CH 32

Gu Yan rarely came into contact with these kinds of books. When he saw the debauchery in the book at first glance, he was a little angry. 

He didn’t know which servant actually dared to show such things to Ye Zi.

But when he looked at it carefully, he felt some familiarity. Gu Yan frowned slightly, settled his mind, and read through it again.

Gu Yan was very fast and had a photographic memory. He finished reading this “Diary of a Prince’s Manor” in less than half an hour.

The situations described in this book were mostly similar to what he and Ye Zi experienced. Even the plots of appeasing the Empress Dowager, entering the palace to celebrate the Empress Dowager’s birthday, and even going out with the others were almost the same as reality.

Outsiders wouldn’t know the details of how Gu Yan and Ye Zi got along in the manor.

Unless……it was someone from the Prince’s manor.

The person who wrote the story was extraordinarily familiar with the two of them, but only when the two were alone was it different from the real situation.

In the story book, as long as the two of them were alone, they were bound to get passionate with each other. Especially the young man, who would say all kinds of obscene words as he acted with unrestrained………

Gu Yan felt restless as he read and grasped the thin booklet in a daze. He felt pleased and helpless at the same time and couldn’t help but start to reflect on himself: had he been too indifferent to Ye Zi recently, forcing him to the point where he could only read this type of book for relief? 

After a while, Gu Yan closed the book and placed it back into Ye Zi’s arms as if nothing had happened. He thought for a while, sat next to Ye Zi, and gently pulled him into his arms.

Later in the afternoon, the carriage entered Chang’an City. After entering the city, the surroundings gradually became noisy, Ye Zi frowned and woke up.

He opened his eyes in a daze and came face-to-face with a handsome profile that was leaning very close to him.

Gu Yan asked softly: “Awake?”

Realizing that he was leaning in the other party’s arms, Ye Zi let out a squeal and sat up straight in a hurry: “Sorry, Your Majesty, why didn’t you wake me up?”

Gu Yan smiled: “Why should I wake you up? If you’re tired, then sleep a little more.” 

He paused and then added: “A Zi, I just remembered something that I seem to have not considered properly.”

“What?”

Gu Yan said: “Since you made a mistake on this trip, I ended up punishing you twice, are you angry with me?”

Ye Zi was stunned and then shook his head: “I’m not angry.”

Thinking about those two “punishments,” Ye Zi did have some resentment, but it was impossible to say that he was angry.

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“Let me finish speaking.” Gu Yan took advantage of the fact that Ye Zi wasn’t fully awake yet and said seriously, “There was a reason for punishing you, but this Prince has always been clear with his rewards and punishments. I haven’t had the chance to reward you yet even though you helped me with my troubles. If I only punish but not reward, don’t you think I’m in the wrong?” 

Ye Zi looked at him blankly, not understanding what he was trying to say after going in a circle, and could only hesitantly agree: “It seems……to be so.”

Gu Yan smiled in satisfaction, got closer, and very gently and softly kissed Ye Zi’s lips.

A moment later, Gu Yan let go of him, dissatisfied: “Why aren’t you opening your mouth?”

Ye Zi was dumbfounded by his actions, as if he thought he was still in a dream, and he mumbled: “What are you doing?”

Gu Yan said righteously: “I’m rewarding you.”

Ye Zi was even more confused: “This……is a reward?”

Gu Yan responded: “Naturally.”

Ye Zi’s brain was in a mess and he asked in a trance: “Do you usually reward others like this?”

“What are you thinking about?” Gu Yan was so angry that he didn’t bother to explain to him and said with his Prince’s status, “Anyway, that was the reward. If you don’t want it, then forget it.”

After saying that, he let go of him and sat down to the side.

Gu Yan stopped paying attention to him. Ye Zi lowered his head and touched the place where he had just been kissed by Gu Yan and his cheeks were slightly hot.

How could this person think that this was a reward, what inappropriate friend did he learn this from?

Could it be Xiao Min?

Xiao Min was very debauched and would always be surrounded with beauties. If he was happy, he would pull them in for a kiss and say: “this is this Little Prince’s reward for you.”

Did Gu Yan think that it was a reward after seeing him do it?

Ye Zi thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt unbearable. He thought angrily to himself; why didn’t he cooperate just now, it was such a rare opportunity.

Gu Yan leaned against the window. He was pretending to look out of the window but was actually observing Ye Zi’s reaction. Ye Zi’s expression changed again and again and as if he had made up his mind, he leaned towards him.

Gu Yan smiled and asked: “Thought it over? Do you want it or not?” 

Ye Zi whispered: “Yes. Just……”

Gu Yan frowned: “Just what?”

Ye Zi’s face went red and was softly determined: “Does a kiss only count as one reward?”

Gu Yan smiled: “Yes. One kiss equals one reward.”

Ye Zi seemed to be relieved. Twiddling his fingers, he said seriously: “Since I entered the Prince’s manor to pretend to be the Princess Consort, I have helped Your Majesty in front of outsiders several times. Every day, I acted in front of the underlings and helped Your Majesty deal with Great Princess Rui, as well as the Empress Dowager and His Holiness……There are also various other things, in total, Your Majesty owes me dozens of rewards.”

“……If Your Majesty doesn’t remember, I’ll go back and get the booklet for you to look over.”

Gu Yan: “……”

Was he blackmailing him? 

Gu Yan didn’t expose him and indulged: “No need, it’s fine as long as you remember.”

Ye Zi nodded, pursed his lips, and said expectantly, “When are you going to reward me?”

Gu Yan couldn’t bear it anymore. He pushed the man onto the soft couch of the carriage, lowered his head, moved closer, and rewarded him a lot.

The carriages and horses of the relatives of the foreign ministers and ministers were left at the entrance of the palace, except for the Prince Rui carriage. Their carriage followed the Empress Dowager’s carriage into the palace and arrived at the Empress Dowager’s courtyard where Gu Yan and Ye Zi got off the carriage.

Ye Zi’s legs were soft when he stepped on the ground. The corners of his eyes and lips were unnaturally red.

Gu Yan sent the Empress Dowager back to her courtyard, but Ye Zi didn’t follow. He simply stood by the carriage and waited, still thinking about how to ask for a reward the next time. Ye Zi was in a daze until a little eunuch’s announcement came from not far behind him.

“His Holiness has arrived!”

Ye Zi was stunned and turned his head around. Emperor Jinghe was not in the Imperial carriage but was leading several eunuchs on foot toward Empress Dowager’s courtyard.

Ye Zi hurriedly kneeled down and saluted.

Emperor Jinghe marched up to the front before he said: “You may rise.”

“Thank you, Your Holiness.” Ye Zi stood and looked up, but then his gaze fell on the person beside Emperor Jinghe. 

The man was tall, with a high nose and deep eyes. He had a handsome face and was wearing an exotic outfit. Seeing that Ye Zi was observing him, Jia Xiedan smiled gently at him.

Emperor Jinghe introduced: “This is Jia Xiedan, a Prince of the Northern Barbarians.”

As Emperor Jinghe said this, he turned his head and glanced at Jia Xiedan: “Jia Xiedan, this is the Princess Consort Rui We had mentioned to you.”

Jia Xiedan smiled: “I have heard that although Princess Consort Rui is a man, he has an incomparably beautiful appearance, is deeply favored by Prince Rui, and was even made an exception to become the main consort. Seeing you today, you really live up to your reputation.”

Ye Zi lightly said: “Thank you for your praises.”

For some reason, he felt that the way Jia Xiedan looked at him was extraordinarily uncomfortable, as if he was sizing up some kind of prey.

Emperor Jinghe said: “We were just touring the Imperial garden with Prince Jia Xiedan when We heard that the Empress Dowager had returned to the palace, thus We came to visit. Has Changning already returned back home?”

Ye Zi replied” “Yes.”

Emperor Jinghe looked at him: “That child was fine when she went to the Summer palace, why did she suddenly fall ill?”

Ye Zi’s eyes moved slightly: “Commandery Princess Changning lost her footing and fell into the water. She was frightened and ended up catching a severe cold. Coupled with the extreme stimuli, she ended up losing her senses.”

“Hopefully, it truly is only temporary.” Emperor Jinghe sighed: “That child has been in poor health since she was a child, but whether it was talent, appearance, or character, she was always on top and doesn’t deserve to have to deal with this. However, this is a good thing for you, are We right?”

He said this with a probing intent that wasn’t difficult to catch. Ye Zi didn’t say anything more, only lowered his head and replied lightly: “I dare not.”

To Emperor Jinghe, he would always look like someone who was extremely stubborn and was unmoved by force or persuasion. Emperor Jinghe frowned: “We are looking for someone to take Prince Jia Xiedan around Chang’an these few days. Since Princess Consort Rui doesn’t seem to have anything to do in the coming days, how about leaving this matter to you?”

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Ye Zi froze and lowered his voice: “Your Holiness, that…… wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Emperor Jinghe asked: “Why is it inappropriate?”

Ye Zi was speechless.

There had always been a special person in charge of receiving envoys so there was no reason to let the Prince’s family members do it. However, Emperor Jinghe had a look like it was normal so Ye Zi didn’t know what to answer.

Ye Zi didn’t respond for a while and Emperor Jinghe became dissatisfied: “If it weren’t for the lack of manpower in the Capital, We wouldn’t have asked you. Could it be that Prince Rui dotes on you so much that you’ve even become arrogant enough to not even listen to Our orders?”

Ye Zi hurriedly kneeled down: “I dare not.”

Jia Xiedan spoke softly at the side: “Since that’s the case, then thank you, Princess Consort Rui.”

After Emperor Jinghe said a few more words, he entered the Empress Dowager’s courtyard with Jia Xiedan. Ye Zi remained in place, looking calm on the surface, but in fact, he had already made a lot of calculations in his heart.

In recent years, the border situation had become unstable and wars had occurred frequently. The Northern Barbarian King was ambitious and tried to annex the Central Plains. And the Central Plains relied on the terrain and their strong military and financial resources accumulated in the past to contend with them. The two sides have been at odds for many years and neither side was gaining anything from it.

But not long ago, the Northern Barbarian King suddenly proposed a truce and even sent Prince Jia Xiedan to Chang’an to form a marriage alliance as a gesture of sincerity.

Emperor Jinghe was naturally happy to agree.

The Northern Barbarian King had two sons, Jia Xiedan was the youngest son born of a lowly concubine mother. He wasn’t valued in the family so he was sent to Chang’an. Although he was sent to make peace in name, he was actually sent over with the intent to become a hostage. 

Ye Zi did have this part in his memory and he also remembered that Jia Xiedan came to Chang’an with a different purpose.

And it seemed that the time of Jia Xiedan’s arrival was a little earlier than he expected.

Before Ye Zi could figure it out, Gu Yan had already come out of the courtyard. He could tell at a glance that Ye Zi’s expression was off and asked: “You met Emperor Jinghe just now, what did he say to you?”

Ye Zi shook his head: “We’ll talk in the carriage.”  

Back in the carriage, Ye Zi told Gu Yan about the matter regarding Emperor Jinghe and Jia Xiedan.

Gu Yan pondered for a moment before smiling mockingly: “That old bastard, he just doesn’t want me to live a peaceful life.”

Ye Zi said: “Since Commandery Princess Changning has become like that, he is definitely not happy about it, therefore, he is trying to make our lives miserable too. Anyway, isn’t it just strolling around with that Prince Jia Xiedan for a few days? I’ll just do what he wants.” 

Gu Yan disagreed: “How can I have you do such a thing? I’ll go to him and ask him to withdraw his order right now.”

“Don’t.” Ye Zi pulled Gu Yan’s sleeve, “Emperor Jinghe obviously wanted to make use of it to create a fuss, so we can’t fall into his trap. It’s just receiving an envoy so it’s nothing too bad. You don’t have to do this for me, and……….”

He pursed his lips and asked in a low voice: “If I do this well, can I get a reward?”

Emperor Jinghe was right about one thing, Ye Zi was indeed spoiled rotten by Gu Yan. Now he even dared to talk about conditions before doing anything.

Gu Yan felt a tickle in his heart from his calculating little look. He nodded his head and said seriously: “Of course you will be rewarded. But I have to make up for what I owe first.”

Gu Yan moved over and drew close to Ye Zi’s ear, whispering: “Open your mouth, I’m going to reward you.”