Chapter 136
This was the first time Xie Chengze had seen Wuhen’s eyes.
They were like a chill sword carved from the world’s finest black jade, sheathed in a clear, austere luster. Their darkness was as deep as an endless undersea precipice. Long lashes lowered softly like butterfly wings, lending that cold blade a barely perceptible tenderness and making his true feelings difficult to discern.
To Xie Chengze, Wuhen had always been a quiet but attentive, gentle person. He arranged peeled lychees in neat rows. He tirelessly searched for wild rabbits in famine-stricken lands to satisfy his cravings. In the dark of night, he carried him on his broad, slender shoulders, so steadily that it felt as comfortable as lying in bed.
So he had always imagined Wuhen’s eyes must be gentle and restrained, like a string of Hetian jade beads, neither too warm nor too cool, growing clearer and more lustrous with handling, impossible to put down.
But he’d forgotten: as the sharpest saber at the Second Prince’s side, a bloodstained blade that sliced enemies’ throats without hesitation, how could Wuhen possess compassionate jade eyes?
Beneath the black gauze lay the cutting wind and frost-edged sword of early spring, dangerous enough to end a life in an instant.
Yet the owner of those eyes moved with utmost gentleness and care as his fingertips brushed skin to adjust the slightly slipping gauze, as though afraid of scratching the eyes beneath his hands. Little by little, he freed the strands of hair caught beneath it at Xie Chengze’s temples and tucked them behind his frost-reddened ears.
“Your Highness, it won’t hurt now.”
His cool, detached voice sounded. Wuhen slowly lowered his eyes. A few thin snowflakes trembled on his thick, long lashes, making his jade-like face seem even colder and more flawless.
Yet infinitely gentle too.
“What about you?” Xie Chengze touched the unfolded gauze. Through it, he could make out the outside world dimly. “Won’t your eyes hurt?”
“No.”
They once had. Whether on the pale, glaring snowfields after escaping the male brothel, or when ordered to stand naked in the winter snow and practice his saber, Wuhen’s eyes had burned painfully. His master had told him to close them, but he refused.
He was different from Wuji. Wuji wanted to serve His Highness with the legs His Highness had once cared for. But Wuhen hated himself for having threatened a pair of innocent, gentle eyes. In an almost self-torturing fashion, he sought to punish his own eyes and atone for that past wrong.
He kept tormenting himself until the day Noble Consort Hua suddenly returned to Liaozhou and told him and Wuji that His Highness was gone.
“He isn’t my son. He absolutely isn’t my son! Yet that body is clearly Ze’er’s… Someone must have taken his place and driven my Ze’er’s soul away!”
“How could I fail to recognize my own son? I gave birth to him. I watched him grow up! But they won’t believe me. None of them will!”
The once graceful, magnificent Noble Consort Hua had become distraught and frantic. Her fingers clutched their shoulders, her voice a shrill plea. “Wuhen, Wuji! Ze’er saved you. You must train hard and protect his body! He’s so clever. He’ll come back. He’ll surely come back!”
After that, he replaced self-torment with black gauze. He feared he wouldn’t be able to see His Highness return, feared he wouldn’t recognize him anymore.
Fortunately, His Highness really had returned.
“I trained in Liaozhou as a child. I’m long accustomed to looking at snow.” Wuhen gazed across the frozen river below. “People in the north generally aren’t troubled by snow blindness. You’ve spent little time in Liaozhou, Your Highness. It’s normal that you aren’t used to it.”
Xie Chengze nodded thoughtfully. “Training here must have been hard.”
It was so bitterly cold that merely standing here made him question his life, let alone practicing martial arts.
Wuhen said nothing.
Hard? Of course it had been hard.
But never as painful as being forced to watch a stray soul take His Highness’s place and use his body however it pleased, unable to stop it.
…
After inspecting the frozen Hun River and confirming it could support the effect he wanted, Xie Chengze returned to the yamen in the nearest county seat.
With heavy snow sealing the mountains and making travel difficult, he had brought Zhu Xiaobiao, Sheng Yiren, and the others to stay below for the time being. He was also waiting for Elder Gu’s imminent arrival.
But Elder Gu was arriving right in Liaozhou’s heavy snowfall, so he had sent Wuji to meet him, lest anything happen to the old man on the road.
Thinking about it, Xie Chengze felt a little guilty. Since he’d gone to Yizhou, Wuji’s legs seemed never to have stopped. He was either on the road, or on his way to being on the road.
He’d have to reward Wuji properly afterward. He didn’t want to be a heartless boss who exploited workers without paying overtime.
Just as he thought this, a vigorous voice suddenly cursed outside. “Enough, enough! We’re practically at the door. Put me down! My back is about to break! You brat, why can’t you understand plain speech?”
Then Wuji’s calm voice sounded. “His Highness told me to deliver you safely before him. The snow is slippery, and you aren’t very steady on your feet. If you fell in these last few steps, His Highness would blame me.”
A gentle voice followed weakly. “Um… good sir, could you put me down first?”
The old man’s scolding rose again. “No! If we can’t share hardship today, how can we share good fortune tomorrow? Do you still want to become my disciple?!”
“Wah…”
The door was kicked open. For the first time, Wuji marched boldly in through the main entrance. “Your Highness! I’ve brought them back!”
Xie Chengze looked up. Wuji held one person in each hand: a gray-haired old man on the left and a slender young man on the right. One was raging, the other utterly pitiful.
“Your Highness…” At the sight of Xie Chengze, Su Qinghe’s eyes instantly reddened. “Qinghe’s back is going to break…”
Wuji released his grip, dropping both to the ground. Gu Yun rubbed his lower back and cursed. “Disrespectful brat! Your Highness, is this how you discipline your men?!”
“Ahem.” Xie Chengze coughed twice, hastily rose, and approached. Putting on a stern air, he reprimanded him. “Wuji, be gentler next time. Elder Gu is getting on in years. How can he withstand treatment like this?”
“Yes. I was at fault.” Wuji obediently bowed. “I only did it because Elder Gu is so vigorous in his old age. I was certain he could withstand it.”
“Ahem, ahem.” Elder Gu immediately straightened. “I am indeed vigorous in my old age. Still, if there’s no need to put me through it, so much the better.”
Xie Chengze laughed. Then he looked at Su Qinghe with bright eyes and boundless delight. “Why have you come? I thought you might not be used to the bitter cold here, so I only wrote asking Elder Gu to bring some of your pastries. I never expected you to come yourself.”
Su Qinghe glanced at Elder Gu in surprise.
Hadn’t he said His Highness asked him to come?
Elder Gu straightened his official robe and said with apparent indifference, “Oh, did you? Perhaps my eyes failed me and I misread it.”
“Pastries kept for so long couldn’t taste as good as fresh ones.” Seeing Xie Chengze’s bloodshot eyes and how even his fur coat couldn’t conceal his weight loss, Su Qinghe felt an ache in his heart. “You’ve suffered, Your Highness. I’ll go prepare some right away.”
“There’s no hurry.” Xie Chengze shook his head. With these two here, much of the burden on his heart lifted. “You’re tired from traveling. Rest first. We’ll discuss the work this afternoon.”
“Very well. I’ve traveled all day without even a drop of water.” Elder Gu caught Su Qinghe, who still wanted to speak, and pulled him toward the door. “We’ll wait for your summons, then.”