111

Early in the morning of the second day, when the palace attendant tied Gu Yuanbai's hair, he let out a cry of surprise and said, "Your Holiness, there's a red mark behind your ear!"

Gu Yuanbai had a sullen face and didn't half react to what he said. Tian Fusheng took a closer look and sucked in a mouthful of cold air. Oh no, there was a thumb-sized mark right behind His Holiness's ear, the mark was red and purple, and it was even more frightening on the white skin, "It wasn't there yesterday before going to bed, could it be an insect bite?"

But where would there be bugs at this time of the year, and they had served His Holiness so well, it couldn't be.

The position behind the ear is hidden, if not because of the need to bind the hair of the saint, the palace attendant would not have seen it. Gu Yuanbai looked at himself in the bronze mirror, his face must not look good in any way, he sneered, "Take a mirror and put it in the back, I'll take a look."

The lackeys found a translucent mirror and returned, placing it at the back for His Holiness to look at the marks behind the ear through the copper mirror at the front. The copper mirror was a bit blurry, but still could make out a thumb-sized red mark, and Gu Yuanbai touched this red mark and laughed several more times coldly.

People in the north of the border, heard Gu Yuanbai want to take a consort will gallop back to kiss him to touch him want to feel at ease. The wolves in the mansion are hanging from their necks with a strip of words written with obscenities, more or less, big or small, and as a result, in the middle of the night, they rolled over a window and licked their earlobes?

They are all adults, Gu Yuanbai said in his heart, Xue Jiuyao, you would even pretend to be pure.

"Your ears are also red, Your Holiness," the sharp-eyed little eunuch was about to cry in horror, "you can see the look of blood."

Gu Yuanbai froze, "I don't feel any pain."

In the end, Gu Yuanbai didn't let Tian Fusheng call the imperial physician, and only let him put some ointment on himself. By the time her long hair was draped behind her, she couldn't see anything.

The Xue Mansion had already prepared breakfast, when Gu Yuanbai walked out of his bedroom, he turned a few corners along the corridor, he heard a harsh sound of breaking air ringing out ahead, he walked up to take a look, and he was seeing Xue Yuan waving the imperial scimitar above the open space.

The scimitar was slender and delicately curved, like a curved up Tang sword, and when it was held in Xue Yuan's hand, the wind gusted and danced.

Gu Yuanbai stood at the corner, there are still Xue Yuan's clothes and knife sheaths on the side of the boy, they saw the saint was about to salute in a panic, Gu Yuanbai raised his hand to stop, still looking at Xue Yuan not moving, the look in his eyes is not known to be happy or angry, "Your Grand Duke every day so early in the morning to come here to practice martial arts?"

"It's a daily practice, but the Grand Duke got up at c.m. this morning and has been practicing until now," the boy was careful, "It hasn't been that early before."

In fact, Xue Yuan didn't sleep all night.

But no one could tell that Xue Yuan hadn't slept all night. When Gu Yuanbai saw him now, the displeasure in the bottom of his heart rose, he was about to leave, but Xue Yuan on that side heard his footsteps, turned his head to look, stiffly collected the large sword that had stabbed out in his hand, and came with large strides to hold his fists and salute: "Your Holiness."

He paused for a moment and said, as if nothing had happened, "Did His Holiness sleep well last night?"

Gu Yuanbai asked back, "Did Qing Xue sleep well last night?"

Xue Yuan's eyes flashed, "Good."

Gu Yuanbai wordlessly hooked his lips in a cold smile, not wanting to see this face of his again, so he lifted his steps and led the crowd past him.

Xue Yuan took the knife sheath in the hands of the boy and put away the scimitar before he quickly followed the saint, "The saint has not yet used the morning meal, I have already commanded to go down and let the cooks prepare a porridge of yam, the saint can use a small bowl to warm up his stomach first."

The saint seemed as if he hadn't heard, and Tian Fusheng took the opportunity to grab Xue Yuan and complained, "Lord Xue, is there anything unclean in your residence?"

Xue Yuan stiffened, then relaxed, "Chief Tian, what does that say?"

Tian Fusheng lowered his voice, "Lord Xue, you don't blame the old slave for speaking out of turn. This day the saint got up, the little ones in the saint behind the ear found a mark, red a little deep, look appalling. Not only that, the saint's right ear are seeping a few strands of blood, the outside look no harm, but the inside look to bleed, but the saint did not feel pain, this is all what strange things?"

Blood filaments? Xue Yuan frowned so hard that he could clip a mosquito.

You can't handle that kind of strength?

Tian Fusheng also wondered, "How did His Holiness become like this after a nap?"

For a moment everyone buried their heads in their hands and thought hard, not bothering to speak.

*

Gu Yuanbai returned to the palace after finishing his breakfast at the Xue Mansion. As soon as he left, Chang Yuyan entered the Xue Mansion and saw Xue Yuan sitting on the main seat having his meal.

Chang Yuyan raised an eyebrow and smiled, "A good time is better than a good time, someone come, bring bowls and chopsticks to this young master as well."

The boy guided him to sit down, "Mr. Chang, this bowl and chopsticks of our Grand Duke's have not been used, so you can just use them."

Chang Yuyan was surprised and pointed at the cups and chopsticks in Xue Yuan's hands, "Since this is your Grand Duke's, whose is it that your Grand Duke is using?"

Without uttering a word, the boy retreated with his head lowered.

Chang Yuyan was going to ask again, but Xue Yuan swiftly drew a dagger from his bosom, the cold light flashed, and the forced sharpness was reflected on Chang Yuyan's face, the person holding the dagger didn't feel anything, and asked in a normal tone, "What do you want to eat?"

Chang Yuyan stiffly held his words back, "Anything."

Xue Yuan picked up a fruit through the dagger, and with a raise of his hand, the dagger flew across the long table and plunged into the wooden table in front of Chang Yuyan with a "ding--" sound.

"You lied to me, Chang Yuyan," Xue Yuan said, "The summer palace, the day you played chess with the saint, the saint clearly talked to you about me."

Chang Yuyan was nervous and blurted out, "Don't listen to the nonsense of the bystanders--"

"Whether it's nonsense or not I don't know," Xue Yuan laughed, very gently, "but it's true that you don't want me to have more contact with His Majesty."

Chang Yuyan could not speak, Xue Yuan lowered his head and finished the last mouthful of yam porridge, got up and walked across the long table, and drew his dagger. Only to hear a long "buzzing" sound, the fruit on the dagger had already been removed by Xue Yuan and put into Chang Yuyan's hand.

The sticky and acidic toothache-inducing astringent flavor that flowed out of the fruit followed and slowly dispersed, the juice woefully staining Chang Yuyan's hand.

"This dagger should look somewhat familiar to you," Xue Yuan turned it over in both hands, "it is not the one I played with as a child. Yu Yan, do you remember when you were bullied by a slave in your home when you were young, and I pinned that slave down in front of you, which happened to be at the dinner table as well."

"I shall do what you ask of me. Your parents and elders were present at the table, and I spread the five fingers of that slave's hand and pressed them down, and thrust the dagger between his fingers, and asked you whether the cut had broken his whole hand, or one of his fingers."

Chang Yuyan pinched the fruit tightly, the cuffs of his sleeves were soaked as he smiled, "Jiu Yao, our temperaments have been at odds since we were young, always tit for tat and incompatible. But you and I are also teenage buddies, equally as good as each other, no one is better than the other."

Xue Yuan laughed along with him, "You said that you would not do the thing of cutting off a person's fingers if you had to spare them, that slave was so excited that he cried and was grateful to you. On the second day, you brought the man to the lake and told that slave to choose, either to throw himself into the lake and die, or to go and cut off one of his hands and a tongue himself."

Chang Yuyan: "It's a matter of lesser time, there's no need to mention it now."

"Chang Yuyan, you have a heart of gold," Xue Yuan whispered, "but see, no matter how heartfelt you are, you're still afraid when you see me take out a dagger, and you've been afraid since you were a child."

The smile at the corner of Chang Yuyan's mouth slowly converged, pursed straight, and the flamboyant, jade-like gentleman turned expressionless at this moment.

"Talked about me with His Holiness but didn't dare to tell me," Xue Yuan stifled a few laughs and patted Chang Yuyan's shoulder, "Yuyan, you're a bit more childishly clumsy this time."

Chang Yuyan moved his mouth, "I would never harm you."

Xue Yuan: "Little tricks won't be missing."

"But good, you can continue," he continued slowly, Chang Yuyan froze at his words and looked up at him, Xue Yuan's dark eyes sank in, pulling his lips condescendingly, "There is a cultured person who is jealous of master, master is happy."

*

After Gu Yuanbai returned to the palace, he was anointed again by Tian Fusheng.

Tian Fusheng was not yet old enough to be blind; the more he administered the medicine, the more odd he felt; hesitating for a moment, he said hesitantly, "Your Holiness, the marks behind your ears seem to have been sucked out as if they were sucked out."

Gu Yuanbai was not salty, "Uh-huh."

Tian Fusheng's heart was clear, and he didn't ask any more questions, concentrating on giving medicine to the saint.

The ointment flavor masked the spice flavor in the temple, and only after the ointment flavor dispersed did Gu Yuanbai smell something wrong, "How is this fragrance different from the previous fragrance?"

The palace attendant who burned the incense came forward and replied, "Your Majesty, this is the spice offered up by Western Xia, which is said to be their national incense, and the imperial physician of the Imperial Hospital said that this incense has the effect of clearing the mind and calming the qi, so the slave girl gave it a point."

Gu Yuanbai nodded, "The flavor is quite good, Western Xia is really coming up with big bucks this time."

"Compensation first sent to the capital, after the ransom also followed the people of Western Xia on the way," Tian Fusheng whispered, "Your Majesty, listen to the people along the road, Western Xia this time to bring a lot of things really. They have been traveling for two or three months, and the leader is still the second prince of Western Xia."

Gu Yuanbai leaned on top of the back of his chair, closing his eyes and tapping the table regularly, "The second prince of Western Xia?"

"The second prince of Western Xia is named Li Ang Yi," Tian Fusheng, "this person and the seventh prince of Western Xia Li Ang Shun is different, he is from a lowly background, not the favorite of the Emperor of Western Xia, from a young age is no one to rely on, but the life is hard, live and grow up. Because of the mildness of temperament and some cowardice, the Western Xia royal family up and down did not pay attention to him, only have the need for the second prince of the place, they will think of this prince."

"Just this time, for example, this thankless task was given to the second prince of Western Xia," Gu Yuanbai understood, and he laughed, "I don't care about this matter, I'm wondering about another matter."

Gu Yuanbai frowned tightly and muttered, "How could Western Xia give reparations so dryly ......"

Not even a counteroffer.

This was simply more baffling than Xue Yuan feeling into Gu Yuanbai's room in the middle of the night and doing nothing.