After Being Forced to Marry the Evil Star General

The General’s Mansion was busy again. Xiao Gao hurriedly went to the Yao residence to invite the two doctors over, and Housekeeper Qin excitedly went to order the kitchen to prepare a good meal.

It was bustling inside and out. Housekeeper Qin remembered that there were guests outside the door, and trotted over to say to those well-dressed girls: “My lord is too busy now, you go back and wait for news. He will come to you.”

“All right, thank you.” Qingyan took the girls away.

It so happened that the two doctors and Yao Muze rushed over in a timely manner, and before they could catch their breaths, they were taken into the bedroom by Housekeeper Qin and Xiao Gao.

As soon as they walked to the door, they saw Zhao Yelan and Yan Mingting embracing one another. They exchanged glances, but no one made a sound.

Housekeeper Qin coughed, and seeing that they didn’t move, he knocked on the door. Zhao Yelan pushed Yan Mingting, who even turned to look at them with a bit of resentment. 

The doctors were also very helpless. They stepped forward to check his physical condition, and the hospital envoy said with a smile: “Pretty good. You have a good foundation, and if you survive a catastrophe, you will have good fortune, ah. Next, you rest well and eat more to make up for it.”

Zhao Yelan’s heart that was hanging by a thread finally let go. He looked at Yan Mingting, who was also looking over, and they both smiled. 

The hospital envoy wrote a few more prescriptions, including diet and medication.

Zhao Yelan thanked them solemnly, sent them out of the mansion himself, and then sent someone to fetch the medicine and returned to the room to take care of Yan Mingting’s meal.

This person who had just woken up did not have a good appetite. Where he could usually eat five bowls, he could only eat three this time.

“…….”

Zhao Yelan swallowed. When he thought about his maximum meal intake of two bowls, he suddenly felt that if he were to lose so much blood, he might really not be able to make it through. It could be seen that it was sometimes a good thing to be a fool.

When he was full, Yan Mingting assumed a posture conducive to having a long talk: “I actually heard what you said.”

Zhao Yelan rubbed his brows and explained: “I didn’t call the girls over, it was…..”

“That’s not what I meant.” Yan Mingting looked at him with burning eyes. “What happened to that letter Ruan Xian spoke of?”

Zhao Yelan was momentarily dumbfounded.

“You can’t do this thing.” Yan Mingting frowned slightly and stroked his cheek. “If something happens to me, you can’t have the idea of committing suicide. You must live a long life, so that I can feel at ease.”

“What is the use of a long life alone?” Zhao Yelan glanced at him. He was originally alone, and if something happened to Yan Mingting, the years to come would torture him with endless loneliness. “The dead are long gone, and the living are close. Do you think I will live happily?”

Yan Mingting was silent for a long time. Knowing that he would definitely do this, his heart was so soft. He had been instilled with the idea of protecting his subjects since he was a child, and had persisted for so many years. For the first time, he tasted the feeling of someone else protecting him, and behind the heartache there was an endless hidden joy.

“Mengting, Mengting……” Yan Mingting embraced him and called his name, closing his eyes to sniff his fragrance. “It’s good to be alive, I can see you every day again.”

Zhao Yelan put his arms around his back, took a deep breath, and smiled as the bitter times ended. He turned his head and kissed his ear, his cheek, his forehead, all the way to his lips.

“Fortunately.”

Fortunately, you survived, and so did I.

Yan Mingting’s recovery was pretty good. He ate a lot every day and had to lie in bed most of the time, and he complained helplessly to Zhao Yelan: “I’ve never been in bed for so long, these days are so bitter.”

Zhao Yelan couldn’t agree, because he loved lying on the bed very much. If he had nothing to do, he would prefer to lie down and eat every day, then eat and lie down.

“I’m going out for a while, you lie down well.”

“Why, are you going to find girls?” Yan Mingting was half-reclined on the bed, squinting at him while eating melon seeds.

“Yes, not only do I want to find girls, I also want to spend money on them.” 

Zhao Yelan made him choke. This fellow knew exactly what he was going to do, and if he insisted on making a show of jealousy, he would really give him leisure time.

Zhao Yelan took Xiao Gao to the room where he usually had meetings, and searched around, taking out a locked box from a crack in the uneven wall.

Xiao Gao located the key nearby, and was about to open it when he heard Zhao Yelan say that it was useless. But his key was inserted correctly, ah. He happily opened the lock, and was then stunned—

There was actually another locked box inside!

“Stinky girl, you didn’t forget to play a little trick at this sort of time.” Zhao Yelan smiled and threw the box to Xiao Gao. “Smash it open directly.”

Right! But wouldn’t it be broken if he smashed it directly?

With all his strength, Xiao Gao smashed the box with his bare hands, then held his hands in pain and went to the corner to blow on them.

Zhao Yelan picked up a stack of banknotes, walked into the tunnel, and came to the Hongxiu Building without anyone noticing.

The building was bleak. Since Gu Niaoniao’s misfortune, the doors had not been opened and some servants and girls had already snuck away. The remaining confidants, such as Qingyan and A-Chang, knew that Zhao Yelan was the master behind them, and were still waiting for news.

Upon walking into Gu Niaoniao’s room, he saw those girls sitting together wiping away tears.

Qingyan saw him first, and asked with red eyes: “Zhao-daren, can Sister Gu still come back?”

The people here were all hard-working. Gu Niaoniao had been through the same experience, and usually treated them kindly, so they didn’t leave, and were looking forward to Gu Niaoniao’s return.

“Don’t wait.” Zhao Yelan put the banknotes on the table, and everyone got a share. “She asked me to give these to you. Leave the capital. In the future, if you find a good family or not, these silver taels are enough for you to live comfortably in this life.”

“What about her? Is it true that she can’t come back?” Qingyan asked with little hope. 

Zhao Yelan shook his head and sighed. “Go quickly, this is not a place to stay for long.”

The handful of people cried and packed their things, then left reluctantly.

In the end, only Zhao Yelan was left. He looked around and opened a wardrobe, then took out the bag that was stored inside and opened it on the table.

It contained the most exotic spices and his favorite tea.

Every spring, Hongxiu House would secretly bring some tea leaves to him. When sending messages in the basket, in addition to some seasonal fruits, pears appeared the most, which had the effect of promoting hydration and relieving a cough, because he was always coughing. Quite a few of his sachets were given by Gu Niaoniao. Outsiders made fun of his love for incense, but only Gu Niaoniao knew where his obsession came from.

They were not relatives, and they used each other, but they both considered the other a friend.

After he returned to the mansion from Hongxiu House, Yan Mingting noticed that he was not in high spirits, and asked: “You’ve dealt with it?”

Zhao Yelan nodded, yawned, and said that he was going to sleep.

Yan Mingting embraced him from behind, comforting him silently.

Gu Niaoniao’s case had already been tried. She insisted that it was Zhao Xu who fled to her Hongxiu House and threatened her with murder. It had nothing to do with anyone else, such as the people in Hongxiu House, and she also did not expose Zhao Yelan’s relationship with her. In the end, the result of the trial was to temporarily place her in the sky prison and wait for the emperor to wake up and personally deal with her.

Zhao Xuan woke up once in the middle. The knife was only a little away from his heart, and it took a few days to temporarily preserve his life. He had been in a coma ever since. The night before last, he briefly opened his eyes for a moment and saw Sun Muyun standing beside the bed. He also heard that she had given birth to a dragon son, and propped up his body to establish him as the crown prince before passing out again.

After Zhao Yelan got up in the early morning, he took care of Yan Mingting for a while and then went to visit the palace. He happened to bump into Sun Muyun, who was standing vigil piously. The other party needed to pay attention to her health so soon after giving birth, so she could only come to the bedroom occasionally to wait for a while.

Li Jinyu and several ministers and others were also in the palace, and upon seeing him, they went outside to discuss government affairs for a while. They had to prepare for the worst, and everyone’s faces were covered in gloom.

Kan Chuan asked after Yan Mingting’s health: “I heard that the General has woken up. How is his recovery?”

“Fine, he eats more than I do,” Zhao Yelan said.

“That’s good, General Yan also suffered a lot this time.”

“It’s also thanks to you for mentioning Lingyun Temple.” Speaking of which, didn’t he have to fulfill his vow and donate some incense money to the temple?

“What, you went to Lingyun Temple?” Kan Chuan looked around. “You didn’t go up the mountain, did you?”

Zhao Yelan implicitly acquiesced.

Kan Chuan was shocked: “Three days later, you’re so different. I really……have a new level of respect for you, ah.”

Because of his delay speaking with them, when Zhao Yelan returned home, he heard Housekeeper Qin say that Yan Mingting had refused to eat, and hurried to the room to see Yan Mingting staring bitterly at the food on the table.

“Why won’t you eat?” Zhao Yelan sat down beside him.

“Is his condition serious?” Yan Mingting asked.

“The Imperial Physicians say that he is better than he was previously. Yao Muze’s master took the witch doctor for diagnosis and treatment, and prescribed a new prescription that could be useful.” Zhao Yelan placed some vegetables in his bowl.

“Then why did you come back so late?” Yan Mingting said aggrievedly, “It was agreed that you would come back early for dinner.”

“I spoke with Kan Chuan and Li Jinyu for a while, so I came back late.”

“Really? Not because of the Emperor?” Yan Mingting glanced at him, then suddenly leaned close to his cheek and stared carefully into his eyes. “You didn’t cry for him, did you?”

“Why would I cry?” Zhao Yelan asked blankly.

“You always cry when I’m hurt……it’s fine if you don’t cry for him. Eat, eat.” Yan Mingting’s appetite returned again. “Feed me.”

“If you get an inch you want a foot.”

Yan Mingting slowly raised his hand, and the scars on his wrist were displayed before him. Zhao Yelan’s heart softened at once, and he fed him patiently.

“Aiyo, aiyo.” Housekeeper Qin came over to add some food. When he walked to the door and saw this situation, he almost fell down. Holding the plate in both hands, he said to Xiao Gao next to him, “You cover my eyes.”

In the afternoon, news suddenly came from the prison that the woman who assassinated the Emperor had died suddenly. However, the Imperial physicians were busy treating the Emperor, so after several jailors confirmed that she wasn’t breathing, Li Jinyu had no choice but to have the assassin thrown into a mass grave.

Two days later, good news finally came from the palace. Zhao Xuan had woken up. All the ministers rushed to the palace aside from Yan Mingting, who was still recovering from his injuries.

Yan Mingting was lying in bed all these days, reaching out to be clothed and fed. At first he was quite carefree, and his tail was almost up to the sky.

But even since Zhao Xuan woke up, he still needed to lie down and recuperate. However, he often took courtiers from the palace to discuss political affairs, trying to make up for the government affairs that had fallen behind, and he attached great importance to Zhao Yelan. Even if the other courtiers left, he would still remain to discuss matters.

Yan Mingting was lying in bed, unable to see anyone all day long, and he began to plot calculations in his mind again. After catching Zhao Yelan, he began to complain: “Lying down every day, I’m growing mildew.”

Zhao Yelan had been taking care of Yan Mingting at home for the past two days, and he had a backlog of things to do. He saw that he was eating and sleeping well now, recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he was about to go to the palace to discuss proper business with Zhao Xuan, so he said: “Then shall I find someone to chat with you to relieve the boredom?”

But who to ask?

Although He Cuizhang and the others often came to visit Yan Mingting these days, when Yan Mingting fell ill, they were needed in many more places and it was impossible for them to come and chat with him.

As it happened, Housekeeper Qin’s wife walked by him.

Qin-furen was originally one of the old lady’s maids, and after marrying Housekeep Qin, she still helped him run errands for the Yan family. She was mainly responsible for the tea trees and fruit trees on the back mountain, and brewed the tea herself.

What a coincidence.

Zhao Yelan asked her to put down the fruit she had just picked, and entrusted her to converse with Yan Mingting.

“This is a good thing, the General can be regarded as the one I saw growing up when he was a child, so I will go, ah.” Qin-furen went to look for Yan Mingting with a smile.

Only then did Zhao Yelan feel relieved enough to go to the palace, and it was already nighttime when he returned. As soon as he entered the mansion, he asked: “Did he eat?”

“Not yet,” Housekeeper Qin said.

“He’s waiting for me again?”

“No…..aiyo, My Lord, you can go see for yourself.” Housekeeper Qin was too embarrassed to continue.

Zhao Yelan followed him to the bedroom in a mystified manner, and heard laughter inside from a long distance away. When he walked to the door, he saw a pile of melon seed shells on the ground, and the two were eating them while talking and laughing. Qin-furen’s voice still hadn’t stopped, and she winked while saying in a melodious tone: “As for the daughter of the family who sells sesame seed cakes in the vegetable market, she is eighteen years old, and hasn’t talked about marriage until now. Guess what happened?”

“What happened?” Yan Mingting asked enthusiastically.

“She eloped with someone else, and it turned out to be her cousin’s fiance! In the end, after running away for half a year, he abandoned her when she was pregnant and she returned home. What do you call this, ah!”

“Such trouble!”

“There is something even worse than that. A scholar in the east of the city, his son……”

Housekeeper Qin looked at Zhao Yelan in embarrassment: “Now you know why I put her on the back mountain, right? There are really too many things to talk about, and too many rumors to know……”

At first, Qin-furn had worked in the front courtyard, but she was too talkative and accidentally attracted a bunch of servants to listen to her gossip. Nobody wanted to work anymore, just like Yan Mingting, who didn’t even want to eat.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

Forget it, as long as he was happy, it didn’t matter if he heard elegant storytelling and gossip from the city.

The next day, everyone was discussing matters in the palace again. This time the main point of contention was the establishment of the crown prince. The crown prince was established too hastily before, and only the palace attendants and the Imperial physician knew. Seeing that the Emperor’s life was safe now, they advised him to think twice. After all, Sun Muyun was the only one in the harem at present, and it would not be too late to delay crowning the crown prince for a few years. The Empress of the Palace had not made any movement yet, and there was still a need to consider the establishment of the order of succession.

Zhao Xuan insisted on his own opinion to establish the heir to the throne.

Under everyone’s strong opposition, only Zhao Yelan stood forward: “This official supports the establishment of the crown prince.”

Zhao Xuan sighed: “It is still Zhao-qing who understands me. There is no need to discuss this matter.”

Zhao Xuan originally traveled a bloody path in the battle to seize the throne, and from the bottom of his heart, he didn’t want his heirs to face such a situation. He and the Empress didn’t have much affection at all, and in the harem, Sun Muyun was clever and lovely. Now that he had an eldest son, he should take advantage of the situation.

Of course, the most important reason for him to establish an heir to the throne at that time was his physical condition. He worried that he would not be able to get up, so he simply established the crown prince first.

After the others retreated, Zhao Xuan asked Zhao Yelan to say. He coughed a few times, and his face was pale as he said slowly: “How is Yan Mingting recovering?”

“His life is no longer in danger, but he still needs some time to recuperate.”

Zhao Xuan nodded. It happened that Sun Muyun was visiting him while holding the child, and Zhao Xuan touched the child’s face with a smile, saying: “His name is Zhao Sui.[1] May be be safe and healthy and have a smooth life.”

“A good name.”

“You don’t need to be perfunctory with me.” Zhao Xuan smiled. “When he was still in the womb, I thought of many names with high hopes, and after a trip to the gate of hell, I realized that there is nothing happier than being safe and healthy.”

“Yes.” Zhao Yelan felt the same way.

“In the future, you will be his Grand Tutor, ba.”

The Grand Tutor was always selected from the people of the Imperial Academy. Zhao Yelan was just a bit surprised that Zhao Xuan was willing to entrust him with the heavy responsibility of teaching the Crown Prince.

“This concubine thinks so too!” Sun Muyun said with a smile. “Zhao-daren is perfect.”

Zhao Yelan had no choice but to accept this heavy responsibility under two expectant sets of eyes.

Back at the General’s Mansion, he was just in time for dinner, but found that Yan Mingting was looking at him strangely. He couldn’t figure out why, and only talked about his promotion and how he was now the crown prince’s Grand Tutor.

Unexpectedly, Yan Mingting’s eyes became even stranger. He stared at him for a while, dumbfounded, then put down his chopsticks without saying a word, laying down in bed pitifully and covering himself with a blanket in silence. His back looked quite aggrieved.

Zhao Yelan was at a loss. When he left the residence the next day, he whispered a few words to Xiao Gao.

The Emperor officially announced Zhao Yelan’s promotion to Grand Tutor in public, and rewarded him with the Four Treasures of the Study.[2]

Zhao Yelan returned home with several large boxes of rewards, and the servants bustled in and out. Yan Mingting heard the movement and looked at him even more aggrievedly, like a resentful woman who had been tragically abandoned.

Zhao Yelan found Xiao Gao and asked: “Didn’t he have a good chat with Qin-furen these two days? Why is he so downtrodden?”

Xiao Gao said: “He was very happy at first, but he was not very happy to hear Qin-furen talk about her distant cousin.”

“What is the problem?”

Xiao Gao cleared his throat and imitated Qin-furen’s voice: “Oh, Xiao Yan, you don’t know how hard my cousin’s life was after she got married. Her husband was good-looking and capable, and he attracted a lot of peach blossoms outside. He went out to socialize all day long, not staying at home all day, and brought back gifts from others when he returned. When asked, they were actually given to him from a sweetheart outside! This was probably because her husband disliked that she couldn’t dress up at home all day long, and she had little knowledge, so he was looking for a companion outside. From my point of view, she should take care of herself more, and spend money where she should, otherwise, the money saved for her husband would be saved for other women! Tell me, do you think this is logical?”

“…….” Zhao Yelan returned to the room, sat down by the bed, and asked, “Don’t you want to know what is in those boxes?”

“Don’t want.” Yan Mingting turned his back to him and hummed. “It’s nothing more than something to please you, as if you don’t already have it. Don’t you think he’s annoying? The crown prince already has it all, why keep looking for you if he has nothing to do? I’ve always suspected that he has bad intentions, so you must be careful.”

Zhao Yelan pursed his lips and said with a smile: “Those are rewards for you, for your expedition.”

Yan Mingting was taken aback, and turned around: “Really?”

“En, if you don’t believe me, go and see for yourself.”

Yan Mingting really got up, checked the boxes one by one, and was satisfied. After returning to the room, he changed his clothes for some reason while Zhao Yelan was bathing.

As soon as Zhao Yelan walked out, he saw him wearing a fancy outfit and sitting on the edge of the bed. He leaned against the bed curtain and coughed softly: “Mengting ~ It’s time to go to bed ~”

A crack appeared in Zhao Yelan’s expression. “What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? What are you doing in my clothes?”

“Don’t you like these clothes?” Yan Mingting had heard from Qin-furen that if he wanted to win the heart of a man who was running around all day, he had to match what he liked first in order to hook him!

Zhao Yelan rubbed his temples and went forward to take off his clothes, urging: “Hurry up and go to bed.”

Yan Mingting was stunned: It had a miraculous effect!

He couldn’t wait to quickly take off his clothes and go to bed, hehe!

“Wait.” Yan Mingting continued his efforts and quickly took out a sachet from the side drawer. He rubbed it on his body, trying to absorb some of the fragrance. It was said that it was very useful in the bedroom, and Zhao Yelan liked the fragrance so much that he would definitely be seduced by him.

Under Zhao Yelan’s dumbfounded expression, Yan Mingting finished his preparation and lay down immediately, hooking his fingers at him: “Mengting, come quickly— achoo, achoo!”

Zhao Yelan couldn’t watch any further, and snatched the sachet from his hand.

“What’s the matter, achoo!” Yan Mingting continued to sneeze.

“You grabbed the sweetgrass,” Zhao Yelan said blankly.
Yan Mingting was dumbfounded: “How could…..achoo, achoo!…..that be!”

*

T/N: Only two chapters left now. I can’t believe it’s ending!

[1] Sui (遂) means to be fulfilled. ⮐

[2] The Four Treasures of the Study (文房四宝) are the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. ⮐