LYIPhSAA (lvii)
Edited: 09.13.2023
Ye Zi was stunned for a moment by the little gray sparrow’s thoughtless sentence and asked: “Why do you want to become a woman?”
The little gray sparrow sat down by the stone table in the courtyard and propped up his chin with a saddened expression: “It’s what A Xuan’s mother said, only women can become Imperial consorts.”
“Noble Consort Yu?” Ye Zi asked, “What did she say to you?”
The little gray sparrow said: “She didn’t say it to me, she said it to A Xuan.”
“……The other day, Noble Consort Yu brought many beautiful women to the palace and asked A Xuan to choose a consort. A Xuan refused and argued with her a few times and I ended up overhearing them.”
Ye Zi immediately understood.
Noble Consort Yu had a miscarriage in her early years and was unable to have any more children since then, which was why Emperor Jinghe passed the young Gu Xuan to her and allowed her to raise him as her own child. Noble Consort Yu didn’t give up on being the Empress Dowager and taught him from a young age how to fight for power.
The Crown Prince couldn’t be without an heir.
The little gray sparrow probably had this idea after hearing this.
Ye Zi sighed in his heart. From the first day he knew that the little gray sparrow was with Gu Xuan, he had begun to worry that something like this would happen, and now it was really as he had expected. Ye Zi thought for a moment and asked: “Little Sparrow, do you like the Third Imperial Prince?”
The little gray sparrow tilted his head to look at him: “Of course I like him.”
Ye Zi clarified: “What I mean is, is it the kind of like that you want to stay with him forever and never be separated?”
The little gray sparrow blinked and nodded seriously: “Mnn, I want to be with A Xuan forever, just like the scholar and his wife in the storybooks.”
When he said this, he seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes dimmed: “But can a man be someone else’s wife?……”
Ye Zi said: “It is possible, but……”
The era they lived in was not part of history. The current law stipulated that two men could get married, but the marrying party must first marry a woman as his main wife, and the man married later could only serve as a concubine.
Because of this, when Gu Yan insisted on having Ye Zi as the main consort, everyone was opposed to it.
The ancients attached great importance to carrying on the family line. Although they did not exclude male wives, they didn’t want their family line to stop just because they married a male wife.
And with a status like Gu Xuan, an Imperial Prince, it was even more unlikely for him to marry a man as a consort.
Ye Zi said after careful consideration: “Little Sparrow, it’s not impossible for you to marry the Third Imperial Prince, but as an Imperial Prince, neither His Holiness nor Noble Consort Yu will allow him to marry a man as his main wife. If he listens to Noble Consort Yu and marries a Imperial consort, there may be hope for you to serve him as a concubine.”
“This won’t do.” The little gray sparrow’s eyes widened as he shook his head repeatedly, “In that case, how pitiful that woman would be. I can’t let A Xuan do that.”
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The little gray sparrow sighed: “I wish I could become a woman so that A Xuan wouldn’t be troubled.”
As Ye Zi stroked his hair and was about to persuade him, the little gray sparrow suddenly raised his head to look at him: “Little Leaf, do you think it would be better if I simply married[1] A Xuan? That way he wouldn’t be forced to marry another woman.”
Ye Zi was momentarily speechless and before he could reply, a voice echoed from behind: “What nonsense are you spouting this time?”
The little gray sparrow stood up and hid behind Ye Zi with a guilty conscience.
Gu Xuan and Gu Yan walked into the courtyard, looking rather helpless.
The little gray sparrow poked his head out from behind Ye Zi and said in a weak voice: “I didn’t say anything……A Xuan, you guys have finished talking so quickly.”
Gu Xuan nodded: “Let’s go, let’s not disturb Cousin and the others any longer.”
The little gray sparrow wasn’t happy and resisted: “I’m not leaving, I only got to exchange a few words with Little Leaf just now.”
Gu Xuan walked up to him: “Haven’t you been nagging about listening to a storyteller at the teahouse? I specially had someone make a reservation, so if we don’t go now, we won’t be able to make it.”
“Wow, then we have to go quickly!” The little gray sparrow hurriedly pulled Gu Xuan’s hand and headed out. He then turned to Ye Zi and shouted, “Little Leaf, I’ll come back to see you and the Prince next time, we’re leaving first.”
After saying that, he pulled Gu Xuan and left the Prince’s manor in a flurry. After the two left, only then did Gu Yan walk over toward Ye Zi and laughed: “What did that little sparrow say to you, was it that he wanted to marry Gu Xuan?”
Ye Zi cried and laughed.
The little gray sparrow was the only one who dared to treat the Third Imperial Prince like this.
Ye Zi didn’t say anything more about the little gray sparrow’s troubles and followed Gu Yan into the room: “Has the Third Imperial Prince agreed to help?”
Gu Yan said: “Mnn, he made it clear to me that he is indeed worried about the little sparrow’s safety these days. I have clues here that might be of help to him and it was exactly what he was looking for.”
Ye Zi asked: “What are you guys planning to do?”
Gu Yan replied: “I’ve already told him what I know and I believe that in a few days, he will be able to find out who is actually pretending to be the demon in Chang’an City and present it to Emperor Jinghe. As long as it’s proven that all those rumors and gossip are man-made, even if the Wen family wants to do anything, it won’t be that easy.”
Ye Zi apologized: “I’m sorry, it’s my fault for being careless this time.”
Gu Yan didn’t seem to agree: “What are you talking about, what does this have to do with you?”
Ye Zi answered: “If I hadn’t been discovered by the Wen family this time, I wouldn’t have attracted so much trouble.”
Gu Yan shook his head: “It’s not your fault, it’s my oversight.”
“I shouldn’t have slacked off so quickly after I backed out of my marriage with Changning. Ever since they failed to assassinate and then drove Changning ‘crazy,’ I should have expected that the Wen family wouldn’t let this go.”
Ye Zi was shocked: “That assassination attempt was also done by them?”
“Most likely. Even if it wasn’t, I can guarantee that Wen Shuhou must have known about it.” Gu Yan snorted and mocked, “This Duke of Protection has never been a simple character. Remember Pei Yuanzhi, who colluded with the enemy in private? He is Wen Shuhou’s close confidant, I don’t believe that Wen Shuhou knew nothing about what he did.
“……Wen Shuhou has done a lot of things behind the scenes over the years and I have already informed Gu Xuan about all of them. There are some things that I am not comfortable doing, so I can only have the Third Imperial Prince do it for me.”
Ye Zi was stunned for a moment: “But aren’t you afraid that……”
In his memory, after Gu Xuan brought down Wen Shuhou, the Crown Prince mistakenly thought that it was Gu Yan’s doing and pointed the finger at him completely.
Crown Prince Gu Sheng wasn’t the smartest person, but he had the Empress behind him. That Empress was ruthless and had given the Crown Prince a lot of bad ideas behind the scenes.
Now that Gu Yan had taken the initiative to reveal Wen Shuhou’s affairs to Gu Xuan, would he also go down that path?
Ye Zi wanted to remind him but didn’t know how to say it. Gu Yan suddenly asked: “A Zi, are you worried that after Gu Xuan brings down the Duke of Protection, I will be the next to suffer?”
Ye Zi bit his lip and nodded.
“There’s no need to worry too much, I know well in my heart.” Gu Yan said, “Just now in the study, I have talked openly and honestly with Gu Xuan. Whether he wants to fight for power or seize the throne, I will not interfere and will even help him secretly.”
“……I only asked him for one thing and that is that if he ascends to the throne one day, he will let me leave Chang’an. I want to find a happy place with you and never care about this Imperial power struggle ever again.”
Ye Zi’s eyes turned red: “Your Majesty……”
Gu Yan sighed and stepped forward to embrace the person: “My dear A Zi, are you still doubting me?”
Ye Zi shook his head: “I’m not……”
“There’s no harm if you do.” Gu Yan interrupted him, “Since I never talked it out properly with Gu Xuan, I’ve always felt uneasy. But now that we finally talked it out and have a resolve, it’s time to talk about us.”
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Gu Yan found a carriage and took the two of them out of the city.
When Ye Zi came here for the first time, he came on foot and walked for almost two hours. But with a carriage time, they were able to arrive at Gu Yan’s villa outside the city in less than half an hour.
When the two of them got off the carriage, the two guards outside the villa hurriedly saluted at the two of them: “This subordinate greets Your Majesty and Your Highness.”
Gu Yan said: “The princess consort and I are here to relax, we don’t need to be waited on, just stand on guard outside.”
“Yes.”
Only then did Gu Yan pull Ye Zi through the entrance.
Although no one lived in the villa, it had been regularly cleaned and organized. Now that it was late Spring, the flowers and plants in the courtyard were all carefully trimmed and flourishing. However, Ye Zi was not in the mood to enjoy the scenery. He hadn’t said a word the whole time and his palms were sweating with nervousness.
Ye Zi couldn’t tell exactly how he was feeling now. He could roughly guess what Gu Yan would say to him, but he was still slightly afraid. If Gu Yan wasn’t holding him by the shoulders, he probably would have fled the battlefield by now.
Gu Yan noticed his abnormality and turned his head with a chuckle: “I can feel your heartbeat even though I’m this far away.”
Ye Zi cowardly said: “How about……..how about we go back?”
Gu Yan said: “You don’t want to hear what I have to say?”
Ye Zi bit his lower lip.
After having this matter in his mind for so long, he naturally wanted to know the truth, but……
Ye Zi didn’t answer for a good while. Gu Yan tightened his hand around him and said with resolute: “A Zi, even if you want to leave today, I won’t let you leave. You’re good at everything, but you like to keep things bottled up inside.”
Gu Yan looked down at him and sighed softly: “It was like this in the past and it is like this even now……”
After saying that, he didn’t care what Ye Zi thought and led him into the small room where Ye Zi originally discovered the secret room. Gu Yan pushed open the darkroom door in front of Ye Zi, pulled him in, and lit up the lights.
The dark room was still the same as when Ye Zi left. The papers originally scattered on the floor had been organized by Ye Zi and placed on the table in a formal and tidy manner.
Gu Yan walked forward and ran his fingers across the paper: “I rarely come here when I’m lucid. Over the years, every time I came here, I was delirious and confused. And when I came to my senses, I found it difficult to face and would always leave in a hurry.”
He unfolded a calligraphy scroll and beckoned to Ye Zi, who was still standing at the door: “Come here, why are you standing there in a daze?”
Ye Zi walked over and Gu Yan was looking down at the scroll in front of him seriously.
After a long time, he asked softly: “Have you seen everything here?”
Ye Zi shook his head: “Not all of it.”
Gu Yan let out a light laugh: “These words were all written when I wasn’t in my right mind. There’s not much to see, but these paintings are something to look at.”
He lowered his head to rummage through the scrolls. After a while, he placed several scrolls of painting on the table and unfurled them.
It was only after he sorted them in this way that Ye Zi noticed that there was an obvious age difference between the people in the scroll. From childhood to adulthood, it was as if there was another person recording this person’s life with his eyes and paintbrush.
Ye Zi’s heart skipped a beat and Gu Yan raised his head to look at him seriously: “The contents in these paintings are my personal experience since childhood.”
“The person in the painting is none other than you.”
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[1] Rather than marrying into the Imperial bloodline and Gu Xuan taking him as a consort, Little Sparrow wants to take Gu Xuan in [I guess as his wife? 😂] ↩
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Yeeeeessss, talk, talk, talk!
Thank You for the new chapter ♡ฅ(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ)
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