HXC Chapter15

“Lord Shen, please take a look at the annotations on this document for any errors.”

 

Shen Yanqing looked up from the mountain of ancient books. Just as he took the document handed to him by the attendant, he heard a commotion outside.

 

“Lord Ji, Lord Ji…”

 

The officials tasked with repairing the ancient texts all looked in the direction of the sound, only to see the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Ji Jue, dressed in a dark blue court robe, striding into the Chongde Terrace, which housed the library.

 

The Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Personnel had little interaction, so everyone was surprised to see Ji Jue there.

 

Ji Jue was a third-rank official who, despite his high position, was always courteous to his subordinates and had never lost his composure in front of others. His current furious demeanor was unusual.

 

Shen Yanqing was not as surprised as the others. Even when Ji Jue looked directly at him, he didn’t even furrow his brow.

 

“All of you, leave. Shen Yanqing, stay.”

 

The officials exchanged glances.

 

At that time, Shen Yanqing had been married to Ji Zhen for a little over two months. The public was mostly sympathetic and regretful toward Shen Yanqing. Now, seeing Ji Jue storming in as if seeking revenge, coupled with the fact that he had impeached the Shen family’s father and son in court a few days ago despite their in-law relationship, everyone looked at Shen Yanqing with pity as they hurriedly left the scene of trouble.

 

The moment he saw Ji Jue in Chongde Terrace, Shen Yanqing had already guessed why he was there.

 

After entering officialdom, he had been appointed as a seventh-rank editor in the Hanlin Academy. According to regulations, he should have bowed to Ji Jue. Under everyone’s gazes, he rose neither subserviently nor arrogantly and bowed slightly. “Lord Ji, what business do you have with this humble minister?”

 

The quick-witted officials slowly closed the doors. The scattered sunlight fell on the two men standing among countless documents, with one side bright and the other dark.

 

Ji Jue did not respond. He took a big step forward, a sharp flash of a blade cutting through the high sun and heading straight for Shen Yanqing.

 

The corners of his lips sank, but he remained where he was when his life was at stake.

 

The small dagger hidden in Ji Jue’s sleeve was quickly pressed against his neck. With a little more force, it would cut through the skin and sever his head.

 

Shen Yanqing remained calm as he glanced at the sharp blade.

 

When Ji Jue pushed the blade forward by an inch, the sharp edge pressed against the thin skin, and a fine line of blood trickled down. Only then did Shen Yanqing raise his hand to gently push the hilt away.

 

“Blood is forbidden in Chongde Terrace. If Lord Ji wants to kill this humble minister, please find a better place.”

 

Ji Jue changed the direction of the blade. He plunged the tip an inch into Shen Yanqing’s shoulder and slowly twisted it.

 

In an instant, the deep blue official robe was soaked by the gushing blood, and in the midst of the intense pain, the color drained from Shen Yanqing’s face like a thread being pulled.

 

“If it weren’t for the fact that Ji Zhen is so devoted to you, you would never have walked out of here alive today.”

 

Ji Jue savagely pulled out the blade, and the blood splattered on a good portion of Shen Yanqing’s face. Shen Yanqing slightly tilted his head, and a drop of blood flicked into his eye, making everything he saw a crimson red.

 

“This one cut is for the one arrow on the long street.”

 

Ji Jue threw away the bloody blade and took out a handkerchief to wipe his palm.

 

Ignoring the gushing wound, Shen Yanqing calmly said, “When Lord Ji seeks to condemn someone, you must also trace the root. The Ji family condoned Ji Zhen’s coercion into marriage first, and this humble minister was forced to give a small warning. It was just that I didn’t expect Ji Zhen to be so…” He paused, then continued, “…fond of this humble minister.”

 

Ji Jue’s wiping motion froze. After a moment, his clear, gentle voice was filled with a murderous intent. “In the future, if a hair on Ji Zhen’s head is harmed in your mansion, I will first kill your parents, then I will skin and dismember you, and hang your bones on the city wall for the people to see.”

 

Shen Yanqing remained silent.

 

The blood-stained handkerchief was thrown away by Ji Jue like a piece of filth. “I don’t want a third person to know about what happened today.”

 

A faint smile appeared on Shen Yanqing’s pale face. He humbly bowed. “This humble minister will send Lord Ji off.”

 

He watched Ji Jue disappear into the blood-red scene. He lowered his gaze, and the speck of blood that had gotten into his eye slid down his cheek. In this situation, he still showed no anger or resentment. He just lightly wiped the crimson off his cheek and, with a very soft, somewhat mocking tone, called out, “Ji Zhen.”

 

When his colleagues from the Hanlin Academy re-entered Chongde Terrace, Shen Yanqing was already sitting cleanly on his cushion while mending ancient books.

 

The trickle of blood on his neck had stopped, and he had used his inner robe to bandage the wound on his shoulder. When his colleagues asked him about it with expressions of surprise or indignation, he simply dismissed it with an “I accidentally bumped into something.”

 

The utterly flimsy excuse went unchallenged because the person who had assaulted him was Ji Jue.

 

Shen Yanqing flipped through the aged pages of an ancient book, his mind once more lingering on how Ji Jue had addressed Ji Zhen, as his fingers shifted slightly while turning the page.

 

—Zhen Zhen.

 

The carriage disappeared into a dark alley. Its wheels rolled over a small stone, causing a violent jolt.

 

Ji Jue, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, while the attendant guiding the horse warned, “Lord Ji, the road is rocky. Please hold on tight.”

 

Ji Jue hummed in response and looked at the bronze lamp inside the carriage, which swayed wildly from the bumps. The candlelight, escaping from the carved patterns, cast shadows on the carriage walls like a chaotic puppet show. All his memories were in those dancing shadows.

 

He was eight years older than Ji Zhen, like both a brother and a father. Ji Zhen had been very clingy since childhood and was good at acting spoiled. He would always make a fuss about wanting a piggyback ride whenever he got tired from walking in the night market.

 

Ji Jue would bend over slightly, and Ji Zhen would nimbly jump onto his back, directing him to buy sugar figurines and soft pastries, then insisting on watching the double-saber dance—one whim after another.

 

Time flew by. Unbeknownst to him, the toddler who had just learned to speak on his back had grown into a naive and innocent young man who even had someone he had fallen for.

 

The still-childish Ji Zhen had knelt before Ji Jue, weeping and begging him to support his true feelings.

 

Ji Zhen had called him “Gege” countless times, but at that moment, he clearly realized that those two words were the insurmountable chasm between him and Ji Zhen.

 

The Ji family had an unknown secret.

 

When Ji Jue was eight years old, his mother gave birth to a stillborn child after a difficult labor. Everyone was afraid she would be heartbroken, so they hesitated to tell her the truth.

 

It so happened that the family’s cook had secretly become pregnant and gave birth on the same day as Ji Jue’s mother. She then abandoned the child and left, as she was unable to raise it.

 

The physician said that his mother had little time left. Unable to bear the thought of his mother dying with regret, the eight-year-old Ji Jue pulled a switcheroo. He took the cook’s child and brought it to his mother’s bedside without permission.

 

The child was so small and so soft.

 

It was like a gift from the gods.

 

Heaven had taken his own flesh and blood but sent him a cloud.

 

Shortly after, his mother passed away.

 

Ji Jue insisted on keeping the cook’s child. Furthermore, the Jiang and Ji families had a pre-arranged marriage between their children that was tangled up with political factors. As a result, the Ji family gave a large sum of hush gold to the two old servants and the midwife who knew the secret. They named the child Ji Zhen and added him to the family genealogy.

 

Ji Jue knew that the floating clouds were the easiest to scatter, but he had never expected that Ji Zhen, the person he had raised by his own hands, would leave him so quickly.

 

Ethics, morality, etiquette, discipline.

 

No matter how talented he was, he was still just flesh and blood. He couldn’t cross the great mountains of the mortal world or leap over the vast seas of worldly convention.

 

He was not afraid of being reviled by thousands of people, but he didn’t dare to let Ji Zhen, who saw him as his closest kin, know of the foul feelings that had grown within him.

 

First comes thought, second thought, third comes love, and fourth, fear.

 

For his entire life, Ji Jue could only be Ji Zhen’s elder brother.

 

After learning about the assassination on the long street, he had considered getting rid of Shen Yanqing.

 

Before that, he had gone to see Ji Zhen.

 

Ji Zhen was eagerly massaging his shoulders and legs. “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d worry. It was just an accident; it was nothing.”

 

To prove he was unharmed, Ji Zhen ran around the room several times and then knelt obediently by his leg.

 

Before Ji Jue could scold him, he saw the marks on Ji Zhen’s collarbone through his half-open robe.

 

Although he had never married, it was impossible for him not to know what those overlapping red and purple marks meant.

 

Ji Zhen remained entirely oblivious. He looked up gently and said, “Gege, please don’t be mad at me, alright?”

 

He then held up three fingers and swore, “I promise I’ll never hide anything from you again.”

 

Ji Jue pursed his lips and silently helped Ji Zhen fix his collar.

 

Ji Zhen’s eyes curved in a smile. He pressed his face against Ji Jue’s palm and murmured, “If you had known about the incident on the long street back then, you would have thought it was a bad omen and wouldn’t have let me marry Shen Yanqing. But I really love him, Gege. I’m very happy now…”

 

“Lord Ji, we have arrived at the Ji Mansion.”

 

The candle in the bronze lamp was about to burn out. Ji Jue felt as if he had woken from a dream.

 

He often imagined what the situation would be like now if he had killed Shen Yanqing in Chongde Terrace that day.

 

But fear breeds timidity, and timidity leads to retreat. When love runs so deep, the worries become countless.

 

—

 

With the moon hanging on the branches, it was destined to be a sleepless night.

 

Ji Zhen slept on his side. Worried that the tears would stain the soft pillow, he pressed a handkerchief to his face, and in no time, the entire handkerchief was so wet it could be wrung out.

 

He had been married to Shen Yanqing for three years, and tonight marked the first time the other party had so explicitly expressed the wish for a divorce.

 

Ji Zhen sobbed, then covered his mouth with his hand to stifle the wails escaping his throat, not wanting the attendant keeping watch outside to hear him.

 

His thoughts were in a fog, with only the words “divorce” and Shen Yanqing’s indifferent expression spinning in his mind.

 

He had heard old servants in the Ji Mansion say that once a person got addicted to gambling, the more they gambled and the more they lost, the more they couldn’t stop.

 

He had been unconvinced, arguing, “How can there be such a foolish person in this world? They know they have no chance of winning, yet they still place bets. You must be lying to me.”

 

But now, Ji Zhen had become the fool he had spoken of.

 

In his game with Shen Yanqing, he was like a gambler who had lost his eyes to the red, throwing in so much that he couldn’t bear to let go. He even fantasized that one day he could turn the tables and win even a fraction of Shen Yanqing’s affection.

 

If three years wasn’t enough, he would try for another three. Surely Shen Yanqing would be moved by him eventually.

 

But Shen Yanqing’s words tonight were like a blow to the head, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

 

He had no leverage at all, so how could he win?

 

Ji Zhen angrily threw the soaked handkerchief into the bronze basin.

 

He desperately wanted to rush to the east wing to demand to know why Shen Yanqing couldn’t at least try to like him, but he was afraid of humiliating himself and being told, “What about you is worth liking?”

 

When he was studying at the Imperial Academy, Ji Zhen could memorize a hundred-word classical text one day and forget it the next. But he had etched every word Shen Yanqing said into his heart.

 

If he could have put that same effort into his studies, he wouldn’t be looked down upon by everyone. If he were as well-read as Yi Zhi, Shen Yanqing could discuss poetry and history with him, and maybe he would like him even a little.

 

Ji Zhen wiped his face, shook his muddled head, and climbed out of bed to light a lamp.

 

There was a cabinet in the wing room for books. He ignored the pile of erotic paintings on the top shelf and pulled out a book of poetry from the very bottom. He sat at the table and began to read.

 

“When the golden wind and jade dew meet, they surpass countless human encounters.” Ji Zhen muttered, his head bobbing like a pecking chick. “This line is good, this line is so good. Why can’t I write something like this?”

 

The door to the east wing quietly opened. The main wing room in the distance glowed faintly.

 

Shen Yanqing softly called to the attendant on night watch. “What is the Young Madam doing?”

 

“I might have misheard, but the Young Madam seemed to be reciting poetry just now, something about a ‘long and short affection.’ I couldn’t hear it clearly.”

 

Shen Yanqing said nothing. If two hearts are meant to be together forever, why should they only meet in the morning and evening?

 

Why was he reciting poetry in the middle of the night?

 

“My Lord, do you have any other instructions?”

 

Shen Yanqing turned and entered his room, locking the door. He paused, then unlocked it again.

 

He was just afraid that a stealthy cat would not be able to find its way in at night.

 

The author has something to do:

Incest is not allowed? It doesn’t matter, I will make a move.

Lord Shen, who was waiting for his wife to climb into his bed: I didn’t even lock the door. Why hasn’t my wife come to find me to sleep yet?