Chapter 28
Because the Crown Prince’s negligence and poor supervision led to the fraud case, after the spread of the news, the Prince’s reputation with officials and scholars was very low, his position as heir became more precarious.
Fortunately, Tian Chen Emperor had not completely lost confidence in the Prince, he ordered him to preside over the Qiong Lin feast to give him the opportunity to save a little reputation.
However, the Crown Prince was not grateful, so when Tian Chen retired from the feast, he focused on filling his jug with wine and ignored the other guests. Because of this trial period he’d lost a large number of subordinates, and was also reprimanded by his father. He already lost his face, how could he bother to leave a good impression on these students?
Zhou Yun Sheng sat close by, he secretly looked at the legendarily licentious and arrogant Crown Prince His Royal Highness. He was very handsome, a pair of slender oblique eyebrows angled on his temples, a pair of narrow phoenix eyes, glinting with wit. He always watched people with a sense of arrogance, which caused involuntary fear.
He was wearing old black clothes, his skirt was open revealing white inner clothes. Because the fabric was too thin, it actually sketched over his smooth muscle lines. Even from far away you could perceive his seemingly emaciated body still contained a powerful force. His posture was very idle- he sat cross legged, a hand held a jug and brought it to his mouth. Because he was drinking too much, he eyes were blurred, but he did not look relaxed, he looked more sharply wild.
He seemed to find the activities boring, he put down his glass, raised his hands to his cheek and faintly smiled at the students. But his cold eyes caused all the people to feel frightened, they turned to avoid his gaze.
The temper of this Prince was infamously volatile, it was easy to anger him without ever finding out which word provoked him. He dared to play around with Tian Chen Emperor’s concubines, dared to collect from the treasury for his own use, dared to stab any court officials who angered him. His style of acting could be summed in one word – mad! Four words – mad to the extreme!
As he presided over this occasion, the guests didn’t dare to be noisy, they didn’t even dare to breathe.
At this moment the hall was silent, except for the sounds from the musicians, no one talked.
Zhou Yunsheng returned his line of sight and secretly lamented the Prince’s looks good. Even the world’s male protagonist, Seven Princes, was no match for him.
At the same time, the Prince was also looking at the gold champion. The world knows the Prince loves beauty, whoever he fancies, whether men or women, he didn’t hesitate to peruse. Shen Yi Bin was a first-class beauty, he could be called lóng jū fèng chú. Erotic, with a pair of bright peach blossom eyes, after drinking his eyes were slightly damp, just like a small animal- pitiable and lovely.
His age was the youngest yet he was wearing the red champion gown, sitting in a group of long bearded old men. He was like a firefly on a dark night, dazzling and difficult to ignore.
The Crown Prince’s eyes were deep, his fingertip circled the rim of the jug, his moves ambiguous.
A nearby eunuch saw his desires and bent to ask, “His Royal Highness, do you want to call the champion to drink with you?”
“No,” The Prince waved his hand, pointing to another direction, ” call over that flower beauty for Gu Si Nian.” He was sober enough to remember that Shen Yi Bin was very valuable to his father, so he could not use the Qiong Lin feast to peruse him.
The flower beauty was 25 years old, although he was not as peerless as Shen Yi Bin, he was handsome and graceful. When he saw the Prince point towards himself, his face immediately paled.
“Tan Hua Lang, Prince His Royal Highness requests your presence.” Perhaps it was psychological, the flower beauty felt that the voice of the eunuch was malevolent, like a ghost demanding his soul.
He would like to refuse, but the treacherous Prince was looking at him, not to mention speak, he even lacked the strength to stand up, so he accidentally poured a pot of wine all over his body.
Everyone quietly looked at him, eyes filled with 120,000 points of sympathy.
“Dare to ask the eunuch, could Shen be fortunate enough to drink with His Royal Highness?” Suddenly, Zhou Yun Sheng smiled and asked.
A nearby eunuch quickly looked over to him, bent over and said, “The champion, naturally this is no trouble, please.”
The flower beauty looked toward the juvenile, relieved, and he vowed in his heart to record the kindness. Others felt more generous admiration for the champion. They say that dealing with a king was like dealing with a tiger, but they felt that the heir was even fiercer than a tiger.
The Prince apparently didn’t expect Zhou Yunsheng to take the initiative. He pulled up his sleeve, and waved the other side to sit down. Then he observed him. When he found that there was no reluctance or fear, his gloomy mood inexplicably improved.
“You’re well behaved, you look out for helpless people.” He laughed without laughing.
Zhou Yunsheng’s tone was very light, “I’m not doing any favors. Small minister will serve in the Imperial Academy tomorrow and every day I will help the Prince study. Naturally, I will spend a lot of time with Prince so I’m getting a head start.”
He not only looked pure and lovely, even his voice was clear and translucent, listening to it felt comfortable. The Prince laughed, his eyes softened, he was happy that the newborn calf was not afraid of the tiger.
Zhou Yunsheng touched his nose, his line of sight moved to the Prince’s clogs on his feet. It was cold at night, most people wore a big padded cloak just to feel warm, yet the Prince’s dress was very thin, his feet actually had on clogs. Was he not afraid of the cold?
His heart was beginning to doubt when the Prince personally handed him a glass of wine. He quickly took a sip, his eyes slightly light up. This was a bottle of the Imperial wine West Phoenix, and it was boiled in water, the aftertaste was unforgettable.
The Prince watched him lick his lips, his pink little tongue probed out, very enticing. His heart immediately wanted to persuade him to drink a few more glasses. They drank and talked, and it didn’t feel like it was their first meeting, they were like friends who knew each other for years.
The Seven Princes who was also in attendance was waiting for the Prince to lose his temper on Shen Yi Bin, so he could rescue him and gain his gratitude. But when he saw this scene he felt depressed.
The Prince was addicted to alcohol, after drinking a West Phoenix bottle he ordered the servants to boil two more to drink later.
“Don’t drink on an empty stomach, pad your belly with rice.” Seeing the boy’s red cheeks and blurred eyes, the Prince laughed, reaching out to pat his hair.
“Ah, I will.” Shen Yi Bin’s body was still very tender, he was already drunk. Zhou Yun Sheng was also dizzy. He wanted to use 007 to adjust his body’s constitution, but he was in full view of everyone, it was not a good idea to draw attention to his wrists. Moreover, if he was a drunk man that miraculously returned to normal the next second, it would be too suspicious. Plus the Prince was still staring at him.
He dug into his bowl, paused and looked blankly at the Prince to complain: “This food is cold and unpalatable!”
“Yes it is a little cold.” The Prince laughed, he picked up his bowl and carefully began eating, he even took Shen’s bowls. Then he continued to drink, but he didn’t forget to fill the cup of the small champion by his side.
Zhou Yun Sheng had become dizzy, his mind filled with alcohol. His food also pushed back up against his throat, ready to come back out. While the Prince poured him some more wine, he suddenly brushed passed him and staggeringly ran out.
Everyone thought that the champion finally couldn’t bear to stay in his presence and ran away, they could not help but reveal tensed looks.
The Prince also thought that he was disgusted with himself, his face hardened, his hand reached for the sword at his waist, his eyes hid bloody rage. He thought that they could at least be friends, but the other was just hiding his unpleasant feelings, so, it was better to kill him, so he could no longer enter his eyes.
Seven Princes wanted to stand up and plead, but when he saw that the Prince was ready to kill he sat back as he thought of a more profitable idea. Shen Jia was now in the Emperor’s favor so even saving Shen Yi Bin might not get him to acknowledge him. But if the Prince killed him, Shen Home will want the Prince’s head, his father will also be angry with the Prince, and his position will hit rock bottom.
The Prince and Seven Princes were for once in agreement, and no one stood up to lighten the situation. Hua Lang struggled for a long time, he was about to say a few words when he saw the eunuch that had chased after the champion come back, then whisper something to the Prince.
The Prince raised his eyebrows, his gloomy look instantly cleared, without a word he walked away.
Everyone was still stunned, they finally witnessed the Prince’s rumored temper.
In the Royal Garden, Zhou Yunsheng was lying near the lotus pond vomiting, he was about to adjust his body’s information to not drunk when the Prince came, his eyes looked merry, ” Only a few pots of wine and you’re actually drunk to this extent, really unbelievable.”
“I’m 17 years old.” Zhou Yun Sheng complained, his peach eyes wet. He was captured by the Lord God when he was sixteen, not yet the legal drinking age. Although he reincarnated for tens of thousands of years, he still firmly believed that he was always sixteen.
Prince found the situation even funnier, he teasingly called him a pure boy.
Zhou Yunsheng ignored him and continued vomiting against the pool. He saw that the fish had surfaced to swallow his vomit after he had already emptied his stomach and was only vomiting mouthfuls of bile. He found it absurd, “They, they are actually eating my spit! So disgusting! I didn’t think the fish in the Imperial Garden would be so disgusting!”
The Prince was bent over from laughter. He took out a handkerchief and personally helped the boy wipe his mouth, the action was very gentle. He liked the boy and his intimate and unruffled attitude towards himself, so he unconsciously put down his guard.
Zhou Yun Sheng thanked him and leaned on his hand to stand up, so he found something surprising. The Prince’s hand was very hot, it seemed to be burning up- it was obviously not the normal body temperature. He couldn’t help but lean in closer, he faintly smelled medicine. Because his five senses were more enhanced than normal people he could distinguish stalactites, amethyst, white quartz, sulfur, red halloysite, arsenic ore, and even poppy and other herbs.
The Prince was personally raised and pampered by Heaven Emperor, he was his father’s son. From an early age he showed extraordinary political talent, but three years ago his temperament changed, he not only turned lascivious, he began acting more and more illogical. Tian Chen Emperor repeatedly called him before his throne, but no matter how many times he was scolded he did not change.
Zhou Yunsheng felt that he found the root of the Prince’s new temperament.
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T/N:
Qiong Lin – I couldn’t get a definite translation. The gist is that it means majestic, super awesome etc.
Lóng jū fèng chú – Idiom. A young, sexually upright, talented scholar. A young and intelligent person.
Gu Si Nian– That’s the Crown Prince’s own name. Everyone talks in the third person. Another reason why I didn’t want to translate ancient settings. I can’t tell between MTL failure and success. I compromised and made things half first person, half third.
Tan Hua Lang- Third place winner.