Chapter 106 [VIP]
"elder brother--"
Lu Xuejin dreamed of the Ninth Prince.
Amidst a vast expanse of snow, a boy crawled out of the cobra's hole, sword in one hand and tearing at his wounds with the other. He had sustained several injuries. His fan-shaped eyes were misty with sorrow, and large tears dripped down his cheeks.
"Brother...don't you want me anymore?" Murong Yue asked him.
He watched as blood flowed gushed from the boy's abdomen, staining his fingertips and cheeks, spreading everywhere, and forming a glaring color on the snow.
—My heart suddenly stopped beating.
He was heartbroken by the boy's injuries. In his dream, he wanted to go forward and hug the boy, but he found that his body was unable to move. Seeing the boy's blood and tears flowing endlessly, his heart trembled.
...Your Highness, that is not the case.
He never abandoned His Highness.
Given his abilities, when his elder brother arrived in the capital, he foresaw their fate solely from his brother's actions and immediately made the decision most beneficial to His Highness. But now, seeing His Highness injured because of him, he sometimes begins to waver, wondering if he truly made the right decision.
Did he ever consider His Highness's feelings?
How heartbroken His Highness would be if he knew of his current behavior?
Even if he could seize power in Shengjing, separate right from wrong, and put His Highness in an extremely safe situation—is this really what His Highness desires?
"Young Master..."
He heard Ziyan calling him from outside and woke up. The miserable and disheveled appearance of His Highness in his dream was still vivid in his mind. The pillowcase beside him was wet, and he realized that he was soaked in cold sweat, and his heart was suffocating.
Ziyan pushed open the door and entered. "Young Master, this is a letter from Miss Wei Ning."
The letter lay on his desk. He opened it and read it. Wei Ning had written about His Highness's current condition. He was no longer in serious danger, but looking at the handwriting and recalling the scene from his dream, he still felt uneasy.
"...What time is it now?" he asked.
Ziyan: "It's noon. His Majesty has finished court and is on his way."
He had Ziyan put those letters away untouched. It had only been a short while since he had taken a nap... He felt as if he had only been separated from Xue Yi for less than a quarter of an hour, and now they were about to meet again.
He asked Ziyan to open the window so the cool air from outside could come in and make him feel more awake. Ziyan heated up the porridge that Tengluo had cooked that morning, and he sat on the carpet to eat it. Just as he was letting it cool down, he heard noises outside.
"Your Majesty, the young master has just woken up..."
"...Changyou?"
Xue Yi entered quietly, his gaze meeting Xue Yi's as he stepped inside. Xue Yi was sitting on the carpet, holding a bowl of porridge. Xue Yi noticed the ripples in Xue Yi's heart, but his face remained expressionless, still gentle.
"Eating something? Changyou, let me see. Is this all you're eating for lunch?" Xue Yi asked him.
He put down the porridge and said to Xue Yi, "I just woke up not long ago. This was prepared by Tengluo. It would be a waste to leave it here."
"I haven't eaten either. How about having Tengluo prepare my meal as well?" Xue Yi said.
“Then you should ask the wisteria if it’s willing,” he said.
"..." Upon hearing this, Xue Yi searched for Teng Luo in the hall. Teng Luo had just returned from the library. Seeing Teng Luo, Xue Yi said, "Teng Luo, I will be dining in Fangze Palace. Would you mind bringing me a pair of chopsticks... Would you be willing?"
Tengluo was startled. She glanced at Lu Xuejin and then at Xue Yi, and replied, "This servant understands... Your Majesty, please just say it directly. Why beat around the bush as if you're afraid this servant won't understand?"
Upon hearing this, Xue Yi raised an eyebrow slightly, glanced at Tengluo, said nothing, and then turned his gaze to Lu Xuejin's face.
Lu Xuejin's forehead was touched. Xue Yi leaned closer and pressed his forehead against Lu Xuejin's, his eyebrows and eyes casting a shadow. He said to Lu Xuejin, "Did you have a nightmare? Why are you sweating so much? You look like you have a fever."
He saw himself reflected in Xue Yi's pupils. His complexion didn't look good, and his body was covered in a layer of cold sweat. He touched his forehead, and it was much hotter than usual.
"Perhaps he didn't sleep well, it's nothing serious," he said, gazing at Xue Yi. "How are you doing, brother? Did the officials at the morning court reprimand you?"
"No," Xue Yi said, his eyes reflecting his features, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "Who would blame me? Besides, I approved all the petitions they filed the other day that I was obliged to approve."
"Leave the rest to Song Zhao."
Lu Xuejin listened quietly, a soft handkerchief brushing against his cheek. Xue Yi looked serious, his eyes and brows only focused on him, nothing else. His head was spinning, his vision flashing between Xue Yi's eyes and the little prince's figure in the snow, making his thoughts sluggish.
"Zhang Lin brought up the matter of reinstating you today. I usually see that he doesn't like to take sides, but when Changyou is in trouble, he steps forward... I agree to this matter," Xue Yi said.
"You should first take good care of your health and rest well before returning to the Censorate... You can use whichever officials you want in the court. Although I am a foolish ruler, I know that you have standards for choosing people and will surely be able to select virtuous ministers who will benefit the people."
A faint fragrance drifted in through the cracks in the window, carried by a cold breeze. Xue Yi's voice was low and calm, as if he were chatting about everyday things. His slender eyebrows mirrored his features, burning with a love so intense it was almost poisonous.
Everything... went exactly as he had predicted.
If he backs down even slightly, Xue Yi will surrender and give up everything that originally belonged to him.
Why did he still feel so calm...? Everything was going according to plan, without the slightest deviation from his intended course. His mind, which was in complete control, should have been filled with relief at achieving his goal... but he felt no pleasure whatsoever.
He gazed into Xue Yi's eyes, those once unfathomable depths, now revealing his emotions openly, his love for him completely undisguised. When Xue Yi looked at him, he only looked at him, the shadow cast by the fan concealing his emotions. After receiving Xue Yi's tacit consent, he leaned in and kissed his cheek and lips.
He closed one eye, recalling the moment he fell ill as a child. His mother visited him, but because he was so sensible, there was little she could do; in fact, his status as the so-called perfect child among his peers made her neglect her duties as a mother. He was neither overly happy nor overly sad about anything. All his emotions remained stable, filled with a cold, harsh rationality for the sake of a long-awaited dawn.
"Thank you...brother," he said slowly.
"Changyou really wants to thank me... but you're no longer angry with me?" Xue Yi asked in a low voice, stroking his cheek with his hand, feeling a cool touch on his ear.
"Your Majesty, your bowl and chopsticks are here. Young Master, the meal is ready," Tengluo said from behind the screen.
He hadn't finished his bowl of porridge when Xue Yi looked down at him, and he was suddenly lifted up as if weightless. Cold sweat broke out on his head again, and the dizziness intensified. He instinctively clung to the person holding on.
“Brother…you. Put me down, I can walk by myself.”
Tengluo stared wide-eyed at Xue Yi with anger, as if she had seen her master absent and a treacherous thief had come to steal something. And what this thief was stealing was none other than her young master's heart.
"..."
Lu Xuejin let himself be carried without resistance. He said something to Xue Yi, but Xue Yi ignored him and carried him to the dining table. Soft carpets were laid out around the dining table. Zi Yan, being thoughtful, noticed his fondness for carpets and had them laid out throughout the room.
He was somewhat helpless; Xue Yi insisted on being with him all the time.
At the dining table, one of them sat in a seat, while the other casually sat on the carpet. This was his palace; he could sit however he wanted, but the person beside him… He glanced over and realized his expression might turn cold again.
"Brother, don't you have anything else to do?"
Xue Yi: "I'm worried about Changyou's current condition. Is he annoyed by me? Once you look better, I won't bother you anymore."
He sat on the edge of the carpet, his head resting on the soft brocade, watching Xue Yi prepare food to feed him. He closed his eyes wearily and swallowed the food from the spoon.
“I didn’t understand Changyou’s feelings when I fed him before, but I understand a little now,” Xue Yi said. “When I see Changyou eating, I always want to feed him more.”
Xue Yi lifted his chin and touched the edge of his cheek with his thumb, wiping away the rice grains. After wiping, he leaned in and kissed him on the corner of his lips. He didn't move, showing no reaction to being taken advantage of like this. Xue Yi was not a polite person, and instead took advantage of him, kissing him countless times during the meal.
After the meal, the dishes were cleared away. He watched the guards come and go, and Xue Yi ordered someone to deliver all the memorials to him. He stared at them for a while, his thoughts wandering for a moment before his gaze gradually shifted from the memorials to Xue Yi's face.
"Brother, do you really intend to handle memorials here? Aren't you afraid I'll read all the remonstrances that Song Zhao has painstakingly hidden away?" he asked.
Xue Yi glanced at him and said quietly, "Changyou can look if he wants to. If he can share some of my burden, that would be even better."
"I wasn't angry with Changyou when I treated him like that a few days ago, so why should I be angry now that he's just looking at my memorial?"
"..." He slowly recalled what he had done the day before. Were these things important to the other party? They were not important to him; they were merely means to lower his guard.
Although he had long guessed that his brother was completely unguarded towards him, or that he knew what he would do but still acquiesced, he found it rather boring that it was really that simple.
"If I were to leave the capital now, what would my brother do?" he asked.
Upon hearing this, Xue Yi put down the memorial in his hand and said to him, "Of course, Changyou will be imprisoned. Now, where are you going after leaving the capital? If you go to the capital, you will bring unwarranted disaster to the people there."
"I have already reinstated you to your post, is there anything else you are dissatisfied with?"
Xue Yi leaned closer to look at him, as if questioning him, carefully examining his eyes. His pale face was damp with the warmth of the charcoal, and to Xue Yi, it was expressionless. He looked at his own gentle features, lost in thought.
“I have no complaints whatsoever,” he said.
As he spoke, his eyes flickered, and he looked at Xue Yi, seemingly casually mentioning, "On my way to Suzhou, I encountered Li Miaosuo from Dingzhou. That Southern Godmother is causing trouble in Dingzhou. My brother and I returned in a hurry and didn't have time to deal with her on the way. Even if we handed her over to Song Fangting, Li Miaosuo has already become a local tyrant. I've thought it over and over... It's best to get rid of this kind of cult that harms the people."
Hearing his tone, Xue Yi asked, "What does Changyou want to do?"
“I already have someone in mind. General Xiao’s younger brother is now an adult and recently contracted malaria. Malaria is extremely rare in Shengjing, but there are more doctors in the south who treat this disease. General Xiao has always been by his brother’s side and has made endless contributions to the Great Wei. This time, I will appoint his younger brother as General of the Prefecture and send Xiao Shen to Dingzhou to assist the prefect of Dingzhou in dealing with the troubles caused by the cult… What do you think, brother?” he said.
Xue Yi looked up from the folded document at him. His slender eyebrows and eyes were now clouded with a deep, inky darkness, filled with a profound emotion that seemed capable of devouring a person. He remained unmoved amidst it all.
"..." Xue Yi, "Xiao Shen is only nineteen years old this year, still a child. Isn't it too early to send him?"
He said quietly, "Recognizing his merits as soon as possible is not only an extra reward for General Xiao, but also allows the Second Young Master Xiao to gain experience sooner... No matter how many people choose, Xiao Shen is still the most suitable. Besides, I sent the guards to check him out, and Xiao Shen has quite a talent for leadership, so it wouldn't hurt to let him give it a try."
Xue Yi's eyes held a hidden emotion as he countered, "Changyou... do you think I should trust you?"
“Brother, consider this an appointment for me… If General Xiao returns from Lidu, he will likely cause me trouble first. Brother, are you going to let this happen? Although he protects you in every way, he might harm me… So, what will you choose, brother?”
"Choose me or yourself?"
He analyzed the situation calmly and gently, meeting Xue Yi's gaze. His deep brown eyes held a serene composure, and the scar on the left side of his cuff was clearly visible, reflecting Xue Yi's expression.
Xue Yi hadn't expected him to be so composed. His gaze paused slightly before he pulled away from the desk and knelt down on the carpet with him. The two of them leaned close together, and Xue Yi lowered his head to touch his wrist.
"Changyou...you are truly ill. I initially thought it was my imagination, but how could I possibly say such things to the monarch?"
His head was spinning. He stared at Xue Yi's face, recalling the boy in the snow, and asked, "My lord is my elder brother... what are your plans, brother?"
"According to my opinion... naturally I cannot let Xiao Shen go. If Xiao Shen goes, I will become estranged from Xiao Qi. But if I don't let Xiao Shen go, Chang You might complain about me. Chang You said... what should I choose?"
He couldn't help but say, "This is a matter that the monarch should consider. Brother, please don't pass the buck to me. I have no connection with General Xiao."
From his perspective, he noticed that the aquatic plant had undergone a pathological change. The distance created by his overly sensible nature had instilled immense insecurity in his elder brother. The more willful and incorrigible his brother became, the more he arbitrarily used conditions as the basis for emotional intimacy, the happier and more satisfied Xue Yi was. It was as if the more he depended on others, the more Xue Yi could feel a sense of purpose in their presence.
His wrist was grabbed by Xue Yi, whose nose touched the ugly scar. A kiss landed on the scar, light yet heavy, spreading upwards.
He sensed a certain longing in Xue Yi's eyes. Since skin contact was no longer enough, a terrifying desire crept into the deep, thick shadow that had materialized.
Xue Yi watched him as he stripped away all his external possessions, turning him into a fragile, swaying flower branch with no one to rely on. He controlled his emotions and his breathing, seizing all his life force from his domination.
"I also want to know... what choice will Changyou make?"
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