CH 11

However, Gu Yan’s expression was extremely serious and his tone of voice was full of helplessness and indulgence. In a trance, Ye Zi felt that he really was making trouble for no reason.

Gu Yan sighed and commanded: “Hurry and help the Princess Consort to rest.” 

“No one is allowed to come over. I will beat up whoever comes over.” Ye Zi suddenly came back to his senses and alertly took two steps back.

The others had seen his skills and for a while, no one dared to go forward.

A little anger finally formed in Gu Yan’s eyes: “Ye Zi, even if you are angry with me, you shouldn’t be acting nonsensical.”

He was acting nonsensical? 

Ye Zi was so angry that he wasn’t able to say anything. Straining his neck, he stared at Gu Yan.

Gu Yan closed his eyes: “Si Wei.”

The black-clothed man who had fought with Ye Zi moved in response to his calling. He picked up the long sword at Ye Zi’s feet and in a flash, the sharp blade landed on Ye Zi’s neck. Ye Zi was startled by the sudden change and several of the attendants took this opportunity to tightly hold him in their grips. 

Ye Zi struggled a little, his eyes were red with anger: “You bastard, you scoundrel! If you have the guts, then take me into the bridal chamber right now. In a few days, the entire Imperial city will know that Prince Rui is a bastard who takes people by force!”

Gu Yan walked up to him, gently hooked his chin, and said in a warm voice: “After all this talk, it seems you’re still at odds with me. Fine, then let’s do as you wish. We’ll have our wedding night tonight.”

He straightened up and ordered, “Tie him up and send him to my room.”

Ye Zi was horrified: “You——let go of me!”

But no matter how Ye Zi cried, the attendants didn’t give him any chance to resist. Someone found a rope and tied him up, and a group of them carried Ye Zi back to the courtyard where Gu Yan lived and threw him onto a bed covered with red silk.

The attendants left one after another, leaving only the immobile Ye Zi inside the room and Si Wei, who was sitting in the outer room, watching over him.

Ye Zi was tied up like a rice dumpling. His posture made it uncomfortable on the soft bed and his arms were numb to the point of losing feeling. He struggled to sit up on his knees as he poked his head out of the bed canopy.

Gu Yan’s room was decorated with blessings, red silks, and candles. If it weren’t for Ye Zi’s wretched appearance, it would have looked like a warm wedding night.

There was probably no Princess Consort as pitiful as he was in this world.

Ye Zi couldn’t figure out why Gu Yan treated him like this.

Gu Yan went to His Holiness for marriage and even decided to hold a wedding banquet with great fanfare. These were all things that happened before meeting him so how could he be the original Princess Consort? 

Where did the real Princess Consort go?

If there was no such person, Gu Yan wouldn’t have dared to ask Emperor Jinghe for marriage.

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That would be a big crime of deceiving the Emperor, did he not want to live anymore? 

Ye Zi was full of questions and couldn’t help but look at the person not too far away.

Now, he could only ask this person.

Gu Yan called him Si Wei and this name was not unfamiliar to Ye Zi.

In the original novel, Gu Yan had two close bodyguards, one of them was Si Wei.

This person had been rescued by Gu Yan by chance and he decided to stay by Gu Yan’s side in order to repay him, devoting himself entirely to Gu Yan. Even when Gu Yan was sent to the fiefdom, he still persisted until Gu Yan died before dying afterward after him.

Calling it foolish loyalty wouldn’t be that much off. 

Ye Zi opened and called out to him: “Si Wei, Si Wei?”

The man at the table didn’t move, as if he didn’t hear him.

Ye Zi was determined as he rolled on the bed: “I don’t feel so good, I feel like I’m dying! If I die, the Prince will have to marry a dead person and would have to complete the wedding vows with my tombstone! He will be a widower for the rest of his life! Even if he decides to marry a Side Consort in the future, I will still be the legal wife and they can only be a concubine. When that time comes, who would be willing to marry your Prince?!”

He howled as if he was crying and Si Wei finally couldn’t listen to him anymore as he impatiently asked: “What’s wrong?”

Ye Zi immediately stopped howling and sat up on his knees: “I’m thirsty, please pour me a cup of water.”

Si Wei was silent for a moment. However, he did pour him a cup of water and brought it through the canopy.

Ye Zi didn’t move: “Untie me. Otherwise, how will I be able to drink it?”  

Si Wei responded: “I can’t untie you, you can drink it just like this.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand a little, as if he wanted Ye Zi to drink from his hand.

Ye Zi grinned: “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I am the Princess Consort, if you treat me like this, aren’t you afraid that your Prince will get jealous?”  

Si Wei obviously didn’t think about it. He didn’t answer but the tips of his ears hidden under the hood quietly reddened.

He placed the cup of water on the side of the bed: “The Prince will be back soon, you can drink later.”

“Fine, then let’s talk.” Ye Zi fell back onto the bed, “Little Si Wei, do you know why your Prince wants to marry me that desperately? Although I am quite beautiful, the Prince is high-ranking and powerful. He probably has seen many beauties so why must he pester me?” 

Si Wei wasn’t good with words. He stood awkwardly by the bed and finally answered after a while: “This subordinate doesn’t know.”

Ye Zi didn’t believe him: “You follow him around all day, how could you not know?”

His eyes twinkled and he deliberately teased, “Come on, tell me, what was your Prince like when he was enjoying himself with his scoundrel friends? How many young men has he met with? Since I’m going to marry him, I want to have a number in my heart.”

Si Wei’s cheeks turned red as he retorted: “Master has never set foot in such places. Moreover, he has n-never……”

He couldn’t say those words, but still instinctively defended Gu Yan’s reputation as he stammered out his explanation: “In short, Master rarely has contact with others. It’s not what you think.” 

Ye Zi immediately understood.

Si Wei never lied therefore Gu Yan really didn’t have anyone he liked.

Then where did the Princess Consort Rui, who was supposed to marry him, come from?

Ye Zi still wanted to ask him a few more questions but the door to the bridal chamber was suddenly pushed open.

Gu Yan stepped in.

He swept a glance at Si Wei and said indifferently, “You can leave.”

“Yes.” That was exactly what Si Wei had wanted and he left as if he was fleeing. 

Gu Yan walked up to him and immediately saw the cup of water near the bed. The water in the cup was still warm so Gu Yan picked it up and fed it to Ye Zi. Ye Zi was a little afraid of him and not daring to disobey, he obediently drank a mouthful.

As he drank, he raised his eyes to survey him.

Gu Yan’s expression was calm and all his emotions were absorbed into those deep eyes. They were like a deep pool; he couldn’t see them clearly and it was difficult to distinguish between happiness and anger.

Ye Zi obediently finished drinking the water. Gu Yan put down the cup, leaned over, and wrapped his arms around behind him, pressing against Ye Zi’s bound arms. His arms slowly began to lose circulation as they became numb and cold. 

This position allowed the two of them to be extremely close to each other and from a distance, it looked like a warm embrace.

Ye Zi’s nostrils were full of Gu Yan’s faint medicinal fragrance. He uncomfortably leaned back a bit and spoke: “Your Majesty……”

Just as he said those words, he felt the pressure around his arms lighten. 

Gu Yan untied the ropes that bound him.

When Ye Zi came back to his senses, Gu Yan had already turned around and sat down by the table.

Why was this person suddenly acting differently? 

Ye Zi pulled away the ropes and rubbed his sore arm. He followed after him and stood beside him.

Gu Yan cast him a glance: “Sit.”

Ye Zi replied rebelliously: “No.”

Gu Yan withdrew his gaze: “Then you can stand.”

Ye Zi: “……”

Ye Zi took a deep breath and asked, “Aren’t you going to finish the wedding night with me? You’re just letting me go like this?” 

“Who said I’m letting you go?” Gu Yan said, “There are people inside and out, no matter how skilled you are, you can’t escape.”

Ye Zi: “……”

He shouldn’t have believed that he had changed.  

Ye Zi sat down in front of him and abandoned himself to despair, “Then what are you waiting for, why don’t you just tie me up and force me, I can’t run away anyway. You better add some aphrodisiacs so that I don’t act like a dead person and spoil Your Majesty’s fun.” 

Gu Yan looked at him thoughtfully: “So that’s what you like?” 

Ye Zi choked for a moment. Gu Yan didn’t wait for his answer before he added: “But I don’t like that.”

He curled his lips and said wickedly: “I like it when you take the initiative and say you want me and beg me to give it to you.”

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Ye Zi shivered.

The day that he says he wanted it would be the day he goes crazy.

Ye Zi forced himself to calm down: “Your Majesty, why on earth do you want to marry me? You know my status and I am also not your Princess Consort.”

Gu Yan said: “If you don’t marry me, what are you going to do? Leave the Prince’s manor?”

Ye Zi lowered his head in acquiescence.

Gu Yan smiled: “You could have left originally, but who told you to pretend to be Princess Consort Rui? Do you want everyone to know that Princess Consort Rui ran away on the day before the wedding?”

“I don’t mind, but it won’t do you well.” Gu Yan added, “His Holiness never goes back on a marriage he has bestowed upon. If you leave, then that will be the big crime of deceiving the Emperor. When the arrest warrant is issued, there will be no place for you in the entire Central Plains. Do you really want this?”

“That was my fault, but you can’t say it like that. You are about to get married, as long as the original Princess Consort Rui appears——” Ye Zi was stunned and suddenly stopped talking.

He asked in a low voice: “……There is no Princess Consort Rui?”

Gu Yan nodded slightly: “Correct.”

Ye Zi suddenly understood everything: “Your original plan was to find someone to pretend to be Princess Consort Rui?”

“Yes.” Gu Yan readily admitted, “His Holiness wanted to bestow the Commandery Princess Changning, the daughter of the Duke of Protection, to me. However, I wasn’t willing so I told him that my heart belonged to someone else.” 

As soon as he said this, Ye Zi immediately came to a realization.

The Duke of Protection was the Empress’s blood brother and was a part of the Crown Prince’s faction. In the original novel, Emperor Jinghe also intended to bestow Commandery Princess Changning to Gu Yan. But at that time, Gu Yan was proud and arrogant and looked down upon Changning and rejected the marriage straight to her face, angering the Empress and the Duke of Protection.

Speaking of which, the Gu Yan in the book made countless enemies in the early days, most of which he brought upon himself.

In comparison, this Gu Yan’s way of handling the situation was indeed much more reliable.

Gu Yan explained: “I did this for two reasons: one is to withdraw from that marriage and the second is to stop being involved in the battle for Imperial power.”

Marrying a male consort was deemed as breaking the bloodline and a person without an heir was not likely able to claim the title of Emperor.

Ye Zi said in a trance: “That is to say, you originally intended to find a random person to marry you and have them pretend to be the Princess Consort. But because I lied beforehand and said I was the Princess Consort Rui and was even seen by the maid, you decided to just go along with it……”

Gu Yan smiled: “Correct.”

Ye Zi: “……”

Ye Zi finally understood what it meant to shoot himself in the foot.

Ye Zi wanted to cry: “So what should I do now?”

“Do you think you have a choice?” Gu Yan took the nuptial wine on the table and poured out two cups, “From the moment you pretended to be the Princess Consort, you had no means of escape.” 

He handed one of the cups to Ye Zi and tilted his head with a smile: “Marry me; not only to keep me safe but also for your own sake.”  

Ye Zi pursed his lips and deliberated for a long time and it took him a while to make up his mind. He took a deep breath and accepted the cup of wine from the other party.

“I promise you.”

After saying that, Ye Zi boldly tilted his head back and downed the wine in one go.

Gu Yan was slightly relieved and said again: “Then……”

He hadn’t finished his sentence when he suddenly felt that the person beside him wasn’t acting right.

Gu Yan frowned: “Ye Zi?”

Ye Zi looked at him in confusion, only to feel a burst of dizziness in his head. The person in front of him seemed to have duplicated: “……Gu Yan, why are there two of you?”

Gu Yan: “……”

Damn, he forgot that this person was weak with alcohol. 

The nuptial wine in the wedding room was strong. Ye Zi had downed it in one go so now he felt that the sky was spinning. He tried to get up and almost fell head-first to the floor. Gu Yan hurriedly picked him up and carried him back to the bed.

Ye Zi was lying on the bed in a daze as he continued to mutter random words.

Gu Yan tried to soothe his headache. He was quite helpless.

This was too different from his original vision of their wedding night.

He remembered everything after he was reborn so he preconceived that the other party would be the same.

He didn’t expect that this person would forget him.

He had forgotten him so cleanly and also forgot the promise he made, saying that he would marry him. 

Gu Yan sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Fortunately, with the explanations he gave, the little dummy didn’t suspect anything at all.

As long as he could keep him with him.

As for what to do next, they could only take it one step at a time.

Gu Yan reached out and stroked the messy hair on Ye Zi’s forehead. He lowered his head and kissed him gently on the forehead, murmuring in a warm voice: “Good night, my Princess Consort.”

********

The author has something to say:

[Pretending to be a Princess Consort Code of Conducts]: Leave and enter with the Prince, eat and drink together, showing affection in public, holding hands, kissing……

Ye Zi: This was f*cking written by Gu Yan, right?!