“Ah-Yuan Seems a Little Rounder Here”
Chu Yuan came out of the hall. Seeing that Prince Qi was no longer present, he gave Lu Ronghuai a small nod.
“Fuqing, Father Emperor is calling you inside.”
Lu Ronghuai’s gaze swept across the solemn gold-armored imperial guards. As he walked toward Chu Yuan, his voice fell quick and light.
“Remain in the palace. Replace Zhengqing.”
Fuqing adjusted the brim of her bamboo hat, straightened her back, and walked into the great hall.
“What did he say to you?” Lu Ronghuai lifted both arms and drew Chu Yuan entirely into his embrace. In private, Chu Yuan had discovered that his attitude toward Emperor Hongjia was very poor, and he would even omit honorifics.
Chu Yuan wrapped his arms around his waist. In full public view, he rested his head against Lu Ronghuai’s chest and replied softly, “Your Highness, will the Kingdom of Chu intervene in the war in the western frontier?”
Lu Ronghuai lowered his head and kissed the top of his hair. “No.”
“That worthless father of yours spoke privately with Father Emperor last time. They must have reached some understanding. At the very least, he will not move against the Kingdom of Lu for the time being.”
“Oh.” Chu Yuan pressed his cheek against his chest, unable to conceal the disappointment on his face.
“What is the matter?” Lu Ronghuai had already seen after he left the hall that Chu Yuan was in low spirits. It was only because Fuqing had been present just now that he could not ask further.
Chu Yuan listened to the steady heartbeat at his ear, feeling it pulse strong and sure through the layers between them. He raised his hand and laid it over Lu Ronghuai’s heart, feeling the vitality beneath his palm. The corner of his mouth curved upward.
“Nothing. Father Emperor told me to correspond more with the ruler of Chu. I shall do no such thing.”
“Pay him no mind. Let us go back.”
“Your Highness, tonight I want to eat sour jujube cakes.” Chu Yuan lifted his face and looked at him with bright eyes.
Lu Ronghuai laughed, nodding as he did so. At the same time, he felt a trace of puzzlement. “Why have you become fond of sour things lately? You clearly used to like sweet ones.”
“Sour things whet the appetite. I can eat two bowls of rice in one meal now.” Chu Yuan proudly held up two fingers, his face openly asking for praise.
Lu Ronghuai lowered his head and bit the pale slender fingertips between his teeth, drawing a startled cry from Chu Yuan.
“My treasure is truly wonderful. Eat more and put on more flesh. Much more comfortable to hold.” As he spoke, Lu Ronghuai deliberately lifted him and bounced him lightly once.
“You are still too light. Later I will have the residence physician change your nourishing prescription. The earlier method seems slow to show results.” He set him down, then took his hand again, and the two of them walked side by side toward the palace gates.
Chu Yuan raised a hand and touched his own lower abdomen. “Your Highness, you are always teasing me. These past few days even my stomach has grown round from eating. Le Shu even said I had put on a little weight.”
“Is that so?” Following his words, Lu Ronghuai’s gaze fell to Chu Yuan’s lower abdomen.
In his eyes, that place was still flat and firm. He laid a hand over it and felt around once. Seeing Chu Yuan gazing at him with obedient innocence, seemingly waiting for his answer, Lu Ronghuai pressed the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Then he curved his lips and laughed.
“Ah-Yuan does seem a little rounder here.”
“...” Chu Yuan’s smile vanished. He stopped walking and looked at him. “Does Your Highness also think I have grown fat?”
“Even if Ah-Yuan has grown plumper, Ah-Yuan is still the most beautiful.”
“Then Your Highness does think I have grown fat.” Chu Yuan pressed his lips together. All at once, he grew sullen, shook off Lu Ronghuai’s hand, and walked off on his own.
Lu Ronghuai: “???”
Did he dislike it?
He had only meant to tease him. A belly that was slightly rounder, like a little creature was curled inside it and he had not even managed to deliver the jest before somehow, he had provoked genuine anger. How?
Like a ten-foot-two monk unable to touch his own head, Lu Ronghuai was utterly baffled. Even so, he did not dare let Chu Yuan remain angry. He hurried after him and apologized with full sincerity.
“I was wrong. My beautiful little celestial one, Ah-Yuan, will never grow fat.”
“Your Highness still thinks I am fat!” Chu Yuan avoided the hand he reached out and folded both arms before his chest.
He was not going to let him take his hand.
Lu Ronghuai swore to the heavens. He was nearly at the point of dropping to his knees on the spot. “I do not. It was only because my mouth is bad. I was just teasing you. Look at this little waist of yours. I can encircle it with both hands. You are so thin it pains my heart.”
“Hmph. Your Highness may keep speaking as you please.”
“Treasure, how can it be just a matter of me speaking as I please? Every word I said came straight from my heart.”
“Then tonight I will not eat.”
“How can that do? I worked so hard to put a little flesh on you. If you grow thin again, how could I not ache for you?”
“I am not eating. Your Highness may eat alone. If Your Highness puts on weight, perhaps then it will not matter.”
“......”
Lu Ronghuai coaxed him all the way, yet Chu Yuan simply would not soften. Today his temper was especially fierce, and it came the moment it wished. In his own heart, Chu Yuan knew clearly that this temper of his had risen for no clear reason, yet he simply could not stop himself from wanting to vent it on Lu Ronghuai.
At just that moment, Prince Rui appeared at the palace gate ahead and slowly walked toward them.
The instant Lu Ronghuai saw him, he raised a hand and pointed. “Look at him. He is so thin he barely looks human. Absolutely hideous.”
Prince Rui: “...??”
Had he offended Lu Ronghuai?
Prince Rui covered his mouth and coughed violently. Whether from illness or anger, no one could tell. His sickly frame looked as though it might collapse at any moment.
The young servant at Prince Rui’s side immediately supported him, anxious and distressed. “Your Highness, why did you insist on coming all this way? Please hurry back.”
As he spoke, the servant cast Lu Ronghuai an aggrieved look, as though blaming him for the sharp words just now.
Lu Ronghuai said, “What are you looking at? This Prince spoke the truth. Does he not look close to death? His face is as pale as a ghost.”
The servant grew anxious. Forgetting his fear, was on the verge of arguing with Prince Li but Lu Rongze raised his hand to stop him.
“Fengxing greets Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law... cough, cough.”
Chu Yuan inclined his head. Seeing how pale he looked, he said, “Fourth Highness should take care of your health.”
Lu Rongze smiled and answered, “Many thanks for Third Sister-in-law’s concern. These past two days have already been much better.”
Lu Ronghuai cast him a cold glance. “Why have you come?”
Lu Rongze suppressed his coughing and said unevenly, “I heard Elder Brother had returned, so I came to see him.”
Lu Ronghuai gave a snort.
Chu Yuan said, “Prince Qi has gone to Noble Consort Fang’s palace.”
Lu Rongze looked into the distance, seeming to confirm the direction. Then he smiled again. “Come to think of it, I should also go and pay my respects to Mother Consort. Are Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law returning now?”
Lu Ronghuai stepped forward and caught Chu Yuan’s hand. Chu Yuan struggled lightly once, but when he failed to pull free, he turned and glared at him, then left it at that.
“Urgent dispatch from the western frontier!”
Rapid, urgent hoofbeats thundered at the palace gate.
The courier clamped his legs around the horse’s belly and pulled hard on the reins, forcing the galloping horse to a stop.
He leapt down from the saddle and ran all the way through the palace gate.
“What has happened?” Lu Ronghuai ordered him to halt and asked with a deep frown.
The courier dropped to his knees before him and cried out in grief, “Urgent dispatch from the western frontier. General Fang has fallen in battle and died for the Kingdom... he has given his life.”
In less than an hour, the court officials had all gathered in Qianzheng Hall.
Emperor Hongjia flung the memorial to the floor, furious enough that the veins stood out at his temples. “A mere western frontier, yet we have lost two commanding generals one after another. We could not even defeat Xiqiang. It is utterly laughable!”
“Soon all under Heaven will know we suffered defeat, lost a small city, and drove the common people into displacement. How is Zhen to answer to the imperial ancestors?!”
The assembled officials below remained silent.
The Crown Prince was the first to step forward and speak in grave sorrow. “Father Emperor, what is most pressing now is to send someone to restore order at the front. General Fang has met with a tragic end, but we cannot let General Fang’s efforts have been in vain. If General Fang’s spirit remains above, it too will bless the Kingdom of Lu.”
Once the Crown Prince had begun, it was much easier for the others to follow.
“Indeed. The Xiqiang are cunning and treacherous. They must have employed some scheme this time. General Fang has died a miserable death, and the border people have suffered slaughter. If this grudge is not avenged, the outrage will never be appeased.”
“General Fang was unfamiliar with the complicated terrain of the western frontier. For a military commander, that is a grave and fundamental failing.”
“We ought to have sent the Marquis of Yun’an from the beginning. He knows the western border better than anyone, and his record in battle spans many campaigns. Had he gone, this battle would certainly have been won.”
Han Zheng stepped forward. “Your Majesty, Marquis of Yun’an is indeed suitable, but Eighth Highness and Miss Bai are only two months away from their wedding. If Marquis of Yun’an goes to the battlefield, the marriage will have to be delayed.”
“Then let it be delayed. At present, affairs of state must come first.”
As Minister of Rites, Han Zheng was the very person in charge of arranging the wedding matters. Hearing this, he clearly disagreed. “Miss Bai is already of considerable age. If it is delayed again, I fear Miss Bai’s reputation will suffer.”
Ye Qi also stepped forward. “This old minister visited the Yun’an Marquis Residence two days ago and saw physicians being called in. In all these years of war, Yun’an Marquis has accumulated injuries and illness throughout his body. Now that he is old, he is still to go to the battlefield while ill. There are no few generals in court. It is not as though Yun’an Marquis alone can go.”
Ye Qi’s residence stood right beside the Yun’an Marquis Residence, so he was also quite familiar with what had happened there.
Seeing that each one of them was opposing him, Xu Mengshan’s temper also rose. “What of illness and injury? The court is in urgent need of men. So long as he remains a subject of the Kingdom of Lu and draws a salary from court, he should stand forth and serve.”
Lu Ronghuai said, “If Minister Xu’s tongue is so formidable, why does he not go himself?”
“This minister is a civil official without the strength to truss a chicken. Besides, war has always been the province of military men.” Xu Mengshan spoke with righteous gravity.
He cupped his hands and looked toward Emperor Hongjia upon the dais, speaking with complete sincerity. “If this minister knew martial arts, this minister would naturally volunteer to go and relieve Your Majesty’s worries.”
Emperor Hongjia waved a hand in irritation. “Enough quarrelling. The war in the western frontier is urgent, and at present a commanding general is needed at once. Whom do you all think is most suitable?”
Most of those present turned to look at Duke Liu.
Ever since Prime Minister Nie Chouwen resigned from office, Duke Liu had gradually become the leading figure throughout the entire court.
Whenever all sides argued endlessly over matters great and small, the emperor would ask Duke Liu’s view and then settle the matter accordingly. Thus today as well, everyone waited for Duke Liu to speak.
Duke Liu drew his sleeves together and bowed, a mild smile resting on his face. “Your Majesty, this old minister believes that Prince Li is the most suitable person of all.”
Emperor Hongjia paused. For the first time in court, he rejected Duke Liu’s counsel.
“Third Son has only just returned, and he must also oversee the construction of the Daoist temple. Let us find someone else.”
Duke Liu gave an agreeable nod, but the composure of his smile had loosened just slightly at the corners.
“Father Emperor, this son has thought of someone.” Prince Rui had all but faded into the background until now, and no one had noticed him. When he suddenly spoke, every gaze turned toward him.
Since coming of age, Prince Rui had technically held the right to attend court, but his constitution was so frail that Emperor Hongjia had long since granted him special permission to absent himself and live as a leisured prince with no obligations.
Today he had happened to encounter the courier and so had come along with Lu Ronghuai. Chu Yuan had not returned either but was waiting in a side hall nearby.
“Then let Fourth Son speak.”
“General Pingwei, Min Chao.”
Han Zheng glanced at Prince Rui, then lowered his head again.
Emperor Hongjia said, “Last month your mother consort only just selected the sole daughter of General Min Chao’s household for you. She wished for you to marry a princess consort soon. Even the birth charts have already been exchanged. Yet you...”
Before so many ministers, Emperor Hongjia found it inconvenient to say more. Whether Bai Yi or Min Chao, their daughters were all soon to be married to his sons. Thus, when Yun’an Marquis had just been mentioned, he had already thought of Min Chao.
The marriage of this younger son could not be delayed, and the marriage of this fourth son likewise could not be delayed.
Once Noble Consort Xu’s fiery temper rose, she would give him a headache for days.
Moreover, this son had been frail since birth and had relied on medicine all these years. The emperor also felt some pity for him. He hoped the boy would marry soon, because if… if the boy truly failed one day, perhaps he might at least leave behind a son or daughter.
Prince Rui smiled frankly. “Father Emperor, with a body such as this son’s, whoever I marry will only be wronged by it. This son cannot bear that. Father Emperor may as well take this as fulfilling this son’s wish.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Lu dog: Yuanyuan, look quickly, an ugly monkey is walking over from the opposite side.
Lu Rongze: I did not provoke a single one of you.
Lu dog: Laozi is coaxing his wife. As the tool man here, learn to read the room.
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