WMSG Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Why Are You Running?

Ye Yueshen woke up again with a hazy sense of oily aroma. He turned over and found a food box placed beside him, looking down to see the bed covered in wedding pastries.

His consciousness gradually returned, and he remembered that when he got home, the carriage ride had brought back some of the alcohol-induced dizziness. He seemed to have grabbed the Junzhu’s hand, calling her “Mother” and saying how happy he was…

Ye Yueshen felt a bit of heat rise to his face and burrowed into the pillow, resolving never to drink again.

But the pillow was too high, and he had felt uncomfortable for a long time. Bored, he used a hairpin to pick open the seam on one side, pouring out most of the millet and cotton.

Deciding to go all the way, he asked a maid for a piece of cloth, needle, and thread. Without even changing out of his sleeping gown, he sat on the bed and sewed a pillow all morning.

Since he had to mend his own clothes when he was young, his needlework was quite good, with tight and smooth stitches. The new pillow was made a bit wider than the original, and instead of filling it with millet and medicinal herbs, he filled it with cotton and a bit of fragrant spice.

According to the prescription left by the Imperial Physician, the doctor came to apply medicine to Ye Yueshen. Upon learning that he had been drinking the day before, the doctor admonished him again not to drink, and so the days of applying medicine were extended once more.

Having left his original world, the oppressive feeling of being stuck was lessened on Ye Yueshen. He always felt that once he stopped, an invisible monster would catch up to him, leaving him in a wretched state and then mocked. But now, the high walls of the Marquis’s mansion isolated him from that feeling of being scrutinized at any moment.

He would occasionally worry about being caught, even becoming a bit wary of the maids coming in and out.

But one can’t be scared to death by a sword hanging over their head, and Ye Yueshen quickly reveled in the familial affection that had fallen from the sky. He greatly enjoyed the feeling of having blood relatives by his side, though he would occasionally feel awkward and shy from his family’s concern.

Because he had altered his pillow, he asked for a large piece of brocade from the Junzhu, asking her to embroider a beautiful peony on the rectangular piece of cloth he had cut. He quickly learned some embroidery stitches, attempting to embroider a simple five-petal flower.

Besides embroidering and making pillows, he would also run to wake up his second brother after having breakfast with the Junzhu and Marquis Ye, and then tidy up Ye Lingshen’s pigsty in an orderly manner.

He would also wait at the gatehouse for his eldest brother Ye Yuanshen to come home from his duties in the late afternoon, occasionally even going to the street corner to wait, taking in the street scene and the distance to relax his eyes from embroidering.

The Junzhu and Marquis Ye watched all of this, feeling that their youngest son had simply undergone a great change in temperament. Ye Yuanshen also had more smiles on his face on his way home from work, even going out of his way to buy some snacks.

Only Ye Lingshen couldn’t bear it, hoping that the doctor would quickly heal his third brother’s butt so he could go to school and stop tormenting his good sleep.

With the pace of life suddenly slowing down, Ye Yueshen felt both fulfilled and at ease. After his mood improved, he even got used to some inconveniences in life.

Ye Yueshen stood under a willow tree at the street corner, rolling up his sleeves to help a burly man selling tofu. It originally had nothing to do with him, but the burly man’s method of cutting tofu was simply outrageous, angering Ye Yueshen’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, so he rolled up his sleeves and took over.

The burly man stood idly by, watching him cut, calmly accepting his kindness. Ye Yueshen was cutting when he started to wonder, where did tofu makers get so strong, could he be an assassin?

Ye Yueshen turned to run home, the burly man dropped the pretense and chased after him. For a moment, the sound of hurried footsteps filled the street, and then a carriage came speeding by, causing chaos.

“Little Yue, Little Yue!” Ye Yuanshen jumped out of the carriage and scooped him up into his arms, patting his pale face. “Why are you running?”

Ye Yueshen looked back, the burly man was standing right next to him, breathing evenly, his stamina not that of an ordinary person.

“He’s chasing me…” Ye Yueshen stammered, his tongue-tied. “He’s very strong, and…”

Ye Yuanshen asked, “What’s going on?”

The tofu vendor opened his palm to him and said, “Give me back the knife.”

Ye Yueshen was a bit out of breath from running so much. He looked down at his hand and weakly handed over the knife covered in tofu residue.

Ye Yuanshen’s servant tactfully spoke with the burly man while escorting him back to his stall at the street corner, returning with several large blocks of tofu in a straw mat.

He smiled and teased, “Sir, look, this tofu is cut so neatly.”

Ye Yueshen’s face began to heat up again, and he explained to his eldest brother, who was staring at him, “That’s right, I cut it. He was cutting the tofu all messy, and how could someone who makes tofu be so burly? He looked like he was here to kill me.”

Ye Yuanshen felt both amused and annoyed. “Little Yue, are you carrying the Imperial Seal on you?”

“What?” Ye Yueshen was a little puzzled.

“Otherwise, why would someone always want to kill you?” Ye Yuanshen rubbed his shoulder. “For dinner, you can just eat tofu to calm down.”

Ye Yueshen felt a bit awkward, and slightly raised his face to look at Ye Yuanshen, asking, “Would you only believe I was being chased if I were killed?”

“Little Yue.” Ye Yuanshen stopped, his eyes filled with a gentle smile, and slightly lowered his head to look at him. “Wang Er sells tofu when it’s warm and hunts in the mountains in the winter, so he’s stronger than ordinary people.”

“Oh…” Ye Yueshen breathed a sigh of relief, taking the official hat from Ye Yuanshen’s hand and walking inside.

An imperial eunuch followed closely behind, his attire indicating that he was not an ordinary eunuch. He was neither arrogant nor overly humble, delivering the message to Ye Yuanshen with a businesslike attitude.

Seeing that his brother’s expression was serious, Ye Yueshen quietly followed behind him, and the whole family came out to receive the decree in the front hall.

It was a great joy, Ye Yuanshen was promoted to a third-rank Hanlin Academician.

Ye Yueshen noticed that his brother was visibly stunned for a moment, but he still bowed and kowtowed, gave tea money as a reward, and had someone see the eunuch off.

Seeing that Ye Lingshen was not there, Ye Yueshen hurried to his room to spread the news, shaking him awake from bed: “Big brother has been promoted, come out quickly.”

Ye Lingshen carelessly pushed him away, snuggling into his pillow, cherishing his life of pleasure. He yawned and said perfunctorily, “Congratulations.”

“He was promoted to Hanlin Academician,” Ye Yueshen added, “The people from the palace just left, the whole family is there.”

“You said he was promoted to what?” Ye Lingshen suddenly sat up.

The two returned to the front hall. Promotion and wealth, but he didn’t understand why the Ye family wasn’t very happy. Ye Yueshen approached Ye Yuanshen, asking him with his eyes what was going on.

The Junzhu spoke first, “More than twenty years ago, when the Emperor ascended the throne, he dealt with a group of people. The Empress Dowager said that there were vacancies in important court positions, and she wanted her own people to contribute. You passed the imperial examination twice and became a secretary of the Grand Secretariat. In recent years, the execution of the rebellious prince involved many people, and it was also because there was no one capable of being used. Yuan’er passed the imperial examination and was appointed to a high position at a young age. Last year, he was first promoted to secretary of the Grand Secretariat, and at the end of the year, he also served as a scholar in the Academy. It’s only been a few months, and he’s been promoted to Hanlin Academician.”

Marquis Ye sighed, “Who doesn’t say, there’s no such way to be promoted.”

Ye Yueshen understood, it turned out that his brother was promoted too quickly, and the family was afraid that things were abnormal.

Even as the Empress Dowager’s adopted daughter, she could not avoid worrying about the future. Ye Yueshen’s understanding of imperial power deepened a bit.

“Big brother is upright as a person and as an official.” The oppressive atmosphere made Ye Yueshen a little breathless, and he spoke softly, trying to comfort everyone, “Can’t it just be that the Emperor appreciates big brother?”

Ye Yuanshen smiled and touched his head.

Marquis Ye noticed him, “Adults are talking, you go back to your room and wait.”

Ye Yueshen didn’t want to leave, but he was also a little afraid of the paddle that Marquis Ye used to hit him. Just as he was hesitating, Ye Lingshen pulled him to his side, giving Ye Yuanshen a reproachful look.

There were three brothers, but whenever two got a little closer, the other would act like he was left out, and Ye Lingshen was acting very petty.

He smiled ambiguously, “At the end of the year, you also served as a scholar in the Academy. Relatives and friends all congratulated you on gaining the Emperor’s favor and having the makings of a future prime minister. Now that you’ve been promoted to Hanlin Academician, you’ve really become a prime ministerial reserve. Why is the family afraid instead?”

“Shut up!” Marquis Ye glared over. “You unfilial thing, if it were you, you would happily take office. You’re at home idle and don’t know how to repent, talking nonsense with a sarcastic mouth. Do you want to be spanked too?”

“Still mentioning the paddle?” The Junzhu looked at Marquis Ye, and Marquis Ye flicked his sleeves and didn’t say anything more.

“Father and Mother don’t need to be anxious.” Ye Yuanshen was still gentle and calm. “It’s not yet time for the palace gates to be locked. Why don’t I enter the palace to meet the Emperor, and explain my concerns and the Emperor’s intentions clearly, so as not to implicate the family and make them overthink.”

“Exactly.” The Junzhu nodded. “Go, going early shows your appropriateness. If you don’t see the Emperor today, tomorrow I’ll enter the palace to see the Empress Dowager.”

Marquis Ye turned his head and pressed Ye Lingshen about whose house he had been drinking heavily at recently, whether he had said anything out of line. The Junzhu was helped by the maid to go to the study to check the letters.

Ye Yueshen watched Ye Yuanshen go out, unable to resist following him, looking at Ye Yuanshen getting into the carriage with a longing look.

The sudden chaos made him a little scared, and the family, which had just stabilized, showed signs of turmoil, making him very uneasy.

“Scared?” Ye Yuanshen looked back and beckoned to him.

Ye Yueshen walked over, unable to resist putting his face in his brother’s palm, showing a bit of dependence.

“It’s not your business, you just need to eat your fill, sleep your fill, and study hard.” Ye Yuanshen hadn’t seen his younger brother truly showing affection and acting spoiled. He thought for a moment, “If you’re worried, it wouldn’t be improper for you to enter the palace with me.”

Rather than waiting anxiously at home, Ye Yueshen still wanted to go together. Although he didn’t understand the court operations of this world and couldn’t help much, he could at least be by his family’s side.

The Ye family heard that Ye Yuanshen was promoted but felt like they were facing a great enemy. He couldn’t help but make the worst plan, what if there was no return and his brother was detained in the palace?

The palace halls were solemn and majestic. Ye Yueshen felt a sense of danger as he walked on the palace road. The psychological effect made him unable to resist looking around, but his self-cultivation was very good, and other than his eyes, there was nothing impolite about his behavior.

The palace servant led them to the Imperial Study. They waited in the outer room for a long time before someone came out, not leaving directly, but heading towards them.

“Is it about the promotion?” Gong Xunwu asked.

Ye Yueshen felt a little strange, how could Gong Xunwu, such a proud and indifferent person, actually care about his brother? Then he remembered that his brother used to be Gong Xunwu’s study companion, so it was normal to ask.

Ye Yuanshen nodded, “Indeed, I have unease in my heart.”

“Go.” Gong Xunwu nodded to them.

Ye Yueshen saluted with his brother, and when they passed by each other, he felt like his arm was poked, but the sensation was very light. Ye Yueshen was also a little nervous from entering the palace, so he wasn’t sure.