WMSG Chapter 63
by VolareChapter 63: You Were Always a Useless Person…
Today the court adjourned early, Ye Yuanshen unconsciously quickened his pace, passing one court official after another. The palace gate was slightly congested at this time, so he slowed down, looking back anxiously. He saw Gong Xunwu walking out with a gloomy expression.
Ye Yuanshen lowered his head to avoid him. In the morning, he had overheard a palace servant in charge of ceremonial robes whispering to a court official whose daughter was in the harem. Ye Yuanshen hadn’t paid much attention at first, but the words “Third Young Master of the Ye Family” couldn’t help but catch his attention.
Moreover, when he turned his head to look, the other person revealed a horrified expression upon noticing him nearby. For the first time, he was distracted during court, barely making it through half the day.
He knew Ye Yueshen harbored feelings for Gong Xunwu. Just by looking at Gong Xunwu’s expression, he knew that it had at least spread throughout the imperial family.
He wanted to avoid him, but Gong Xunwu saw him anyway: “Fuyi, a word in private.”
“This humble official is in a hurry to return home. If Your Highness doesn’t have anything important, perhaps another…”
“Fuyi,” Gong Xunwu called out to him slowly, his tone brooking no argument. “I said, a word in private.”
Ye Yuanshen walked with him to a deserted spot beneath the palace walls. Gong Xunwu said bluntly, “I heard that the Third Young Master Ye and the Crown Prince are having an affair, so I entered the palace early this morning.”
Ye Yuanshen’s heart pounded. He maintained a stern face and retorted defensively, “Qi Wang, Your Highness, please don’t make groundless accusations. This humble official…”
“It’s not me making groundless accusations, it’s them.” Gong Xunwu was uncharacteristically amiable. Even when they were studying together, Gong Xunwu had never been so patient in explaining things. Ye Yuanshen even detected a hint of earnestness.
Ye Yuanshen was bothered by his own thoughts and frowned involuntarily. “What’s going on?”
Gong Xunwu didn’t take his attitude to heart and explained, “It’s that cousin of yours. I always thought he was ambitious, but not very clever. I didn’t expect him to have the ability to cause such a commotion.”
Ye Yuanshen pondered for a moment, still finding it unlikely. “Yuan Bianyin?”
“That’s what the Crown Prince said.” Gong Xunwu’s tone was somewhere between a command and a request. “Take me to your house. I want to see Yueshen.”
Thinking of Ye Yueshen’s tears, Ye Yuanshen thought this wasn’t a bad thing and agreed.
According to Ye Yuanshen’s thinking, he was unwilling for Ye Yueshen to have any entanglements with people from families even more powerful than theirs, especially a man, and especially the Qi Wang.
But the way Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but shed tears was like a knife cutting flesh. Ever since Ye Yueshen had been beaten, his personality had changed somewhat, and he couldn’t bring himself to say too many harsh words.
Since Ye Yueshen liked him, he felt that it wasn’t impossible. If Gong Xunwu were to let him down, then he would impeach Gong Xunwu before the Emperor.
Ye Yuanshen didn’t alert anyone, leading Gong Xunwu in through a side gate. When they reached Ye Yueshen’s courtyard, they saw Ye Lingshen coming out.
Compared to Ye Yuanshen’s attitude, Ye Lingshen’s was a complete about-face. He suddenly stepped forward and gave Gong Xunwu a heavy shove. Ye Yuanshen’s eyes widened. He subconsciously stepped between them, looking at Ye Lingshen with some worry, and then at Gong Xunwu.
Gong Xunwu didn’t seem to be angry at all. He simply avoided Ye Lingshen’s gaze and said to Ye Yuanshen, “Don’t delay, let’s go.”
“What are you doing here?” Ye Lingshen charged forward again. “You shameless old man, you dare chase after him to our house? Do you think we Ye family members are all dead?”
“Calm down,” Ye Yuanshen grabbed Ye Lingshen’s arm. “What are you doing?”
At the moment their eyes met, they both felt a sense of shock.
Ye Lingshen was the first to object, glaring at his older brother with cold eyes. “Are you crazy? You know everything and you still brought him to see Third Yueshen? Aren’t you forcing Third Yueshen to die?”
Ye Yuanshen felt a wave of confusion at his words, but didn’t think he was entirely wrong. He looked at Gong Xunwu uncertainly, then said to Ye Lingshen, “How do you know Little Yueshen doesn’t want to see him?”
“Madman!” Ye Lingshen cursed at Ye Yuanshen, then said in exasperation, “Someone cares more than you and arrived earlier than you. You should go back now, don’t make it embarrassing for everyone.”
He strode away, heavily bumping into Gong Xunwu’s shoulder as he passed.
A flash of gloominess and impatience appeared in Gong Xunwu’s eyes, but he quickly masked it, looking at Ye Yuanshen calmly with an extremely magnanimous attitude. “Let’s go see Yueshen first.”
Ye Yuanshen looked at Ye Lingshen’s departing back with suspicion. He thought Gong Xunwu’s attitude was pretty good. If he and Ye Yueshen were truly in love, then even if their family couldn’t support the marriage, as an older brother of the same generation, there was no need to be so opposed to it.
To demand that everyone sacrifice their own happiness for the glory of the family, Ye Yuanshen felt that this was the incompetence of Ye Daijin as a father and himself as the eldest brother.
Since their family could support itself, Ye Yueshen didn’t necessarily have to be someone who brought glory. He could be a little selfish for himself.
Because Ye Lingshen said someone had arrived earlier, according to Gong Xunwu’s wishes, the two of them quietly went in first, heading to the small door that servants usually used to enter and exit, which led directly to the well in the backyard for easy cleaning.
Ye Yuanshen resisted this ungentlemanly behavior, but Gong Xunwu actually gave him an almost pleading look, saying to him, “Please.”
The Qi Wang saying such words to him made Ye Yuanshen lose his mind for a moment, truly seeing him as someone who could become his brother-in-law. He followed him and stood behind the screen partition.
Although he hadn’t interacted with him much, Ye Yuanshen instantly recognized the other, more agitated voice as the Fifth Prince, Gong Shengyin.
After hearing about “the Crown Prince and the Third Young Master Ye having an affair,” and that the Crown Prince had already been ordered to reflect on his actions, Gong Shengyin immediately put down his affairs and left the palace. He couldn’t imagine that, apart from himself, anyone else in the imperial family would dare to risk the Emperor’s displeasure to entangle with the Junzhu’s son.
He knew Ye Yueshen’s identity was unusual, as he was the descendant of a loyal martyr, so he had never acted rashly.
The one who wins the world possesses everything. Gong Shengyin felt that he was not being putting the cart before the horse by not entangling himself now, but rather focusing on his most important matter.
But after hearing about what happened last night, he panicked and shattered the cup in his hand. Before this, he hadn’t realized that Ye Yueshen was so important to him.
Upon seeing Ye Yueshen, he couldn’t help but grab his shoulders and question him, “Did you spend the night with the Crown Prince?”
Ye Yueshen had been hit several times by Ye Hou, and one blow had landed on his shoulder. He endured the pain to push away Gong Shengyin’s hand, while Gong Shengyin’s eyes were filled with stubbornness as he insisted on asking, “Speak, did you spend the night with the Crown Prince?”
Ye Yueshen felt that his shoulder must be bruised, and he was also a bit rebellious because of Gong Shengyin’s anger. He looked at Gong Shengyin coldly and asked him ambiguously, “So what if I did, and so what if I didn’t?”
Gong Shengyin seemed to have suffered a great blow. He released Ye Yueshen, then stared deeply at him for a moment, his tone filled with indescribable stubbornness. “Zherong, you can’t get too involved with the Crown Prince.”
“That’s my business,” Ye Yueshen looked at him warily. “You should focus on your own affairs and stay away from me.”
“Zherong, you don’t understand,” Gong Shengyin smiled bitterly. In reality, he couldn’t think of anything to say at this moment, but he couldn’t use a bitter and resentful expression for what he was about to say.
A look of infatuation appeared in his eyes. “Zherong, no one cares about me in this life, no one has ever been good to me, only you. You have no relationship with me, yet you dared to clash with Gong Xuyin’s people for my sake.”
“You’re thinking too much,” Ye Yueshen felt he was hopeless.
The rescued falling in love with their savior. Ye Yueshen remembered there was a saying called the “repayment effect,” but he didn’t think Gong Shengyin had that kind of conscience. If he did, he wouldn’t have hurt Liu Qingying so badly, body and mind.
Perhaps there was also the suspension bridge effect to explain it, but Ye Yueshen felt that Gong Shengyin’s heart should have beat faster when he pushed Gong Xuyin into the water. Why didn’t he fall in love with Gong Xuyin?
Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but sigh. “Don’t be delusional anymore. You simply can’t distinguish your inner feelings. Perhaps you are better at scheming and calculating, but in matters of emotion, you are a fool. Perhaps you should pay more attention to the people around you and take fewer detours.”
Gong Shengyin became a little anxious. “I don’t understand, where am I not to your liking? Or do you simply not want a man and still want to marry and have children?”
“That’s my business,” Ye Yueshen took a step back. “Can you please stop talking to yourself?”
“Zherong!” Gong Shengyin was already very agitated. “Why do you always reject me? What have I done to make you so disgusted with me?”
It was at this moment that Gong Xunwu and Ye Yuanshen stood behind the screen.
Gong Xunwu blinked. He wanted to hear what Ye Yueshen had to say.
“I hate people with the surname Gong,” Ye Yueshen’s voice was cold and unrestrained. “I hate them all. Can you accept that reason?”
“You…” Gong Shengyin calmed down for a while. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was more rational. He didn’t want to argue and make each other unhappy. Instead, he said, “I fell in love with you a long time ago, not because of your appearance, but because of your true heart. You saved me when we were strangers. In Heyun Palace, you kindly exchanged clothes with me. I was very touched.”
Behind the screen, Gong Xunwu clenched his teeth. Ye Yuanshen frowned. He was hesitating whether to go out and interrupt them.
But perhaps, it would be better for Gong Xunwu to hear Ye Yueshen rejecting someone else? Ye Yuanshen stood still, not moving. He was also very confused right now.
Ye Yueshen lowered his head and laughed, then raised his head again, his eyes devoid of any emotion. He felt that the current scene was very farcical. Gong Shengyin was still following the original plot line, busy building up his wings and taking revenge one after another, while he was also spending a lot of energy on staying alive.
Even so, Gong Shengyin was still able to speak of his negligible feelings for him with such sincerity.
“Fifth Prince,” Ye Yueshen said to him, “I’m not touched, not at all. I don’t know if I’ve ever given you any signals that made you think there was an opportunity, making you try again and again.”
He watched Gong Shengyin’s expression gradually turn gloomy, but he had no intention of showing mercy. Instead, he continued, “I don’t want to spend any more time listening to you say these words. In order to avoid making you think I’m playing hard to get, I might as well make it clear, I hope you listen carefully to every word I say.”
Gong Shengyin’s fingers clenched into fists. Behind the screen, Gong Xunwu’s tightly clenched teeth had relaxed, but he had a feeling of his heart being in his throat. But this feeling wasn’t bad, it was a kind of “homesickness” anticipation.
Ye Yueshen said, “On the day you established your own estate and held a banquet, when you asked Qi Wang to conceal this matter because you were afraid of being implicated, I would never look at you again.”
Behind the screen, Gong Xunwu was so delighted that he almost laughed out loud. He covered it up by pursing his lips, then looked at Ye Yuanshen next to him as if trying to hide something.
Even he himself didn’t realize that his expression at this moment was a bit like a young man.
Ye Yuanshen even looked at him with some disgust for a while, then turned his attention back to the two people separated by the screen. He was afraid that Gong Shengyin would become angry and harm Ye Yueshen.
Living up to Ye Yuanshen’s biased impression of men being easily angered and base, Gong Shengyin indeed became angry. He sneered, his voice trembling slightly, “You have no scheming or plotting skills, nor do you have the ability to govern a country. Do you know why people still flock to you one after another?”
Ye Yueshen also laughed. He found it amusing that Gong Shengyin was so exasperated.
Behind the screen, Ye Yuanshen held his breath and raised his head, angered by Gong Shengyin’s rudeness.
And Gong Xunwu next to him was very calm. He really wanted to punch Gong Shengyin, but for the sake of a permanent solution, he wanted Gong Shengyin to say irreparable words even more. Rather than him intervening, he wanted Gong Shengyin to mess things up himself.
As for Ye Yueshen being hurt by those words, of course he would be the one to comfort and coax him.
Gong Xunwu was a little surprised that selfishness could make a person so insidious, but he didn’t think it was shameful.
Ye Yueshen was a unique treasure, and he wouldn’t be able to obtain him without using some means. Although it would accidentally hurt Ye Yueshen a little, he would compensate him. He justified himself in his heart.
Although Ye Yueshen didn’t care about Gong Shengyin, he still couldn’t avoid being hurt by these words. He restrained his smile and said softly, “You belittle me as being useless, but you say you’re in love with me.”
Gong Shengyin had already lost his mind, being rejected by Ye Yueshen so thoroughly, he was much sadder than he had expected.
Driven by a strong aggression, he said to Ye Yueshen, “Because you are outside the situation and have no intention of harming others. You are not only as beautiful as an angel, but also completely harmless. Ye Yueshen, all the diligence and flattery you receive, as well as the imperial family’s pity, are only because of your value for pleasure. You were always a useless person.”
Ye Yueshen was attacked by his words, lowered his head, and nodded very lightly: “I know, you can go.”
Ye Yuanshen’s chest heaved violently. He looked coldly at Gong Xunwu next to him, who showed no expression, and expressed his dissatisfaction with his silence with his eyes.
Gong Xunwu should have been complacent about Gong Shengyin cutting off his own retreat, but he wasn’t. He completely stood on Ye Yueshen’s side, feeling unworthy for Ye Yueshen.
Gong Shengyin also didn’t expect Ye Yueshen to have such an expression. He thought it would develop into mutual attacks, but Ye Yueshen actually lowered his head and accepted his attack.
He came back to his senses, realizing that the aggression he had felt just now wasn’t Ye Yueshen’s malice, but only because Ye Yueshen was right.
Gong Xunwu suddenly regretted it so much that he wanted to bang his head against the wall. Strong emotions almost shattered his self-esteem. He knelt down and hugged Ye Yueshen’s leg shamelessly, begging, “Zherong, look at me…”
Ye Yueshen staggered from his sudden movement and looked at him subconsciously.
Gong Xunwu couldn’t help but want to come out, but was pulled back by Ye Yuanshen.
Ye Yuanshen also regretted it. He didn’t want to care about Gong Xunwu’s thoughts, nor did he care about Gong Xunwu’s choice. All the princes, whether they were imperial princes or princes, only deserved to be picked and chosen by his younger brother like vegetables. Why care about the feelings of the vegetables?
As for now, it wasn’t Gong Xunwu’s chance to be a hero, but rather Gong Xunwu’s punishment for being an onlooker—he wasn’t qualified to do anything in the Ye family.
“Zherong…” Gong Shengyin’s tone was humble. “I was wrong, I spoke without thinking. You must believe me, you must believe that I am truly in love with you. I am willing to do anything for you, and I will get revenge on anyone who bullies you sooner or later.”
Remembering that Gong Shengyin did solve the princes one by one in the original book, Ye Yueshen nodded, his mouth moving faster than his brain, his voice very soft, almost to himself: “I believe you.”
Ye Yuanshen took a deep breath, walked out from behind the screen, looked coldly at the Fifth Prince kneeling on the ground and hugging Ye Yueshen’s calf, and said coldly, “Fifth Prince, does the Emperor know you’re at the Ye family?”
When only Gong Shengyin and Ye Yueshen were together, Gong Shengyin felt embarrassed, but with outsiders present, it was another feeling.
He was silent for a moment, then supported himself on his knees to stand up, looking at Ye Yuanshen indifferently. Thinking that he was Ye Yueshen’s older brother, he reluctantly nodded to him: “Young Master Yuan.”
Ye Yuanshen showed no expression. The attitudes of the two could even be said to be reversed. Ye Yuanshen said unceremoniously, “Fifth Prince, considering your intentions, you should also know that my family has matters to attend to, so I won’t keep you.”
Gong Shengyin could only endure his displeasure. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, calculating in his heart about the Junzhu who didn’t like him last time, as well as Ye Yuanshen at this moment. He couldn’t help but think that when he ascended the throne, he would let these people…
He looked at Ye Yueshen and said with restraint, “Zherong, I’ll go first.”