CH 161

April 8, 2023Merchie

Light flashed throughout the starry sky, suddenly brightening and growing dim.

Qi Changyi was exhausted, and had already fallen into a deep sleep in Pei Zheng’s arms.

Those eyes that had reddened from crying were now shut, yet even in his dreams, he still did not feel safe; his hands had been gripping the lapel over Pei Zheng’s chest the entire time.

Pei Zheng carried him back to the bed, and gently placed him upon it. He stroked the red lotus tattoo that had appeared beneath his collar, and his breathing gradually became unsteady.

Then, he quickly pulled his fingers back, and tightly wrapped the small man back into the quilt.

Pei Zheng also got onto the bed, but he did not dare to pull that warm blanket cocoon apart again, otherwise-

He pinched the center of his brow. He was still drunk.

He merely reached inside, and clasped that small, soft hand beneath the quilt.

***

The next morning, the voices of soldiers chanting as they performed drills sounded from outside the tent, with each yell being louder than the last.

Pei Zheng exited the tent, and his eyes narrowed, stung by the sudden exposure to sunlight.

A figure up front was walking straight toward him.

“Hey, you’re awake.”

Jiang Yubai glanced behind Pei Zheng, “What about His Highness? Is he still sleeping?”

Pei Zheng “mm”d, before his brow creased slightly, “It’s too noisy.”

When Jiang Yubai saw how sleepy and irritated he looked, he could not help but laugh.

This kind of Pei Zheng was like a firework that was ready to explode.

“Venerable Lord Pei, you still think you’re in your Prime Minister’s Manor, which is so quiet that it’s like no one’s even there. This is the barracks, it has to be exciting! Lively! Energetic!”

Jiang Yubai purposely raised his voice for the last two words, annunciating every syllable, as though he were also shouting an army chant.

As expected, this earned him a cold side-eye from Pei Zheng.

Jiang Yubai’s voice returned to its usual tone, “Oh, I almost forgot. The moment the Third Princess woke up, she asked for you. She probably has something to discuss with you. She’s staying in that tent over there. Master Shen is taking care of her.”

Jiang Yubai added, “I’ll take care of His Highness, don’t worry.”

Pei Zheng headed toward the tent Qi Yirou was staying in.

Jiang Yubai went to retrieve a food box, before he quietly walked into Qi Changyi’s tent.

The moment he entered, he saw the small man sitting on the bed, putting on his clothes.

“Your Highness, when did you wake up? Why didn’t you call anyone inside to assist you?”

As he spoke, Jiang Yubai walked over and helped Qi Changyi put on his outer robe, before he also tied the belt and fastened the buttons.

“I just woke up. Thank you, Doctor Jiang.”

Qi Changyi smiled at Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai muttered, “Yesterday, you called me Yubai-gege, now it’s back to Doctor Jiang. I’ve lost favor way too quickly.”

Qi Changyi overheard every word and could not hold back his laughter. He restrained his smile as he said, “Then I’ll call you Yubai-gege. Now, you can’t say you’ve lost favor.”

Only then did Jiang Yubai flash a satisfied smile.

He took the plates out of the food box and set them out; there was a bowl of plain rice porridge and a few light side dishes.

“Your Highness, have some porridge. Last night, you didn’t eat, so you must be hungry.”

Qi Changyi sat at the table, and only took a few sips of porridge before he set the bowl down.

“I’m full.”

Jiang Yubai glanced at the still-full bowl of rice porridge, before he pushed it back in front of the small man.

“Do you have the stomach of a bird? You’ve only eaten this much and you’re full? You have to finish at half a bowl, at least.”

Qi Changyi’s little face drooped, and he touched his stomach.

It was empty inside. However, he really did not feel hungry, and he had no appetite at all.

“Yubai-gege,”

Jiang Yubai could not bear to force him any longer, “How about this: just eat two more bites, and I’ll agree to one request, all right?”

This seemed to pique Qi Changyi’s interest. He nodded obediently, “Okay.”

After the little prince took two more gulps of rice porridge, Jiang Yubai cleared away the rest of the dishes on the table.

Qi Changyi’s request was very simple: he just wanted to go out for a walk and take a look outside.

Jiang Yubai draped a cloak over his shoulders before allowing him to go out for a walk.

The pair exited the tent. It was cold outside, but fortunately, the sunshine was quite bright.

The small man sighed deeply, before he opened his arms and tilted his head up. He spun around under the sunlight; it felt as though it was shining over his heart and warming it up a bit.

He slowly walked along the path in front of the tent and noticed that the soldiers had paused what they were doing and had knelt down to greet him.

He walked and walked, and the commotion gradually grew louder.

Qi Changyi reached the outside of the drill field where the soldiers were training. At this time, there were many people crowded inside. It appeared that they were in the midst of a training session; they had formed a circle, but one could not tell what exactly they were doing.

“Yubai-gege, what are they doing?”

Qi Changyi stood on his heels and grabbed the wooden fence beside the training grounds, before he looked back at Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai walked over as well, holding onto the fence and standing on his heels as he looked inside.

Unfortunately, those soldiers were quite tall, and were mounted on horses, so the pair could not see a thing.

Wu Quan happened to walk over from behind and spotted the pair sneakily looking on. He asked in confusion, “Your Highness, Doctor Jiang, what are you doing here? If you want to watch, you can just go on in.”

Qi Changyi tilted his little head and asked curiously, “Lieutenant Wu, could you tell me a little about what’s going on?”

Wu Quan explained, “It’s nothing, really. There were just a few recruits who violated military regulations this morning, and they refused to accept the general’s punishment. The general is now personally teaching them a lesson, and has required everyone to watch.”

As he spoke, applause and cheers sounded from inside, and Wu Quan walked in.

Qi Changyi and Jiang Yubai exchanged a glance, before they followed Wu Quan.

The moment they walked in, those soldiers automatically cleared a path for them.

Qi Changyi and Jiang Yubai stood at the innermost ring of the crowd, and could see exactly what was going on inside.

Zhao Litang untied his battle robe. All he wore was a red and black training uniform, just like the new recruits across from him. However, his imposing aura was overwhelming.

One of the new recruits had already collapsed to the ground and had not been able to climb back up for quite a while.

The rest of them all glanced collectively at their opponent. They charged forward; they definitely had no strategy, so they simply roared in unison, before they swung their fists at the lone Zhao Litang across from them.

There was a small wound on Zhao Litang’s face, but it was from his fight with Pei Zheng the previous night.

Qi Changyi felt that these new recruits looked very intimidating, so he could not help but clench his fingers, his hands sweating in nervousness for Zhao Litang.

In the end, Zhao Litang dodged left and right, before he raised his fists and swung his legs, beating those new recruits to the ground in just a few strikes.

The crowd of soldiers around them immediately erupted into cheers.

“Well done, General!”

“The general’s amazing!

“General! General! General!”

Qi Changyi also joined in the cheering, as did Jiang Yubai.

Zhao Litang spotted the small man standing among the crowd. He glanced at him from a distance, and his eyes softened slightly.

Then, his gaze shifted, and he glanced over at a soldier beside him. The soldier quickly retrieved a few swords and knives from the weapon rack, before he passed them to Zhao Litang.

“With your current abilities, forget about defending the country and guarding the border. You lot aren’t even qualified to go to the battlefield!”

Zhao Litang tossed the weapons in front of those new recruits, before he raised his voice, “Get up! Take up your weapons! Don’t you think it’s unfair? You want to go to the battlefield, don’t you? Then stand up!”

“War will not wait for you to prepare yourselves. War… could begin tomorrow.”

Those new recruits gritted their teeth and stood up. They quivered as they picked up the weapons on the ground, and their eyes finally gained some determination and resolve.

Then, they raised their weapons and charged over once more.

Zhao Litang was still unarmed, yet within a few rounds, he subdued the recruits again and snatched their weapons.

The cheers and praises grew even more deafening.

Qi Changyi laughed and clapped as he shouted along with the rest of the crowd.

“General ! General! General!”

After just a few shouts, Jiang Yubai suddenly disappeared from beside him, while another figure approached from behind.

Qi Changyi did not notice this at all, as he was concentrated on cheering for Zhao Litang.

When the man beside him heard this, it really was quite piercing to his ears.

But after Pei Zheng saw how lively and joyous the little prince’s expression was, it was as though he had been infected; much of the discontentment and jealousy he had been feeling earlier had dissipated.

However, he still had to argue with him.

“Your Highness, are you happy?”

Pei Zheng leaned into the small man’s ear, and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

Some of the soldiers around saw Prime Minister Pei and the prince, but they all silently agreed to raise their heads in Zhao Litang’s direction, too scared to even glance anywhere else.

The cheerfulness on Qi Changyi’s face still hung at the corners of his eyes. He did not realize who had just asked him this, and merely nodded seriously.

“Mm! Tang-gege is so amazing! He’s so great!”

The moment he said these words, a hand was placed upon his waist. That hand exerted a bit of strength, and the small man was taken out of the crowd.

Qi Changyi had no clue what was going on. He looked at the hand on his waist, before he lifted his gaze toward the owner of the hand. Only then did his eyes widen slightly.

Pei Zheng pulled him into his chest, smiling as he asked, “Then, who is more amazing, me or him? Hm?”

Qi Changyi felt the hand on his waist begin to squeeze and pinch, which made his earlobes redden. He hurriedly grabbed that hand, not allowing it to continue its antics.

“I-I-I don’t know…”

Qi Changyi stuttered, “L-let go of me first.”

Pei Zheng noticed him glancing around, and knew that he was afraid of being seen like this.

There were so many people in this drill field. That was just wonderful.

Pei Zheng wanted nothing more than for all of them to see, for everyone in the world to see.

“If I don’t let go, what will you do?”

Pei Zheng lowered his voice, “Last night, you begged me to hold you and never let go.”

“N-no way! You’re definitely lying to me, I-I would never say that-”

Qi Changyi lowered his head as he tried his best to recall if he had actually said that last night.

As he was thinking, it appeared that the crowd was about to disperse.

Jiang Yubai also snuck out of the crowd. He spotted Qi Changyi in the distance and waved at him.

“Your Highness, Your Highness!”

If one looked at this scene from the other side, they would only be able to see that Pei Zheng was standing very close to Qi Changyi, and they would not be able to see the hand on his waist.

But Qi Changyi was still extremely nervous.

The crowd broke up. Now, along with Jiang Yubai, the other soldiers were all walking toward them as well.

Notes

Sorry for the delay ah~

Thanks for reading~~