MLIAM Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Encountering a A playboy, You Might Not Even Get to Drink This Wedding Wine

The news of the Emperor bestowing a marriage between Wei Yan and Yu Shuli spread like wildfire.

Two groups of heartbroken people emerged in The Capital City: one group secretly in love with Wei Yan, and the other secretly in love with Yu Shuli.

When the invitation to the celebration banquet was delivered to The General’s Mansion, Yu Shuli was lounging with his legs crossed, cracking melon seeds while watching two servants he’d brought back from the Brothels perform a comedic skit.

“Eat, eat, eat! All you know how to do is eat!” Yu Huaxin slapped away the melon seeds in his hand. “What about your marriage?! Aren’t you concerned? Are you really going to marry that Wei Yan?”

“Old man, watch your words,” Yu Shuli retorted, “What do you mean *I’m* marrying *him*? How could *I* marry him? He’s a sickly weakling who looks like that. If anything, he’s the one marrying me!”

“Is this the time to be worrying about word choice, you little brat!” Yu Huaxin smacked him on the back of the head.

Yu Shuli yelped, brushing the melon seed shells off his hands and waving the two servants away. Only then did he slowly raise his eyes. “Father, have you ever considered why His Majesty hasn’t issued an Imperial Decree yet, but is allowing this public opinion to ferment?”

Yu Huaxin only knew how to fight battles; he didn’t have that many twists and turns in his brain. Hearing this, he blinked. “You mean… His Majesty isn’t sincerely bestowing this marriage?”

“Mm.” Yu Shuli stood up. “His Majesty thinks we have ulterior motives and is testing us.”

“Then what do we do?” Yu Huaxin grabbed his sleeve. “Does this marriage really have to happen or not? But Wei Yan is a man! How can you marry a man?”

“Father, don’t worry; there’s still a turning point,” Yu Shuli said. “This celebration banquet is a great opportunity. However…” He paused, pondering. “His Majesty’s action is forcing us to retreat bravely. If I’m afraid, I’m afraid it will be difficult to raise my head in front of the Second Prince from now on.”

“The Second Prince?” Yu Huaxin was taken aback. “What does this have to do with the Second Prince?”

Yu Shuli froze.

Crap, he forgot that his father didn’t know that he was part of The Second Prince Party.

Yu Shuli coughed lightly and simply changed the subject. “Anyway, this isn’t just my problem. Wei Yan is also being forced into this marriage. See if he’s anxious. Maybe we won’t even need to take action.”

Hearing this, Yu Huaxin felt relieved.

That’s right, wouldn’t Wei Yan be hopping mad upon hearing that he had to marry a man? He would definitely be the first to try every possible way to break off the engagement.

The father and son nodded and chuckled foolishly. Then, arm in arm, they staggered towards the celebration banquet.

“Son, do you think I should bring the Death Exemption Token?”

“Don’t bring it, don’t bring it. Wei Yan, that old fox, has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Let’s not get involved.”

*

The father and son arrived at The Imperial Palace early. The banquet hadn’t started yet. Yu Huaxin went to catch up with his old comrades, while Yu Shuli wandered around The Imperial Garden alone, pinching snacks and feeding the fish by the pond.

“Oh, our bride has arrived?” A sharp, mocking voice came from behind.

Yu Shuli frowned and turned around.

“Look, he actually turned around… Hahahahaha, Yu Shuli, it seems you really want to be this bride.”

Walking towards him were Wu Peng and Liu Yunhui and their entourage. Yu Shuli looked around, but didn’t see Wei Yan.

Since when did this group of people dare to act wild in front of him, Yu Shuli the little tyrant, without Wei Yan to back them up?

Yu Shuli curled his lips, and a pebble, not too big and not too small, flew past Wu Peng’s hair, scaring Wu Peng’s face pale.

Yu Shuli smiled and slowly opened his mouth. “Wu Peng, what’s your hurry? You might not even get to drink this wedding wine.”

Wu Peng said stiffly, “Tch, I’m Wei Yan’s cousin. Why wouldn’t I get to drink the wedding wine?”

“Because…” Yu Shuli stepped closer, speaking in a low voice, “The border will be calling for troops soon, and I will be the commander. I don’t like the look of you, so I plan to take you with me. Someone like you won’t survive three days on the battlefield. I should be able to drink your funeral wine. As for the so-called wedding wine, that’s nowhere in sight.”

“You! You’re simply absurd! Randomly harming people’s lives!”

“Randomly harming?” Yu Shuli’s tone became heavier. “In your eyes, going to the battlefield is randomly harming people’s lives? A true man protects his country and regards death as going home, and should have unwavering loyalty! In your eyes, it’s this kind of evil deed? What’s wrong with me taking you to the battlefield? Don’t you want to contribute your part to His Majesty, to your country?”

The surrounding onlookers didn’t dare to breathe loudly. After all, if Yu Shuli pinned such a big label on him, taking it to His Majesty would be considered light if he didn’t lose his head.

After Yu Shuli’s brainwashing, Wu Peng’s voice trembled. These pampered noble sons were most afraid of going to the battlefield, and at this moment, he couldn’t even speak clearly out of fear. “Anyway… His Majesty won’t agree to your random conscription! I… I have a cousin! My cousin won’t agree to let you take me to the border to suffer!”

“Of course His Majesty will agree, and of course I will agree.” Wei Yan came out of nowhere, still draped in a long cloak. His complexion was a little rosy, it seemed the Imperial Physician’s treatment was very timely, even his face was no longer so deathly pale.

“On the battlefield, the commander is the greatest. It’s reasonable for Junior General Yu to want one or two assistants for the sake of the country.”

“You spend all day in The Capital City, anyway, doing nothing. Going to the battlefield can both establish merit and build a career, so what’s wrong with that?” Wei Yan’s voice was cold, facing Wu Peng, his voice seemed to come from an ice cellar. “Wu Peng, apologize.”

Wu Peng’s eyes widened, and he pointed at Yu Shuli. “Cousin, you want me to apologize to him? I refuse! What is he? A rude boor. Why are you protecting him? Just because he’s about to marry you? But I’m still your cousin!”

Yu Shuli raised an eyebrow. He could only say that this situation was unexpected.

Wei Yan came, but not only didn’t help his cousin, but the two even started fighting each other.

Yu Shuli looked over with a smile that wasn’t a smile, threw away the stone he was preparing to smash into Wu Peng’s temple, and then crossed his arms, assuming a posture of watching a show. He even took a plate of melon seeds from a nearby palace maid and began to crack them absentmindedly.

“Impudent!” Seeing Wu Peng being so rude, Wei Yan’s voice trembled with anger. “Junior General Yu is a meritorious official guarding the border; how can you slander him?”

“Kneel down and apologize!”

Wu Peng screamed. “You want me to kneel to him? What virtue or ability does he have?”

Before everyone could react, with a “bang,” Wei Yan kicked Wu Peng to the ground.

Wu Peng didn’t realize where a sickly person like his cousin got such strength. He looked up blankly, his face incredulous. “Brother, you kicked me? You kicked me for a boor?!”

Wei Yan lowered his eyes, his eyes icy cold. “First, in The Imperial Palace, only rank matters, not kinship. This Prime Minister’s official rank is first-grade, Junior General Yu’s official rank is second-grade, and you are a fifth-grade minor official. According to the hierarchy, you need to pay your respects. Second, His Majesty has ordered that those who mock the border soldiers will be imprisoned for three years, have their official position reduced, and be fined a thousand taels of silver.”

“The Censorate never favors anyone. Today, if you seek Junior General’s Yu forgiveness, this official will consider that this is your first offense and can spare you imprisonment, but the fine will not be reduced by a single tael. This official will personally go to Official Wu’s residence to collect it.”

Naturally, Wu Peng didn’t expect that just mocking the mere Yu Shuli would escalate to the point where Wei Yan would go to his father. He kept his head down, not daring to slander him any further.

Yu Shuli’s eyes moved slightly, and he sighed.

He knew that he wouldn’t gain any advantage with Wei Yan around. What he thought would be two dogs fighting each other was just a trick Wei Yan played to protect Wu Peng.

He could have taken the opportunity to send Wu Peng to jail for a while, but it was a pity.

However, Wei Yan was able to kick Wu Peng over without changing his expression to save his face, and he also verbally humiliated Wu Peng. Yu Shuli was already very satisfied.

After all, Wu Peng was Wei Yan’s relative, so it was Wei Yan’s face that was being disgraced.

Yu Shuli shifted his posture and looked at the few young masters hiding behind him, and he lightly “tsked” and cursed, “Cowards,” returned the remaining melon seeds in his hand to the palace maid, and strode towards the pavilion in the distance.

Wei Yan stared at his back, turned his head to look at Liu Yunhui standing in the crowd, and his deep eyes became sharper. “Behave yourself.” After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

Only after Wei Yan left did Wu Peng dare to spit on the ground and curse inwardly, “You’ve humiliated me like this, you didn’t give me any face anyway!”

Seeing Wei Yan walking away, the surrounding young masters gathered around and helped Wu Peng up, and helped him pat the dust off his body.

Liu Yuhui touched his nose, ignored Wei Yan’s warning just now, and leaned close to Wu Peng: “Brother Wu, don’t worry, that Yu Shuli won’t be arrogant for long. When he enters the door, won’t you be able to bully him as you please?”

Zhang Sheng and Deng Fanghai, who were Wu Peng’s friends, also echoed at this time: “That’s right, that’s right!”

After getting their support, Liu Yunhui became smug again, he lowered his voice a little: “Who doesn’t know that your cousin is physically weak and doesn’t have many days left? The Wei family has no other sons, and when he’s gone, you’ll say a few good words to your aunt and do your filial duty, then won’t the Wei family’s property all be yours, Brother Wu? By then, that Yu Shuli, as your nominal sister-in-law, you can bully him however you want. Maybe, in order to survive, he will even take the initiative to cling to you.”

The few of them laughed and all showed a knowing and ambiguous smile.

Wu Peng thought about how Yu Shuli, although annoying, was really good-looking, with an appearance that was pleasing to the eye and delicate skin. His eyelashes fluttered, and he glared at him. “Did I need you to tell me?” He waved his sleeve, glanced in the direction Wei Yan left, and turned to walk in the opposite direction.

A group of people didn’t dare to breathe loudly and followed after him.

When Wei Yan arrived at the pavilion, Yu Shuli was lounging with his legs crossed, sitting outside the railing of the pavilion, absentmindedly feeding the fish.

Wei Yan’s gaze fell on Yu Shuli’s slender legs. The breeze blew past, and the bamboo curtain collided, making a crisp sound, like the sound of silk bamboo music. Wei Yan’s Adam’s apple moved, and he walked over.

“Are you unhappy?”

Yu Shuli turned his head and saw Wei Yan stepping over the railing and sitting beside him.

Yu Shuli frowned and was about to walk away in disgust when he heard Wei Yan say, “About the engagement…”

Yu Shuli turned his head, glared at him angrily, and mocked, “Prime Minister, you must be very proud to hear this news, right?”

Wei Yan paused. “I’m not.”

“You haven’t asked His Majesty to cancel the engagement yet, aren’t you just waiting to see me make a fool of myself?” Yu Shuli threw a handful of fish food, watched the small fish swarm over, and turned to smile. “Now you’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

“Wu Peng wasn’t instructed by me,” Wei Yan explained.

“Tch.” Yu Shuli threw all the fish food in his hand, of course he knew that Wu Peng wasn’t instructed by Wei Yan. Wu Peng might be stupid, but Wei Yan was very shrewd.

“So when are you planning to cancel the engagement?”

“I…” Wei Yan pursed his lips, “I don’t plan to cancel the engagement.”

Yu Shuli turned his head in shock. “What did you say?”

He turned to grab Wei Yan’s collar. “You, you want to take advantage of me that much?”

There was only a small open space outside the pavilion railing, and beyond that was the pond. The season was considered late autumn, but young men were full of fire, so Yu Shuli wasn’t wearing much.

But Wei Yan was different, after all, his body was not good, so he was wearing a cloak all year round.

Seeing that Yu Shuli’s momentum to pounce on him was too strong, and the pond was outside, which was really dangerous, Wei Yan simply didn’t dodge and let him grab him.

Through the thick cloak, he seemed to be able to feel Yu Shuli’s warm body temperature, and his beautiful muscle lines tightly pressed against his chest.

“Canceling the engagement is not good for me.” Wei Yan lowered his eyes indifferently, letting Yu Shuli’s angry gaze burn on him like flames.

“His Majesty is wary of you, and is he not wary of me?” Wei Yan said. “I won’t be so stupid as to shoot myself in the foot.”

“Are you crazy? I’m a man!” Yu Shuli squinted his eyes and tightly pinched Wei Yan’s neck. “If you want to get revenge on me, why use this method?”

Wei Yan’s originally pale cheeks were flushed red. He didn’t push Yu Shuli away, just turned his head and coughed lightly a few times. “What if you are a man?”

A rare trace of disappointment appeared on that face that was always ethereal, and his voice was low and hoarse. “Anyway… I’m not a normal person, and it’s impossible for me to marry and have children.”

Yu Shuli was stunned, he had never seen this kind of almost self-deprecating expression on Wei Yan’s face before.

He had passed the imperial examination and won first place at a young age, became famous as a teenager, and was appointed Prime Minister in his youth. He had always been aloof and arrogant, how could he say that he was not a normal person?

Yu Shuli pursed his lips and loosened his hand a little. “You… you don’t have to belittle yourself like that…”

“I’m not belittling myself. I’m just stating a very ordinary fact. This engagement is good for you and me, isn’t it?” Wei Yan pushed Yu Shuli’s body, which was sticking out a little, towards the railing again, and saw him following his movements obediently and leaning inward in a daze, he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.

Yu Shuli’s heart had just relaxed a little and was thinking about the possibility of cooperating with Wei Yan when he heard Wei Yan casually ask, “Do you have dealings with The Second Prince?”

The wariness that had been put down instantly rose to the extreme again, and Yu Shuli felt as if he had been splashed with a basin of cold water.

That’s right, one was part of The Crown Prince Party, and the other was part of The Second Prince Party, how could they cooperate?

Wei Yan looked over, his eyes were somewhat gentle, not like he was probing, but calm and peaceful, as if he was chatting with a friend.

He didn’t care at all about Yu Shuli’s hand on his neck, and there was a glimmer of water in his quiet eyes. “If it’s inconvenient to say, you can not say it.”

Yu Shuli was in a trance for a moment, and instantly became a little wilted.

He really couldn’t beat Wei Yan.

After a few short chats, he almost relaxed his vigilance against Wei Yan, and even his secrets were almost dug out by him.

“Wei Yan,” Yu Shuli shook off his hand and stopped looking at Wei Yan. “It’s okay if you don’t care, I’ll cancel the engagement myself.”

He still had military merits to offset it, and no matter what, it hadn’t reached the point where he had to humbly ask Wei Yan or sit and wait for death.

If all else failed, there was still the Death Exemption Token from his old man.

Thinking this way, Yu Shuli breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and turned to leave.

He took big steps and his expression softened a little.

The Wei Yan behind him suddenly grabbed him in panic, his voice trembling, calling his name, “Yu Shuli!”

Yu Shuli was stunned, and before he could react to what Wei Yan was anxious about, he heard a “bang.”

He stepped on air, all the sounds in his ears stopped, and his mouth and nose were filled with water.

Only then did he remember that the position he was standing in just now, if he walked forward, wouldn’t it be the pond?

The pond in The Imperial Garden was dug very deep.

Yu Shuli couldn’t swim. After falling into the pond, he kept coughing, but instead drank more water.

He kept struggling, but it was useless, and he fell deeper and deeper.

The pond was bottomless, and the autumn water was also very cold. The turbid water made his eyes sting.

The suffocating atmosphere of death was coming.

Was he going to die?

Wei Yan wouldn’t want to save him, the two were mortal enemies.

Besides, even if he wanted to save him, he couldn’t. A sickly person like him falling into the water in this autumn weather was no different from seeking death.

Before dying, Yu Shuli only felt that he was so stupid that he would step into the pond in The Imperial Garden.

Just thinking about how the Imperial Guards would come to retrieve his body in front of so many soldiers today, he felt embarrassed.

He didn’t die on the battlefield, but died in the pond, which was really not decent.

Yu Shuli’s mind began to be chaotic, and the scenes in front of him kept flashing.

A figure that was absolutely impossible to appear suddenly appeared in his vision.

He widened his eyes, ignoring the stinging pain, and looked at the man swimming towards him, getting closer and closer.

Before fainting, he cursed in his heart: He’s crazy?