Disclaimer: This is edited MTL. Do forgive any grammar mistakes as they are my own and not the author’s. I may add some of my own words for clarity sake, but I will try not to change the meaning of the whole sentence. When the author uses 成语 / Cheng Yu, which is something like idiom-like phrases, I may just translate them in simple English if they are not very meaningful. Otherwise, I will add a translation note. An example would be ‘不三不四’, I would most likely translate it as ‘dubious’ depending on the context.

The next few chapters are all slightly above 2000+++ words only.

Hehe so I recently upgraded my wordpress plan and will be making some changes to the site so the site may be unstable for a while.

Also, I made a minor change to the previous chapters from city defence maps (plural) to city defence map (singular).

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Yan Ke smiled: “I’ve used up the ink in my room, I wanted to go to my husband’s study room to get some ink to use.”

The shadow guard didn’t retreat because of this, the Crown Prince had ordered, no one can enter his study room, this should include the Crown Princess as well.

Shadow guard: “If Crown Princess, you have used up your ink, please wait in your room, the steward will immediately send ink to you.”

Yan Ke seeing that this method didn’t work, nodded his head, turned around and walked away.

He purposely staggered, kicked his right foot with his left foot and started falling.

The shadow guard didn’t have time to think, his years of training allowed his body to move faster than his brain to protect his master. Within three steps, he had walked forward to help stabilise Yan Ke.

Before he had time to let go, the dagger hidden under Yan Ke’s robe was inserted straight into his throat, and he was killed with one stab.

He didn’t even have time to react to the Crown Princess pretending to fall to get close to him so that it would be easier for the Crown Princess to kill him.

Neither did he have the time to make some noises to signal his fellow guards regarding this irregularity.

When Yan Ke pulled out the dagger, blood sprayed out from the shadow guard’s throat, splattering all over his body.

Yan Ke indifferently wiped the dagger on the shadow guard’s clothes.

His tongue curled and he whistled once. He then lightly pushed open the doors and entered the study room.

He didn’t need to worry about the outside since someone would help him handle the guard’s body.

Yan Ke didn’t want to cause more complications, so he didn’t turn on the lights. He just borrowed the dim moonlight to search the room.

From the study table to the bookshelf, he would flip through every single book on them twice to see if there was anything wedged between it.

Every corner was not let off, whichever spot that might have a hidden mechanism, Yan Ke would knock against it once.

The temperature in Yue Country was low, especially when it’s nearing the autumn season, the night chill could even seep into a person’s bones. Yan Ke shivered, breathed some hot air onto his freezing hands and rubbed it.

After searching for ages, the sky was already lighting up, Yan Ke’s face was pale but he still gritted his teeth and was dead set on finding the defence map.

Finally, after examining the table legs, he managed to discover a hidden frame there and sighed in relief.

Opening the hidden frame, he took out the things hidden inside and stuffed them into his robe.

Then, he stumbled around and took advantage of the time when it was still dawn, and the people working in the Crown Prince Manor had yet to wake up, to head to Meng You’s room to take a set of clothes to change his bloodstained clothes and returned back to his own room.

Staring at Tang Qi lying on his bed and had yet to awake from unconsciousness, Yan Ke wanted to throw him out.

But, his spirit was willing yet his flesh was weak, upon closing the door, he slid down while leaning against the door, his whole body was burning up.

Dizziness gradually took over him, he didn’t sleep the whole night, adding his high fever, Yan Ke’s complexion had turned extremely bad.

Before he fainted, the only thing he could do was pray.

He prayed that the next time he wakes up, he would still be himself.

Due to Yan Ke’s strange behaviour the day before and plus that it was already close to noon, but he had yet to wake up, the steward went to knock on his door.

Steward: “Crown Princess, this old servant had called for the kitchen staff to prepare some food for you, Crown Princess, why don’t you come out and eat?”

The steward’s knocks didn’t wake Yan Ke who was sleeping against the door, but instead it woke Tang Qi who was sleeping on the bed.

Tang Qi lightly frowned, he couldn’t tell what time it was yet and groggily asked: “What time is it now?”

Steward: “………”

Steward: “???”

Just now he must have heard wrongly! If not, why would he have heard Imperial Guard Tang’s voice coming from the Crown Princess’s room?!

He must have heard wrongly!

The steward dimly thought, it must be his old age affecting his hearing and knocked on the door again: “Crown Princess?”

This time, Yan Ke was finally woken up.

When Yan Ke woke up, his whole body felt uncomfortable, his head ached, eyes were blurry, mouth was dry and throat was parched.

He struggled to stand, saw Tang Qi lying on his own bed and immediately turned to stone.

Thinking back on what the original owner has done, Yan Ke felt as if in a flash the sky had fallen onto him.

My ancestor! You shouldn’t play around like this right?

[T/N: Calling someone an ancestor is slang that means somehow you need to do/or are doing a lot of things for that person.]

You fucking leave now, and leave Lao Zi here to clean your mess up for you?

The important thing was, how do I deal with this extreme Shura Battlefield-like mess?

[T/N: Shura Battlefield is a popular metaphor for a fierce fight/mess.]

Tang Qi was sleeping on his bed without his clothes and the city defence map in his embrace felt like a hot potato against his own chest.

[T/N: Tang Qi is actually still in his inner robe, but an inner robe is not really considered as clothes.]

Yan Ke had never felt as helpless as he did now!

Oh. Right, the original owner had also killed someone.

Yan Ke’s chest hurt from the frustrations in his heart.

Tang Qi on his bed was obviously woken up by the steward’s continuous knocking, he sat up with knitted eyebrows.

He wanted to explode but then he saw Yan Ke standing at the door. In the instant he saw Yan Ke, his injury from being hit on the back of his head yesterday started aching.

Tang Qi: “………”

Tang Qi originally wanted to check if his body had any holes or wounds, but when he lowered his head, he saw himself wearing obscene clothes.

[T/N: The inner robe is like close to the equivalent of their underwear back then. So wearing only the inner robe is sort of obscene in the conservative era back then.]

Tang Qi: “!!!”

Too……Too much!

Yan Ke saw a complicated expression of a good and decent man having been defiled by a bandit appear on Tang Qi’s face, and a laugh creeped up his face.

[T/N: Author used 良家妇男 / Liang Jia Fu Nan which means a good man with the implication that they are a good and decent person from a decent family. The original phrase is 良家妇女 / Liang Jia Fu Nu which means the same thing but for a woman.]

Then he reached out his hands to cover his own chest.

He couldn’t avoid doing that, the city defence map was protruding through his clothes, he had to cover his chest……

Tang Qi: “???”

I haven’t even covered my own chest!

[T/N: HAHAHA okay, not sure if this setting is common across different countries but you know those scenes when someone accidentally sleeps with another person due to being drunk or whatever reason and then the next day, they will show one person waking up and then covering their chest. This is what’s happening here.]

Yan Ke gave Tang Qi a meaningful glance and lowered his voice: “Bro, what should we do now?”

Tang Qi wanted to cry: “How should I know?! Crown Princess, what have you done! How do you expect me to meet Shu Li in the future!”

Yan Ke coldly hmphed.

If it wasn’t for your unreliability yesterday, would there be such a big mess to clear now!

You don’t have the face to meet him, Lao Zi doesn’t have a life to meet him! I killed his servant and your Yue Kingdom’s lifeline was also in my embrace! Which of these crimes doesn’t carry a death penalty!

Yan Ke pointed to a closet at the side: “Go hide there first, I will get rid of the steward in the meantime.”

Tang Qi didn’t feel like he was wronged anymore, listening to Yan Ke’s words, he felt that he was being coerced!

Tang Qi: “I can go out openly, why should I hide inside?”

Yan Ke rolled his eyes at Tang Qi: “Okay, fine. If you went out openly, wearing your obscene clothes, with one look, it’s obvious that you spent the night in my room. Do you know Xiao Wu?”

Tang Qi shook his head and dully spoke: “I don’t know.”

Yan Ke: “I heard from Meng You, Xiao Wu’s wife cheated on him, and she has been drowned along with her adulterous lover inside a pig cage.”

[T/N: Chapter 6, Xiao Wu’s wife cheated on him. The crime for adultery is to be drowned in a pig cage.]

Tang Qi was at a loss: “What does this have to do with us?”

Yan Ke couldn’t help but cover his face.

Yan Ke: “Do you think that if you went out from Lao Zi’s room with this type of appearance, anyone will believe that we didn’t do anything? The moment you step out, it’s likely that a pig cage is already waiting outside for you.”

Tang Qi: “………”

Tang Qi was suddenly unsure: “Last night, nothing happened between us right?”

Yan Ke: “Nothing. But, if you went out now, even if nothing had happened, it would be as if something had happened. Lies would turn into the truth.”

Even though Tang Qi didn’t want to hide inside the closet, but he couldn’t stand the scary consequences, so after Yan Ke’s words, he walked quietly on tiptoe into the closet with his hands holding onto his two shoes.

Yan Ke closed the closet door and locked it at the same time.

Tang Qi patted against the closet door: “Don’t forget to unlock the door for me!”

Yan Ke impatiently replied: “I know I know! My memory is very good! After I get rid of the steward, you can just find an opportunity to leave.”

Tang Qi: “Fine.”

Yan Ke straightened his clothes, patted his face and then he opened the door. Once the door opened, the steward looked shiftily around the room.

Yan Ke laughed: “Does the steward want to come in to search for a golden house?”

[T/N: Author used 金屋藏娇/Jin Wu Cang Jiao meaning a golden house used to keep a mistress.]

The steward’s intentions were exposed with a few words, and his old face turned red.

Steward: “Crown Princess, why not go out and eat something first!”

Yan Ke coughed lightly: “No need, I caught a cold yesterday, I will probably remain sick for the next few days.”

The steward’s thoughts about looking around Yan Ke’s room to check if there was another person around dissipated when he heard Yan Ke was sick again. His brows wrinkled: “This servant will head to the palace to call for an imperial physician!”

Yan Ke: “Then I’ll be troubling the steward for this matter!”

Seeing that the steward has left, Yan Ke turned and prepared to close the door but then the city defence map dropped out from his robe. When Yan Ke picked them up, he suddenly thought of something.

In Yan Ke’s slightly raised phoenix eyes, a hint of light flashed.

Since, Su Yu was bent on getting the city defence map.

Then…

Why not give him one?

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Author has something to say:

Because Yan Ke forgot to unlock the closet, Tang Qi’s parts in the play has thus concluded.

hhhhhhh

[T/N: Hhhhhhh is probably shorthand for hahaha.]

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This part is not important to the story, so you may skip this explanation about Shura Battlefield if you want.

According to BaiKe/BaiDu, 修罗场 / Xiu Luo Chang / Shura Battlefield refers to a battlefield with many casualties. Shura / Xiu Luo refers to a person/god in Hinduism and Buddhism mythology. This name is also linked to Ashura / Ah Xiu Luo or King Shura / Xiu Luo Wang. This person in the different mythologies may have a different story but the character of the person is agreed among the stories to be battle-hungry.

There was a story that said Shura fought with Di Shitian often as his territory had beautiful women but no good food while Di Shitian had good food but no beautiful women. In every battle, there would be mass casualties. It is said to be especially fierce as it’s a fight about resources, so the people were more desperate. After the war, Shura lost.

There was also another story that said Shura was someone who liked to disagree with Buddha, if Buddha says five, Shura would say six; if Buddha says six, Shura would say five.

In ACGN (Anime, Comics, Games, Novels), this term Shura Battlefield is now also linked to the fights in a love triangle. So a common trope is where there is a male character who two friends like. So the two friends will fight each other for the male character. It may also be worth to note that, since they are friends, they won’t openly fight and instead, use back-handed compliments to fight. For example, something like “You look so healthy with so much meat, look at me, I’m so thin that I’m just a sack of bones.” to say that the other person is fat.