LYIPhSAA (liv)
Edited: 09.04.2023
Ye Zi helped Gu Yan to the table.
Gu Yan touched his face and said in disgust: “Why are you dressed up like this, I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Ye Zi shifted his head to avoid his touch and poured him a cup of water: “Who says, you recognized me right away. The Taoist Priest even bragged in front of me, saying that his disguise skill couldn’t even be seen through by my closest relatives, but turns out it’s a lie.”
Gu Yan let out a light laugh and didn’t refute: “Who is that Taoist Priest?”
Ye Zi shook his head: “I don’t know, probably just a wandering fraudulent Taoist Priest.”
Gu Yan drank his water and laughed: “To be able to lie in front of the current Emperor, he sure has the guts.”
Ye Zi lowered his head thoughtfully.
He hadn’t thought much about it, but now that it was brought up, Ye Zi realized that Guangxu Zi was indeed full of suspicions. Not to mention the other things, that paper figurine manipulation technique alone was weird. With just a few threads, was he really able to perform such an intricate performance?
But if he really knew Taoism, why wasn’t he able to see Ye Zi’s true form?
Or maybe he did, but didn’t reveal it?
As Ye Zi was lost in thought, Gu Yan didn’t disturb him and just quietly watched his face.
This face was disguised and dressed up as a Taoist boy and it didn’t resemble Ye Zi’s real appearance at all. Only those eyes, as clear and bright as always, fascinated him.
Ye Zi didn’t notice Gu Yan’s deeper gaze as he muttered to himself: “Your Majesty, do you think that the Taoist Priest is really a Taoist Priest? He saw through my identity and deliberately asked me to come to you. But why is he helping us, shouldn’t Taoist Priests subdue demons and get rid of evil?”
Gu Yan didn’t seem to pay much attention to his words as he leaned forward to kiss those chattering lips lightly.
Ye Zi moved back a bit and reached out to push his shoulder: “Your Majesty, I’m being serious here.”
Gu Yan clasped his hand and pulled him to his lap with a delicate kiss: “You can continue talking, I’m listening.”
How was he going to continue like this?
Ye Zi couldn’t focus in this position and was worried about pressing on Gu Yan’s injury, not to mention that he didn’t know how to avoid it. He was quickly kissed as his entire body completely softened and obediently allowed the other part to hug him, bullying him wantonly.
A few buttons on the Taoist robe were undone and Gu Yan gently kissed the small section of pale neck peeking through. He was so gentle that Ye Zi shuddered all over, begging for mercy: “Your Majesty, I still have to go back in a while……..”
Gu Yan paused, buried his head in Ye Zi’s neck, but did not continue.
He was still having a fever and even his breathing was much hotter than usual. Ye Zi flinched sensitively, he wanted to avoid but didn’t dare to move.
Gu Yan raised his eyes to look at him and laughed softly: “Don’t worry, I won’t touch you.”
As he said this, he reached out and pinched Ye Zi’s cheek: “This outfit of yours makes me feel like I’m bullying a child.”
Ye Zi’s Taoist boy outfit was extraordinarily cute. He wore a moon-white Taoist Priest’s uniform and had his hair in a double bun, making him seem tender and small. Ye Zi realized what he was saying and his ears turned red as he hastily tried to stand up.
“Don’t move.” Gu Yan whispered in his ear.
Maybe it was because he was still having a fever, but he didn’t use much strength and just held Ye Zi’s waist as he buried his head in his neck: “I said I’d punish you, don’t move around.”
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His voice was vague, low, and hoarse, making Ye Zi’s ear tingle and he stopped moving around.
Gu Yan was satisfied and planted a kiss on his earlobe. His hands wrapped around his body as he began to button his clothes.
Ye Zi didn’t have any strength left now and could only wrap his arms around Gu Yan’s neck so as not to fall.
Gu Yan’s movements were unhurried and it took a long time to fasten the buttons. Coupled with their current posture, there were a few points of ambiguity.
He lowered his eyes as his long and curled eyelashes cast a small shadow on his slightly pale face. Ye Zi was already aroused by him, but now he couldn’t bear it anymore and even his breathing became sharp.
Ye Zi moved uncomfortably as Gu Yan raised his gaze and admonished: “I told you not to move.”
Ye Zi’s eyes reddened. He pursed his lips in aggravation and didn’t speak.
Gu Yan helped him fasten his buttons while looking at him: “Look at your appearance, if others see you like this, they’ll think that I’d bullied you.”
Ye Zi muttered: “That is what’s happening……”
Gu Yan’s hand came to the two buttons on Ye Zi’s neckline but he didn’t rush to fasten them. Instead, he reached into the collar and gently stroked Ye Zi’s throat with his fingertips: “Say it again, am I the one bullying you?”
Ye Zi didn’t answer, Gu Yan added: “Aren’t you the one who snuck into my room under the guise of subduing demons? Are you saying that I was the one who kidnapped you?”
Ye Zi opened his mouth but didn’t know how to answer.
Gu Yan caressed that small piece of sensitive and delicate skin and laughed softly: “His Holiness sent you to my manor to catch demons, but rather than catching demons, you snuck into this Prince’s room instead. Little Taoist Priest, what kind of Taoism are you practicing? What kind of demon are you catching? Do you need to take off your clothes for it?”
Ye Zi’s face was on fire and his fingertips trembled: “Stop……please stop talking.”
Gu Yan was afraid that the other party wouldn’t be able to bear it anymore and didn’t say anything more. He stroked his back soothingly and quickly helped him tidy up his clothes.
However, he still didn’t let Ye Zi leave.
Gu Yan leaned on the back of the chair and wrapped Ye Zi in his arms: “A Zi, when I woke up this morning, I thought I was dreaming last night. I also thought that……you had really left.”
Ye Zi’s heart throbbed for a moment as he buried his head in Gu Yan’s chest and whispered: “Didn’t I leave you a letter?”
Since he had to follow Guangxu Zi into the palace today, he had to rush back to the inn last night.
It was too late to tell him more about the details so Ye Zi left a letter at Gu Yan’s bedside, telling him that he already knew about the Wen family’s plan and asked Gu Yan not to stop Emperor Jinghe when he sent someone to the manor to catch the demon.
When he saw that Gu Yan was extremely ill yesterday, Ye Zi thought that he would have been bedridden today. He didn’t expect to bump into this man before entering the Prince Rui Manor and to be recognized so easily.
Thinking of Gu Yan’s condition, Ye Zi worriedly asked: “How do you feel now, are you still uncomfortable?”
Ye Zi reached out to touch Gu Yan’s forehead. The temperature had already dropped a lot and it wasn’t as terrible as last night. He was a little relieved: “I’ve only been away for a day, how could you suddenly become so ill? Didn’t I ask Dr. Pei to come see you? Wait, are you telling me……..”
Ye Zi froze for a moment, realizing something in hindsight.
Gu Yan truthfully said: “I was the one who asked Dr. Pei to prescribe some strong medicine for me.”
Ye Zi was stunned: “What?”
Gu Yan patted Ye Zi’s back reassuringly and said softly: “Little fool, knowing that there are people plotting in the shadows and may even threaten your safety, how can I still feel at ease lying in bed?”
“Over the years I have accumulated residual poison in my body. This injury accidentally triggered my recurring illness and if I want to cure it, it will take several months. I asked Dr. Pei to prescribe some medicines for me to temporarily suppress it which will allow me to move freely for a few days even if it means burning overnight.”
Ye Zi’s heart ached so much that his eyes reddened: “You’re doing it for me again……”
“No, this time it’s my fault.” Gu Yan said, “I used to always think that as long as I was patient enough—outliving Emperor Jinghe and watching as the new Emperor ascended the throne—I would be able to be with you forever. But now that I think about it, I was being too naïve.”
“Several forces in Chang’an City are becoming stronger and stronger. I can’t even fully stand by myself yet I still greedily want to keep you by my side and protect you well.” Gu Yan sighed softly, “It’s me who wants too much…….”
“Your Majesty……”
“A Zi, I lied to you yesterday.” Gu Yan kissed Ye Zi lightly on his forehead and said warmly, “I don’t want you to leave at all, I can’t stand being without you, I……have had enough.”
Gu Yan paused for a moment and added: “But don’t worry, it won’t be like this again in the future.”
Ye Zi asked: “What was your original plan?”
Gu Yan closed his eyes and said softly: “Before you guys arrived, I have already planted a bunch of suicide soldiers throughout the manor. As long as that Taoist Priest makes any unfavorable move against you, I will immediately silence him. This also includes……everyone who was sent to the manor today.”
Gu Yan said: “I don’t know how powerful a Taoist Priest who can subdue demons can be. But if one person isn’t enough, then ten, if ten isn’t enough, then a hundred. And when that old thing asks, I will tell him that the Taoist Priest and Little General Wen have already died with the demon.”
Gu Yan’s tone was light, but Ye Zi felt a chilling cold-blooded ruthlessness from his words, as if he……remembered that Gu Yan.
A few hours ago, he said to Wen Yi at the entrance of the Prince Rui Manor that if anyone disturbed Ye Zi, he would not let anyone leave the manor alive.
That wasn’t a lie.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Guangxu Zi was not at all interested in catching demons, the Prince Rui Manor would have been bloodied by now.
Ye Zi didn’t dare to think about it any further and changed the topic: “Then what should we do now?”
Gu Yan smiled: “Shouldn’t this be something that Taoist Priest Guangxu worries about?”
Ye Zi was afraid that something might happen so he didn’t dare to stay with Gu Yan any longer and hurried back to the courtyard. Guangxu Zi was dozing off under the shade of a tree and he still didn’t wake up even after Ye Zi called out to him twice. He then turned his head and looked to the side of the yard. Wen Yi, along with several guards, was still standing under the blazing sun and sweating profusely.
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As expected of Wen Yi, who grew up in the military camp, he stood there for almost two hours without a change to his expression. On the other hand, the guards behind him had long been staggering and some of them were even about to faint.
Ye Zi couldn’t stand it and brought a pot of herbal tea as well as a few teacups over to him: “General, drink some water first and take a rest.”
Wen Yi glanced at him and shook his head: “Thank you, little Taoist Priest, but no need. The Taoist Priest said that this was necessary to catch the demon so I cannot slack off.”
Ye Zi helplessly pouted and asked tentatively: “You want to catch that demon so badly?”
Wen Yi said: “Naturally.”
Ye Zi asked: “Why?”
Wen Yi said with a straight face: “My sister has been victimized by a demon and now she is suffering from madness, I want to save her.”
Ye Zi: “……”
Ye Zi deliberated for a moment and added: “How can you be sure that she was victimized by a demon?”
“How can I not be sure?” Wen Yi’s voice suddenly raised a little higher. As if he realized that he lost his temper, his face changed as he added: “My sister was still fine when we parted ways. But after she went to the Summer palace, fell into the water, and then developed a fever, she ended up suffering from madness. Even the Imperial physicians weren’t able to figure out what was wrong and treat her. If it wasn’t a demon who had harmed her, what else could it be?”
Ye Zi felt a rising headache.
People like Wen Yi were the most difficult to deal with.
He wasn’t a bad person, but he was born as a martial artist so his ideals were thick and stubborn and no one could change what he believed. This person fought alongside his parents on the battlefield ever since he was a child and the only thing he cared about was his young sister.
Now that Wen Zhi had become like this, it was understandable that this person felt rage.
Ye Zi was still thinking about how to persuade Wen Yi when Guangxu Zi’s voice suddenly sounded behind him: “Good disciple, come over quickly.”
Ye Zi answered, placed the tea tray down, and turned to head toward Guangxu Zi.
Guangxu Zi stretched his waist and laughed: “How was it, did you guys clear up the misunderstanding?”
Ye Zi was stunned and only then did he remember that he was so focused on the matter at hand that he had simply put that matter behind him.
Seeing his appearance, Guangxu Zi said anxiously: “Have you not talked it out with him yet? It’s such a small matter yet you can’t even explain it to him clearly? Come with me, I will take you to him.”
Since Guangxu Zi said that he was going to take Ye Zi to find Gu Yan, Ye Zi hastily pulled him: “Master, it’s not what you think……”
He paused and lowered his voice: “Let’s just settle the matter at hand first.”
Guangxu Zi, however, asked in return: “What else is there at hand?”
“Catching the demon.”
Guangxu Zi seemed to remember at this moment and waved his hand indifferently: “Oh, that’s a trivial matter…….then let’s go catch the demon first?”
Guangxu Zi stood up and raised his voice: “Little General Wen, come over, we can catch the demon now.”
Wen Yi was so sunburned that his reactions were slowed down quite a bit and it took a long time for him to come back to his senses as he led his guards over to where the two were.
Wen Yi asked: “How is Taoist Priest going to catch the demon?”
Guangxu Zi stroked his beard and pointed to the open space behind the altar: “I asked my disciple to lay down the eight trigrams formation in this courtyard. Through the assistance of the general and all of you, the power of the formation has been spread throughout the entire Prince’s manor at this moment. As long as I recite the incantation to activate it, the formation will automatically force the demon into the core of this formation, and from then on, it will be subjected to my commands.”
Wen Yi was overjoyed to hear this and busied himself: “Taoist Priest, please start.”
Guangxu Zi answered, lazily got up, and walked to the altar. He grabbed a handful of rice and sprinkled it on the empty space as he recited words under his breath.
The courtyard was silent and after a while, rustling sounds came from the bushes.
Ye Zi’s heart skipped a beat and he vaguely had some bad premonitions.
Suddenly, a meow could be heard and a round orange fur ball jumped out from the bushes, rushing towards Ye Zi’s direction.
Ye Zi was so scared that he even forgot to escape and froze in place momentarily. But as soon as the orange cat ran to the open space, several ropes sprang up from the ground, binding the orange cat tightly.
The place where it fell was exactly the core of the formation that Guangxu Zi had said just now.
Ye Zi: “……”
Wen Yi: “……”
********
The author has something to say:
Guangxu Zi: Now I need to catch a little friend to take the blame, who is the lucky little friend?
Orange Cat: Aggrieved.jpg
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Oh my (ಡ艸ಡ)
Thank You for the new chapter (๑´• ₃ •̀๑)
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lol poor kitty HAHAHA
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