LYIPhSAA (lxiv)
t/n: realized the ending of the last chapter got cut off, went back and fixed it.
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Edited: 10.08.2023
The place where the accident happened wasn’t far or close to them. Ye Zi raised his head and looked over. He couldn’t see clearly and could only vaguely see a small boat floating on the lake, as if it had been broken into pieces.
It seemed that the boat had sunk.
The water splashes gradually became smaller and there were faint screams and cries. Ye Zi asked hesitantly: “Don’t tell me someone decided to jump overboard?”
Gu Yan wrapped his arms around him and didn’t move a bit: “Don’t know.”
Gu Yan wasn’t the type who liked to meddle in other people’s business, especially if it had nothing to do with him. Even if someone did drown in front of him, he probably wouldn’t take a second glance.
But Ye Zi wasn’t that type of person. He hesitated and turned around, asking: “We’re not going to help?”
Gu Yan shook his head and pointed ahead: “Someone already went to help.”
He looked over in the direction Gu Yan pointed and several small boats on the lake had already sailed in that direction.
Ye Zi estimated the distance and frowned: “They’re still so far, by the time they arrive, I’m afraid the person would have already drowned.”
Gu Yan said: “That just means they are useless.”
Ye Zi heard something from Gu Yan’s tone and asked: “Do you know who the person who fell into the water is?”
Gu Yan paused for a moment and truthfully said: “I can roughly guess.”
Ye Zi asked: “Who is it?”
Gu Yan pointed to the shore and it was vaguely visible that there were a lot of carriages parked: “Do you see that palanquin? That kind of palanquin can only be used by certain consorts.”
Gu Yan said: “When concubines travel, there will be guards and eunuchs accompanying them. But those carriages in front are obviously beyond the standards for a concubine’s travel. However, it would be just right if a Little Imperial Prince was added to the group.”
“Little Imperial Prince?” Ye Zi was stunned for a moment.
The current Emperor only had three sons. Since today was not a rest day, the Crown Prince and the Third Imperial Prince were probably in court reporting to His Holiness. This leaves Gu Xu, the not yet ten-year-old Fifth Imperial Prince.
Gu Xu was the son of the Pure Consort. Because he was too young, he had little interaction with Gu Yan in his past life, or in this life so Ye Zi also didn’t know much about him.
Ye Zi was startled: “Don’t tell me the one who fell into the water is the Fifth Imperial Prince?”
Gu Yan snorted: “If it really is him, then the large group of people tasked to look after him are truly useless.”
Ye Zi fell silent and didn’t reply.
As they talked, the water splashes became smaller and smaller, but the other boats had not arrived yet.
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The Little Imperial Prince was only seven years old this year, if he really drowned like this, it would be too——
The situation was urgent and Ye Zi didn’t have the time to think as he broke away from Gu Yan’s hand, leaping towards the capsized boat. He trod lightly on the water and soon arrived at the scene of the accident. A boy dressed in expensive clothes had his eyes tightly closed with his head barely staying above the water. It was as if he had already lost consciousness.
Ye Zi stepped lightly on the already torn-apart boat, reached into the water, and yanked hard, trying to pull the boy up from the water.
When he exerted his force, he could vaguely feel something underwater hindering him for a moment. However, Ye Zi’s movement only paused for a second as he pulled even harder, finally pulling the boy out of the water.
Then, he picked up the boy and pranced back to their boat.
Gu Yan had already gotten up and reached out to help him.
The two of them landed smoothly on the boat. Ye Zi propped the boy up, lowered his head, and gently patted the boy’s back. The boy coughed violently a few times, vomited out a large amount of water, and finally regained consciousness. Without seeing clearly who was in front of him, he hugged Ye Zi and started to cry.
Ye Zi: “……”
Ye Zi was confused by his reaction and looked at Gu Yan for help: “Your Majesty……”
Gu Yan sat calmly next to him as the corners of his lips shallowly hooked up. He quietly admired Ye Zi’s helpless appearance.
Just now, Ye Zi’s light skills and fluent movements as he rescued the boy was the heroism that Gu Yan hadn’t seen for a long time. It had to be said that Gu Yan did miss this version of him a little.
But whether it was the Ye Zi who could stand on his own or this Ye Zi who relied on him, both made him fall in love even more that he could hardly control himself.
Gu Yan made up his mind to stand by and watch while Ye Zi had to hurriedly comfort the boy in his arms. Not long after, the rescue boat finally arrived.
There was a young eunuch on the boat. He recognized Gu Yan and Ye Zi at a glance and hurriedly saluted them: “I didn’t expect it to be Prince Rui and Princess Consort Rui. This servant greets these two masters, thank you for saving the Fifth Imperial Prince.”
Gu Yan responded, picked up the boy by his collar, gently lifted him out of Ye Zi’s arms, and threw him to the young eunuch.
Gu Yan uttered in a cold voice: “Eunuch, pay attention in the future, if anything happens to the Fifth Imperial Prince, you will all lose your heads.”
After saying that, Gu Yan rowed the oars, turned the boat, and sailed the boat back in the direction it came from.
After the fiasco, Ye Zi’s clothes became wet and it felt uncomfortable sticking to his body. And as the breeze from the other side of the lake passed by, he felt a little chill down his spine. Gu Yan pulled him off the boat, took out the silk handkerchief, and wiped his face and neck: “Take off your outer robe first. Is it wet inside too?”
“A little.”
Even if Ye Zi wasn’t wet in the first place, he would be when the soaked boy drilled into his arms.
Ye Zi took off the outer robe and casually wrung it: “It’s not too wet. Since it’s warm today, it will dry up in a while, don’t worry.”
Gu Yan was silent for a moment: “It’s not that simple. It’s very cloudy in this forest, you might catch a cold.”
As he said this, he untied his outer robe, wanting to put it on Ye Zi.
“No need, I’m not cold——” Ye Zi was about to duck to the side when Gu Yan raised his eyes and glanced at him.
Ye Zi immediately conceded and stopped resisting.
Gu Yan undid the buttons of his inner garment and wiped his neck for him: “Are you satisfied now, the young warrior Ye who fought for justice?”
Hearing the joke in his tone, Ye Zi pursed his lips and whispered in his own defense: “It was a little kid. If I didn’t go save him, did you really want me to see him drown like that?”
Gu Yan faintly responded: “I didn’t say that you were wrong to save him. My beloved consort is kind-hearted and doesn’t want to see the child suffer. I understand.”
Ye Zi muttered: “It always feels like you’re being sarcastic……”
Gu Yan didn’t say anything. He wiped his face and neck, wrapped Ye Zi tightly in his robe, and pulled him back: “Let’s go back to the bamboo house for now and have the fire warm you up. Since you injured your vitality a while back, I would have been really angry with you if you had risked your life.”
Ye Zi didn’t dare to say anything else and nodded as he obediently allowed him to pull him along.
They walked for a while. As the wind blew against Ye Zi, his mind became clearer and he realized something was wrong: “Since it’s the Pure Consort’s outing, shouldn’t there be many Imperial guards following her? How come not one of them was even able to save a child?”
Gu Yan turned back to look at him with a helpless smile in his eyes: “Little fool, did you finally realize?”
Ye Zi was stunned: “Then the person in the palanquin……”
Gu Yan said: “It’s probably not the Pure Consort.”
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Ye Zi was silent for a moment. He immediately understood what was going on and whispered: “Are they crazy, to think they would even harm such a small child……”
“I remember when the Fourth Imperial Prince died of illness, he was also around this age.” Gu Yan said, “The Eldest Imperial Prince and the Fourth Imperial Prince passed away one after another. After many years, besides the birth of the Fifth Imperial Prince, the other concubines have nothing to produce, do you think it is just a coincidence?”
Ye Zi lowered his head.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know about the harem fights, but knowing was one thing, and seeing it with his own eyes was another.
Gu Yan said: “The Pure Consort came from the commoners and has been exceptionally favored ever since she entered the palace. Emperor Jinghe was so precious to her that when he learned that she was pregnant, he not only directly named her the Pure Consort, but also sent people to take care of her clothing, food, and living conditions, and that was the only reason the Fifth Imperial Prince survived.”
“After the birth of the Fifth Imperial Prince, Emperor Jinghe wasn’t so attentive to him. Not long afterward, he became seriously ill and it looked like he wouldn’t live for more than a few years.”
“If Emperor Jinghe were to die at this time, the young Fifth Imperial Prince wouldn’t be able to become the Crown Prince and the focus of the next successor would naturally fall on the Crown Prince and the Third Imperial Prince. Over the years, the Fifth Imperial Prince and the Pure Consort have lived in peace. However, Emperor Jinghe’s health has been deteriorating for many years without any hopes of recovery and coupled with the fact that recently there has been some gradual talk of abolishing the Crown Prince from the court, I think some people are getting anxious.”
Ye Zi said: “You mean the Crown Prince, or……the Empress?”
“Since there is no evidence right now, we can’t jump to conclusions. However, whether it is the Empress or Noble Consort Yu, that Little Imperial Prince’s future is going to be a bit worrisome.”
Ye Zi’s eyes darkened, but he thought of something else: “No wonder you didn’t want me to save him today. Are we offending the Empress again by doing this? Am I…….causing trouble for you again.”
Gu Yan turned his head and pinched Ye Zi’s face gently: “Stop having nonsensical thoughts, I’m not blaming you. What’s more, haven’t I already offended the Empress many times? If she really wanted to do something to me, she would have done it long ago.”
“I am worried about you.” Gu Yan sighed softly, “When will you change your nature of always pitying others? Although you saved that child’s life today, if he perishes in the battle for the throne in the future, wouldn’t it be hard on you?”
Ye Zi’s heart warmed.
Gu Yan was really too good to him. He never thought that there would be someone who cared so much about his feelings and thought about everything for him. To think there was a person in this world who used all his strength to love and spoil him and this person was likewise one he cherished and adored beyond measure.
What did he do to be able to meet such an amazing person?
Ye Zi’s expression softened. Gu Yan lowered his eyes to look at him and laughed softly: “What’s wrong, are you that moved?”
Ye Zi met his gaze and looked over. The two of them had just walked out of the green bamboo forest and the sunlight was shining through without any hindrance, covering Gu Yan’s profile with a layer of warm light. Ye Zi’s heart melted as he stood up on tiptoes and kissed the other person’s lips gently.
Ye Zi distanced himself slightly and said in a gentle voice: “Zicheng, what should I do? I seem to like you more and more.”
Gu Yan’s heart thumped. He lifted the back of Ye Zi’s head and lowered his head for another kiss.
“……Sh*t!”
A voice suddenly rang out from behind the duo and they looked over in unison. Wen Yi had his sleeves rolled up and was carrying a wooden bucket in his hand. He was standing outside the yard and they didn’t know whether he was going out or had just come back.
His face turned red as he gritted his teeth: “What were you guys doing?”
Ye Zi was stunned for a moment and turned his head to look at Gu Yan, wordlessly expressing his confusion.
Why was he acting crazy again?
Gu Yan shrugged his shoulders, obviously also confused.
Wen Yi hesitated for a moment and his face turned brighter as he viciously said: “Get dressed before you come in, there are women inside!”
After saying this, he entered the courtyard without looking back.
Ye Zi: “……”
Only then did he look down at how he and Gu Yan looked.
His own outer robe was stained with water and was being held in his hand while Gu Yan’s outer robe was now loosely draped over himself. Furthermore, his inner garment was also unbuttoned.
No matter how one looked at it……it seemed like they were doing something they shouldn’t have outside.
Ye Zi’s face turned bright red.
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Well, poor kid, he didn’t chose to be a prince :<
Thank You for the new chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
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