Chapter 106: CH 97

Yu She frowned. Then he lightly patted Zhong Wan’s back. “Get up. What’s wrong?”

“I just wanted to hug you.” Eyes closed, Zhong Wan smiled. He thought aloud, “What, oh what, could it be?” 

This truly could not be considered anything serious. Even when that little eunuch was trying to confuse Zhong Wan earlier, Zhong Wan had already thought up how to deceive Emperor Chongan with Yu She. It wasn’t that difficult.

Zhong Wan had long since stopped having the strength of character of a gentleman. No longer took promises seriously.  What’s more, the person he had to fool now was Emperor Chongan. Trapping such an old fool was something Zhong Wan’s heart could take.

After all, Zhong Wan truly, truly, truly wanted to participate in the imperial examinations again.

On the top, he could report this to his parents and teacher. On the bottom, he would be worthy of his many years of strenuous study in his youth. 

Moreover, in these many years, he had accumulated the bad reputation of being a homosexual; such a reputation had spread far and wide. Also, Zhong Wan wanted to shock the scholars of Jiangan and Jiangbei.

I wasted eight years before taking the imperial exams again. Yet I’m still able to suppress you all until you can’t even lift your heads.

Now this was truly being outstanding.

But after thinking about it carefully, Zhong Wan felt he shouldn’t do this.

To reach this point, Zhong Wan had lost his civilian identity and reputation. The Xuan Rui that he had vowed loyalty and devotion to for many years had broken ties with him. The things he protected in his heart grew dirty or lost one by one. Now, he only had one Yu Ziyou left. So Zhong Wan ought to keep this clean, right?

In a person’s lifetime, there should be a place in his heart that stayed pure, right?

There had to be something one would disregard gains and losses for, would overcome much suffering for, yet not regret, right?

Zhong Wan had loved Yu She from his teens until now. And he believed such emotions could still be considered pure. 

After he said the words that would persuade Yu She to take a wife, some things would be different.

Zhong Wan was unwilling to do this.

He placed an arm around Yu She’s back. Then he recalled when he had been formally accepted as a pupil of Imperial Preceptor Shi, performing a ceremony of paying respects to him. And Imperial Preceptor Shi had said, “Once you learn the civil and martial arts, you must sell these skills to the emperor.”

Zhong Wan mocked himself as he thought, f*ck off. I won’t sell my intelligence. 

“Just what’s wrong?” asked Yu She. Zhong Wan’s expression seemed the same as usual, but Yu She found something amiss. He felt uneasy. “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“No.” Zhong Wan let go of Yu She. Following that, he laughed, free and at ease. “When they say calamitous beauty, they’re talking about you.”

Yu She was thoroughly baffled. Before he could ask a question, Zhong Wan said, “Don’t think too much. I’ll just tell you. Just a while ago, I heard something from the little eunuch who attends to the emperor.”

Zhong Wan knew he couldn’t keep Yu She in the dark. And he was afraid Yu She would make inquiries about it in secret. Thus, Zhong Wan concealed half of the truth. “He told me that Old Imperial Preceptor Shu had knelt for a long time outside of the emperor’s resting palace, in order to plead for leniency for me. Is this true?” 

Yu She paused. It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about this topic again. “Why are you asking this?”

“So it looks like it’s true.” Zhong Wan nodded. Smiled bitterly. “It’s been so long ago, yet no one had ever told me. Then Shi Hong’s hatred of me is warranted. His father kneeled for my sake for so long. It’s also unknown whether the old man grew ill after returning home. Or how long he stayed sick. On the other hand, after I left the prison, I ate well and lived comfortably at your estate, giving off a thoughtless appearance to others. It’s normal for him to hate it.”

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Vemt kbgvr rajgaifv Itbcu Qjc. 

Te Vtf uijcmfv ja tlw, kjcalcu ab rjs rbwfatlcu, sfa tfrlajalcu.

Pc j oijrt, Itbcu Qjc yfmjwf fcfgufalm. Lf gertfv ab eguf Te Vtf ab rajga ogbw atf nfgs yfulcclcu.

Yu She hesitated for a moment before saying, “That day, I also entered the palace. Back then, I did not know about those past matters. I had to enter the palace to pay respects to the emperor every day.”

At that time, Yu She had been the apple of Emperor Chongan’s eyes. After Yu She left the imperial palace to live outside, apart from when the weather was too terrible, he would be escorted to the palace, courtesy of Emperor Chongan. So that he could pay respects to him like before. 

That day, Yu She did things like usual. The emperor’s personal attendant eunuchs escorted him to the palace. The moment he was about to enter, he saw Old Imperial Preceptor Shi outside the palace.

Old Imperial Preceptor Shi kneeled for a long time. His expression was less serene and more sorry-looking. However, his back was as straight as a sword.

The dressed-to-the-nines Young Yu She felt very uneasy at the sight.

The old eunuchs softly coaxed him not to dally, that the wind was coming. If he stayed standing outside, he might catch a cold. 

But Yu She stubbornly kept looking at the imperial preceptor. Until an old eunuch muttered to him, saying that Imperial Preceptor Shi angered the emperor, and that it was only natural for him to kneel there in reflection. Then he said Shi Jin had pleaded for leniency for Zhong Wan today. Prince Ning had committed a huge crime and was being investigated by Prince Yu. As such, Yu She should avoid arousing suspicion.

The Young Yu She hesitated for a good while. He did not pay those old eunuchs any care and went forward to salute Shi Jin. Then he took off his cloak, crouched down, and draped it over Shi Jin’s shoulders.

The old eunuchs that were following Yu She were so anxious that they were stomping about. However, they dared not go forward.

On that day, Shi Jin was already very old. He had kneeled on the ice-cold stone steps for a long time. Once the thick and warm cloak of Yu She was wrapped around him, he couldn’t help but shiver. 

Although he was also a pupil of Shi Jin, he wasn’t that close to him. The mutual affection shared between master and pupil wasn’t as strong as Zhong Wan’s. Back then, Yu She’s position was very awkward. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, “Is there anything you need me to help with?”

Shi Jin used a lot of energy to take off the cloak, handing it back into Yu She’s arms. He squeezed Yu She’s upper arm once, silent.

He only glanced profoundly at Yu She.

Not really understanding, Yu She was pushed away by Shi Jin. He hugged his own cloak, and after the old eunuchs called out for him, he finally entered the palace. 

Zhong Wan listened in a daze. Said softly, “That day… did you plead for leniency from the emperor?”

Yu She did not respond.

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But Zhong Wan could guess it. The Young Yu She definitely did so. However, Emperor Chongan paid him no mind. Therefore, Yu She didn’t want to talk much about it right now.

Zhong Wan thought of the scene back then, and the queston he had held in his heart for many years was suddenly answered. 

Zhong Wan said, “That’s why when I was thrown into jail later, you did whatever you could to redeem me. And I was saying, back when we were classmates, we weren’t very close. So why was it that when something bad happened to me, you’d be the most anxious out of everyone? When I was in jail, I heard there was someone who kept bidding higher than the other bidders. I was so scared. Whose favor did I attract that they’d use so much money to buy me?

“Imperial Preceptor Shi didn’t tell you anything, but you could sense it. That day he was entrusting this task to you. He was telling you to save me, right?”

Yu She faintly nodded.

Actually, after Zhong Wan had left for Qian An, Yu She met with Shi Jin a few times. However, Shi Jin died. Yu She would often recall him. And he would recall the deep hope in the old man’s cloudy eyes as said old man stood in the cold. 

There were many things Shi Jin couldn’t say. And they were all present in that gaze.

Zhong Wan’s eyes reddened.

He lifted the curtain and looked outside the carriage. A good while later, his expression became normal again. He laughed at himself. “You harmed me a lot.”

Yu She did not understand what he meant. Zhong Wan took his time saying, “I didn’t know any of this. On the day you purchased me, I had many shameful and improper thoughts.” 

Yu She’s pupils trembled. He rushed to ask, “What were you thinking about?”

“I was wondering whether you were also interested in me.” When Zhong Wan thought about it now, he felt shame. “Otherwise, why would you spend so much money and make Prince Yu unhappy? Hey, how would you have that much money back then? Did you know? I know how much money you people spent!”

Yu She was speechless.

All of a sudden, Yu She didn’t want to continue on this topic of conversation. But Zhong Wan really wanted to keep talking about this. Fearful, he said, “My goodness. I’ve never been to a brothel, but isn’t this the same as when people fight over the queen of the flowers? I’m the flower in the prison. As you people fight over me, I was frightened. The other slaves were worth at most ten plus liang of silver. I remember very clearly that the first bid for me was one hundred liang. It was already that expensive, yet many bids came after it.” 

Yu She didn’t want to mention the humiliation Zhong Wan had suffered back in those years. He wanted to change the topic. But Zhong Wan still jabbered on. “A short while later, the bid went to 500 liang. My goodness. I heard from the jailor that even the famous beauties from Jiangnan didn’t cost that much.”

Yu She said helplessly, “Why are you comparing yourself to a courtesan?”

“After comparing did I realize I was this valuable.” Zhong Wan had terrible self restraint. He even remembered when Xuan Jing had cursed Yu She, and stepped on Xuan Jing in passing, saying, “Xuan Jing is also an imperial prince. After the bid went to 500 liang, he had to drop out. So he asked his Consort-mother for money. Once she found out why he wanted the money, she gave him a good beating.”

Yu She was also very annoyed that Xuan Jing had wanted to buy Zhong Wan in the past. And he also stepped on Xuan Jing. “There are different kinds of imperial princes. Since young, he liked to buy things. That’s why he didn’t have much money on him back then.” 

“Yeah,” said Zhong Wan, sighing. “The auction just started and he already ran out of money to place any more bids. After that, different people continued bidding. If I remember correctly, when the bid went to 2,500 liang of silver, Imperial Preceptor Shi still wanted to stay in the auction. Later on, he couldn’t continue bidding anymore… Teacher had been an honest person his whole life. That money was probably all the money from his household.

“After 3,000 liang, there were only two bidders left.”

Zhong Wan’s eyes hid a smile. He glanced at Yu She. “Yu Ziyou, I really couldn’t tell. At such a young age, you were already that wealthy.”

Yu She lowered his head and smiled. 

He truly had spent a lot of money.

Back then, once word went out that one could purchase Zhong Guiyuan, that one could buy the Wen Quxing that had reincarnated into the mortal realm, the nobles of the capital and the wealthy who had special proclivities all became interested.

Perhaps it was because they really liked Zhong Wan’s appearance. Or perhaps it was because they wanted to brag about his reputation as if he were an object. Powers from everywhere came to bid for him in order to show off their might and wealth.

At the end, the bid went to the astronomical amount of 3,000 liang of silver. Most of those who had come for the excitement had already pulled out. There was only one rich and powerful person from Jiangnan that still bid. 

That person bid 3,100 liang. Yu She bid 5,000 liang.

That person bid 5,500 liang. Yu She bid 10,000 liang.

That person bid 11,000 liang. Yu She bid 20,000 liang.

The person from Jiangnan was truly wealthy, yet was angered by this. He felt that if he gave up now, it would be shameful. So he gritted his teeth and bid 25,000 liang of silver. 

Once the young Yu She heard the news in his estate, he had someone inform the prison that he would bid 50,000 liang.

When Zhong Wan thought about it now, it still frightened him. “Those people had been angered crazy by you, and still wanted to go against you. But they could not muster any more money…”

Zhong Wan pictured the fifteen-year-old Yu She dumping money. And he couldn’t help but smile.

That was probably Yu Ziyou’s first time taking things too far. 

Zhong Wan glanced at him. Said softly, “In my whole life, I had never seen so much money. I was almost terrified to death in the prison.”

Yu She said lowly, “What were you afraid of? It’s not like it’s your money being spent.”

“That’s why it’s even more scary,” said Zhong Wan in a soft voice as he looked at Yu She. “Who knew what a person who had spent that much money for me would do to me after he brought me home?”

A smile spread across Zhong Wan’s lips. “Never had it crossed my mind that that person would throw me to the side and not see me for three months. Wasn’t that a loss?” 

Yu She sucked in a deep breath. “Yes.”

It really was strange. That day, Zhong Wan had been in a sorry state. But now that they were talking about it, he didn’t find it hard and unbearable to. All of Zhong Wan’s unwillingness and unresignedness vanished like smoke in thin air along with the imperial edict he had burned in silence.

As they spoke, they reached the city gates.

Zhong Wan looked at Yu She, heart wide and open. 

This person was willing to spend 50,000 liang of silver on himself, and did not step into Zhong Wan’s courtyard for three months in order to avoid suspicion.

Zhong Wan had benefited.

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