Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

144. The Runaway Emperor (3)

Translator: Flying Lines

“Mmm, they’ve got another cook,” Su Jie nodded.

Late last night, after Tuoba Qingheng fell asleep, the waiter colluded with the cook and blew the incense that would cause people to become unconscious into their room. Su Jie was always alert and the tiniest movements such a breeze or a rustle of grasses could wake him up. When he heard people whispering outside the house, Su Jie silently walked to the door, stood straight there and held his breath.

When the waiter and the cook opened the door, they saw a man standing in front of them and were almost scared to death.

Shouldn’t the people in the room be unconscious? Then who was standing at the door like a ghost?

Still suffering from the shock, the waiter and the cook cried in fear, while Su Jie said nothing. He tapped their acupoints to make them unable to speak. Then he grabbed them and beat them.

Not until the two of them had bloody noses and swollen faces did Su Jie tie them up, stuff their mouths and throw them into the stable.

On the other hand, Tuoba Qingheng breathed in the incense last night and fell asleep. He had no idea what had happened.

“They did the right thing by changing the chef. Only when the food is delicious can they attract more guests. With the cooking last night, no wonder the inn’s business is not good,” Tuoba Qingheng was wearing the clean clothes that the waiter bought him yesterday and touched his stomach contentedly.

Su Jie hold his tongue. In fact, he made this meal. The chef was still in the stable. Su Jie had to cook himself.

“When I open an inn in the future, I’ll hire the person who makes this breakfast.” Tuoba Qingheng didn’t know that the chef he praised was the man he was talking to, and he didn’t know that Su Jie, who was sitting and eating with him, was the emperor of State YanLing. He was fortunate enough to eat the first meal the young emperor made after coming to State YanLing, and he was talking big about hiring the Emperor as his cook.

“Forget it, will you? I’m paying for everything, and you’re talking about hiring me?” Su Jie glanced at him coldly.

“You… You made this breakfast?” Tuoba Qingheng was shocked. He thought that Young Hero Wen was excellent at martial arts, but he didn’t expect him to be able to cook.

“In order to enjoy the food, of course, I know how to cook,” Su Jie used to live in City Yang and every day he made three meals for himself. And as time went by, he became a master at cooking.

“Young Hero Wen, if anyone marries you in the future, she’ll, without doubt, be the luckiest girl in the world,” Tuoba Qingheng didn’t know that he was the one who was going to marry Su Jie.

Su Jie ignored Tuoba Qingheng’s teasing. He got the ingredients for Tuoba Qingheng’s disguise ready and told Tuoba Qingheng to sit still.

Tuoba Qingheng closed his eyes and said nervously, “Young hero, although I don’t rely on my face, don’t ruin my face just because I look good.”

“It’s good if your face is ruined. It’ll save you from being caught and married to some man as a concubine.” Su Jie applied medicine on Tuoba Qingheng’s face and asked, “Do you know who you are going to be married to as a concubine?”

“I know, but I dare not say it,” Tuoba Qingheng snorted.

Su Jie paused and frowned.

Don’t dare say it?

Could it be that Tuoba Qingheng’s future husband does all kinds of evil and always get away with it?

Having sensed Su Jie’s seriousness, Tuoba Qingheng explained, “The truth is, my family wants to marry me to that person. The rumors say that that person is not bad, but my family needs to ask him for a favor, so they’re marrying me to him in exchange for the country…in exchange for the family stability.”

Tuoba Qingheng put it in a euphemistic way, as he knew that most of the people in State YanLing believed in gods. Had he said that he was gonna marry the new Emperor of State YanLing, perhaps Young Hero Wen might have a change of heart and took him to the capital.

Tuoba Qingheng hid his identity, but he didn’t know that Su Jie’s identity was even more ridiculous. The two people who should have met in the palace were now in the City of Divine Light.

“Where do you plan to start your spice business?” Su Jie nodded. He could tell that Tuoba Qingheng didn’t want to go into details about that matter, so he stopped asking and changed the topic.

“The City of Divine Light,” Tuoba Qingheng didn’t want to go to the capital because the capital was where the Emperor lived, and he should’ve been married to the Emperor and be his concubine. If one day he was caught, it was unknown what would be awaiting him.

“Okay. I have something to deal with, so I will leave City of Divine Light today. Before I leave, I will help you get rid of those who’re chasing you, “Su Jie skillfully applied medicine on Tuoba Qingheng’s face. Unfortunately, he did not have a ready-made disguise, otherwise it would be much easier.

Su Jie used a special disguise method. As long as Tuoba Qingheng cleaned his face with special medical liquid tonight, he would take off a layer of disguise skin. From then on, he could wear the disguise skin with water every morning, so he could maintain his disguised appearance.

Tuoba Qingheng was too beautiful and didn’t know martial arts, it was inevitable that he would encounter inconveniences from business. That was why Su Jie chose to use disguise.

“Young Hero Wen, I’m starting to admire you…” Tuoba Qingheng squinted and snorted. Suddenly, he seemed to have remembered something as he stared at Su Jie.

“What’s wrong?”

“Young Hero Wen, you’re also wearing a disguise, right?” Tuoba Qingheng asked.

Su Jie didn’t refute or admit it. He pursed his lips and continued with the application, saying in a flat tone, “Close your eyes.”

Tuoba Qingheng did as he said, but he was more convinced that Su Jie had used a disguise on his face. He wondered what Young Hero Wen looked like.

He didn’t stop wondering about it until he heard Su Jie telling him that it was over. Tuoba Qingheng looked at his face in the mirror.

The teenager in the mirror had a slightly handsome face, with only the eyes as agile as before. The appearance was not very outstanding, but people would feel very comfortable at the first glance of it.

“Young Hero Wen, you can disguise me like this. Your skills are amazing,” Tuoba Qingheng looked at the mirror for a while before looking up.

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment to me,” Su Jie smiled. After paying the bill, he left the inn with Tuoba Qingheng.

As for the waiter and the cook who were thrown into the stable by Su Jie last night, they were already suffering from hunger and cold. After they were found out and rescued, both of them got seriously sick. The innkeeper meant to report to the government, but the waiter and the cook make an ambiguous statement and couldn’t say anything. From then on, the two of them became honest citizens.

Su Jie and Tuoba Qingheng walked on the road. It was still early and there were only a few stalls on the street. Tuoba Qingheng was very interested in walking up and talking to the stall owners along the road. He didn’t properly enjoy the landscape and culture of State YanLing on his way here. He was free now and felt that everything was appealing to him.

Feeling bored, Su Jie just waited and did not urge Tuoba Qingheng to continue their journey.

At that moment, Su Jie saw a group of soldiers running in the distance. They seemed to be in a hurry. And they placed a notice on the wall at intervals. When they came near Su Jie, he glanced at the notice.

A beauty was drawn on the notice.

“The Prince of State Xi was kidnapped and went missing in the City of Divine Light. From now on, people are only allowed to enter the City of Divine Light and not to leave here until the prince is found…” Su Jie looked at the text in the notice and his expression became strange.

There was no doubt that the beauty painted on the notice was Tuoba Qingheng.

Tuoba Qingheng also noticed what those soldiers were doing. He had been tensed up these days. At first, when he saw the soldiers, he subconsciously wanted to avoid them. Then he remembered that his face was disguised and he didn’t need to hide anymore.

However, when he noticed that Su Jie had read the notice, Tuoba Qingheng felt anything but reassuring.

Although he thought that Su Jie was a good man, but… he wouldn’t know if Young Hero Wen, who was good at martial arts, cooking and disguising, would hand him over or not?

Tuoba Qingheng was nervous. He understood that many people who knew martial arts in State YanLing dreamed of achieving success and winning recognition to serve the country some day in the future. Although Young Hero Wen was a little bit too indifferent, he looked like a decent man.

“Young Hero Wen…” Tuoba Qingheng couldn’t tell how he was feeling right now. He sighed and lowered his head as if he had accepted his fate.

Am I gonna be sent to the palace?

Tuoba Qingheng felt depressed and desperate. He didn’t know how good the guards of the imperial palace of State YanLing were. Perhaps he would be able to escape after entering the palace for a while. And he didn’t want to marry to someone who he didn’t love, even if that person was the Emperor of State YanLing.

“Let’s go.” After knowing Tuoba Qingheng’s true identity, Su Jie’s mouth twitched. He did not expect the beautiful young man standing next to him to be the concubine sent to him by State Xi. And that made Su Jie’s mood a little subtle.

Tuoba Qingheng thought that Su Jie wanted him to ‘turn himself in’, so he angrily took out the 10,000 taels that he got from Su Jie and said with fury, “Young Hero Wen, I know that people like you are loyal, patriotic and faithful. Although I have concealed my identity earlier, you’re breaking your promise by taking me back to those who want me. Our previous agreement is invalid and you can have your money back. You saved me before, and now you’re taking me back to my captors. We are even now!”

“Who said I’m taking you back to your captors?” Su Jie glanced at Tuoba Qingheng coldly. Although this young man was not bad-looking, Su Jie had promised Xiao Shengnian that he would not have any concubines, so he would definitely not take Tuoba Qingheng as his concubine.

“You…” Tuoba Qingheng couldn’t believe it. Su Jie wouldn’t take him back to his captors? The government would give a handsome reward to those who caught him, which was enough to make ordinary people crazy. As long as Su Jie handed him over, he’d get an official job and a promising future. Didn’t he want that?

Su Jie didn’t tell him his identity, and he just said coldly, “You can’t stay in the City of Divine Light anymore. Let me see if I can bribe the gatekeepers and get you out of here. Yesterday, I thought I saved a rich young man, but now I know that I’ve brought trouble to myself.”

“I…” Tuoba Qingheng’s lips moved, and mere words weren’t enough for him to express the gratitude in his heart. He followed Su Jie all the way to the gate of City of Divine Light with a complicated mood.

“What are you doing?! No one is allowed to leave the city! “The guard looked solemn, and he blocked Su Jie’s path with the weapon in his hand.

“Sir, my brother and I came from the capital. We are in a hurry to go back home to visit my seriously ill mother…” Su Jie put a silver ingot into the soldier’s hands.

“Still no,” the soldier refused Su Jie coldly without even looking at the ingot.

Was he kidding? The one who went missing in the City of Divine Light was the future concubine of the Emperor. They didn’t have the nerve to let anyone go. Whatever it took, they had to find the prince of the State Xi.

“We’re really in a hurry,” Su Jie looked anxious and tried for a while to convince the soldier before he reluctantly went back to the city with Tuoba Qingheng.

“What should we do now?” Tuoba Qingheng remembered that the waiter in the inn had seen his real appearance, and he was a little worried. He was also afraid that he might get Su Jie into trouble.