Chapter 14: 14

 

Jun Huailang recovered from his illness within a few days. Seeing the state of affairs in Mingluan Palace, the imperial physician specially made a visit to check on Xue Yan’s wounds in order to curry favor. He said that it was 60% healed and scabs had already formed. As long as Xue Yan did not exercise vigorously it would be fine.

Xue Yan started attending class in Wenhua Hall a few days before Jun Huailang returned. But he stayed silent and Jun Huailang didn’t know about it at all. Jun Huailang only found out about it when Xue Yunhuan casually mentioned it the morning he was able to attend class.

“I didn’t know until the second day he came,” Xue Yunhuan said. “Anyway, no one dares to approach him and he doesn’t talk to anyone. He just sits in a corner by himself.”

Jun Huailang didn’t make a sound when he heard this.

When they went out, there was no one in the west side hall. In the past few days, the dilong[1] in the west side hall had been repaired, and the middle room had also been prepared for Xue Yan. However, the place was still deserted. No palace servants lingered except for those doing the necessary cleaning.

Everyone still avoided Xue Yan like he was the plague.

Jun Huailang couldn’t help glancing in that direction a couple times.

“What are you looking at?” Xue Yunhuan leaned over and looked in the same direction. He didn’t see anything interesting, but as he leaned in, he noticed dark circles around Jun Huailang’s eyes.

“You didn’t sleep well?” Xue Yunhuan asked.

Jun Huailang hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since the day Xue Yan moved in. He was always having nightmares. Just the night before, he had another nightmare. But when the morning came he had already forgotten it.

Jun Huailang naturally did not say the reason directly. He smiled and said casually, “I was sick these past few days so my mental state hasn’t been very good.” 

Xue Yunhuan nodded. He was a prince who had been waited on hand and foot since birth. Naturally he did not have any medical knowledge, and he could only earnestly say, “Then you should rest well for a few days.”

Jun Huailang only smiled in response.

Xue Yan left early. The sky was still a little dark when he arrived at Wenhua Hall.

His routine in the army had always been to get up before dawn. The horizon only began to lighten after the drills with the soldiers had been completed. When Xue Yan arrived in the palace, his biological clock had not changed.

But he really didn’t have to go this early.

The reason why he left so early was a little embarrassing to say out loud. He didn’t want to admit it, but it was because he didn’t know when Jun Huailang would recover and return to school. From the beginning, he simply left early to avoid meeting Jun Huailang.

He was hiding from Jun Huailang.

That day his brains heated up and he actually agreed to Jun Huailang’s words. He had really believed himself infallible as he made the promise. When he returned to his room and became clear-headed again, he felt ridiculous.

He thought to himself, I still haven’t secured my own position.

He was born to be loathed and brought people misfortune, he had never denied that. In any case, he didn’t owe anyone anything and never asked anyone for even a penny. He was a burdenless evil star.

After all, the people who had nothing, had nothing to fear.

But now, for the first time someone took the initiative to treat him well. He felt that he wasn’t mature enough, that’s why he lost his bearings slightly. In the end, he was destined to be alone. He was not qualified to receive warmth and did not need it either. Anyway, it wasn’t like this was something people couldn’t live without. He had been alone since the beginning and had lived fine.

So for the first time, he was at a complete loss. These past few days, he simply avoided the other person and hid in his comfort zone of being of no interest to anyone.

Jinbao did not know what he was thinking, nor did he have such an abnormal biological clock. He followed behind Xue Yan, yawning every few steps, and hung his head dejectedly. In this way the two of them arrived at Wenhua Hall.

 A voice came from in front of them. “Hey, servant over there, come over.”

Xue Yan looked up and saw the people sitting by the lotus pool in front of Wenhua Hall. Surprisingly, it was the Second Prince, Jun Enze, and the Fourth Prince.

The one who spoke was the Second Prince. He stood facing Xue Yan but was not speaking to him. Rather, it was directed towards Jinbao. Xue Yan’s eyesight was excellent. From far away he could see that the Second Prince avoided eye contact. Although the Second Prince looked aggressive, he actually didn’t even dare glance at Xue Yan.

He probably had some stupid idea and wanted to put on another show.

Xue Yan coldly ridiculed this loser in his heart. He kicked the drooping Jinbao beside him and said, “They’re calling you.”

As soon as Jinbao heard Xue Yan speak, he shivered awake. He thought Xue Yan had some instructions for him, but saw Xue Yan gesture to the lotus pool with his chin. Before Jinbao could look, he heard a voice from that direction. “The palace servant over there, stop dilly-dallying! Didn’t you hear the prince calling for you!”

Jinbao was so scared his shoulders shook. He couldn’t help but appeal to Xue Yan with his eyes. Jinbao could not afford to offend these masters of the palace, whether they were stupid or not. A single instance of not serving them properly and his head would roll.

In the dim light of dawn, he saw Xue Yan gazing at the Second Prince. His lips curled up in a cold disdainful smirk. “Go, see what he wants this time.”

Inexplicably, Jinbao felt a bit relieved, even though his master was clearly a clay bodhisattva who was powerless to defend himself.

Jinbao walked over falteringly.

Seeing that Xue Yan had no reaction, the Second Prince relaxed.

He was secure in the knowledge that he had backing. After all, in the palace, Xue Yan was the person his imperial father liked the least. No matter how he humiliated Xue Yan, Xue Yan would be the one to lose out. But this person had eyes like a vicious wolf, with a ruthless glow. Even when he was a miserable wretch with nothing, he still had vigor. It made the Second Prince’s hair stand on end as soon as he saw him.

The more Xue Yunsu felt this way, the more he wanted to find an opportunity to prove Xue Yan was nothing. Xue Yunsu wasn’t scared of him.

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Xue Yan’s demon concubine mother was the one who caused his own mother to spend many years in the cold palace.[2] In the end, she died giving birth to a child. Xue Yan, who looked fierce now, would also have a bad ending sooner or later.

He stood there arrogantly, watching Xue Yan and Jinbao approach.

Jinbao trotted ahead because of the summons. He stopped two or three steps away from the Second Prince and was about to kneel to pay his respects. But before he could do so, the Second Prince raised one hand, snapped off his fan pendant, and threw it in the lake.

Although it had snowed recently, it was still the beginning of winter. Only a thin layer of slush had developed at the edges of the lake. The jade pendant was flung past the ice and fell straight to the bottom of the lake. 

Then without waiting for Jinbao to recover, Xue Yunsu took two steps forward and kicked Jinbao to the ground with all his strength.

“You dog servant! Why are you so careless, knocking my fan pendant into the lake?”

Jinbao fell to the ground, dumbfounded.

Obviously……  it was the Second Prince himself……

But he saw the Second Prince standing in front of him like a fierce demon. He was not ugly, but he seemed like a man-eating evil spirit out of childhood stories. The Second Prince malevolently ordered, “Go get the jade pendant back.”

Jinbao knew that he was taking revenge. During the Mid-Autumn banquet, Xue Yan had thrown him into Taiye Lake. Now he didn’t dare touch Xue Yan, so he took advantage of Xue Yan’s servants.

In the back, Jun Enze laughed. The Fourth Prince sat at the stone table with a cultured and refined appearance, calmly watching with a half smile.

Jinbao’s legs trembled as he knelt down. “Your Highness, this servant cannot swim!”

“What, didn’t you hear this prince’s order? That pendant was bestowed by the emperor. Even if it was your master who dropped this, he would personally pick it up for me, let alone you? Do you think your dog life is more valuable than this pendant?”

Naturally he could not be more valuable, but Jinbao was a coward.

Jinbao wanted to turn around and beg Xue Yan for help, but imperial bodyguards advanced and held him down. Xue Yunsu laughed coldly, lifted a hand, and two guards forcefully dragged Jinbao to the edge of the lotus pool.

This lotus pool might have been more than one zhang[3] deep and the bottom was muddy silt. Even on an ordinary summer day, Jinbao would die if he went in, let alone on such a cold winter day.

Jinbao was so frightened that tears fell, and loudly pleaded for Xue Yunsu to spare his life. He could not count on Xue Yan. Jinbao understood how hard-hearted his master was. In addition, Xue Yan was alone and had no power, and his injury was not fully healed. There was no way he would fight the Second Prince for the sake of a servant.

Xue Yunsu listened to his cries with a content smile. “Bear in mind, you aren’t allowed to come up today until you dredge up this prince’s pendant,” he said. “Hurry up and go in!”

Cold air rushed up from the lake. Jinbao looked at the dark waters and couldn’t see the bottom of the lake. Still sprawled on his stomach, he struggled back from the edge. If extending his head or pulling back would both result in death, then he might as well shrink back. Living a moment longer was still living!

But the two guards behind him restrained him as tightly as iron. For all his struggles he couldn’t move at all. Jinbao turned his head with difficulty to plead for mercy, and happened to see Xue Yan standing to the side.

Xue Yan was gazing off in some distant corner with a calm and collected expression. He didn’t even glance at Jinbao.

Jinbao thought to himself, I’m done for. 

At that moment, Xue Yunsu crouched down beside him. 

“Are you afraid?” His smile glinted with malevolent delight at the revenge. He indirectly scolded,[4] “You dog slave, are you worthy?” 

Then he looked up at Xue Yan and smiled provocatively. He put his hand on the back of Jinbao’s head and pressed his head down into the water.

Just like that day when Xue Yan had pushed his head into the water.

Jinbao abruptly choked on water. A burst of ice-cold water suffocated him and he immediately struggled upwards. Xue Yunsu didn’t have as much strength as Xue Yan, and Jinbao was able to fight free and get some air. But he was immediately pushed under again.

Jinbao spoke in his heart, I’m afraid this is the end. After all, His Highness is a master of the palace. Drowning a servant is nothing more than trampling an ant to him. I only hope that Xue Yan saw that I died because of him, and let my family go…

At that moment, through the sound of rushing water, Jinbao vaguely heard Xue Yan’s voice.

“Let him go,” he said.

Was it a hallucination before his death?

But immediately after, the force pushing Jinbao’s head down disappeared. He raised his head and saw Xue Yan standing there in the faint warmth of the morning light. Xue Yan’s expression was indifferent as he leisurely took off his own cloak and dropped it lightly at his feet.

The two guards were still holding Jinbao.

Xue Yan looked at Xue Yunsu. 

“Did you not hear me?” he said. “Let go of him, I’ll do it.”

 

 

Notes:

[1] 地龙 underground heating system in the imperial city but due to the amount of resources needed to build and use, only implemented in important places such as the emperor and empress’s palaces. [2] 冷宫 The cold palace is a place where disfavored concubines were banished. Historically there was no designated building, so it can be figurative, like saying someone is “in the doghouse” or being given “the cold shoulder.” [3] 丈 about 3.3 meters or 11 feet. [4] 指桑骂槐 lit. to point at the mulberry tree and curse the locust tree; to make oblique accusations.

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