but he pursed his lips silently and did not dodge.
Lu Yan saw with his own eyes that the other person's exposed earlobe gradually turned red and dripped blood, and said with a half-smile: "You are so obedient."
It still looks like a chicken.
Shang Junnian raised his eyes and looked at Lu Yan. His foxy eyes were slightly raised. They should have been romantic and affectionate, but at this moment they inexplicably reminded people of a poisonous snake that was waiting for an opportunity to strike:
"Junnian will be your Highness's man from now on, so I will naturally listen to you. I only hope that you can protect me and Crown Prince Yuzhang for three years."
Three years?
Does Shang Junnian still want to go back? He just doesn't know that he will be abandoned again in three years.
Lu Yan said nothing. His fingertips moved inside his collar and slowly circled around his heart. "Of course."
The person in front of him trembled slightly for a moment.
In fact, there are more than three hostages among the fairies. When the emperor was young, he conquered many territories. When the monarchs of small countries were defeated, they would offer hostages to show their sincerity.
To the west of the royal city, there is a mansion guarded by heavy soldiers. All the hostages are locked up inside. Because it is far away from their homeland, no one cares about them. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is worse than being imprisoned in the cold palace.
A horse-drawn carriage wobbled to the gate, followed by four guards. The old eunuch in the lead was originally sitting in the front of the carriage. Seeing that they had arrived at the hostage house, she jumped down directly. The snow was thick, but he landed silently:
"We have arrived at the hostage house. Please come in, Prime Minister."
Only after leaving Fengling Palace did I realize how cold it was outside.
Shang Junnian opened the curtain and stepped out of the carriage. The cold wind blew in his face, causing him to cough a few times, which caused a burst of heart-wrenching pain. He frowned and forced himself to smile, with a sweet taste in his throat. He said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, eunuch."
Since ancient times, the most feared thing is the beauty getting old and the general getting gray hair. Although Shang Jun's hair was not gray, his body was corroded by the cold in the dungeon, and his collarbone was pierced, and his body was in a state of disarray, which was even more terrifying than gray hair.
Eunuch He clasped his hands in his sleeves and, raising his eyelids, advised: "The Prime Minister is not well yet. He should stay in the palace to recuperate."
He once fought with Shang Junnian, a man with extraordinary swordsmanship. It was a pity to see him fall to this state.
Shang Junnian paused when he heard this, then walked into the hostage house without looking back and said, "That's not my place."
The hostage's mansion was shabby and dilapidated, and it was so cold in winter that it was difficult to sleep. Today, the sun came out for a rare day, and many people were basking in the sun in the yard. When Shang Junnian staggered in, he immediately caused quite a commotion.
"Shang Junnian? Wasn't he imprisoned in the dungeon by King Fengling? How come he was released?"
Zhao Yuzhang was originally inside the house. He suddenly heard the commotion outside and immediately pushed the door open and rushed out. The moment he saw Shang Junnian, he couldn't help but exclaim in shock: "Junnian?!"
He never thought that Lu Yan would really release Shang Junnian, so he rushed forward to support him, nervously checking him up and down, his hands shaking with excitement: "You're out, you're actually released!"
The two of them had been imprisoned in the dungeon for a long time, but one was outside and the other was inside, with a wall between them. They finally met each other today, and both looked thin and haggard.
Shang Junnian shook his head slightly, his voice hoarse: "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Zhao Yuzhang didn't know what he was thinking of, and asked with an unpleasant expression, "Did King Fengling do anything to you?"
Shang Junnian said calmly: "No."
He was telling the truth, but some people didn't believe him.
"No? But why did I hear that you climbed into King Fengling's bed last night and became his male favorite? Look, not only did you change into warm cotton clothes, but you also dressed up neatly. How can you look like someone who was released from a dungeon?"
A strange voice suddenly sounded, attracting the attention of everyone in the courtyard. The person who spoke was Huan Wen, the hostage of Changxi Kingdom. He was the most sarcastic and mean person in the entire hostage palace, and he usually liked to stir up trouble.
He glanced at Shang Junnian's brand new plain clothes, his eyes full of jealousy that seemed to burst into flames, but he still sneered: "But since you have become the male favorite of His Royal Highness Fengling King, why don't you ask him to take you out of here, but instead you are thrown back to this shabby place?"
Zhao Yuzhang was the first to get furious: "Bullshit! Huan Wen, if you have the guts, say it again!"
He rushed forward to beat the man, but the other protons pulled him back and tried to persuade him:
"Forget it, forget it. He is just like that. Why bother with him?"
"He would insult any dog that passed by. Can you really beat Huan Wen to death?"
"We are all the same, we have all reached this point, so let's not kill each other anymore."
While everyone was talking at once, Shang Junnian walked up to Huan Wen. His fox-like eyes curled up slightly, his dark pupils were like ghosts, and his body was filled with chill. He asked in a low voice, "What did you just say? Say it again?"
After all, it was the momentum of killing in the midst of thousands of troops. Huan Wen was frightened by him and staggered back a step, but then he mustered up his courage again: "Shang Junnian, don't think I don't know that your collarbone was pierced. Others may be afraid of you, but I am not afraid of you..."
"Bang--!"
Before Huan Wen could finish his words, Shang Junnian suddenly hit him in the heart with a palm. He flew out like a kite with a broken string and hit hard against a century-old dead tree in the yard. The accumulated snow fell down, his face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
The courtyard was dead silent, and everyone was stunned by the scene before them.
Shang Junnian maintained the posture of striking out his palm, and the cold wind blew the corners of his clothes. He looked around coldly, staring at everyone so hard that they dared not look up. Then he slowly withdrew his hand and said in a calm voice, word by word:
"If anyone dares to make a noise in my ear from now on, I will make him wish he were dead, do you understand?"
The snow was falling heavily and the whole courtyard was silent. It was like a pure world of glass, except for the pool of blood on the ground, which was dazzling red.
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