Troublemaker Prince C40
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 40
Why were His Highness's remains buried in the Xie family's ancestral grounds? Why was His Highness's tombstone erected by Lord Xie? Why did Lord Xie pass away in such a short time? What exactly had the Crown Prince and the Xie family experienced?
Huo Xiling had too many doubts, yet the dream before him provided no answers. Accompanied by mournful crying and thick fog, the scene before his eyes appeared increasingly desolate and cold.
Finally, Huo Xiling was awakened by You Yusui.
Morning sunlight poured in through the window. The Crown Prince, dressed in white undergarments with his hair loose, stood by his bed looking at him. Crystal-clear teardrops still clung to his pale fingers as he said softly, "You were crying."
The next moment, You Yusui bent down and gently kissed away the tear tracks at the corner of Huo Xiling's eyes with his lips. Those soft lips lingered beside Huo Xiling's eyes, gentle as gossamer, making Huo Xiling's heart tremble involuntarily.
Huo Xiling suddenly sat up from the bed and said, "Your Highness!"
You Yusui sat on the edge of the bed, smiling as he looked at Huo Xiling and asked, "Don't you like it?"
"It's not that." Huo Xiling lowered his head, feeling his ears burning.
He was only afraid of doing something excessive to His Highness, especially since His Highness didn't seem very willing to do overly intimate things with him right now.
"This prince is still here, so why are you crying?" You Yusui said softly, touching Huo Xiling's face.
Huo Xiling reached out and embraced You Yusui. He had cried precisely because he feared You Yusui would not be there.
Huo Xiling closed his eyes. Thinking of that excessively realistic dream from before, he couldn't help but voice the doubts in his heart.
"Why does Your Highness prepare your own funeral arrangements so early?" Huo Xiling asked, staring into You Yusui's eyes.
You Yusui looked at Huo Xiling and revealed a smile, saying, "Of course it's because I have poor health and my days are numbered."
Huo Xiling knew this wasn't right. Even if You Yusui truly had poor health and numbered days, his funeral arrangements didn't need his personal attention—the Ministry of Rites would handle what level of funeral ceremony and what kind of coffin to use according to protocol.
"Imperial Physician Cui said that what's enshrined in the Tujue royal city can cure Your Highness's illness. I will lead troops to seize it back for Your Highness," Huo Xiling said, looking at You Yusui. "Why must Your Highness personally prepare for your own funeral now? Do you not trust me?"
You Yusui was taken aback by Huo Xiling's question. After a moment, he said, "Is that so?"
Having said this, You Yusui lowered his head. Actually, whether there was medicine or not didn't matter, because he knew he wouldn't live past his coming of age ceremony.
In the previous fifteen lifetimes, it wasn't that he hadn't suppressed the First Prince and Third Prince completely, or even ruthlessly sent the First Prince and Third Prince to the underworld early, but even so, he still couldn't live past his coming of age, still dying from various accidents.
He had also consulted the diviner-priests of the Taiyi Temple when You Fengyun went to worship the Taiyi God. The divination showed great misfortune, and the diviner directly asserted he wouldn't live past his coming of age. His fate was extremely noble, his destiny extremely weak—living to his coming of age was already an exceptional stroke of luck.
Then, life after life, as if fated, he couldn't live past his coming of age, yet he was reborn again and again. Sometimes You Yusui couldn't understand why this was, but the repeated deaths and rebirths were nearly driving him mad. Until this lifetime, when he was truly too exhausted and only wanted to live happily and freely for once, even if he died, at least he would have been happy.
"Your Highness, if you have something on your mind, can you tell me?" Huo Xiling couldn't help but speak, looking at You Yusui who sat with downcast eyes in silence.
You Yusui looked at the anxious and clumsy Huo Xiling and revealed a smile. This was the first person he had encountered who hoped he could live a long life. However, some things still couldn't be told to Huo Xiling.
"This prince is fine, and has nothing on his mind," You Yusui said, looking at Huo Xiling.
"Your Highness." Huo Xiling pressed his lips together. His Highness still refused to tell him what he was thinking.
Suddenly You Yusui smiled again. He extended a finger to lift Huo Xiling's chin and said, "Do you like this prince very much?"
"In this life and this world, I will only love Your Highness alone," Huo Xiling said, looking at You Yusui standing before him.
Hearing this, You Yusui curved his lips and said, "Then this prince will have someone make the coffin larger. After a hundred years, if you have this prince in your heart, then sleep together with this prince. How about that?"
"Your Highness!" Huo Xiling showed an anxious and distressed expression. How was it that after talking for so long, His Highness was still talking about funeral matters?
The next moment, You Yusui's fingers changed from lifting to pinching. His slender, delicate fingers pinched Huo Xiling's chin, and that face beautiful to the point of sharpness instantly drew close before Huo Xiling's eyes. The extremely close distance and extremely beautiful face made Huo Xiling hold his breath, unable to make any other movement.
"What? Are you unwilling?" You Yusui was smiling, but his eyes were slightly tinged with red, and the fingers pinching Huo Xiling's chin were also applying slight pressure.
If Huo Xiling refused, his emotions would collapse at any moment.
"I want to be with Your Highness for a long, long time. We should grow old together with white hair, live to a hundred years, enter the mausoleum on the same day. I don't want Your Highness to keep waiting for me below," Huo Xiling said, looking at You Yusui.
How could he not agree? He had originally thought he could only rely on military merit to have his tomb placed close to You Yusui's. Now that he could sleep together with You Yusui in the same mausoleum, he was very happy.
You Yusui's force gradually loosened, and two finger marks had been pinched onto Huo Xiling's chin.
Seeing those two obvious marks, You Yusui was immediately at a loss and said, "I'm sorry, this prince, this prince..."
The next moment, You Yusui's hand was grasped, and Huo Xiling said with a smile, "Your Highness must apply medicine for me."
"Alright." Coming back to his senses, You Yusui immediately had the little eunuch waiting outside the door fetch ointment for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis.
The cooling ointment was scooped out in a small amount from the box by You Yusui, then carefully applied to Huo Xiling's face, gently rubbed and massaged with his fingertips.
Huo Xiling looked at You Yusui applying medicine for him. He knew the current Crown Prince's mental state was somewhat abnormal. Perhaps he should go ask Imperial Physician Cui.
"There, done," You Yusui said after withdrawing his fingers from Huo Xiling's face.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Huo Xiling held You Yusui's hand.
Then Huo Xiling led You Yusui to wash up, personally combing You Yusui's hair into a topknot, placing the jade crown, dressing him in his robes, then accompanying You Yusui for breakfast. After settling him on the reclining chair in the courtyard and serving him snacks and tea, he left You Yusui to train the Eastern Palace guards.
Huo Xiling's training of the Eastern Palace guards consisted entirely of the training conducted in the Mobei Army camp. His brother-in-law's Mobei Army spent almost the entire year guarding the frontier. In order to fight against Tujue and simultaneously reduce soldier casualties, the Mobei Army's training methods could be described as brutal.
After just half a shichen of training, the Eastern Palace guards were already staggering and unable to stand.
Huo Xiling looked at them with disdain in his eyes, but ultimately still gave them rest time, while he himself went to the Imperial Medical Courtyard.
In the Imperial Medical Courtyard, Cui Yan was directing medicine apprentices in preparing medicine in his pharmacy—all medicines for bruises and injuries.
Seeing Huo Xiling arrive, Cui Yan raised an eyebrow and pointed at those bottles and jars, saying, "Perfect timing. These are the medicines the Crown Prince asked me to prepare for the Eastern Palace guards. You can take them back together."
Since Huo Xiling had assumed the position of Senior Official of the Crown Prince’s Household and was responsible for the Eastern Palace's security, the Eastern Palace was filled with sounds of wailing everywhere. The Crown Prince couldn't bear to watch it, so he both increased the guards' meals and prepared medicines for them. If these were ordinary soldiers, they would probably want to pack their bedrolls and immediately join under the Crown Prince's command.
Who knew whether this group of sons from good families from minor branches of aristocratic clans could know gratitude and treat guarding the Crown Prince's safety as their important duty.
"Imperial Physician Cui, I came this time because I have something to ask," Huo Xiling said, glancing at the medicine-grinding apprentice.
Cui Yan knew Huo Xiling had questions for him, so he said, "Xiao Xiao, go play for a while."
Having said this, Cui Yan stuffed a candy to Xiao Xiao. Xiao Xiao took the candy, said "Thank you, Young Master," and ran out happily, closing the door for Cui Yan and Huo Xiling as he left.
"Speak, what is it?" Cui Yan asked after sitting down.
Huo Xiling hesitated slightly, then told Cui Yan about the Crown Prince's abnormal emotions these past days.
After listening, Cui Yan looked at Huo Xiling with a hesitant expression, finally saying, "Are you sure it's not that His Highness has a strong possessiveness over you and fears you'll run off with someone else?"
"It's not that." Huo Xiling could only earnestly describe You Yusui's demeanor and behavior at that time to Cui Yan.
Cui Yan couldn't help but frown. This indeed far exceeded a normal person's possessiveness toward their beloved. He looked at Huo Xiling and asked, "Besides this, does His Highness have any other manifestations? Such as with sleep?"
"His Highness's sleep is very light. When I sleep on the couch by the window, even if I turn over gently, His Highness knows," Huo Xiling answered earnestly.
"Light sleep with constant vigilance, anxiety over gains and losses, emotions easily losing control—this indeed isn't a good thing," Cui Yan murmured to himself.
"Does Imperial Physician Cui have any solution?" Huo Xiling immediately asked.
Cui Yan glanced at Huo Xiling and said, "I treat the body, not the heart. If you want him to get better, it still depends on you yourself."
"This illness of His Highness can probably only be cured by making him feel sufficiently secure."
Having said this, Cui Yan had already picked up his brush and written out a prescription for calming the spirit.
"I don't know if it will work or not. In any case, it won't kill anyone. You should give it to His Highness for now," Cui Yan said, passing over the prescription.
At that moment, Huo Xiling's gaze looked murderous.
Cui Yan said helplessly, "I merely spoke the truth."
"Ailments of the heart still require medicine for the heart. Perhaps if you find the root cause of the Crown Prince's heart ailment, all problems will be readily solved," Cui Yan said.
Huo Xiling accepted the prescription and lowered his head, saying, "I will."
Having said this, Huo Xiling left with that pile of injury medicines.
"This place really has quite a lot of interesting matters," Cui Yan said with a smile, leaning back in his chair.
In the Eastern Palace, You Yusui had just finished reading a storybook and was lying on the reclining chair under fox fur, dozing lightly. Upon hearing footsteps, he immediately opened his eyes.
"You're back?" You Yusui asked.
"Mm." Huo Xiling nodded.
"In two more days, it will be time for me, Eldest Imperial Brother, and Third Imperial Brother to attend morning court. I can't get up," You Yusui said with slight grievance.
Morning court at the hour of Mao (5–7AM) was inhumane.
"I will escort Your Highness to court," Huo Xiling said softly.
"Then getting up that early isn't entirely unacceptable," You Yusui felt he could struggle a bit.
"Tomorrow is the day Princess of Wu returns to her maternal home," Huo Xiling said softly.
You Yusui chuckled lightly and said, "Then we'll have to see what choice she makes."
At this moment, Princess of Wu Su Yingying's expression was somewhat worried. The closer it came to her return home, the more uncomfortable her heart felt. If the truth really was as such, what should she do? Would Father help her? Would Grandfather help her?
Everything was unknowable.