Liang Ye’s wounds couldn’t get wet, so he watched with great annoyance as Wang Dian took a bath.
“Come here,” Wang Dian said, leaning against the tub with a wet cloth.
Liang Ye wrinkled his nose in disgust. As the warm cloth brushed across his brow, Wang Dian leisurely remarked, “Your Majesty’s face… is very beautiful.”
Especially when it showed that shocked and embarrassed expression after getting dirty – it almost made him lose control again.
Liang Ye was forced to recall those outrageous things Wang Dian had done in the carriage earlier. The places the wet cloth touched started burning, and he gritted out, “Shut up.”
Wang Dian lay on the edge of the tub, his shoulders shaking with laughter. His wet fingers pressed against Liang Ye’s lips. In the steamy mist, his eyes filled with laughter and desire made him look like a demon straight out of a novel. That proper and refined facade he showed in public had been cast aside long ago. “Isn’t it fun?”
Liang Ye’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Where did you learn all these techniques from?”
“Oh, there were many sources,” Wang Dian sighed contentedly in the hot water.
Liang Ye’s expression instantly twisted. The anger and jealousy surging in his chest filled his eyes with killing intent. He laughed coldly and asked, “How many people have you done such vulgar things with?”
Even though he had known before that Wang Dian had “wives and concubines,” he hadn’t felt anything about it. After all, once Wang Dian was by his side, he wouldn’t let anyone else touch him. But now, just thinking that someone else had been this intimate with Wang Dian made him unable to suppress the viciousness in his heart.
Moreover, looking at Wang Dian’s demeanor, he probably didn’t discriminate between men and women.
Wang Dian frowned rather troubledly, “I’ll have to count carefully.”
Crack!
The wooden edge of the tub that Liang Ye was holding crumbled to dust in his grip. He smiled viciously, “Count carefully?”
Seeing that he was truly getting angry, Wang Dian cleared his throat, “I’ve only tried it with you. The others were just watching people… too many to count.”
Liang Ye was stunned for a moment, asking incredulously, “You have such a hobby?”
Wang Dian tried to explain laboriously, but obviously such an explanation was beyond ancient people’s understanding. Not only did Liang Ye not understand, he didn’t believe it. Whether it was because Cui Yuxian’s ban on him taking concubines had left his knowledge too limited, or because Yue Jingming’s strict rules had constrained him too much, Liang Ye grew angry from embarrassment when he couldn’t understand. “How improper!”
Wang Dian wiped his face with his hand, hating himself for unnecessarily trying to tease this person. He sighed and said, “…Never touched anyone else.”
If he didn’t speak more plainly, who knew what this fellow would do next.
Liang Ye stared at him half-believing, “Really?”
Wang Dian’s fingers traced his lips, gazing at the subtle changes in his expression with admiration and obsession. He chuckled softly, “You are my Anteros.”
(TL: In Greek mythology, Anteros is the god of requited love (love returned in kind) and the avenger of unrequited love. He is often considered the counterpart or complement to Eros, the god of love.
Symbolism: Anteros represents mutual love and the idea of justice in romantic relationships, ensuring that affection is balanced and reciprocated.)
Liang Ye impatiently bit his fingers, the desire to conquer and possess equally undisguised in his eyes. “Speak human words.”
Wang Dian smiled faintly, “I fucking only want to shoot into—mmph!”
He was grabbed by the hair and dunked into the water by Liang Ye, bubbles gurgling up.
****
The next day.
Wang Dian had rarely slept so well. Except for having to be mindful of Liang Ye’s injuries and not being able to fully enjoy himself physically and mentally, the sleep was perfect.
He sat at the table slowly drinking porridge. After listening to the secret guard kneeling on the ground finish his report, he looked at Liang Ye across from him and asked, “How do you plan to deal with Tan Yishuang?”
“Kill her,” Liang Ye said coldly.
“Let’s question her first,” Wang Dian wiped his mouth and tossed the handkerchief on the table.
Liang Ye raised his hand to dismiss the secret guard. “She was able to leave the palace only because Bian Cang secretly helped her. We may not be able to get any useful information out of her.”
“Bian Cang probably wanted to use her to eliminate Chong Heng, and better yet get rid of you in the process,” Wang Dian speculated. “As long as it was done cleanly, even if you didn’t die, suspicion wouldn’t fall on Bian Cang. Unfortunately, after all that calculation, they didn’t account for that fool Bian Feng.”
Wang Dian paused, “If Bian Feng really was your blood brother—”
“What, finally regretting killing him?” Liang Ye picked up his left hand that had held the knife yesterday, slowly tracing each knuckle while giving him a meaningful look.
Wang Dian admitted that from a big picture perspective, killing him yesterday was indeed somewhat impulsive. If Bian Feng had lied, keeping him alive could have unexpectedly turned the tables on Bian Cang. If Bian Feng hadn’t lied, he was indeed the person with the closest blood relation to Liang Ye in the world. Though Liang Ye didn’t say it, he would care about that.
But so what?
If he really was Liang Ye’s blood brother, he would be even less inclined to let such a thing stand between him and Liang Ye.
“I regret letting him die too quickly,” Wang Dian said with a cold smile. “Liang Ziyu, you almost died by his hand. I’m telling you now, if it happened again, I would still kill him.”
Liang Ye frowned with displeasure.
Wang Dian knew Liang Ye too well. What Liang Ye cared about wasn’t necessarily that Bian Feng died, but that Bian Feng died by his hand—this was a challenge to imperial authority.
When two equally domineering people competed and played around in bed, it could be called passion, but when it came to serious matters, there would always be conflicts and clashes that couldn’t be reconciled or compromised, arousing each other’s strong desire to conquer and win. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have fought openly and secretly for so long before.
Just like two equally fierce beasts fighting over territory would always fight to the death, even if they were now intimately coexisting, there would still be times when they accidentally showed their claws and made the other feel threatened and uncomfortable.
Wang Dian pretended not to see it and unhurriedly picked up his tea to rinse his mouth.
Although they had fought back and forth before, it was after all Liang Ye’s domain, so he naturally put self-preservation first and often took the initiative to back down. Even now, he wouldn’t really believe that just because they had mutual understanding and love for each other, his life would be safe. Liang Ye was an ancient person who grew up in the cruelest palace – deeply rooted concepts couldn’t be shaken just by something like love.
Being close to an emperor was like being close to a tiger, let alone Liang Ye, who was an especially unpredictable and fierce tiger.
But Wang Dian didn’t mind occasionally showing his hidden claws to warn him.
“Zhen is not blaming you for killing him,” Liang Ye saw his firm attitude and instinctively changed his strategy, squeezing his fingers while muttering, “Just worried your hand would hurt. This kind of dirty work should be left to Zhen.”
Very good, he had even learned to retreat to advance by pretending to show his belly.
Wang Dian smiled slightly, “Don’t worry, I’m not that clean either.”
And he resisted the urge to touch, leaving the words hanging.
Back and forth, the two tacitly chose to move past the matter of Wang Dian taking action, though Liang Ye was probably still very unsatisfied. Before Tan Yishuang was brought in, he left a row of smooth teeth marks on Wang Dian’s neck, hidden under his collar.
Tan Yishuang looked much thinner. Since she didn’t know martial arts and Liang Ye hadn’t decreed to strip her position, she was still the Tai Fei Imperial Concubine of Kangning Palace after all, so the secret guards were still polite to her and didn’t put her in shackles.
(TL: tài fēi=imperial concubine of a deceased emperor)
Her cold gaze swept past Wang Dian and fell on Liang Ye’s face. She smiled, “Your Majesty, is Xiao Heng still alive?”
Liang Ye glanced at her, “You never planned to spare his life anyway, otherwise why bother poisoning his medicine last night?”
Tan Yishuang’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Zhen gave you chances,” Liang Ye said. “If not for Chong Heng, you would have died when the Tan family rebelled.”
Tan Yishuang stared at him intently, “Your Majesty is quite calculating, why bother making yourself sound so righteous? If you hadn’t deliberately elevated the Tan family, forcing them to become isolated at court, how would my brother have resorted to such dangerous measures? From the moment the Tan family helped you overthrow Cui Yuxian, you never planned to spare the Tan family! The Tan family helped you sincerely, why did you repay kindness with enmity!?”
Liang Ye smiled lazily, “One day Zhen was eating at Changyun Restaurant, and heard that just for a flower-viewing banquet held by a mere second son of your Tan family, the money spent was more than when Zhen married an empress. Out of curiosity, Zhen went to take a look and found the display even grander. Originally Zhen wanted to give the Imperial Concubine some face.”
Tan Yishuang’s expression finally changed, “So it was… because of this.”
“Zhen’s treasury has no money,” Liang Ye carelessly tapped the table. “Zhen’s empress lost sleep trying to make money, how could Zhen not feel heartache? So Zhen had to trouble the Tan family.”
Tan Yishuang laughed self-mockingly, “I thought Your Majesty valued loyalty and righteousness, but I still underestimated you.”
“As an emperor, one doesn’t need too much loyalty and righteousness,” Liang Ye said. “This was what the Imperial Concubine taught Zhen back then.”
Tan Yishuang said coldly, “It was Your Majesty’s own intelligence.”
Liang Ye stood up and said, “I’m afraid even if the Imperial Concubine returns to the Capital, you won’t be able to give Bian Daren a good explanation.”
A flash of hatred crossed Tan Yishuang’s face, “Bian Feng was just a worthless fool. You brothers killing each other – heaven has eyes.”
Liang Ye walked to her front and looked into her eyes, “When Zhen was eight years old, Liang Hua passed away. Bian Rufeng died half a year before him. Zhen personally watched his remains being collected. Bian Feng is twenty-two this year, five years younger than Zhen. At that time, Cui Yuxian was plotting to kill the imperial heirs – how could Bian Rufeng and Liang Hua have kept such news secret?”
A smile appeared in Tan Yishuang’s eyes, “Ziyu, you were too young then, naturally there are many things you don’t remember clearly… Back then when Bian Rufeng and Liang Hua wanted to unite to overthrow Cui Yuxian, whose power do you think they borrowed? It was the Bian family and our Tan family. My entering the palace was personally requested by Liang Hua from the Tan family!
Bian Rufeng and Liang Hua, in order to protect you, even if Bian Rufeng had a grudge against Bian Yunxin, they had to hold their noses and send you to her side. They switched you with Bian Yunxin’s son. By the time that fool Bian Yunxin realized, her own son had already died in your place! My Xiao Heng, and the children of those women in the harem! They were all just stepping stones laid down by Liang Hua and Bian Rufeng for you! They let Cui Yuxian kill until only you were left and she had no choice but to establish you as emperor!
Even Cui Qi – if not for his mother’s wisdom in having someone take him out of the palace, do you think Cui Yuxian would have had the chance to find and hide him? They even actively sent a child to Bian Cang to raise just in case. They calculated everything meticulously, yet in the end you blood brothers killed each other – retribution! This is all retribution!”
Liang Ye’s hands behind his back suddenly clenched tight.
“Imperial Concubine,” Wang Dian’s voice suddenly rang out in the room, “Even if what you say is true, that Bian Feng was truly His Majesty’s blood brother, why would Bian Cang easily let him out? Wouldn’t it have been better to keep him by his side to strike unexpectedly?”
“Those surnamed Liang are all madmen, how would I know?” Tan Yishuang looked at him. “For a mere pet to reach today’s position, His Highness indeed has some capability.”
“You flatter me,” Wang Dian smiled without changing expression.
Liang Ye’s face instantly darkened, “Tan Yishuang, even speaking carelessly should have limits.”
Tan Yishuang said flatly, “Having reached this point, Your Majesty won’t spare my life, so why should I continue with false pretenses?”
“Zhen will only ask you one thing,” Liang Ye said slowly, “What you told Zhen in the past, was any of it false?”
Tan Yishuang finally laughed genuinely, “Ziyu ah, why take children’s bedtime stories seriously? How could your parents possibly have been as noble and upright as in the stories when you are so base and despicable? In this vast palace, we are all just evil spirits wearing human skin.”
“…And you are the one least likely to find salvation.”
