Chapter 6#
The Registry: What did I teach you a few days ago?#
Xiao Cuan pinched Yanzhi’s nose, walking in front with large strides.
Yanzhi was being pulled along, standing on tiptoe, running to catch up.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…”
A bit slower, he couldn’t keep up.
His nose was about to be pulled off!
Xiao Cuan didn’t stop, only taking a moment to command the officials: “You’re dismissed.”
The ministers didn’t dare say much and bowed: “Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty.”
Xiao Cuan pulled Yanzhi down from the tower: “Nosebleeds everywhere, and you’re still thinking about watching fireworks? It’s lucky I skip…”
It was lucky he chose “Skip,” otherwise Yanzhi, the idiot, would surely have been watching the fireworks while pinching his nose.
Xiao Cuan paused, then changed his question: “How much venison did you sneak?”
“I didn’t sneak any,” Yanzhi explained softly. “Your Majesty allowed me to eat openly.”
“And how much did you eat openly?”
“Only a small piece.”
“Nonsense, when I saw you, you were gnawing on a large piece. When I wasn’t looking, you must have eaten more.”
“I didn’t…”
“Still stubborn.”
Yanzhi paused and obediently shut his mouth.
A new servant stepped forward, gathering courage to ask: “Your Majesty, should the imperial physician be summoned to wait at the Taiji Palace?”
Xiao Cuan glanced at him and said indifferently: “What do you think?”
“I…”
Seeing that things were bad, Yanzhi hurriedly grabbed the servant’s sleeve and pulled him behind himself: “I don’t think it’s necessary.”
Xiao Cuan sneered: “Nonsense, of course not. If everyone was like you, looking for an imperial physician after eating a bit of venison, wouldn’t the physicians be worked to death?”
Yanzhi nodded: “Yes.”
Xiao Cuan remained silent, his gaze scanning up and down, looking at Yanzhi’s hand on the servant’s sleeve.
Yanzhi realized, quickly let go, and gave the servant a light push: “Go.”
This servant was a new face, likely just assigned to serve and not yet familiar with the rules.
This whole nosebleed matter was caused by him; there was really no need to involve others.
The Emperor was fierce; being fierce to Yanzhi alone was enough.
Yanzhi stood on tiptoe, moving his head closer to the Emperor’s hand, and said pleasingly: “Your Majesty can carry me.”
Xiao Cuan snorted, pinched the back of his neck, and forced him to lift his head: “Let’s go.”
Returning to Taiji Palace.
The servants didn’t dare say more. After placing the hot towels, they left.
Yanzhi sat obediently on the couch, head slightly tilted back, using a handkerchief to cover his nose.
He didn’t know what was wrong today; the nosebleed just wouldn’t stop.
Every time Yanzhi thought it had stopped, as soon as he lowered his head, droplets of blood would fall with a “thud-thud.”
He had already used two or three handkerchiefs.
Xiao Cuan washed his face and changed his clothes. When he came over and saw Yanzhi still covering his nose, he frowned.
“Exactly how much did you sneak?”
“I didn’t sneak…”
“Let me see.” Xiao Cuan cupped his face with both hands and lifted him up.
Yanzhi looked up, holding his breath to let the Emperor see clearly.
Suddenly, Xiao Cuan shouted sternly: “If you bleed again, I’ll send you to the Cleanliness Room to be castrated; then you can bleed all at once.”
Hearing this, Yanzhi couldn’t help but shudder, his face turning several shades paler.
The next moment, Xiao Cuan said solemnly: “It’s fine, it stopped.”
“Ah?” Yanzhi was dazed for a moment and, under the Emperor’s dissatisfied gaze, whispered, “Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty is indeed a divine physician of this age.”
“Divine physician of this age? That’s a good term.” Xiao Cuan was finally satisfied and let go. “Go wash your face.”
“Yes.”
Yanzhi moved to the edge of the couch, dipped a handkerchief in some hot water, and, facing the bronze mirror, carefully wiped away the blood clots on his face.
The blood had dried on his face, sticking to his skin; it hurt a bit to peel it off.
Xiao Cuan, on the other hand, sat back on the couch with his arms crossed, watching his small figure and thinking.
“Idiot, tell me, what if I can’t find a suitable Empress?”
“Hmm…” Yanzhi thought for a moment and shook his head honestly, “I don’t know.”
“Then I’ll relax the conditions and allow children of collateral branches of noble families to participate in the selection.”
“Your Majesty is wise.”
“What if I still can’t choose even from the collateral branches?”
“Then… choose from among the common people.”
“Choose from among the common people?” Xiao Cuan laughed, “You want to be Empress too?”
“I don’t, I’m just…”
He was just following the Emperor’s words.
“It’s no use thinking about it. Even if you jump, you won’t reach being Empress.”
“I know.”
He knew; he was plain-looking and clumsy; the Emperor wouldn’t choose him.
Yanzhi lowered his eyes and focused on wiping his face.
Xiao Cuan didn’t pay him any more attention, staring at his profile and continuing his calculations.
Before long, Yanzhi finished washing his face, took off his outer robe, and climbed onto the bed.
Xiao Cuan grabbed his arm and pulled him close.
During the victory banquet, the Emperor had said they would continue tonight.
Yanzhi was about to undo his clothes when Xiao Cuan saw his action and frowned: “Are you that impatient? You want it even while you have a nosebleed?”
“I…”
“Don’t stare at me intently as if it’s all my fault,” Xiao Cuan commanded. “Hold me.”
“Yes.” Yanzhi pulled his clothes together, opened his arms, and held the Emperor, snuggling beside him.
Yanzhi was exhausted; he hadn’t slept enough in the afternoon. Since he didn’t have to serve, he closed his eyes as soon as he touched the bed.
Fearing he might bleed again and dirty the Emperor’s clothes, he tilted his head back slightly, like a kitten showing its belly.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, Xiao Cuan pinched his face and gave it a hard shake.
“Idiot, wake up.”
“Your Majesty?” Yanzhi was dazed.
“You should read more books and raise your ’talent’ to…”
Before he could finish, Xiao Cuan suddenly stopped.
“Forget it, you’re not worthy.”
Xiao Cuan lowered the bed curtains, held Yanzhi, and lay down to sleep.
Yanzhi lowered his head, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.
Until a long, long time had passed and he estimated that the Emperor was asleep, only then did he dare to quietly lift his hand and messily wipe his eyes.
He knew he was very stupid, and he knew he wasn’t worthy.
But… the Emperor didn’t have to keep saying it, over and over again.
*
The Emperor relaxed the scope of the selection to the collateral branches of noble families.
The ministers in the court moved quickly, and in just two days, they had organized the registry of candidates and submitted it.
As the person personally appointed by the Emperor to manage the selection, the final registry naturally ended up in Yanzhi’s hands.
Yanzhi held the heavy registry, not knowing what to do next.
At this time, Xiao Cuan was sitting at the imperial desk reviewing memorials. Seeing him holding the items and standing dazed in the hall, he asked intentionally: “What are you dazing for?”
“I don’t know if the next step is to prepare the palace rooms and arrange for the candidates to enter the palace for an audience…”
“No need to be in such a hurry,” Xiao Cuan said. “Recopy the registry once and then show it to me.”
“Yes.”
Yanzhi never questioned the Emperor’s words; if the Emperor asked him to copy, he would copy.
Beneath the large imperial desk, a small table was set up. Yanzhi sat on his knees in front of it and spread out the paper.
He knew how to write; following the Emperor, he had learned quite a bit, and he could even read storybooks!
The Emperor would occasionally teach him, but the reward he had to pay for the Emperor’s teaching… was too much; he couldn’t afford it. Often after learning two characters, he would be pinned in the Emperor’s embrace.
After everything was over, the Emperor would say he was stupid—after learning for so long, he had only learned two characters, without any progress.
Yanzhi gently shook his head, pushing these thoughts away, then rolled up his sleeves and dipped his brush in ink.
Xiao Cuan glanced at him and said indifferently: “Only copy the names and backgrounds, leave spaces between them; annotations will be made later.”
Yanzhi nodded and accepted the order: “Yes.”
Two tables, one large and one small, were placed in front of and behind each other.
The doors of Taiji Palace were wide open, and the autumn breeze of August blew in. Occasionally, servants carrying items would walk past the door.
Yanzhi rested his cheek on one hand and copied with the other, a rebellious thought suddenly emerging in his mind—
If the Emperor and he could stay like this forever, that would be good.
The Emperor didn’t scold him, didn’t bully him; he just stayed obediently by the Emperor’s side.
They didn’t do anything, just stayed together quietly…
Just then, Xiao Cuan finished reviewing a memorial, tossed aside his brush, and reached out to wrap his arms around his waist.
“Let me see how your handwriting has improved.”
He said he was checking the handwriting, but the Emperor’s hands had already coiled around like pythons, firmly gripping his waist like wolf claws.
Yanzhi lifted his eyes and looked at the Emperor timidly.
An even more rebellious thought emerged in his heart—
The Emperor wouldn’t be this kind-hearted.
The Emperor was going to bully him again.
Sure enough, the Emperor only glanced at his handwriting and let out a “tsk.”
“I’ve taught you so many times; why is your handwriting still like meatballs?”
Yanzhi gripped the brush in his hand: “Then I’ll recopy it…”
Xiao Cuan sat behind him and held his hand: “I’ll teach you one last time; learn seriously.”
“Mm…”
“Just a few characters, and after ten years you still can’t write them well; you truly deserve a beating.”
Xiao Cuan was patient at first, teaching him to write character by character.
“‘Xun Duan,’ ‘Duan’ is the easiest to write. Sit up straight, don’t lean into my arms.”
“I’m not.”
“‘Bian Qi,’ ‘Bian Cheng,’ ‘Bian Zhuan,’ ‘Bian He’—this Bian Ying only had one son himself, but his brother had a whole bunch.”
“Mm…”
Xiao Cuan asked intentionally: “When will you carry one for me to see?”
Yanzhi hurriedly said: “Your Majesty, I am a man…”
“I know, of course,” Xiao Cuan pulled his waist closer. “The belly will get big just the same.”
Forget it, there was no point in explaining to the Emperor.
At this time, the Emperor’s hand had already reached inside his clothes.
Yanzhi tried to remain calm, gripping the brush and continuing to copy two more names.
Suddenly, he saw a name on the registry, and his copying movement paused for a moment.
The brush tip paused, and an ink dot spread on the paper.
Xiao Cuan noticed the stiffness in his body, looked closer, and read out the next name syllable by syllable: “Xie, Yi.”
“Tsk, little dog, your only good friend is also here to be Empress.”
“No,” Yanzhi hurriedly said. “Xie Yi, he…”
“Is Xie Yi not your friend?”
“No… but…”
When the Great Liang recruited soldiers, it was usually from among the common people.
Later, the Emperor took personal control and, with thunderous power, significantly changed the national policy, ordering noble families to also provide people and resources.
But there were no eyes for swords on the battlefield; how could these noble sons, who usually lived in luxury, be willing to go to the battlefield so easily?
Therefore, at the beginning of the decree’s implementation, the noble families checked their genealogies, found the collateral descendants who were eighteen generations removed from the main branch, and stuffed them into the army to make up the numbers.
Yanzhi had met Xie Yi in the military camp when he accompanied the Emperor on the personal expedition to the State of An.
Xie Yi was a collateral descendant of the Xie family. His father had farmed in the fields for a lifetime and was suddenly called back by the main branch to be sent to the battlefield. Xie Yi was worried and followed him.
As it turned out, Xie Yi’s father was injured on his first day on the battlefield.
At that time, Yanzhi was carrying a copper basin, going to get water to wash the Emperor’s clothes, when he suddenly saw a youth about his age, carrying his father on his back, his face red and his voice as quiet as a mosquito’s, asking the military doctor to treat his father’s wound first.
But the military doctors were very busy and had no patience to listen to him. Instead, they pushed and bumped him around.
Yanzhi saw this and called him over, quietly bringing an imperial physician from the Emperor’s side to look at his father.
In this way, Xie Yi was very grateful to Yanzhi, and Yanzhi came to know him.
As a result, that evening when Yanzhi returned to the camp, the Emperor asked him: “How was it? Is my imperial physician easy to order around? Should I send you a few more?”
The Emperor knew everything, and the Emperor also forbade him from having any more contact with Xie Yi.
Later, those who followed the Emperor on his expeditions and won battles were all promoted and given titles. The noble sons were envious and fought to be included, but the Emperor gave them no more chances.
Yanzhi explained softly: “Since I was separated from him during the last conquest of the State of Qi, I haven’t seen him again. I only met him once; it doesn’t count as being… good friends.”
Xiao Cuan sneered and countered: “What? How else do you want to see him? Like me—seeing him every day, every night? Never separated for a moment?”
“I don’t.”
“Mentioning Xie Yi, you’re quite bold in speaking to me. The little dog is learning to bite?”
“I’m not…”
Xiao Cuan suddenly said: “No need to copy anymore.”
Yanzhi looked up in confusion.
“I’ll just choose Xie Yi and have him enter the palace to keep you company.”
Yanzhi instinctively said: “No!”
“Why not?”
“Xie Yi… anyway, Xie Yi just won’t do…”
Yanzhi still remembered when he saw Xie Yi for the first and last time in the State of Qi; like himself, Xie Yi was thin and small, not suitable for the battlefield at all.
He liked reading and was thinking of taking the exams to become an official in the future.
How could he enter the palace to be the Empress?
Seeing him dazing off again, a surge of anger rose for no reason. Xiao Cuan forcefully pinched his waist and asked in disbelief: “You really want to keep him company?”
“I don’t!”
Yanzhi let out a cry of alarm. Before he could react, the brush in his hand was taken away by the Emperor. The Emperor directly picked him up and then put him down heavily.
The moment he sat down again, Yanzhi slumped over the desk. Whether it was from pain or something else, he wanted to cry out. Seeing the palace doors wide open, he had to stuff his finger into his mouth and bite it hard, leaving only an ambiguous whimper.
The Emperor picked him up and said coldly: “I just taught you a few days ago, and you’ve forgotten again?”
Yanzhi shook his head: “Wu…”
“Tell me, what did I teach you?”
“Wu wu…”
Yanzhi still shook his head, his throat choked up, unable to speak.
Xiao Cuan felt something was wrong, looked down, and found that he was biting his own finger, and the finger was already bitten through.
“Who told you to bite your hand?” Xiao Cuan slapped the back of his hand, pulled it out, and wrapped it with a belt. “If your hand is ruined, how will you write?”
Yanzhi turned his head, his eyes red and filled with tears as he looked at the Emperor.
He reached out, wanting to hug the Emperor’s neck, but because it was difficult to turn around, he could only look at him longingly.
Xiao Cuan gave him one last slap: “Relax, and you’ll turn around yourself.”
As a result, when he slapped him, two lines of tears fell from Yanzhi’s face instead.
He couldn’t turn around, and the door was still wide open; servants could pass by at any time.
Teardrops fell and splashed onto the back of Xiao Cuan’s hand.
Xiao Cuan skillfully wiped the tears back onto Yanzhi’s face: “You’re still crying? Your friend is about to enter the palace to keep you company; what are you crying for?”
“I’m the one who should cry; I just taught you a few days ago, and you’ve forgotten everything today.”
“Crying even before I’ve touched you. Crying above, crying below. Stop crying.”
Xiao Cuan held him, stood up, and made a move toward the outside.
Yanzhi was terrified and quickly cried out: “Your Majesty… Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Xiao Cuan stopped, but then sat back down, asking intentionally: “Why are you calling me?”
“Go to the inner hall…” Yanzhi looked back pitiably, “Go to the inner hall.”
“What else?”
“Fighting for favor…”
Only then did Yanzhi finally remember what the Emperor wanted to hear.
Yanzhi looked at him, trying hard to recall those words, and said seriously, word for word: “Before the newcomers enter the palace, I must use all my skills to se… seduce Your Majesty… so that Your Majesty doesn’t forget me…”
While he was saying “seduce,” his expression was very innocent, and his gaze was very clear.
On the other hand, Xiao Cuan’s throat tightened. He finally stepped back, picked him up, walked to the palace door, and stood at the threshold.
He reached out and finally closed the door firmly.
But he also pinned Yanzhi against the door.