Mo Shen and Xue Lan sneaked their way back into Xue Lan’s courtyard. Without anyone noticing, they silently entered Xue Lan’s sleeping chamber.
Xue Lan flumped to his bed with nausea, “Don’t ever throw me like that again.”
“It’s fun, isn’t it? It rushes your adrenaline,” Mo Shen took off the tube slung onto his back.
“The only thing that rushes in my body is my blood and my breakfast,” Xue Lan covered his mouth with a frown.
Mo Shen went to the bed and pressed onto Xue Lan’s acupoints. Soon after, Xue Lan’s discomfort vanished like a dream.
“Better?”
Xue Lan nodded.
Mo Shen brought the rectangular table in the room to the bedside. He opened the tube to take out the painting and unfurled it on the table for Xue Lan.
Xue Lan sat up and looked at it.
The painting was as wide as the table with the same length. It depicted the peaks of 100 golden mountains beautified further with peach blossom trees.
“The painting that brought the end of Qi Ming Nation,” Xue Lan stroked it with the tip of his fingers. “Do you know who that young master was?”
Mo Shen rubbed his chin, “I recall Qi Ming’s councils mentioned that the Defense Minister is the one who will bring them the painting. Does the young master has any connection to him?”
“That is his son, Han Jinli,” Xue Lan nodded. “He is tasked by his father to acquire this painting.”
“Qi Ming hasn’t labelled you as a traitor yet. Did he attack out of his own ego?”
“The only goal in his life is to gain his father’s recognition and inherit his position as the Defense Minister,” Xue Lan got up on the other side of the bed to take his painting tools. “He'll send someone to us soon, might even before the end of the day. He’ll spare no effort to get this painting even if he needs to infiltrate the imperial palace himself.”
Mo Shen looked into the distance for a while and returned to his senses as Xue Lan sat back down on the bed, “There are several Qi Ming spies here indeed.”
“We’ll know if he contacts them when they approach us,” Xue Lan took out a bottle of thinner and a brush.
“What is the feud between Qian Jin and Qi Ming that your nation isn’t willing to surrender?”
“It is a matter of ancestorial grudge,” Xue Lan started wiping out the painting stroke by stroke. “Qian Jin has constant turbulence in the imperial family that history simply becomes history. The Tian bloodline isn’t the original founder of the empire two thousand years ago. Qi Ming’s ancestorial feud is towards the late emperor Jin Guofeng, the third true emperor of Qian Jin.”
“Which is why Tian Chen could choose the peace option when the situation called for it,” Mo Shen nodded in understanding. “The Xue bloodline is still safely reigning in the Qi Ming Nation. Is that why they are stubborn about it?”
Xue Lan gave a sound of affirmation, “The peace treaty is just a temporary measure since they were losing the war.”
“Still, one would at least wait for a couple of years before making a move,” Mo Shen thought that the Qi Ming Nation was too impatient.
“Because it is exactly like so that they want to catch Qian Jin by surprise,” Xue Lan put down the brush. “The people leading Qi Ming Nation right now are still the elders, two generations above Tian Chen. They are rather difficult to have a conversation with.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” Mo Shen had been watching them since yesterday after all.
He stepped closer to the table and looked at the ‘painting’.
It was a great wall of numbers.
“…What is this, My Lord?”
“That,” Xue Lan patted Mo Shen’s arm with his fan, “is for you to figure out.”
“…”
“I was told in my last life about this painting but I didn’t see it with my own eyes. It was said that it contained a clue about Qian Jin’s unstable foundation that can topple the whole empire with a nudge.”
Mo Shen rubbed his chin in thought, “They don't seem to be coordinates…other than all of them containing 100 digits, I can’t see any other pattern.”
“This should be written in the Jin Period and concealed in the same era as well. We’ll probably need to study the records and manuscripts of that era to understand this,” Xue Lan stood up. “Qi Ming must have some records regarding Qian Jin from their espionage. I am more sceptical whether Qian Jin still has the records of the Jin Period or not.”
“Qi Ming still lost despite acquiring this painting in your last life,” Mo Shen found that incredulous. “Did they fail to decrypt it?”
Xue Lan tried recalling back everything he knew.
“I am more inclined to believe that they decrypt it wrong. With their confidence, they must’ve been certain of their victory.”
The two of them fell into their own thought for a long while.
“Who wrote this in the first place?” Mo Shen wondered.
“It is unknown,” Xue Lan shook his head. “And for what reason is also a mystery.”
“There is a total of exactly one hundred combinations on this paper,” Mo Shen had counted. “Doesn’t sound random to me.”
They then heard some noises from outside. They recognized Li Feng’s voice, asking a servant whether they had returned yet.
The two of them looked at each other.
Mo Shen swiftly folded the paper into a detailed Xue Lan paper doll and painted every corner in under 5 minutes. The paper Xue Lan was wearing the black and purple robe he first made for him complete with his fan.
He proudly placed the artwork on the display table in the front hall. He added some wires and forcefully jammed them into the table to prevent it from toppling off.
Seeing it from afar, nobody could tell that it was made of paper.
Xue Lan, “…”
Couldn’t he choose something else to fold it into?
“Shall we go, My Lord?” Mo Shen offered his arm.
Xue Lan was too tired to comment and held his arm, “Let’s see if your tongue is as eloquent as your humour.”
Mo Shen suddenly jerked him in, locked his waist, and pressed their lips together. The long, split tongue invaded his mouth and briefly coiled around his tongue before retracting back, pulling his tongue along with it.
Xue Lan’s eyes were still blank as Mo Shen licked off the escaping saliva with a roguish smile.
“My tongue is undoubtedly eloquent,” he hissed teasingly.
Realizing what just happened, Xue Lan’s veins on his temple bulged.
The people in the courtyard were startled when a loud crash resounded from inside the main house.
Li Feng thought there was a thief and rushed to check only to see the man he was looking for tumbled out of the door. Everyone could see the satisfied grin on his face.
“My Lord, calm your anger. You’ll accidentally hurt your legs,” he persuaded without any hint of seriousness.
Xue Lan came out with a vase in his hand and threw it to Mo Shen, “I’ll rip off yours first and feed it to Xiao Hu.”
Xiao Hu cried in protest.
He didn’t want to eat such a foul thing!
Mo Shen smoothly caught the vase and turned to Li Feng with a smile, “Good afternoon, Guard Li. Please wait a moment while I coax my master.”
Li Feng, “…”
Xue Lan scoffed and went to Li Feng, “Please, ignore him, Guard Li. What matter do you need our help with?”
“Your Highness, we need to ask you and your attendant a few questions to clear an important case. We requested that you come with us to the court,” Li Feng carefully explained and made sure to add. “It is not because of suspicion or anything.”
“I understand,” Xue Lan nodded and walked out by himself.
Li Feng was about to prompt Mo Shen to follow as well but the other already tailed behind his master. The vase was nowhere to be found.
He thought Mo Shen would apologize or beg for forgiveness on their way to the court, but he only followed behind Xue Lan without losing his smile. The mood of the pair was like heaven and hell.
Reaching the court hall, Mo Shen readily set a chair for Xue Lan to sit on.
Xue Lan’s legs were already trembling but he refused to sit. He was absolutely sure that Mo Shen would tease him later for still needing him even while he was upset, saying he was just sulking.
Who was sulking!?
Mo Shen inwardly chuckled.
His master being stubborn was also cute~
Except for Li Feng, everyone in the hall thought that Xue Lan chose to stand to respect the Emperor. It was a common secret that the prince had frail legs.
His image rose slightly in their eyes.
