The thirteenth year of Chengwu was in the midst of April, a lush spring season where peach blossoms bloomed red, willows hung green, and the grasses grew as the orioles flew.
In the backyard of the Lin residence, several apricot trees were in full bloom. The flowers were piled upon the branches like drifts of snow or piles of jade, their subtle fragrance drifting through the air as bees danced around them.
“Buzz, buzz.”
Lin Ruoxuan sat at his desk. Outside the window, two bees circled a snow-white apricot blossom, buzzing incessantly. As he watched them, his mind gradually wandered.
Another spring had arrived. In the blink of an eye, he had been in this world, the world within the book Secret History of the Purple Palace, for exactly four years and six months.
Over the past four years, Emperor Chengwu had become increasingly detached from state affairs. He rarely entered the inner palace, hiding instead in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, obsessively seeking immortality and chanting Buddhist sutras. Consequently, all major and minor matters of the imperial court were essentially controlled by the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries.
Fortunately, Lin Ruoxuan had changed significantly over the years, and his reputation had slowly improved. Although the scholars and pure-hearted officials were still wary of the Eastern Depot, they were no longer as confrontational as before, barely maintaining a delicate state of peace.
As for the system missions, things were progressing quite smoothly.
Lin Ruoxuan closed his eyes and opened the system panel in his mind. He looked at the bright red “1890 points” in the upper right corner and then at the full inventory grid below, feeling quite satisfied.
The first dozen slots contained The Art of War, Zizhi Tongjian, The Prince, Strategies of the Warring States, and a pile of other e-books in vernacular language. Over the past four years, he had selected and transcribed important chapters from these imperial classics to diligently teach Ji Ruxue. Ji Ruxue had studied them with such fascination that he nearly exhausted Lin Ruoxuan’s hands from writing.
In the final slot lay a massive ginseng root. It was the size of a grown man’s forearm, white as jade with no flaws, clearly a top-tier medicinal herb. This was naturally one of the four herbs the system required—the White Jade Ginseng of the Eastern Ridge.
Three years ago, Lin Ruoxuan had exerted all his effort to steal this root from the Imperial Pharmacy. It earned him 5,000 points in one go, and the mission to refine the “Four Directions Rejuvenation Pill” to help treat Xiao Tunan’s old injuries was now one-quarter complete.
Thinking of Xiao Tunan, Lin Ruoxuan sighed. He exited the system and frowned at the blank sheet of snow-white rice paper on his desk.
What should I write?
Last month, Xiao Tunan had set off from Liaodong with three thousand elite troops. It was said that he had already reached Juyong Pass and would be stationed there for a few days.
Over these years, Xiao Tunan had written to him every two or three months, offering heartfelt advice and earnest guidance, seemingly terrified that Lin Ruoxuan might revert to being that wicked “corrupt eunuch.” Lin Ruoxuan would occasionally reply with brief, concise letters, maintaining a strange “pen pal” relationship.
Now that Xiao Tunan was about to enter the capital, Lin Ruoxuan felt he should write a letter to express his willingness to host a welcoming banquet.
Over the past four years, Lin Ruoxuan had mastered the art of imitating Lin Wan’er’s handwriting to perfection. Handling official documents was no longer a challenge, but Xiao Tunan and Lin Wan’er were old acquaintances. Thus, Lin Ruoxuan had to be extremely cautious whenever he wrote to him, carefully choosing every word and taking out that stack of “love letters” to practice the script each time.
It is so troublesome; I do not want to write this.
Lin Ruoxuan remained dazed for a while before finally forcing himself to focus, whispering to himself that procrastination was unacceptable. He opened the bronze box, took out the thick stack of love letters, and began to write while carefully imitating Lin Wan’er’s handwriting.
“Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. I have heard that you will be entering the capital in a few days.”
Lin Ruoxuan wrote for quite a while with a pained expression, having only finished a few dozen characters. He stopped to rub his wrist when he suddenly heard light footsteps outside the door.
Oh no, that kid is here.
Lin Ruoxuan hurriedly grabbed the inkstone beside him and frantically pressed the stack of love letters face down beneath it.
“Teacher!”
Following the clear, pleasant voice, a young man of eighteen or nineteen strode in. He was tall, with skin like snow, and possessed an incredibly heroic and handsome appearance. He wore simple black martial arts clothing with the collar slightly open, and his dark hair was damp with sweat, showing he had clearly just come from the training grounds.
Lin Ruoxuan managed to hide the love letters and pretended to be calm with a slight smile: “Your Highness.”
The young man pursed his lips, clearly dissatisfied with the title. He walked over and hugged Lin Ruoxuan from behind, rubbing his damp hair against the other’s neck until Lin Ruoxuan’s collar was a mess.
“Your Highness, stop fooling around. Can you not see that I am writing?” Lin Ruoxuan said helplessly.
“Did I not say that you are not allowed to call me Your Highness in private? You must call me Ah Xue,” Ji Ruxue muttered.
“I just cannot get used to it. Besides, I am afraid that if I get used to it, I will slip up in public. You know how the scholars like Song Qian are just waiting for me to make a mistake.”
Ji Ruxue hugged him relentlessly, negotiating, “Then call me that a few more times now to make up for it.”
Lin Ruoxuan felt both amused and helpless: “Fine, fine. Ah Xue, Ah Xue, Ah Xue. Please, let go. I cannot breathe. Good Ah Xue, nice Ah Xue, is that enough?”
“Mm.” Hearing this, Ji Ruxue was finally satisfied and let go of Lin Ruoxuan.
He lowered his gaze to look at Lin Ruoxuan, pressing his thin lips together firmly, but he could not stop the smile on his face. His dark eyes were frighteningly bright; he seemed extremely pleased with such affectionate terms as “good Ah Xue” and “nice Ah Xue.”
Lin Ruoxuan looked the young man up and down, feeling very gratified. Over the past four years, despite the bumps in the road, Ji Ruxue had safely grown up. Now, the kid was tall and strong, a full head taller than him. He wondered how he had grown so much.
Thinking of this, Lin Ruoxuan felt a bit depressed. His current body was likely only around 1.7 meters tall, shorter than his modern self, with thin arms and legs and no abdominal muscles. He looked at Ji Ruxue’s broad shoulders and narrow waist and felt a bit envious.
Forget it, forget it. No matter how big and strong he is, he is still the one I raised! I should treat it as if the little pig I raised has grown up. I should be happy instead of being so narrow-minded and petty after four years of hard work.
Lin Ruoxuan tried hard to comfort himself, and his mood finally calmed down.
Besides, Ji Ruxue had become much livelier and was no longer as gloomy as he had been as a child. In these years, he had never done anything like a twisted villain and was developing perfectly toward the goal of becoming a “sunny young man.” It seemed that his mission of “reforming the villain and saving the protagonist” was more than halfway complete.
Ji Ruxue blinked: “What is Teacher thinking about?”
“Oh, nothing,” Lin Ruoxuan replied, regaining his focus. “I was just wondering how to write a letter to your uncle.”
“Why is Teacher writing to him again?” Ji Ruxue pouted secretly, unable to resist sneaking a peek at what was written on the letter.
On the snow-white rice paper were a few lines of elegant and beautiful script: “Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. I have heard that you will be entering the capital in a few days.”
Ji Ruxue only glanced at it for a second and realized it was just dry, official phrasing, which made him feel inexplicably relieved: “Mm, Uncle is returning to the capital soon. I heard he has reached Juyong Pass. Since you are old acquaintances, it is only right to host a welcoming banquet.”
“Yes. I also heard that when your uncle’s troops entered Fengtian Prefecture, countless women crowded the streets to watch, causing the caravan to stop moving. Hahaha.” Lin Ruoxuan thought about the intelligence received by the Eastern Depot and could not help but gossip.
Ji Ruxue did not care about his uncle at all. At this moment, he was staring intently at the back of Lin Ruoxuan’s neck.
Just now, when he rubbed his sweat against the other’s neck, he had messed up Lin Ruoxuan’s collar. Today, Lin Ruoxuan had styled his hair in a high bun, leaving most of his nape fully exposed.
That nape looked slender and fragile, appearing pale from years without sunlight, like the finest Ru ware porcelain, without a single flaw. Ji Ruxue lowered his eyes. From this angle, he could faintly see the slightly concave curve of the spine extending into the loose collar.
Ji Ruxue stared at the clean, slender nape for a long time. Unable to resist, he leaned forward slightly and buried his face in the crook of the other’s neck, carefully inhaling the familiar scent from his hair and collar. It was a fresh, mint-like scent after the rain, clean and refreshing, with a hint of bitterness that made one feel at ease.
By this time, Lin Ruoxuan had finished the letter. He stretched his arms and pushed Ji Ruxue away gently: “I am exhausted. Your Highness, do not stand so close; you are very heavy. You are so old now, yet you are still acting spoiled.”
Ji Ruxue pressed his lips together and stood straight, suddenly saying, “Let me apply the medicine for you, Teacher.”
Lin Ruoxuan was slightly startled: “Did we not apply it yesterday?”
Ji Ruxue argued righteously, “The doctor at Qianjinxuan said that this scar-removal ointment should be applied every day.”
Lin Ruoxuan muttered, “I have been applying it for four years; that should be enough. Besides, I am a grown man and I am not a woman, so I do not need to be so particular.”
Ji Ruxue did not force him. He just lowered his eyes and said softly, “Teacher, you were burned to save me. It makes my heart ache to see those scars.”
Lin Ruoxuan glared at him. He knew this little black lotus was acting pathetic, but he had absolutely no resistance. He had no choice but to take off his outer garment and lie on the daybed: “Fine, hurry up and apply it.”
“Mm.” Ji Ruxue took out a small green jade box from his arms—this was the best burn ointment from Qianjinxuan, worth its weight in gold.
Lin Ruoxuan lay on the daybed by the window, his long, thick black hair swept to the side, and his shirt pulled down to his waist, fully exposing his shoulders and back.
The bright spring sunlight shone in from outside, reflecting off those pale, thin shoulders. They looked very beautiful and very fragile. Ji Ruxue’s gaze slowly swept downward, and his heart tightened slightly. In contrast to the flawless shoulders, the back was covered in pale pink scars.
Over these years, Ji Ruxue had searched for countless precious ointments and insisted on applying medicine for Lin Ruoxuan every day. The scars were now very faint, but they still made Ji Ruxue’s heart feel tight.
Whenever he saw these scars, he thought of four years ago—how this person had held him tightly and used his own thin back to block all the scorching flames.
Lin Ruoxuan urged him, “Your Highness, hurry up and apply the medicine. I am just lying here.”
Ji Ruxue came back to his senses and pressed his lips together: “Right away.”
He dipped some translucent, light green ointment from the jade box and applied it carefully to the pink scars, massaging it gently in circular motions.
The scars under his fingertips were no longer as rough as they had been years ago, but they were still a bit astringent. He wondered when they would fully return to being smooth and delicate.
After an unknown amount of time, he had finally applied it from the top of the spine to the bottom. By the time he reached the waist, there were no more scars.
Ji Ruxue was about to say that he was done, but for some reason, he found himself blankly staring at that snow-white, slender waist.
Lin Ruoxuan was slender to begin with. Lying on the daybed with his clothes piled messily below his waist made his snow-white waist appear even more delicate. The smooth curve of his spine disappeared into the piled-up clothes, followed by a rounded arc.
So thin, I feel like I could close my hands around it. Ji Ruxue did not know what he was thinking. By the time he realized it, he had already done it.
Lin Ruoxuan turned his head in confusion: “Your Highness, what is wrong?”
Ji Ruxue was startled and quickly pulled his hands back: “Nothing.”
Although he pulled his hands back, Ji Ruxue remained in a daze, unable to stop himself from savoring the sensation. Just now, when he was holding Teacher’s waist from behind, he suddenly felt an extremely strange sensation. Teacher’s waist was so thin and soft that his two hands could just enclose it. Ji Ruxue struggled to control himself as he replayed all the details, his face inexplicably flushing.
What kind of wild thoughts are these?
He steadied himself, not daring to look anymore, and hastily pulled Lin Ruoxuan’s clothes back into place: “It is done.”
Lin Ruoxuan sat up and squinted, relaxing as he stretched, clearly enjoying it: “Your Highness’s massage skills have improved.”
“I learned some massage techniques earlier that I can use while applying the medicine,” Ji Ruxue explained as he naturally walked to the desk, seemingly wanting to help Lin Ruoxuan organize the stationary.
“Do not move! Leave it to me!” Lin Ruoxuan jumped, shouting sharply.
Ji Ruxue was slightly startled. He blinked, his voice sounding a bit aggrieved, though his hands did not stop moving: “Teacher, what is wrong? I just saw that Teacher’s desk was a bit messy and wanted to help organize it.”
“Wait, wait!” Lin Ruoxuan scrambled to his feet and lunged toward the desk, blocking the inkstone and the stack of love letters underneath it with his body, forcing a smile: “It is nothing. I can do it myself.”
Ji Ruxue pressed his lips together: “Oh.”
Lin Ruoxuan sighed in relief. He then realized he was disheveled and untidy. Feeling embarrassed, he turned his back and, while adjusting his clothes, subtly pushed the inkstone and the love letters underneath it into an inconspicuous corner of the desk.
Ji Ruxue narrowed his eyes, watching every move Lin Ruoxuan made. He felt completely confused, and also felt quite uncomfortable.
What exactly is pressed under that inkstone? Just now, when I walked in, Teacher was very anxious to hide a stack of things underneath it. They should be papers of some kind. What could they be? Letters? Banknotes? Official documents? Why would he hide them from me?