Two more days passed. In these two days, the system popped up three notices in total. The first was when theZhen Guo house declared that An Chengjie hadn't died but was merely missing, the system notified me that An Chengsheng and the protagonist's love probability had fallen to5%. The second time, when news spread that An Chengjie was the Treasure Pavilion's boss behind the scenes, An Chengsheng and the Protagonist's love probability became zero, pulling out the first soul flag. The third time, when the news that An Chengjie escaped to the northwest spread, Lei Baofei and the protagonist's love probability had fallen to10%.
YeZhizhou jabbed at the light screen and flipped over the data in boredom. He was thinking why hadn't Yan Mingyong come, while also fretting about the lack of movement on the seventh prince's side. On the slip of paper he gave to him were names of the seventh prince's secret aides; he had mentioned that he had something good to present to him and included a vague device scheme as well as clues pointing to him. It made no sense that there was no response until now. Could it be that the seventh prince couldn't understand the scheme? But didn't the protagonist pique the seventh prince's interest using a device scheme like that in the original plot?
There was basically no possible way for An Chengjie to meet the seventh prince now, so normally, the love probability should also drop, but the reality is that damned love probability didn't budge one bit — firmly staying at 100%. This is completely irrational! Was there still a possibility of the seventh prince meeting An Chengjie? If there is one, that'll be the Autumn Hunt more than a month away…..
He took a glance at the weather outside while his thoughts were racing. Isn't this so-called 'autumnhunt' of Great Yan a bit deceiving? It hadn't even been days since they entered summer. One month after this is when the weather starts to heat up, right? How is it, Autumn Hunt? Shouldn't it be 'summer hunt'…..?
The day was spent with his mind running wild. While leaning on the railings of a winding corridor, his eyes were set on the country house's gate, and he sighed. Just what is that brat doing? When does he plan on getting me? He felt unsettled now that the protagonist had gone missing.
Because his mind was plagued by this, his sleep at night was not very deep. In this half-awake state, he felt pressure on his body. He wriggled on reflex and woke up when he couldn't break free. This feeling of something wrapping around his body was familiar and also aggravating. He relied on his instincts to flip over the body on the bed so that he's on top of him, and when he could see the small, beautiful face, he heard, "Oh? His Highness Eighth Prince finally thought of his subject? Aren't all royalties terribly busy?"
Yan Mingyong raised his hand to caress his face; the face that was hidden in the shadows was unclear to YeZhizhou. His voice cracked a little, unlike his smooth and pleasant-to-the-ear voice in the past. "You're angry? Don't be, I got you a present."
He quickly noticed something a bit wrong with his lover and opened the bed curtain a bit. He looked at his face in the moonlight and felt his body from top to bottom, frowning in the end, "What happened to you? Something's wrong." Though his body didn't seem to have a problem, he seemed too calm and collected, unlike his bratty behaviour before, even resembling him from the previous two worlds. t h i s i s a n i n c o m p l e t e v e r s i o n read on Padamtl, w o r d p r e s s, c o m
"I'm only… a bit tired." Yan Mingyong stiffened under his touch. With reddening ears, she pulled down the curtain, then wrapped up around YeZhizhuo again and changed the topic, "Le'er, I ate all my medicine. Recently, my chest would hurt again."
And his attention really was diverted — Heangrily rubbed him up and down and then pinched his face. "You brat! Didn't I give De'an your medicine? He didn't give them to you?"
Yan Mingyong didn't talk anymore; he lowered his head and rubbed against his neck just like a little puppy sticking to a person.
This was like the person himself had changed; not only was he not bratty, he was also being cute and lovable! YeZhizhou was caught between feeling angry and not angry. While holding him, he patted his back and also pinched his face. He wanted to say something else, but he found the other boy had already fallen asleep in his embrace.
How vexing...
He stewed for a while, but then took the person beside him in his tight embrace. Now that a load was taken off his chest, he peeked at the system in his mind. "Tongtian, give him a scan again. There's really no problem with the soul?"
Half a minute later, the screen popped out: [Data of the soul shows no anomaly.]
He let out a long sigh. He hesitated a bit before he lowered his head to the one sticking close to him and divided a tiny fraction of his spiritual force intoYan Mingyong's brain. He explored inside but didn't venture deep, only exploring lightly around the outer layer. There was no trace of spiritual force as he expected. He felt his heart tighten as he withdrew. It really saddened him to look at this small pallid face.
What should he do? This world's mission will soon be completed, if his lover wants to follow him to the next world....
The next day, he was listless when he got up from bed and stared at the elaborate meal on the table blankly.
Yan Mingyong frowned, reached out to hold his hand, and leaned in, "No appetite? Or do you not like eating these?"
Seeing that the other boy's gaze was full of concern, she put down the urge to sigh and gripped his hand back, hesitating as she asked back, "Mingyong, hypothetically.. If we have a next life, you…"
"You are mine." Not waiting for him to finish talking, Yan Mingyong interrupted. His grip tightened, the calm and well-behaved mask on his face quickly broke, his tone both stubborn and frantic, "Don't think you can escape in the next life, you can only be mine!"
....So that brattiness is still here. The well-behaved attitude yesterday was only an illusion!
YeZhizhou glared at him, not knowing what to do, as he was vexed over how to handle this 'brattiness' of his lover, his vision unthinkingly swept over the qin rack at the corner of the room. His eyes brightened, and he excitedly said, "Mingyong, why don't I play you a tune!"
Yan Mingyong, who was dishing out a play of 'binding shackles pursuit', speedily put away his fierce expression. Recalling the content of several folktales, she hurriedly assumed an obedient appearance. His face was full of anticipation as he nodded, "Okay, but you need to eat first."
YeZhizhou gulped down his meal and then pushed Yan Mingyong to the small garden, setting him down inside a pavilion. He lightly shook his sleeve to cover up, taking out the harmonica (bought in his previous life to relieve boredom) from his space, and shook it. "I told De'an to move a small couch here, you should read for now, if you get sleepy later, you can rest directly."
Though Yan Mingyong was very curious about the thing in his hands, he pressed down his question when he saw his eagerness and picked up a book as he was told to do. In any case, Le'er is free to do anything as long as he is by his side.
Over the course of two lifetimes, YeZhizhou's harmonica skill went from dreadful to barely passable. When the first note sounded, Yan Mingyong's hand paused in the middle of flipping a page. He glanced at him with a stiff expression before quickly dipping his head back and continuing to flip the pages. He knew that Le'er's gentlemanly six arts were not up to par, but he only faintly grasped it now….. It's nothing, later he would teach him slowly.
The music started rocky, but then became smoother as it picked up. YeZhizhou sat against the pavilion's railing, carefully releasing his spiritual force to twine with the tune that carried ittoYan Mingyong.
Yan Mingyong felt that the more you listen, the more you will be drawn in by this odd song. His nerves unconsciously relaxed, and the hand flipping pages slowed down. A quarter of an hour later, he had fallen asleep in
his wheelchair. De'an, who was guarding outside the pavilion, quietly walked in and summoned the Zijin guards, who put down the small couch. He arranged the blanket, pillow, and such, then retreated out of the pavilion and continued to keep watch outside.
The sound of music paused and stopped. YeZhizhou put down his harmonica and carried Yan Mingyong to lay him down on the couch. He stroked his hair, covered him with the blanket, then leaned back on the railings and continued playing. To prevent his lover from exhausting his soul to follow him to the next world, starting from today, he will do his best to help gather and nourish his lover's spiritual force.
The sweet, gentle mood between the two led YeZhizhou to think — since Yan Mingyong is feeling well, they must be able to return to the capital soon — but then reality smacked him in the face!
"You want to stay here? Until the autumn hunt arrives?"
"Mm." Yan Mingyong slowly turned over a page, hishead didn't lift. "I had sought my imperial father's consent beforehand."
"DukeZhen Guo knows where we are and can visit when he misses you."
upd ate so npad amtlwo r d pr essco m_th i sisaninco mpletever sio n_
Yan Mingyong stopped turning the page, his head raised, and he lightly sized YeZhizhou up, then lowered his eyes and kneaded his hand. He softly replied, "Wait till the autumn hunt."
"But..."
"I know you're concerned about how An Chengjie is doing now." Yan Mingyong put his book to the side and wheeled his chair to face him. "I know that he accused you of bullying him just after heentered theZhen Guo household and smeared your reputation to raise his own standing outside. I also know he sowed discord between you and your family, to the point of testing the Elder Lady An and discrediting your mother... You don't have to worry, he won't have it easy. But you needn't dirty your hands with these, I'll do it for you, hm?"
YeZhizhou went blank, hearing these words from him, "You were watching him and me all along?"
"No, I was looking out for you." Yan Mingyong's hand raised to stroke his cheek; his eyes deepened, "As for him, he is not worth fearing for." Even if he develops a few terrible objects, there's nothing to be scared of.
YeZhizhou compromised after he was sure he couldn't leave. He threw the mission to the back of his mind and concentrated on
nourishing his lover's spiritual force. One month later, the remaining poison in Yan Mingyong's body was cleanly flushed out, and his weak body was also mostly restored, and he finally looked like a regular teenage youth.
They had just finished lunch, and YeZhizhou was mulling over playing a tune in the afternoon, so he was a little unresponsive and puzzled. "Go back?"
"Mm." Yan Mingyong now gradually didn't need his wheelchair to get around. After this reply, he steadily walked up to pull on his hand and lead him outside. "Last night, Chuan Yue suddenly caught on fire. The fire spread too quickly; they couldn't put it out before it burned through half of the street. Three people were burned to death, and eleven were injured. We need to go back to grasp the situation clearly."1
This alarmed YeZhizhou, heinstinctively rejected it, "How can that be!" Before opening the restaurant, he did his best to take measures to guard against fire. After all, all the ancient buildings are made of wood, so they must pay attention to this. In addition, he had carefully instructed the servers, shopkeeper, and the kitchen staff to keep the big water jars in the backyard full at all times so they can put out a fire on time!
At that moment, the two had already reached the gate. Yan Mingyong helped him up into the carriage and said a name without an expression on his face: "An Chengjie."
YeZhizhou's mouth slightly opened, then he fell silent, and his eyebrows furrowed deeply.
All the way to the restaurant, YeZhizhou was completely quiet. Yan Mingyong sat by him, holding his hand and silently comforting him. When the horse carriage arrived at the southern street, Ye Zhizhou finally snapped out of it. He gripped Yan Mingyong's hand that was holding his, "No hurry to go to the restaurant. Where are the wounded? I want to go see them first."
Yan Mingyong nodded, helped him down the carriage, and gave his instructions to the coachman. He then pulled YeZhizhou to walk towards a pharmacy not far from Chuan Yue. YeZhizhou looked at the burned wood frames of houses from across the street, and his hands slowly tensed. The protagonist was transmigrated; there's no way he didn't know what danger fire posed in ancient times.
He turned his head at the sudden loud whinny from the horse, and the horse carrying the carriage they were on was startled and started running toward the burned-down Chuan Yue!
"This is bad! The driver is still riding it!" The building's wood frames are on the verge of collapsing after the fire. If it receives such a powerful blow, the driver will be in danger!
At the crucial moment, Yan Mingyong pulled out a small whistle from his sleeves and blew it. One second later, a figure rushed out of the shadows to the front of the carriage, dragged the coachman by his collar, threw him off the carriage, then quickly left and completely blended in with the shadows once more.
YeZhizhou let out a relieved sigh, then thought to check the coachman's situation, but the next second, an earth-shaking explosion was heard. He raised his head in shock; he could feel the sensation of imbalance from the ground shifting under his feet, filling his heart with disbelief. This is.... an explosion? The protagonist already made explosives?
"Be careful!" Thinking it was an earthquake, Yan Mingyong leapt to shield him under his body.
He lied onthe ground with his head raised; he saw smoke and dust left by the explosion and the mess of people running out to the street, he heard panicked voices of patients and physicians in the pharmacy, and he truly felt angry for the first time. He indignantly pounded on the ground.
Setting fire, planting bombs, has An Chengjie gone mad?!