Chapter 14 - 2#

He was afraid.

He had been to this place once before, when he was eight years old.

He was afraid… he was afraid…

Reaching the end of the corridor, in front of the very last room, Xiao Cuan similarly kicked the door open and threw Yanzhi inside.

Yanzhi fell onto a heap of hay but quickly scrambled up and ran toward the outside.

But by then, Xiao Cuan had already closed the door.

“Your Majesty!”

Yanzhi slapped both hands against the door and shouted with all his might.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

He cried and beat against the door as if ghosts were chasing him from behind.

“It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have been greedy… but Young Master Xie is truly innocent… I’ll never be greedy again, I’ll never eat cream puffs again, I’ll never eat sugar cakes again…”

He cried for a long time, but there was no response from outside.

Presumably, His Majesty had already left.

“I’ll never eat milk candy again…”

“Never drink milk again…”

“Never eat cookies again…”

As Yanzhi murmured these things, he lost his strength and squatted down, hugging his legs.

“I won’t eat anything anymore, I won’t eat anything at all, never again…”

He sat on the ground. The room was pitch black, and in the corner, there seemed to be a strange rustling sound.

He had been here when he was eight; he knew the rules for a little eunuch’s purification.

Before the purification, the person would be locked in a cubicle built of stone.

The cubicle had no windows, and even the cracks in the walls were stuffed with cloth strips.

It was pitch black inside, no outside sounds could be heard, and no food or drink would be provided. He would be locked in the cubicle, his five senses blocked, day and night inverted.

After four or five days, when the person was too weak from hunger, nearly dead, the executioner would drag him out of the room, strip off his pants, and—snip—one cut.

This way, there wouldn’t be too much blood, and in a dazed state, it wouldn’t feel too painful; one just had to endure it and it would be over.

Eight-year-old Yanzhi had once been thrown onto the execution table. Just as the execution was about to take place, His Majesty had descended from the heavens and saved him.

But this time, it was also His Majesty who had thrown him in.

After an unknown amount of time, Yanzhi’s mood calmed slightly, and he finally stopped trembling.

He wiped the tears from his face and spoke in a small voice, comforting and encouraging himself.

“It’s okay, I’ve been here once before, I’m already very familiar with it.”

“Anyway… anyway, everyone in the palace is like this, I… I have no use for keeping it anyway.”

As he spoke, he scrambled up in the dark, intending to find a corner to lean against and sit, to save some energy.

“It’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon… don’t be afraid… Yanzhi, don’t be afraid…”

Yanzhi was like a weed growing at the foot of the palace walls; he could survive in the Taiji Hall, he could survive on Beiliang Mountain, and he could survive just as well in the purification room.

He was strong and brave, tenacious and resilient.

*

While Yanzhi was talking to himself in the purification room, Xiao Cuan was standing just outside the cubicle.

Xiao Cuan leaned against the wall, his face hidden in the darkness, his expression unreadable.

But he was clenching his fists so tightly that the veins on the back of his hands bulged, and his knuckles creaked and cracked.

The sounds Yanzhi had heard and thought were rats were actually the sounds of his clenched fists.

This idiot Yanzhi, how dare he?

Letting him go welcome the selection candidates, how dare he pull and tug with Xie Yi?

Letting him name the wolf cub they picked up, how dare he use the name of the sugar cakes Xie Yi gave him?

Letting him choose between himself and Xie Yi, how dare he choose Xie Yi?

How dare he?!

In a fit of rage, Xiao Cuan turned and kicked the stone wall.

He didn’t budge, but the stone wall actually shook twice, scaring Yanzhi inside the cell into shrinking further into the corner.

Today, as the candidates entered the palace, he had specially sent Yanzhi to welcome them.

He knew those people would stuff money into Yanzhi’s hands, knew they would bribe Yanzhi and ask him about palace affairs.

He wanted to test Yanzhi, to test Yanzhi’s loyalty to him, to test Yanzhi’s affection for him.

He thought that at most, this idiot Yanzhi wouldn’t know how to refuse, would have money forced upon him, and would eventually bring it back and hesitantly hand it over to him for disposal.

So, after he was mostly finished discussing matters with the court officials in the Taiji Hall, he brought them along to see Yanzhi.

But who knew, Yanzhi had given him a massive surprise!

This Xie Yi, this damned Xie Yi!

He would kill him sooner or later!

Death by a thousand cuts! To be torn asunder by five horses!

And then there was Yanzhi…

This time, he absolutely could not be soft-hearted.

He was just an untamable puppy!

Day after day, always thinking of running away, always thinking of going out to find someone else.

This time, he absolutely must not be soft-hearted again. He had to keep him locked up, let him suffer enough bitterness, learn to be well-behaved and good, and then let him out!

Xie Yi definitely hadn’t brought Yanzhi sugar cakes for the first time. Looking at their familiar attitude and the way they protected each other, it definitely wasn’t just this once.

Xiao Cuan’s brow twitched violently as he suddenly thought of this.

In places he didn’t know about, they must have already met who knows how many times!

Quietly sending sugar cakes, they would inevitably have to touch hands.

In the past, when he gave Yanzhi cream puffs, Yanzhi always smiled with his eyes curved, looking intentionally seductive.

Yanzhi also always broke the cream puff in half, held it out to him, and said he wanted to share.

Maybe when Yanzhi and Xie Yi ate sugar cakes together, they ate them like that too!

God damn it!

The more Xiao Cuan thought about it, the angrier he got. He kicked the stone wall again and cursed under his breath.

Just then, Yanzhi in the cubicle heard the movement and tentatively called out, “Xie Yi?”

His Majesty had ordered Xie Yi to be dragged to the purification room as well, so Yanzhi thought Xie Yi was locked in the next cubicle and was sending him a message.

He scrambled up from the corner, stumbled to the wall, and leaning against the stone, apologized repeatedly: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s all because I dragged you into this.”

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be angry, I will definitely find a way to get you out, I definitely won’t let you be castrated…”

Xie Yi, Xie Yi, Xie Yi again!

Just then, the cubicle door was kicked open from the outside.

Yanzhi instinctively looked toward the sound.

But in order to make the little eunuchs lose track of time and not feel pain, the cubicle was very, very dark. Having been inside for so long and having cried until his eyes were swollen, he couldn’t perceive any light and could see nothing clearly.

The next moment, a tall dark figure rushed in front of him and suddenly hoisted him up.

Yanzhi cried out in alarm and pounded forcefully on the person’s back. “Who is it? Who is it? Let me go!”

The other person said nothing, merely carrying him, one hand gripping his waist and the other holding both his wrists, pinning him into the corner.

“Who is it? Let me go! It’s not time for the execution yet! Get out!”

Yanzhi struggled fiercely. The man used one foot to push his feet apart and one leg to separate his two legs, pinning him against the wall with a knee.

With a rrip, the man tore off his own sleeve and used it to haphazardly wipe his hands and face, as if disgusted by his filth and wanting to wipe him clean.

“Your Majesty? Is it Your Majesty?” Yanzhi asked hopefully.

But the man still didn’t speak, only intent on wiping his face, rubbing it until it was red.

“Your Majesty? Is it Your Majesty? Your Majesty, please don’t stay silent, I don’t know who it is…”

Yanzhi was truly a bit scared now. The tears he had managed to hold back started flowing again.

His tears dampened the sleeve in the man’s hand. The man’s movements paused, but quickly, the action of wiping his face became even more forceful.

Not His Majesty! This person isn’t His Majesty! It’s someone else!

The other party remained silent, and Yanzhi’s mind was a muddled mess from crying.

He couldn’t distinguish anything, couldn’t think of anything.

He just instinctively struggled, wanting to drive the other person away.

“Go away! Go away! I am His Majesty’s person! You cannot touch me… His Majesty will kill you… let go…”

Yanzhi wailed, hitting with his hands, kicking with his feet, butting with his head, and biting with his teeth.

He used all the strength in his body to struggle, but the man stood before him like a copper wall and iron bastion, as unshakeable as a mountain.

Finally, he didn’t know where he had kicked the man, but the man let out a muffled groan and finally stopped the action of wiping his face and hands, gripping his shoulders instead.

“Crying again, crying again! I really wasn’t wrong—a little mad dog!”

Hearing the familiar cold and stern voice, Yanzhi stopped his struggle.

It was His Majesty.

“You’ve pinned a massive green hat on my head, letting all the civil and military officials see you ducking into a corner with Xie Yi, letting them all know that the ‘son’ I picked up after traveling over mountains and rivers was named after you and Xie Yi.”

“I said it was Xie Yi who seduced you, but you refuse to admit it, insisting on protecting him, playing a pair of ill-fated lovers in front of all the officials.”

“I didn’t hit you or scold you, just locked you up for half a quarter-hour, and I personally stood outside, guarding like a lapdog, not letting anyone else near.”

“I haven’t even cried yet, what are you crying for?!”

“I didn’t!” Drawing courage from some unknown source, Yanzhi denied loudly and pushed forcefully against Xiao Cuan. “I didn’t put a green hat on Your Majesty! I didn’t duck into a corner with Young Master Xie!”

“Still ‘didn’t’?”

“Just… didn’t… mmm…”

Before the words were finished, Xiao Cuan cupped his face and kissed him heavily.

The moment their lips and teeth collided, a strong scent of blood spread.

Yanzhi gasped from the pain, but after recognizing it was His Majesty, he instead struggled even more fiercely.

Xiao Cuan refused to let go, instead acting like a beast that had tasted blood, licking the wound on his lips even more intensely.

Too dirty!

The mouth of a puppy that had eaten sugar cakes was truly too dirty.

It couldn’t be wiped clean with cloth, couldn’t be washed clean with water; he had to kiss it clean himself.

He was going to check Yanzhi all over, top to bottom, inside and out, with utmost care.