HS Chapter 65

The second layer of the dream was not as pitch-black as the Five Poisons Room, where one couldn’t see their fingers even if they reached out.

But the overall tone was cold, with only the palace lanterns and candles providing a source of warm light.

All that met the eye was white. Hanging from the carved lattice windows, drooping from the eaves, and winding around the corridor pillars…everything was white.

This was a long corridor.

Xin Hexue walked forward slowly.

Because there were no servants to clean up, the heavy snow that had fallen for months piled up and melted, then melted and piled up again in the courtyard, and was already accumulating onto the stone slabs of the covered walkway.

With each step he took, the hem of his robe lifted and swayed, and his pink-based black boots stepped on the stone slabs, producing the faint sound of snow being crushed.

Xin Hexue realized that in this dream built from memory, his physical condition had already deteriorated.. It was the worst period of his life.

Because he had been imprisoned with his mother in this Cold Palace for a long time, their rations for clothing, food, and daily use had been deducted layer by layer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to this palace in the far northwest corner of the inner city. By the time it reached them, there wasn’t much left. Born sickly, and lacking proper nourishment, he had quietly withered away.

His condition at the time was like a beautiful-looking glazed porcelain which looked good on the outside but had visible cracks inside.

A gust of cold wind or three steps forward could make him cough up blood twice.

The wind and snow engulfed the ruined palace. The swirling snowflakes, together with the vermilion palace doors, swallowed him whole.

Xin Hexue remembered that after his eighteenth birthday, his soul had finally managed to coexist peacefully with this small world.

And not long after he regained a clear mind, his mother passed away.

Perhaps it was because the weather had changed. Or perhaps it was due to the chronic poison that had accumulated in her food over the years.

Xin Hexue removed the cloak from his shoulders and handed it to the maidservant who had followed him since childhood. He lifted his robe and knelt in the center of the white palace, facing his mother consort’s spirit tablet.

His palm pressed against the cold floor, and though his movements were slow, he completed three full kowtows. Only when a faint red mark appeared on his forehead did he bid farewell to the woman who had given him a second life.

The moment he tried to push himself up, Xin Hexue’s right hand rested on the small table beside him, but his left hand suddenly went limp. White and black spots rose from below his eyes and exploded at the center of his vision.

His sickly body tilted, and pain stabbed at his wrist, but he barely managed to support himself again.

The maidservant rushed to help him up, panicked. “Your Highness…”

Xin Hexue pressed his fingers to his temple, and the maidservant quickly draped the silver cloak over his shoulders again.

A coughing fit so violent it seemed to tear his heart and lungs echoed in the palace.

The maidservant cried out, “Your Highness! This servant…this servant will go summon the imperial physician…”

Xin Hexue replied faintly, “No need.”

As the maid servant’s trembling hands held the blood-soaked handkerchief, Xin Hexue’s tongue felt dry. Though he had only just emerged from his state of idiocy, he knew very well how many people in the Imperial Medical Bureau were secretly colluding with the families of other consorts in this dynasty that was rotten to the core from the center of power all the way down.

He would not take the medicine prescribed by those imperial physicians.

He needed an environment safe enough, at least safer than his current environment, to prolong his life.

Xin Hexue remembered the choice he had made back then.

The Emperor Father passed away half a month later. Coincidentally, during the bustle of mourning affairs both inside and outside the palace, Xin Hexue “lost” a jade pendant in the corridor along the outer wall of the cold palace.

Even more coincidentally was that at this time, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, walked down this path and picked up that jade pendant.

When the late emperor was still in his prime, the outer relatives meddled in government affairs, and the civil official factions engaged in constant strife. In his later years, the late emperor became obsessed with seeking immortality and elixirs, and eunuchs seized power, their web of influence spreading throughout the court.

This was the first time Xin Hexue had seen this “Jiuqian Sui” with his own eyes…You Yi.

*Jiuqian Sui (Nine Thousand Years) is a title for powerful eunuchs. The emperor is addressed as “万岁” (wan suì) = “Ten Thousand Years”, symbolizing ultimate authority, so eunuchs are honored with the title “Jiuqian Sui” to show immense power just below the emperor.

The chief eunuch in charge of imperial edicts at the Imperial Household Department, concurrently serving as the commander of the Western Bureau, looked completely different from those thin, sharp-eyed eunuchs. He was tall and wearing a bright red satin python robe. From his figure and temperament, he looked more like someone who should have served as the Commander of the Imperial Secret Guards.

He picked up the double-fish jade pendant lying in the snow.

Xin Hexue narrowed his eyes slightly. After meeting eyes with the young eunuch trailing behind You Yi, he calmly lowered his eyes again and stared at the snowy ground. His lashes like crow feathers trembled twice, and a thin snowflake fell on his eyelid.

Xin Hexue took a few steps forward, reached out both hands, and took the jade pendant from You Yi. “Many thanks, Du Zhu.”

*Du Zhu is a title.

He raised his eyes and lifted his eyelids. The snowflake melted on his delicate skin, and a drop of water slid down from the corner of his eye.

You Yi looked at him expressionlessly. After examining it, he asked, “Yours?”

Xin Hexue curled his lips slightly. “Yes. I lost it by accident two days ago.”

His complexion was pale, and his whole being gave off a sickly aura from the inside out.

Although the late emperor had ascended on a crane and departed, the throne had not yet been filled.

Whether it was the eldest prince written in the edict, or the third prince, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the person who presents the edict is You Yi.

And compared to the eldest prince with a scheming and overconfident maternal family, he (Xin Huexue) was easier to control, but he was also not as stupid as the third prince. Even if a puppet had to be supported, he seemed like the best choice.

His sickly body was his weakness, but also his advantage in pretending to be easy to manipulate.

Xin Hexue left, wrapped in a fox-fur cloak. Just before he pushed open the palace doors, he looked back at You Yi.

In the dim light of the sky, the man looked like a venomous snake living in the damp and shadowy marshes, or a lone wolf wandering the Tibetan plains.

Xin Hexue disliked wild, untamed beasts. But once their sharp teeth were pulled and their claws dulled, they would become the kind of dog he liked.

………

Xin Hexue couldn’t remember how many layers of dreams he went through. Perhaps it was because he had scattered realgar during the day, which stirred up memories of the Five Poisons Room. What one thought of during the day, one dreamed of at night.

The next day’s breakfast was porridge, with reheated bamboo shoot and minced meat from last night as the side dish.

Xin Hexue didn’t need to eat solid food at all. It was only to avoid appearing abnormal in front of humans that he sat and drank porridge with Bu Jincheng.

Bu Jincheng squinted his eyes, then suddenly pointed to the side of Xin Hexue’s neck and asked in confusion, “What happened here?”

Xin Hexue reached up and cautiously touched the spot he pointed to.

Bu Jincheng: “It’s a bit red, like a mosquito bite.”

But it was cold and snowy outside, where would mosquitoes come from?

A flicker of emotion passed through Xin Hexue’s eyes. He quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks and returned to the bedroom.

On the rectangular table sat a bronze mirror, polished so smooth that his reflection was clearly visible.

He undid the heavy cloud-brocade cloak on his body, then the two layers of inner robes underneath. The snow-colored clothing slipped down and piled up in heaps at his feet.

There were many red marks.

The marks were densely distributed all over the body and the imprints varied in depth with his chest bearing the brunt of it. The two light pink points had turned crimson and were slightly swollen.

Xin Hexue knew all too well how these marks came to be. Something similar had happened in the previous small world, and he remembered that experience which was a mix of pain and pleasure very vividly.

So, who exactly had secretly done this last night?

Xin Hexue’s eyes darkened. He gritted his teeth, picked up his clothes, and put them back piece by piece.

But it wasn’t entirely the same.

Because he didn’t feel any unusual soreness, it meant the other party had probably just licked him from head to toe like a dog.

With a creak, the door opened. Bu Jincheng only caught a glimpse of the disheveled Xin Hexue and immediately slammed the door shut with a bang.

He used so much force that the wall above the door even rained down some dust.

Xin Hexue: “…”

‘Are all virgins this jumpy?’

After tidying his clothes, Xin Hexue said calmly, “Come in.”

Bu Jincheng stepped in with his head lowered, staring at the ground in front of him, like a big dog that had made a mistake.

Xin Hexue asked with confusion, “Aren’t you going to look at me when you talk?”

Only after confirming that Xin Hexue was fully dressed did Bu Jincheng finally raise his head, asking anxiously, “Where did all those marks on your body come from?”

To be honest, Bu Jincheng, who had stayed in the monks’ quarters last night, would have been Xin Hexue’s prime suspect.

But judging by the current situation, this overly pure virgin, unless he was such a good actor that even Xin Hexue was fooled, didn’t seem like the kind of person who would have the guts to do such a thing.

Bu Jincheng stepped closer, his face full of anxiety and panic, like a watchdog losing its mind. “Don’t fool me by saying they’re mosquito bites, how could there be mosquitoes in this snowy weather? There’ve only been the two of us in this temple these past two days, no one else. I slept like the dead last night… Did someone come in?”

Xin Hexue stared at him silently, then chuckled, “Why are you so anxious?”

Bu Jincheng abruptly stopped pacing, stood stiffly in place, and looked at him.

The young man adjusted his collar, his hands brushing near the clavicle. The hands were fair and flawless. Originally, only the rounded nails had a faint pink, but now even the edges of his slim knuckles had intimate bite marks that could be seen if one looked closely.

Bu Jincheng heard the other party retort softly and calmly, “I’m already of age. It’s normal to have some over-the-line activities. Or do you expect me to remain chaste forever for a dead husband?”

The young man clearly had a cold and gentle temperament, but as he spoke these words, the corners of his eyes were tinged with red, like a water demon luring others into indulgence and depravity.

At that moment, a blasphemous and bold thought rose in Bu Jincheng’s heart…

If that’s the case, then could he?

Xin Hexue had said that he looked a bit like his late husband. Regardless of whether that man was truly dead or not, Xin Hexue should eventually move on. He shouldn’t stay in this broken temple, wasting away in self-torment.

Bu Jincheng also thought of the absurd dream he had last night.

That was why he had immediately gone on high alert when he first saw the marks on Xin Hexue’s body, fearing he had sleepwalked and done something terrible.

It was hard to believe but he had indeed fallen in love at first sight on that stormy night.

And the object of that love at first sight was a beautiful young man guarding and living alone in a dilapidated temple.

[Bu Jincheng love value +10]

Bu Jincheng: “I…”

Xin Hexue stopped paying attention to this cheap scholar who was easily swayed. The love value prompt also didn’t catch his attention, his focus had been drawn to something else.

Bu Jincheng looked at his expression in confusion and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xin Hexue turned sideways, bypassed Bu Jincheng, and squatted by the bed. He picked up a small, unfamiliar fragment. It was like a densely knitted mesh, patterned with dark brown stripes and spots…

A shed snakeskin.

Xin Hexue turned back, his expression cold as he said to Bu Jincheng, “Go into the city today and report to Taichu Temple.”

He added, “That’s not an ordinary snake. It’s a snake demon.”

Bu Jincheng looked stunned.

He then heard Xin Hexue say, “However, when you reach Taichu Temple, if you meet a monk named Du Zhi, and he asks anything, don’t mention me…not a single word. Act like you’ve never met me.”

Bu Jincheng was puzzled. “Why?”

Xin Hexue didn’t have it sorted out quite yet either. He had followed the one-way pull of the red thread from his wrist, but he didn’t understand why he had tied it to that bald donkey.

But before that monk named Du Zhi could notice him, he had hurriedly left.

All Xin Hexue could tell Bu Jincheng was, “I have a grudge with him.”

Maybe… maybe he had stolen that monk’s yang essence or something.