After Pretending to be an Idiot, I Was Targeted by the Cold-Blooded Zhangyin - Chapter 6

After finishing his sentence, Gu Feiyi didn’t wait for Xie Changsheng’s reaction. He turned around and walked toward the hall.

This movement certainly carried a hint of contempt, but it was mostly a test. He suspected that Xie Changsheng was faking his idiocy. Gu Feiyi watched him out of the corner of his eye.

It is said that people focus on what they lack; this “puppy” Xie Changsheng usually cared most about the etiquette others showed him. When Gu Feiyi had refused to kneel in the past, Xie Changsheng’s whip had frequently found its way onto his body. If Xie Changsheng were faking, he would surely show some crack in his armor.

Gu Feiyi’s peripheral vision took in every move. He saw Xie Changsheng being pulled up from the mud by a servant. The prince didn’t seem to mind his or the servants’ discourteous behavior at all. Instead, he was smiling cheerfully. His shimmering eyes were curved into a sincere arc that Gu Feiyi had never seen before.

Inside the hall, Gu Feiyi dismissed all the servants.

Xie Changsheng had no defenses. Upon entering, he found a chair and plopped down, shouting that he was thirsty: “I’m thirsty↑, thirsty↓, thirsty↑, thirsty↓…”

Gu Feiyi’s eyes swept over the trail of muddy footprints Xie Changsheng had left, then thought about how the boy had just sat directly on the ground; he would surely get that chair dirty.

Gu Feiyi couldn’t help but frown: “There is tea in the pot.”

Xie Changsheng looked at Gu Feiyi blankly with a face full of idiocy, as if he couldn’t comprehend what “in the pot” meant. Although reluctant, Gu Feiyi eventually poured a cup of tea and handed it to him.

Xie Changsheng reached out to take it. Gu Feiyi’s frown deepened. He saw Xie Changsheng’s hands. Undeniably, they were beautiful hands—well-proportioned and fair, with long, slender fingers. But they were covered in mud.

Gu Feiyi felt a sudden urge to wipe them clean with a handkerchief. He inwardly cursed his own “servile nature.”

He thrust the cup into Xie Changsheng’s hands. The prince, who hadn’t stopped complaining of thirst, didn’t drink immediately. Instead, he used his mouth to blow a string of bubbles along the rim of the cup.

This cup is a loss.

Gu Feiyi hid his disgust and stood firmly in front of Xie Changsheng. His tall figure cast a shadow over the prince, carrying an air of endless pressure. Because of the close proximity, the cold plum fragrance from Gu Feiyi’s body mixed with the scent of the tea in Xie Changsheng’s hand.

Xie Changsheng felt an urge to shiver but suppressed it. He kept his head down, busy puffing out his cheeks to blow bubbles in the tea, refusing to look up. The two remained in a stalemate for a long time. Just as Xie Changsheng’s heart was leaping into his throat, a cold hand suddenly gripped his chin, forcing him to look up.

Their eyes met. Xie Changsheng saw the intense scrutiny in Gu Feiyi’s gaze. He stared back dazed, repeatedly telling himself to stay calm.

Gu Feiyi used his fingertips to stroke the soft flesh of Xie Changsheng’s chin twice. He asked: “I heard that a few days ago, the Little Highness hit his head?”

He watched the prince’s expression closely. Xie Changsheng continued to stare at him blankly. Upon hearing the question, his face crumpled: “Head hurts.”

Saying this, Xie Changsheng grabbed Gu Feiyi’s wrist and guided his hand to the back of his own head. Gu Feiyi actually slid his fingertips into the thick hair to feel around. He didn’t find a scar. Perhaps it had healed.

Gu Feiyi withdrew his hand and asked: “Chang Nianping says the Little Highness has become a simpleton, but from where I stand, you seem quite clever.”

“I suspect the Little Highness is playing a fool for a reason.”

He spoke with total conviction. Xie Changsheng chuckled and nodded: “That’s right, I’m not a fool.”

Gu Feiyi’s eyes instantly turned sharp. Yet Xie Changsheng seemed oblivious: “Yang Luo says I know how to eat by myself. I’m very smart.”

Gu Feiyi: “…”

Gu Feiyi pondered for a moment, then broke into a smile. He had a cold countenance; his usual mocking smirk was scary enough, but this actual smile was even more terrifying. He reached out to straighten Xie Changsheng’s collar. His finger slid down the neckline, finally tapping against the prince’s heart.

Despite the seemingly intimate gesture, Xie Changsheng only felt a scalp-numbing threat. He exerted all his strength to remain steady, terrified that his accelerating heartbeat would betray him.

Gu Feiyi’s low voice sounded very close to his ear.

“But I understood… the meaning of those mud figures…”

The finger tapping against Xie Changsheng’s heart pressed harder: “The Little Highness surely knows how much capability I have. If you don’t mind, I can become your sharpest blade.”

Gu Feiyi’s speaking speed slowed down, like a whirlpool dragging one into the abyss: “Whatever the Little Highness wants, I can give it to you.”

Xie Changsheng gave an “Oh” and asked: “What’s a ‘blade’?”

Gu Feiyi choked for a second. “A weapon.”

“You’re lying to me. I’m in a Palace Intrigue novel, not an Immortal Cultivation story. How could you be a weapon?”

…What on earth? The words were pronounced perfectly, but when put together, he couldn’t understand them. Could it be that those mud figures had no deep meaning and were just a coincidence?

Looking at Xie Changsheng’s vacant gaze and nonsensical speech, the suspicion in Gu Feiyi’s heart finally faded by thirty percent. However, he still didn’t dare relax his guard. Just as he was about to test him again, Xie Changsheng began muttering to himself incessantly.

“Speaking of sword spirits, luckily I’m not one. Going to a cultivation novel to be a Shizun… blackened, imprisoned, the little dark room, forced love…”

“And having babies!” Xie Changsheng suddenly looked up into Gu Feiyi’s eyes. “I almost had a baby and ran away with the ‘ball’!”

Gu Feiyi: “…”

What sword spirit? What having babies? What is all this gibberish?

Looking at the muttering prince, he finally believed—eight or nine parts out of ten—that Xie Changsheng was truly a fool. After a long silence, Gu Feiyi let out a cold laugh: “…Who would have thought you’d truly become an idiot.”

It was a soft, mocking observation, but Xie Changsheng suddenly looked up at him.

“What is your name?” Xie Changsheng asked.

Gu Feiyi looked at him. He clearly remembered telling him his name last time, but Xie Changsheng hadn’t remembered it. He suppressed his impatience: “Gu Feiyi.”

“Gu Feiyi, I am Xie Changsheng.”

Xie Changsheng told him dazed: “I am not an idiot.”

“But…” Gu Feiyi seemed to find a malicious sense of play. “You are an idiot.”

“Gu Feiyi.”

“What, Your Highness?”

“I am Xie Changsheng.”

“I am not an idiot.”

Gu Feiyi: …

Not only a simpleton, but a stubborn one.

Xie Changsheng gazed into Gu Feiyi’s eyes: “You fool, don’t you know I’m very smart?”

Hearing a fool call him a “fool,” Gu Feiyi’s first reaction was one of absurdity. He let out a sharp laugh: “…”

It wasn’t that Gu Feiyi didn’t laugh; he usually wore a mocking, half-smile. But this was the first time he had laughed so broadly. This laugh, however, felt like a wild beast finally tearing off its human skin mask, making one’s spine go cold.

Xie Changsheng’s heart trembled. He didn’t dare look further and immediately lowered his gaze, whistling. Fortunately, the laugh came and went quickly. Gu Feiyi regained his composure, returning to his cold, “transcendent being” appearance.

“I must go serve the Emperor. Does the Little Highness wish to come with me?”

Xie Changsheng acted as if he didn’t understand, offering no reaction. Gu Feiyi was satisfied with this performance: “It seems our paths don’t align. Take good care of your health, Little Highness.”

The words “good” and “care” were pronounced by Gu Feiyi in a strange, mocking tone. Xie Changsheng seemed not to notice. The servants who had been dismissed were called back, supporting Xie Changsheng on both sides as they walked out. At the door, perhaps because the pace was too fast, Xie Changsheng tripped over his own feet and stumbled.

Behind him, Gu Feiyi let out a light chuckle. Xie Changsheng heard his voice: “Feng Wang, take this chair and this cup out and throw them away.”

After leaving Gu Feiyi’s quarters, Xie Changsheng clenched his fists inside his sleeves. That was terrifying.

Walking slowly on his own, for some reason, he remembered the passage in Storm of the Throne Struggle describing Gu Feiyi’s entry into the palace. Gu Feiyi had entered at fourteen. The old Emperor was fatuous and murderous; every day, countless corpses wrapped in mats were hauled out of the side gates. Everyone knew that entering the palace meant putting your head on the line. There was no telling when it might drop.

But what choice was there? Taxes were too high, the family was too poor—they couldn’t even afford a bite of food. While other boys cried waiting for their castration, Gu Feiyi didn’t cry. There was even a trace of a smile on his lips. Once his name was registered, he walked into the room himself without needing to be dragged.

After the procedure, Gu Feiyi had a fever for three days. He fainted and woke repeatedly. Two other youths on the mats beside him were replaced, the room filled with heart-wrenching wails. Yet Gu Feiyi didn’t let out a single sob.

Once the fever broke and his body healed, he was reborn. In less than a year, he became the Emperor’s most trusted “hound.” He could carry out deeds that made others turn pale with a completely expressionless face. It was as if he had no heart, no warmth.

When reading the book, Xie Changsheng just thought Gu Feiyi was a “cool guy.” But facing him for real, in an adversarial relationship, Xie Changsheng realized he had merely been “Lord Ye who loved dragons” (loving the idea of something but fearing the reality).

He took several deep breaths and walked in circles along the path until his stiff body finally relaxed. But he was truly spooked. That night, he dreamed of Gu Feiyi stabbing his kidneys with a small knife. While stabbing him, Gu Feiyi fed him snacks.

Following that was a feeling of suffocation. Xie Changsheng felt he was running out of air. He snapped his eyes open and realized the suffocation wasn’t an illusion—Xie Hemiao was pinching his nose.

The strong scent of alcohol mixed with incense filled his nostrils, causing him to sneeze three times in a row. Xie Changsheng unhappily swatted Xie Hemiao’s hand away and tried to fall back asleep.

Xie Hemiao was quick, grabbing Xie Changsheng by the collar.

“Little Fool, stop sleeping,” the Second Prince said with a drunken, slurred laugh. “Imperial Father has prepared a palace banquet for the officials. Get up and get ready.”