Chapter 3
He Yansheng came looking for me. Dressed in brilliant red wedding robes, he stood squarely in the doorway and saluted the Crown Prince.
“Forgive the disturbance, Your Highness. This subject has come to find his wife.”
The Crown Prince’s voice was calm. “I went out to relieve my boredom and lost my way in the courtyard. Fortunately, your wife escorted me back. Why be so formal, Yansheng?”
He Yansheng was Prince Rui’s heir. He and Crown Prince He Zhiyu were first cousins, and he had served as He Zhiyu’s study companion since childhood. They appeared very close.
That was what baffled me.
If you two were such good friends, why were you sleeping with the man’s wife? It clearly was not your first time, either. Both of you moved with practiced ease. You even knew which of the other’s buttons tended to stick.
The Crown Prince was so pitiful…
As my thoughts ran wild, I noticed He Yansheng staring daggers at me. His words remained respectful, but his chilling smile made every hair on my body stand on end.
Only then did it dawn on me.
The Crown Prince was not the most pitiful one here. Those two might dare make a fool of him to his face, but they would never dare kill him. Me, on the other hand? If someone chased me with a knife, I could not even scream. I could not so much as leave the murderer’s name in blood.
I was a mute who could not read or write!
As I thought this, He Yansheng strode toward me with a cold face, though his voice was eerily gentle. “Yayue, come here. It is late. Do not disturb His Highness. Let us return to our room.”
I instinctively hid behind the Crown Prince.
He Yansheng’s face grew colder, his voice gentler still, as he reached for me.
Terrified, I ducked behind the Crown Prince’s wheelchair and whispered, “Save me.”
The Crown Prince gazed blankly ahead, a faint smile on his face.
What a convincing blind Crown Prince!
The most untouchable person in the room supposedly could not see us, so there was no need to mind etiquette. I began circling the wheelchair, keeping He Yansheng from catching me.
He Yansheng had not expected me to run circles around the Crown Prince. He kept grabbing for me with a frigid expression, yet feared bumping into His Highness. For quite a while, he genuinely failed to catch me.
As the two of us flitted over his head, past his feet, and from side to side, the Crown Prince remarked unhurriedly, “The wind is rather strong tonight. It keeps blowing into my face.”
I nearly burst out laughing.
But this was hardly the time!
After failing to catch me for so long, He Yansheng’s eyes became even more frightening. More frightened than ever, I dodged at increasingly devious angles and even tried crawling under the wheelchair.
When He Yansheng bent to drag me out, I used every ounce of strength to shove him into the Crown Prince’s arms. The cousins ended up in a full embrace.
He Yansheng went pale with shock and scrambled to rise, only for the Crown Prince to lock an arm firmly around his waist.
The Crown Prince was all breezy elegance and picture-perfect features. Even his words were deliciously suggestive. “Why is my dear cousin throwing himself into my arms?”
He Yansheng struggled desperately while glaring at me, yet still had to beg forgiveness.
“Forgive me, Your Highness! My foot slipped.”
“You slipped all the way from a chair across the hall into my arms?”
Just as the stalemate became unbearable, Crown Princess Lin Xining finally arrived, carrying a bowl of soup with an apologetic smile. “Zhiyu, I went to the small kitchen to make you a late-night snack. Please have a taste, Your Highness. Oh, the heir and his wife are both here? Is this not your wedding night? What game are you playing? Hurry back and consummate your marriage. Do not disturb His Highness.”
He Yansheng hastily scrambled up and rushed to the Crown Princess’s side. Together, they stared me down.
The adulterous pair spoke more sweetly than honey, but their eyes grew more menacing by the second. One seized me from each side and started dragging me out.
True, I could neither speak nor read, so I had no way to expose their affair to the Crown Prince. But what if I drew a picture for someone?
Even a fool like me understood: I was doomed!
Save me, Brother Cuckold!
At last, our cuckolded friend who was pretending to be blind spoke. “Since no one appears sleepy at this late hour, none of us need sleep. Let us stay and admire the moon together.”