WMSG Chapter 52
by VolareAs the hostility and conflict threatened to devolve into chaotic farce, Ye Yueshen, at the center of the turmoil, was inexplicably swept away by emotion.
His mother was shedding tears for him, and his brother was enraged on his behalf—this was the familial affection he had always dreamed of.
Mixed with the gratitude was a tinge of regret. If he had had such a family in his previous world, the bullying born of his isolation and the destitution of having no fixed abode would have never existed.
It’s inevitable for people to become insatiable at certain moments. Ye Yueshen suddenly felt a sense of regret, because even though he now had a family, he faced an even more dangerous situation.
His hardship was no longer the isolation and destitution of merely trying to survive, but a life-or-death crisis far beyond his capabilities.
He felt he was being a bit greedy. “Second Brother, the Qi Wang Manor is the safest place. I can’t go home.”
Ye Lingshen stared at him, his eyes wide. Ye Yueshen suspected that this look contained not only incomprehension but also disdain for his submission to Gong Xunwu.
“But Second Brother, can you stay here with me?” Ye Yueshen squeezed Ye Lingshen’s fingers. Ye Lingshen’s expression changed quickly, and his eyes softened. He nodded. “I’ll stay.”
The Junzhu once again asked Gong Xunwu to speak privately, leaving Ye Yueshen and Ye Lingshen alone in the room.
In her earlier anxious concern, the Junzhu had overlooked many details, which were now easily spotted by the deliberately scrutinizing Ye Lingshen.
He picked up Gong Xunwu’s emerald pendant and weighed it in his hand, then asked Ye Yueshen, “When I escorted tribute back to the capital from Nanzhao, knocking off just a small piece of it brought him to our doorstep personally. But now he’s giving you the best piece, with the finest color and clarity, for nothing. What do you think about that?”
Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but retort, “You call that a small piece?”
Ye Lingshen immediately slapped the bedside table, glaring at Ye Yueshen. “I’m talking about your secret rendezvous. You have time to quibble over how much jade I stole.”
Ye Yueshen knew that Ye Lingshen was an unreasonable person who could reach the pinnacle of sophistry with his mouth, relying purely on eloquent lies and unreasonable arguments.
After being interrupted by Ye Yueshen, Ye Lingshen almost couldn’t muster the strength to continue his aggressive questioning. He scolded again, “I’m teaching you as your elder brother, and yet you show no remorse.”
Ye Yueshen understood that this wasn’t about settling right and wrong, but rather Ye Lingshen wanting to act like an elder brother. Realizing this, Ye Yueshen breathed a sigh of relief and readily admitted his mistake: “I was wrong. You can hit me or scold me; I’ll take it all.”
Seeing him admit his mistake so readily, Ye Lingshen put on an even bigger act. “What were you wrong about?” Although his tone was still stern, his eyes had softened.
He asked this question following procedure, but it stumped Ye Yuehen. Ye Yueshen fell silent and seriously examined himself. After a long while, his eyes glazed over. Yes, what was he wrong about?
No matter how he thought about it, he wasn’t wrong. Ye Yueshen pursed his lips. Perhaps he was immature, not calm enough, or not rational enough, but demanding that a person from another world quickly integrate into this world and be familiar with its rules of conduct was a bit too harsh.
Moreover, he was only eighteen years old this year. He was just a struggling young man trying to survive. His biggest troubles in interpersonal relationships were the oppression and bullying that came from being a dependent.
But now, members of the royal family were trying to kill him. He was in the open, while they were in the shadows. It was all so absurd. The fact that he hadn’t died yet was already a stroke of good fortune. How could anyone have the nerve to question his rights and wrongs?
“Second Brother,” Ye Yueshen consulted him, “how about you ask in a different way? If you ask in a different way, I promise I’ll make you happy.”
“Who wants you to make me happy?” Ye Lingshen frowned, looking somewhat embarrassed and angry. How could he admit that he just wanted to experience the fun of lecturing his younger brother like Ye Yuanshen usually did?
So he started to knead Ye Yueshen’s cheeks until Ye Yueshen suddenly started to gag.
The complications from the poisoning manifested one after another. Nausea and vomiting were minor; the occasional palpitations were the most tormenting.
Ye Yueshen didn’t want the Junzhu to worry, so he asked Ye Lingshen to persuade her to go home. Only then did he unable to hold back his moans, and he was soon covered in sweat.
Ju Su said that now was the most energy-consuming time, and ordered someone to stew honey tremella porridge to replenish his strength. Ye Yueshen was in so much pain that he nearly lost control, wrinkling the bedding.
Gong Xunwu held him in his arms and coaxed him to drink half a bowl of porridge. In a moment of carelessness, Ye Yueshen scratched several bloody marks on his arm.
Gong Xunwu had no choice but to hold his hands down. Ye Lingshen, while searching for a wide strip of cloth, cursed Gong Xunwu’s bad luck. Gong Xunwu had endured more curses from the Ye family brothers in his life than he ever had before, but he had no time to argue now.
By the time everything was settled, it was almost noon. Seeing that Ye Yueshen had calmed down, Ye Lingshen slammed the door open and collapsed on the couch in the outer room, falling asleep instantly.
Gong Xunwu hadn’t slept all night, and his eyes were bloodshot. He loosened the wide cloth strip on Ye Yueshen’s arm. Ye Yueshen didn’t remember what had happened. He touched his arm and felt a few scabs, then lifted his arm to look at them, asking in confusion, “Did your cat get into the room?”
Gong Xunwu was speechless. Ye Yueshen was a little angry. “You have so many people, and you can’t keep an eye on a cat? Look at how it scratched me.”
He held his pale, slender arm in front of Gong Xunwu. His skin had scabs and red marks from being constricted by the wide cloth strip. Gong Xunwu felt an urge to bite him, but he didn’t.
“Let’s be reasonable,” Gong Xunwu said, grasping his arm and stroking it with his thumb. “You scratched these yourself.”
“I forgot,” Ye Yueshen said, lying on his side on the pillow, his cheek squishing into a small mound of flesh. Compared to the average young nobleman, Ye Yueshen was too thin, but he was young, and his face still had a bit of baby fat.
Gong Xunwu didn’t often see him from this angle. When they shared a bed, Ye Yueshen mostly turned his back to him, and Gong Xunwu could only embrace him from behind. Sometimes he would pinch his cheeks, but his eyes didn’t often have this luxury.
Gong Xunwu felt that Ye Yueshen was unusually gentle today, even wanting to categorize Ye Yueshen’s reaction as “burning with passion,” but he calmed down and realized that Ye Yueshen had only said four simple words: “I forgot.”
“Do you know how humble I am in front of you?” Gong Xunwu reached out and flicked the tip of his nose.
Ye Yueshen’s eyes immediately shot to him, and Gong Xunwu realized he probably said the wrong thing.
“You first need to kneel down and give me a grand salute,” Ye Yueshen’s voice was still a bit hoarse. “From now on, when I send a message asking to see you, you will take the initiative to go to the Ye manor to find me, then wash yourself clean. No matter what I say, you can’t get angry. Then I’ll believe you’re humble.”
Gong Xunwu was stunned, not because he had only realized today, after enjoying the gifts of power for so many years, but because he felt “unworthy” for the first time.
He wiped the sweat from Ye Yueshen’s face and neck with his hand. Ye Yueshen interpreted these actions as avoidance and couldn’t help but mock, “Don’t say things like that to upset me in the future, for the sake of all the kowtowing I’ve done to you.”
Gong Xunwu stood up. Ye Yueshen thought he had been angered and left, but Gong Xunwu took two steps and stopped, turning around to face Ye Yueshen. He knelt down on one knee, and then the other without hesitation.
He knelt on the ground with composure, extending both arms and performing a proper salute to Ye Yueshen, then kowtowing sincerely.
Since the late Emperor’s death, Gong Xunwu hadn’t kowtowed so sincerely, and even Ye Yueshen fell into a silence of not knowing how to react.
He acted as if he was doing something perfectly natural, still kneeling on the ground, straightening his back and asking, “What’s wrong?”
Ye Yueshen: “Get up.”
Gong Xunwu followed his instructions readily, a hint of imperceptible joy in his expression. Sure enough, Ye Yueshen wasn’t as disgusted with him as he showed; he was just putting on a tough act.
“You’re acting very strange,” Ye Yueshen frowned slightly. “Every time I see you, as long as there are outsiders present, me kneeling down to salute is an unavoidable thing. But what about you?”
Gong Xunwu understood Ye Yueshen’s meaning and felt a pang of annoyance.
“This is completely different,” Ye Yueshen sighed. “It’s me who wants you to kneel, and it’s me who doesn’t want you to kneel. You must think I’m being unreasonable, right?”
“I don’t,” Gong Xunwu said seriously, sitting down by the bed. “I don’t think you’re being unreasonable. I understand that you have no choice but to kneel before me, while whether or not I kneel, no one would dare to say anything. You’re upset about that.”
Ye Yueshen blinked, and that contradictory feeling arose in his heart again, making him want to scream and smash things.
Gong Xunwu seemed to have changed his personality. “You are intelligent, kind, and spirited. You are a real person, and I lack contact with real people. In the future, you tell me, and I will understand.”
He spoke with sincerity and earnestness, but Ye Yueshen was furious and wanted him to get out. On what basis? On what basis did he have to endure the arrogant, indifferent, and self-righteous Gong Xunwu, endure his oppression and willfulness, and be hurt so terribly by him?
And now, Gong Xunwu had actually repented, claiming to want Ye Yueshen to teach him, yet he was still arrogantly self-righteous, making one’s hair stand on end. On what basis should Ye Yueshen turn over this page, teach him without any reservations, as if the past never happened?
“Get out,” Ye Yueshen said, turning over and turning his back to him. He didn’t have the energy to argue now, nor did he want to argue at this time. Gong Xunwu helped him clean up the mess and took care of him with all his heart.
If it weren’t for Gong Xunwu, he wouldn’t have been able to see the Imperial Physician and might have suffered even more.
Gong Xunwu didn’t want to go against him, but he didn’t want to leave either.
Although he didn’t expect Ye Yueshen to be so moved that he would cry, at least he should have had a smile. A bit of frustrated anger rose in Gong Xunwu’s heart, and he felt he was truly at his wit’s end.
Ye Yueshen didn’t hear the door open for a long time, so he turned around and found Gong Xunwu facing the door motionless, looking like he was being punished.
“Come back,” Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but call him.
Gong Xunwu obediently came back.
“I want to take a bath,” Ye Yueshen said. He had been sweating a lot since he was injured, and although he didn’t feel anything unbearable on his body, he still felt a bit disgusted when he thought about being so close to the assassin.
Gong Xunwu forbade it. “Imperial Physician Ju said you can’t. Actually, you’re very clean right now. I helped you wipe down last night.”
His eyes quickly swept over Ye Yueshen’s body. “I wiped you very clean, without missing a spot.”
Ye Yueshen felt his blood pressure rise a little. If he continued to entangle with Gong Xunwu for a long time, he was afraid he would shorten his lifespan, but he had no choice. Leaving Gong Xunwu might lead to an even faster death.
Ye Yueshen was speechless, so he asked him, “Where’s Ruo Ya?”
Gong Xunwu immediately became vigilant. Ye Yueshen always showed great concern for people of humble status like Liu Qingying and Ruo Ya.
Gong Xunwu thought Liu Qingying and Ruo Ya were unremarkable. He couldn’t think of any features they had that could attract Ye Yueshen’s attention. Could it be that low status made them more pitiable? He certainly didn’t have an advantage in that regard. Gong Xunwu’s mood soured. “He’s not here.”
The door was gently knocked, and then pushed open a crack. Ruo Ya’s deer-like eyes appeared in the gap, and he whispered, “Young Master Yue, I’ve stewed some pear water for you.”
Ye Yueshen glanced at Gong Xunwu, and after a moment, he said, “Thank you. Come in.”
Ruo Ya pushed the door open and came in, pouring a small bowl of the stewed pear water. He thoughtfully scooped out a spoonful, walked over, and naturally brought it to Ye Yueshen’s lips.
Gong Xunwu took the porcelain spoon and bowl from his hand, poured the pear water from the spoon back into the bowl, stirred it a few times, and put down the spoon, which bumped against the side with an impolite clink.
Gong Xunwu found fault with the pear water, saying unkindly, “You didn’t stew it long enough. He can’t eat it.”
“It’s not raw,” Ruo Ya said, widening his eyes. Unwilling to give up, he wanted to take the bowl to prove it to Ye Yueshen, but Gong Xunwu casually tossed it onto a nearby side table, making things difficult. “The pear pieces you cut are different sizes. The small ones are cooked, but the big ones aren’t. The big ones are cooked, but the small ones are overcooked. Take it away.”
Ruo Ya was completely stunned. He stiffly picked up the bowl from the side table. Ye Yueshen couldn’t bear it. “It’s okay. Let me drink a little pear water. It looks sweet.”
Ruo Ya was about to bring it back, but when he inadvertently met Gong Xunwu’s eyes, he hesitated and obediently left with the stewed pear water.
Ye Yueshen didn’t see the eye contact between Ruo Ya and Gong Xunwu and thought that Ruo Ya was sad.
He sighed. Gong Xunwu said, “Gong Yiyin has returned to the palace.”
Ye Yueshen wasn’t surprised. “I expected it.” He couldn’t personally kill Gong Yiyin, so there was no one who dared to kill him, and no reason to kill him.
“Your mother discussed it with me. She said the Ye family can’t bear the consequences of a prince’s death,” Gong Xunwu explained. “I should have taken care of him myself yesterday.”
He actually wanted to say directly: Perhaps I care about you even more than your mother does.
But he didn’t have the confidence to say it. Ye Yueshen would definitely think that he dared to kill only because he had the power to do whatever he wanted.
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” Ye Yueshen said, tasting his words and feeling a bit like an ingrate. So, he added, “I didn’t mean for you to turn against the Emperor for my sake, causing brotherly strife.”
Ruo Ya pushed open the door again. “Sha Ou asked me to relay a message: The Emperor is here.”
In an instant, Ye Yueshen thought of many reasons why the Emperor would come: to support the Third Prince Gong Yiyin and avenge him, to condemn him for ruining Gong Shengyin’s estate-establishing banquet… There had been rumors reaching the Emperor’s ears before. Thinking of this, it seemed more likely that he was here to make Ye Yueshen get out of the Qi Wang Manor.
After all, he was a man. How could a man be entangled with the Qi Wang and spread rumors? The self-loathing from his previous life all came back, and Ye Yueshen’s face turned pale.
The Emperor was different from the decree-announcing eunuchs. No one dared to stop him, and no one could stop him.
No sooner had Ruo Ya finished speaking than the Emperor had personally pushed open the door, without even giving them time to react and come up with a countermeasure.
Gong Xunwu and Ye Yueshen were still in their original positions. Ye Yueshen was lying on his side in bed, and Gong Xunwu was sitting at the head of the bed, his arm protectively around Ye Yueshen’s shoulders.
The Emperor didn’t pay any attention to them, but sat down on the soft chair next to the bed on his own and watched them without saying a word.