Chapter 91: My Bright Moon; Xiao Xi is Angry with Little Xie + Kissing from a Distance…
Ying Xi told him not to move, and Xie Qianli’s fingers stiffened slightly.
He remained frozen in the posture of leaning forward to tug at the quilt. The command “don’t move” wasn’t meant to imply absolute stillness, but rather a wish for him not to move recklessly; however, Xie Qianli’s interpretation made the situation in the room quite comical, lending him a touch of dunderheadedness.
Ying Xi felt as if a fluffy tail had swept across his heart.
He didn’t care whether the other’s appearance was tidy or not and sat at the head of the bed.
His heart grew heavy because, as the distance closed, the full extent of the injuries became clearer. Xie Qianli’s old scars were layered with new wounds; the wars Ying Xi initiated were constantly ravaging another vibrant life.
Ying Xi frowned slightly: “Lean against the bed.”
Xie Qianli nodded slowly. His body relaxed as he followed the instruction, his gaze somewhat ethereal—a far cry from his usual cold, bright eyes.
“This subject… thanks Your Majesty for the grace.”
In the palace, some polite phrases were practically fixed; when they were meant to be said, they were said. Since the Emperor had excused Xie Qianli from the kowtow and allowed him to stay in bed while in the Imperial presence, the subject naturally had to express gratitude.
Ying Xi’s heart twinged again, his brow furrowing slowly: “Don’t speak.” His intention was that there was no need for formal etiquette.
But Xie Qianli shut his mouth immediately. He didn’t dare speak.
Ying Xi’s expression was very serious, and Xie Qianli was cautious. However, a question quietly rotated in his head: Does your throat still hurt?
Xie Qianli did not ask.
He wasn’t allowed to speak.
Grasping the balance between propriety and rudeness, he looked at the Emperor and pointed to the water cup on the bedroom table.
Ying Xi had originally come to settle scores, but for some reason, the anger in his heart had dwindled to only twenty or thirty percent. His fury had evolved into an emotion he couldn’t describe in detail. He felt stifled.
The Emperor questioned with a stern face: “How old is General Xie this year?”
Xie Qianli didn’t understand, and his brain wasn’t moving fast at the moment.
He struggled to extend two fingers to signal a “two,” and his other hand tremblingly signaled another “two,” both hands rising at the same time.
They looked like two pincers.
General Xie had turned into General Crab.
This feedback made Ying Xi feel a deep sense of helplessness for the first time—at least, in this life, he had never encountered this while handling state affairs.
Ying Xi: “Is Ju’er trying to anger me to death?”
Xie Qianli vaguely heard his childhood nickname. He showed a pale, thin smile, and his eyes actually brightened a few degrees.
Ying Xi, meanwhile, felt the strings of his heart flutter slightly at the other’s smile. Perhaps it was the blood loss causing a lack of oxygen to the brain, but Ying Xi actually felt that Xie Qianli’s current appearance was somewhat cuter than his usual rigid, rule-abiding self.
Ying Xi once again suppressed the association with canine animals and lectured: “At the age of seventeen, when you served as a vanguard officer following your father to quell the rebellion and galloped into the enemy camp, I could still interpret it as youthful arrogance and the courage of hot blood.”
“This year you are twenty-two. Ten years later you will be thirty-two, then forty-two, fifty-two… Is the General going to make a fool of himself like this even when he’s old?”
His mind wasn’t very clear, so Xie Qianli heard the words “old” and “make a fool of himself” in snatches. His heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his eyelashes.
The canine animal tucked its tail.
Ying Xi commanded him to look up and face the problem: “Look at me.”
Xie Qianli raised his eyes.
They directly met Ying Xi’s deep gray eyes.
When a person’s thoughts are entirely entwined with their beloved, Xie Qianli only felt that he wasn’t good enough in any way.
He was indeed older than Ying Xi—he was “old.”
The scars he carried from charging and fighting were also very ugly, pitted and uneven like orange peels. He wasn’t the type of man most sought after in Chang’an City.
Xie Qianli parted his parched lips: “This subject…”
“You deserve ten thousand deaths!” Ying Xi said sharply.
Xie Qianli’s heart skipped another beat. Although he kept his head up, the light in his eyes dimmed. His sword-like brows and starry eyes slumped downward.
Ying Xi reprimanded: “Rash and impulsive. As the commander-in-chief, you did something so unstable. Once it failed, it could have left the entire army without a leader. This is the first sin.”
“A misjudgment. You underestimated me too much and directly initiated an emergency strategy. This is the second sin.”
“Concealment. You never reported it to me, which borders on deceiving the monarch. This is the third sin.”
“Any one of these three charges is infuriating!”
“Furthermore, if I hadn’t ordered the Dragon Boat to set sail to coordinate with your actions, how were you supposed to escape unscathed? Don’t tell me you planned to die there!”
Ying Xi’s voice rose higher and higher.
The Emperor became increasingly serious. At this moment, his thoughts drifted back, recalling the intense sense of unease he felt when he first learned that Xie Qianli had led his ship to charge the formation.
Flashes of memories of saving each other and spending time with Xie Qianli in the past crossed Ying Xi’s mind.
“This person is innocent; why is he locked in Fanglan Hall?”
“There is a pastry shop in Chang’an that sells flaky pastries for two copper coins. The crust is sweet and the filling is soft. I’ll take you there.”
“Xiao Xi, who hit you?”
“Let me help you escape the palace.”
“Is Your Majesty feeling unwell?”
“Drink some water.”
“…”
—This subject will be forever loyal to Your Majesty.
The fragments of voices settled on the oath Xie Qianli had made in the tent—resounding, steady, and deep.
Ying Xi’s deep gray eyes were suddenly covered by a thick mist.
This was the person who had accompanied him for ten years.
Ying Xi’s lower lip trembled, and the mist in his eyes grew heavier and heavier. He secretly adjusted his breathing; his throat felt spicy and painful. Having barely pulled back his strong emotions, fine droplets of water had already condensed on his eyelashes.
He naturally couldn’t let Xie Qianli see the Emperor lose his composure. He feigned rubbing his eyes.
He was terrified that because of the naval battle not long ago, this person who had countless ties to him had nearly vanished forever.
Ying Xi was deeply afraid.
In this life, he seemingly didn’t want Xie Qianli to die.
Was it because he valued his talent, or because he cherished their past friendship?
Ying Xi vaguely harbored doubts in his heart, his brow slightly furrowed, but it didn’t stop him from warning the person before him: “Ju’er, I am very angry.”
Xie Qianli’s expression was panicked.
A man who had speared the enemy commander-in-chief, who was originally full of sharp edge and could make enemy armies retreat—the number one fierce general in Great Qin’s army—couldn’t find any trace of ferocity or sharpness before the Emperor.
He looked at Ying Xi, his pupils dark, the light in his eyes almost gone.
That gaze stung Ying Xi again, and his eyes unintentionally landed on Xie Qianli’s body full of scars once more.
He reined in his words, his solemn tone softening, his momentum greatly reduced.
“I was worried about you.”
“…”
A petal fell.
Several petals descended from the sky. The shower of flowers grew denser.
The petals were all light pink, slightly whitish, and emitted a cool fragrance. The rain of falling petals enveloped the bed curtains. Across the curtain of flowers, Xie Qianli’s eyes suddenly lit up.
The flowers momentarily confused Ying Xi, and his brows twitched!
The Emperor looked up, but saw only the off-white ceiling of the room. The Dating System, full of a desire for survival, floated a line of text before his eyes, having already found an excuse:
[Celebrating General Xie’s triumphant return, and congratulating Your Majesty on taking Linchuan. I’m not overthinking it at all~]
Ying Xi laughed helplessly.
In the end, Sweetie couldn’t help it; seeing that Ju’er wasn’t wearing clothes and the two of them were alone, she wanted to ship them intensely.
The Emperor had a heart as broad as a valley and wouldn’t get angry at a little girl. Anyway, it wasn’t the first or second time she had shipped them randomly.
Ying Xi slowly brushed away the petals and found an excuse, explaining casually: “The wind picked up and they fell from the skylight, blowing into the bed.”
The excuse actually wasn’t very good.
Because the rain outside had already stopped and it seemed the sun had even come out, Lian Qing was shouting in the courtyard with his rasping voice: “The rain has passed and the sky is clear! Everyone out to sun your armor!!!”
The Emperor seemed to have been exposed on the spot. Even someone as calm as Ying Xi felt a bit embarrassed.
But Xie Qianli nodded in belief.
His eyes, like dots of black lacquer, were now as bright as if they were filled with two balls of fire, staring at Ying Xi without blinking.
The gaze was too intense, causing Ying Xi’s heart to tighten suddenly. He didn’t realize that his cheeks had reddened a few degrees; he only felt that after the heavy rain, summer was filled with brilliant warmth everywhere.
He exhaled hot air and deliberately toyed with the flowers hidden in the folds of his clothes, rustling about for a while. The petals were fine and fell away bit by bit. Ying Xi’s attitude was as natural as possible as he handled them, looking away.
He had come to educate Ju’er and shouldn’t have stayed long; he had to leave once the business was done.
“There are still matters in Linchuan for me to handle. I found a few advisors to take over, as I’m still not at ease. But I grant you leave; Lian Qing will work for you. You rest first.”
Little did he know that Xie Qianli, seeing the micro in the macro, had long been accustomed to picking out details of his beloved’s concern from Ying Xi’s words and actions.
The diligent Emperor had set aside official business to visit him. Worried about him, saving him, fearing his departure from this world…
The intense throb of his heart didn’t dare to be confirmed by the other party. His burgeoning love was forcefully suppressed into the gaps of his bones; loyalty wrapped around the forbidden as he desperately looked up from the shadows!
Xie Qianli only felt that he had fallen a few degrees further for Ying Xi.
He actually never felt that being injured was a big deal. He had long been used to it, but this injury made him truly feel the pity and care. The pain of the wound also turned into sweetness.
Xie Qianli spoke in a hoarse voice: “Your Majesty, in your hair… there are still many petals.”
Ying Xi’s brow narrowed. The Emperor had to go to work and must not go out looking like a fool, so he commanded: “Take them out for me.”
“Yes.”
The strands of hair were sweet and clear, a cool fragrance brushing against his face.
Xie Qianli slowly reached out, suppressing the excitement that had already filled his chest and restraining the trembling of his fingertips as he picked at Ying Xi’s hair. His fingertips toyed with it gently. Ying Xi’s hair was very soft.
Xie Qianli’s fingers were rough. When such finger pads wove through the hair and touched the scalp, it felt like a massage. It was quite comfortable.
Ying Xi’s expression didn’t change as he closed his eyes to concentrate. His breathing gradually became even and fine, like that of a cat.
This gave Xie Qianli a chance. He took the opportunity to blow a kiss toward his beloved’s temple from a distance. He performed this act in secret, his heart drumming heavily, but the corners of his mouth lifted excitedly, brewing a belly full of bittersweet thoughts.
—Xiao Xi… is my bright moon.
“Is it done?” the moon asked.
The moon was in a hurry to go to work.
Xie Qianli always had hidden little thoughts. Just as Ying Xi opened his eyes, he happened to nod and handed over a few petals he had secretly hidden in his palm just now toward Ying Xi.
“It’s done. Here.”
Leaving the bedroom to handle political affairs, he pushed open the door to find bright light shining everywhere outside.
Lian Qing and several soldiers were still in the courtyard sunning their armor—unexpectedly, they were wearing it while sunning it, people and armor together; perhaps they were already dry.
[Sweetie: Big wolf-dog is so delicious~]
Ying Xi had a headache. It was fortunate that there were only the two of them in the room; if there had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have been able to explain that pile of petals earlier.
From too much blood loss, Ju’er had turned silly.
Ying Xi shook his head and said: “You are not allowed to be willful next time.”
Sweetie retorted: “But Your Majesty was also willful… and I was the one who saved it for Your Majesty. Was my wind strong or not?”
Ying Xi was suddenly at a loss for words and reflected: he had indeed done something irrational. For the first time in his life, he had gambled with the safety of the nation’s fate to save one person he wanted to save.
But an Emperor was an Emperor. Ying Xi would never admit it and still forcefully covered it up: “I know what I am doing.”
“Hmph hmph haw haw!”
At this moment, a soldier from outside the courtyard walked in and said: “Reporting to Your Majesty, after the naval battle, our army captured several enemy soldiers. Currently, both Generals Xie are indisposed, so these people are all in the front hall awaiting interrogation. We ask for Your Majesty’s Imperial judgment.”
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