Chapter 18 - 3#

Yanzhi sat up from the couch, pulling at the wounds on his body, which caused another wave of dull pain.

He clutched his chest, lowered his head, and panted in small, shallow breaths.

The wolf cub, suddenly pushed by him, rolled backward and did two somersaults on the couch, but quickly scrambled back up and ran to him, wagging its tail.

Yanzhi looked closely: “Tang… little dog? It’s you!”

He had thought it was His Majesty.

It had scared him to death.

Yanzhi quickly picked up the “little dog” and stroked its fur: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Did you get hurt from the fall?”

The wolf cub wagged its tail, let out some “ying ying” whines, and seemed to have completely forgotten what just happened.

Yanzhi asked: “How did you get in? Did you sneak in? Did you miss me? Or did the servants not give you anything to eat? Are you hungry? I know, did you see the injury on my wrist and want to help me lick it?”

He asked a long string of questions, then finally reacted in a daze and amused himself.

“I’m sorry, I forgot, you can’t talk.”

The wolf cub’s tail whirled around like a windmill.

“It’s better that you can’t talk.” Yanzhi lowered his eyes. “If you can’t talk, you won’t say hurtful words.”

He turned his head and glanced outside the curtains.

It was dim outside the curtains, with no candles lit.

The inner hall was quiet, with not a sound.

This meant no one else was around.

Yanzhi lowered his voice and asked softly: “Little dog, little dog, has His Majesty gone out? Did you see him when you came in?”

He thought for a moment and answered his own question: “Probably not. If His Majesty were outside, you wouldn’t have been able to get in, right?”

“Actually, I…”

Halfway through his sentence, Yanzhi suddenly felt his throat go dry and got stuck.

He hurriedly turned around, pulled aside the curtains, picked up the teapot and teacup from the small table by the couch, and poured himself a cup of water first.

The water in the pot was still warm, just right for drinking.

Yanzhi drank two cups and felt much better before returning to the couch.

The wolf cub lay on the couch, and Yanzhi lay down in front of it.

One person and one dog, both looking at each other with clear, bright eyes.

Yanzhi asked: “Little dog, little dog, can you help me keep a secret?”

The wolf cub flicked its tail and let out an “ao-woo.”

Yanzhi cupped his face and smiled: “I know. You want to say that even if you wanted to leak the secret, you can’t speak, so I can feel safe talking to you, right?”

He lowered his hands and head, lying flat on the bed with his face buried in the quilt, his expression unreadable.

“I want to say—”

“I… I don’t want to like His Majesty anymore.”

Speaking nonsense or talking in one’s sleep is completely different from saying this while awake.

Yanzhi bet all of his remaining courage on this.

But his voice was light and fast, like a feather lightly brushing past, seemingly without much weight.

To convince himself, Yanzhi whispered again: “Because His Majesty is too fierce, too bad.”

“He always bullies me. He calls me an ‘idiot,’ he calls me a ’little dog,’ and he even bites me.”

“Look—”

Yanzhi stretched out his wrist.

“This is where His Majesty bit me.”

“His Majesty has scolded you too. He called you a ‘stupid dog,’ and he kicks you whenever he feels like it.”

“So you—”

Yanzhi looked at the wolf cub sincerely, trying to find some agreement from it.

“Don’t like him either, right?”

The wolf cub let out another low “ao.”

Yes, it didn’t like that fierce man.

It liked the gentle person in front of it who would get it food and drink and hold it to play.

“But…” Yanzhi’s tone shifted as he said, “Both of our lives were saved by him. He is the savior of both of us.”

“Of course!” Yanzhi added hastily, “I have worked hard to repay his kindness. I blocked an arrow for His Majesty, served as his antidote, and… and served His Majesty for ten years. I think…”

“As of now, I have fully repaid His Majesty’s kindness to me. Really.”

Yanzhi poked the wolf cub’s wet nose: “On the other hand, you’ve only been here a few days. You haven’t even grown up yet, let alone repaid the kindness.”

Seeing his serious expression, the wolf cub sensed he was unhappy and let out a few “wu wu” sounds.

Yanzhi picked it up, rolled over, and lay on the couch, staring at the pitch-black top of the curtains.

He wasn’t saying these words for the little dog to hear; he was saying them to himself.

“No… I don’t want to like His Majesty anymore…”

“Actually… actually there is no ‘anymore’ at all. I never liked His Majesty. I only stayed to repay the kindness. Yes, that’s how it is.”

Even Yanzhi himself didn’t believe these words.

But he still insisted on saying them.

“The life-saving grace, I have finished repaying it, so I can stop liking His Majesty.”

“I’m leaving. I’m going somewhere else. I don’t want to like His Majesty anymore.”

Yanzhi made up his mind, rolled over to sit up, a light of hope shining in his eyes.

“Once I’ve rescued Young Master Xie, I’m going to the south. To the south that Bian Mingyu talked about. I want to see for myself if the south he spoke of is really that good.”

“What if the south isn’t that good? What if the south is still covered in corpses?”

“I don’t care. Even if it’s covered in corpses, I’m going… I must go!”

The wolf cub scrambled up, approached him, and nudged him with its head.

Yanzhi pushed it away gently: “You can’t go. You still have to stay to repay the kindness…”

The wolf cub was barely pushed away before it stuck to him again.

Yanzhi said with realization: “You’re afraid of His Majesty too, aren’t you? You also think His Majesty is very fierce, right? You don’t want to stay by His Majesty’s side either, do you?”

He sighed: “While I’m here, I can still protect you a bit. If I’m gone, you’ll be kicked by His Majesty all the time.”

Yanzhi picked it up and thought for a long time, finally saying: “I think my repayment to His Majesty probably has a lot left over. If there’s extra, I’ll share it with you, okay?”

“I’ll share my repayment with you and count it as yours. That way, you can come with me.”

“Are you willing to go with me? As my only ’little dog friend’.”

“I don’t dare make friends with people in the palace anymore. I only have you as a friend.”

“If you’re willing, I’ll pull myself together right away and prepare a plan. How about it?”

One person muttering, one wolf whining and howling.

And yet, their communication was actually seamless.

Finally, Yanzhi reached out his hand, the wolf cub extended its paw, and the person and wolf lightly high-fived, reaching a consensus.

“That’s great. I have a friend again.”

“Then we’ll start making the plan now.”

Yanzhi lay down again, his fingertips tracing patterns on the quilt.

“First, we have to rescue Young Master Xie. Young Master Xie is still locked in the purification room. Only His Majesty can order his release, so…”

“I still need to sacrifice a bit. As long as His Majesty castrates me, he won’t castrate Young Master Xie.”

“Then, we can leave the palace.”

“Hmm…” Yanzhi thought for a bit. “I work as a personal attendant by His Majesty’s side, and my monthly salary is two taels of silver. Usually, I have nowhere to spend it, so I’ve saved all this money. It’s enough for us to live outside.”

“And… and…”

“The palace is heavily guarded. How should we get out?”

This was the most important question, and also the most difficult one.

Yanzhi didn’t know.

He lay on the couch, staring blankly at the curtains.

How to get out? How to…

Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration.

Yanzhi sat bolt upright in bed.

He knew! He knew how to leave!

Yanzhi got off the couch and rushed quickly to the inner hall door, pulling it open with force.

He didn’t care about wearing shoes, didn’t care about putting on a robe, didn’t care that his inner garments were a bit too long, didn’t care to see if there was anyone in the outer hall.

He was like a light swallow, flapping its wings, flying out of the inner hall and out of the outer hall.

It was raining at this time—a fine, dense drizzle being blown by the wind into the corridor.

Yanzhi ran swiftly along the corridor outside the hall, his bare feet stepping into a puddle and leaving a trail of footprints on the ground.

The wolf cub chased after him on its four legs, barely able to keep up with him.

Run! Run forward!

Go find a way out of the palace!

In the main hall, Xiao Cuan sat on the high platform. Seeing Yanzhi dash out from nowhere and run away, he hurriedly stood up and strode after him.

When did he wake up? Why didn’t he call for anyone upon waking?

That stupid dog must have woken him up. If he had known, he wouldn’t have let it in.

What on earth do these two idiots want to do?

“Yanzhi!”

Yanzhi ran all the way to the side hall door and pushed it open with force, as if pushing open the door of a cage.

the side hall was his room, but since he usually slept with His Majesty, he didn’t come back often.

Following his memory, he ran into the room.

“Eh?”

Upon seeing the scene before him, Yanzhi was stunned.

Where was the box? Where was the box he kept here?

Just then, Xiao Cuan also caught up, grabbed his wrist, and forcefully picked him up.

“What are you doing again? Barefoot—have you no regard for your life?”

“Where’s the box?” Yanzhi pointed at the empty corner and only asked, “Where’s the box I kept here?”

“What box?” Xiao Cuan frowned.

“The box for my clothes!”

Yanzhi was getting a bit anxious, and the wolf cub followed him, circling around Xiao Cuan’s feet.

“Be quiet! Someone, come!”

Xiao Cuan shouted toward the outside, and a palace servant hurriedly entered.

“What are Your Majesty’s instructions?”

“Where is Yanzhi’s box? The one for his clothes.”

“Yesterday Your Majesty ordered us to put away all of Young Master Yanzhi’s clothes, saying…”

Saying that from now on, Yanzhi was not allowed to wear his own clothes and could only wear his.

So…

The inner garments Yanzhi was wearing now, which were a bit too long, belonged to Xiao Cuan.

“Where is the box? Where was it moved to?”

The palace servant hurriedly said: “We did not move Young Master Yanzhi’s box away. We only moved it under the bed while cleaning yesterday, thinking it wouldn’t be needed in the future.”

Yanzhi hurriedly broke free from Xiao Cuan’s embrace and threw himself before the couch, dragging out two boxes from underneath.

The boxes indeed contained his clothes.

But it wasn’t just clothes.

Yanzhi pulled all the clothes out and tossed them onto the couch.

At the bottom of the box, some small trinkets that children liked were carefully placed.

There were candy wrappers, a kaleidoscope, crooked calligraphy sheets, and—

Xiao Cuan frowned and reached out to pick up a candy wrapper: “How long ago was the candy I gave you? You still kept it?”

Xiao Cuan understood. It seemed this box was Yanzhi’s treasure trove, where all his cherished treasures were kept.

And his treasures were all related to him.

While Xiao Cuan was looking at his things, Yanzhi was also searching for something.

Finally, his eyes lit up as he saw a neatly folded piece of silk.

Yanzhi grabbed the silk, as if he had found a priceless treasure, and clutched it to his chest.

It was the deed of manumission! It was the deed of manumission!

On his twelfth birthday, His Majesty had written him a temporary deed of manumission as a birthday gift.

But he had liked His Majesty too much back then, and thinking of staying to repay the kindness, he had never thought of leaving the palace.

So, following what His Majesty had taught him, he had put his hands together, faced the cream puff with a single candle stuck in it, and made a firm wish that he would never leave His Majesty and would serve him forever.

This deed of manumission had been put away by him, pressed to the very bottom of the box.

He had originally thought he would never need this thing.

But now, he was going to leave the palace!

Just then, Xiao Cuan knelt on one knee beside him, pinched his cheek, and let out a low laugh.

The anxiety caused by yesterday’s alarm completely dissipated at this moment.

He asked: “Do you like me that much? Even a candy wrapper I gave you must be hidden away?”

Yanzhi looked at Xiao Cuan, quietly stuffed the silk into his chest, and smiled similarly, blinking at him.

“I like you…” Yanzhi smiled with his eyes curved. “I like Your Majesty…”

But from today on, he is no longer a servant.

He is Yanzhi.

Yanzhi, don’t like His Majesty anymore.