CH 16

Ye Zi, who was enjoying the show, was instantly knocked unconscious by the kiss. He instinctively tried to push the other party away but was held still by Gu Yan.

“Don’t move.” Gu Yan’s other hand gently caressed his back as he whispered against his lips, “There are so many people watching.”

Ye Zi’s resistance stopped abruptly.

His eyelashes lightly tremble. From the corner of his eye, he could vaguely feel the gazes of the onlookers around him and his face was burning hot.

This kiss seemed to be fierce, but it didn’t go deep. It was just a taste that carried even a hint of tenderness.

Ye Zi felt dizzy from the kiss. It took a while until he felt the other party gently bite his lips before finally letting go. 

Ye Zi felt weak to his knees and could barely stand up straight. With a red face, he shyly buried his head into Gu Yan’s arms, making him look like a real loving couple with Gu Yan. 

Even if he knew that Gu Yan wanted to prove his identity, he still……couldn’t accept it.

How could he use such a method?…… 

That was simply breaking the rules.

Ye Zi was in a daze. He didn’t even hear what Gu Yan said to Xiao Min as he was half-helped and half-hugged back to the carriage.

The curtains of the carriage were lowered to shut out the noise outside.

Ye Zi huddled at one end of the carriage, trying his best to keep himself far away from Gu Yan, and turned his head away from him.

The interior of the carriage was spacious with a quiet and warm fragrance. However, at this moment, it added a bit of ambiguity. Gu Yan stared at the tips of his blood-red ears and his heart itched like a cat scratch.

He was really angry at that time.

Ye Zi hadn’t returned for a long time. Gu Yan, worried about his safety, followed in the direction that he had left in search of him. But when he found him, he just so happened to see Xiao Min talking to him as he inched closer and closer to Ye Zi. 

Even when he was with Ye Zi, he was careful not to overstep the mark since he was afraid of scaring him.

What gave that bastard the right?

In his previous life and in this life, for decades, no one had dared to touch Prince Rui’s people right under his nose. 

However……

The carriage soon returned to the Prince Rui Manor and as soon as it stopped, Ye Zi immediately jumped off and ran back to the room in a flash.

Gu Yan looked at Ye Zi’s fleeing back and sighed silently.

Look at what happened, now he was completely annoyed.

Gu Yan carried the cockatoo worth five hundred taels of silver that he got back from Xiao Min, but Ye Zi was nowhere to be seen after returning to the room.

In the middle of the room, Ye Zi’s clothes were all over the floor. Gu Yan subconsciously looked at the small flower pot in the room, but the flower pot was empty and contained nothing.

He glanced at the flower bed in the courtyard and saw a small handful of soil being thrown out.

Gu Yan quietly walked to the side of the flower bed. He pushed aside the dense flowers and a small green plant barely squeezed in between the flowers as it was still pushing itself into the soil with all its strength.

Gu Yan: “……”

The moment there was a disagreement, he would bury himself. How strangely convenient it was being a plant. 

Gu Yan squatted down and asked with a smile: “Ye Zi, what are you doing?”

The tip of the small green plant trembled slightly as he exaggeratedly turned the flower bud to the other side, as if not wanting to pay attention to him.

Gu Yan said: “You don’t want to pay attention to me anymore?”

Ye Zi ignored him as he focused on digging the soil. 

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Gu Yan was not annoyed either. He squatted at the spot patiently and looked at him with a smile.

Ye Zi didn’t pay any more attention as he dug away the upper layer of soil. However, he was soon dumbfounded.

The flowers and plants in this flower bed have been growing for several years. On the surface, everything looked orderly, but the soil underneath was disjointed with many weeds. After Ye Zi dug for a long time, he finally realized that unless the flowers and plants on both sides were uprooted, there was no place for him to stay.

Ye Zi sat down on the shallow pit he dug out and the little flower bud slightly lowered. After digging for a long time, his whole body was covered with mud, and he looked even more aggrieved.

Gu Yan held back his laughter and said in a warm voice: “Okay Ye Zi, cut it out and change back.”

Ye Zi turned his head in a big arc as he shook the mud all over Gu Yan.

The bastard Gu Yan always liked to bully him, he won’t change back. 

Gu Yan’s voice softened: “What happened today was my fault, I apologize to you.”

“In that scenario, if I didn’t do that, how could I have stopped all the mundane gossip? It’s better to have rumors that I favor you than to let those people say that you have a dubious background and that we got married for another purpose.”

Ye Zi’s heart was slightly relieved, and he tilted his head to look at him.

Gu Yan’s expression was sincere and the reason was so appropriate that he had nothing to say. However, after listening to it, he felt a little inexplicably disappointed in his heart.

It really was just for show…….   

Seeing that Ye Zi still hadn’t answered, Gu Yan added: “Ye Zi, do you really not want to change back?”

“When we returned to the manor just now, everyone had seen you. Also, my mother is probably still waiting for you, do you want to keep avoiding her?” Gu Yan paused for a moment and said in a soft voice, “Or is it that you regret helping me now?”

“Naturally not!” Ye Zi hurriedly spoke.

But after he finished speaking, he hesitated again.

He was still angry, and it would be too humiliating to just change back since he asked.

Ye Zi thought about it: “I will go see the Great Princess at dinner. At the moment……I just want to stay like this.”

Gu Yan also took a step back: “I won’t force you to change back if you want to stay like this, but there is no place for your roots here. You will feel uncomfortable if you stay here for a long time so let me take you back to the flower pot, okay?”

Ye Zi was quite uncomfortable being squeezed among the flowers and plants. After thinking about it, he reluctantly nodded.

Gu Yan picked him up, gathered him in his palm, and brought him back into the room.

Before planting him back in the flower pot, Gu Yan got a basin of cold water to help him wash off the dirt on his body.

Ye Zi lay on his back in the water as he casually enjoyed Prince Rui’s service. The cockatoo brought back by Gu Yan squatted in the bird cage and suddenly shouted in a loud voice: “Sir, auspicious!”

Gu Yan glanced at the cockatoo: “If you like this kind of thing, you can just tell me. Why go through all the trouble of buying it?”

Ye Zi paused. He buried himself in the water and whispered: “It’s not because I like it.”

“Then……”

Ye Zi explained: “The Empress Dowager’s birthday is coming up.”

Gu Yan froze and frowned slightly, “You want to give it to the Empress Dowager?”

Ye Zi turned his head and said casually: “I have a feeling the Empress Dowager will like it.”

Gu Yan didn’t say anything for a while and after a long time, he suddenly let out a light laugh: “That’s really a coincidence. This little bird is almost identical to the one that the Empress Dowager used to keep.”

This was also the reason why Ye Zi decided to buy it.

When Gu Yan was young, the Empress Dowager had raised a talking cockatoo. The cockatoo died not long after and the Empress Dowager was sad for a while.

With this as a birthday gift, she would definitely like it.

There was less than half a month before the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, which changed the fate of many people, including Gu Yan’s.

He committed an irreparable mistake at the birthday banquet.

Although Ye Zi didn’t know if the current flow would be the same as his memory, there was no harm in making more preparations.

Giving this cockatoo as a gift was much safer than Gu Yan gifting other things.

Of course, it was absolutely impossible for Ye Zi to tell Gu Yan the deep meaning of this.

Even if he did, he wouldn’t believe him.

The only problem was that with less than half a month left, he had to train the cockatoo as soon as possible.

Gu Yan helped Ye Zi wash the mud off his body and took a soft cloth to gently dry him before putting him back in the flower pot and letting him rest.

The time for dinner soon arrived and a servant girl came to invite Gu Yan and Ye Zi to the front room for dinner.

Ye Zi was so nervous that his palms were sweating.

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Great Princess Rui wasn’t a simple character. In the novel, this person could single-handedly cultivate a Prince with such power as Gu Yan, which was enough to show her tactical means.

If something goes wrong while acting in front of her, one wouldn’t know how they died when the time came. 

Noticing Ye Zi’s nervousness, Gu Yan came up to his ear and whispered: “Be careful what you say later and follow what I taught you. If you really can’t answer, then just tell the truth, I’ll help you handle it.”

Gu Yan lowered his head and soothingly squeezed his hand: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

“Mnn.”

Dinner was already set up in the front room and not long after they sat down, Great Princess Rui walked in leisurely. Gu Yan welcomed her and helped her down at the table.

Great Princess Rui noticed Ye Zi in the room at a glance. Ye Zi stiffly bowed towards Great Princess Rui: “Greetings, Great Princess.”

Great Princess Rui stared at him for a long time and laughed: “Silly child, what did you call me?”

Ye Zi was stunned and changed his words along with Gu Yan: “Mother.”

Great Princess Rui nodded in satisfaction: “Sit down, what is the point of being so formal as a family?”

Worried that Ye Zi would be uncomfortable, Gu Yan was about to sit between them. However, Great Princess Rui glared at him: “Sit to the side, let me get close to my daughter-in-law.”

Gu Yan: “……”

Ye Zi: “……”

What was she trying to pull?

The three of them took their seats.

The Prince Rui manor had a lot of rules; no talking when eating and sleeping without speaking, furthermore, someone must serve them.

The three of them were eating and behind them stood a row of maids and servants, watching them quietly.

The meal was particularly uncomfortable for Ye Zi.

During the meal, Great Princess Rui seemed to notice that Ye Zi was a little distracted and asked with concern: “Is it not to your liking?”

Ye Zi choked for a moment, but before he could answer, Great Princess Rui added: “Yan’er, why not tell the servants in advance what the Princess Consort likes and dislikes? How can I feel at ease if you don’t know how to take care of people like this?”

Ye Zi hurriedly said: “No, the food is quite to my taste. Mother, don’t blame him.”

Great Princess Rui laughed: “I’ve only said a few words and you already feel bad for him?”

Gu Yan coughed lightly and interrupted: “Mother, don’t……”

“Shut up.” Great Princess Rui glanced at him and then said to Ye Zi, “In the past, Yan’er and I ate together in this manor. This child tends to follow after me, with a light taste and a preference for freshwater seafood. If you aren’t used to the taste, just tell the kitchen in advance in the future.” 

Gu Yan paused and raised his eyes to look at Great Princess Rui.

Gu Yan was allergic to most freshwater seafood, Great Princess Rui certainly knew about this.

She said this to test Ye Zi.

Ye Zi seemed to pause for a moment before asking Gu Yan: “I thought you couldn’t eat freshwater seafood?”

Gu Yan didn’t answer, but Great Princess Rui smiled as usual: “Yes, I remembered wrongly. Yan’er indeed cannot eat freshwater seafood.”

Ye Zi smiled: “That’s what I thought, His Majesty can’t eat freshwater seafood. If he does, he would suffer from a body covered in red rashes. His Majesty is very picky about his food, he doesn’t like salty, spicy, or sweet, and he doesn’t like any snacks except for the osmanthus cakes at Jade Garden Court.”

Great Princess Rui looked at him thoughtfully and her eyes softened slightly: “You remember better than I do.”

Ye Zi blushingly lowered his head: “It’s only natural.”

He pretended to be humble on the surface, but his heart was already jumping with joy.

Anything would have been fine, but she just had to test him about Gu Yan’s preferences.

The author of that novel set up an extremely rich characterization for the villain and even Gu Yan’s preferences were recorded clearly. Along with the fact that he had been living in the manor for the past few years, Ye Zi was quite familiar with everything about Gu Yan. 

No matter what others ask, he could answer all the questions without a hitch.

After passing Great Princess Rui’s first level, the three of them could finally have a proper meal.

After dinner, Great Princess Rui continued to chatter about family matters with the two of them. She asked a few questions in succession and Ye Zi answered them all with ease. Ye Zi was very good at coaxing people and his words were impeccable. He coaxed Great Princess Rui to point that she gradually dropped her suspicion of him.

Gu Yan sipped his tea quietly at the side, finally at ease.

However, Great Princess Rui seemed to have suddenly remembered something and asked seriously: “I heard from the maid that you haven’t consummated your marriage yet?” 

Gu Yan choked violently on his tea.

********

The author has something to say:

From the number one CP fan, Great Princess Rui, an important question: #Did Prince Rui and the Princess Consort consummate their marriages today?#