CH 55

Li Ying took the knife from his hand and put it back in the drawer.

Perhaps because he had come in such a hurry, his long hair that he had worn loose during the meal was held loosely by a jade hairpin, half covering his ears. His outer robe, black as usual, looked very plain, even though there was some dark embroidery on the collar and cuffs.

This outfit instantly made Yun Qingci think about the times when the two of them were alone back then. At that time, Li Ying was always so casual in front of him but later, with concubines entering the palace, he could rarely be seen like that.

No matter how informal he was, he would be dressed in a dark-colored dragon robe, his hair neatly combed, his crown and clothes strict, and he looked dignified and noble, as if no one could get close to him.

Li Ying’s charm was very old-fashioned, the kind of ancient charm that goes back a long way. If one compared his skin to pure-colored rice paper, his thick eyebrows and deep eyelashes were landscapes outlined with good ink, like mountains in the midst of autumn, accented with heavy hues. It was not stunning at a glance, but it was distinctive enough to be easily engraved in one’s heart.

Yun Qingci liked him.

When you like someone, naturally he was good everywhere.

Even the pale lips seemed to be attractive to him.

Yun Qingci asked him, unblinking, “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much.” 

“What are you doing if it’s nothing much?” 

“…” Li Ying had no choice but to say, “I followed you.” 

“Why are you following me?” 

After a few moments, Yun Qingci tugged at him and urged, “Talk.” 

“Because I want to see you more.” 

Yun Qingci was barely satisfied and said with a stern face: “When my father came to pick me up just now, you could have obviously made me stay.” 

“I promised him.” 

“You can renege your promise.” Yun Qingci said, “You can renege even if you promised, you are the emperor, it’s not like he dares to say anything about you.” 

Yun Qingci hoped that he would take back his promise.

Li Ying lowered his eyes; the hand holding the corner of his clothes was as white as jade. He subconsciously reached for it. Yun Qingci immediately took the initiative to put his hand into Li Ying’s palm and then took advantage of the situation. Holding Li Ying’s fingers, he pulled him to the bed and sat down.

Li Ying realized that he had something to say.

“My father hopes that I will insist on separating from you.” 

This was expected. Li Ying lowered his head. Yun Qingci frowned and said, “He told me that since ancient times emperors have been unlucky and told me to think it over for myself.”

Li Ying raised his gaze to look at him, his eyes like lacquered paint.

Seeing that he was finally facing up to this matter, Yun Qingci said calmly: “I don’t think what he said is unreasonable. My father is doing it for my good.” 

Li Ying did not speak.

He didn’t know if he was still qualified to keep Yun Qingci. Yun Qingci had seen too many of his secrets. Maybe he was moved now but he might not stay this way. One day, when he remembered the ugly Li Ying in his previous life, he would abandon him without hesitation.

Yun Qingci tugged at him again and said, “You talk.” 

“Naturally, teacher won’t hurt you.” 

“What about you?” Yun Qingci said, “Will you harm me?”

“I won’t.” Li Ying replied quickly: “I won’t harm you.”

The corners of Yun Qingci’s mouth rose, then he suppressed it quietly and said, “But my father is so insistent now. He is particularly worried that I will be wronged when I enter the palace. It’s all your fault.” 

Li Ying clenched his hand and said, “I’m sorry.” 

“He is just worried that you will bully me and throw me out of bed or something.” 

Yun Qingci said it deliberately, observing his expression. Li Ying breathed heavily and said hoarsely: “From now on, never again.” 

“Actually, it’s not that I can’t understand.” Yun Qingci put his foot on the bed and said, “I drugged you and forced you to do something. It makes sense for you to lose your temper.”

“…” Li Ying had a hard time finding his voice: “It’s not your fault.” 

“It’s my fault!” Yun Qingci said vigorously: “If you stalked me when I was not interested, I would definitely lose my temper.”

Li Ying pursed his lips, his eyes moistening.

This kind of expression made one want to cry.

Yun Qingci was so happy. He pulled his hand back, put his foot on Li Ying and said, “Don’t just look at me, come up with an idea. Next time my father will talk about you hurting me, how can I speak for you?” 

“No need to speak for me, it was my fault.” 

Yun Qingci’s feet went all the way up from his leg and stopped on his chest. He twisted his toes left and right and asked, “What was your fault?”

Li Ying held the restless foot. The collar of his black robe had been loosened by the foot, revealing his pale skin and clavicle. Yun Qingci raised his head to look, only to see the emperor raise his hand desperately and pull his collar back together. 

Yun Qingci kicked him heavily in the chest.

Li Ying rearranged his collar casually and did not notice his displeasure. He said obediently: “That was all in your right, I shouldn’t have been angry about it.” 

“You are so boring.” Yun Qingci withdrew his foot, picked up his night pearl and said, “Stay away from me.”

The black cloth bag opened and the brilliance of the night pearl poured out, illuminating his delicate, flawless face. Li Ying moved away quietly, and the pain swept over him like gangrene.

He looked at Yun Qingci, who was playing with the night pearl, bathed in its brilliance, his expression lazy and careless, as if he were an innocent child or a demon who was doing evil without realizing it.

“Why are you staring at me?” Yun Qingci said, “If you are fine, go back to the palace, and I will go to bed soon.”

Li Ying stood up and said after a moment, “Okay.” 

Quarter an hour later.

Yun Qingci suddenly tossed the night pearl into the dark part of the room and it was caught by a hand, instantly illuminating the whole body of the person in the corner.

“I told you to go back to the palace, I didn’t tell you to hide, do you think I’m stupid?” 

Li Ying walked out and looked at him: “I just went out, how do you know…”

“You smell like yourself.” Yun Qingci said, “Did you pour the incense ash on your body?”

He was indeed familiar with Li Ying’s smell, but Yun Qingci did not practice martial arts and his five senses were far less keen. This time, Li Ying could be found out at once because the familiar smell on his body had become stronger.

Li Ying sent the night pearl back to him without saying a word. Yun Qingci stared at him for a while, then took it back and put it in his black cloth bag, saying, “Sit down.” 

Li Ying sat down.

Yun Qingci said again: “Lie down.” 

Li Ying looked at him and was kicked, then laid down in silence.

As soon as he laid down, Yun Qingci took his arm and leaned over. He wrinkled his nose and said, “Who gave you these smoked clothes, next time you should be lighter, it was way better before.” 

He naturally smoked the clothes by himself.

After Yun Qingci left, he vomited up everything he had eaten.

He always felt that he had a smell on his body, similar to the smell of a rotting corpse. He could see that Yun Qingci’s heart softened to him, but the smell that emerged from his body from time to time made him flinch a little. While he was worried that Yun Qingci would say bad things to him because of this smell, he still chased after him uncontrollably.

He craved frantically to return to what they had once been, but had to remind himself frequently not to hope for too much.

So he took care of himself carefully, but deliberately wore a very casual outfit in order to conceal this care.

Yun Qingci didn’t notice that smell. He just simply felt that it smelled too strong. Although it smelled very good, it had smelled better before.

He laid down in Li Ying’s arms and closed his eyes. The latter slowly raised his hand, pushed away his long hair and glanced at the wound on his forehead.

After a few months, the scar there had faded, leaving only a faint white mark. If one didn’t look closely, one would hardly notice.

Li Ying twirled his hair between his fingers and calmed his breathing.

He hurt Yun Qingci, how could he hurt Yun Qingci?

“What are you looking at?” Yun Qingci was finally unhappy. He removed Li Ying’s hand and said, “Do you dislike me?” ”

“No.” 

“I don’t care how you think.” Yun Qingci said, “Let’s talk business. Since my father is now determined to make us separate and you don’t want to separate with me, why don’t you just drag it out as long as possible and wait for me to find a way to persuade him.”

“Okay.” 

“But then I can’t stay with you all the time… you, the pain, is there a solution?” 

“…no.” 

“It’s going to hurt like h*ll.” Yun Qingci said, “You dare to accept any price, but don’t want to think about ways to resolve it? Haven’t you always been very far-seeing? Now what will you do if I ignore you?” 

“It’ll hurt.” 

Yun Qingci choked.

Li Ying said, “In this way, I won’t forget to love you.” 

Yun Qingci was taken aback. His heart beat faster and his eyes widened slightly, but his mouth was unforgiving: “Are you saying that you forgot before?” 

“No.” Li Ying explained softly: “I ignored you before, not because I forgot to love you. I always had you in my heart, but I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t expect to make you suffer as a result.”

“I like this price very much. I am glad that I can do it again, and I am also glad that I can take the opportunity to remind myself that I can never ignore you again.” 

The pain did make him feel at ease. Previously, he had owed Yun Qingci too much. No matter how many reasons he had, he owed the other party.

Yun Qingci looked at him for a while, his cheeks flushed slightly. He had always liked to be close to Li Ying, he liked to stick to him and pester him and whisper sweet love words to him. He always had these words on his lips and didn’t hesitate to give Li Ying his feelings.

Li Ying sometimes resented him for not growing up, and every time he couldn’t bear to listen to his chirping, he would hold him firmly and block his mouth.

However, he rarely expressed his emotions himself. When he occasionally said it, it seemed to be as natural as eating and drinking water. He didn’t feel like he was making any promises at all. He also didn’t know how touching his words were and how often Yun Qingci was moved to a mess while his own face stayed calm and composed.

Yun Qingci told himself that he should stop being moved by him so easily and said, “Are you that stupid that you have to be in pain to know it?” 

“I’m sorry.” Li Ying sighed: “In the future, I will try to be smarter.”

Yun Qingci didn’t say a word again.

He rubbed his eyes on Li Ying’s arm, and Li Ying took his hand: “Ah Ci…”

“There is a bug in my eye.” Yun Qingci shook him off and said fiercely: “You’re so annoying, I don’t know why you decided to make yourself so fragrant. How old are you that you’ve lived two lifetimes and still want to attract bees and butterflies?”

“I……”

“Don’t talk.” Yun Qingci said, “I think there’s something wrong with all the things you just said, it’s rhetoric, hypocritical, deceitful…” 

Li Ying frowned.

“…But I’m in a mess now, and I don’t know how to expose you, so you wait a little.” 

Li Ying didn’t make a sound for a long time.

After a while, he asked, “Have you thought about it?” 

“Don’t rush, still a mess.” 

After another moment, Li Ying’s eyes and breathing changed uncontrollably, and he restrained himself, saying, “Think hard, don’t wriggle.”

Yun Qingci hummed, his fluffy head squeezing into his arms, as he arched vigorously: “It’s a mess, a mess, a mess.” 

Suddenly, he paused and said in a small voice: “You lost so much weight. You didn’t lose weight there, did you?” 

Li Ying: “…”

He was also in a mess.

Messed til death.