Troublemaker Prince C32
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 32
While You Yusui was saying things like "Should you become wealthy and honored, do not forget me—when you become a powerful minister, you must remember to posthumously honor me and choose a beautiful posthumous title for me," Huo Xiling had already begun to suspect whether You Yusui knew he was going to die and was preparing his own funeral arrangements in advance.
Just as Huo Xiling was lost in thought, You Yusui's hand pinched Huo Xiling's chin.
Fingers as white as jade gripped Huo Xiling's chin with moderate force, and in the next second pulled Huo Xiling back from his contemplation to reality.
"This prince is speaking to you—aren't you listening?" You Yusui's other hand grabbed Huo Xiling's collar, forcing Huo Xiling to meet his gaze.
The Crown Prince before him had features like snow, and the crimson teardrop mole beneath his eyelid flew upward slightly with his upturned eyes, carrying a power that could bewitch one's heart and soul.
"I wasn't," Huo Xiling said in a small voice.
How would he dare not listen to what His Highness said?
"I only want Your Highness to live a long life of a hundred years," Huo Xiling said earnestly.
What posthumous honors after death, what choosing posthumous titles—those should be done by later generations. It shouldn't be him. He should accompany His Highness until their hair turned white together. Even if they couldn't sleep in the same mausoleum, he would use the military merits he earned in the future to lie in the tomb closest to His Highness.
But You Yusui couldn't help laughing softly, those upturned phoenix eyes revealing a trace of genuine amusement. Huo Xiling's wish was good, but unfortunately he could only focus on his own posthumous affairs.
Just then, Huo Xiling took out the longevity lock he had spent an entire day carving yesterday.
A red cord hung on the longevity lock carved from white jade, making the jade appear even more white and delicate.
"This is what I want to give Your Highness," Huo Xiling said. "It's from the jade I grabbed during my first birthday zhuazhou ceremony. It's not particularly fine jade, but I hope this longevity lock made from this jade can allow Your Highness to live a long life of a hundred years in peace and safety."
(TL: Zhua Zhou (抓周)= It refers to the traditional Chinese first-birthday ritual where the baby is presented with objects, and whichever they pick is thought to predict their future.)
In the next moment, Huo Xiling retrieved from You Yusui's collar the safety pendant that he had personally put on him. The safety pendant strung with red silk thread still carried You Yusui's warm body temperature and was even tinged with the scent of plum blossoms.
Huo Xiling held this safety pendant and lifted his head to look at You Yusui, saying, "As an exchange, will Your Highness give me this safety pendant?"
You Yusui extended a finger and pointed at Huo Xiling's chest, saying, "This prince remembers that you're wearing the jade pendant this prince bestowed upon you here. Now you're eyeing the safety pendant on this prince's body—do you want to hang yet another thing around your neck? Aren't you afraid it's too much?"
Huo Xiling's ears turned red as he lowered his head and said softly, "No matter how many of Your Highness's things I wear, I wouldn't find it too much. Your Highness just needs to say whether you'll exchange it or not."
"This prince permits it," You Yusui said, slightly raising his chin.
Upon hearing this, Huo Xiling immediately removed the safety pendant from around You Yusui's neck, then carefully placed the longevity lock he had carved onto You Yusui's body.
The moment the cold longevity lock pressed against You Yusui's skin, You Yusui suddenly felt warmth. In this instant, he couldn't tell whether Huo Xiling's feelings were genuine or fake, whether it was to coax him or came from the heart. But having been reborn more than ten times, unable to escape fate's arrangements each time and only able to give up in despair, You Yusui felt for the first time that someone urgently hoped he would live, hoped he could live a hundred years and complete a lifetime like a normal person.
You Yusui touched the longevity lock at his chest. He thought that if he discovered Huo Xiling didn't truly love him, that everything he did was only to coax him, he would probably go mad.
So You Yusui lifted his head to look at Huo Xiling, who was clumsily trying to tie the safety pendant around his wrist, and couldn't help pouncing on him.
With You Yusui's pounce, Huo Xiling's body involuntarily leaned backward. The safety pendant in his hand rolled onto the ground, and both Huo Xiling and You Yusui fell to the floor—except Huo Xiling protected You Yusui in his arms, not letting You Yusui suffer the slightest injury.
You Yusui sat on Huo Xiling's waist, hands braced on the ground. He lowered his head, his eyes red at the corners, the pupils an abnormal shade of red.
"Your Highness?" Huo Xiling didn't understand what had happened in that instant.
A crazed expression appeared on You Yusui's face, and then Huo Xiling heard You Yusui say, "This prince forbids you from not loving me! Do you hear? Don't let this prince discover you don't love me, or I'll drag you down to be buried with me!"
As his words fell, You Yusui's face was already covered in tears.
After Huo Xiling lifted his head and kissed away the tears on You Yusui's face one by one, he said, "In this life, I will only love Your Highness alone."
And You Yusui, as if he had received a satisfactory answer, collapsed down, fainting completely with tears still in his eyes.
"Your Highness?" Huo Xiling called out tentatively.
"Your Highness!" Huo Xiling called out nervously.
This time, You Yusui had truly fainted. He wasn't pretending.
And Imperial Physician Cui, who had been staying peacefully at the Imperial Medical Courtyard, didn't expect that before long, he would have to make another house call—the Crown Prince had fainted again.
Cui Yan packed his medicine chest and followed the young eunuch who came to fetch him to the Grand General's Mansion to create an alibi for the Crown Prince.
However, this time, Cui Yan hadn't expected that You Yusui had truly fainted.
In the Grand General's Mansion, whether it was the old servants of the General's household or the palace attendants who had come from the palace, none dared to breathe loudly. No one had expected the Crown Prince to suddenly lose consciousness.
At this moment, Huo Xiling sat at the edge of the bed looking at You Yusui lying on his bed, reaching out to wipe his face with a cloth soaked in hot water, but his heart was extremely anxious—why hadn't Cui Yan arrived yet?
When Cui Yan stepped into the courtyard where Huo Xiling lived, he was quickly pulled into the room by Huo Xiling.
"Before His Highness's eyes turned red, after crying he fainted," Huo Xiling quickly summarized the situation of You Yusui's fainting.
Cui Yan was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Could it be that this time it was a real fainting spell?
When he came to You Yusui's bedside and reached out to check You Yusui's chaotic and irregular pulse, he discovered that the Crown Prince, who usually pretended to faint and feign illness, had truly fainted this time.
"Heart and spirit agitated, emotions excessive, spirit greatly injured," Cui Yan said this sentence then looked at Huo Xiling and asked, "What did you do to the Crown Prince before?"
"I gave His Highness the longevity lock I made," Huo Xiling answered.
Cui Yan looked at Huo Xiling and asked, "Really just the longevity lock?"
Huo Xiling looked at Cui Yan's meaningful expression and asked in return, "What else?"
Cui Yan said "Oh," well, if not then not—he was just a physician responsible for treating illness.
In the end, Cui Yan didn't use acupuncture, only prescribed some spirit-calming medicine for You Yusui.
However, news that the Crown Prince had fallen ill once again also spread.
As emperor, You Fengyun couldn't help asking An Hai, "What did he do? How did he fall ill again?"
At this rate, would the Crown Prince still be able to attend court?
An Hai replied upon hearing this, "In response to Your Majesty, this servant also doesn't know."
You Fengyun sighed. Thinking of those two princes who were about to participate in court affairs, he couldn't help saying, "Send more things to the Eastern Palace again, and have those unfilial sons go to the Eastern Palace to pay their respects to the Crown Prince after he returns to the palace."
If the Crown Prince couldn't establish his authority, he would help establish it. The Eastern Palace's officials should all be fully appointed as well.
"Yes," An Hai responded.
He had figured it out—among these princes, the Crown Prince was the most favored. Now His Majesty was willing to take care of every matter for the Crown Prince—this was a blessing that other princes didn't have.
So the emperor's private treasury opened again, and rewards flowed like water to the Eastern Palace, making a group of consorts and princes red-eyed with jealousy.
At this moment, You Yusui was still lying on Huo Xiling's bed. It wasn't until night fell and lanterns were first lit that he slowly opened his eyes.
Upon waking, You Yusui smelled a bitter medicinal scent.
"Xiling?" You Yusui called out. He felt everything before his eyes was foggy and he couldn't see things very clearly. Huo Xiling also wasn't at his side watching over him, and he immediately felt aggrieved.
Soon, Huo Xiling entered the inner chamber carrying the freshly brewed spirit-calming medicine. Seeing You Yusui hugging the quilt and sitting up on the bed preparing to get down, he quickly set the medicine aside and pressed him back onto the bed.
"Your Highness, I'm here," Huo Xiling said softly.
Upon hearing this, You Yusui couldn't help sniffling and said, "Don't leave me."
Huo Xiling quickly held You Yusui to comfort him. He didn't know why, but His Highness upon waking seemed even more clingy.
"Your Highness, please drink your medicine," Huo Xiling brought the medicine from the side to You Yusui.
"Cui Yan prescribed bitter medicine to harm me again—I won't drink it," You Yusui immediately turned his face to the side.
"Your Highness truly fainted this time, you weren't pretending to be ill," Huo Xiling had also checked You Yusui's pulse earlier—it was very chaotic, and the medicine Cui Yan prescribed was very appropriate for the symptoms.
"If Your Highness drinks this bowl of medicine, I'll carve a little rabbit for Your Highness, all right?" Huo Xiling began coaxing.
"Bring the medicine here," You Yusui said. Since Huo Xiling had said this much, he still needed to give Huo Xiling some face.
The bitter medicine entered his throat, so unpleasant that You Yusui wanted to vomit, but Huo Xiling quickly handed him clean water to help You Yusui rinse his mouth and personally fed him a preserved fruit.
Sucking on the sweet preserved fruit, You Yusui shifted toward the inside of the bed, then let Huo Xiling get on the bed.
You Yusui patted the empty space beside him while complaining softly, "Why is your bed so hard? You need to hold me while I sleep."
Since the Crown Prince had made this request, how could Huo Xiling refuse? He immediately held You Yusui in his arms.
"This prince slept for so long, I can't sleep now. Tell me about things from when you were little," You Yusui said, nestled in Huo Xiling's embrace.
Huo Xiling had grown up on the frontier as a child. There were endless grasslands there, delicious roasted lamb and milk wine. Later, when he grew a bit older, he returned to Chang'an with his elder sister and brother-in-law. He regularly caused trouble and was chased and beaten by his sister and brother-in-law for two whole streets.
As he spoke, the night had completely deepened, and You Yusui had already fallen asleep.
"Your Highness?" Huo Xiling called out.
Looking at You Yusui's sleeping appearance, Huo Xiling smiled. He didn't mention that when he was five years old and attended the palace banquet with his elder sister, he met a kind older brother who treated him very well, whom he remembered and thought of constantly to this day.
That day, You Yusui slept well. The next morning he was refreshed and clear-headed, until Eunuch An Hai appeared before him.
Eunuch An Hai appeared at the Eastern Palace gates carrying the supplements sent by the emperor, perfectly blocking You Yusui's path back to the palace.
"Your Highness, congratulations and felicitations!" Eunuch An Hai said with a smile. "His Majesty has already appointed officials for the Eastern Palace. The Three Tutors and Three Young Masters are all excellent. The new Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince is a great scholar of our time—his reputation among literati is no less than Prime Minister Su's. This is a blessing others couldn't hope for even in their dreams!"
You Yusui: ...... This blessing—do you want it?
Also! Wasn't it agreed that the Eastern Palace officials would be decided by me? Why is that dog emperor going back on his word!
"Your Highness, are you not pleased?" Eunuch An Hai asked, seeing You Yusui's expressionless face.
You Yusui stared straight ahead with vacant eyes. "This prince just feels that this prince has fallen ill again."
Eunuch An Hai froze. "Ah... this—"