Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

86. Sharp Sword, I’ve Heard a Lot About You

Translator: Flying Lines

Prince Rui’s residence

“Elder Zhou, His Highness has gone to the hunting grounds with Young Master Wen. I’m afraid they will not be able to return soon.” Yu Jiang said as he handed over a cup of tea to Zhou Zaiyue.

Zhou Zaiyue had just hurried back, travel-worn and weary, with two large baskets of herbs on his back.

“I understand. Go prepare a bathtub.” Zhou Zaiyue took out the herbs. Because this journey had been a long one, he had turned some of these herbs into pills to preserve them whilst he traveled. As for the herbs in the baskets, a lot of them had been bought from medicine shops and would be used as supplements.

Zhou Zaiyue downed the tea in the cup in one go and began to immerse himself with fiddling with the herbs. He called Yu Jiang to bring over a few buckets of water and filled the bathtub so that it was a quarter full. After that, he put the herbs into the tub and wiped away the sweat that had collected on his forehead. He laughed in relief.

However, not long after this, he couldn’t continue to laugh, because Xiao Shengnian and Su Jie had returned.

They traveled to the hunting grounds by a horse-drawn carriage, so naturally, they returned in a carriage. But after they got off the carriage, Xiao Shengnian bent over once again, indicating for Su Jie to climb onto his back.

Su Jie frowned, a bit helpless. “I can heal my internal injuries myself. And also, I’m not that weak!”

“Enough of your nonsense.” Xiao Shengnian pursed his lips. Unexpectedly, his handsome features looked stern under the gentle light of the sun. “Get on.”

“How… how can you behave like this!” Su Jie looked annoyed as he firmly refused the offer. “I can walk myself.”

Xiao Shengnian straightened. He watched Su Jie’s pale complexion and said in a somewhat irritated tone, “Do you like to be hit that much? I won’t blame you when we are outside, but now that we are home, we should settle this matter.”

Su Jie didn’t say anything.

However, Xiao ShengXian, who had followed them back, said, “Brother, he’s injured because of me. Don’t scold him.”

“ShengXian, I want to have a word with him in private. You should return to your residence first. Come back after a few days.” Xiao Shengnian said as he managed to regain his calm, older brother persona.

“You…” Xiao ShengXian had wanted to say more but, to his surprise, Su Jie gave him a lazy glance.

“Don’t think too much into it. I didn’t get hit because I wanted to save you,” Su Jie said mildly.

Xiao ShengXian didn’t get angry. He tilted his head and thought. His alluring slanted eyes were as elegant as ever. He suddenly had a lightbulb moment and said, “I know. You must have had a special relationship with that Prince Qin, am I right?”

When he finished speaking, Xiao ShengXian seemed to have thought of something else and mumbled absentmindedly, “Thinking back, I investigated into this a little when Wen Nianxuan’s information was presented to me. There shouldn’t have been any chances for you to interact with Prince Qin, but you do know him. So this means…” There was suddenly a steely look in his eyes. He stared at Su Jie and said grumpily, “Spit it out, who are you? I have felt long ago that you’re not someone as simple as a normal young man, and now I’ve caught onto you!”

“You have felt long ago that I’m not simple?” Su Jie laughed, his expression bright. Even though his complexion was a little pale, he still gave off a handsome air as he always did.

“Let’s talk when we’re back inside. Let him take a breather first. He was hurt to the point where he vomited blood and yet, he still forcefully swallowed it back. You’re quite strong-willed.” Xiao Shengnian said, interrupting their conversation.

“Brother, you’re hiding things from me.” When Xiao ShengXian heard this, he was certain there was something he didn’t know about, which must have had something to do with Su Jie. He turned his head to look at Su Jie. “Eh? Oh, right. When I first had you whipped, you even acted as if it hurt. And now, you don’t even complain about the pain. You truly are daring to even fool me!”

The corner of Su Jie’s lips curled. Despite his bright smile, there was a dim, cold glint in his eyes. Just like… a lone wolf staring at its prey. The gaze was a little frosty, but it was still as sharp as a knife.

Xiao ShengXian was startled. A film of cold sweat suddenly emerged from the pores of his skin like they couldn’t wait to materialize. This was Xiao ShengXian’s instinctive reaction to danger. At that moment, it was like what he saw wasn’t Su Jie, but a ruthless hunter in a sea of blood.

“You…” Xiao ShengXian said frightfully. His expression immediately darkened as he felt a thread of anger for being scared by Su Jie.

“As you have heard, this is the real me.” Su Jie smiled brightly. He reined in his killing intent and directed a faint smile towards Xiao ShengXian. “You could get to know me better next time, Your Highness, Prince Xian. My nickname is the Sharp Sword, I was once Prince Qin’s man of sacrifice.”

“Sharp Sword!” Xiao ShengXian called out in a strange tone.

“What? You have heard of me before?” Su Jie tilted his head. But before he could finish what he was saying, he was pulled into Xiao Shengnian’s arms.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. So you’re the Sharp Sword.” Xiao ShengXian looked up and down Su Jie in awe.

“You are the Sharp Sword?” Xiao Shengnian was also mildly shocked. Because Su Jie had never revealed any killing intent around him, even Xiao Shengnian was somewhat surprised when Su Jie released it just now. He had originally thought Su Jie was an ordinary man of sacrifice, but he had never thought that he was… the Sharp Sword.

“Eh? You guys know me?” Su Jie was also stunned. After all, he had never appeared in State Yanhui’s capital, yet, these two princes in front of him had heard of his nickname before.

“You really are the Sharp Sword?” Xiao ShengXian was a little skeptical. “I heard that the Sharp Sword was Busha Pavilion’s best killer. He could be said to be Busha Pavilion’s trademark, someone who kills without blinking. I’ve never heard the Sharp Sword carrying out missions of this kind before. You’re still lurking around my brother? What kinds of evil intentions do you have!”

Busha Pavilion was an organization that the Guqin Master established. Its sphere of influence was huge. The Pavilion had thirty-six bronze killers, thirty-six silver killers, and one lone gold killer. The gold killer was the Sharp Sword. These killers were all men of sacrifice. Sometimes, they were also responsible for passing messages to the Guqin Master.

But in all fairness, Su Jie had never carried out many missions in State Yanhui. He had always felt that he was low-key, so he shouldn’t be famous at all.

“That’s enough. Don’t ask anymore. I will explain to you later, but let my little slave have a rest.” Xiao Shengnian said as he patted Su Jie’s shoulder.

“Brother, it hasn’t been long but you’ve already been captured by this youth who approached you with evil intentions. And you’re even protecting him. In the past, I was the one you were most protective of.” Xiao Shengnian sounded a little unhappy, but he repressed the suspicion he felt deep within his heart and didn’t ask any more questions.

It didn’t take long for the three of them to walk over to the House of Auspice. Before they even went in, they could already smell the scent of herbs. Xiao Shengnian laughed. “Teacher has returned.”

Sure enough, the moment they entered the House of Auspice, they saw a large bathtub in the middle of the courtyard. Zhou Zaiyue was fiddling with the herbs. He raised his head and saw them return. There was a smile on Zhou Zaiyue’s face, but the moment he saw Su Jie’s pale complexion, the smile dropped.

The crown prince got hurt again?

Zhou Zaiyue felt his heart bleed. He was State Yanling’s crown prince, who was as precious as a national treasure yet he had suffered so much, leaving his hometown when he was younger and then becoming a man of sacrifice who others could hit and scold. It hadn’t been easy finding him, but His Highness was first subjected to the Death Gu’s poison then injured again and again. Couldn’t he just follow him back to Yanling safely and healthily?

Could it be that his highness was destined to suffer through many hardships?

Was what the State Preceptor said true?

Zhou Zaiyue sighed inwardly, put down the herbs in his hands, and walked towards them.