Chapter 72: The Dashing and Elegant Little Marquis (5)
Emperor Hao Yuan was like a copy of Princess Jin’an. His concern for Huo Xian was undisguised, perhaps even surpassing that of the Princess.
He was just a nephew, yet he received more care from the Emperor than the biological sons. If Huo Xian were Emperor Hao Yuan‘s son, he’d probably pass out from anger.
Of course, Emperor Hao Yuan also steadily drew a wave of hatred towards him.
But since they were destined to be enemies, what harm was there in adding a bit more hatred?
“Uncle, you’re already so busy, yet I made you worry about Yi’er. It is Yi’er‘s fault.” Huo Xian felt a bit guilty.
“How is it your fault? Clearly, the person who framed you deserves to die ten thousand times,” Emperor Hao Yuan said in a deep voice.
To the side, Xiao Jinli listened, a worried look appearing on his face. “Just who is so vicious to frame Cousin?”
Huo Xian thought to himself: Isn’t it you, the vicious-minded one?
When Xiao Jinli spoke, Emperor Hao Yuan seemed to remember this son. He frowned slightly and said in an indifferent voice, “You go back first.”
“About the bandit suppression at Heifeng Mountain…” Xiao Jinli hurriedly said, but was stopped by Emperor Hao Yuan raising his hand halfway through his sentence.
Emperor Hao Yuan gave him a deep look, then glanced at Huo Xian’s face before looking back at Xiao Jinli. “I will consider this matter. You haven’t been to Taihe Palace for some time. The Noble Consort misses you; go see her.”
In this dynasty, princes lived deep in the palace before the age of fifteen. After fifteen, they would leave the palace to establish their own residences. However, three of Emperor Hao Yuan‘s four sons had defects, so up to now, only Xiao Jinli lived outside the palace. He had no title yet, nor had he achieved any merit. Currently, he held a position in the Ministry of War—though called a position, it was actually for learning.
“Yes.” Xiao Jinli understood Emperor Hao Yuan. Since things had reached this point, he knew saying more was useless and would only cause aversion. Suddenly, catching a glimpse of Huo Xian out of the corner of his eye, his mind spun, and he smiled, inviting before leaving: “I haven’t sparred with Cousin in riding and archery for a long time. Father Emperor will surely keep you for a meal today. Why don’t we call Second Royal Brother and Fourth Royal Brother after the meal and go to the drill grounds to compete?”
Before Huo Xian could speak, Emperor Hao Yuan said first, “Yi’er suffered a prison disaster for no reason and stayed in the Court of Judicial Review for several days. He needs to rest well.”
Was this directly rejecting for Huo Xian?
Hearing this, Xiao Jinli was slightly stunned, then showed a bitter smile and cupped his hands: “It was this son’s lack of consideration. I hope Cousin doesn’t blame me.”
Huo Xian smiled gently: “I won’t.”
Under Emperor Hao Yuan‘s gaze, which clearly held a hint of impatience, Xiao Jinli tactfully took his leave. Except for the gloom and jealousy captured by Huo Xian at the very beginning, Xiao Jinli revealed no other emotion until he walked out of his sight.
As for Emperor Hao Yuan, his attitude towards Xiao Jinli was also confusing. It was a pity that although the original host knew many things after his death, he didn’t become a know-it-all. He guessed it should be related to Xiao Jinli‘s mother, the Noble Consort who had been married before.
Huo Xian didn’t stay in the warm pavilion for long. He noticed that after Xiao Jinli left, Emperor Hao Yuan seemed somewhat weary—not physically tired, but mentally. His attitude was not as warm as when Huo Xian first entered the pavilion, nor did he ask about policy or state affairs as usual. It was as if he had asked Eunuch Huang to call him in just to perform a show of “benevolent uncle and filial nephew” in front of Xiao Jinli.
Interesting, interesting.
After leaving the warm pavilion, Huo Xian went to the Eastern Palace. The Second Prince was also there, but both he and the Little Imperial Grandson were asleep. Huo Xian didn’t disturb them; he just sat for a while and took his leave. However, just as he left the Eastern Palace gate, he met the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince was sixteen this year, and his features were seventy percent similar to Emperor Hao Yuan. The young man was tall and slender, with a thin build, leaning on a bamboo cane. Four young eunuchs followed behind him, but he chose to do whatever he could by himself.
The Fourth Prince had also heard that Huo Xian was nearly branded a murderer and came over. Even though the young eunuch had already reported that Huo Xian was safe and sound, he still came personally. He even hurriedly had his small kitchen make the pastries the original host liked, appearing to be a considerate and good younger brother.
The reason for saying “appearing to be” was that Huo Xian temporarily reserved suspicion towards everyone.
The two chatted briefly, and then Huo Xian left the palace. After all, he was an “outsider male” and shouldn’t walk around too much in the palace.
=v=
After the incident with Yantai in the Princess’s Manor, Princess Jin’an didn’t show mercy. She fiercely rectified the manor, and the atmosphere became solemn. everyone lowered their eyebrows and eyes. In the past, little maids would secretly blush when seeing the original host, but now they would quickly bow their heads in salute after a glance and leave swiftly, fearing that if they spoke to the Little Marquis, the Princess would suspect them of plotting something.
But the Princess still had to choose a servant boy for Huo Xian. A dignified Little Marquis couldn’t be without someone serving him. But the candidates troubled her. There were many servants in the Princess’s Manor, and many with good character, but no matter how she looked at it, she didn’t feel at ease assigning them to Huo Xian.
Knowing her trouble, Huo Xian volunteered, “Qingzhu has been recovering from his injury for a while. It’ll be fine once he recovers and returns. I won’t be used to anyone else for the time being.” mainly, as a modern young man, he wasn’t used to being served.
The Princess let him be.
Huo Xian didn’t stay home for too long. The Princess worried he might encounter bad people again if he went out, so she assigned manor guards to him. It just so happened that these guards could be used to find someone.
Only, the places the Little Marquis was looking…
Mortuaries? Mass graves? Someone who came back from the dead?
The guards didn’t say anything, but they suspected the Little Marquis had suffered torture in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison and damaged his brain.
Facing the guards’ questioning gazes, Huo Xian could only laugh dryly: It wasn’t that he wanted to focus on these places, but the point in time he transmigrated didn’t give him a chance to find the person. He could only hope Huo Yuan hadn’t gone too far.
Unfortunately, after searching for several days, there was no sign of Huo Yuan. Huo Xian found it strange. Huo Yuan had the same plot line of the original host as he did. He knew the original host’s identity, and the original host was somewhat of a celebrity in the capital. This was equivalent to having his location. So why didn’t Huo Yuan come to the Princess’s Manor to find him?
Huo Xian was a bit worried. Then, seeing a recruitment sign outside a restaurant, he had a flash of inspiration. Perhaps he could try posting small advertisements offering a reward to mobilize the masses?
Just as he was thinking this and wanting to put it into practice, he suddenly heard someone shouting sternly from afar: “Stop, don’t run—”
“Stop!!”
“Quick, stop—”
“…”
Looking towards the sound, he saw a person running in front, with several people dressed in short clothes chasing fiercely with wooden sticks behind. Pedestrians on the street were either pushed aside or hurried to avoid them. Wherever they passed, chaos ensued.
Huo Xian frowned almost imperceptibly. Chasing in a busy market area could easily cause injuries. Did the City Patrol not care?
“Little Marquis…” A guard beside him suddenly called out in a low voice. He tilted his head, signaling him to speak. The guard said, “The people chasing behind are from our manor. Should we help?”
Hearing this, Huo Xian was slightly surprised. Before he could respond, two guards had already stepped forward, protecting him from left and right. The reason was simple: the person being chased happened to be running towards Huo Xian.
“Please make way…” A hoarse voice shouted from that person’s mouth.
Quite polite. Huo Xian’s thoughts strayed for a moment.
In the next instant, the task manager emitted a crisp “beep.” He couldn’t help but be stunned, raising his eyes to look at the string of people. Coincidentally, the person running at the very front also looked at him in surprise. A pair of eyes was covered by messy, withered yellow hair, and the face was a pitch-black mess, but upon seeing him, a bright light clearly burst from those eyes.
“Huo…” That person had just shouted out in surprise when he was intercepted by Huo Xian’s guard in the next second.
“Don’t hurt him!” Huo Xian didn’t have time to stop them physically, so he could only shout.
Thus, the force the guard had already applied was abruptly reduced by several degrees, but he still successfully apprehended the person.
The people behind also caught up, and upon seeing Huo Xian, they all bowed respectfully.
Most of Huo Xian’s attention was on the apprehended Huo Yuan. He signaled the guard to release him. While checking Huo Yuan‘s condition, he ordered, “Go check if anyone was injured.”
Several of the people originally chasing Huo Yuan immediately turned back towards the direction they came from. If anyone was injured or anything was broken, they would compensate.
“What’s the situation?” Huo Xian asked Huo Yuan.
Huo Yuan had a dirty face with indistinguishable features and carried a smelly odor. But these weren’t the main point. The main point was, why were people from the Princess’s Manor chasing him?
The leader thought Huo Xian was asking him and immediately reported, “Reporting to the Little Marquis, this person is exactly the one who has been spreading rumors in the capital recently.”
“I wasn’t spreading rumors; I was countering rumors,” Huo Yuan immediately retorted.
Huo Xian suddenly remembered the Princess saying his father already had a lead on the rumor spreader. Could it be the target locked onto was Huo Yuan?
Questioning him on the street wasn’t a good opportunity. He chose a nearby inn and ordered guards to go to a clothing store to buy two sets of clothes… Having just arrived in this world, he was a bit panicked because his height was only about 1.8 meters. If Huo Yuan was still 1.88 meters, he’d have to look up at his own boyfriend, which would be heartbreaking.
But obviously, he could question his own height, but there was no need to doubt the Administration’s ability to be a pit. With a human body, let alone 1.88 meters, Huo Yuan would struggle to reach 1.7 meters. Touching him, he felt only a handful of bones.
Huo Yuan was completely dressed as a beggar. If not for Huo Xian by his side, the waiter at the inn wouldn’t have let him in at all.
Huo Xian asked for hot water for him to wash up. Huo Yuan took the opportunity to whisper, “Huo Xian, I’m so hungry, I want to eat.”
Hearing this, Huo Xian’s heart ached. He touched Huo Yuan‘s hair, which was dirty to the point of knotting, and said gently, “Wash up first, I’ll have them prepare it for you.”
“Okay,” Huo Yuan agreed obediently.
Hot water was brought up quickly. Huo Xian led Huo Yuan into the room to wash. The guards were asked to wait outside, scratching their heads in confusion and worry, afraid the little beggar might hurt their master.
“Huo Xian, I finally saw you. I wanted to go to the Princess’s Manor to find you before, but Changping East Street is full of high-ranking officials and nobles, and the City Patrol patrols frequently. I was chased away as soon as I got close,” Huo Yuan said, feeling a bit aggrieved. “Later I remembered the plot. According to the storyline, you should have been locked in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison, but I couldn’t get into the Court of Judicial Review either. I originally thought about waiting for you at the entrance, but coincidentally heard rumors slandering you in the storyline, so I had to find a way to suppress the unfavorable rumors first.”
“Your way of suppressing rumors was to ask rhetorical questions while others were discussing it?” Huo Xian asked with a smile.
Huo Yuan blinked and said seriously, “Actually, I wanted to hire people, but I was penniless and had to beg for food. There was really no way to control it in such a short time.” At this point, he suddenly smiled and said somewhat proudly, “Luckily, when I used points to repair my body, I slightly improved my physical fitness. I run really fast!”
Thinking of how he looked leading a group of people on a run with ease, Huo Xian couldn’t help but laugh.
Laughing, he suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.
Huo Yuan was soaking in a bathtub big enough to fit seven or eight of him. Huo Xian helped him wash his hair and then his face. However, the face was washed, but the blackness on his face didn’t come off. He scrubbed again.
“Hiss… that hurts.” Huo Yuan pulled back from the scrubbing pain.
Huo Xian had a strange expression: “What’s wrong with your face?”
“Face?” Huo Yuan touched his pitch-black face. “Oh, you mean my birthmark, right?”
“…Birthmark?”
Huo Yuan nodded: “Yeah, a birthmark. It covers the whole face. Is it just right?”
Huo Xian: “………………”
What the hell kind of “just right” is that!
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