Translator: kiribold
editor: yoantlers
…Go ahead, what else could he do.
Chi Xiaochi went.
Compared to the last time, besides Yan Yuanheng changing his position, sitting at the seat of honor where the Sixth Prince had sat last time. His movements, posture, and demeanor were almost from Ctrl C and Ctrl V.
Chi Xiaochi suspected that even the tea he drank was brewed according to the same ratio.
Chi Xiaochi entered the Flower Hall. He followed Chi Yunzi’s standard salute according to the previous world. “Paying respect to the Thirteenth Prince.”
Yan Yuanheng, in the first seat, was obviously taken aback. “…”
Chi Xiaochi: Very good, dropped the pot.
He was slow to react, squinted and gave Yan Yuanheng a playful smile, and nimbly saved the show.
Yan Yuanheng no longer doubted and put down the teacup. “How is your health?”
Chi Xiaochi rose to his feet. “Imperial Physician Li is naturally a first-class doctor.”
Yan Yuanheng: “Migraines are lingering and difficult to heal. Don’t underestimate it.”
Chi Xiaochi joked, “The Thirteenth Prince has been inconvenienced, how many medical books were read last night, ah?”
Yan Yuanheng raised a cup of tea and said nothing.
It was just reading ten-plus medical books and memorizing the parts on migraines.
Chi Xiaochi thought, what a callous boy.
Yan Yuanheng had no idea what kind of image of him Chi Xiaochi’s mind had right now. After drinking tea, he looked at Chi Xiaochi without saying a word, as if waiting for him to speak.
…Guess what, young man.
If it were someone else, they would probably be crawling around in a panic if the person in front of them was both a prince and an old friend, and one mistake would be the collapse.
Chi Xiaochi didn’t. He was steady.
He was pretty daring to lead the pace.
He was slightly serious and said, “Thirteenth Prince, I’m sorry for missing the appointment.”
Yan Yuanheng also noticed the sense of distance in his words and was uncomfortable. “…It doesn’t matter.”
Shi Tingyun has always been lively and never afraid of awkward silence.
Yan Yuanheng had never tried to take the initiative in finding a conversation topic, and he didn’t know how to speak for a while.
He thought for a long time. “How is your health?”
Chi Xiaochi calmly practiced Tai Chi without moving. “Imperial Physician Li is naturally a first-class doctor.”
The nature of humanity was repetition.
Yan Yuanheng: “…”
“If you have something to do, I won’t bother you.” Yan Yuanheng sensed something, took his leave, and concealed the reluctance in his heart well.
Yan Yuanheng had been busy since the beginning of the year to make himself pleasing to his imperial father’s eyes, so he could ask for two consecutive days of rest.
On New Year’s Day, he made an appointment to play polo with Shi Tingyun during the Flower Festival.
He had been looking forward to this for two whole months.
Shi Tingyun had been his study companion for ten years, and he accompanied him daily in the palace. After two years of fighting brutal battles on the Nanjiang, he naturally did not want to be his study companion anymore after his victory.
His imperial father intended to transfer him to serve in the Ministry of War, but Shi Tingyun refused, claiming he was lazy.
But Yan Yuanheng knew that he was following the orders of General Shi. Except for leading the Beifu Army in the royal family’s name, the Shi family would not get involved in any court affairs.
So, the young general acted as a playboy, planning to give birth to a son and a half daughter while he was young to guard the Yan family’s frontiers in the future.
They were no longer children and could spend very little time together.
But in Yan Yuanheng’s mind, Shi Tingyun was still the little study companion who dared to pry sixth imperial brother’s shortbread for him to eat.
Yan Yuanheng took a breath and stood up. He couldn’t hold back when he passed by his side any longer. He pressed his shoulder and said, “Suchang, you…”
He wanted to say something, but as soon as his fingertips touched his shoulder, Chi Xiaochi’s expression suddenly changed. His body trembled violently, and his knees hit the floor of the Flower Hall hard.
He blurted out, “Little slave is lowly and dare not tarnish the prince’s golden body.”
Yan Yuanheng, who was being knelt to: “…”
Chi Xiaochi, kneeling: “…” Fuck, it hurts.
Yan Yuanheng’s face was really ugly now.
With Shi Tingyun’s personality and arrogance to his bones, even if it was a joke, calling himself a “slave” was too much.
He took two steps back, frowned silently, and waited for Shi Tingyun to explain.
Shi Tingyun, in front of him, lowered his eyelashes slightly. His demeanor was as usual, and he didn’t seem intent on explaining, and it didn’t look like a joke.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Chi Xiaochi readily followed the good advice, calmly stood up, and took advantage to observe Yan Yuanheng’s face.
Well, the worried little prince Yan had probably already explained it all for him.
Without a world line, that meant no one could be trusted.
In this case, it was better to act outside the norm and try to break the existing balance, and perhaps there would be an unexpected gain.
And his gains came too soon.
When Yan Yuanheng reached the door, he turned around and faced Chi Xiaochi, who was sending him out.
“I don’t have those kinds of thoughts towards you.” Yan Yuanheng said, “Don’t take those nonsense rumors circulating in town to heart.”
Chi Xiaochi: “…”
After Yan Yuanheng explained coldly, he turned his head and stumbled on the threshold.
But the Thirteenth Prince was the Thirteenth Prince, after all, and the burden of the royal family was quite heavy. After stabilizing his body, he walked gracefully like the wind, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Chi Xiaochi, who had just knelt firmly, chased through two moon gates after him but didn’t catch up.
He turned back to the Flower Hall.
Lou Ying was already waiting inside, holding a tube of wound medicine in his hand.
When Yan Yuanheng was still there, Chi Xiaochi noticed a flowing black veil by the window.
He also saw what had just happened.
Noticing that Chi Xiaochi had come in, he knocked on the chair beside him.
Chi Xiaochi obediently stepped forward and sat down, rolling up his trouser legs.
The kneeling just now wasn’t light. It became a large red, and it might have been bruised.
But when he saw the original owner’s legs, Chi Xiaochi also froze.
There was an extremely obvious dark red old wound on the left calf’s frontal bone. When a strong force broke the bone, the side of the right leg seemed to have been scratched by a spur. The scar traveled along the muscle and disappeared above the slightly swollen knee.
Compared with a battle wound, this kneeling was no worse than a mosquito bite.
Chi Xiaochi felt that it was unnecessary when he saw it. He pulled down his pant leg but suddenly felt a chill on his calf.
… Lou Ying leaned over and held his calf.
His hands were the hands of a patient suffering from a cold disease. It was penetratingly cold all year round. When they touched the young general’s perennially hot skin, it was like a piece of ice touching a branding iron.
Chi Xiaochi seemed to be scalded, his knees moved subconsciously, and his legs spread a little.
Lou Ying lifted his veil, lowered his head, and applied the medicine for him.
Chi Xiaochi didn’t know where to put his eyes, so he simply stared at the ceiling: “A minor injury.”
Lou Ying said nothing, spread the ointment carefully, and coughed twice because of the smell of the medicine.
Chi Xiaochi: “Just a little kneeling.”
Lou Ying didn’t respond.
Chi Xiaochi said, “Just use a card that blocks the pain.”
After speaking, he couldn’t help but look down, only to find Lou Ying gently blowing on the medicine for him while looking up at him.
…The visual impact was a bit large.
Chi Xiaochi joked, “Xiansheng, this is not good.”
Lou Ying said seriously, “Furen, I think this is very good.”
Chi Xiaochi: “…”
His heart beat a little faster.
A voice was screaming something in his ear. He wanted to hear it clearly but couldn’t help but resist.
But Chi Xiaochi didn’t want to and didn’t dare to get too close.
He had lived alone for twelve years and had a trick for living.
Fantasy was painful.
Things he didn’t even dare to think about. Now, someone was putting the same stuff into his arms, saying, “This is yours, this is also yours, it’s all yours, and so am I.”
Chi Xiaochi felt insecure in his heart, afraid that if he didn’t hold it tightly, it would all disappear with a bang and collapse into the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror.
So he tried to find reasons to convince himself.
——When he was a child, Lou-ge said he would repair battery cars and support him for the rest of his life. Rounding up, it was equal to his wife.
Lou Ying didn’t do more things to distract him and brought the topic back on the right track in a timely manner. “Just now, was it Shi Tingyun?”
Chi Xiaochi gave a hmm.
Of course, he wouldn’t kneel down for no reason.
Then it could only be the original owner.
Lou Ying: “Why did Shi Tingyun kneel to Yan Yuanheng?”
Chi Xiaochi recalled the feeling before both knees hit the ground.
His head was numb, there was a buzzing sound, and when the ringing ended, he found that he had done something involuntarily.
This feeling was familiar to Chi Xiaochi.
“PTSD.” Chi Xiaochi, who had pulled down his trouser legs, said, “It’s the same as when I throw up.”
Lou Ying was silent for a moment.
If Chi Xiaochi didn’t say anything, he couldn’t ask what happened to Chi Xiaochi back then.
He could only change the subject. “Who is he afraid of? Yan Yuanheng?”
Chi Xiaochi: “It’s hard to say.”
For post-traumatic stress syndrome, there must be a specific trigger point committed.
…And at the time, Yan Yuanheng patted him on the shoulder.
Chi Xiaochi recalled Shi Tingyun’s phrase “little slave,” making various assumptions and conjectures in his heart.
After a while, faint footsteps and passing communication came from outside.
“Eldest-gongzi! The Sixth Prince…”
Followed by a cheerful greeting: “Shi Tingyun! Come out to receive guests!”
Yan Yuanzhao was quite fond of purple. This time, he changed into a more luxurious purple silk and gold-painted robe than yesterday. He brought a golden birdcage and handed it over to the Shangshu family Qu-gongzi, , who was behind him.
The demeanor of the heavenly family couldn’t be seen much, but it was more like some wandering prodigal son.
As soon as he entered the Flower Hall, he froze when he saw the man in the wheelchair.
Lou Ying had already put down the veil, bowed his body, and said, “Peasant, , Yu Fengmian, pays respects to the Sixth Prince.”
Chi Xiaochi introduced, “My family’s xiansheng.”
Yan Yuanzhao vaguely remembered that Shi Tingyun’s family did seem to have a gongzi-shi, and heard that he had a disease and couldn’t walk and, therefore, didn’t often come out to meet people.
Yan Yuanzhao curiously stretched out his head to look around for a while, but unfortunately, he could only see a handsome chin.
The sixth prince was here, and it wasn’t appropriate for him to stay here, so Lou Ying respectfully retired.
After seeing him off, Yan Yuanzhao said, “He’s not that old. I thought he was an old pedant.”
Chi Xiaochi fumbled for a way to converse with him. “The Thirteenth Prince left, and you came. You two are really good brothers.”
“No need for you to say. I met him at the door just now.” Yan Yuanzhao sat down on the seat of honor with a face full of spring breeze. “Yuanheng said that you have something to do. I told him that it was an excuse. I’ll come and you’ll be fine.”
Chi Xiaochi: Xiongdi, why are you so good at talking?
Yan Yuanzhao unfolded his fan. “Drink a few pots of Hua Diao. I guarantee that the medicine will cure your illness.”
That Qu-gongzi didn’t say a word. He was very quiet, standing behind Yan Yuanzhao, like Yan Yuanzhao’s accompanying pendant.
Chi Xiaochi observed him for a while and found nothing unusual, so he took some of his attention away from him.
Between words, Chi Xiaochi tested the lower limit of conversation with Yan Yuanzhao.
Later, he found that this dude basically had no lower limit.
He took the golden bird cage from Qu-gongzi, put it on the table, and took the fan bone to knock on the cage wall. “Here, this bird is for you to play with. Never seen it before, right?”
Chi Xiaochi took it and asked knowingly, “What is this? A pheasant?”
“You go to the border, come back, and see everything as a pheasant.” Yan Yuanzhao said disappointedly, “Thrush. Recently, raising these little things is the most fashionable thing in the city.”
Chi Xiaochi lifted it and examined the thrush’s red mouth.
Yan Yuanzhao’s brows twitched, and he pointed at him with his fan. “You try stewing another one.”
Chi Xiaochi: “…” Was the original owner so fierce?
Yan Yuanzhao: “Playing dumb? The egg Sixth Master gave you last time was a golden tortoise.”
Chi Xiaochi snorted. “No wonder it was so delicious.”
Yan Yuanzhao spat at him and pointed to the thrush cage. “Seeing this is like seeing Sixth Master, do you understand?”
Chi Xiaochi: “Yes.”
Then he turned to the thrush cage and said respectfully, “Please be at peace, Sixth Prince.”
Yan Yuanzhao: “… Shi Tingyun, do you want to die? Someone come drag this criminal out and chop him up.”
Chi Xiaochi: “Sixth Prince, if you kill me, my Shi family will be severed, and you will have to take the bird back.”
Yan Yuanzhao acted in front of the empty hall. “Ah, forget it, I back down.”
Getting along with him was indeed much easier and more interesting than Yan Yuanheng.
But when Chi Xiaochi occasionally made eye contact with him, he would always think of him kneeling on the ground with a bloody face.
At that time, he didn’t wear this purple robe of gold on every inch of cloth.
The battle armor was stained with blood, the helmet was damaged, and the young and handsome face was covered with dried blood scabs. All his fingers were broken and curled in different directions.
Yan Yuanzhao proposed to go out for a drink while fanning himself with a gold fan.
Chi Xiaochi said, “Migraine.”
Yan Yuanzhao said, “Trust me, a pot of wine will disappear all your illnesses.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “I believe you have a ghost.”
Yan Yuanzhao said, “Tingyun, are you afraid that thirteenth brother will know if you go out with me, not him, and feel unhappy about it?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Otherwise?” They are all princes. He could alienate Yan Yuanheng, but there was no need to go against Yan Yuanheng and make him unhappy deliberately.
“Forget it.” Yan Yuanzhao said, “I just want to be angry with the thirteenth brother. It’s fun for him to be angry. Remember, I lied to him when I was a child that you were going to become my study companion soon, and he was so angry that he hid and secretly cried, hahahaha.”
Chi Xiaochi thought, what the fuck is this dog brother.
Yan Yuanzhao said sadly, “Hey, he’s not as cute when grown up. Forget it, don’t mention it. Play Go, play Go.”
Although Yan Yuanzhao looked foolish, he was a good Go player and fought back and forth with Chi Xiaochi.
Most importantly, he talked a lot.
While playing Go, he asked, “Hey, where is your family’s Ah Ling?”
Chi Xiaochi noticed that he didn’t ask about Ah Shu.
He picked up a black stone and said, “Do you miss him?”
Yan Yuanzhao said, “Exactly, the wine he poured was most to my liking.”
Chi Xiaochi tried to fathom Shi Tingyun’s thoughts toward Ah Ling and replied, “He is not only good at serving wine.”
“Okay, okay, listening to you bragging about him, my ears are going to get calluses.” Yan Yuanzhao picked his ears, “Your family’s Ah Ling is a natural talent, the Ninth Heaven’s Heroic Spirit descended to the mortal world. If not for family poverty, and had no choice but to sell him into slavery, his future would be boundless. Are you happy?”
Chi Xiaochi: “You’re right.”
Yan Yuanzhao picked up the stone he had just played and hit Chi Xiaochi. “Screw you!”
Chi Xiaochi caught it accurately.
Yan Yuanzhao raised his fan and said, “Put it on the board for Sixth Master.”
Chi Xiaochi dropped the stone back to where he had just played.
Yan Yuanzhao slapped him on the back of his hand with his fan. “Where are you going? You’re not playing properly. Play it here.”
He pointed to another place 108,000 miles away from where the stone was played.
Chi Xiaochi immediately exposed his sinister intentions. “You have no shame. No regrets about the play.”
“Sixth Master just played here.” Yan Yuanzhao said blindly with his eyes open, “If you don’t believe me, ask Qu Ying.”
Without changing his face, Qu Ying said, “Yes, the Sixth Prince is right.”
Okay, Chi Xiaochi conceded.
Yan Yuanzhao said, “Qu Ying, what’s new in Wangcheng in the past day or two? Come and relieve the boredom of our bedridden Shi eldest-gongzi.”
Qu Ying was Yan Yuanzhao’s study companion and grew up with them.
He recounted, “These past two days have been without incident. The Fragrant Cloud Pavilion in the West City has new storybooks, and I heard that it is interesting. A Turkic caravan entered Wangcheng, bringing a lot of new things and fruits and nuts. Yesterday was the Flower Festival, the streets were very lively, and the polo match was won by Qiao Shuxing, the son of Qiao Shilang, the Minister of War, and the poetry contest was won by the second miss of the Qu family…”
It was like a Wangcheng Entertainment Encyclopedia.
Yan Yuanzhao looked at his close friend, who examined the Go game carefully, and said, “How about it?”
Chi Xiaochi: “How about what?”
Yan Yuanzhao: “After your battle, General Yan didn’t keep you in the army for training, but sent you back to Wangcheng. Don’t you have an idea in your heart?”
Chi Xiaochi said gracefully, “I’m still young.”
…Yan Yuanzhao felt that Tingyun’s skin was much stronger today than in the past.
Yan Yuanzhao: “Yun-di, you are nineteen this year. That Qiao Shuxing is sixteen years old and has three bed servants .”
Chi Xiaochi nimbly used the art of using his father as an evasion against Yan Yuanzhao: “My father won’t let me take a concubine.”
Yan Yuanzhao: “The main wife is important to take a good look at one another.”
Chi Xiaochi looked up at Yan Yuanzhao and smiled softly.
Yan Yuanzhao was laughing so hard that he had to spread his fan to cover half of his face and approached Chi Xiaochi: “Shi Tingyun, Sixth Master wants your honest words, do you have the habit of cutting your sleeves?”
Chi Xiaochi didn’t answer.
Yan Yuanzhao was a little anxious. “It’s not really that Ah Ling, is it?”
Thanks for the chapter ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for the update!
Poor Xiaochi who is saving his own butt(and Lou-ge’s)
Hope Prince no.6 gets a good end this time around….. really hope 13 isn’t the bad guy, he seems sweet….
Thank you for the chapter~♡
thank you for the chapter!
At this point none of the characters seems hateful.. So tough without a storyline ah ~
I smell yandere vibes from this arc (｡ŏ_ŏ)
now this is the arc where it really hits home how hard would it be to impersonate someone without knowing anything about them!
So, Shi Tingyun has PTSD from is days of future past? I feel so bad for him, but also, he’s so lucky that Chi Xiaochi is the one caring for him!
Damn I can’t even hate on anyone without storyline and nobody seems suspicious yet. Guess I am going to spend my time cursing pig brain this whole arc
my theory currently is that ah ling is the scum gong, and also a traitor, bc the sixth prince appeared to have died from war and also torture. if the PTSD came from the hand on the shoulder not the 13th prince himself, then that could be possible. if ah ling had a twisted inferiority complex and basically made tingyun be a servant to him…. i could be way way off tho
OG host seemed really impacted by 6th prince’s death, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he blames himself for it (maybe info leak from spy led to 6th prince capture). Lowkey, ancient china scares me with how little boundaries they have. Punishments are brutal and nothing good ever comes from those who lose or are captured in war. so many injustices and dogblood to go around, especially when you have corrupt people in with absolute power in their hands