Title In Progress

Ch 80 - Ruthless Crown Prince x Foolish Prince: Imperial Brother’s Dog

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Yan Qin had hit his head, but it wasn’t simply a case of breaking the skin on his forehead. When Lin Sui had arrived, his whole head was covered in bandages, and he still hadn’t regained consciousness.

Lin Sui merely glanced at him and left, instructing Fu Shu to report back once he’d woken up.

That attitude was awfully heartless, not at all like someone with brotherly affection.

Off to the side, Bao Su stomped her feet anxiously, wanting to make Lin Sui take a closer look at her Master, feeling sorry for her poor Master, but she didn’t dare say a word.

The Crown Prince had been terrifying when he was still the Crown Prince, and he was more so now that he was the Emperor.

With that single glance, Lin Sui knew that Yan Qin’s injury had not been light, which made him somewhat annoyed and angry.

He hated any tricks that involved injuring oneself to gain another’s confidence the most. Even if Yan Qin hadn’t done it deliberately, wouldn’t a light hit have been just fine? Medicine in this era hadn’t been properly developed yet, what if something terrible had really happened?

What a stupid dog.

When the moon was high up in the sky, above the tops of the trees, Fu Shu came to report to him holding a lantern, saying Yan Qin had woken up.

She looked rather hesitant as she spoke slowly: “The Imperial Physician said the blood clot in the Fifth Prince’s head seems to have dispersed, and he has returned to his right mind.”

Fu Shu wasn’t quite sure how she was feeling. At first, she wasn’t very familiar with the Fifth Prince, but over these past three years she had looked after him a lot and had grown somewhat fond of him, so naturally she hoped his Highness could be safe and healthy.

That being said… how could he not be stupid anymore, just like that?

Between a stupid younger brother and a clever younger brother, there wasn’t even a question of who was the biggest threat.

Once he woke up, he would look back on his past. Fu Shu thought about the time in which she accompanied the Madame Empress, and remembered the once beloved Noble Consort Shu, and her heart felt increasingly cold.

Back then, the Fifth Prince’s fever had been strange. The Madame Empress couldn’t tolerate that pair of mother and child, but as far as she was concerned, the even bigger threat was the Imperial Noble Consort. The Madame Empress had tried getting in the way of Noble Consort Shu, but even before she could make a move against the Fifth Prince, the Fifth Prince had gotten into an accident.

After that, the Madame Empress had looked even more closely after his Highness, for fear that someone may also try to kill him in secret.

“Oh? How very fortunate for him.”

Lin Sui stood up, then leisurely walked in the direction of Zhongyu Palace.

Zhongyu Palace had been cleaned up and renovated when the new Emperor ascended the throne, and its tiles gleamed under the cold light of the moon.

Inside the palace, the flames of the candles shone dimly. When Lin Sui walked inside, the person on the bed looked at him with glassy eyes.

The look on the young man’s face was no longer that strange, childish naiveté, and his calm expression gave a different sort of blank, weak feeling.

“This brother salutes Imperial Brother.”

Yan Qin’s voice was hoarse, different from how it had been in the past, carrying a bit of stiffness and strangeness.

“It seems you have really recovered your senses, turns out that bump on the head was quite fortunate for you.”

Lin Sui didn’t bother to disguise his sarcasm, but of course, the only thing he was dissatisfied with was that Yan Qin had to use so much force on himself while pretending to be stupid.

When these words fell on Yan Qin’s ears, all he heard was mistrust from his brother the Emperor.

Those who wielded power had to carefully consider far too many things, so their mistrustfulness only ever increased with time.

Yan Qin didn’t reply, he only stared quietly at Lin Sui.

It could be said he was a completely different person compared to that clingy puppy of the past, and when his miserably injured appearance was combined with the dim candlelight of the room, he provoked feelings of pity and compassion.

But the charming glances he threw fell upon a blind man, and the heart of the person he longed for was as cold as iron, not yielding even a little bit.

Lin Sui narrowed his eyes, his expression hard to make out: “Be well, then.”

Seeing that Lin Sui was about to turn and leave, Yan Qin couldn’t stop himself from pulling on his sleeve.

Lin Sui lowered his head to look at him, feeling speechless for a moment when seeing his shy, helpless expression.

How was he still being like that?

Could it be that he’d spent so much time pretending it had just become a part of him?

Wasn’t Yan Qin getting a little too invested?

Absent-mindedly, Lin Sui began to question whether there was a problem with his memories, or whether Yan Qin’s broken soul had turned into something strange.

“Imperial Brother, this still feels like a dream, I feel very uneasy… Please stay with me, Bi—Imperial Brother.”

Yan Qin had been about to say “Big Brother Crown Prince”, but had forcefully stopped himself.

Now that he couldn’t play the fool, he couldn’t just throw himself at Lin Sui and act childishly like before.

Yan Qin felt it was a pity, but perhaps every gain had to come with a loss.

Off to the side, Bao Su had already trained herself to the point of flawlessness, but upon closer inspection one would be able to see her clenching her hands with force, trying to stop herself from messing up her Master’s performance.

“It can be just like before.”

As Yan Qin spoke, he quickly got off the bed.

He was still quite agile, after all he had gotten hit on the head, not broken his limbs.

There were still a few eunuchs and palace maids inside the room. Yan Qin was shameless, while Lin Sui still had to save face, and for those who didn’t know this scene gave one the feeling that the Emperor had some sort of strange hobby, and that his Imperial Younger Brother was a plaything.

“Alright, why are you still moving about for with your head injury? Everyone, get out.”

The servants saluted, and retreated at the same time.

“We remember how old you were when the fever fried your brain, how come now you look no different from a normal person?”

“Does Elder Brother not like me being like this?”

Anxiety was written all across Yan Qin’s face, making him seem far from “normal”.

“But Elder Brother promised that as long as I behaved, I would be able to stay by your side. You can’t take it back just because I’m not stupid anymore, the Emperor’s word is his bond.”

Yan Qin grabbed Lin Sui’s hand and placed it on top of his own.

The young Emperor gazed down at his surrendering subject, and soon the corners of his mouth revealed a smile.

“Only if you behave.”

Lin Sui stroked Yan Qin’s face with his hand, and though his expression was cold, his voice was particularly gentle, a contrast which evoked a scalp-tingling sensation.

Yan Qin became engrossed in it, because this was the kind of affection the Emperor never revealed in front of outsiders.

“We know you were intelligent when you were a child, a rare genius, even. Now that you have come to your senses, you shouldn’t be too different from before. In a few days, you can accompany Us on the road to rescue Our good uncle. The mountain road must be quite long, and We want to see if his hands and legs are broken, or else what reason he may have had that he couldn’t come to the capital before Our ascension ceremony.”

Lin Sui’s tone was chilling, and the gloom between his brows made the angles of his face seem increasingly unapproachable.

The person Lin Sui spoke of was naturally Prince Huai, that is, the one who plotted a rebellion in the original book.

Except for Prince Lan who was in the capital, the late Emperor’s brothers became vassal Princes in various regions of the country.

Among them, Prince Huai was the strongest. He was located in the south-east, and was even known as the King of the South-East in the region, he was just like a local tyrant.

Since the old late Emperor had no abilities whatsoever, he could barely keep the Imperial Court in check, much less the vassal states.

When Lin Sui was set to ascend the throne, the news quickly spread from the capital, and in the twenty-seven days in which he observed his filial mourning Prince Du and Prince He had arrived to the capital in order to have an audience with the Emperor before the ceremony of ascension, only Prince Huai was supposedly still on his way, a whole month after the ceremony had occurred.

His excuse was that he was in poor health, and his illness was very grave, so he had made several stops along the way and thus hadn’t arrived yet.

Plainly speaking, it was pure disrespect.

To Lin Sui it seemed like the news about Prince Huai had been delayed far too much, he really thought Lin Sui was just a useless Crown Prince who only ascended the throne due to his father’s death.

Prince Huai had long been rebellious, even if he hadn’t conspired against the former Emperor, he would still raise up arms, and Lin Sui was not going to be polite.

“This brother will live up to Imperial Brother’s trust.”

Yan Qin, who had been sitting on the side of the bed, moved to kneel in front of Lin Sui.

Yan Qin knew that Lin Sui wanted to quash the vassal Prince.

The way he saw it, this was actually a little risky. After all, Lin Sui had just ascended the throne, his foundation was still unsteady, the string of new policies he had issued hadn’t yet borne any particularly outstanding results, and the Imperial Court was still in the middle of dealing with the change of power.

But Yan Qin didn’t say anything, because he knew that, if Lin Sui was doing this, he must have already given it serious consideration.

He only needed to be the dagger in the Emperor’s hands, it would be enough to be his most loyal hunting dog.

If his Imperial Brother wanted it, he would do absolutely anything to accomplish it.

Lin Sui calmly accepted this gift, he stroked Yan Qin’s head, then left Zhongyu Palace with large strides.

Yan Qin gazed at the black cloth moving away, and inwardly calculated what he could do to please Lin Sui the most, and what sort of opportunities he could exchange for that satisfaction.

The news that the Fifth Prince’s mind had been restored quickly spread throughout the palace, and many people thought he would be sent off to a fief the same way King Qing and the others were, but instead received the news that he was granted the title of King Qin and set to accompany the Emperor outside the capital to welcome Prince Huai.

No one knew if using the Fifth Prince’s given name as his conferred title was a sign of affection or of thoughtlessness.

However, he was the only one of the princes to receive this rare honour.

Lin Sui had long since asked the old General Mao to make preparations, since even if the old general’s body was not in the best of health, his brains for warfare and military knowledge were the best of the best, after all, it was experience he’d accumulated from war after war.

The army had already been training for over a month on the eve before setting out, and, alongside Yan Qin, Zhou Yunfang was also going with them outside the capital.

Lin Sui had no intention of bringing the man back with him for a nice meal, he had to first cut off the head so the body would die. It wasn’t hard to find evidence that Prince Huai wanted to rebel, besides, even if there had been none Lin Sui would have just made something up, either way, when they arrived to his territory, there was no way he would be able to keep his head.

News came from outside the capital every day, and Prince Huai was cunning, so he had been prepared to turn back after he heard the rumours.

But Yan Qin didn’t give up, instead he marched straight in, wanting to capture him before he returned to the south-eastern territory.

Lin Sui read the report, and his mood improved by the day.

By the time Yan Qin brought Prince Huai back to the capital, it was already late autumn.

That very night, Yan Qin entered the palace still wearing armour, took off his sword, and walked into the Imperial Study, where he knelt in front of Lin Sui.

Yan Qin spoke breezily: “Imperial Brother, this brother has lived up to your expectations and brought him back. His hands and feet really were broken, therefore this brother had to have him carried back.”

Lin Sui had already received the news that Prince Huai’s hands and feet had been broken by Yan Qin.

That was his beloved, spoiled mad dog.

“Well done. You deserve a reward, what do you want?”

The Emperor, dressed in ochre yellow clothes, walked step by step down from his throne until he was in front of Yan Qin.

Yan Qin lifted his head, licked his dry lips, and spoke: “This brother wants to ask for a birthday gift.”

It was currently already the third of September so, technically, Yan Qin’s eighteenth birthday had already passed.

However, he had accomplished a great deed, and Lin Sui had said he would give him a reward, so the date didn’t really matter, and he nodded magnanimously.

“Speak, what do you want as a birthday gift?”

“This brother wants to sleep in the same bed as Imperial Brother tonight, to fulfil the previous yearning in my heart.”

The excuse Yan Qin had found to justify his request was that this had been his birthday wish last year.

This was not only his request, but it was also a way for him to see where the limits of Lin Sui’s indulgence towards him lay.

Lin Sui grabbed Yan Qin’s chin and asked: “You dare ask for such a thing. How could We allow another person to sleep on the bed beside Us?”

Yan Qin looked at Lin Sui, who didn’t seem angered, and knew he still had a chance.

He spoke obediently: “A-Qin is just Imperial Brother’s dog.”

To put it simply, a person wouldn’t be allowed, but a dog wouldn’t not be allowed.
This is a fan translation posted to title-in-progress.dreamwidth.org. Support the author if you can.