Silent Lover

c006. mute

The Northern Garrison Prince's figure appears in the Liqing Courtyard—with all the

presence of a hero brandishing his flashing sword atop a great warhorse—and each of his footsteps seems to create a stir of wind.

The Princess Consort, who had been resting with her eyes shut, rolls off the elegant divan and hurriedly gives her salutations.

"Your Highness . . . "

With a sidelong glance, the Northern Garrison Prince sees Shen Yu kneeled on the ground, his slim frame curled up and looking frail enough to be blown away in a gust of wind.

"Why is she here?" The Northern Garrison Prince asks casually.

"Uh . . . " The Princess Consort hems and haws. "It is her first day in the residence, and she cannot differentiate between superiors and subordinates. I am setting rules for her."

"Setting rules?" The Northern Garrison Prince knits his unyielding brows, his authority domineering and overflowing. "You, on the other hand, seem to be fixated on these rules; how did she provoke your ire?"

The Princess Consort immediately states, "She took until noontime to get out of bed and did not even know this royal mansion's etiquette of paying respects to the matron. I merely asked her a few sentences before she claimed that Your Highness favors her; when she scowled with cold indifference toward me, I became so enraged that it was unbearable, and only then did I punish her to kneel here."

The Northern Garrison Prince's gaze is bright: "To kneel until this hour of the day?"

"Mn . . . It was just four to six hours . . . I suppose?"

The Northern Garrison Prince is expressionless. "Is there anything else?"

"There is!" The Princess Consort continues. "Somehow, she is a mute! That family surnamed Shen gave birth to a mute and somehow, through underhanded trickery, has deceived Your Highness!"

The Northern Garrison Prince fixes her with a look. "This venerable prince is aware."

"Your Highness is aware?" The Princess Consort is wholly astonished. "And yet you still took her in as a concubine? How can a mute be Your Highness's concubine? It would be better to dismiss her and drive her back!"

"So the affairs of this venerable prince are also your duty to manage?"

Suddenly, the atmosphere of death emanating from the Northern Garrison Prince's body thoroughly pervades the entire space. Although it is unintentional, because he has passed through the reeking winds and bloodbaths of the battlefield, the sinister aura which his body has developed is even more piercing than bitter cold and frost. Simply a look from him can make one feel as if they have fallen into a cellar of ice; that kind of frigid apathy frightens the Princess Consort.

"I . . . I did not mean that . . . "

The Northern Garrison Prince takes no further notice of her, walks to Shen Yu's side, and carries him up in his arms.

The bloody score on Shen Yu's lower jaw enters the Northern Garrison Prince's startled line of sight; on his unblemished face, this wound was truly too conspicuous, like a fissure appearing on an exquisite jade artifact after it has been dropped.

"Very good; you even dare to touch this venerable prince's belongings."

While the Northern Garrison Prince's volume is not loud, the fury within his tone makes every person shiver and quiver.

Especially the Princess Consort—it is not as though this is the first time she has put her hands on one of the Northern Garrison Prince's concubines, but His Highness has never been distressed before. How could she have known that merely penalizing Shen Yu to kneel for several hours would vex the prince to such a state of rage?

"Dairou, this is the first time and the last time; if this venerable prince's belongings receive even a trace of damage again, you can just get lost and return to the imperial palace!"

The Northern Garrison Prince pinches the Princess Consort's chin, and the murderous intent within his eyes hardens as if it is about to take physical form.

Having never before witnessed the Northern Garrison Prince protecting a person this much, the Princess Consort is chilled from head to toe; he truly would dare to kill her.

"I . . . I understand . . . "

The Northern Garrison Prince releases her and, without even turning his head, carries Shen Yu out of Liqing Courtyard.

Touching her aching chin, the Princess Consort cannot stop trembling due to both her indignance and lingering fear. She grasps a vase, in which there are peacock tail feathers inserted, and shatters it.

"How could he treat me this way! Just for that fox-spirit? A mute! I am the Princess Consort, his first wife, ah! Could it be that I, a magnificent princess, cannot even exceed the value of a mute in allure and beauty?"

The Princess Consort is the Emperor's biological younger sister. Previously, she had been granted the title of Princess Dairou and the prestige that came with it—all because the Emperor was attempting to coax the Northern Garrison Prince into marrying her.

At the same time, it was the Princess Consort who requested marriage of her own volition; back then, the Northern Garrison Prince had also gladly taken her as a wife. But nobody could have predicted that, in the bitter cold of this land at the northern border, the revered princess cannot not even surpass a mute in the Northern Garrison Prince's heart!

. . .

Shen Yu regains consciousness in his own bed, and at his side is Song Qing.

"Thank you for saving me and bringing me back."

The signing gestures that Shen Yu makes with his hands are actually signing gestures that he had mulled over and refined himself; his mother was born as a slave servant, so how would they have been able to afford and invite an educated academic to teach him sign language? In the world, there are not many who can comprehend sign language, and those who can use sign language are even rarer.

Unexpectedly, Song Qing perceives his meaning.

"You are thanking me?"

Shen Yu nods his head.

"No need; it was His Highness," Song Qing explains. "In actuality, the Princess Consort was the one who behaved unscrupulously, and His Highness does not like other people to touch and ruin his belongings."

Song Qing understands His Highness; even if Shen Yu was humiliated and dehumanized to the extreme, the prince would not so much as blink an eye. The reason why His Highness had been moved to anger was the wound scarring Shen Yu's face.

So it turns out that the truth was like this.

Shen Yu feels a slight sense of loss; he is the Northern Garrison Prince's plaything, and so naturally His Highness will not allow other people to harm his face. Without his appearance, he will be worth nothing at all.

"What about that medicine?" Shen Yu points at a cluster of porcelain vessels.

"His Highness personally applied them for you." Song Qing hesitates for a duration before stating, "But I advise you not to overthink it; His Highness treats you well because the temporary novelty has not yet worn off."

These words are somewhat cruel and merciless; Song Qing has become familiarized with His Highness's practice of abandoning women once he is bored of them. He will not genuinely fall in love, and rather than saying that His Highness takes concubines, it is more fitting to say that he replaces house pets.

Song Qing decided to speak out of turn because he felt that Shen Yu was the most beautiful out of all of His Highness's women, beautiful the point that Song Qing cannot bear to witness his tragic descent firsthand.

Shen Yu nods to express that he understands.

This is a little outside of Song Qing's expectations, as there are really not many who can calmly accept grim realities.

It is simply that there is not a single person who has ever been concerned about Shen Yu besides his mother. An occasional display of kindness from the Northern Garrison Prince can count as one of the few rays of light in Shen Yu's life.