The young man dared not disturb the people around him.
As if he feared his own actions would disrespect the other.
A faint bitter fragrance, wafting at the tip of his nose.
Clad in moon-white, purer than the silver moon in the sky.
In an instant, Xie Bufeng’s entire shoulder felt as if swept by a weak current, tingling faintly.
His mind was restless.
The breath he had been holding broke free in this moment, along with his heartbeat.
Wen Qingci’s forehead lightly rested on Xie Bufeng’s shoulder, the night was cold and dew heavy, his sleep was not peaceful.
Xie Bufeng also slowly furrowed his brows.
He wanted to carry Wen Qingci back to the side hall, but feared that his own ignorance of strength would hurt the person beside him.
For a long while, he was frozen there, unsure of what to do.
In the first decade or so of Xie Bufeng’s life, he had been willful to the extreme, always doing whatever he wanted.
Growing up with malicious thoughts, he had developed a nature that cared little for the feelings of others.
When had the young man ever been so cautious?
Another breeze came, stirring ripples across the pond.
Though summer had arrived, the night wind was still chilly.
Wen Qingci’s body shivered slightly because of it.
A delicate sensation, following the touch of forehead and shoulder, spread to his limbs and bones.
Xie Bufeng finally slowly turned around, supporting Wen Qingci’s shoulders and the crook of his legs, carefully lifting the person beside him.
He dared not move his hands too much.
The person in his arms, light as a feather.
Xie Bufeng subconsciously thought of the night of the palace change at Taishu Palace.
…It was like this that he carried Wen Qingci, covered in blood, step by step out of the fire.
The image of the lamb in the snowy night, once again surfaced in his mind.
That sense of panic about losing something, wrapped tightly around Xie Bufeng, making it hard for him to breathe.
The young man subconsciously hugged the person in his arms tighter.
However, the next moment, seeing Wen Qingci’s slightly furrowed brows, Xie Bufeng couldn’t help but relax his grip.
For a time, he was neither able to exert force nor let go, as if his entire body no longer belonged to him, unsure of what to do.
Wen Qingci, entering dreamland, subconsciously sought warmth.
Just as the young man carried him into the side hall, the tip of Wen Qingci’s nose unintentionally brushed against the boy’s arm.
The string in Xie Bufeng’s heart, just like that, “clang”, snapped into two.
…
Since the last palace coup, the distinction between “nobles” and “officials” in the Wei Dynasty had become increasingly clear.
Although the Second Prince, Xie Guanzhi, held a high status, he had never worked in rotation among the six ministries and did not even have a nominal position.
This did not change even after he began to handle state affairs.
Previously, Xie Guanzhi did not think much of it, but after dealing with a few days of official duties, he finally realized that his actions were limited at every turn.
Any decision of importance could not be made.
One day later, at the Dezhang Hall of the traveling palace.
The sky was not yet bright, but Xie Guanzhi, dressed in a purple robe, was already waiting outside the hall early.
The official duties from Yongdu were sent over every few days.
The emperor had just “fallen ill,” and during the days when the Second Prince was not yet commanded to handle state affairs, a lot had accumulated.
To deal with these matters, the Second Prince had been working almost sleeplessly in recent days, and he had grown much thinner.
Although he had not studied under famous teachers, he was very diligent. But after all, he was just a seventeen-year-old boy with no experience in handling these matters.
Suddenly taking on the affairs of the court, the pressure on both body and mind hit him all at once.
The young man’s beautiful fox-like eyes were filled with exhaustion, and a faint dark circle had formed under his eyes.
“Your Highness, it’s not that I don’t want to let you in… It’s really that His Majesty is recuperating and cannot see you,” said Xian Gonggong, standing outside the hall, with a helpless look on his face.
Xie Guanzhi was stopped by him outside the door, unable to enter.
After speaking, Xian Gonggong sighed heavily and said, “You know, His Majesty’s condition is indeed not good this time… If His Majesty’s health was as usual, he would not have troubled you to be so busy recently.”
Xian Gonggong’s tone was very sincere, and at first listen, it seemed there was no problem.
But at this point, a trace of impatience flashed in Xie Guanzhi’s eyes.
He suddenly looked up and sneered at Xian Gonggong: “Then I can’t go in to visit my father, to care for him at his sickbed, to fulfill my filial duties?”
“Uh… this…” Xian Gonggong’s face suddenly changed.
This was the first time the Second Prince wanted to see the emperor but was stopped from entering.
He was not like Consort Hui, who believed whatever others said.
Xie Guanzhi only knew that if the emperor was really as seriously ill as rumored, as the most favored prince, even if he did not inquire about official duties, he should be able to see him.
—Unless the emperor was intentionally avoiding him.
This thought, which had been buried early in Xie Guanzhi’s heart and which he had always been reluctant to consider, flashed through his mind again.
The young man slowly clenched his fist.
After all, as the prince handling state affairs, Xie Guanzhi was at least not stopped at the main gate like Consort Hui.
At this moment, he had already entered the courtyard where the emperor lived, but he was always blocked from entering the hall.
Xie Guanzhi, who had been pampered by the emperor and Consort Hui since childhood, was a temperamental person.
As he spoke, his voice grew louder.
Worried about bringing trouble upon themselves, the surrounding eunuchs and palace maids all bowed their heads like quails.
Xie Guanzhi looked around and said in a deep voice, “Since I cannot enter, then I might as well speak directly here. Just now, an urgent report came from Yongdu, the northern Di are invading, disturbing our dynasty’s borders, requesting reinforcements, this matter is urgent and of great importance, I must see my father.”
As he spoke, the young man’s brows were filled with anxiety.
Although the Wei Dynasty’s territory was vast, with places like Dengcheng Prefecture in the south being a land of fish and rice, most of the area was still undeveloped, not only with a humid climate and abundant miasma but also sparsely populated, and the land was divided into small pieces by low hills, making it difficult to utilize.
In contrast, the northern lands, with a thousand years of farming history, were much more stable.
The only major threat was the northern Di.
In years when the territory’s grass and water were abundant, the northern Di would not disturb the Wei Dynasty’s waters, and they would even engage in friendly trade.
But if the heavens were not kind, the northern Di would invade the south on a large scale, plundering the towns of the Wei Dynasty.
This winter, Yongdu could be said to have had a bountiful year with auspicious snow.
However, further north, a “white disaster” occurred, with the northern Di’s pastures covered by heavy snow, and in the conditions of low temperature and lack of water, the livestock soon died in large numbers.
Now, the northern Di had reached the point where they had to move south to make a living.
Both the Wei Dynasty and the northern Di knew that their strengths were not much different.
Therefore, the northern Di did not dare to invade on a large scale, and after robbing enough for their needs and symbolically fighting a few battles, they would return to their own territory.
Generally speaking, in such situations, the Central Plains dynasty would increase troops at several of their usual passes to relieve the local pressure and seek to smoothly get through this period.
For many years, these two forces had maintained a strange balance.
Dealing with this matter was not difficult.
But Xie Guanzhi, who was only a prince without any official position, had no authority to dispatch troops.
The situation was at a standstill for a time.
Every word Xie Guanzhi said was emphatic, sounding especially serious.
But after hearing his words, the old eunuch still smiled noncommittally and said, “When His Majesty’s condition improves, I will definitely convey this matter.”
This attitude really angered Xie Guanzhi.
“Wait until His Majesty’s condition improves?” Xie Guanzhi couldn’t help but repeat his words, taking a step forward.
Xian Gonggong was startled.
Seeing the young man’s movement, the guard standing by suddenly became nervous, subconsciously gripping the long sword hanging at his waist.
But the Second Prince just glanced at him disdainfully and did not move forward.
“I can wait, but can the northern Di wait?” he couldn’t help but raise his voice.
Xie Guanzhi suddenly felt that everything in front of him was absurd.
His father, who had doted on him since he was a child, had become as unfamiliar as if he had changed into another person.
…Not only did he not see him, but he even made fun of state affairs.
Xian Gonggong raised him from childhood to adulthood. Whenever he saw him, the old eunuch’s face was always filled with kindness and concern.
But today, he pretended not to understand what he said, frowned and said in distress: “Your Highness, you are embarrassing me. I am just a eunuch and don’t understand the affairs of the court. I really don’t understand what you said…”
The Old Steward followed the emperor to court every day and was the most shrewd of men.
How could he not understand this?
He really lived too cleverly.
The old steward, who had long seen through the emperor’s mind and firmly stood on his side, no longer even did his superficial work.
And through his attitude, Xie Guanzhi finally confirmed a certain guess in his heart…
His father became wary of him.
And it was more than just that.
“Fine,” Xie Guanzhi said fiercely.
He was too lazy to entangle with the eunuch before him and turned to stride quickly towards the courtyard exit.
Xie Guanzhi had always felt that the emperor was exceptionally kind to him.
Whenever there was nothing amiss, Emperor Xie Zhao Lin would come to the palace to play with him, and he never pursued the small mistakes he made.
…Even the first time the emperor scolded Xie Guanzhi was because of the incident when the third prince brought a hunting trap into the palace.
Because of this, Xie Guanzhi always believed that his relationship with the emperor was no different from that of ordinary fathers and sons among the common people.
The young man was too lazy to think about how he had suddenly become such a source of dread for the emperor.
He only realized belatedly that to his father, he was never the future crown prince with great expectations placed upon him, nor an ordinary son.
But rather… like a pet.
When there was nothing to do, he might come to tease him, to play and be happy.
But in the end, a pet is just a pet.
Once he did something to displease him or if interests were involved, the emperor could also turn his face and deny recognition immediately.
Xie Guanzhi felt a chill in his heart.
He couldn’t help but think of his maternal grandfather… On the day of the palace coup, it seemed that he was also casually cast aside by the emperor, and it was only by good luck that he managed to save half his life.
From then on, he who had always revered the emperor, spoke of this supreme ruler with deep avoidance.
Now it seems everything had early traces to follow.
It was just himself… blinded by the so-called false “fatherly love” and “kinship,” always unable to see.
Perhaps in the emperor’s eyes, there was no essential difference between himself and Xie Bufeng.
Xie Guanzhi clenched his teeth.
Unlike Xie Bufeng, who grew up alone in Suzhou and had never felt this kind of kinship since childhood.
After realizing this, Xie Guanzhi’s heart sank heavily.
He walked quickly towards the courtyard in silence, not wanting to stay a moment longer.
At the same time, he fiercely crushed the fallen leaves under his feet as if venting his anger.
Although the emperor’s body had no problems, he who was “recuperating” still did a full set of superficial work.
For example, almost every day, he would summon Wen Qingci into the hall to pretend to take his pulse and then decoct medicine for recuperation.
Coincidentally, when Xie Guanzhi left the courtyard, it was the time for Wen Qingci to go to the back hall to take the pulse.
The imperial physician, dressed in moon-white and carrying a medicine box, walked slowly out of the side hall towards Xie Guanzhi.
Seeing the young man’s eyes, which had reddened at some unknown time, he couldn’t help but be slightly startled.
“Second Prince?”
Wen Qingci paused, put down the medicine box, and gave a bow to the young man.
Seeing this, Xie Guanzhi just fiercely glanced at Wen Qingci and continued forward without nodding his head.
At the same time, he silently clenched his fist.
Coincidentally, the rare moments of Xie Guanzhi’s embarrassment in life always seemed to involve Wen Qingci.
As they brushed past each other, he couldn’t help but recall the look of pity from the other several months ago.
…Now it seems, Wen Qingci’s expression was not wrong.
He indeed deserved to be pitied.
“Your Highness, wait a moment,” Wen Qingci suddenly turned around and called out to Xie Guanzhi.
Before the young man could react, he handed over a brand-new white silk handkerchief, then nodded slightly and quickly walked towards the hall, without saying another word.
Xie Guanzhi subconsciously took the object in his hands.
The cool silk handkerchief still carried the bitter fragrance of that person.
Xie Guanzhi turned around, wanting to throw it away, but then he finally noticed… a cool sensation had appeared on his cheek at some point.
It was tears.
The young man abruptly looked down, clutched the silk handkerchief tightly in his hand, and walked quickly out of the hall.
When he was sure there was no one around, he slowly raised his hand and wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes as quickly as possible.
The next second, he regained his usual proud demeanor—
The battle report came directly from the north through Yongdu.
The messenger was not an ordinary post officer but a soldier.
He had been waiting here for a long time.
“Second Prince, what does His Majesty say?”
As soon as Xie Guanzhi returned to the study, the messenger soldier quickly approached him, asking eagerly.
The young man was silent for a moment, then gently shook his head.
The other party didn’t understand his meaning and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Xie Guanzhi didn’t say much; he walked straight to the desk, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote down the specific arrangements for reinforcements.
Sending reinforcements to the northern Di was a very common affair.
Even Xie Guanzhi, who was handling state affairs for the first time, could deal with it swiftly.
The soldier’s gaze fell on the paper.
“This…” he hesitated for a moment, then raised his head to ask, “Won’t you ask His Majesty?”
He saw that the letter was written entirely in Xie Guanzhi’s own voice, not on behalf of the emperor.
The content Xie Guanzhi wrote was not problematic, but… if he remembered correctly, the prince before him did not have the authority to deploy troops.
“His Majesty’s illness has not yet healed,” the young man said coldly.
Xie Guanzhi’s pen moved swiftly, and in no time, he had written the content, sealed it in an envelope with wax, and handed it to the soldier.
“Just pretend you didn’t see what I wrote, take it directly, and open it when you arrive.”
The matter with the northern Di must be resolved quickly, and it had already been delayed for several days.
Although the northern Di and the central dynasty had reached a tacit understanding over thousands of years of mutual probing, war, and peace changes.
But sometimes, it only takes a small matter to break the balance.
If this invasion by the Wei dynasty was not responded to in time, the desires and ambitions of the northern Di might swell in an instant.
Xie Guanzhi could not gamble on that.
The soldier hesitated for a moment, then took back the envelope.
An envoy abroad is subject to the emperor’s orders, to some extent.
Even if he directly stated that he knew about Xie Guanzhi’s overstepping, the emperor, known for his wisdom, might only give a minor punishment.
What’s more, Xie Guanzhi asked him to pretend he didn’t know…
The soldier saluted solemnly to Xie Guanzhi and quickly retreated.
When there was no one around, the young man finally gritted his teeth and swept everything on the table away.
There was a sharp noise in the study, and the palace maids and eunuchs guarding outside were all so nervous that they watched their noses and hearts.
But Xie Guanzhi, who was standing in the mess, gritted his teeth and smiled.
Who would have thought that he had been living in a scam for the past decade?
Xie Guanzhi was in charge of state affairs, and his act of exceeding his authority to increase troops in an emergency situation might be considered a gray area of behavior.
Whether to pursue the case or not is entirely up to the emperor.
The young man was too lazy to think about how much of the emperor’s serious illness was true or false.
He only knew that since the emperor chose not to see him, the answer was already clear.
——He is forcing himself to overstep his authority.
Not only does he intend to investigate this matter, but he intend to investigate it to the end.
…
“Your Majesty, someone has already left with the Second Prince’s letter,” Xian Gonggong stepped forward to salute. He smiled and added, “From the looks of it, the Second Prince should have bypassed you and sent reinforcements to northern Di.”
Wen Qingci had been unknowingly lumped into the emperor’s camp, and the two men did not shy away from talking to him.
Hearing this, the “seriously ill” emperor slowly raised his eyes, smiled and said, “That’s good.”
His smile was full of relief and joy, just like the wise monarch in folk legends.
But at this moment, Wen Qingci just felt creepy.
His hands, which were giving acupuncture, paused.
Xie Zhaolin would do anything to consolidate his throne.
The emperor knew very well what kind of person Xie Guanzhi was.
He was even more certain that he would make such a choice.
——Although the young man had a bad temper, he had received the most orthodox education of the royal family since childhood.
His way of thinking is completely different from that of him who gained his throne through scheming.
In fact, the emperor had already received war reports from the north and learned about the white disaster on the grassland last year.
According to convention, he should have sent reinforcements to several dangerous passes long ago.
However, the emperor not only did not do so, he even transferred part of the original garrison.
This is the moment he has been waiting for.
The emperor is now “seriously ill” and the prince is in charge of state affairs.
It would be fine if nothing happened, but if something unexpected happened, the person who would bear the eternal infamy… would be Xie Guanzhi.
He had no choice at all.
Xie Zhaolin smiled and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Physician Wen, my illness should be cured.”
Wen Qingci: “…”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” He slowly removed the silver needle from the emperor’s forehead.
At this moment, Wen Qingci completely understood the emperor’s intention and felt a chill down his spine.
The emperor’s move is completely a gamble on the country’s destiny!
What if Xie Guanzhi was like him and chose to be selfish and self-protective.
Then the entire Wei Dynasty would be plunged into a huge crisis.
Xie Zhaolin is a madman and a gambler…
The imperial physician, dressed in moon-white, could not help but look at the jade incense burner in the corner of the back hall.
The smoke was still rising.
The incense burning in the incense burner was the same red incense ball he had seen that day.
In the past few days, Wen Qingci has been thinking about who poisoned the emperor, and couldn’t help but focus on several characters in “Supporting the Ming Hall” who were not on good terms with the emperor.
But now Wen Qingci feels… This problem seems to have become more difficult.
Not to mention those that don’t get along on the surface, if everyone here recognizes what kind of person the emperor is essentially, they may take the risk and try to kill him.
Not long after the soldier left, news came from the palace that the emperor’s condition had improved.
As if to verify this, the food delivered to the back hall at noon was also much richer.
However, “recovery” does take some time. The emperor still has not shown up, and Wen Qingci is temporarily unable to leave the side hall.
Late at night, the lights are dim.
Wen Qingci, who was not feeling sleepy, sat at the table, flipping through the medical book that Xie Bufeng had brought him last night.
Next to him was a letter from Yongdu – in the letter, the old physician Yu Guanlin asked Wen Qingci several questions about prescriptions, and also asked him to buy some rare medicinal herbs when he passed by Songxiu Prefecture.
Logically speaking, Wen Qingci should reply to this letter as soon as possible.
But unlike usual, today he was distracted for a long time.
He had no time to think about it when he was beside the emperor during the day, but when he had some free time late at night, Wen Qingci finally couldn’t help but recall… How did he get back to the side hall last night?
Wen Qingci’s memory stopped at the moment when he and Xie Bufeng sat side by side by the water.
He can’t remember anything that happened afterwards.
All he knew was that when he woke up, he was already sleeping on the bed in the side hall with his clothes on.
The ink condensed into beans at the tip of the brush and fell onto the paper with a plop.
The black ink spot finally brought Wen Qingci back to his senses.
Obviously, he didn’t drink last night, so there is no possibility of blackout.
…So, there seems to be only one answer.
Wen Qingci:……!!!
He actually fell asleep next to the future big boss?
There was a buzzing sound in Wen Qingci’s ears, and for some reason, his cheeks turned a light red, which he didn’t even notice.
Guilt and fear came over me at the same time.
Along with this, the feeling of resting his head lightly on the young man’s muscular arms also became clear.
Help.
…Not only did he fall asleep next to him, but was even carried back?
Wen Qingci stood up suddenly and opened the window to let in the cool wind.
Calm down. He must calm down this time.
At the other end of the palace, a young man was also sitting on the roof, looking towards the moon and Dezhang Palace.
Xie Bufeng couldn’t help but gently touch the woolen rope chain on his wrist, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, which even he himself was unfamiliar with.
Today he learned from Consort Lan that in a few days when the ship arrives at Songxiu Prefecture, it will be Wen Qingci’s birthday.
Xie Bufeng, who had never cared about this matter before, had the idea of giving him something for the first time.
I hope xgz and xbf join forces in the future, i think there is room for character development for xgz