SEHE Chapter 22

Comfort

Pei Yanci carried food, medicine, and some external wound ointments as he pushed open the courtyard gate of Gu Jiuqing’s residence.

Peach blossoms were falling rustling throughout the garden, blooming brilliantly. By the latticed window sat a figure holding a scroll, his gaze having long drifted toward the peach blossoms outside the window.

For the past two days, His Highness the Crown Prince had done nothing but read and sleep. His naturally quiet disposition had now become even more deathly silent. Pei Yanci had been chatting cheerfully with the imperial guards outside the mansion these days and had nearly forgotten to bring him his meals.

He placed the food on the table beside Gu Jiuqing. “Your Highness, it’s time to eat.”

He called several times before the man withdrew his gaze from outside the window.

“Which restaurant did you order from today?” Gu Jiuqing glanced over and only then picked up his chopsticks.

“Zhuanghong Tavern.”

Pei Yanci secretly observed his expression—cold as frost, face like carved jade, the same as always. Only in the fleeting moments when his gaze shifted could one occasionally glimpse the confusion and helplessness in his eyes.

Just as he had said that day, he could no longer breathe.

“Eat together,” he indicated.

“Yes.” Pei Yanci had been eating at the same table with him for the past two days. At first, he had wondered why this usually aloof person had suddenly become so approachable. Only after picking up his chopsticks did he realize that this man only ate the dishes he had touched first.

Gu Jiuqing was afraid he had put something else in the food.

After realizing this, Pei Yanci couldn’t help but find it both amusing and exasperating. Should he say this person was too suspicious, or that his cautious nature was prudent and steady?

However, the Elu Bureau had even arrested the chamber pot carriers in the mansion. His appearance was indeed too abrupt.

Still, when everyone thought Gu Jiuqing would completely lose power this time, only he had stepped forward to support and accompany him. This kind of opportunity was rare.

Although both Gu Jiuqing and he understood in their hearts that this staff turmoil would ultimately settle peacefully.

When he obtained the registry of the Crown Prince’s Mansion, he knew this person wouldn’t lose power so easily.

Since he had long anticipated this day, how could he not have made corresponding preparations for the current situation?

After swallowing a mouthful of rice, he watched the person who was counting rice grains as he ate, and picked up a chopstick full of lamb slices to put in his bowl.

Gu Jiuqing’s expression grew even colder, as if frost had condensed on his face.

“You must take care of your health,” Pei Yanci said with curved eyebrows and eyes. “Your Highness is blessed with great fortune and is the true Son of Heaven. How could you possibly be harmed by those petty people? No matter what, His Majesty still understands who is close and who is distant.”

“You don’t understand.”

Gu Jiuqing replied casually, staring at the food in his bowl, for a moment neither eating nor not eating.

If he didn’t eat, the man had at least shown genuine concern and tried to comfort him with sincere intentions.

If he ate, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Food touched by another’s chopsticks—he found it dirty.

“Her Majesty the Empress, and the Zheng family behind her, couldn’t possibly abandon Your Highness,” Pei Yanci said, seeing him put down his chopsticks and eat even more enthusiastically himself.

Compared to the servants’ meal portions from the past few days, this was like the difference between pig slop and delicacies. Although he had endured hardship, he had truly adapted to it.

“It’s useless.” If it were that simple, he wouldn’t be so worried.

Gu Jiuqing perhaps had too many things bottled up in his heart. He put down his chopsticks and said, “The Empress and her family only support this prince because the former Crown Prince was persecuted to death by Tang Xizhui. This prince is merely a banner they use to rally forces opposing the eunuch faction. If something happens to this prince, they’ll support other princes without hesitation.”

“But speaking of supporting other princes, how could that be so easy?” Pei Yanci leisurely drank some wine, adding flavor to his bland mouth. “The other princes are still underage. What kind of temperament they have is still unknown, and they have their own maternal relatives and external relations. How could they be willing to let the Zheng family share a piece of the pie?”

His expression showed some irritation. “The Zheng family has encountered some trouble recently.”

“What trouble?” Pei Yanci bit into some salt-and-pepper roasted duck—salty, fragrant, and crispy. Not bad.

“Prime Minister Zheng’s father died suddenly a few days ago while having an affair with his concubine at a separate residence.”

“Hmm?” Pei Yanci looked up and put down the duck.

This scene—why did it sound as if he had witnessed it personally?

Tang Xizhui’s demon-like smiling face suddenly flashed through his mind.

“The Zheng family is powerful, but there are also many internal conflicts of interest,” Gu Jiuqing said, his dark eyebrows furrowing. “Although Prime Minister Zheng is over forty, his grandfather is still alive. Their family has hereditary titles. Prime Minister Zheng’s father was the legitimate eldest son and was born as the heir apparent. He could become Right Prime Minister, but his father was incompetent, knowing only how to frequent brothels and live a dissolute life. His grandfather, the Marquis of the Zheng family, has been unwell recently. The other branches had already been restless, wanting to convince the old master to give the title to other branches. Now that Prime Minister Zheng’s father has died suddenly, this conflict has come out into the open.”

Pei Yanci looked at him with some pity. “So Prime Minister Zheng has been busy these days trying to secure his own title.”

Gu Jiuqing drank some wine in frustration. “This prince was in the palace for two days and didn’t see him show his face once.”

The connection of interests between them was just this fragile.

“Is this why Your Highness has been restless since returning from the palace?” Pei Yanci restrained his expression and asked gently.

Even knowing this would pass without real danger, without the Zheng family’s protection and support, he couldn’t be certain.

Great Yu was ultimately not a court that relied entirely on law. Above the law was imperial power.

The Emperor was the one who truly held the power of life and death.

Even if you had no evidence to prove that those stewards were children of noble families who served as his advisors, even if the law couldn’t touch them and Tang Xizhui couldn’t arrest them, losing the emperor’s favor was tantamount to a death sentence.

“Does Your Highness have no idea what His Majesty is thinking?” Pei Yanci asked.

“How could this prince possibly know?”

Between father and son, the only connection left was their blood relation.

He never knew what thoughts his father, who pursued immortality, concealed beneath that unpredictable expression.

He would kill his own sons without hesitation, let his most beloved concubines die as he pleased, and while everyone knew Tang Xizhui and his Elu Bureau were heinously criminal and everyone wanted to eliminate them, his father seemed neither to see nor hear, instead trusting him even more.

“Didn’t His Majesty say anything to you the day before yesterday?”

Gu Jiuqing shook his head and sighed, “He only had this prince give a general account of what happened. After that, he had this prince confined to reflect on my mistakes.”

“Looking at the wounds on Your Highness’s knees, you knelt in the palace for quite a long time,” Pei Yanci said, holding the medicine.

Gu Jiuqing, having been so mercilessly exposed, flared with anger, his gaze immediately piercing toward him like a blade.

“Your Highness was in the palace for more than two days, kneeling for so long, and only said a few words. Doesn’t this clearly show His Majesty’s attitude toward you?”

Gu Jiuqing looked up at him in surprise, his confused and troubled gaze gradually brightening.

His kneeling in the palace for two days and three nights was already the punishment for this incident.

The Emperor sending him back to his mansion, with imperial guards seemingly monitoring him, was also a form of protection.

He blamed his father for not even giving him time to explain, but this wasn’t important to begin with.

In other dynasties, the Eastern Palace officials’ positions corresponded to the entire court structure, equivalent to cultivating a team for the Crown Prince in advance and helping him adapt to future governmental affairs. Some even had Crown Prince’s Six Divisions corresponding to the Northern Barracks Imperial Guards—direct military forces that only obeyed the Crown Prince.

Gu Jiuqing secretly recruiting a few children from noble families as his advisors—this matter could be big or small, depending on how the Emperor viewed it.

Pei Yanci felt regretful in his heart. Clearly, in the current Emperor’s eyes, this matter wasn’t considered significant at all.

“It depends on whether there are any children from more powerful noble families among the stewards Your Highness recruited.”

This hope wasn’t great either.

Whether the Elu Bureau’s torture could make them tell the truth was one thing, but those willing to sign indenture contracts and temporarily stay in the mansion as stewards while serving as advisors were already marginal figures in their families, with no real voice at home. That’s why they chose this risky path, hoping to secure a good future for themselves.

Gu Jiuqing’s brow relaxed, clearly much relieved. “There’s no need to worry about that.”

This reaction further confirmed Pei Yanci’s speculation.

He had already considered all possible outcomes beforehand and wasn’t particularly surprised at this moment.

The key was how much benefit this outcome could bring him.

Gu Jiuqing picked up his chopsticks again, lifted the cold lamb slices from his bowl, put them in his mouth to chew carefully, and sighed, “If Zhang Huairu were here now, he would only keep comforting this prince, which would actually be useless and only add to this prince’s troubles.”

“Your Highness was simply caught in the maze of the situation, temporarily blinded. This humble one is just an observer with clarity, showing off some small cleverness. Chief Steward Zhang—he’s someone who thinks of Your Highness as family.”

“What this prince want is not family, not burdensome emotions, but,” he looked at the person across from him, the frost in his eyes gradually melting into dew, warm and fervent, “a way to break through the situation, someone who can enlighten this prince at crucial moments.”

In this moment, Pei Yanci saw a politician beginning to mature.

Previously, Gu Jiuqing’s heart had actually housed a fragile, confused child. His childhood experiences in the Cold Palace had made him both inferior and arrogant, constantly swaying between two extremes. At the same time, lacking confidence, he constantly questioned himself, questioned others, and questioned the future.

So, the moment he left the palace, the person he most urgently wanted to see was Zhang Huairu, whom he was most familiar with, hoping to gain some care and affirmation from him.

And now, that child was breaking free from the person he wanted to depend on.

While lost in thought, his hand resting on the table grew warm as Gu Jiuqing grasped it.

“Your Highness?” He instinctively struggled, but was held even tighter.

He didn’t like others touching him without permission—it was a form of offense.

Unfortunately, given his current lowly status, he couldn’t refuse Gu Jiuqing, much less Tang Xizhui.

“Come here and help this prince stand up.”

“Your Highness, wherever you want to go, just give this humble one orders.”

Gu Jiuqing sensed the resistance and rejection hidden in his body language, and in that instant, a trace of displeasure rose in his heart.

“Earlier you said you would always stand behind this prince and help resolve this prince’s worries. Were those words sincere?” His tone carried a domineering possessiveness that even he hadn’t noticed.

“How could this humble one possibly deceive Your Highness?” Pei Yanci said, walking around the small dining table to his side. “Your Highness, take it slowly.”

As Gu Jiuqing’s feet touched the ground, his calves began to tremble. He gradually shifted most of his body weight onto Pei Yanci and stood up despite the pain.

“After resting for two days, it seems much better.”

As he spoke, having just taken one step, his leg gave way and his entire body fell forward.

“Your Highness!”

This troublesome fool!

Pei Yanci moved his lips, his hands making a gesture to support him but actually breaking free from the restraint on his wrist, allowing His Highness the Crown Prince’s precious body to crash toward the ground.

However, he hadn’t expected Gu Jiuqing to extend his long arm and pull him down to fall to the ground together.