“Duofu Is Right.”
“I bought this for our daughter on the street just now. Is it not pretty?” He lifted the pink flower hairpin and waved it twice before Chu Yuan’s eyes.
Just as Chu Yuan was about to speak, he saw Duke Liu walk in. He shut his mouth and shot Lu Ronghuai a glare.
Duke Liu stood in the middle of the hall, his face cold and arrogant. He first glanced at Chu Yuan, then said to Lu Ronghuai, “Your Highness, this old minister has words he wishes to discuss with Your Highness alone.”
Lu Ronghuai suddenly let out a laugh of contempt. “This Prince is already giving you face by allowing you to speak here. Since Duke Liu does not wish to speak properly, then leave.”
Duke Liu said, “This old minister has secret matters of court to discuss with Your Highness. He is but a male consort, not fit to listen in here.”
“This Prince understands now. Duke Liu came here today looking for a beating.” Lu Ronghuai hurled the teacup to the ground at Duke Liu’s feet. One shard flew up and sliced through the hem of his robe.
Duke Liu stood without moving in the slightest, his brows drawn low. “This old subject already has half his body buried in the earth and does not have many days left in any case. If Your Highness wishes to beat or kill me, then do as you please.”
“Oh? Then go die. Why are you wasting words here?” As always, Lu Ronghuai’s words shocked without cease. Each sentence landed hard and cut to the heart.
Duke Liu was speechless for a moment.
Lu Ronghuai told Xian Yu to see the guest out. Then he turned and casually tucked the pink flower hairpin into Chu Yuan’s dark hair.
Seeing him make mischief atop his head, Chu Yuan raised his hand to take the hairpin back out. His sleeve slid down, revealing a length of bright white wrist. “Your Highness, do not make trouble.”
Duke Liu refused to leave. He flicked his sleeve and said in a strong, aged voice, “Your Highness has excellent methods. To forge this old man’s handwriting so skillfully, this old minister dares ask one question. Which extraordinary person wrote it? This old minister very much wishes to meet him.”
Lu Ronghuai lifted a brow with composed indifference. “When did This Prince ever forge anyone’s handwriting? As for the capable person Duke Liu speaks of, This Prince cannot produce him.”
Duke Liu gave a cold snort, his gaze shooting over sharp as a blade. “Your Highness need not feign ignorance before this old minister. If not for the letter Your Highness presented before the throne, how would the Liu family have ended up pushed to the edge of the storm, suffering such undeserved calamity?”
“Duke Liu’s words are mistaken.” Chu Yuan looked up at him, his eyes bright and clear. “His Highness investigates cases by imperial command, sharing Father Emperor’s burdens and easing his worries. If the Liu family’s conscience is truly clear, then no matter how fierce the wind and waves, they surely cannot harm the Liu family by a single hair. Duke Liu, do you not agree?”
“When one is determined to condemn, why worry over the lack of pretexts?” Duke Liu said. “Your Highness is young and hot-blooded. This old minister offers one piece of advice: the careful ship sails ten thousand years.”
With that, Duke Liu flicked his sleeve and departed.
Lu Ronghuai laughed lightly. “This Prince will remember it. Duke Liu, walk slowly, and I shall not see you out.”
Duke Liu strode forward without looking back. Just after he rounded the bamboo grove, he came face to face with the residence physician carrying his medicine chest.
Seeing him, the physician immediately bent low and bow respectfully.
Duke Liu looked straight ahead and walked past him.
The physician had just begun to exhale in relief when Duke Liu suddenly turned back.
He lowered his head toward the physician, his gaze falling upon the medicine chest slung over his back. “Where are you going with that?”
Duke Liu’s voice carried stern authority. The oppressive presence he had cultivated over years in office spread at once. The physician lowered his head even further and answered honestly, “This official is going to take the Prince Consort’s pulse.”
A flash of something moved through Duke Liu’s eyes. “Prince Consort Li is ill?”
The physician hurriedly denied it. Beyond that, he refused to say more.
Duke Liu smiled with feigned ease. “This old minister was just speaking with Prince Consort Li a moment ago. His complexion looked quite good. Since he is not ill, then this old minister shall take his leave.”
“Duke Liu, take care on your way,” the physician said respectfully.
Duke Liu gave a nod. The moment he lifted his head, the smile on his face vanished completely.
Outside the Prince’s Residence, the Liu family carriage waited quietly to one side.
Duke Liu lifted the carriage curtain and entered. Liu Mingyue, who had been waiting inside, immediately asked, “Grandfather, how did it go?”
“There may be some expert advising Prince Li from behind the scenes. These past six months have gone too smoothly for him.”
Duke Liu let out a long, heavy breath. “A Prince Li who wears all his sharpness on the outside is not frightening. What is frightening is when he draws in all his thorns and becomes unfathomable. That is when it becomes difficult.”
“No wonder Prince Li has not sought out Cheng Zhi for such a long time. So there is a hidden advisor.”
“On Cheng Zhi’s side, is everything still proceeding according to plan?”
Liu Mingyue said, “Mm. Grandfather, rest assured. The strategist beside the Crown Prince has been in constant contact with him. He is being cooperative.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them at once.
Duke Liu had quarreled unpleasantly with the Crown Prince the previous night. To mention the Crown Prince at such a moment was sheer foolishness.
Duke Liu had clearly thought of him as well. He closed his eyes in weariness. “Xiao Yun will not be entering the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince now can scarcely protect himself. The Liu family can rely only upon itself.”
Liu Mingyue was crestfallen. “Then are we not in a very precarious position?”
“Before the very end, who lives and who dies is still uncertain. His Majesty now harbors dissatisfaction toward us. Whether the evidence in his hands is real or false, we must strike back.”
Liu Mingyue’s face turned grave. “How does Grandfather intend to proceed?”
“Send word to Cheng Zhi and Chen Youwei. They may act now.”
Liu Mingyue was startled. “But did the Crown Prince not say—”
“Pay him no mind. He thinks only of himself. When has he ever thought of the Liu family that has given him wholehearted service? Do as I say.”
“There is one more matter. Come here.” Duke Liu beckoned him closer.
After Chu Yuan returned to Fuju Courtyard, he placed the flower hairpin into a brocade box. His gaze fell gently upon his abdomen, and he laid a hand over it.
“Child, you are so well-behaved. You ought to be... a little daughter, should you not?”
He was now nearly two months pregnant. Aside from the day the smell of mutton made him retch, he had shown no other signs of pregnancy sickness. His eating remained normal, though he favored sour things.
He had even asked Jiang Ni about it. Jiang Ni said that each person’s constitution differed, and so did the reactions after pregnancy. There was no need to worry.
The little thing he carried inside him lay quietly in his belly every day and had not caused him any discomfort.
“A little boy would be just as wonderful. I would like either one.” He rubbed his belly once more, and a bright smile bloomed across his face.
“What little boy?” Lu Ronghuai came in carrying hot water.
Chu Yuan said, “Nothing. Your Highness misheard.”
“Oh. Come wash your hands. You got dirt on them from watering the trees just now.” Lu Ronghuai set the cloth into the water and called for Chu Yuan to come over.
Chu Yuan walked over and deliberately flicked up water with his fingers, splashing it onto Lu Ronghuai’s face.
Crystal droplets slid down the man’s handsome brow bone, fell upon the high bridge of his nose, then traveled from there over his thin lips to his chin, before dropping back into the basin.
Chu Yuan looked at him and laughed brightly as he turned to run.
Lu Ronghuai caught him in one swift motion. Dipping the fingers of his other hand into the basin, he flicked water at Chu Yuan’s face.
Chu Yuan quickly covered his face.
“Little troublemaker. After making mischief, you still want to run?”
“You bully me, so I shall bully you too.” Chu Yuan revealed one round eye and said slyly.
He meant the hairpin from earlier. One action repaid by another. Since Lu Ronghuai had deliberately made him wear it, he had splashed him in return.
“All right, all right, little ancestor. Come wash your hands properly.” Lu Ronghuai caught both his hands and pressed them into the basin, washing them carefully clean.
“My face needs washing too. It got dirty just now.” Chu Yuan pushed his face toward him.
Lu Ronghuai took full advantage of the opportunity and pulled him in for a thoroughly satisfying kiss.
By the time Chu Yuan was released, was flushed rose-red and his breathing uneven. Lu Ronghuai held him and calmed himself for a while.
Chu Yuan felt a certain something pressing against him and shifted his body with considerable discomfort.
Lu Ronghuai’s slightly hoarse voice sounded by his ear, carrying a teasing note. “Do not move, sweetheart. If you keep moving, something very significant is going to happen.”
Chu Yuan immediately did not dare move anymore.
“My lord,” Xian Feng called from outside, “General Min Chao won a victory in the western frontier. Word has just reached Ye Jing.”
Lu Ronghuai ignored him. He buried his face in the hollow of Chu Yuan’s neck, breathing in his fragrance deeply as he calmed the heat within himself.
“Also... after hearing of the Crown Princess’s miscarriage, Prince Qi sent the Crown Prince three beautiful concubines,” Xian Feng said hesitantly from outside the door.
“Then let him send them. What has it to do with This Prince? Do you want beautiful concubines too?”
Xian Yu and Le Shu stood to one side covering their mouths, trying not to laugh. Even Xian Shuang, arms folded over his sword, glanced over with faint unmistakable amusement in his eyes.
Xian Feng’s face turned bright red. “No, no, no. This subordinate absolutely has no such intention.”
“The Crown Prince accepted the beauties and sent Prince Qi a gift in return. It was... a long-lived green-haired turtle.”
“Pfft!” Xian Yu bit down hard on his lip, head thrown back, barely holding it together.
“Come in,” Lu Ronghuai said.
Xian Feng entered and saw Lu Ronghuai seated in the chair, holding the Prince Consort in his arms and lazily combing his hair with his fingers.
The Prince Consort’s complexion was fair and flushed, his eyes bright with moisture, his lips red as blooming crabapple, as lovely as spring dawn.
Xian Feng lowered his head and did not dare look again.
“After receiving the turtle, Prince Qi did not begin cursing at once?” Lu Ronghuai asked with obvious curiosity.
Xian Feng replied, “At first Prince Qi thought the Crown Prince was insulting him. Later he realized something was not right, so he split the turtle open with a knife and found a tiny slip of paper hidden inside the shell.”
Chu Yuan asked, “What was written on the slip?”
Xian Feng answered, “It said, ‘Substitute the beams for rotten timber, pass off fish eyes as pearls.’”
Chu Yuan laughed as well. “That move from the Crown Prince is truly vicious. It seems His Highness is not the only one who knows the hidden affairs of Prince Qi’s residence.”
“If he did not have at least that much capability, the Eastern Palace would have changed hands long ago.” Lu Ronghuai was not particularly surprised by it.
“And afterward?” Chu Yuan asked.
Xian Feng gave a light cough. “Prince Qi was not a fool either. He had the child brought over for blood to be tested against blood. In the end, the child was not Prince Qi’s by blood. According to the servants in Prince Qi’s residence, Prince Qi’s expression at the time was terrifying.”
“That favored concubine was frightened out of her wits. After forcing from her the identity of the adulterer, Prince Qi hacked her to death on the spot with a blade. Then he had the adulterer seized and thrown to three wild dogs to be mauled to death. In the end, he lifted the child high, intending to dash him to death as well, though he ultimately did not do so.”
“When Noble Consort Fang learned of it, her condition, which had only just improved, suffered another heavy blow, and she fainted. The Imperial Medical Bureau was occupied for most of the day.”
“In the end, His Majesty gave the order. Troops were stationed to watch Prince Qi’s residence, Prince Qi was forbidden to leave, and he was punished with copying the scriptures a thousand times and quietly reflecting upon his faults.”
“All of this came in the written report sent by Xian Yue. Master, Xian Yue also said that this past half-month, that Daoist Zhengqing has been leaving the palace frequently. He often goes to a small workshop to boil and refine things. His movements are furtive and highly suspicious.”
“Pay him no mind. Whatever fine thing he refines will surely be for offering up to my worthy Father Emperor.” A cold smile touched Lu Ronghuai’s lips. Not only did he make no move to stop it, but he was also positively delighted to see it continue.
Chu Yuan had long harbored a question in his heart. After Xian Feng went out, he finally asked it.
“Your Highness, you do not seem to be fond of the Emperor.”
“Mm.” Lu Ronghuai admitted it without hesitation.
“Did he... harm Your Highness?”
“No.”
Lu Ronghuai raised a hand to touch his face. His thumb rubbed at the corner of Chu Yuan’s eye several times. His gaze was deep and lonely.
“He harmed you. I will never forget it for as long as I live.”
Chu Yuan gave an “oh,” assuming he meant the matter of the marriage alliance. He patted Lu Ronghuai’s shoulder in comfort.
“Fortune and misfortune rest upon one another. Looking at it now, Father Emperor’s decision was not entirely without merit.”
Lu Ronghuai did not explain. He smiled at Chu Yuan and slowly tightened his arms around him.
“Duofu is right.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Yuanyuan: Blade in hand, time to kill Lu dog!
Lu dog: Wife~ (attempting to act cute)
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