Translator: ChiFu
The next day.
When Wen Mingyu awoke, everything was as it should have been. The event from last night appeared to be nothing more than a dream he had. However, when he spotted those familiar papers on Mu Zhan’s table, he knew it wasn’t.
Furthermore, Mu Zhan would occasionally put on an act with him, and his desire to perform was really high. In fact, if Mu Zhan desired to follow the plot exactly, be an unfortunate bodyguard, obey his orders, and even wear women’s clothes, he would be happy to cooperate with the play.
Wen Mingyu had gotten used to it after playing for some time. The master’s temperament had spread from within the screen to off-screen. Sometimes, as he woke up in the morning and his whole being was still dazed, he would reach out to beckon Mu Zhan to come and undress him.
The palace servants on the side kept quiet and bowed their heads in dread.
Nevertheless, as they gazed at the floor and listened to the noise, they noticed that His Majesty had actually gone up to change Wen-gongzi’s clothes. They were astounded to discover that Wen Mingyu’s level of favor had reached a new height.
There were a few occasions where Zhao Dequan had something to report while they were playing, and Mu Zhan didn’t think twice about letting him in. As a result, Zhao Dequan witnessed the emperor pouring tea and massaging his shoulders and back. The sheer shock on his face could not be masked at all.
When he thought about it, Wen Mingyu was tempted to laugh. Being spooked all the time while accompanying the emperor was really tough for the old man. It was not easy for him.
As the days passed, the temperature dropped steadily.
One morning, Wen Mingyu opened his eyes to find the world beyond his window had become white. A clean, thick, white layer of snow blanketed the trees and the soil. The heaven and land became remarkably quiet, giving the impression that one was alone, unwinding.
Wen Mingyu, who used to reside in the south and had never experienced snow, was so ecstatic that he opened his eyes wide and stared at it for a while. He then turned around and sprinted to Mu Zhan’s side, unable to help but pat his arm. “Look! Snow is falling!”
Mu Zhan had been exposed to snow since he was a child and didn’t think there was anything to look at in the snow. The attitude of Wen Mingyu, on the other hand, was more interesting. He was so excited that his face even got red.
Carelessly, he said, “Every year when it snows, the young master is still so ecstatic and seems to really like it.”
It took Wen Mingyu a moment to remember that he was the concubine son of a marquis who had lived here all his life and had seen snow so much that he shouldn’t make a fuss. But a sudden shift of attitude now would be odd, so Wen Mingyu hummed stiffly. “I do like snow a lot. Is that a problem?”
Mu Zhan shook his head. “Naturally not. Anything the young master is fond of is all right.”
Wen Mingyu was satisfied. He suddenly felt that it wouldn’t matter if his script was discovered. Additionally, you get to boss the emperor around and live like a little lord. Who could? Who else?
Wen Mingyu’s ego expanded. He deliberately omitted all those images of a certain bodyguard exasperating him.
After cleaning up, Wen Mingyu couldn’t wait to frolic in the snow. Before he set foot outside, however, he was dragged away by Mu Zhan. Taking the cloak from a servant, Mu Zhan naturally put it on for him. The snow-white, fluffy collar wrapped around his neck, burying his chin and making his face appear even smaller.
A soft and silky touch from the fur collar was felt against his face. Wen Mingyu, who was feeling ticklish, couldn’t help but lift his hand and stroke a handful, feeling good. Mu Zhan also gave him a light head rub.
With the thick cloak on, there was little need to worry about the weather. Wen Mingyu dashed outside with abandon, leaving footprints in his wake with a crunching noise. Unable to resist, he stepped back and forth a few more times before squatting down to feel the snow and cup a ball. Fingertips numb, his eyes gleamed with full novelty and wonder.
He exhaled a hazy, white mist of breath.
Within a few minutes of being outside, the tip of his nose quickly turned red, and his eyelashes were delicately adorned with small frost crystals.
Mu Zhan was observing the young man in the snowfield from right under the eaves, paying little attention to the snow.
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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The palace, the snow, and the beauty blended flawlessly to create an exquisite scroll painting.
Wen Mingyu regarded Mu Zhan with a dumbstruck expression. It took him some time to come to, shrinking his neck with a slight flush, concealing half of his face, and pointing at the snowman on the ground for him to see.
It so happened to be a holiday today. One didn’t have to attend classes, and the other had no work, so it was the ideal time to take a leisurely stroll and admire the snowscape of the palace.
The grand and ornate palace complexes and the unblemished snowscape always met in a way that was breathtakingly beautiful.
As they walked side by side, Wen Mingyu and Mu Zhan gazed at the familiar scenery, which was showing a different kind of amazement than usual.
A bitter winter wind blew through.
Almost without thinking, Wen Mingyu subconsciously grabbed Mu Zhan’s sleeve and ducked behind him at once, letting the man shield him from the wind.
When the palace servants who were trailing them witnessed this scene, they stopped dead in their tracks and became a little uneasy.
After doing this, Wen Mingyu himself became frozen. His actions were too natural.
Mu Zhan was grabbed and forced to stop, but rather than pulling the man out from behind him, he laughed. “So scared of the cold, and you dare say you want to go outside?”
Wen Mingyu feigned ignorance and stepped out from behind him. The bitter wind just now had already passed.
They made their way to the imperial garden, which was also white with snow, and on the branches and foliage of the trees, they were capped with a thick layer of snow. Reaching out, Wen Mingyu flicked his hand at it, and the snow clump rustled and fell with a soft noise.
Later, it was really chilly. Wen Mingyu couldn’t take it anymore and quit.
Wen Mingyu walked restlessly on their way back, purposefully choosing some deep snow mounds to stamp on. He found the crunching sound amusing and, after a while, couldn’t maintain his balance and slipped underfoot, his body falling backward. He sat down on the snow, his buttocks feeling cool.
Because he was so overdressed, Wen Mingyu sat on the ground like a ball. For now, getting up was difficult. He could only limit himself to two pointless penguin-like flaps in one place.
Mu Zhan approached and placed his hands beneath his armpits. He scooped the young man up with ease and held him by the waist smoothly. He patted off the snow that had accumulated on his cloak, with the majority of it on his buttocks.
Wen Mingyu had anticipated being laughed at and was prepared to counterattack, but when Mu Zhan stood in front of him, he gently looked after him, giving off a very natural, family-like feeling.
Suddenly happy.
Like there were fluttering butterflies in the stomach.
He couldn’t help it and embraced Mu Zhan as tightly as he could, burying his face in his arms and rubbing it against him, resembling a coddled child.
Mu Zhan stiffened at the same time.
Wen Mingyu lifted his head, looked at him, and grinned brilliantly, intentionally adding, “Your Majesty, you were like my father just now, ah.”
Mu Zhan instantly blackened his face. “… Impudent!”
Wen Mingyu seized the chance to swiftly slip his hand into Mu Zhan’s collar and touch his warm neck, sending the latter into a fit of shivering. Then, before he could become angry, he turned and fled.
He laughed as he ran, looking very cocky.
But towards the end of the evening, Wen Mngyu knew he would regret it.
Perhaps, due to spending too much time in the snow in the morning, he developed a fever.
His head was spinning, and his face was unnaturally red.
As soon as Mu Zhan saw his abnormality, his face turned grim. That was because the first thing he remembered was Wen Mingyu’s previous serious fever, and he feared that this time would just be similar.
The imperial physician rushed in to diagnose the patient and eventually determined that he had a common cold that would pass after a few days of medicine.
Mu Zhan had relaxed, but Wen Mingyu was anything but relaxed.
Because traditional Chinese medicine was too bitter, and a big bowl of it was like trying to kill him.
But every time he took the bowl, Mu Zhan was keeping an eye on him, so he was unable to make even the slightest trick. The only thing he could do was dutifully take the bowl, grimace, and quickly put candied fruit into his mouth to repress the bitter taste.
The imperial physician advised him to stay in bed because of his fever and weakened body.
Then, Wen Mingyu rightfully stayed in bed like a salted fish, just in time to construct the plot of the script as well.
The BE ending of the two male protagonists had left many readers with deep-seated resentment, wanting to mail the author razor blades and put sacks on him. When he learned more about it, he couldn’t help feeling a bit bad. Although he knew he couldn’t change the outcome, he entertained the idea of penning the youthful years of Tang Yiyuan and Cheng Yunzhen attending the Imperial Academy.
It just so happened that he was a student, so there was nothing to worry about not understanding what school life was like. In contrast to the convoluted and treacherous court battles, this one concentrated more on capturing the innocence and youth of teenagers, the emergence of hazy emotions, being ignorant and unaware, and only separated by a veil—but everything was reflected in the eyes and detailed actions.
In the beginning, he did not see eye to eye with him and often exchanged hostile looks, yet on each of his arrivals, he would always be the first one to notice him. When he watched him laugh, he couldn’t stop smiling. He was unable to stop his line of sight from moving in his direction, but when his eyes looked over, he would reflexively avoid it, acting as if nothing happened…
Wen Mingyu pondered those episodes and gazed at the bed curtains as if he were in a daze.
At some point, Mu Zhan came over to see how he was doing. He touched his forehead and said, “Burned silly?”
Wen Mingyu cast a disapproving gaze his way.
Mu Zhan: “Hungry? Do you want something to fill your stomach?”
Wen Mingyu gave a firm nod.
Mu Zhan then made a U-turn to get it. When Mu Zhan left, Wen Mingyu turned over and flopped on his pillow, his eyes following Mu Zhan until he came back.
Stepping into the inner hall, Mu Zhan was immediately greeted by Wen Mingyu’s beady eyes, which were red at the ends due to fever, like those of a sticky, milky puppy.
While ill, Wen Mingyu was more dependent and attached than normal. Mu Zhan would always be followed by a pair of eyes whenever he did something. Mu Zhan initially assumed he was up to something and turned to look. Puzzled, he would ask what was wrong.
After a couple more times, Mu Zhan eventually had someone carry the memorial to the inner hall to deal with them, so when he gazed up, he could see Wen Mingyu.
Wen Mingyu saw his intention and said to Mu Zhan that it was too exaggerated and unnecessary.
Yet after that, as he flopped on the bed, occasionally staring at Mu Zhan, he became unfocused and absent-minded, not knowing what was on his mind.
Three days later, Wen Mingyu’s condition greatly improved, and he stopped feeling dizzy. He felt like he could live and frolic freely again. But before he was able to go out, he was first held down and spanked by Mu Zhan, who claimed that he was being punished for not taking care of his body. Since he had a fever, he couldn’t teach him a lesson. So he waited until he was healed.
Wen Mingyu was on the verge of tears and had a flushed face. It wasn’t that it hurt so much—he was too old to be spanked like a child!
Wen Mingyu was lying on his lap with his head buried in the pillow, paying Mu Zhan no mind. Unable to stop Mu Zhan’s small moves that were too much for him, he suddenly raised his head and yelled angrily, “You puny guard, you dared hit your master—I’ll sell you!”
Mu Zhan was briefly stunned. Then he smiled and said, “Young Master, don’t be furious. I realized my mistake.”
Still ignoring him, Wen Mingyu passed the evening feeling better. But he was still a little squirmy when it came to Mu Zhan. It wasn’t until a few days later, on the winter solstice, that Wen Mingyu saw an ice-skating performance.
Those ice skaters were performing a variety of impressive positions while effortlessly gliding on their skates.
Wen Mingyu seemed especially impressed and wanted to skate, too.
However, Mu Zhan flatly refused, believing that he had just been ill for a few days and would play to sickness once more later.
Wen Mingyu twitched his lips and, in a low voice, muttered, “Stinky guard, having the nerve to disobey the master’s orders.”
Mu Zhan cocked an eyebrow. “What did you say?”
Wen Mignyun grinned, his eyes crinkling. “I was referring to Your Majesty’s magnificent bearing, which is incomparable to a phoenix.”
“Hm.” Mu Zhan responded plainly, then continued to say “No.”
“It is merely an off-the-cuff compliment and has no sincerity in it. Why should this one grant you permission to go. It’s not like this one has anything to gain.”
When Wen Mingyu heard this, his mind for some reason swayed, and he blurted out, “I’ll give you a kiss, then?”
He quickly regretted what he had just said. What impulsive but thoughtless words!
He opened his mouth, attempting to remedy the situation by laughing and saying it was some nonsense, but Mu Zhan had clearly taken it seriously and leaned over, staring at him, his voice low, and said, “This will do.”
ChiFu: thank you for waiting yiyiyi TT
Aaaaaah their relationship is blossoming so wonderfully! The emperor is so doting I can’t wait to see him with a bunch of cubs running around causing chaos.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter ❤️😍
Omg i love them. Please let me be theur servant in my next life or even a bird to watch them huhuhu
The amount of dog food shoved to my face :’DDDD They’re sooo adorable around each other (cries in single dog)
“Sell you!” 😂😂 Wen Mingyu’s temper is one of my favorite factors in their relationship. Like the playfulness and the secondary gender quirks, it’s something nobody else in their world could have given Mu Zhan as an experience.
+1!!!!
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
So sweet 💖💖💖
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Love to see my favorite couple!! ><
“You stinky guard!” lol, they are so cute now. Thanks for the new chapter!
Thank You for the new chapter ♡⃛ヾ(๑❛ ▿ ◠๑ )
Thanks for the chapter
Thank you. He’s playing with fire, there!
Awwww…
Seriously they’re getting Lovelier and Lovelier!! Soooo Sweeeeet!!!
Can’t wait until they both really can have children…
I really wonder how ML would react toward his own child…!!!
Anyway THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR THE HARDWORKS IN TRANSLATING THIS NOVEL TO THIS FAR ALREADY!!! 🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇 FOREVER ETERNALLY GRATEFUL ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Previous* serious fever, not precious.
Thanks for translating!