CH 34

Gu Yan really kept his word and deducted Ye Zi’s reward on the second day. Ye Zi was so angry that he didn’t say a word to him from the time the other party got up for morning court.

After Ye Zi finished his breakfast, he picked two attendants from the Prince’s manor and went to the posthouse where the Northern Barbarians were staying.

From today, he had to give the Northern Barbarians’ Prince Jia Xiedan a tour of Chang’an.

Jia Xiedan wasn’t up yet so the posthouse server brought out some tea for Ye Zi. Ye Zi didn’t say anything and sat quietly in the hall drinking tea. After he finished his tea, Jia Xiedan finally arrived. 

“Sorry for making you wait, Princess Consort Rui.” Jia Xiedan walked in quickly and apologized to Ye Zi, “Yesterday, His Holiness asked me to stay in the palace for a meal and since it was such an enjoyable time, I accidentally ended up drinking a few more glasses which is why I got up late. Please forgive me, Princess Consort Rui.”

For travel convenience, he changed into the clothing style here. Except for those light brown eyes, he looked really similar to the people of the Central Plains. 

Ye Zi looked at him and said lightly: “If Your Majesty isn’t feeling well today, you can stay at the posthouse to rest and we can reschedule for tomorrow.”

“How could I allow that?” Jia Xiedan came closer and whispered, “Although I come from the northern border, since childhood, I was very fond of the Central Plain culture. I know that the people here treat beauties gently so how could I allow you to come here for nothing?”

Ye Zi frowned lightly and took a half step back: “Your Majesty, have some dignity.”

Jia Xiedan came to a sudden realization: “Sorry, we people in the North have never been stingy with compliments, especially to a rare beauty like you. It’s because I got carried away for a moment and lost my composure.”

Ye Zi didn’t want to talk much with him and said: “In that case, then let’s go.”

With that, he turned around and left with quick steps.

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Jia Xiedan stared at his back and the corners of his mouth curled up into a playful smile.

Interesting.

After leaving the posthouse, Jia Xiedan was a bit more disciplined and no longer overstepped in his speech and behavior. Ye Zi took him around Chang’an City as he explained and enjoyed himself.

In the afternoon, the two found a teahouse to listen to music.

Amongst the sound of the zither music, a small teahouse maid knelt in front of the two of them whilst boiling tea. The fragrance of tea ended up overflowing the compartment.

Ye Zi leaned against the railing on the second floor, looking towards the street. No one seemed to know what exactly he was thinking. There were people coming and going on the streets of Chang’an and there was even a ragged young woman kneeling on the street begging with her infant baby. Looking at her appearance, it seemed that she was a refugee.

After the tea finished boiling, Jia Xiedan sent away the little maid and personally got up to pour a cup for Ye Zi.

“Mr. Ye, please have some tea.” 

In order to avoid causing some unnecessary trouble, when they were outside, that was what Jia Xiedan called him. 

Ye Zi suddenly returned to his senses and said in a low voice: “My bad.”

Jia Xiedan sipped his tea, looked past Ye Zi to the street, and sighed: “The world is unstable. On my journey here, I also saw many people fleeing from famine near Chang’an City.”

Ye Zi hummed in response but didn’t answer.

Jia Xiedan continued: “In recent years, not only are the disasters in the Central Plains frequent, but our northern border also isn’t in its best condition. Food was getting scarce, not to mention feeding cattle, sheep, and horses, it was difficult even for people to survive. Because of this, my father had no choice but to invade the Central Plains just to get food for his people.”

Ye Zi lightly responded: “The border warfare is frequent. You guys have survived, but what about the border civilians who were burned and plundered by your army?”

Jia Xiedan’s gaze fell to his face and he lightly smiled: “Mr. Ye is finally willing to talk to me.”

“……My tribe has been nomadic for generations and my father’s status as the Northern Barbarian King was paved through battles. You say there was burning and looting which is indeed true….Even my mother was a captive that the Northern Barbarian King took from the Central Plains.”

Jia Xiedan retracted his gaze and took another sip of tea before slowly saying: “My mother was a native of the Central Plains. In her youth, she had married a rich merchant and was traveling with the caravan to the northern border for business. My father took a fancy to her and her timid and fearful husband offered my mother up in order to keep the caravan.”

“My mother didn’t want to stay there and wanted to escape back to the Central Plains. But there were endless grasslands everywhere so there was nowhere to escape. She escaped once but was caught by my father and tortured. Only when she became pregnant later did she finally throw away the idea of escape.”

Jia Xiedan paused and continued: “……Just like that, she stayed in the tribe. Even when she died, she never stepped foot in the Central Plains again.”

Ye Zi was stunned for a moment: “Sorry.”

“No harm,” Jia Xiedan smiled and he had an unconcerned expression, “In the eyes of the Central Plains, the Northern Barbarians are generally savage and rude people. I have the blood of the Northern Barbarians so I understand that Mr. Ye has misunderstandings about me.”

Ye Zi shook his head: “It’s not……”

Jia Xiedan reached out and placed his hand on the back of his, interrupting: “I said, even if there is a misunderstanding, there is no harm.”

Ye Zi quickly retracted his hand.

Jia Xiedan focused his eyes on Ye Zi’s face for a moment: “Mr. Ye seems to be in a bad mood today. If you have any troubles, why not let it out, maybe I can help you out.”

Ye Zi lowered his head to drink tea and gave a perfunctory response: “It’s nothing.”

But Jia Xiedan was relentless. He lowered his voice and asked: “Let me guess, could it be related to Prince Rui?”

Mentioning Gu Yan, Ye Zi’s eyes moved slightly, leaking out a few uneasy expressions.

“So I was right?” Jia Xiedan leaned slightly in Ye Zi’s direction, “Sigh, with such a beauty by his side, even if he doesn’t dote on you, how could Prince Rui dare to make you angry? If it were me…….” 

“Your Majesty.” Ye Zi couldn’t help but interrupt him, “You are about to marry the Princess, please pay more attention to your words and actions.”

The smile in Jia Xiedan’s eyes deepened: “So what if my words and actions are inappropriate? Is Mr. Ye going to go before the Emperor and accuse me of molesting you?”

The attendants Ye Zi brought were waiting outside the compartment so they couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Jia Xiedan lowered his voice: “I heard His Holiness talk about you before and he seemed to be critical of you in his words. If I really did something, do you think His Holiness would ruin the alliance between the Northern Barbarians and the Central Plains for you alone?”

He hit the nail on the head with this sentence.

Emperor Jinghe had long been dissatisfied with Ye Zi, but there had been no reason to make a move on him. Letting him take Jia Xiedan on a solo tour of Chang’an this time was exactly the problem he had given him. If Ye Zi remembered correctly, in the novel, this Prince Jia Xiedan was indeed interested in men.

Ye Zi had a headache.

If there was any mistake in entertaining foreign guests this time, Emperor Jinghe would take advantage of it.

Ye Zi helplessly asked: “What exactly do you want?” 

Jia Xiedan smiled: “Can’t Mr. Ye tell? I am interested in you.” 

Ye Zi was shocked by his shamelessness. He deliberated for a moment before saying: “If you’re like this, aren’t you afraid of displeasing Prince Rui?” 

“I’m not afraid.” Jia Xiedan asked, “What’s so good about him? He’s just a puppet Prince with no real power and he has to live according to His Holiness’s will. If you follow him, you might as well follow me. I’ll take you to the grassland. Wouldn’t it be better to be at ease and stay away from the power struggles in this Imperial city?”

Ye Zi calmly answered: “No.”

Jia Xiedan asked: “Are you really that infatuated with Prince Rui?”

“So what if I am?”

Jia Xiedan stared at him with a pair of light brown eyes, as if judging whether his words were true or not. After a while, Jia Xiedan looked away and sighed softly: “It’s a pity, it’s really a pity.”

Ye Zi was helpless: “What will it take for you to let me go?” 

“That’s simple.” Jia Xiedan said, “As long as you are willing to accompany me to a place, I will no longer pester you. But……”

He raised his gaze and swept his eyes at the two attendants from the Prince’s manor: “You can’t bring your attendants.”

Ye Zi deliberated for a moment: “I promise you.”

It was getting late, Ye Zi sent away the two attendants and followed Jia Xiedan.

He wasn’t afraid of what Jia Xiedan would do to him. On the Emperor’s territory, Jia Xiedan only dared to tease him a few times and didn’t dare to do anything more than that.

What was more, with his martial arts, others simply couldn’t come near him. 

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But when Ye Zi followed Jia Xiedan to the place he said, he was so angry that he dropped the etiquette that he had been struggling to maintain all day.

Ye Zi looked at the nearing red lights, glazed green tiles, and gritted his teeth: “What do you mean by this?”

The two stood in the lively night market. The small carved beam building in front of them was brightly lit and there were three big characters written on the plaque above their heads.

“Smoky Cloud Pavilion.”

Smoky Cloud Pavilion, one of the most famous brothels in Chang’an City.

Ye Zi was so angry that his hands shook. He took a deep breath and said patiently: “Your Majesty, you are here for marriage and the one you are going to marry, Imperial Princess De’an, is the most beloved daughter of His Holiness. Do you think that if you go to a brothel right under his nose, he would still allow you to marry Imperial Princess De’an?” 

Jia Xiedan was unmoved and laughed: “Indeed, that’s why I told you to send your attendants away. Only the two of us know that we’re here tonight, so as long as Mr. Ye keeps my secret, you don’t have to worry about outsiders knowing.”

Jia Xiedan started acting like a playboy: “I have long heard about Smoky Cloud Pavilion’s reputation in Chang’an. I have been in Chang’an City for more than ten days, but I have never had a chance to go in and have a look. Mr. Ye, please come in to check it out with me and I promise I won’t pester you in the future.”

The tips of Ye Zi’s ears turned red in anger: “If you want to go in, go by yourself. I’m not going in.” 

Just as he turned to leave, Jia Xiedan reached out and grabbed his wrist. Ye Zi backhanded him and only using some of his martial arts to push the person away. Jia Xiedan keenly dodged his blow and tried to grab him again. 

The two of them started to fight on the street. Jia Xiedan knew some martial arts, but compared to Ye Zi, he was still a bit inferior and soon fell behind.

The fight drew more and more people’s attention and Jia Xiedan whispered: “Mr. Ye, do you really want to fight with me here?”

Ye Zi’s movements suddenly stopped.

Now was the busiest time of the market and if either one of them was recognized, it would be a big trouble.

Ye Zi suppressed the anger in his chest: “Fine, I will accompany you then.” 

The two entered the Smoky Cloud Pavilion and soon a pimp-like woman with cards greeted them. She pestered them as she introduced the beautiful girls in the pavilion. Jia Xiedan didn’t have the look like he was coming here for the first time as he picked up a card fluidly.

Ye Zi silently followed him. He looked down and pretended not to see anything.

He didn’t know what Jia Xiedan said to the woman, but he took an ingot of silver from his bosom and handed it over. The woman smiled from ear to ear and immediately led the two into the back courtyard.

Smoky Cloud Pavilion’s back courtyard was a row of private rooms, the vermilion doorway was closed, and it was much cleaner than the front.

It was Ye Zi’s first time coming to this kind of place and he couldn’t hear a single sound along the way, so he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on inside. He followed Jia Xiedan through the flower corridor and when he passed a half-closed door, he looked inside curiously.

Bright red candles were lit in the private room and the warm smoke wafted around lightly, blurrily reflecting the figure sitting inside.

Ye Zi was afraid of being discovered thus he only took a glance and then withdrew his gaze sheepishly before continuing to walk forward. But as he walked, he stopped again.

He just saw the client’s profile in the private room.

That person’s eyebrows were cold and even in such a romantic place, he still had an air of transcendence and worldliness.

Ye Zi seemed to be dazzled by the ubiquitous warm fragrance, which made his brain muddled, but he recalled in a daze and found that the client looked strangely familiar.

Why did that person……look so much like Gu Yan?