SEHE Chapter 156.1

Palace Coup (1) 

“You’ve already discussed this matter with Peng Chulang?” Gu Yueqian asked.

“Not yet.”

“When do you plan to tell him?”

“This prince has already sent someone to summon him. The sooner this is done, the better — to prevent complications from delay,” Gu Jiuqing said. “This man is somewhat stubborn. Even Pei Yanci has not fully secured his support, which is precisely why we still have a chance. We must use strong measures.”

“You are quite impatient — you summoned him before even asking this princess for her opinion.” Gu Yueqian gave a cold smile.

“This prince knew that, with imperial sister’s broad-minded wisdom, she would certainly agree.”

“Since it concerns this princess’s marriage, it would hardly be appropriate for this princess to be present.” She rose to leave. “This princess will go have a little chat with His Majesty.”

Shortly after, Peng Chulang arrived in soft armor and paid his respects to the two of them with a bow.

Gu Yueqian had been talking with Gu Yisui for nearly half an hour, and only when a palace maid at the door gave her a signal did she excuse herself and make her way to Gu Jiuqing’s quarters.

“How did it go?”

In truth, the outcome was already somewhat apparent from the deepened frost on Gu Jiuqing’s face.

“The way things stand now, staying neutral is no longer enough to keep oneself safe.” She raised an eyebrow. “It went even worse than that?”

Gu Jiuqing gave a nod and swept the tea cup off the table, sending it crashing to the floor. “I don’t know what kind of spell Pei Yanci has cast over him.”

“This princess does have a method.” Gu Yueqian smiled — a smile of breathtaking, bewitching beauty. “If a marriage alliance won’t work, why not simply make it a fait accompli? That way it would also be all the more covert. By that point, we would catch Pei Yanci completely off guard.”

Gu Jiuqing looked at her with suspicion.

Just moments ago she had opposed even the marriage alliance — and now she was willing to offer herself up willingly?

Gu Yueqian fanned herself with her round fan and curved her lips into a smile. “Since we’ve decided to begin, we must commit without any reservations. When have we ever had the luxury of turning back?”

Win, or die trying!

****

Because of the injury Tangxi Zhui had given him, Pei Yanci had lost all desire to stay any longer and returned early to the Pei Manor, summoning the household physician to bandage his wound.

His own injury was not too bad — it was only painful from where it had been squeezed at the time, and after icing it for a while it had improved considerably. When he tore open Tangxi Zhui’s clothing, the several bloody craters in his arm gave the household physician such a fright that he sucked in a sharp breath on the spot.

Making such a fuss over nothing. Had he not intervened in time, those craters could have been even deeper.

Pei Yanci watched with a cold expression as the wound was dressed. Once the physician had finished giving his dietary restrictions and departed, Pei Yanci rose to his feet as well.

“Xiao Pei’er, where are you going?” Tangxi Zhui called out to him in a panic.

“Until your wounds heal, I’ll be sleeping in the study.”

“No.” A flash of viciousness crossed his face, and he refused without a moment’s thought.

Pei Yanci gave him a sidelong glance, his tone icily sparse. “Not throwing you out of the manor is the last mercy I have left in me.”

Knowing full well he was in the wrong, Tangxi Zhui blinked innocently and said in a feeble voice, “That… what I mean is, I should be the one sleeping in the study. You sleep in the bedroom.”

As he spoke, he despondently picked up his pillow. The loose strands of hair at his forehead fell against his pale cheeks, his eyelids drooping, his large frame bent slightly forward — projecting a certain helpless, aggrieved air.

Pei Yanci kept his gaze straight ahead and watched with perfect indifference as he walked out of the room.

When he heard the door shut behind him, Pei Yanci let out a long breath.

He had nearly changed his mind just now.

Someone that beautiful — eyes wet and red, tears hovering at the brim but not yet falling, on the verge of weeping — always made one want to soften toward him.

Such a convincing performance of pitiful suffering.

Pei Yanci, get a hold of yourself — have you forgotten how formidable this fellow is in bed? Where is any trace of that foxlike, pitiable look then?

Three hours later, a sleepless Pei Yanci turned over, clutching the cold yet rigid bamboo sleeping companion, and sighed.

Was this meant to be a punishment for Tangxi Zhui, or a punishment for himself?

He sat up and looked at the window he had left slightly ajar, then irritably lay back down.

Why was he being so well-behaved tonight?

He called for the night-duty manservant and simply had that window thrown wide open.

“Absolute idiocy!”

After a moment’s thought, he added, “Open all the other windows too.”

He simply refused to believe that Tangxi Zhui would not climb through tonight.

Thinking this, he lay back down clutching the bamboo companion, tossing and turning a couple of times, when a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Had he been too indulgent with Tangxi Zhui?

To this degree — it had, without his noticing, far exceeded what he had anticipated.

He had even been deceived about certain things, and yet even after learning of them, he had still instinctively thought: Tangxi Zhui would not do such a thing.

His heart had already begun to show bias.

His eyes and ears had begun to hear only what he wished to hear.

This was the gravest taboo for a man of power.

“Close all the windows. Lock them shut.”

The manservant looked thoroughly bewildered, but did as he was told.

The room quickly fell once more into wordless, dead silence.

Pei Yanci stared wide-eyed at the gauze canopy above him.

****

On the other side, Tangxi Zhui had just returned through someone else’s window that night, carrying a body full of dampness. By the time he had bathed and cleaned himself, the sky was on the verge of brightening.

Thinking of how Pei Yanci was still in the grip of his anger, and that he had said before — if he ever dared to harm himself again, he would make him leave — Tangxi Zhui saw that he seemed to have forgotten this for now, but if he were to provoke him further, there truly would be no place for him at Pei Yanci’s side anymore.

After some thought, he still chose to keep his outer robe on and force himself to catch a bit of rest on the couch in the study.

It was not until the following morning, at breakfast, that Tangxi Zhui dared to appear before him.

“Sister-in-law, do you know what Xu Du has been up to lately?” Wushu asked.

He had suddenly vanished from the Imperial Academy, and no one from his household had even sent word to the Pei Manor to inquire.

“Who are you calling sister-in-law?” Pei Yanci’s expression was bland. “This big brother of yours has not yet married — there is no sister-in-law here.”

“Oh, Nine-Thousand-Years,” Wushu asked under her breath, “did you make big brother angry again?”

Tangxi Zhui made a sound of acknowledgment, his tone flat and unhurried, “He’s busy preparing for his final examinations at the Imperial Academy. His father is still in the death row cells — he has no time for you.”

Pei Yanci set down his chopsticks. “If you truly like him, I’ll go to the Xu Manor directly to propose a match one of these days.”

“Big brother, I was only asking offhandedly — we’re just classmates, nothing more on my mind, truly.” Wushu was startled, and quickly stood up to ladle him a bowl of soup. “He doesn’t even know I’m a girl, that great big fool. I haven’t managed to secure a pardon for his father from His Majesty yet — yesterday I tried to bring it up, just casually, and His Majesty immediately asked me whether this was your idea.”

Pei Yanci had not slept all night; his brow and eyes carried a clear, weary coldness. “Do as you see fit. If you want to help Xu Du, say so. If not, let it go. Whether Xu Xiangqian lives or dies is of no great consequence to me.”

Tangxi Zhui’s chopsticks paused.

“Xiao Pei’er, didn’t you previously say…”

“You were right — why should I embroil myself in all that mess?” Pei Yanci finished his soup, picked up a handkerchief to dab at the corners of his mouth, and curved his lips into a faint smile. “Court affairs have been rather busy lately. This matter can wait for now. As for you — stop smirking like that. I’m injured, so it’s a fine time to hand some of the administrative duties over to you.”

Tangxi Zhui reached up to support his shoulder, his expression pained with reluctance. “That’s not really appropriate…”

“Keep negotiating terms and I’ll have you go back to the Chief Overseer’s Mansion to live.”

Tangxi Zhui seized his wrist.

“What — do you want to scratch me again?”

He let go as though burned, panic sending numbness through his hands and feet, leaving him at a complete loss.

“Xiao Pei’er, I really didn’t mean to — I gave you my word last night.”

“What are you panicking about?” Pei Yanci said. “Come to think of it, you’ve had your Chief Overseer status restored for over a month now. Why are you still lingering here instead of going back?”

“I won’t leave,” Tangxi Zhui said. A turbulent darkness surged in his eyes, a thread of murderous intent flickering beneath the surface.

He had keenly sensed that Pei Yanci’s feelings toward him seemed to have shifted somewhat.

Was it because he had carelessly injured him — had he become repulsed by him?

No. Even if it meant his death, he would never let Pei Yanci go.

In this life and this world, he could only ever be his.

“I have no intention of driving you back to the mansion. Lately there are many unsettled matters afoot — rumors specifically targeting me have been quietly circulating outside, and I’m worried they may affect our greater cause. It’s best to keep a low profile for a while. In the meantime, help me share the workload I have on hand. I’ll take a rest and tend to my injury.”

Tangxi Zhui narrowed his eyes with a look of suspicion.

In an instant, a smile spread across his face again.

“All right.”

****

Although he had said he would hand the duties over to Tangxi Zhui, Pei Yanci still spent the entire day busy with affairs outside. It was not until deep into the night that he returned to the manor, where he found his room ablaze with lamplight, Tangxi Zhui seated inside, looking much the same as always.

“You’re finally back. You must be tired — I’ve already had the servants prepare hot water for you.”

“How is the Chief Overseer’s Mansion?” Pei Yanci asked.

“It’s been sealed for half a year, musty and rank everywhere. I’ll move back in once Huo Cun has it cleaned up.”

Pei Yanci nodded, then asked about court affairs. Once he was satisfied that everything was moving in a favorable direction, he set his mind at ease and indicated with a look.

“I’m going to sleep in the study again?” Tangxi Zhui immediately lost his smile.

“I said so last night — let it be a lesson to you.” Pei Yanci rubbed his shoulder; in truth it had already stopped bothering him.

“Xiao Pei’er, the study is so cold.”

“I’ll have the servants prepare an extra blanket for you.”

“I’m afraid you’ll be too lonely.”

“Good — a fine chance to rest and recover my energy.”

Tangxi Zhui looked at him, and then suddenly asked, “Being with me — do you find it tiresome?”

Pei Yanci was momentarily taken aback. “Why do you ask that?”

“Do you?” He pressed on relentlessly.

“No.” He was actually rather surprised at himself.

For he considered himself not to be a particularly devoted person.

Tangxi Zhui only then let out a slight sigh of relief, and said in a tone half-joking, half-threatening, “If I find out some little vixen outside is trying to lure you away, I’ll break their legs for certain.”

“Never mind that — first work on fixing this habit of yours of harming yourself at the drop of a hat.”

“And if I cannot change?”

Pei Yanci was silent for a moment, bowing his head.

For the first time in his life, profound bewilderment showed in his eyes — along with struggle and conflict.

Affairs of the heart were nothing like the path of governance, which gave him a clear and definite goal. His life’s experience up to this point also counted for nothing when it came to matters of the heart — he had no frame of reference to draw on.

“I don’t know either,” he said honestly.

Could he truly give Tangxi Zhui what he wanted?

This was a question he had been turning over in his mind for days.

Those calm, quiet words tore Tangxi Zhui’s heart into shreds while it was still alive.

“I won’t do it anymore, Xiao Pei’er.” He wanted to reach out and hold him back, but Pei Yanci’s instinctive step backward froze his hand in mid-air.

A suffocating awkwardness spread between them.

“Forget it — I’ll sleep in the study tonight,” Pei Yanci said, reaching for his pillow.

“There’s no need.” Tangxi Zhui fled the bedroom as though running for his life.

It was over. Pei Yanci was afraid of him.

Pei Yanci was afraid of him.

All those times he had said he was not afraid — they had all been lies, hadn’t they?

Even the affection he had shown — perhaps that too was nothing but a false facade wrapped around genuine indifference underneath.

He had always known this in his heart.

He was no different from Gu Jiuqing or Gu Wanchong — nothing more than a diversion for Pei Yanci when he was bored, to be called upon at will and dismissed just as easily. He had long feared the day Pei Yanci would grow weary of him and simply say: I no longer wish to see you.

What would he do then?

That day seemed to be nearly upon him now.

He sat in the study unable to sit still, raised his hand in fury, and swept every vase and teacup off the surfaces onto the floor.

Dark thoughts that had been suppressed for a long, long time seeped once more through the cracks deep inside him, gradually rising and surging into the murky, deep purple waves in the depths of his eyes.