RMACAUH Chapter 30
by VolareChapter 30 Feng Yue didn’t consider himself a gentleman…
Feng Yue dismounted and asked in a deep voice, “Who led this horse?”
Su Qingzhi looked flustered and stepped forward to salute Feng Yue, “Your Highness, this humble one led the horse.”
Feng Yue felt that he looked familiar, and then quickly remembered that this person was the *ge’er* from the Minister of Rites’ household, from the Su family.
“It was fine a moment ago, how did it go mad?”
Suddenly, Su Qingzhi’s bright eyes filled with mist, as if he had been greatly frightened: “This humble one was just about to mount the horse when I felt something prick my arm. The horse seemed to be in pain, and neighed wildly before running forward.”
Suddenly, someone in the *ge’er* crowd pushed Wei Xiaoliu, “Did your fifth brother do something to the horse? Everyone saw that Wei Xiaofeng was the first to choose this white horse.”
“This person looks stupid, but he’s quite cunning!”
“That’s right, he even plotted against Su Gongzi.”
…
Su Qingzhi frowned and said, “Don’t speak carelessly without evidence. If you wrongly accuse someone, the sin will be great.”
As soon as he spoke, the *ge’er*s quieted down.
Feng Yue narrowed his eyes and couldn’t help but carefully examine Su Qingzhi. He hadn’t looked at him directly in their previous two meetings. Looking closely today, he was indeed a clever person with many thoughts in his mind.
“The wound on the horse’s neck seems to have been made by a hairpin. Today, Wei Wu *ge’er* is wearing a hair tie and isn’t wearing a hairpin.” Feng Yue stated the facts coldly, “If anyone dares to slander others again, this King will not let them off lightly!”
Su Qingzhi led the group of *ge’er*s to salute Feng Yue, “Qingzhi understands. Your Highness, rest assured, we will never discuss this matter in private again.”
Feng Yue scoffed coldly, “This matter should indeed not be discussed in private. This King will investigate it thoroughly!”
Su Qingzhi remained calm, without a trace of panic on his face, maintaining the demeanor of a refined and untainted young master, noble and flawless.
Feng Yue turned around, patted Little White’s head with heartache, and led it back to the stables.
Feng Xilan, who had been running wild in the nearby fields, heard the news and rushed back. He was still a hundred meters away when he shouted, “Yue-ge! Yue-ge!!”
Feng Xilan pulled on the reins, stopping the horse ten steps away from Feng Yue. He jumped off the horse neatly, trotted forward, and bowed to Feng Yue. The vitality of the young man seemed to shine under the sun.
Feng Yue looked at him, filled with emotion. When the New Year’s Festival arrived, the Prince of Fan Kingdom would come to the capital to offer New Year greetings to the Emperor. At the palace banquet, the Emperor would betroth the Fan Prince and Xilan.
Unfortunately, less than two years after marrying over, the old Fan King passed away, and his second son launched a rebellion, killing his brother and taking the throne himself. The Prince Su sought help from the Emperor to send an elite force to save his son, only to bring him back to the capital. However, Xilan chose to commit suicide and followed her husband, already three months pregnant.
“Xilan greets Your Highness, may Your Highness be blessed with good fortune and health!”
Hearing this lively and clear greeting, Feng Yue came back to his senses and smiled gently as he looked at him, “Yes, we’re family, no need for so much ceremony.”
“Hee hee~” Feng Xilan’s peach blossom eyes curved into crescents as he took the reins and followed behind Feng Yue.
“Why did Yue-ge come to the training ground today?”
“I was confined in the Wenyuan Pavilion for some time, so I came to the training ground to ride a horse and relax.”
“Ah~ I understand, I understand. You’d go crazy spending all day with that group of old scholars. What was Royal Uncle thinking, putting you with that group of old men!”
“Lord Liu and the others are knowledgeable and should be respected. Don’t be so quick to criticize them.”
Feng Xilan stared, somewhat in disbelief. According to Yue-ge’s personality, shouldn’t he be joining him in scolding these pretentious old fogeys?
Had he become so mature and steady since returning from the border?
Feng Xilan stuck out his tongue, “Xilan was being rude. After the selection, will you stay in the capital and not leave?”
“Things in this world are constantly changing, it’s not certain.”
“Sigh!”
“Why are you sighing?”
“When we were young, Yue-ge and I played the best together. I cried for a long time after you left, and no one would play with me!”
Speaking of which, Feng Yue was the one who taught him to ride a horse.
As a *ge’er*, he followed behind Feng Yue all day long. Because Feng Yue protected him, he was very bold. What a *langjun* could do, he could do too.
Since Feng Yue went to Qingyang City, he couldn’t be so wild anymore. He was confined at home by the Prince Su every day, practicing zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and learning *ge’er* etiquette.
Feng Yue patted his head, “If I have time in the future, I’ll take you to ride horses outside the city again.”
Feng Xilan’s eyes lit up, “Really? When will you have time?”
“Around the New Year’s Festival, I’ll take you out for a walk.” After he marries, there probably won’t be many chances to come to the capital in the remaining time.
“That’s great! Yue-ge, you have to keep your word!”
“Of course.”
The two walked together to the stables, only to see Wei Xiaofeng squatting in a corner, sobbing alone.
“Hey!”
Wei Xiaofeng’s face was still pale, like a frightened bird, startled by Feng Xilan’s shout.
“What are you doing here, sneaking around by yourself?”
Feng Yue stepped forward to block Feng Xilan’s view and took the reins from his hand, “You should go out and meet up with them first. It’s probably time to return to the palace.”
“Oh, okay, Yue-ge, I’ll go first!”
“Mm.” Feng Yue watched him leave, handed the horse to the guards watching the horses at the training ground, and walked towards Wei Xiaofeng.
Wei Xiaofeng subconsciously hid further into the shadows.
“Why are you here alone?”
“Your Highness…” Wei Xiaofeng choked, his whole body tense, “You, don’t come over here!”
Feng Yue stopped, unsure of the reason for a moment, or how to comfort him. Then, he saw the wet marks on his pants legs and understood the reason.
Wei Xiaofeng’s face turned red, and he lowered his head, at a loss.
“How about you take my carriage back to the palace later? I’ll tell your teacher to take them ahead, okay?”
Wei Xiaofeng looked at him in surprise. Instead of the mockery he expected, he was even thinking of protecting his dignity.
Seeing him nod, Feng Yue took off his outer robe and draped it over him. The black robe just covered his ankles, concealing the traces of the stain.
“Wait for me here.”
“Mm.” Wei Xiaofeng drooped his head, his expression full of disappointment, standing alone and listless, like a puppy that had been bullied.
Feng Yue had ridden over from the palace. During lunch, he learned from Empress Chen that they would be riding horses at the training ground, so he found some excuse not to go to the Wenyuan Pavilion.
He had originally planned to watch Xiaofeng ride a horse, pretend to bump into him, say a few words, and leave. He hadn’t expected these things to happen.
He was also glad that he had come. It was normal for someone inexperienced to panic in such a situation.
Feng Yue privately found the accompanying *xuelu* and only said that Wei Xiaofeng was feeling unwell, without saying anything else. The *xuelu* didn’t dare to ask further.
In the carriage back, Wei Xiaofeng tightly wrung his fingers, pursing his lips without saying a word, trying to maintain the greatest distance from Feng Yue to avoid him smelling the bad smell and being impolite.
Looking at his pitiful appearance, Feng Yue said, “These things are normal, there’s no need to dwell on them, just let it go.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t said anything. As soon as he spoke, Wei Xiaofeng was about to cry again, sobbing, “My mother said I stopped wetting the bed when I was four years old. I wasn’t like this before. I was really scared when Little White rushed over, and I peed without realizing it. I don’t even know… Waa… I’m so ashamed!”
“It’s not shameful, Xiaofeng, it’s nothing.”
“It is shameful! You haven’t experienced it, it’s so embarrassing!” Wei Xiaofeng cried even more sadly.
Feng Yue didn’t know how to comfort him for a moment, then suddenly remembered some distant memories, saying, “The first time I went to the battlefield, I was fifteen years old. My uncle took my cousin A-Sui and me to ambush the enemy. At the time, we weren’t sure which route the enemy would take, so we split into three groups. A-Sui and I were responsible for ambushing a small team.”
“Although we had trained many times before, we were discovered by the enemy due to a lack of real combat experience. Fortunately, those people were just enemy soldiers scouting the way ahead, and we had to kill them all to prevent them from returning.”
“That was the first time I killed someone…”
Wei Xiaofeng’s attention was drawn by what he said, and he stopped crying. “Then, were you scared?”
“When the knife goes down, a person’s emotions are numb. Fresh, warm blood splatters on the face, thick and disgusting.” Feng Yue paused and continued, “On the battlefield, in order to survive, a person cannot have extra emotions. Sympathy and pity could cause me to die at the hands of the enemy at any time. But the disgust and fear after killing someone are belated, like a damp, foul swamp. The swamp is boiling with fresh red blood, slowly pulling people into this decayed place. Rotten mud and blood flood the nose and mouth. Countless eyes, unwilling and resentful before death, appear in my mind. I am immersed in nightmares and cannot wake up.”
Wei Xiaofeng’s heart was pierced hard. “But you were only fifteen years old then.”
“There are many things in this world that someone needs to do. Protecting one’s country and people is also an unbreakable belief. Once a person has faith, they will become very brave.”
Wei Xiaofeng suddenly felt a sense of respect for him.
“Then am I not a person without faith?”
“A person’s growth and change don’t happen over years, but suddenly in a certain moment. Fate will take you to where you need to go, to understand the true meaning of your life. Fear and cowardice are not shameful. These are the base colors of human nature, and a person’s life is a process of constantly overcoming various fears, thereby conquering oneself.”
After listening, the sense of shame and fear from the depths of Wei Xiaofeng’s heart instantly faded a lot. “Thank you for telling me so much.”
“Then do you feel better?”
“Mm.”
Seeing that his emotions had calmed down, Feng Yue took the hot water that was warming on the stove and poured him a cup of tea.
Wei Xiaofeng was flattered and took the tea with both hands, thanking him softly, and lowered his head to sip the tea to calm his nerves.
Feng Yue’s carriage entered from the South Palace Gate, avoiding attention, and took Wei Xiaofeng into the Hefeng Palace.
After ordering someone to bring a bucket of hot water, Feng Yue dismissed all the palace servants.
Wei Xiaofeng only felt extremely uncomfortable and took off his dirty clothes in a rush.
Feng Yue asked Yuan Gonggong to fetch new clothes and walked behind the screen, “This set of clothes… You…”
The scene before him caused Feng Yue a burst of heat to rush from his lower abdomen to all his limbs.
Wei Xiaofeng was only wearing a light blue single garment, which was open, the belt about to come undone.
He sat on the bathing stool, his legs wide open, wiping the dirt from his legs with a wet cloth.
Feng Yue didn’t consider himself a gentleman. He wanted Xiaofeng, and that wouldn’t change.
But he couldn’t bear to hurt him, nor did he want him to suffer any grievances. He could have taken him, but the consequences of doing so were not what he wanted.
So he endured it several times, unsure how long he could continue to endure.
Wei Xiaofeng’s face turned red, his head was buzzing, and in a panic, he could only grab the dirty clothes beside him and hastily cover himself, a layer of watery mist welling up in his shameful eyes.
Feng Yue withdrew his gaze with a distressed expression, hurriedly placed the clothes in his hand, and turned around and strode out from behind the screen without saying a word.
Unbearable! Feng Yue picked up the pot and drank cold water, but the heat still didn’t subside, and a small tent was erected.