After Pretending to be an Idiot, I Was Targeted by the Cold-Blooded Zhangyin - Chapter 46

Xie Changsheng’s flair for drama erupted. He flopped onto the floor with a “thud” and began to fake-cry piteously: “I’m wronged, I’m wronged! I’m more wronged than Dou E! Waaaaahhh…”

Xie Changsheng’s voice was naturally mellow and pleasant, but when he faked a cry, his trailing notes would turn slightly raspy. Gu Feiyi listened in a daze for a moment, unconsciously licking his lips.

He pulled Xie Changsheng up from the carriage floor and sat him back on his lap, asking, “What kind of storybooks does the Little Highness want?”

He asked, but Xie Changsheng didn’t answer.

Xie Changsheng was busy twining his hair around his fingers, filling them up loop by loop and then releasing them loop by loop. He seemed addicted to the sensation, repeating the mindless action over and over. Gu Feiyi didn’t rush him; he watched Xie Changsheng’s fingers with great interest, as if the boy weren’t performing a boring task but was instead performing a magic trick.

It wasn’t until the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed that Xie Changsheng finally snapped out of his daze. He let out an “Ah” and finally told Gu Feiyi: “Any kind is fine.”

“Good.”

Gu Feiyi barked his knuckles against the carriage wall, and Feng Wang’s voice immediately sounded from outside: “Master.”

Gu Feiyi said softly, “Go to the bookstore and buy some interesting storybooks for the Little Highness.” After a pause, he added, “Make sure they are the ‘clean’ versions.”

Feng Wang acknowledged the order.

Gu Feiyi lowered his gaze, fiddling with the white jade ring on Xie Changsheng’s finger. He told Xie Changsheng with a smile, “If there is anything else the Little Highness desires, simply tell this servant.”

At this, the smile at the corners of Gu Feiyi’s lips deepened. He spoke each word very softly: “Anything at all is fine.”

“Really?” Xie Changsheng said. “Then I want an iPhone 15 Pro Max, thank you.”

Gu Feiyi: “…”

He suppressed the urge to sigh caused by Xie Changsheng’s nonsense, reached out to rub his temples, and cursed under his breath: “…You little brat.”

Back at Yuxiu Palace, Xie Changsheng saw Suisui, whom he hadn’t seen for two days. He immediately scooped the dog up and rolled around with it on the floor.

Gu Feiyi gave a “tsk” but didn’t stop him this time—he had already ordered a thick, long-piled carpet to be laid across the floors of Yuxiu Palace, so he wasn’t worried about Xie Changsheng catching a cold.

While Xie Changsheng was grooming Suisui and rambling words that no one else could understand, Feng Wang appeared at the door carrying a cloth bag. He placed the bundle on the table in front of Gu Feiyi: “Master, the storybooks.”

Gu Feiyi gave a hum of affirmation and reached out to untie the bag, revealing a dozen or so neatly stacked books. He picked one up and flipped through it rapidly, but seeing something, he suddenly stopped and reached out with a rip to tear out several pages.

Attracted by the sound, Xie Changsheng immediately turned his head to look at Gu Feiyi. Seeing him looking over, Gu Feiyi only quirked his lips into a smile without explaining, then picked up another book to inspect.

Once Gu Feiyi had finished checking all dozen-plus books, he finally picked one and handed it to Xie Changsheng. Xie Changsheng took it with both hands and immediately began reading with great enthusiasm.

Gu Feiyi watched Xie Changsheng for a while, then reached out and turned the book in Xie Changsheng’s hands the other way.

Xie Changsheng looked up at Gu Feiyi. Gu Feiyi asked in return, “The Little Highness is holding the book upside down; why are you still reading so intently?”

Xie Changsheng gave an “Oh.” “I was wondering why I couldn’t understand it.”

He lowered his head to read again. Though he said he was reading, his eyes didn’t move an inch; he just stared blankly at a specific spot on the page. After a long while, Xie Changsheng suddenly threw the book down in a rage: “I don’t understand! Why is it all words! I can’t understand!”

Gu Feiyi finally couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. He patted his knees: “Come here.”

Once Xie Changsheng was settled on his lap, Gu Feiyi picked up a book and actually began to read it aloud to him. This storybook told the tale of a young gentleman and a noble lady who met at a temple fair and had a secret tryst.

However, Xie Changsheng didn’t pay much attention to the specific content. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but rather that he couldn’t.

While Gu Feiyi held the book with one hand, his other hand was restless, constantly stroking Xie Changsheng’s spine and measuring his waist inch by inch with his fingers. Furthermore, because Gu Feiyi had torn out several pages in the middle, the entire story sounded disjointed.

Xie Changsheng’s appraisal of the situation was like a blind man playing the fiddle—pure nonsense. He shook his head: “This is harder to understand than calculus. I’m not listening anymore.”

Gu Feiyi gave a hum of affirmation and set the storybook down. Xie Changsheng wanted to stand up, but Gu Feiyi’s hand was still wrapped around his waist. Every time Xie Changsheng used his legs to try and rise, Gu Feiyi’s arm would tighten, pressing him firmly back onto his lap.

Xie Changsheng turned to look at him, and Gu Feiyi was looking back.

“Why is the Little Highness always in such a hurry to leave?”

He wound a lock of Xie Changsheng’s hair around his hand and buried his head in the crook of the boy’s neck. He took one of the red gemstone pendants from the collar he had personally placed on Xie Changsheng’s neck into his mouth, his teeth making a faint clinking sound against it.

After a long while, Gu Feiyi finally finished toying with the gemstone. He spat out the now-moist red stone, his smiling voice muffled against Xie Changsheng’s neck: “This servant still wishes to be close with the Little Highness for a while longer.”

Over the next few days, because of the preparations for the Lantern Festival banquet on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, Xie Changsheng only saw Gu Feiyi at night.

Even though Gu Feiyi wasn’t there during the day, Xie Changsheng felt uneasy. Gu Feiyi seemed to have every intention of moving into Yuxiu Palace permanently to live with Xie Changsheng. Not only did he stay the night every evening, but most of his clothes were now stuffed into Xie Changsheng’s wardrobe, and he had even hung several collected paintings and calligraphies by famous masters on the walls of Yuxiu Palace.

As a result, both Xie Changsheng and Suisui started losing hair from the stress.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, the palace was ablaze with lights. The Old Emperor held a family banquet, and the princes, princesses, and consorts were once again gathered together.

The Old Emperor was in high spirits, cuddling a beauty Xie Changsheng had never seen before, teasing and flirting with their faces pressed together. Gu Feiyi remained standing in the shadows behind and to the side of the Old Emperor, a half-smile on his lips as his gaze swept over everyone present.

Finally, his gaze settled on Xie Changsheng. Seeing Xie Changsheng wave a hand at him as a greeting, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened.

On his side, Xie Changsheng held a few strands of his own fallen hair and looked at Xie Chengjing, who sat beside him, with a mournful face: “Big Brother, I’m going bald! Give me your hair! Give it to me!”

Xie Chengjing: “…”

He was about to laugh when his throat caught, and he couldn’t help but cough violently. Xie Changsheng hurriedly patted his back while trying to stick his fallen hairs into Xie Chengjing’s head: “Big Brother, I’ll give you my hair, I’ll give it all to you.”

Xie Chengjing coughed even harder.

Xie Hemiao truly couldn’t watch any longer. With a twitching mouth, he pulled Xie Changsheng away: “Little fool, stop teasing Big Brother.” He handed Xie Chengjing some water and signaled for the Crown Prince’s maidservant to step forward and pat his back.

It took a long time for Xie Chengjing to finally stop coughing.

The Old Emperor’s voice came from the head of the hall: “On such a grand day, the Crown Prince is always making people uncomfortable.”

Xie Chengjing’s face, which had turned flushed from coughing, suddenly went pale. He hurriedly stood to apologize to the crowd and said to the Old Emperor, “This son knows his fault.”

The Old Emperor, however, bulged his eyes and glared at Xie Chengjing. After finishing with Xie Chengjing, he glared at Xie Changsheng. He felt nothing but irritation.

In his youth, the Old Emperor had fought across the lands, repelling bandits and subduing small kingdoms. He considered himself a legendary hero, yet his three sons were each more frustrating than the last. One was a sickly weakling, one was a cripple, and his most beloved youngest son had turned into a simpleton.

Perhaps because his health had improved lately, the Old Emperor actually felt like disciplining his sons. He suddenly slammed the table, pointing in their direction and shouting in a rage: “Look at your disgraceful behavior!”

As his voice fell, the consorts, princesses, palace servants, and guards all knelt in a panic. Xie Chengjing and Xie Hemiao knelt as well, each using a hand to pull Xie Changsheng down to the ground to kneel with them.

The Old Emperor stood up, about to say more, but Xie Changsheng simply lay back on the floor and began to wail. Between his loud cries, he muttered some incoherent words. The Old Emperor listened closely and felt that no matter how he heard it, it sounded like those four words that had once made him faint from anger:

“I am your father (Wo shi nin die).”

The Old Emperor flew into a towering rage. Looking at that face so similar to A-Lan, he could no longer feel any tenderness. He pointed at Xie Changsheng and was just about to speak when his raised arm was forcibly pressed down by someone.

“Your Majesty.”

Gu Feiyi approached the Old Emperor and whispered something in his ear.

The Old Emperor was stunned: “Truly? Feiyi, you aren’t lying to me?”

Gu Feiyi nodded. A look of wild joy appeared on the Old Emperor’s face, and then, he actually turned and left.

Gu Feiyi gave Xie Changsheng a smiling side-glance and followed him out. Only the kneeling crowd remained, staring at each other in confusion, not knowing what had happened.

It wasn’t until a long while later that they finally learned: it turned out Lady Xu was pregnant. The imperial physician said it might be a prince, so the Old Emperor had rushed off to visit her.

Hearing this, both Xie Chengjing’s and Xie Hemiao’s expressions turned somewhat grim. They exchanged a glance, but both couldn’t help but let out a similar bitter smile. Xie Chengjing smiled, but hurriedly covered his mouth with a handkerchief, which came away stained with bright red blood.

“Big Brother,” Xie Hemiao frowned at the sight and asked, “Your body…”

Xie Chengjing waved his hand: “It’s nothing.” His body had been weak since birth, but it was actually much better now than it used to be. The imperial physician told him that if he wanted to live a long life, it was best to think of nothing and worry about nothing.

But how was that possible?

Xie Chengjing smiled and turned back, reaching out to wipe the tears from Xie Changsheng’s face. He pulled him back to his seat and called out to the crowd: “Everyone, the Lantern Festival dumplings (Yuanxiao) are getting cold. Let’s eat some first.”

It was late at night when Xie Changsheng returned to Yuxiu Palace. Gu Feiyi hadn’t returned yet.

Enjoying a rare moment of solitude, Xie Changsheng knelt on the bed and wrapped himself in his quilt until he was a ball. In his mind, he replayed the events of the evening. Clearly, the Old Emperor no longer doted on him. From the way the Emperor had glared at him, Xie Changsheng even felt that the Old Emperor had wanted to rush over and slap him.

However, he didn’t regret standing up for Xie Chengjing. He was just a little scared in hindsight. But he would be fine after a little rest.

Xie Changsheng was shivering to himself inside the quilt when he heard footsteps outside. The sound of boots lightly treading on the floor, one after another, was very rhythmic. Xie Changsheng emptied his gaze and poked his head out of the quilt to look.

The newcomer was indeed Gu Feiyi. No lamps were lit in the room; only the light from the snow and the moon filtered through the window paper, bringing a faint glow.

Gu Feiyi walked over and reached out with a smile to tuck away a strand of hair that had crossed Xie Changsheng’s cheek. “Why have you crawled back into the quilt? Isn’t it stuffy?”

Xie Changsheng blinked and gave Gu Feiyi a silly, vacant smile.

“What are you laughing at?”

Gu Feiyi reached out; he must have just bathed in the washroom, as his fingertips still carried a bit of dampness. He rubbed Xie Changsheng’s earlobe. Then he added, “Little Highness, move inward a bit.”

Xie Changsheng scooted inward, and Gu Feiyi lay down on the outside. He stretched out his arm for Xie Changsheng to use as a pillow, unconsciously twining Xie Changsheng’s hair around his fingers while closing his eyes to sleep.

Xie Changsheng, however, couldn’t quite sleep. He tossed and turned for a bit until Gu Feiyi asked, “The Little Highness can’t sleep?”

Xie Changsheng gave an “Ah.” “Today, the old man… was angry,” he said vacantly. “So scary.”

Gu Feiyi opened his eyes. He used the moonlight to look at Xie Changsheng’s face; the expression on that peerless face was still dazed, yet an inexplicable sense of trepidation had emerged. Perhaps it was the first time he had seen the Old Emperor so enraged, and he had been frightened after all.

Somewhere deep in Gu Feiyi’s heart, a spot softened slightly. He sat up, pulled Xie Changsheng into his embrace, and began to pat his back.

“The Little Highness need not be afraid.”

He took Xie Changsheng’s earlobe into his mouth, toying with it with his tongue until the earlobe became burning hot and the person in his arms began to tremble slightly. Only then did he finally let go.

“The Little Highness can cause as much of a fuss as he likes.” He laughed into Xie Changsheng’s ear, “With this servant here, no one can harm you.”