Chapter 68 Cursing
After counting on his fingers, he realized that these protons had been coming to the fairies as protons for several months. If there were a hundred days in these months, ninety-nine of them had been spent in the dungeon. Now that midwinter was about to pass, it could be said that a whole year had been spent.
It’s just that this year hasn’t been a good one.
Shang Junnian stood outside the courtyard wall and saw water drops dripping from the icicles hanging under the eaves. When he counted the seventy-sixth drop of water, Lu Yan finally came out, looking dusty and feeling defeated.
Shang Junnian raised his eyelids slightly when he saw this, and said in a cold tone, as if he was joking: "How is it, Your Highness, have you fulfilled your wish and started a conversation with them?"
Lu Yan thought that he had not only been talked to, but he had also almost been beaten. He pointed at his wrinkled collar and stepped forward and said aggrievedly: "Look, Zhao Yuzhang tore it."
Shang Junnian frowned unconsciously: "Why did he tear your clothes for no reason?"
Lu Yan spoke the truth: "When I saw that Prince Yuzhang did not touch the food on the table, I thought it might not suit his taste, so I said I would invite him to our wedding banquet another day. Unexpectedly, he suddenly rushed up and tried to hit me, but fortunately he was pulled away by the guards."
Shang Junnian: “…”
Shang Junnian withdrew his gaze calmly, turned around and walked towards the house: "You are talking nonsense, so you deserve to be beaten."
Lu Yan followed slowly and said, "How can this be considered nonsense? There are examples of immortals marrying men. When the time is right, I will ask my father for permission to marry the Prime Minister."
Shang Junnian paused when he heard this, and glanced at him with a sidelong glance, his fox eyes slightly raised, showing dissatisfaction: "Why should you marry me and not me marry you?"
Lu Yan touched his face and said worriedly, "The Prime Minister is a pauper now, and I am as beautiful as a flower. I am afraid you can't afford the betrothal gift."
Shang Junnian choked when he heard this, but he couldn't find any words to retort, so he could only sneer and leave.
Lu Yan's words are sweet and really sweet, and he is also really owing. He is always stabbing people in the heart. After nightfall, Zhao Yuzhang lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Others were thinking about their parents, but he was cursing them in his heart. Shang Junnian was also sleepless and sat alone in the courtyard drinking wine.
The weather gets darker and the dew gets heavier, and the fog wets our clothes.
The bright moon hangs high in the sky, and the withered branches covered with snow make the desolate wilderness seem even more desolate.
Shang Junnian inexplicably recalled the time when he was fighting outside the Great Wall. The moonlight was as bright as it is today, but the sounds of killing had long gone away, leaving only dry bones buried in the yellow sand.
All his old friends died in Mingyue Ferry.
His power and glory all remained in Wuyun City.
All that was left was a broken body filled with hatred.
Shang Junnian drank a sip of wine expressionlessly. But an old ghostly voice came from the rooftop. It was thin, but it could not hide the feminine tone: "Prime Minister Shang's injury has not healed yet. It is better not to drink. Otherwise, His Highness will be heartbroken when he sees it after bathing."
Shang Junnian's eyes were cold, and he spoke with an ambiguous tone: "My death, wouldn't it be exactly what your Immortal Emperor wished for?"
Shang Junnian was fully aware of the emperor's jealousy of him, so he had never thought of returning to his country. Even though he was following Lu Yan now, there was no guarantee that he would die quietly one day.
Eunuch He sat cross-legged on the eaves, the whisk in his hand was blown into disarray by the wind, his eyelids drooped, and even though his martial arts skills were high, his temples were already frosted: "It is said that if you love someone, you will love his dog too. Your Majesty loves King Fengling, so how could you hurt the person he loves so much."
"As our ancestors have said, many of our descendants are not as good as them. If Prime Minister Shang can stay by your side and assist you wholeheartedly, helping the immortals to expand their territory and protect the ancestral foundation, it will be a way out. His glory will surely be no less than when he was a minister to Wu Yun."
Upon hearing this, Shang Junnian raised his head and drank the last gulp of wine in the jar. He then threw the jar out. It rolled in the snow with a dull sound and quietly broke into pieces.
He stood up with the help of the pillars. He must have been drunk, otherwise he wouldn't have laughed so hard. He asked sarcastically, "Glory? I've seen the most glorious time for a minister. I was given the title of prime minister, second only to the emperor, and the emperor even exempted me from half the ceremony. If I wanted glory, I would have rebelled when I had the military power. The Wuyun royal family might have changed their surname to Shang by now!"
After he finished speaking, he took a few steps back, looked up at the old man in black eunuch clothes on the roof, and said in a deep voice, word by word: "But I don't care about your true appearance--"
Arrogant enough.
The corners of Shang Junnian's clothes rustled in the wind, but his eyes became sharper and brighter in the darkness, making people dare not look directly at him. He raised his chin, and could vaguely see the shadow of a powerful official who was arrogant and domineering:
"If he truly loves me, I will help him get whatever he wants. If he betrays me, I will not care even if he offers the throne to me."
"Instead of trying to persuade me here, you should keep an eye on your romantic master and tell him to be careful not to put sand in my eyes."
Eunuch He thought that Shang Junnian had fallen into such a situation, yet he was still so arrogant. It was normal for Prince Fengling to have three wives and four concubines as he was the crown prince. But why did Shang Junnian make it an unforgivable sin? Did the prince like this tone?
Eunuch He was sensible and did not refute anything. As a eunuch, he had no idea about love affairs. He just said, "Your Highness's love for the Prime Minister is true."
On the other side, Lu Yan was bathing in the warm jade pool. He closed his eyes and leaned against the pool wall, thinking about how to learn the sword moves of the other three people. The emperor wanted to train more sword masters, but the sword skills of the immortals were only passed on to the Lu royal family. He would never give them to outsiders to practice. He had to learn other people's sword moves. It was good to get them for free, but it was a pity that his hands would be burned.
Lu Yan was lost in thought when a pair of cold hands silently fell on his head, massaging his temples slowly and steadily.
The man smelled of alcohol and the coolness of snow water, but was soon covered by the hot water rising from the bathtub.
Lu Yan opened his eyes in surprise and recognized the person who came: "Jun Nian?"
Shang Junnian sat on the steps of the bathtub for a while, looking down at Lu Yan, his long hair like ink scattered down, making his profile look even colder than an ice sculpture, and his tone was filled with slight dissatisfaction: "You took too long to bathe, and you didn't come out for half an hour."
When Lu Yan was bathing, no one was allowed to come near to serve him, and the maids were all waiting in the compartment. He was just thinking deeply and only now realized that nearly half an hour had passed.
Lu Yan was still of his frivolous nature. Hearing this, he looked up at him lazily: "It's freezing cold, Lord Prime Minister, did you come in to take a bath with me?"
Normally, when Lu Yan was wearing clothes, you couldn't tell what he looked like, but now he was naked in the pool, and his smooth muscle lines revealed that he was not as thin and weak as he looked. His handsome face looked even more mysterious in the lingering mist.
Shang Junnian frowned and looked away, staring at the peacock bronze beast beside him and said calmly: "No, I'm just worried that His Highness has drowned in the bathtub."
As he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of water, which sounded like Lu Yan getting up and getting dressed. The man seemed not to be worried at all about being seen naked by him. He dressed slowly and even joked, "Are you afraid of becoming a widow, Prime Minister? Don't worry, I won't let you go."
As he was talking, Lu Yan had already put on his coat. He always liked to wear loose clothes, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and he walked with an elegant gait.
Before Shang Junnian could come to his senses, he was caught off guard and pulled into Lu Yan's arms. The man held his waist and sniffed his neck. Finally, he frowned and said firmly, "Have you been drinking?"
Shang Junnian was stunned.
Lu Yan tugged at his collar, revealing the gauze wrapped around his chest, and frowned even more tightly: "Don't you know that you can't drink alcohol when you are seriously injured? There are so many holes in your shoulders and chest. If you drink alcohol, it will be like asking for trouble in King Yan's palace. Whoever gave you the wine, I will break his legs!"
Shang Junnian didn't know why, but he suddenly remembered that when he was drinking outside the courtyard just now, Eunuch He was sitting on the roof and said that the prince would be very angry if he saw it. When he saw that Lu Yan was really angry, he laughed out loud for no reason.
Lu Yan looked puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"
Shang Junnian just smiled and said: "I got the wine myself. If you want to fight, just break my legs."
He was drunk, otherwise he would never have claimed his true identity.
Seeing him laughing so hard that his shoulders were shaking and he couldn't even stand steadily, Lu Yan thought that Shang Junnian was usually so calm, but it turned out that he would also go crazy when drunk. He bent down, picked him up horizontally, and strode towards the inner room: "You said this, don't ask me for mercy later."
Go back to bed and beat him to death!
Shang Junnian leaned in Lu Yan's arms, feeling dizzy. He subconsciously hugged the man's neck, closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Lu Yan, I'm drinking, why are you angry..."
It wasn't his body that was injured.
Lu Yan asked back: "Then what are you laughing at?"
Shang Junnian raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "I will naturally smile if I am happy."
Lu Yan responded with his own words: "I am unhappy, so I am naturally angry."
The inner room was hung with a jade-carved beaded curtain, and behind the curtain was a translucent smoky gauze, which shone brightly under the light of the drowsy candle. Lu Yan opened the gauze curtain, leaned over and placed Shang Junnian on the bed, then took off his outer shirt and boots for him.
How could he really break Shang Junnian's legs?
This beauty has suffered enough, I can't bear to see her go.
Shang Junnian lay on the bed with his eyes closed, letting him do what he wanted. He was only slightly startled when Lu Yan took off his boots for him. After all, this was not what a prince should do.
But Lu Yan did it without any psychological burden. He sat down beside the bed, leaned over to look at the injury on Shang Junnian's shoulder, and said to himself: "You don't even take care of your own body, what are you going to do in the future..."
Shang Junnian devoted all his limited energy to the court and the country. It's not that he didn't cherish himself, but there were corpses piled up below the high position, and if he wanted to climb up, he would have to pay some price.
Wu Yun was the only prime minister who came from a humble family, had no aristocratic background, and was less than 30 years old.
Shang Junnian was either pretending to be crazy or was really drunk. He saw Lu Yan's distressed expression under the light, and he touched his smooth cheek with his thin fingertips. Suddenly, he asked without emotion, "What if I give you this broken body?"
Lu Yan paused.
Shang Junnian stared at him, thinking that some people were born to be favored by gods and Buddhas. They had noble birth, the favor of others, and stunning looks. Lu Yan undoubtedly had all of these, but it seemed that there was something else about him that was even more bewitching.
"If I give this body to you, will you cherish it for me?"
Shang Junnian leaned close to Lu Yan's ear and whispered these words inexplicably. His mind was filled with drunkenness and a faint spark of hope ignited in his dead heart, and he looked forward to a rekindling of hope on this cold winter night.
Lu Yan said nothing, but lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on his lips: "You have already belonged to me..."
He had been certain of this since they first met in the dungeon.
Many years later, Shang Junnian could still recall that night in Fengling Palace when Lu Yan held him in his arms and kissed him deeply on the bed. His body temperature was so hot that it seemed to melt him, just like the snow water dripping outside. The only barrier between the two was the gauze wrapped around the wound.
The other party took his injuries into consideration and did not take the last step. They just kept each other warm in the quilt, hugging each other very tightly. However, Shang Junnian felt that his soul was shaking.
After hearing the misty scenery for a long time, another spring has arrived.
Xianling is a very extreme place, with extremely cold winters and extremely warm springs. Recently, it has seen some sunlight, and the flowers in the garden have scrambled to sprout, filling the air with the vitality of spring.
There were often guards patrolling outside Zhifeng Courtyard. After changing shifts early in the morning, Gongsun Wuyou stood under the courtyard wall waiting eagerly. Soon he saw a familiar figure appear at the top of the wall. Although that person was a guard, he did not like to wear armor. He had a neat ponytail and his face was lively and bright.
"Chen Yingqi!"
When Gongsun Wuyou saw him, his eyes lit up immediately and he waved to him excitedly: "I'm here!"
Chen Yingqi jumped down from the wall, his body more agile than a swallow. He took out something wrapped in oil paper from his pocket and handed it to Gongsun Wuyou, saying with a smile: "Here, I bought some glutinous rice cakes this morning when I was on duty. They are still hot. Eat them quickly."
Gongsun Wuyou has two canine teeth, and when he smiles he looks like a little beast. He took the rice cake and ate two mouthfuls, his eyebrows curved, and he was particularly content: "It's delicious, just as delicious as the ones my mother made. Chen Yingqi, it's a good thing you were transferred here to guard, otherwise I don't know how long it would take for me to eat it."
Chen Yingqi laughed at him for being silly: "The cakes you eat in the palace must be exquisite. This is just a bag of glutinous rice cakes that you can buy for a dozen coins on the street. How can it be the same as the ones made by your mother? I'm afraid you haven't eaten it for too long and have forgotten the taste."
Gongsun Wuyou shook his head in confusion: "Really? Maybe."
Zhao Yuzhang was sitting in the porch basking in the sun. Seeing this, he shouted from a distance, "Chen Yingqi, why did you only bring cakes for him and no cakes for us?"
Liu Quedan was originally reading a book. Hearing this, he shook his head slightly, smiled and closed the book.
Chen Yingqi took out another oil-paper bag from his pocket and threw it to Zhao Yuzhang. Inside was four big meat buns. "Fortunately, I only work once every five days. Otherwise, if I bring snacks for you every day, my monthly salary wouldn't be enough."
Zhao Yuzhang stood at the bottom of the steps and reached out to catch the oil-paper bag accurately. He ate the bag while feeling around on his body, as if trying to find something valuable to repay the other party's favor. However, he found nothing and finally had to withdraw his hand in embarrassment.
"Look at you, we are all friends, why are you still fussing over two meat buns? Besides, I don't eat as much as Gongsun Wuyou, and he hasn't even given you any money."
Gongsun Wuyou licked the cake crumbs on his fingertips after hearing this. He thought for a moment, then suddenly pulled off a blood-jade pendant from his neck and handed it to Chen Yingqi, saying, "This jade pendant is for you."
Zhao Yuzhang choked when he saw this, his face swollen: "Didn't you say that the jade pendant was given by your mother? You refused to sell it for money when I asked you to do so in the hostage house. Why are you giving it away again now?!"
Gongsun Wuyou's mouth was full of food: "Anyway, when I return to Tianshui in the future, my mother will send me off. I won't eat for free."
What this means is that Zhao Yuzhang is the one who eats for free.
Chen Yingqi didn't take it. He picked up a long branch from the ground, flexibly twisted it around his fingertips a few times, and casually gestured with sword moves: "A few pieces of cake are not worth much. I was joking with you. Since it is a gift from your mother, keep it and don't lose it."
Gongsun Wuyou looked timid, but he was a man of his word. He stuffed the jade pendant into Chen Yingqi's hand, frowned, and said in a serious tone: "How can that be? I said I'm giving it to you, so I'm giving it to you. This piece of blood soul jade has been enshrined in front of the Tianshui Temple for a long time. My mother said it can keep you safe."
He seemed to be afraid that Chen Yingqi would refuse, and added: "If you don't accept it, I won't dare to ask you to bring cakes next time."
Chen Yingqi paused in his attempt to refuse and had no choice but to accept it: "Okay, let me borrow this jade pendant for a few days. I'll return it to you when you return to Tianshui."
Gongsun Wuyou then nodded with a smile: "Remember to come to Tianshui to play with me in the future."
Every time Chen Yingqi was on duty, he would practice swordplay in the open space beside the yard. Anyway, according to him, ever since he defeated Wan Pijiang in the last competition, he had been targeted by He Jianshuang, the chief envoy of the Longquan Division. He was afraid of retaliation, so he used his connections to come to Fengling Palace as a guard. Anyway, he had many sworn brothers, so changing positions was a piece of cake, and no one would care if he was lazy.
But that was just Chen Yingqi's story, not Lu Yan's thoughts.
He practiced swordplay under the peach tree in the courtyard. His moves were light and agile, quite similar to Dong Li's Danqing swordplay, but he deliberately revealed a few flaws that were uncomfortable to watch.
Upon seeing this, Liu Quedan finally put down the yellowed family letter that he was rubbing in his hands. He couldn't help but give some advice, pointing out the inconsistencies between sword moves one by one, and correcting them. Perhaps thinking of Chen Yingqi's life-saving grace, he gave very detailed instructions without hiding any secrets. He even told him the breaking method.
Chen Yingqi practiced again according to his instructions, pretending to be surprised and said: "After your guidance, I have become more proficient."
Liu Quedan shook his head slightly: "You are already good at swordsmanship. Even if I don't tell you, you will understand it in a few days."
Seeing Zhao Yuzhang watching intently, Chen Yingqi smiled and said, "Prince Yuzhang, I heard that your Wu Yun's Goddess Sword Technique is also exquisite. Why don't you teach me a few moves?"
Zhao Yuzhang folded his arms, leaned against the pillar under the corridor and said, "You also said it was the Goddess Sword Technique. How can a man like me practice it? But if you really want some guidance, I can find a swordsmanship expert to teach you."
Chen Yingqi had a vague guess as to who it was, but he still deliberately asked, "Swordsman master, who is it?"
Zhao Yuzhang raised his chin slightly and gestured behind him: "Look, Speak of the devil, here he comes."
Zhao Yuzhang jumped down the stairs without hesitation and ran towards the figure at the gate: "Junnian!"
Shang Junnian originally came here to take a look at Zhao Yuzhang, but he never expected to see the little guard who often hung out with them as soon as he entered the yard. He couldn't tell why, but he always felt that this man had bad intentions.
Shang Junnian frowned, then retracted his gaze and put the food box in his hand on the table: "I have some free time today, so I brought you some cakes. Eat them while they are hot."
Zhao Yuzhang was always particularly happy at this time. After all, he did not have family letters to miss like Liu Quedan, nor did he have parents to worry about like Gongsun Wuyou. Only when Shang Junnian came to visit him could he prove that he was not alone.
Zhao Yuzhang stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth and pointed at Chen Yingqi not far away: "Junnian, his sword skills have reached a bottleneck recently. You used to be a sword master, can you give him some guidance?"
Shang Junnian took out a pot of warm wine from the food box and said two words calmly: "No."
He answered calmly without even thinking, and he didn't even look in Chen Yingqi's direction. Fortunately, his voice was not loud, otherwise the scene would have been somewhat awkward.
Zhao Yuzhang lifted his robe and sat down at the stone table, saying, "Forget it, forget it. I know you won't agree. Can't you be more tactful? He's a good person and he always takes care of us. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked for this."
Shang Junnian thought to himself that Zhao Yuzhang was born as an immortal, so how could he go back in time? He said with a hint of sarcasm: "People's hearts are hidden from their stomachs, and they don't know what they are doing. Even your closest relatives may betray you, let alone a guard you have only known for a short time."
He paused and said, "You should have less contact with him, understand?"
Zhao Yuzhang smiled, but with a bit of self-mockery: "It's also true to say it the other way around. A guard I just met is willing to help me, but my closest parents are pushing me into the fire pit. Isn't it interesting?
"By the way, do you have any money? Lend me some."
Shang Junnian frowned: "What do you need the money for? You can't spend it here."
Zhao Yuzhang shook his sleeves to show his integrity: "You know that when you and I left Wuyun, that group of people flattered us and didn't allow us to take anything with us. I don't have any jade pendants or jade ornaments given by my parents, so I usually ask Chen Yingqi to help me carry things. I feel embarrassed."
He was an unfavored bastard in his early years, and he was not favored at all when he became the crown prince. When he was young, his brothers all started to learn swordsmanship, but he could not even touch a decent sword. The sword sect's inner skills were only passed down to the prince, and Zhao Yuzhang was sent to the fairyland as a hostage before he had time to learn the goddess swordsmanship when he became the crown prince. Therefore, every time Chen Yingqi asked him to teach swordsmanship, he hesitated.
Shang Junnian subconsciously reached for his sleeve upon hearing this, but felt nothing. Then he remembered that he hadn't touched silver for a long time: "I don't have any either."
He had nothing to spend money on. Lu Yan had prepared all the necessary things, so naturally he would not have any such thing as money.
"Just tell the servants what you want to eat. It's not like they won't give it to you. Why would they let a guard bring it to you?"
Zhao Yuzhang glanced at Shang Junnian subtly and said, "Just because you like to stick it on cow dung doesn't mean that everyone else likes to stick it on cow dung. I don't want anything from Fengling Palace, is that okay?"
Shang Junnian frowned: "He is not cow dung."
Even though Lu Yan had many faults in the eyes of outsiders, since he followed him, he didn't like others scolding him.
Zhao Yuzhang thought that Shang Junnian was still protecting him. He was already unhappy because his best friend was robbed, and seeing Shang Junnian defending him everywhere, he couldn't help but speak with anger: "Your Niu Zi was so good to you, why didn't he even give you a bag of silver?"
Shang Junnian's face darkened: "You!"
Chen Yingqi was standing far away and watching them secretly. Suddenly, he noticed that the two of them were on edge and seemed to be about to quarrel. He quickly stepped forward to separate the two of them:
"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on? You guys were fine just now, why are you suddenly quarreling?"
Shang Junnian glanced at Chen Yingqi coldly, feeling inexplicably disgusted with this unknown guard: "What does this have to do with you?!"
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