CH 69

Ch 69 - Ruthless Crown Prince x Foolish Prince: Sour Jealousy

King Qing had always been gentle and tolerant on the outside, and naturally wouldn’t argue about this, so he modestly moved and sat down on his newly-acquired seat.

The other Princes couldn’t watch their elder brother sit behind them, so they moved over one by one. Like this, things looked a little hectic for a bit, which actually made the two people sitting upright seem especially wilful.

However, when everyone thought about it, one was the Crown Prince who always did as he pleased, and the other was the stupid Fifth Prince, so no one thought much of it.

The Emperor saw how Yan Qin was more ignorant than his younger brothers, and his heart ached as he fondly recalled his past on this autumn day. As he remembered his once beloved woman and her once clever child, he took a piece of crab meat and handed it to him, and Yan Qin thanked him obediently in a scene of familial love.

All the onlookers present had their own thoughts as this scene fell into their eyes.

In that moment, Lin Sui’s mind moved the same way as that of the Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Yue and the others, thinking that the Emperor had simply tossed this son of his to the back of his mind, so why was he pretending to be a good father now?

However, faced with this atmosphere, the Imperial Noble Consort tactfully didn’t bring up the matter of Lin Sui choosing a Princess Consort again.

Lin Sui knew that the Emperor most likely did not want him to take a Princess Consort, after all, the Princess Consort must be a woman from an influential family, and the Emperor didn’t want to let the Crown Prince’s faction strengthen their power again, moreover, he was still very worried about another thing.

He could see that the Crown Prince didn’t live up to expectations, but the same would not necessarily be true for the Crown Prince’s children. If that were the case, and the Governor of State Affairs assisted his grandson in taking the throne, it would be another bloody battle.

The Crown Prince had not yet taken a wife, and the Emperor was also delaying this matter, intentionally or otherwise, since he still needed to use the Crown Prince to keep the balance, so he delayed it for as long as he could.

However, Lin Sui didn’t expect the Emperor’s plans to change quite so quickly, and that someone would be sent to his palace half a month after the chrysanthemum viewing banquet.

But he wasn’t in the palace at the time, he was out.

At night, Yan Qin cheerfully went into the bedchamber of the Eastern Palace, planning on continuing to accompany his big brother the Crown Prince in bed.

When he went in he found that, surprisingly, Fu Shu wasn’t there. He was a little baffled as he looked around the place, then walked into the inner chamber.

Today the curtains of the bed which were usually drawn had been pulled close in advance, and the figure of a person could be seen behind the curtains, vague and hazy under the lights.

“Big brother Crown Prince, why did you go to rest so early today…”

Yan Qin pulled open the curtain, and his face suddenly changed when he saw the person laying on the bed.

The woman laying on the bed covered herself up in a hurry, leaving only her head exposed as she looked at the Fifth Prince of the rumours.

“Fifth Highness, this common woman was sent by His Majesty to serve the Crown Prince.”

She did not call herself a servant, so she really wasn’t a palace maid.

Yan Qin understood the situation in an instant, and the hot anger in his heart strangely calmed down a little after hearing that she had been sent by the Emperor.

He had no time to get to the bottom of his reaction, putting a sceptical look on his face.

“Why would Father Emperor just send someone to big brother Crown Prince’s palace? Big brother Crown Prince! Fu Shu! There’s a bad person here!”

Yan Qin turned around and yelled. The woman on the bed would surely be shocked if she could see the expression on his face, his appearance did not resemble the previous foolish Prince at all, the light in his eyes was clearly terrifying.

“Fifth Highness, don’t shout, this common woman is not…”

Fu Shu rushed back and saw the chaotic scene, and she turned pale with fright when she saw the person on the bed.

She had been called away from the palace for some other reason, so she didn’t know that someone had come into the palace.

“Sister Fu Shu, it’s that lady.”

The maids and eunuchs who came in following behind her reported the matter in low voices, this person had been brought by the Emperor’s personal eunuch, so they simply didn’t dare to obstruct them and could only anxiously watch the person on the bed, then hurriedly go find Fu Shu to report to.

“This matter will be determined when His Highness the Crown Prince returns,” Fu Shu’s expression quickly returned to normal, she bowed to Yan Qin, then whispered an order into a nearby maid’s ear, “Go tidy up a side chamber.”

The palace maid saluted, and Fu Shu ordered everyone else to retreat.

“Fifth Highness, please follow this servant.”

Yan Qin looked distrustfully at the person who hadn’t been kicked out of the bed, then left the bedchambers with Fu Shu, staring towards the closed wooden door with something faintly hidden in his eyes.

Not long after, Lin Sui came back from outside the palace.

Fu Shu stepped forward to whisper something, and Yan Qin watched Lin Sui’s brows with a gloomy, unwell feeling in his heart.

He could also be considered someone who had read the fire-preventing diagram, so he naturally knew what would happen when a man and a woman lay in bed together.

A little anger sprouted inside Yan Qin as he thought about the possibility of that woman holding onto his big brother the Crown Prince’s shoulders, and touching his hands.

He knew he had no reason for this, and that he shouldn’t feel this way, but he didn’t care. He just knew his heart was unhappy.

His big brother the Crown Prince was a jade-like person, he hated others touching him. How could anyone ever touch him?

He… Yan Qin was silent, he also wanted to touch him.

It didn’t matter what it was, holding those frost-like hands, caressing along the back of those bare feet, stroking that beautiful neck with his fingers, he wanted to do it all.

Lin Sui pushed the doors of the bedchamber open, and Yan Qin quickly followed after him.

“Go back to where you came from, otherwise don’t blame this One for being merciless and throwing you into the palace with the lit lantern, so you and Father Emperor can be harmonious together.”

Whichever palace had been picked by the flipping of the name tiles would have its lanterns lit, and everyone knew that, if the Crown Prince threw someone over, it would have nothing to do with “harmony”.

Lin Sui’s ruthless attitude allowed Yan Qin’s body to relax.

The graceful woman on the bed trembled a bit, and spoke with a bit of grievance and fear: “It was the Emperor who ordered me to come and serve… Your Highness the Crown Prince, If I’m driven out like this, I won’t be able to live, just let me stay!”

“Father Emperor personally told you to come and serve me?”

Lin Sui’s expression was a little hard to make out. He didn’t doubt what this woman said, if she was driven out of here today, tomorrow she would surely die and, in addition, the fault for this would certainly fall on his shoulders.

If he let this person stay in the Eastern Palace, then that would reinforce his reputation.

“Then stay.”

As soon as those words came out, the woman was overjoyed. Fu Shu was startled at first, but then thought there was nothing to it, only one person’s face was that of shock.

“Since you came here to serve, what are you doing on the bed? Although I don’t know your family background, it must be good, and since you were instructed by Father Emperor, then you must be qualified to be a second rank servant in the Eastern Palace.”

Lin Sui spoke slowly, and looked at Fu Xi.

The Emperor wanted to trap him, but it wasn’t that simple.

“Which Madame’s tile did Father Emperor flip today?”

Fu Xi spoke: “Replying to Master, it was Madame Consort Yue’s one.”

“Since you’re a palace maidservant, go to Consort Yue in this One’s place, have Fu Shu take you to the storehouse and bring two gifts, then tell Madame Consort Yue that she must take care of her health more since the weather has been getting colder recently. If Madame Consort Yue’s people ask you who you are, remember to truthfully answer where you came from.”

When Lin Sui finished speaking, he turned around and left. Yan Qin’s complexion had gone from cloudy to bright with Lin Sui’s words, so he happily followed him out.

Fu Shu ordered someone to bring a set of maid’s clothes, then coldly said: “Put on the clothes, then come with me.”

The woman was a little embarrassed and at a loss, and didn’t dare to keep laying on the bed under Fu Shu and the other palace people’s gazes, so she slipped behind the screen when they turned their backs and changed clothes.

Anyone with eyes could see that the Crown Prince was deliberately twisting what the Emperor meant, but this was not something they could talk about.

Lin Sui asked Liu Zhonghai to go with them. Liu Zhonghai was clever and would naturally know what to say when the time came.

After the woman wearing palace clothes and carrying a lantern left with Liu Zhonghai, Fu Shu spoke quietly: “Your Highness, the side chamber has already been tidied up, You can rest in the side chamber today.”

Fu Shu had guessed that Lin Sui would not receive this person, so she had already ordered for the side chamber to be tidied up.

Without paying attention to the puppy that kept circling around him like a shadow, Lin Sui left towards the bath.

“Sister Fu Shu, why is big brother Crown Prince going to sleep in the side chamber?”

Yan Qin didn’t really understand, if he didn’t like that another person had slept on his bed, couldn’t he just replace the quilts?

Fu Shu explained: “Master doesn’t like people getting close to him. As far as he is concerned, this whole bedchamber has to be cleaned.”

Yan Qin nodded as he pretended to only half-understand, but he was secretly rejoicing in his heart. His big brother the Crown Prince didn’t like when people got close to him, but he would still often step on him.

But he thought that Lin Sui’s disgust should also have something to do with the woman’s identity, after all, that woman was a person given by the Emperor.

The relationship between the Emperor and the Crown Prince has long since been very strained, one showed no pretence of fondness, and the other half-heartedly hid his feelings of disrespect.

Yan Qin thought about it again, he was also related to the Emperor, he was the Emperor’s son.

Putting aside his many disorderly thoughts, Yan Qin had Fu Shu add a quilt by Lin Sui’s bedside, and happily went to be a “footstool” for his big brother the Crown Prince.

The middle of the night in September was cold and damp, the side chamber was overcast, so the night was even more damp and freezing.

Yan Qin was woken by the strong cold, and he couldn’t help but shiver. He looked at the padded bed covered in a thick quilt, and stealthily lay on the side of the bed, staring at Lin Sui’s sleeping face.

His older brother should have been sound asleep, and Yan Qin couldn’t help but lean closer for a look, but Lin Sui suddenly opened his eyes.

Lin Sui was extremely sleepy, he’d gone out of the palace today not only to discuss some important matters, but also to train his body.

After all, the ancient world was not like the cultivation world in which one could temper their external body while cultivating their internal techniques, so he still had to do more to be prepared for the unexpected, and he didn’t like the feeling of being weak.

In his daze, he forgot where he was. He couldn’t remember which world this was, nor did he care which world it was.

Yan Qin was just laying on the side of the bed, watching him, just like in the past.

Lin Sui lightly caressed Yan Qin’s face, he was very drowsy in his half-awake and half-asleep state, so he didn’t notice that his lover had gotten a lot thinner.

He lightly rubbed his lover’s lips with the pad of his finger, smiled at him, and closed his eyes as he fell asleep again.

Yan Qin was stunned, and dazedly touched his lips, which felt a little hot from the remaining warmth.

The smile from his big brother the Crown Prince just now had been so gentle, seeing it had made his heart go soft and left him feeling numb, he had never seen him smile like that before.

He was beautiful like that, it made his heart itch.

He had some indescribable emotions in his heart that urgently wanted to erupt, but couldn’t touch the opening through which they could escape.

Yan Qin couldn’t avoid being jealous. He was jealous of the person in Lin Sui’s dreams, and his crow-black eyes looked a little malicious in the night.

His older brother had seen someone in his dreams, he’d smiled so nicely at them and even reached out to touch his lips.

His big brother the Crown Prince had never smiled at him like that, Yan Qin thought with a sour heart.

Yan Qin licked his dry lips, and stared fixedly at the hand hanging by Lin Sui’s side.

He touched his lower body and rubbed his cheek against his older brother’s soft and delicate hand.

But he was still not satisfied, he lifted those fingers which had just touched his lips and lightly nibbled at them, it was just a nip, not quite a lick.

However, this was only a quick movement, and he lifted his head in a flash, fearing he might have startled the sleeping person awake.

This was wrong. Yan Qin held his fast-beating heart, he clearly knew in his mind that he shouldn’t be doing this.

But those thoughts couldn’t compare to his satisfaction at this moment, so Yan Qin climbed up on the bed and curled up to sleep soundly by Lin Sui’s feet.

It was soft and warm in here, a thousand times better than the cold quilt.