WMSG Chapter 67

Chapter 67: What Kind of Incense Does Consort Yu Use?

Junzhu walked outside the door and didn’t see anyone following. When she turned back, she saw Gong Xunwu covering Ye Yueshen’s legs with a brocade quilt. Ye Yueshen, she didn’t know how he was persuaded, but in short, he was sitting blankly on the couch, a little confused but very obediently not getting out of bed.

Gong Xunwu arranged Ye Yueshen’s discarded shoes neatly before turning around and walking over. At least from his actions, he was docile and respectful without a trace of temper.

Junzhu felt even more angry. She walked to the outer corridor to wait. When Gong Xunwu came out, he took the initiative to close the door: “Junzhu.”

“My son will be nineteen after the New Year.” Junzhu couldn’t help but get excited when she mentioned this: “You are as old as my eldest son, do you know what you are doing?”

Gong Xunwu nodded slightly: “I know.” He had a good attitude, but he looked like he was unrepentant.

Junzhu snorted coldly: “I don’t think you know at all. If you are fond of men, the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Brother won’t say a word to you, but Xiaoyue is my son. How do you want the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Brother to settle the lawsuit between us!”

Gong Xunwu didn’t speak. Junzhu didn’t know yet that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager already knew about him and Ye Yueshen.

He felt a little guilty. It was only now that he realized the clue. This didn’t mean that Junzhu was stupid. On the contrary, Gong Xunwu knew that Junzhu was a wise and decisive person.

Junzhu couldn’t see what was going on between them only because she had never thought about it. In her heart, this was something that would never happen. She would even find it unbelievable to hear outsiders say it.

Almost at the same time Gong Xunwu was born, Junzhu married Ye Daijin and left the palace. They didn’t live in the same palace day and night, lacked understanding of each other, and even lacked emotional bonds. To this day, Gong Xunwu didn’t have the real feeling of having a sister with Junzhu. “Adoptive sister” was just a title to him that showed the imperial family’s favor.

The Emperor sitting on the dragon throne was his blood relative. Gong Xunwu had a distant respect for Junzhu, but not reverence. So what if Ye Yueshen was Junzhu’s son? He liked Ye Yueshen, and if he liked him, he would take him.

But looking at Junzhu’s trembling fingers, he thought of Ye Yueshen. This was Ye Yueshen’s mother, and he couldn’t possibly have no emotional fluctuations.

So Gong Xunwu rarely felt a little guilty, both for Ye Yueshen and for concealing the fact that his mother and brother knew but did not interfere.

“I admit my mistake.” Gong Xunwu lowered his head slightly: “I admit everything.”

Junzhu closed her eyes. She was about to hold back the sob in her throat: “You… break up immediately.”

“No.” Gong Xunwu raised his head: “I said I admit my mistake. I will accept the palace rules or the Ye family’s house rules, but we can’t break up.”

“You are really hopeless.” Junzhu glared at him: “You’re crazy by yourself, don’t drag my son down and ruin his life!”

Junzhu searched around, walked to the high table, picked up a celadon vase and smashed it at Gong Xunwu. The vase made a “thump” sound on the bone and then fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Junzhu then picked up a jade Ruyi and a enamel pot and smashed them at Gong Xunwu. Gong Xunwu just stood there and let her smash him, but he never let go.

“Junzhu.” Gong Xunwu opened his mouth: “I don’t know if you already know, but before you got married, the Imperial Brother had already asked the late Emperor to erase the adoptive mother-daughter relationship between you and the Empress Dowager.”

“Get out!” Junzhu threw the mother-of-pearl plate containing candied fruit at Gong Xunwu. She was so angry that she was dizzy, but Gong Xunwu was still adding fuel to the fire.

“I’m just reminding you that this happened.” Gong Xunwu insisted on saying it. He didn’t want Junzhu to think that this was an obstacle between him and Ye Yueshen.

Gong Xunwu reached out and grabbed the handle of the whisk that Junzhu swung over, and advised in a deep voice: “Junzhu, please go inside. Tonight is the Little New Year’s Eve palace banquet, and all the relatives of the imperial family are here, so as not to let people watch the fun. Yueshen will lose face.”

“You were hugging and holding my son in public, and now you remember that my son will lose face?” Junzhu tried hard to snatch the whisk. Gong Xunwu sighed and let go. After being beaten a few times by Junzhu, Junzhu finally calmed down a little.

Gong Xunwu was right. She couldn’t leave for too long. Her face was a small matter. She didn’t care about the Ye family’s face even more. She only cared about being noticed by others, and her precious youngest son would have to face rumors.

She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and squeezed out a flawless smile. She had to pretend that everything was normal. Just now, Qi Wang took his son away just to help. They were relatives and there was no shady entanglement.

Junzhu walked to the door, then suddenly stopped, quickly returned and slapped Gong Xunwu hard, reprimanding: “Get out of here! If I find out that you are alone with my son after I leave, I will risk everything to make you look good!” Junzhu spat again before leaving.

Gong Xunwu took off his soiled coat and walked slowly into the side hall where Ye Yueshen was resting, completely ignoring Junzhu’s words.

The sweet and sour wine made people too easily careless. Ye Yueshen drank a lot of cups one after another and was now asleep with his eyes closed, breathing very lightly.

Gong Xunwu sat down by the couch, stroking Junzhu’s cheek with his fingers. The soft skin was very addictive. Gong Xunwu lowered his head and kissed it.

Just now, when he faced Junzhu, he was actually very unsure. Now that Ye Yueshen was determined to separate from him, when he could coax him was still unknown.

Until the whisk hit him, he felt a little more at ease when he felt the pain. But this kind of peace of mind was also almost psychological comfort.

Gong Xunwu called Shaou, and Shaou walked in, his tone a little hesitant: “Your Highness…”

Shaou had accompanied Gong Xunwu to do many things that couldn’t be seen, and all of Gong Xunwu’s orders were passed down by him, even some that were hidden from the Emperor. Shaou was not sure whether the Emperor would approve of them after knowing.

But it was the first time he had shown this kind of “it’s over” expression and tone.

As a member of the royal family, and especially Qi Wang, Shaou felt that it was reasonable to do some shady things, but Ye Yueshen’s matter was different.

This involved people outside the situation. Ye Yueshen was not a prince fighting for power, he was just a noble young master who was dragged into an unclear relationship by his Highness.

This had reached the category of going against his conscience. Shaou felt that fighting was only fair if it was reciprocal, but this was just an unexpected disaster for the Ye family.

Gong Xunwu gave him a cold look. Gong Xunwu couldn’t stand the slightest expression of disapproval now. He couldn’t tolerate anyone showing disapproval of what he wanted to do.

What’s more, it was about Ye Yueshen. He wanted Ye Yueshen, and he wanted the whole world to agree, whether sincerely or under his threat.

“Go and have someone check if Jiangyun Palace is ready.” Gong Xunwu said.

Shaou immediately understood his meaning: “You want to take Young Master Yue to Jiangyun Palace to rest?”

Gong Xunwu looked at him without saying a word. Shaou rarely questioned him before. Occasionally, he would only ask a few questions when he did something too dangerous. He would use a cold gaze and remain silent to put pressure on him, warning him that he couldn’t be questioned.

But Shaou really felt it was inappropriate this time. Although he was afraid, he still weakly reminded: “Junzhu is at the palace banquet. If you take Young Master Yue away like this, what if Junzhu asks the Emperor and the Empress Dowager for him? What should we do?”

Gong Xunwu couldn’t hear anything anymore: “Junzhu won’t.”

The questioning just now had used all of Shaou’s courage, so he had to say: “There must be a palace banquet today, and Jiangyun Palace must have been cleaned up, so there shouldn’t be anything inappropriate.”

“The bedding I usually sleep on is thin, he can’t use it. Go and have someone change it to a thicker and lighter one.” Gong Xunwu paused for a moment: “Have someone go to the Ye family and tell Ye Yuanshen that Yueshen is staying in the palace today. I’ll let him find an excuse to deal with Junzhu.”

Ye Yuanshen was a competent person, and he had never done a bad job in the court. He also spoke impeccably. Gong Xunwu knew that in this sober state, without seeing Ye Yueshen, only a vague order, he would not be able to figure out the situation, and he would find a way to smooth things over, otherwise he was afraid of harming Ye Yueshen.

Ye Yuanshen had been Gong Xunwu’s study companion for several years, and Gong Xunwu knew his temperament very well.

He was about to pick up Ye Yueshen, and his palm reached under Ye Yueshen’s neck, feeling a little damp sweat. Ye Yueshen was hot from sleeping, and the wine had raised his body temperature a lot.

Gong Xunwu paused and had to close the door and wait for Ye Yueshen to wake up and let the sweat recede before going out, otherwise, according to Ye Yueshen’s physique, he would catch a cold and get sick.

In less than half an hour, Ye Yueshen opened his eyes. Gong Xunwu didn’t dare to tell him to stay in the palace. He only told him to sit up and let the sweat dissipate, otherwise he would catch a cold when he went out later.

Ye Yueshen sat up and drank some warm water.

After a while, he got up and got off the bed, put on his cloak. Gong Xunwu coaxed and deceived him, saying that he would send him to the palace gate. He had already sent a message to Ye Yuanshen.

His lies were told restrainedly and conservatively, omitting the right things. Sure enough, Ye Yueshen believed it.

Ye Yueshen was still immersed in a not-so-good dream. He was sitting by himself, and Xue Dong ran in to tell him that His Highness Qi Wang had bestowed a marriage. The wedding would be held in three days, and he was invited to drink wedding wine.

When Ye Yueshen went out, he turned back to stop Gong Xunwu: “Just let Shaou accompany me to the palace gate, you don’t have to follow.”

Gong Xunwu’s face darkened a little, but he still shamelessly said: “I’ll send you along the way.”

“There’s really no need.” Ye Yueshen’s intention to draw a clear line was very strong: “Then His Highness Qi Wang, please go first, I think I still have sweat on my body.”

“You don’t have to be so wary of me.” Gong Xunwu approached Ye Yueshen: “Are you afraid of me?”

Ye Yueshen didn’t speak, turned around and walked out. The palace banquet was not over yet, but some people were outside to sober up.

Standing by the steps was an unknown princess or concubine. Ye Yueshen had to pass by there to leave. When he passed by, he stopped and saluted, but didn’t say anything.

The other party also nodded to him. Gong Xunwu suddenly stopped and didn’t move. Ye Yueshen couldn’t be happier and immediately quickened his pace to leave him behind.

Gong Xunwu looked at the woman and asked, “What kind of incense does Consort Yu use?”

Ye Yueshen took the initiative to stop and turned back to look at them.

Consort Yu was stunned for a moment. As an unfavored concubine, she had never spoken to Qi Wang. Perhaps she had seen him at the palace banquet, and Qi Wang actually remembered her.

But she was barely considered Gong Xunwu’s sister-in-law, although she might not be older than Gong Xunwu. It was already night, and they just happened to meet. Gong Xunwu actually stopped and asked her directly what kind of incense she used.

This was not an presumptuous question, but too impolite. If Consort Yu felt uncomfortable, she could even complain to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

But Gong Xunwu’s expression didn’t have a bit of teasing his sister-in-law. Instead, he seemed to be discussing state affairs with her, his expression calm and serious, with his usual indifference and pressure.

Consort Yu was only slightly stunned. Like a palace servant who was asked, she lowered her head and respectfully replied: “Your Highness, it’s Tent Warming Incense.”

Ye Yueshen was no longer too surprised. He just muttered to himself very softly: “Dog nose.”

His attention was completely on Gong Xunwu.