Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

1. First Meeting with Prince Rui

Translator: Flying Lines

Night wind rustled the tree leaves outside as the moon shed silvery light down the silent world. By the crystal-clear moonlight, Su Jie stood before the window with a look of struggle.

He stood there in silence, an air of despair around him. Finally, he walked out with a heavy heart.

He was Prince Qin’s guard. A famine broke out in the village he stayed when he was young, and it was Prince Qin who saved him and cultivated him to be one of his Men of Sacrifice. But five years ago, Prince Qin found him extremely good-looking, thus changed his mind to turn him into an assassin.

But Su Jie was confused why Prince Qin would have someone teach him those fancy skills like poetry and painting, which, he believed, was useless for an assassin.

Now he got it.

“Your mission is to gain Prince Rui’s trust.”

“What should I do?”

The guqin master plucked a string and the tone suddenly turned melancholy, “Prince Rui is gay.”

Su Jie’s countenance changed.

The guqin master continued, “This is your master’s order.”

Su Jie lowered his gaze, suddenly being drained off the last bit of energy.

Prince Qin was his master, also his savior, and the one he loved for all these years.

Prince Qin wanted the throne. But Prince Rui was most favored by the emperor, thus was one of the obstacles he had to remove.

“So that’s it. He gave the order to let me approach Prince Rui.”

Su Jie was his secret weapon, the best candidate for the mission.

“I get it,” Su Jie replied, his long eyelashes leaving a light shadow on his fair face under the moonlight.

He faked an encounter. An accident where he got injured and left unconscious in the bush by the road.

It was rumored that Prince Rui was a man with a kind heart and a composed nature that the emperor liked the most. A son who was filial, kind and knowledgeable. And above all else, he didn’t seem to be interested in the throne.

However, Prince Qin didn’t believe Prince Rui to be someone this meek and uninterested in the throne. Therefore, he sent Su Jie to test him out.

The place was nicely chosen, a path where Prince Rui would pass on a daily basis. By his kind nature, he would surely save Su Jie.

Everything went on as expected. Prince Rui found Su Jie unconscious in the bush, had him brought to his mansion and sent for a doctor to treat him.

The only pity was that Su Jie never got a chance to meet this prince.

With his injury healed, this night would be his last chance or he would be asked to leave.

Su Jie decided to take some actions. He stole his way to Prince Rui’s study, not alarming any guard in the mansion.

“Who’s that?” Prince Rui Xiao Shengnian’s voice was gentle and nonchalant.

Su Jie pushed the door open and walked in after merely a second hesitation.

“Who are you?” Xiao Shengnian asked with a frown, confusion in his eyes, and his handsome face displayed the gentle warmth of spring under the swaying candlelight.

The next second, Xiao Shengnian’s frown resolved. “You must be the unconscious boy I brought back.”

“Thanks for saving my life,” Su Jie said, not much respect in his tone.

To make his disguise perfect and seamless, he faked an identity of a Jianghu boy hunted by killers. So he had to stay true to his image of an unruly and arrogant Jianghu boy who wouldn’t pay much respect even before a prince.

Xiao Shengnian still wore that gentle and graceful smile, not showing any anger toward Su Jie’s impertinence.

“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” said Su Jie while deliberately showing some shyness.

Xiao Shengnian was unmoved, “Tell me first.”

“I want to stay here.” Su Jie went straight to the point with the exact purity and frankness a young boy should have, not exposing any flaws in his words.

Xiao Shengnian just looked at him with his gentle smile, “Why?”

Su Jie’s brows corrugated in a frown. The handsome boy now wore a troubled look as he couldn’t find a justifiable one to let Prince Rui keep him.

Xiao Shengnian’s smile remained gentle and unchanged, which under the warm candlelight, added a touch of serene grace to him.

The two lapsed into silence. The swaying candlelight somehow generated some tenderness between the two in the room.

Just as awkwardness began to pervade, Su Jie braced himself up, threw his arms around Xiao Shengnian’s neck and landed a kiss on Xiao’s lips in a rather inexperienced yet firm manner.

Xiao Shengnian was rendered in a daze as surprise and also traces of incredibility flashed across his usually calm eyes…

Never had he expected that he, a noble prince, would be taken advantage of by a comely young boy.

The kissed only lasted a second when Su Jie pulled himself away.

Xiao Shengnian’s smile disappeared as he stared at Su Jie, unfathomable look in his eyes.

Su Jie was a bit flustered as he didn’t know whether Prince Rui would be attracted by him. And currently they were in a somewhat awkward situation.

“I don’t need any male concubines,” Xiao Shengnian’s lips moved as he leaned slightly forward. His face still looked gentle under the candlelight yet the nobility and majesty he was born with was still intimidating.

He continued, “My house never keeps anyone useless. Tell me what you’re capable of.”

Su Jie answered after some ponderation, “I can fight, I know kung fu.”

“With your shallow martial cultivation?” Xiao Shengnian laughed, “And what else?”

“I know a thing or two about guqin, chess, painting and poetry.”

Xiao Shengnian didn’t make any comment this time.

Su Jie, however, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It would be best that Prince Rui didn’t like him. After, it was Prince Qin Xiao Luoxuan that he truly loved.

But soon he was slapped right in the face by reality. Prince Rui closed the book in his hand and cracked a light smile, “You’re a lucky boy. I’m in a good mood today, so yes you can stay.” With that he poured himself a cup of tea and asked, “What’s your name?”

Su Jie stood straight and cupped his fists like most Jianghu people would, “Wen Nianxuan.” [Note, Nian in Chinese means miss sb. Here in this context, it means Su Jie still misses Xuan as in Prince Qin Xiao Luoxuan.]

Wearing a faint smile, Xiao Shengnian opened his mouth after taking a sip of the tea, “I don’t like that name. Your name is Xiaonu from this moment on.” [Note, Xiaonu means little slave.]

Su Jie, eyes wide open in surprise, blurted, “Why?” The name Xiaonu sucks, he thought.

“Because you want to stay.” While saying that, Xiao Shengnian lowered his gaze to the tea in his hand, thus Su Jie missed the cold sneer in the eyes of this noble and graceful Prince Rui. “So you must do something to please me, right?”

“I won’t.” Su Jie refused and turned around to leave. He must show his own pride and not yield easily at all his requests, or this Prince Rui would doubt his true intention.

Though Prince Rui didn’t have any trust in him, it made sense as trust took time to build. As long as he could stay, he would soon or later gain his trust.

Su Jie strode to the door and cursed inwardly as he reached out to push the door, “Why doesn’t he stop me? He truly wants me to leave? But those romance stories always…”

However, before his hand touched the door, he felt a strong hand by his waist and was pulled back into Xiao Shengnian’s arm.

Su Jie was stunned. Intelligence he had gained stated that Prince Rui knew no kung fu but if that was true, then how could he get to his back so quick and unnoticed?

“I didn’t let you leave.” Xiao Shengnian’s voice was bland, with some unruliness coloring his tone. His eyes looked cold as he pressed his lips onto Su Jie’s. “You’re the first one to provoke me.”