WMSG Chapter 58
by VolareYe Yueshen made to get up, forgetting that he had rolled himself into a burrito with the quilt. Halfway up, he fell back onto the bed.
Ye Yuanshen clicked his tongue and came over to help, peeling him out of the quilt roll. He tapped him on the forehead, “Don’t eat any more after dinner.”
“Okay,” Ye Yueshen agreed, still getting up. He opened the medicinal diet on the low table and stirred it a few times with his chopsticks in the hot bowl.
The soup was thick and white, with fish and some dark-colored dregs. Ye Yueshen blinked and put down the chopsticks he had paused at the edge of the bowl.
Seeing this, Ye Yuanshen asked him, “Not hungry?”
“Not hungry.” Ye Yueshen sat on the edge of the bed, “Brother, are you going to rest?”
Ye Yuanshen understood his meaning and sat down next to him, touching knees. “It’s too early. You haven’t been to the academy lately, have you?”
“I haven’t. I don’t like going to the academy.” Ye Yueshen really didn’t like going. Besides finding it difficult to learn, Yuan Bianyin always inexplicably choked him.
What made him most uncomfortable was that his peers from other clans always flattered him. As soon as he arrived, they would surround him, and whether they were familiar with him or not, they would say a few words to him.
“Then do something you like.” Ye Yuanshen pulled the quilt from the inside of the bed and draped it over Ye Yueshen. It was almost winter, and it was easy to catch a cold at night.
Ye Yueshen looked at Ye Yuanshen with considerable surprise. He had originally thought he would hear a lot of sage advice urging him to study, but he had unexpectedly let him off so enlightenedly.
“Why do you look like you’re about to cry?” Ye Yuanshen asked, amused.
“Not crying.” Ye Yueshen yawned, “You’re too good. I’ve never seen anyone who is a better brother than you.”
Ye Yuanshen was amused by him, “Not urging you to study makes me a good brother? I was just about to say that Bianyin studies late into the night every day. Although he can be cunning, he knows what he wants. Do you know?”
Ye Yueshen fell silent. His biggest wish in his previous life was to support himself independently, no matter what he did. He just wanted to resent the feeling of humbly begging for a mouthful of food and a bed when he was young. Once he was able to support himself, he was determined never to sacrifice his self-esteem on that again.
But now he had no worries about food and clothing, but his self-esteem had been lost in another place.
He rubbed his fingers on his knees, looking somewhat lost in thought, “I, I just want to be in charge of myself.”
“That’s not difficult.” Ye Yuanshen patted his shoulder in comfort, “You can be in charge as much as you want. As long as it doesn’t violate the greater good, I will do my best to support you in whatever you want to do.”
Ye Yueshen was a little touched. Ye Yuanshen then asked how his injuries were healing.
After chatting for a while, Ye Yueshen asked, in what he thought was an unobtrusive way, “Did older brother used to be a Qi Wang’s study companion?”
“Qi Wang is pressing you too hard?” Ye Yuanshen’s eyes swept over, but he didn’t show shock or anger, nor did he show embarrassment, but was discussing it with him very seriously.
Ye Yueshen was a little surprised. He had just casually asked about the past, but Ye Yuanshen could guess that Gong Xunwu was pressuring him.
“It seems I was right. You don’t need to be surprised. As you grew older, I knew in my heart that this face of yours would not be unknown and smooth sailing.” Ye Yuanshen’s tone was very rational, “I have never believed that a person with few affections and a cold nature would suddenly care for a junior. It’s obvious that he is entangled with you.”
Ye Yueshen was speechless for a moment. Ye Yuanshen patted his hand, “But he wouldn’t be so base as to force himself on you. You can rest assured. If he presses you too hard, just say that you’re using me as an excuse to avoid him. If he asks, say that I’m keeping you at home to study and not allowing you to go out. If he doesn’t believe you, let him come and ask me.”
Ye Yueshen hesitated, opening and closing his mouth several times before finally asking, “Can mother see it?”
“I don’t think mother has seen it.” Ye Yuanshen explained to him, “I was his study companion and have known him since childhood, so I understand him a little. Mother doesn’t understand him as much as you do, so she can’t guess his thoughts.”
Ye Yueshen fell silent. As long as the Junzhu didn’t know, it wouldn’t be too troublesome.
Outside, Ye Yuanshen’s servant knocked on the door, saying through the door, “Master, the Marquis said that a former colleague of the Grand Secretariat who has retired has come. He wants you to meet him. If he’s here to freeload, he wants you to use money to send him away.”
Ye Yueshen sent him to the door and went straight to the low table. He found a silver fruit pick and dipped it in the soup. When he took it out, the soup dripped down the pick, shimmering in the candlelight.
He pinched his fingers. The chaotic thoughts made him very irritable. For a moment, a ridiculous thought popped into his head: why not just kill everyone who is suspicious? What’s the point of investigating?
Then he was frightened by his own vicious thoughts and trembled. He tossed and turned all night, sleeping less than he spent staring blankly.
As soon as it dawned, he got up to wash. Since he was injured, the Junzhu had instructed the maids serving him not to leave his side, especially when he was bathing.
But Ye Yueshen was too embarrassed to have several young girls help him bathe, so after much persuasion, they agreed that he would bathe independently, with at most one person sitting behind the screen waiting.
He came out very early with wet hair, startling Yin Jian, who loudly blamed him for not saying a word about bathing and for not trusting them at all.
Ye Yueshen ran away while calling for Xuetong. Xuetong had lost her opinion about going out again and didn’t refute a word, driving the carriage skillfully.
It wasn’t until Gong Xunwu personally opened the carriage door and asked him why he hadn’t come out yet that Ye Yueshen woke up from his long thoughts. He hadn’t said where he wanted to go, but Xuetong had taken him to Qi Wang Manor.
“I…” Ye Yueshen hesitated, a little unsure of the desire in Gong Xunwu’s eyes.
Since he returned to the Marquis’s residence, he had not actively met Gong Xunwu. Gong Xunwu always found excuses to come to the Marquis’s residence to see him. Fearing that it would arouse the Junzhu’s suspicion and embarrass him, Gong Xunwu considerately did not come too often.
Yesterday, Ye Yueshen stayed in the Wang Manor for a while, which not only failed to relieve Gong Xunwu’s longing but also stirred him up, making him toss and turn.
Ye Yueshen was a goblin, and goblins should be treated seriously. Heavy punishment was not too much to ask for. Gong Xunwu thought in his heart about how to punish him, but fortunately, the little goblin had a little conscience and took the initiative to see him.
“It’s so early, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?” Gong Xunwu grabbed his hand and tugged, “Come here.”
There was no reason to come and not get out of the carriage. Ye Yueshen got up and walked towards the carriage door. Gong Xunwu stepped back and, before Ye Yueshen could step on the footstool, picked him up by the waist.
Breakfast was eaten in the bedroom. Ye Yueshen nestled in the soft couch like a cat, holding a bowl of porridge and spooning it into his mouth, accidentally spilling some on his front.
He subconsciously looked for Gong Xunwu, whose gaze had just left his front. The two looked at each other for a while, and Ye Yueshen immediately understood what he was thinking.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Gong Xunwu had someone bring new clothes. He seemed to find great pleasure in dressing up Ye Yueshen.
When he was at home, he had meals with the Junzhu at the same table, without such a relaxed and careless attitude, so he had gotten a little carried away.
“You’re more comfortable in front of me, aren’t you?” Gong Xunwu leaned over to wipe the rice grains from his front, his tone filled with a pride he didn’t even realize.
People who are deeply in love will inexplicably become jealous, not only wanting to be the only lover but also pursuing a “most” in everything, wanting to be the most cherished, the most loved, the most indulged…
Ye Yueshen sat up straight and put the porridge bowl aside. He raised his head slightly, his lips parting slightly. Gong Xunwu understood and lowered his head to kiss him.
Then they both fell into surprised contemplation, and it became silent for a while.
Ye Yueshen’s head was buzzing: Heavens, did I ask him for a kiss?
Gong Xunwu, on the other hand, was setting off fireworks, surprised and then uncertainly doubting himself: Is that what he meant? Did I misunderstand?
Ye Yueshen pursed his lips, resisting the urge to lick them.
He was being filled with unfamiliar emotions that he couldn’t suppress. He asked himself honestly, they weren’t really unfamiliar. These emotions had taken root in his stomach on some unknown day.
Now they were finally breaking through the soil and, at an inconspicuous moment, unexpectedly growing vigorously.
Ye Yueshen thought with self-loathing that to develop feelings for this kind of person was nothing short of demeaning himself.
Ye Yueshen remembered a short article he had seen about “cute aggression,” the idea that when you see something very cute, you might have the urge to hurt it.
Ye Yueshen blinked. Perhaps when emotions were about to break through the threshold, the body would produce the opposite emotion in order to protect itself.
For example, he now really wanted to ruin the ambiguous and intimate atmosphere. He couldn’t stand the love that permeated the room. He suddenly felt a strong hostility that made him tremble.
Gong Xunwu, on the other hand, was floating on air, completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation. “Are you cold?” Gong Xunwu draped the cloak he had prepared over Ye Yueshen.
Ye Yueshen was wrapped in the furry cloak, and his cheeks were pressed against the soft touch, but it didn’t soften his aggressiveness on the verge of collapse. He straightened his fingers and curled them up again, straightened them and curled them up again…
The meaningless repetitive actions couldn’t calm him down. After another moment of silence, he raised his head, the aggression in his eyes making Gong Xunwu confused.
“They all think you’re aloof,” Ye Yueshen said, “But you have dealings with the Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince, and I even bumped into you meeting in the Wang Manor.”
Gong Xunwu breathed a slight sigh of relief. If the strange emotions in Ye Yueshen’s eyes were because of this, then it wasn’t too bad. For some reason, he had just sensed a very serious development.
“I am their uncle,” Gong Xunwu hooked Ye Yueshen’s fingers, “I can’t avoid having dealings.”
Ye Yueshen let his fingers be hooked and played with, his voice cold and steady, “Do you have dealings with every prince? No favoritism?”
Gong Xunwu said honestly, “No favor, all very little.”
Ye Yueshen nodded. He paused, a brief hesitation shaking his decision, but impulse was unreasonable. By the time he realized what he had said, Gong Xunwu’s face had become very ugly.
“The assassination attempt on you may not have been orchestrated by the Third Prince alone.”
“Since it involves the royal family, I’ll point you in a direction.”
“Yongning Junzhu, your mother, used to have some friendship with the deceased First Prince.”
“While ensuring your own safety, you can pretend to be unintentionally mention the First Prince to the person you suspect. If he reacts too strongly, maybe he has something to hide.”
Ye Yueshen had just asked Gong Xunwu, “The Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the First Prince, are they all treated the same – very little?”
Gong Xunwu didn’t react at all, but Ye Yueshen didn’t feel relieved because Gong Xunwu didn’t react at all.
For a long time, Gong Xunwu remained stiff in the same posture and expression, without any reaction.
Ye Yueshen completely lost the ability to think. He couldn’t handle the situation in front of him and blankly repeated the question to himself several times in his heart: does no reaction count as a big reaction?
He didn’t know how long it had been before Gong Xunwu finally moved. He sat down some distance away from Ye Yueshen, as if drawing a line between himself and the entire room. His tone was very heavy, “Why suddenly mention a dead person?”
Gong Xunwu had been unresponsive for too long. Ye Yueshen spat out the words he had gone over several times in his mind, “Because he is also a prince.”
They were silent again for a while. Ye Yueshen asked, “Did I say something wrong?”
Ye Yueshen took a deep breath. Before waiting for Gong Xunwu’s answer, he thought he already knew a certain answer.