CH 10

Ye Yang stayed in the palace for several days to recuperate; that day, he’d been only given a flesh wound and was not seriously injured. As soon as the poison inside his body had been treated successfully, the wound healed quickly. Every now and then, Feng Luan would spend the night at his palace—Ye Yang regarded him as a little brother who was frustrated both mentally and physically. Anyhow, he wasn’t that interested in Feng Luan. Whenever he reached the point of succumbing to ennui, he’d find Feng Luan and flatter him; ultimately, this had brought his favorability score up to 37.

It’s the 15th of July, the Ghost Festival. 

Ye Yang could recall it clearly.

On July 15, something of significance took place.

According to the original novel’s plot, Chu Lian’s relationship with Feng Luan didn’t experience any changes after she was fortunate—that is, until July 15, when Chu Lian wandered at night in the palace and lost her way. She stumbled upon Feng Luan, who was, without anyone knowing, holding a memorial ceremony for his mother.

The Empress Dowager wasn’t Feng Luan’s biological mother. The book mentioned that Feng Luan’s own mother was not high-ranking and had always been ailing. The Empress Dowager brought him up in her stead; not liking him talking about his biological mother, he could only come to this spot in private, and this chance encounter caused Chu Lian and Feng Luan to share a common secret. Thus, Chu Lian understood what Feng Luan yearned for and only then did she know how to win the favor of His Majesty’s heart. 

Ye Yang still desperately hoped to be able to bring together the two protagonists of the original book. Feng Luan did promise that, when everything was over, he’d bestow on him a great sum of money to send him out of the palace. As long as Feng Luan and Chu Lian ended up together, however, it meant that his mission was finished. Moreover, he wouldn’t disrupt the flow of events tonight.

Ye Yang decided to stay in his palace for a day.

On this particular day, Feng Luan was required to lead officials of all ranks and descriptions to offer sacrifices, giving him little to no time to visit him. Life in the palace could certainly be tedious; Ye Yang had roused from sleeping all morning and was propped against the headboard, pondering on what to eat at noon, when Wan Juan hurried inside his chamber.

“Ming siji requested to meet with you outside,” Wan Juan informed him anxiously. “Due to her…… her identity, this slave dares not stop her.”

As expected, Ye Yang halted cracking the melon seeds in his hands.

“Driver Ming?” he inquired, puzzled. “Are there any drivers in the palace?”

Bearing in mind the scientific and technological level of this dynasty, what kind of vehicle did this individual drive? Was it a large handcart?

Wan Juan explained in hushed tones, “it’s that girl, Ming Yan.” 

Ye Yang’s head throbbed painfully.

He could very much recall Ming Yan’s inexplicable initial favorability score; there was no such thing as goodwill without any reason in this world. He failed to grasp Ming Yan’s attitude toward him and her actual motive. In the novel, after Ming Yan became a virtuous imperial concubine, the court fighting methods were remarkable, getting Chu Lian to be at death’s door. Her ever-present grin was concealing a knife—Ye Yang genuinely didn’t wish to have anything to do with her.

However, when someone went to his palace, he couldn’t just leave them hanging outside……

Ye Yang put away the melon seeds and waited for Ming Yan to come in. 

Ming Yan appeared to be in high spirits, seemingly somewhat spontaneously familiar with him. As soon as she stepped through the door, she beamed at Ye Yang and told him, “Yun shijun, it is such a fine day today. Didn’t the imperial physician advise you to go for walks more often to de-stress?”

Ye Yang glanced at the mighty sun, being an indication of the fact that it was two o’clock in the afternoon, “……not necessarily.”

Ming Yan, “aiya, but I have requested the imperial kitchen to prepare iced fruit jelly and serve it in the imperial garden. If we do not take our leave, I’m afraid it will melt.”

Ye Yang, “uh……” 

Ming Yan, “there are some cold glutinous rice dumplings, too, as well as iced sweet-sour plum infusion and plum wine……”

Tf Tjcu, “……”

Ming Yan, “I have been told that…… the milk tea is brought from outside the Shanhaiguan Pass. Fresh milk is poured in the Yuqian Longjing tea, then smoked plums are added after retrieving them from the ice cellars. His Majesty has always enjoyed this tea greatly.”

Ye Yang stood up promptly and stated, “rest breeds rust. Let’s go. I shall see you in the imperial kitche…… imperial garden!” 

……

Tf Tjcu mbeivc’a ojatbw bea atf gfjrbc yftlcv Zlcu Tjc’r nlrla.

Ktfs tjv bcis wfa bcmf jcv kfgf fnfc lcmjqjyif bo olcvlcu j abqlm bo mbcnfgrjalbc jr atfs rja abufatfg. Po la kfgfc’a obg atf wbeat-kjafglcu gfogfrtwfcar ijlv bea bc atf ajyif, tf kbeivc’a tjnf qibvvfv bea lc atf wlvvif bo atf vjs.

Ming Yan stared at him with her head tilted and asked, “Yun shijun, what happened to you and His Majesty…… that day?” 

Ye Yang, “ha?”

That day? What day?

“Did His Majesty lay the blame on you?” Ming Yan continued smilingly. “I heard Kang Ning claim that Yun shijun looked as though he was crying?”

Ye Yang, “……” 

Eunuch Kang, there was absolutely no need whatsoever to talk of such things openly!

Ye Yang waved his hand right away as if to deny it, shook his head uncontrollably and refuted, “no way! Crying, what crying? A manly man would never cry so easily!”

Before he could even finish enouncing the words, he went scarlet; and Yun Yang was blessed with a naturally beauteous countenance, too. His face reddened, carrying in that tint of crimson a diffident and bashful look. Ming Yan seemed to understand it completely. Her lips curled into an even deeper grin, nodding slightly and changing the subject. She uttered to Ye Yang, “Yun shijun, you are surely poles apart from others in the palace. It is no wonder that His Majesty adores you.”

Ye Yang forced his mouth to part in a smile—he adored who? He was needed for nothing more than to cover up temporarily for the dog emperor. 

“It is just that you haven’t become cognizant of the actual situation in the palace,” Ming Yan said in muted tones. “You must be aware…… you have acted as an obstacle for many people.”

Ye Yang was still cradling the iced fruit jelly in his hands. Out of the blue, Ming Yan declared something as astonishing as this, causing Ye Yang to pause for a moment; he could only give voice to his thoughts carefully and replied, “I didn’t mean to compete for his favor.”

“Compete for his favor?” Ming Yan slightly pursed her lips. “Do you reckon that what they are contending for is His Majesty’s favor?”

Ye Yang, “……” 

During the time that he was recuperating from his illness in his own world, he used to watch palace drama soap operas and read novels of much the same genre; and now, it was as if he had formed this particular mindset, that in the harem, it was natural for concubines to vie for favor. Everyone longed for the emperor’s favor, yet Ye Yang never deliberated over the reason for it.

The original book was not finished and the serialization stopped after describing Chu Lian receiving preferential treatment. The rest of the concubines in the palace ended up miserable, leaving Chu Lian alone. However, the author commented that there was still more than half of the length of the book to be published—if it’s nothing but a competition to be at the receiving end of the emperor’s favor, then what was…… the rest of the story that had yet to be published about?

But, Ming Yan refrained from discussing this subject any further.

She peeked at the gardenful of flowers and plants and chattered about the intriguing matters of the palace. Ye Yang readily responded while desperately trying to recall the plot of the original novel. 

If the harem wasn’t competing simply for the sake of winning over the Sacred Heart, then nine times out of ten it was about something related to the government.

At this moment, a member of the Yun family held the position of the Prime Minister. Yun Lin had a large number of troops stationed in the capital and was in charge of placing troops on garrison duty in the capital and its environs, as well as being Feng Luan’s trusted subordinate; on General Shen’s side, Imperial Concubine Shen, Shen Xiangning, had each of her older brothers located in the frontier juncture of places of strategic importance. Her youngest brother was the commander of the emperor’s guards and watched over Feng Luan. He should also be Feng Luan’s reliable aide and favorite courtier.

Additionally, Ming Yan was also related to the Empress Dowager. She pinned her hopes on Ming Yan marrying Feng Luan, given that she was, needless to say, her royal relative on the distaff side; and Chu Lian’s father used to be held in high esteem by the Prime Minister and was appointed with the title of one of the three highest-ranking civil officials in the imperial court. When Feng Luan was still a juvenile, he was nominated, nevertheless, by imperial order, as an Acting Minister by the late emperor. After Feng Luan wielded power, he instead left the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs……

Wait. 

Acting Minister.

Wasn’t this a position that only meant trouble?!

Ming Yan gulped down her last bite of cold dumplings and remarked, “it is getting late, Yun shijun. Shall I take you back?”

Ye Yang quickly waved his hands, “I’ll just go back by myself.” 

He called for Wan Juan to come; it was almost dusk. If he didn’t return to his palace soon, he’d risk interfering with the good deeds of the male and female protagonists of the original book.

The imperial carriage came to a standstill right at the exit. He first strolled for a bit in the imperial garden, then proceeded to saunter around the rockery, stumbling upon Chu Lian’s maid standing beside her. Ye Yang halted his steps immediately, frightened by the sight—he wanted nothing more than to go back the way he came, yet he caught a glimpse of Chu Lian sitting under the rockery. She appeared to be…… crying?

Ye Yang paused, wavering somewhat.

Although he was well aware that he must not meddle in the affairs of the palace, he couldn’t remain watching and disregard other people as they wept. In his own world, he lived as a warmhearted, little police community support officer. As might be expected, he couldn’t stand this 18 or 19 year-old young lady crouching by the road and sobbing. While he was in a quandary whether to walk up and ask her if there was a problem, Chu Lian had already risen to her feet. She was clutching in her hand a piece of paper and, rubbing her eyes, she lifted her head and happened to meet Ye Yang’s eyes head-on even from a distance. 

Ye Yang was given a jolt. He hurriedly turned his head, dragged Wan Juan to a random path and tramped forward, while also telling her loudly, “Juan! Why, isn’t the sky truly beautiful! It’s really blue!”

Wan Juan jabbered fearfully, parroting his words in reply, “y-y-ye-yes! Th…… the sun is round indeed!”

Ye Yang, “……”

Forget about it. As long as he didn’t catch Chu Lian’s favorability score drop, it clearly meant that all was well. 

However, after pulling Wan Juan for some time, he suddenly felt that something was incredibly wrong.

Wait a minute, this path looked…… a tad unfamiliar.

Ye Yang came to a stop and took a gander at his surroundings.

Where were they? 

Wan Juan stopped next to him, glanced around in bewilderment and muttered, “Young Master, where are we?”

Ye Yang, “……”

Could it be……

That he got lost instead?! 

……

Following the original plot of the novel, Chu Lian should’ve wandered about after having lost her bearings and met Feng Luan, who was burning paper offerings for the dead.

In his current situation, however, he was unable to find his way and had not yet ran into Feng Luan burning paper offerings.

Ye Yang wasn’t intending on meandering, disoriented. 

As soon as the sky dusked, he decided to search for a spot to sit down at and wait for any servants passing by to rescue him.

It just appeared that this particular place was rather remote, having the greenery not tended that frequently. Not one individual roamed around for a long time; during the night, the temperature was relatively low and Yun Yang was feeble. It wouldn’t be long until he’d catch another serious cold.

Wan Juan trembled and asked him, “Young Master, aren’t y-y-you cold? This slave will give you this garment, drape it over your shoulders.”

Ye Yang rushed to decline, “no, no, no. After all, I’m the master.” 

As he spoke, he noticed the distant light of a lamp nearing their location. Wan Juan was exhilarated and, worrying they wouldn’t be spotted, she jumped up and desperately waved her hands to the other person, yelling, “over here, elder sister—”

As the light drew nearer to them, Ye Yang gazed up at the person, his heart skipping a beat.

Kang Ning carried a big lamp and stared at them with his eyes wide open. He lowered his voice and queried in alarm, “Yun shijun, why are you here?”

Ye Yang, “……haha.” 

Feng Luan was but a few steps away.

He was grasping a bamboo basket in his hand and he could plainly distinguish the joss sticks and candles, along with the paper made to resemble money. He was examining them both with a slight frown.

「Feng Luan’s current favorability score has been decreased by 20, current favorability score is 17」

Ye Yang, “……” 

Feng Luan, “for what reason have you come here?”

Ye Yang, “……the night crawls slowly by and I am in no mood to sleep.”

Feng Luan raised his eyebrows, “speak human.”

Ye Yang, “I’m feeling lonesome at night and I can’t sleep hugging the quilt.” 

Feng Luan, “……”

“I’m lost,” Ye Yang finally admitted. “Please show me which way to go and I’ll disappear immediately.”