FIMA Ch84: The Minister Can

Gu Siyuan glanced at his clothes and said blandly, “The crane cloak the Sixth Prince is wearing looks familiar?”

This was clearly what he had draped over him last time, seeing he was cold.

Xie Xuan blinked as if unaware, smiling, “Is it? I found it in the courtyard and thought it looked nice, so I put it on.”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

Lying through your teeth to this extent.

He raised an eyebrow, half-smiling, “Indeed, the Sixth Prince’s courtyard is blessed. You can even find such clothes lying around?”

Xie Xuan smiled, “General Gu thinks this cloak is nice; I agree…”

He not only said it but also lowered his head to sniff it and gently touched it with his fair, jade-like fingers.

The soft, affectionate movements seemed unsure whether he was caressing the clothes or the person beneath them.

He was having too much fun.

Gu Siyuan chuckled, “Unlike the thrifty Sixth Prince, who manages the house and dares to wear found clothes.”

“Thrift is one thing,” Xie Xuan propped his chin on his delicate wrist, blinking at him, “What do you mean by ‘manage the house’? General Gu… wants me to manage whose house?”

Gu Siyuan stared at his cunning, beautiful eyes and his fair, jade-like wrist, dazzling in front of him, wanting to hold it in his palm to play with, or break it forcefully.

After a while, he calmed his thoughts.

Not wanting to banter further, he directly grabbed the cloak, pulling both the person and the garment toward him with a slight tug.

“Probably managing my house, as the hem of this crane cloak is clearly embroidered with the character ‘Gu’.”

He looked down.

Xie Xuan, unprepared, fell onto his lap. Even when exposed, he wasn’t embarrassed but instead propped his chin on the other’s knees and continued teasing, “How can I manage General Gu’s house? Isn’t that the job of General’s wife… Oh, no, I forgot, General Gu swore last time he wouldn’t marry and even insisted I wouldn’t either. Could it be… General Gu had this plan all along?”

Gu Siyuan looked down at the person on his knees, pinching his constantly moving red lips, his deep eyes terrifying, his voice even lower, “You better not let them keep talking, otherwise, I fear the Sixth Prince will truly learn what it means to be domineering and rebellious?”

“…” Xie Xuan seemed to realize he had gone too far in teasing, stuck out his small red tongue, and smiled ingratiatingly, “Just joking, General Gu, why are you so petty? Can’t bear to part with a cloak? I’ll return it.”

Though Xie Xuan spoke easily, he truly reached out to remove the crane cloak.

However, once he touched the collar tie, his fair fingers noticeably slowed down.

First, he leisurely untied the knot, but somehow, he accidentally brushed against the inner garment’s collar, instantly revealing his delicate, white collarbone.

But Xie Xuan acted as if he didn’t notice, continuing to remove the cloak entirely, holding it with a few white jade-like fingers, “Here, I’m returning it to General Gu.”

His hair draped over his shoulders, his skin white as porcelain under the moonlight, looking like a seductive enchantress.

Gu Siyuan squinted, took the cloak, and at the same time, grabbed his wrist.

In the next moment, his hand slowly moved towards the collar, about to touch the delicate collarbone and the large area of smooth white skin exposed.

Then, Gu Siyuan turned his palm, pulling the collar tight again, and put the cloak back on him, tying the straps, saying seriously, “Don’t act out, it won’t be me suffering bitter medicine if you fall ill.”

“…” Xie Xuan.

All sense of charm vanished.

He quickly tightened the cloak, covering his neck thoroughly.

After a while, Xie Xuan’s dark eyes looked at Gu Siyuan, half-smiling, “No wonder everyone says General Gu has a heart of stone, remaining unmoved by beauty.”

Gu Siyuan raised an eyebrow, speaking slowly, “Has the Sixth Prince considered that perhaps the present beauty isn’t enough?”

“…” Xie Xuan.

What do you mean?

He had been insulted many ways growing up, but never had anyone called him ugly.

Xie Xuan grabbed a pastry from the table and took a big bite, seemingly using it as an outlet for his frustration.

Gu Siyuan found his angry look amusing but remained impassive.

Instead, he took hold of his thin wrist, feeling the pulse, which was much better than before.

“Looks like you’ve been drinking the medicine obediently these days.”

At this, Xie Xuan puffed his cheeks, “What kind of medicine did you give me? It’s bitter as hell.”

Gu Siyuan sneered, “The medicine the Sixth Prince used to drink wasn’t bitter, but was it effective?”

Xie Xuan thought about how he had been feeling much better recently.

Last time in the garden of Ning Shou Palace, after Gu Siyuan checked his pulse, he sent a prescription the next day, saying it would cure his illness if taken daily.

Xie Xuan had been drinking medicine since he could eat, falling ill off and on every year.

This was a weakness from birth, and even the best imperial physicians in the palace couldn’t cure it. He had long given up hope.

However, he had some faith in Gu Siyuan’s medical skills and inexplicably trusted he wouldn’t harm him, so he had been getting the medicine and taking it for a while.

Unexpectedly, he had been feeling much better recently.

Though his hands and feet were still cold, he could sleep soundly every night.

Xie Xuan looked at Gu Siyuan, testing him, “I never expected General Gu’s medical skills to be far superior to the imperial physicians’.”

Gu Siyuan grabbed his chin, meeting his cunning eyes, casually said, “Since the Sixth Prince got the medicine outside, didn’t you have someone check the prescription? Didn’t you know it was for detoxification?”

Xie Xuan wasn’t sick; he was poisoned.

The poison was mild, not fatal, but it made him weak over time, gradually deteriorating his health.

The imperial physicians in the palace weren’t unable to cure it; they just didn’t dare.

Night wind blew through the window, stirring the black hair on his shoulders.

Xie Xuan brushed his hair behind his ear, his chin gently rubbing against Gu Siyuan’s broad palm, smiling slightly, “Oh, General Gu, you’re so particular. I was just trying to compliment you.”

Gu Siyuan’s expression didn’t change, his hand slowly covering his beautiful eyes, speaking softly, “Stop smiling, it’s ugly.”

“Alright.” Xie Xuan wasn’t angry, but he really stopped smiling.

He sat there blankly, like a lifeless, beautiful porcelain doll.

But the next moment, he snapped out of his daze, feeling a strong force on his arm, then he was lifted off the ground and onto warm thighs.

Gu Siyuan held him in his arms, pointing to the table, “What were you doing before I arrived?”

Xie Xuan tried to ignore the intimate position, puffed his cheeks, and replied, “I was making a birthday gift for the Empress Dowager.”

Gu Siyuan casually asked, “What gift?”

Xie Xuan smiled, “A hand-written longevity picture.”

Gu Siyuan raised an eyebrow, “Just a thousand ‘longevity’ characters? How unoriginal.”

Xie Xuan puffed his cheeks, unwilling to concede, “I may be unoriginal, but what about you, a crude man? Are you creative?”

Gu Siyuan glanced at him, half-smiling, “Is the Sixth Prince trying to provoke me?”

Xie Xuan’s eyes shifted arrogantly, “Hmph, who cares?”

Gu Siyuan suddenly stood up, speaking coldly, “Prepare the ink and brush.”

“…” Xie Xuan.

Hmph, truly arrogant.

He, a proper prince, was reduced to a mere scribe.

Once everything was ready, Xie Xuan silently cursed himself for his weakness.

He had always been served by others, but now he was serving this cold-faced brute.

Gu Siyuan ignored the prince’s erratic thoughts, took up the brush in his right hand, and after pondering for a moment, slowly wrote a few characters on the paper.

He was a warrior, usually wielding swords and spears, his grip always steady, so naturally, his brushwork wasn’t bad either.

In fact, in his past life, he probably didn’t write calligraphy often, but at this moment, he felt an inexplicable familiarity.

Especially in such an ancient-looking room, with a person adding fragrance to the red sleeves beside him.

It was as if at some point, in some intertwined time and space, such a scene had appeared before.

Xie Xuan looked at the characters falling on the paper, his eyes widening slightly.

He had been a prince since birth, not particularly outstanding in scholarly learning compared to true literati, after all, he wasn’t aiming to become a top scholar, but he had grown up surrounded by luxury and had seen many fine things.

He could easily tell good from bad, and Gu Siyuan’s calligraphy was evidently extraordinary, not much inferior to those famous works in his household collection.

He raised his head, his eyes bright as he looked at the man in front of him, as if seeing him for the first time.

“Only serving as the Zhonglang General of the Imperial Guard seems to wrong you, General Gu.”

Gu Siyuan didn’t stop his hands, replying casually without lifting his head, “My wish is to be a scholar-warrior.”

“Ha…” Xie Xuan chuckled, thinking how this man’s usual cold demeanor seemed utterly incompatible with the term ‘scholar-warrior’.

He thought for a moment, then curiously asked, “Does General Gu wish to lead troops to the battlefield?”

Gu Siyuan paused slightly, looked up at Xie Xuan, and said, “That depends on the Sixth Prince’s decisions in the future.”

Xie Xuan’s lips curled, his thin brows raised, and his usually cunning eyes revealed a bit of cold sharpness, “It seems General Gu is a pro-war faction.”

Gu Siyuan did not evade or avoid, meeting his gaze, his voice solemn and stern, “I am not pro-war, but I will not back down; those who offend Da Liang, though far, must be punished.”

Da Liang had gone through four generations, now appearing as a prosperous era, but it was merely a facade.

Back then, the founding emperor of Da Liang drove away the grassland people to ascend the throne, and now sixty or seventy years had passed, those people on horseback had almost recovered.

The grasslands were resource-poor, and the nomadic people were naturally wild and fierce warriors.

In recent years, they had been harassing the border and plundering caravans from time to time.

But after many years of peace, neither the court nor the soldiers of Da Liang were willing to easily start a war, now basically turning a blind eye.

Just this past winter, the grassland people’s incursions had crossed the line, looting more than six thousand people in one raid, eventually forcing the general of Yanmen Pass to exchange food and weapons for their return.

In the process, nearly a thousand men were killed, and women were violated.

After reporting to the capital, Emperor Jianzhao showed no response.

Emperor Jianzhao’s thoughts were understandable, he was naturally a timid person, now at his age, he didn’t want to start disputes, the grassland people were now strong and were deliberately provoking, if Da Liang responded and lost, wouldn’t it tarnish his imperial reputation.

Apart from the grassland people in the north, the coastal Wokou pirates in the southeast were also a constant problem.

They were even more rampant, committing arson, murder, and robbery, even colluding with local officials and garrisons.

However, Da Liang had no experience in naval warfare, always losing more than winning, until the emergence of Yu Zhiyao, the situation had only slightly improved, but Yu Zhiyao was already over fifty years old, how many more years could he hold on.

Listening to these simple sixteen words.

Xie Xuan’s body seemed to tremble.

He looked at Gu Siyuan, his eyes showing an indescribable light.

After a while, he raised his thin wrist, lightly placing it on Gu Siyuan’s arm, and squeezed, “I promise you, when I ascend that position one day, I will certainly make it happen.”

“Hmm.” Gu Siyuan felt the warmth on his hand and nodded.

They didn’t say anything more, everything was understood without words.

Time moved to late spring.

The spring sunlight was bright, the weather gradually warm, even a bit hot.

Due to the previous time Emperor Jianzhao severely curbed the influence of several of his sons, his mood had been quite good recently, even when there were disputes in the court, he just squinted his eyes and watched.

However, today he visibly became much more irritable.

Last time, many officials were removed, and now they needed replacements, so the princes naturally quarreled again, each wanting their own people to be appointed.

Among them, the argument over the Commander of the Imperial Guard was the most intense.

Emperor Jianzhao would not let them have their way, having finally removed the former commander, he now only wanted to hold the Imperial Guard in his own hands.

Even though it involved Xie Huan’s men, he was still hesitant.

Therefore, in the court, he directly said, “I recall the previous Commander of the Imperial Guard was in office for less than two years before issues arose, so I have decided that from now on, I will personally oversee the Imperial Guard.”

The court was silent.

The Imperial Guard was related to the safety of the capital and the imperial palace, as well as the emperor’s own safety.

If they insisted on contending with the emperor for it, they could easily be suspected of having disloyal intentions.

However, although the Imperial Guard was now in the emperor’s hands, the emperor was busy with state affairs and couldn’t personally go to the Imperial Guard all the time, so there still needed to be a supervisory position to convey orders and oversee daily defense.

Thus, the courtiers turned their attention to this role.

After arguing all morning, there was still no conclusion.

Emperor Jianzhao was also undecided about this candidate.

While riding in the imperial palanquin, he was still considering, when he looked up and saw Gu Siyuan in armor nearby, suddenly asking, “Siyuan, you are from the military, who do you think is the most stringent and loyal general suitable for supervising the Imperial Guard?”

Unexpectedly asked such a question, Gu Siyuan’s expression did not change and he replied, “General Yu Zhiyao is naturally the strictest in managing the army, but loyalty is unseen and intangible, I trust no one else.”

Emperor Jianzhao also smiled, “Indeed, Siyuan is straightforward.”

At this moment, Gu Siyuan suddenly said, “However, if Your Majesty needs a strict and loyal person to supervise the Imperial Guard, perhaps I can take on this role.”

“You… who did you say?” The Emperor Jianzhao seemed to not react for a moment and asked again.

…