Since Yun Wangye had sparked the Emperor’s appetite for food, he had become a frequent guest at the Emperor’s table. The two brothers tasted the imperial dishes together, providing each other with companionship, and there was a hint of royal warmth between them.
As they spent time together, a thought began to linger in the Emperor’s mind. Today, as he dealt with official documents, a eunuch stood by with writing materials. He casually glanced at a platter of fruits placed on the table.
One platter held lychees from Lingnan, each fruit resembling a translucent jade with its brilliant color. These were sent urgently by officials from that region, eager to please the Emperor. The other platter contained exotic fruits such as pomegranates and grapes, with a cut opening revealing their luscious and gem-like flesh, ready to be picked and tasted.
The Emperor was not particularly fond of fruits, and it was clear who these fruits were prepared for. Wang Gonggong muttered under his breath, knowing it was all for Yun Wangye, who had likely never seen or tasted these exotic fruits before.
Xie Yan set aside the official document he had been reviewing, lowered his eyelashes, concealing the sharpness in his eyes. He spoke in his usual tone, “Has the Prince not arrived yet?”
When someone who regularly visited suddenly stopped coming for a few days, it always caused ripples in people’s hearts, as if their routine had been disrupted. The Emperor was no exception, and he couldn’t help but pay attention and inquire about it.
He called over an inconspicuous eunuch standing outside the door. The eunuch approached and then lowered his head to say, “The Prince went out of the palace the day before yesterday and returned only when the palace gates were about to close. Yesterday, he stayed inside but was flying kites on the rooftop with his attendants. The kite was blown away and landed in the Imperial Garden. The Prince went to retrieve it and seemed to have so much fun there that he didn’t return for half an hour. Today, the Prince didn’t go out with his attendants, nor did he fly kites. Instead, he climbed trees and picked flowers in the courtyard, collecting all the petals from the garden. It seems he intends to make cakes or pastries, perhaps with a specialty from Yun City. After climbing the trees, the young Prince might have been tired. After bathing, he hasn’t left the courtyard for half a day, this servant1this was originally “I” but I changed it to fit this historical arc more hihi, Imma change a few words so that it feels more historical(?) but only a few of them tho doesn’t know what he’s doing inside.”
He didn’t mention that his actions of pretending to water the palace gate but actually eavesdropping had seemingly been discovered by the Prince. The Prince had enthusiastically waved at him and asked if he wanted pastries. Unable to avoid it, he had to hurriedly leave.
As for how Yin Minglu had found out, it was either this seemingly unremarkable palace servant or the person who had monitored the original host in the previous life. When it was his turn, the choice of personnel remained the same.
Listening to these sentences one by one, Xie Yan was slightly surprised. He didn’t expect Yin Minglu to be living quite comfortably these days. He asked, “Does the Prince often leave the palace?”
The palace servant nodded and replied, “Yes.”
However, when it came to leaving the palace, the Emperor’s eyes suddenly darkened for a moment, like a piece of deep black graphite. But within the blink of an eye, the darkness disappeared, and he stood up from his desk, smiling. He said, “If he hasn’t left the courtyard for half a day, he might be ill. Let’s go and check on him.”
Although he didn’t actually believe that the Prince was sick, visiting a minister who was supposedly ill was a face-saving excuse for an emperor. To respect the Emperor’s dignity, the chief eunuch didn’t dare to say that the Prince was not ill. As a precaution, he ordered a physician from the Imperial Hospital to accompany them.
The gatekeeper, upon seeing the Emperor’s carriage approaching, was surprised and immediately knelt down to pay his respects, without having a chance to announce the arrival.
As they entered the courtyard, Xie Yan almost thought he was seeing things. The attendants of Yun Wangfu were all climbing trees, picking flowers and fruits. Their wild and energetic actions seemed to strip the trees bare. Some of them were busy repairing a swing. It appeared that after flying kites, the young prince had developed new interests.
Although these hobbies were somewhat feminine and more in line with the pastimes of the ladies of the inner court who were bored to death, Xie Yan noticed that these attendants had dark skin and a healthy flush on their cheeks, likely due to the high-altitude climate. They had a rather robust and rugged temperament. He discreetly withdrew his gaze, realizing that their appearance was quite different from that of Yun Wangye, who had a delicate and fair complexion. Yun Wangye looked more like a delicate young gentleman nurtured by the water and soil of the Jiangnan region.
In a sense, it was more in line with his aesthetic preferences.
He stopped the attendant from taking any action and walked directly into the inner courtyard, which was where Yun Wangye rested. After all, he was the Emperor, and every corner of the Imperial Court was his domain. He could go wherever he pleased, and no one could stop him. He was free to do as he wished.
If Yin Minglu were to find out, he would surely be left speechless.
Because in the previous life, Emperor Jing, Xie Yan, had the habit of entering the inner court without prior notification, just like he did now. He would casually enter to observe the private lives and personalities of the beautiful women. He had caught a few who gossiped behind people’s backs or mistreated palace maids in private, and he had discovered some court ladies with ambiguous relationships with the guards. So this tactic had been tried and tested many times, and it was even used on court officials. He often visited ministers’ homes incognito without prior notice to check if there were any signs of collusion or misconduct.
In plain terms, he was a somewhat suspicious and untrusting person, combined with a hint of a twisted sense of curiosity. When you were the emperor, you could naturally act as you pleased and follow your own preferences.
Among these people, only Qin Manman had withstood this surprise test because her system had a built-in warning system that could notify the host emperor of his movements as soon as he stepped out of the palace gate. As a result, she could prepare in advance, eliminate any evidence in her room, and at the same time, she would style her beautiful black hair, paint her eyebrows, and apply makeup in the most beautiful way to welcome the emperor.
After several times of discovering that Qin Manman’s private behavior matched her public persona, the emperor had grown to trust her greatly, and his favorability rating had skyrocketed.
Little did they know, even a shrewd emperor can be deceived in the face of a powerful cheat device.
With unknown intentions, Emperor Jing entered Yun Wangye’s room. Instead of discreetly spying like palace attendants, he wanted to investigate the Prince’s whereabouts personally. What was he doing hiding in the room in broad daylight?
Upon entering, he almost displayed surprise for the second time. It was already mid-morning, yet the Prince was still lying on the bed, with disheveled hair and dressed in light clothing. His small body was curled up like a shrimp, facing away from Emperor Jing, sound asleep. Next to him was a collection of poems, a self-deceptive one.
His little face was fair and tender, with rosy lips that resembled the cherries Emperor Jing had seen before. He breathed gently in his sleep, appearing peaceful and completely unaware of the emperor’s scrutiny.
Emperor Jing’s eyes were as deep as river waters. He picked up the poetry collection titled “Shuyu Collection” and casually flipped through a few pages, becoming more certain that this child must be holding onto this book to feign elegance. After all, how could a ten-year-old boy be interested in such feminine poetry?
He shook his head and his gaze once again landed on the other’s face, which was as fair and tender as a white steamed bun. Unable to resist, he extended his large palm and pinched the soft, velvety skin. As expected, it felt very delicate and pleasant to the touch.
Xie Yan narrowed his eyes, expressing his feelings in this manner. He then withdrew his hand. However, the little one he had pinched moved slightly, as if he had been awakened by the touch, and groggily opened his eyes.
When Xie Yan lowered his head, he met a pair of misty black eyes. For a moment, he felt a slight hesitation, thinking he shouldn’t have woken the person up.
As if not expecting to wake up and see Xie Yan, Yin Minglu appeared a bit confused. He hadn’t even had time to put on his shoes and walked over barefoot to greet him, “Why has Elder Brother Emperor2Btw Minglu really does call him brother sometimes come? You didn’t inform me beforehand; what if you had been inconvenienced?”
The person in front of him had disheveled, jet-black long hair and a pair of still not fully awake, dazed black eyes. It seemed like he was still somewhat bewildered while bowing to him, not quite understanding the situation. That genuine sense of confusion brought some joy to Xie Yan’s mood.
“It’s nothing. I just happened to pass by here and decided to drop in casually. You don’t need to be formal,” Emperor Jing explained in this manner, causing the royal eunuch’s head to involuntarily lower slightly.
“Oh.” Whether Yin Minglu believed it or not, he had no choice but to accept this explanation.
“Come and sit.” Seeing that Yin Minglu was still barefoot, Emperor Jing patted the seat next to him, indicating that Yin Minglu shouldn’t stand and should take a seat. Yin Minglu complied, and for a while, the two brothers had a pleasant conversation. Yin Minglu even enthusiastically showed the Emperor the swing he had just made, mentioning that it was brand new and no one had sat on it yet.
Initially, the Emperor had found such an item to be too feminine, but his interest suddenly perked up, and he expressed a desire to be the first to try it out. If an ordinary person had been asked, they would have surely considered it an honor, but the Prince tactlessly refused, saying, “Sorry, Elder Brother Emperor, but you’re too heavy.” This swing was custom-made for him, and Xie Yan had an adult’s physique, so sitting on it would likely result in it collapsing.
As soon as this statement was made, the courtyard fell into complete silence, and no one dared to breathe.
“Too heavy, too heavy.” He actually dared to say that the Emperor was too heavy. Nobody knew better than him about the Emperor’s vengeful and silencing nature behind closed doors. The chief eunuch didn’t even want to roll his eyes and nearly fainted on the spot.
Xie Yan’s smile froze on his face for a moment. However, to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t get angry. Instead, he smoothly mentioned that it was getting late and decided to stay for dinner.
Everyone thought that Yun Wangye had narrowly escaped a disaster, except for Yin Minglu himself, who remained oblivious. He thought that the Emperor had come to freeload on a meal.
After seeing off the Emperor, Yin Minglu came to his senses and realized that the copy of the “Shuyu Collection” he had transcribed was missing. He searched the room multiple times in vain and had no choice but to give up and transcribe another one.
Then he thought to himself that the next time he went out of the palace, he would have to create a time traveler by himself and challenge Qin Manman. This way, Qin Manman would be shocked to discover that there was another time traveler in the same era, and this time traveler was quite selfless. They would each write a poem, both signed, which might make her tone down her ostentatious behavior a bit.
On this day, the world witnessed yet another incomplete lunar cycle, with the moon’s clear and radiant light cascading upon the earth.
At this poetry gathering named after the moon, a highly reputed offspring of a powerful nobleman in the capital approached Qin Manman and offered a toast. As he raised his glass to drink, his gaze remained fixated on her beautiful face.
However, in less than a minute, the nobleman’s expression suddenly changed dramatically, and he exclaimed, “Miss Qin, your… your face, what happened to it?”
Qin Manman put down her wine glass, her face showing a slight flush from the alcohol. She was puzzled and somewhat irritated as she asked, “Why are you making such a fuss? What’s wrong with my face?” There was no mirror around, so she had no idea about any changes in her features.
The young nobleman thought he might be drunk, but after a closer look, he realized his vision was clear. This realization filled him with fear, and he hurriedly fled.
“Hey, wait, Gu Gongzi, don’t leave. Can you tell me what’s happened to my face?”
From the way the other person was acting, Qin Manman sensed that something was amiss. She went to great lengths to find a mirror, and when she looked at herself, she was almost devastated. Her previously effective “spring mountain eyebrows and autumn water-cut pupils” had inexplicably lost their charm. Her bright, watery eyes were her most potent weapon, making people feel captivated and irresistibly drawn to her.
And now they were gone?!
She had returned to having sparse eyebrows and lifeless fish-like eyes. She suddenly seemed plain and ordinary. How could this be?
Author’s Note: Thank you to the little angels who voted for my story or provided nourishing support!
Love what you read? A little donation can go a long way!
