Chapter 20 - 2#
But Xiao Cuan only walked to the candle stand, pinched out two candles with his fingers, and then walked back.
He lay heavily on the couch and asked coldly: “Who said you were going to lose favor?”
“Your Majesty said so…”
“I haven’t said that these past few days.” Xiao Cuan rolled over and turned his back to him, “Stop slandering me.”
“Then…”
“I’ll have them bring the palace roster over tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Yanzhi’s eyes lit up, his tone filled with more joy, but also with a hint more guilt.
Who would have thought that one day, he would actually be deceiving His Majesty and taking advantage of him.
He had finally become a bad Yanzhi who knew how to vie for favor and play mind games.
However, His Majesty had bullied him so many times; deceiving His Majesty once shouldn’t be too much… right?
He swore he would only deceive His Majesty this once.
Just this once.
Xiao Cuan turned his head, glanced at him, and said again: “Is that it? Just a ’thank you’?”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Yanzhi thought for a moment and knelt properly on the couch, “Then I will kowtow to Your Majesty, three loud kowtows!”
Kowtow? Leave it to him to think of that!
Xiao Cuan rolled over and sat up, grabbed his collar, and lifted him.
“I’m not dead, why are you kowtowing?”
“But…”
“Don’t you want to use all the methods of vying for favor that I taught you on me? Do you remember the last step of vying for favor?”
Yanzhi certainly remembered.
The last step of vying for favor was…
But… he still didn’t want to…
Deceiving people is really hard, especially when the person he wants to deceive is His Majesty.
Yanzhi felt like his little heart was about to jump out of his throat.
He didn’t know how to deceive people, how to lie, let alone how to take advantage of others.
Xiao Cuan saw him in a daze and said again: “I gave you the job of copying the roster; shouldn’t you give me something in exchange?”
Yanzhi thought for a moment and said timidly: “Then… then I’ll just not copy it…”
He could always find other ways to leave the palace. On the day of the grand wedding, sneaking out in the chaos, climbing a wall, or crawling through a dog hole—anyway, there was always a way.
During the day, he had just resisted His Majesty and refused to have sex with him.
Now he was rushing to please His Majesty and use his body in exchange for the chance to copy the roster.
This gave him a feeling… like he was a chicken, a duck, or a fish, selling himself.
He came from a low background, but he wasn’t base.
He didn’t like this feeling, didn’t like it at all.
He couldn’t convince himself.
Xiao Cuan saw him lowering his head, fiddling with his sleeve, and knew he still wouldn’t agree.
He turned his head and looked elsewhere.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Cuan turned back, suddenly cupped Yanzhi’s face, and gave him a solid kiss.
“Alright,” Xiao Cuan said, “the exchange is finished.”
“Your Majesty…” Yanzhi raised his head in surprise.
Xiao Cuan wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him down onto the couch: “Sleep.”
“Yes…”
The candles outside the curtains were pinched out by Xiao Cuan, the curtains blocked out the moonlight, and the couch was pitch black.
Being held by His Majesty, Yanzhi uncomfortably rolled over, turned his back to His Majesty, and clutched his wildly beating heart.
He actually deceived His Majesty!
He actually managed to trick His Majesty!
He closed his eyes, immersed in the panic of lying and acting, while also fantasizing about the free life after leaving the palace.
His whole mind was muddled, almost split in half.
While Yanzhi was thinking about Xiao Cuan, in the darkness, Xiao Cuan was also looking at him, tracing his figure with glowing eyes.
If there had been a mirror in front of Yanzhi just now, he would have seen how nervous his expression was.
If he had recorded Yanzhi’s words just now, he would have known how clumsy the excuses he made were.
Xiao Cuan didn’t know why Yanzhi insisted on copying the palace roster.
He only thought that Yanzhi was sad because of the selection and wanted to find something to do.
It was just copying names, after all; nothing major could happen. He’d give him the job.
As long as he was happy.
Just as Yanzhi was about to fall asleep, Xiao Cuan suddenly said: “The tailors from the Weaving Office will come tomorrow to take measurements and make the ceremonial robes for the grand wedding ceremony.”
“Hmm…” Yanzhi responded muddledly.
Xiao Cuan remained silent, silently tightening his arms around Yanzhi’s waist.
He lowered his eyes and scanned around, his gaze sliding over Yanzhi’s shoulders, arms, waist, and legs one by one.
This idiot had lost a lot of weight after the major illness.
Storing all the information in his heart, Xiao Cuan held Yanzhi from behind, moved closer, lowered his head, buried his face in Yanzhi’s neck, and took a deep sniff.
He whispered: “Yanzhi, you win.”
*
Xiao Cuan kept his word.
The next morning, the official in charge of palace affairs indeed brought the palace roster over.
The roster contained the names, household registration, and birth dates of all the palace servants currently serving in the palace.
What Yanzhi had to do was simple: just pick out the names of the palace servants over forty years old and copy them onto paper.
Yanzhi happily took the roster, held the things, and went back to the inner hall.
Before long, the official came with the tailors from the Weaving Office to make the clothes for His Majesty for the grand wedding ceremony.
Yanzhi vaguely remembered this; it seemed His Majesty had told him last night when he was about to fall asleep.
Yanzhi didn’t pay it any mind, just stayed in the inner hall and focused on his own task.
His Majesty had just said yesterday not to let him go out and make a scene.
Before long, in the outer hall, the tailors finished measuring Xiao Cuan.
The official asked again: “May I ask Your Majesty, about the Empress’s clothes…”
Xiao Cuan put on his outer robe and sat back on high: “No need to measure, I know his dimensions.”
The official was puzzled: “This…”
Xiao Cuan raised both hands and gestured in front of him: “The shoulders are about this wide, the waist is about this thin.”
The tailors from the Weaving Office were stunned and explained: “Your Majesty, in making clothes, a tiny error can lead to a huge difference. It would be best to…”
Xiao Cuan glanced at the inner hall door and said flatly: “No need, the dimensions I remember won’t be wrong.”
“This…” The tailor took out a cowhide measuring tape, trembling, “Forgive us, Your Majesty, but please allow us to measure you instead.”
“Alright.”
The tailor knelt before the Emperor, with trembling hands, raised the tape, and carefully measured the length from the Emperor’s left hand to his right.
“These are his shoulders.”
“This is his waist.”
“These are the arms.”
This was simply unprecedented and unheard of.
The tailor braced himself and recorded all the numbers that should be recorded.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. We will go back and make the clothes now.”
“Mm,” Xiao Cuan nodded. “Make the clothes more beautiful; don’t be stingy. Inlay all the gold and silver that should be inlaid, and hang all the jade ornaments that should be hung. If it’s not enough, go to the warehouse and take it. I captured a lot of things during the expeditions.”
“Yes, we obey the imperial decree.”
“Go then.”
Xiao Cuan waved his hand, and the tailors withdrew.
Several close ministers waited outside the hall. Seeing such a scene, they mostly understood some things in their hearts.
They brought the imperial decree for the Empress and the ceremony process, which they had drafted overnight, into the hall.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, Your Majesty ordered us to draft the decree, and we have all drafted them. Waiting for Your Majesty’s review.”
Xiao Cuan beckoned to them: “Let me see.”
“Yes.”
A thick stack of papers was placed on the imperial desk.
Xiao Cuan sat up straight, his face cold and solemn, preparing to look closely.
“Because we didn’t know who Your Majesty had appointed as Empress, we drafted five decrees for Your Majesty to choose from.”
“Mm.”
“The ceremony process all follows the ancestral system. But Your Majesty ordered that the grander the better. Therefore, we have added some processes. Please consider, Your Majesty.”
“You all withdraw first; I’ll notify you when I’m done looking.”
“Yes.”
The ministers withdrew, leaving only Xiao Cuan in the outer hall.
Xiao Cuan flipped through the drafts of the decree and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
What on earth did these ministers write?
—Virtuous and gentle?
When he’s stubborn, he’s like a little bull. I don’t know where the “gentle” or “docile” comes from.
—Managing the household well?
Who knows how many snacks he’s eaten into his stomach. I don’t know what there is to “manage the household.”
—Heaven and Earth in harmony?
Both are male. I don’t know how “Qian” and “Kun” are divided. Is it possible the one on top is “Qian” and the one on the bottom is “Kun”?
These ministers are just sucking up and writing nonsense.
Xiao Cuan tossed the drafts aside, spread out the silk with a paperweight, and picked up a brush.
He had to write it himself.
Separated only by a wall—
In the outer hall, Xiao Cuan was writing the imperial decree for the Empress.
In the inner hall, Yanzhi was copying the roster for leaving the palace.
The sun rotated, and the cold wind blew.
At the moment the sunlight pierced through the clouds, shone into the hall, and landed precisely on them.
The two of them picked up their brushes at the same time and wrote down the same name.
The irony of fate in the world was nothing more than this.
*
His Majesty had decided on the candidate for the Empress.
Now the court ministers and palace attendants were busy preparing for the grand wedding ceremony.
But His Majesty didn’t want to say much, and no one knew who the Empress was.
Yanzhi thought it was probably Young Master Liu or Young Master Yu. He didn’t dare ask more, just obediently copied his roster.
There weren’t many palace servants over forty years old in the palace. He copied intermittently for three or four days and then finished.
After copying, he handed the roster to the official in charge of the matter. After verifying it was correct, it was handed to His Majesty for approval.
On a certain day after His Majesty’s approval, while His Majesty went to try on clothes, Yanzhi quietly took a brush and added his own name to the specially reserved space.
Done!
Now he was an attendant authorized by His Majesty to leave the palace!
Although the method might be a bit bad, it didn’t matter.
His Majesty always meant what he said. Even if he later found out he was wrong, he would have already left by then. His Majesty couldn’t find him, so he would just have to let the error stand and give him this grace.
His Majesty would have a newcomer by his side by then. He was just a tiny attendant, and the palace never lacked for attendants.
Moreover, releasing palace servants was to demonstrate His Majesty’s kindness and to accumulate blessings and virtue for His Majesty’s newlywed Empress.
If His Majesty caught him back, wouldn’t that mean he caught away all the Empress’s blessings?
So he definitely wouldn’t be found.
Yanzhi was secretly pleased with himself, thinking he was quite clever.
Now he only had to pack his luggage and wait for the day of the grand wedding ceremony to arrive.
Yanzhi was extremely happy and ran to the side hall to find the “little dog,” wanting to tell his companion the good news.
He held the “little dog” and raised it high with both hands: “Little dog! Little dog!”
—We’ll be able to leave the palace soon!
The wolf cub also seemed to sense his joy, kicked its hind legs, and called out along with him.
“Go! Let’s go…”
Pack the luggage.
Yanzhi held the wolf cub, smiling with his eyes curved. When he turned around, he bumped into His Majesty.
Xiao Cuan had just returned from trying on the clothes and was standing on the stone steps, with his hands behind his back, looking at him steadily.
The smile on Yanzhi’s face froze, and he stayed in place.
He hurriedly recalled everything he had just said, confirming that he hadn’t let anything slip.
Xiao Cuan saw him in a daze, only thinking he was frightened, gave a light laugh, and stepped onto the stone steps.
“What’s making you so happy?”