After Pretending to be an Idiot, I Was Targeted by the Cold-Blooded Zhangyin - Chapter 45

Xie Chengjing swiftly snatched the booklet from Xie Changsheng’s hands. He cast a reproachful look at Xie Hemiao. “Second Brother, do not show Changsheng these… these things.”

Xie Hemiao stretched out his legs, laughing with a roguish air. “What of it? It is merely the lowest-grade picture book on the market. The artistry is so poor that even if you flipped through the whole thing, you wouldn’t see a single thing you actually want to see.”

Xie Changsheng nodded in agreement. “Exactly, exactly!”

Xie Hemiao glanced sideways at him. He noted that although Xie Changsheng was backing him up, the boy had a dazed expression, as if he didn’t truly understand what he was saying.

Suppressing a laugh, Xie Hemiao teased him on purpose: “Wait until another day; Second Brother will gift you a high-quality one. Tsk, now that is what you call ‘vivid and life-like’…”

Before he could finish, Xie Chengjing rolled the booklet into a tube, reached out his long arm, and whacked it against Xie Hemiao’s shoulder. “Second Brother!”

There was a thwack—not particularly heavy, but not light either. Both Xie Chengjing and Xie Hemiao froze. They were not brothers who were ever particularly close, and they had never shared such a familiar, casual interaction before. For a moment, both felt quite awkward.

Only Xie Changsheng seemed oblivious. He clapped his hands. “Good, good! Big Brother draws his blade with a backhand, and Second Brother hurriedly grabs his own hair to pull himself up! The two of you go back and forth—what a lively fight! Please listen to the question: Calculate the surface area of the force Second Brother just received!”

Xie Chengjing: “…” Xie Hemiao: “…”

Seeing Xie Chengjing frown as if he were actually beginning to contemplate the math, Xie Hemiao hurried to warn him: “Big Brother, do not think too deeply about the little fool’s words, or you’ll get a headache.”

“What am I, some kind of Cthulhu evil god?” Xie Changsheng grumbled. Then, remembering something, he leaned close to Xie Hemiao and lowered his voice: “Second Brother…”

Xie Hemiao raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Hmm?”

Xie Changsheng asked, “When you go to buy books, could you bring me back two novels as well?”

“You mean storybooks?”

“Yes,” Xie Changsheng added quickly, seeing Xie Chengjing’s disapproving frown. “Just… ordinary storybooks will do.”

Looking into Xie Changsheng’s expectant eyes, Xie Hemiao’s smile widened. “You want to read? How could that be a problem? I’ll have them bought and sent to your quarters later.”

Xie Changsheng thanked him happily. “Second Brother, you are so good. If you encounter any difficulties in your next life, you must come find me. I will repay you.”

Xie Hemiao: “…”

There’s really no need to push the repayment all the way to the next life.

Xie Changsheng watched the acrobatics for a while longer and ate roasted meat with Xie Chengjing and Xie Hemiao until the sky grew dark. Xie Hemiao asked, “Why not stay the night at my place?”

Xie Chengjing declined, but Xie Changsheng hadn’t had enough fun yet. Naturally, he nodded and agreed. This was Xie Changsheng’s first time sleeping outside the palace, and he was quite excited. He dragged Xie Hemiao into a conversation that lasted half the night until Xie Hemiao could no longer keep his eyes open.

Before going to sleep, because he missed Suisui, Xie Changsheng “borrowed” one of Xie Hemiao’s parrots as a temporary substitute. He taught the parrot a few words, and just as he was about to head to bed, he heard the sound of footsteps outside.

He pushed open the window and saw Xie Hemiao, who was supposed to be asleep. Xie Changsheng let out a “Yipe”: “Second Brother is sleepwalking.”

“…I am not sleepwalking,” Xie Hemiao replied. “I am going to arrange the dishes for your breakfast tomorrow. Fine, go to sleep.”

Xie Changsheng gave an “oh” and shut the window tight.

Below his window sill, at Xie Hemiao’s feet, was a prone figure. The man was muscular and shirtless, his wheat-colored skin and most of his face covered in a mixture of new and old scars. His hands were tied securely, and he was kneeling on the ground. Whenever Xie Hemiao took a step, he shuffled forward on his knees to follow.

Xie Hemiao noticed this man was staring at his back so intently it felt like he was trying to bore a hole through him. He gave an impatient “tsk,” stopped, and looked back at the man with a tone of disgust: “What are you looking at? …Hu Yanliao, do you find it funny that this Prince lied to his brother?”

Hu Yanliao shook his head vigorously, pressed his face to the ground, and extended his tongue to lick Xie Hemiao’s shoe, smiling fawningly. “How could the Prince be funny? The Prince rescued me from the Heavenly Prison; I am naturally the Prince’s dog. How would a dog dare laugh at his master?”

Xie Hemiao hadn’t expected Hu Yanliao to suddenly lick his shoe. He instinctively kicked him in the nose. “Stay away from me!”

Hu Yanliao had completely shed the arrogance he displayed in prison. Even with blood running from his nose, he maintained that flattering smile. “Yes, yes. Prince, stand firm; be careful of your leg pain.”

Xie Changsheng stayed at Xie Hemiao’s for two consecutive days. Xie Hemiao was an expert at pleasure-seeking; one day they watched acrobatics, the next they watched snake charmers dancing with scorpions. The food and drink were all of the highest quality. Xie Changsheng was having so much fun he almost didn’t want to go back.

On the third day, Fang Ling paid a visit to Xie Hemiao and stopped by to see Xie Changsheng. When he entered the room, Xie Changsheng was sprawled on the bed sleeping in. Hearing the door open, he looked up dazed and took a few moments to recognize Fang Ling.

Fang Ling placed something on the table. “Pastries from Zhiwei Pavilion. They don’t keep long; eat them while they’re fresh.”

Xie Changsheng gave an “oh.” Even in his sleep-deprived haze, he didn’t forget his manners. “Thank you—is this just for me, or do all the brothers get some?”

Fang Ling froze, his hand at his side unconsciously balling into a fist. “They… they all have some. I brought some for them too.” After a pause, he asked, “The Second Prince said you’re heading back today. Do you want to take my carriage and ride together?”

Xie Changsheng finally woke up a bit more. Just as he was about to say yes, another voice came from the doorway: “There is no need to trouble the Young Marquis. The Little Highness can return with this servant.”

Xie Changsheng scrambled up from the bed and saw Gu Feiyi standing behind Fang Ling. Seeing Xie Changsheng look over, Gu Feiyi gazed back with a half-smile before looking at Fang Ling. “Young Marquis, please excuse us. This servant needs to attend to the Little Highness’s washing and dressing.”

“Fine,” Fang Ling nodded, then said to Xie Changsheng, “I’ll wait for you outside.”

With a click, Gu Feiyi shut the door. He approached Xie Changsheng with his clothes. “Little Highness,” he said, lifting the boy’s arm and sliding the sleeve on. He asked with a smile, “In your mind, how many days did you think ‘go early and return early’ meant?”

Before Xie Changsheng could answer, Gu Feiyi asked again, “And who did the Little Highness think was taking care of Suisui these past two days?”

Mentioning Suisui only made Xie Changsheng feel wronged. He asked Gu Feiyi, “I clearly told Yang Luo to go fetch Suisui, but you wouldn’t let her come.”

Gu Feiyi said, “Oh? Is that so?”

“You’re getting old; your memory is failing,” Xie Changsheng looked up at him. “Did you forget you promised to give me two boxes of gold?”

Gu Feiyi: “…”

He reached out and pinched the soft flesh of Xie Changsheng’s cheek, sliding his fingers down to the boy’s neck, and smiled with narrowed eyes. “I haven’t forgotten.”

He pulled something from his sleeve and placed it around Xie Changsheng’s neck. Xie Changsheng felt a sudden weight. Looking into the bronze mirror on the table, he saw a golden collar around his neck. A delicate, beautiful longevity lock hung from the collar, and the lock was encrusted with a ring of red gemstones.

Gu Feiyi reached out to straighten a stone that had flipped over. In his mind, he saw the image of the red candle-tears blooming on Xie Changsheng’s white skin. Touching the almost invisible hickey beneath the necklace with his finger, he asked, “Do you like it?”

“I like it,” Xie Changsheng paused, then added, “If I get cervical spondylosis from wearing a gold necklace, does it count as a workplace injury?”

Gu Feiyi: “…”

After a reluctant farewell to Xie Hemiao, Xie Changsheng boarded the carriage with Gu Feiyi.

“Go on back; Second Brother will visit you in a few days.” Xie Hemiao stood by the carriage to see him off. Suddenly remembering something, he asked with a headache, “What exactly did you teach my parrot to say?”

Xie Changsheng blinked. “Nothing.”

Xie Hemiao: “…”

As if. If he hadn’t taught it anything, where did the parrot learn all that nonsense like “When three walk together, there must be three people” and “Young man, you must be very young”?

He tapped Xie Changsheng’s head with his pipe, making the boy giggle.

On the way back to the palace, Gu Feiyi had Xie Changsheng sit on his lap as usual while he leaned against the carriage wall with his eyes closed to rest. Bored, Xie Changsheng looked at the roof, then at his shoes, and toyed with the longevity lock around his neck. Finally, his gaze settled on Gu Feiyi’s face. He noticed faint dark circles under the man’s eyes.

He stared for a moment, but just as he was about to look away, Gu Feiyi suddenly opened his eyes. “Is the Little Highness looking at this servant?”

“Dark circles,” Xie Changsheng pointed to the area under his own eyes and asked, “Did you… stay up late?”

Gu Feiyi gave a hum of affirmation.

The prison holding Hu Yanliao had caught fire, and the man had supposedly been burned to a crisp, but no matter how Gu Feiyi thought about it, it seemed suspicious. After sending people to investigate, he learned that Xie Hemiao had rescued him. But his inability to sleep wasn’t because of that minor matter—it was simply because Xie Changsheng wasn’t in the palace.

Just the thought of Xie Changsheng being outside the palace, so far away from him, caused an inexplicable sense of unease to rise in Gu Feiyi’s heart.

The arm around Xie Changsheng’s waist tightened slightly, pulling the boy’s warm body closer to his chest. He opened an oil-paper package on the small table and took out an exquisite pastry, bringing it to Xie Changsheng’s lips.

Xie Changsheng took a bite. “It’s good. Is it the one Brother Fang Ling bought?”

“No.” Gu Feiyi narrowed his eyes. “This is one this servant brought for the Little Highness.” He fed the remaining half into Xie Changsheng’s mouth.

While Xie Changsheng had the pastry in his mouth, Gu Feiyi did not withdraw his hand. With a forceful flick of his fingertips, he pried open the boy’s lips and thrust his fingers into his mouth. He caught the tip of Xie Changsheng’s tongue between two icy fingers. When Xie Changsheng tried to retreat, Gu Feiyi pressed his hand against the back of the boy’s neck, blocking his escape.

His fingers stirred inside Xie Changsheng’s mouth, forcing the tongue to coil around his fingers. Not until Xie Changsheng’s face was flushed deep red and saliva was nearly dripping from the corner of his mouth did Gu Feiyi finally withdraw.

Xie Changsheng wiped the corner of his mouth vigorously with his sleeve, looking at him in disbelief. “Gu Feiyi, you…”

Before he could finish his accusation, Gu Feiyi interrupted. “You can’t even handle this?”

Gu Feiyi pulled out a handkerchief as if to wipe his fingertips, but then put it away. He brought his fingers to his own lips, sucked on them, and let out a soft sneer. “And yet, the Little Highness still wants to ask the Second Prince for other picture books to look at?”

Xie Changsheng froze. Once he realized what Gu Feiyi was talking about, his eyes went wide. He flailed his arms so wildly they almost became a blur. “It’s one thing to eavesdrop, but can’t you find someone with better hearing?! What I asked Second Brother for was a novel! A storybook! Not a picture book!”