Chapter 32 – So This Is Lovesickness

You Shu had been recuperating in a separate courtyard for many days, but Xiao Weixin had still not sent him back [to the Shadow Guard Camp]. Not to mention that he is a person who can’t stay idle, the arrow wound was not actually that serious. He felt he had recovered in about half a month. As long as there is no serious movement, the wound would not tear again so it would be fine to let it recover slowly in its own time. There was no need to be so careful.

As the night deepened, the moon gradually rose. In the dead of the night, when all else was quiet, there was a burst of excitement in You Shu’s small courtyard.

Because he never went back [to the Camp after returning], the brothers in the Shadow Guard Camp were somewhat concerned and secretly came to visit him under the moonlight. They all knew that he had done well in protecting the prince this time, but it was extremely rare for the prince to attach so much importance to someone. They had never seen him give such special treatment to any other shadow guard. 

Ying Si [didn’t come empty-handed and] also brought fruit wine and peanuts. He is two years older than You Shu but he is more lively and fun-loving and is best at playing around and enjoying life. Carrying a wine jar, he visited the courtyard late at night with Ying Wu and Ying Liu and knocked on the window.

You Shu was asleep inside the room when he heard a familiar series of taps on the window. Recognizing the secret code commonly used in the Shadow Guard Camp, he quickly got out of bed and opened the window. Ying Si and the others snuck in quietly, smooth as loaches.

It was early spring and the nights were still cold. After the three of them came in, a chill spread through the room. You Shu quickly turned around to close the window and carefully lit the candle in the glazed lamp¹A cup made of colored glass or ceramic glaze.

on the table. The originally dark room was instantly filled with a hazy and dim light.

Ying Si spun around and looked around the bedroom where You Shu was [staying in while] recuperating and said enviously: “This house is so big. It’s almost as big as a family member’s.²The raws said “half a master”. Basically someone who is not the master of the house but has high enough status and respect. The internet mostly showed that it was used for concubines but I kept it like this.“

“The prince really treats you very differently.”

You Shu scratched his head. Even though his face was still expressionless as ever, a bit of embarrassment could be seen in the dim light: “The prince is like this… probably because I saved him.”

“Keep talking nonsense.” Ying Wu rolled his eyes, “Which one of us didn’t experience continuous life-and-death battles in that killing hell? Isn’t protecting the prince the reason Master Yingshou trains us?”

“If [you saving the prince] is the only reason, why don’t the rest of us brothers get this kind of treatment?”

Ying Liu nodded hurriedly, “Yeah, that’s right.”

Their praise almost pushed You Shu to cloud nine but then he remembered what had happened after he was proud of the favor a while ago³The time Xiao Weixin avoided him before the spring hunt, so he hurriedly whispered: “Don’t talk nonsense, I will have to go back sooner or later.”

Ying Si was sitting near the lamp, peeling peanuts and throwing them into his mouth, and suddenly said: “Speaking of which, [did you know that] Master Yingshou recently asked me to tail Lord Li from the Ministry of Officials? You guys definitely don’t know about his shocking scandal!”

Ying Si is the most gossipy and well-informed person in the Shadow Guard Camp. Occasionally, he shares innocuous tidbits of information with You Shu and the others, as long as the information wasn’t secret.

“What scandal?” Looking at his expression, You Shu couldn’t help but be a little curious.

Ying Si finished chewing the peanuts before continuing: “That Lord Li, he pretends to be a decent and well-mannered gentleman outside but it turns out that he is an old pervert in private! Out of all the maids in his house, as long as they are even slightly pretty, they can’t escape. In my opinion, he is even worse than Prime Minister Xia’s son. At least [Xia Huaizhang] is not hypocritical.”

“It is said that he has already made several maids pregnant but he is also afraid of his wife’s natal family.” Ying Si continued, “Isn’t his wife the sister of the Prime Minister’s wife?”

“In order to prevent those little maids from causing trouble in front of the madam, he would secretly order some people to strangle them to death and throw the corpses into the abandoned well in the backyard. When I passed through that part of the mansion, there was always a cold wind blowing and it felt creepy, as if something was climbing up the side of the well. It gave me goosebumps.”

Ying Liu looked disdainful, “If you ask me, a person like this is riddled with bad karma and something [bad] will happen to him sooner or later. Isn’t that how all those folktales go? Heaven is fair⁴天理昭昭 actually means that “The Law of Heaven is clear” but I preferred this..”

You Shu remembered this passage from the novel. This Li Liang holds the seat of Minister in the Ministry of Officials and is Prime Minister Xia’s brother-in-law⁵连襟 means husbands of sisters.. They are the same kind of people; treacherous and vile. It’s just that he is a hypocrite. He always pretends to be very serious and dignified and seems to be completely just and uncorrupt but, in fact, his actions are no less disgusting and despicable than Xia Huaizhang’s. Ying Si is right. In a sense, he is not as good as Xia Huaizhang.

He can be regarded as Prime Minister Xia’s right-hand man. If they succeed in removing him [from his post], Prime Minister Xia and his party would suffer a serious loss. It’s just that getting rid of him is too difficult.

The four of them drank together in the lamplight. You Shu was still injured and shouldn’t drink but Hua Chun had been monitoring him very closely. The fragrance of alcohol inevitably aroused his greed, so he drank a few cups. Anyways, it was done secretly and shouldn’t be a problem.

He drank happily here, while, on the other side, Xiao Weixin was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. Perhaps because he had slept too much during the day, he felt restless and couldn’t fall asleep peacefully. After turning over a few times, he simply got up, dressed and went out. The maid, who was keeping watch outside, was about to get up but was dismissed coldly.

Pulling a cloak over himself, Xiao Weixin walked out of the yard, alone in the moonlight. Ying Shi, who was lying on the roof, looked at Ying Ba with a confused face: “Ba ge, should we follow?”

“Do you still need to ask?” Ying Ba picked him up with one hand⁶I suddenly imagined him grabbing Ying Shi by the back of his neck like a cat holds its kittens and now I can’t get rid of that image. and the two of them silently followed him, protecting him at all times.

Xiao Weixin was walking in the courtyard, taking in the moonlit surroundings. When he reached the bridge, he stopped and looked down at the koi swimming in the pond. For some reason, he suddenly thought of the little shadow guard’s face again.

Really a demon⁷魔障 (demonic obstacle/barrier) generally refers to the setbacks and tribulations caused by others. Basically, it is becoming completely obsessed and enchanted by a certain person or thing and ignoring everything else.…

Xiao Weixin held his forehead helplessly. He feels like he has turned into a mad lunatic who would only think of the little shadow guard’s face, regardless of time or place.

When eating, he is in the bowl. When sleeping, he is in the bed curtain. When reading, he is in the ink.

Every moment, everywhere.

As long as he isn’t thinking of something, his face always appears in front of him. He couldn’t make it disappear no matter what he did.

Xiao Weixin raised his hand and placed it on his chest, feeling the erratic rhythm of his heart. This always happened these days, whenever he thought of him.

Why?

“Your Highness?”

Hua Chun held a lantern and looked at the pensive person who was still awake at this late hour in surprise. She quickly ran over to the pond and asked, “Why are you alone here?”

Xiao Weixin looked back at her, but didn’t reply and just continued to stare at the pond. Hua Chun took a few steps forward. She had just fallen asleep when the maid came to report that the prince was out alone, late at night. Hua Chun, who had always carefully taken care of his daily life and health, was worried so she quickly dressed, got a lantern and went to him.

“Your Highness, it’s still chilly in spring. It’s better to go back inside.” Hua Chun put the hand warmer she had brought into his hands and stepped back respectfully. She lowered her head and looked at the water that was gleaming silver in the moonlight, not knowing what he was looking at.

Xiao Weixin held the hand warmer and continued to think for a while then suddenly asked in a low voice: “You are a healer. If I have a disease, can you help me understand it?”

“What?” Hua Chun was shocked and hurriedly stepped forward to take his pulse. She had been taking good care of his body all these years and checked his condition every day. How come she didn’t know he was sick?

Xiao Weixin obediently handed over his wrist, and Hua Chun carefully checked the pulse through the thin inner robe,”The pulse is powerful and orderly. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong?”

“No.” Xiao Weixin said seriously, “It beats very fast.”

Hua Chun was a little confused: “It’s indeed a little fast but it isn’t an issue.”

“Why does Your Highness feel uncomfortable?”

Xiao Weixin hesitated for a while, raised his hand and touched his heart, frowning: “Hua Chun, I have no one to ask.”

“Lately, whenever I am alone, I keep thinking about someone. He constantly occupies my thoughts and keeps distracting me. I have never been so confused in all these years.”

“When I see him, I feel happy; but when I don’t see him, I feel restless and can’t sleep.”

“Whenever I think of him, my heart beats faster.”

“Tell me, why is this?”

Hua Chun was stunned when she heard what he said. She stared at her prince’s face for a long time without reacting.

Is this really their cold, indifferent, detached and self-possessed prince?

Looking at his perplexed face, how is it any different from the face of a young man who has just started to fall in love but doesn’t know it?

Although Hua Chun was so shocked inside that she almost forgot herself, she still had to pretend to be calm on the outside. After all, if she laughed out loud now, her whole salary would be taken away by their face-loving⁸Face-loving here means dignity-loving… basically he would be embarrassed and get angry because he got embarrassed prince.

“Your Highness, this is indeed a disease.” Hua Chun said softly, “Have you ever heard of ‘lovesickness’?”

Xiao Weixin’s heart beat violently, his eyes flickered a little, he pursed his lips and then said: “How to cure it?”

“There is no cure.” Hua Chun sighed, “Even if Your Highness wants to cure this disease, seeking medical advice would be a fruitless effort. For thousands of years, our ancestors have not been able to cure this disease, let alone a mere healer like myself.”

“However, if the prince really wants to see [that person], then he should go and see [them].” Hua Chun has been beside him for almost ten years and has witnessed his pain and the loneliness that has accompanied him for most of his life. Deep in her heart, her only wish is for him to be happy, even if only for a short time, “If there is no cure, then one can only follow their heart.”

Xiao Weixin looked down into the pond and thought for a while, “So, for him, I really feel…”

He stood by the bridge for a while, watching the occasional ripples in the water. At that moment, a light breeze blew and he suddenly felt his thoughts clear up, the final layer of hesitation disappearing [as if blown away by the breeze].

“Come with me to see [him].” Xiao Weixin turned around and said, “You might as well meet [him] first.”

Hua Chun actually had a vague idea. There was only one person she had seen him treat differently. If her guess was correct, it must be…

Under the moonlight, the two of them walked towards the side courtyard. On the way, Xiao Weixin’s slightly quickened footsteps gave away his excitement, like a naïve teenager using the night as a cover to secretly visit his beloved.

But You Shu didn’t know about this and was still drinking with Ying Si and the others. He couldn’t remember how many drinks he had but he had a good capacity for drinking. Besides, ancient wine didn’t have a very high alcohol content and wasn’t considered intoxicating.

Hearing the sudden knock on the door of the house, You Shu became confused.

Ying Si and the others were equally confused.

“It’s me.” Xiao Weixin was also confused. Why light the lamp in the middle of the night instead of going to sleep?

You Shu became completely panicked, feeling like a student whose teacher had caught him reading comics in class. Meanwhile, Ying Si and the others were scared witless and went to seek refuge under the table.

You Shu numbly stood up and went to open the door, trying to maintain his composure. When the door opened, it was indeed Xiao Weixin, “My lord.”

“En.” Xiao Weixin looked at his thoughtful attitude and felt that he was pleasing to the eye, no matter how he looked at him.

He was about to say something when he suddenly smelled the scent of wine and immediately frowned and said angrily: “You dare to drink [when injured]?”

Behind him, Hua Chun’s expression suddenly became fearsome. As a doctor, she couldn’t stand disobedient patients!

You Shu’s scalp went numb and he pointed at the little hamsters behind him and said, “The…the brothers came to visit.”

Xiao Weixin was very unhappy. Because of him, he has had trouble sleeping at night, but, here, the little shadow guard accompanied his brothers to drink and enjoy the good life.

It’s really infuriating.

Ying Ba, who was following Xiao Weixin, was also infuriated. These bastards dared to eat alone!???

Only the youngest Ying Shi didn’t understand the situation.

What happened to all of them?

• 1
  A cup made of colored glass or ceramic glaze.
  
  ↩︎
• 2
  The raws said “half a master”. Basically someone who is not the master of the house but has high enough status and respect. The internet mostly showed that it was used for concubines but I kept it like this. ↩︎
• 3
  The time Xiao Weixin avoided him before the spring hunt ↩︎
• 4
  天理昭昭 actually means that “The Law of Heaven is clear” but I preferred this. ↩︎
• 5
  连襟 means husbands of sisters. ↩︎
• 6
  I suddenly imagined him grabbing Ying Shi by the back of his neck like a cat holds its kittens and now I can’t get rid of that image. ↩︎
• 7
  魔障 (demonic obstacle/barrier) generally refers to the setbacks and tribulations caused by others. Basically, it is becoming completely obsessed and enchanted by a certain person or thing and ignoring everything else. ↩︎
• 8
  Face-loving here means dignity-loving… basically he would be embarrassed and get angry because he got embarrassed ↩︎