The Xiyang Palace at night was so quiet that there was not a single sound.
The doors and windows in the bedroom hall were closed tightly, and the carved bronze heaters were lit early, emitting warmth that enveloped the entire hall.
The night lamp was covered with a yellow lampshade, emitting a soft light.
Liang Yanbei took out a slender incense stick, lit it, and inserted it into the openwork engraving of the heater. After a while, curls of white smoke slowly rose.
There was a very light fragrance. When Liang Yanbei smelled it lightly, his drowsiness suddenly became intense. He yawned and untied the cloak he was wearing.
Even though he was wrapped thickly, he got soaked by the cool breeze when he came riding the night breeze in that exceptionally cold late autumn. Liang Yanbei sat by the heater and rubbed his hands, letting the heat expel the chill from his body.
He tilted his head and looked at the person on the bed with a gaze as light as a feather. The light reflected in the eyes spread out, revealing layers of soft colours and a faint smile.
By the time the incense was half burned, Liang Yanbei was completely free of the coldness, and his hands had become warm. He stood up, took off his clothes slowly, and put them on the table beside him.
He removed his boots and made just faint noises while walking on the ground in his socks. He took one step at a time and stopped by the bed. He lowered his head slightly and stared at the person on the bed.
At this hour, Wen Chan had already fallen into a deep sleep and was sleeping extremely soundly.
He was lying on his back, and the half of his face that was exposed was outlined with a peaceful silhouette by the light.
Liang Yanbei grinned as he softly raised the quilt covering Wen Chan’s body, slipped into the warm quilt that wrapped around him like a tube, and automatically slid his arm around Wen Chan’s waist, avoiding his shoulder injury. He then put away his strength and hugged him closely.
Wen Chan’s bed was warmer than the heater. Liang Yanbei sighed comfortably, pushed his arm away with his head, got into his arms, and absorbed the warmth that penetrated deeply into his heart1to gladden the heart / to refresh the mind.
As he got closer, Wen Chan’s breathing became clear. Liang Yanbei looked up and saw the shadow cast by his long and dense eyelashes on his face.
His other hand had found his [WC] soft hand, interwined their fingers, and kept their palms close to each other’s.
Wen Chan appeared to be disturbed in his sleep, frowning slightly and struggling with his fingers.
Liang Yanbei tightened his hold again but stopped moving. He just stayed in Wen Chan’s arms obediently and enjoyed it. He closed his eyes contentedly, listened to the rhythm of his chest beating in his ears, and gradually fell asleep.
That night, both of them slept soundly.
After sleeping for a long time, a small sound made Wen Chan wake up from his dream. When he was half-conscious, he suddenly felt something unusually heavy somewhere on his body. and when he moved his arm, he actually touched something furry.
This strange sensation immediately made him wake up with a start, and at the same time, he slapped it down as a conditioned reflex.
He had just woken up, so the slap was not at all strong, and it only made a “click” sound. Wen Chan looked down, and to his horror, he found unexpectedly that there was actually a big living person in his arms.
What is this?! Is it a new assassination method for assassins?
At this moment, this big living person who appeared out of nowhere and was hit on the back of his head, good-temperedly nudged Wen Chan’s neck, and seemed to have no intention of waking up.
Wen Chan hurriedly got up but was surprised to find that his waist was encircled, and he couldn’t break free all at once, “Hey!”
The voice of the person in his arms was a little hoarse, drowsy, and muffled, “What are you doing?”
However, Wen Chan immediately recognised it and slapped the back of his head again, “Liang Yanbei, is your head filled with lard?! How did you get on my bed?”
Liang Yanbei, who was slapped twice, was a dead pig that didn’t fear scalding water2fig. a person who has nothing more to lose will go to any lengths, regardless of the consequences. He tightened his arms, took a deep breath, and groaned, “It hurts. Don’t hit me……”
Wen Chan, who had just then been so scared that his heart was about to jump out, was completely relaxed now. He found that his neck was itchy from his breath, and his body began to heat up. He said angrily, “Get up quickly!”
Liang Yanbei dilly-dallyingly raised his head, blinked languidly, and smiled brightly at him, “Your Ninth Royal Highness, good morning.”
“Who wants your good morning? You haven’t let me go yet!” He tugged at his hand. But his five fingers were squeezed tightly by Liang Yanbei, and he couldn’t pull them away. He tugged it a little bit harder but pulled his wound, and the pain made him frown.
Liang Yanbei’s strength instantly loosened, “I’ll let go if you want to. Don’t move randomly.”
After he let go of Wen Chan, he lifted the quilt and began to put on his clothes, “I will let Ah Fu get those white gauze and change your dressing.”
“Don’t go!” Wen Chan hurriedly said, “Did you eat braised pork to give yourself this courage? You have this much lard in your head! You broke into the palace at night, and if you are caught, the entire Liang family will suffer!”
Liang Yanbei put on his outer robe and buttoned it up one by one before saying, “Your Highness has a point.”
Wen Chan sat on the bed and then, with sharp eyes, saw the remaining incense stick on the heater. He looked at the ashes on the ground and asked, “Did you burn incense in my palace hall last night?”
“It’s the incense stick for sleeping peacefully.” Liang Yanbei tidied up his messy hair a little and said nonchalantly, “It’s harmless to the body.”
“No wonder I didn’t notice you got into my bed.” Wen Chan muttered, “It turns out that this incense stick was the one that played tricks.”
Liang Yanbei’s eyes narrowed to a smile, “Okay, if Your Highness says so.”
“When did you come? Last night or this morning?” Wen Chan asked again.
He stretched his waist and limbered up, “Of course, last night. I rushed over on the serious job of protecting Your Highness. Now that you are injured, if there comes an assassin like during that night, how will you deal with it?”
Wen Chan was taken aback. He didn’t expect him to have such a thought.
“I can’t save you by coincidence like that again and again. So I have to keep a watch here every night.” In a blink of an eye, Liang Yanbei was already dressed neatly, and smiled at him, “Your Highness, is this plan of mine especially good?”
“I think the most dangerous thing now is you.” Wen Chan said mercilessly.
Liang Yanbei came and went at will in that huge palace. If he dared to crawl onto his couch this day, he might possibly crawl onto His Majesty’s couch the next day. Awesome!
Liang Yanbei said calmly, “Your Highness is complimenting me.”
Wen Chan, “……”
“You can go now.” Wen Chan waved his hand, “Be careful when you leave. Don’t get caught. I have Qin Qi and Shu Hua here. So I am very safe. You don’t have to come again.”
He automatically ignored the second half of the sentence, looked out the window at the sunlight, and said, “It’s really time to go. Your Highness, don’t forget to ask someone to change the medicine. If those medicines are used up, I will bring some more.”
As he said this, he took his cloak and was about to leave, but Wen Chan stopped him, “Wait.”
He tilted his head slightly, “What’s wrong? Don’t want me to leave yet?”
“You……” Wen Chan hesitated for a moment and asked, “Are you investigating the person behind the assassin?”
Liang Yanbei said honestly, “Of course.”
“I know who it is.” He said, “I was waiting for you to ask. But I didn’t expect that you wouldn’t ask till the end.”
“If Your Highness wants to tell me, you can just tell me yourself.” Liang Yanbei said, “If you don’t want to tell me, it’s useless for me to ask.”
“It’s the Zhong family.” Wen Chan said.
Light flashed in Liang Yanbei’s eyes, “Why does the Zhong family want to kill you?”
“I do not know.” Wen Chan hid the reason.
He didn’t continue to ask and said with a smile, “Thank you, Your Highness, for being generous and informing me. One more question: How do Your Highness want to deal with the Zhong family next?”
“Of course, I want them to lift the stones,” Wen Chan said slowly, with a hint of coldness, “And shoot themselves in the foot.”
Liang Yanbei chuckled and hung his cloak in his arms, “In that case, I am looking forward to it.”
Under the guidance of the owner of Xiyang Palace, Liang Yanbei took a secluded road and left the palace when no one noticed.
Before leaving, Liang Yanbei was also viciously warned and threatened by the owner of Xiyang Palace.
The yamen received a report from an old man that day. Xie Zhaoxue hadn’t been to the academy because he was busy with the yamen, and Zhong Wenjin also used this reason to cut classes justly and honourably and followed Xie Zhaoxue with jolting buttocks3colloquial intensifier for grovelling, eager, compliant, or smug. You can just imagine a puppy running to someone with its butt shaking left and right..
The old man’s home was located in the border area of the capital. He had fenced off a piece of land to raise pigs and chickens. This morning, he hurriedly reported that his pigs had died strangely. Xie Zhaoxue and the two of them took a few bailiffs and followed them to the old man’s house.
From a distance, he saw a few people keeping watch in front of the house. Zhong Wenjin was sitting on a tall horse and had good eyesight. At a glance, he was able to see that one of those people was the girl, Ding Ziyun, who had been coerced by him a few months ago. He thought secretly that the road to the enemy was really narrow.
Xie Zhaoxue actually didn’t notice it. He looked around and whispered, “I seem to have been here before.”
The old man’s family had a son and a daughter, who were Ding Ziyun’s brother and sister. When they saw Xie Zhaoxue and the others, they hurried over to greet them, “Your Excellency! Your Excellency, you are finally here!”
Xie Zhaoxue drew near and got off the horse. He swept his eyes over the faces of the few people at once and helped the comparatively older woman up. “Don’t worry. Tell me what happened?”
“Your Excellency, this is really a strange thing!” The old woman wiped away her tears and said, “I had raised a few pigs at home, and overnight, someone did the evil act of viciously killing them, and all of them are dead!
“What’s the use of you just crying? Take us to see.” Zhong Wenjin said from the back.
He has changed his appearance now. So he was not afraid of being recognised by Ding Ziyun.
Ding Ziyun just felt that the voice was a little odd. After taking a look at him, she said to Xie Zhaoxue, “Your Excellency, I will take you to see.”
Xie Zhaoxue nodded and followed them to the hog lot.
Zhong Wenjin followed closely, and as soon as he approached, he was blinded by the stench emanating from the lot. He was forced to hold his breath, and what he saw was a terrifying scene.
Several pigs were collapsed on the ground at sixes and sevens4in disorder, motionless, and their blood had stained the entire place. They had died tragically.
“This……” Zhong Wenjin couldn’t close his mouth in shock, “Could it be that someone has a deep hatred for these pigs?”
Xie Zhaoxue also frowned tightly. He noticed that these pigs had hideous wounds on their bodies. They didn’t seem to be caused by blades, but more like some kind of tearing.
And the amount of blood in pigs was extremely huge. If such a big hole was really opened in the body, the blood shed by these many pigs would have been far more than this, way more.
“You guys go in and have a look.” Xie Zhaoxue ordered the bailiffs.
The bailiffs took the order, and although they felt a little sick from the scene, they did not hesitate to step in and check on the pigs lying on the opposite side.
After a while, a few people came out and said to Xie Zhaoxue, “Young Lord Xie, some of these pigs have lost all their blood, and some still have some left. The preliminary estimation is that someone killed the pigs to get blood.”
Xie Zhaoxue looked pensive.
“This is not right.” Zhong Wenjin said from the side, pointing to one of the pigs, “If they had really killed the pigs to take their blood, they wouldn’t have wasted so much in vain. Moreover, the skin and flesh of those pigs are tight, which is obviously not an effect of natural bleeding.”
“Let alone. If someone really killed the pigs to take their blood, why didn’t these pigs make any sound? If the pigs had cried, people around here should have been able to hear the sound.”
The old woman hurriedly answered, “Yes, Your Excellency. I didn’t hear a sound. I got up this morning and saw it like this!”
Xie Zhaoxue’s expression became graver when he heard this, and he said, staring at the blood all over the floor, “It’s indeed strange.”
Translator’s corner
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