LYIPhSAA (lxxxv)
Edited: 12.24.2023
Watching Gu Xuan and the little gray sparrow walk away, Ye Zi walked back with a sigh of relief and saw Gu Yan walking towards him from afar.
Gu Yan walked closer: “Gu Xuan left?”
Ye Zi nodded, still feeling frightened when he thought of Gu Xuan’s appearance just now: “At first, I wanted to explain properly to the Third Imperial Prince, but suddenly the little sparrow transformed and appeared out of nowhere, angering him to the max.”
Gu Yan smiled: “Why didn’t you wait for me? If I was there, even if he was angry, he wouldn’t dare direct it at you.”
“But who knew that the little sparrow would suddenly interrupt.” Ye Zi muttered in a low voice: “How is Emperor Jinghe?”
Gu Yan sneered: “What else can he do after being poisoned by the coil orchid? Emperor Jinghe has agreed that Pei Ge will be the one to treat him from tomorrow on.”
Ye Zi was stunned: “Then isn’t that……”
Once Pei Ge entered the palace, it was equivalent to Gu Yan taking control of Emperor Jinghe’s life. In this way, wouldn’t it indirectly be handing over the government affairs to Gu Yan?
Gu Yan’s expression was faint: “Other than that, does he have any other choice?”
Ye Zi narrowed his eyes and didn’t answer.
He didn’t know what Gu Yan was thinking as he shook his head: “Let’s go to the medical clinic first. I took the liberty of agreeing to this before consulting with Dr. Pei, I have to explain to him in person.”
On the other hand, Gu Xuan held the little gray sparrow and returned to his chambers.
Just as he stepped into the bedchamber, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him: “Xuan’er, don’t you have anything you want to explain to me?”
Gu Xuan’s footsteps paused for a moment, his palms slightly closed to block the little gray sparrow, and he turned his head: “Mother Consort, why are you here?”
Behind him, Noble Consort Yu was bloodshot. Her clothes and makeup were as exquisite as before, but her expression was extremely haggard and exhausted.
Noble Consort Yu’s eyes were red: “You did this, didn’t you?”
Gu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered: “The walls have ears. Mother Consort should talk about this inside.”
Gu Xuan led Noble Consort Yu into the room and carefully placed the little gray bird on the silver bird stand specially customized for him. When he let go, the little gray bird lightly rubbed against his finger, as if it was worried.
Gu Xuan gently stroked the little gray sparrow’s head, shook his head imperceptibly at it, and turned his head back to the outer room.
Noble Consort Yu was sitting down, looking slightly dazed.
Gu Xuan walked over to her and sat down. He poured a cup of tea for her and handed it over. Noble Consort Yu glanced at the tea but didn’t dare to take it.
Gu Xuan smiled: “Mother Consort, don’t worry, there’s no poison in it.”
Noble Consort Yu’s eyes trembled and she suddenly grabbed Gu Xuan’s wrist. Tea splashed out of the cup and as if she hadn’t heard him, Noble Consort Yu questioned: “Did you really do that, are you crazy? I asked you to help me with this matter and this is how you handled it? Do you know how big of a crime it is to conspire against His Holiness?”
Gu Xuan gently pried away Noble Consort Yu’s hand, took out the silk handkerchief, and wiped the tea stain on her hand slowly with a calm expression: “I think Mother Consort is misunderstanding something. Even if His Holiness were to investigate, you were the one that personally delivered that bowl of bird’s nest soup.”
Noble Consort Yu froze in place.
Gu Xuan had helped her a lot in the past few days. He found all the people related to the coil orchid poison twenty years ago and executed them all. She had personally made a bowl of bird’s nest soup for Emperor Jinghe last night so that she could report the matter to him.
That bowl of bird’s nest soup was originally something she wanted to use to ease her relationship with Emperor Jinghe.
But who would have thought that it would have been tampered with?
After the coil orchid powder was dissolved in water, it was colorless, tasteless, and even more undetectable. She had no idea when it had been poisoned.
Noble Consort Yu’s fingertips trembled slightly and she said in disbelief: “Are you crazy?…..After raising you for many years, this is how you repay me? Why are you doing this, just for the little eunuch I executed before?”
Gu Xuan glanced subconsciously toward the inner room. Through the gauze cloud screen, he could see the small ball of fluff still standing obediently on the bird stand.
His expression softened slightly and he smiled: “Mother Consort said that you raised me? Then have you ever treated me as your son? You didn’t. You are merely using me as a tool in your struggle for power. Furthermore, did Mother Consort already forget how my birth mother died?”
Noble Consort Yu’s eyes trembled slightly and she didn’t reply.
Gu Xuan added: “That year when Concubine Yun entered the palace, you took the initiative to befriend her as Lady of Bright Deportment. With her being favored, you also quickly gained the favor of Emperor Jinghe. Later, you and Concubine Yun were pregnant at almost the same time, but she was framed and thrown into the cold palace. Did you really not have a hand in this?”
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Noble Consort Yu’s voice rose: “You’re talking nonsense, what evidence do you have to prove that I had a hand in it?”
“Mother Consort, don’t be anxious, let me finish.” Gu Xuan said indifferently, “You originally thought that after Concubine Yun was gone, no one would compete with you for favor. However, you didn’t expect yourself to be in such poor health that you would accidentally lose your child. The Imperial doctor told you that you will never be able to have children.”
“You knew that concubines without heirs struggled in the harem so you set your sights on Concubine Yun again.”
“You told Emperor Jinghe that he couldn’t let the Imperial bloodline grow up in the cold palace and told Emperor Jinghe to take the child, who was less than a month old, away from Concubine Yun. After losing her child, Concubine Yun completely lost all hope of life and died not long after.”
“You were afraid that the matter would be exposed, so you shut up all the people involved. But there is no impermeable wall in this world. After searching hard, I finally found a servant girl who had served beside Concubine Yun and was later dismissed from the palace.”
Noble Consort Yu collapsed onto the chair, her face pale.
Gu Xuan turned his head and looked at her with an expression almost pitiful: “Mother Consort, do you still think I’m crazy?”
Noble Consort Yu’s lips trembled. She calmed down a little and persuaded: “Yes……I was the one who was wrong. But Xuan’er, ever since you were brought to me, I have always treated you as my own son. If not for me, how could you have the status you have today?”
“Status?” The corners of Gu Xuan’s mouth curved and he said in a warm voice, “Yes, thanks to Mother Consort’s upbringing. If it wasn’t for you teaching me how to compete with the others, I certainly would not be where I am today. So Mother Consort don’t worry, if Father blames you, I will plead on behalf of Mother Consort.”
Noble Consort Yu looked up in a daze.
Gu Xuan added: “Now everyone inside and outside the court thinks that Father just contracted the epidemic from somewhere, rather than being poisoned. I think Father also doesn’t want the news to spread that he was poisoned by the coil orchid. Because once the so-called epidemic is revealed to be the poison of coil orchids, the old case from twenty years ago will be uncovered. The best way now is to reduce the big issue into a small one.”
“As long as Mother Consort doesn’t talk about this matter and publicize it anywhere, I don’t think Father will pursue this matter too much.”
“What you mean is……”
Gu Xuan didn’t say anything more and just said lightly: “With that said, I will escort Mother Consort back to your palace.”
“No need.” Noble Consort Yu stood up and gave him a deep look, “I’ll walk by myself.”
After Noble Consort Yu finished speaking, she quickly left. Gu Xuan sighed lightly and behind him, the little gray sparrow lightly landed on his shoulder.
“A Xuan……”
Gu Xuan turned his head and touched its head: “What happened, did I scare you?”
“No.” The little gray sparrow rubbed against the side of Gu Xuan’s neck, “Is it really okay to let Noble Consort Yu go like this? What if the Emperor pursues her and she tells the truth about you poisoning the soup?”
“That won’t happen.” Gu Xuan clutched the little gray sparrow in his hand and gently stroked the feathers on its back, “Little sparrow, do you know what kind of person in this world won’t tell secrets?”
“What kind?……”
Gu Xuan raised his eyes toward the outside of the hall and said faintly: “One is a dead person and the other is a madman.”
The little gray sparrow blinked in confusion, not quite understanding what he meant when he suddenly said that. He stood in Gu Xuan’s hand and looked up at him: “No matter what, as long as I can be with A Xuan, it’s all good.”
Gu Xuan asked in a warm voice, “As long as you’re with me, no matter what my status is, will you accept it?”
The little gray sparrow said: “Of course.”
Gu Xuan’s eyes narrowed and his lips brought a bit of a smile: “Good.”
Yongchun Hall Medical Clinic. When Gu Yan and Ye Zi stepped inside, it was even more crowded than before.
The two stood in the lobby of the medical clinic. Ye Zi looked at the crowded crowd in front of him and helplessly laughed: “Dr. Pei’s business is getting better and better, to think there would be this many people.”
“This gentleman might not know,” an old man beside him who came to see the doctor said leisurely, “The doctor here has a pair of amazing hands. He and the Prince went to Jiangnan and cured the raging epidemic there. People say that he is a miracle doctor!”
It was precisely because Pei Ge cured the epidemic in Guangling and saved countless people’s lives that word spread back to Chang’an, and many people came here because of it, which made Yongchun Hall’s business better and better.
Ye Zi and Gu Yan exchanged a glance, before they could say anything, someone walked towards them. That person was dressed in simple plain clothes and although it was a commoner’s outfit, one could still see the unusual elegant temperament.
It was Wen Zhi.
When Wen Zhi saw Gu Yan and Ye Zi standing at the entrance of the medical clinic from afar, she hurriedly greeted them, calling offhandedly: “Your M-……”
“Miss.” Gu Yan was the first to interrupt, “We’re here to find Dr. Pei.”
Wen Zhi immediately understood and nodded: “Please follow me.”
Wen Zhi guided the two of them to the compartment at the back of the medical clinic.
Closing the door to the compartment, Ye Zi said: “I didn’t expect the commandery princess to stay at Yongchun Hall.”
“Don’t call me Commandery Princess anymore, I have long since ceased to be a commandery princess.” Wen Zhi smiled, “When Dr. Pei went to Jiangnan with His Majesty to cure the epidemic, I was with Wan’er taking care of the medical clinic. Over time, I didn’t think there was anything bad about this. So…….I decided to stay here and learn some medical theory from Dr. Pei, that way I can also treat illnesses and save people.”
Ye Zi smiled: “Being able to do what you want is the best.”
Wen Zhi said: “Thanks to you, Little Plant Fairy. If it wasn’t for you, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be here today.”
Gu Yan frowned, his voice sinking: “What did you call him?”
Just as Wen Zhi was about to answer, Ye Zi noticed that the situation wasn’t right and immediately interrupted: “Commandery princess, it’s better to quickly ask Dr. Pei to come over, we’re looking for him for some urgent matters.”
Wen Zhi looked at him in confusion and then at Gu Yan. Without saying anything, she nodded and turned around to go out to look for Pei Ge.
The moment Ye Zi breathed a sigh of relief, he felt someone wrapping his arms around him from behind.
Gu Yan maliciously nipped at the tip of his ear and whispered: “How come I didn’t know that you had such a cute nickname, huh? Little Plant Fairy?”
The jealousy in these words was so apparent that Ye Zi shivered. Ye Zi winced in discomfort and said helplessly: “Your Majesty, what are you jealous of this time?”
Gu Yan’s arm tightened as he kissed lightly on the sensitive area behind his ear without answering.
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Ye Zi couldn’t stand being teased by him like this and struggled uncomfortably: “Don’t……we might get caught by someone.”
Gu Yan still ignored him as his lips slowly moved down and he gently bit Ye Zi’s neck.
“Hiss……” Ye Zi was in pain for a moment, “Gu Zicheng!”
“I’m here.” Gu Yan lightly kissed and licked the area that he had bitten and was satisfied to see a trace of ambiguous red mark brought on that small piece of pale skin.
Due to Ye Zi’s extraordinary recovery ability, whatever marks Gu Yan left on him always disappeared without a trace the next day.
This seemed like a good thing to Ye Zi, but Gu Yan didn’t feel the same way.
Prince Rui, who had always been calm in the past, had a nerve touched by this incident. Whenever he got close to him, he would stubbornly leave some traces on him, never tired of it, and was always paranoid and domineering.
Gu Yan let go of Ye Zi and rubbed his fingertips over the red mark, as if he was reminiscing.
Ye Zi knocked away his hand, covered his neck, and said indignantly: “Are you a dog? All you know is how to bite people.”
“This is punishment.” Gu Yan said righteously, “How about it, Princess Consort Rui, do you admit you were in the wrong?”
“You——” Ye Zi was about to say something when suddenly there were two knocks on the door.
Pei Ge pushed open the door, his face slightly uncomfortable: “Although I really can’t bear to disturb the two of you, my medical clinic is really a bit busy right now. If the two of you want to talk about your feelings, can you continue later?”
Ye Zi: “……”
Ye Zi’s face turned red as he scurried to the side and sat down, no longer paying attention to Gu Yan.
Gu Yan also immediately put away that immodest look: “Please come in, Dr. Pei.”
Pei Ge took a seat in front of the two of them and Gu Yan quickly informed him of his intentions.
After Pei Ge listened, he was silent for quite some time.
Gu Yan observed his expression and persuaded: “Don’t worry, Dr. Pei, although this Prince has asked you to enter the palace to guard His Holiness, you don’t need to really bother with him. You only need to follow what you did before and brew the tonics for him to ease the symptoms.”
“Regardless of how His Holiness’s condition ends up, this Prince can guarantee that your life will never be in danger.”
Pei Ge smiled: “Your Majesty is overly concerned. I am not someone who is greedy for life and afraid of death. It’s just that I don’t understand, if Your Majesty just wants to ease the symptoms, you already have the prescription, you just need to give it to the Imperial doctor, why come to me?”
Gu Yan lowered his eyes and spoke in a calm tone: “The Imperial doctor is an outsider after all and isn’t as reliable as someone I know. What’s more, doesn’t Dr. Pei want to seize this opportunity to enter the palace? For ordinary people, this is not an easy thing.”
Pei Ge’s expression was slightly stagnant and he raised his eyes to look at Gu Yan, as if he was confirming something on his face.
After a long time, Pei Ge suddenly laughed out softly: “Very well, since Your Majesty has personally asked, I will certainly follow your order. However, please also give me a day to take care of the affairs of the medical clinic. Tomorrow morning, I will enter the palace.”
Gu Yan thought for a moment and asked: “Speaking of which, why don’t I see Miss Wan’er? You and Changning, who’s new to medicine, are the only ones left. No wonder you guys are so busy.”
Mentioning this, Pei Ge couldn’t help but let out a light sigh: “Don’t mention it, that brat left on the second day of my return.”
“Where did she go?”
Pei Ge responded: “To the northwest camp.”
Ye Zi froze and was surprised: “Why did she go to that place for——”
His words ended abruptly.
He still remembered that back then, Wen Yi had once said that after taking care of the Commandery Princess Changning matter he would lead his troops to the northwestern garrison.
Ye Zi blinked and asked tentatively: “Don’t tell me she…..”
“When a girl is of age, she leaves her family.” Pei Ge let out a laugh and said helplessly, “That brat was dead set on saying that it was tough for the northwest soldiers guarding the border when there are not many good doctors accompanying the army. She just had to go there to serve as their military doctor. I don’t even know what I should do…….”
Ye Zi was incredulous: “Wen Yi agreed to let a little girl follow him to the desert?”
“He probably didn’t.” Pei Ge said, “I heard Miss Wen say that when Wan’er and Little General Wen stayed in the bamboo house to take care of her, they quarreled day in and day out. Even the night before Little General Wen left, they still quarreled, and it seemed that they were arguing because Wan’er wanted to follow him to the northwest.”
Pei Ge sighed: “Me and Wan’er are actually not biologically related. Both of our parents died when we were young and we grew up with our master. Later, when our master passed away for some reason, Wan’er and I depended on each other before we strayed to Chang’an.”
“……I took care of Wan’er as if she were my own sister. She may have been spoiled too much by me over the years so her nature has become more and more arrogant. I think having her go to the northwest for some hardships would be for the better.”
Gu Yan let out a light laugh: “You might think it’s hardships, but others might not necessarily think so. Dr. Pei, congratulations, I’m afraid it won’t be long before she becomes an Imperial relative.”
Pei Ge shook his head and didn’t say anything more.
The three of them chatted for a while. As Pei Ge was still busy with the affairs of the medical clinic, the two of them didn’t bother him for too long and quickly left.
Gu Yan and Ye Zi didn’t take a carriage and decided to take a stroll around the street, which was a rare leisure activity.
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Chang’an City was now in full Autumn, with fallen leaves scattered on the ground giving it a sense of desolation. The street market was as peaceful and lively as usual, but it was like the calm before the storm.
Ye Zi suddenly asked, “Zicheng, are there really no more…….coil orchid roots?”
“Yes.” Gu Yan said, “All of the coil orchids have been destroyed in Guangling and I only kept that small packet of pollen for emergencies.”
Ye Zi pursed his lips and hesitated: “Then……Emperor Jinghe……”
Gu Yan smiled: “Although the roots are gone, he probably still has some seeds.”
This was what Ye Zi was worrying about.
Ye Zi said: “If he still has the remaining coil orchid seeds in his hands and uses this seed to produce more coil orchids and get the antidote, will……”
“So what?” Gu Yan said indifferently: “He can plant as much as he wants, I’ll wait.”
Ye Zi still had doubts in his heart, but he didn’t ask any more questions. The two of them walked to a busy door on the streets. Ye Zi looked inside curiously: “What kind of place is this place? Why is it so lively?”
Gu Yan pulled on his clothes and raised his eyes to point above Ye Zi’s head.
The mahogany plaque above the duo’s heads was engraved with a few words.
——”Chang’an Book Pavilion.”
Ye Zi had heard of this book pavilion several times, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to step foot in it before. He was a little curious for a moment and asked: “Is this the place where Qiu Tang and the others buy their storybooks? Can we……”
Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Yan directly took his hand and stepped inside the book pavilion.
The book pavilion was filled with people and was divided into three floors with all kinds of books organized into different categories. Through the lobby, the interior of the book pavilion was connected to a teahouse and most people were now gathered within that teahouse.
When the two asked around, they found out that today was the monthly popular storybook discussion day. The book pavilion had invited the most famous local storyteller to review the most popular storybooks of this season.
As soon as Ye Zi heard this, he became interested and pestered Gu Yan to go take a look. Gu Yan had no choice but to spend a lot of money to charter a teahouse room.
The private room was on the second floor with a great view. While eating fruits and tea, Ye Zi stared at the storyteller and listened carefully.
As expected, the story was about the “Diary of a Prince’s Manor.”
Having been gone for a few months, “Diary of a Prince’s Manor” already had its fifth volume. The young gentleman traveled thousands of miles in search of his husband but found that the Prince had developed feelings for another, causing him to feel sad.
When Ye Zi heard the beginning of this, he felt that it was out of place. He frowned but continued to listen.
He didn’t know whether the author had restrained themselves for now or whether the storyteller wasn’t able to show the romantic affairs in the book, the content of this book was extremely serious. Not only were there almost no romantic affairs, but the content had also become very heavy.
This volume told the story of the Prince, who was ordered to go to Jiangnan. The young gentleman couldn’t bear the loneliness in the Prince’s manor and followed him all the way to Jiangnan. But after following him, he discovered that instead of thinking about him as much as he thought, the Prince had moved on and fell in love with someone else. The young gentleman was heartbroken and couldn’t help but resort to many means to try to win back the Prince.
Hearing this, Ye Zi couldn’t stand to listen anymore.
He slammed his teacup onto the tabletop and angrily yelled: “What is all this?”
Gu Yan reached out and patted him on the back of his hand, saying in a warm voice, “It’s just a story, don’t worry about it.”
“That’s not allowed either, I——”
Before Ye Zi could finish his sentence, there was suddenly some arguing in the audience.
The storyteller’s narration was interrupted and Ye Zi looked over. The place where the dispute occurred happened to be blocked by the crowd and he couldn’t see what was going on.
Gu Yan also turned his head and followed Ye Zi’s gaze: “Let’s go down and take a look?”
“Okay.”
The two went downstairs and quickly came to the place where the dispute occurred. The person arguing with the book pavilion steward was actually a familiar face.
Qiu Luo was red with fury and angrily said: “How can you arbitrarily tamper with Mr. Wu Fang’s work? The original paragraph was not like this.”
The steward said: “Miss, this book is ours, it’s up to us how we want to change it, why are you so worried about it?”
“No, you guys can’t do this.” Qiu Luo said: “I……have read the fifth volume and the content is clearly that the young gentleman went to Jiangnan to rebuild his old relationship with the Prince. But with yours, how did it become that he had moved on and fell in love with another?”
The steward righteously said: “What do you understand? How could the original work, which was smooth sailing, be enough to attract readers? Our changed version is also just as popular.”
Ye Zi: “……”
Why didn’t he know before that Qiu Luo liked reading this book so much?
However, listening to her, the content of this fifth volume was probably changed by someone. Ye Zi turned his head to look at Gu Yan and saw the same helplessness in the latter’s eyes.
Gu Yan shook his head and walked out of the crowd, raising his voice slightly: “Stop arguing.”
When Qiu Luo heard this familiar voice and turned her head, her face was filled with shock.
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Thank You for the new chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
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