Gone Mad Part 1

Early the next morning, Wen Ying boarded his carriage and, surrounded by a grand princely honor guard, set off for Jizhou.

Ling Qiyan was in a separate carriage arranged for him by the Empress Dowager, discreetly following the procession. Just as they left Shangjing City, Wen Ying sent someone over to "invite" him to the front.

Ling Qiyan didn't want to bother. The eunuch, with downcast eyes, said, "His Highness says that if you are unwilling to go, he will come and fetch you himself. He asks that you please reconsider."

How outrageous!

Ling Qiyan was instantly annoyed: "I'm not going!"

"Please reconsider."

The eunuch stood there, refusing to leave. Ling Qiyan's eyes darted around. Since that lunatic Wen Ying had said it, he would surely do it... 'Forget it,' he thought. 'He may be shameless, but I still have my pride.'

So he had no choice but to get out of the carriage and go to the front.

Wen Ying was resting in the carriage with his eyes closed. Ling Qiyan boarded and ignored him. Since Wen Ying didn't speak, Ling Qiyan was even less inclined to talk, calmly picking up a pastry to nibble on.

After eating the pastry and drinking a cup of tea, he saw that Wen Ying remained as still as a mountain. Ling Qiyan felt bored again. He yawned, lazily propped his chin on one hand, and stared at Wen Ying's face.

The light and shadows, sculpted by the window lattice, fell on Wen Ying's face, making him look even more exceptionally handsome, his face like carved jade. Ling Qiyan couldn't help but recall the expression on this face when the man had kissed him last night. Unfortunately, he had been too angry at the time to see it clearly.

Tsk.

Ling Qiyan was idly lost in thought, his mind wandering further and further, when Wen Ying suddenly opened his eyes. His dark eyes stared at him without blinking.

Ling Qiyan froze.

As if caught in the act, Ling Qiyan felt a moment of vexation. He turned away, showing him his back.

Guang County was north of Shangjing City and not far. After a day's journey, they arrived outside the county town by evening. Xiayao Village was another half-day's journey north, so they would be staying in the county town for the night.

The county magistrate, along with a group of officials, had been waiting at the city gates for a long time. With eager faces, they led them into the city.

They lodged in the official residence in the city. Wen Ying refused the magistrate's offer of a welcoming banquet, only asking for a table of light dishes to be served for him and Ling Qiyan to share.

After sitting in the carriage for a whole day, Ling Qiyan's face was pale, and he was listless and drained of energy.

He had been pampered since childhood and had never traveled far. A full day of travel like this was truly taxing. He had barely eaten anything at noon, and now he was famished, tired, and hungry.

Wen Ying raised a hand to feel his forehead. He didn't have a fever; he was just exhausted.

Ling Qiyan didn't have the strength to swat his hand away, only saying irritably, "Tell them to hurry up. I'm hungry."

His tone was confident and bossy, as if it was his right.

Wen Ying didn't argue with him. He first had someone bring some local pickled vegetables to whet his appetite.

Looking at the unappetizing pickled vegetables, Ling Qiyan was slightly disdainful. But seeing Wen Ying eat them calmly, he hesitantly raised his chopsticks.

He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. After chewing, he found the taste was actually not bad—sour, spicy, and crisp, indeed very appetizing.

"It's too salty. It's fine to taste occasionally, but did you like to eat this before?"

"This was all there was to eat, along with coarse grain steamed buns. This is how most of the common people here live," Wen Ying said with a placid expression.

Ling Qiyan was instantly speechless.

Wen Ying poured him a cup of warm water and said no more.

Although his adoptive father was a hunter, he was not wealthy. For several months in the winter, it was difficult to find any prey in the mountains. The game hunted in other seasons was mostly brought to this county town to be sold, saving the silver to pay for his education. It was already considered good if the father and son could have meat two or three times a month. Fresh vegetables were only available in spring and summer. Once the weather turned cold, they could only eat these pickled vegetables.

He started his studies early, tutored at the age of five by the reclusive Old Master Zhao in Xiayao Village. When he was ten, his adoptive father was killed by a bear deep in the mountains. It was Old Master Zhao who continued to fund his education. At thirteen, he passed the county-level exam as the top scholar, becoming a Xiucai and entering the county school. Only then did his life improve slightly.

He could have taken the provincial exam much earlier, but the county school's instructor, seeing his young age and unsettled temperament, feared he would end up like the prodigy Zhong Yong and intentionally held him back from participating too soon. When he was sixteen, he was finally recommended to the Jizhou Educational Commissioner, who in turn recommended him to study at the Imperial Academy.

If Ling Qiyan had to live such a life, he probably wouldn't last a single day.

Ling Qiyan immediately lost his appetite. A life of eating only pickled vegetables with coarse grain steamed buns was something he couldn't even imagine. Even though their identities had been switched, the Empress Dowager had already arranged the rest of his life for him; he could still live in wealth and ease.

But none of this was originally his to have.

A full table of dishes had been served. Wen Ying ladled a bowl of hot soup and placed it in front of him. "Have some soup first."

Ling Qiyan lowered his head, inexplicably feeling a sense of guilt, as if he owed him for the meal. Then he grew angry. This person was so petty; he must have said these things in front of him on purpose to remind him what kind of life he was supposed to have lived.

So he no longer wanted to pay Wen Ying any mind, and he especially didn't dare to drink any wine. He finished his meal in silence, then got up and returned to his room to rest.

Wen Ying stood by the window, watching him walk into the west wing room.

The door closed, and candlelight flickered to life inside. Ling Qiyan's figure appeared on the window paper, indistinct and blurry.

Outside the corridor, a spring rain began to fall with a pitter-patter, trickling down from the eaves and dripping onto the bluestone slabs below, like a mournful lament.

Wen Ying watched in silence for a moment, then gently closed his eyes.

In the middle of the night, Ling Qiyan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The bedboard in this official residence was too hard, making his whole body uncomfortable. The intermittent sound of the rain outside made him even more irritable.

It felt like a ball of wicked fire was hidden in his heart, rampaging about with no outlet. Ling Qiyan sat up and shouted loudly, "Someone!"

After a moment's wait, the door creaked open. The person who entered stopped outside the screen, neither moving forward nor making a sound.

Ling Qiyan frowned. Just as he was about to speak, his heart suddenly tensed. "Who is it?"

Still, no one answered. The candle on the stand was lit. By that faint, dim light, Ling Qiyan could clearly see the tall figure projected on the screen. He subconsciously pulled his inner robe tighter around himself. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"...Does Prince Yu still remember? That year when Your Highness summoned me to your bedchamber, you also lit only one lamp in the outer room like this, and had me remove my clothes piece by piece."

Wen Ying said hauntingly, casually trimming the wick on the candlestick.

His sudden mention of the past made Ling Qiyan even more uneasy. He said angrily, "That was so many years ago, and you still remember it... Besides, you were clearly the one who took advantage."

"You're right. The favor of Prince Yu was truly enough to make one ecstatic." Wen Ying's voice grew deeper, as if he were murmuring in a dream.

Ling Qiyan was choked for words.

After a moment of silence, Wen Ying put down the scissors and slowly walked behind the screen. Ling Qiyan couldn't help but shrink back on the bed, glaring at him with his guard up.

Wen Ying didn't come closer. He leaned against the screen, using the faint light from the outer room to gaze at Ling Qiyan's angry face, sizing him up in silence.

After a moment of stalemate, Ling Qiyan couldn't stand his increasingly sinister appearance, which was becoming more and more like that bastard Ling Qiyu. He asked coldly, "What on earth are you trying to do? Why bring this up for no reason? Do you feel I humiliated you back then? And now you have to get your revenge?"

Wen Ying reminded him in a faint voice, "Your Highness has forgotten again. I said back then that I never considered it a disgrace."

"...Then why are you treating me like this?"

Wen Ying's pupils were darker than the boundless night. Looking at him, he spoke softly, "Three years ago, on the day I left Shangjing City, the Crown Prince sent men to ambush and kill me on the mountain path. After a fierce battle, I killed them in return, but my arm was wounded by a sword."

"Three months after arriving at Songlu Pass, I went to the battlefield for the first time. At that time, I was just the lowest-ranking squad leader, with ten men under me. Our unit was assigned to the vanguard. I charged to the front lines with an iron spear and fought, beheading nine enemies and severely wounding more than ten. Four of my ten men died, and my shoulder was slashed open."

"After that battle, I was promoted to platoon commander against regulations, with fifty soldiers under me. In every battle that followed, I volunteered to lead my men and charge at the very front. I walked through the gates of hell several times, and my body is covered with countless scars, big and small."

"A little over a year ago, I was lucky enough to kill the Khan of the Cilie Tribe on the battlefield and was promoted to a fifth-rank Garrison Commander. I earned the appreciation of General Lin Su, and only then did I get the chance to be brought by him to see Prince Jing."

"In Prince Jing's Manor, I was stabbed by the Cilie Tribe Khan's favorite consort, who had disguised herself and snuck into the manor. This allowed Prince Jing to see the birthmark on my body, and that's how he recognized me."

"If not for this switch of identities, I would just be a hunter's son from that small mountain village. Returning to court with General Lin Su this time, perhaps I could have been promoted one rank, perhaps not. the Crown Prince has always hated me, so he certainly wouldn't have let me rise easily. I don't know how many more years I would have had to spend before I could truly stand before Your Highness and make you see me."