Two incense sticks later, corpses were scattered everywhere.
Wang Dian still had most of his sleeve arrows left. Liang Ye retracted his soft sword, lightly landed on a tree branch, squatted down to lift his sleeve and wiped the blood on his hand, smiling, “Still alive, huh?”
Wang Dian looked down at his height from the ground, “The place you chose, ordinary assassins can’t fly up at all, they would be shot while trying to leverage.”
“Really?” Liang Ye asked knowingly, “Zhen thought you really wanted to be Zhen’s empress.”
“A man as empress, the people’s heart will be unstable.” Wang Dian looked at him, “Besides, there is no affection between you and me, don’t mess around.”
“Who says there is no affection between Zhen and you?” Liang Ye hugged his waist and flew down from the tree with him. Knowing that he liked cleanliness, he specifically chose a place without blood and corpses, “Zhen wants you to be the empress, much better than any cats or dogs.”
Wang Dian twitched the corner of his mouth, “You better give up this idea as soon as possible.”
Liang Ye tilted his head, looking serious, “Why?”
Wang Dian frowned, “No matter how you look at it, it’s a joke. The precedent of the downfall of the Da’an dynasty is right in front of us. If you have the intention to seize the world, don’t block your own path from the beginning.”
Liang Ye thought carefully and affirmed, “Zhen doesn’t want to seize the world, Zhen just wants you to be Zhen’s empress.”
Wang Dian was silent for a while, “I don’t want to.”
“Whether you want to or not, you have to.” Liang Ye said, “When we return to the palace, Zhen will select a title for you and hold the empress’s ceremony.”
“You see, this is why I want to kill you.” Wang Dian said expressionlessly, “You never care about my thoughts, maybe you have never cared about anyone’s thoughts, always deciding others’ fate from above.”
Liang Ye not only felt that he was unappreciative, but also unreasonable, “Zhen is the emperor, why should Zhen care about your thoughts?”
“Then you might as well find a cat or a dog to be your empress.” Wang Dian said, “A lover who can’t learn to respect the other person is a disaster to me.”
Liang Ye suddenly realized, “Zhen is your lover.”
“No, you’re not.” Wang Dian denied mercilessly.
Liang Ye frowned unhappily, “Are you still thinking about your wives and children?”
Wang Dian tugged at the corner of his mouth, his tone heavy, “Hard to forget in a lifetime.”
By now, a few floors should have been built on that piece of land in the east of the city, the subsidiary that was originally planned to go public… Wang Dian closed his eyes in pain, wanting to find another wine bottle to hit his head and go back.
Seeing his dark expression, Liang Ye said coldly, “Where are they? Zhen will kill them, and you can forget about them.”
Wang Dian wiped his face, seeing his gloomy and murderous look, he was somewhat unbearable, and of course, he was more afraid that if he stimulated this guy too much, he would also stab him through, so he slowed down his tone, “No need to look, they are not in this world.”
“Oh.” Liang Ye’s face instantly brightened, and he said joyfully, “So they’re already dead.”
Wang Dian’s heart ached again, “Don’t mention it.”
Liang Ye said discontentedly, “In the future, you can only have Zhen in your heart.”
“Which storybook did you read that from?” Wang Dian was almost gritting his teeth, and said disdainfully, “The heart is only the size of a fist, it can’t fit a big living person like you.”
Liang Ye turned the blade in his hand and pressed it against his heart, smiling sinisterly, “Then shall Zhen cut it open and see?”
“…It can be forced.” Wang Dian slowly moved his blade away, half true and half false, “Now it’s just barely got a foot in.”
Liang Ye’s eyes lit up instantly, “What else?”
“Nothing.” Wang Dian sighed, “Because you always force me to do things I don’t like.”
Liang Ye raised an eyebrow, “It’s enough that Zhen likes it.”
“No, I have to like it too.” Wang Dian poked his heart, “You can’t even fit a strand of my hair here.”
Liang Ye looked down and asked somewhat blankly, “How to put it?”
This question was really abstract and profound, Wang Dian thought carefully, “Wait until you…”
Liang Ye looked at him expectantly.
Wang Dian stopped abruptly and laughed at himself, “Forget it, don’t put it in.”
If he really let a madman like Liang Ye into his heart, life might not be better than it is now.
“There’s no reason.” Wang Dian lowered his eyes, “You’re the emperor, you don’t need to like anyone.”
Liang Ye stared at him steadily. Wang Dian couldn’t stand his straightforward and puzzled gaze, which always made him feel a bit guilty, so he turned and walked away.
Liang Ye stood in the pool of blood, raised his hand to touch his chest, and was lost for a moment. He looked up to see Wang Dian’s back and happily chased after him with his sword.
****
In the evening, it started to rain. The mountain wind blew with a penetrating chill. Wang Dian stood under the cave and saw Liang Ye deal with the unknown wave of assassins.
“Cui Yuxian is determined not to let you return to the palace.” Wang Dian saw him coming and moved aside, but unfortunately, Liang Ye, like a blind man, insisted on rubbing his bloody body against him.
“Wait another quarter of an hour, and there will be no more assassins.” Liang Ye looked at the sky, reached out to catch the rainwater to wash his hands, and the blood dripped into the puddle, spreading a crimson color.
“How do you know?” Wang Dian asked.
“Zhen can calculate.” Liang Ye grinned.
Wang Dian resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “If you don’t say it, forget it.”
Liang Ye glanced at his expression, “If Zhen said it, would you be willing to be Zhen’s empress?”
Wang Dian twitched the corner of his mouth, “Don’t say it.”
Liang Ye poked his waist with some disappointment, trying to persuade him, “What’s wrong with being Zhen’s empress? In the whole of Great Liang, you are the biggest next to Zhen, under one person and above ten thousand people. You can do whatever you like, as long as you don’t run away and stay with Zhen, Zhen won’t kill you.”
“Even if you let me be the emperor, I’m not interested.” Perhaps it was the rain that always stirred up people’s melancholy, Wang Dian was somewhat desolate, “I don’t belong here.”
Liang Ye was puzzled and affirmed, “You naturally don’t belong here, you belong to Zhen.”
“…” Wang Dian held back for a while, but still couldn’t help laughing. Through the rain curtain, his eyebrows and eyes were soaked in joy, “How cheesy, Your Majesty.”
Since meeting Wang Dian, Liang Ye rarely saw him laugh so sincerely. He felt that Wang Dian looked so good at this moment that he really wanted to go up and hug him and kiss him. But he was afraid that if he went up, this smile would disappear, so he just hooked the corner of his mouth and laughed with him.
Wang Dian reached out and flicked his wet bangs, then withdrew his hand.
Liang Ye rubbed his head against his palm, “Zhen thinks you look the best when you smile.”
“Look best, you can smile at yourself in the mirror, it’s the same.” Wang Dian ruffled his wet hair and pushed him away, “Don’t always rub against me.”
“It’s not the same.” Liang Ye raised his head to his lips, but didn’t immediately kiss him, staring into his eyes, “Zhen doesn’t want to kiss himself when Zhen looks in the mirror.”
Wang Dian’s breath tightened, he moved his Adam’s apple, his gaze fell on his lips, feeling his somewhat impatient breath, his body slightly leaning forward, and just as it was about to touch, a loud shout suddenly came from afar.
“Master! I’m here——”
Wang Dian suddenly retreated and tightened his face, Liang Ye abruptly straightened up, both of them looked at Chong Heng who was running in the rain.
Chong Heng stomped his feet and squeezed between the two of them, his face full of joy for having accomplished his task, “Master, it’s done.”
“Oh.” Liang Ye responded perfunctorily, although he couldn’t accurately describe the feeling just now, he could be sure that it was different from any time he and Wang Dian had kissed before, and then——then there was no more.
He stiffened his face, really wanting to kick Chong Heng out with one foot.
Wang Dian cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to make conversation, “What have you done?”
Chong Heng glanced at Liang Ye, Liang Ye was staring at the stone under his feet with a full face of resentment, so he answered, “The Master asked me to tie up and hide the child with the longevity lock, a group of unidentified people are going crazy looking for him on the street, then I came back, and saw those assassins retreating.”
Wang Dian looked at Liang Ye in surprise, “What a good move to remove the fuel from the cauldron.” (TL: to take drastic measures to deal with a situation; to pull the carpet from under sb.)
The reason why Cui Yuxian dared to kill Liang Ye was nothing more than holding the card of “other imperial heirs”. At that time on the street, since he saw the pattern on the longevity lock and had doubts, Liang Ye might not have seen it. If he took the child away, Cui Yuxian would have no substitute heir, and would probably have to use Liang Ye, these endless assassins naturally had to retreat… In the final analysis, it was Liang Ye betting that Cui Yuxian only had this one heir in her hand, and it seemed that he won the bet now.
And his original plan, he’s afraid it’s more than that, he’s afraid he wanted to use him and Wei Wanlin to bring out the people Cui Yuxian had planted in the imperial guards, tie up the only remaining heir, and then use his death to make a fuss, Cui Yuxian had no heir to the throne, she would definitely be in chaos, after the factions fight, Liang Ye would appear again to reap the benefits…
Such a meticulous plan, but now it’s broken in half, Wang Dian felt that it’s better to die now, the situation was more advantageous, and sighed, “What a pity.”
Liang Ye looked at his lips unwillingly, maintaining a cold and resistant attitude towards political affairs, determined not to reveal a word to him, even looking at Wang Dian’s expression, he knew that he had guessed seven or eight.
Wang Dian completely lost his previous romantic thoughts, just felt that Liang Ye was quite like a person when he was not crazy and doing serious things, and was increasingly determined to stay away from Liang Ye.
As the saying goes, accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger, the mind of a monarch is hard to fathom, let alone this is a big tiger that is sometimes crazy and sometimes sober to the point of scaring people with meticulous thinking and cruel means, even if he occasionally shows a little compassion for him, but who can guarantee that this little compassion will always be there?
Moreover…he had wanted to kill Liang Ye before, although Liang Ye didn’t say it, according to this guy’s vengeful nature, it’s not that he didn’t declare it, but that he wasn’t interested yet.
“What’s a pity?” Chong Heng scratched his head, looked at Wang Dian, and then turned to look at Liang Ye, “Master, should we go back to the palace? I see this rain won’t last long, it’s nice to go back in the rain.”
Liang Ye looked at him with a fake smile, raised his foot and kicked him into the rain.
“Then you can cool off well for Zhen.”
<3