Li Fengqi, the Prince of Eternal Peace, was currently the only prince in Northern Radiance whose family did not belong to the imperial clan.
The previous Prince of Eternal Peace had distinguished himself in war and once rendered meritorious service by saving the emperor. For that reason, Emperor Chengzong had granted him the imperial surname Li and enfeoffed him as the Prince of Eternal Peace. Li Fengqi was the old prince's only child. Under precedent, when the title passed to him, he should have inherited it at a lower rank. But Li Fengqi was exceptionally gifted. He went to the battlefield at thirteen, slew a great general of Western Brilliance at sixteen, and afterward repeatedly distinguished himself in battle without a single defeat. Emperor Chengzong treasured talent, and after the old Prince of Eternal Peace died, he specially permitted Li Fengqi to inherit the title at its full rank and remain Prince of Eternal Peace.
Later, Emperor Chengzong passed away and Emperor Xianzong inherited the throne. But Xianzong indulged in sensual pleasures and lived dissolutely; within only a few years, he had ruined his health and died young. Before his death, he passed the throne to his second son, Li Zong, who was only seventeen. Fearing that his young son's rule would be unstable, he personally appointed three regents to assist the new emperor.
Li Fengqi was one of those three regents. In truth, his power reached high enough to blot out the sky.
That year, he was only twenty-three.
Ye Yunting still remembered the New Year's Eve palace banquet held the year after the new emperor ascended the throne. All the officials entered the palace with their families, and for once, his father had allowed him to attend. At the banquet, he had seen Li Fengqi from afar.
At the time, the Prince of Eternal Peace had only just returned from the northern frontier and entered the palace without even removing his armor. His silver-white armor dazzled the eyes. Standing among the assembled ministers, he was like pearl and jade fallen among roof tiles and stones. Though there was no blood on his armor, it still seemed to carry the scent of blood, making others afraid to look directly at him.
When Ye Yunting saw him for the first time, he thought the rumors had indeed been true. The Prince of Eternal Peace possessed a strikingly beautiful face, but his phoenix eyes were too cold and his authority too heavy. A single casual glance from him made one feel as though one had been thrown into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. No one dared behave rashly before him.
It was said that he never took prisoners in battle. Every captive was buried and killed on the spot, not one left alive. No wonder the common rumors painted him as brutal, cold-blooded, and utterly unfeeling.
The people of Northern Radiance respected him, but they also feared him.
Ye Yunting had been no exception.
In his previous life, his escape attempt had failed. Ye Zhili threatened Ji Lian's life and forced him to marry into the princely residence. At the time, Ye Yunting's heart had been full of resentment and unwillingness, and he was also intimidated by the Prince of Eternal Peace's terrible reputation. After entering the residence, he had not boldly entered the main room as he had today. Instead, he chose to wait in the courtyard to be summoned.
He still remembered waiting there for more than half an hour, only to receive a single word ground out through clenched teeth: “Get out.”
At the time, the words had felt like a pardon. He had truly “gotten out” as quickly as he could. Naturally, he had paid no attention to how hoarse and unpleasant that voice sounded, nor had he thought carefully about all the strange circumstances in the residence.
Only after he had lived in the side courtyard for some time did he truly learn the meaning of discarding the hunting hound once the rabbit was dead. Those people probably believed that once the Prince of Eternal Peace died, Ye Yunting would not live either. Whether they were sent from the palace or were among the few servants left in the residence, none of them ever bothered concealing anything from him.
It was only then that he learned that the stories claiming Emperor Li Zong and the Prince of Eternal Peace were as close as brothers really were nothing more than stories.
Every word of it was false.
The current emperor, Li Zong, had originally been only Emperor Xianzong's second legitimate son. Before him was an elder legitimate son, Li Yan. Li Yan was deeply favored by Xianzong, who named him crown prince immediately after ascending the throne and thereafter raised and instructed him as heir apparent. By comparison, the second son, Li Zong, received far less attention.
Although he and Li Yan were full brothers born of the same mother, Li Zong was not especially close to his elder brother. Instead, he had been much closer to Li Fengqi, who at the time was still heir to the princely title, and often stayed for stretches at the Prince of Eternal Peace's residence. Li Fengqi was said to have been aloof from childhood and stingy with smiles even before the emperor, yet he alone protected Li Zong closely, almost loving him as a true younger brother.
Later, Crown Prince Li Yan was assassinated and killed while out hunting. Emperor Xianzong was devastated and fell gravely ill, dying not long afterward. Only on his deathbed did he issue an edict passing the throne to his second son, Li Zong.
Li Zong was only seventeen then and had never been educated as a crown prince. He knew virtually nothing about affairs of state. Many old ministers seized the opportunity to flaunt their seniority and attempt to control the new sovereign, showing Li Zong no respect at all. It was Li Fengqi who took the Howling Snow Saber bestowed upon him by Emperor Chengzong and, in a fury, beheaded three ministers in the Golden Throne Hall. Only then did he suppress the old officials who had been itching to make trouble.
After that outburst in the Golden Throne Hall, Li Fengqi's fearsome reputation climbed to still greater heights.
Of course, Ye Yunting had heard all of this secondhand. He had no way to judge how much was true. But after living through two lifetimes, there was one thing he could be certain of: the present emperor absolutely feared the Prince of Eternal Peace.
As for brotherly affection—perhaps it had once existed, but after Li Zong became emperor, there might not have been much left.
Otherwise, he would not have humiliated a dying invalid to this extent.
Ye Yunting looked at the wretched man before him and slowly breathed out. Then he raised his voice and told Ji Lian, who was waiting in the outer room, to fetch a bucket of hot water.
He himself opened all the windows to air out the room. It had probably been sealed up too long. Besides the sour stench of spoiled soup from the bed curtains, the air was mixed with dust and damp mildew. Even Ye Yunting, healthy as he was, felt suffocated after spending too long inside, never mind someone gravely ill.
Ji Lian soon returned with water, but he brought only a basin of cold water.
Ye Yunting frowned. “Didn't I ask for hot water?”
“I couldn't find the kitchen. And those maids are like mutes—no matter what I ask, they don't react.” The more Ji Lian spoke, the more wrong everything felt. Then he saw the person lying on the bed and his mouth fell open. Covering it with one hand, he exclaimed, “How did the Prince of Eternal Peace end up like this?”
“Never mind. Cold water should do for now.” Ye Yunting relaxed his frown and glanced toward the bed. He removed the heavy outer layer of his wedding robes, rolled up his sleeves, soaked a cloth in the water, and wrung it out. “I'll explain what's happening in the residence when I have time. For now, go see if you can find clean bedding, and bring back some more water while you're at it. We need to clean this room first today.”
As he gave his instructions, he carefully wiped Li Fengqi's face with the damp cloth.
Who knew how long it had been since the man's face had last been washed? Blackened clots and dried blood still remained at the corners of his mouth and along his chin. The front of his robes was even worse, stained into a mess by dark-red blood and brown medicine.
Ye Yunting sighed inwardly. A mighty hero of his generation had actually been reduced to this.
People might not even believe it if they were told.
Distracted by his thoughts, his hand grew a little too heavy. A muffled groan pulled him back to himself. He focused—and met a pair of ice-cold phoenix eyes.
The man might have fallen into misery, but his gaze had not changed in the least. It was still just as cold, as though snow and ice were hidden inside it.
Ye Yunting met his eyes for several breaths, his mind racing as he tried to decide how to introduce himself.
He did not know whether Li Fengqi already knew that the emperor had bestowed a male consort upon him. If he did not, blurting it out now might only add frost to snow.
Before Ye Yunting could speak, however, the man lying there moved his lips and rasped out one word.
“Get out.”
Then he closed his eyes in exhaustion. Only the bulging veins at his temple and the violent rise and fall of his chest revealed his turbulent emotions.
So he already knows, Ye Yunting thought.
Li Fengqi clearly did not want to deal with him. Ye Yunting had no intention of provoking him. After a brief hesitation, he put down the cloth and withdrew, thinking he could speak openly with the prince after he had calmed down.
Although Ye Yunting had also been forced into this marriage in this life, his state of mind was much calmer than before.
He still remembered how Li Fengqi had looked after Ji Lian for him in his previous life, and he was willing to care for the prince properly during this period to repay that kindness. He did not know how Li Fengqi had cured the poison in his previous life, but at present he was genuinely gravely ill and close to death. Whether out of gratitude or simply because Ye Yunting could not bear to watch Northern Radiance's God of War be humiliated this way, he was willing to do everything he could to make the man's life a little easier.
Besides, after Ye Yunting died in his previous life, for some unknown reason his soul had remained trapped in his tomb instead of dispersing. Several years later, Ji Lian, finally free again, came to pay respects and rambled on before the grave about many things that had happened. One of them was this: less than two years after Ye Yunting's death, the Prince of Eternal Peace raised an army in rebellion and marched into the Upper Capital. He publicly beheaded Emperor Li Zong, then washed the capital in blood and ascended the throne over mountains of bones belonging to its powerful aristocratic families.
That was also how Ji Lian was rescued from the Duke of Qi's estate. He spent a long time recovering from his injuries before he was finally able to visit Ye Yunting's grave in person.
Ye Yunting thought that if Li Fengqi still rebelled and became emperor in this life, then his male consort would inevitably become a stain on the emperor's life. If Ye Yunting could seize the present opportunity to make an agreement with him—or even lend him a hand—then after Li Fengqi ascended the throne, perhaps he would spare Ye Yunting's life for the sake of the hardships they had shared. When that day came, Ye Yunting could find some beautiful place of clear waters and green hills, hide his name, become a village teacher, and live a free and pleasant life.
The little abacus in his heart clicked rapidly. The more he thought, the more he felt this plan solved several problems at once. His heavy mood gradually brightened.
Before leaving, he looked back at Li Fengqi and said gently, “I'll be sorting our luggage in the outer room. If Your Highness needs anything, just call me.”
Then he carried the basin out and began tidying the outer room.
The servants in the princely residence were obviously impossible to command. Fortunately, Ye Yunting was accustomed to doing things himself. Once Ji Lian brought more water, master and servant worked together and quickly cleaned the outer room.
As Ji Lian sorted and put away their luggage, he muttered under his breath, “I don't know what the servants in this residence even do. They don't attend their master. They just stand at the door like guardian statues.”
Ye Yunting smiled. “Didn't we get used to that long ago at the ducal estate?”
Ji Lian puffed out his cheeks. “That's different!”
They were used to it at the ducal estate, but he had originally thought the princely residence would be better. Who could have imagined it would be even worse? At least in the ducal estate they had a clean courtyard to live in.
And here there was not even food.
Muttering inwardly, Ji Lian could not help rubbing his stomach.
Ye Yunting smiled when he saw. “Hungry? Where are the wedding sweets I told you to bring? Eat some for now. If we wait a little longer, someone should bring food.”
In his previous life, when he lived alone in the side courtyard, a maid had delivered meals at regular times: a dish of pickled vegetables and a bowl of rice. They were neither good nor bad, merely enough to fill his stomach.
Ji Lian, however, clearly still held some hope for the princely kitchen. After hesitating, he said, “Let's save the wedding sweets for tonight. I'll wait a little longer.”
Ye Yunting shook his head and was about to tease him when a shrill announcement came from outside. “An imperial reward has arrived. His Highness the Prince Consort is to receive it.”
Ye Yunting and Ji Lian looked at one another, surprise flashing through their eyes.
A reward?
There had been no reward at this point in his previous life.