Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

88. Elder Zhou Got Angry (2)

Translator: Flying Lines

Su Jie’s eyes widened in shock and he found the idea fairly hilarious. Even though Xiao Shengnian looked like a gentle person, in his core, he was overbearing. Also, he was a distinguished prince, as well as a son the Emperor adored. There was no way he would marry into Yanling!

“If the Lan Buhui is overthrown, then Your Highness will be Yanling’s only Emperor. With Your Highness’s distinguished status, State Yanhui wouldn’t hesitate to accept the marriage if a proposal is sent to them.” Zhou Zaiyue regarded State Yanling as his pride, but he wasn’t exaggerating. State Yanhui had had peace for many years. Although the Emperor had been ruling diligently, he had become more ambitious and eager to invade the surrounding states. However, the majority of State Yanhui’s civilians yearned for a stable life. After all, ordinary citizens wanted peace and prosperity. Not only that, the warriors situated on State Yanhui’s borders hadn’t had the experiences of war honing their skills for too long a time. Thus, they lacked both hands-on experience and tactical skills.

On the other hand, State Yanling was different. State Yanling’s citizens believed in the immortal, and the strength of their beliefs was strong. They had always yearned for the country to be unified and placed their hopes on members of the royal family, who were the descendants of the immortal, to overthrow the Lan Buhui’s reign and rebuild Yanling’s royal court. In these few years, Lan Buhui actually only had control of Yanling’s capital and its surrounding cities. Most of the other city officials held prejudice against Lan Buhui. But because General Ju Liandao couldn’t find anyone of royal blood, they simply watched on. The cohesive force of State Yanling’s military was very strong. If Su Jie returned, then the morale of the warriors was bound to rocket. The unification of the royal court was not a fever dream.

“Can I tell Xiao Shengnian about my identity?” Su Jie suddenly asked.

“No. Your Highness’s identity must be kept secret. The fewer who know, the safer Your Highness will be.”

“Oh, so when we leave, we will leave quietly and won’t let Xiao Shengnian know, right?” Su Jie nodded and asked once more.

“Your Highness wants to tell Shengnian?”

“No, I think we should leave silently. It would be best if we didn’t alert anyone.”

“This is exactly as I was hoping for.” Zhou Zaiyue grinned.

After waiting for the medicine to be decocted and cool enough to drink, Su Jie took a sip from the bowl. Immediately, his expression twisted, and he almost spat it out, and frowned. “It’s so bitter.”

“Although good medicine cures sickness, it is often unpalatable. Your Highness has suffered.” Zhou Zaiyue’s gaze did not waver. He often worked with these herbs all year round, and he had found the taste of decocted medicine to be wonderous.

“I hate drinking medicine.” Su Jie muttered. He pinched his nose and finished the medication in large gulps. He was still frowning, obviously unused to the taste.

Zhou Zaiyue chuckled. He had servants add hot water twice more, reached his hand in to test the water temperature, and said, “The water a little too warm, but that’s fine since the Death Gu has been inside Your Highness’s body for so long. If Your Highness thinks the temperature is alright, then you can enter the bath now.”

“Sure.” Su Jie nodded. Just as he was getting ready to disrobe, he discovered that Zhou Zaiyue didn’t plan to leave. Su Jie couldn’t help but feel awkward. Did Elder Zhou want to watch him bathe?

“A patient should not avoid a doctor. Besides, Your Highness is the crown prince. You should have people serving you as you bathe.” Zhou Zaiyue said as if he could see Su Jie’s awkwardness.

Su Jie didn’t have much to hide from Zhou Zaiyue. He saw the old man as an elder, and so he didn’t hesitate to disrobe. The youth’s body was slim and slender, and his skin was delicate and fair. There were no scars.

“Your Highness… I’m going to ask a rude question, but when you were a man of sacrifice, have you ever been hurt?”

“I have. At the very start, being injured was a normal occurrence, but the Guqin Master applied some medical cream whenever I was hurt so that when the injuries healed, they wouldn’t leave scars. I originally thought having scars was a pretty good thing because it showed that I’ve been through lots. But then, they all disappeared.” Su Jie was immersed in the tub. The slightly-too-hot water caused his blood to run quicker, and his face took on a rosy complexion, making him look more livelier.

“Did the Guqin Master treat all his men of sacrifice like this, or was it only Your Highness?” When Zhou Zaiyue heard what Su Jie said, he became suspicious. He and Hu Qin were acquaintances. Hu Qin never did anything that wouldn’t give him something in return. He had never heard of Hu Qin preparing such precious ointments for men of sacrifice.

“Because I followed him around, he gave these ointments only to me.” Su Jie answered.

Zhou Zaiyue answered as he poured medicine into the bathtub. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and his face revealed a relieved expression. “Fine, today’s herbal bath is finished. There’s no need to bathe too long. You can come out after the water has cooled a little.”