Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

87. Elder Zhou Got Angry (1)

Translator: Flying Lines

“Teacher.” Seeing that Zhou Zaiyue was walking towards him, Xiao Shengnian greeted him first.

Zhou Zaiyue’s gaze rested on Xiao Shengnian, but the topic of his words was about Su Jie. “He’s hurt again?”

“I have not looked after him well.” Xiao Shengnian’s expression revealed a hint of regret.

“Where is he hurt?”

“On his chest.”

“… it’s an internal injury again?” Zhou Zaiyue was somewhat exasperated as he looked at Su Jie, a hint of blame in his eyes.

“Again?” Xiao Shengnian narrowed his eyes and turned his head to look at Su Jie.

“Yes. I understand this is that brat Prince Qin’s doing?” Zhou Zaiyue was so angry that his mustache trembled. He let out a ‘humph!’ and started to badmouth Xiao Luoxuan and the Guqin Master in his heart.

“Eh? You guys are definitely hiding something from me.” The moment Xiao ShengXian started to whine, his brother gave him a look that silenced him. Xiao Shengnian glanced at the bathtub in the courtyard and understood what Zhou Zaiyue was preparing to do. He said mildly, “Looks like teacher is going to give Nianxuan a herbal bath. ShengXian, let’s go to the Pavilion of Ningfeng. We can leave this to my teacher.”

“Sure.” Xiao ShengXian could not wait to figure out what was happening, and this was a perfect chance to talk with his brother at the Pavilion of Ningfeng. As for Su Jie having a herbal bath, well, that wasn’t his business.

“Go on, then.” Zhou Zaiyue nodded and watched as the brothers left.

Su Jie was waiting for Zhou Zaiyue to lecture him, but unexpectedly, he only said, “Wait here. There are still two more medicines to decoct. Enter the bath after you have drunk them.”

After he finished talking, he ordered servants to carry the bathtub inside the room. He also filled it with another quarter of hot water. Steam rose up and warmed the room.

Su Jie saw that Zhou Zaiyue was ignoring him and smiled bitterly inside his heart. This old man was angry, and he was expressing his unhappiness like this. Looked like he would have to be the one to break the silence.

“Elder Zhou…” The moment Su Jie opened his mouth, Zhou Zaiyue turned around. His ears perked, scared that he was going to miss a single word.

“Elder Zhou, don’t be angry. It was worth being injured today. At least I’ve fully let it go now. When the poison is cured, there won’t be anything in State Yanhui holding me back.” Su Jie sighed.

“That’s good.” Zhou Zaiyue turned, and there was the usual serene expression. He also let out a soft sigh. “If I found Your Highness earlier…”

“Is the medicine ready?” Su Jie interrupted Zhou Zaiyue. He massaged his temples worriedly. He hated hearing Zhou Zaiyue blaming himself. To be honest, he had never blamed anyone no matter what he went through all these years.

“The medicine still needs a bit more time.” Although Zhou Zaiyue knew a lot and had great medical skills, he was just an ordinary old man in some aspects. He couldn’t help but nag a little, but it was these kinds of sentimental words that Su Jie hated hearing the most. Su Jie never knew how to respond to such words, so he didn’t like to hear them.

Seeing that Su Jie wasn’t willing to dwell on this topic any longer, Zhou Zaiyue switched to another subject, and said, “General Ju Liandao is already prepared to receive Your Highness. However, undoing the poison is not an easy feat. You must have herbal baths for at least a month. We can force the Death Gu out after a month, but because it has been in your body for a long time, it will take a while to cleanse the residual poison. However, as long as the Death Gu is out of your body, Your Highness can return to Yanling with me.”

“Hm.” Su Jie nodded.

Zhou Zaiyue added, “Also, General Ju Liandao heard that Your Highness does not have a wife, so he has picked out two pretty girls especially for you.”

“… I’m afraid this won’t work.” The corner of Su Jie’s lips twitched as he rejected the offer.

“What won’t work? Despite Your Highness having an unusual relationship with State Yanhui’s Prince Rui, there is no need to pay heed to State Yanhui’s customs. State Yanling is not as traditional as State Yanling. Even if young men from ordinary families became wives of wealthy families and then are sent home after becoming of age, they still have the right to marry and have children to further their family lines. Furthermore, Your Highness is the crown prince. It is only logical to have a harem of three thousand beauties. I hope Your Highness won’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Zhou Zaiyue was trying his best to convince Su Jie. Because of having been a man of sacrifice and stayed in State Yanhui for so many years, he was terrified of Su Jie accepting only one man in his entire life and rejecting the notion of a harem. That would be very troubling.

If the person His Highness accepted was a woman, then it would have been fine. But the person who slept in the same bed and shared the same pillow with His Highness was a man. There were few people left in State Yanling’s royal family, and Su Jie was the only male left in this generation. Besides, the princess, who belonged to the royal family, had gone missing for many years. Zhou Zaiyue couldn’t help but worry about the problem of Su Jie’s relationships.

“We can consider this later.” Su Jie shirked from the topic.

“I just wanted to instill some ideas into Your Highness in advance. If Your Highness is in love with Prince Rui, it won’t be a problem to have him marry into Yanling.”

“Xiao Shengnian marrying in?” Su Jie’s eyes widened in shock.