Chapter 38: 36

The moonlight was like water, and the night wind was blowing. The branches in the courtyard rustled, and a dark fragrance drifted in through the carved window.

The two people sat side by side on the bed, poised for a long conversation.

Zhao Yelan sat motionless, silently staring at a speck of dust on the ground as if he were viewing a flower.

Yan Mingting scratched his head, and then rubbed his hands, unable to calm down at all. Glancing at the other party furtively from the corner of his eye, he couldn’t sit still, so he got up and walked around the room in order to defeat the fire in his heart.

The hug just now was originally just an act of feeling sorry for the other party’s self-sacrificing move, but at some point it had gradually changed.

He began to covet the strange fragrance that he disliked the most, and was careful not to overdo it and hurt the other. Immersed in such a quiet night, he wanted to hug this thin figure all the time, and his breathing became slow and light.

When the other person pushed him away, there was a sense of emptiness and loneliness.

“Stop pacing, it hurts my eyes,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting smiled awkwardly and walked to his side. He cautiously made as if to sit down, and when the other party didn’t kick him, he sat with peace of mind.

“How was your chat with Li Jinyu?” Zhao Yelan asked with his face averted.

“Very good, he confessed to me the cause of Li Yanran’s death.”

“She didn’t die of illness?”

“No.” Yan Mingting sighed deeply. “She committed suicide.”

“Why?” Zhao Yelan was a little surprised. Li Yanran was born to an influential family, and would be part of the Yan family by the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker. Clearly she was in a good situation, so why would she kill herself?

“Because of the late Emperor.”

Li Yanran had reached marriageable age and was also close to the Yan family, so the Empress Dowager personally wrote an invitation to her during the birthday banquet, inviting her to enjoy a hundred flowers feast[1] together. But when she entered the palace for the first time, she caught the attention of the late Emperor.

The late Emperor only knew that the Li family had a daughter, but had never seen her before. At the birthday banquet, he found her dignified, gentle and pleasant. Not showing the slightest regard for the relationship between an Emperor and his subjects, he summoned her to the Imperial study and took her by force.

Afterwards, Li Yanran feared that the Yan family would make a lot of trouble if they found out about it, and she was also afraid that the Li family would be implicated if she did not enter the harem. In desperation, she committed suicide by drinking poison.

The room was quiet for a while before Zhao Yelan said: “She was a rather strong woman.”

“Yes, ah.” Yan Mingting promptly punched the wall.

Zhao Yelan immediately looked at him, and then stared at his hand perplexingly.

“This dog Emperor is really……” Although Yan Mingting knew the etiquette of respect and inferiority, he never had much contact with the late Emperor and only knew that he was fatuous and cruel, and didn’t have any good impressions of him.

“Hush.” Zhao Yelan quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth. “You know that you are talking about the late Emperor, but those who don’t know will think that you are cursing His Majesty. Be careful, the walls have ears.”

Yan Mingting nodded, lowered his eyes, and stared at his hand. All the air he exhaled hit the palm of that hand. 

Zhao Yelan retracted it as if nothing had happened and said: “No wonder Li Jinyu stood on the sidelines without lifting a finger when the throne was won. Only when Zhao Xuan forced the Emperor to abdicate with the Imperial army in the end, he opened the old Emperor’s closed door with his own hands and led the way to him.”

Yan Mingting nodded. “Yes, no matter who came to force the old Emperor to abdicate, he would have helped them.”

After solving the mystery of Li Yanran’s death, Zhao Yelan asked: “Did you tell him about your father?”

“How is that possible? That is too big of a deal, and my relationship with him is not close enough to divulge the whole story.” Yan Mingting said, “I just told him that I thought Li Yanran’s death was strange, and I wanted to find out where all the ‘evil star’ rumors came from.”

“……Then why did you tell me everything?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“You are my wife, ah.” Yan Mingting smiled and tapped Zhao Yelan’s head. “And you’re clever here.”

Zhao Yelan batted his hand away. Hearing him grunt, he intuitively looked at his hand. “Did you hurt yourself just now?”

Yan Mingting remained silent.

Zhao Yelan leaned over to look at his hand, and Yan Mingting stretched it out for him to examine, the corners of his mouth curling up: “Are you concerned for me?”

Seeing that there was no injury, Zhao Yelan immediately threw it back: “I’m just afraid that if your hand is broken, you won’t be able to protect me. Useless thing.”

“Don’t worry, I can protect you even with a broken hand,” Yan Mingting said confidently, puffing out his chest.

“You’re rather proud,” Zhao Yelan scoffed, and went back to the topic. “Then have you asked him about the Gu poison in Nanjiang?

“Yes, I asked what kind of poison Li Yanran used, and happened to bring up the matter of Nanjiang. He said that what Li Yanran used was arsenic, which has nothing to do with Nanjiang. Because the poisons brought into Beijing from Nanjiang are strictly controlled, after passing through the guards at the Imperial Hospital, they are used for research purposes and these courtiers could only view them when they were displayed,” Yan Mingting said.

“Tai Hospital……no wonder Yao Muze had heard about this poison from his master. It seems we must go and find his master at the Imperial hospital.”

“En, tomorrow I will go to Yao Muze to inquire about his master’s whereabouts, and see if I can invite him over.” Yan Mingting remembered another matter and asked, “By the way, does the Emperor really know that you are the owner of the gambling hall?”

“I just said that to scare him.” Zhao Yelan lifted the blanket. “The Emperor is busy with government affairs, how can he take care of everyone’s private business? I warn you, if you tell anyone about this, I will make things difficult for you.”

“I know, I know, go to sleep, ba.”

Yan Mingting patted his blanket and then skilfully made his bed on the floor, looking back at the person who had just laid down. Taking advantage of his inattention, he moved the blanket a little closer to the side of the bed, looked at the nearby bed, and closed his eyes contentedly.

A day later, Yao Muze was invited to treat Zhao Yelan again, and prescribed a few more medications.

Zhao Yelan said softly: “You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing, it is my job to cure patients.” Yao Muze smiled.

Yan Mingting interjected at the ideal time: “Yao-gongzi, can his physical condition be cured if we invite a master?”

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“Hmm……” Yao Muze pondered, “Perhaps. My shifu has treated many difficult and miscellaneous diseases. Zhao-daren’s illness should be a certain success, it is only that I am not a good student.”

Yan Mingting said joyfully: “Then can the master be invited to come to the mansion?”

“I’m afraid this is a bit troublesome,” Yao Muze said. “Since Shifu resigned, he has been traveling abroad, only going to poor villages and remote places to treat people for free, but he refused to go to Beijing. This time I came to the capital to take the exam at the Imperial Hospital, and he drew a clear line with me, and refused to answer my letters. Even I don’t know where he is now.”

After sending Yao Muze away, the disappointment on Yan Mingting’s face was obvious.

Zhao Yelan took a sip of tea and said: “Don’t you have a lot of subordinates? Just send people to the backcountry to check one place at a time.”

“That’s the only way to go, but it will take some time.” Yan Mingting put his sword on the table dejectedly and wiped it absent-mindedly.

“So many years have been spent on this old case, why are you so anxious at this time? Now that the situation is gradually becoming clear, isn’t it better than before?” Zhao Yelan said.

“I’m in no hurry, it doesn’t matter if I take my time.” Yan Mingting turned his head to gaze at him and said seriously, “But he can cure your illness.”

Zhao Yelan paused and put down the teacup, his long eyelashes trembling and then lowering slightly to cover up the sentiment in his eyes. “Not necessarily. Many people have examined my illness. It is only a matter of taking some medicine to control it.”

“But you have to try. Since the other party was the court envoy, he should have some real skills.” After Yan Mingting spoke, he hurried out and arranged for his subordinates to start the search.

Looking at the empty door, Zhao Yelan was silent for a time, then took another sip of tea. He didn’t know if the water temperature was too high or there were too many tea leaves, but his chest felt terribly blocked up.

The weather was getting warmer and the rain was less. Gao Tan looked at the sun every day and couldn’t help but be joyful – his lord coughed a lot less these days and was also in a good mood. He went to the Imperial Academy to read books and play chess every day, and after returning home, he would trot about with General Yan, his complexion visibly improving.

And since his lord married into the General’s Mansion, he himself had relaxed a lot. It was no longer necessary to be by his lord’s side all the time as in the past. Anyway, with the General looking after him, he was often sent away, so he had his own time to buy delicious snacks and play with the servants in the mansion.

But then came another sort of trouble. That is, when the General returned to the mansion every day, if he did not see his lord at first sight, he would look for him everywhere: “Where is your family’s lord?”

One day he got confused and replied to the General: “I don’t know……perhaps in the study?”

Unexpectedly, the General gave him a rare reprimand and then hurried to the study. When he saw that Zhao Yelan was indeed playing chess in the study, he immediately put on a smiling face. 

Up to now, Xiao Gao had become accustomed to guarding the front courtyard every day, and as soon as the General came back, he would immediately report the exact location of his lord and then go to play.

This day, Xiao Gao crouched in front of the main hall to feed the rabbit, and when he heard footsteps, he called out: “General, my lord is in the main hall.”

“What? He’s in the mansion?” The figure who had just arrived at the door suddenly paused, and then hid outside the door again.

“What are you doing sneaking around and not coming in?” Zhao Yelan saw Yan Mingting’s elusive figure at a glance, and the other party poked his head through the door to give him a simple and honest smile.

“Why aren’t you in the study today?” Yan Mingting said awkwardly.

“Why?” Zhao Yelan walked to the door suspiciously and saw that he had his hands behind his back. “Take out your hands.”

Yan Mingting stiffly revealed his hands, which were filled with a variety of fruits and flowers, and foisted them onto the guard next to him: “Come, come, you’ve worked hard, take these to quench your thirst.”

Zhao Yelan scoffed coldly and turned around to walk into the main hall: “General Yan is truly romantic and capable, he has won the hearts of so many young girls just by going about.”

It would soon be the day of the harem draft. These days, the capital had gathered beautiful women from around the world, so naturally there were women with open folk customs. Seeing a man she liked on the street, she would throw fruits and flowers.

Yan Mingting was originally well-born, with an extraordinary bearing, so he could attract countless eyes just by standing in place.

“I’m wronged, ah.” Yan Mingting immediately chased after him and tried to explain, “I just met them outside the door. They forced it into my hands, and when I wanted to return it to them, they had already run away.”

“They?” Zhao Yelan sneered. “How many concubines do you plan on taking?”

“I don’t want to take concubines!” Yan Mingting said.

“Take a concubine?” Housekeeper Qin heard this and asked, “General, are you going to take a concubine?”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows: “Yes, ah, hurry up and tidy a few rooms, the new owners will come into the house in a few days.”

“There’s no such thing! Uncle Qin, go and do your work first, and leave us alone.” Yan Mingting quickly persuaded Housekeeper Qin to leave, then gritted his teeth and dragged Zhao Yelan out of the house.

“What are you going to do!?” Zhao Yelan exclaimed.

A quarter of an hour later, the two of them stood on the street. Zhao Yelan was puzzled and turned around to leave. Unexpectedly, an apple was stuffed into his chest by a beautiful woman.

He couldn’t react in time, and when he picked it up to have a look, many women crowded in around him. Some put flowers on his head, some put flowers and fruits in his arms, and some asked him about his age, family background, and whether he was married.

He managed to escape from the throng and looked at Yan Mingting in embarrassment, but Yan Mingting was leaning against the door of a nearby restaurant and laughing.

He picked up a fruit and hurled it at him, and the other party caught it in his hand, then led him into the alley next to him.

Zhao Yelan was still pelting his back with the remaining fruit, but the other party stopped without a care, looked back at him, and stomped his foot: “Hmph, Zhao-daren was flirting in front of me! Let me tell you, if you want to find another woman behind my back, there is no way!”

This performer!

Zhao Yelan took a deep breath. Ever since he met this scoundrel, he had become angry much more often, almost every day!

He turned around to leave, but the other party dragged him back again. He stepped back in disarray until he came to a stop leaning against a wall. Raising his head to look at the person in front of him, he saw him suddenly raise a hand. Thinking that he was going to do something, he subconsciously closed his eyes.

“These flowers and plants, why keep them?” Yan Mingting took the thin flower stems out of his hair and inserted a jade hairpin instead, as if performing a magic trick. After examining it carefully for a moment, he was very satisfied. “En, it looks good this way.”

Zhao Yelan was stunned. Opening his eyes doubtfully, he took off the jade hairpin. The jade body was transparent, the color fresh and tender. Shaped like a floating cloud, shimmered in the sunlight. He liked it very much and forgot to be angry, but he still did not forget to confirm: “Expensive?”

“Expensive. It is a relic of the former royal family. There is no second one in the world.”

Only then was Zhao Yelan satisfied: “Put it on for me properly.”

 

[1] The hundred flowers feast is a famous delicacy in which edible flowers are cooked and arranged beautifully. ⮐

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