Edited: 10.25.2023
Ye Zi’s face flushed red.
“Y-Your Majesty……” Ye Zi was so nervous that he was tongue-tied. He subconsciously wanted to get up but was embraced even more tightly by Gu Yan.
Gu Yan buried himself in his neck and whispered: “Don’t move, I just want to hug you.”
Ye Zi wasn’t the only one who felt bad about the impending separation, Gu Yan was even worse. He had worked so hard to get along with his little princess consort, and now that he had to leave him, he felt no less reluctant than Ye Zi.
When Ye Zi realized this, his struggling movements stopped.
In the end, Gu Yan really didn’t do anything to him and continued to read the files on the desk with concentration. After more than half a year of disaster control, Gu Yan had to read all the county information, disaster and rescue processes, and past disasters in the local area in just two days.
Prince Rui had been idle for many years, and for the first time, he was now swamped.
Ye Zi obediently stayed in his arms with a flushed face and didn’t dare to move.
The kiss just now got him a little turned on, but after seeing Gu Yan’s appearance, he didn’t dare to disturb him anymore.
Gu Yan remained unmoved on the surface and marked the files carefully, but only Ye Zi knew that the heat he felt under his body had never subsided. The two of them were still for a while, and when Gu Yan finished marking the third file, Ye Zi finally became a bit impatient.
Ye Zi gently moved his waist and Gu Yan immediately glared at him: “Don’t move.”
There was a layer of moisture under Ye Zi’s eyes and he felt like he was going to be scalded by the heat. Even at this point, how could Ye Zi not tell that this person was bullying him?
Ye Zi was silent for a while before softly asking: “Zicheng, the agreement we made during today’s match, does it still stand?”
They had an agreement before today’s match, whoever won would be able to make a request to the other party that they could not refuse.
Gu Yan looked down at him and smiled: “It naturally counts. What, have you thought of what you want?”
Ye Zi blushed and lowered his head.
He thought about what he saw in the storybook and his heart skipped a beat. He reached out and directly pressed his hand on the place that made him restless.
Gu Yan’s breath hitched.
Gu Yan had only intended to tease Ye Zi, but he hadn’t expected him to take it this far. That wasn’t all, Ye Zi observed his reaction, and seeing that he wasn’t angry, his trembling fingers gently moved a few times.
Gu Yan couldn’t bear it anymore. He took Ye Zi’s hand and looked at him warningly: “A Zi, don’t mess around.”
This was what Ye Zi had been waiting for. Taking advantage of Gu Yan’s moment of relaxation, Ye Zi slipped out of his arms. However, Ye Zi did not take the opportunity to escape. Instead, he lowered his head, lifted up the silk cloth spread on the table, bent down, and hid inside.
Ye Zi knelt down in front of Gu Yan, lifted up the silk cloth, and looked up at him as his fingers trembled with nervousness: “Then promise me, no matter what I do, you are not allowed to move.”
Gu Yan’s expression changed completely.
It was getting dark and the candlelight in the study gradually dimmed. The maid who was guarding the courtyard fetched the lamp oil and knocked on the study door. After explaining her purpose, she waited for a while before hearing Gu Yan’s low voice: “…….Come in.”
The Prince’s voice was a little hoarse and the maidservant tilted her head in confusion as she pushed the door open.
Gu Yan was the only person in the room. The maidservant walked to the table to add oil to the lamp and observed the man’s complexion through the obscure lamplight: “Is Your Majesty not feeling well, do you need this servant to go and ask for a doctor?”
Gu Yan closed his eyes and whispered: “……No need, you can leave.”
The maidservant nodded and said nothing more. She turned her head and closed the door after her. When she stepped out of the room, she suddenly remembered that Princess Consort Rui had entered the study before. When did he leave? Why didn’t she see him?
Silence returned to the study and Gu Yan suddenly said: “She’s already left, come out quickly.”
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The silk cloth under the table moved and Ye Zi crawled out with a blush on his face. The moisture in his eyes hadn’t yet dissipated. His lips were unnaturally red and the corners of his lips seemed to be worn out.
Ye Zi slowly climbed into Gu Yan’s arms and leaned against his chest. He calmed his breathing down before complaining: “You’re too much.”
His voice was extremely hoarse and breathless.
Gu Yan impatiently took a deep breath and stretched out his hand to rub his lips: “Who was the one that went too far just now?”
Ye Zi turned his head to avoid his gaze and pursed his worn lips; he was too aggrieved to speak.
It was indeed embarrassing to do such a thing in the study.
But how did he know beforehand that someone would suddenly come in? And when he heard the knock on the door, he was so frightened that his heart almost stopped. What he didn’t expect even more was that Gu Yan actually let the maid in.
What if someone found out——
Ye Zi’s face turned even redder and he didn’t dare to think any further. Burying himself in Gu Yan’s arms, he whispered: “……My throat hurts.”
Hearing him say that, the fire in Gu Yan’s heart increased. But remembering how badly he had treated him just now, he didn’t dare to do anything to this person again and instead patiently poured him a cup of tea: “Drink some tea to moisten your throat.”
Ye Zi gently nodded and took a sip from Gu Yan’s hand.
The temperature of the tea was suitable, but Ye Zi’s throat was very sore. When the hot tea entered his throat, he felt like it was burning and refused to drink it again after one sip.
Gu Yan wrapped the person in his arms. After he noticed that the person in his arms had finally settled down, he questioned: “Where did you learn these things?”
As soon as that question came out, he instantly remembered the matter of Ye Zi being caught peeking at the storybooks in the study not long ago.
At that time, he thought that Ye Zi had the desire to do “that,” but was too embarrassed to ask him, which was why he was looking through those storybooks.
These days, Gu Yan had deliberately left him alone just to force him to lose patience so that he would come to him on his own initiative.
But who knew that this person was actually trying to……
“Don’t ask……” Ye Zi’s eyes were full of moisture, as if he was extremely tired, and he complained feebly, “If I had known that this was so tiring, I wouldn’t have done it with you. It obviously said that it would be very comfortable……. “
Gu Yan deliberately asked: “Where does it say that?”
Ye Zi didn’t speak again.
Gu Yan was too lazy to pretend with him anymore and told him directly: “Tomorrow, I will throw away all those storybooks. You are not allowed to look at them again in the future.”
Ye Zi was stunned: “How did you know?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized he accidentally had a slip of the tongue.
Gu Yan looked down at him and smiled: “So you finally confessed.”
Ye Zi kept his mouth shut in fear of making another mistake and wrapped his arms around Gu Yan, rubbing himself coquettishly between his neck.
Gu Yan gently stroked his back and asked: “Tell me, why?”
Ye Zi hesitated for a long time and then said truthfully: “It is said that if couples don’t sleep together for a long time, their relationship will inevitably go downhill. I was just afraid……”
Before he finished speaking, Gu Yan asked in a low voice: “Afraid that my feelings for you will deteriorate as time goes on? Is that why you looked through the storybooks and learned those things to please me?”
Ye Zi embarrassingly smothered his head in Gu Yan’s chest and after a long time, he gently nodded.
“You’re really …..” Gu Yan was heartbroken and amused at the same time. He lifted the person out of his arms and kissed him without another word.
Gu Yan trapped Ye Zi in his arms and kissed him tenderly and meticulously. Ye Zi was so satiated by the kisses that even his throat didn’t hurt as much.
After a long time, Gu Yan released him.
The two of them were still very close, so close that they could touch each other just by opening their mouths. Gu Yan pecked lightly at Ye Zi’s lips: “A Zi, when I said I would punish you in the past, it was mostly just to scare you. I never really did anything to you.”
Ye Zi felt a bit of danger from his tone and subconsciously wanted to hide, however, he was pulled back forcefully.
Gu Yan bit lightly on his lips to vent his anger: “If you keep this up, I’ll really punish you, ruthlessly.”
Ye Zi trembled.
Gu Yan dialed it down a little and looked at him helplessly with a sigh: “Do you want me to punish you severely until you cry, so that you can finally believe my feelings for you?”
Ye Zi was unable to say anything to his forceful question.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Gu Yan’s feelings, it was just that he liked this person so much that he couldn’t help but have these thoughts. Because of this, he was worried that Gu Yan would one day not like him as much and he couldn’t bear the loss of that relationship even for a fraction of a second.
In the end, he felt that the contributions between himself and Gu Yan were unequal.
Gu Yan had given too much to him.
After being reborn, how much hardship did Gu Yan have to go through to support himself until now and fall in love with him again?
And what about him?
He had forgotten all about the past between them and was living leisurely. Even now, he was still accepting this person’s kindness without any guilt.
Ye Zi paused for some time and suddenly said: “Zicheng, you misunderstood me.”
“……I don’t distrust you, not at all.” Ye Zi embraced Gu Yan and slowly explained, “I’m afraid that you won’t feel my love for you. I can’t do anything for you, while you’ve done so much for me. I……was just thinking about how to make it up to you. You said before that you wanted to treat me even better, I feel the same.”
Ye Zi closed his eyes and said softly: “You said before that I had selfish motives, and you’re right, I do. Moreover, not only am I selfish, but I am also extremely greedy. I want you to remember me forever and never forget me. I want you to always have only me in your heart and nothing else but me.”
Gu Yan’s heart skipped a beat and he closed his eyes impatiently, restraining himself: “Alright, don’t say any more.”
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Ye Zi looked up at him: “What?”
Gu Yan’s hand slowly rubbed Ye Zi’s waist: “If you keep talking, I really…….”
He paused slightly and laughed: “If I do something to you again tonight, will you still be able to bear it?”
Ye Zi understood what he meant. His face heated up and he hurriedly said: “I-I am not that weak.”
Gu Yan sighed helplessly: “Even if you are not that weak, I’m not the same.”
“A Zi, I’m about to leave, why are you trying to tempt me at this time?” Gu Yan gently kissed him on the forehead and said with great sadness, “If I really did something with you, how could I bear to leave you behind?”
If he finally had a taste of him, how could he still feel at ease leaving this person behind and heading off to such a faraway place?
Ye Zi blushed and stammered: “Then……then I’ll wait for you to come back. When you come back, we can…..”
Gu Yan’s eyes brightened: “Are you sure?”
Ye Zi nodded: “Mnn……”
Gu Yan stroked his hair with satisfaction: “Alright, it’s getting late, you should go back and rest.”
Ye Zi refused to go and insisted: “I’ll stay here with you.”
Gu Yan also wanted to stay with him for a while longer so he didn’t refuse.
The two of them stopped talking and only the sound of turning pages remained in the room for a while.
Ye Zi leaned on Gu Yan’s shoulder, accompanying him as he organized the files. There was no longer any flirtatious atmosphere between the two of them and they simply stayed together quietly, enjoying their last couple days together.
Two days later, Gu Yan left Chang’an for Jiangnan with Emperor Jinghe’s newly dispatched disaster relief officials.
Although Ye Zi was reluctant to see him go, he could only stay in Chang’an and teach Gu Xu martial arts every day to divert his attention. After more than ten days passed, Ye Zi finally received a message from Gu Yan.
Gu Yan had gone the water route before finally arriving in Jiangnan after spending another ten days on the road.
The letter from Gu Yan changed from his usual sharp nature. He rambled about many sights and sounds along the way and asked about Ye Zi’s recent situation in every detail. All the words between the lines were expressing his lovesickness.
Ye Zi carefully read the letter several times, and the more he read it, the more uncomfortable he became.
This feeling was even more unbearable than he had expected.
But what was even more unbearable was that after that, he never received another message from Gu Yan.
“Cousin-in-Law, why are you lost in thought again?” A tender child’s voice sounded beside Ye Zi.
Ye Zi snapped back to his senses and shook his head: “It’s nothing.”
At first, Gu Xu wanted to call Ye Zi Master. Although it was a bit inappropriate, Ye Zi didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. But since Gu Yan made such a fuss, Ye Zi felt uncomfortable hearing that title and from the second day on, he ordered Gu Xu not to call him that.
Ye Zi sat at the stone table in the courtyard and raised his head. Gu Xu ran toward him while carrying a wooden sword.
Over the past half month, Gu Xu had made rapid progress. He had learned all the basic skills Ye Zi taught him and also learned an additional set of basic sword moves. Gu Xu pestered him to learn new ones, but Ye Zi was afraid that he would rush forward too quickly, so after teaching him the most basic set of sword moves, he stopped teaching him.
In order to appease Gu Xu, Ye Zi had to personally help him carve a wooden sword so that he could casually swing it for fun.
Gu Xu squatted beside Ye Zi and tilted his head to look at him: “Is Cousin-in-Law thinking about Cousin?”
Ye Zi poked his forehead: “You’re still a little kid, what would you know?”
Gu Xu touched his forehead and laughed: “I know a lot! In the past, when Mother Consort was alone in the palace, this was how she looked when she missed Father. A Xu observed that every time Mother Consort missed Father, she would sigh. In the course of finishing a cup of tea, she would sigh seven or eight times. Cousin-in-Law was sighing even more than that, probably around 10 times.”
Ye Zi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he lectured with a straight face: “I told you to go and practice your sword properly, but here you are counting how many times I sighed. A Xu, do you want to be punished by doing handstands again?”
Gu Xu shirked his neck: “I don’t want to. Cousin-in-Law, please don’t punish me.”
Gu Xu added: “But I’ve already learned everything that Cousin-in-Law taught me, can’t Cousin-in-Law teach me something new?”
Ye Zi shook his head: “The most important thing to avoid when learning martial arts is the eagerness for quick success. Especially since you are now learning the most basic body movements and techniques, so you can’t slack off at all. That’s how martial arts is, you have to practice repeatedly day after day, year after year, and it’s very boring. What, do you regret it now?”
Gu Xu said: “How could I possibly regret it? It’s just practicing, I will definitely practice well.”
As the two were talking, the family servant led two other people into the courtyard.
It was Gu Xuan and the little gray sparrow.
Ye Zi was stunned and dismissed the family servant: “Little sparrow, long time no see.”
The little gray sparrow walked up to Ye Zi and sat next to him nonchalantly: “Yes, yes. It’s all because of A Xuan. He hasn’t allowed me to leave the palace for so long. He was only willing to let me out today because I was angry with him.”
Gu Xuan gave him a helpless look and greeted Ye Zi: “Cousin-in-Law, hope you have been well lately.”
Ye Zi nodded and heard the little gray sparrow add: “Eh? Is this A Xuan’s younger brother, he looks nothing like A Xuan.”
Gu Xu timidly hid behind Ye Zi and obediently called out first to his “Third Imperial Brother,” and then ignorantly asked: “Is this Imperial Sister-in-Law?”
Ye Zi was speechless, but the little gray sparrow responded in a serious manner: “I’m not your Imperial Sister-in-Law, I’m A Xuan’s husband. Huh, but in that case, what should you call me?……”
Ye Zi: “……”
Gu Xuan: “……”
Gu Xuan held his forehead: “Little sparrow, stop spouting nonsense.”
The little gray sparrow looked at him in disbelief: “Just now in the palace, you clearly promised me that I would be your husband! You even called me that several times, how could you go back on your words?!”
Gu Xuan’s face instantly changed through every emotion.
Ye Zi hurriedly cleared his throat and interrupted: “Alright, little sparrow. Since it’s been a while since you last came to see me, let’s not dwell on that topic anymore. Third Imperial Majesty, please have a seat.”
The little gray sparrow glared at Gu Xuan and said indignantly: “I’ll deal with you when we get back.”
Gu Xuan swept an unmoving glance at him and calmly said: “Okay, we’ll talk about it when we get back.”
Ye Zi took this interaction between the two into his heart and couldn’t help but sweat for the little gray sparrow.
He pitied this little silly bird, who hadn’t yet realized that he was about to be in great trouble.
The group sat in the courtyard and sipped tea.
After a long while, Gu Xuan suddenly asked: “Cousin-in-Law, has there been any news from Cousin in the past few days?”
Ye Zi shook his head and truthfully said: “I received a message from him some time ago, but not in the past few days. Perhaps it has been busy over there, why do you ask?”
Gu Xuan lowered his eyes and there was a hint of worry in his eyes: “In the past two days, news has come from Jiangnan that a kind of difficult-to-cure epidemic has been spreading among several counties. Does Cousin-in-Law know about this?”
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Since Gu Yan left, Ye Zi obediently stayed in the Prince’s manor every day, not inquiring much about outside news.
But the fact that there would be a plague spreading in Jiangnan was something that Gu Yan had mentioned to Ye Zi earlier, so he wasn’t too surprised: “I didn’t know.”
Gu Xuan added: “I heard that one of the cities where the plague is spreading happens to be close to where the disaster relief ministers are staying. Cousin brought some helpers into the city to try to save the people there.”
Ye Zi’s heart thumped, vaguely having a bad premonition.
Ye Zi asked hoarsely: “Then what?”
Gu Xuan sighed softly and then shook his head: “I don’t know if the source of information is accurate or not. From what I heard, Cousin……seems to have been infected with the disease as well.”
Ye Zi’s hand shook and the hot tea in his cup spilled out, splashing onto the back of his hand.
“Little Leaf! Be careful.” The little gray sparrow hurriedly snatched the cup of tea from his hand and wiped the spilled tea with his sleeve.
A small red mark quickly formed on his pale skin, but Ye Zi acted as if he couldn’t feel any pain at all and muttered in a daze: “It’s not true, he brought so many people with him and he also has a great doctor by his side, there’s no reason he can’t prevent the epidemic.”
Gu Xuan nodded: “Exactly, Cousin-in-Law shouldn’t worry about it too much. The sky is high and the roads are far, perhaps the news has been misconstrued. I’ll go back and have someone inquire again and when I have new news, I’ll immediately come and tell Cousin-in-Law.”
Ye Zi lowered his gaze: “Okay.”
Everyone sat for a little while longer, but Ye Zi no longer had much heart to entertain them. Gu Xuan noticed that he had something on his mind and took the lead in bidding him farewell as he dragged the little gray sparrow with him.
Before he left, Gu Xuan said to Ye Zi: “I understand that Cousin-in-Law is worried about Cousin’s safety and I also know Father’s reason for keeping Cousin-in-Law in Chang’an. Since Cousin has helped me out a lot, if Cousin-in-Law needs anything, and trusts me, I will try my best to help.”
When Gu Xuan left, he took Gu Xu back to the palace as well.
After sending them away, Ye Zi sat uneasily in the manor for a long time. Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore and asked someone to prepare a carriage to leave the city.
Ye Zi got off and walked for a while before finally seeing the small courtyard deep in the bamboo forest. Pei Wan’er was sunning herbs in the courtyard.
Noticing Ye Zi’s arrival, Pei Wan’er hurriedly greeted him: ”Why did Princess Consort Rui come here today, are you here to see Sister Wen? She is taking a nap, do you want me to go call her?”
Ye Zi’s face was pale and he shook his head: “No need, I’m here to see Miss Wan’er.”
Pei Wan’er busily guided Ye Zi to a seat in the courtyard. After carefully observing his expression, she asked worriedly: “Princess consort, what’s wrong? You don’t seem to look so good.”
Ye Zi drank a mouthful of tea before calming down a bit: “I came here because I wanted to ask Miss Wan’er something.”
Pei Wan’er said: “Ask away, this commoner will definitely tell you everything.”
Ye Zi took a deep breath: “I heard from His Majesty that he had previously asked Dr. Pei to develop an antidote for the epidemic in Chang’an City twenty years ago.”
Pei Wan’er’s face changed and she was distressed: “Elder brother doesn’t allow me to talk about this.”
Ye Zi said: “His Majesty has already told me some things so Miss Wan’er wouldn’t be leaking anything. However, there are some things that I want to verify with Miss Wan’er.”
Ye Zi paused for a moment and asked: “Has Dr. Pei developed an antidote yet?”
Pei Wan’er bit her lip, as if she was somewhat hesitant.
Ye Zi eagerly continued: “This matter is very important to me, I hope Miss Wan’er will tell me truthfully.”
Pei Wan’er was silent for a long time before she finally caved in: “Actually, Elder Brother does have some progress, but……at the same time, he doesn’t.”
“Has and also doesn’t……what do you mean?”
“Forget it, Elder Brother didn’t allow me to talk about it but since it’s the princess consort who wants to know, it should be fine.” Pei Wan’er said, “Elder Brother and I were saved by the Prince ten years ago and settled in Chang’an City. Since then, His Majesty has entrusted my elder brother to investigate the root cause of that epidemic in the past and to create an antidote. My brother and I have been researching for ten years and although we have had some success, we have not yet been able to find a real solution.
But not too long ago, His Majesty brought over some residual medicine.”
“My elder brother found a strange herb in the residue, he didn’t know what the herb was, but he could tell that it was a herb that could cure all poisons. Elder Brother said……that might be the only way to cure the epidemic.”
“……But His Majesty didn’t agree.”
Pei Wan’er ruffled the herbs in her hands and wondered: “His Majesty was clearly the one who brought the herbs over, but after my elder brother said this to him and wanted him to give us some more of that herb, he disagreed. Not only did His Majesty not tell my elder brother what that herb was, but he was also not allowed to mention it again.”
“My elder brother and I have never been able to figure out why this is, it’s clearly just an herb……”
The Pei siblings couldn’t figure it out, but Ye Zi understood why this was.
Because that herb was none other than Ye Zi himself.
Ye Zi’s lips trembled and he asked hoarsely: “That is to say, Dr. Pei, to this day, has not yet developed a cure for that epidemic, right?”
It was the first time Pei Wan’er saw Ye Zi in such a state of despair. She was confused, but still said truthfully: “Elder Brother has developed some medicine to alleviate the disease, which may be able to delay the onset of the disease and buy us some time.”
“How much time?”
Pei Wan’er deliberated for a moment: “It won’t be more than a month.”
Edited: 10.25.2023
Ye Zi’s face flushed red.
“Y-Your Majesty……” Ye Zi was so nervous that he was tongue-tied. He subconsciously wanted to get up but was embraced even more tightly by Gu Yan.
Gu Yan buried himself in his neck and whispered: “Don’t move, I just want to hug you.”
Ye Zi wasn’t the only one who felt bad about the impending separation, Gu Yan was even worse. He had worked so hard to get along with his little princess consort, and now that he had to leave him, he felt no less reluctant than Ye Zi.
When Ye Zi realized this, his struggling movements stopped.
In the end, Gu Yan really didn’t do anything to him and continued to read the files on the desk with concentration. After more than half a year of disaster control, Gu Yan had to read all the county information, disaster and rescue processes, and past disasters in the local area in just two days.
Prince Rui had been idle for many years, and for the first time, he was now swamped.
Ye Zi obediently stayed in his arms with a flushed face and didn’t dare to move.
The kiss just now got him a little turned on, but after seeing Gu Yan’s appearance, he didn’t dare to disturb him anymore.
Gu Yan remained unmoved on the surface and marked the files carefully, but only Ye Zi knew that the heat he felt under his body had never subsided. The two of them were still for a while, and when Gu Yan finished marking the third file, Ye Zi finally became a bit impatient.
Ye Zi gently moved his waist and Gu Yan immediately glared at him: “Don’t move.”
There was a layer of moisture under Ye Zi’s eyes and he felt like he was going to be scalded by the heat. Even at this point, how could Ye Zi not tell that this person was bullying him?
Ye Zi was silent for a while before softly asking: “Zicheng, the agreement we made during today’s match, does it still stand?”
They had an agreement before today’s match, whoever won would be able to make a request to the other party that they could not refuse.
Gu Yan looked down at him and smiled: “It naturally counts. What, have you thought of what you want?”
Ye Zi blushed and lowered his head.
He thought about what he saw in the storybook and his heart skipped a beat. He reached out and directly pressed his hand on the place that made him restless.
Gu Yan’s breath hitched.
Gu Yan had only intended to tease Ye Zi, but he hadn’t expected him to take it this far. That wasn’t all, Ye Zi observed his reaction, and seeing that he wasn’t angry, his trembling fingers gently moved a few times.
Gu Yan couldn’t bear it anymore. He took Ye Zi’s hand and looked at him warningly: “A Zi, don’t mess around.”
This was what Ye Zi had been waiting for. Taking advantage of Gu Yan’s moment of relaxation, Ye Zi slipped out of his arms. However, Ye Zi did not take the opportunity to escape. Instead, he lowered his head, lifted up the silk cloth spread on the table, bent down, and hid inside.
Ye Zi knelt down in front of Gu Yan, lifted up the silk cloth, and looked up at him as his fingers trembled with nervousness: “Then promise me, no matter what I do, you are not allowed to move.”
Gu Yan’s expression changed completely.
It was getting dark and the candlelight in the study gradually dimmed. The maid who was guarding the courtyard fetched the lamp oil and knocked on the study door. After explaining her purpose, she waited for a while before hearing Gu Yan’s low voice: “…….Come in.”
The Prince’s voice was a little hoarse and the maidservant tilted her head in confusion as she pushed the door open.
Gu Yan was the only person in the room. The maidservant walked to the table to add oil to the lamp and observed the man’s complexion through the obscure lamplight: “Is Your Majesty not feeling well, do you need this servant to go and ask for a doctor?”
Gu Yan closed his eyes and whispered: “……No need, you can leave.”
The maidservant nodded and said nothing more. She turned her head and closed the door after her. When she stepped out of the room, she suddenly remembered that Princess Consort Rui had entered the study before. When did he leave? Why didn’t she see him?
Silence returned to the study and Gu Yan suddenly said: “She’s already left, come out quickly.”
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The silk cloth under the table moved and Ye Zi crawled out with a blush on his face. The moisture in his eyes hadn’t yet dissipated. His lips were unnaturally red and the corners of his lips seemed to be worn out.
Ye Zi slowly climbed into Gu Yan’s arms and leaned against his chest. He calmed his breathing down before complaining: “You’re too much.”
His voice was extremely hoarse and breathless.
Gu Yan impatiently took a deep breath and stretched out his hand to rub his lips: “Who was the one that went too far just now?”
Ye Zi turned his head to avoid his gaze and pursed his worn lips; he was too aggrieved to speak.
It was indeed embarrassing to do such a thing in the study.
But how did he know beforehand that someone would suddenly come in? And when he heard the knock on the door, he was so frightened that his heart almost stopped. What he didn’t expect even more was that Gu Yan actually let the maid in.
What if someone found out——
Ye Zi’s face turned even redder and he didn’t dare to think any further. Burying himself in Gu Yan’s arms, he whispered: “……My throat hurts.”
Hearing him say that, the fire in Gu Yan’s heart increased. But remembering how badly he had treated him just now, he didn’t dare to do anything to this person again and instead patiently poured him a cup of tea: “Drink some tea to moisten your throat.”
Ye Zi gently nodded and took a sip from Gu Yan’s hand.
The temperature of the tea was suitable, but Ye Zi’s throat was very sore. When the hot tea entered his throat, he felt like it was burning and refused to drink it again after one sip.
Gu Yan wrapped the person in his arms. After he noticed that the person in his arms had finally settled down, he questioned: “Where did you learn these things?”
As soon as that question came out, he instantly remembered the matter of Ye Zi being caught peeking at the storybooks in the study not long ago.
At that time, he thought that Ye Zi had the desire to do “that,” but was too embarrassed to ask him, which was why he was looking through those storybooks.
These days, Gu Yan had deliberately left him alone just to force him to lose patience so that he would come to him on his own initiative.
But who knew that this person was actually trying to……
“Don’t ask……” Ye Zi’s eyes were full of moisture, as if he was extremely tired, and he complained feebly, “If I had known that this was so tiring, I wouldn’t have done it with you. It obviously said that it would be very comfortable……. “
Gu Yan deliberately asked: “Where does it say that?”
Ye Zi didn’t speak again.
Gu Yan was too lazy to pretend with him anymore and told him directly: “Tomorrow, I will throw away all those storybooks. You are not allowed to look at them again in the future.”
Ye Zi was stunned: “How did you know?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized he accidentally had a slip of the tongue.
Gu Yan looked down at him and smiled: “So you finally confessed.”
Ye Zi kept his mouth shut in fear of making another mistake and wrapped his arms around Gu Yan, rubbing himself coquettishly between his neck.
Gu Yan gently stroked his back and asked: “Tell me, why?”
Ye Zi hesitated for a long time and then said truthfully: “It is said that if couples don’t sleep together for a long time, their relationship will inevitably go downhill. I was just afraid……”
Before he finished speaking, Gu Yan asked in a low voice: “Afraid that my feelings for you will deteriorate as time goes on? Is that why you looked through the storybooks and learned those things to please me?”
Ye Zi embarrassingly smothered his head in Gu Yan’s chest and after a long time, he gently nodded.
“You’re really …..” Gu Yan was heartbroken and amused at the same time. He lifted the person out of his arms and kissed him without another word.
Gu Yan trapped Ye Zi in his arms and kissed him tenderly and meticulously. Ye Zi was so satiated by the kisses that even his throat didn’t hurt as much.
After a long time, Gu Yan released him.
The two of them were still very close, so close that they could touch each other just by opening their mouths. Gu Yan pecked lightly at Ye Zi’s lips: “A Zi, when I said I would punish you in the past, it was mostly just to scare you. I never really did anything to you.”
Ye Zi felt a bit of danger from his tone and subconsciously wanted to hide, however, he was pulled back forcefully.
Gu Yan bit lightly on his lips to vent his anger: “If you keep this up, I’ll really punish you, ruthlessly.”
Ye Zi trembled.
Gu Yan dialed it down a little and looked at him helplessly with a sigh: “Do you want me to punish you severely until you cry, so that you can finally believe my feelings for you?”
Ye Zi was unable to say anything to his forceful question.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Gu Yan’s feelings, it was just that he liked this person so much that he couldn’t help but have these thoughts. Because of this, he was worried that Gu Yan would one day not like him as much and he couldn’t bear the loss of that relationship even for a fraction of a second.
In the end, he felt that the contributions between himself and Gu Yan were unequal.
Gu Yan had given too much to him.
After being reborn, how much hardship did Gu Yan have to go through to support himself until now and fall in love with him again?
And what about him?
He had forgotten all about the past between them and was living leisurely. Even now, he was still accepting this person’s kindness without any guilt.
Ye Zi paused for some time and suddenly said: “Zicheng, you misunderstood me.”
“……I don’t distrust you, not at all.” Ye Zi embraced Gu Yan and slowly explained, “I’m afraid that you won’t feel my love for you. I can’t do anything for you, while you’ve done so much for me. I……was just thinking about how to make it up to you. You said before that you wanted to treat me even better, I feel the same.”
Ye Zi closed his eyes and said softly: “You said before that I had selfish motives, and you’re right, I do. Moreover, not only am I selfish, but I am also extremely greedy. I want you to remember me forever and never forget me. I want you to always have only me in your heart and nothing else but me.”
Gu Yan’s heart skipped a beat and he closed his eyes impatiently, restraining himself: “Alright, don’t say any more.”
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Ye Zi looked up at him: “What?”
Gu Yan’s hand slowly rubbed Ye Zi’s waist: “If you keep talking, I really…….”
He paused slightly and laughed: “If I do something to you again tonight, will you still be able to bear it?”
Ye Zi understood what he meant. His face heated up and he hurriedly said: “I-I am not that weak.”
Gu Yan sighed helplessly: “Even if you are not that weak, I’m not the same.”
“A Zi, I’m about to leave, why are you trying to tempt me at this time?” Gu Yan gently kissed him on the forehead and said with great sadness, “If I really did something with you, how could I bear to leave you behind?”
If he finally had a taste of him, how could he still feel at ease leaving this person behind and heading off to such a faraway place?
Ye Zi blushed and stammered: “Then……then I’ll wait for you to come back. When you come back, we can…..”
Gu Yan’s eyes brightened: “Are you sure?”
Ye Zi nodded: “Mnn……”
Gu Yan stroked his hair with satisfaction: “Alright, it’s getting late, you should go back and rest.”
Ye Zi refused to go and insisted: “I’ll stay here with you.”
Gu Yan also wanted to stay with him for a while longer so he didn’t refuse.
The two of them stopped talking and only the sound of turning pages remained in the room for a while.
Ye Zi leaned on Gu Yan’s shoulder, accompanying him as he organized the files. There was no longer any flirtatious atmosphere between the two of them and they simply stayed together quietly, enjoying their last couple days together.
Two days later, Gu Yan left Chang’an for Jiangnan with Emperor Jinghe’s newly dispatched disaster relief officials.
Although Ye Zi was reluctant to see him go, he could only stay in Chang’an and teach Gu Xu martial arts every day to divert his attention. After more than ten days passed, Ye Zi finally received a message from Gu Yan.
Gu Yan had gone the water route before finally arriving in Jiangnan after spending another ten days on the road.
The letter from Gu Yan changed from his usual sharp nature. He rambled about many sights and sounds along the way and asked about Ye Zi’s recent situation in every detail. All the words between the lines were expressing his lovesickness.
Ye Zi carefully read the letter several times, and the more he read it, the more uncomfortable he became.
This feeling was even more unbearable than he had expected.
But what was even more unbearable was that after that, he never received another message from Gu Yan.
“Cousin-in-Law, why are you lost in thought again?” A tender child’s voice sounded beside Ye Zi.
Ye Zi snapped back to his senses and shook his head: “It’s nothing.”
At first, Gu Xu wanted to call Ye Zi Master. Although it was a bit inappropriate, Ye Zi didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. But since Gu Yan made such a fuss, Ye Zi felt uncomfortable hearing that title and from the second day on, he ordered Gu Xu not to call him that.
Ye Zi sat at the stone table in the courtyard and raised his head. Gu Xu ran toward him while carrying a wooden sword.
Over the past half month, Gu Xu had made rapid progress. He had learned all the basic skills Ye Zi taught him and also learned an additional set of basic sword moves. Gu Xu pestered him to learn new ones, but Ye Zi was afraid that he would rush forward too quickly, so after teaching him the most basic set of sword moves, he stopped teaching him.
In order to appease Gu Xu, Ye Zi had to personally help him carve a wooden sword so that he could casually swing it for fun.
Gu Xu squatted beside Ye Zi and tilted his head to look at him: “Is Cousin-in-Law thinking about Cousin?”
Ye Zi poked his forehead: “You’re still a little kid, what would you know?”
Gu Xu touched his forehead and laughed: “I know a lot! In the past, when Mother Consort was alone in the palace, this was how she looked when she missed Father. A Xu observed that every time Mother Consort missed Father, she would sigh. In the course of finishing a cup of tea, she would sigh seven or eight times. Cousin-in-Law was sighing even more than that, probably around 10 times.”
Ye Zi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he lectured with a straight face: “I told you to go and practice your sword properly, but here you are counting how many times I sighed. A Xu, do you want to be punished by doing handstands again?”
Gu Xu shirked his neck: “I don’t want to. Cousin-in-Law, please don’t punish me.”
Gu Xu added: “But I’ve already learned everything that Cousin-in-Law taught me, can’t Cousin-in-Law teach me something new?”
Ye Zi shook his head: “The most important thing to avoid when learning martial arts is the eagerness for quick success. Especially since you are now learning the most basic body movements and techniques, so you can’t slack off at all. That’s how martial arts is, you have to practice repeatedly day after day, year after year, and it’s very boring. What, do you regret it now?”
Gu Xu said: “How could I possibly regret it? It’s just practicing, I will definitely practice well.”
As the two were talking, the family servant led two other people into the courtyard.
It was Gu Xuan and the little gray sparrow.
Ye Zi was stunned and dismissed the family servant: “Little sparrow, long time no see.”
The little gray sparrow walked up to Ye Zi and sat next to him nonchalantly: “Yes, yes. It’s all because of A Xuan. He hasn’t allowed me to leave the palace for so long. He was only willing to let me out today because I was angry with him.”
Gu Xuan gave him a helpless look and greeted Ye Zi: “Cousin-in-Law, hope you have been well lately.”
Ye Zi nodded and heard the little gray sparrow add: “Eh? Is this A Xuan’s younger brother, he looks nothing like A Xuan.”
Gu Xu timidly hid behind Ye Zi and obediently called out first to his “Third Imperial Brother,” and then ignorantly asked: “Is this Imperial Sister-in-Law?”
Ye Zi was speechless, but the little gray sparrow responded in a serious manner: “I’m not your Imperial Sister-in-Law, I’m A Xuan’s husband. Huh, but in that case, what should you call me?……”
Ye Zi: “……”
Gu Xuan: “……”
Gu Xuan held his forehead: “Little sparrow, stop spouting nonsense.”
The little gray sparrow looked at him in disbelief: “Just now in the palace, you clearly promised me that I would be your husband! You even called me that several times, how could you go back on your words?!”
Gu Xuan’s face instantly changed through every emotion.
Ye Zi hurriedly cleared his throat and interrupted: “Alright, little sparrow. Since it’s been a while since you last came to see me, let’s not dwell on that topic anymore. Third Imperial Majesty, please have a seat.”
The little gray sparrow glared at Gu Xuan and said indignantly: “I’ll deal with you when we get back.”
Gu Xuan swept an unmoving glance at him and calmly said: “Okay, we’ll talk about it when we get back.”
Ye Zi took this interaction between the two into his heart and couldn’t help but sweat for the little gray sparrow.
He pitied this little silly bird, who hadn’t yet realized that he was about to be in great trouble.
The group sat in the courtyard and sipped tea.
After a long while, Gu Xuan suddenly asked: “Cousin-in-Law, has there been any news from Cousin in the past few days?”
Ye Zi shook his head and truthfully said: “I received a message from him some time ago, but not in the past few days. Perhaps it has been busy over there, why do you ask?”
Gu Xuan lowered his eyes and there was a hint of worry in his eyes: “In the past two days, news has come from Jiangnan that a kind of difficult-to-cure epidemic has been spreading among several counties. Does Cousin-in-Law know about this?”
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Since Gu Yan left, Ye Zi obediently stayed in the Prince’s manor every day, not inquiring much about outside news.
But the fact that there would be a plague spreading in Jiangnan was something that Gu Yan had mentioned to Ye Zi earlier, so he wasn’t too surprised: “I didn’t know.”
Gu Xuan added: “I heard that one of the cities where the plague is spreading happens to be close to where the disaster relief ministers are staying. Cousin brought some helpers into the city to try to save the people there.”
Ye Zi’s heart thumped, vaguely having a bad premonition.
Ye Zi asked hoarsely: “Then what?”
Gu Xuan sighed softly and then shook his head: “I don’t know if the source of information is accurate or not. From what I heard, Cousin……seems to have been infected with the disease as well.”
Ye Zi’s hand shook and the hot tea in his cup spilled out, splashing onto the back of his hand.
“Little Leaf! Be careful.” The little gray sparrow hurriedly snatched the cup of tea from his hand and wiped the spilled tea with his sleeve.
A small red mark quickly formed on his pale skin, but Ye Zi acted as if he couldn’t feel any pain at all and muttered in a daze: “It’s not true, he brought so many people with him and he also has a great doctor by his side, there’s no reason he can’t prevent the epidemic.”
Gu Xuan nodded: “Exactly, Cousin-in-Law shouldn’t worry about it too much. The sky is high and the roads are far, perhaps the news has been misconstrued. I’ll go back and have someone inquire again and when I have new news, I’ll immediately come and tell Cousin-in-Law.”
Ye Zi lowered his gaze: “Okay.”
Everyone sat for a little while longer, but Ye Zi no longer had much heart to entertain them. Gu Xuan noticed that he had something on his mind and took the lead in bidding him farewell as he dragged the little gray sparrow with him.
Before he left, Gu Xuan said to Ye Zi: “I understand that Cousin-in-Law is worried about Cousin’s safety and I also know Father’s reason for keeping Cousin-in-Law in Chang’an. Since Cousin has helped me out a lot, if Cousin-in-Law needs anything, and trusts me, I will try my best to help.”
When Gu Xuan left, he took Gu Xu back to the palace as well.
After sending them away, Ye Zi sat uneasily in the manor for a long time. Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore and asked someone to prepare a carriage to leave the city.
Ye Zi got off and walked for a while before finally seeing the small courtyard deep in the bamboo forest. Pei Wan’er was sunning herbs in the courtyard.
Noticing Ye Zi’s arrival, Pei Wan’er hurriedly greeted him: ”Why did Princess Consort Rui come here today, are you here to see Sister Wen? She is taking a nap, do you want me to go call her?”
Ye Zi’s face was pale and he shook his head: “No need, I’m here to see Miss Wan’er.”
Pei Wan’er busily guided Ye Zi to a seat in the courtyard. After carefully observing his expression, she asked worriedly: “Princess consort, what’s wrong? You don’t seem to look so good.”
Ye Zi drank a mouthful of tea before calming down a bit: “I came here because I wanted to ask Miss Wan’er something.”
Pei Wan’er said: “Ask away, this commoner will definitely tell you everything.”
Ye Zi took a deep breath: “I heard from His Majesty that he had previously asked Dr. Pei to develop an antidote for the epidemic in Chang’an City twenty years ago.”
Pei Wan’er’s face changed and she was distressed: “Elder brother doesn’t allow me to talk about this.”
Ye Zi said: “His Majesty has already told me some things so Miss Wan’er wouldn’t be leaking anything. However, there are some things that I want to verify with Miss Wan’er.”
Ye Zi paused for a moment and asked: “Has Dr. Pei developed an antidote yet?”
Pei Wan’er bit her lip, as if she was somewhat hesitant.
Ye Zi eagerly continued: “This matter is very important to me, I hope Miss Wan’er will tell me truthfully.”
Pei Wan’er was silent for a long time before she finally caved in: “Actually, Elder Brother does have some progress, but……at the same time, he doesn’t.”
“Has and also doesn’t……what do you mean?”
“Forget it, Elder Brother didn’t allow me to talk about it but since it’s the princess consort who wants to know, it should be fine.” Pei Wan’er said, “Elder Brother and I were saved by the Prince ten years ago and settled in Chang’an City. Since then, His Majesty has entrusted my elder brother to investigate the root cause of that epidemic in the past and to create an antidote. My brother and I have been researching for ten years and although we have had some success, we have not yet been able to find a real solution.
But not too long ago, His Majesty brought over some residual medicine.”
“My elder brother found a strange herb in the residue, he didn’t know what the herb was, but he could tell that it was a herb that could cure all poisons. Elder Brother said……that might be the only way to cure the epidemic.”
“……But His Majesty didn’t agree.”
Pei Wan’er ruffled the herbs in her hands and wondered: “His Majesty was clearly the one who brought the herbs over, but after my elder brother said this to him and wanted him to give us some more of that herb, he disagreed. Not only did His Majesty not tell my elder brother what that herb was, but he was also not allowed to mention it again.”
“My elder brother and I have never been able to figure out why this is, it’s clearly just an herb……”
The Pei siblings couldn’t figure it out, but Ye Zi understood why this was.
Because that herb was none other than Ye Zi himself.
Ye Zi’s lips trembled and he asked hoarsely: “That is to say, Dr. Pei, to this day, has not yet developed a cure for that epidemic, right?”
It was the first time Pei Wan’er saw Ye Zi in such a state of despair. She was confused, but still said truthfully: “Elder Brother has developed some medicine to alleviate the disease, which may be able to delay the onset of the disease and buy us some time.”
“How much time?”
Pei Wan’er deliberated for a moment: “It won’t be more than a month.”
