Title In Progress

Ch 73 - Ruthless Crown Prince x Foolish Prince: Sniff Sniff Lick Lick^[1]


Slumber incense was light blue in colour and odourless, it made those who smelled it sink into sleep, though their bodies would still be able to respond to sensory stimuli.

It was an exceedingly rare kind of incense, and even though it had such a pleasant-sounding name, the person who made it was not a master incense crafter, but rather a poison maker.

This poison maker could even be called infamous, he developed this incense to torture his enemies, he’d have them disembowelled in their sleep and then wake them up again so they would die from the shock and pain.

The secret recipe for this incense had long since been lost, Yan Qin had caught sight of it in a certain book which was the only of its kind. He reconstructed it according to the recipe little by little, it took a very long time to make, and it was only after he experimented on animals and found a death row prisoner to verify it on that he dared to be confident in putting it to use.

The light blue smoke scattered inside the temple room, and Lin Sui looked at it calmly, the corners of his mouth slightly raised as he closed his eyes.

A secret indulgence, pulling open the heavy curtains of night.

The door was lightly pushed open, and a shadow was stretched out by the moonlight.

Yan Qin did not walk towards the side of the bed, but rather stood by the door and greedily stared at the young man laying on the bed.

He hadn’t seen his big brother the Crown Prince for a long time, much less heard his voice, seen his eyes, or even just caught sight of his back, he could only recall these things in his dreams.

His big brother the Crown Prince also seemed to have grown a little. Yan Qin walked forward and traced Lin Sui’s face with his eyes.

With his features having opened up, his older brother looked even more magnificent than before.

The corners of his lips were slightly curved, as if he had sunk into a pleasant dream.

Yan Qin lifted Lin Sui’s hand and held it, lightly rubbing against its back, but couldn’t help feeling bitterly jealous in his heart.

He again remembered that scene from last year, when he’d been laying on the side of Lin Sui’s bed and Lin Sui had smiled at him in a dreamy daze, but that smile hadn’t been for him.

He stroked Lin Sui’s hand for a good while before reluctantly letting go, and his eyes stared fixedly at those slightly parted red lips.

Unfortunately, he had a thief’s heart, but not the guts of one^[2]. Although he’d done such despicable things, he still didn’t dare to muster up the courage.

How could he dare? Even though he thought about it day and night, he was also afraid of profaning and slighting his big brother the Crown Prince.

In his mind, things like being involved or the removal of clothes should all be done on the wedding night.

Under a pair of red candles, with his big brother the Crown Prince looking at him wearing wedding clothes, even if the Crown Prince were holding a knife against his chest at that time, he would die without regrets.

It was a shame that a man could not openly marry another man in this world, much les marry the world’s most noble man.

Yan Qin had come to see Lin Sui tonight only wanting to take advantage of the fact he was asleep to sneak a few glances at him, he’d only used the incense to prevent Lin Sui from waking up and finding out he was only pretending to be stupid, and therefore driving him away.

But as he looked and looked, Yan Qin again had other thoughts.

How could a puppy with no self-control be blamed? With delicious meat and bones laid out in front of him, was there a dog in the world who could remain indifferent?

Yan Qin thought about it, he wouldn’t eat it, he would only give it a sniff.

His Highness the honourable Crown Prince had been raised in the imperial household with the utmost care, even his feet were fair and delicate, exceptionally good to the touch.

Yan Qin unrestrainedly played with that pair of feet he could only see but not touch in the past, his fingertips sliding over the blue veins on the back of the feet, and he held those thin, beautiful ankles.

Sniff sniff, the puppy changed his mind again, he definitely wouldn’t eat it, he would just give it a lick.

Yan Qin seemed composed as he stood there, but a dark frenzy was hidden as he closed his eyes.

Outside the window, the black bamboo moved with the wind, and the shadows of the trees swayed.

The person sunk into deep sleep was completely unconscious, but his body had its own reactions.

Lin Sui bent his legs unconsciously, wanting to shake off those annoying restraints.

That warm sticky feeling at the soles of his feet was especially annoying, and it seemed like the gap between his toes was being vigorously bumped by something, which was very uncomfortable.

The temple’s night bell rang, and the wind blew through the black bamboo forest, scattering in the peaceful land.

This should have been a solemn and clean place, but some people had no shame about offending the gods.

As far as Yan Qin was concerned, that Buddha cast out of gold was not his god, his god was the one currently laying in front of him.

Set up on high, looking down on all living things.

He was careful and furtive, unburdened by morality.

In the harem, not a single thing inherently belonged to a single person.

Even if he had once been an admired prince, he had also let people humiliate him.

Only power was enough to let one find a foothold and stand firmly, without being subject to the whims of life and death.

But there was something Yan Qin desired more than power, he intimately rubbed and attended to the tender soles, thinking about those red lips biting down on that cloth.

There would be one day… one day where the tears in those eyes would flow because of him.

Yan Qin strayed off course and thought about some other things, why was his big brother the Crown Prince in that place that day? Could it be that he has particular interests?

This kind of interest is a little too shocking for him, Yan Qin thought shily, but he would be willing in order to please his big brother the Crown Prince.

It’s just that he didn’t know where his big brother the Crown Prince would like it, the Moon Viewing tower seemed pretty good, it was the site of the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy, used to observe and search the stars.

That was the highest place in all of the Imperial palace, high enough to overlook the entire Imperial City. If someone below were to look up, even if they saw someone there, they would only be able to see vague figures.

Yan Qin inwardly vetoed it, it didn’t seem to meet his requirements. Was there a beautiful place where one could see outside, but those outside had no way to see inside of?

There didn’t seem to be one, but there wouldn’t be any harm in setting out to build one, right?

Yan Qin casually conceived it while imitating a monk striking the monastery bell^[3].

His skin and flesh was so hot it was like he was being scalded, Lin Sui’s brows had been twisted in a frown for a long time, and the smile on his lips had also vanished without a trace.

“Big brother Crown Prince…”

Yan Qin called out as affectionately as he had in the past, but he was no longer that weak and powerless youth, even his voice had changed somewhat due to his growth.

Compared with his previous feigned weakness, his low and hoarse voice was filled with danger and desire.

He wanted to bend down and kiss the wrinkled space between his eyebrows, but it wasn’t too appropriate with his current actions.

“Big brother Crown Prince, help me hold it to avoid dirtying big brother’s clothes, otherwise big brother will surely be angry tomorrow.”

Yan Qin boldly spoke this preposterous and unreasonable request, and that lily-white hand that was only used to holding pens and writing memorials wrapped around that filthy thing without knowing.

“It would be good if big brother could dream of me, then I would be able to smile happily no matter what kind of hardships I suffered.”

The person whose eyes were closed had still not woken, he looked like a peaceful flower in full bloom in the night.

“I know this is just a pipe dream, I’m nothing more than a fool in big brother Crown Prince’s eyes, how could big brother Crown Prince dream about me?”

Yan Qin muttered: “Soon… the opportunity hasn’t arrived yet.”

Yan Qin was a particularly cautious person, he only had one chance, so his future would be quite thorny if he didn’t pick the time right.

He didn’t want there to be any obstructions between him and his big brother the Crown Prince, so he had to eliminate the others beforehand.

King Qing handled matters flawlessly, he was trying to avoid letting someone get a hold of any information that could be used to prevent him from ascending to the position of heir to the throne, but as long as he was human, he wouldn’t not have any flaws.

“I’ll help big brother Crown Prince, and big brother Crown prince will also help me.”

Yan Qin rubbed Lin Sui’s cheek, and the corners of his mouth rose.

His big brother the Crown Prince was really deserving of being his brother^[4], and he had also used his brothers to be of big help this time.

The handsome young man’s hand naturally fell down the side of the bed, and the trouble brought by Yan Qin trickled down his palm, sliding down his fingertips and falling to the ground, reflecting the light of the moon.

The world was covered in white frost, and even the moonlight seemed to have a bit of a thick and creamy white colour.

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The next day, Fu Xi knocked lightly on the door, calling for Lin Sui to wake up.

Although he’d been excused from court today, he still had to return to the palace, so he had to wake up at around as early as he had to for attending morning court.

Fu Shu had to stay behind in the palace to put things in order, so this time it was Fu Xi who was accompanying Lin Sui.

Fu Xi was a little puzzled when he entered the room and saw the tightly closed window, he seemed to have seen that window was open when he left the room last night.

Perhaps the Crown Prince had closed it himself during the night, it was normal for it to be cold at night, and he hadn’t been careful enough.

Fu Xi muttered to himself, could it be that people sleep more deeply in this temple? He had slept very soundly yesterday, it was good that the young eunuch had woken him up, otherwise he almost would have woken later than his Master.

Lin Sui rinsed his face and washed his hands, and his eyes darkened.

It had been really annoying last night, this small room was only fit for one person to sleep in, but some wilful people didn’t know their own weight and thought they were still a scrawny little pup, so being surrounded made his sleep not very comfortable.

However, he was very pleased with the puppy’s guts, if he had dared to recklessly go all the way, there would have been no next time.

Lin Sui returned to the Eastern Palace, his body still felt uncomfortable, especially the soles of his feet, if he had been awake, he definitely would have stomped him a few times no matter what.

The Imperial Tutor had not been in good health recently, and Lin Sui didn’t have to listen to his lectures, so he went to read memorials after taking a bath.

When he went, Lu Sudong was dealing with these things on his behalf.

Lu Sudong was the other study companion he had chosen at the time, he had an earnest nature and was serious and focused.

The accounts that had been sent over were also sorted by importance, and although there wasn’t anything of much importance, the important thing was that the Emperor wouldn’t deal with them, but a few things could be inferred from the subtle details.

“Impeachment… drought… allowance for tax reductions… interesting.”

This was a memorial from a local official petitioning for the impeachment of his superior. There had been a drought in the Ming County of the Jiao Province, and many crops had died, so the fall harvest was bound to yield substantially less. This official wanted to lower the tax collected taking the circumstances into account, but his superior didn’t agree.

In the eyes of the ruler, this was an extremely small matter. After all, it wasn’t a large catastrophe so there wouldn’t be any refugees, at most the people’s lives would get a little harder, so the Emperor sent it over.

This local official had also gone through several connections before reluctantly passing it to the top, after all, he first should have gone to the local senior official, but it seemed like the senior official also didn’t care.

“Go look into Zhang Dongning who handed the memorial and into the Ming County’s magistrates, then look into the provincial officials.”

Lin Sui put down the document, looking pleased.

It wouldn’t be good to always have other people stir up trouble for him, he should also make a little trouble for others.

They clearly wanted to seize the throne but still pretended to be innocent, Lin Sui didn’t like it when others put on an act in front of him, but of course, a certain puppy was an exception.

Speaking of, it would be September first in two months time.

Noble Lady Yu had been promoted on the first quarter of August, becoming Concubine Yu.

Now that her rank had risen this time, her position was completely different.

Not only had she become the owner of a palace, she could even raise her own children.

Lin Sui had someone send her a congratulatory gift, and Concubine Yu also quietly sent a gift in return, making it seem on the surface like the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine had still never had contact with one another.

On the first of September, Pei Xinian went to the Imperial Study saying the Fifth Prince was in much better health after half a year of recovery, and since it was his birthday today, he really wanted to go into the palace and accompany the Emperor.

Since he said so, the Emperor missed that child he hadn’t seen in a long time a little, so he graciously granted his child’s wishes.

Yan Qin entered the palace, enduring his impatience to play out familial love and joy with the Emperor, then going towards the Eastern Palace.

The person he longed for was just about to step inside the inner hall, and he happily shouted: “Big brother Crown Prince!”

Under the eaves of the corridor, the young man turned his head, his appearance the same as before.