The White Moonlight Turns Out to Be a Black-Hearted Lotus - Chapter 8

Pei Xu’s listless appearance worried Ji Yuanhui. He leaned down, picked the man up, and headed toward the bedroom.

Even being lifted didn’t elicit much of a reaction from Pei Xu; he simply took the initiative to wrap his arms around Ji Yuanhui’s neck and pressed his cheek against the Prince’s chest, looking entirely wilted.

“Why so dispirited? Do you have a fever again?” Upon entering the bedroom, Ji Yuanhui set him down, brushed aside his bangs, and pressed his own forehead against Pei Xu’s. After a moment of feeling the temperature, he asked in confusion, “It’s not hot… are you uncomfortable elsewhere?”

[Am I being too fastidious? Will this make him loathe me?]

[His Highness is also very tired; I shouldn’t cause more trouble.]

“I’ve made Your Highness worry. It’s a small matter; I’m not physically unwell,” Pei Xu said softly. “I simply encountered someone I dislike, and it left me feeling frustrated and a bit weary.”

“How can you say you aren’t unwell? Discomfort in the heart is still discomfort.” Ji Yuanhui’s thumb gently brushed over his cheek. “How could this be a ‘small matter’? Your unhappiness is already a matter of the utmost importance.”

While Pei Xu was still dazed, Ji Yuanhui leaned in and kissed his left cheek. “How about this? Does it feel a bit better?”

Seeing no reaction, Ji Yuanhui rubbed his chin. “I am this handsome; how could selling my charms fail to win a smile from a beauty? It must be because I haven’t ‘sold’ enough yet.”

With that, he added another kiss to Pei Xu’s right cheek. They were extremely close. Ji Yuanhui rested his forehead against Pei Xu’s, looking at the person right before his eyes. His tone unconsciously softened as he inquired in a gentle whisper, “Do you like it? Do you want more?”

Pei Xu gazed at him fixedly. All his sharp defensiveness had vanished, and even his voice turned soft as he let out a small “Mm.”

Ji Yuanhui continued to let kisses fall upon his forehead and the tip of his nose. Pei Xu relaxed significantly, closing his eyes and allowing the kisses to land everywhere.

Suddenly, Ji Yuanhui’s movements stopped. Pei Xu opened his eyes in confusion, only to see Ji Yuanhui’s gaze fixed upon his lips.

Seeing Pei Xu open his eyes, Ji Yuanhui met his gaze without hesitation and pressed a very light kiss against his lips. Pei Xu knew this was a question, so he raised his hands to hook around Ji Yuanhui’s neck.

Ji Yuanhui understood; this was consent. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his voice turned somewhat dry and raspy. “Rongrong, open your mouth.”

Pei Xu cooperated fully, parting his lips to allow the other’s tongue to surge in, sweeping and plundering with the urgency of a bandit. His brain grew sluggish and blurred from the lack of oxygen, and his body felt weightless, like a small boat amidst ocean waves, liable to drown in the storm at any moment.

[I like him… I like His Highness…]

[If only I could get even closer.]

Pei Xu thought chaotically.

At some point, Ji Yuanhui had taken hold of his hand, their fingers interlocking tightly as he gave a gentle squeeze.

Pei Xu’s mind was in a whirl, and he didn’t immediately grasp Ji Yuanhui’s meaning.

Ji Yuanhui was clearly unsatisfied, yet he still pulled away. Pei Xu clung to him, following the trajectory of his retreat, only to be held back by Ji Yuanhui pinching his chin.

“You’re nearly kissing yourself into a faint, yet you still want more?” Ji Yuanhui found it somewhat amusing; his gaze lingered on the moisture-stained lips. “Why haven’t you learned how to breathe yet, Rongrong?”

Pei Xu blinked, his brain catching up half a beat late. He then realized that their current posture was… scandalous.

During the kissing, they had somehow ended up holding each other; the closer they got, the more entangled they became. Now, he was sitting entirely on Ji Yuanhui’s lap. One of Ji Yuanhui’s hands was interlaced with his, while the other rested on his waist, occasionally giving a squeeze to “skim some oil.”

Ji Yuanhui was still talking to himself: “How can you be so easy to coax, so obedient…”

Pei Xu shifted, attempting to get off Ji Yuanhui. It would have been fine if he hadn’t moved, but with that single movement, Pei Xu felt something pressing against him.

Ji Yuanhui’s body stiffened, and Pei Xu froze as well. He seemed uncertain, so he moved again—only to have his waist firmly pinned down by Ji Yuanhui.

Ji Yuanhui ground his teeth. “You little ancestor, stop moving.”

“Is Your Highness…” Ji Yuanhui’s indulgence made him increasingly bold. Pei Xu looked down, though his view was blocked by the layers of clothing. “Is that… happening?”

“Is this some rare occurrence?” Unable to endure it any longer, Ji Yuanhui swatted his backside and shook his chin slightly. “Still rubbing? You know what it is, and you’re still rubbing? Are you asking for it?”

“Mm…” Pei Xu’s chin was being held, but his eyes couldn’t help but peek downward out of curiosity.

Ji Yuanhui felt he should be understanding; at seventeen or eighteen, it was the age of having only a partial understanding of such things. Curiosity was normal.

“Curious?” Before Pei Xu could react, Ji Yuanhui pulled his hand to touch the spot through the fabric. “Did you feel it?”

Pei Xu was startled, snapping his hand back instantly. He looked utterly shocked, and a blush rapidly spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

Ji Yuanhui soon knew exactly what he was thinking.

[So hot.]

[Doing it directly… I would die, wouldn’t I?]

[His Highness wouldn’t have the heart to let me die.]

As expected, he was like Lord Ye, who claimed to love dragons but was terrified of the real thing; as soon as he was shown the reality, he turned into a frightened quail.

Ji Yuanhui deliberately leaned against his ear and asked, “Still curious?”

Pei Xu buried his head into the Prince’s chest to play dead, remaining silent.

After a long while, Pei Xu tugged at his clothes. “Your Highness, what should we do?”

Ji Yuanhui asked, “What do you mean by ‘what should we do’?”

“This…” Pei Xu pointed and asked in a small voice, “What do we do about this?”

“What else can be done?” Ji Yuanhui tried his best to remain calm. “Just leave it alone; it’ll go down in a while.”

“Is that really okay?” Pei Xu organized his wording. “But it seems… very spirited.”

Ji Yuanhui covered his mouth, the veins on his forehead throbbing. “Just don’t speak and don’t move, and it’ll be fine.”

…

After having dinner, when they returned to the room, the plum blossom branch Ji Yuanhui had brought back had already been trimmed by Butler Zhang and placed in a prominent spot in a vase.

Pei Xu brushed the petals, somewhat surprised. “The Awakening of Insects is nearly here, yet there are still such well-bloomed plum blossoms.”

“They’re from the mountain at the Taoist temple.” Ji Yuanhui glanced up before returning to his paperwork. “Do you remember that white-haired Taoist who came to check your pulse a few days ago when you were sick? I plucked it from his place.”

Back then, Pei Xu had been in a feverish daze and couldn’t recall the physician’s face at all; he only vaguely remembered a head of dazzling white hair. He had been sick for many days without improvement, but after that man visited and left a prescription, he recovered after only a few doses.

“Was he actually a Taoist?” Pei Xu tried to remember, but still couldn’t recall the face. “That elderly gentleman’s medical skills are superb; I assumed he was some Imperial Physician from the palace.”

Ji Yuanhui propped up his head and urged, “Sometimes he is more useful than the Imperial Physicians. The medicine you’re taking now to nourish your body was also prescribed by him. Remember to drink it every day; don’t skip it.”

Pei Xu agreed and sat down beside Ji Yuanhui. “Your Highness seems very busy lately.”

“Usually, I am quite idle; it’s only right to be busy once in a while.” Ji Yuanhui’s brush moved in fits and starts. “War has broken out in the Jing Kingdom to the east, and the situation is unstable. If the one who raised the troops wins, the Ministry of Rites must be prepared to work with the Honglu Temple to send the Jing Kingdom’s hostage prince back. They are father and son, after all; even if we don’t send him, they will ask for him. It’s better to do the new monarch a favor.”

“There is also the Spring Imperial Examination in March, which is fully hosted by the Ministry of Rites.” Ji Yuanhui rubbed his temples, frowning. “These densely packed characters are truly enough to make one’s head spin.”

Pei Xu took the opportunity to say, “If only I could assist Your Highness in some way.”

Ji Yuanhui raised an eyebrow and stopped writing to look at him. “You really want to enter officialdom?”

Pei Xu nodded honestly. “Yes.”

“I have submitted your name to the Ministry of Personnel, but which position you can fill is not something I can say for certain.” Ji Yuanhui sighed with feigned seriousness. “Your Highness’s reach only goes so far; my abilities are truly limited. It’s quite shameful.”

For every word Ji Yuanhui spoke, Pei Xu’s eyes grew a fraction brighter. From the sounds of it, the arrangement was already mostly settled.

“Any department is fine…” Pei Xu said in a low voice. “As long as there is an opportunity.”

“Your studies are clearly not lacking; why didn’t you participate in the Imperial Examinations?” Ji Yuanhui was still somewhat puzzled. “Literati love to nitpick over this. If you aren’t a Jinshi graduate, even if you become one of the Three Ducal Ministers in the future, people will inevitably gossip behind your back about you being ‘nothing more than a beneficiary of ancestral privilege.'”

“I don’t care about those things.” Pei Xu looked down and smiled. “Back when I was at home, my father… he had no intention of letting me enter officialdom. Your Highness is generous, but the examinations happen only once every three years; I cannot wait.”

Ji Yuanhui listened, resting his face in his hand. “What is the hurry?”

“In the eighteenth year of Mingde, there was a major case. A high-ranking official of the third rank, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, was stabbed to death outside the Prime Minister’s estate. The case bypassed the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ministry of Justice simply grabbed a few scapegoats to close it. In the end, it was left unresolved.” Pei Xu looked at Ji Yuanhui. “Does Your Highness have any memory of this?”

Ji Yuanhui nodded. “That matter was handled quite disgracefully. Although I wasn’t in the capital at the time, I heard about eighty or ninety percent of it. It is said that the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review at the time was a close friend of the Chancellor. He knelt before the Emperor to beg for a retrial, but shortly after, the Chief Minister was dismissed and imprisoned. He is still being held in the Ministry of Justice’s prison to this day.”

“My teacher is that wrongly imprisoned Chief Minister, Lord Lu.” Pei Xu’s fingers tightened on his robe. “After parting with Your Highness in Western Long, I was brought back to the capital. But only a month later, I was sent away to Dongling Prefecture.”

He looked up and smiled, adding, “My father doesn’t like me much, nor does the new madam. My younger siblings… they are the same. Having me around was an eyesore, so I was sent away.”

“In Dongling, I began studying at the Dongling Academy. It was originally the clan school of the local Xuan family, but it later expanded to accept outside students. The head of the academy at the time was Lord Xuan Shu, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, who hailed from the Dongling Xuan clan.”

“Lord Lu of the Court of Judicial Review and Lord Xuan were from the same hometown and passed the examinations in the same year; they were very close. In their spare time, they would often visit the academy to test the students’ progress,” Pei Xu said. “Lord Lu gave me much guidance on my essays. Later, I studied under him and became one of his students.”

“One of? Did Lord Lu have many students?” What Ji Yuanhui had heard was different, so he asked casually, “The one from this afternoon was also one?”

“Not many. The teacher only had my Senior Brother, myself, and…” Pei Xu seemed to feel that even being associated with that person was degrading. He let out a breath. “And Duan Xi. The three of us.”

That made sense. According to the information gathered years ago, Lord Lu was very upright and didn’t have a wide social circle; he didn’t seem like someone who would have many disciples.

Ji Yuanhui continued, “You and that Junior Brother of yours don’t get along? If the relationship is bad, why see him at all?”

“We were classmates for four years and studied under the same teacher. I thought there might be some shred of camaraderie left, and I was worried he might have come regarding our teacher’s matter…” Pei Xu’s eyes darkened. “I was overthinking it.”

[If only Senior Brother were still here.]

Ji Yuanhui looked up imperceptibly, his gaze sweeping over Pei Xu’s dejected face, but he said nothing more.

He knew of Pei Xu’s Senior Brother, the only son of the deceased Chancellor Xuan. He was said to be a man of both talent and virtue, exceptionally handsome, and a truly perfect figure.

Unfortunately, he died young, so there wasn’t much more to say.

“Two years in Western Long, four years in Dongling…” Ji Yuanhui reached out, his fingertips threading through Pei Xu’s hair, gently rubbing it. “Rongrong has suffered much these years.”

Pei Xu leaned into his palm and shook his head with his eyes closed. “Being by Your Highness’s side for those two years in Western Long wasn’t suffering. Those four years in Dongling with the protection of my teachers weren’t bitter either. Later, when Your Highness returned to the capital and my family shoved me to your side to be a study companion…”

“I thought Your Highness would distance yourself from me because of that, but you didn’t. You were still willing to listen to me.” He smiled, his expression very gentle. “It is already very good.”

“Knowing I might distance myself, yet you still chose this path?” Ji Yuanhui couldn’t help but frown. “What if I refused to trust you? What if the Crown Prince discovered your disloyalty and retaliated before you even entered my estate? What would you have done then?”

“But I missed Your Highness too much.” Pei Xu opened his eyes to look at him, his expression almost obsessive.

He seemed to realize his gaze wasn’t its usual submissive self, so he immediately looked down to hide his emotions. “There was no shorter path to take. Your Highness was at the other end of the road; any risk was worth it.”

Ji Yuanhui felt burned by that gaze and looked away, asking a different question. “If you could choose, which of the Six Ministries would you like to join?”

Pei Xu didn’t hesitate for a second. “The Ministry of Justice.”

“The taxes of the Ministry of Revenue or the river works of the Ministry of Works are both lucrative places.” Ji Yuanhui looked at him and pressed, “Do you really not want to go there?”

Pei Xu’s expression remained unchanged. “If a high salary is accepted without regard for propriety and righteousness, what does that wealth add to me?”

Ji Yuanhui smiled. “I understand.”