Chu Zhaohuai gripped his wedding robes tightly, unable to tell whether Ji Xun was serious or merely speaking casually.
Two tall stemmed wine cups decorated with dragon and phoenix patterns had been prepared in the bridal chamber. Ji Xun had spent a full half month lying unconscious yet the movements with which he poured the wine were extraordinarily languid, carrying a kind of leisurely elegance that was difficult to describe.
His five fingers were slender and long. They did not look like the hands of someone who had spent years on battlefields. Instead, they looked more like the hands of a true nobleman born into luxury and raised amid embroidered silks and brocade.
Ji Xun held the two wine cups between his fingers and casually passed one to Chu Zhaohuai.
“Princess Consort, please.”
Chu Zhaohuai hesitantly accepted the wine cup.
Everyone throughout the capital had been saying that the Demon of Death, Ji Xun, did not have long to live and probably would not survive past the Little New Year.
Yet now, there was not the slightest trace of the desolation of a dying man about him.
After waking from half a month of unconsciousness, he had even seemed full of energy, enthusiastically slaughtering several assassins and making quite a celebration out of it.
Could this be the final resurgence before death?
It did not quite look like it.
“Clack.”
The crisp sound brought Chu Zhaohuai back to himself.
Ji Xun had already raised his wine cup and drained the nuptial wine in one go. He casually tossed the jade wine cup aside and half reclined against the broad bridal bed, a trace of weariness finally showing in his posture.
“What is it?” Ji Xun asked.
The man’s smiling eyes were clearly as gentle as warm spring yet they inexplicably filled Chu Zhaohuai with fear and hesitation.
It was like being young again and encountering a wolf alone in the mountains on a snowy day, that instinctive terror born from the awareness that one had become prey, a fear that made every hair on his body stand on end.
Chu Zhaohuai did not dare say anything more. He slowly finished his wine and properly placed the cup onto the small serving table.
Ji Xun said nothing.
He merely watched him.
Chu Zhaohuai’s heart was filled with unease.
The matchmaker had plastered layer after layer of thick powder across his face. Even the slightest smile would probably cause the makeup to split apart and form ravines deep enough to separate the heavens and earth.
Looking at a face like this…
Surely it could not inspire much desire, could it?
Chu Zhaohuai’s mind worked so hard that it nearly began to smoke yet he still could not come up with a foolproof plan.
In the end, he simply decided to break the jar and let it fall.
Gritting his teeth, he climbed onto the bed first.
The wedding robes had been bestowed by the Imperial Household. Every pattern had been embroidered with gold and silver threads and the garments were layered upon layer, complicated to an almost ridiculous degree.
Chu Zhaohuai took his time removing them, undoing each button so slowly that one might think he intended to spend an entire lifetime unfastening a single one.
Ji Xun did not expose his obvious stalling.
He merely leaned lazily against the bright red pillows, watching him with a smile that was neither quite a smile nor quite anything else.
It was as though he were sitting back and enjoying a particularly entertaining performance.
Chu Zhaohuai noticed the teasing amusement in Ji Xun’s gaze.
He froze for a moment.
Then, for some reason, that same calm yet unhinged thought from earlier returned to him.
If the two of them were going to die together on the road to the Yellow Springs, then so be it.
If Ji Xun did not mind being disgusted by this face of his, then they could consummate the marriage.
Chu Zhaohuai changed his sluggish movements at once.
He simply stopped bothering to remove his wedding robes. He took off his phoenix crown instead, letting his long hair fall loose around him, then bent his knees and crawled over to Ji Xun’s side.
His gaze fell upon the loosely tied collar of Ji Xun’s robe.
Putting on an expression of studied calm, he said, “I apologize for offending Your Highness.”
Ji Xun raised a brow slightly, clearly wanting to see just how Chu Zhaohuai intended to offend him.
It was nothing more than undoing his collar…
Chu Zhaohuai bent down.
The fingers of Ji Xun’s hand, hanging at his side, suddenly curled inward. His dark pupils widened for an instant.
Chu Zhaohuai did not use his hands.
Instead, he lowered his head, parted his lips and caught one end of the thin sash holding the collar together between his teeth. He applied a little force.
The faint sound of the fabric rubbing against itself as the loosely tied knot came undone seemed to be magnified countless times, ringing loudly in Ji Xun’s ears.
The gesture was almost blatantly seductive.
Yet it was being performed with a face that looked as though a vengeful ghost had come searching for someone’s life in the middle of the night.
There was not the slightest trace of sensuality to it.
Ji Xun’s gaze grew deep and dark.
Chu Zhaohuai bit the loosely fastened collar open, then raised his head and courageously looked at him. “Your High, mm…”
Ji Xun reached out and gripped Chu Zhaohuai’s chin.
He got a hand full of powder but did not seem to mind the dirtiness at all. Smiling brightly, he said, “Wasn’t it the Young Marquis who called me a dead homosexual and a short lived ghost? And now you’re actually willing to give yourself to me. What did Chu Jing persuade you with?”
Chu Zhaohuai stiffened.
Seeing that Ji Xun had already put everything plainly on the table, he no longer bothered with those obviously false polite words.
Still holding the sash between his teeth, he answered honestly, “He said you don’t have long to live. Once you die, the entire Prince Jing’s residence will belong to me.”
Such a curse against another person should have been enough to anger anyone.
Yet Ji Xun did not become angry upon hearing it.
Instead, he laughed with a strange, almost unhealthy amusement.
“That is not false. Now that the Princess Consort has entered my residence and we have drunk the nuptial wine and consummated the marriage, if I truly suffer Heaven’s retribution and happen to die young in the future, then naturally the entire Prince Jing’s residence will belong to the Princess Consort.”
Chu Zhaohuai’s eyelid twitched.
He was really… really going to consummate the marriage?
Ji Xun pushed Chu Zhaohuai aside and turned over to get off the bed.
The bed curtains fell loosely from above, obscuring the man’s tall figure from view.
Chu Zhaohuai’s heart rose and fell in anxious uncertainty. He knelt stiffly at the edge of the bed and asked hesitantly, “Your Highness… where are you going?”
Ji Xun did not even turn his head.
“To bathe. Wait here.”
Chu Zhaohuai: “…”
Chu Zhaohuai looked as though his entire world had collapsed.
It was over.
Even after being painted into such a terrifying ghostly appearance, he could still arouse this man’s desire.
The Demon of Death’s tastes really were sick.
From childhood to adulthood, Chu Zhaohuai had never imagined that one day he would actually have to worry about losing his chastity to a man.
The bridal chamber was also as cold as an ice cellar.
Shivering, he wrapped both arms around himself and sat on the bed. He almost wished he could simply bang his head against something and end it all.
That pillar looked rather sturdy.
No, wait.
That golden incense burner seemed even better.
If he died by smashing his head against something made of gold, at least it would be worth it.
During the time Prince Jing spent bathing, Chu Zhaohuai had already imagined countless possible ways to die.
After more than an hour of nervous anxiety, despair and near madness, he finally realized something belatedly.
Something was wrong.
Did an ordinary person really need this long to take a bath?
Chu Zhaohuai lifted the bed curtain.
At some point, the wide open windows of the bridal chamber had been closed. The freezing cold that had nearly killed him earlier seemed to have dissipated considerably.
The candles in the outer room had been extinguished.
Only a single lamp remained lit in the inner room.
Chu Zhaohuai was completely bewildered.
“Ji Xun… he couldn’t possibly be deliberately trying to scare him, could he?”
…….
The side courtyard of the Prince’s study.
It was the dead of winter yet the bathtub was filled with nothing but icy cold water.
Ji Xun removed his thin inner garment and stepped into the tub. With his eyes closed, he leaned back against the edge. His bloodstained black hair floated upon the surface, the strands of blood slowly spreading through the clear water like ink dispersing into it. He gave Yin Chongshan an order.
“Anyone who leaves the residence tonight, kill them on the spot.”
Yin Chongshan bowed his head and acknowledged the command.
A howling winter wind blew through the window lattice. A thin layer of frost had already begun to form over the water in the tub. White frost crept outward from the hideous scar around Ji Xun’s neck.
Then, for no apparent reason, Ji Xun suddenly asked, “Who is he?”
Yin Chongshan assumed Ji Xun had forgotten again and answered with practiced familiarity, “Chu Zhaojiang. The one who cursed at you in the middle of the street…”
“His face.” Ji Xun interrupted him. His voice was languid, as though he had not yet fully woken up. “This face doesn’t belong to Chu Zhaojiang.”
Yin Chongshan sucked in a sharp breath.
His prince could not even remember the faces of the current Emperor and his own son, the heir to the title. Even his subordinates, who had followed him for ten years, were asked every few days who was who. How could he possibly remember the face of Chu Zhaojiang, whom he had seen no more than twice?
Heaven above, had the prince’s brain finally gone completely wrong?
Yin Chongshan tried to find a way to phrase it that would not hurt his prince’s dignity. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Your Highness only saw Chu Zhaojiang once around the New Year. You were quite a distance away at the time. Are you sure you could see his appearance clearly?”
Ji Xun opened his eyes and looked at him.
Yin Chongshan’s tactful attempt had failed completely. He immediately lowered his head and pleaded guilty. “This subordinate deserves death. I will investigate at once.”
Ji Xun did not hold it against him. He raised his fingers, which had been chilled until they were almost blue and brought them beneath his nose to sniff them. Looking completely absent minded, he said, “Put out the incense and move another brazier over there.”
Yin Chongshan froze.
The potent medicine Ji Xun had taken year round generated an intense internal heat. Even in the bitter cold of winter, he could wear only a thin garment and still feel the heat burning unbearably throughout his internal organs. He would not even touch hot tea.
Yet on the very first day his new wife had arrived, he had actually made an exception for him?
Yin Chongshan had followed his prince for many years but for a moment, he could not figure out what this meant at all. He could only silently suppress the shock surging through his heart, accept the order and leave.
…….
Daylight finally broke.
Chu Zhaohuai had remained tense and fearful until late into the night. After finally confirming that Ji Xun was not going to return and force himself upon him, he relaxed all at once. He did not know whether he had actually fallen asleep or simply passed out from exhaustion.
Throughout the night, he repeatedly suffered nightmares. After dawn, he was frightened awake by the sight of Ji Xun in his dream, his mouth stretched wide with a blood filled maw as though he were about to bite him.
Fortunately, once he was awake, Ji Xun was nowhere to be seen in the bridal chamber.
A brazier that no one knew where it had come from was burning brightly beside the bed. Wrapped in the thin quilt, Chu Zhaohuai did not feel cold.
Looking utterly listless, Chu Zhaohuai sat there and felt his own pulse.
According to what his maternal grandfather had once told him, when his mother had been pregnant with him, she had been frightened after getting into a conflict with a concubine and Chu Jing. As a result, Chu Zhaohuai had been born prematurely and had nearly died.
After being painstakingly raised for several years, he had finally survived but he was still left with a heart condition that was difficult to cure.
He had endured one fright after another the previous night and had stubbornly held himself together without suffering an attack but the sudden fluctuations in his emotions had nevertheless harmed his body. Even his throat had gone hoarse.
Chu Zhaohuai got out of bed, intending to find some water to drink. As he did so, his eyes inadvertently swept toward the mirror beside him.
The ghostly face smeared all over with rouge and cosmetics nearly frightened him all over again.
He had been frightened, hungry and utterly exhausted the previous night, so he had simply collapsed into a dazed sleep without even washing himself. Now traces of yesterday’s makeup still remained on his face, while the lip rouge had smeared into a messy lump beneath his chin.
It looked rather frightening.
Since they had the same father but different mothers, if one only looked at their brows and eyes, he and Chu Zhaojiang really did bear some resemblance to each other.
Chu Zhaohuai changed out of the heavy wedding robes and began calculating how he could reasonably conceal his appearance.
According to etiquette, he would have to return to his maternal home the day after tomorrow.
As long as he could avoid being recognized over the next two days, he could simply dump this hot potato back into the Chu family’s hands on the day he returned home.
He had only just thought of this when a burst of noisy shouting came from outside the bridal chamber.
“Your Highness, please stop. His Highness the Prince ordered that you must not…”
“Get lost! My father would never punish me over some outsider! Now that that bastard has fallen from power, of course I’m going to kick him while he’s down. Just wait until I go in there and humiliate him!”
“Your Highness… His Highness the Prince will be furious if he finds out!”
The corner of Chu Zhaohuai’s lips twitched slightly.
An old acquaintance of Chu Zhaojiang’s?
Could he really be this unlucky?
All the red wedding decorations and silk ribbons in the bridal chamber had already been removed.
With a loud bang, the carved wooden door was kicked open.
A richly dressed young nobleman came striding in, surrounded by several attendants. The group advanced in grand fashion and from the looks of it, they had certainly not come with good intentions.
Chu Zhaohuai turned toward the sound.
The young man wore dark green robes with a fox fur cloak draped over them. His eyes were practically turned toward the heavens. His brows and facial features bore a faint resemblance to Ji Xun but unlike that terrifying man, he lacked the sinister aura that came naturally to Ji Xun, as well as the gloomy malice concealed beneath his handsome appearance.
At first glance, he simply looked like an idle, useless young master with nothing in his head.
…Otherwise, he would never have said something as idiotic as, “Now that he’s fallen from power, I’m going to humiliate him.”
Chu Zhaohuai’s movements paused.
Then he remembered what the servants had just called him.
“His Highness the Heir.”
Everything Chu Zhaohuai knew about Ji Xun came from those horrifying rumors. Although he had once heard that the Prince of Jing’s residence had a young heir, he had assumed the child was still a little baby born to Ji Xun.
Who would have thought that the heir was actually about the same age as him?
That little brat swaggered over with a careless, arrogant stride. When he saw Chu Zhaohuai’s ridiculous appearance, with his face covered in smeared rouge and cosmetics, he could not resist mocking him.
“Little Marquis, long time no see. How have you been?”
For a moment, Chu Zhaohuai could not figure out what the man intended to do, so he answered cautiously, “Very well.”
After greeting him, the heir suddenly made an exaggerated “Ah,” as though he had just remembered something.
“I almost forgot. I can’t call you Little Marquis anymore…”
An old enemy had suddenly become a man’s wife. Even if he now carried the title of Princess Consort, for a man, being married off to another man was ultimately still a form of humiliation. There was certainly little glory to be found in it.
“Yes,” Chu Zhaohuai said, completely failing to detect the sarcasm in his words. He nodded in agreement. “I have married your father. We have already bowed to Heaven and Earth and drunk the nuptial wine, so you should change the way you address me and call me Father.”
The heir froze.
He stared at him in disbelief.
“Father?”
“You’re a good boy.”
A miser to the very core, Chu Zhaohuai lifted the quilt and rummaged around beneath it before grabbing a handful of the dried fruits that had been scattered over the wedding bed. He held them out as a meeting gift for his junior.
“Don’t complain that it’s too little. Take them. If it isn’t enough, come and ask Father for more.”
The heir: “…”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
✧ Your mission, should you choose to accept it: FEED THE TRANSLATOR. ✧
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Substitute BrideChapter 2 · Chu ZhaojiangChapter 3 · Very safeChapter 4 · He is the prince’s manChapter 5 · It was really hard to refuse their kind invitation.Chapter 6 · Thankfully it was just poisoning.Chapter 7 · Haha, I spit on “golden and jade hall”!Chapter 8 · Are you not satisfied with the homecoming gift?Chapter 9 · You must keep your identity hidden.Chapter 10 · I like whole fish banquetChapter 11 · BankruptChapter 12 · Add some funChapter 13 · FightChapter 14 · Three taels of silverChapter 15 · Go back to restChapter 16 · They’re all spendthrifts.Chapter 17 · Enough for branches and leavesChapter 18 · Rumors can kill peopleChapter 19 · I want to get closer to the prince.Chapter 20 · Why not move in and share a room?Chapter 21 · Ha, I’m not stupid.Chapter 22 Part 1 · Liang Fang’s prescriptionChapter 22 Part 2 · Liang Fang’s prescriptionChapter 23 · Be more cautious and vigilantChapter 24 Part 1 · Don’t touch meChapter 24 Part 2 · Don’t touch meChapter 25 Part 1 · Golden NeedleChapter 25 Part 2 · Golden NeedleChapter 26 · To avoid suspicionChapter 27 · Committing numerous evil deedsChapter 28 Part 1 · May I receive the worst possible fortuneChapter 28 Part 2 · May I receive the worst possible fortuneChapter 29 · I really didn’t mean to kill youChapter 30 · Protect the prince!Chapter 31 · The bird that fell into the trapChapter 32 · Embracing someone on the couchChapter 33 · The miracle doctor is going home!Chapter 34 · I shouldn’t have wanted to hurt himChapter 35 · A bout of madnessChapter 36 · NightmareChapter 37 Part 1 · SpecialChapter 37 Part 2 · SpecialChapter 38 · Being hunted downChapter 39 · Cause and Bitter FruitChapter 40 · Is he honest and kind?Chapter 41 · I am flattered and overwhelmed.Chapter 42 · No, I want to buy.Chapter 43 Part 1 · When the city gate catches fireChapter 43 Part 2 · When the city gate catches fireChapter 44 · It’s the face of a notorious thiefChapter 45 · Are you trying to comfort me?Chapter 46 · Thank you, Your Highness!Chapter 47 · Thank you, Your Highness!Chapter 48 · It’s delicious!Chapter 49 · SeducingChapter 50 · By imperial decreeChapter 51 Part 1 · Potent MedicineChapter 51 Part 2 · Potent MedicineChapter 52 · Wasn’t it impotence?Chapter 53 · I’m not busy todayChapter 54 Part 1 · Break his legs directlyChapter 54 Part 2 · Break his legs directlyChapter 55 · I really didn’t mean to mess with youChapter 56 · Don’t play the victim when you’re having a medical episodeChapter 57 · Let’s do it one more time!Chapter 58 Part 1 · I’ve got you!Chapter 58 Part 2 · I’ve got you!Chapter 59 · A doctor’s dutyChapter 60 Part 1 · Are you at peace with yourself?Chapter 60 Part 2 · Are you at peace with yourself?