When Wang Dian woke up, he felt light all over, as if he was floating in soft clouds. He felt a kind of numbness and fatigue, as if he had finally rested after being overly tired. This overly comfortable feeling left him a bit bewildered—his last memory was eating peach blossom rolls with Liang Ye.
“Your Majesty, you’re finally awake,” Yun Fu handed him a cup of warm water.
“What time is it?” Wang Dian took a sip of water, his tongue tasting a bit sweet.
“It’s noon on the second day,” Yun Fu said with a keen eye, “You’ve already gone to morning court today.”
Wang Dian knew he was referring to Liang Ye going to the morning court, and asked with some concern, “Did anything happen?”
Yun Fu smiled and said, “Nothing happened. Your Majesty quietly attended the morning court, then went to the imperial garden to plant trees, and came back to sleep for a nap.”
Wang Dian silently breathed a sigh of relief, got up and asked while washing, “What wine did Zhen drink yesterday?”
“It’s a kind of pear blossom brew. It’s said that you don’t feel much when you drink it, but ordinary people can get drunk and lose consciousness after just one sip. You drank two full cups yesterday before you got drunk, your alcohol tolerance is extremely good… The common people call this wine ‘Immortal Drunk’,” Yun Fu explained, “But ordinary people have no chance to see it, this ‘Immortal Drunk’ is only treasured by the royal families of Northern Liang and Eastern Chen.”
Wang Dian rubbed his temples hard, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw an extra wilted lotus flower in the vase on the table, “Did you pick it?”
“It was sent by Guard Chong Heng on orders,” Yun Fu said tactfully.
In this huge palace, the only one who could order Chong Heng was Liang Ye. Wang Dian touched it, and the wilted petals fell all over the table.
“…What kind of sickness again?” Wang Dian was puzzled, but still couldn’t help but pluck off the remaining few petals.
“By the way, Sir Wang Dian said he wants to invite you to dinner outside the palace tonight,” Yun Fu whispered, “You can go to the usual place to find him when you wake up.”
Although Wang Dian didn’t want to have such a tacit understanding with Liang Ye, when he stood in front of that hidden dog hole, he still felt a kind of irresistible strange tacit understanding.
Liang Ye leaned against a tree with a calm face, playing with leaves in his hand. The bushes in front of him had been plucked bald by him. Wang Dian looked around and asked, “Where’s Chong Heng?”
“He’s not going,” Liang Ye threw away the crumpled leaves in his hand, “Come here.”
Wang Dian cautiously stepped forward, and Liang Ye put the rubber mask he held in his hand on his face, quickly and skillfully changing his appearance. Wang Dian touched his fake face, “New mask?”
“The same as the one on my face.” Liang Ye pinched his chin and looked satisfied, “When you go out, just say you’re my twin brother. I’m called Wang Lang, you’re called Wang Bei.”
Wang Dian twitched the corner of his mouth, “Colluding with each other?”
Liang Ye grinned, “Zhen has thought about it for a long time.”
When they came out of that familiar forest, Wang Dian, wearing a mask, mixed in the bustling crowd, feeling a long-lost relaxation. He asked Liang Ye, who was leisurely following him, “Why suddenly want to leave the palace?”
Liang Ye looked at him curiously, “Why aren’t you angry that I got you drunk?”
“No energy.” Wang Dian walked forward with a wooden face, “My mind is still muddled.”
Liang Ye laughed happily, “This wine was given by my master, it can cure diseases and strengthen the body, and it can also replenish your kidney energy.”
Wang Dian couldn’t be bothered to refute him, and he floated dizzily on the street for a while. There was a shop on the street that had closed early, so he sat on the steps at the door of someone’s house, watching the people coming and going on the street.
Liang Ye lifted his clothes and sat next to him, looking at the people on the street, “What’s so interesting?”
A group of five or six-year-old children ran past them, laughing and holding candied haws. Wang Dian glanced at the hawthorn wrapped in transparent, thin, crispy sugar coating, and kicked Liang Ye’s ankle, “I want to eat candied haws.”
Liang Ye looked at him suspiciously several times, but seeing that he had no intention of speaking again, he finally got up and walked towards the old man selling candied haws.
“One string.” He handed three copper coins to the old man.
The old man laughed, “One is enough!”
Liang Ye stuffed the remaining two back into his sleeve, exchanged one copper coin for a string of candied haws, and bit off the biggest, reddest one on top as he walked back.
“It doesn’t taste good.” Liang Ye handed him the candied haws in his hand.
Wang Dian took it and bit off the second one, “If it doesn’t taste good, spit it out.”
“Then Zhen…..I will taste what’s in your mouth.” Liang Ye made a move to come closer, but was pushed away by Wang Dian, who put his hand against his cheek, “It’s broad daylight, accumulate some virtue.”
The sun was blazing, and the cicadas were chirping loudly. The two of them were nestled under a small shady spot under the eaves, gnawing on a stick of candied haws, which they finished in no time.
“I thought you were going to give the old man a whole ingot of silver,” Wang Dian said, wiping his hands with a handkerchief as he lowered his head.
Liang Ye was inserting the bamboo stick from the candied haws into the cracks between the blue stone slabs on the ground. Hearing this, he said in surprise, “Zhen is not a fool, why give him an ingot of silver?”
Wang Dian pressed down on the top of the stick with his hand, and the bamboo stick sank a good deal into the ground. Liang Ye looked up at him, and Wang Dian arrogantly pushed the entire stick in.
“Childish,” Liang Ye said, mimicking his tone.
Wang Dian, leaning on his shoulder, laughed for a while, watching him push the bamboo stick back in, and suddenly asked, “What did I say when I was drunk?”
Liang Ye said casually, “Nothing much.”
“It seems I said quite a bit.” Wang Dian sighed, squeezing his shoulder hard, “It’s all nonsense after drinking, don’t take it seriously.”
Liang Ye lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, “Zhen doesn’t remember.”
Wang Dian’s knee bumped against his, and he didn’t bother to move away, just sticking to him, “Actually, I’m quite curious why you came back.”
Liang Ye didn’t make a sound.
“Did you see that old man selling clams just now?” Wang Dian raised his hand to gesture, implying, “This clam, once someone asks it about itself, it will close its shell tightly and refuse to say a word.”
Liang Ye hooked his hand that was gesturing wildly, and said coolly, “If you move again, I’ll stuff you inside.”
Wang Dian gave him a gentle smile, “Chop it into stuffing, flatten it, and make it garlic-flavored.”
“…” Liang Ye raised his hand to test his forehead, frowning, “Are you still not sober?”
“I’m still a bit dizzy.” Wang Dian grabbed his hand and squeezed it slowly, “My mind is frighteningly clear, but no matter what I do, I feel like I’m floating.”
Liang Ye scornfully said, “That’s all the skills.”
Wang Dian let go of his hand, “Right, whatever you say is right, you’re the most capable.”
“Don’t think Zhen can’t tell you’re mocking Zhen,” Liang Ye poked his face.
Wang Dian tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Never mind, you’re just a coward who can only parrot others’ words.”
“Zhen thinks you’re tired of living,” Liang Ye squinted his eyes.
Wang Dian tilted his head and made a slashing gesture across his throat with two fingers, “Come, honey, stab me here with your little knife.”
Liang Ye looked at him irritably, “Zhen doesn’t talk to drunks.”
“Coward.” Wang Dian raised his eyebrows triumphantly, put his arm around his shoulder, Liang Ye tried to shrug him off pettily, but Wang Dian quickly hooked his neck.
“Wang Dian!” A cheerful voice came from around the corner, and a young man in red ran towards them excitedly, but stopped when he saw their faces, “Huh? Why are there two?”
Wang Dian looked at him seriously for a moment, “Yang Jiujiu.”
Yang Wujiu looked confused, “Who is Yang Jiujiu?”
Wang Dian brushed his sleeve, stood up leisurely and elegantly, and hooked Yang Wujiu’s neck with his hand, “Long time no see, I was thinking about you a few days ago.”
Yang Wujiu laughed awkwardly, “I think about you every day, but I had no way to find you after our hurried farewell that day. Then I received your invitation yesterday, so I rushed over. I didn’t sleep well all night.”
“Oh, I see.” Wang Dian wanted to pat his head with a smile, but someone pulled his collar from behind and yanked him back. He turned his head and looked at Liang Ye dissatisfiedly. Liang Ye said calmly, “He’s drunk, he’s not fully awake yet.”
“I thought so.” Yang Wujiu scratched his head, curious, “You two look exactly alike, are you twin brothers?”
“Mm.” Liang Ye nodded, and Wang Dian continued, “He’s my younger brother, his name is Wang Badan.” (TL: 王八蛋 “wang ba dan” “turtle egg”=extremely bad person; bastard)
Yang Wujiu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. Wang Dian laughed along with him, while Liang Ye, with a blank face, pulled Wang Dian, who was trying to hug Yang Wujiu, back into his arms, “Let’s go to the tavern to talk.”
Seeing his expressionless face, Yang Wujiu felt a bit uneasy and couldn’t help but move closer to Wang Dian. The laughter in Wang Dian’s eyes hadn’t faded, “Wujiu, what have you been busy with lately?”
“Ah, don’t even mention it.” Yang Wujiu’s face fell at the sound, “My father insists on sending me to the Black Armored Guard. My goodness, that’s the Black Armored Guard! The Black Armored Guard is full of demons, and the leader, Jian Ling, has taken countless lives. The key is that he has a grudge against my father. It’s simply not a place for people!”
“Hmm.” Wang Dian nodded in agreement, “Then why don’t you tell your father you don’t want to go?”
“The Grand Empress Dowager has decreed that I must go.” Yang Wujiu said with a bitter face, “I’ve tried pretending to be sick and crazy these past few days, but my father is determined to send me to my death. Once I go, Jian Ling will surely tear me apart.”
Wang Dian clicked his tongue, “That’s really terrible.”
Yang Wujiu hugged his arm and laughed bitterly, “Brother Wang, you’ve always been smart, do you have any ideas to help me?”
“I’m not smart.” Wang Dian shook his head, gave a hard poke to Liang Ye, who was giving off a cold air next to him, “My younger brother here is both wise and brave, let him give you some advice.”
Liang Ye stared at Yang Wujiu expressionlessly. Yang Wujiu swallowed and moved away from Wang Dian, “Is… is that so?”
“Don’t worry, this kind of turtle egg, with a belly full of bad water, doesn’t make a sound when deceiving people.” Wang Dian looked at Liang Ye with a smirk, tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Isn’t that right, younger brother?”
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