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His Majesty's Hostage - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 30

ZiLi was still eating breakfast, when Mo Shou was already standing at the entrance of the palace, carrying a heat preserving food box. When the other maids saw the deliverer of the medicine, they all rushed to bring him inside.

“Your Highness, I have come to deliver the medicine!” Mo Shou said, after walking up to ZiLi, while carefully holding the heat preserving food box steady, and bowing his head.

ZiLi swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty and said frowning, “Just put it there, I’ll drink it later!”

Ming Yue saw that ZiLi wanted to go back on his words again, so she could not help but say something to persuade him, “Your Majesty, it is not that bad. If you don’t take it on time, the medicine will not be as effective! Besides, the medicine will become even more bitter and astringent when it is cold!”

ZiLi knew that with Ming Yue, who was such an upright 1 female Bao Qingtian 2 , keeping watch, he could not get away with it even if he wanted to! He had no other option but to sigh helplessly and said to Mo Shou, “Fine, then give it to me now!”

Mo Shou, as he had been told, quickly opened the small food box, and carefully took out a bowl of dark and steaming concoction and handed it to ZiLi.

ZiLi grimaced and resignedly accepted it. He took a few deep breaths, and then poured the concoction into his stomach with one gulp. But eventually, when there was still about a quarter left, he could not take it anymore, and as he set the bowl on the table, he leaned over and began to retch.

Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 30 on Project Bezemwagen :-)

After their previous experiences, Ming Yue and Chun Lan had already expected this reaction from ZiLi, so the moment ZiLi accepted the medicine bowl, they had already prepared rock candy and tea. When they saw ZiLi starting to retch, they quickly gave him the tea to rinse his mouth, and then the piece of rock candy to chew on.

After finishing these, ZiLi felt better and after a short pause said, “It is finally over! Damn, this stuff can really cause someone’s death. Not only is it bitter, but it also stinks! It makes you want to vomit just smelling it! I don’t understand why people keep saying that medicine smells good and not bad!”

Ming Yue and Chun Lan could not help but purse their lips and chuckle at his words.

Chun Lan jokingly said, “Your Highness, perhaps those people are drinking the concoction boiled with the root of Bai Zhi 3 , Lavender, Du Ruo 4 , Du Heng 5 and the root of Celery Wormwood 6 !”

“Haha!” ZiLi laughed dryly, not understanding anything she just said.

“Your Highness, now that you have taken the medicine, my humble self 7 will excuse myself!”

“Hey, Mo Shou wait, can you stay for a minute? I have something else I want to talk to you about alone!” After Ming Yue and Chun Lan had left, ZiLi asked, “Mo Shou, are you upset with me?”

“My humble self is not upset!”

ZiLi walked up to Mo Shou, “Really? You’re really not mad at me for hiding my identity from you?”

Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 30 on Project Bezemwagen :-)

“En. My humble self is not angry, just surprised!” Mo Shou said earnestly, as he looked up to meet ZiLi’s eyes. Mo Shou had always been very worried, ever since ZiLi suddenly did not reappear. He did not know if big brother Su 8 had been punished by His Majesty or if something else had happened. He really regretted not asking clearly if big brother Su was a servant in the palace. If he had known, he could have gone to investigate and asked about him! Mo Shou often went to that small courtyard and waited there, hoping that one day he would see ZiLi again! But time after time, he was disappointed, until that time when he went out with His Excellency Li to visit a patient and then saw ZiLi in His Majesty's bedchamber! He never expected to meet ZiLi under these circumstances! He still remembered the young man, lying on the bed at that time. His face pale as paper, his jaw full of blood, and his small body sunk into the large bed of the Emperor. His weak appearance made people feel distressed!

ZiLi sighed in relief when he knew Mo Shou was not being sarcastic and said, “I am glad that you are not mad! Do you still acknowledge me as big brother Su like before?”

“Uh, but big brother Su is not simply big brother Su. There is a great difference between the status of His highness and my humble self. My humble self would not dare to overstep my boundaries!”

“I am not powerful at all, and there is no real difference in status between us!” ZiLi put his hand on Mo Shou’s shoulder and said, “ Dear 9 Mo, you should know that my royal title is just in name only. To put it bluntly, when it comes to my real status, I am just like a prisoner. With what you just said, aren't you saying that you look down on me and want nothing to do with me?”

“No, I did not mean it like that!” The simple and honest Mo Shou was so flustered that he repeatedly shook his head and said, “My humble self never had such a thought in his heart!”

Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 30 on Project Bezemwagen :-)

“Since you haven’t thought about it like that, will you still call me big brother Su?”

“En.” Mo Shou nodded somewhat shyly.

“That settles it, we are now officially good brothers 10 !” ZiLi patted on his shoulder and said boldly, “Your big brother Su will cover you, if anyone bullies you in the future, come to me immediately, and I will help you beat him up!”

“Eh! Okay! However, my humble self has something to ask, why did Your Highness use the surname Su? Isn’t Your highness surnamed An?

“That― That question is a little complicated to answer, so let’s forget it! You just need to know that my name is Su ZiLi, and big brother Su is just fine!”

“Oh!”

Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 30 on Project Bezemwagen :-)

ZiLi put an arm around Mo Shou again and, while pretending to be indifferent, asked him, “Cough, cough, Mo Shou, do you still remember the last time, when I was helping you grinding medicine and I touched some kind of medicine powder with my bare hands, and my skin immediately itched, hurt and burned?”

“Of course, I remember! I had even told you before not to mess around with it and touch it!” Mo Shou wondered why ZiLi suddenly brought this up.

“Do you currently still have any of that medicine powder?”

“Yes, there is a lot of it in the medicine storage room!”

“Are you able to obtain it?”

“Of course, I am in charge of the medicine storage room!”

“That’s great! Can you get some for your big brother Su?”

“Yes, I can. I will ask His Excellency Li when I get back, he should be willing to give some!”

“No, no, I meant you have to give it to me in secret, you can’t let another person know!”

“Uh, do you want me to steal it?” Mo Shou asked as he blinked his eyes in astonishment.

“This― This cannot be considered stealing, it’s just taking it secretly, okay? You are in charge of the medicine storage room, right? Then you at least have the right to take something, don’t you know?”

Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 30 on Project Bezemwagen :-)

Mo Shou shook his head in bewilderment.

“All right, all right, let’s put it this way, there are others who keep watch with you in the medicine storage room, right? I am sure they are not all keeping watch as sincerely as you are, are they? They must have secretly stolen medicinal ingredients from the medicine storage room at some point, right? If they take some and you don’t, they will think you are too high-minded and don’t belong to the group at all, so they will ostracize you and slander you explicitly and implicitly! In order for you to have a harmonious working environment and good interpersonal relationships, you must do something you never have done before 11 to smear some mud on your upper body 12 , so that they will not think you are different from them, will not oppose you and will even accept you!” ZiLi sincerely patted him on the shoulder and said, “That is why Mo Shou, you have to steal the medicine, I mean, take the medicine in secret! Now go get me that medicine powder I told you about and prove to them that you are the same as them!”

Mo Shou stared blankly at ZiLi, suddenly his eyes widened as if everything became clear at once. The bright light in his eyes made ZiLi turn his head away with a guilty conscience.

“I finally know why they are always making things difficult for me, thank you big brother Su for your suggestion! I will definitely meet your expectation and secretly get the medicine! Big brother Su, I’ll leave then, I’ll give you the medicine as soon as I get it!”

ZiLi looked at Mo Shou’s back as he hurriedly walked out and suddenly regretted his instigation a little bit!



Translator Notes
ZiLi is really such a good role model (。 ̄。)

Translation Notes
  • 铁面无私 – Tiě miàn wú sī. - Strictly impartial and incorruptible.
  • 包青天 - Bāo Qīngtiān - Fictional nickname of Bao Zheng, who was a Northern Song official renowned for his honesty. - More information
  • Dahurian Angelica – The following names are probably all nice smelling flowers and plants.
  • Pollia Japonica
  • Asarum Forbesii
  • Artemisia Carvifolia
  • Mo Shou actually uses his name to talk in the third person, but I think that sounds a little strange, so every time he talks in the third person using his name, I’ve changed it to ‘my humble self’.
  • 大哥 – DàGē – Su is the surname of ZiLi.
  • 老弟 – LǎoDì - Affectionate form of address for a male who is not very much younger than oneself.
  • 哥们儿 – Gēmenr – Buddy
  • 开荤 – Kāihūn. - To eat meat after having maintained a vegetarian diet. - To experience something new.
  • Integrate in the group.


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