I Rely on Beauty to Stabilize the Country - Chap 59
Chapter 59
After a month and a half, Xue Yuan stepped into Gu Yuanbai’s Xuanzheng Hall once again.
Gu Yuanbai was sitting behind the desk, and upon hearing the footsteps, he looked up and smiled faintly.
From afar, Xue Yuan noticed the smile at the corner of Gu Yuanbai’s lips. He stared at it for a while before catching up with General Ding Yuan’s footsteps. Suppressing his emotions, he murmured to himself in a low voice, “It seems like he looks better.”
The two officials approached and paid their respects. Gu Yuanbai kindly asked them to rise. After they reported on the matter of the rebel army and the current situation in South Jing and Jiangnan, Gu Yuanbai nodded and allowed them to return home and rest.
General Ding Yuan obediently retreated, but Xue Yuan remained motionless. Gu Yuanbai looked at him, his gaze shifting from Xue Yuan’s eyebrows to his neck. He secretly wondered about the weather in Hu Nan, which had made Xue Yuan several shades darker.
“What else do you have, Xue Qing?” Gu Yuanbai asked.
In the scorching month of July, the Xuanzheng Hall had ice basins placed inside. Outside, the scorching sun accompanied the irritating bird chirping and cicadas’ cries, distorting the air with its heat.
It took Xue Yuan seventeen more days before he saw Gu Yuanbai again.
Gu Yuanbai’s face had turned slightly red from the heat, and his clothes had become thinner. The joints under his jade ring remained round and fair.
Xue Yuan, dressed in ordinary attire with his armor removed, still carried the aura of sand and wind. He smiled slightly and calmly replied, “As the leader of the palace guards, it is my duty to ensure Your Majesty’s safety and accompany you at all times.”
Gu Yuanbai pondered for a moment and said, “Then there’s no need. The imperial decree promoting Xue Qing will be issued later. Xue Qing, with your great talents, you no longer need to stay by my side.”
A momentary stiffness flashed across Xue Yuan’s smile, and a hint of bitterness tingled on his tongue. He asked slowly, “Your Majesty, what do you mean by this?”
Tian Fusheng, seeing Gu Yuanbai’s silence, interjected with a smile, “Lord Xue, His Majesty recognizes your talents and intends to promote you!”
The fire that had just ignited in Xue Yuan’s heart was instantly extinguished.
Xue Yuan’s eyes grew heavy as he stared at Gu Yuanbai for a long while. After a moment, he coldly smiled and said, “I will comply with the decree.”
He turned around and left the Xuanzheng Hall with large strides.
Gu Yuanbai watched Xue Yuan’s departing figure, the swaying of his robe indicating the extent of his anger. Gu Yuanbai rubbed his nose and turned to Tian Fusheng, asking, “Rewarding him with a good position as a recognition of his merits, isn’t that good enough?”
Tian Fusheng was also extremely puzzled. “I can’t understand what Lord Xue is thinking.”
“Forget it,” Gu Yuanbai rubbed his forehead in distress, unable to fathom what Xue Yuan was thinking. “Let’s not worry about him.”
Once Xue Yuan walked out of the palace, he stopped expressionlessly.
The palace behind him gleamed with golden brilliance, immense and grand, but it was cold and devoid of any human touch, just like its master.
Xue Yuan clenched the white handkerchief with the dragon pattern in his sleeve, returning to Xue Manor without showing any emotion.
Gu Yuanbai.
***
The people of Xue Manor had been waiting for him for a long time. Even after Xue Yuan finished bathing and lay in his room, he kept staring at the beams above.
After thinking all night, after a long time, he finally came up with a solution.
If the young emperor thought he could get rid of him like this, he was too naive.
When Xue Yuan first went to the battlefield, he was attracted to a dagger in the enemy leader’s arms. For that dagger, he almost lost his life on the battlefield. But in the end, the dagger belonged to him. Xue Yuan was determined to obtain what he desired, as long as there was breath in his body, he would fight to possess it.
Either kill him.
Or give himself to him.
Wasn’t satisfying him enough? If he let him be satisfied, wouldn’t that be enough?
Gu Yuanbai didn’t give the rebel army more than a day to live. At noon that day, he publicly beheaded the important figures of the rebel army in the capital city.
At that moment, Xu Xiong-Yuan looked at the crowds of people in the capital, their excitement and eagerness to see the rebels punished. In that instant, he felt that he had suffered a complete defeat.
Gu Yuanbai had the ability to behead Lu Feng and would he really let him escape the capital city with five thousand soldiers? Perhaps, from the moment he was chosen by Gu Yuanbai, he had already lost.
But he realized it too late.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, heads rolled.
The next evening, Gu Yuanbai held a small banquet for the meritorious officials.
The palace maids were busy preparing wine and serving dishes. In the open space of the palace banquet, the court’s song and dance performers were gracefully dancing.
The current emperor had no interest in women, and his gaze as he watched the performance was clear and devoid of desire. Xue Yuan took a sip of wine and glanced at the emperor, his gaze intense and scorching.
During the small banquet, to show affability, the emperor wore a bright yellow court robe. Occasionally, when he raised his cup or lifted his sleeve, the hidden golden patterns on the fabric could be glimpsed. Xue Yuan traced the patterns with his gaze, drinking one cup of wine after another.
Seated beside him was General Ding Yuan, who had already become somewhat intoxicated from the numerous toasts he received. When he turned to look at Xue Yuan, he was startled by the empty bottles strewn all over the place. “Hey! Lord Xue, how can you hold so much liquor?”
Not far away, Chang Yuyan overheard the conversation and laughed heartily, raising his cup to Xue Yuan and General Ding Yuan. “General Ding Yuan spent over a month with Xue Jiuyao in southern Jinghu. Don’t you know Lord Xue’s drinking capacity?”
General Ding Yuan replied, “He used to climb up to the eaves every day, swaying his wine bottle. I always asked him if one bottle was enough. I didn’t expect that I had underestimated Lord Xue’s drinking capacity.”
Chang Yuyan laughed and emptied his cup with General Ding Yuan.
Suddenly, Xue Yuan stood up, holding a cup of wine and walking toward the emperor. However, before he reached him, the Prince He sitting at the lower left of the emperor stood up and raised his cup to Gu Yuanbai, whispering, “I offer a toast to the emperor.”
With a sidelong glance, Gu Yuanbai inadvertently caught sight of Xue Yuan, who had stopped in his tracks. Xue Yuan’s long eyebrows arched, his smile ambiguous, as if he was watching a good show between the two of them.
It seemed as if, all of a sudden, the mad dog had returned to its original state. But it also seemed completely different from the initial state.
Gu Yuanbai withdrew his gaze, turned his head, and gave Tian Fusheng a command. Then he raised his cup, indicating to Prince He, and took a shallow sip.
Prince He finished his cup in one gulp, not leaving a drop. He looked at Gu Yuanbai, who had taken just a shallow sip, without saying anything, silently sitting back down as if he had simply toasted the emperor with a cup of wine.
After the prince consort sat down, Xue Yuan approached. Tian Fusheng had just brought a fresh jug of wine, and he refilled the emperor’s cup. Gu Yuanbai smiled and said, “Xue Qing, you’ve made quite a spectacle again.”
Upon closer inspection, his gaze halted. “Where did the drop of water on Xue Qing’s hand come from?”
Xue Yuan lowered his head and casually replied, “The cup has a crack.”
Gu Yuanbai had someone bring him a new cup, and once Xue Yuan took the new cup in his hand, he lifted his sleeve. Just as the white jade cup was about to touch his lips, Xue Yuan said, “Your Majesty, don’t drink it.”
Gu Yuanbai’s hand paused, and he looked up at Xue Yuan.
The emperor’s eyes reflected a glimmer of water, and Xue Yuan’s Adam’s apple rolled as he quickly finished the wine in his cup. Then, in a swift motion, he stepped forward and snatched the cup from the emperor’s hand, drinking every last drop.
The water that Tian Fusheng had brought to replace the wine tasted fresh and sweet. Xue Yuan smiled and spoke elegantly, “Your Majesty, this wine has an extraordinary flavor.”
With his hand still paused in place, Gu Yuanbai’s lips twitched. “Is that so?”
“Tian Fusheng,” he stared straight at Xue Yuan and said, “present this jug of wine to Lord Xue as a reward.”
Tian Fusheng complied and handed the jug to Xue Yuan. However, Xue Yuan didn’t leave immediately, and his shadow seemed to cast over Gu Yuanbai. After a while, he spoke, “Your Majesty, you promised me something as a reward, but you haven’t given it to me yet.”
Gu Yuanbai suddenly recalled the mountain cave from before. His thoughts wandered for a moment, remembering how well Xue Yuan had served his younger brother.
This man was like a bandit, rough in his ways, but when he pleased him, it was as if he was handling a precious treasure.
Gu Yuanbai felt a twinge of guilt like that of a scumbag. Softening his voice, he asked, “What do you want?”
Xue Yuan grinned, bowed his head, and whispered, “Your Majesty, you once took a piece of clothing from me.”
Gu Yuanbai couldn’t help but laugh. “Xue Mansion’s esteemed young master, are you still holding a grudge over a piece of clothing?”
“It’s not about that,” Xue Yuan said, “I just thought that the clothing looked good on Your Majesty and you should wear it more often.”
They had already exchanged many words, and quite a few people had noticed their proximity. Prince He, sitting at the lower left, couldn’t hear their conversation amidst the string and woodwind music, but he could see their close distance. He furrowed his brows and said loudly, “Lord Xue, haven’t you finished speaking?”
Xue Yuan exerted some force in his hand, nearly causing the cup that the emperor had just brought to his lips to crack again. Smiling, he said, “Your Majesty, do you still have the jade finger guard I gave you?”
Gu Yuanbai thought to himself, why is Xue Jiuyao asking all these questions today? Nonetheless, he raised his hand, and between his slender white fingers, the jade finger guard, almost dripping with green fluid, wrapped around delicate flesh, as beautiful as a flower glistening with dewdrops.
Xue Yuan admired it for a while, longing to reach out and touch it with his lips or give it a gentle caress. But he couldn’t do that; it would scare people away. Xue Yuan suppressed his thoughts, bowed to Gu Yuanbai, and walked back leisurely with the wine cup and a deliberately concealed white jade cup.
The Prince Consort glanced at Gu Yuanbai’s hand and his eyelids twitched before retracting his gaze. However, when he saw Xue Yuan’s figure, that sense of panic turned into a deep-seated anger.
This General Xue’s eldest son was too audacious. Taking the wine from Gu Yuanbai’s hand was one thing, but what infuriated Prince He even more was that Gu Yuanbai didn’t punish him.
Could it be that the emperor’s favor was enough to indulge such a brazen person?
What others were thinking had nothing to do with Gu Yuanbai.
The afternoon breeze was cooler than the daytime, and Gu Yuanbai drank some water and ate a few bites of food. When he felt it was about time, he ordered the banquet to be dismissed.
As the emperor withdrew from the banquet, Prince He also got up and followed behind Gu Yuanbai in silence. They walked together, and when they were about to reach the sleeping quarters, Gu Yuanbai asked, “Prince He, is there something you want to tell me?”
“Nothing,” Prince He’s voice was gloomy, and he unwillingly raised his head to look at Gu Yuanbai. “I miss the late emperor, so I wanted to visit the palace.”
Gu Yuanbai found it amusing, detecting a hint of unusual meaning. He raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Alright. Since Prince He is missing the late emperor, you can stay in the palace for one night. The late emperor used to enjoy staying in Hua Yi Palace, so Prince He can spend the night there.”
Prince He nodded heavily, gave Gu Yuanbai a glance, and then left with the eunuch.
Gu Yuanbai squinted his eyes as he watched Prince He’s figure and instructed, “Investigate if anything has happened to Prince He recently.”
After Tian Fusheng acknowledged the order, Gu Yuanbai continued walking towards the sleeping quarters.
After washing up and lying in bed, Gu Yuanbai closed his eyes, holding the smooth white jade in his hand. His fingers caressed the jade pendant for a few moments before he suddenly remembered the white jade cup he had used at the banquet.
Where was that cup?
