MLIAM Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Don’t Covet What Can Only Stand Beside Me

Chapter 77: Don’t Covet What Can Only Stand Beside Me

While Wanyan tried to conceal Yu Shuli’s presence, Wei Yan took advantage of his distraction to pull Yu Shuli away and hide on the other side.

Yu Shuli’s obedient demeanor slightly eased Wei Yan’s earlier tension, and a faint smile seemed to appear on his lips.

See?

The person he carefully protected was also coveted by others with endless delusions, trying to reach for him.

But, he could only stand beside himself now.

Wei Yan subtly reached out and gently encircled the other’s waist, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.

Yu Shuli frowned, “What? Is there something wrong with my clothes?”

Wei Yan shook his head, gently stroking his face with his fingers, his voice gentle, “Wait here for a signal. Someone will create a commotion to help us leave. After a while, go directly to the narrow path behind Consort Xian’s palace gate, someone will be there to meet you.”

Yu Shuli nodded, obediently accepting Wei Yan’s arrangement. “What about you?”

“I have some personal matters to attend to, I’ll come later.” Wei Yan smiled, “It’s not convenient for you to be here.”

Yu Shuli didn’t suspect anything, and said “Oh.”

He only muttered a few words, “And you said you don’t have any lovers in the palace…”

Wei Yan repeatedly assured him that he really didn’t, and he reluctantly shut up.

Before long, the Empress’s ceremonial guard began to arrive one by one.

Having received news that the Third Prince of Xizhao had engaged in immoral conduct within the palace, the Empress immediately ordered the entire garden to be sealed off, and every palace maid and concubine to be searched one by one, determined to find out who his lover was.

After a flurry of searching, a sound of shattered flowerpots suddenly rang out outside.

The Empress frowned and sent someone to investigate, but no one was caught, only a smashed flowerpot remained.

Wei Yan quickly followed, lingering behind and blending into the crowd. While everyone’s attention was on the flower, he slipped away from the crowd.

The Empress was furious, “Who is so blind! They smashed the Tomorrow Flower that Consort Xian presented today!”

“Your Majesty… this flower was smashed in our hands… it’s really hard to say what will happen.” The head palace maid beside her hesitated, “When Consort Xian finds out, she will be heartbroken.”

The Empress nodded, Consort Xian had been the most respectful to her in recent years.

Their relationship was considered pleasant, and the Empress didn’t want to offend her, so she instructed, “Cuiping, go and fetch some rare imported goods from the storeroom, along with some pearl and jade ornaments, and go to Consort Xian’s palace on behalf of this Empress as an apology.”

“Yes.”

Yu Shuli, remembering Wei Yan’s instructions, took the shattered flowerpot as a signal to leave, and was about to follow the palace maid and leave.

But something else happened.

The Empress, frustrated because she hadn’t caught the person who smashed the flowerpot, and hadn’t caught the person who was privately meeting with Wanyan Jun, vented her anger on the people around her.

The first to bear the brunt was naturally Wanyan Jun – this insignificant hostage.

The interrogation couldn’t proceed because there was no evidence and no witnesses were caught, but that didn’t stop the Empress from making a few sarcastic remarks.

“This Empress heard that you asked the Emperor for an invitation?” She smiled slightly, her smile unfathomable.

Wanyan Jun walked forward and knelt down, “Reporting to the Empress, that is indeed the case.”

“As the Third Prince of Xizhao, you should also be clear about who you can associate with and who you cannot.” The Empress lightly brushed over her manicured nails, her eyelashes lowered as she looked at him, and asked, “Did you give out the invitation?”

Wanyan Jun pursed his lips tightly, “Yes.” The small tricks in the palace could never escape the Empress’s eyes.

“Is that so?” The Empress smiled, “Who did you give it to?”

Wanyan Jun’s eyelashes slightly lifted, revealing inkstone-like eyes that glanced in the direction where Yu Shuli was leaving, and then instantly shifted his gaze to the void.

He remained silent.

The Empress’s expression instantly darkened. “This is an Imperial Decree!”

Yu Shuli had already slipped out in the chaos, following behind the group led by Cuiping, and looked back frequently.

The distance was a bit far, and he couldn’t hear clearly what the Empress and Wanyan Jun were saying, but it didn’t seem to be anything good.

He was a little worried about Wanyan Jun.

After walking for a long time, when he arrived at the entrance of Consort Xian’s palace, Yu Shuli’s worries intensified, so he asked the head palace maid who was waiting for him at the side gate to help, and invited Consort Xian out.

Consort Xian was Wei Yan’s aunt, and the two had similar appearances, but Wei Yan was more aloof and calm, while Consort Xian was truly a gentle person.

Upon hearing that Wei Yan might be in trouble, she wiped her tears, anxiously not knowing what to do.

Yu Shuli persuaded her well and gave her ideas. The two discussed for a long time, and then, using the Tomorrow Flower as an excuse, they planned to go out and meet the Empress. Under the guise of thanking her, they would try to rescue Wei Yan.

That was the ostensible reason, but Yu Shuli also had his own selfish motives, he wanted Consort Xian to help save Wanyan Jun as well.

Consort Xian was understanding and immediately agreed to help Yu Shuli’s “friend.”

The group arrived at the Clear Water Pavilion.

Seeing the commotion ahead, Yu Shuli craned his neck.

He saw Wanyan Jun kneeling on the ground, half of his face marked with a bright red palm print.

The Empress pointed at his face condescendingly, “You good-for-nothing! His Majesty allowed you to be a hostage and gave you food to eat, but what did you do? You seduced others in the palace and disrupted the harem?!”

“To make things sound better, the palace calls you Young Master Wanyan, do you really think you’re anything special? To carry on an affair with a palace maid, how dare you say it!” The Empress raised her hand and slapped Wanyan Jun’s face again, her voice shrill, “Today, you will say who your lover is, whether you want to or not!”

“Is Your Majesty using torture without regard to the relations between our two countries?” Wanyan Jun resisted the faint taste of blood in his mouth, and raised his eyes, “Apart from having someone I care about, I have no other abnormal private interactions, you can send someone to investigate. There’s no need to deliberately make things difficult for me here to embarrass me.”

He smiled, “Anyway, even if I am truly a filthy object, no one would like your Crown Prince. The noble ladies have discerning eyes, and cannot be swayed by Your Majesty’s words and actions.”

“Insolent!” Cuiping, the head palace maid beside the Empress, happened to be walking over with Consort Xian, and kicked the person over upon hearing this, “How can you criticize His Highness the Crown Prince? What are you?!”

Wanyan Jun wiped the blood from his cheek. “I’ve already said that I have no interest in your Da Liang’s throne, but you refuse to believe me. It seems that Your Majesty herself has little confidence in His Highness the Crown Prince.”

The head palace maid frowned and was about to kick him again, but Wanyan Jun raised his hand, “This aunt should not act. No matter how bad I am, I am still a Xizhao hostage, you still have to give me superficial respect. No matter how weak Xizhao’s national strength is, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. In recent years, the tributes from the vassal states to Da Liang have been decreasing, and you know what the state of Da Liang’s own treasury is, while only Xizhao’s finances are thriving…”

“Even if the Empress doesn’t care about my face, or my father’s face, she should at least care about the face of money.”

The Empress snorted lightly, her eyes full of disdain, “Do you think your father cares about you?”

Wanyan Jun’s body stiffened.

After a moment, he smiled, “He doesn’t care about me, but he cares about his face. Emperors all care about face, right, Your Majesty?”

The Empress pursed her lips and remained silent.

Cuiping glanced at the Empress, knowing that she had been persuaded, and had to reluctantly step back.

“Wanyan Jun, I will let you off today, behave yourself.” The Empress turned to look at the head palace maid, “I heard that Consort Xian came to see this Empress?”

“Yes, she’s waiting over there.”

The Empress paused and looked around, complaining, “What’s so good about meeting here? The sun is so hot. This Empress came to find that little slut, but now that the person hasn’t been found and ran away, I’ve suffered a stomach full of anger… but her flower was pitifully sacrificed. Let her go to the Water Pavilion and wait, this Empress will go there soon.”

The palace maid responded, and the message was relayed layer by layer.

Yu Shuli watched the crowd walk away from afar. Consort Xian was about to follow the Empress’s steps to leave, but seeing his absent-minded expression, she quickly asked with concern.

Yu Shuli shook his head, “I’m fine.” Fearing that Consort Xian would think his attitude was cold, he forced a smile at Consort Xian, “Your Majesty, why don’t you go to the Water Pavilion first? I… I have to go see my friend first.”

Consort Xian nodded, “Alright, then be careful yourself. I’ll inquire about Wei Yan’s whereabouts, and if he’s still safe, I’ll find someone to bring him out. You should leave the palace as soon as possible today, don’t mess around.”

Yu Shuli saw Consort Xian leave, and turned back to see Wanyan Jun finally getting up from the ground with a shaky gait.

He was about to go over and help him up, but he saw a figure suddenly emerge from the narrow path beside him.

His figure was mostly blocked by the bamboo forest, and Yu Shuli could only vaguely see the outline of a palace maid.

He frowned, and was about to step forward when he saw the palace maid hug Wanyan’s neck.

Yu Shuli had heard the Empress’s words earlier, and he was suspicious: Could it be that what the Empress said was true?!

Did Wanyan Jun really have a secret lover in the palace!

Before he could think more, he saw the two simply exchange a few words, and Wanyan Jun pressed the person’s head, seemingly kissing her.

Yu Shuli’s mind buzzed.

He felt like he had spied on something he shouldn’t have seen, and hurriedly wanted to escape awkwardly.

But unfortunately, Wanyan Jun seemed to have already seen him.

He tore the palace maid away, his face pale, and looked anxiously towards Yu Shuli.

So, Yu Shuli could only wave his hand in a self-defeating way.

Who knew that the palace maid would come closer again, and her fingers took advantage of the situation to slide onto Wanyan Jun’s belt and pull it hard.

His outer robe slipped off.

His chest was covered with dense scars, some already old and scabbed over, others still with traces of blood.

Ugly and unbearable.

Wanyan Jun hurriedly put his clothes back on, his face gloomy as he pushed the woman away, lowering his eyes and gnashing his teeth as he asked her, “Did you do this on purpose?!”

“I thought I could gain the Young Master’s favor, but it turned out to be a mirage.” The woman’s voice was somewhat low, seemingly too sad, she didn’t even bother to tidy up her clothes, and covered her face, crying as she left.

Not far away, the several small eunuchs who were originally monitoring Wanyan Jun in place frowned, and finally turned and left.

Wanyan Jun looked in panic at Yu Shuli, who had witnessed everything, and ran over in a hurry, “Ji An… let me explain…”

Yu Shuli scratched his head and walked closer somewhat embarrassedly, “That… I accidentally disturbed your good time…”

“It’s not a good time.” He frowned, “Ji An, I’m looking for you to say…”

Yu Shuli’s mind was still haunted by the palace maid who had just left crying, and interrupted him, asking seriously, “Wanyan, that girl… will you marry her?”

“What?” Wanyan Jun seemed stunned, he rubbed his temples, annoyed, “Of course not!”

“But you kissed her, you need to be responsible for her.” Yu Shuli said in a serious manner.

In this regard, Yu Shuli was a rigid and old-fashioned person, he could not accept such a thing as abandoning someone after starting something.

“Ji An, it’s not like that with her!” Wanyan Jun’s tone was somewhat anxious, “She has nothing to do with me, I won’t marry her. I made an appointment with you today to say a word to you, to ask you for an answer.”

“He won’t agree.” Wei Yan didn’t know where he came from, he had already changed into a man’s outfit.

He stood beside Yu Shuli, his eyes coldly falling on the opposite Wanyan Jun, and repeated, “Ji An won’t agree to you. So, I advise Young Master Wanyan, it’s best not to mention it.”

Wanyan Jun’s gaze glared at Wei Yan hatefully, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll say something?”

“What am I afraid you’ll say?” Wei Yan smiled, “Shouldn’t it be you who is afraid of what I’ll say now?”

Looking at the two people, who were usually very quiet, suddenly arguing inexplicably as if they had been ignited, Yu Shuli blinked his eyes, looked at Wei Yan, and grabbed him, asking, “Wei Yan, how did you come? And you changed back into men’s clothes?! What if someone sees you?!”

“It’s alright.” Wei Yan smiled and wiped the sweat from his temples for him, “Did you run away and come back? Why are you sweating again?”

Yu Shuli shook his head, “Oh, don’t mention that, your aunt came to find you…” Yu Shuli’s voice suddenly stopped, remembering that there was still a Wanyan Jun beside him.

He bit his tongue and swallowed the rest of the words.

Wanyan Jun’s eyes swept over the two of them, after a moment, he sneered, “Young Master Wei?”

“Any advice?” Wei Yan met his gloomy gaze.

“I’ll remember today’s hatred.”

Wei Yan smiled, “Young Master Wanyan should thank me.”

He pointed his finger in the direction the palace maid had just left, “The insects who were monitoring you every step of the way have now left, isn’t that a good thing? Or did you want to be pestered by them every day because of a so-called ‘palace maid’? Since the Empress must think that you are disrupting the harem, then now she has gotten the result she wanted, and can then safely investigate that identity. Don’t worry, after solving the disaster for you, that identity will disappear forever. The Empress will lose her target and will no longer investigate, and the eyes that followed you will also disappear, wouldn’t that be a win-win situation?”

Wanyan Jun gritted his teeth, “Whether it’s to help me, or for yourself, you know it clearly!”

Wei Yan raised his eyebrows, “So what? After all, I helped you. But you don’t need to thank me, I just don’t want you to involve other people. Especially…”

Wei Yan’s tone became heavier, “People you shouldn’t covet.”

Yu Shuli looked blankly at the two people who were usually very quiet suddenly arguing back and forth as if they had been lit, he sighed, “You guys… what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“It’s a small matter, it’s just that I happened to help Young Master Wanyan a little.” Wei Yan smiled at Yu Shuli, comforting him.

Complex emotions flickered in Wanyan Jun’s deep eyes, “Young Master Wei said there’s no need to thank you, but I insist on thanking you!” He seemed to squeeze these words out from between his teeth, and looked at Yu Shuli meaningfully, “Ji An, today is not the right time, I still have to meet with His Majesty. Another day, I have something to say to you.”

Yu Shuli said “Oh”, somewhat absent-mindedly, and his expression towards Wanyan Jun was also a little unnatural.

Seeing this, Wanyan Jun, fearing that he would misunderstand, wanted to explain things clearly with Yu Shuli again, but considering something, he finally bid farewell and left in a hurry.

After Wanyan Jun left, Yu Shuli hurriedly grabbed Wei Yan’s hand and sized him up. “I said, where did you just run off to? Wearing this in the palace, are you crazy? Your aunt is still trying to find out from the Empress whether you’ve been caught, and is worried about your whereabouts!”

Seeing his anxious look, the expression on Wei Yan’s face softened, and he lowered his voice, “It’s alright, His Majesty has already seen me. Today, it doesn’t matter if you and I wander around the palace and admire the flowers.” Like a magic trick, he took out a bouquet of flower branches from his sleeve.

The leaves were intertwined nimbly, and the petals were still covered with some moisture, full of vitality and extraordinary bearing. The demon-red, fire-like petals bloomed too gorgeously, like fairies falling from the immortal world into the mortal world. Compared to the plum blossoms that Yu Shuli had casually picked, they were much more vivid and graceful.

“A return gift.” Wei Yan handed the flower to him.

Yu Shuli took the flower, exclaimed “Ah” in amazement, and clung to his arm, his eyes shining, “Immortal Lord, you’re so amazing! This is a Red Spider Lily that’s not even available in the Da Liang palace! How did you do it?!”

“I’m glad you’re happy.” Wei Yan smiled, “I heard you say before that you like brightly colored flowers. The Red Spider Lily fits the bill, but it likes dark and humid places. Last month, my people went to the Southwest and happened to come across it, so they searched for it and brought it back. Part of it was offered to His Majesty, and the rest is yours.”

Under the sunlight, Yu Shuli looked at him through the light, his figure seemed to blend with the flower branches.

How could there be such a coincidence? This flower was not an ordinary flower to see.

Yu Shuli clutched the flower tightly, loving it so much that he couldn’t bear to let go, but he lowered his head and smiled, “But I’ve changed my mind now, I think plum blossoms are also very good! Not afraid of frost and snow, able to endure hardship, and able to retain gentleness in winter. Freshness, elegance and perseverance are all qualities that I like very much!”