Jing Xuan wondered if he owed Gu Fang something in this life. Was that why Gu Fang haunted him so relentlessly?
But fortunately, those prophetic dreams either didn’t come true at all, or when they did, every detail remained exactly the same.
So as long as he properly wore his dragon robe today and didn’t put on some ridiculous red dress, and as long as Gu Fang properly wore his beauty’s attire and not that damned five-clawed dragon robe, then nothing would go wrong.
He just needed to endure tonight. After that, he could send Gu Fang back into confinement.
On the day of the Mid-Autumn Banquet, Jing Xuan donned his black dragon-patterned Twelve-Symbol Imperial Robe, praying fervently in his heart.
Meanwhile, having received a secret letter in advance, Gu Fang had quietly moved into Chunshui Pavilion early in the morning. He continued sipping the tribute tea taken from Jing Xuan’s palace, leisurely saying, "Your Majesty, didn’t you decree that I was forbidden from entering the palace for a month? Yet only two days have passed, and you’re already summoning me so urgently. Could it be that Your Majesty truly longs for me?"
Jing Xuan, still deep in prayer: "...."
He closed his eyes and silently added one more wish.
As the supreme ruler of this land, he wished that every man surnamed Gu in this world would become impotent.
If the gods refused, so be it. An emperor did not negotiate, only acted.
Jing Xuan turned and kicked out with ruthless precision, aiming straight for Gu Fang’s vital point.
But Gu Fang caught his ankle with effortless ease. "Why are you not wearing felt socks again? If you freeze your feet, you’ll crawl into someone’s bed in the middle of the night looking for warmth."
Back then, he used to love sleeping with Gu Fang.
At the time, Jing Xuan was small, while Gu Fang was tall. Every winter, he would burrow into Gu Fang’s embrace, and in his sleep, his feet would instinctively sneak under Gu Fang’s clothes for warmth.
Each time he woke up, his feet would still be tucked against Gu Fang’s chest, always carefully held by Gu Fang’s hands, as if afraid they might get cold.
But that was when they were young and ignorant.
Now, they had long come of age. So what the hell was he doing, still holding his ankle like this?
That strange mix of restlessness and tingling heat crept up again. Jing Xuan tried to pull away, but Gu Fang held firm, leaving him no choice but to snap irritably, "I’m young, strong, and full of energy. I don’t need you to worry about me! The only reason I summoned you is to clean up your own mess with this 'Beauty Fang' nonsense!"
"Ah, now I understand," Gu Fang said, releasing him and motioning for an eunuch to bring over a pair of felt socks. "So, Your Majesty, how do you want me to play this role?"
Jing Xuan pulled his foot back and grumbled, "Just tone down your seductive act a little, that’ll do!"
"I see. Then in Your Majesty’s eyes, I do have some charm after all. But tell me, has this fox-like seduction managed to captivate the emperor?"
Gu Fang always had a way of saying the most shameless things in the most calm and serious tone.
After speaking, Gu Fang set down his teacup and leisurely lifted his gaze.
The moment their eyes met, Jing Xuan suddenly realized Gu Fang’s eyelashes were actually quite long. But because of the sharp, indifferent arch of his brows and those narrow, cool, thin phoenix eyes, it had somehow gone unnoticed.
Yet now, as he lifted his gaze with unhurried ease, the autumn sunlight caught on the tips of his lashes, reflecting in his dark irises, carrying a lazy, fox-like charm.
Everyone knew that since ancient times, fox spirits were sinister creatures. Stealing one’s essence, draining one’s vitality.
So…
He needed to run!
Jing Xuan spun around and fled in panic.
Damn, damn, damn! Was he losing his mind? How could he possibly think Gu Fang was good-looking?
Gu Fang could be eight hundred times better-looking, and he still wouldn’t be as good-looking as himself the emperor! Was he blind? Or had his mind gone astray?
Jing Xuan felt his body and willpower slipping out of his control. He barely managed to rush out of Chunshui Pavilion.
Only to nearly collide head-on with Jiang Yingxue.
"What are you doing here?"
Jing Xuan recognized the palace maid leading her, Cai Fu one of Grand Consort’s attendants. That put him slightly at ease, though his brows still furrowed.
It was a grand festival, what nonsense was the Minister Jiang Yue up to this time?
Sure enough, Jiang Yingxue barely gave a half-hearted bow before speaking in a lifeless tone, "Officially, my father sent me to help Grand Consort oversee the banquet and stay in the palace to recover from an illness. But in reality, I was sent here to bear your child."
Jing Xuan: "?"
Jiang Yingxue turned away with dead eyes. "So, Your Majesty, just accept your fate."
Jing Xuan: "???"
Broad daylight, under heaven’s watchful gaze. Had Great Yan’s societal customs become this open?!
Before he could even refuse, Cai Fu had already shot him a meaningful look. "Minister Jiang Yue specifically instructed that Miss Jiang be housed in Fenghe Pavilion, right next to Chunshui Pavilion, so that she may learn how to properly serve Your Majesty from Beauty Fang."
Jiang Yingxue was already seventy percent dead inside. "In simple terms, I’m here to spy and compete for favor."
Jing Xuan: "...."
"But do you have any real reason to enter?"
"Yes."
"?"
Jiang Yingxue led Jing Xuan into Fenghe Pavilion, pulled out a large porcelain bottle from her luggage, and placed it on the table.
Inside the porcelain bottle lay an autumn hibiscus, and on top of the flower rested a small, pure white insect, burying its head into the stamen, sucking intensely.
"My mother gave me this," Jiang Yingxue said. "She told me to feed it with my blood, then let it bite Your Majesty. If it does, Your Majesty will be cured of your fondness for men overnight and will have no choice but to marry me."
Jing Xuan: "???"
Jiang Yingxue spoke with a sense of utter resignation, as if she might as well drag her entire family down with her.
But Jing Xuan immediately snapped to attention. "This is a gu insect."
He didn’t recognize the type, but the eerily pure white of its body had the same sinister quality as the one Liu Chou’er had given him. Even the usage method was identical.
Did all gu insects work the same way?
Something felt off.
Jiang Yingxue continued, "It should be. My mother wouldn’t harm me, but she might still scheme against Your Majesty. So I suggest you just pretend to be bitten to satisfy the spies my father sent. That way, it’ll be easier for you, and I can report back without issue."
With that, she suddenly pulled out the hairpin from her head and, without warning, stabbed a small puncture into Jing Xuan’s arm. Then, using a silk handkerchief, she smacked the gu insect dead, wrapped it up, and threw it away.
"Alright, mission accomplished. The only trouble now is that Your Majesty will have to act a little later on."
Jiang Yingxue completed the entire sequence of actions smoothly, as if she had no fear of being punished for harming the emperor.
Jing Xuan: "..."
He had every reason to suspect that Jiang Yingxue was deliberately trying to drag her father down with her.
But it really hurt!
Jing Xuan had always been far more sensitive to pain than most. The unexpected stab hurt so much that he immediately shouted, "Quick! Someone wrap my wound and bring anesthetic!"
Hearing the commotion, Cai Fu hurried inside in alarm. "Your Majesty, what happened?!"
Jing Xuan glanced at the unfamiliar-looking palace maid behind her and answered without hesitation, "I don’t know where it came from, but some insect suddenly appeared, bit me viciously, and disappeared!"
Jiang Yingxue quickly knelt. "It was my negligence in serving Your Majesty. I beg for punishment."
Cai Fu, unaware of the truth, simply focused on tending to Jing Xuan’s wound, carefully applying medicine to his arm.
This was the child she had helped raise alongside Grand Consort! If he so much as bumped into something, the entire palace would worry over him. Now, the moment the Jiang family entered the palace, he had already been bitten by an insect?
The Jiang family was truly unlucky.
Cai Fu was distressed.
But the unfamiliar “palace maid” behind her suddenly said excitedly, "This servant has studied some medicine. If Your Majesty allows, I can examine the wound to see if there’s any serious harm."
"Alright, hurry and check."
Cai Fu quickly stepped aside.
Had she been even a moment slower, the blood would have dried completely.
However, the "palace maid" still carefully stepped forward, pretending to examine him. She placed her fingers on Jing Xuan’s wrist, mimicking the gesture of taking a pulse, meticulously checking.
After a long moment, she let out a small breath and revealed an expression of satisfaction, as if a task had been completed. Then, she withdrew.
"Your Majesty is fine. Wipe away the blood carefully, and in a few days, no marks will remain."
There seemed to be nothing wrong with what the "palace maid" said.
Yet Jing Xuan couldn’t help but lower his gaze.
From start to finish, he had never been bitten by the gu insect. So why did this "palace maid" act so certain that he had been?
If he ruled out the possibility that the Minister Jiang Yue had chosen an incredibly unreliable person for such an important task, then only one possibility remained.
That was.... there really was a gu insect inside his body.
And the only possible culprit was the mysterious one that had disappeared.
Which meant…
He was only twenty!
He absolutely could not be impotent this early!
This sudden realization horrified Jing Xuan so much that his face paled instantly. Without hesitation, he sprinted back to Zichen Hall, rushed into the study, and frantically searched through the scroll tubes.
Fu Chang saw him leave in a hurry, only to return just as quickly. Alarmed, he asked, "Your Majesty, what’s wrong?"
"Don’t ask!"
Jing Xuan shoved him out the door.
Then, clutching the scroll he had finally found, he sat in the corner, biting his lip, heart pounding, carefully unrolling it bit by bit.
The first image he saw was a man.
The second image still a man.
The third image... A man on top of a man.
He knew Grand Consort loved erotic paintings but he never expected this kind!
How could two men do this and that, and that and this? And over and over again, by the window, by the bed…
And that calligraphy brush, that slender vase, that horsewhip...
How could such elegant objects be used in such, such, such an unforgivable manner?!
Jing Xuan’s entire worldview was shattered. His ears burned bright red, as if they were about to explode, and his brain completely shut down.
Then, a calm voice came from above him.
"In broad daylight, under the clear sky, before the moon has even risen. Why is Your Majesty already thinking of such debauchery?"
Jing Xuan blurted out without thinking, "Who’s thinking of debauchery?! I’m just testing whether I can still get hard!"
The words left his mouth and he froze.
That voice… why was it so familiar?
Jing Xuan dumbly looked up, only to meet Gu Fang’s gaze.
Gu Fang had already changed into the specially prepared embroidered bamboo-green robe of the "Beauty Fang." His fox-like eyes held a faint smile as he looked down at Jing Xuan, his expression serene and natural.
Then, he spoke softly.
"Since Your Majesty has such a concern, why not let your concubine help relieve it?"
Jing Xuan: "...."
Next