Jun Huailang’s gaze swept over the carriage, then immediately withdrew.
“No need.” He smiled faintly at Jinbao. “Fuyi drove the carriage here today. I also have an appointment with Young Master Shen later, so please ask His Highness to return first.”
His mind was already in complete turmoil. It was not suitable for him to be alone with Xue Yan.
Even just thinking about it made him feel that the Buddhist incense naturally emanating from Xue Yan, which normally had the ability to calm people’s minds, would instead disturb his thoughts.
Jinbao’s face immediately showed a troubled expression.
“This…”
If he took those exact words back to his master later, there was a good eighty or ninety percent chance his master would make his blood splatter on the spot.
“What is it?” Jun Huailang looked at him.
Jinbao was quick-witted. His face immediately took on an expression of utter despair.
“Your Highness, you may not know this.” He lowered his voice and said to Jun Huailang, “As soon as His Highness returned to Jinling, there were a great many affairs to attend to. He wouldn’t listen to us servants this morning and went to the government office early… The divine physician said that with him sitting and walking around for so long, his wounds could split open. I thought just now that there was blood on His Highness’s shoulder, but I didn’t dare ask…”
So please, have some mercy and go ask His Highness about it.
He was built of steel and iron. Even if the wound on his back split open again, it wouldn’t matter. But having you ignore him for an entire day would be more painful to him than killing him.
Once Jinbao said this, he was completely confident.
What kind of person was the Bodhisattva? He was the most softhearted person there was. Usually, whenever His Highness pretended to be in pain, he would become terribly anxious. If Jinbao said this now, there was no way he wouldn’t trick him into getting into the carriage.
Sure enough, the Bodhisattva’s brows furrowed slightly. It was obvious he was worried.
“Your Highness…?” Jinbao tentatively called out again.
Yet Jun Huailang lowered his eyes. After a moment, when he looked at him again, his deep black eyes were completely calm.
“Then I’ll trouble Eunuch to help His Highness change clothes later,” he said. “If you see any blood, make sure His Highness changes his dressing.”
…Huh?
Jinbao was dumbfounded.
He opened his mouth, just about to speak, when he saw the Bodhisattva nod at the foolish young master from the Shen family beside him.
“Let’s go, Liufeng.”
As he spoke, he smiled at Jinbao, turned around, and left.
Jinbao stood frozen in place.
He left… just like that?
It took him a long while to come back to his senses. His feet felt as though he were walking on clouds as he staggered back to the carriage.
The moment the curtain was lifted, an extremely oppressive atmosphere rushed toward him.
Cold and silent, intertwined with the heavy, somber fragrance of sandalwood.
“Where is he?” he heard his master’s low voice ask.
Jinbao said, “He left.”
The atmosphere grew even more oppressive.
Xue Yan frowned. “He stayed at the academy all day. Where is he going now?”
How could Jinbao dare say?
If he told his master right now that the Heir had left with that fool from the Shen family, wouldn’t his master kill him first and then kill Shen Liufeng?
He cautiously glanced at Xue Yan, only to see that Xue Yan’s expression was extremely unpleasant.
Xue Yan himself didn’t know what was going on.
Everything had clearly been fine before last night. Relying on his injury, he had shamelessly acted spoiled, and Jun Huailang had indulged him. Yet not long after he returned, Jun Huailang sent someone to tell him that he would not come anymore.
He had even told Xue Yan not to look for him either.
Xue Yan had racked his brains and thought that perhaps Jun Huailang had seen through his act of pretending his injuries were worse than they were.
Xue Yan couldn’t think of any other reason, so he had simply planned to wait until morning and go see him again.
He had never expected Jun Huailang to leave early in the morning and spend the entire day without letting him see him.
And now that he had finally managed to catch him… he left?
Xue Yan was completely unable to understand.
Just then, he felt Jinbao secretly looking at him.
He raised his eyes. His gaze was dark and cold as it met Jinbao’s directly.
Jinbao timidly spoke, his eyes even concealing two solid points of reproach.
“Master…” he said. “Did you perhaps do something? Did you offend the Heir somehow…?”
After all, how many people in this world could make the Heir be this heartless?
—
Jun Huailang had drunk quite a lot today.
He had always held his liquor well and was very difficult to get drunk. But his mood was poor today, and he had been drinking to drown his sorrows, so his condition was much worse.
What was more… no matter how good his tolerance was, it couldn’t withstand the ferocious way he was drinking.
Shen Liufeng, on the other hand, had thoroughly enjoyed himself. Normally, whenever they had drunk about enough, Jun Huailang would remind him. But today, he said nothing and simply kept drinking with Shen Liufeng.
By nighttime, when Jun Huailang finally became drunk, Shen Liufeng was already nearly under the table.
Drunkenness tinged Jun Huailang’s eyes, as though a soft gauze had veiled precious jade, adding a few traces of tenderness to his usual coldness.
He held the wine cup in one hand and looked at Shen Liufeng, who was sprawled over the table, smiling lazily.
“Your alcohol tolerance is poor, yet you insist on drinking.”
But immediately afterward, his smile faded.
He looked at the white jade cup in his hand. The wine inside was clear and pure, rippling in layers beneath the lamplight.
“Knowing full well that I shouldn’t, yet insisting on liking him anyway.” He murmured to himself. “Could it be that as long as one is human, no one can escape this foolish infatuation?”
He was silent for a moment, then laughed at himself and drained the wine in his cup.
Although Jun Huailang was drunk, he did not appear intoxicated. After finishing his wine, he stood up steadily and instructed the Shen family servants to help Shen Liufeng into the carriage. He settled the bill himself, and before returning home, he first escorted Shen Liufeng back to his residence.
When Prefect Shen saw that it was him, he naturally had nothing more to say, merely remarking that his nephew was fond of wine and had somewhat lost his sense of moderation.
Jun Huailang still smiled and exchanged pleasantries with him for a while before getting into his own carriage.
The carriage swayed and rocked as it carried Jun Huailang back to the Governor’s residence.
The light was dim at night, and no one around him noticed that he was drunk. Jun Huailang did not need anyone to support him either and simply walked toward his own courtyard.
The residence was completely quiet. The roadside lanterns swayed, their light reflecting off the smooth bluestone pavement.
There was no moon tonight. Stars silently glittered across the sky, while the water nearby shimmered with ripples. From among the grass and plants by the roadside came the continuous chirping of insects.
Just then, Jun Huailang saw someone standing not far away.
The man’s figure was tall and straight, with broad shoulders and long legs. From a distance, he resembled an ancient pine or verdant cypress.
He stood silently in the road, with not a single person around him.
Although Jun Huailang was drunk, he recognized the man as Xue Yan from nothing more than his silhouette.
Jun Huailang’s footsteps slowly came to a stop.
The servant following behind him saw him stop and hurriedly asked, “Young Master, what’s wrong?”
Then he saw the tall figure in the distance turn around and stride toward them.
Jun Huailang involuntarily took a slight step backward.
In only a moment, the man had reached the two of them. Before the servant could raise the lantern and see the face of the person before them clearly, that person spoke first.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
Jun Huailang said nothing.
The servant behind him trembled. “His Highness…”
“You go first.” The Prince of Guangling commanded.
The servant looked toward Jun Huailang and saw him give a faint nod.
The servant hurriedly handed the lantern to Jun Huailang and jogged all the way back to his courtyard.
Jun Huailang raised his eyes to look at Xue Yan and saw that Xue Yan was looking down, staring steadily at him as well.
“Where did you go?” Xue Yan asked again.
Then he frowned.
“You drank?” he asked.
Jun Huailang hummed. “I had a little with Liufeng.”
“A little?” Xue Yan questioned. “I could smell the alcohol from far away. You call that a little?”
Although this could not exactly be blamed on Jun Huailang. After all, Xue Yan disliked drinking in the first place and was particularly sensitive to the smell.
But Jun Huailang really had drunk quite a lot.
Jun Huailang raised his eyes and quietly looked at Xue Yan.
The more he drank, the calmer his expression became.
He stared fixedly at Xue Yan, thinking, Why?
Why is he waiting here? What is he waiting for me to do? Why does he even care how much wine I drank?
He should simply be an ordinary friend with me, living in peace with each other. When we meet, we can exchange a few pleasantries, and occasionally go out together. That should be where it ends. Then I wouldn’t become unsettled every time I saw him, nor would I have to struggle with my own morality and conscience.
Or perhaps, from the very beginning, he should never have returned my kindness or treated me so well.
Jun Huailang thought resentfully to himself: I lack nothing, and I certainly don’t lack people who treat me kindly. Yet Xue Yan insisted on coming toward me, recklessly tempting me to like him.
I ended up liking him, yet I cannot allow myself to like him.
All for nothing but causing this person trouble for himself.
Xue Yan looked at him, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.
What was there to drink with Shen Liufeng? He wouldn’t pay any attention to me, yet he went drinking with that fool?
Seeing Jun Huailang looking at him, the coldness in his gaze making Xue Yan somewhat flustered, Xue Yan soon could not bear it any longer.
The irritation and anger in his heart vanished without a trace, leaving only uneasiness. He reached out to grab Jun Huailang’s wrist.
“How are you…”
Yet Jun Huailang swiftly pulled his hand back, leaving Xue Yan grasping at empty air.
“Why does His Highness care about what I do?” he said. “I know my own limits. Who I drink with is my own business. It has nothing to do with His Highness.”
His form of address had changed from Xue Yan back to “His Highness,” but Xue Yan suddenly did not dare bring it up.
He stared blankly at Jun Huailang.
“…What did you say?”
Jun Huailang’s expression looked especially rational and calm, making the words he spoke seem exceptionally credible.
But only Jun Huailang himself knew that his mind was burning with drunkenness at this moment. The words were spoken to Xue Yan, yet they were really words he was saying to himself.
He was persuading himself.
“I said that who I drink with is my own business. There is no need for His Highness to worry about it,” he said. “His Highness may now be registered under my aunt’s household and can be considered my brother, but even Xiaowu wouldn’t normally control me like this.”
As he spoke, Jun Huailang took a step backward. His voice was soft, yet every word landed with force.
“So, Your Highness should keep some distance from me in the future.”
…Then I won’t be unable even to think calmly whenever I see him, Jun Huailang thought.
He treated it as though he were simply reflecting on himself as he normally did. After finishing his admonishment to himself, he turned sideways and intended to pass Xue Yan and return to his room.
But as he passed Xue Yan, someone suddenly grabbed him by the arm.
“You said… you think of me as Jun Xiaowu?” Xue Yan’s voice was deep and cold, without much fluctuation, making it impossible to hear his emotions.
Jun Huailang did not notice that after hearing those words, Xue Yan’s expression had already changed, and the rims of his eyes had faintly reddened.
Like a wild beast driven into a dead end.
Jun Huailang, however, merely shook his head to himself.
“It’s not the same either,” he said. “His Highness has saved my life. I would never dare forget it for even a day. But ultimately, there is a distinction between ruler and subject. His Highness is a member of the imperial family, and as a subject, I cannot fail to understand what matters and what does not.”
At this moment, Jun Huailang could no longer tell whom he was speaking to.
He gently exhaled, his gaze falling onto the lantern in his hand, and muttered to himself.
“A debt of gratitude must be repaid. But afterward, it would still be better to slowly distance ourselves.”
As he spoke, he lifted his foot to leave.
He thought that even though everything he had said was reasonable and in accordance with morality and propriety, hearing it himself still made him feel uncomfortable.
He was already drunk, and his body was exhausted. At this moment, he no longer wanted to think about something that made him feel so miserable.
He wanted to go back and sleep.
But before he could take that step, Xue Yan, still gripping his arm, shoved him backward with force.
Caught completely off guard, Jun Huailang stumbled back two steps. Just as he was about to lose his balance, Xue Yan seized him by the shoulder.
“Slowly distance ourselves?” Under the dim lantern light, he raised his head. Jun Huailang saw Xue Yan restraining him, lowering his head and staring at him fiercely. “So everyone else hasn’t gotten this treatment from you, have they?”
Jun Huailang opened his mouth but said nothing.
He was somewhat unable to distinguish reality from illusion now.
Just then, Xue Yan spoke again.
“Since you want to make distinctions, then why don’t we make them a little clearer?” he said through gritted teeth. “Today, I’ll tell you exactly what the difference is between me and them.”
Jun Huailang was half a beat slow. He looked at him somewhat dazedly and asked blankly, “What difference?”
Xue Yan stared at him.
He wanted to say that he liked him. He had liked him for a very long time. He liked him but did not dare say it, so he could only treat him like the moon in the heavens, worshipping him from afar, daring only to raise his head and gaze at him.
But looking at Jun Huailang’s cold, clear eyes now, he could not bring himself to say it.
He had always thought that Jun Huailang was the softest-hearted person in the world.
Now it seemed that he had clearly misjudged him.
Just a few days ago, everything had been perfectly fine. Yet now, after he had merely asked him two questions, Jun Huailang already thought he was controlling him, and had even said that once he had repaid the debt of gratitude, he would distance himself from him.
This person’s heart was hard as stone.
The last bit of reason Xue Yan possessed completely collapsed beneath a single look from Jun Huailang.
He thought, What moon? To hell with that.
The next moment, he yanked Jun Huailang heavily toward him.
Immediately afterward, a fierce, desperate kiss fell heavily onto Jun Huailang’s lips.
The night was like water, and the dim yellow lantern slipped quietly to the ground.
The rich fragrance of wine instantly spread through their hurried, heavy breathing.