Arc 3: Chapter 5
At night, Lin Yuan whispered next to Jiang Qian’s ear. His voice was half soft and half sweet, and like silk threads, wrapped around Jiang Qian.
“Your name is Jiang Qian, jiang from rivers and lakes, qian from migration. You’re Jiang Qian.”
“You’re super super awesome. You’re the first zhuangyuan in history to take first place in all six imperial exams. These exams are really hard, but you got first place every time, and in the end you became first in the country oh~”
When Lin Yuan thought of Jiang Qian’s achievements, his heart swelled with pride.
Hmph, his husband is so awesome, exams were nothing to be afraid of.
Lin Yuan chatted and chatted until he gradually became sleepy. His voice progressively quieted, and soon he leaned against the other and fell asleep.
Next to him, Jiang Qian had no changes. His eyes were as empty as before, as if he was a living corpse.
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Lin Yuan’s identity was the most treasured little prince of Prince Chu’s mansion, as the emperor bestowed him the title of prince when he was very young. And in charge of him was his mother, an elderly princess.
Jiang Qian’s entrance into the mansion and stay in the Ling Courtyard was witnessed by many people, and it was impossible to prevent the news from leaking to the elderly princess. t/n Ling Courtyard is the name of Ling Yuan's living courtyard in the mansion
Every time the elderly princess sent someone to inquire the latest news about her son, or the princess’ people in the mansion learnt of any matters, they would go report the news to Lin Qiu, Lin Xia’s older brother, who was the housekeeper of Ling Courtyard, and the one who managed Lin Yuan’s affairs.
On the seventh day after Jiang Qian arrived at Prince Chu’s mansion, Lin Qiu spoke to Lin Yuan: “Little prince, the elderly princess sent many people to investigate Sir Jiang. Since yesterday, the elderly princess has used various excuses to ask to meet the four personal maids and question them.”
At this time, Lin Yuan was feeding Jiang Qian porridge. Jiang Qian had been behaving very well in the past two days. He would eat whatever was fed to him. However, he still didn’t have enough consciousness to chew his food, and would swallow everything at once, so Lin Yuan could only feed him soup or soft porridge.
The physician had diagnosed that Jiang Qian’s body was too injured to prescribe more medication, so he had to eat first to replenish his health.
“Do you know what she asked?” Lin Yuan asked offhandedly, while he still focused on feeding Jiang Qian.
Lin Qiu looked at their interaction and was once again pondering over the relationship between the little prince and Sir Jiang. Lin Qiu had discovered Lin Yuan’s wound a couple of days ago, and then forced the reason out of his rigid little brother’s mouth. Ever since, he had a rather presumptuous idea.
The little prince might…… admire this Jiang liuyuan?
If so, many things suddenly made sense. For example, the little prince was now over 18 years old. At this age, other young masters had kids, but their little prince didn’t even have a wife. The four personal maids were carefully selected by the elderly princess, and each was virtuous and beautiful, but the little prince never spared a glance.
The little prince should have been waiting for this Jiang liuyuan right?
It would be acceptable if Jiang liuyuan was treated as a male pet, but if the little prince refused to get close to women for the other, then what about the century old inheritance of Prince Chu’s mansion?
Lin Qiu was worried. He hoped that the little prince would keep in mind the inheritance of the Lin Clan. If not, then hopefully later the eldest sister of the little prince, Princess Ping Yang, can birth a son.
“Answering the little prince, the elderly princess was curious about why you brought Jiang Qian out of Prince Yanping’s mansion. She asked what happened after Jiang Qian was brought into Ling Courtyard.”
Lin Yuan knew that it wasn’t only the elderly princess who was curious. The fact that he brought Jiang Qian away from the son of Prince Yanping had probably spread across the capital.
Even Emperor Liang might be curious about this matter. Likely in two days, during the monthly greeting, the emperor would ask him why he took Jiang Qian away.
What could he do? How could he convince everyone?
Lin Yuan brainstormed for a reason he could use to excuse his care for Jiang Qian that would not cause the officials and the emperor to refuse. He searched through his knowledge of this world, and finally found something that made his eyes brighten. Let Jiang Qian be his male pet!
En! This is it!
Let outsiders view Jiang Qian as his male pet, but at home, Jiang Qian would be treated as his princess, and he would be Jiang Qian’s wife~
Hehe, like roleplay.
Once he finished feeding Jiang Qian, he took out a handkerchief and wiped Jiang Qian’s mouth, and his movements were intimate and gentle.
Lin Qiu peeked at their interaction and lowered his head and didn’t dare look up again.
The little prince had such a high noble status, if he wasn’t enamored with Jiang Qian, how would he be willing to personally apply medicine and take care of Jiang Qian every day? If the Jiang family hadn’t fallen from grace, then the little prince would've probably hiden his affection for a lifetime. After all, Jiang liuyuan was such a successful figure with unrivaled talent, if he encountered no obstacles, he would’ve been quickly awarded the title of Marquis.
Lin Yuan looked at Lin Qiu and asked: “What did Lü Yi and the others say?”
Lin Qiu reported honestly: “Lü Yi and Hui Yue said that the little prince didn’t allow them to serve closely recently. They didn’t know that Lü Zhu and Qiu Yue had already revealed that you had slept in the same room with Sir Jiang Qian these days.”
Lin Yuan waved his hand and declared: “This prince wants to focus on taking care of Jiang Qian, so I will not pay attention to irrelevant matters. Deal with this matter as you see fit, but make sure that in this prince’s Ling Courtyard, there will never be two mouths that speak different words.”
Lin Qiu was a little surprised. The little prince was willing to drive away the people given by the elderly princess all for Jiang liuyuan. He even wanted to warn the elderly princess to not stretch her hands too far. t/n stretch your hands too far = meddling too much into someone's business
As per the little prince’s meaning, Lü Zhu and Qiu Yue could not stay by the little prince’s side.
Lin Qiu left and called for the four personal maids. He notified them that Lü Zhu and Qiu Yue could no longer enter the inner courtyard and could only work in the outer courtyard.
He deliberately conveyed this in front of Lü Yi and Hui Yue to also warn the two of the consequences of saying the wrong things.
Lin Qiu leisurely drank a sip of tea and said to the two maids: “Lü Yi, Hui Yue, I know that the elderly princess sent you here to serve the little prince, but if the little prince has no intention for that, then you should not cross the line. Today, the little prince drove away Lü Zhu and Qiu Yue, let this be a lesson to not talk nonsense.”
Lü Yi and Hui Yue tremblingly agreed. After they walked away, Hui Yue pulled the corner of Lü Yi’s clothes and fearfully asked: “Lü Yi, the way the little prince treats Sir Jiang, could he be… a cut sleeve…” t/n cut sleeve = gay
Lü Yi quickly covered Hui Yue’s mouth and looked around nervously: “It’s enough to know in your heart. If you say it loud, you’re looking for death.”
Hui Yue hurriedly nodded: “I know now.”
The two girls had been given orders before they were sent to Prince Chu’s mansion. Originally, they waited for the little prince to come of age and then wanted to serve the little prince well so that they could become a concubine of the little prince. But who would’ve thought that the little prince was a cut sleeve? And unexpectedly… was interested in Jiang liuyuan. In all honesty, they indeed were not comparable to Sir Jiang, so they didn't blame the little prince for not having them in his eyes.
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Lin Yuan intentionally let the matter spread that the little prince of the Lin Clan went to Prince Yanping’s mansion and asked for Jiang Qian, a sinful slave. He also added details of how he fell in love with Jiang Qian and let Jiang Qian be his male pet. In less than two days, everyone in the capital had heard of this rumor, including Emperor Liang.
Emperor Liang wanted to call Lin Yuan to come to the palace to ask him about the rumor, but he didn’t expect to receive a letter from Lin Yuan conveying that the little prince was only interested in men and not women. And now that he had fallen in love with the sinful Jiang Qian, he was ready to receive punishment.
Emperor Liang read the letter and was speechless at the little prince’s honesty.
When the elderly princess heard about this, she was furious and sent someone to call Lin Yuan over and scolded him. She ordered him to send Jiang Qian out of the mansion, marry a princess, and live quietly.
Lin Yuan ignored her words. He was now Jiang Qian’s gentle and virtuous wife, his most important task every day was to take care of Jiang Qian well.
He continued to give Jiang Qian medicine, feed him dinner, helped him shower and put on clothes, and slept next to him at night.
Lin Yuan called Jiang Qian’s name over and over again, every day.
Two months later, Jiang Qian finally gained more pounds of weight. He was no longer thin and sallow, but he was still skinny. Lin Yuan started to take him out on a walk in the yard every day. After walking, they sat on a stool under the eaves to bask in the sun together.
Lin Yuan wasn’t sure what Jiang Qian’s personality was like before. He only knew that Jiang Qian was so good-looking that he was the dream man of more than half of the girls in the capital. Now he could see that Jiang Qian had a beautiful androgynous face, and in a white outfit, he looked like an immortal from the heavens.
Whenever Jiang Qian sat outside, his blank eyes were fixed ahead. His skin was snow-white, and transparent enough to see veins. He emitted a sense of fragmented beauty. All of the servants working nearby would be stunned when they saw him.
Whenever this happened, Lin Yuan would block Jiang Qian’s face from their view. Hmph, this was his husband.
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That evening, Lin Yuan lay at Jiang Qian’s side and repeated the other’s name countless times as usual.
“You’re Jiang Qian… Your name is Jiang Qian…”
His arms were encircled around Jiang Qian’s neck, so he didn’t notice when the man’s red lips moved slightly.
Jiang…… Jiang…… Qian……
“Your name is Jiang Qian. jiang from rivers and lakes…”
Jiang…… Qian……
“qian from migration. Jiang Qian……”
“Jiang Qian……”
Lin Yuan heard a voice and subconsciously nodded: “Yes, yes, yes. It’s Jiang Qian--”
He suddenly sat up and looked at Jiang Qian in shock and asked: “What did you just say?”
The man’s pupils moved slightly, and his eyes were still empty but it seemed like he was looking at Lin Yuan. His lips moved again: “Jiang Qian……”