Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

152. Xiao Shengnian Was Degraded (2)

Translator: Flying Lines

Prince Rui’s Residence.

Two expressionless guards were standing at the gate of the Prince Rui’s residence. At this moment, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of the gate of Prince Rui’s residence. A slender young man came down from the carriage. He looked up at the three words “Prince Rui’s Residence” and took a deep breath.

“I’m looking for Prince Rui,” the young man looked handsome. Although he was not an unparalleled man, the aura he gave off was extremely clear and refreshing, just like a clean lotus in the water.

When the two guards saw that he was dressed in extraordinary clothes, and they heard that his tone was commanding, they didn’t dare to neglect him. One of the guards asked, “May I ask your name?”

“Wu Liumou.”

“Please wait a moment.” One of the guards went inside to report, while the other guard continued to stand at the door.

After a while, the butler of the mansion chuckled and brought Wu Liumou into the mansion.

Wu Liumou followed the butler all the way to a chic building, where Xiao Shengnian, who wore a blue and beautiful robe, sat in there.

Seeming to have sensed the arrival of Wu Liumou, Xiao Shengnian turned his head slightly and smiled. His expression was warm and calm as the flowing water, and there was a faint alienation in the depths of his eyes.

Wu Liumou was so excited that he finally saw the person he couldn’t stop thinking about. Joy welled up in his eyes. He walked to the stone table quickly with his eyes fixated on Xiao Shengnian, unwilling to look away for even a second.

“Take a seat,” Xiao Shengnian nodded.

As he said, Wu Liumou sat opposite to Xiao Shengnian. A maid brought a cup of hot tea and put it on the table in front of him.

When the maid left, Wu Liumou picked up the cup of tea on the stone table and took a sip, but only his lips were covered with tea. He looked at Xiao Shengnian, and his red lips seemed moist and seductive because of the tea. His eyes curved into a crescent moon-like shape and smiled, “Brother Xiao, it’s been years since I last saw you. I… miss you very much.”

“Thanks,” Xiao Shengnian’s voice was gentle and one couldn’t hear any emotional fluctuations.

Wu Liumou did not care about Xiao Shengnian’s coldness at all. His expression showed a trace of anticipation, and the corner of his lips curved with a smile that looked just perfect.

Wu Liumou and Xiao Shengnian had known each other since they were young, but they had been separated for five or six years. Originally, he was worried that Xiao Shengnian would forget him. He never imagined that after he reported his name, he would be invited into his residence very smoothly.

After entering Prince Rui’s residence, Wu Liumou found it hard to remain calm. However, due to the good etiquette education he received from childhood, Wu Liumou maintained a dignified posture, but his slightly forward body betrayed his thoughts.

He smiled and asked, “Brother Xiao, have you…missed me?”

When he asked this question, Wu Liumou was nervous. He remembered that Brother Xiao always protected him when he was a child, like a tree blocking the rain. As long as Brother Xiao was around, he would be at ease.

“Never.”

Xiao Shengnian was straightforward. As far as he could remember, Wu Liumou was a crybaby. Whenever bullied, he would timidly hide behind other people. He didn’t look like a boy at all. Xiao Shengnian hated weak people who only sought protection, so he had a bad impression of Wu Liumou.

If Xiao Shengnian didn’t meet anyone he liked now, he might go against his will and say “I miss you a lot” to Wu Liumou, but now that he had Su Jie, he was unwilling to have an ambiguous relationship with others.

“Brother Xiao…” Wu Liumou’s face turned pale. He didn’t expect Brother Xiao, who had always been gentle and amiable in his memory, to speak so coldly to him. He had fantasized about what he should say after meeting Xiao Shengnian countless times, but he didn’t expect that the first sentence Xiao Shengnian said to him would embarrass him so much.

However, Wu Liumou quickly adjusted his posture and giggled. His laughter was as clear as a wind-bell ringing. His tone sounded like he was blaming, but it didn’t make people feel disgusted, “Brother Xiao, I miss you so much, but you are so heartless.”

Wu Liumou didn’t mean to blame anyone by what he said. It sounded more like self-deprecation, making others feel pity for him.

However, Xiao Shengnian was not moved. Xiao Shengnian had been disguising himself with a gentle and filial appearance for so many years, and his calmness and composure were far beyond that of the ordinary people. He lightly sipped his tea, and his movements were elegant and noble, as if he had tacitly acknowledged the word ‘heartless’.

Wu Liumou was a little flustered. The reason why he rushed to find Xiao Shengnian was because he heard that Xiao Shengnian was going to get married, and the consort was an ordinary teenager. He heard that this young man’s surname was Wen. Wu Liumou originally came here to find a chance to see the young man who was surnamed Wen. He believed that when he showed up, Brother Xiao would definitely give up on marrying the young man who was surnamed Wen.

Wu Liumou came from a noble family. He was endowed with both beauty and talent and he had a lot of power. In his eyes, ordinary people were not worthy of Xiao Shengnian. Only he was qualified to stand beside him.

“Brother Xiao, I heard that you’re getting married?”

Wu Liumou suppressed his unhappiness and asked with a smile.

As the saying went, one couldn’t beat someone who was smiling to them, Xiao Shengnian naturally couldn’t get angry with Wu Liumou, but Xiao Shengnian didn’t want to mention it, because Su Jie returned to State YanLing. Right after Xiao Shengnian was scolded by the Emperor, the officials from the Ministry of Rites made a long statement about the dates of birth of Xiao Shengnian and Mister Wen at the court, and described them as the best pair in both the Heaven and the Earth. Then the official found a good excuse and said that they two could only be married after Mister Wen was 20 years old.

Therefore, the wedding ceremony of Xiao Shengnian and Su Jie was scheduled to be held next year. After all, an emperor should always mean what he said, so Xiao Shengnian couldn’t ask the Emperor to take back his words about the marriage, but the future principle concubine was nowhere to be found. The officials from the Ministry of Rites could only complain silently and delay the date of the marriage.

“Yes, I have a principle concubine, but we haven’t held the ceremony yet,” Xiao Shengnian replied.

“Brother Xiao, Pavilion of Jinxiu is planning to hold a poetry gathering recently. Brother Xiao, I wonder if you and your future principle concubine are interested in it?” Wu Liumou reluctantly said the words “your principle concubine”. The truth was, he just wanted to find an excuse to see what his future principle concubine looked like and what his future principle concubine had got to win his heart.

“I’m not interested in participating in any poetry gathering. As for my consort…” Xiao Shengnian paused for a moment. There was a gentle light in his eyes. He recalled Su Jie’s carefree and heroic posture on the battlefield, and also remembered the way Su Jie wore a long face while he read a book. He couldn’t help but laugh. Xiao Shengnian said, “As for him, I’m afraid he doesn’t like to participate in this kind of event.”

“Why?” Seeing Xiao Shengnian showing a gentle expression for another person, Wu Liumou felt tightness in his heart and asked while forcing a smile.

Hearing that, Xiao Shengnian was not willing to answer the question. It was enough as long as he knew about the good things about Su Jie. He was not willing to tell others about it, not to mention he was not close to the person who asked the question.

“Your Highness, the consort ordered someone to bring you a box.” At this moment, Zhui Xing walked to the stone table with a paralyzed expression. He put the box in front of Xiao Shengnian and said.

Zhui Xing was Xiao Shengnian’s personal guard. He understood Xiao Shengnian’s feelings for Su Jie the most. In addition, Su Jie often sent people to come over these few days, so he simply called him the consort. Anyway, all that was in the prince’s mind was the consort who he was yet to marry.

The carvings on the box were exquisite and beautiful, and it was not vulgar. People could see that it was invaluable with just one look.

When Xiao Shengnian heard that it was something that Su Jie sent to him, he touched the box with his slender and fair fingers. He wanted to open it but because Wu Liumou was present, he had to give up this idea.

“Brother Xiao, I have just arrived in the capital. And I don’t have a place to stay. Can I stay in your residence for now?” Wu Liumou gritted his teeth at the sight of the box sent by Su Jie, but he still showed a generous smile. He understood that he couldn’t show too much urgency or extreme pettiness, as he and Brother Xiao had been separated for too long., but he was confident that he would make Brother Xiao fall in love with him. After all Brother Xiao had always protected him since they were kids. So Brother Xiao must still care about him.

“Zhui Xing, arrange a guest room for this young master here,” Xiao Shengnian maintained a gentle smile, but he was quite unhappy. He remembered that Wu Liumou often caused trouble when he was young, and then hid behind Xiao Shengnian with a look that suggested that he was being bullied. The reason why Xiao Shengnian showed absolute tolerance was because he didn’t want to make too many enemies. He never had any special thoughts about Wu Liumou.

Moreover, he didn’t like Wu Liumou’s personality or his ways of handling matters at all.

Sure enough, only Su Jie could attract him…

At the thought of Su Jie, Xiao Shengnian smiled helplessly. He opened the box and sighed, “Su Jie, you are not by my side, but you make me think about you every day. It seems that for the rest of my life, I won’t be able to live without you…”

When he opened the box, a fragrance of flowers came over. Inside the box was a layer of flower petals of State YanLing. The petals were covered with a few fine crystals, and there was a lot of cotton. And in the middle of the cotton there was a jade pendant.

Taking out the jade, Xiao Shengnian looked closely at it and found that the jade was very similar to the jade that Su Jie had always carried. However, this jade was engraved with the word “Shengnian”.

Xiao Shengnian felt warm in his heart. He took out the envelope in the box. The letter was written by Su Jie. In addition to reminding Xiao Shengnian of applying medicine to his arm on time, he also told him some imperial anecdotes.

“He’s quite good at making me happy. He thinks that a piece of jade and a letter are enough for me,” Xiao Shengnian said, but he still tied the jade to the belt around his waist carefully and put the envelope back into the box.

After putting the envelope back, Xiao Shengnian felt that the layout of the box was a little feminine. It didn’t look like that Su Jie arranged it personally.

“He’s getting more and more perfunctory,” Xiao Shengnian snorted and was about to carry the box back to his house when he saw Yu Che hurriedly walking over.

“What is it?” Xiao Shengnian knew that Yu Che was usually not as prudent as Zhui Xing, but it was rare for him to be so anxious.

“Your Highness, the Emperor wants to see you in the Imperial Study,” Anxiety-ridden, Yu Che said.

Everyone knows that the Emperor had been in a bad mood recently, and whoever the Emperor summoned was doomed to be unlucky, and this time the Emperor has summoned his master, which makes Yu Che extremely worried.

“Got it,” Xiao Shengnian smiled. He calmly put the box sent by Su Jie into a secluded place in the room, got into the carriage and went to the palace.