One Kiss and He Already Runs
After several more days, Chu Yuan’s eyes were recovering well. He could see the rough outlines of things, yet nothing was clear. It was as though a thin veil lay over his eyes, leaving everything perpetually hazy.
However, he was not anxious. He took his medicine on time each day, his mind calm and even, and the injury to his leg also slowly healed.
On the day of the Yuanxiao Lantern Festival, the servants of the Li Prince’s residence began bustling about at dawn, coming and going in lively commotion.
The newly appointed steward, Xian Yu, stood at the entrance of Xing Courtyard with his arms crossed, looking ten years older than he had last week, directing operations, his temper wearing thinner with each passing moment. “Yes, put it there. Move more gently... What is that you cut? Do it over... No, I asked for red silk. This is green!”
Xian Feng and Xian Shuang carried a wooden chest inside and teased him. “Looking well, Xian Yu Shu in the Prince Li’s residence, His Highness can finally be at ease.”
Xian Shuang nodded and offered an impartial assessment. “A fine post. It suits you.”
Xian Yu bared his teeth. “A fine post? Would you take it if it were given to you? Look at my face. I have only been a steward for five days and I have already grown two wrinkles. I am still young and I have yet taken a wife. I still want to live two more years!”
By the end, he nearly bounced on his feet.
“Enough. Do not get so excited.” Xian Feng laughed and pressed him down. “Our residence has few people and the affairs are manageable. You are only unaccustomed to it after taking over. This work is easy, and you do not even need to worry about your life.”
“I would rather take missions and kill people than do this than do this wretched job, wuwuwu.”
Xian Yu threw himself pitifully onto Xian Feng’s arm. “Xian Feng, good elder brother, go and beg His Highness. Let Xian Shuang be steward. He is steady, he speaks little, and he wears a cold face all day. He is the most suited to being steward.”
“?” Xian Shuang straightened and slowly raised his sword. “Do you want a beating?”
If he won, everything was easy to discuss. If he did not, he would beat Xian Yu until he cried.
“Guard Xian Shuang, His Highness is asking for you.” Le Shu ran in at this moment, panting.
Xian Shuang sheathed his sword, though not before casting one regretful look back at Xian Yu.
That gaze seemed to say that a fight could not happen, and he was somewhat unhappy.
Xian Yu: “...”
Inside Fuju Courtyard, Lu Ronghuai was dressing Chu Yuan.
The room was warm. Chu Yuan sat in his inner robes on Lu Ronghuai’s lap, being dressed layer by layer like a small child, each garment eased on with patient hands.
Chu Yuan truly could not understand what habit this man had, to be so keen on choosing clothes for him.
Lu Ronghuai raised Chu Yuan’s arm and guided his sleeve on. He spoke close to his ear. “After the evening meal, I will take you somewhere.”
These past few days he returned to eat, and Chu Yuan saw that he seemed quite unoccupied. Chu Yuan asked, “Does Your Highness not need to report to the Ministry of Works?”
Lu Ronghuai paused, only then remembering that he had been busy arranging things and had forgotten to tell him. “The Censorate wrote memorials impeaching me. To prove my innocence, I requested confinement for one month.”
Chu Yuan heard the pleasure within his words and almost wanted to laugh, but his voice remained calm. “Your Highness is merely confined?”
He had not concerned himself with affairs of state for many years, yet the Censorate had always been the same. If it were only confinement, those people would not easily agree.
“I voluntarily surrendered my military authority. Oh, Father Emperor also ordered me to copy scriptures ten times. That rotten idea must have come from that swindling Daoist.”
“A Daoist?”
A fraud who cloaks himself in mystery and deceives Father Emperor utterly, so that he thinks of nothing but immortality. The older he grows, the more clouded his judgment becomes.” Lu Ronghuai mocked his own Father Emperor without restraint.
He finished dressing Chu Yuan. He took two jade pendants from a brocade box and compared them. In the end, he chose a matching twin-heart jade pendant and tied it at Chu Yuan’s waist. When he had done everything, he held Chu Yuan and looked him over from head to toe.
“Very good. Ah-Yuan is so beautiful. He ought to dress in bright colors.”
Today he had put Chu Yuan in an apricot-yellow brocade robe, with a white fox-fur cloak over it. His ink-black hair was bound with a goose-yellow ribbon, smooth and drifting down behind him.
Xian Shuang entered and saw Chu Yuan’s splendid grace. He stopped, momentarily stunned.
“Come. Pay respects to your new master.”
“This subordinate pays respects to the master.” Xian Shuang did not say another word. He knelt before Chu Yuan.
Chu Yuan’s sight was blurred and could only see a dark shadow moving before him. He turned his head to find Lu Ronghuai, wanting to know what he meant.
“Why are you so surprised?” Lu Ronghuai pinched Chu Yuan’s cheek. “You do not know martial arts. From now on, Xian Shuang and Xian Yu will stay at your side to protect you.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“This is the Xuan Token.” Lu Ronghuai drew a tablet of black iron from within his robe and placed it in Chu Yuan’s hand. “With it, you can command all shadow guards. Keep it well, Ah-Yuan.”
Chu Yuan lowered his head. His fingertips traced the token. It was cool and smooth to the touch. A raised portion stood at its center, carved with intricate patterns.
A token that could command the Prince Li’s shadow guards did not need thought to know how important it was.
“Your Highness has granted this subject two shadow guards, and that is enough. This subject cannot accept this.” Chu Yuan raised the token as though to return it.
Lu Ronghuai reached out and pressed his hand down. He dismissed Xian Shuang, then looked at the Xuan Token, his expression easy and unhurried.
“This token has already been shown openly in front of Xian Shuang. Returning it to me is of no use.”
Chu Yuan thought for a moment, moved his body, and fumbled open the hidden compartment by the bedside. “Then it will be placed here. In Your Highness’s courtyard, no one would dare intrude.”
“Mm. Eat first.” Lu Ronghuai picked him up as naturally as breathing and carried him to the table.
He knew Chu Yuan’s defenses were still heavy. Apart from that little servant, Chu Yuan trusted no one.
The matter of the token could not be rushed. Sooner or later, he would wait for the day when Ah-Yuan opened his heart to him.
After the evening meal, night had already fallen.
Since the new year began, the Prince Li’s residence did not permit candles to be lit at night. The entire residence had long since learned this rule. So when Lu Ronghuai carried Chu Yuan toward Xing Courtyard in the dark, they did not meet a single person on the way.
Chu Yuan felt the surroundings were too quiet. Even the patrolling guards were nowhere to be seen.
He could not help asking, “Your Highness, why is the residence so quiet?”
“Tonight is the Lantern Festival. The servants are resting at night. They have all gone out to watch the lantern fair.” Lu Ronghuai carried him through the night, his steps steady and strong. The darkness seemed unable to hinder his pace in the slightest.
Chu Yuan nodded. His impression of the Lantern Festival was vague, his memory stopping in early childhood. He remembered that one year, his Mother Empress had found him a rabbit lantern. It was very beautiful. He treasured it and placed it in his study, yet later Chu Zhang broke it.
“We are here. Ah-Yuan, look up and see.” Lu Ronghuai’s soft call pulled Chu Yuan back from his thoughts.
Chu Yuan obeyed and raised his head.
Before him was a blaze of lights like blooming trees and silver blossoms, brightness flashing and dimming. At a glance it resembled stars at the edge of the sky, waving to him from afar through thin, pale mist.
He thought they were candles. After only one look, he quickly turned his head away and buried his face against Lu Ronghuai’s chest, refusing to speak.
Lu Ronghuai was so amused by his reaction that he laughed aloud. “Ah-Yuan, do not be afraid. Those are glass beads dusted with luminous powder.”
Chu Yuan’s ear twitched. He raised his head again.
“Glass beads... but why are they all hanging in midair?” Chu Yuan could not see clearly, yet curiosity drew him toward them. He leaned forward a little without restraint, his eyes clean, his expression soft and ingenuous.
“The beads are on the tree. It is a wishing tree gifted to Ah-Yuan.”
Lu Ronghuai walked beneath it. The two of them raised their faces together to look up at the apricot tree, bright and resplendent beneath its canopy.
Those little star-like things grew larger as they drew near. In the end, they hung from the branches like ripe red persimmons, alluring beyond measure.
Chu Yuan was held in Lu Ronghuai’s arms. One hung very close to him. He could not suppress his curiosity and reached toward it, touching it lightly.
The red persimmon swayed slowly.
Chu Yuan’s eyes widened. “A rabbit?”
As it moved, he faintly saw a pair of ears and a short little tail.
“Mm. A rabbit lantern. Does Ah-Yuan like it?” Lu Ronghuai set him onto a reclining chair. Thick, soft fur was spread over it. Lu Ronghuai bent close and kissed the tip of Chu Yuan’s left ear.
Chu Yuan reacted by instinct. He immediately raised a hand to cover his left ear and shrank into the chair, drawing a small distance from him.
It was like being stung by a bee while walking down the road. If his leg were not injured, Lu Ronghuai had no doubt he would have startled upright.
Like a little rabbit, easily frightened.
Soft laughter sounded near his ear.
“I was busy for several days and nights, pasting together one thousand rabbit lanterns. My hands ache and my eyes ache. Ah-Yuan does not feel the least bit of concern for me.” He deliberately lowered his voice. It truly carried a pitiful note.
“Why does Your Highness do these things?” Chu Yuan truly did not understand.
If it was mere playacting, must it be carried to this extent?
Lu Ronghuai persisted. “Ah-Yuan does not like them?”
He plucked down a lantern and set it upon Chu Yuan’s knees. If Chu Yuan could see, he would discover that inside the lantern was a small note of flowered paper.
It was a blessing written in Lu Ronghuai’s own hand. Each character was set down with a devout heart and careful brush.
May his Ah-Yuan be safe and smooth in all things, and live long to a hundred years.
Chu Yuan cradled the lantern. It was difficult to say he did not like it. It was the first time someone had made him lanterns, and made one thousand of them...
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“You thank me all day. If Ah-Yuan truly wishes to thank me, kiss me once.”
Chu Yuan held the lantern tighter, blinked, and wore an expression of perfect incomprehension.
“If you will not kiss, that is fine. Call me husband, and I will show you something good.”
Chu Yuan refused the temptation with resolve. He already had a lantern. This year’s Lantern Festival had already made him happy.
Lu Ronghuai said, “There is a remarkable divine tortoise in the pond behind you. It looks fierce and imposing, and there is even a small tortoise on its back. Every day it carries the little one and paddles through the water. Do you want to see it?”
“...I do,” Chu Yuan nodded sincerely. The picture he painted was too enticing. Then he added, “Yet I cannot see clearly. Your Highness is not going to trick this subject that easily.”
“How could it be tricking you?” Lu Ronghuai smiled like a fox. “The most impressive thing about this tortoise is that it can sing. Ah-Yuan has surely never heard a turtle sing.”
“There is no such thing as a tortoise that sings.” Chu Yuan’s brows drew together. He would not fall for it.
“You have not seen it, how can you be certain? A parrot can mimic speech. A divine tortoise naturally can sing.”
Chu Yuan struggled within himself for a few breaths. In the end, his curiosity about the tortoise overwhelmed his shame. He thought that calling him husband once was nothing.
Even if Lu Ronghuai demanded that he serve him in bed tonight, what could he do? He would still have to accept his fate, bow his head, and endure it.
Having reached this conclusion, Chu Yuan stopped squirming. He opened his mouth plainly and said, “Husband.”
Lu Ronghuai restrained his excitement and feigned calm. “Too soft. I did not hear it.”
Chu Yuan drew in a breath and raised his voice. “Husband.”
“Pardon?”
“Husband!”
Lu Ronghuai’s mouth nearly split to his ears. He cleared his throat and nodded with a solemn face. “Mm. This time I heard it.”
Chu Yuan stared at the large dark shape before him, his face entirely expressionless.
Lu Ronghuai, having gotten what he wanted, crouched down and let Chu Yuan climb onto his back. He carried him toward the river to see the tortoise.
“Your Highness, where is the tortoise?” Night was pitch-black. Chu Yuan’s eyes had not fully recovered. He searched left and right for a moment and could make out nothing at all.
Lu Ronghuai laughed until his chest trembled. He bounced Chu Yuan higher on his back, unable to stop his amusement. “Is the tortoise not right there, taking a stroll along the riverbank with the little tortoise on its back?”
Chu Yuan: “?”
“Come. I will sing for you. Which tune do you want to hear, 【Good Husband】 or 【Good Little Wife】?”
“...”
In the shadows, Xian Shuang, who was guarding them: “...”
Even a shadow guard who had seen great scenes nearly slipped and fell from the tree.
Xian Shuang now understood Chu Yuan’s feelings very well.
Anyone with a working fist would be unable to resist wanting to strike upward. Their fists would harden.
Mercifully, this excruciating moment did not last long. Xian Feng appeared in time, breaking the strange and silent atmosphere by the river.
He landed lightly from above and his expression grave.
“My lord, Wang Wu’s family has caused a disturbance at the main gates of the residence. Mao Shu is with them.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Yuan Yuan: Where is the divine tortoise? Where is the divine tortoise that can sing? (looking left and right)
Lu Dog: I’m here (picture of innocence)
Yuan Yuan: Do not believe rumors, do not spread rumors!
Thank you for your support, bow bow~
IsitRo: WHY IS LU RONGHUAI SOOOO EMBARASSING AND FUNNY AT THE SAME TIME?!! AHHHH
0 Comments