CH 43

The two punks were about to lift Ye Zi up when they suddenly realized that a bright light flashed by their side. The two looked back subconsciously and saw the little light gray sparrow with a strange light all over its body rushing towards them.

The tall man was knocked flying and passed out from hitting the back of his head on the bricks.

The little gray sparrow turned its head to look at the short man and a green light flashed in its eyes.

The short man was shocked and fled in fear.

The little gray sparrow was about to chase after him, but just as it flew into the air, it suddenly tilted and fell.

There was a plop in the empty alley. The light disappeared and where the little gray bird landed, there was only a naked young boy left.

The teenager was fifteen or sixteen years old and his round face was full of shock and confusion. His moist and bright almond eyes blinked as he looked down at his hands blankly. 

“How did I……” The little gray sparrow came to his senses and hurried to Ye Zi’s side, “Little leaf, wake up!”

Ye Zi was sleeping deeply without the slightest reaction.

The little gray sparrow looked at the sleeping Ye Zi, then turned to look at the tall man who was knocked out by him, and stretched out his hand towards the man.

A few moments later, the little gray sparrow changed into the man’s clothes and clumsily helped Ye Zi out of the empty alley.

The little gray sparrow was slightly shorter than Ye Zi after transforming and coupled with Ye Zi’s weak footstep, his body’s center of gravity was all on the little gray sparrow. The two stumbled forward, attracting the attention of countless passers-by.

On the other side, Xiao Min, who had just said goodbye to Ye Zi at noon, was walking on the street with Gu Xuan.

Xiao Min followed behind Gu Xuan and teased: “Sigh, didn’t you tell me you weren’t going to raise birds? But look at you, now you are anxious over one. Your mother, Noble Imperial Consort Yu, heard that you hadn’t returned for the night and anxiously sent people out to search the world for you. You’re sure to get an earful when you go back.” 

“Hey, I’m talking to you. I pushed away all my affairs to accompany you to look for your bird and this is how you repay me?”

Gu Xuan didn’t respond and Xiao Min clicked his tongue: “It’s just a bird, when we go back, I’ll buy you as many as you want, do you think this is worth it?……..” 

His words came to an abrupt end and from afar, he saw Ye Zi staggering with the help of a young teenager.

Xiao Min frowned. Striding forward in big steps, he grabbed the young teenager’s wrist.

Xiao Min cast a sidelong glance at the little gray sparrow and said coldly: “Who are you?”

The little gray sparrow recognized this person as the one who had been drinking with Ye Zi and struggled a little harder: “Let go of me!”

Xiao Min raised his eyebrows: “You dare give me an attitude? Do you know who I am?”  

The little gray sparrow shook off his hand and glared at him viciously: “Go away.”

He was about to pull Ye Zi forward, but when he raised his eyes, he saw Gu Xuan in the distance. The little gray sparrow was startled and immediately looked away in a panic, lowering his head guiltily.

Gu Xuan didn’t notice this. He only saw Xiao Min from afar, as if he had an argument with someone, and walked slowly towards the three of them.

The little gray sparrow wanted to take Ye Zi away, but Xiao Min grabbed Ye Zi’s arm. Ye Zi’s eyes were closed tightly, his consciousness was not clear, and he didn’t resist as Xiao Min easily pulled him over in broad daylight.

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Xiao Min said: “Do you know who this person is? To think you even had the guts to touch someone from the Prince Rui Manor, you think I won’t report you to the authorities?” 

“I…… “Seeing that Gu Xuan was getting closer and closer, the little gray sparrow didn’t want to get entangled with him and panicked, “Give him back to me!”

“Give him back to you?” Xiao Min narrowed his eyes and sized him up for a while before he understood, “Don’t pretend that I don’t know. People like you specialize in swindling homeless young men and women and selling them to brothels. You look so cute and young, how could you do such low-level things?”

The little gray sparrow was so angry that his round face turned red and he shouted angrily: “I am not! I——”

Gu Xuan wasn’t paying attention at first, but when he heard the familiar voice, he suddenly raised his head and set his eyes on the little gray sparrow.

Xiao Min wrapped one hand around Ye Zi’s waist, letting Ye Zi fall on his shoulder, while his other hand forcefully grabbed the little gray sparrow’s wrist, still wrestling with him, “You say you’re not, then what’s your relationship with him? Don’t say you’re from the Prince Rui Manor because I’ve never seen you in the Prince Rui Manor. If you can’t say who you are, I’ll report you to the authorities.” 

The little gray sparrow’s eyes turned red with anxiety and before he could say anything, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him: “What are you guys doing?”

Gu Yan’s eyes fixed on the hand on Ye Zi’s waist. He then turned to Xiao Min, with a flash of annoyance in his eyes, and repeated: “What are you guys doing?”

Xiao Min gulped, “Zicheng, Princess Consort Rui, he……”

Gu Yan walked over and forcefully pulled Ye Zi into his arms, immediately smelling the faint scent of wine on the other party. He narrowed his eyes: “Did you take him out to drink?”

Xiao Min weakly responded: “……Yes.”

Gu Yan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes: “And you’re cuddling with him in broad daylight?”

Xiao Min: “……”

Just then, Ye Zi finally woke up. He opened his eyes in a daze and looked up at the person beside him: “……Your Majesty?”

Gu Yan looked down at him: “How do you feel?”

Ye Zi tugged at his lapel, sticking to his body, as vaguely mumbled: “Dizzy……”

Gu Yan took a deep breath and picked Ye Zi up horizontally. He glanced at Xiao Min, snorted coldly, and left without looking back.

Xiao Min was dumbfounded as he turned his head to look at Gu Xuan: “H-h-he——he’s valuing romance over his friend! Even though I helped him, he still glared at me! If it wasn’t for me, he would have been taken away by this little rascal!”

As he spoke, he grabbed the “little rascal’s” wrist and shook it.

He was so strong that he even caused a few red marks to appear on the little gray sparrow’s slender wrist. 

The little gray sparrow flinched and was aggrieved: “It hurts…….”

Gu Xuan’s eyes moved slightly as he stepped forward and pulled Xiao Min’s hand away.

Gu Xuan pulled the little gray sparrow behind him: “Didn’t Little Prince Xiao say earlier that he still has something to do, so let me deal with this person.”

Xiao Min was incredulous: “Didn’t I come here to help find your bird? Are you not going to look for it anymore?”

Gu Xuan glanced at the little gray sparrow and said indifferently: “There’s no need for that anymore, Little Prince Xiao, please pardon me.” 

Xiao Min: “……”

After Gu Xuan finished saying this, he pulled the little gray sparrow and turned in another direction, quickly getting into the carriage.

Xiao Min stood there in a daze for a long time, looked around, and then said to himself after a while: “Did these two take the wrong medicine today? Why did it seem that I was the one in the wrong?……Outrageous, truly outrageous!”

The little gray sparrow followed Gu Xuan onto the carriage.

He shrank in the corner of the carriage, rubbed his wrists which were red and painful, and carefully raised his eyes to look at him. The latter’s face was stoic as he lowered his head to drink tea.

A few moments later, Gu Xuan said: “You’re still not going to tell me who you are?”

The little gray sparrow shrank and lowered his head in silence.

Gu Xuan lifted the carriage curtain and looked out: “Not far ahead is where the authorities are.” 

The little gray sparrow was startled and then heard Gu Xuan add: “Little Prince Xiao suspects that you are plotting against Princess Consort Rui. Do you know what will happen if you are handed over to the authorities?”

Gu Xuan said: “The authorities don’t dare to offend Prince Rui so they won’t dare to slack off. If you don’t confess to the crime, they will torture you severely to extract a confession. And after pleading guilty, you will definitely be severely punished. At the least, you will be imprisoned for several months, and at worst, you will be demoted to slavery. At that time, it will not be so easy for you to regain your freedom.”

Gu Xuan’s tone of voice was calm, without any emotion. However, every time he said a sentence, the little gray sparrow would tremble slightly, trying his best to curl up in the corner of the carriage, wishing to turn back into that round little fluffy ball immediately.

Gu Xuan looked at him in a leisurely manner: “Still refusing to talk?”

Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped.

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Gu Xuan sighed softly and was about to get up when the little gray sparrow suddenly rushed forward and hugged him at the waist. Gu Xuan lost his footing and was pushed back onto the seat by the little gray sparrow with his back hitting the soft cushion behind him.

The little gray sparrow buried his head in Gu Xuan’s chest and said in a sobbing voice: “I’ll talk, I’ll talk now! I’m little sparrow, A Xuan! Don’t send me to jail, I don’t have any intentions of hurting little leaf!” 

“You’re little sparrow?” Gu Xuan looked at him calmly, “But isn’t my little sparrow a bird, why has he become a human?”

“I really am little sparrow, I’m not lying to you.” The little gray sparrow said in a low voice with red eyes, “I don’t know why this happened. Just a while ago, I saw that little leaf was in danger and wanted to save him when I suddenly became like this. A Xuan, you have to believe me, I’m really not a bad person……”

“Understood.” The corner of Gu Xuan’s mouth curved up slightly in an arc and he patted his back, “Let’s go, get off.”

The little gray sparrow held Gu Xuan down with his hands and feet, refusing to move: “I’m not getting off, I don’t want to go to the authorities.”

“We’re not going to the authorities.” Gu Xuan reached out and lifted the curtain, revealing a corner of the familiar courtyard, “We’re going home, little sparrow.”  

On the other hand, Ye Zi didn’t make any noise as he honestly leaned in Gu Yan’s arms whilst being carried back to the manor. Gu Yan ordered the servants to prepare some hangover tea as he carried Ye Zi into the room and placed him on the bed.

Ye Zi stared straight at Gu Yan. Gu Yan lightly pinched his face and deliberately scolded with a stern face: “What did I say to you before I left this morning?”

Ye Zi hadn’t sobered up yet as he blinked blankly: “What?……”

“You——” Gu Yan closed his eyes, telling himself in his mind that he couldn’t reason with a drunk.

Prince Rui, who hadn’t dealt with affairs seriously in over 20 years, interrogated prisoners for a whole day in the Ministry of Justice’s prison today. He extorted confessions through severe torture, using both gentle methods and force, and forced half of the prisoners to confess their crimes in one breath.

The prisoners gave him a headache and he originally wanted to go home to bond with his little Princess Consort, but when he arrived back home, he found out that this person had slipped out of the manor early in the morning.

Gu Yan anxiously went out in search of him only to see the scene between Xiao Min and Ye Zi in broad daylight. 

Moreover, this person was even drunk.

Gu Yan was so angry that he even wanted to fight Xiao Min on the spot.

“Your Majesty?” Seeing that Gu Yan hadn’t responded in a long time, Ye Zi climbed over and gently pulled his sleeve, asking in a soft voice, “Are you angry?”

Gu Yan took a deep breath and said in a warm voice: “I’m not angry with you.”

Ye Zi tilted his head and asked seriously, “Why aren’t you angry?”

Gu Yan bent down to help him take off his dirty outer robe and let out a light laugh: “What? Are you only going to be happy if I get angry and scold you?”

“……Won’t be happy either.” Ye Zi knelt on the bed, stretched out his arms, and asked Gu Yan to help him undress. Gu Yan leaned extremely close, and the familiar scent of medicine filled Ye Zi’s nose.

Ye Zi’s mind was in a daze and he rushed forward suddenly, hugging Gu Yan.

Gu Yan was unprepared and he staggered a bit before he managed to stand still: “Stop messing around, you’re gonna fall.” 

Ye Zi buried his head in Gu Yan’s chest and said sullenly: “I’m not happy.”

Gu Yan’s movements faltered and then he heard Ye Zi whisper again: “Gu Zicheng, I’m not happy.”