Chapter 112 High Walls and Deep Courtyards part 1
“Give me a mission.”
the Sweetie System could not understand.
“I donât care what it is.”
Ying Xi lay inside the dragon bed, tossing and turning. His loose hair gave off a rich, imperial incense fragrance.
He knit his thin brows tightly. Half an hour ago, he had nearly scrubbed his own skin off in the bathing pool.
[System: Being into that ‘special’ lifestyle isn’t a disease; it can be fixed.]
[System: Judging by the drop rate of missions, itâs basically impossible for Your Majesty to easily obtain the Water of Forgotten Emotions.]
Ying Xi closed his eyes irritably.
“Whatâs the point? I guarantee he won’t hurt you. Does Your Majesty know how many players crave maxing out a favorability score?”
He didn’t want to hear it.
“In fact, it doesn’t matter if you don’t respond to Prime Minister Su.”
The Sweetie System said, [An eye for an eye. In your past life, he ignored you; in this life, he’s just in the ‘regret crematorium.’]
He didn’t want to hear it.
[System: At most, heâll just corner you in a small grove once in a while.]
He didn’t want to hear it.
[System: Your Majesty should perhaps try getting in touch with someone. I don’t mean dating.]
[System: I saw it with my own eyesâwhenever anyone touches you, Your Majesty is very resistant. Youâve never initiated physical intimacy with anyone either.]
High defenses made a person prone to unease. Deliberately avoiding intimacy was where the problem lay.
The Sweetie System guided him subtly.
Yet because of this, Ying Xi curled into a ball on the dragon bed and gripped the corner of the quilt.
The Sweetie System’s voice suddenly felt as if it were separated from him by a layer.
In the dim dragon curtains, the flickering lights of the lantern market floated into his vision.
Ying Xi slowly relaxed his fingertips.
The back of his finger lightly brushed the skin of his own cheek; his own fingertips had no callouses.
A shimmering wave of water appeared in the depths of Ying Xi’s eyes.
“Your Majesty, do you want to raise a small animal?”
“Something like a puppy or a kitten. They are very obedient, their fur is very soft, and they feel warm and soft to the touch.”
“Your Majesty…”
What the Sweetie System was doing had already exceeded the scope of a Dating System.
It hoped Ying Xi would let down some of his hostility toward the outside world.
But the Sweetie System didn’t know that Ying Xi was currently thinking of a small horse, a small eagle.
Wild horses and majestic eagles both possessed a wild nature.
When he first met Little Black and Little White, he had reached out his hand to touch them, and Ju-erâs palm had rested on the back of his own hand.
The process of recognizing a master was very brief.
Little Black and Little White wanted to bristle, but Ju-er supported his palm and said comfortingly, “You mustn’t.”
Ten years apart, the scraping sensation of the callouses on the back of his hand felt as if a fire had been relit, the memory still fresh.
“Iâve raised one,” Ying Xi said faintly.
The Sweetie System was stunned.
“Master, there is a matter that violates the rules. This servant did not dare act on his own and reports to Your Majesty at the risk of ten thousand deaths.”
Yu Lianjing’s high-pitched voice carried a hint of hoarseness; he had likely already gone to sleep and was just awakened.
Ying Xi said in a muffled voice, “What is it?”
“The carriage of your imperial sister, Princess Huachao, has entered the palace city. The Princess heard she was attacked.”
The main hall of Weiyang Palace.
Only Princess Huachao enjoyed the immense favor of being able to summon the Emperor from his blankets when he was nearly asleep.
Ying Xi was not only awake but also neatly dressed. Since he would be sleeping again in a while, the Sweetie System felt this was redundant.
Ying Xi said, “The reputation of women in this world is important. Even if she is meeting me, itâs hard to guarantee that no one will spread gossip.”
Not only did they meet in the main hall, but the main doors were also wide open.
Palace maids, eunuchs, and guards stood watch outside.
Huachao wore plain clothing that did not hide her beauty. She quickly ran forward a few steps. “Wuwu, Brother Emperor, your sister returned from her quiet cultivation at Longxing Temple and almost didn’t get to see you.”
The little girl was a natural at acting spoiled; Huachao was like a little calico cat. A wipe on the back of her hand left a smudge of black.
A palace maid hurriedly brought a handkerchief to wipe the Princess’s face.
Ying Xi said, “Who dared to attack you?”
Huachao wiped her small face clean and said:
“On a dark and windy night, I secretly sneaked back from Longxing Temple. I was afraid the Barbarian King would find me, so I arrived two days earlier than expected.”
“There is only one official road back to the Princess’s Mansion. My carriage was traveling normally when someone blocked the way!”
Ying Xi’s brow tightened.
Huachao described it vividly, gesturing as she spoke.
“There were over twenty people wearing the uniforms of the Barbarian King’s subordinates standing on the road to block me.”
“They said to me, ‘Our King admires the Princess greatly. Please alight from the carriage to ease his longing.'”
“I got angry as soon as I heard that! I put my hands on my hips and said: ‘My brother is the Emperor. This Princess not seeing you is giving you face; if you dare block me, youâre looking for death!'”
Ying Xi smiled faintly, feeling somewhat proud.
“But the ‘Barbarian King’s envoys’ didn’t listen to me at all and tried to drag me off the carriage.”
Ying Xi frowned.
“And then?”
“At that time, a carriage also came from behind me. No lantern was hung on the front, and a person who was quite good at fighting got out of the carriage. He helped me take care of those twenty barbarians…”
Ying Xi said, “He was quite impressive. Do you know who it was? I shall reward him for you.”
“I don’t know, because another five or six barbarians arrived, looking furious and shouting gibberish.”
“The two groups of barbarians started fighting, so I followed that carriage and we escaped back to Chang’an one after the other. The situation was too chaotic; I didn’t get to ask for a name at all.”
“The Barbarian King is detestable!”
“I don’t dare go back to the Princess’s Mansion…”
In the end, his sister hadn’t suffered a loss.
Ying Xi felt slightly relieved and comforted her, “Then tonight, we’ll find a place in the palace for you to stay first.”
“Guard Lang.”
“This servant is here.”
“Dispatch more manpower to protect the Princess.”
Lang Xun took the order. Yu Lianjing went down first to arrange a palace room for Ying Jia; the siblings also had to avoid suspicion.
Huachao muttered while waiting, “In the future, I want to marry a powerful Prince Consort to beat away all the bad guys.”
“There are many martial officials of the right age in court; pick carefully.”
Huachao thought of that grape again. She teased, “Is my cousin, the British Duke, married yet?”
“No,” Ying Xi said naturally. “But how can one tease someone time and again? Since the matchmaking didn’t work, perhaps the fate hasn’t arrived.”
Huachao nodded like a small animal. “Mhm, mhm. I want to marry someone more cheerful.”
Ying Xi changed the subject. “How was your quiet cultivation?”
“I chanted Buddhist sutras every day; I never had any stray thoughts!” Huachao said shamelessly.
“I even brought some interesting Buddhist sutras for Brother Emperor. Read them when you have time.”
The Princess’s personal maid carried the books into the hall.
A pink book was mixed in with the apricot-yellow Buddhist sutras, scaring Huachao into letting out an “Ai-ya.” She spread her arms to block Ying Xi, her finger pointing back fiercely at the scroll of the novel.
Ying Xi raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
Huachao said innocently, “A small ritual, a small ritual to avoid the dragon’s aura. Hehehe.”
The Prime Ministerâs Mansion.
The mansion backed onto the old Su family residence. Behind it lived the massive number of Su family dependents, while in front, Su Xueyi lived alone with Su Yin.
As autumn approached, Su Yin caught a cold from the changing season. She tossed and turned with a fever at night.
Su Yin’s mind was not quite normal; she couldn’t manage to be very obedient. When she lost her temper, she would throw things in the room. Just now, when the maid was momentarily distracted, she had knocked a candlestick off the bed, nearly starting a fire in the room.
“Fire… fire!”
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