Futile Devices Scans

Elio’s Notes: Hi fellow readers! No updates tomorrow for all translations. We’ll be back the following day. Thanks for understanding!

On the day Yu Gong Ming returned to Bihan City, the weather was extremely inauspicious. A fine, drizzling rain fell all day, the cold wind biting to the bone, with tiny pellets of ice mixed into the rain that struck people’s faces until they stung, just like the mood of the royal capital’s master, who was resisting with all his might.

The common people did not know that a hostage prince from a foreign land had returned home. No one paid any attention to the carriage that hurried past. There were few pedestrians on the streets, and the atmosphere was bleak, gloomy, and desolate, making him look like a dull gray, soaked stray dog fleeing in sorry fashion with its tail tucked between its legs.

Horse hooves shattered the muddy water all over the street. Yu Gong Ming lifted the carriage curtain and gazed at the unfamiliar stretch of towers and pavilions. He drew in a deep breath of damp, cold mist and murmured, “Royal Uncle, look. Even Bihan City’s weather does not welcome me.”

The corner of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s mouth twitched. He thought, So you do know your return isn’t exactly welcome. But right now, it was not convenient for him to needle Yu Gong Ming with hidden barbs, so he still comforted him lazily, “Rain in Bihan City during winter is common. It is simply the season. There is no need to invite trouble into your own heart.”

“It does not matter. I never expected to receive any pleasant expressions anyway.”

Yu Gong Ming reached out and caught a drop of icy rain, slowly grinding it open with the pad of his finger as though he meant to crush that chill into powder. He laughed softly. “Rivers and mountains are like beauties. The more unwilling they are, the more satisfying they are to conquer.”

“…”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye disliked this sort of nonsense with vulgar insinuations most of all. He did not respond. As his horse passed by, he casually tugged the thin cord by the window, making the rolled-up bamboo curtain drop down with a scrape past Yu Gong Ming’s nose.

Although Yu Gong Lie had not ordered all the common people of the city to line the streets in welcome, he had commanded the civil and military officials to wait in the open air outside the palace. He himself was wrapped up so thoroughly that not even the tips of his fingers could be seen, hiding beneath a wind-sheltered palanquin as he looked toward the palace gate.

Before Yu Gong Zhao Ye had left, Yu Gong Lie had still been furious enough to jump and stomp. More than ten days had passed, and no one knew how Wei Fu had persuaded him, but at least on the surface, he had steadied himself. He had even given Yu Gong Ming the courtesy of being welcomed by all the officials and had not truly trampled Yu Gong Ming’s face into the dirt.

The carriage slowly arrived outside the palace gate. Inner attendants hurried forward to hold up umbrellas. But before the carriage had even come to a full stop, Yu Gong Ming lifted the curtain and jumped down.

His movements were actually rather agile. With long strides, he crossed the square surrounded by officials, his head and face drenched through by the rain. He hurried all the way before the king, and without the slightest hesitation, he fell to his knees in a puddle before everyone with a splash.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to his figure. Yu Gong Ming was deeply moved, and choking with emotion, he called out, “Royal Brother!”

Yu Gong Lie quickly stepped out from beneath the gauze umbrella and caught hold of both his arms. The moment he opened his mouth, he too sounded overcome with emotion. “You have suffered, my brother. Quickly, rise… Someone! Bring a hand towel!”

The cold wind whimpered, and the fine rain blurred the air, making people’s eyes hazy. They could only barely make out the figures clasping hands and supporting each other.

These two brothers truly ought to thank this rain. It spared them who knew how many tears, allowing three parts false affection and fake intention to be performed as ten parts moving sincerity.

Yu Gong Lie personally wiped the rain from Yu Gong Ming’s face, his own expression full of loving kindness. He looked him over as though he were very precious. “You were only this tall when you left, and in the blink of an eye, you have grown up. I nearly failed to recognize you. Father was still thinking of you even until his passing… Later, I will take you to pay respects to him. The journey must have exhausted you. There is no hurry about anything else. Rest and recover properly first. Look how thin you have become.”

He did not mention Yu Gong Ming returning without permission, nor did he say a word about merits, rewards, or titles. To others, these words sounded like earnest concern, but in Yu Gong Ming’s ears, who was listening with ulterior motives, they seemed to carry a hint of warning.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. This younger brother has made Royal Brother worry.”

Yu Gong Ming looked at him with tears in his eyes and a smile on his lips, his gaze full of childlike admiration. As though reluctant to let go, he held Yu Gong Lie’s sleeve and said with concern, “State affairs are tiring. Royal Brother must also take care of yourself. So long as Your Majesty’s sacred person remains safe and well, that is this younger brother’s greatest blessing.”

The corner of Yu Gong Lie’s eye twitched. Then he smiled and said, “I understand. Do not stand there foolishly. Come into the palace with me and talk.”

A large group of eunuchs and guards surrounded the two brothers as they returned to the palace. The assembled ministers lowered their heads and respectfully saw them off. Yu Gong Zhao Ye deliberately lagged a few steps behind and only now slowly slipped into the crowd. As usual, the first thing he looked for was that tall jade tree below the steps.

Wei Fu had not mistreated himself today. Over his purple official robe, he wore a plain black satin cloak, without any other ornamentation, only a circle of fluffy white fur decorating his shoulders. Yu Gong Zhao Ye felt like laughing as soon as he saw it. Now he had truly become a fox.

These past days, his heart had been in chaos, and the foreseeable storms and bitter rains of the future had already chilled him through in advance, so even going through wind and rain, he could not feel the cold. Only at this instant, when he saw Wei Fu, did that urgency strangling his throat abruptly loosen its grip. His whole body suddenly regained sensation, and he very much wanted to slip his hand under Wei Fu’s fluffy collar to warm it.

Relying on his height, Wei Fu immediately picked Yu Gong Zhao Ye out from the crowd. Their gazes met, and he had only just revealed the hint of a smile when Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s snow-white complexion frightened him so badly he nearly shed fur. He hurriedly pushed through the crowd and came over.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye really did not want to stand beneath everyone’s eyes. Right now, even saying one more sentence to anyone made him worry he might reveal something. From afar, he made a “meet outside” gesture to Wei Fu, then retreated a few steps and melted into the crowd, like a drop of water joining the rain curtain. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Wei Fu: “…”

He slipped away far too quickly!

No wonder he could be an assassin. Did he truly not have some kind of invisibility technique?

Wei Fu grabbed one of his colleagues and gave him a few instructions, then followed the dispersing crowd out of the palace. He lifted his eyes and searched around, but did not see Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s figure. Just as he was wondering whether Yu Gong Zhao Ye had gone back to the residence first, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of the Chancellor’s Residence carriage waiting in a small alley.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye often appeared inside Wei Fu’s carriage suddenly and without a trace, coming and going freely. Sometimes, Wei Fu even suspected that he had taken the carriage as his second home.

When Wei Fu climbed into the carriage and lifted the curtain, the interior was dim, and sure enough, there was a jade statue inside with its eyes closed in repose.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s face was so pale it had turned faintly blue. His hair was wet from the rain, winding as it clung to the side of his ear and neck. His appearance could not really be called bedraggled, but for some reason, there was a kind of dispirited desolation about him.

Wei Fu lifted the hem of his robe and boarded the carriage, told the driver to return to the residence, then leaned close and pressed the back of his hand against Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s cheek. He also touched his body and found his hand full of damp chill, so he quickly took a dry towel from the cabinet to wipe his face and hands. He carefully tucked his hair behind his ear, then stripped off his half-wet outer robe, untied his cloak, and wrapped Yu Gong Zhao Ye up completely in one piece.

“What’s wrong? You look so unhappy.”

The fluffy collar crowded around Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s thin chin, but Wei Fu still felt it was not warm enough when he saw it. He simply pulled him into his arms and held him tightly, using his own cheek to press against Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s icy cheek and forehead, while one hand gently protected the back of his neck, as though soothing a little cat shivering after being soaked by the rain.

The damp rain air was shut outside the carriage. The warmth of their bodies pressed close together released the dragon-gall incense that had steeped itself into Wei Fu, silently and invisibly filling the embrace.

In summer, the medicinal scent had been clear and bitter, but the colder the weather grew, the warmer it seemed. It had already become a scent that made Yu Gong Zhao Ye feel settled the moment he smelled it.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye allowed Wei Fu to tug and fuss over him, mocking himself in his heart for being weak, frightened out of his courage the moment he encountered trouble, no better than when he had been ignorant and fearless as a child. Yet for the first time in his life, he also wanted to follow that temper that had grown from who knew when and act willfully. After all, the person holding him was Wei Fu. If he could not indulge himself freely with Wei Fu, then there was no one in this world who could catch him.

The enormous pile of secrets Yu Gong Ming had revealed to him was lodged in his throat, and even spitting out a single word felt extremely difficult. In a daze, he felt as though he were the final stone on a dam, holding back the monstrous flood behind him alone. If the situation ever truly reached the point of no return, that day would likely be the day he was smashed to pieces.

He lowered his eyes wearily and gave a muffled “Mm.”

When had Wei Fu ever seen him like this? For a moment, his heart felt as though it had been lifted up, suspended and clenched tight. Yet seeing Yu Gong Zhao Ye curl up languidly in his arms, giving him a closeness and dependence no one else could compare to, he also felt a strange satisfaction difficult to describe.

“Unhappy, are you? Who upset our Highness?” Wei Fu kissed him and coaxed softly, “Is that Third Prince going to make trouble? Don’t worry. You saw how well the king performed today. Nothing will go wrong.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye sighed inwardly for who knew which time and stuffed his cold hand into Wei Fu’s collar. “You ran off like this. Will the Cabinet be all right?”

“I asked someone to request leave for me. Just say I was exposed to the wind and felt a little unwell.” Wei Fu shrank his neck slightly from the chill of his hand, then retaliated by tightening the arm wrapped around his waist. “In any case, my appointment expires next month. Recently, there has not been much to do. It is all handover work.”

“…”

He had forgotten there was still this matter… There really had not been a single troublesome thing lately that could spare him any worry.

Wei Fu watched helplessly as Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s brows, which had barely relaxed, sank again. He was unhappy once more.

His Highness was steady by nature, and as he grew older, joy and anger showed less and less on his face. It was rare for him to write all his thoughts clearly there, rare for him to reveal attachment without the slightest concealment. He was so adorable that Wei Fu did not know how he ought to like him enough.

“You can’t bear to part with me?” He happily pecked kisses at the tense corner of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s mouth and pressed after him, “Is that it? You can’t bear to part with me and don’t want to separate from me?”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye hated that he deliberately picked the words that stabbed right into the heart. In anger, he bit him, silently answering in his heart, Yes.

Wei Fu received a satisfactory answer from that faint hint of embarrassed anger and gave him a loud smack of a kiss. “Not speaking means you admit it. Then since neither of us can live without the other, when I leave, I’ll steal Your Highness away too, all right? The salary I have saved from these years of outside appointments, plus a bit of ancestral property, should be enough to support Your Highness. If you are willing, you can seek some official post. If you do not want to wander the officialdom, being a great hero is fine too. I will support you in establishing your own sect and competing with Xie You Lan…”

Those “ancestral properties” of his, never mind supporting a sect, would be more than enough for him to establish himself as a king. But once Wei Fu returned to Xiling in the future, if the emperor learned that he possessed the Earth Mirror Map, would he also, like Longsha’s king, become guarded and suspicious of him?

Seeing that Yu Gong Zhao Ye was lost in thought and did not answer, Wei Fu thought the conditions were not tempting enough, so he intensified his murmuring by his ear, sparing no effort to sell himself. “My official rank will continue to rise. Of course, in the short term, it is impossible for me to have as much power as I did in Longsha, but if I am sent out again, I should be able to govern a region. After returning, I can be transferred through the Six Ministries. I will not let you lose face…”

“All right.”

The road ahead was boundless and uncertain. Perhaps one day, Yeguang would no longer be able to shine over the mountains and rivers of the homeland, but using the faint light of a firefly to illuminate the eyes of the one in his heart seemed to be a rather good ending as well.

Curled against Wei Fu’s neck, he answered softly.

Wei Fu: “Mm… Mm?!”

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