CH 40

The bitter taste spread in Ye Zi’s mouth. He gently pried open Gu Yan’s lips and teeth and slowly transferred a mouthful of medicine over. Gu Yan frowned in his sleep but obediently swallowed the medicine.

It would occasionally spill and Ye Zi would take out a silk handkerchief to wipe him clean meticulously.

It took half a stick of incense to finish feeding him all the medicine in the small bowl.

After feeding him the medicine, Ye Zi put down the bowl, turned his head to the courtyard, and ordered the maidservant to prepare some hot water. He leaned against the door and waited as his mind wandered about one thing to another. 

Siwei said that it was because something had happened to Gu Yan, which led him to have a knot in his heart. 

But what was that knot in his heart?

Gu Yan’s father died of an epidemic when he was a year old and he grew up peacefully with the late Emperor until he was ten, when the late Emperor passed away. After Emperor Jinghe came to power, even though he was afraid of Gu Yan, there was no lack of love and protection on the surface. Furthermore, there was also the Empress Dowager who would back him up anywhere and everywhere. 

Ye Zi closed his eyes and sighed softly.

His life had been so smooth sailing, so what exactly happened that made him like this? 

The maidservant quickly brought over the hot water. Ye Zi didn’t let the maidservant into the room as he carried the hot water in himself. He sat down at the edge of the bed and hesitated before bending down to untie Gu Yan’s clothes.

Gu Yan had pretended to be sick for many years and as a result, his body was messed up by the medicine so it always gave people the illusion that he was too weak. But this wasn’t the case. This person had a well-proportioned figure and had been raised to be noble by the fine clothes with just the right amount of smooth muscular lines that could not be faulted.

Ye Zi’s ears were slightly hot and he lowered his gaze to calm down. He wrung out the silk handkerchief and then wiped Gu Yan’s body carefully.

The room was quiet and while Ye Zi was wiping his body, he couldn’t help but say softly: “Look at you, you’re still young with the ability to enjoy endless glory and wealth. Why did you have to get yourself into such a state?”

“I used to envy you. You’ve been free from worry about food and clothing since birth. Your status is noble, you’re loved by your elders, and you’re admired by others.”

“But now I realized that it doesn’t seem to be like that.” Ye Zi took Gu Yan’s hand and carefully wiped it, “Being born in the Imperial family and encountering the change of the throne must have been very difficult for you. But I can’t do anything for you……even when you’re having a hard time, I don’t know how to help you.”

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Gu Yan wasn’t able to sleep very soundly. His mouth grumbled in his dream and he didn’t know what he was saying. 

Ye Zi stretched out his hand and gently smoothed the other party’s tightly knitted brow: “What should I do?……”

After hearing about Gu Yan’s illness from Siwei, his heart felt as if it had been crushed by a stone and his mouth burst into bitterness. Ye Zi took a deep breath and took a candied fruit from the fruit tray into his mouth.

Then, he lowered his head and fed the candied fruit into the other person’s mouth.

The sweet and refreshing taste immediately dispelled the bitterness in his mouth. Ye Zi gently licked and kissed Gu Yan’s lips, as if he was bewitched, until the sweet and sour taste completely melted away in their mouths.

He opened his eyes and met Gu Yan’s eyes.

Ye Zi: “……”

“Your Majesty, listen to me explain, I——” Ye Zi was about to withdraw when he was suddenly grabbed by Gu Yan.

Gu Yan’s grip was strong and Ye Zi soon fell onto his chest feeling scared. He subconsciously struggled when he heard Gu Yan mumble in his sleep: “Don’t go……”

Ye Zi was stunned and looked up at Gu Yan: “Your Majesty?”

There was a bit of confusion in those handsome eyes, which he had never seen before, and although he was looking at him, those eyes were clearly unfocused.

He seemed to be caught up in a nightmare.

Ye Zi was relieved.

The arm that Gu Yan wrapped around him was extremely strong. Ye Zi struggled a few times but couldn’t break free at all. He could only be patient as he coaxed softly: “Your Majesty, I’m not leaving so let go of me first, okay?”

Gu Yan tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand his words. He was a little tired of Ye Zi’s struggle and pinched him a few times.

Ye Zi immediately lost all strength as he exasperated with a reddened face: “You——”

Who would act immoral in their dream?! 

“Huaiyuan……” Gu Yan suddenly spoke softly, “Don’t go.”

Ye Zi’s struggling movements stopped.

He was stunned for a moment and asked in a low voice: “Who are you calling for?”

But Gu Yan didn’t answer him again.

The man closed his eyes and his breathing gradually became smooth, as if he had fallen asleep again.

Ye Zi waited for a long time without getting a response. He muttered something in exasperation, buried his head in Gu Yan’s arms, and fell asleep in a short while.

The next day, when Ye Zi woke up, Gu Yan had already finished getting ready.

He rubbed his eyes, his voice was sleepy and lazy: “Why are you up so early?……”

Gu Yan was whispering something to the attendant beside him when he heard Ye Zi’s voice, he walked around the screen to the bedside: “I’m heading to the prison and the posthouse today. Since I acted in a hurry yesterday and arrested a lot of people all at once, I can’t leave them like that without an explanation.” 

Gu Yan bent down and gently stroked Ye Zi’s hair: “It’s still early, you can sleep for a while longer.”

Ye Zi was lying on the soft quilt, not yet awake, and rubbed his face against Gu Yan’s hand like a kitten: “Where’s my reward?”

Gu Yan glanced at the few attendants waiting outside, slightly turned sideways to block the view, and lowered his head to kiss Ye Zi on the lips.

Ye Zi squinted his eyes, still not satisfied: “Not enough.”

Gu Yan liked the way he clung to himself and deliberately asked in a low laugh: “How is it not enough?”

Ye Zi stammered, unable to give a reason, and mumbled vaguely: “It’s just not enough.”

Gu Yan chuckled, lowered his head again, pressed the person on the bed, and kissed him deeply.

Ye Zi was completely awake in this kiss.

A few moments later, Gu Yan released him. He straightened up and straightened the lapel that was messed up by Ye Zi and instructed: “A Zi, stay at home today and don’t go anywhere.”

Ye Zi blinked and obediently answered: “Okay.”

“Wait for me to come back……” Gu Yan gently stroked Ye Zi’s lips which were slightly open due to his irregular breathing. His heart fluttered and he said in a warm voice, “I have a lot of things I want to say to you.”

Gu Yan knew that he had this problem and he tended to forget things when it relapsed so he couldn’t remember most of what happened last night.

He was unconscious last night, but he still had a vague impression of when Ye Zi fed him the medicine mouth-to-mouth, wiped his body, and meticulously took care of him.

Since he had gone this far taking care of him, how could Ye Zi not care about him? If it weren’t for the fact that he really couldn’t get away from the trial today, he even wanted to explain things clearly to this person now.

Unfortunately……

Gu Yan had no choice but to suppress these thoughts as he turned around and left the room.

The attendants who were waiting outside had already retreated to the courtyard to wait. Gu Yan closed the door lightly, turned his head, and changed back to that indifferent Prince Rui.

Gu Yan glanced at them and said in a light voice: “Let’s go.”

Gu Yan led the attendants out of the manor. However, Ye Zi was not as obedient as he thought.

Just after the man had left the manor, Ye Zi got up from the bed.

Although Gu Yan didn’t remember what happened last night, he did. He remembered that before the man had fallen asleep, he called out a name that he had never heard of before. 

He seemed to have called out……Huaiyuan. 

Even though he didn’t understand why, Ye Zi always felt as if he was extraordinarily familiar with this name, but he was able to determine that he had never heard of this name. Moreover, whether it was in the novel or right after he came to the Prince’s manor, Gu Yan had never been surrounded by a person named Huaiyuan.

Ye Zi slowly murmured this name and his eyes slightly averted.

Then was Huaiyuan the knot in Gu Yan’s heart? 

Ye Zi wanted to ask Gu Yan for clarification, but if this person was really the knot in his heart, would asking him rashly make him fall ill again?

Thinking of Gu Yan’s sick appearance last night, Ye Zi still had lingering fears.

He didn’t want to see the man being tortured in such pain a second time.

Since he couldn’t start with Gu Yan, he had to investigate by himself.

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Ye Zi suddenly remembered what Siwei had said last night: every time Gu Yan fell ill, he would go to a villa outside the city to stay for a night.

Would there be any clues there?  

Ye Zi made up his mind. He didn’t even care about breakfast as he got up and washed up before leaving the room. He casually found an excuse to dismiss the attendant Gu Yan sent to follow him, and without a servant, he walked out of the courtyard in a dignified manner.

Ye Zi’s status was different now so no one dared to stop him when he walked around the manor. He walked leisurely around the corridor and just as he reached the front yard, he saw a round, fluffy orange fur ball lying in the middle of the courtyard, sleeping comfortably.

Ye Zi: “……”

Oh sh*t, why was this stupid cat released again? ? ?

Ye Zi’s heart suddenly turned cold and the orange cat seemed to have heard his footsteps. It moved its ears slightly, opened its round cat eyes, and met Ye Zi’s gaze.

Ye Zi’s heart trembled and he almost couldn’t hold back jumping up on the spot.

History was always strikingly similar.

Ye Zi wanted to cry, suspecting that he might have had a grudge against this cat in his previous life.

It was understandable when it was being haunted by it in his plant form, but to even haunt him in his human form? 

It was strange. Although this orange cat used to be arrogant and domineering, most of the time it behaved docile and amiable in front of people, and never took the initiative to attack others.

It was only extra “favorable” to Ye Zi. 

Ye Zi even wondered if this cat had also become spiritual and if it could recognize his real form.

However, even if Ye Zi had the courage to do so, he wouldn’t dare to confirm this matter.

Ye Zi swallowed his saliva and took a half step back quietly. He looked left and right, trying to find a servant to help him take the cat away. But before he could find someone, the orange cat suddenly stood up.

Ye Zi’s heartbeat almost stopped suddenly with fright, but the orange cat just glanced at him lightly and stretched its body. Soon, it turned around, ran into the grass, and disappeared.

……?

Why did this stupid cat suddenly have a change of heart?  

Ye Zi didn’t think much about it and walked quickly out of the Prince’s manor.

Behind him, the orange cat emerged from the grass and watched with a tilted head as Ye Zi’s figure disappeared out of the Prince’s manor. It yawned, looked away, rolled itself into a ball again, and continued to bask in the sun in the yard with drooping eyelids.

Ye Zi was worried that Gu Yan would find out so he didn’t dare to use the manor’s carriage and could only choose to walk out of the city. Before he could get far from the manor, he suddenly heard a familiar voice call out to him from behind.

Ye Zi was startled and looked back.

It was Gu Xuan.

Ye Zi hesitated for a moment, walked up to him, and calmly asked, “Third Imperial Majesty, is there anything else that Zongzheng Temple needs my cooperation for?”

“No.” Gu Xuan shook his head and narrowed his eyes.

Only then did Ye Zi notice that his breath was slightly unstable and his expression was not as calm and aloof as it used to be. There was even a bit of fatigue in his eyes.

Ye Zi immediately felt bad, but before he could ask, Gu Xuan took the lead: “It’s the little sparrow……little sparrow is missing.”