CH 46

Gu Yan was silent for a moment and tested his waters: “If I said that I couldn’t react in time and that’s why I didn’t dodge that sword, would you believe me?”

Ye Zi glanced at him. His anger was so overwhelming that he didn’t utter a single word and got up to bring Gu Yan a cushion for his back.

“Okay, I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” Gu Yan covered his injury and leaned on the soft cushion, sneering, “It’s because…..I had no other choice.”

Gu Yan said: “Pei Yuanzhi wants to bring Emperor Jinghe down with him. However, the sword was coming so fiercely that the Imperial bodyguards have no time to stop him. I am the closest to Emperor Jinghe so I have a chance to stop it, but if I did, wouldn’t Emperor Jinghe find out that I know martial arts?”

“……Taking the hit is better than being found out that I have deceived the Emperor.”

Ye Zi looked down at Gu Yan’s wound, the wound hadn’t fully healed, and a little blood was faintly oozing from the bandage. The anger in his heart subsided a little and his eyes darkened: “That still doesn’t mean that you can treat your life as a joke. If the sword was just a bit off…..” 

Gu Yan leisurely said: “If it was just a bit off, it will probably fulfill Emperor Jinghe’s intentions.”

Emperor Jinghe personally went to interrogate the suspect but ended up being involved in an assassination attempt. It was too abnormal for so many Imperial bodyguards to fail to catch a civil servant.

Ye Zi had a guess in his heart as he lowered his voice: “Did he do this on purpose?”

“Who knows.” Gu Yan paused and said with relief, “Actually, it’s not like I had to block today’s attack. However, to occasionally show off our uncle-nephew relationship in front of Emperor Jinghe and return to my residence to recuperate for a few months to avoid public opinion, I couldn’t have asked for more. Furthermore……”

Gu Yan raised his eyes to look at Ye Zi, the corners of his mouth curled up: “I promised to accompany you properly and now I finally have the chance. Suffering this wound wasn’t a loss at all.”

Ye Zi’s cheeks heated up and he said embarrassingly: “W-What kind of reason is this? Who does things like you do? You……”

Gu Yan pulled his hand and said in a warm voice: “A Zi, don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Ye Zi wanted to break free, but he didn’t have the heart to. Due to the loss of blood, Gu Yan’s face was pale and his fingers were terribly cold. Ye Zi lowered his head silently, cupped Gu Yan’s hands with both hands, and rubbed them gently with his warm palms.

Gu Yan was originally in poor health but now that he was injured, he didn’t know when he would recover.

Ye Zi’s heart throbbed with pain as he muttered: “You must have done it on purpose.”

Gu Yan came closer and deliberately smiled, “What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Ye Zi pressed him back onto the soft cushion without a second thought and turned his head, “If you’re injured, you should rest, Your Majesty.”

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The carriage drove back to the Prince Rui Manor and when Great Princess Rui learned of Gu Yan’s accident, anxiety overwhelmed her as she wept uncontrollably. Gu Yan and Ye Zi pacified her for a while before she calmed down and was helped down by the maidservant to rest.

Ye Zi helped Gu Yan to bed and brought hot water to help wipe his body down. Gu Yan tilted his head as he watched Ye Zi busying around and called out in a low voice: “A Zi.”

Ye Zi walked to the bedside, “What’s wrong?”

Gu Yan responded: “Just let the servants do those things.”

Despite being a Princess Consort for quite some time, Ye Zi was still not accustomed to ordering the servants around and did everything that he knew he could do himself. 

Ye Zi shook his head: “It’s fine, I’m about to finish up, you should rest.”

“No,” Gu Yan pulled his sleeve and lowered his voice: “I want you to accompany me.”

Ye Zi paused and answered softly: “……Okay.”

Ye Zi leaned over to straighten the quilt for Gu Yan and then knelt on the edge of the bed, turning his head to look at him.

In the past few days, Gu Yan was busy investigating the collusion and every night after returning to the manor, he sorted out the evidence in the study. His busy schedule made it so that he didn’t even have time to go back to his room to sleep.

It had been a long time since they had stayed together quietly like this and it was a lie to say that he didn’t miss him.

Ye Zi pinched Gu Yan’s hand and played with his fingers when he suddenly heard Gu Yan whisper: “Lie down with me, the floor is cold.” 

Ye Zi shook his head: “No need, what if I accidentally touched your injury?……”

Gu Yan softly interrupted him: “But I want to hug you.”

Ye Zi froze for a moment. Gu Yan raised his head slightly and went over to him and kissed him lightly on the side of his cheek: “A Zi, I want to hug you, I missed you too much.”

Ye Zi’s heart immediately softened.

An hour ago, when he learned that Gu Yan was injured and his survival was uncertain, he was anxious and heartbroken, wishing he could fly to him immediately. Later, after hearing the truth, he couldn’t help but be angry. He was angry that this person didn’t take his life seriously, angry that this person had too much patience.

But after thinking logically about this matter, Gu Yan was only involved because of him. What position did he have to blame Gu Yan?

Furthermore, he ended up receiving a deep injury and bled so much.

Ye Zi took off his outerwear, lay down on the bed, and brought Gu Yan’s hands over to his waist, trying to be careful not to touch his wound. This action was no different from throwing himself into his arms. The tip of Ye Zi’s ear reddened and he asked in a low voice: “Is this……okay?”

Gu Yan smiled: “Yes.”

Ye Zi felt a little embarrassed when Gu Yan looked at him and couldn’t help but turn his head: “Then why aren’t you going to sleep yet?……”

Gu Yan didn’t answer but instead opened his mouth: “A Zi, I’m injured.”

Without waiting for Ye Zi to answer, Gu Yan continued: “The wound is very deep and the Imperial physician said that I have to lie in bed for at least half a month or so.”

“But then, eating, dressing, bathing, and some other stuff……can only be done with the help of others.”

Ye Zi didn’t know what came to mind and his ears inexplicably reddened.

He hurriedly said: “I-I’ll find two more maidservants to come and serve you tomorrow.”

Gu Yan pressed close to his ear, his voice was low and aggrieved: “I don’t want to be served by others, those little maids can’t do anything well.”

“……I only want you.”

Gu Yan was too close and Ye Zi subconsciously moved back, almost having difficulty breathing: “I can’t do it well either……”

“No harm done.” Gu Yan couldn’t help but reach out and wrap his hands around his waist, whispering: “I can teach you.”

Ye Zi wanted to escape but was afraid of touching his injury and only froze in place, not daring to move. Fortunately, Gu Yan didn’t say anything more and closed his eyes as he embraced Ye Zi.

Gu Yan’s breathing gradually calmed down. As Ye Zi stared at his sleeping side face, he also fell asleep not long after. 

Although Prince Rui was injured, the case regarding the Northern Barbarians finally had an ending. Pei Yuanzhi was imprisoned and many pieces of evidence of collusion were found in his home. Emperor Jinghe used this to threaten the Northern Barbarian King to give an explanation or else he would tear up the contract and send troops to attack Northern Barbarians.

As the evidence was clear and Jia Xiedan was still in the hands of Emperor Jinghe, the Northern Barbarian King had no choice but to condemn Wu Ji for collaborating with the enemy and rebelling. He took away his position as a commander and relegated him to a commoner.

After this incident, the peace with the Northern Barbarians was declared broken. Half a month later, Emperor Jinghe ordered Jia Xiedan’s ban to be revoked, ordering him to leave Chang’an immediately and return to the Northern Barbarians.

On the day Jia Xiedan left the city, Ye Zi went to see him off and met him briefly at the posthouse outside the city.

After not seeing him for more than half a month, Jia Xiedan looked a lot thinner, but he was still in good spirits. He leaned against the window, looked back at Chang’an City in the distance, and said sadly: “Chang’an City is really as prosperous as the rumors say. Unfortunately, I came here in a hurry this time so I wasn’t able to enjoy it to its fullest.”

Ye Zi was sitting at the table sipping tea and looked up at him after listening: “Knock it off, Prince Jia Xiedan. If you want to enjoy yourself, Prince Rui and I will be roped in once again.”  

Jia Xiedan looked back and apologized: “I’m really sorry, this time it was indeed my fault for dragging Mr. Ye and Prince Rui into this mess.”

Ye Zi narrowed his eyes and didn’t say anything.

Jia Xiedan leaned over to his side: “Mr. Ye, you seem to have something on your mind?”

Ye Zi’s eyes moved slightly and retreated a little without showing a trace.

Jia Xiedan gazed at him for a long time before muttering in a low voice: “Actually, sometimes I quite envy Prince Rui, being able to have such a beautiful person at his side. If I had come so many months earlier, perhaps……”

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Ye Zi interrupted him: “Your Majesty.”

Jia Xiedan lightly laughed, straightened up, and his complexion returned to normal: “Oh well, I know that you and Prince Rui are in love with each other, I won’t do anything to ruin another person’s marriage.”

Whilst the two were talking, Jia Xiedan’s men prepared the carriage and horse and called him from out the window.

Jia Xiedan answered and turned to head toward the door. As if he thought of something again, he turned his head: “However, if you are wronged by Prince Rui in the future, you can come to the northern border to find me. The door of my clan will always be open to you.”

Ye Zi laughed lightly: “Many thanks, but that won’t be necessary.”

Jia Xiedan shook his head, rather disappointed: “You really are too cold to others.”

After saying that, Jia Xiedan left the posthouse.

The Northern Barbarians’ carriages and horses left slowly and Ye Zi finished the last cup of tea before getting up to go back to the Prince’s manor.

For the past half a month, Gu Yan stayed in the Prince Rui Manor to recuperate from his injury while Ye Zi followed closely by his side, taking care of him every step of the way. But before Ye Zi even entered the manor, he saw the servants running towards him from a distance.

Ye Zi pulls a person over: “What’s wrong?”

The servant was out of breath as he said anxiously: “Your Highness, you should go back and take a look, something has happened to His Majesty!”

Ye Zi was stunned and lost all the color on his face. Not waiting for the servant to finish, he immediately lifted his steps and hurriedly rushed towards the manor in a hurry.

He quickly returned to the courtyard where the two of them lived and as soon as he pushed open the door of the room, he hurriedly shouted: “Your Majesty!”

In the bedroom, Gu Yan leaned against the bed while holding a book leisurely. When he noticed him coming in, Gu Yan raised his eyes slowly: “You’re back?”

Ye Zi: “……”

Ye Zi took a deep breath and held back his anger, “Didn’t something happen to you?”

Gu Yan tilted his head with an innocent expression: “Is that so? What happened?” 

“Gu Zicheng!”

“I’m here.” Gu Yan let out a light laugh and waved at him, “Come over, have a cup of tea, and sit down for a rest. Why were you running that fast?”

As he spoke, he propped up his upper body to reach for the teapot on the small table beside the bed. However, he accidentally pulled on his wound and hissed in pain.

Ye Zi hurriedly walked up to help him: “I’ll do it myself, don’t move.”

The moment he touched Gu Yan’s arm, the latter pulled him back into his arms. Ye Zi was about to struggle, but Gu Yan whispered in his ear:  “Don’t move around, else you’ll pull on my wound.” 

Ye Zi immediately stopped moving.

Gu Yan stroked his hair and asked in a low voice: “Did Jia Xiedan leave?”

Ye Zi answered: “Mnn.”

Gu Yan said: “What did he say to you before he left?”

Ye Zi paused for a moment and truthfully responded: “He said that if I am ever wronged in the future, I can go to the northern border to look for him.”

Gu Yan’s arm tightened: “You’re not allowed to go.”

Ye Zi finally couldn’t hold it together and laughed in slight anger: “Your Majesty, are you still a kid? To think you’ll be jealous of something like this.”

He didn’t want him to be alone with Jia Xiedan so he deliberately sent his servants to look for him and even lied to him that something happened to him. When did this person become so childish?

“Yes, I’m jealous.” Gu Yan frankly said, “Who made this Prince’s little immortal plant so inviting? If not for the fact that I really couldn’t leave, I wouldn’t have let you go see him alone.”

Ye Zi was a little embarrassed by his words and quickly changed the topic: “What were you reading?”

Gu Yan picked up the book that he had casually thrown aside and handed it over: “The second volume of ‘Diary of a Prince’s Manor’ has come out and I’ve just asked Qiu Tang to buy it.”

Ye Zi: “……”

Qiu Luo who came in to refill their tea: “……”