Chapter 52

The next morning, Shen Nuo who looked himself from the mirror saw his scratched lips and did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had woken up as usual but with a splitting headache and did not remember what happened the day before. He only remembered he fainted by the graveyard of Empress Xi. He did not know what magic it was to faint in a place and wake up completely in another place. At first, he thought he was dreaming.

"Jinyu! Who brought me here?"

"His Majesty the Emperor!"

"???" Shen Nuo was flabbergasted. "Don't tell me I was still drunk and awake then..."

"Yes you were!" Jinyu said gleefully lying. "You even bit His Majesty's ear and called him a dog!" He added a bit of flavour to it and enjoyed the aftertaste to the extreme.

Shen Nuo burried his face in his palms and bitterly sighed. "Well, f@#k my life!"

The goldfish however looked amused. "Why is it? Are you afraid that His Majesty must have taken advantage of you while you were drunk?"

And Liyi who happened to hear this chased after Jinyu with the kitchen broom. "Hooligan! Is that something you should ask your master!!?"

But Shen Nuo smiled bitterly. "I didn't mean it that way, Liyi. I'm afraid that I must have taken advantage of him."

"!!!" Liyi was speechless. "Master! What are you saying?" She ended in a lame whisper.

Shen Nuo sighed. He would be not amazed if the dog comes at him barking when he's sober. At least he expected the dog to come. But to his surprise, only the personal bodyguard of the Emperor, Wu Zhangsun came. He came to relay a message. He nastily glared at the goldfish before turning to Shen Nuo and bowing.

"Consort Shen, His Majesty asked this subordinate to grant the request that you made a week ago." He said expressionlessly, stretching out a rolled parchment.

Shen Nuo was too baffled to think. "Which request exactly?" He asked in confusion.

"Consort Shen, the request you made asking permission to join the Spring Hunt. Feel honored. His Majesty asked this subordinate to tell you're the first person from the harem that's allowed to join the Spring Hunt."

Shen Nuo did not like the tone of it. Was the dog planning something again? Anyway, even if it did, he should deal with the dog and not with the dog's imperial guard. So, "Okay you can leave." he said.

There was only two more day left to the Spring Hunt. Prince Altai left with Princess Sagangui the next day. Minghe was sad. Except Shen Nuo, the twin Mongolian consorts were the only mothers who treated him the best. But after seeing Minghe's fallen face, Khutulun decided to stay. Shen Nuo was moved.

The Spring Hunt was occasionally held every once a year personally by the Emperor. The hunting grounds were supposed to be leagues and leagues away from the Capital, somewhere nearby a stunning landscape full of lakes and mountainous forests. It definitely took several days by carriage. Each and every official participated.

Shen Nuo wasn't interested. But he knew Minghe's time was drawing near. He couldn't put his guard down. And most importantly, he hadn't seen Zhanhua since that day of their encounter at the brothel. It looked as though he was taking his own time to regret. But among the list of the participants of this year, his name was also included.

Liyi and Jinyu packed Shen Nuo's needings that night. Liyi looked envious. Maids weren't allowed in this journey. Shen Nuo had to leave her behind. The night before departing, Liyi called Jinyu closer and whispered something in his ear. Jinyu's eyes shone brilliantly like fire. "Would it really work?"

"It definitely should!" She nodded grinning, looking at sleeping Shen Nuo on the bed who was lost somewhere amid calm and peaceful dreams.

Jinyu nodded in excitement and slowly untied Shen Nuo's personal bag. He quickly found out the glassy phial stuffed with Shen Nuo's monthly heat suppressant pills.

He replaced it with another phial which carried similar pills of the same color and size that Liyi gave to him. "Now, are you really sure about this?" Jinyu asked with worry, looking at the new phial with furrowed brows.

Liyi nodded reassuringly. "One of the strongest aphrodisiacs!" She said grinning. "I had to sweep the entire town of Lincheng to search for them last Sunday!" She convicted her crime gleefully. "Since master is the only person from the harem, he would probably spend the night inside His Majesty's tent. You just have to add a pill into master's meals, ok? Don't overdose!"

An efficient conspiracy...

But Jinyu still looked wary. "Now then, are you really sure about this thing?"

Liyi frowned slightly. "Just try one yourself if you don't trust me. But make sure you at least go to Master Zhangsun! No one can satisfy someone like you unless it be him!" She shrugged mockingly and walked towards Shen Nuo, habitually draping the quilt over Shen Nuo that was kicked away by him few minutes ago.

Jinyu was speechless. Just what the actual f@#k!!? Liyi was still fifteen!

The next early morning, Minghe nagged Shen Nuo asking him to join his horse carriage to take a ride together. Shen Nuo did not mind. It was loads better than sharing a carriage with a dog, anyway. But the moment he entered into Minghe's horse carriage was the moment he found his ancestor sitting patiently on the low seat.

Shen Nuo froze in his tracks by the door. "..."

Li Yan patiently looked at Shen Nuo's face and his gaze briefly paused at Shen Nuo's red and slightly swollen lips that were a bit scratched. Li Yan's lips curled up into a domineering smile. "Consort Shen, how long do you wish to stand like that? Hmm?" He said, gently tapping to the vacant space beside him on the cushion, that was a bit cramped. The meaning was obvious.

Shen Nuo was speechless. As if! As if it wasn't like this dog had embarrassed him to the end of hell that day at the grave! Who said he doesn't want to consummate the marriage, huh? Who said he wants the divorce?

Shen Nuo narrowed his eyes at the dog.

AAA U F@#KING SERIOUS!!?

Then he smiled at Li Yan sweetly. If he did not teach the dog a lesson today, then he's the dog.

But maybe because he had woken up from under the bed today, his luck was really too good. Because Minghe waited for the moment and sheepishly stretched out his baby leg as Shen Nuo entered.

Shen Nuo did not know that someone had wanted him sacked. He who entered through the little curtain did not see the protruding baby foot either. So he tripped over Minghe's foot, missed some several steps, flew the length of the carriage to the back and crashed right way onto Li Yan.

The worst part of all was when the moment Shen Nuo unceremoniously slammed onto Li Yan's sturdy chest, their noses banged against each other. Shen Nuo ended up right on the emperor's lap and Li Yan sucked in a cold breath, a painful hiss escaping his lips convulsively. Li Yan obviously had not expected this of a move.

He gritted his teeth, forcefully suppressing the hiss of pain and looked at Shen Nuo darkly. His breath tightened in the pain and stimulation. It was extremely hard to say what was going in his mind.

Minghe laughed delightedly, clapping his hands in glee. "No matter what, mama still cannot get off his bad habit of running into daddy's hug whenever he sees him! Hahaha!"

Shen Nuo was speechless. He was too stunned for a while that he almost forgot his current position. His widened eyes stared spellbound at Li Yan's fathomless orbs of black.

Li Yan's red eyes were piercing and sharp, also slightly red at the ends. His jaws tightened vehemently. "Shen Nuo, you get up! You're pressing on my -" He hoarsely hissed, gritting his teeth.

Shen Nuo immediately looked down and suddenly found that his left knee was right in between Li Yan's legs, crushing his imperial baby bro, (probably into impotence).

"!!!!!!"

Blood rushed into Shen Nuo's face. He struggled out of Li Yan's lap as if he was struck by electricity.

He did not know whether to laugh or cry. He abruptly withdrew to the furthest corner of the carriage as far as possible from the dog. He wanted to hug a lamp post and cry. What should he do!!?

But the pup followed nevertheless, sitting on Shen Nuo's boots in delight. He wanted Shen Nuo to swing his legs and give him fun. But Shen Nuo did not seem to understand.

He wiped his nose furiously. To be frank, he was still shaken from the incident from few seconds ago. He narrowed his eyes to Minghe darkly. He could not believe Minghe did this to him. "I've raised you really well." He said in incredulous disbelief.

And Minghe did not seem to let go either. "But daddy!" He protested. "You were the one who taught me this!"

Shen Nuo's jaw dropped. "Shhhh!"

But it was too late. Li Yan obviously heard it. He narrowed his eyes. "Minghe, he taught you what?" He was still sulkily clamping his legs to suppress the pain in his crotch.

Minghe grinned. "Daddy Shen taught me how to trip Uncle Jinyu's foot whenever he's walking near Uncle Zhangsun."

Li Yan: "..."

"And it was quite a success!" Minghe nevertheless continued unaware of Shen Nuo's face that was screwing up into a flatly smitten cashew nut. "The last time I did it, Uncle Jinyu felled right onto Uncle Zhangsun and he accidentally bit Uncle Zhangsun's nose!" He giggled. "Uncle Zhangsun chased him for several lanes after that!"

"..." Li Yan silently turned to look at Shen Nuo (who was suddenly in his usual casual self of the innocent puppy full of fluffy fur again). Li Yan's expression was hard to read. "Consort Shen." He said narrowing his eyes coldly. "Is this something you should be teaching a Crown Prince of a state?"

Shen Nuo knew the dog was restraining hard from flaring up into an atomic bomb. He wiped his nose pretending to be unconcerned.

But from beneath, while he was in a terrible urge of chosing some shit to utter, Zhangsun unknowingly saved his life.

"Master!" Zhangsun's voice came from outside. "This subordinate is back."

Li Yan acknowledged with a grim "Okay." Then he pulled away the curtain from his side and looked at Zhangsun. "Go and scout the path ahead. Nothing must go wrong. We will be stopping at Shang Tian Monastery to spend the night as usual. Where's Grand Martial Shendu?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, Grand Martial Shendu had already gone to the hunting grounds with his guards. He said he would be checking the place before Your Majesty's returns. And he asked this subordinate to hand this over to you, master!"

Li Yan nodded accepting the rolled scroll. "Ok, you can leave!" He pulled back the curtains, closing the view from the outside. Few minutes later, twelve or so horse carriages left the Imperial Capital. Many of the officials used horses while their subordinates carried their belongings.

Shen Nuo heard that Zhanhua also left early along with the group of several young court officials. He couldn't help but feel worried. Actually it cannot be considered as Zhanhua's fault either. After all, he had already sacrificed much to stay here without going back to his country. Shen Nuo sighed.

As the carriage proceeded through the main road, Minghe suddenly wanted to see what outside looked like. He had never been out of the Palace before. So Li Yan permitted him to go and sit on the step outside the curtain beside the horse man.

Li Yan silently unrolled the scroll on the floor of the carriage and examined it with creased brows. It turned out be a map with several runes and secret signs that Shen Nuo did not understand. He felt bored since Minghe was outside. So he pulled his bag and rummaged through it.

What his hand met first was a little but heavy book. His brows furrowed. He remembered he did not put books inside his bag. He took it out and looked at it. Then his mouth felled open. It was that erotic phonographic book 'Our S**Life' that he found from Li Yan's Study. He was speechless. But why was this book inside his bag? Then suddenly he remembered that Jinyu and Liyi were giggling that morning by the curtain. Shen Nuo facepalmed. "These two..."

For two hours he spent time nonchalantly flipping through the erotic pictures of different postures that were also well explained.

Li Yan was absorbed into the map and had not raised his head for two hours. Shen Nuo felt lonely. With the dog not watching, he couldn't at least annoy and tease the dog.

As if Li Yan had guessed what Shen Nuo was thinking, he raised his head from the map. "Bear it." He maliciously smiled. "We have hours and hours tonight!"

Shen Nuo looked as if he had eaten shit. But he smiled back cutely. "Yeah, you and me." He said in a reassuring voice. "And with Minghe between us."

Li Yan gave that frightening smile. "Oh, really? Let's see..." He lowered back his face with that haunting smile still in his lips. "Don't forget. Zhen must assure the safety of his harem people first. You will be spending the night in Zhen's chamber!"

Shen Nuo's mouth twitched. He couldn't take it anymore. He flung the book towards Li Yan, annoyed. But Li Yan caught it skillfully in the mid air. His lips still had that haunting smile. He casually flipped through the book. And his breath hitched. His face darkened. He looked at Shen Nuo darkly.

Shen Nuo smiled bitterly in his heart. His luck was really too good. Why did he hit him with that book? He wanted to dig his own grave and bury himself.

Li Yan's breath was messy. But before he could speak, Minghe entered inside. "Imperial Father, I'm hungry." He said caressing his thin stomach, pouting his lips. Li Yan hid the book in his lapels throwing Shen Nuo that eye f@#king gaze before calling Minghe over.

Minghe quickly settled himself next to his father and pulled the fruit bowl towards him. He stuffed a plumpy lichi into his mouth, holding it lightly with his lips and teeth while he rummaged further down the bowl.

A several apples rolled down in the attempt and went past Li Yan's foot.

Li Yan: "..."

That was when until Minghe suddenly found what he really wanted, which turned out to be a - banana...

He smiled innocently, stretching it to Shen Nuo. "Daddy Shen, Minghe still remembers you like to eat banana!"

Shen Nuo thought he was going to have a heart attack. Why did Minghe have to bring up this matter at this of a critical moment? Shen Nuo couldn't help but throw a swift glance at the dog who sat on the seat. And when he found Li Yan watching him with one of his dense brows raised...

Shen Nuo: "..."

Minghe more or less felt the strange air exchanged between Shen Nuo and Li Yan. "Daddy Shen." He spoke with big eyes. "Isn't one enough for you?" He smiled brightly. "Let Minghe fetch another one for you!" He started rummaging the entire bowl again, chestnuts and peaches flying in every directions...

"!!!" Shen Nuo did not know whether to laugh or cry. "No need no need. One is enough." He said waving his hand, shaking his head. Minghe will be sad if he did not eat it.

And when Shen Nuo was just about to peel it, Li Yan suddenly spoke. "Wife, take it as a banana that I personally gave to you!"

Shen Nuo choked in his breath. He was speechless. How could he not understand what Li Yan meant? Shen Nuo just gritted his teeth, smiling broadly and drew away the curtain, shouting aloud.

"Jinyu! Catch it!"

Jinyu who was walking beside the carriage caught the flying banana in the mid air. He grinned madly. "Thanks a bunch!" He said, raising the fruit to peel it.

And Shen Nuo turned to look at Li Yan with a smile showing him his middle finger (while Minghe was not watching). "Go and f@#k Jinyu!" He mouthed.

Li Yan's eyes narrowed even darker. His breath was extremely heavy. He looked at that middle finger carefully. Then he suddenly crossed the little space, reaching the window of the carriage, pushing Shen Nuo away.

"Jinyu!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Li Yan showed him the middle finger. "What is the meaning of this!!?"

And pitiful Jinyu: "!!!"

That pathetic goldfish choked in his banana and accidentally swallowed the whole fruit.

Minghe who popped his head out of the window was stunned, with blind fascination flashed across his face. "Wow Uncle Jinyu. You didn't even peel it!"

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