Peace Year after Year
In the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month.
Every day, Chu Yuan had been hoping for Lu Ronghuai’s return. Without realizing it, he had already received enough family letters to fill an entire letter box.
After entering the twelfth month, perhaps because the war had grown pressing, the letters Lu Ronghuai wrote became shorter. At times, as one read through a letter, the handwriting in the middle would suddenly grow hasty and rough, only for the final lines to return to their usual edge and force, as though something had arisen midway and he had been forced to put down the brush for a time.
That afternoon, after being away from home for nearly three months, Nie Siran returned to Xiang Cheng just before the city gates closed.
Though he had not come back alone.
“What is the meaning of this?” Jiang Ni caught hold of Su Ruhe’s hands, which were wrapped up like zongzi, and looked at the clean, refined young man before him. “How were you so badly injured?”
Su Ruhe pressed his lips together. Faced with Jiang Ni’s concern, he did not know for a moment how he ought to respond.
Nie Siran saw his tension, reached out to pull him over, and answered of his own accord, “When we were in Yan Cheng, we went to the shelter to distribute millet and winter clothing. A wall collapsed, and in order to save a three-year-old child, he ended up with both hands broken.”
“Ai-yo, injuries this severe. Come, let me have a look.” Jiang Ni had Su Ruhe sit down and unwrapped the bandages to examine them anew.
Jiang Ni said, “This medicine will not do, it heals too slowly. I shall go prepare fresh medicine for you. Wait for me a moment.”
Su Ruhe said, “Thank—”
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Ni had already turned to Nie Xuxing and said, “Go to the kitchen and have the cook simmer a pot of big-bone broth overnight, so that Xiao Su can drink it in the morning.”
The two of them left as they spoke, not giving Su Ruhe any chance to say a word.
Only the three of them remained in the room.
Chu Yuan sat in his chair, propping his cheek on his hand as he looked at Nie Siran with a smile bright as a flower. “Eldest Brother, Su gongzi is now the prefect of Yan Cheng. Since you have spirited him away to your own home, and there is no one left to govern Yan Cheng, you will have to take responsibility.”
Nie Siran lounged back against the chair in loose ease, drinking tea at leisure. “Not a problem. I will return them a prefect in fine condition by next year, well-fed and properly rounded.”
Su Ruhe: “...”
Chu Yuan asked, “Su gongzi will spend the New Year with us this year, will he not?”
Su Ruhe nodded.
Nie Siran smiled at length. “He most certainly will celebrate it with us. I had to wear my lips thin before I managed to persuade him to come back with me.”
Su Ruhe’s face did not change by so much as a hair. He did not even look at Nie Siran, asking Chu Yuan instead with complete seriousness, “When is Prince Consort due?”
Chu Yuan curved his lips. “Around the Lantern Festival, I think.”
Jiang Ni had told him that because of men’s special constitutions, the child was generally already fully developed by the eighth month, and once the ninth month was complete, delivery could take place.
Su Ruhe smiled very slightly.
A great part of the reason he had agreed to come to Xiang Cheng with Nie Siran was that he had learned Chu Yuan was here.
“May I remain until after Prince Consort has given birth?” Su Ruhe turned his head and asked hesitantly.
He was very curious about the child Chu Yuan carried.
Before this, he had never known that men could bear children.
For this reason, he had even gone to search through ancient books, yet had found no record of men bearing children.
After much reflection, Su Ruhe guessed that it should have something to do with Prince Consort’s individual constitution, and he greatly wished to know what sort of child this baby would be.
Nie Siran’s light amber eyes rested on him. “You may stay as long as you like. While you are here, I will take you around Xiang Cheng to enjoy yourself.”
Chu Yuan also hoped Su Ruhe could remain longer. He asked with concern, “Su gongzi have travel papers for leaving Yan Cheng?”
Lu Kingdom had explicit regulations that local officials were not permitted to leave their jurisdictions without authorization. They had to obtain travel papers first.
“No.” Su Ruhe spoke in his usual slow, composed cadence, with not a trace of tension or fear in his words.
Nie Siran said, “It is of no matter. Once His Highness returns, we shall have His Highness make one for him.”
“Good.” Chu Yuan rose to his feet, smiling with curved brows and eyes. “Eldest Brother and Su gongzi should rest a while. I shall go find Grandfather. He is listening to opera in the back courtyard.”
“Shall I walk with you?” Nie Siran looked at his belly as he spoke and had already risen.
“No need. Le Shu and Xian Shuang are both here.” Chu Yuan laughed softly. Although his belly had grown, his limbs remained long and slender. When he walked out, his back still looked fine-boned, and his bearing was mild and elegant.
Outside the door, snow had begun to fall once more without anyone noticing.
Le Shu tied his cloak securely for him, and when he looked up, he discovered that Chu Yuan had lowered his eyes and was staring absently at the thick snow beneath the steps.
“Does Prince Consort miss His Highness?” Le Shu looked at him and asked softly.
Chu Yuan stretched out a foot and touched the pure white snow with the tip of his shoe. His voice drifted down with the falling snow and scattered into the cold wind.
“It has been five days since the last letter...”
Le Shu said, “His Highness must surely be on the road back. Perhaps something has delayed him, but this servant believes His Highness will definitely return.”
Chu Yuan breathed out a cloud of white mist, and there was no smile on his face. “Perhaps.”
He knew he should not be anxious, yet in his heart he could not stop counting the days.
On New Year’s Eve, the Nie residence became especially lively.
After the noon meal, the whole family gathered in the main hall. Nie Chouwen and Nie Xuxing wrote spring couplets, Chu Yuan accompanied Jiang Ni in cutting window flowers, and Nie Siran hung up red lanterns before the doorway.
Su Ruhe’s hands were injured, so Jiang Ni told him to supervise Nie Siran, making certain he did not hang the lanterns crooked.
By evening, they all sat together wrapping dumplings.
Nie Siran set a copper tray beside Su Ruhe.
“Help me keep watch over my dumplings. Ah-Die steals mine every time.”
Jiang Ni raised his brows and condemned him in strong terms. “I am taking them away to cook and feed to the dog. With dumplings wrapped like that, how could you have the face to set them on the table?”
Nie Xuxing washed his hands and walked over. “Xiao Su, keep an eye on him for us. Do not let him put his dumplings among ours.”
Su Ruhe straightened his back. He was concentrating more fully now than he had the first time he stood before Emperor Hongjia.
“Understood.”
It was an unfamiliar feeling. It made him slightly uncertain how to sit.
Everyone around him was laughing and talking while wrapping dumplings. The mood was light. Only he sat there quietly with his knees drawn together, holding himself in a posture of slight restraint.
Directly opposite him sat Nie Chouwen.
In Su Ruhe’s memory, the Prime Minister had always been stern, unsmiling, and coldly proper. Yet now he was wrapping dumplings with both hands covered in flour, and even secretly slipping little copper coins into Chu Yuan’s palm.
Grandfather and grandson huddled together, hiding the coins in the dumplings. They seemed to think no one noticed, yet deliberately made marks on the dumplings, and Su Ruhe saw very clearly that the folds on the dumplings containing copper coins were subtly different from the others.
“Why are you staring blankly?” Suddenly a flour-covered hand reached over and wiped once across the right side of his face.
His clean white face instantly became that of a little painted cat. With calm eyes, he turned to look at Nie Siran.
“Wrap your dumplings properly. Do not bully him.” Jiang Ni pulled out a handkerchief and wiped Su Ruhe’s face clean, then turned and smacked Nie Siran once across the shoulder.
“Xiao Su’s hands are injured and he cannot hit you. I shall strike you in his place.”
After receiving a slap from his own father, Nie Siran caught the fleeting trace of a smile on Su Ruhe’s face out of the corner of his eye.
Nie Siran waited until everyone else was busy talking and no one was paying attention to them. Then he leaned toward Su Ruhe, tilted his head, blinked at him, and smiled carelessly.
“Lord Su, my Ah-die has never hit me before. He smacked me for your sake. What do you say we should do about that?”
Su Ruhe replied, “I think Uncle Jiang was in the right.”
“We have already shared hardship together, and yet you still turn your elbow outward?”
Chu Yuan happened to glance up and saw that the two of them were sitting very close together. There was laughter in Nie Siran’s eyes as he spoke, teasing Su Ruhe. He did not know what exactly Nie Siran had murmured in a low voice, only that Su Ruhe seemed to be restraining himself and pressed his lips together without answering him.
He smiled, then lowered his head and quietly continued wrapping dumplings.
By evening, the wind and snow had grown ever fiercer. Outside, the north wind howled, and between heaven and earth there seemed to remain only a boundless white expanse.
At the third quarter of the xu hour, Nie Siran returned with his whole body covered in snowflakes.
“Well?” Nie Xuxing stepped forward and asked urgently.
Nie Siran brushed the snow from himself and answered in a low voice, “No. The guard I sent out rode thirty li and still saw no sign of him.”
Nie Xuxing’s gaze darkened.
Nie Siran too put away his usual smiling face, his lips pressing into a straight line. “By the time I returned, the city gates had already been closed.”
As soon as those words fell, everyone in the room looked toward Chu Yuan with worry.
Lu Ronghuai had not returned.
The knowledge settled clearly into each of their minds, and yet none of them dared to say it aloud in front of Chu Yuan.
“Let us eat. We shall not wait for him.” Chu Yuan braced one hand on the table and stood up, then turned and walked alone toward the dining room.
Before the New Year’s Eve feast began, according to custom, each person had to eat an even number of dumplings first. Jiang Ni carried over a bowl for Chu Yuan, with four dumplings inside.
“Yuanyuan, taste them quickly.” Jiang Ni sat down beside him. “You do not need to finish them all. One bite from each is enough. Save room for the feast.”
Chu Yuan looked at the four dumplings in his bowl, each shaped differently, and smiled with soft amusement.
“All right.”
He picked up a dumpling and bit into it. His teeth struck something hard. It was a copper coin.
“Wa, Yuanyuan has such good fortune. Yuanyuan will surely be happy all through this year, with good luck always by his side.” Once Chu Yuan spat out the copper coin and Jiang Ni saw the mark stamped upon it, he patted Nie Xuxing on the shoulder.
“This is yours. Quickly.”
Nie Xuxing obediently took out a palm-sized brocade box from his sleeve.
“This is a peace pendant I made by hand, for our Ah-Yuan who is full of blessing. Peace year after year.”
“Thank you, Father. I like it very much.” Chu Yuan accepted it, and in those clear eyes like autumn waters, delight could not be hidden.
Afterward, he ate two more copper coins.
One came from Jiang Ni and one from Nie Chouwen.
Jiang Ni directly gave him a whole box of golden beads, while Nie Chouwen gave him a precious lone surviving text.
By the end of the meal, Chu Yuan had received the most gifts of anyone.
Looking at the table piled high with gift boxes, he felt as though his heart had been filled so full that it was about to overflow.
Inside the room, warm as spring, everyone sat together keeping vigil through the night of the year-turn, cracking melon seeds, drinking tea, chatting, and speaking of amusing things they had encountered. Bursts of laughter rose one after another.
Looking at the scene before him, Chu Yuan’s eyes held a faint shimmer of moisture.
“Yuanyuan, why are you crying?” Jiang Ni hurriedly set down his teacup.
That night, Jiang Ni had been paying special attention to him. He had only turned away long enough to pour tea, and when he looked back again, he saw Chu Yuan lowering his head while a single glistening tear slipped quickly onto his sleeve.
If his eyes had not been sharp, he likely would not have caught that tear at all.
“What is wrong?” Nie Xuxing also stepped down from the daybed and walked toward him. “Are you feeling unwell? You must not force yourself. You are carrying such a great belly. Keeping vigil through the night with us will be bad for your health.”
“That is right. Ah-Yuan, do not keep vigil through the night. Go sleep early.”
“Xiao Ni, take Ah-Yuan’s pulse.”
Chu Yuan lifted his hand to wipe away the dampness from the corners of his eyes, his clear eyes carrying a gentle smile. “It is nothing. I am only too happy. There is no need to mind me.”
Nie Siran said helplessly, “How can anyone cry from being too happy?”
Chu Yuan replied, “This New Year’s Eve has been very happy. With everyone keeping me company, it is different from before. In former years, every New Year, it was only Le Shu and me together. This year... i-it is so much happiness that it feels unreal, as though I am dreaming.”
Standing behind him, Le Shu nodded with all his might.
Every year before had been bleak and lonely. There had been no red envelopes, no New Year blessings, no feast and no dumplings... only the two of them looking up at the moon in the sky and telling stories together to pass the long and lonely night.
“From now on, every New Year, we shall all spend it together.” Nie Xuxing had not expected that this child’s life had been so bitter. He exchanged a glance with Jiang Ni, and both silently resolved in their hearts that in the future they must treat him even better and make up for the suffering he had endured over the years.
Now Chu Yuan truly felt embarrassed. With a red face, he hid himself behind Jiang Ni.
“After becoming pregnant, my emotions have become a little difficult to control. Everyone, please continue talking. There is truly no need to mind me.”
“All right, all right. Come, drink some water. If you feel sleepy, go rest first.”
“Ah-Die, I am not sleepy. I want to keep vigil through the night with all of you, can I?” Chu Yuan wrapped his arms around Jiang Ni’s arm and, very rarely, acted spoiled once.
Jiang Ni could not withstand it in the least. He yielded entirely to his wishes and even brought out playing cards to pass the time.
When zi hour arrived, the outside instantly burst into liveliness. The common people keeping vigil through the New Year all ran outside and began setting off firecrackers and fireworks in their own courtyards, laughing and celebrating the arrival of the new year.
All over the city, fireworks rose into the sky and burst one after another, turning the black night brilliant. Beneath the white snow of deep winter, prayers and wishes sounded ceaselessly in the ears.
Chu Yuan tilted his head back and watched the dazzling fireworks filling the heavens, a faint smile seeming to rest at the edge of his lips.
Among the bright flare and fading dark of the fireworks, those eyes of his were still as water, and as the fireworks came to their end, so too did that look return to quiet stillness.
“That is enough. In the new year, everyone should have joy, health, and peace. Return quickly now and go to sleep.” After admiring the fireworks, Jiang Ni began urging everyone off.
“Yes. You children may all sleep in tomorrow and need not rise too early. Our household does not keep so many rules.” Nie Xuxing addressed the three of them.
“All right.”
Everyone said their farewells beneath the corridor, and Chu Yuan was the last to leave.
Before he turned away, he looked once more toward the direction of the main gate.
“Let us go,” he said softly. Le Shu opened the umbrella, and the two of them began walking toward Qingwu Courtyard.
Halfway there, there suddenly came behind them the sudden sound of someone landing.
Together with that strange noise, there came a voice so familiar it seemed carved into his bones, deep, cold, and magnetic.
“Ah-Yuan.”
“I have returned.”
Chu Yuan stopped dead in his tracks.
Unable to believe it, he turned back and saw Lu Ronghuai standing there in the wind and snow, standing before his eyes.
Their eyes met.
In that single instant, his tears burst forth.
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Lu dog: Just barely made it. Good thing I have Flash.
0 Comments