WMSG Chapter 84
by VolareIf they were to follow the Emperor’s suggested candidates, Mang Zhou would soon become the family of the Noble Consort. Everyone could see the immeasurable risks that would arise from this, but at the moment, besides heavily relying on the Noble Consort’s family, there seemed to be no one else capable.
Although the Emperor had tried his best to include Fifth Prince Gong Shengyin’s people on the list, the balance was still tilted to one side.
Even if Gong Xunwu didn’t immediately throw himself into the battlefield, he should have been using his influence in the center of power. But since when did he only want to revolve around Ye Yueshen?
It wasn’t that old friendships weren’t important, on the contrary, they were too important. So important that Gong Xunwu didn’t dare to leave Ye Yueshen to deal with other matters. If Ye Yueshen were to be plotted against like the First Prince Gong Jinyun and be beyond saving, Gong Xunwu didn’t know who else he could rely on to live.
And just then, an opportunity presented itself. Gong Xunwu cradled Ye Yueshen’s face, he lowered his eyes to look at Ye Yueshen’s weak, pale pink lips, and instinctively leaned closer.
Ye Yueshen turned his face away, he awkwardly glanced at his father kneeling to the side, then blushed and lowered his head in embarrassment. He pushed away Gong Xunwu, went down barefoot, and reached out to support Ye Daijin’s arm, “Father, please get up…”
Ye Daijin looked at his son with complicated emotions. He still couldn’t accept that his son was entangled with Qi Wang in so many ways.
Gong Xunwu came back to his senses, scooped up Ye Yueshen, and carried him back to the small couch.
Ye Yueshen didn’t know how to react in embarrassment. After a long while, he mustered the courage to look up at Gong Xunwu. Their eyes met, and Gong Xunwu’s gaze was firm, then turned to heartache, “I need to return to the palace.”
Ye Yueshen nodded, “I know, you go do your own thing. I know the First Prince is very important to you.”
“You are the most important.” Gong Xunwu said extremely solemnly, he held Ye Yueshen’s face, used a little force to resist Ye Yueshen’s struggle, and then placed a kiss on his forehead, “So I need to return to the palace.”
Gong Xunwu’s complexion had unknowingly become noticeably pale. Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but reach out to cover his angry, bloodshot eyes. But the eyes were delicate, and he couldn’t even rub them.
Ye Yueshen also felt sorry for him. Regardless of more detailed emotions and decisions, at this moment, Ye Yueshen’s purest feeling was to feel heartache because of Gong Xunwu’s heartache.
“I’ll go with you.” Ye Yueshen blurted out, and then was surprised by what he said.
Surprise appeared in Gong Xunwu’s eyes. He hugged Ye Yueshen tightly, stroked Ye Yueshen’s thin back, and gently comforted him, “You can’t go, you stay here and have your brothers guard you. When those who should be killed are killed, and those who should be skinned are skinned, I will return to your side, and you won’t be able to chase me away even if you want to.”
When Ye Daijin heard these words coming from Gong Xunwu’s mouth, he didn’t feel moved, only horrified. His brain went blank, and he relied on his instinctive resistance to get up and stagger out.
Ye Yueshen lowered his head. His mood was now as complicated as thousands of tangled threads mixed together, “Leave me some face.”
“You are very good, very decent.” Gong Xunwu quickly explained, “I am the one without face. If there are any unpleasant words, I will be in front to block them.”
Ye Yueshen pushed him, “You go, everything has its priorities.”
Gong Xunwu wanted to retort that you are the most important thing to me, but Ye Yueshen had already covered his ears and shrunk into the brocade quilt.
Not long after Gong Xunwu left, Ye Yuanshen came. He carried a food box and a hot water bottle, and after sitting down by the couch, he arranged the food. He peeled Ye Yueshen’s face out of the brocade quilt. Ye Yueshen was sleeping with a flushed face, as if he had been suffocated to the limit, and slightly opened his lips to take a big breath.
The corners of Ye Yuanshen’s mouth hooked up. Ye Yueshen was still sleeping soundly at home. At this moment, he felt that this was peace and quiet. As for Gong Xunwu’s great hatred, it had nothing to do with him, and he couldn’t understand it either.
When Ye Yueshen opened his eyes, he happened to see Ye Yuanshen’s empty eyes, and was startled, “Brother?”
“Awake?” Ye Yuanshen came back to his senses and was still gentle, jade-like, and a modest gentleman. He gathered Ye Yueshen’s clothes and tested Ye Yueshen’s forehead for sweat with his hand.
“Be careful of catching a cold.” Ye Yuanshen put the brocade quilt around Ye Yueshen’s shoulders, “Why did you fall asleep here? So close to the window, you are ruining your body. The one who suffers is still yourself.”
Ye Yueshen hadn’t recovered from his empty gaze just now, and looked at him with some doubt and unfamiliarity.
Ye Yuanshen noticed his observation and smiled slightly, but there was no smile in his eyes, “Do you think I’m heartless?”
Ye Yueshen was a little dazed, “Huh?”
“My own brother disappeared without a trace, knowing that the one in front of me is not him, but still going along with it.” Ye Yuanshen reached out and stroked Ye Yueshen’s cheek, “You are a kind child. Sometimes I wonder if you will feel sorry for the original Ye Yueshen in your heart.”
Ye Yueshen shook his head seriously, “No, it’s not like that. Second brother can’t accept me, and obviously some people will think like you said, but I can’t, and I won’t.”
Ye Yuanshen sighed, but his expression relaxed a lot. He playfully pinched Ye Yueshen’s cheek, deliberately lowered his voice as if preventing others from eavesdropping, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Are we… too bad?”
But his joke might not be so appropriate, because Ye Yueshen cried, tears falling one after another.
Ye Yuanshen quickly scooped him up, wiped his tears while admitting his mistake, “I said the wrong thing, you are not bad, you are the best child brother has ever seen.”
“Brother, you’re right.” Ye Yueshen looked up at him, his tearful eyes were blurred and pitiful, he said in a hoarse voice, “I was desperate a few days ago and was taken in by Ye He. You probably don’t know who Ye He is, right?”
Ye Yuanshen didn’t speak. In fact, he knew who Ye He was. The entire Ye family and Gong Xunwu had almost turned the capital upside down, but they didn’t dare to search too obviously for fear of others knowing that Ye Yueshen was missing.
Later, Gong Xunwu found Ye Yueshen in Shiyue Pavilion. Junzhu grabbed Gong Xunwu’s sleeve, afraid that he would run away, and asked clearly about Ye Yueshen’s situation at that time, whether he lived well, ate well, and whether anyone took care of him.
Ye Yuanshen not only knew that Ye He was a waiter in Shiyue Pavilion, but also personally went to Shiyue Pavilion to watch Ye He and Ye Yueshen from afar while they were talking and walking towards the back door of Shiyue Pavilion. Both of them were wearing coarse cloth clothes.
“Ye He is Ye Yueshen’s good brother. The real Ye Yueshen made friends widely and formed good relationships. Ye He is someone who has received his favor and help, and I didn’t sleep on the streets because I borrowed his light.”
Ye Yueshen asked Ye Yuanshen, “Brother, do you think I’m very bad?”
Ye Yuanshen silently looked at Ye Yueshen. Obviously, Ye Yueshen was now very emotionally fragile and close to collapse.
He could understand Ye Yueshen’s fear and avoidance. A person is born in the world but can’t find their place, which is indeed an unsettling and frightening thing.
Ye Yueshen lost his identity, lost his relatives and his trajectory, and almost cut off his connection with this world. At that moment, he became a floating weed.
He couldn’t grasp what he wanted to grasp. Over the days, the more Ye Yueshen tried, the more helpless he became. His life was clearly out of control, but he couldn’t find direction.
In fact, he had already done very well, but he fled in inferiority, so no one told him this.
Ye Yuanshen pulled him into his arms, “This is not your fault.”
“Isn’t it?” A light of hope appeared in Ye Yueshen’s eyes.
Ye Yuanshen told him very seriously, “Absolutely not.”
So Ye Yueshen pretended to be hypnotized, because he felt that he shouldn’t trouble others because of this childish emotion, especially Ye Yuanshen, who was willing to accept him even after knowing his identity.
Ye Yueshen’s identity was still hidden from Junzhu and Ye Hou, and Ye Yuanshen and he were allies who jointly kept a secret. The originally very distant, dignified, and sacred brother became much closer because of this.
They would sometimes take a walk in the yard. Ye Yuanshen still didn’t talk much. He himself felt it was amazing that one day he would accompany his brother to do such a thing.
Ye Hou didn’t return for two whole days, so their family gathered in Junzhu’s room. The four of them sat around a small kang table peeling chestnuts. Everyone was very uneasy, so they needed to do something to divert their attention.
Night fell, and none of them wanted to leave first. Ye Yueshen planned in his heart that they would stay together until their father came back, and they would feel better in their hearts.
In fact, Ye Yueshen didn’t think he had cultivated much affection with Ye Hou, but Junzhu and his brothers were very worried, so he was also infected.
Ye Lingshen put down the small pliers, took a deep breath, tilted his head and said to Junzhu, “My hands hurt from peeling. Mother, where is your sewing box? I’d better embroider some flowers.”
Ye Yueshen’s fingers also hurt from peeling, so he also put down the small pliers. After waiting for the maid to bring the sewing box, he also picked one.
Junzhu taught the three of them to embroider auspicious cloud patterns. Ye Yuanshen was indeed quick to learn everything, and even the embroidered flowers looked very decent.
Ye Yueshen also embroidered very well, but he accidentally pricked his finger, and two drops of blood fell on the embroidery cloth and stained it. Ye Lingshen embroidered slowly but very seriously, as if he was doing something very important.
Before long, Xuédōng ran in, with joy on his face, “Niángniáng, Niángniáng, just now the steward next to His Highness Qi Wang personally came to the palace gate to tell this servant that everything is fine in the palace, and Houye and His Highness will be back soon.”
Junzhu closed her eyes, she put down the needle and thread, and looked like she still had lingering fears.
Ye Lingshen immediately threw the embroidered flower aside, grabbed a large handful of peeled chestnuts, and threw them into his mouth one by one. Ye Yuanshen’s expression remained unchanged, still calm and reserved, and calmly continued to embroider flowers.
“That’s great…” Ye Yueshen put his face on the small table, feeling his spirit relax and feeling a little sleepy.
No one had any intention of leaving, so Ye Yueshen lay on the small table and planned to rest for a while. He adjusted his sitting posture and vaguely felt like he was taking a ten-minute nap at his desk as a student in his previous life.
He fell asleep faintly, not knowing how long he slept, only feeling his body suddenly falling without warning. He woke up in a cold sweat, and the three people who were embroidering flowers all looked at him.
Ye Yueshen wiped his sweat and forced a smile, “I’m fine.” He moved to Ye Lingshen’s side and spoke to Ye Lingshen in a tone that was still a little careful, “Aren’t you not embroidering anymore?”
“I’m idle anyway.” Ye Lingshen could feel his probing, and after a moment of silence, he said, “See how well your brother embroiders?”
Rarely joking with him, Ye Yueshen immediately put on a big smile and praised, “You embroider really well!”
“Something bad! Something bad!” The shouting outside was getting closer and closer. Junzhu put down the needle and stood up, and Ye Yuanshen slowly got up and looked at the door.
Xuédōng pushed the door open, ran in panting, and said in a panic, “The Crown Prince has rebelled! The rebels have already entered the capital!”
Everyone showed shock. Junzhu was the first to calm down and asked, “Explain clearly, where did you get the news?”
Xuédōng said, “This servant just carried a lantern and wanted to go to the alley to welcome them. I heard many people running from afar, shouting something. This servant couldn’t hear clearly, so I went there to find someone to inquire. I heard the watchman say that soldiers had entered the capital, and the city gates had been opened wide. This servant felt something was wrong, so I wanted to hurry back. I happened to meet Yan Kui, who came to deliver a message, who is from His Highness’ side. He said that His Highness told us to close the gate and not go out. Houye is currently in the palace, staying with His Highness Qi Wang and the Emperor. He told us to rest assured.”