CH 67

“Your Highness…”

Li Yuanmin opened his eyes in confusion, when he suddenly saw the handsome face as clean as a knife. With the half-lowered eyes, his cold face had a gentleness that only he could understand. He looked at him so quietly, Li Yuanmin was so surprised that he didn’t know what to do, but he sat up angrily: “Where are you going!”

“ Your Highness…” the man called again, snorted slightly, and leaned down to hug him.

“You’re laughing?” Li Yuanmin didn’t let him hold him, he was like an unreasonable child. He stared at him, wanting him to know that the consequences of his annoyance were extremely serious: “I won’t let you touch me, I won’t let you touch me! Not even a little bit! ”

Seeing the person in front of him standing there helplessly, Li Yuanmin’s heart softened, and he choked: “Where have you been, I am in pain!” 

“Where does it hurt?” The youth rushed up.

Li Yuanmin hummed pretentiously, “Here, here, and here. ”

If others saw him like this, they would be surprised, but Li Yuanmin didn’t care, how could he show such a look in front of others when he is the only one who gets to see it. There was no second person in the world who would let him be presumptuous like this, so he became more and more pretentious. Li Yuanmin put his arms around his neck, pushed up his thin chest, and ordered him: “Kiss it, kiss it quickly.”

How could the young man think that he was pretentious, but he showed an extremely distressed expression as if he couldn’t stand it, and pressed his lips to him with great tenderness. In these precious and repeated kisses, Li Yuanmin cried in grievance, crying to himself.

“Ah Lie… Ah Lie…” he whimpered hopelessly, tightly rubbing his body into the other’s broad and warm arms.

When he woke up, his pillow was wet. He opened his eyes to meet another pair of cold gazes, at that moment, his heart was almost broken into powder and he couldn’t even pick it up. He sniffled, it hurt so much that he couldn’t help himself, he could only reach out and grab his clothes, and asked him in a hoarse voice:

“Can you give him back to me?”

The person in front of him had a dark expression and hidden anger. He didn’t say anything, only dropped his head and blocked his lips fiercely.

***

Since Chinese New Year’s Eve, after six or seven light snowfalls, under the urging of Ni Lie, the Commander’s Mansion was repaired as quickly as possible, and Li Yuanmin was naturally quietly transferred to his mansion.

Compared to the quaint and majestic King Guang’an Mansion, the appearance of the Commander’s Mansion was slightly more simple, but the inside was obviously much more elaborate. Ni Lie placed him in an exquisite secret room behind the bedroom, where a huge bed was laid out covered with the softest and warmest bedding, the softest snow satin, meticulous attention was spent on everything to create an extravagant cage for him.

Li Yuanmin’s two snow-white ankles were still connected to two fine iron chains, but there were two more golden ankle ring. The ring surface was wrapped in soft leather, which made it that even if he struggled hard, it would not hurt the soft skin, like a shackle specially made for a pampered canary.

On the first night of moving into the Commander’s Mansion, Ni Lie didn’t know why, his spirit was high, so he was very precious and condescending in serving Li Yuanmin. He didn’t even mind what kind of infatuated ugliness he showed in front of him, just as long as he could show a trace of uncontrollable confusion. He was full of endless desire. Only when Li Yuanmin cried and begged him like crazy was he willing to let him go. The new and valuable bedding was all dirty, but Ni Lie was very happy; he ordered the servant to change it to a new one, and had people carry water in so he could personally help him clean.

After blowing out the lamp candle, he put his arm around Li Yuanmin, while domineeringly clasping his waist tightly in his arms, he put his chin against his forehead.

“Alright, from now on follow me well, don’t be stubborn.”

In the darkness, he didn’t hear the other party’s answer, and he couldn’t see what the other party’s expression was. He couldn’t help but be a little disappointed, but the lingering fragrance around his body was all made from him, so this recognition eased his heart a lot. He touched his black hair, sniffed him, and fell asleep.

After the repair of the Commander’s Mansion was completed, the one who was the most happy was Ni Ying, she stayed over for several days in a row. Because her highness gege entered the capital, there was no restriction to her actions now. She stayed in the barracks like a wild man during this time. She was free and unrestrained a few days ago, but after a long time, she felt that her heart was empty and there was nowhere to go.

Counting the days, it has been more than half a month since His Royal Highness left Lingnan, and she didn’t know if he was well. She felt a little aggrieved, His Royal Highness gege didn’t care for her anymore. He used to take her everywhere, but this time he didn’t say goodbye, obviously he didn’t want her to bother him, after all, as long as she showed the appearance of wanting to cry but can’t cry, His Royal Highness would always soften, and then agree to any reasonable or unreasonable request from her.

Since she arrived in Lingnan when she was six, she hadn’t parted from him that long.

Ni Ying thought in her heart that when His Royal Highness gege returned, she would definitely be angry with him! She wanted him to coax her for a long time! Let him not dare to leave her alone to go somewhere else next time!

The girl waited every day with her fingers crossed, but she wasn’t able to wait for her highness gege.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Ni Lie saw that she was sullen all day, so he specificially took a break for half a day and accompanied her to go shopping for lanterns.

Since the extinction of the barbarians, the livelihood of the people of Lingnan had gradually flourished. This year’s Lantern Festival was much more livelier than before.

Looking at the lights around her, Ni Ying couldn’t help but be depressed in her heart—obviously she liked these things the most in the past. She was just about to say something, when the tall brother who was steadily moving forward beside her stopped. His gaze fell on the pair of lovers in front of him who were snuggled together to pick out flowers, he was expressionless and cold. She didn’t know what he was thinking.

She couldn’t help but feel sad, she grabbed her brother’s arm and sighed: “I really miss His Highness gege…”

When Ni Lie came to his senses, he couldn’t help frowning, and became a little wary, “Ah Ying, you…”

Ni Ying gave him an angry look, “Brother, where are you thinking!”

“I’ve figured it out a long time ago.”  She touched the saber on her waist and said sullenly, “His Highness gege and Brother are the most important people to Ah Ying. ”

She pursed her lips and suddenly said, “Brother, don’t you want His Highness?”

Ni Lie’s eyes were dark, he did not respond to her.

“Today there are only white rice balls, no seven-colored rice balls!” Ni Ying suddenly complained, her expression dark: “I have always loved sweets, His Highness gege was always afraid that I would damage my teeth, he never let me eat too much of it. But every Lantern Festival, His Royal Highness gege will always remember to ask Songzhu to go to Shi Xiangkou to get me a bowl of seven-colored rice balls…”

She bit her lip and kicked the stones far away under her feet, watching in amazement as the stones rolled into the culvert on the side of the road, her face in a trance.

“When I was seven years old, I just wanted to play and go to the pond. I had a fever for three days, at that time brother was away so only His Highness accompanied me – he had a lot of things on his plate at that time. No one on the Lingnan side obeyed him and they repeatedly stumped him, he was in straited circumstances and worked under pressure but at night he had to take care of me personally. At that time I burned so badly that even the doctor said that I could not be saved, but His Highness did not close his eyes for two nights in a row. He hugged me all the time, talked to me all the time, hummed a tune to me… He was only sixteen years old then…”

Ni Ying suddenly raised her head and asked Ni Lie: “Brother, do you remember father and mother?” 

Before he could answer, Ni Ying’s eyes were already red. She lowered her head, and whispered: “I don’t remember… But I think they should be like His Highness gege. ”

“ His Highness…… He must have been sent by our father and mother in heaven to love us.”

“ Brother… I miss His Highness…”

At the end of her words, only choked sobs remained.

A bunch of fireworks broke through the air and exploded, the night sky suddenly brightened, and instantly disappeared into the darkness.

Ni Ying wiped her tears and folded her palms reverently, “All Buddhas and immortals, please bless my Highness Gege to enter the capital smoothly and return safely to love Ah Ying.”

***

When Ni Lie returned from outside, it was already late at night, he took off his overcoat and summoned the servant.

His adam’s apple moved: “How was he today?”

The servant woman raised her eyebrows and held her breath: “Reporting to Daren, he’s still the same.”

Ni Lie was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, “Bring two bowls of sticky rice dumplings.”

The servant woman immediately accepted the order and withdrew.

Ni Lie rubbed his brows and stood up. He stood by the bookshelf, turned an inconspicuous jade ornament on the shelf, and soon a half-human-wide entrance appeared on the wall.

He hesitated for a moment and stepped inside.

The author has something to say: Today, in the endless revision of the previous chapter, I finally realized what is ‘form is emptiness, emptiness is form’.

Note: Form is empty, emptiness is form. Emptiness is nothing other than form. Form is nothing other than emptiness. In the same way feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty.