After enduring this harsh winter, spring is here again.
Yuan Mingdao was in the period of growth. He had grown a little taller and needed to make new clothes.
The rabbits in the palace were still chewing the leaves foolishly. Ah Ju had gained weight again, and Rong Rong had grown a lot bigger, shedding some of his chubby look and looking more robust. The melon vines in the courtyard had finally come to life, growing leaves, blooming flowers, and producing melons that were not tasty at all.
If this were somewhere far away from the capital, and if my mother was there, such a life would be perfect.
Fu Zhiyu often went to the palace to accompany Imperial Noble Consort Yun. From the market town to the palace, he saw many more things than when he stayed in the Glazed Palace before.
The crown prince Fu Lingxiao and the Xue family both became quiet, and even if they met in the palace, they would just pass by in a hurry. Fu Yanran, on the other hand, occasionally sent some things to the Liuli Palace after he became rich. I wonder if it was just to express goodwill. Compared with him, Concubine Yue and Fu Yanxi seemed to be more enthusiastic, saying that they just wanted to discuss some arts, but the eleventh prince was trained as a reserve after all, and Imperial Concubine Yun didn't want to know whether they were sincere or not, nor did she want to get involved in such things. She treated them politely and coldly like other concubines.
But when Fu Zhiyu met Fu Yanxi now, he felt that he had been educated to be more restrained. It was not like the time at the dinner party when she held his hand and said those words directly. Maybe his passion in his heart had not diminished, but he had learned to hide some things from others.
Of course, there were changes outside the palace. Some people sent invitations to his palace, most of them were scholars who felt their talents were not appreciated or some officials who wanted to make friends. Fu Zhiyu rejected them all, but there was one special one among them - Shen Yang.
His performance in the fraud case made Fu Zhiyu wonder if he was also reborn, otherwise he wouldn't know everything so clearly. But regardless of whether he was reborn or not, Fu Zhiyu didn't want to associate with him, and Shen Yang's current status was different. He was doing well in the Ministry of Justice and had become a third-rank official. It was a good opportunity that the current Minister of Justice, Mr. Zeng, was about to retire because of his old age. He was a popular candidate to take over, and it was heard that the emperor also favored him.
Fu Zhiyu was a lazy prince, and he didn't want to have any social interaction with the new nobles of the dynasty, lest others suspect that he had any intentions for power. Shen Yang wasn't the all-powerful actor Xie Ke, so it wasn't difficult for Fu Zhiyu to deal with him, and he could avoid meeting him if he wanted.
Today, the news in the market is a bit confusing.
After listening for a few sentences, Fu Zhiyu heard the storyteller talking about the recent war. He said that the Xie family army had fought all the way to the barbarian capital a few days ago. King Xidan surrendered on the spot, signed a letter of surrender, ceded land and paid compensation.
Ji Lin won this battle too smoothly. The Barbarian Cavalry was also a well-known magic weapon. Even though the former King of Northern Liang was honest, there had been some minor frictions between the countries. The Barbarian Cavalry was notoriously difficult to fight. Although Xie Lin had a myth of being undefeated, if they really faced each other, even Emperor Qing Yuan would not dare to guarantee a victory. The final victory was really beyond everyone's expectations.
The storyteller was telling the story to the crowd in a rhythmic manner. Especially when he came to the part about Xie Ke, his tone was excited, his words were effusive, and when he got to the happy part, he even used his hands and feet. The scene didn't look like storytelling but more like acting in an opera.
But the people liked it, throwing coins one by one and applauding in waves, it was quite lively.
Fu Zhiyu had heard enough from Xie Ke and left early. But when he was sleeping, he keenly felt that there seemed to be some unusual movement.
Ming Dao had not lived in the same room with him for a long time, he had his own yard. Fu Zhiyu didn't like someone standing by his bed to serve him when he slept. This was not the imperial palace, the security was not that strict, and Xie Ke was not in the capital. With Fu Zhiyu's current strength and sensitivity, he didn't think he would be in any danger.
"… who?"
He felt the man approaching, Fu Zhiyu sat up suddenly, pulled aside the bed curtain, and saw him.
"It's me," the man walked in slowly, stopped one step away from Fu Zhiyu, and said in a hoarse voice, "Zhiyu, don't call anyone, I beg you, I won't touch you, really. I haven't seen you for a long time, I just want to take a look and leave."
In fact, Fu Zhiyu already knew it was him when he heard the footsteps. Xie Ke came back much earlier than he thought. The barbarian capital was not far from here, and the army could not have come back so soon. Did he come back alone
It was just the hour of Mao and the sky outside was getting a little light. Xie Ke came in from the window. Following the light that came in, Fu Zhiyu could see him clearly.
He was wearing a military uniform and armor on his chest. His helmet must have been taken off just now. His hair was wet and scattered in wisps. Xie Ke was still breathing slowly, as if he had just got off a horse. He looked very embarrassed, but his eyes were bright when he looked at him.
Yesterday, the storyteller on the street praised him over and over again, saying that he was as good at predicting things as a god and so wise that he was almost a demon, which won him a wave of applause. He also talked about how handsome he was with his sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, which earned some coins from the women who were watching. The more he talked, the more outrageous it became, and he almost said that he was the Ziwei star from the sky who had come down to earth.
But this legendary Ziwei Star was extremely surprised that Fu Zhiyu did not drive him away immediately, which seemed to make him more emotional than the fact that he had defeated the barbarians' lair.
Fu Zhiyu saw him half-kneeling on the edge of her bed, and abided by his words and really did not reach out to touch her, but just grabbed the edge of his bed, and gripped his bed curtains with his fingers.
This way Fu Zhiyu could look down at him.
Seeing that Fu Zhiyu hadn't said anything to chase him away, he was delighted and began to carefully find a topic to talk about: "Zhiyu, how have you been these days?"
Fu Zhiyu thought about it and replied, "Very good."
During the time since he moved out of the palace, Fu Zhiyu truly felt that this was the life he wanted. He was now in an extremely peaceful state of mind. Perhaps because he had not seen Xie Ke for a long time, he was used to the leisurely life and seemed to have not remembered how terrible this person was.
"What about you?" He even had the time to ask, "Have you learned to let me go?"
After Xie Ke left last year, Fu Zhiyu was stopped by Lu Linhai once again.
"The boss risked his life to go to the battlefield for you, Prince Zhao!" He mustered up his courage and said, "He really likes Your Highness Prince Zhao."
Fu Zhiyu glanced at him and replied, "Really? So what? I hope that after General Xie returns from the battlefield and gains power, he will clearly understand that love affairs are nothing to him. Don't be blinded by the temporary novelty and lose sight of what you really want."
Lu Linhai was so angry at his words that he jumped up and down. After holding it in for a long time, he shouted at his back: "... You are ignoring other people's sincerity!"
This sentence really made Fu Zhiyu laugh out loud. Although Lu Linhai didn't know everything, it was indeed funny when he said this.
Is Xie Ke sincere
But at this time, Xie Ke also answered Fu Zhiyu's words. He looked up at him and stared into his eyes: "... I haven't learned it, Zhiyu, I will never learn to give up on you. But I gained a lot from going out. I met many couples who stayed together for a lifetime. Do you remember the old herdsmen on the grassland? I asked them what kept them together, and they said it was love, trust and respect. "
Fu Zhiyu looked at him coldly and did not answer.
He and Xie Ke just happen to have nothing to do with these three things.
He remembered the herdsmen. In his previous life, he had gone to the battlefield for Xie Ke during the Qianyuan War. To be exact, he would find an opportunity to follow Xie Ke almost every time he went to battle. He couldn't count how many times he had gone there. Sometimes he had received an imperial order, and sometimes he did it on his own initiative.
During the Battle of Qianyuan, he blocked an arrow for Xie Ke, and then rolled down the hillside in the chaos and was rescued by an elderly herdsman couple.
Seeing how loving they were at that time, he hoped that he and Xie Ke could also have such a future of knowing each other and staying together. They had just slept together not long ago, and it was probably the pleasure of sex that brought Fu Zhiyu many unrealistic fantasies.
"Zhiyu," Xie Ke greedily enjoyed the moment of mutual calm and took the opportunity to start talking, "It was at that time that I realized that I had fallen in love with you."
Fu Zhiyu laughed softly a few times as if he had heard a huge joke.
But Xie Ke's expression did not seem to be fake. He did not think this sentence was funny at all and his face was very serious.
"It's true, Zhiyu," he said seriously, "If you had seen yourself at that time, you would have fallen in love with him. Shielding is just one of many things.
It was at that time that I saw clearly that Fu Zhiyu was this kind of Fu Zhiyu. "
Fu Zhiyu came to the battlefield of the Qianyuan Battle with an imperial order. One was to deliver food and the other was to supervise the army. He came at an unfortunate time and encountered a barbarian raid as soon as he arrived. Xie Ke picked up his silver spear and went into battle.
Fu Zhiyu did not hide either. Before he could change out of the exquisite white prince's robe with gold inlay, he picked up his sword and mounted his horse. In the melee, his face was stained with someone's blood. He was so confused that he didn't know who he was. The battlefield is blind. Once trapped in it, even the respected prince will instantly become a dead soul under the sword.
In fact, Xie Ke, who was familiar with the original novel, didn't know there would be such a hidden arrow. He only knew that according to the setting, his life would not be in danger at this time - the original book did not describe this battle in detail, but only mentioned that the protagonist was injured at this time, but it was not serious.
No one knew about the arrow, but Fu Zhiyu discovered it.
Xie Ke was even a little slow to realize it, and it took him a long time to realize that Fu Zhiyu had blocked the arrow for him, but fortunately the arrow did not hit his vitals and only injured his arm.
"Are you okay?" Fu Zhiyu gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow. He quickly tied a knot on his arm to stop the bleeding. He still held his sword in his left hand. He was sweating from the pain, but his heart and eyes were still full of concern for Xie Ke.
"Please don't get hurt," Xie Ke heard him mutter, "I would rather die than let you get hurt."
It was unknown where the Ninth Prince had learned these love words from. They were corny and earthy, but Xie Ke felt his heart soften as he listened to them.
He has always been like this. To the people he likes, he is kind from the bottom of his heart, not just saying it.
The raid was not large in scale, but it was a chaotic one. Fu Zhiyu not only blocked an arrow for him, but also rolled down the hillside because of protecting Xie Ke. The original book said that Xie Ke was injured after the incident, but now, because of Fu Zhiyu's tight protection, he was not hurt at all.
His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince always keeps his word. If he says he will not let him get hurt, then he really will not let him get hurt.
After Fu Zhiyu rolled down the hillside, Xie Ke really couldn't just leave like that according to the plot and abandon him, so he followed him and found Fu Zhiyu who was recuperating in the herdsman's house.
Those two days were indeed different. Xie Ke was determined to ignore the plot and do exactly what he wanted.
Fu Zhiyu was pleasantly surprised at his gentleness, which had never been seen before. He became even softer and cuter, looking like someone trying to tempt people to pamper him.
He was never obedient when taking medicine. He frowned and said it was bitter after drinking half a sip, then sat up from the bed and asked for a kiss, biting the corner of his lips and hooking his neck with both hands. Xie Ke felt his fingers stroking his back, his beautiful eyes were full of moisture, like a kitten that would bite and cling to people.
Xie Ke was immersed in the gentle embrace of his lover, not knowing what day it was, until the system forcibly reminded him of the goals and plans he had set. Now everything was a temporary falsehood, just a sweet illusion, and he had to leave and complete his role-playing task.
But if the current Xie Ke were to go back to that time, no matter what force or reason, he would not be willing to leave Fu Zhiyu.
"Zhiyu, I thought at that time that this was a good choice for both you and me," Xie Ke said word by word, "I knew clearly from that time that I loved you, baby, I loved you deeply. You may not believe it, but it is true."