Chapter 026 – His Majesty watches the show

In Gu Yuanbai’s eyes, Xue Yuan looked like a disobedient, aggressive beast.

A crazy beast like that aroused Gu Yuanbai’s thirst for adventure and danger. He didn’t have the physical condition required to tame an Akhal-Teke horse, but Xue Yuan was different.

Gu Yuanbai was interested, and even determined to conquer his will. As he watched Xue Yuan tame this horse, his desire to conquer, which had been growing over the last three years, made him ponder about how he could tame Xue Yuan as well.

The best scenario would be for Xue Yuan to become obedient and admit his defeat, his madness smoothed out by Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai thought that would be a successful conquest.

It took Xue Yuan two quarters of an hour to crush the proud Akhal-Teke horse with his body.

The horse was so exhausted that it couldn’t rear back to toss him off, allowing Xue Yuan to hold the reins and direct him towards the young Emperor.

Gu Yuanbai watched the fierce horse approach. Xue Yuan, sitting on the horse, smiled condescendingly. “Your Highness, this official has succeeded in taming the horse.”

After such a hard struggle, the horse’s neck was sweaty, and the soaked fur had a luxurious gleam like blood. Gu Yuanbai was extremely happy. He stroked the horse’s neck, and he could faintly see the blood running under its skin.

“Good horse,” praised the Emperor. “It’s worthy of its reputation of being worth a thousand li.”

The Akhal-Teke neighed and swished its tail.

Xue Yuan grinned, leaned down from the horse and stretched out a hand towards Gu Yuanbai. He asked respectfully, “Your Highness, why not come for a ride with this official?”

The guard captain asked with a serious face, “Official Xue, are you sure that the horse has been properly tamed?”

Xue Yuan smiled slightly, too lazy to pay him any mind.

Chu Wei frowned, disapproving of the man’s wild attitude.

Gu Yuanbai was happy with the opportunity, and he said with a smile, “We have a good horse before Us, how can We not give it a try?”

The only issue was that this was a newly tamed horse, without a saddle or stirrups, so Gu Yuanbai just took Xue Yuan’s hand directly. Xue Yuan held it and pulled him onto the horse’s back just with his arm’s strength.

Gu Yuanbai sat steadily, stroked the mane of the horse with a smile, and grabbed the reins in Xue Yuan’s hands without hesitation. The young Emperor was so domineering that Xue Yuan had no choice but to stretch out his hands around the Emperor’s waist to maintain hold onto the rein as well.

“Your Highness.” He smiled unpleasantly. “Will you throw me away after using me?”

He didn’t have the reins, and there was no saddle on the horse. The moment the horse began running, Xue Yuan might fall off the horse.

Gu Yuanbai’s lips twitched and he didn’t reply. Instead, he held onto the horse with his legs, snapped the reins and said, “Go!”

The Akhal-Teke horse that was worth a thousand li let out a bray and ran off.

The palace attendants at the sides ran in a panic, watching the Emperor and Official Xue driving towards the wide horse paddock.

Sitting behind the young Emperor, Xue Yuan held onto Gu Yuanbai’s waist, and the Emperor’s black hair hit him in the face. Xue Yuan turned his face away, but he didn’t avoid it.

Even though the black hair was hitting his face, Xue Yuan didn’t feel uncomfortable. It was probably because the young Emperor was too clean, so even his hair smelled nice.

Xue Yuan inhaled the scent for a minute, and he felt like it cleared his heart and calmed the air, making his previous dark mood disappear.

Chu Wei had good eyesight. He spotted Xue Yuan’s actions clearly, and it made the bile rise in his throat.

He stared at Xue Yuan coldly, gripping the brush firmly in his hand.

Since he was handsome, many men favored Chu Wei. Chu Wei had always thought their gazes were disgusting, like a sticky insect crawling all over his body. Chu Wei hated cutsleeves1 the most, and he hated people who only paid attention to his appearance.

Although he wasn’t homosexual, he knew about the concept because he had been approached in the past. The Emperor wasn’t like him. He had the power, the status, and the identity as the Lord of the Great Heng dynasty and master of the Imperial palace. Who would dare to look at the Emperor with eyes like that?

This Xue Yuan clearly felt safe thinking that the Emperor wouldn’t suspect him, and for that reason he was acting this bold and reckless.

He was clearly hiding nefarious intentions towards the Emperor!

Chu Wei had a dark look in his eyes.

The guard captain was still worried and sent someone to bring them some horses. Before he could get to one of the horses, however, he saw the newly appointed scholar from the Xiuzhuan Academy suddenly set his paper and brush aside, come over to grab a horse and jump on it, his robes flying around him. After he got on the horse, Chu Wei apologized to the guard captain. “I’ll go on ahead.”

And he spurred the horse to start galloping. After a moment of confusion, the guard captain also mounted his horse quickly and chased him, heading in the Emperor’s direction.

The palace horses were also good, but they had been raised to be docile and were carrying heavy saddles, so, naturally, when galloping they were inferior to the thousand li horse.

Gu Yuanbai was galloping against the wind, as if flying with it. The spring sunshine covered the area, and the warm yellow afternoon glow made the Imperial city look golden. The Akhal Teke horse ran between the high walls, but Gu Yuanbai felt as if he were riding across grasslands.

With clouds hanging low in the sky and thousands of miles of grass all around them, the horses in the grasslands were strong and powerful. Gu Yuanbai had been there before, riding horses across the field, but it had been too long since that time, so long that he suddenly felt the need to go there to see the grasslands again.

The lands of the border nomads would sooner or later become part of the Great Heng’s territory, and their horses would run on it.

After the horse stopped, Xue Yuan took the reins. “Your Highness?”

Gu Yuanbai came back to his senses, and then noticed a slight pain between his legs. After thinking about it, he decided he was probably worn out.

“Send for an imperial doctor.” Gu Yuanbai admitted his weakness frankly. “We think Our skin was damaged.”

Xue Yuan frowned and immediately got off the horse. He reached out and held Gu Yuanbai to help him down. After the Emperor stood on firm ground, Xue Yuan knelt down on one knee and tentatively brushed his fingers across the Emperor’s thigh. “Here?”

The inner thighs had the most delicate skin.

Xue Yuan had wide fingers, and they were long and rough. Gu Yuanbai tried to feel them and shook his head. “No.”

It wasn’t a convenient way to figure it out. Xue Yuan was about to lift up his robe when Gu Yuanbai pressed his head. “Official Xue, what are you doing?”

Xue Yuan smiled. “I’m inspecting Your Highness’ wounds.”

“And what will you do after inspecting the wound?” Gu Yuanbai felt that Xue Yuan, in trying to be diligent, was a bit stupid. “Could you possibly treat Us with your bare hands?”

Xue Yuan’s position, with his head being pressed down, made Xue Yuan feel uncomfortable. “If Your Highness doesn’t want me to look, this official will get up obediently.”

”
”
Gu Yuanbai replied, “That’s not what We asked.”

The young Emperor was really delicate and didn’t have much strength. The palm that he was holding Xue Yuan’s head with was, in fact, weaker than a wolf cub pouncing at him. However, Xue Yuan still enjoyed the young Emperor’s superficial weakness hiding a strong interior. It made him interesting and fun.

Therefore, even if it was a bit uncomfortable, Xue Yuan was very helpful. “Of course, this official can’t bandage Your Highness’ wound. But, at least, after seeing the wound, this official will know the extent of the injury and not feel too guilty.”

Gu Yuanbai was amused by the word ‘guilt’. “We are the one who got on the horse, and We are the one injured. Official Xue has no reason to feel guilty about it. We are not someone that would wrong others for no reason.”

“It is as the Emperor says,” Xue Yuan replied. “Your Highness, can you still walk?”

Gu Yuanbai let go of Xue Yuan. He attempted to walk a couple steps. His legs were steady and he didn’t look any different from usual, so he said lightly, “It’s acceptable.”

The Emperor’s appearance could have fooled him, but the fine sweat on his forehead didn’t. Xue Yuan suddenly felt a little helpless. He stood up, rolled up his sleeves, walked towards Gu Yuanbai in two long steps, and then suddenly bent over, picking up Gu Yuanbai in his arms.

Gu Yuanbai was startled, and then his face went blue in anger. “Xue Jiuyao,2 put Us down!”

“Your Majesty,” Xue Yuan said helplessly, “This official will walk slowly and steadily, and take ten short steps instead of a long one. I have already been a horse and a mule for Your Highness, and there are no beasts of burden available right now, isn’t Your Majesty just looking for trouble at this point?”

Gu Yuanbai stopped speaking, his face gloomy.

When he had asked Xue Yuan to be a beast of burden in the past, Xue Yuan had been one. But Xue Yuan couldn’t take the initiative before he had opened his mouth.3

But Xue Yuan was right. It did hurt to walk. He couldn’t ride a horse or walk, the only painless option was to be carried by Xue Yuan.

The Emperor was very light. For Xue Yuan, even though he had been dragged by powerful horses twice that day, it was extremely easy to carry him.

Xue Yuan didn’t forget to wrap the reins of the Akhal-Teke around his wrist, holding the Emperor and leading the horse at the same time. Gu Yuanbai thought that he was strong and energetic beyond the capacity of ordinary people. Most people would have to lie down in bed for half a month if they were thrown off a horse once, let alone twice like Xue Yuan had. But Xue Yuan was still alive and well, without needing to recover at all.

When someone like that went to the battlefield, he might make the opponent just die from the fear of fighting him.

Not long after Xue Yuan had picked up the Emperor, they heard the sounds of horses gradually approaching. Gu Yuanbai frowned. “Help Us get on the horse.”

As a man, of course, Xue Yuan understood what he was thinking. He did not want to make the young Emperor lose face. After helping him mount the horse, he also got on.

Looking at Gu Yuanbai’s sitting posture and tense back, Xue Yuan frowned, troubled. He put his arm around the young Emperor’s waist, lifted him off the horse for a moment, rolled up his robe and then let the Emperor go.

When the young Emperor sat down, he sat directly on Xue Yuan’s robe.

Gu Yuanbai’s eyelid twitched angrily. “Xue Jiuyao?”

Xue Yuan held the reins with his left hand. His robe was firmly stuck, so he couldn’t move. He frowned, and then said patiently, “Your Highness, this is for your own sake.”

Gu Yuanbai’s thunderous methods carried a terrifying force. However, no matter how powerful he was, he couldn’t conceal his weakness from Xue Yuan’s eyes. It wasn’t that Xue Yuan looked down on the young Emperor, but it was a fact that the Emperor was so delicate that he could be damaged by anything. It was more comfortable to sit on multiple layers of cloth than directly on horseback.

Fortunately, the young Emperor was very light, so he could keep paying attention to him on the ride back.

Gu Yuanbai said in a light voice, “No need, pull them away.”

“Your Highness, don’t try to be strong,” said Xue Yuan. “Now that this official is protecting you, you don’t need to suffer.”

The reasoning was obvious, but how could a masculine man ride a horse with a pile of clothes under his ass? Gu Yuanbai stopped talking.

Xue Yuan glanced at him and took the initiative to say, “Your Highness, someone is coming.”

He raised the reins and kicked the horse fiercely. Gu Yuanbai fell backwards into his arms from the inertia. Xue Yuan protected him and drove the horse towards the sound of approaching horses not too far away.

The horse was much slower on the way back than before. The young Emperor kept his back straight. Xue Yuan looked at him and wondered why he was so stubborn. He stretched out a hand and held Gu Yuanbai with his arm, letting him lean back into his body. “Your Majesty, you can also lean on my chest.”

Being guarded by a man like this made Gu Yuanbai feel embarrassed. He asked Xue Yuan to let go, but Xue Yuan didn’t listen. At this point, Gu Yuanbai’s face was completely dark.

Chu Wei and the guard captain arrived. They stopped their horses and turned around. “Is Your Highness alright?”

Xue Yuan said, “His Highness suffered some minor injuries.”

Gu Yuanbai didn’t say a word, and got off his horse with a cold expression. Xue Yuan followed behind him. Just as he was about to say something, he heard the Emperor say in a cold and stern tone, “Kneel.”

With a plop, all three people present knelt down.

Eyes down, head down, they knelt in a disciplined, submissive way.

Up until that point, Gu Yuanbai had punished Xue Yuan many times and showed him pain many times, but he still was not afraid of him.

“Xue Jiuyao, why are you so brave?” Gu Yuanbai’s tone showed neither joy or anger. “With such courage, We wonder, will you extend your hand to Our government affairs next time?”

Gu Yuanbai didn’t let him hug him, and Xue Yuan dared to hug him. After being told to let go, he pretended not to hear.

What sort of dog would be so disobedient?

Xue Yuan’s expression tensed up. He frowned and bowed deeply. “This official dares not, this official was wrong.”

The atmosphere was tense, almost as if frozen, and no one dared to even breathe loudly.

Xue Yuan repeated his plea.

“Official Xue,” the Emperor said in a light tone after a long time. “The horseshoe marks on this path are an eyesore. We punish you to sweep the path clean. You can come back inside when there are no marks left.”

“Yes.” Xue Yuan pressed his head down, making it impossible to discern his expression clearly. “This official will clean up the path.”

Xue Yuan said this thinking that he’d be done after a quarter of an hour or so.

The Emperor then sent someone to get the palace attendants to take the horses to go back and forth on the path. They had something on their hooves, either mud or horse dung. Xue Yuan stood blankly by the side, staring at the mud on the ground in silence.

The Emperor’s actions were so clear that it was obvious he didn’t worry about Xue Yuan understanding his purpose. He was telling Xue Yuan: We are not happy, We are not happy at all.

We can’t be bothered to punish you in any other way, so, since you don’t fear pain, then you can go and roll around in mud and horse dung.

His body might be soft, but his temper was iron solid.

Xue Yuan raised his right hand and looked at it for a while. Just when he was about to let it down, he noticed a light scent lingering on his hand. It was actually the same scent as the one coming from the handkerchief and the shirt that the Emperor wore, noble as well as extravagant. The scent of the palace incense, a pleasant scent that only aristocrats could use, would last for a long time after impregnating clothes.

My hands are now scented with the fragrance, just from the young Emperor sitting next to me for a while and bumping up and down against me a few times. Is the incense in the palace this powerful?

And the young Emperor who wore these clothes today, won’t his flesh smell equally fragrant as well?

Xue Yuan thought nonchalantly as he picked up the broom.

Gu Yuanbai, back in the bedroom, was not privy to these thoughts. The imperial doctor sent him the medicine and he applied it himself. After applying it, he put on his clothes and stood up again, the scent of the ointment expanding around the palace. Tian Fusheng, who had been standing by, asked in worry, “Your Highness, how is your injury?”

“It’s just a little bit of skin, when have We even suffered from such a minor wound?” Gu Yuanbai sat down casually and asked, “What did Prince Qi say?”

Tian Fusheng said, “His Highness Prince Qi has been begging to be granted an audience.”

Gu Yuanbai smiled slightly. “So he still has the guts to face Us?”

After giving the members of his clan a scare, the mansion was searched thoroughly, and, with people from the Supervision Office helping in the dark, the family really found some of Lu Feng’s supporters hiding there. The incident made the entire clan break into a cold sweat, and they burst into tears when they received a reward from Gu Yuanbai.

Prince Qi and his family4 were imprisoned mercilessly. Gu Yuanbai never held back from shaming those with hidden ambitions higher than the sky5 but no real power or ability to back them up.

However, he couldn’t go too far. Therefore, Prince Qi’s family enjoyed private cells, with delicious food and drinks every day and performances to see right before their eyes.6