Chapter 33: She was a Little Unusual

After returning to the palace, DuYan was summoned by the queen.

After the queen asked DuYan about his recent situation, she changed the subject, "Yan'er, I heard that you have been very close to that hostage from Cheng-guo recently?"

DuYan spoke bluntly, "We’re not that close to even have a conversation. Yan just thought that it was interesting to tease him.”

The queen frowned slightly, “As a hostage from Cheng-guo, he has a very sensitive identity. It’s better to have less contact with him.”

The queen had completely different parenting methods for the twins she gave birth to. YuanNing was brought up by her completely innocent and ignorant of the world.

But DuYan was completely different. Ever since three years ago, the queen had been teaching DuYan the way to be a king.

"Mother, Yan’s identity right now is as your daughter. Even if I got closer to the hostage from Cheng-guo, the king won’t care much.” He smiled sarcastically, "Maybe he would even be happy.”

When the queen heard DuYan saying this, her brows furrowed tighter, and she whispered, "I know you don't want to dress up as a girl, but the king is afraid of the Wu Family’s great power. If I had given birth to the eldest son, and at that time there was an extremely good omen, then the predecessor’s request for you to be the crown prince would be overwhelming.”

She raised her hand and stroked DuYan's hair, and sighed, "If this was the case, then my Wu family would be in even more danger."

These words had been mentioned by the queen almost every day ever since DuYan was sensible. First, she was afraid that her son would feel resentful from having to be forced to wear girls' clothing, and second, she was afraid that DuYan would forget the fact that he was a boy.

Seeing the queen's expression full of sorrow, DuYan didn't want to stimulate her again, "Mother is worrying too much. Yan has only plans in my heart when I get in contact with the hostage from Cheng-guo.”

"With this as a cover up, after a few years, I would have a reason to refuse marriage."

After accompanying the queen to dinner, DuYan returned to the palace.

As soon as he stepped into the hall, he raised his voice and asked, "Where is ChengYu? Find him."

The maid was about to find Chengyu but before she moved, she saw him stepping in.

DuYan raised his brows and shouted, "ChengYu, how dare you run out to play without permission!”

It was getting late, and ChengYu wasn’t expecting DuYan to stand there waiting for him in the courtyard. He was so frightened that his hands shook.

From his sleeves, a small and exquisite heater fell out. At first glance, one could tell that it cost a lot and it was definitely not something that ChengYu could afford now.

ChengYu hurriedly bent over to pick it up. His fingers had just barely touched it when it was stepped on by a delicately embroidered shoe.

"Remove your hand."

ChengYu obediently retracted his fingers and stood still, watching DuYan pick up the heater.

"I remember that this heater is Ning'er's favorite?" He raised his eyebrows, "What is it now, you are a dignified Cheng-guo prince, but now you can’t wait to be a thief?”

ChengYu raised his head abruptly, and his eyes which were usually calm were now lit up in anger, “This was not stolen, it was given to me by the second princess."

DuYan saw that ChengYu's fingers were red and swollen, and when he thought about it, he knew what was going on. YuanNing was kind-hearted, and probably saw that ChengYu’s skin was inflamed due to being exposed to the cold, so she had given the heater to him.

Although he knew the ins and outs, DuYan was not going to let the situation go on, “You are my servant. Without my permission, you are not allowed to accept other people's things. Now go and return it to Ning’er and say that you won’t be friends with her.”

After that, he threw the heater back into ChengYu's arms.

Seeing ChengYu standing still, he added, "Otherwise, the entire academy, including the Master, will know that you have stolen Princess Ning's beloved thing tomorrow."

Seeing ChengYu's back leaving a little angrily, DuYan's heart hanging high in the air, finally dropped.

The power of the plot was really strong. In the last dream, Fang Xiangxiang finally married Chen YeZhou during the time when DuYan wasn’t watching over them. In this dream, he had only accompanied the queen for a meal, and YuanNing was already in contact with ChengYu.

Now, DuYan didn’t dare to relax his mind at all and was now afraid of being careless. Scared of YuanNing once again going on to stage a sadomasochistic love with ChengYu that was intertwined with the hatred of the country and the family. He didn't want that delicate and weak little girl to end up with such a miserable ending.

DuYan had already planned YuanNing's retreat for her.

The destruction of Yuan-guo was irreversible, but the Wu family was a loyal family, and the martyrs would die for their country. DuYan could only try to hide YuanNing and the queen’s identity, and then send them out of the palace to hide in seclusion in the mountains.

And DuYan himself, naturally, had to do his best to be the biggest roadblock on ChengYu's road to dominating the world.

As winter passed and the beginning of spring came in a blink of an eye.

On this day, DuYan sat on a stone bench and instructed ChengYu to catch bugs for him.

Although ChengYu was a person of few words, he never raised any objections to DuYan's orders, which was much better than those maids who always liked to persuade him otherwise.

Not long after, ChengYu walked over with a small gold wire cage full of bugs.

DuYan originally wanted to use this cage of bugs to scare YuanJue, that scaredy cat. He of course had no interest in playing tricks on children, but for the sake of his character, he had to think of ways to do so.

He carried the small cage by the golden threads, and was about to leave, when he saw a group of people approaching at the end of the corridor.

DuYan recognized the person's identity at a glance. As soon as he rolled his eyes, he pulled ChengYu and walked under a big tree in the garden.

DuYan raised his chin towards ChengYu, "Squat."

ChengYu had become accustomed to DuYan's bossy behavior, and didn't resist and didn’t ask much. He directly squatted under the tree.

DuYan stepped on ChengYu's back and climbed the big tree neatly.

Then he hooked his finger at ChengYu under the tree, "Come up."

ChengYu went up and sat with DuYan on the thick branch closest to the ground.

As he saw the people walking come closer, DuYan held his breath and gestured to ChengYu to keep quiet.

King Yuan walked over slowly with a beautiful woman. Then they sat down at the stone table under the tree. A maid soon came over with a fruit tray covered with a cloth, and another maid came over with a qin.

Concubine Hui looked at King Yuan affectionately, and said, "Great King, today, this concubine learned a new piece. Will you judge it for me?”

King Yuan nodded and said, "Will."

Concubine Hui smiled shyly, her white hands were delicate and elegant, and the sound of the qin poured out.

Just when King Yuan was intoxicated, something suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the qin.

Concubine Hui’s took a closer look, and found out that there were several fat bugs twisting their bodies making the flower pale in fright.

She screamed, and in a panic, she overturned the qin on the table. The priceless qin fell to the ground and broke into two.

King Yuan was so angry that he pounded the table and jumped to his feet, “Presumptuous!"

Just when the maids were bowing and begging to be pardoned, there was a silence around them.

Everyone listened as clear laughter came from the top of the tree.

"Father, this spring bug is quite fat and strong. This is Yan’s small token of the heart, do you like it?”

From ChengYu’s point of view, he could clearly see the moment when King Yuan’s expression was slightly distorted, and then put on a kind smile, "Yan'er, the weather just started getting warmer and you already can’t wait to come out and play. Why don’t you stay and accompany Ning’er more.”

DuYan winked at ChengYu, and ChengYu jumped off the tree. As soon as he landed, he saluted King Yuan, "Great King."

At this time, DuYan on the tree couldn't wait any longer, calling out, "ChengYu, what are you wasting time on?”

King Yuan smiled and said, "Go ahead, otherwise Yan'er will lose her temper again."

ChengYu listened to his order and went under the tree. DuYan first threw the little golden cage into his arms, jumped off the branch, and then ran towards King Yuan.

ChengYu clearly saw in a direction that DuYan could not see, King Yuan's eyes were cold, just like the eyes of Cheng-guo’s queen who looked at him, with a smile on his face, but no emotion in his eyes.

As he looked at DuYan again who had completely lost his arrogance and was now looking at King Yuan with admiration, ChengYu sneered in his heart. The unruly princess was very naive.

As the two went back, ChengYu kept thinking about what had just happened.

He now had to rely on the protection of the eldest princess. Although he always wasted time with the other party, with her fame it was much more convenient to make a move in Yuan-guo’s capital.

At least, he was able to step out of the palace instead of being imprisoned in a small world every day.

Therefore, ChengYu couldn't continue to watch the princess be so domineering. The king's patience was always limited.

"Princess, don’t you think that it is wrong of you to make fun of the king like this?”

DuYan glanced at him, "What is it now? Do you also want to persuade me like those other maids?”

As soon as ChengYu looked at his expression, he knew that he would get angry if he continued speaking, so he kept quiet.

DuYan took a few steps forward, then turned around and said proudly, "Did you see Concubine Hui's face distorted with anger? Do you know why I teased her like this, yet she could only come forward to please me?"

"Don't know."

DuYan curled his lips and laughed loudly, "Because she is just a cheap maid. Her family is of unknown origin, how could she dare to blame me?”

Seeing ChengYu's thoughtful look, DuYan couldn't help feeling that he had taken great pains to show that he was very useful.

***

Today, ChengYu walked to the academy alone instead of following the eldest princess all the time like in the past few months.

The spring cold had made the frail second princess ill, and when she was sick, she always depended on her twin sister.

DuYan stayed in the palace to accompany his sister so only ChengYu came to today’s class. Even if only ChengYu came, those noble children still did not dare to come forward to provoke him.

It was well known that the eldest princess was known for her domineering character. For the playthings that she hadn’t lost interest in yet, it was impossible for others to touch even if they wanted to.

It's just that in the eyes of those noble children, this hostage from Cheng-guo was really like a person from Cheng-guo, a spineless person. In order to live comfortably in Yuan-guo, he actually wagged his tail and flattered the difficult Princess Yuan.

In the academy, no one came forward to greet ChengYu. ChengYu didn't care. He laid out his pen and ink one by one and waited for the master to enter.

The main lecturer for today was a medical scholar. Medical scholars mostly traveled to various countries and would listen to the rumors about the mountains and the herbs that were readily available. The students liked the classes when they were taught by medical scholars a lot.

That's why DuYan sent ChengYu to listen to this class, and indicated that ChengYu had to memorize the contents of the class completely and then repeat it to him later.

ChengYu didn't dare to disobey his orders, so he remembered to be serious during class.

"While I was traveling in the bitter and cold land of the north, I encountered a frozen hunter. I wanted to soak him in hot water for treatment, but was stopped by an old man. The old man said that people with frostbite need to wipe their bodies with snow. They could not be immersed in hot water directly, otherwise their limbs would become stiff and necrotic, and eventually die.”

When the scholar said the previous statement, ChengYu stopped abruptly while holding the pen. He looked up and looked over in disbelief.

Seeing that his expression was different, the scholar asked, "Does Prince Yu have any questions?"

ChengYu stood up and bowed, his voice trembling slightly, "What Master said just now is the correct way to rescue people from frostbite?”

The scholar nodded, "Naturally, I didn't believe it at the beginning. Fortunately, the people present stopped me and I didn’t end a life.”