WMSG Chapter 81
by VolareChapter 81: Since you’re worried, come and see…
The outside was already in chaos. Ye Yueshen scooted up the bed, propping himself against the headboard. He turned his head to bite at the cloth strip on his wrist. This was a new strip that the servant had changed. The previous one had already been bitten with a gap, but unexpectedly, Gong Shengyin had arrived.
Fortunately, Gong Shengyin hadn’t noticed the bite marks when he untied the cloth strip.
Ye Yueshen was very weak now. If he wasn’t sick, he could have gnawed through the circles of cloth on his wrist in less than an hour.
With a bang, the door was kicked open. Ye Yueshen turned to look, and Yan Kui’s eyes lit up. He immediately turned and ran out, shouting, “Your Highness! Young Master Yue is here!”
Ye Yueshen sighed in relief and lay back on the pillow, motionless, quietly waiting for someone he wasn’t surprised by to walk through the door.
He found that he wasn’t too surprised that Gong Xunwu would save him. In fact, he no longer doubted the feelings Gong Xunwu had for him.
When Gong Xunwu very gently untied the cloth strips binding his wrist, Ye Yueshen said calmly, “Did you see the teeth marks I made?”
Gong Xunwu paused for a moment, his voice a little hoarse as he said, “I saw them. I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Ye Yueshen’s voice was even softer. “I’m just saying that I was trying to save myself… I wasn’t just letting them do whatever they wanted.”
Gong Xunwu thought, did those words even matter? He had been worried to death these past few days. Seeing that Ye Yueshen was still alive, he only felt gratitude. He had no thoughts of blaming Ye Yueshen for not being able to save himself.
For most of the time after being tricked into coming here, Ye Yueshen had actually given up resisting. Later, the thought of resistance re-emerged, because he remembered the moment when he fought back, and he also remembered his family. Ye Yuanshen had recognized him as his brother in front of the Emperor.
For a moment, he also thought of Gong Xunwu.
Gong Xunwu wasn’t sure if Ye Yueshen was asking for praise, but he really couldn’t speak. He supported Ye Yueshen’s head, lifted him from the pillow, and held him tightly in his arms.
Ye Yueshen didn’t push him away or respond. After a moment, he said, “I want to leave here.”
“Okay, we’ll go.” Gong Xunwu couldn’t bear to look at the skin under Ye Yueshen’s thin shirt. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions and that the anger and resentment he showed would make Ye Yueshen feel that he cared about the so-called “chastity,” which was a useless thing.
He just didn’t want Ye Yueshen to be hurt, because he had seen Ye Yueshen’s tears, and at that time, he himself was the bastard.
Ye Yueshen didn’t know what he was thinking, and didn’t notice anything unusual, until Gong Xunwu tried to put his undergarment over his sleeping robe. Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but say, “Wait a moment.”
The sleeping robe was looser than the undergarment. Wearing it directly on the inside created many wrinkles, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Ye Yueshen held Gong Xunwu’s hand. “I want to take off the sleeping robe.”
“Okay.” Gong Xunwu took off the undergarment that was halfway on.
Ye Yueshen actively took off the sleeping robe and reached out to Gong Xunwu for the clothes. “Give them to me.”
Gong Xunwu quickly glanced over. Ye Yueshen’s skin was still fair and smooth, with no signs of abuse. Only his wrist was marked by the restraints. The wounds hadn’t scabbed over yet, as if Ye Yueshen had struggled, and the wounds had been rubbed until they bled.
After getting dressed, Ye Yueshen sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to Gong Xunwu, saying without ceremony, “Carry me, I don’t have any strength.”
Gong Xunwu was almost flattered. He carefully picked Ye Yueshen up. The sedan chair was waiting outside. It was the first time Ye Yueshen had seen the scenery outside this place.
The courtyard wasn’t too big or too small, enough to support a dozen servants. But outside the high walls, there was almost no scenery. As a temporary place for Ye Yueshen to live, it seemed very sloppy.
At least Gong Xunwu wouldn’t have the heart to arrange for Ye Yueshen to live in such a place, which showed how rash Gong Shengyin’s kidnapping was.
Ye Yueshen was carried into the sedan chair by Gong Xunwu and heard someone calling his name from afar.
“Who is it?” Ye Yueshen raised his head and looked outside. Gong Xunwu thoughtfully helped him open the sedan window. In the distance, two horses were rushing over.
Ye Yuanshen stepped off his horse, and almost before he had stood steady, he ran toward the sedan chair. “Little Yue, are you hurt?”
“I’m not…” Ye Yueshen choked. He calmed himself down and spoke again: “I’m not hurt.” As he spoke, he pulled his hand into his sleeve.
“Let your brother see.” Ye Yuanshen was not as calm as usual, and he panicked as he pulled Ye Yueshen from Gong Xunwu’s arms. He looked at his face, and then went to lift Ye Yueshen’s sleeve.
“What are you doing?” Gong Xunwu asked in a deep voice, reaching out to separate them: “Calm down.”
Ye Yuanshen calmed down a little. He took a deep breath: “You scared Father and Mother, we were all scared.”
“This is not his fault.” Gong Xunwu stared at Ye Yuanshen: “He didn’t want to be kidnapped, who are you blaming by saying that?”
Ye Yuanshen was stunned, not knowing why Gong Xunwu was acting like a madman. He didn’t mean to blame Ye Yueshen at all, so why did Gong Xunwu have to pretend to be a good person here?
But he had no intention to argue, as long as Ye Yueshen was safe and healthy, everyone would be happy. He suddenly remembered his identity, turned and pushed open the sedan curtain, and said to the outside: “What are you standing there for? Since you’re worried, come and see.”
Ye Yueshen shrank back a little. He swallowed and asked cautiously: “Is that Second Brother?”
Ye Lingshen walked to the sedan, but didn’t come in. He looked at Ye Yueshen with a complicated expression, his face almost looking ugly. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, and when he looked up again, he took a deep breath: “It’s good that you’re okay.”
Ye Yueshen looked at him with a lot of courage. When he met his eyes, he was stunned by the bruises around Ye Lingshen’s eyes.
Gong Xunwu righteously admitted: “I hit him.”
Ye Yueshen looked at him, still a little dazed.
“But that was a long time ago.” Gong Xunwu explained: “It was when you had just chased him away, and I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
Ye Yueshen was a little at a loss. Gong Xunwu knew what he cared about, so he thoughtfully gave the two brothers a way out: “Was I too unreasonable? Do you feel bad for him?”
Ye Yueshen’s mind was actually blank.
Ye Yuanshen also quickly smoothed things over: “You don’t have to feel bad for him. What he said that day was too outrageous, but Father and Mother didn’t know, and I couldn’t teach him a lesson. Fortunately, Qi Wang helped us vent our anger.”
Ye Lingshen was silent for a long time, and said with difficulty: “I deserved it.”
The moment he heard those words, Ye Yueshen sheepishly stopped being angry. In fact, he had never blamed Ye Lingshen. Having lost his own brother, Ye Yueshen felt that no matter how big his reaction was, it wouldn’t be too much.
Ye Yueshen smiled at Ye Lingshen, and then stretched out his fist.
Ye Lingshen didn’t immediately understand what he meant, but Ye Yuanshen grabbed Ye Lingshen’s hand and bumped fists with Ye Yueshen.
Gong Xunwu asked Ye Yueshen with exasperation: “Aren’t you angry anymore?”
“I’m not actually angry.” Ye Yueshen told the truth: “I’m not qualified to be angry at Second Brother, I’m just very sad.”
Ye Lingshen’s eyes were also a little red. He had been tortured these days, unable to eat or sleep well, and was constantly worried about something happening to Ye Yueshen. He had felt relieved when Gong Xunwu had found him at the Shiyue Pavilion.
After building up his courage for a few days, he finally had the courage to apologize and bring Ye Yueshen home, but Ye Yueshen had disappeared again.
He blamed himself terribly. These days, he couldn’t tell whether Ye Yueshen was really his brother or not. In fact, he hadn’t been particularly close to the original “Ye Yueshen.”
But living under the same roof for eighteen years wasn’t insignificant. The moment he learned the truth, he was really angry and sad.
But Ye Yueshen was also innocent, he didn’t deliberately take over this identity.
Moreover, Ye Lingshen thought he liked this younger brother quite a bit, but it would be nice if the original brother was still here.
He found a sorcerer to fortune-tell. The sorcerer calculated the birth date and stared with wide eyes, saying to him: “How can this person have three death dates? The first death date was in midsummer last year, the second death date is in early spring this year, the third…”
Ye Lingshen felt unlucky and immediately interrupted him: “You said midsummer last year?”
The sorcerer closed his eyes and chanted a spell, drawing and painting on a bunch of numbers with a pen, and the numbers that were circled finally formed a date. Ye Lingshen’s memory turned, and he thought of the birthday of one of his cronies.
That day, he came home after drinking and found that the house was in chaos. The Imperial Physician from the palace had come, and Ye Yuanshen told him that Third Yue had made a mistake and had been beaten with the paddle by their father. After the beating, his breathing was weak.
Ye Yuanshen’s face was very bad at the time, and he avoided people to tell him: “Little Yue might… I just tested his breath…” Ye Yuanshen didn’t continue, but shook his head at Ye Lingshen.
He leaned against the pillar in a daze, Ye Yuanshen stood straight, and they were both digesting the emotions of losing their brother.
But the maids ran in and out, and soon their mother called them in to help serve. The Imperial Physician was prescribing medicine.
Ye Lingshen felt dizzy and looked at the Jianghu sorcerer in a daze. The sorcerer reached out to ask him for money, and he murmured: “So he died at that time… So it was all true.”
The sorcerer had just been cursed and had his stall smashed, and when he heard that Ye Lingshen believed him, he immediately doubled the price.
“I’m sorry.” Ye Lingshen didn’t want to lose this brother again. He looked at Ye Yueshen with great affection and said sincerely: “You forgive me, okay?”
Ye Yueshen answered quickly: “Okay.”
On the way back, a few people sat in the sedan chair. Ye Yuanshen told him many things he didn’t know.
“Father still values family affection and went to the palace behind Mother’s back to bring Yuan Bianyin out. Yuan Bianyin was unwilling to leave the capital, and was later slapped twice by Father. Mother doesn’t know about this, but Mother wouldn’t care anyway. These days Mother has been thinking about you.”
Ye Yueshen lowered his head: “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” Gong Xunwu put his arm around his shoulders: “You don’t need to apologize to anyone.”
Ye Lingshen no longer spoke ill of him, and Ye Yueshen’s mood became much lighter. He sat in the corner eating tangerines, listening to Ye Yuanshen and Gong Xunwu talking.
These days, Gong Xunwu used private troops to find Ye Yueshen, giving manpower and resources without reservation, and Ye Yuanshen’s attitude towards him was much better.
Ye Yuanshen cared about his situation: “Now the Emperor has the idea of reusing the Second Prince, what are you going to do?”
“He may not raise up Gong Ruiyin again.” Gong Xunwu’s tone was very calm.
Ye Yuanshen was a little worried: “The Emperor brought the Second Prince back to the palace, which may be a sign that he is dissatisfied with what you have done.”
Gong Xunwu knew what was in his heart: “I know.”
Ye Yueshen looked up, and what they said matched what Gong Shengyin had told him.
He looked at Gong Xunwu, and Gong Xunwu also looked at him: “You don’t need to worry, Imperial Brother already knows that I have private troops.”
Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but say: “Having them and using them are two different things.”
Because of Ye Yueshen’s obvious concern, Gong Xunwu felt much better: “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
Ye Yuanshen and Gong Xunwu said a lot, and Ye Yueshen just listened quietly.
Regarding the battle in Mangzhou, the Emperor initially wanted to send Gong Xunwu, but Gong Xunwu rejected it because he couldn’t rest assured about Ye Yueshen. After these days of farce, the Emperor no longer had the idea of using Gong Xunwu.
The situation in Mangzhou was not good, and Ye Yueshen had missed a lot of news these days.