MLIAM Chapter 61
by VolareChapter 61 Flower Peacock, When Stripping Others, Why Weren’t You So Scared…?
The next day dawned, and Yu Shuli stretched his head out from the covers, feeling sore all over, as if he had been run over by a carriage.
He moved a little, and the strangeness beneath him wasn’t too intense. He sighed inwardly, thinking that Wei Yan had at least done the right thing in the end. Saying he’d applied the medicine meant he actually did.
Although they had haggled and shamelessly begged for quite a few kisses, looking at it now, Yu Shuli felt the kisses were worth it.
The person next to him was still sleeping soundly, breathing smoothly. Yu Shuli tested his temperature and found that he no longer had a fever. He muttered a few more curses, then quietly got out of bed and changed his clothes before heading out.
During his morning exercise, he ran into the Second Prince chatting with a soldier. Taking a closer look, he realized it was Dai Meng. Yu Shuli walked over to greet them, “Your Highness… Good morning.”
He then looked at Dai Meng, “Good morning. Thank you for saving me multiple times during the siege that day.”
Dai Meng politely nodded in acknowledgment, “This subordinate did nothing much.”
The Second Prince seemed a bit unnatural when Yu Shuli bumped into him, “Little General is up so early?” He cleared his throat, “I thought you wouldn’t be training early today.”
Yu Shuli put on a serious face and earnestly replied, “Morning training cannot be skipped even for a day. The basics cannot be neglected.”
The Second Prince smiled and teased, “The commotion was quite loud at your place last night. I thought neither of you would be able to get up this morning.”
“What commotion…” Yu Shuli said halfway before realizing what the Second Prince was implying. His ears immediately turned red.
“Your Highness!” He stomped his foot in exasperation, “I was helping Your Highness save a key minister!”
The Second Prince continued to smile, “Saving him in bed? Ji’an, you’re really capable. Back in my day…”
Dai Meng cleared his throat twice, interrupting their conversation.
Both of them turned to look at him.
Dai Meng apologized, “Apologies, this subordinate has caught a cold.”
The Second Prince thoughtfully sized him up, curving his eyes slightly without revealing his intentions. “Take care of yourself while you’re away from home.” It was a very official and proper greeting.
Yu Shuli exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, you can’t take that lightly! You must keep yourself covered well in winter and sweat it out properly. Otherwise, it will become serious, causing dizziness and high fever.” Speaking of sweating it out, Yu Shuli strangely remembered the bathtub from yesterday…
Those intertwined bodies, the burning temperature, the lingering sweet words… all deeply etched in his memory…
Wei Yan was truly a demanding person. He must have been a fox spirit in his previous life! He must have been!
Hiss… detoxification through intimacy was truly draining.
Yu Shuli slapped his forehead… No! He couldn’t think about it anymore!
They had only slept one night together, and how long had it been since he and Wei Yan separated? He was already missing him like crazy, how could that be?!
He shifted his gaze back to Dai Meng. “Specifically, where do you feel unwell?”
Meeting Yu Shuli’s concerned gaze, Dai Meng’s tone was neither humble nor arrogant, “Thank you for your concern, Little General. It’s just that I caught a bad cold in the evening, and I don’t have anyone close to me.” His tone was upright, unlike the Second Prince who carried an obvious smile. Instead, there was a subtle envy in his words, “Unlike the Little General, who can have a warm embrace at night.”
Yu Shuli’s cheeks flushed red, but he wasn’t coy, “Mr. Dai will also meet his own close person sooner or later.”
Dai Meng smiled, “I hope so.”
Yu Shuli tugged at the Second Prince’s sleeve, “Your Highness, although this Mr. Dai Meng used to be a horse groom in my army, his martial arts are quite good. He also helped me a lot in this attack on Quzhou. What do you think? Should I recommend him to you?”
The Second Prince met the man’s gaze and smiled meaningfully. He turned to look at Yu Shuli, “What? Is your temple too small? Can’t accommodate this great Buddha?”
Yu Shuli scratched his head, “Of course, that’s not what I mean. I’m thinking that Mr. Dai’s abilities are beyond that. Following me might be a waste of his talent.”
The Second Prince said “Oh,” but he didn’t seem to value talent as he usually did and immediately agreed.
Instead, he lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
Yu Shuli smiled awkwardly and said to Dai Meng, “Your Highness has been overworked these past few days and is probably very busy. Perhaps you should stay by my side for now.”
The man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes didn’t receive the Second Prince’s appreciation, but he wasn’t disappointed either. He lowered his head and said to Yu Shuli, “This subordinate understands. If there’s anything else, I’ll take my leave first.”
Yu Shuli watched Dai Meng leave respectfully, feeling indescribably strange.
Although Dai Meng and the Second Prince didn’t exchange many words from beginning to end, Yu Shuli felt that the atmosphere between them was very odd.
It was just a man’s strange intuition.
However, with Yu Shuli’s brain, he was too lazy to delve into it.
After Dai Meng left, the Second Prince finally looked at Yu Shuli directly, “Aren’t you supposed to be training? Why are you wasting time here?”
Yu Shuli sighed, “Important matters must still be done.”
The Second Prince immediately understood, “Asking about Dong Siwen’s matter?”
Yu Shuli nodded obediently.
“You shouldn’t come to me for this matter.” The Second Prince smiled, “Just go back to your room and be more affectionate. You might get the answer faster.”
Yu Shuli said “Ah,” and muttered, “Why can’t Wei Yan catch a break even when he’s poisoned? Why do you let him handle everything, Your Highness?”
“The capable ones do more work.” The Second Prince found his wronged expression amusing. “Prime Minister Wei’s been poisoned for more than a day or two. Why are you suddenly concerned today?”
Yu Shuli retorted, “Who says I wasn’t concerned before?!”
“Concerned? Are you referring to that kind of concern where you feed him rat poison?” The Second Prince raised an eyebrow.
“Who says that was feeding him medicine?!” Yu Shuli didn’t remember that incident, but he still argued based on what Chen Li had told him, “That was foreplay!”
He sighed, “Someone like Your Highness, a lonely man, wouldn’t understand.”
“Alright, alright, this prince doesn’t understand.” The Second Prince didn’t argue with him. “If you really want to know about Dong Siwen’s matter, then quickly go ask your man. According to the time, if you go to the Censorate, you should run into him interrogating Chou Dongshuo. Given how considerate he is to you, he will help you get the answer today, without any surprises.”
Yu Shuli looked at the sky and decided to give up on morning training and head straight to the Censorate. He sighed before leaving, “How can Your Highness guess everything?”
The Second Prince smiled, “This is called the mutual appreciation between intelligent people.”
Meaning only he was the idiot.
Yu Shuli pursed his lips and left angrily.
He admitted that he wasn’t as smart as the Second Prince and Wei Yan. These two could be counted as the only two people in the world he truly admired.
*
The Quzhou Censorate was unlike the one in the Capital City. The air was filled with a nauseating smell of decay and iron rust.
The surrounding walls were dark and gloomy, with flakes of debris falling off. Mottled, dark red stains stuck to the ground, mixed with sour-smelling food scraps, making it incredibly filthy.
Cold and hard iron bars firmly separated all hope and light from the prisoners.
Cang Xu was guarding the entrance. Seeing Yu Shuli arrive, he saluted and led him inside.
“The lord has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Yu Shuli nodded in response, asking as he walked, “When did he wake up?” Could it be that the noise of his getting up was too loud and woke him up? It seemed he had to be quieter next time.
Cang Xu said, “The lord woke up after you did. He didn’t dare to delay the Little General’s official business, so he didn’t wake you.”
Yu Shuli curled his lip. “He’s interfered with my official business a lot. What’s he being so considerate for?”
Cang Xu twitched his lips and led him inside.
“The lord sends his regards to the Little General.” Cang Xu stole a glance at Yu Shuli’s expression, wondering what exactly happened between these two last night. Why did both of them have a strange aura about them early in the morning?
Yu Shuli was about to reply when Cang Xu quickly stopped him. “The lord said that the Little General should tell him himself later. There’s no need to relay it through me.”
Yu Shuli cursed inwardly, that old fox!
Along the way, he passed prison cells, hearing the sounds of prisoners fighting and jailers disciplining them.
The ground was covered in filth, and Yu Shuli found it hard to imagine how Wei Yan had stepped into this place.
His poison had just been relieved, and he finally had a good night’s sleep. Yet, the next day, he had to come to a place like this.
Yu Shuli felt a pang of guilt.
Actually, Wei Yan could have rested and recovered well.
The reason he was in such a hurry was all for Yu Shuli. After all, Dong Siwen had no connection to Wei Yan at all.
The inner area of the prison was dark, as if covered by a heavy layer of haze.
Flickering yellow candlelight cast mottled shadows.
The man sitting on the interrogation chair was dressed in a black brocade robe with a white jade belt around his waist, emphasizing his slender figure. He wore a golden jade hair crown, and his shoes were interwoven with intricate gold silk patterns, so exquisite that he seemed out of place here.
The man’s face wore a faint smile, making him look gentle and harmless. Yet, his gaze was piercing, as if he could see into the deepest secrets of the human heart.
In front of him, the prisoner, hung upside down with his legs tightly bound, was red-faced and panting heavily in a disheveled state.
“This prime minister has said before that I don’t like using torture. Young Master Chou, after suffering a little, are you willing to speak?”
Chou Dongshuo was a commoner, so there was no rule against arresting him. Wei Yan was too lazy to play games with him.
Chou Dongshuo’s head was full of blood, and he could barely hear. He knew that Wei Yan was no ordinary person, and he couldn’t play any tricks in front of him.
The methods of the person in front of him were well-known, not only in Quzhou but also in the Capital City.
He was definitely not someone he could contend with.
But… if he spoke… his grandfather and brother-in-law wouldn’t let him off either, right?
Chou Dongshuo pursed his lips tightly, his face, which had a sparse beard, was flushed crimson and still carried some childish stubbornness.
Wei Yan chuckled softly.
He waved his hand, signaling the surrounding jailers to lower him.
Having been hung upside down for an entire hour, Chou Dongshuo fell to the ground like a stray dog, panting incessantly. His life was saved at the last moment, but he still hadn’t confessed immediately.
Wei Yan watched him silently, waiting for him to regain consciousness before speaking again.
“Raise your head.”
Chou Dongshuo didn’t move an inch.
“The lord told you to raise your head! Can’t you hear?!” A jailer walked over, grabbed his collar, and slapped his still-tender face twice with a “papapa” sound.
Chou Dongshuo spat out a mouthful of blood and finally raised his eyes, looking at Wei Yan provocatively. “Dressed like that, you really look like a peacock in heat. I thought Prime Minister Wei was here to seduce someone.” His gaze fell on Wei Yan’s waist, and he smiled. “If Prime Minister Wei is really willing to offer himself, I might consider saying what you want to hear.”
“Such impudent words.” The jailer slapped him twice more.
Wei Yan didn’t say anything to stop him. His eyes were terrifyingly cold.
“Lord, he still refuses to speak.” The jailer was at a loss and looked at Wei Yan’s expression with trepidation.
He wasn’t a professional interrogator, but it was his turn to work today, and he had to cooperate with this Prime Minister Wei from the Capital City in handling the case.
Heavens, everyone said this was a great blessing, that doing a good job would be a step towards heaven.
But after he asked around, this Prime Minister Wei turned out to be the number one villain in the world?
Oh dear, this wasn’t a matter of whether he could ascend to heaven or not, this was a matter of whether he would lose his life!
The entire Quzhou prison fell into a strange panic.
Until Wei Yan himself arrived at the scene.
The people guarding the prison at the time looked at the weak-looking and gentle young man in front of them and felt that he didn’t match the world-famous villain at all.
Could it be… an imposter?
But now, the jailers had put that thought to rest.
He couldn’t be faking it.
Wei Yan’s ruthlessness was ingrained in his bones.
It wasn’t about the methods, but about his casual disregard for human life.
It seemed that no matter who it was, whether they lived or died was irrelevant to him.
He looked gentle and kind, but his heart was cold and unfeeling. No one could move him, and he would never show mercy.
In this state, he looked invulnerable and almost impossible to threaten.
“Ink it,” Wei Yan said indifferently.
The jailer paused, picked up a long needle dipped in ink from the side, and tentatively suggested, “Lord, this isn’t painful enough. It looks like a tattoo and doesn’t have much deterrent effect. Why not use the tiger bench?”
Wei Yan glanced at him.
The jailer immediately shut up.
Following Wei Yan’s order, he walked to Chou Dongshuo’s side to strip his clothes.
The prisoner, who had been tightly bound by iron chains, had been hanging his head and motionless, as if dead. Seeing this, he finally seemed to come alive and began to struggle non-stop.
“Get out! Don’t touch me!” His face was full of sweat and fear.
“When Young Master Chou was stripping others, why weren’t you so scared?” Wei Yan tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. He suddenly changed the subject and asked the jailer, “What time is it now?”
The jailer paused, put down the long needle, ran out to ask around, and then returned, panting, “It’s noon.”
Wei Yan said “Ah,” in realization, “It’s that late.”
The jailer clearly felt a fluctuation in his emotions.
“Lord…” The jailer finally tore open Chou Dongshuo’s collar and turned to ask Wei Yan hesitantly, “Where should I tattoo him?”
Wei Yan turned his head and didn’t speak.
Chou Dongshuo trembled, covering himself everywhere, burying his face in the dirt in humiliation and anger. He also feared this moment of silence and raised his head tremblingly, only to meet Wei Yan’s highly aggressive gaze.
He flinched, feeling that Wei Yan wouldn’t be so kind as to use this kind of tattooing to punish him.
As expected…
Wei Yan smiled and opened his thin lips slightly, “Naturally… on his face.”
The jailer and Chou Dongshuo were both stunned.
After a moment, the previously quiet prisoner began to struggle violently again. This time, the movements were even greater than before, and one jailer could barely hold him down.
“Don’t touch me! Get away!” The fear in his eyes was unmistakable.
Seeing this, Wei Yan curled the corner of his mouth into a cold smile. “Young Master Chou likes the pleasure houses and also likes to force himself on women. How about I tattoo ‘rapist’ on your face?”
Chou Dongshuo naturally couldn’t afford to lose face. Unable to withstand it, he finally collapsed and cried, “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
Familiar footsteps sounded outside.
Wei Yan hooked his lips. “The timing is just right.”