PART 2
Wei Wanlan held his breath, not daring to make any other sound. His eyes were fixed on Fu Jun’s focused expression, his doe-like gaze filled with the man. A thought flashed through his mind: he suddenly realized that this man’s focused look was surprisingly similar to… the big bad guy when he was reviewing memorials.
He had observed it before. The big bad guy was just like this when he was reviewing memorials. His eyes were focused, his wrist suspended as he held the brush, as if no one could disturb him. He handled all the affairs of the court, and everyone listened to his commands, treating him with the utmost respect.
“Push the door,” Fu Jun said suddenly.
Wei Wanlan had been lost in thought and was slightly startled, his consciousness pulled back by the voice.
The door was pushed open by Xiao Ji from behind. The sound of the door opening was very faint, so much so that the hinges didn’t even creak.
As the doors swung open, Wei Wanlan was stunned. Before he could even get a clear look at the furnishings of the bedroom, the first thing he saw was the door bolt, perfectly balanced on the thin edge of the sword.
Fu Jun held it steady, his gaze sharp and resolute, fixed on the blade.
Wei Wanlan swallowed. He hadn’t expected this. He found it incredible, and he also found it incredible that even if he were to push Fu Jun right now, he probably couldn’t move the man an inch.
Aside from his not-so-friendly personality, Fu Jun was such an amazing hero, sob, a god-tier teammate, sob—
Wei Wanlan was so moved he was about to cry.
Fu Jun carried the bolt over to the side of the door, then sheathed his sword and was the first to enter the bedchamber to scout it out.
He stated the situation calmly: “Yuan Xizai is not here.”
“Oh.” The two whose combat power added up to less than five nodded. They had expected as much.
Yuan Xizai was not in his bedchambers.
Otherwise, how many secrets would his bedchambers have to hide? How much money? Even if Yuan Xizai built several extra rooms outside his bedchambers, he probably couldn’t fit all his ill-gotten gains inside.
Moreover, with so many officials coming to the Governor’s Office to investigate him, even if he could bribe them all beforehand, there was no guarantee that one or two hot-headed ones wouldn’t try to sneak into the rear courtyard. What would he do if he were caught red-handed?
So, there had to be some other secret within the bedchambers.
But since they knew Yuan Xizai wasn’t here, Wei Wanlan and the others were no longer so constrained. They didn’t have to be so careful when they spoke, and their voices gradually grew louder.
“Let’s go check the place where he sleeps.”
They passed through the outer room into the inner room. There was a large, ornately carved wooden bed, and diagonally across from it was a long, narrow desk for writing.
The most eye-catching thing, of course, was the bed. They started by looking for clues there.
The bed curtains were all rolled up and tied to the bedposts, so they could see at a glance that the bed was empty. The bedding was also scented with a woody fragrance. The scent was elegant but not crisp, giving it a lazy, somewhat fawning quality, with a slightly sweet afternote.
Wei Wanlan leaned in for a closer look and found that the wrinkles on the bedsheet were very smooth; no one had lain on it.
One thing puzzled him. “Yuan Xizai served the late Emperor. By my calculations, he shouldn’t be that young. Does he not have a wife or concubines?”
His bedchambers were even emptier than Our own.
Xiao Ji immediately explained, “In some large households, the master lives in his own quarters, and the wives and concubines each have their own residences. When needed, the wives and concubines will come to the master’s house. The master does not go to the wives and concubines.”
Oh, having a personal Baidu is great. This was a feudal dreg; the women of ancient times had it so hard.
Wei Wanlan felt a pang of sympathy. But then, for some reason, he thought of how he lived in the Hall of Purple Empyrean, and the Regent always came to find him at night to sleep.
So, it wasn’t that the Regent was sleeping soundly beside Our bed, but that the big bad guy was… ahem.
Then that would make him the master, and the big bad guy the wife and concubine.
Hahahahahahaha…
Big bad guy, come and serve Us!
Bring tea! Pour water! Massage Our shoulders! Rub Our back!
Don’t stop. Big bad guy, if you stop, We will divorce you.
Wei Wanlan, full of Ah Q spirit, suddenly couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.
This baffled Xiao Ji, who had no idea what the young emperor was so happy about.
Fu Jun, however, who had quietly seen this smile, secretly let the corners of his lips relax. He said nonchalantly, “What needs does the master of an ancient household have?”
This prompted Xiao Ji to flick his sleeves. “You rogue!” he thought. This lackey seems righteous on the surface, feigning ignorance, but his words are so improper. No wonder he dared to take advantage of the young emperor earlier.
Of course, Xiao Ji did not give Fu Jun an answer.
And Fu Jun hadn’t wanted an answer from Xiao Ji. He was just routinely teasing the little fool, deliberately leaving the topic hanging.
And sure enough, Wei Wanlan, in his innocence, pressed on, tugging at Xiao Ji’s sleeve with his little dragon claws. “Valiant Warrior, what kind of needs?”
Xiao Mengshi was speechless. He felt as if he had just been handed a hot potato. He shouldn’t have brought up this topic in the first place. It would have been much better to just tell the young emperor that “in large households, the wives and concubines live separately from the master.” Why show off? He had just brought trouble upon himself.
Xiao Mengshi continued to play dumb.
Wei Wanlan could accept not getting an answer from Fu Jun, because Fu Jun was a partner. But Xiao Ji was different; they were good friends, and good friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. He wanted to hear the answer.
“What kind of needs are they?”
At that moment, in Xiao Ji’s eyes, Wei Wanlan was a pure and innocent little deer, ignorant of the ways of love. This made Xiao Ji’s heart waver. He thought that the young emperor must be busy studying and mastering the art of statecraft. Su Yan certainly had no intention of letting the young emperor marry, and naturally wouldn’t allow him to have heirs at this time. He probably hadn’t even been visited by the palace maids who taught such things… He was still such a pure little emperor.
Wei Wanlan was thirsty for knowledge.
And Xiao Mengshi could only protect him carefully, explaining in a gentle and euphemistic tone, “Uh, Young Master, it’s the need for a husband and wife to be together to have children.”
—It was about making babies.
…And here, they had five per litter.
“Let Us massage your shoulders, cubs, quickly, go give your father-king a back rub.”
So terrifying! T_T
Recalling the scene that had been playing over and over in his mind, Wei Wanlan shivered.
Who wanted the big bad guy to be his wife and concubine? He didn’t want to do those things with him, and he absolutely could not, would not, have five little puppets with him.
For the healthy growth of the cubs. This was a matter of principle!!!
Wei Wanlan’s face turned red again, so red it felt hot. And he was no longer the Wei Wanlan who was completely ignorant of these things. Just now, in the Mianhua Pavilion, he had truly heard the sounds of amorous affairs. The young catamites in the pavilion were as gentle as spring water, and they were about the same age as him. The patrons were often older. He knew full well how to assign the roles.
So, Wei Wanlan didn’t dare to think about this topic any further. And because of this topic, he didn’t dare to look at Fu Jun’s face anymore. Even though Fu Jun’s face was very handsome, he was just too timid. He couldn’t make eye contact for now; after all, he looked so much like the big bad guy.
The three of them, each lost in their own thoughts, carefully inspected the carved bed.
Finally, it was Fu Jun, the man of the martial world, who came to a conclusion.
“There are no gaps between the bed and the floor. The secret passage is not here.”
“But looking around, the only place that could hide a secret passage is this large bed,” Xiao Ji said. “If there’s no secret passage even under the bed, where on earth is the route to Yuan Xizai’s secret base hidden?”
So, the three of them had no choice but to shift their gaze from the large, ornately carved bed to the desk in the room.
The desk was by the window. It was long and narrow, about six or seven chi long and two or three chi wide. The things on the desk were even simpler than what was in the bed, all visible at a glance.
There was only a wine pot, a bronze cup, and a scroll spread open on the desk. On it was another work of Slender Gold calligraphy, which, judging by the handwriting, must have been written by Yuan Xizai himself. There were only seven characters on it:
—Ren sheng de yi xu jin huan.
It was one of the must-know ancient poems for the college entrance exams, a famous line for the ages. Even if one didn’t recognize the traditional character for “jin,” one could still read the line by understanding the context.
This time, Wei Wanlan read it out loud and confidently: “Ren sheng de yi xu jin huan. Mo shi jin zun kong dui yue. (When life is good, one must enjoy it to the fullest. Let not the golden cup be empty under the moon.)”
The moonlight slanted across the desk, reflecting off the bronze cup, which was filled with a cold, metallic sheen. The cup was empty.
Wei Wanlan’s gaze was fixed on the desk. He suddenly said, “Gentlemen, I think I know what’s going on again.”
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