GSY Chapter78

Cen Yelan didn’t expect that Yuan Zheng would directly put him under house arrest in the palace.

 

That day, Cen Yelan was pinned to the ground by him. He was cautious and did not dare to fight with Yuan Zheng seriously. Finally, he asked him, ‘Do you want to force me again?’

 

With just this sentence, Yuan Zheng was stunned, his eyes fell on his wrists, which were red from being pinched by him, and he suddenly let go of his hands as if they were burned. Yuan Zheng looked at Cen Yelan with an uncertain expression, and after a long time, he forced himself to suppress the anxiety in his heart and said to Cen Yelan, “Stay in the capital, I will have someone send the official documents from the northern border to the capital as quickly as possible.”

 

After saying that, he reached out to touch Cen Yelan again but then retracted his hand.

 

After that, Cen Yelan was placed in Yuan Zheng’s bedchamber. For several days in a row, Cen Yelan was always followed by the palace attendants.

 

Cen Yelan smiled angrily, but when he thought of Yuan Zheng’s expression that day, he felt a little gloomy. Su Chenzhao had treated Yuan Zheng before, and he told Cen Yelan that Yuan Zheng had used drugs that would disturb the mind. Although the drugs had been stopped, but the remaining poison had already penetrated into the lungs and was difficult to eradicate.

 

Yuan Zheng has ascended the throne as the emperor, but his temperament has become more erratic and irritable than before.

 

The blood of nearly a hundred people from the Zhao and Li families in front of the Meridian Gate[mfn]The Meridian Gate, or Wumen, is the southern and largest gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.[/mfn] had not been dried, and the aftermath was still there, yet Yuan Zheng is like this again, all the ministers in the court were silent, but they have some complaints in private.

 

“Your Majesty, it’s time to take the medicine.” Cheng Huai held a bowl of medicine in both hands and leaned forward slightly.

 

Yuan Zheng stared at the bowl of medicine with a gloomy face. Before he even drank it, he already had a nauseating bitter taste in his mouth. He reached out and took it, pinched it hard, and said coldly, “One medicine after another, Imperial Physician Zhong, is your medicine really effective?”

 

The new head of the Imperial Medical was busy kowtowing and said, “…Your Majesty, it will take more than one day to eliminate the remaining poison. Don’t be impatient—”

 

“Is Zhen impatient, or are you all just mediocre and useless physicians?” The smell of medicine was pungent, and Yuan Zheng was extremely annoyed. He threw the medicine directly in front of Imperial Physician Zhong. The medicine soup splashed everywhere, and the palace attendants around him were so frightened that they knelt down immediately.

 

Imperial Physician Zhong trembled all over and said, “Your Majesty, please calm down!”

 

Yuan Zheng stared at the figure lying on the ground for a few seconds and cursed, “Useless, get lost.”

 

Only after the trembling imperial physician retreat did Yuan Zheng sit down on the dragon throne tiredly. He thought of Cen Yelan.

 

Cen Yelan said, ‘Are you going to force me again?’

 

It was like a bucket of cold water poured down on Yuan Zheng’s head, instantly extinguishing the fire in his heart. Yuan Zheng thought, How could he bear to let him go? But Yuan Zheng couldn’t control his anger when he thought about Cen Yelan leaving.

 

Yuan Zheng knew that it was the aftereffects of the drugs he drank, the drugs that could really turn him into a madman.

 

Yuan Zheng was reluctant to let Cen Yelan leave but was also afraid that he would really hurt him, so he could only put him under house arrest in the palace. Yuan Zheng couldn’t help thinking that Cen Yelan would probably look down on him even more.

 

Yuan Zheng asked, “What did he do today?”

 

Cheng Huai said without hesitation, “The General was reading a military book in the morning, ate some snacks at Sishi[mfn]9-11am[/mfn], took a nap for half an hour at noon, and then played chess by himself for an hour. He felt sleepy and slept on the couch for another half an hour.”

 

Yuan Zheng was stunned for a moment, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he muttered, “Why has Ah Lan suddenly become drowsy? When he was in the North, he would not go to bed until late at night, not to mention during the day.”

 

Cheng Huai said nothing.

 

The smile on Yuan Zheng’s face slowly faded. He was stunned for a while before sighing.

 

When Yuan Zheng returned, it was already late at night, and Cen Yelan was lying on the bed with his clothes on. This person was cold and serious, and he slept very well, with his hands on his body and his eyes closed. His whole face looked gentle and obedient under the lamp.

 

Yuan Zheng stood by the bed, looked at him greedily for a moment, and finally couldn’t help but get on the bed. As he got closer, he seemed to be able to smell the light and cold scent on Cen Yelan’s body.

 

Cen Yelan has always been a strong-willed person, and Yuan Zheng has made the worst plan by placing Cen Yelan under house arrest. After all, Cen Yelan is an important general guarding the border, with hundreds of thousands of troops in the north. If he wants to fight to the death, Yuan Zheng may not be able to keep him.

 

But Cen Yelan actually stayed. Even though he was still cold towards Yuan Zheng, it was enough to make him flattered and give rise to a glimmer of hope in his heart.

 

Yuan Zheng had no desire to sleep, and he just stared at Cen Yelan’s sleeping face. No matter how he looked at him, he felt that he liked him so much, and his heart was burning. He tightened his fingers but still couldn’t help but reach out and stroke Cen Yelan’s cheek and hair.

 

Suddenly, Cen Yelan turned over, opened his eyes, and looked straight at Yuan Zheng. He was awake and not sleepy at all.

 

Their eyes met.

 

Yuan Zheng’s hands froze. Cen Yelan looked at him for a moment and calmly said, “Your Majesty is in good spirits.”

 

Somehow, Yuan Zheng heard a hint of ridicule in his tone and became more uncomfortable. He said dejectedly, “Did I wake you up?”

 

Cen Yelan nodded as a matter of course. He had always been a light sleeper, and no matter how lightly Yuan Zheng’s footsteps were, it was impossible for him to be unaware if he was touched.

 

Yuan Zheng: “……”

 

The two of them were in awkward silence for a while, and Cen Yelan suddenly spoke up and said, “Let Chenzhao enter the palace.”

 

Yuan Zheng was startled, his expression slightly cold. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Cen Yelan say, “You are the emperor. Although the imperial physicians in the palace are highly skilled, but they have been immersed in the palace for many years and are cautious. They will inevitably choose the middle way and dare not take any risks.”

 

Yuan Zheng was stunned for a while, then asked, “Don’t you want to leave?”

 

Cen Yelan said, “I want to.”

 

Yuan Zheng said nothing and looked at Cen Yelan in silence.

 

Cen Yelan looked at the bright yellow bed curtains, resting one hand on the back of his head, and said, “Yuan Zheng, do you hate Yuan Heng?”

 

Yuan Zheng pursed his lips when he heard those two words. Hate? Of course he hated him. His emperor father’s death was related to Yuan Heng. Yuan Heng had worked hard to make things happen and had deceived him for many years. He had tried to kill him, Qi Ming had died. Fang Jing was still bedridden. How could he not hate him? Besides the hatred, there was also a sense of inexplicable disappointment.

 

The night was silent, and Cen Yelan spoke slowly and unhurriedly, “You hate them for being indifferent to the murder of the late emperor and for not being able to distinguish right from wrong and wanting to bring up old scores, so you asked Li Anyu to thoroughly investigate Yuan Heng and Yuan Cheng’s party. But if you investigate, I’m afraid most of the civil and military officials in the court will be involved. Can you kill them all just because you want to kill them?”

 

“It is human nature to seek profit and avoid harm. You can’t kill them all or cut them off.” Cen Yelan said, “If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Even if you kill them all, you also can’t restore order to the court.”

 

Yuan Zheng opened his mouth and called out with difficulty, “Ah Lan…”

 

Cen Yelan tilted his head to look at Yuan Zheng, and Yuan Zheng whispered, “Don’t you blame me?”

 

Cen Yelan didn’t say anything. Yuan Zheng felt a little flustered. He grabbed Cen Yelan’s hand and said, “Ah Lan, don’t blame me…” He looked at Cen Yelan. “I’m just… I’m just afraid that you’ll leave.”

 

Cen Yelan’s eyes fell on Yuan Zheng’s hand, and his heart softened. He calmly said, “So you trapped me in this palace to be your—exclusive property?”

 

Yuan Zheng: “It’s not exclusive property! How can it be exclusive property?”

 

He raised his voice unconsciously, looked at Cen Yelan, lowered his voice again, and said, “How can I bear it… Ah Lan, I want you and me to be together for the rest of our lives. I have always only wanted you. I want to make you my empress—”

 

He murmured repeatedly, “I want to make you the empress. I want to make you the empress. I want to make you the empress…”

 

Cen Yelan was silent for a moment and said, “It’s ridiculous. How can it be decent to make a man the empress?”

 

Yuan Zheng said, “I am originally unruly.”

 

Cen Yelan looked at Yuan Zheng deeply and said, “You are the ruler of a country. How can you face the civil and military officials and the people of the world if you have a male empress?”

 

“If historians record this one day, you will surely be laughed at for thousands of years.”

 

Yuan Zheng said bitterly, “How they deal with it is their business, and the future generations are free to comment on it as well. I just want the present!”

 

Cen Yelan was speechless and smiled helplessly, “Yuan Zheng, you can not care about it, but I can’t.”

 

“I am a subject. As a subject, how can I let the monarch be humiliated because of me? Moreover, I have sworn that I will destroy the Hu people’s court in my lifetime and make them dare not come south again.”

 

“You trapped me in this palace.” Cen Yelan said, “Which is the same as killing me.”

 

Yuan Zheng stared at Cen Yelan intently, only to hear Cen Yelan saying while looking at him, “Let me go.”

 

After a long time, Yuan Zheng said, “After all, I am insignificant in your heart.”

 

Yuan Zheng coldly said,, “Give up.”

 

“……” Cen Yelan rubbed his forehead with a headache and couldn’t help but say to Yuan Zheng, “Get lost.”

 

Yuan Zheng was stunned.

 

He stared at Cen Yelan for a long while, then lay down outside the bed, closed his eyes, and turned his back to him, looking depressed.

 

Cen Yelan: “……”