Chapter 28 Playing Innocent?

Chapter 28: Acting Docile?

Xiao Yan looked at him, a faint, inscrutable smile playing on his lips.

Cen Maoshi looked at him, his gaze full of anticipation.

Two intense stares converged on him, and Jiang Wang felt sweat bead on his forehead. He truly found it difficult to put down the medicinal broth in his hand.

Like a duck driven onto a roasting spit, he steeled his heart and finally brought the broth to Xiao Yan's lips.

*Feed him!*

It was just feeding Xiao Yan some medicine, wasn't it? The worst outcome would be getting splashed with the broth like Fang Fengshi. Surely he wouldn't actually be killed in a fit of anger, right?

If Xiao Yan got angry, he was determined to make sure Cen Maoshi shared any punishment.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Wang let out a long exhale, forced a smile, scooped a spoonful of the medicinal broth from the small porcelain bowl, and brought it to Xiao Yan's lips.

"Your Majesty has just recovered from a serious injury. Allow your servant to feed you."

In that moment, Jiang Wang's mind instantly conjured up all sorts of possible scenarios, including but not limited to: Xiao Yan swatting the bowl away, Xiao Yan furiously ordering him to get lost, Xiao Yan flying into a rage and demanding his head...

However, none of the situations he imagined occurred.

He watched, wide-eyed, as Xiao Yan lowered his head, took a sip of the medicine, and said "thank you" to him.

Huh?

Was this the real world? Or was he seeing things?

Jiang Wang had anticipated various possibilities, but he had never imagined this scene.

To put it another way, he hadn't even let himself hope for this.

Was this still Xiao Yan?

Or was his mind still a bit unstable after waking up?

While Jiang Wang was still in shock, Cen Maoshi beside him urged in a low voice.

"Lord Jiang! Why are you spacing out? Keep feeding him, the medicine will get cold soon!"

"Ah? Oh, oh."

So, still in a daze, Jiang Wang fed him the medicine spoonful by spoonful.

Xiao Yan, on the other hand, didn't say a single extra word, obediently drinking the medicine until not a drop remained.

One moment he was a ferocious tiger, the next he was playing the docile kitten in front of him?

Jiang Wang felt the world had become a bit too surreal. He truly found it difficult to square these two versions of Xiao Yan...

He looked at Xiao Yan uneasily, as if on guard for another sudden change in expression.

But once again, Jiang Wang was mistaken.

Not only did Xiao Yan not change his expression, he even gave him a smile.

"Thank you, Minister Jiang."

Ah, this...

This was simply unheard of! Unprecedented!

Xiao Yan was actually thanking him?!

Jiang Wang blinked his big eyes, momentarily at a loss for words.

After roughly three seconds of stunned silence, he finally snapped back to reality to offer his thanks, then quickly found an excuse to leave.

He needed to find a place to calm down.

Xiao Yan had been acting strangely since he woke up. That stab wound was clearly to the chest, so how did he get brain damage?

Jiang Wang hoped the cold wind in the deserted rear garden of Cangwu Hall would clear his head, but behind a tree, he spotted a familiar shadow.

"Big Orange~"

He squatted down beside the cat and, as if venting, roughly rubbed the kitten's head. Only when Big Orange let out an unhappy meow did he stop, switching to gently scratching under Big Orange's chin.

So annoying. After staying here for two days, his cat-petting skills had gotten rusty. It had been so long since he'd been affectionate with Big Orange.

Fortunately, there was only one more day until the task was complete, and he could return to Biwu Pavilion to spend every day with the kitten, Changle!

"Big Orange, did you come looking for me~" Jiang Wang softened his voice to speak to the kitten. "Don't go wandering off in the palace, especially in Cangwu Hall. Be careful, or they might catch you and you won't be able to go back!"

Jiang Wang still seemed a bit unsatisfied. He simply picked up the kitten, buried his face in its soft belly, and took a deep, satisfying sniff.

He sighed into its fur, his voice muffled. "Cats are just better!"

Our little furballs are well-behaved and adorable, nothing like the unpredictable Xiao Yan!

Jiang Wang was lost in the joy of sniffing the cat when two sets of footsteps sounded in the distance.

Thinking it was someone sent by Xiao Yan to call him back, he was about to respond, but the footsteps stopped not far from him and then fell silent.

The newcomers didn't seem to be looking for him, but they also didn't seem to bear good intentions.

A primal sense of danger made Jiang Wang shrink his body, pressing firmly against the tree trying to hide. He held his breath, patiently listening to the surrounding sounds, unconsciously tightening his grip on the kitten in his arms.

Finally, a male voice, deliberately lowered, spoke up.

"Eunuch Li! This isn't what you guaranteed originally! You said there wouldn't be any problems! Now Commander Fang is furious and demanding a thorough investigation. Did you do something!"

Li Zhicai, however, was much calmer than this voice, his tone placating. "You just poured a bit of water on the charcoal. What are you worried about?"

He added, "It was just the death of an insignificant prisoner. You weren't even on duty the night that person died. Commander Fang won't suspect you. We're distant cousins; would I harm you?"

With that, he took out a few pieces of broken silver and stuffed them into the imperial guard's hand. "Relax, Da Kuo. I guarantee you'll be fine."

The imperial guard called "Da Kuo," having received the money and this assurance, felt his agitated heart soothed, and his attitude softened considerably.

"Alright then. Since we're family, I'll help you this once. There better not be a next time."

Li Kuo stuffed the silver into his robe and turned to leave, but then he heard a faint "crack" sound from not far away.

It sounded like a branch breaking.

"Who's there!"

Li Kuo bellowed in anger, unsheathing the saber at his hip and leveling it toward the source of the sound.

Not a word of what he'd just said could reach a third person. If someone else found out, that person would have to be silenced. He was still young; he couldn't afford to be tangled up in this matter in the slightest.

He locked eyes with Li Zhicai, who nodded silently, his eyes gleaming with cold resolve.

Clearly, he was thinking the same thing.

No one who heard this could leave here alive.

Step by step, the two of them moved closer to the tree.

As the prolonged silence stretched on, Jiang Wang’s heartbeat grew faster and faster, to the point where his heart felt like it might leap out of his chest.

His legs had gone numb from squatting too long, so he wanted to change his position. Who would have thought he’d be so unlucky as to step on a small twig and make a sound?

It’s over, it’s over. The heavens are out to get me!

He hadn’t died at Xiao Yan’s hands—was he really going to die at the hands of a eunuch in the end?!

If he put up a fight, would he have any hope of survival against a strong imperial guard?

Jiang Wang sized himself up.

No exercise meant no muscles—pathetic strength. He had come out for a stroll without a serviceable weapon—pitiful offense. He was wearing a cotton-padded robe, not armor—nonexistent defense.

So, all things considered, he was lacking in this and lacking in that.

Didn’t that mean… utter defeat?

What’s more, he was alone, while there were two people on the other side. One-on-one, he already had no chance of winning; one-on-two, wouldn’t he just be ground into the dirt?

As the footsteps outside grew closer, Jiang Wang’s heart grew colder and colder.

Was he doomed to die…?

But just then, Big Orange, who had been sitting quietly in Jiang Wang’s arms, suddenly wriggled out of his arms and sprang down.

It sauntered out from behind the tree, had a lazy stretch on the path, glanced at the two humans not far away, and then boldly vanished into the grass on the other side.

Just as the kitten disappeared into the grass, a few more sounds of small twigs being stepped on and broken echoed out.

“A cat? And a fat one at that.”

Li Kuo breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed his saber.

So it was a false alarm. He'd thought it was too much of a coincidence, and besides, who would stay in the garden in such cold weather?

But Li Zhicai didn’t relax. He kept his eyes glued to the spot behind the tree, not saying a word.

*

After Jiang Wang left, Cen Maoshi also took the chance to slip away. At that moment, Xiao Yan was the only one left in the entire Cangwu Hall.

Not long after, Fang Fengshi returned—or rather, he hadn’t left at all; he had just been making a circuit around the Cangwu Hall.

Xiao Yan was still “in character,” propped up against the headboard. He plucked at his robe, stained with brown spots, and said to the former, his tone more teasing and admiring than displeased.

“You're quite the actor. Even though you knew it was fake, you switched gears so fast. If you went to an opera troupe, you’d be the lead.”

Xiao Yan wasn’t annoyed either, just shot back a mocking grin.

“Likewise. You knelt down quite briskly just now.”

If he hadn’t mentioned it, it would have been fine, but bringing it up was like lighting a fuse for Fang Fengshi, who instantly blew up.

“That Cen Maoshi really needs to be dealt with. If he hadn’t been egging things on from the sidelines, would I have needed to kneel?!”

In the public’s impression, aside from being Xiao Yan’s partner-in-crime, Fang Fengshi was also a good-for-nothing young master who shirked his studies.

He spent his days raising hell, neglecting his duties, and eight times out of ten when people looked for him, no one knew where he was.

Moreover, he and Xiao Yan were practically raised together since childhood, so people were used to him not bowing to Xiao Yan and even calling the Emperor by his name. Some had previously muttered their discontent, but Xiao Yan himself had no objections.

Under the Emperor’s open favoritism, people had also grown used to the fact that “Fang Fengshi doesn’t bow to the Emperor.”

So, he hadn’t needed to kneel earlier.

At most, he would have been scolded by the Emperor a few times, and then he could have been ordered to investigate the truth afterward—it would have been the same.

But Cen Maoshi had to go on about “How could you let him die?” as if Fang Fengshi had committed some grave error and Cen Maoshi had nothing to do with it!

At that moment, he had to take the blame. If he hadn’t knelt to admit his mistake, it would have seemed like his attitude was improper.

Forced by the situation, Fang Fengshi could only “thump” to his knees to make the act more convincing.

He rubbed his knee, deliberately showing it to Xiao Yan. “Even though it’s cold and I’m wearing thick clothes, it’s definitely red underneath!”

Xiao Yan didn’t buy it at all. He glanced over and said flatly, “It seems the martial arts you practiced as a child went to the dogs. Does Old General Fang know you’re so delicate?”

“You…”

Fang Fengshi stammered “you” for a while but couldn’t finish. He deflated instantly; his father was the one he feared most.

When he was a child, his father would stand behind him with a stick, supervising his martial arts practice. If he made even one wrong move, he’d get a few marks on his back. In terms of physical fitness, he was probably even better than Xiao Yan.

So, that one kneel earlier wouldn’t have had any effect on him at all. If Fang Fengshi said that, it could only mean one thing.

Between brothers, it’s fine to mess around a bit.

It’s no wonder people thought he was unambitious. With his original personality, it was indeed hard for everyone to connect him with the position of commander, which required steadiness.

“Why did you come back?”

Having joked enough, Xiao Yan got down to business. Fang Fengshi had just left, after all.

“I saw Li Kuo heading this way earlier, so I followed him. But I hadn’t assigned him any duties, and after he entered the Cangwu Hall, he disappeared,” Fang Fengshi also put away his playful expression and grew serious, looking puzzled. “But I was sure he came this way earlier. I checked the side halls and rooms—how could he be gone?”

For some reason, the image of Jiang Wang leaving earlier suddenly appeared in Xiao Yan’s mind.

Based on the direction Jiang Wang had left…

That would be… the back garden?

“Did you check the back garden?!”

“No.”

Fang Fengshi shook his head. Who would go there in such cold weather?

Oh no!

At that moment, Xiao Yan could no longer pretend to be ill. He flipped out of bed.

“Jiang Wang might be in danger!”

Author’s Note:

Hero saves the beauty!