64

Gu Yuanbai felt a headache.

"Xue Qing," he said, not bothering to play with hints, "you have a dragon and a sun?"

"I don't like men," Xue Yuan pressed his brows together, almost without hesitation, "What is there to like about men?"

His Holiness' gaze carried a bright scrutiny and suspicion, and Xue Yuan smiled slightly.

"Your Majesty," he brightly picked up another petal of yellow flowers from Gu Yuanbai's hair, "I am only loyal to you."

I'm afraid this is not taking me for a fool.

But Gu Yuanbai wasn't compelled to force Xue Yuan to admit his thoughts about him.

Gu Yuanbai rubbed his brow, tired, "I'm too lazy to care about you."

Xue Yuan went up and rubbed his temples for him, his voice low and hypnotic, "I don't need Your Majesty to worry."

Gu Yuanbai was served by him so comfortably that his body was about to go limp in the water, and his voice took on a slightly sleepy nasal tone, "Xue Qing, you shouldn't have pushed back against the transfer that I've given you."

"Now that it is the half of July," said the saint, "you should know that your father is already traveling to the northern border?"

Xue Yuan said, "I know."

Recently, General Xue has been ready, now this age can still get the appointment of the Holy Spirit, General Xue is very excited, day and night in high spirits, Mrs. Xue often complained that General Xue because of too much excitement, the night often tossing and turning so that she can not sleep.

Mansion has already prepared the traveling bag, and because of the treasury is sufficient, grain and grass full of warehouse, the people in the court have not spoken against the decision of the saint, although I feel that these days the number of times to move the army and use the horse is a little more, but the six ministries of Shangshu adults did not refute, they refute a fart.

Because of this, Gu Yuanbai couldn't figure it out.

"General Xue's expedition to the nomads, the children of the family only left you two brothers," Gu Yuanbai, "as the top pillar of the family, you should have some ambition."

Can liking someone be so powerful? It's amazing that you can turn down a promotion and a raise.

Gu Yuanbai was somewhat unable to understand this.

"The second brother in my family is sick," Xue Yuan said with a calm demeanor, "Did Your Majesty forget?"

Gu Yuanbai lost his desire to chat and gave a deep hmph, no longer speaking.

After waiting for a while, Xue Yuan shouted in a low voice, "Your Holiness?"

Gu Yuanbai was breathing shallowly, as if he was asleep.

Xue Yuan gradually stopped his hand as he stood up straight and looked at Gu Yuanbai. After looking at him for a while, he bent down and picked up the person, carrying him step by step away from the water.

Gu Yuanbai's eyelids flickered slightly, lazily saying, "Don't touch me."

Xue Yuan stopped his hands and his feet stopped, Gu Yuanbai's body was pressed against the water, this feeling of complete weightlessness was not very comfortable, he opened his eyes and was stung by the light of the sun in the sky and closed them again.

"Leave me alone," the voice took on a bit of anger, "put me back."

His Holiness was so lazy that he didn't even want to move his fingers. Xue Yuan hugged him as if he was holding a lifeless corpse, with no trace of life except for the anger in his voice. Xue Yuan didn't like this feeling, he pawed Gu Yuanbai and teased him, "Your Holiness, you're as light as a child."

Gu Yuanbai: "Get lost."

"Roll where?" Xue Yuan was happy, did not control his mouth, "Roll you ......" dragon bed to go?

The last few words were still swallowed.

Xue Yuan changed positions again, serving Gu Yuanbai comfortably in his arms, his other hand ruffling his five fingers, "Your Holiness, you can't sleep in the water."

Gu Yuanbai: "I'm sleepy."

Xue Yuan's heart went soft.

He seemed to laugh twice, his chest was stuffy, and the sound of his heart beating inside could be heard by Gu Yuanbai. It was beating so fast that he cringed at the noise.

"Your Majesty, when I came with you, I saw a clump of lotus leaves not far away from the pool," Xue Yuan coaxed Gu Yuanbai to sleep in a low voice, his voice was like hypnosis, "The lotus flowers will be thankful, but the lotus seeds are already ripe. I looked at the several lotus pods, and they were all very sweet-smelling."

"In the past, when I was stationed at the border, I wanted to eat lotus seeds like crazy," Xue Yuan, "I'll take His Holiness to pick a bunch to taste?"

Gu Yuanbai didn't say anything. Xue Yuan patted his back with a light force, and when he finally carried Gu Yuanbai to the lotus leaf pond, Gu Yuanbai had already fallen asleep.

Xue Yuan picked a lotus seed with one hand and tasted the lotus seed inside, it was obviously very sweet, but strangely, he now couldn't afford the slightest thought of finding this thing delicious, and he even somewhat couldn't understand the obsession of wanting to eat this thing earlier.

Instead.

Xue Yuan looked sideways at the emperor who was already asleep in his arms.

The eyes were heavy with astringency.

When Gu Yuanbai woke up, he was already back in his bedchamber.

Gu Yuanbai came to his senses after the palace attendant wiped his face. He took the towel and used it himself, "How long have I been asleep?"

As he asked the question, he looked around and Xue Yuan was not there. Gu Yuanbai frowned, vaguely remembering that he seemed to have ended up falling asleep next to Xue Yuan.

Shame on you.

The sound of water pattered, and Tian Fusheng straightened out His Majesty's clothes and said with a smile, "His Majesty has been sleeping for an hour."

Gu Yuanbai pulled himself together, "Have someone prepare a meal, I also feel a little hungry."

The order to pass the meal commanded down, this is the saint came to the summer palace after the first meal, the cooks used the bottom of the box, each style of delicacies one by one to send up, fortunately Tian Fusheng knows that the saint does not like to waste, specially instructed to reduce the dosage.

As soon as Gu Yuanbai came out, he smelled a bit hungry, he sat down at the table, and when he was half full, Tian Fusheng said, "Your Holiness, when you were asleep, Marquis Anle had come over to pay his respects."

"Marquis of Anle?" Gu Yuanbai thought for a moment, "I remember a few days ago, the Marquis of Anle's world son had a finger chopped off by an outlaw?"

"Exactly," Tian Fusheng said, "When the Marquis of Anle came to see you, he also brought his son along. The Marquis has a wrathful face and should have something to ask for."

Gu Yuanbai raised an eyebrow, "Go and invite the Marquis of Anle to me, I'll see what they're here to see me about."

Tian Fusheng responded and ordered someone to go and invite the Anle Marquis father and son over.

However, before the Marquis of Anle arrived, Chu Wei and Chang Yuyan came to pay their respects to Gu Yuanbai one step ahead of the other.

The two of them, one of whom was to submit the folders presented by the officials of the Imperial Palace from all over the world, and the other for the purpose of submitting tomorrow's Dahangguo Newspaper, happened to meet not far away, and so they walked over to each other.

Chu Wei and Chang Yuyan saluted with the saint, and the palace attendant came forward and took things from them.

His Holiness reached out to bring it over, but suddenly covered his sleeve and coughed twice in a low voice.

"Your Holiness!" Tian Fusheng hurriedly handed over his handkerchief.

There were others who wanted to come forward, and Gu Yuanbai reached out to stop them from coming over. After a while, the feeling of being choked eased off, and he continued to take the zhengzhi and newspaper, slowly reading them.

Chu Wei didn't hold back a frown when he heard his cough, his eyes lifting slightly to see the table's amount of a handful of more meals.

His Majesty's hand on the table, compared with the folding, like a glittering light.

The meals on the table were made for the tastes of His Holiness, and Chu Wei subconsciously memorized the dishes after a glance.

It is not good to be extravagant today, so even in the dishes, the materials used are all unusual and visible things. Chu Wei had a moment of trance, can not help but think of the time he had and fellow students trekking, met the saint to watch cuju said.

At that time, he was too noisy for the Holy Spirit, and said, "If the top wants something, the bottom will vote for it", but now he realizes how wrong it is to look at a person with a shallow prejudice.

Chu Wei closed his eyes, his ears slightly red.

But the blush of shame meant something different in the eyes of the others.

The head guard was very wary of him, and as soon as he saw that Lord Chu's ears were red, he immediately said to Xue Yuan in a grave tone, "Lord Xue, thank you for reminding me to pay more attention to Lord Chu."

Xue Yuan answered in a deep voice, but his eyes were fixed on Gu Yuanbai's body.

Did you choke on the water, or are you not feeling well?

Gu Yuanbai was halfway through seeing things when the sound of hurried footsteps rang out in front of the hall. He raised his eyes to see that it was none other than Marquis Anle's father and son.

As soon as the two of them entered the palace, before they could reach Gu Yuanbai's eyes, they bent down and knelt on the ground, choking, "I ask Your Majesty to make a decision for me."

Chu Wei and Chang Yuyan retreated to the side.

Gu Yuanbai said in a deep voice, "Rise."

Palace guards for the Anle Marquis father and son moved to the chair, two people seated, Anle Marquis red eyes raised his eyes, looked around the temple, his eyes finally fixed on Xue Yuan, two lines of hot tears left: "Your Holiness, I'm this, is related to the Marquis of Du Yu."

Gu Yuanbai was surprised and turned his head towards Xue Yuan.

Xue Yuan's brow bone raised slightly as he stepped forward and respectfully said, "Please also instruct the Marquis."

An Le Hou questioned, "My son's tail finger, did you cut it off?"

Xue Yuan sniffed and grinned, glancing towards the hiding Marquis of An Le Shi Zi.

Marquis Anle's son shuddered and violently lowered his head.

Chang Yuyan was afraid that Xue Yuan's dog temper would be offended at this time, so he took a step forward and said in a modest manner, "Dare I ask why Marquis Anle made such a remark?"

Marquis Anle's face was not good: "My son traveled far away from the capital to play, but he was hacked off by an outlaw and lost a tail finger. I couldn't find this outlaw, and had already given up. Who would have thought that in the end, it was only thanks to the blessing of Second Prince Xue that I was able to find this outlaw."

Marquis Anle's expression had a few moments of contempt, even though he was annoyed with Xue Yuan, he was extremely ashamed of Second Prince Xue's behavior of killing with a borrowed knife and selling his brother for glory, it was simply disgusting.

Involving Xue Yuan's stupid brother, Gu Yuanbai thought to himself, "Did Xue Yuan really fall into that idiot's hands this time?

Marquis Anle looked at Xue Yuan and wouldn't let go, "Second Duke Xue sent me a broken finger and a letter about the very thing you broke my son's tail finger. And that broken finger is exactly my son's broken finger, do you Xue Yuan recognize it or not?"

Chang Yuyan knew the situation within the Xue Mansion the best, his face changed, obviously having believed the words of Marquis Anle, he looked towards Xue Yuan, wordlessly urging him to hurry up and say a few words.

Xue Yuan but his face was averted, "I plead guilty."

Gu Yuanbai's eyelids jumped violently again, abruptly looking towards Xue Yuan with sharp eyes.

He confessed his guilt so cleanly, but instead, he made the people present unexpected. Marquis of Anle was already full of anger, and kept requesting the saint to make a decision for him. Some people thought that there might be some misunderstanding and were persuading Marquis An Le to stay calm.

The noises in the hall were so loud that Gu Yuanbai's head ached for a while.

Gu Yuanbai's face went cold as he picked up the jade chopsticks and landed on the white porcelain plate, the resounding crisp sound caused the palace guards in the hall to fall to their knees in unison, and the sound of the noise suddenly disappeared.

The Holy Spirit's voice was uncertain in terms of joy and anger, but he took the lead towards Xue Yuan, "Xue Yuan, how many things have you done that I don't know about."

Xue Yuan was silent for a while and only said, "But at the disposal of His Majesty."

This time, Gu Yuanbai's expression went completely cold. His eyes spit ice, and just when the crowd thought that the saint was about to directly descend to punish him, the saint said in a cold voice, "Send someone to check if what Marquis Anle said is true or false."

The people in the hall immediately stood up and left, Gu Yuanbai's face is like cold ice, in the seventh month of the year, people who face him directly feel like falling into an icy pool, and the coldness rises from the bottom of their hearts.

"Rest assured, Marquis Anle," Gu Yuanbai said in a slow voice, "I will make the decision for you."

Marquis Anle should have been happy, but he was surprisingly a little scared right now. He forced a smile and said, "Many thanks, Your Holiness."

During the two quarters of an hour when the palace attendant went out to investigate, there was not a single sound in the palace. Gu Yuanbai didn't move a bit of his meal, and after a while, Xue Yuan's voice suddenly sounded, "Your Holiness, use some rice."

Gu Yuanbai didn't seem to hear it and didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

"Your Holiness." Xue Yuan.

A cup of tea violently smashed on Xue Yuan's side, the porcelain fragments crisped, the tea leaves in them splashed in all directions in a wretched manner, Gu Yuanbai's eyes were fierce: "You shut up for me!"

Xue Yuan's eyes floated and sank, and he respectfully closed his mouth.

Even if there was a trick afterward, even if this was something he was directing himself to do, being treated like this by Gu Yuanbai, the shade was about to overwhelm Xue Yuan's entire being.

Soon, the palace attendant came back, drooping eyes will be the cause of the matter said clearly: "Anle Hou Shizi playboy arrogant, not only rely on the power to bully others, but also often scold Xue second son is a disability, many times the language forced to encourage Xue second son to throw himself into the lake. Second Duke Xue couldn't take it, so he begged Lord Xue to teach him a lesson about Marquis Anle's son."

The moment the reason came out, the gazes of the others towards Xue Yuan just changed, strangely.

Is this still a good brother?

The good brother who was counted and betrayed by his own brother?

Marquis Anle's face also changed abruptly because of the first half of the palace attendant's words.

Gu Yuanbai snorted, not believing that the Lord Xue in this story referred to Xue Yuan.

Xue Yuan made such a big circle, what was he trying to do.

Gu Yuanbai calmed down as he turned to look at Marquis Anle, "What does Marquis Anle want to do with Xue Yuan?"

Marquis Anle's expression was a bit subtle, ashamed and angry, if he let Xue Yuan go because of his son's misbehavior, then how could he not hold back this breath, "All I know is that whoever cuts my son's tail finger will take his own tail finger to pay back."

Gu Yuanbai's eyes narrowed slightly, and his fingers gently tapped the table.

An Le Hou snapped to mind that unlike him, a clan member with no real power, Xue Yuan's father was General Xue, a loyalist with real power in his hands. And this Zhongliang, moreover, was recently entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the Sage.

The owner of the Xue Mansion sells his life for His Majesty, how can His Majesty take care of the Xue Mansion, the cold sweat on the head of the Marquis of An Le flowed down.

How can three generations of loyalists be more pleasing to the Emperor than their group of wimps who feed off the royal family?

It was at this moment that An Le Hou's son stood up violently, as if half frightened, and grabbed An Le Hou's arm with a shaking hand, exclaiming, "I don't want his fingers! I want to beat him fifty times and then deprive him of his military honor!"

An Le Hou's eyes lit up.

Marquis Anle's son didn't dare to look at Xue Yuan because once he saw him, he would tremble and remember that horrible night.

That dark night, the knife reflected the cold light in the moonlight, Xue Yuan's voice was low, with a smile, "If I can't be removed from my post, Master Shizi, it's all your fault."

"I'll have to find you, too. And as long as you can't get me," the dagger slapped against his face and the threatening man across from him laughed slowly, "you're going to have to get me."

Marquis Anle's son was on the verge of crying, "Your Holiness, just deprive him of his military honor."

Marquis of Anle pondered for a moment, and also felt that this was very out of the blue, and followed stiffly, "Your Holiness, earlier it was I who was reckless, and my canine son was right. Since this is the case, I dare to ask Lord Xue a question, do you accept this fifty big boards?"

Xue Yuan saluted, "I will listen to everything Your Majesty says."

Gu Yuanbai said after a long time, "In that case, let's follow what Marquis Anle said."

Xue Yuan was then taken out, and in order to appease the heart of the Marquis of An Le, Xue Yuan was hit with these fifty large plates right in front of the door.

The sound of the heavy planks of wood hitting his body traveled dully through the door of the room into the temple, Xue Yuan did not hum a single word, and only a few muffled grunts rang out between occasional intervals.

Gu Yuanbai was quiet for a while, then suddenly picked up his chopsticks and continued his meal expressionlessly.

Tian Fusheng carefully said, "Your Holiness, I'll have the Imperial Catering Room serve you another round of new meals?"

Gu Yuanbai: "Stand down."

Tian Fusheng did not dare to say more and quietly retreated.

The white jade chopsticks clinked out points of crisp sound on the porcelain plate, each sound resounding between the hushed planks of wood outside. An Le Hou Shi Zi's face turned whiter and whiter with each muffled sound, and beads of sweat rolled down from his head.

There wasn't a single sound in the temple, and because of that, the sounds outside were even clearer.

It was dull and muffled and loud.

The body is weak, hit hard, thirty big board can kill people. Time passes bit by bit, until the outside finally stopped, Anle Hou's head can not help but secrete a fine dense sweat.

Gu Yuanbai put down his chopsticks and said indifferently, "Xue Yuan was in Jinghu South, capturing dozens of important rebel party members and capturing over ten thousand local soldiers. This tail finger of Marquis Anle's son is expensive, so expensive that even such military achievements can be erased."

An Le Hou's heart trembled, father and son quickly fell to their knees, "I'm terrified, I misspeak ......."

"Hundreds of thousands of people in Jinghu South and Jiangnan, the lives of these people who were spared from the chaos of war and tipping are not worth a single finger of the World Prince," Gu Yuanbai continued, "The fop is arrogant and bossy and unreasonable, the World Prince of the Marquis of Anle is good as hell, and his fingers are worth a lot of money."

The Marquis of Anle and his worldly son were already shivering.

After a long time, Gu Yuanbai said, "Stand down."

Marquis of Anle didn't dare to mention the matter of military achievements again, and the two of them, he and Marquis of Anle's World Son, reluctantly got up, saluted towards Gu Yuanbai, and hurriedly faded from the palace.

The guards who executed outside walked in and reported, "Your Holiness, the execution of the fifty planks has been completed."

Chu Wei and Chang Yuyan, who stood on the sidelines and heard this, had mixed emotions.

Gu Yuanbai glanced towards the side and told them to retreat. As Chu Wei walked out from within the palace, he saw the smell of water stains and blood on the ground.

His brows narrowed as he suppressed the thousands of thoughts in his mind.

Gu Yuanbai picked up a cup of tea, and when the water was halfway through the cup, he stood up abruptly, his eyebrows pressed down, "Take me to see him."

The imperial physician had already treated Xue Yuan, and when Gu Yuanbai came, in addition to the dampness and the smell of blood, there was also the smell of medicinal herbs.

This place was narrow and depressing. Gu Yuanbai didn't know if it was due to a psychological effect, but he even felt that this room was extremely dim, making him breathless.

His Holiness slowly walked over to Xue Yuan's bedside, lowered his eyelids, and looked condescendingly at Xue Yuan on the bed.

Xue Yuan surprisingly remained conscious, his face ugly, sweat dampening his temples and wetting his collar. He heard a sound and looked along with the rattling, his dry, cracked lips pulling apart as he revealed a tired smile towards Gu Yuanbai that he had never shown before.

"Your Holiness."

Gu Yuanbai said, "You suffered this period of punishment in order to take the heat for your brother. Although your character is good, I hope that you will know in the future that this is not to be done by the law."

Xue Yuan smiled, unable to move his body, he could only lie on his back, the pungent odor of blood on his body, combined with the smell of medicine rushing towards Gu Yuanbai. He could be described as meek and said, "I know."

"As for the deprivation of military honors proposed by Marquis Anle's son," Gu Yuanbai's tone suddenly turned cold, "I did not agree."

The smile at the corner of Xue Yuan's mouth froze.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze eerie and horrifying, the feigned meekness faded, and all that remained was hostility and fury.

Fists clenched suddenly, his previously weak body violently infused with strength, his spine attacking up as if he could storm out at any moment.

Gu Yuanbai smiled coldly and was about to turn around and leave. However, he had just taken two steps when the corner of his coat was tugged by a hand, and Gu Yuanbai looked down and followed the hand to see Xue Yuan's eyes.

Xue Yuan's eyes were deep as he sighed and whispered, "Your Holiness, you are so cruel."

Gu Yuanbai said, "Loosen up."

Xue Yuan dragged on his blood and pulled Gu Yuanbai so that he couldn't leave. His other hand was propped up on the bed, the upper half of his body raised, and the blood on his clothes was reflected in Gu Yuanbai's eyes.

"Your Holiness, you know full well that I have received these fifty large slaps, I have broken off one of the tail fingers of the Anle Marquis' son, and even the family brother's illness is terminal," Xue Yuan slowly said while lifting his hand and pulling it over Gu Yuanbai's hand, the blood from pinching into his palm when he was enduring the pain was still on his hand, and these blood stained Gu Yuanbai's hand red, "You know very well that my minister did such a big circle just to stay by your side."

"But you don't let me have my way."

Xue Yuan smiled and pressed Gu Yuanbai's hand against his sweaty face, "Your Majesty, if you let me leave again, I'll go crazy."

"I don't even know if I'll do anything more outrageous."

Gu Yuanbai quietly locked eyes with Xue Yuan, "Xue Qing."

Xue Yuan, you have an unusual mind for me.

But these words, Gu Yuanbai didn't want to ask.

So what if you ask? Whether Xue Yuan answered yes or no, Gu Yuanbai's answer was no.

He didn't like men, he didn't like the same sex, and he didn't like the fact that he would leave a lot of lascivious rumors in history later on, leaving behind wild stories about the emperor and some courtier.

What's more, Gu Yuanbai's body wasn't suitable for a relationship.

Just because he doesn't want to hold a girl back doesn't mean he's willing to hold a man back.

Gu Yuanbai coldly and relentlessly tried to pull out his hand, and Xue Yuan sensed his intentions. He grabbed the jade-like hand in his hand, lowered his head, and dropped a soft kiss on Gu Yuanbai's hand.

A kiss that Bright Eyes opened wide and could no longer suppress.

Xue Yuan didn't want to see Gu Yuanbai look like this.

Good face, he only wanted to see Gu Yuanbai's good face towards him, his smile.

"You smile at me," Xue Yuan whispered, "smile and I'll spell it out for you."

Military honors, fingers, this pounding heart.

Gu Yuanbai wants which one he wants, and as long as he smiles, all of them will work.