Good Luck Wedding Chapter 004 – Testing Each Other

When those hands reached into the quilt and held his, Li Fengqi nearly gave in and opened his eyes.

The person beside the bed was muttering something he didn't have the mind to figure out; all his attention was focused on the hand that was being held.

The other person's palms were very soft, unlike his own hands covered in calluses from holding weapons all year round. Only the pads of this man's middle finger and ring finger had some thin calluses, probably from always holding pens and practicing calligraphy. The strength in those hands weren't significant, and they were wrapped around his own hand, rubbing gently to drive away the cold chill.

Surprisingly, they were actually warming him up.

This was not someone sent by Li Zong.

Li Fengqi guessed the identity of the other party after a brief thought.

This should be the male consort that Li Zong sent to humiliate him - Ye Yunting, the eldest son of the Duke of Qi. The person who wiped his face when he woke up in the morning should also be him.

He knew quite a bit about the affairs in the Duke of Qi's mansion. In his early years, before he came to power, Ye Zhili married the biological sister of Prince Qie of Dali Temple. Within two years of the marriage, she died in childbirth, leaving only one son, the eldest son Ye Yunting. Truthfully-speaking, it wasn't really something Ye Zhili could be faulted for, but he remarried his current wife Yin Hongye less than a year after her death. Not long after, the Yin family had another pregnancy, giving birth to the second son, Ye Wan. From then on, the Prince's family cut off all contact with the Duke of Qi.

When Emperor Taizong of Beizhao established the country, he divided it into one capital, five prefectures, and thirteen states. The capital was Shangjing, and the five prefectures were the five governorships of Yunrong, Runan, Longyou, Nieyang, and Beijiang. Each governor's office was in charge of several states. Among them, the Yunrong governor's office was considered the most powerful because its three states of Luzhou, Zhongzhou, and Jizhou¹ were the three states of the capital, and had always been responsible for the safety of the capital and imperial city.

Yin Xiaozhi, the current governor of Yunrong, was a close confidant of the emperor. Although he was no longer in Shangjing, it did not affect the Yin family's power and position in Shangjing at all.

And Yin Hongye was Yin Xiaozhi's favorite granddaughter.

She was a full year younger than Ye Zhili. She wanted to marry Ye Zhili regardless of opposition from the Yin family. Yin Xiaozhi, who doted on this little granddaughter the most, finally agreed to the marriage despite misgivings. Ye Zhili, meanwhile, relied on the influence of the Yin family over the years to finally reach his current position. He had gone from being an unsuccessful, down-and-out fringe duke to a ministerial order with more power than a prime minister.

After gaining power, Ye Zhili favored his second son greatly, but only regarded his eldest son by his first wife as a spare. Yin Hongye had an arrogant temperament. Although she didn't regard this stepson like a thorn in her side, she didn't treat him particularly well, either. Ye Zhili turned a blind eye to this, and most of the time he wouldn't even let his eldest son out, instead simply pretending that there was no such person in the Duke's mansion.

According to tradition, Ye Yunting, as the eldest son, should have been officially crowned as heir after he turned ten. However, Ye Zhili kept delaying the appointment on the grounds that his eldest son was too weak and could not be favored too much. Until this day arrived, when he actually sent his son directly to this royal palace to be married off.

Although Li Fengqi had always known that Ye Zhili was a sanctimonious person who employed insidious and vicious methods, he never expected that he would be so cruel to his own eldest son in order to make room for his second.

Thinking about it, he realized that Ye Yunting's situation was similar to his own.

However, Ye Yunting's reaction today was far from what he had expected.

A few days ago, Li Zong rushed to tell him that Si Tiantai had selected a consort with a compatible destiny for him: a Wangfei who came from a good family, had good looks, and was a man.

Of course, this fated compatibility was nothing more than Si Tiantai's lies. Li Zong simply wanted to take the opportunity to disgust him by giving him a male consort.

He still remembered Li Zong's expression at that time, looking at him with such excitement and impatience, expecting him to look humiliated. Unfortunately, he didn't get what he wanted and ended up returned to the palace in a rage.

However, Ye Yunting was indeed sent to the palace after a few days.

Li Fengqi had never paid attention to the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion before. He only heard that he was locked up in the backyard all year round and rarely went out. He thought that he must have been a weak and incompetent person.

Now, this abandoned son had been given in marriage to Li Fengqi, and might even be buried with him. He should have flailed and protested. Even crying and hanging himself wouldn't have been out of the question.

He never thought that Ye Yunting would take the initiative to take care of him as a dying person.

There must be a demon when things went wrong².

Li Fengqi's mind turned several times, pondering about his intentions, when he felt a coldness on the back of his hand as the hands that had been keeping him warm withdrew from under the quilt, followed by the light sounds of footsteps walking away.

He opened his eyes and saw a tall and thin figure walking towards the bed.

Although Li Zong was becoming more and more radical and less reasonable, he had been right about one thing: the eldest son of the Duke of Qi was indeed good-looking. He exuded charm even from just the back of his figure.

Li Fengqi followed his back with eyes as he walked up to and tidied the half-made bed. His movements were a bit clumsy. He pulled the mattress from the left to the right, but could not make it flat. In the end, he probably got tired of it, so he simply spread it out haphazardly and piled soft pillows and quilts on top.

It seemed that some of his childishness had not yet faded.

Li Fengqi lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then decided to test him.

He closed his eyes, his long eyebrows knitted together in pain, and gave a weak cry: "Water, water..."

Ye Yunting, who had just barely straightened out the bed, walked quickly over to his side to check on him. He saw that the unconscious man's lips were chapped and pale, and a weak breath came out from between his lips, making him look even sicklier and more pitiful.

It was no wonder; he hadn't had any food or water for at least a whole day.

Ye Yunting hurriedly left and came back with a glass of water. But when he lifted it against his mouth, he suddenly remembered that this man had just been exposed to cold wind and was sick. He probably shouldn't give him cold water like this. After hesitating for a moment, he put the water glass back on the table, brought over a candlestick, then held the water glass and placed it over the candle flame to warm it slowly.

It was already dark by now, and the cold night wind blew in through the cracks in the window, causing the candlelight to sway.

The unconscious patient on the bed cried out "water" again and again. Ye Yunting was so anxious that he could only protect the candle flame with one hand and hold the teacup above the candle with the other. By the time he finally heated up a glass of water, his fingers had also been burnt red.

Ye Yunting hissed twice, rubbed his red fingers, carefully put a soft pillow behind Li Fengqi's head, and put the warm water to his lips.

The warm water moistened his dry lips, flowed through his thirsty esophagus, and finally fell into his stomach.

Li Fengqi originally just wanted to test him, but when the warm water entered his throat, his body couldn't resist. He drank the glass of water in big gulps and couldn't keep himself from letting out a low sigh.

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had taken a sip of warm water.

Five days, ten days, or even a month?

Li Zong was deeply afraid of him. In the more than a month since he was poisoned and became bedridden, he first killed his loyal confidants in the palace and trapped him here. He also cut off the communication between Shangjing and Northern Xinjiang to prevent him from causing trouble. The news could not reach the northern border, leaving no one to support him.

There were situations that were more difficult than this when marching against the enemy, but this was the first time that he had been in such a sorry state. Although it wasn't unbearable, it would be a lie to say that it was not uncomfortable.

The physical pain was secondary to the the anger of being betrayed. If it weren't for the need to hold back at this moment, he would have wanted to personally ask Li Zong himself if the deep brotherly love of more than ten years had all been fake.

He guarded the border, killed powerful officials, and consolidated the throne for him, but in the end all he received in return was humiliation.

Ye Yunting's cup of hot water at least made him feel that not all people in the world were as cruel as Li Zong.

Li Fengqi's chest rose and fell for several breaths before he opened his eyes.

Ye Yunting was observing his condition, and happened to meet his eyes at this moment.

The man looked at him deeply, with obvious scrutiny.

He froze for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and said, "Is Wangye awake?" After a pause, he added, "I am Ye Yunting." He didn't say much else, but Li Fengqi probably knew everything already.

Li Fengqi stared at him for a moment and saw that his eyes were calm and fearless, with a hint of concern. Only then did he say: "Thank you." His voice was still hoarse, but it was much better than how it previously sounded, like gravel rubbing against gravel.

His attitude was much gentler than before. Ye Yunting was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There is no need for Wangye to say thank you."

After he finished speaking, Li Fengqi did not respond and closed his eyes again.

The two of them were speechless for a moment. Ye Yunting saw that his expression was quite peaceful, then looked at the darkening sky outside. He was a little worried about Ji Lian who had not yet returned, so he said, "I'm going to go outside to take a look." Then he got up and left.

Ji Lian has been out all afternoon, and now that it was dark, it was time to come back.

Ye Yunting was just thinking about where to look for someone when the door was pushed open and Ji Lian's voice came loudly: "Master, Master, we have dinner!"

The joy in his voice was audible even from a distance.

Ye Yunting went outside to take a look and saw him enter the house with two bowls of hot congee.

"Where did the congee come from?" Ye Yunting was surprised.

"I cooked it myself." Ji Lian put down the congee and closed the door, then added as though wanting to take credit: "I went around the whole palace, found the kitchen, and found the unused rice. I thought that if they wouldn't give me any food, then I'll just cook food myself.”

This palace was a mansion with five entrances and five exits. Although the servants have left, some precious and valuable artifacts had been seized and even taken away by the escaped servants. But in places like the kitchen, some useful things could still be found with some careful searching.

"It's a pity that all the meat and vegetables were spoiled, or else we could have made two more dishes." Ji Lian said sadly.

Ye Yunting laughed when he heard this. "Congee isn't so bad."

He lowered his voice and asked, "Did you find out where all those secret sentries are hiding?"

At this, Ji Lian felt even more proud. He leaned over next to Ye Yunting and whispered the results of the investigation: "There are a total of four people, all hiding on the old trees in the main courtyard, one each in the southeast and northwest. I've looked elsewhere, but there's no one else. There are only two or three older servants living in the back room."

There were only four people guarding the main courtyard, which was a better situation than Ye Yunting had imagined.

He asked again: "Where are the two maids? Did you see them when you were in the mansion?"

Ji Lian thought back and shook his head. "They should not be in the mansion."

It was getting dark now. If he were in the mansion, there would have been candles already lit, but along the way he traveled, he didn't see any burning candles except in the servants' house³.

The maid was not in the palace... Ye Yunting lowered his eyes in contemplation, guessing that these two people were not originally the maids of the palace. But he didn’t know who had sent them.

Seeing his frown, Ji Lian pushed the porridge bowl in front of him, urging: "Master, please eat the congee first, or it will get cold."

Ye Yunting came back to his senses, picked up the bowl and was about to eat, when he suddenly remembered that there was another person inside. He got up, went to find a small, clean bowl, and divided the bowl's contents. He hurriedly finished the small bowl of congee himself, then carried the remaining half of the bowl of congee to the inner room.

As he walked, he thought: he didn't know how long the rice in the kitchen would last. It seemed that he had to find a way to get more money and buy more rice and grain.

In the inner room, Li Fengqi has been listening to the movements outside since Ye Yunting left.

He had good ears, and could clearly hear the quiet conversation between the master and the servant, so he was even more surprised. This young master was becoming more and more unexpected.

As Ye Yunting walked towards him with a bowl of congee, Li Fengqi was thinking: with such outstanding looks and calm temperament, Ye Zhili must have been insane to push such an heir into the fire pit.

As for that lout, Ye Wan: does Ye Zhili still expected him to help him up the wall?

While Li Fengqi puzzled over this, Ye Yunting had already put down the porridge bowl and approached him, lifting the thin quilt off of him, holding his back with one hand and passing one hand under the crook of his legs.

Li Fengqi: ???

He frowned slightly. "What are you doing?"

Awkwardly at first but quickly adjusting, Ye Yunting skillfully picked him up and held him face to face, saying: "It's cold here. I'll carry the Prince to bed."

His tone was calm, and his expression was even flatter than his tone.

If it wasn't Li Fengqi himself who was being held in his arms, he wouldn't have felt the slightest bit wrong.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said somewhat feebly, "Very well."

In extraordinary times, act in extraordinary ways. One shouldn't be unbending.

He tried to convince himself in his mind.

Ye Yunting didn't pay attention to his changing expression. He carried him back to bed, covered him with a quilt, and then brought hot porridge to feed him.

Li Fengqi lowered his eyes and took a sip of the porridge, then remembered what he heard just now. "Li Zong even restricted your meals?"

Ye Yunting wasn't greatly surprised to hear him refer to the emperor by his name. He fed him another mouthful of porridge and then said, "Well, I think I offended the chamberlain from the palace today; that's why there aren't any meals." After all, in his previous life, there had still been enough food to avoid going hungry.

"You are quite brave." Li Fengqi couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at him after hearing that he had offended the palace chamberlain.

Ye Yunting smiled but didn't speak more about the day's situation. "I told him a few truths, but the chamberlain didn't like to hear them."

Li Fengqi did not dwell on this matter, but asked again: "What are you going to do if Li Zong refuses to let people provide food?"

"There's still some rice in the kitchen," Ye Yunting was not too worried. "I also have some money at hand. I can exchange for some rice to survive for a while, but..." He glanced at Li Fengqi's calm face and tentatively said: "But winter is coming soon, and if there is no charcoal fire, I probably won't be able to survive. Everything in the palace has been looted. Does the Prince know where else there are valuable items hidden in the palace?"

When he finished speaking, he looked at Li Fengqi for a moment, paying attention to his expression.

In the previous life, Li Fengqi didn't have his help, but had still been able to overcome his strange poisoning and survive these hardships, later even leading his troops back to the capital to seize the throne. Hence, Ye Yunting didn't believe that he really had no backup at this time and was at the mercy of others.

Prince Yong'an, who wielded his army like a god, would not be unable to get up even if he fell.

However, Li Fengqi's expression did not change at all under his gaze. He licked his cracked lips and said, as if he did not hear the hidden meaning of his words at all: "I have been in Northern Xinjiang all year round, and there is nothing valuable in this palace. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you." After a moment's pause, he added: "This marriage was not my intention If you have the courage, you can take your servants to escape during the night. If you don't know where to go, you can go to Northern Xinjiang and look for Zhu Wen. Just say that I sent you and he will give you a place to stay.”

Ye Yunting's eyes dimmed at his words, thinking that Li Fengqi still didn't trust him.

But he soon felt relieved again. This was only expected. Prince Yong'an had just suffered such a catastrophe. How could he easily reveal his trump card to an outsider that he had only known for a day? If he did so, he wouldn't be Prince Yong'an anymore.

He shook his head and said, "I won't leave." He couldn't leave either.

From the moment that he entered the palace, he and Li Fengqi had been tied together. If Li Fengqi died, he would die. While Li Fengqi lived, he survived. What he faced must be the double pursuit from the royal palace and the Duke of Qi's residence.

If he took Ji Lian with him and left the capital, he would be in an unfamiliar place, with no money and no clearance documents. He wouldn't be able to run far.

Instead of running away only to be caught again and ending up in a miserable state, it would be better to take a gamble.

He bet that the ship of Prince Yong'an would not sink.

Li Fengqi saw that his expression did not waver at all when he heard the word "escape", and some appreciation flickered in his eyes.

Not only was he not stupid, he was also very sensible.

He closed his eyes to hide the emotions in them. After finishing the porridge, he excused himself to rest and stopped talking to Ye Yunting.

Seeing this, Ye Yunting went to the outside room to put the bowl away, went to the back kitchen with Ji Lian in the dark to boil some hot water and wash up, then put out the candle and rested on the consort's daybed in the inner room. The bedding came from the side room and was clean and warm. Although the daybed was a bit narrow, it was still enough to sleep on.

In fact, the Prince's palace was so big that there were empty rooms everywhere where one could rest. But with the current situation being unclear, Ye Yunting was afraid that he would be too far away to know anything that might occur, so he preferred to be in the main room. He'd rather squeeze in that let something happen without anyone knowing.

The night was getting deeper and deeper. Ye Yunting had had a tiring day, and as he thought about his past life, he fell into a confused dream.

The night owl outside the window gave a long and short cry.

On the bed, Li Fengqi opened his eyes and let out three long and one short sounds in response.

The night owl outside fell silent, its flapping wings making a soft sound in the forest. After a moment, two short and one long calls sounded out once more.

At the same time, in the dark room, a window was quietly pushed open, followed by a figure who rolled in and closed the window sharply.

The visitor first noticed Ye Yunting, who was sleeping soundly on the daybed. He put his fingers together and pressed hard on the side of Ye Yunting's neck. After making sure that the person had passed out, he went to the bed and knelt on one knee. "I apologize for the late arrival, Wangye."

===Author's Notes===

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#Who is the actor#

Tingting: Um, have you ever——

77: No, no money, no one, and no backup plan.

Tingting (choking): ...?

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===Translator's Notes===

Li Fengqi really being like: "Ye Zhili, this is your unfavored son? Really???"

1. I’m using “state” as the translation for 州 (“zhōu”). So Zhongzhou is “Zhong state” or “state of Zhong”, “Luzhou” is “Lu state” or “state of Lu”, and so forth. ↩︎
2. “事出反常必有妖。”: There must be a reason for unusual or bad things happening. ↩︎
3. 倒座房 “Reverse-facing house”: A house with a courtyard opposite the main house, usually facing south and north, usually used for the residence of servants. The characteristic of the inverted house is that its direction corresponds to the door of the main house. It is located in the southernmost row of houses in the entire courtyard. Because its doors and windows all face north and the lighting is not good, it is usually used as a guest room or a house for servants to live. ↩︎

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