FIMA Ch90: Beauty

This day was a warm and sunny day.

The sky was azure like jade. Although it wasn’t officially autumn yet, there wasn’t a single cloud for ten thousand miles.

Gu Siyuan looked up at the sky, blue as water. A neatly arranged flock of wild geese flew past, suddenly emitting cries, and then scattered and fled in all directions.

And the two black dots chasing behind that flock of wild geese slowly became clear in his vision; they were two majestic golden eagles.

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes, raised his hand to touch the bow and arrows by his saddle, his hands itching.

Xie Xuan, sitting with his several royal brothers in the Shili Pavilion (Ten-Mile Pavilion) ahead, had been waiting for a long time. Raising his peripheral vision slightly, he happened to catch Gu Siyuan’s movement.

The corners of Xie Xuan’s mouth curved up slightly, secretly thinking: It is rumored that when common men and women get engaged, if the man has a heart, he will personally hunt down a wild goose.

But wild geese are too soft, beautiful, and sorrowful, not suited to Gu Siyuan’s temperament. Then let him go shoot a golden eagle back…

Just at this moment, a thunderous sound of horse hooves came from the end of the official road.

Smoke and dust rose from the ground, its momentum like a landslide.

A crow that had boldly landed on the thatched pavilion gave a sharp “caw…” and flew into the distance, disappearing into the horizon.

The four princes exchanged a glance, stood up, and walked out of the Shili Pavilion.

Sure enough, a moment later, a dense, long convoy of carriages appeared in everyone’s line of sight.

A squad of honor guard cavalry cleared the path, protecting three figures—one older and two younger—who slowly rode out from the procession.

The two youths were a man and a woman, following behind the older person, all dressed in foreign attire.

That older, burly man was dressed in luxurious clothes, but without any trace of powder or arrogance, showing he had spent his days on horseback.

That young man also had slightly dark skin and looked vigorous and energetic.

But the most eye-catching was that young woman. Although she had a thin veil covering her face, there was no covering at her waist, abdomen, and arms, revealing a small section of fair skin. Her temperament was sharp and gorgeous, extremely different from the women of their Great Liang.

These three were the King of the Northern Frontier, the Prince, and the Princess.

The King of the Northern Frontier’s falcon-like eyes swept over Xie Xuan and the other three, cupping his hands in greeting: “Rumor has it that the Emperor of Great Liang has four outstanding sons. Truly, seeing it once is better than hearing about it a hundred times; every one of them is a person of striking appearance.”

As the eldest brother of this generation, Xie Hong naturally stepped forward to respond: “The King of the Northern Frontier praises us too highly. Coming from afar, you must be exhausted from the journey. Our Emperor of Great Liang has already set up a banquet in the palace. King of the Northern Frontier, please!”

After the crowd roughly met each other face-to-face, they all walked toward the city together.

At this time, from the capital’s city gates to the palace gates, the entire route was solemnly guarded by Imperial Guards. Red satin paved the ground, clear water sprinkled the surface, spotless and free of dust.

The banquet was arranged at the Wuying Hall.

It was just the Shen hour (3-5 PM). Gorgeous palace lanterns were already hung all around the main hall. The ground had been scrubbed spotless with clear water, and there were palace servants scattering flower petals.

From the moment the party stepped into the palace gates, the Imperial Guards along the way raised continuous voices of announcement and transmission: “The King of the Northern Frontier arrives!”

“The King of the Northern Frontier arrives!”

Emperor Jianzhao sat high on the platform of the Wuying Hall, his face full of smiles.

The King of the Northern Frontier, his Prince, and Princess all crossed their hands over their chests and bowed: “Greetings to the Emperor of Great Liang.”

The people of the Northern Frontier had always had a wild style, but since they came this time to seek aid and form an alliance, their words and actions were quite polite.

Emperor Jianzhao was evidently very satisfied as well: “To have friends come from afar, is it not a joy? The King of the Northern Frontier need not stand on ceremony. You’ve worked hard coming from afar, please take your seats!”

“Many thanks to the Emperor,” the three bowed again.

Subsequently, the several princes and the civil and military officials also took their seats one after another.

By the time the King of the Northern Frontier’s party entered the palace, it was already afternoon, plus the rushing journey was indeed exhausting.

Today was merely a simple welcoming banquet to wash off the dust. At most, they talked a bit about the local customs of the two places; other important matters regarding the alliance weren’t even mentioned.

After the banquet dispersed, they directly returned to the courier station to settle down. By the time everything was handled properly, the sky was already full of stars.

When the second day arrived.

The ministers of the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries, together with the people brought by the King of the Northern Frontier, launched into intense discussions regarding the alliance agreement.

The several princes took turns accompanying the Prince and Princess of the Northern Frontier to tour around.

The Princess of the Northern Frontier was a lively one and liked dancing the neck-twisting dance the most. When she had nothing to do, she would pull the musicians from the palace’s Music Bureau to play music to accompany her, ready to dance anytime and anywhere.

When Gu Siyuan was on duty in the palace, he had seen it a few times and occasionally, when in the mood, would appreciate it.

Today, while admiring flowers in the Yujing Garden, this Princess suddenly got in the mood and started dancing again in a nearby pavilion.

“Is it very good-looking? General Gu?” A gloomy and cold voice sounded nearby.

Gu Siyuan lowered his head, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly, but by the time he turned his head back, his face had recovered a look of icy indifference: “Doesn’t the Sixth Highness think so?”

Xie Xuan puffed his cheeks: “There’s no one else here.”

Gu Siyuan’s expression softened slightly, asking in return: “I remember the day before yesterday, Your Highness was also staring without blinking.”

“…” Xie Xuan.

How is that the same?

That was my way of treating guests.

Gu Siyuan pinched his face.

Little vinegar jar, and with such clear double standards.

He looks himself, but now won’t let me look.

Xie Xuan glared at the person unreasonably: “Anyway, you’re just not allowed to look. Is she as good-looking as me?”

Hearing this, Gu Siyuan narrowed his sharp eyes, slightly lowered his head, and leaned close to his ear, his voice clear and cold yet teasing: “If the Sixth Highness dressed like that, you would definitely be better looking than the Northern Frontier Princess.”

“…” Xie Xuan’s ears instantly started smoking.

This person looks as cold as frost, how come his head is full of these things?

“Your Highness…”

Right at this moment, shouts rang out from ahead.

Xie Xuan hurriedly changed his expression, stood up straight, and severely reprimanded Gu Siyuan: “General Gu, you must be extra careful while guarding the palace forbidden areas. Especially today, with the King of the Northern Frontier frequently entering the palace. If any accidents occur, this Prince will definitely not spare you.”

“Your Highness doesn’t need to say this. Just don’t let Your Highness find excuses to make unreasonable trouble,” Gu Siyuan also slowly stood up straight and said carelessly.

Xie Xuan immediately glared fiercely at Gu Siyuan.

It was unknown whether he was acting or doing it for real.

Afterward, he flicked his sleeve and left.

Gu Siyuan also sneered at his back, took large strides, turned around, and continued to patrol.

Actually, it was just a light chuckle of banter, but in the eyes of the approaching ministers, it was a sneer.

The ministers fell silent: The relationship between the Sixth Highness and General Gu is truly bad!

Ding Ye’s face, however, carried the wisdom of someone who saw through everything: Ignorant humans, you know nothing. They are actually flirting.

The Sixth Highness is clearly blushing with shame and annoyance, and still trying to hide it from me?

Over the next few days, both Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuan became busier than usual.

Especially Xie Xuan. According to his original plan, he intended to properly settle accounts with Gu Siyuan later, but as a result, he found himself overwhelmed with work.

Xie Xuan held an idle position in the Ministry of Rites, but everyone knew he was actually the invisible person in charge.

And the alliance negotiations with the Northern Frontier were mainly led by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites.

Often, when the negotiations between the two sides first began, both guests and hosts were happy, but in the end, they would part on bad terms.

Don’t look at these Northern Frontier people as big and burly; their schemes, including the depth of their haggling over conditions, were nothing to scoff at.

On that thin piece of paper, minor modifications, even of one or two words, were constantly being made.

But ultimately, this concerned the lives of thousands of ordinary commoners.

It wasn’t until the end of July that, nearing the conclusion, there were still a few details difficult to confirm, concerning the annual tribute and so on.

This continued for several days.

One day, perhaps the King of the Northern Frontier received some news, and his attitude became eager.

The next day, the King of the Northern Frontier proposed holding an exchange assembly, so both sides could temporarily ease up a bit, and also find a brave warrior to be a Prince Consort for his princess. The negotiations would continue after the exchange assembly.

After that, it was set in stone.

However, calling it an exchange assembly sounded nice, but it was actually a disguised way of showing off their prestige to Great Liang.

The people of the Northern Frontier were fierce and brave; regardless of gender or age, the entire population were soldiers.

If only comparing individual combat ability, Great Liang was actually inferior. But Great Liang had abundant land and people; if individual soldiers didn’t work, they would directly use numbers to press down, which was something the Northern Frontier could never catch up with.

For the sake of safety.

This exchange assembly was arranged at the Royal Drill Ground not far from the imperial city.

A few days in advance, Gu Siyuan brought people to inspect the defensive situation around the area.

Right at this moment, a respectful voice of greeting was heard at the entrance of the drill ground.

“Greetings to the Sixth Highness.”

Xie Xuan held a post in the Ministry of Rites. The matter of entertaining the King of the Northern Frontier this time was handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial, so his coming to inspect was within reason.

The two happened to meet face-to-face.

Xie Xuan raised his eyes and sneered: “General Gu is also here?”

Gu Siyuan ignored him.

However, Xie Xuan also left after speaking. He walked around a few times. It had just entered autumn, and the ‘autumn tiger’ (late summer heat) was quite fierce. Xie Xuan had always been pampered, and in a short while, layers of sweat beads broke out on his forehead.

Anyway, he wasn’t genuinely here to inspect. After putting on a show, he walked to a tent near the drill ground to sit down and rest.

After Gu Siyuan finished inspecting a round, he instructed his subordinates: “Patrol according to the rules I stated. If anyone dares to disobey, or dares to leave alone, report it immediately.”

The Vice General nodded: “Yes.”

Xie Xuan lay in the tent with his eyes closed for a moment when he felt the tent flap lift, bringing a slight cool breeze.

Listening to the sound of walking, he muttered with his eyes closed: “Not seeing your shadow for over ten days again, what are you coming to find this Prince for?”

Gu Siyuan raised his hand and flicked his nose lightly, saying calmly: “Then this general bids farewell.”

Xie Xuan swiped his eyes open, grabbed the hem of the person’s clothing in front of him with his slender wrist, and glared at him fiercely: “Gu Xun, this is your attitude toward this Prince, right?”

Gu Siyuan curled the corners of his mouth slightly, sat down on the couch beside him, and said indifferently: “Is the Sixth Highness getting angry over this? This general was just making a joke?”

“…” Xie Xuan.

This hateful dog of a man.

He half-raised his body and rested his head heavily on Gu Siyuan’s lap, no longer minding the heat at all.

When out and about, the furnishings in Xie Xuan’s tent were also very simple.

A large bed, and the rest were a soft couch, a desk, and such items.

Gu Siyuan picked up a folding fan placed on the small table by the soft couch, preparing to cool the two of them down, but narrowed his eyes: “This fan looks somewhat familiar?”

He remembered the first time he went to the Sixth Prince’s mansion, he went wearing a crane cloak and carrying a folding fan. In the end, the crane cloak was left with this ungrateful little thing, but the folding fan was brought back, and now still sat on the desk in his study.

But this one was exactly identical to his.

The back of Xie Xuan’s ears flushed slightly, and he purposely hummed and hawed: “You’re just being fussy, what’s the big deal about a broken fan? If you like it, this Prince will give you ten or eight of them.”

Gu Siyuan coldly glanced at this guy, picked up a writing brush placed on the desk, and slowly wrote a few characters on the surface of the fan.

Xie Xuan spoke as if he didn’t care at all, but at this moment, he couldn’t help secretly craning his neck to look.

Gu Siyuan happened to stop writing. A human figure was simply sketched on the fan’s surface. Although it was just a few strokes, it could be seen that it was Xie Xuan’s appearance, extremely vivid and lifelike.

At the tail of the fan, two small characters ‘Xie Xuan’ were inscribed, with a striking demeanor and forceful calligraphy (iron strokes and silver hooks).

Xie Xuan wanted to reach out and take the folding fan over, but was blocked.

He glared at the person: “Is General Gu’s household already so destitute that you can’t even afford to open the pot, that you even have to snatch a folding fan from this Prince?”

Gu Siyuan equally raised an eyebrow coldly: “Didn’t the Sixth Highness say you could give me ten or eight of them? In just a blink of an eye, you turn hostile and refuse to acknowledge it?”

“…” Xie Xuan.

So angry.

This person only knows how to bully him.

Looking at the little face that wasn’t flushed from the sun but flushed red from anger, Gu Siyuan felt he had bullied him enough. He reached out and handed the folding fan over: “A precious sword is gifted to a hero, a folding fan is given to a beauty.”

Xie Xuan immediately beamed with joy, taking the fan like a treasure, but his mouth still held out stubbornly: “You have the nerve to say ‘gift’, is this folding fan yours? It clearly belongs to me.”

Gu Siyuan lifted his eyelids slightly, his dark, heavy gaze sweeping over the person.

“…” Xie Xuan trembled slightly, feeling guilty yet eager to try, “What do you want to do to this Prince? This Prince will absolutely not yield…”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

I haven’t even said anything yet?

I see you want it very much.

Without hesitation, Gu Siyuan grabbed the person’s fine white wrist, directly pressed him onto the couch, and kissed him.

He wanted to taste whether this mouth was truly as tough as its words.

“Wu…” Xie Xuan groaned softly.

A long while later, Gu Siyuan got up, poured a cup of clear tea, sat to the side, and slowly drank it.

Xie Xuan lay sideways on the couch, panting heavily, his clothes slightly messy, his lips moist and bright red.

He looked up and saw Gu Siyuan sitting with his back straight, looking completely unmessy. A burst of anger arose in his heart for no reason. Could it be he couldn’t turn things around in this lifetime…

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Xie Xuan angrily fanned himself with the folding fan to dissipate the heat on his face.

However, before fanning for long, the pampered Sixth Prince felt his hand turn sour, and immediately cried out delicately: “Gu Xun?”

Gu Siyuan brought the cup over, saying calmly: “Take a sip?”

Xie Xuan nodded, leaned in like a little duck, and bit by bit finished the cup of slightly cool tea.

Then, he stuffed that folding fan he had snatched over with great difficulty back: “You fan me, it’s all because of you that I’m this hot.”

Gu Siyuan took the folding fan, seemingly quite helplessly saying: “This general didn’t know Your Highness was so sensitive, what’s to be done in the future?”

“…” Xie Xuan.

Truly not a good person.

Gu Siyuan didn’t bicker with him anymore, taking the folding fan and fanning casually.

Xie Xuan hummed happily. He kicked off his long boots and white socks, rolled up his sleeves to reveal his fine white arms, his collar already messily wide open. His whole person lazily half-lay on the couch, feeling the cool breeze brushing his face.

Gu Siyuan evaluated him for a moment while fanning, without sprouting any romantic thoughts, but rarely joked: “Sixth Highness, do you know what you look like right now?”

Xie Xuan cast a lazy glance at him, raised his hand to brush aside the stray hair on his forehead, and only then hummed and hawed: “What do I look like?”

Even more like it.

Gu Siyuan raised an eyebrow, saying calmly: “Not at all like a proud and noble prince, but only like those concubines in the inner palace who have nothing to do all day long, lazily and idly pestering people.”

“…” Xie Xuan.

Can a few pleasant words come out of this person’s mouth?

After a long while, he lowered his eyelids. His white jade-like toes gently rubbed against Gu Siyuan’s clothes at his lower back, his tone faint and profound: “If this Prince is a concubine in the inner palace, then General Gu… what are you? Are you a little eunuch in my palace, or that monarch who let his grace end before my youthful beauty faded…”

These words were considerably overstepping the bounds.

Even though Xie Xuan was a prince, he couldn’t speak such frivolous words of insubordination.

However, Gu Siyuan naturally wasn’t any proper person either.

He grabbed the cold, slender ankle behind his waist, his body lowering slightly. His deep, magnetic voice accompanied by warm breath sprayed together onto Xie Xuan’s side face and neck: “This general is neither a eunuch nor a monarch. This general is Consort Xie’s childhood sweetheart cousin. After Consort Xie was selected to enter the palace, this general was reluctant to part, so I also entered the palace and became an Imperial Guard. Thus, every night when no one is around, in a pitch-black and silent corner, I whisper sweet nothings and ignite the dry wood and roaring fire with Consort Xie. Whenever the night patrol Imperial Guards pass by, this general covers Consort Xie’s mouth tightly…”

“…” Xie Xuan.

This has too much of a visual image.

He only felt a hot stream rush straight to his lower abdomen.

He hurriedly pushed away the tall body covering him, exasperated and flustered: “Looking like a serious person, yet only sprouting these muddle-headed words.”

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