When the Deposed Crown Prince Was Reborn as Troublemaker - Chapter 96

Upon seeing You Yusui’s reaction, Huo Xiling knew he had been too hasty.

Memories of his past life flashed through his mind again. You Yusui remembered that it had been an autumn — the emperor had left the palace and kept him behind to oversee the realm. You Yushan had joined forces with Prince Qi to stage a rebellion: Prince Qi’s forces went to intercept and kill the emperor, while You Yushan attacked the imperial palace.

The palace defenses had been thin and weak. He and the imperial guards had held out together for three days and three nights before being overwhelmed. His last memory was of spears thrusting into his body one after another, leaving him to die in agony and despair. That night, no one had been able to save him.

Suddenly engulfed by the memory of that death and its anguish, You Yusui lifted his head in a daze and looked at Huo Xiling sitting beside him. The feeling of having his secret suddenly exposed filled You Yusui with panic. Without waiting for Huo Xiling to say anything more, You Yusui swept all the pastries Huo Xiling had brought back off the table and onto the floor.

The fragrant, sweet pastries scattered across the ground, porcelain shattered with a clatter, and You Yusui’s whole body trembled.

“Your Highness…”

“Get out!” You Yusui lowered his head and pointed toward the doorway.

Huo Xiling reached out to steady You Yusui, but You Yusui swatted his hand away.

“Get out! Didn’t you hear me? Must this prince say it again?” You Yusui snapped.

With that, You Yusui grabbed the remaining pastries scattered on the table and hurled them at Huo Xiling, trying to drive him out of his world.

“Get out!”

Huo Xiling did not dodge. He let You Yusui pelt him with the pastries.

At that moment, Eunuch Fubao heard the commotion outside and came in.

“What is all this fuss about?” Eunuch Fubao asked, looking at the mess strewn across the floor.

Then Fubao reached out to pull Huo Xiling aside, who had been getting hit with things by You Yusui.

“Young General Huo, please don’t do this — step outside for now and don’t provoke His Highness further. This old servant will speak with His Highness.”

Huo Xiling looked at You Yusui, who was lashing out like a wounded, cornered animal, and said, “Whenever His Highness calls for me, I will be there at once.”

You Yusui paid no heed. A cup flew and struck Huo Xiling on the forehead.

“Get out!”

Eunuch Fubao watched the cup open a gash on Huo Xiling’s forehead and couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. What had come over His Highness? Hadn’t he always been fondest of Young General Huo? He would fret for ages over even a bruise on the young general — how could he bring himself to wound him like this?

Huo Xiling ultimately left, and he blamed himself for his own impulsiveness. He should not have laid everything bare at a time like this — he ought to have waited until he was a little more capable, until His Highness trusted him a little more.

Even so, Huo Xiling had already seen from You Yusui’s reaction that what he had dreamed was something You Yusui had truly lived through.

Being condemned to death for treason, being run through by enemy spears — his Crown Prince had endured both with his own body. Huo Xiling did not know what feelings he carried as he walked out of the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace.

After Huo Xiling left, You Yusui seemed to lose all strength and slumped into the chair, his expression vacant, his awareness of the world around him growing dull.

Eunuch Fubao stood beside him, his heart aching with sorrow, and could not help but say, “What was all that about? What were you two quarreling over?”

“Your Highness, this old servant shouldn’t say so, but Young General Huo treats you better than anyone in the world. If something is troubling you, you ought to tell him. Fighting like this is hard on both of you.”

You Yusui lifted his head in a daze and said, “Tell him what?”

Tell him that he was a monster? A monster who died and kept being reborn, over and over again? How could anyone ever believe that?

He was not a normal person at all — he was nothing but a monster surviving alone through time, and on top of that, he had the audacity to covet all of Huo Xiling’s love.

If Huo Xiling ever found out, how would he look at him?

You Yusui was filled with dread and unease, his eyes taking on a slightly unhinged quality.

“Your Highness, Your Highness, please don’t cry.” Eunuch Fubao said in a flustered panic.

He wanted to call Huo Xiling back, but Huo Xiling had already been driven out by You Yusui just moments ago.

Eunuch Fubao was so anxious he went around in circles. Why weren’t Cui Yan or Xie Tan in the palace right now?

In the end, Fubao waited until You Yusui had cried himself to exhaustion before helping him to bed, privately sighing to himself that it would have been so much better if Huo Xiling were here.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Jiang Yan — who had the ability to control birds — had already completed the medicine delivery from the courtyard Xie Tan had purchased beside Prince Yan’s residence.

Li Xiyue, who had been napping inside Prince Yan’s residence at midday, was jolted awake by a pouch of medicine landing on her. The moment she opened her eyes, the bird that had delivered it darted out through the window and was gone.

Li Xiyue immediately hid the pouch containing the medicinal pills, and only after making certain no one was about to come in did she open the silk sachet and unfold the note inside.

Then Li Xiyue could not help but smile. She had originally feared the sachet she sent out would sink without a trace, yet she had finally received a reply.

The note clearly explained the effects and side effects of the Zhufang pills, as well as how to use them. Once Li Xiyue had read it through, she quickly destroyed the note.

She then sat up on the bed and called out, “Xiao Lian, come and help me with my hair and makeup.”

The maidservant Li Xiyue had rescued walked in and looked at her sitting before the dressing mirror. “My Lady, what style of makeup would you like today?”

Li Xiyue gazed at her own face in the mirror — pale, yet lacking nothing in its striking beauty — and said, “Seductive. The kind that makes people want to pity you.”

Xiao Lian beside her was overjoyed upon hearing this. My Lady had finally come around and decided to compete for his favor.

“My Lady, rest assured — your servant will make you the most beautiful woman in all of Chang’an.” Xiao Lian picked up the comb and said.

“You and your silver tongue.” Li Xiyue lowered her gaze and smiled.

Half an hour later, Li Xiyue looked at herself in the mirror with great satisfaction. Her brows were like distant misty mountains, her eyes brimming with unspoken feeling, the corners lightly brushed with rouge to a soft red that carried an air of allure all its own — every expression and smile stirred a tenderness in the heart.

“It’s a pity that My Lady’s gowns are all so dignified and proper. Otherwise…”

Li Xiyue curved the corner of her lips and said, “Go fetch the clothes I wore before I was married.”

“Yes.” Xiao Lian hurried off to get them.

Li Xiyue then stepped out from behind the folding screen dressed in a hundred-flower trailing skirt overlaid with a butterfly-patterned gauze robe. The ensemble made her look all the more delicately enchanting and pitiably lovely.

“My Lady is truly breathtaking.” Xiao Lian could not help but exclaim.

Li Xiyue glanced at Xiao Lian and said, “Since you know that, why aren’t you quickly going to invite His Highness over? Tell him I was plagued by a nightmare this afternoon and beg him to come see me.”

“Yes.” Xiao Lian immediately went upon hearing this to Mo Shanshan’s quarters to invite You Yuyi.

In the courtyard where Mo Shanshan resided, You Yuyi was paying a visit to Mo Shanshan, who had suffered a miscarriage and was confined to bed.

Mo Shanshan looked at the man before her with eyes full of disappointment. He had clearly been present at the Duanwu Banquet, yet You Yuyi had not appeared before her until the third day after her miscarriage.

He said his imperial mother had kept him occupied and he hadn’t been able to come see her — but if he had truly wanted to, couldn’t he have refused the Imperial Noble Consort’s suggestion that he stay overnight in the palace? Couldn’t he?

“I understand, Your Highness.” Mo Shanshan lowered her head and said in a meek voice.

You Yuyi beside her wore a look of satisfaction. If every woman who miscarried made such a scene as Li Xiyue had — crying, screaming, threatening to die — it would truly be insufferable.

Just at that moment, the maidservant from Princess Yan Li Xiyue’s side came to request an audience.

Upon hearing this, You Yuyi paused and said, “Let her in.”

The moment Xiao Lian walked in, she glanced at Mo Shanshan lying in bed and said, “My Lady was plagued by a nightmare and begs His Highness to come see her.”

Xiao Lian’s words came out rushed and aggrieved. Mo Shanshan, seeing this, could not help but say, “Your Highness, please go quickly.”

“Very well, I’ll go take a look.” With that, You Yuyi rose and left.

After You Yuyi had gone, the maidservant attending Mo Shanshan said resentfully, “Secondary Consort, you are far too soft-hearted. You’re lying ill in bed, and yet the Princess Consort puts on a performance to steal His Highness away — it really is…”

Mo Shanshan said nothing. Without the Princess Consort, even if she hadn’t drowned at the Duanwu Banquet, she would have been cut down by the world’s cruel words and scorn.

In the main chambers of the prince’s residence, Li Xiyue reclined languidly at the edge of the bed. She had already taken the Zhufang pill, and at this moment a faint, bewitching fragrance drifted from her, stirring the heart.

Upon hearing You Yuyi’s footsteps, Li Xiyue gently opened her eyes — soft and full of feeling, enchantingly lovely — and a single “Your Highness, I am frightened” was enough to make You Yuyi go weak in the bones.

The Li Xiyue before him was nothing like the imperious woman she had once been. After a long illness, she now carried about her the fragile, heartrending air of a beauty felled by sickness. You Yuyi found her far more gentle and docile than before, and far more pleasing.

Li Xiyue then had Xiao Lian bring wine to heighten the mood, and as naturally as one thing leading to another, she kept You Yuyi there, beginning a stretch of nights filled with revelry.

The old matron assigned to watch over Li Xiyue listened to the sounds from within the chamber and spat in contempt. “Vixen.”

Soon, the night had grown deep. You Yusui had also been curled up in a ball on his bed the entire day.

Eunuch Fubao had knocked several times to call You Yusui to eat, but You Yusui had not responded.

It was not until the last watch of the night that You Yusui once again sank into the dreams of his past lives.

He had been framed for treason and condemned to death. He had worn himself to his grave managing state affairs. He had been slain in You Yushan and Prince Qi’s rebellion… He had been stabbed to death by a refugee during disaster relief.

The deaths of his past lives appeared vividly in his dreams, forcing him to face death once more in despair, to endure the agony of dying and being reborn, again and again.

Having lived life after life, he was a monster! A monster through and through!

How could he ever tell Huo Xiling that he was a monster! He didn’t want Huo Xiling to leave him.

Suddenly a crack of thunder split the sky. You Yusui jolted awake from his dream. A fierce wind blew the window open, and the gauze curtains inside the room billowed and twisted in the wind like clawing, writhing ghosts.

You Yusui scrambled out of bed and groped through the pitch-black room, crying out in a panic, “Huo Xiling, Huo Xiling, where are you? Where are you!”

His voice fell, and then another thunderclap sounded. Then came the sound of rain — a great downpour falling from the sky.

Just as You Yusui was completely lost and at a loss, he fell into a pair of familiar arms — so familiar that it made You Yusui want to weep and sob.

“Your Highness, I am here. I have always been here.” Huo Xiling said soothingly. “Whenever Your Highness calls for me, I will appear.”

Upon hearing this, You Yusui could not hold back his tears and cried out, pleading, “Please don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.”

Huo Xiling stroked You Yusui’s long hair and said, “Your Highness, if you don’t want to speak of it, then don’t. I won’t ask either. When you want to tell me, tell me then.”

“All right.”