When they had just returned to the capital, Zhong Wan had told Xuan Yu that Xuan Rui was currently fine. Yu She had now placed him in a manor in the south. He didn’t have to worry about food or clothes. Xuan Yu and Xuan Congxin always believed what Zhong Wan said. The two of them also understood that if their elder brother “resurrected” at this time, that would definitely cause a huge commotion.
In order to place Xuan Yu on the throne, this past half a year, Yu She and Zhong Wan had exhausted all their energy doing their best to turn the tides. This was a favor of kindness that was so big that Xuan Yu definitely didn’t dare to drag them down.
Xuan Yu struggled for a long time. He softly said, “I want to see Big Brother… I’m talking about Zhong Wan.”
Yu She paused for a moment. He lowered his gaze and said, “Then I’ll have to ask the emperor to wait a bit longer.”
Worried, Xuan Yu asked, “Has he still not recovered?”
Everyone could only see that Yu She was controlling everything. Very few people knew that there had always been a Zhong Guiyuan standing behind Yu She.
This past half a year, Zhong Wan usually couldn’t even manage to get a full six hours of sleep each night. After completely settling the Beidi Rebellion and watching as the Court finally started down the right track, Zhong Wan had expended all the energy he had saved up in those months when Yu She had carefully taken care of him. An aggressive cold at the start of winter directly sent Zhong Wan back to the sick bed.
Some people seemed to have been fated to have laborious lives. He had survived through all these years and was finally about to be able to take a break, but could no longer handle such a trivial cold.
After Zhong Wan fell sick, there were several times when Yu She almost went into a fit. If not for fear of something unexpected happening in the Court, Yu She would’ve dropped everything to go accompany Zhong Wan long ago.
Though Yu She didn’t go into a fit, he kept having stubborn thoughts in his heart. Since Zhong Wan had fallen ill, Yu She refused to let anyone see him. He said that he was fearful of someone else bringing another evil wind to Zhong Wan. After he dismissed morning assembly and finished with all of his official business each day, Yu She wouldn’t waste a single moment. He would return to his estate to personally care for Zhong Wan. As long as he was there, he refused to allow anyone else to intervene.
Yu She said, “Thank you for your worry, Emperor. He is already much better. Once he completely recovers, he will enter the palace to greet the emperor, of course.”
Xuan Yu nodded anxiously. He hesitated a bit longer before saying, “Imperial Brother, I want, I’ve always wanted…”
Yu She lifted his gaze and stared at Xuan Yu. His brows were slightly furrowed together. He waited a long time, but still couldn’t hear a clear sentence come out of Xuan Yu’s mouth.
However, Yu She already had a general idea in his heart.
“Emperor.” Yu She gazed at Xuan Yu and asked, “Emperor is worried for Guiyuan?”
Xuan Yu hurriedly answered, “Naturally.”
Yu She fell silent for a moment. He said, “Everything that Guiyuan and I have done this past half a year have been attempts at making up for the wrongs of the past. Once Emperor can handle things alone, we will return all the real power to Emperor. Only then will Zhong Wan actually be able to remove this burden of a thousand jun. If Emperor really cares about all the difficulties he’s been through these past years, please diligently listen to our political discussions. When Emperor can personally attend to these political matters, he and I will be able to truly retire with honor.”
Wejc Te ecvfgrabbv atf wfjclcu yftlcv Te Vtf’r kbgvr. Llr fsfr aegcfv rilutais gfv.
Llr fivfg mberlc tjv ageis cfnfg kjcafv atlr atgbcf.
Te Vtf rfglberis rajgfv ja Wejc Te. “Jjc Swqfgbg ecvfgrajcv ws lcafcalbcr cbk?”
Wejc Te cbvvfv obgmfoeiis. Qlat ugfja uelia, tf rjlv, “P… klii raevs kfii.”
Yu She didn’t say anything else. He believed that he had succinctly passed on the message Zhong Wan, while ill, had told him to tell Xuan Yu.
Xuan Yu did as he promised. From that day onward, he woke up at the rooster’s crow, slept less, and forewent several meals. He almost wished that he could immediately personally attend to political matters.
Yu She didn’t have any experience dealing with kids. He did whatever Zhong Wan told him to do. He heard from Zhong Wan that he needed to encourage Xuan Yu often; he couldn’t get these encouragements out of his own mouth, so passed the message word for word to the scholars teaching Xuan Yu.
The scholars originally hadn’t had high hopes for the current state of the Court. However, upon seeing that the prince regent wasn’t actually greedy and ambitious, even seemingly willing to step down in the future, they felt quite comforted. Morale slowly picked up. They did their absolute best to invigorate Xuan Yu.
But people all had their strengths and weaknesses. Though Xuan Yu was kind and innocent, he was honestly quite bad with politics.
Each morning, Xuan Yu listened to the scholars as they lectured him. After noon, he would ambitiously and boldly make unrealistic promises to Yu She. His tone would be resolute. Today, he wanted to conquer the north. Tomorrow, he was determined to conduct a southern expedition. His spirit was often so high that it shocked Yu She into speechlessness.
Only then did Yu She finally realize this was all because Zhong Wan had been bored while ill and had decided to purposefully tease him for fun.
Yu She had originally only needed to sort out political matters before heading back to his estate. Now, he had another important task: listening to the little emperor dream about the future with him.
Each time he blearily finished listening to Xuan Yu’s vehement statements, Yu She would always think, as expected, children turn out similar to the ones that raise them? While eloquently spouting bullshit, Xuan Yu honestly looked quite similar to a certain somebody who was in the midst of recovery.
Xuan Yu’s mouth was dry from how much he had said. He took a drink of tea and waved his pudgy hand. “Imperial Brother, this vast territory! From now on, it’ll all belong to us two brothers!”
Yu She calmly responded with an, “Oh.”
Just a few days ago, Zhong Wan had finished drinking his medicine, lay down in bed, and said the exact same thing. He had said that after he recovered, they would do everything that was in the storybooks and try everything that seemed exhilarating. There was absolutely no need to take pity on him!
Zhong Wan had spoken very loudly.
Merely saying these things wasn’t enough. He still needed to be more detailed and get into specificities. Zhong Wan had stayed in bed the whole day, so had gotten enough sleep. He didn’t feel sleepy at night. Thus, he had softly discussed with Yu She, speaking right into the other’s ear and planning how Yu She should confiscate his undergarments after returning, how Yu She should force him to say things—through tears— that he normally wouldn’t be able to say, and how Yu She should stuff a handkerchief into his mouth and render him unable to beg for mercy even if he wanted to…
While speaking, Zhong Wan had frightened himself. He had then pleaded with Yu She ahead of time, quietly asking, can you not be so aggressive all the time?
From start to finish, Yu She hadn’t said a word.
Yu She was a bit angry. Unable to bear it anymore, he had ordered Zhong Wan to shut up and sleep. Zhong Wan had acted quite innocently.
Not feeling guilty at all, Zhong Wan had asked, “I was just… letting you quench your thirst by looking at the plums. You’re unhappy?”
Yu She reflected on himself. No matter what, though, he couldn’t figure out why he liked this person?
Yu She gazed at Xuan Yu and sighed.
It was easy to deal with Zhong Wan’s side of things. His sickness was already largely cured and his health was getting better each day. Yu She would naturally ensure that he followed through with all of his promises. But what about Xuan Yu’s side of things? He truly wasn’t cut out for this job.
Yu She didn’t have enough energy to deal with Xuan Yu’s sudden and strange ambitions. He told Zhong Wan about them when he returned to his estate that day. Zhong Wan pondered for a moment, then shared an idea he had come up with long ago with Yu She. Yu She slightly hesitated before deeming this idea plausible.
An extremely stressful situation had now been resolved. After dinner, Yu She needed to take care of something else.
Though winters in the capital were cold, the underground heating system of the warmroom in the main courtyard of Prince Regent’s estate was burning briskly. Yu She didn’t need to worry about Zhong Wan getting cold. When Zhong Wan finished taking off his outer robe and was preparing to lie down, Yu She sat on the edge of the bed and undid the buttons of Zhong Wan’s undershirt one by one.
Zhong Wan’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he gazed into Yu She’s deep, dark eyes. He softly asked, “Prince Regent… what are you doing?”
Yu She slightly narrowed his eyes. “I’m checking… to see if you’ve recovered or not.”
Since Zhong Wan had fallen ill, it had been almost a month since the two of them had been intimate with one another. Without needing Yu She to do anything, Zhong Wan was already aroused. “I recovered long ago. You were just being overly careful. Y-you have to extinguish the lamps first…”
Yu She let go of the belt loosely wrapped around Zhong Wan’s underpants. “We aren’t extinguishing the lamps today.”
Zhong Wan paused for a moment before hesitantly suggesting, “Then let down the bed curtains…”
Yu She set Zhong Wan’s belt off to the side. “We’re not letting the bed curtains down today either.”
Embarrassed, Zhong Wan said, “You…”
Yu She pressed a kiss to Zhong Wan’s forehead. “Behave. I want to get a good look at you today.”
Only now did Zhong Wan realize that Yu She had specially ordered the servants to light a few extra lamps in the warmroom today. He couldn’t help lowering his voice to ask, “You have a grudge against me and are doing this on purpose?”
Yu She generously admitted, “Yes.”
Zhong Wan’s entire being felt uncomfortable. He wanted to tug the blanket over to cover himself. The corners of Yu She’s lips slowly curled up. Surprisingly, he didn’t stop the other. He only said, “If you cover up, we won’t be finishing anytime soon. You don’t want to enter the palace tomorrow?”
Zhong Wan inhaled sharply and stopped tugging at the blanket. He closed his eyes. A long time later, he unbearably pleaded, “Ziyou, stop… bullying me.”
Yu She lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to Zhong Wan’s lips.
The next morning, Yu She did as Zhong Wan had said, disregarding everyone else’s opinions as he invited Princess Royal Xuan Congxin, who had a headache from learning embroidery, into the legislative cabinet. Since then, Yu She, Xuan Yu, and Xuan Congxin all felt much more relaxed.
When they had just returned to the capital, Zhong Wan had told Xuan Yu that Xuan Rui was currently fine. Yu She had now placed him in a manor in the south. He didn’t have to worry about food or clothes. Xuan Yu and Xuan Congxin always believed what Zhong Wan said. The two of them also understood that if their elder brother “resurrected” at this time, that would definitely cause a huge commotion.
In order to place Xuan Yu on the throne, this past half a year, Yu She and Zhong Wan had exhausted all their energy doing their best to turn the tides. This was a favor of kindness that was so big that Xuan Yu definitely didn’t dare to drag them down.
Xuan Yu struggled for a long time. He softly said, “I want to see Big Brother… I’m talking about Zhong Wan.”
Yu She paused for a moment. He lowered his gaze and said, “Then I’ll have to ask the emperor to wait a bit longer.”
Worried, Xuan Yu asked, “Has he still not recovered?”
Everyone could only see that Yu She was controlling everything. Very few people knew that there had always been a Zhong Guiyuan standing behind Yu She.
This past half a year, Zhong Wan usually couldn’t even manage to get a full six hours of sleep each night. After completely settling the Beidi Rebellion and watching as the Court finally started down the right track, Zhong Wan had expended all the energy he had saved up in those months when Yu She had carefully taken care of him. An aggressive cold at the start of winter directly sent Zhong Wan back to the sick bed.
Some people seemed to have been fated to have laborious lives. He had survived through all these years and was finally about to be able to take a break, but could no longer handle such a trivial cold.
After Zhong Wan fell sick, there were several times when Yu She almost went into a fit. If not for fear of something unexpected happening in the Court, Yu She would’ve dropped everything to go accompany Zhong Wan long ago.
Though Yu She didn’t go into a fit, he kept having stubborn thoughts in his heart. Since Zhong Wan had fallen ill, Yu She refused to let anyone see him. He said that he was fearful of someone else bringing another evil wind to Zhong Wan. After he dismissed morning assembly and finished with all of his official business each day, Yu She wouldn’t waste a single moment. He would return to his estate to personally care for Zhong Wan. As long as he was there, he refused to allow anyone else to intervene.
Yu She said, “Thank you for your worry, Emperor. He is already much better. Once he completely recovers, he will enter the palace to greet the emperor, of course.”
Xuan Yu nodded anxiously. He hesitated a bit longer before saying, “Imperial Brother, I want, I’ve always wanted…”
Yu She lifted his gaze and stared at Xuan Yu. His brows were slightly furrowed together. He waited a long time, but still couldn’t hear a clear sentence come out of Xuan Yu’s mouth.
However, Yu She already had a general idea in his heart.
“Emperor.” Yu She gazed at Xuan Yu and asked, “Emperor is worried for Guiyuan?”
Xuan Yu hurriedly answered, “Naturally.”
Yu She fell silent for a moment. He said, “Everything that Guiyuan and I have done this past half a year have been attempts at making up for the wrongs of the past. Once Emperor can handle things alone, we will return all the real power to Emperor. Only then will Zhong Wan actually be able to remove this burden of a thousand jun. If Emperor really cares about all the difficulties he’s been through these past years, please diligently listen to our political discussions. When Emperor can personally attend to these political matters, he and I will be able to truly retire with honor.”
Wejc Te ecvfgrabbv atf wfjclcu yftlcv Te Vtf’r kbgvr. Llr fsfr aegcfv rilutais gfv.
Llr fivfg mberlc tjv ageis cfnfg kjcafv atlr atgbcf.
Te Vtf rfglberis rajgfv ja Wejc Te. “Jjc Swqfgbg ecvfgrajcv ws lcafcalbcr cbk?”
Wejc Te cbvvfv obgmfoeiis. Qlat ugfja uelia, tf rjlv, “P… klii raevs kfii.”
Yu She didn’t say anything else. He believed that he had succinctly passed on the message Zhong Wan, while ill, had told him to tell Xuan Yu.
Xuan Yu did as he promised. From that day onward, he woke up at the rooster’s crow, slept less, and forewent several meals. He almost wished that he could immediately personally attend to political matters.
Yu She didn’t have any experience dealing with kids. He did whatever Zhong Wan told him to do. He heard from Zhong Wan that he needed to encourage Xuan Yu often; he couldn’t get these encouragements out of his own mouth, so passed the message word for word to the scholars teaching Xuan Yu.
The scholars originally hadn’t had high hopes for the current state of the Court. However, upon seeing that the prince regent wasn’t actually greedy and ambitious, even seemingly willing to step down in the future, they felt quite comforted. Morale slowly picked up. They did their absolute best to invigorate Xuan Yu.
But people all had their strengths and weaknesses. Though Xuan Yu was kind and innocent, he was honestly quite bad with politics.
Each morning, Xuan Yu listened to the scholars as they lectured him. After noon, he would ambitiously and boldly make unrealistic promises to Yu She. His tone would be resolute. Today, he wanted to conquer the north. Tomorrow, he was determined to conduct a southern expedition. His spirit was often so high that it shocked Yu She into speechlessness.
Only then did Yu She finally realize this was all because Zhong Wan had been bored while ill and had decided to purposefully tease him for fun.
Yu She had originally only needed to sort out political matters before heading back to his estate. Now, he had another important task: listening to the little emperor dream about the future with him.
Each time he blearily finished listening to Xuan Yu’s vehement statements, Yu She would always think, as expected, children turn out similar to the ones that raise them? While eloquently spouting bullshit, Xuan Yu honestly looked quite similar to a certain somebody who was in the midst of recovery.
Xuan Yu’s mouth was dry from how much he had said. He took a drink of tea and waved his pudgy hand. “Imperial Brother, this vast territory! From now on, it’ll all belong to us two brothers!”
Yu She calmly responded with an, “Oh.”
Just a few days ago, Zhong Wan had finished drinking his medicine, lay down in bed, and said the exact same thing. He had said that after he recovered, they would do everything that was in the storybooks and try everything that seemed exhilarating. There was absolutely no need to take pity on him!
Zhong Wan had spoken very loudly.
Merely saying these things wasn’t enough. He still needed to be more detailed and get into specificities. Zhong Wan had stayed in bed the whole day, so had gotten enough sleep. He didn’t feel sleepy at night. Thus, he had softly discussed with Yu She, speaking right into the other’s ear and planning how Yu She should confiscate his undergarments after returning, how Yu She should force him to say things—through tears— that he normally wouldn’t be able to say, and how Yu She should stuff a handkerchief into his mouth and render him unable to beg for mercy even if he wanted to…
While speaking, Zhong Wan had frightened himself. He had then pleaded with Yu She ahead of time, quietly asking, can you not be so aggressive all the time?
From start to finish, Yu She hadn’t said a word.
Yu She was a bit angry. Unable to bear it anymore, he had ordered Zhong Wan to shut up and sleep. Zhong Wan had acted quite innocently.
Not feeling guilty at all, Zhong Wan had asked, “I was just… letting you quench your thirst by looking at the plums. You’re unhappy?”
Yu She reflected on himself. No matter what, though, he couldn’t figure out why he liked this person?
Yu She gazed at Xuan Yu and sighed.
It was easy to deal with Zhong Wan’s side of things. His sickness was already largely cured and his health was getting better each day. Yu She would naturally ensure that he followed through with all of his promises. But what about Xuan Yu’s side of things? He truly wasn’t cut out for this job.
Yu She didn’t have enough energy to deal with Xuan Yu’s sudden and strange ambitions. He told Zhong Wan about them when he returned to his estate that day. Zhong Wan pondered for a moment, then shared an idea he had come up with long ago with Yu She. Yu She slightly hesitated before deeming this idea plausible.
An extremely stressful situation had now been resolved. After dinner, Yu She needed to take care of something else.
Though winters in the capital were cold, the underground heating system of the warmroom in the main courtyard of Prince Regent’s estate was burning briskly. Yu She didn’t need to worry about Zhong Wan getting cold. When Zhong Wan finished taking off his outer robe and was preparing to lie down, Yu She sat on the edge of the bed and undid the buttons of Zhong Wan’s undershirt one by one.
Zhong Wan’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he gazed into Yu She’s deep, dark eyes. He softly asked, “Prince Regent… what are you doing?”
Yu She slightly narrowed his eyes. “I’m checking… to see if you’ve recovered or not.”
Since Zhong Wan had fallen ill, it had been almost a month since the two of them had been intimate with one another. Without needing Yu She to do anything, Zhong Wan was already aroused. “I recovered long ago. You were just being overly careful. Y-you have to extinguish the lamps first…”
Yu She let go of the belt loosely wrapped around Zhong Wan’s underpants. “We aren’t extinguishing the lamps today.”
Zhong Wan paused for a moment before hesitantly suggesting, “Then let down the bed curtains…”
Yu She set Zhong Wan’s belt off to the side. “We’re not letting the bed curtains down today either.”
Embarrassed, Zhong Wan said, “You…”
Yu She pressed a kiss to Zhong Wan’s forehead. “Behave. I want to get a good look at you today.”
Only now did Zhong Wan realize that Yu She had specially ordered the servants to light a few extra lamps in the warmroom today. He couldn’t help lowering his voice to ask, “You have a grudge against me and are doing this on purpose?”
Yu She generously admitted, “Yes.”
Zhong Wan’s entire being felt uncomfortable. He wanted to tug the blanket over to cover himself. The corners of Yu She’s lips slowly curled up. Surprisingly, he didn’t stop the other. He only said, “If you cover up, we won’t be finishing anytime soon. You don’t want to enter the palace tomorrow?”
Zhong Wan inhaled sharply and stopped tugging at the blanket. He closed his eyes. A long time later, he unbearably pleaded, “Ziyou, stop… bullying me.”
Yu She lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to Zhong Wan’s lips.
The next morning, Yu She did as Zhong Wan had said, disregarding everyone else’s opinions as he invited Princess Royal Xuan Congxin, who had a headache from learning embroidery, into the legislative cabinet. Since then, Yu She, Xuan Yu, and Xuan Congxin all felt much more relaxed.
