FIMA Ch95: The Play Begins

That night, at the Sixth Prince’s mansion.

Although it was still a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon in the sky tonight already showed more than half a tendency toward completeness.

It was not at all like the hook-like crescent moon seen by the old plum tree at the hot spring on the mountain peak that night, but it was still charming and bright.

The moonlight sprinkled on the smooth and clean ground, looking as clear and transparent as a pool of clear water, reflecting the two fragrant osmanthus trees planted under the window.

On the soft couch by the window.

Rarely unlike his usual self who always kept his back straight, Gu Siyuan had one leg bent and the other straight out. He sat cross-legged on the soft couch, leaning back comfortably against the wall. He casually held a bowl of osmanthus wine in his hand, sipping it slowly, displaying a rare broad and unrestrained elegance.

Raising his head, he could see the moon on the horizon; lowering his head, he could see his sweetheart.

His sweetheart, student Xie Xuan’s little head, rested on Gu Siyuan’s straightened leg and rubbed gently. He smiled playfully and said: “Imperial Father’s temperament is truly unable to suffer the slightest grievance. Just because this Prince’s words were a bit blunt these past few days, look at him, directly ignoring everything and pushing Xie Huan to the front stage like this. I’m afraid my eldest and second royal brothers are still completely bewildered.”

“Especially Second Royal Brother. Although he saved his life from that fierce tiger’s mouth last time, he was blinded in one eye. Truly pitiful, the throne has completely missed its affinity with him.”

Gu Siyuan lowered his eyes, coldly watching this guy who was still acting: “I only heard schadenfreude (taking pleasure in others’ misfortune) in the Sixth Highness’s tone, without the slightest sense of pity or regret.”

Xie Xuan immediately widened his eyes in annoyance and glared at him: “Gu Xun, whose side are you on?”

His second royal brother loved watching beast fights the most. It was said he even secretly built a leopard house. Not only did he watch fierce beasts fight, he even deliberately drove people inside to fight the fierce beasts, not knowing how many innocent martial artists he had killed.

Now he was blinded in one eye because of watching fierce beasts—wasn’t this precisely one retribution for one offense?

“Hmph,” Xie Xuan snorted self-righteously.

The Little Highness has become increasingly spoiled and delicate recently.

“This general is naturally on your side,” Gu Siyuan replied casually, and then continued to drink the rich osmanthus wine in his bowl.

Xie Xuan saw through his insincerity at a glance. He angrily thumped the soft couch below, abruptly sat up straight, and then his head very unfortunately knocked against Gu Siyuan’s rock-hard chin.

He already had the intention to act spoiled, so he immediately deliberately cried out “ouch”.

Gu Siyuan glanced at him, chuckled softly, but still reached out to gently rub his forehead as he wished: “Pampered and spoiled…”

“Hmph…” Xie Xuan felt much more comfortable in his heart, but his mouth couldn’t resist saying: “How come this Prince didn’t know when you started liking to drink wine, drinking so much you even ignore this Prince.”

Gu Siyuan brought the wine bowl to his mouth, saying calmly: “Taste it, this is osmanthus wine, just in season. It was brewed by the master in your mansion. It doesn’t have much of a kick, but the taste isn’t bad.”

Xie Xuan licked his lips and smiled: “Alright. I’ll taste it.”

The next moment, however, his fine white palm pushed the wine bowl aside, and his whole person pounced into Gu Siyuan’s embrace, pressing his lips against his.

The tip of his tongue met almost no resistance and easily explored inside. Sure enough, the rich and clear fragrance of osmanthus and wine directly surged out together.

Gu Siyuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His Little Highness was extremely delicate and loved to cause trouble, but only in matters of love was he proactive and honest. This was the best.

With a casual flick of his fingers, the wine bowl that was just in his palm landed steadily on the small tea table aside, without a single drop splashing out.

In turn, both his hands tightly embraced this soft jade and warm fragrance that had proactively delivered itself to his door. Where their lips and tongues met, the two directly switched their targets of attack.

“Wu…” Xie Xuan habitually let out a sticky soft hum.

The palm of Gu Siyuan’s hand exerted more force, and their bodies instantly pressed together to the extreme. The familiar temperature and teasing affection directly permeated the air.

After a long while, feeling the increasingly trembling body of the Little Highness, Gu Siyuan licked and lightly bit the soft lower lip of the person in his arms, as if eating the most delicious fruit or candy, before slowly releasing him a bit.

Xie Xuan leaned powerlessly against him, his rosy lips half-open, panting heavily.

Gu Siyuan’s rough fingers gently traced the eyebrows, cheek flesh, and lips of this person who completely suited his heart, and complained calmly: “The Sixth Highness always wants to take the initiative, yet can never handle it.”

“…” Xie Xuan didn’t want to pay attention to him, only ungracefully rolling his eyes.

Do you think everyone has your non-human constitution? You don’t even need to breathe.

Gu Siyuan’s fingers arrived at his plump, bright red lips and pressed them gently: “So, Sixth Highness, does the osmanthus wine taste good?”

Although Xie Xuan wasn’t of much use, his temper was quite tough. He stuck out his little tongue to lick the finger pressing on his lips and deliberately sighed: “General Gu, such a peerless beauty acting as a skin bag for wine, naturally tastes top-notch. How many times in a lifetime can one get to taste it?”

“Heh… skin bag for wine, the Sixth Highness truly has an elegant mood.” Hearing this, Gu Siyuan only sneered a few times, and the force of his fingertips grew heavier.

“Hiss…” Xie Xuan felt the pain and let out a soft cry.

Gu Siyuan ignored it completely. With his left hand resting at his side, he applied a slight bit of internal force toward the tea table. The wine jar resting on it flew straight toward his palm and was firmly caught.

For some reason.

Seeing this scene, a bad feeling suddenly arose in Xie Xuan’s heart. He hurriedly changed the subject and said: “Hey, Great General Gu, it’s already so late today, why aren’t you going home? If you drink another jar of wine, watch out you won’t be able to sleep?”

Gu Siyuan gave him a cold look.

Xie Xuan: “…”

Xie Xuan swallowed hard with difficulty: “Alright, then it’s fine if you leave later.”

Gu Siyuan held the osmanthus wine jar, weighed it gently, and only then said coldly: “This general is on leave during this recent period. And it just so happens my mission is related to the Sixth Prince’s mansion, so I will be stationed here permanently.”

“Ah… that’s truly a coincidence, this Prince is very welcoming,” Xie Xuan smiled flatteringly.

Gu Siyuan naturally wouldn’t be bought over by this momentary small favor. His expression remained indifferent: “This general once heard that concerning the delicacies in a certain region of Jiangnan, there is a saying of ‘skin wrapping water’ (steamed buns) and ‘water wrapping skin’ (bathing). Just now, hearing the Sixth Highness mention the peerlessness of ‘skin wrapping wine,’ if we exclusively lack ‘wine wrapping skin,’ wouldn’t it be unbeautiful?”

“…” Xie Xuan blinked: “This… how does one say this?”

The next moment, he felt a coldness on his neck.

The fragrant, clear, and bright wine flowed slowly down from the brown clay jar above, starting from his exposed fine white neck, slowly flowing toward the skin of his entire body.

Xie Xuan’s eyes widened.

So, this… this is ‘wine wrapping skin’?

Gu Siyuan said calmly: “Digging a wine pool on flat ground is too extravagant, this is also sufficient.”

Xie Xuan was picked up horizontally, becoming that tool to hold the wine. His entire body’s skin, covered in wine, was meticulously tasted and evaluated by a certain someone.

“…” Xie Xuan.

In short, afterward, covered in bruises and marks, there was only one word: regret.

No one does a losing business like this; I only tasted the wine in Gu Siyuan’s mouth.

…

A few days passed, and finally it was the Mid-Autumn Festival of this year.

According to custom, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, an evening banquet would be held in the palace. Not only would the children of the imperial clan gather, but meritorious officials would also be invited to celebrate together.

Also, since the King of the Northern Frontier’s party would be leaving in two days, today was also considered a farewell banquet.

The banquet was still held in the Wuying Hall.

The hall was not only decorated with various palace lanterns, but newly planted osmanthus in flower pots were also placed at intervals. Clusters of small golden flowers nestled amidst the emerald green branches and leaves, elegant, charming, and fragrant.

Xie Xuan arrived extremely early.

After arriving, he didn’t care about anything else. Seeing that the dishes were served, he picked up his chopsticks and began to leisurely eat and drink.

When the civil and military ministers saw him, they were slightly stunned, but still went forward to greet him politely.

Xie Xuan had been somewhat arrogant and domineering recently, but not toward these courtiers. He responded to them all one by one, nodding pleasantly.

Before long, the Eldest Prince Xie Hong and the Second Prince Xie Kuan also arrived.

Neither of them had been doing well recently. Upon glancing and seeing Xie Xuan surrounded by civil and military ministers, while they had very few people around them, their faces became even icier.

Because of the sacrificial ceremony assassination case, the Ling County embezzlement case, and so on, Xie Hong had consecutively lost his right-hand men, and his power was greatly reduced. He was completely unable to compare with Xie Xuan.

As for Xie Kuan, because he lost an eye, everything had turned into rarity, and the throne no longer had anything to do with him. His whole person had become incredibly gloomy.

Although the ministers were mostly good officials, most of them also steered their boats according to the wind. Naturally, they were unwilling to flock around the two of them anymore.

A moment later, the King of the Northern Frontier’s party arrived, bringing the Prince and Princess.

The Princess’s expression wasn’t as lively as usual, clearly very reluctant about the impending departure.

Just as Xie Xuan was about to get full, Gu Siyuan arrived and walked straight to the seat at the very top of the main hall and stood firmly beside it.

Just at today’s morning court, Gu Siyuan had been conferred the title of First-Class Defender General of the State. After resting for more than ten days, he had also resumed his post and returned to the imperial palace.

Xie Xuan raised his head and blinked at him mischievously.

The courtiers instantly went silent, no longer chatting or pulling strings with their colleagues, and returned to their respective seats one after another.

“His Majesty arrives, Her Highness the Empress Dowager arrives!”

The next instant, the announcement of the guards came from outside the hall.

Tonight was the Mid-Autumn banquet, and also a reunion banquet.

Emperor Jianzhao arrived together with the Empress Dowager, the concubines of the inner palace, and the Fourth Prince Xie Huan.

Everyone hurriedly stood up to pay their respects, shouting “Long live the Emperor, thousand years to the Empress Dowager.”

Emperor Jianzhao seemed to be in a good mood today. He raised his hand for everyone to rise, said a few words like “May we all be blessed with longevity, though thousands of miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together,” and directly announced the start of the banquet.

Singing, dancing, and music sounded, and the venue was exceptionally lively.

By this time, Xie Xuan was already full. Having eaten his fill, he randomly looked around the venue.

Of course, mainly he wanted to take the opportunity to look at Gu Siyuan, thinking in his heart: The noble title for my man is truly unreasonable. Everyone else is eating and drinking their fill, only he has to stand next to the Emperor. Sure enough, my idea to rebel earlier was right. During this grand festival, my man actually can’t even get a bite of hot food. Truly, whose family member is it, that person feels the heartache.

Gu Siyuan could naturally feel this gaze glued to his body. His face remained indifferent, but he felt helpless in his heart: My Little Highness has completely let himself fly nowadays.

However, at such a banquet, naturally not everyone was like Xie Xuan, only thinking about eating from start to finish.

More people harbored other thoughts.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, after the successive setbacks of the Eldest Prince Xie Hong and the Second Prince Xie Kuan, quite a few ministers in the court seemed to suddenly realize the existence of the Fourth Prince Xie Huan. And after Xie Huan was granted marriage to the Northern Frontier Princess by Emperor Jianzhao, this realization reached its peak.

Therefore, during tonight’s banquet, many ministers were very enthusiastic toward him, and there were quite a few who offered toasts.

Xie Huan drank until his face was almost red.

Perhaps it was the alcohol getting to his head, or perhaps his heart had harbored thoughts all along. During this process, Xie Huan also secretly glanced at Xie Xuan a few times, as if declaring something.

Xie Xuan naturally ignored him.

He focused his whole mind only on peeping at his own Great General.

However, the more careless Xie Xuan acted, the more Xie Huan cared.

At this time, Xie Huan’s gaze swept over Xie Xuan’s place again. However, coincidentally, a palace servant happened to come over to serve wine. Turning around without paying attention, Xie Huan’s arm directly knocked over the wine pot, spilling it all over himself. His luxurious Prince’s robe embroidered with coiled dragons and gold rolled edges was immediately soaked mostly.

That palace servant’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and he knelt on the ground with a plop, shivering.

Xie Huan frowned deeply.

Xie Xuan happened to look over and curled his lips into a smile.

In Xie Huan’s eyes, this was completely filled with mockery.

Xie Huan sneered coldly. Then, looking at the palace servant, he smiled gently and waved his hand very generously, saying: “It’s fine, rise. I don’t blame you, this Prince will just go change clothes.”

He was currently at the time where he needed to accumulate a good reputation. With so many people here, there was no need for him to haggle with a lowly palace servant, and even less could he let Xie Xuan watch a joke.

That palace servant kowtowed deeply and immediately retreated hurriedly.

Xie Huan said a word to those around him, stood up, and went to the side hall to change clothes.

Although he hadn’t brought extra clothes, he could order a subordinate to go to the Feihong Hall. There, a few changes of his clothes were kept year-round, and his mother consort was also the only concubine in the palace who hadn’t come to attend the evening banquet today.

However, by going out, he delayed quite a bit of time.

More than half of the banquet time had passed.

The first half was mainly talking about the scenery and people of Great Liang, but the second half was discussing Northern Frontier matters with the King of the Northern Frontier. The princess was about to marry the Fourth Prince, so talking more now would help ease her homesickness.

Emperor Jianzhao even guaranteed that the Fourth Prince would definitely treat the princess well.

The King of the Northern Frontier nodded in satisfaction.

Originally, he thought this Emperor of Great Liang loved the Sixth Prince Xie Xuan the most. But observing these days, the Emperor kept the Fourth Prince Xie Huan constantly by his side.

Thus, having his daughter marry the Fourth Prince was also good.

Hearing this, the Princess’s interest was never very high, although she was originally of a very festive and lively nature.

Seeing this, the King of the Northern Frontier’s initially high spirits also sank slightly.

He looked up toward the Fourth Prince’s direction, only able to secretly hope that this future emperor and son-in-law would be able to treat his daughter kindly.

But after a good while, he didn’t see anyone, only an empty seat.

He remembered just now, wasn’t a group of people offering toasts?

Emperor Jianzhao happened to catch sight of his gaze and asked Wang Chengying beside him: “Where is Huan’er? Why haven’t I seen him?”

Wang Chengying hurriedly replied: “Earlier, the Fourth Highness’s clothes were soaked with wine, he should have gone to the side hall to change.”

Emperor Jianzhao nodded: “Have someone go take a look. The King of the Northern Frontier is leaving the capital, and he can be considered a son-in-law, so he should toast the King of the Northern Frontier a few more cups.”

“Yes.” Wang Chengying nodded and immediately beckoned a young eunuch forward, ordering him to go see the Fourth Highness.

The people in the hall had long eaten and drunk their fill. At this time, it was still autumn, the weather was still warm, and they didn’t care about cold soup and cold dishes.

One by one, they leaned lazily in their chairs, either enjoying the singing and dancing, or chatting and pulling relations with the people beside them.

The atmosphere was enthusiastic yet peaceful.

Just at this moment, an astonishing, ear-piercing scream not only cut through the quiet night sky of the palace city but also awakened the lazily intoxicated crowd inside the Wuying Hall.

The crowd subconsciously straightened their bodies and looked at each other in dismay, their eyes flashing with colors of gossip.

The imperial palace was Emperor Jianzhao’s place. If an accident occurred, it would be a loss of his face; moreover, being unclear about the situation, there was always a sense of unease in his heart.

Emperor Jianzhao immediately furrowed his brow, turned sideways, and said to Gu Siyuan standing beside him: “Siyuan, go take a look, what exactly happened?”

“Yes.” Gu Siyuan received the order.

Below, before he left, Xie Xuan blinked at him mysteriously.

From this glance, Gu Siyuan saw something different. If something truly happened, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance he was the one who did it.

This little rascal.

The incident location wasn’t far from the Wuying Hall. It was in the Linxi (Overlooking the Stream) Pavilion in the garden of the Ningshou Palace, separated from the Wuying Hall by only a square; otherwise, the sound wouldn’t have reached here.

With Gu Siyuan’s speed, it took but a moment to arrive; even the door of the incident room hadn’t had time to close.

Gu Siyuan looked calmly at everything before him. He didn’t need to think to know what happened; the two people hadn’t even had time to put on their clothes yet.

He didn’t say much and directly turned around to leave.

Xie Huan’s face immediately changed. Covering his chest with the quilt, he hurriedly shouted behind him: “General Gu, this is a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding…”

Meanwhile, sleeping beside him and similarly stark naked, Jiang Yuanyuan, had already begun to quickly put on her clothes.

Later, the real show was about to start.

Gu Siyuan returned to the Wuying Hall. It had actually only been a few dozen breaths since he left, but the crowd originally in the hall had already walked out to the entrance of the main hall.

Seeing him approach, Emperor Jianzhao asked with a sunken face: “Siyuan, what exactly happened? Who dared to lose their composure like this in the palace!”

Gu Siyuan looked up at the furiously angry Emperor and secretly thought: Heh, don’t you regret it. Also, you might be even angrier later.

He cupped his hands and said with a cold face: “This matter concerns a woman’s boudoir reputation and the Fourth Prince’s pure name. This general is also unclear of the beginning and end. Having just entered, I hurriedly retreated. It’s better to ask the Ladies of the inner palace to bring people to Linxi Pavilion to take a look!”

The next moment, Emperor Jianzhao’s face changed drastically. Looking at Gu Siyuan, he almost wished he would immediately swallow the words he just said back down.

However, a wave of commotion had already sounded in the crowd, clearly very interested in this kind of gossip.

Especially Noble Consort Lu, who immediately said excitedly: “Since that’s the case, then this concubine will bring people to take a look!”

Her mood of watching a good show was simply overflowing in her words.

Emperor Jianzhao immediately glared at her.

However, Noble Consort Lu had been used to being domineering all these years, plus tonight’s matter was originally planned by her and her son; how could she be frightened by this single look.

She even turned around smilingly and said to the Empress Dowager aside: “Imperial Mother, I fear this concubine is young and inexperienced. Why don’t you dispatch a Momo (senior palace maid) to go with this concubine!”

The Empress Dowager had always been nice to her and naturally nodded slowly: “That’s fine.”

As soon as her voice fell, Noble Consort Lu brought people and left hurriedly, her back figure full of joy and elation.

Gu Siyuan only felt that this Noble Consort Lu and Xie Xuan, mother and son, were truly a continuous lineage of drama queens.

Another moment later, a young eunuch ran over, panting heavily: “Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, Noble Consort Lu says this matter concerns a younger generation whom the Emperor and Empress Dowager like, so it’s not convenient for her to handle it. Especially since Lady Jiang Yuanyuan almost caused a fatality; with such great force just now, she bumped her head directly against the pillar of the Linxi Pavilion, and blood flowed all over the ground…”

“Her Highness also said, there’s nothing that shouldn’t be seen there now anyway. It’s better to invite the Emperor and Empress Dowager to move your carriages to Linxi Pavilion and see how this matter should actually be handled?”

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