Chapter 82: Repeated Torture; So Many Shipping Points: His Majesty Uses a Nickname + Little Xie’s Wild Imagination…
The evening breeze had dropped in temperature compared to the afternoon.
Doubts were growing, the ambiguity vanished in an instant, and the Emperor’s face changed in a heartbeat.
His appearance often led Ying Xi to be misunderstood; even the slightest hint of a smile would make people’s hearts skip for reasons they couldn’t explain.
Naturally, Xie Qianli had fallen for Ying Xi’s attitude just now—the Bright Moon within reach.
But just as he wanted to reach out and scoop that moon from the water…
The reflection shattered.
Xie Qianli suddenly snapped awake, finding that the Bright Moon was still hanging high in the sky.
And now, from all directions, he felt thousands of bone-piercing cold needles hanging over him. Killing intent rose from beneath his feet.
It was as if if he said one wrong word or one wrong sentence, he would immediately lose the Emperor’s trust and even cause a great disaster.
Ying Xi was very contradictory. Sometimes he was the vivid Xiao Xi.
But most of the time, he made being with a monarch like being with a tiger. Ying Xi was the Emperor who ruled over the tens of millions of people of the Great Qin.
Xie Qianli unconsciously avoided his gaze.
“Look at me.”
Ying Xi plucked a flower from the garden. While he wove the crepe myrtle flower into soft vines—a way he played when he was a child, taught to him by his mother—he acted as if he were being casual, but in reality, he was capturing Xie Qianli’s expression.
Arranging Prince Yong earlier and talking to him about official business were all preparations. His sudden question caught the man off guard; Ying Xi was best at taking things step by step.
Ying Xi pressed: “Hmm?”
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Xie Qianli’s forehead.
He didn’t dare have any more alluring thoughts. In an instant of dejection, his mind raced, and he hid part of the actual situation.
Xie Qianli replied: “After Prince Yong took you away, I boarded that pleasure boat. The dancers on the boat revealed that Prince Yong was sailing toward Guangling. I followed the clues and pursued you to the city.”
Ying Xi was good at questioning.
Was Xie Qianli not also good at hiding?
The education he had received since childhood, plus the fact that he had to mature after his parents died, made Xie Qianli secretly steady his heart.
Ying Xi recalled calmly: “I was trapped in Guangling at that time. I heard you led the army to participate in the siege, putting pressure on Jia Ruzhen. But if I hadn’t been in the city, wouldn’t your actions have been completely useless?”
And he would have been branded with the crime of disregarding the Emperor’s safety.
Xie Qianli’s heart drummed even harder.
He thought he had been thorough, his cover-up seamless, only participating in the attack on Guangling after finding out Ying Xi’s whereabouts.
How could he have known that Ying Xi would work backward?
The Emperor had actually guessed that he had a reliable source of information!
His heart felt as if it were being suspended. Xie Qianli did indeed have things he was hiding and found it difficult to explain.
That high-and-mighty moon had not only returned to the horizon, but it was also a cold moon, its clear light shining so brightly that he had nowhere to hide.
Ying Xi waited for his explanation.
He couldn’t produce a reasonable one.
Xie Qianli said in a low voice, “I firmly believed Your Majesty was here.”
“Furthermore, the Yongning Prince Mansion is in Guangling. I analyzed Prince Yong’s temperament and thought he would likely bring you back to your old home.”
This explanation was somewhat reasonable.
But it was also a matter of personal conviction with no proof.
Ying Xi’s fingers, which were weaving the flower crown, did not stop.
His fingertips flew, white as jade.
He lowered his eyes and said calmly, “If I hadn’t been here and you guessed wrong, you would never have seen me again. How could you be like this?”
The voice was not loud. The Emperor perhaps believed him a little.
His tone grew less cold.
The last half of the sentence carried a hint of resentment and complaint; it didn’t sound like he was going to punish anyone.
Instead, it sounded like he was just blaming him.
Blaming him for not taking him seriously enough…
Xie Qianli was already entranced.
He immediately kowtowed, his armor clattering as he did so. “This subject deserves ten thousand deaths!!!”
But he did not meet with death. A weight landed on the crown of his head; the Emperor had placed the flower crown he had just woven on him.
Soft flowers decorated the valiant general, finally softening his cold resolve and making Xie Qianli show a bit of the clumsiness he had as a youth, where he would lose his composure as soon as he was teased.
“…Your Majesty?”
“For your merit in saving me, I am rewarding you. You do not need to die.”
Xie Qianli felt restless all over, his legs nearly springing up.
What was he doing?
No matter how excellent his upbringing or how well he could restrain himself, he couldn’t stand Ying Xi’s constant push-and-pull torture…
Good Ju-er.
Bad Ju-er.
I will punish you.
I will reward you.
I…
A hot-blooded man who commanded the battlefield was being rolled around in the Emperor’s hands like a ball.
Xie Qianli couldn’t help but touch the flower crown with his fingertips.
The petals were soft, but the vines had thorns. Just like Ying Xi, who was both firm and soft.
He peeked at Ying Xi’s face, looking from his eyes to his lips, and finally lingering on the inch of a gap in Ying Xi’s slightly parted lips.
Xie Qianli completely surrendered: “This subject thanks the Emperor for his grace.”
“You may go. You don’t need to stand guard tonight; I want to walk around the mansion by myself.”
The sunset shone on the long corridor of the Yongning Prince Mansion. As the moon rose, Xie Qianli remained in place. He looked up.
Ying Xi’s back had already disappeared into the secluded path.
It took only about five days to stabilize Guangling.
During those five days, the Imperial Court replaced most of the officials in Guangling.
The sources of court officials were very complex: the current dynasty already had the Imperial Examination, and there were currently two major paths to promotion.
One was through selection by examination results.
The other was through recommendation by officials, with most recommended candidates coming from aristocratic families.
These cities occupied by the Jiangbei Army were somewhat special. The Emperor didn’t trust the people selected by the rebel Li’s examinations. To please the commoners, Li had uprooted many of the great families in Jiangnan, leading to a dearth of talent among the gentry.
In an emergency, the Emperor opened a third way of selection, appointing officials from among the local scholars. The Emperor conducted an investigation of them, and those selected were directly appointed to office.
This also created a unique sight wherever the Imperial Army passed.
Battles were fought in the front, and rewards were given in the back.
They fought and rewarded at the same time, without missing either.
Xie Meng had already led the naval forces north once again, the army moving ahead to Linchuan. Linchuan was a city nestled between mountains and water.
The Longwu Army escorted the Emperor’s procession behind them. The war was already more than half over, so there was no need to be as urgent as when they first set out. To show his Imperial might, the Emperor had to maintain some pomp to intimidate the rebels who hadn’t yet surrendered.
The procession stretched for two or three miles.
Walking along the mountain roads of Jiangnan, the countryside was filled with terraced fields and tea trees as far as the eye could see.
Summer was not the peak season for picking tea, and the weather had recently been perfect for the plum rains.
The weather was damp, with mist winding around.
For most of the northern Longwu Army soldiers, it was torture.
Lian Qing looked around with his head tilted, and finally saw a few women tending to the tea trees in a tea garden.
Southern women were smaller in frame than northern women. The tea-picking girls wore headscarves and sang local folk songs. The southern accent was as soft and sweet as a warbling oriole, but what were they singing?
Lian Qing couldn’t understand.
The singing in the tea garden was sweet and soft, like it was being held between the tip of the tongue and the teeth, as if their mouths couldn’t quite open. Their lip shapes were like smiling lips.
Lian Qing tried to learn for a long time but couldn’t. He could only press his tongue against his front teeth and let out a few broken syllables:
“Xi sai sai sai… bu luo hui.”
He could barely manage to study the first seven words; the pronunciation of the later ones was enough to trouble someone to death on the spot. The Jiangbei generals were full of confusion, but that didn’t stop them from listening intently.
Lian Qing always tried to learn about details he shouldn’t be curious about.
He pulled on his reins and pulled up alongside Xie Qianli. The commander was in white robes and silver armor with his dragon-decorated sword, his hawk looking majestic, and his steed white as snow.
Lian Qing thickened his skin and rode alongside him. “General, could I ask for some guidance?”
“Speak.”
“What are the girls singing?”
Xie Qianli’s expression was slightly cold. “I don’t know.”
I always treat you like a monk, but you don’t look like one.
Lian Qing wasn’t satisfied. “Why don’t you ask for me?”
“Ask whom?”
Lian Qing didn’t speak; his gaze shifted cautiously toward the carriage.
The carriage was wide, drawn by four horses, and the red lacquer of the cabin looked bright even in the misty rain. The gold ornaments on the front were striking.
He could naturally understand Lian Qing’s hint—the Emperor was a southerner.
“Not asking. He’s resting,” General Xie refused.
“Impossible,” Lian Qing whispered. “He finished his lunch and took a nap. Just now he even asked the military doctor for miscellaneous books to read. He’s definitely awake.”
“The military doctor?”
Xie Qianli sensitively caught the keyword.
Military doctors were for treating illnesses. Asking a military doctor for books sounded like an excuse. In reality, the secret reports from Jiangbei were too many for him to finish reading.
“Understood.”
“Hey, General…”
Lian Qing didn’t hear a definite answer as to whether he would ask or not.
He had previously misunderstood the relationship between General Xie and the Emperor, thinking something was going on between them, only to find they were just applying medicine. He didn’t dare to think wildly now, fearing he was just having a dirty mind again.
The soft mountain song drifted across the wilderness, and the fine wind and rain were like light ink.
Xie Qianli pulled on his reins and approached the main carriage. He knocked lightly on the window while riding alongside.
He leaned slightly toward the cabin and took off his helmet to prevent the water droplets on the rim from dripping into the carriage.
Perhaps Xie Qianli didn’t think much of that level of detail, but Lian Qing was stunned.
Even though their general was indeed of noble birth, in the army, there weren’t many who were this meticulous!
Such care couldn’t help but make Lian Qing have more wicked thoughts—could a monarch and subject… be like this too? Why was I never like this?
He either doubted the feelings between the two or questioned his own loyalty.
At this time, even the soft mountain song could not call back Lian Qing’s yearnings. Lian Qing was dazed.
“Elder Brother, this formula I provided for you refreshes the mind and clears the liver.”
“While I was observing mourning for Old Man Qiao in the medicine hall, I took quite a few of his medical books with me. It just so happens the military doctor also has these types of herbs. I grabbed some and made a sachet; take a smell.”
——It was Prince Yong.
Prince Yong’s voice carried a hint of weakness from his unhealed injuries.
There were no seats in the carriage; it was a couch.
On the couch was a small low table, with the two brothers sitting opposite each other. On the table were clear tea, fruits, two leisure books, and the sachet Prince Yong had made.
Prince Yong was holding the sachet up to Ying Xi’s nose.
The sachet smelled bitter, and Ying Xi sniffed lightly.
His throat was sore today. He hadn’t taken good care of himself lately and had been running all over. After taking Guangling Commandery, his health wasn’t great.
The smell of the herbs made him feel somewhat better.
He had secretly asked the military doctor to prescribe some pills for him.
“Does it smell good? Do you feel refreshed?”
Prince Yong asked.
Now, Prince Yong had restrained himself a lot. He had agreed to the mourning and indeed hadn’t visited any brothels in Guangling.
Dang-er’s progress deserved encouragement.
Ying Xi coughed lightly. “Very good.”
Ying Dang wasn’t satisfied and slowly brought the sachet right under Ying Xi’s nose, pleading, “Smell it again, Brother. There’s a piece of licorice inside with a special fragrance.”
Ying Xi had no choice but to take a deep sniff.
The plant-like scent was strong, and at first, he couldn’t smell any special fragrance. The licorice scent was hidden in the base note—a gentle, soothing sweetness.
Ying Xi nodded. “It is indeed fragrant.”
The last syllable of his sentence caught in his throat, and Ying Xi’s body stiffened.
While Prince Yong was letting him smell the sachet, his fingers were stroking his wrist bone.
A fine itch came from his wrist.
The Emperor frowned slightly and coughed a few more times unintentionally.
Yet Prince Yong acted like a perfect gentleman. While continuing to talk about the sachet with the Emperor, he moved his fingers from the wrist bone to the palm. Prince Yong was intoxicated.
The Emperor didn’t know that his younger brother had already changed his tactics.
The current Prince Yong felt awe for Ying Xi, but his desire for him had increased rather than decreased. It was just that he no longer used force.
Instead, he used a soft approach.
Soft grinding and pestering, getting close to take some small advantages until his brother surrendered—this was what he was good at.
Prince Yong was, after all, an expert in romance.
Since he was performing so well, there was no need for his brother to be serious with him about everything. Slowly heating the water to boil the frog would eventually work.
Prince Yong had already made up his mind.
Thus, when Xie Qianli suddenly reached into the carriage—before he could even ask if the Emperor felt unwell—he was caught off guard by the sight of the lecherous man flirting with his brother.
Xie Qianli’s breathing instantly grew much heavier, and he immediately said, “Your Majesty.”
“Does Minister Xie have business?”
Ying Xi naturally pulled his dragon sleeve away and sat back in his seat, placing the sachet back on the table. The fragrant mist from the incense swirled in the cabin.
As soon as he saw this person appear at the window, Prince Yong’s entire body visibly tensed. He gritted his teeth.
General Xie was expressionless. “His Highness is in mourning. According to custom, he should be sleeping on a clod of earth and a mat of straw, and should not have any pleasures for the ears or eyes. It is inconvenient for His Highness to ride in a carriage; His Highness should come out and ride a horse.”
“You—”
He actually didn’t even use the word “please.”
Prince Yong was furious and jumped up!
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