Utterly Absurd

The palace eunuch feared that the ill-tempered Crown Prince might fly into a rage. Trembling with trepidation, he replied, "Please forgive him, Your Highness. Young Master Shen is entering the palace for the first time and does not quite understand the palace rules. He did not mean to offend Your Highness."

Who?

Wu Dequan froze, his mouth falling open.

Young Master Shen?

Ah, this... couldn't he be the young master from the Chancellor's Residence?

Wu Dequan gave a dry cough and swiftly put on a smiling face, his gaze kindly. "So it is Young Master Shen. Why are you standing here in the wind? Are you cold? Shall this old servant have someone bring you a cloak?"

Xiao Hanye shot him a sidelong glance.

Wu Dequan winked and explained in a low voice, "Your Highness, this one is now quite the moon surrounded by stars. Backed by the Chancellor's Residence and favored by His Majesty, he will surely be courted and wooed by every other faction. We cannot fall behind."

Shen Tingjue coughed twice.

I heard that, you know.

Seeing that he still held up his sleeve to hide his face, with the bashful coyness of a young maiden, Xiao Hanye tugged at the corner of his mouth and said unhurriedly, "I only knew that Young Master Shen had something wrong with his brain. I had never heard that his face was ugly."

Shen Tingjue slowly revealed his eyes. "I'm not ugly."

"Then why do you not dare show your face—"

Xiao Hanye abruptly stopped. His gaze sharpened, his fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly, and he suddenly strode forward.

Thinking he was about to resort to violence, Wu Dequan dropped to his knees in terror and wrapped his arms around the Crown Prince's leg. "Your Highness, absolutely not!"

That Young Master Shen looked frail enough that a single poke of the finger might kill him.

"..."

The corner of Xiao Hanye's eye twitched. He dearly wanted to kick the East Palace's chief steward at his feet straight into the river.

This old fatty was better off gone.

Shen Tingjue blinked, unable to understand what this master and servant pair were doing. Slowly lowering his hand, he curved his brows and eyes in a smile, revealing two tiny dimples in his cheeks. His eyes held a meaning that seemed eager to speak yet reluctant to do so.

"Your Highness is truly handsome, like an immortal descending to earth, exactly like the man of my dreams."

Wu Dequan: "?!!"

No way.

At a time like this, he still dared flirt with His Highness?

Wait, those eyes... he seemed to have seen them somewhere before.

The old steward was getting on in years. After racking his brains for a long while without finding an answer, he silently glanced at Xiao Hanye. He saw a distinct chill and ferocity between the other man's brows as he stared fixedly at Young Master Shen and asked, word by word, his voice low, "Have you truly lost your memories?"

"More or less." Shen Tingjue carefully observed his reaction. "I only remember that I had someone I loved. He looks exactly like Your Highness."

Shen Tingjue blushed, looking quite embarrassed. "Your Highness, were we once in love with each other?"

Wu Dequan: "!"

Xiao Hanye: "?"

When he saw that the man did not deny it, Shen Tingjue's smile deepened. His gaze brazenly fixed on the Crown Prince as he dropped a bombshell. "To be honest, Your Highness, the only thing I remember is that night when you and I... shared the clouds and rain on Mount Wu."

The two of them must have been in love to do that sort of intimate thing willingly, with mutual desire.

The eunuch beside them staggered back two steps in shock, nearly toppling headfirst into the river pond.

Good heavens, he seemed to have heard something truly extraordinary. Would he be silenced?

Xiao Hanye cast him a cold look.

The eunuch's face went white, and he shuddered violently. It was already too late to play dead. He abruptly covered his ears and kept chanting, "This servant heard nothing," as he knowingly retreated several yards away.

Wu Dequan choked on his saliva for ages. He stared wide-eyed at Shen Tingjue, inwardly thinking, What the hell are you babbling about? How dare you smear my master's innocence like this!

Damn it, he looked like a delicate white flower, but his heart was filthy!

"Nonsense! How could His Highness possibly with you... with you..." The old steward stammered for a long while, truly unable to utter the latter half. He looked toward Xiao Hanye, his eyes plainly saying, Hurry up and explain yourself.

Xiao Hanye's expression was subtle, yet he did not answer for a long while.

Wu Dequan fretted over his innocence. "Your Highness..."

Xiao Hanye suddenly said, "Lin Zhao."

Wu Dequan froze. "Huh?"

What was that about? Why bring him up?

Xiao Hanye slowly approached Shen Tingjue. When only a hair's breadth remained between them, he suddenly exerted brute force and raised a hand to grip Shen Tingjue's chin.

Xiao Hanye stared at him for a long time. The fair face still bore traces of the sickly pallor of someone recovering from a serious illness. Slowly, he furrowed his brow, and an irritation he himself had not noticed rose in his eyes. "Other than remembering that matter, have you forgotten everything else?"

Forced to tilt his head up at him, Shen Tingjue answered without addressing the question. "Your Highness did not deny it."

Xiao Hanye stared at him.

Shen Tingjue pulled his hand down and gathered it in his palm. Smiling sweetly, he drew a solemn conclusion. "That proves you and I really do love each other."

"..."

At last, a crack appeared in the Crown Prince's tightly held expression.

What a sin.

Why had he forgotten everything else, yet remembered this one thing?

After the rebellion in Jingzhou had been quelled, the local officials had secretly drugged him with Joy-Bone Incense in order to offer up their daughter for advancement. It was the most intoxicating thing in the world, without an antidote.

Xiao Hanye remembered that after running a sword through that official's daughter who had tried to curry favor and seek his patronage, he had run through the rain across half a mountain. Just as the effects eased slightly, the leader of the shadow guards had suddenly appeared, kneeling at his side and anxiously asking whether he was all right. His eyes gleamed with moisture, filled with concern for him.

Xiao Hanye instantly felt that he had run across half a mountain for nothing.

What followed completely slipped out of control. A spark set the prairie ablaze, and one night of madness ensued.

Shen Tingjue remembered only the process and had forgotten the cause. He had wholeheartedly decided that he and the Crown Prince were in love. Now that they had suddenly reunited, his eyes brimmed with laughter, and he was so excited that his words came out all wrong.

The person he had searched for for more than two months was still alive, yet Xiao Hanye did not know for a moment whether to be happy or troubled. He had always been accustomed to holding everything in the palm of his hand, to grasping the initiative, but Lin Zhao's situation had completely exceeded his expectations.

Xiao Hanye pressed his thin lips together and forcibly pulled his hand from Shen Tingjue's palm. Avoiding that scorching gaze, he recited of heaven and earth's vastness and, against his conscience, said, "You remembered wrong. I am not familiar with you."

"I have amnesia, but I'm not stupid." Shen Tingjue looked at Xiao Hanye with an expression that said, Don't think you can fool me. He looped an arm through his arm, his face full of the joy of unexpectedly reuniting with his beloved. "Come, I'm going to tell Father, Mother, and the others this wonderful news."

Xiao Hanye's eye immediately twitched.

At the same time, Wu Dequan suddenly slapped his thigh. His eyes widened round as he pointed at Shen Tingjue, nearly losing his voice. "Ah—"

Xiao Hanye: "..."

Wu Dequan could barely straighten out his tongue. "You, you, you..."

Shen Tingjue said, "Don't pause for breath in the middle of speaking."

Wu Dequan swallowed. "Could you be Commander Lin?"

The shadow guards all covered their faces with black cloth. Wu Dequan had never seen what Lin Zhao looked like. Every time he saw him, he recognized him only by those eyes.

They were too alike. This Young Master Shen's eyes were simply too alike!

Once the words left his mouth, he suddenly realized something. He swiftly covered his mouth and looked around, afraid that walls might have ears.

Shen Tingjue blinked. "Who is Commander Lin? Was that my former identity?"

After Shen Tingjue crowded close and rubbed against him a few times, Xiao Hanye's thoughts wavered slightly, and the coldness in his eyes faded somewhat. After considering it, he still confessed truthfully in a low voice, "Yes. You are my shadow guard."

Having received confirmation from the Crown Prince himself, the old steward raised a hand and silently pressed it beneath his nose.

This was utterly absurd.

The shadow guard commander whose fate had remained unknown was actually in Chang'an City, and had even transformed into the beloved son of the Chancellor and the Grand Princess. Was this what they meant by surviving a great calamity and gaining blessings afterward?

Wu Dequan's feelings were complicated, and he could not help raising his head to the sky with a sigh. "The affairs of the world are impossible to predict..."

Xiao Hanye gave him an indifferent sidelong glance, then turned his gaze back to Shen Tingjue. Recalling how his younger cousin coaxed children, he did his utmost to reveal a gentler side of himself.

"Not many people know that you are my shadow guard. Ahem, so when we see the Grand Princess and the others later, do not mention that you and I know each other for now, all right?"

Especially, do not mention anything like "sharing the clouds and rain on Mount Wu."

Shen Tingjue fell silent for a moment, then quickly accepted the fact that he had originally been a shadow guard. Rubbing his chin, he gave an ambiguous smile. "No wonder."

Xiao Hanye looked at him.

Shen Tingjue kindly explained, "No wonder no one else knew that Your Highness and I had a thing going. So we were carrying on a secret affair."

Xiao Hanye: "..."

Xiao Hanye closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and tried hard to persuade himself not to quibble with someone whose brain was sick. "Let's go. Today's palace banquet is being held for you. It would not be good to stay away too long. Whatever you wish to say, we can speak of it later."