CH 58.1

Hi, friends. Thank you so much for your patience, here’s part 1 of chapter 58. I’m in my last year of university and there’s too much going on, so most likely I will upload little by little. Sorry and thank you again (´｡• ◡ •｡`) Btw, thank you for the ten reviews in NU!—Bambi

After the group finished eating the hairy crabs1Hairy crab – also known as the Chinese mitten crab – is one of the most prized delicacies in eastern Chinese cuisine, most notably in Shanghai and Jiangsu province. It is only in season and available to eat for two months of the year.(Sally Gao, 2017), the thirteenth brother and the fourteenth brother each took a bunch with them before returning to the imperial palace with satisfaction. 

Yinyou had drunk two glasses of wine during the banquet and was now resting in Yinzhen’s bed, slightly tipsy. His mansion was not far from here, but he didn’t want to take an extra step if he could save one.

In Yinzhen’s memory, Yiyou rarely got drunk. He’d only seen him drunk twice:  once when he was rewarding the army, and once when he was maliciously made drunk by the several brothers. As an imperial prince, drunkenness could often lead to disaster. After drinking, sometimes they would vomit not only true words but also nonsense. Once uttered, those words couldn’t be taken back, and if it spread to the ears of those with malicious intent, they will only cause trouble.

Yinzhen sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at Yinyou who seemed to be not very awake.  He suddenly asked, “Seventh brother, how is your Fu Jin?”

“Huh?” Yinzhen felt a little dizzy but when he heard Yinzhen mention Jinsu, he still answered him. “She is a very good woman, virtuous, good at running the house, and smart. What’s more, she’s Maqi’s daughter.”

Yinzhen took out a small white porcelain bottle from a cabinet on the side and unscrewed it. A faint medicinal fragrance came from the inside. He smeared the medicine in Yinyou’s temples and gently began to press, while doing this, he remained silent.

“Maqi had taken a fancy to Old eighth before.” Yinyou felt very comfortable being massaged, and he squinted his eyes, humming, “No matter what the final result is, Old eighth can’t be given such a helper in vain. Maqi’s also a stubborn person. If he stands on the Old eighth’s side, it will only cause trouble for the fourth brother.”

Hearing this, Yinzhen paused his movements, but then he continued to press  Yinyou’s temples as if nothing happened. He simply said, “Seventh brother, you’re drunk.”

The person who had closed his eyes suddenly opened them and stared directly into his. There seemed to be no hint of drunkenness in his shiny, clear gaze, “Fourth brother, I understand everything.” 

After saying that, he closed his eyes again, and that trace of soberness suddenly turned into drunkenness again.

Yinzhen was stunned for a while and then smiled bitterly before reassuring him, “You just have to do what you love. Don’t enter into this muddy water. I know it all in my heart.”

After hearing Yinzhen’s words, Yinyou thought dazedly: Of course, I know you know how to do it. Otherwise, how could you have grabbed the throne among so many princes? With this in mind, he didn’t bother to pay any more attention to Yinzhen’s words. Instead, he stretched out his arm, hooked the other person’s neck, and pulled Yinzhen’s face in front of him. He kissed the other one’s shiny forehead.

“I know you are cautious in doing things. You are always cautious, this is good. Now, I’m going to sleep.” After saying that, he pulled the quilt to cover most of his body, patted Yinzhen’s belly, turned over and fell asleep.

On the other hand, Yinzhen was left sitting on the stool in a daze, his mouth slightly open. He reached out to touch the area where he was kissed and felt that it was extremely hot. 

What did Yinyou’s kiss mean? Did he like him? Maybe it was meaningless. Maybe he thought of himself as another woman.

The first guess was what he wished, the second guess was indifferent to him, and only the third guess made him feel it was unacceptable.

Sitting there, he speculated on countless possibilities. It was dark at night, the lights were off, and Yinyou was already fast asleep. Only Yinzhen remained awake. He, who had a deep and shrew mind, could only tie countless knots without solving any of them; instead, he became more and more confused as he continued ruminating about the forehead kiss.

When Yinyou woke up, it was already well past morning. He opened his eyes and found someone sitting at his bedside. He was startled awake immediately. Yet, after seeing who it was, he looked up and down at Yinzhen in surprise. This cloth set seemed to be from yesterday. The fourth brother’s mansion should not be made impoverished by him, right?  Even if the fourth brother was really impoverished, they wouldn’t let an imperial prince wear the same clothes for two days.

“Are you awake?” Seeing Yinyou wake up, Yinzhen stood up and said, “I’ve asked someone to prepare your clothes. Get up and change.” His voice was a little hoarse, which seemed particularly weird in the quiet room.

Yinzhen looked at the expressionless Yinzhen in disbelief for a long while and then slowly said, “Fourth brother, do you… have a cold?”

“No,” Yinzhen stared at the person still sitting on the bed, “Yesterday you were drunk, do you still remember what happened?”

Yinyou looked confused, “You said it yourself: I was drunk, how I can still remember it?”

“I’ll go change my clothes. Someone will bring you your change of clothes later.” 

Yinzhen’s posture was a little stiff as he walked away, almost as if his legs and feet were a little numb. Yinyou looked at his stiff back, and his eyes suddenly widened. Could it be that he was drunk and had been arguing and causing trouble all night, causing his fourth brother to stay awake all night?! This was indeed a bit too appalling. Sure enough, alcohol was a harmful thing! It was better to avoid it as much as possible.

“Master?” 

When Xiao Luzi saw his Master’s face was dim, he anxiously and speedily helped Yinzhen change clothes, fearful of making his Master angrier.

After putting on his court clothes, Yinzhen glanced outside the door, took a deep breath and questioned, “Has the seventh brother finished changing his clothes?”

That’s when Xiao Luzi understood, it turned out that the seventh brother had made his Master unhappy. Thinking of the seventh brother’s temper, Xiao Luzi felt a little helpless. The seventh brother was good at everything, but sometimes his ideas were a little different from others. No wonder he heard that the seventh brother got along very well with those weirdos from the Ministry of Works, this seemed to be fate.

Until the end of the morning, Yiyou still didn’t understand what was going on with Yinzhen. He quickly guessed that Yinzhen’s unhappiness was his fault, but when he talked to the fourth brother, his attitude remained the same as before. He acted like he was fine, but his face was even more expressionless than yesterday. Could it be that Yinzhen was feeling troubled because of him?

Thinking of this, Yiyou shook his head. Yinzhen was only in his early twenties, but he was already infected with the loving-to-worry style of those old scholars. It seemed that being a prince was not easy.