Author: Chai Jidan
Translator: chiangyushien, Renkun26
Proofreader: KainGuru
“Third Highness, please forgive your humble subordinate’s incompetence. Your humble subordinate really couldn’t find any disease. This Young Master’s pulse is stable and normal. If there is something to be said, I’m afraid there is only some internal heat and nothing else. Eat something cool and refreshing to decrease the internal heat.”
The Third Prince still trusted Doctor Li’s words. If there was really no illness, then that proved that these abnormalities were nothing more than Mu Xueshi putting on an act. Perhaps being tortured for half a month made this n.o.ble Young Master, who suffered hardships, began to learn how to go down on his knees in surrender.
The Third Prince was still contemplating this when Doctor Li had already left. He looked down at Mu Xueshi. He never thought he would go as far as leaning forward on top of a table, fast asleep. He had eyelashes like a thick, pitch-black feather fan; snow-white cheeks; and a small rosy mouth that was slightly opened. His lips lightly smacked a few times. He then made a pouting face and turned his head to the other side.
His sleeping posture has changed. It seemed that Mu Xueshi’s disposition has changed a lot. Was it really because he was threatened these past days? The Third Prince slightly drew back his eyes. His eyes were full of disdain. It turned out that Mu Xueshi was not as strong and tough as the Third Prince thought he was. It was just merely a few days and he easily knelt down and surrendered. If it really was like this, then what fun would that be?
Mu Xueshi had just fallen asleep. The Third Prince’s room instantly became very quiet. Only the sound of Mu Xueshi’s breath could be heard. This place was the Third Prince’s bedchamber — Qing Yun Imperial Palace. Qing Yun Imperial Palace was located in a small courtyard that the Emperor bestowed upon the Third Prince. The small courtyard’s name was Qin Yi Bie Courtyard.
There were two small lofts standing face-to-face inside Bie Courtyard. There was a big flower bed in the middle of the lofts. The bed was full of rarely seen flowers and plants — a great variety — some of them could not be seen elsewhere. Many of the flowers and plants emitted delicate fragrances that blended together, forming a unique fragrance. Rumor has it that this kind of fragrant smell could build up a strong physique and strengthen one’s body in the long run, and also cure a number of diseases.
Whenever the light breeze blows, the fragrance of flowers inside Bie Courtyard wafted outside the Imperial Palace walls. There had been many imperial court ministers, imperial concubines, and princes that smelled this fragrance and presumably wanted to pay a visit inside the courtyard; but the Third Prince locked his door and refused to see them. Here, in addition to the Third Prince’s trusted aides and his childhood servants, only the emperor had entered this place that has been secluded from the real world.
Now, there was one more person inside the courtyard — Mu Xueshi. The Third Prince originally planned to wait for Mu Xueshi to wake up and then imprison him again in the Lin Han Imperial Palace; but Mu Xueshi now looked like he needed to be set free for a few days. He would wait until he returned to normal, then later on, he would condemn him.
The Third Prince’s mother, Imperial Concubine Mu, owned the land that Lin Han Imperial Palace was built on. Lately, strange things happened again and again inside this imperial palace. According to Imperial Concubine Mu’s servants, at zhishi[1], the sound of a woman weeping could be heard inside the imperial palace. The voice was miserable and aggrieved, just like being possessed by an evil spirit. Imperial Concubine Mu’s short days as a vegetarian Buddhist, in addition to her Yin-deficient debility, a few days later, had her return to her bedchamber, Mu Yan Zhai. Nowadays, she lies on her bed, quietly recuperating.
([1]「子时」- period of the night from 11 pm to 1 am)
Thinking of this, The Third Prince suddenly realized that he had not paid a visit to his mother, the Imperial Concubine, for several days. Nowadays, Imperial Concubine Mu laid on her bed. No matter how cold and detached the Third Prince was, he still understood basic etiquette.
The Third Prince came to Imperial Concubine Mu’s bedchamber, along with two people, Eunuch Tai An and Su Ruhan. Eunuch Tai An just arrived at the Mu Yan Zhai corridor entrance. In front of the entrance to Imperial Concubine Mu’s bedchamber, the eunuch loudly announced their arrival. Although Imperial Concubine Mu’s body was unwell, she immediately called for her personal maidservants to help her stand up when she heard the news that the Third Prince came to pay a visit. With small steps, she walked toward the entrance portal.