Chapter 28
Zhong Wan still retained a last bit of hope . He forced himself to ask, “How long… did Young Prince Yu spend in this room yesterday?”
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Steward Feng cleared his throat . “F-four hours . ”
Four hours…
So many things could’ve happened .
Zhong Wan furiously thought back, but couldn’t remember anything .
The only faint impression he had was a slight feeling that someone had been sitting on the edge of the bed looking at him when he had been half asleep .
It seemed like that someone had been Yu She .
What had he actually done?!
Zhong Wan felt around with flushed ears . No part of his body felt uncomfortable, but…
Did Yu She truly sit still for four hours?
He didn’t find it too tiring?
Not sleeping in the middle of the night and staring at him for four hours instead? It was pretty terrifying thinking about that .
Zhong Wan picked up his outer garment . His heart rate slightly increased once more .
If he had only sat there for four hours, then how did this get taken off?
So worrisome!!!
Zhong Wan did his best to ignore Steward Feng’s curious gaze . While he dressed, he forced himself to say, “Where is Young Prince Yu? I have questions to ask him . ”
Steward Feng glanced at Zhong Wan awkwardly . He lowered his voice and said, “Heir ordered us to send you back to Prince Qian An’s estate after you wake up . ”
“What?” Zhong Wan almost thought that he had heard wrong . “He wants me to leave just like that? He… doesn’t even have anything to say to me?”
Steward Feng shook his head . He also felt that Yu She had been dishonorable regarding this matter . Embarrassedly, he said, “Heir said he doesn’t want to see you . He wants you to leave as soon as you wake . ”
Doesn’t want to see him?
Zhong Wan couldn’t speak for a long time because of shock .
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“Your honorable estate…” Zhong Wan got out with difficulty, “Even if your honorable estate invited an opera singer to stay the night, you would at least pay them some hard-work fees and reward them with money to take a horse carriage back, right? Young Prince Yu won’t even give me a bite of breakfast before kicking me out?”
Steward Feng hurriedly placated, “How can Young Master Zhong be compared with such actors?”
“I’m even lowlier than actors!” Zhong Wan stated furiously . “How much does Yu Ziyou spend on actors normally?! Give that amount to me!”
Steward Feng became troubled . “Our Heir has never summoned an actor . How would I know how much that would cost?”
Zhong Wan paused, then tried very hard to force down the corner of his mouth that was threatening to lift up . “Is that so…”
“Naturally . Our Heir never touches those unclean people . ” Steward Feng pondered a bit before saying, “Is Young Master Zhong hungry? If you’re hungry, I’ll order people to prepare food now . But… after you’ve eaten breakfast, you’ll really have to leave . ”
Zhong Wan weakly replied, “I’m not hungry… wait . I wasn’t even the one who wanted to visit . I got kidnapped here yesterday . How come it seems like I was the one eager to come find him and is now being kicked out?”
Steward Feng followed Yu She’s previous orders and lowered his head to explain, “Heir said that yesterday, Fifth Prince was originally planning on kidnapping you… It’s unknown what he planned to do to you . ”
Itbcu Qjc vlvc’a ecvfgrajcv kts Vafkjgv Mfcu kjr yglculcu atlr eq . Lf cbvvfv tlr tfjv lc j vjhf .
Vafkjgv Mfcu bqfcis rjlv, “Gbfrc’a atja mtfmx bea? Tbe kfgf jybea ab yf xlvcjqqfv jcskjsr sfrafgvjs . Po la kjrc’a Lflg, la kbeiv’nf yffc rbwfbcf firf . Vlcmf Lflg tfiqfv sbe jnblv Mloat Llutcfrr’ jaafwqa, cjaegjiis… tf mbeiv xlvcjq sbe lcrafjv . ”
Zhong Wan: “…”
This excuse actually made some fucking sense after thinking about it carefully!
Zhong Wan took a couple deep breaths . He refused to be led down the crazy Yu She’s trail of thought; he forced his anger down and asked in response, “If someone were to try and stab me with a knife tomorrow and Young Prince Yu blocked the attack for me, does that mean he could stab me any time he wanted? Either way, I would’ve been stabbed by someone!”
Steward Feng thought about this . Carefully, he replied, “According to Heir’s reasoning, that is correct . ”
Zhong Wan swallowed the “what if someone suddenly wanted to fuck me the day after tomorrow” that was already on the tip of his tongue and nodded . “Fine… I’ll take it . Go find someone to ready the carriage . I’m leaving . ”
Steward Feng hurriedly went to give the order . The servants at Prince Yu’s estate were good at their jobs . Not long after, they politely sent Zhong Wan away .
Zhong Wan got kidnapped under unclear and deceptive circumstances, then got sent back in a cloud of confusion too .
After safely sending Zhong Wan home, Steward Feng returned to speak with Yu She .
Yu She lay on the chaise lounge, eyes half shut .
He hadn’t slept at all last night . Now, there were faint shadows under his eyes .
Yu She heard Steward Feng’s footsteps . Without opening his eyes, he asked, “Sent him away?”
Steward Feng bowed . “Sent him away . ”
Yu She’s mouth twitched . He seemed to want to ask something, but didn’t .
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Steward Feng tried to figure out what Yu She was thinking . He took the initiative to say, “Young Master Zhong was very shocked when he woke up this morning . He inquired for a long time, asking if Heir had gone to see him yesterday and how long Heir had stayed in his room . This old servant answered honestly . Young Master Zhong… was quite alarmed . ”
Yu She acted like he hadn’t heard anything .
Steward Feng spoke half the truth, “This is all because Young Master Zhong has a good temper . He doesn’t think too much about anything . If this were someone intolerant and you kidnapped them then sent them away… they probably would become truly furious . ”
Yu She uncaringly replied, “Let them become as furious as they want . ”
Steward Feng was genuinely confused . “Heir clearly cares for Young Master Zhong . Why must you always act neither friendly nor aloof? Who knows when Young Master Zhong is going to return with Prince Qian An to his fief . If you continue acting this way…”
“You may leave . ” Yu She turned his head to the side impatiently . “I’m sleepy . ”
Steward Feng sighed . He placed a blanket over Yu She before leaving .
A long time later, Yu She slowly opened his eyes . He massaged his temples in extreme discomfort .
He had first gotten into a fight with Xuan Qiong in the palace . After returning, he had then sat on the edge of Zhong Wan’s bed for a whole night . He was truly sleepy .
Yu She originally hadn’t planned on doing anything . He only wanted to see Zhong Wan . But that reckless thing had just so happened to blindly call out to him in his sleep . Yu She hadn’t been able to resist, thus…
Yu She closed his eyes and calmed himself down .
When Yu She had been observing Zhong Wan last night, he had suddenly thought of seven years ago, the night before Zhong Wan had left .
At that time, Xuan Rui had inherited Prince Ning’s position and had already taken his younger brother and sister to his Qian An territory . After receiving this news, Zhong Wan acted like he was sitting on needles day and night . He lived in a daze . Young Yu She understood in his heart that he would be unable to keep the other around .
Back then, Yu She felt pain in his heart when he looked at Zhong Wan . He understood that his own father had harmed him . He shouldn’t forcefully keep the other by his side, but he also couldn’t bear not to .
Young Yu She couldn’t even explain this to himself . In the end, could he not bear to allow Zhong Wan to suffer in his fief or could he not bear to leave this person?
Some things were obvious in his heart, but he also didn’t know how to say them .
For several days, the two of them acted as if they were on the same page, but were actually thinking very different things . Like this, they kept testing each other’s boundaries . Yu She remembered that one day, Zhong Wan told him out of the blue, “Ziyou, I feel very guilty for ruining your marriage plans last time . ”
Young Zhong Wan avoided his gaze and stuttered, “But now that I think about it, Duke Wenguo’s granddaughter is very nice too . In the future… you need to find an even better Young Princess Consort Yu . Otherwise, I’ll feel too apologetic . If I learned that your marriage was unhappy, I wouldn’t have peace of mind . ”
Yu She also stuttered, “Okay . I… I will definitely find someone better . So you won’t need to worry . ”
Upon hearing this, young Zhong Wan became silent for quite a long time . He lowered his head and laughed before softly saying, “As such, I can have a clear conscience . ”
Yu She could faintly tell that there was something wrong with Zhong Wan’s expression . He wanted to ask further but didn’t know how to . The two of them had been this awkward for several days . When they spoke, conversation was always this illogical .
Yu She couldn’t guess when Zhong Wan was going to leave . He worried that the other wouldn’t be safe heading to Qian An by himself, so wanted to ask if he needed him to send some people along to protect him . But he also didn’t want to bring the topic up first .
What if Zhong Wan wasn’t actually planning on leaving?
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What if Zhong Wan was only worried about Xuan Rui and would return to normal after a few days?
Yu She maintained this last bit of hope, yet still placed several silver tickets inside Zhong Wan’s room . He feared that Zhong Wan wouldn’t be able to see them, so directly placed them very obviously on the kang table .
Nanjiang was very far away . It would take many months just to make the trip . He would need money along the way, right?
If he needed to leave the city, he naturally needed documents as a slave . Yu She forced himself to also find Zhong Wan’s self-selling contract . He then wrote a travel approval explaining the situation . He folded the travel approval document and self-selling contract together before putting them under the paperweight on Zhong Wan’s desk, making sure that a corner was peeking out .
Yu She placed these things in very obvious locations, sure that Zhong Wan would be able to notice them .
A day later, Yu She checked Zhong Wan’s room . The silver tickets and self-selling contract had been hidden away, as expected .
Yu She couldn’t figure out what the feeling in his heart was . He only knew that this meant Zhong Wan was truly planning on leaving .
Two more days passed . One night, Zhong Wan suddenly wanted to drink . He also insisted on chatting with Yu She . In his mind, Yu She knew that today was the today .
Yu She didn’t have good tolerance, but still forced himself to drink a lot with Zhong Wan . He remembered how young Zhong Wan had looked at him with a conflicted gaze . Quietly, the other said, “Ziyou, it would be nice if you were my family member . ”
Yu She lifted his head and downed a cup of alcohol . With a deep voice, he answered, “My surname is Yu . How could I be your family member?”
Zhong Wan smiled carefreely . “Exactly . ”
Zhong Wan simply poured himself half a bowl of alcohol and drank it in one gulp .
Halfway through, Zhong Wan said he felt dizzy . He made Yu She put out the incense burning in the incense burner . Yu She did . When he got back, Yu She could tell that his alcohol had been touched .
Young Yu She felt an influx of emotions . He pretended he didn’t notice and drank the alcohol .
At the time, Yu She had even thought angrily to himself, even if Zhong Wan were poisoning me, I would let him .
But that wasn’t poison . It was only a small serving of sleeping drugs .
Zhong Wan had honestly put in too little sleeping drugs . After half an hour, Yu She finally started feeling sleepy . He couldn’t bear to look at Zhong Wan; he thought, traveling by night is difficult . I should just sleep now so you can rest assured and leave earlier .
Using his intoxication as an excuse, young Yu She stood up and wobbled a few times . Then, he fell over and was helped by Zhong Wan to the bed .
Yu She could very clearly remember that Zhong Wan’s hands had been shaking when they held onto him .
Yu She leaned against the head of the bed, pretending to be asleep . He could sense that Zhong Wan was half-kneeling in front of him . The other stared at him for a long time .
Long enough that the effect of the sleeping drugs finally kicked in . Zhong Wan finally moved . He stood up and gently started feeling around Yu She’s waist .
Half asleep and half awake, Yu She’s heart started pounding in his chest . He thought… was Zhong Wan planning on doing something before leaving?
Young Yu She also didn’t know what he was anticipating . He squeezed his eyes shut, terrified that Zhong Wan would discover he wasn’t actually asleep yet .
Another moment passed . Yu She felt Zhong Wan starting to feel around his sleeves .
Yu She forced himself to stay awake . He thought, wasn’t he planning on undoing my waistband earlier? How come he still hasn’t succeeded? Why is he feeling around my sleeves now?
Yu She heard a light clink . He finally couldn’t hold himself back, extremely curious as to what Zhong Wan was doing . Thus, he opened his eyes a slit…
Young Zhong Wan was using the tablecloth as a bag . It was spread open on the bed . He neatly and quickly removed all the valuable accessories Yu She was wearing, carefully storing them away .
Young Yu She almost couldn’t keep up the act due to how angry he was .
Weren’t those silver tickets enough?! This person… truly wouldn’t take any disadvantages .
Yu She allowed Zhong Wan’s plundering . Not long after, the coin bags, jade pendants, fans, rings, etc . on his body had all been removed . Yu She felt slightly regretful… The jade pendants he had worn today weren’t very valuable . They weren’t as valuable as a whole set .
After Zhong Wan’s rustling search, the effects of the sleeping drugs completely kicked in . Yu She couldn’t keep himself awake any longer . Before falling asleep, he felt Zhong Wan coming closer . As to what happened after, though, he had no recollection .
As expected, when he woke up the next morning, Zhong Wan had already left .
Steward Feng was beside himself with agitation . He conducted several searches of the entirety of the large estate, looking time and time again in Zhong Wan’s previous hiding places . But he couldn’t find anything anymore .
Zhong Wan had really left .
Yu She allowed Steward Feng to look around everywhere . He wasn’t anxious at all, and also didn’t allow anyone to search outside the estate .
Yu She closed the door and looked around in his own room a bit .
But he didn’t find anything .
Zhong Wan didn’t even leave him a letter .
Young Yu She felt slightly angry after feeling his empty waist area . He could’ve even… casually left a few words!
He could’ve even etched an “I was here” onto the table?!
Yu She refused to give up and went to search Zhong Wan’s room instead . He turned the little cabinet by the head of the bed upside down, but still didn’t find anything .
Zhong Wan didn’t leave anything for him .
He had come cleanly and left the same way .
Yu She sat for a long time in front of Zhong Wan’s desk . When he stood, his large sleeves brushed over a book . The book fell onto the ground . Yu She looked down . For an extended period of time, he couldn’t speak .
That was a copy of The Classic of Poetry . The book was open to the page of “The Odes of Zheng . ” A few silver tickets, a self-selling contract, and a travel approval were carefully folded together .
Young Zhong Wan hadn’t brought any of them with him .