Too Old, Change It to Five
In that instant, even the wind seemed to fall still.
Without blinking, everyone stared at Lu Ronghuai kneeling before them.
The corner of Su Ruhe’s mouth twitched. Feigning composure, he quietly moved a few steps aside and stood off to one side.
He had no wish to receive a kneeling bow from Prince Li. His life was more important.
As a loyal subordinate, Xian Feng silently stepped forward, intending to help Lu Ronghuai to his feet.
Lu Ronghuai raised a hand to stop him. The lines of the man’s face were hard and sharp, his profile drawn rigid, his lips pressed together as he rose without a word.
He looked ahead openly and took another step forward.
Thud.
He knelt again.
The smile on Jiang Ni’s face froze. He truly could not bear to watch. He called for Xian Feng and Xian Shuang to haul Lu Ronghuai upright.
“Do you wish to see your son?” Jiang Ni asked, cradling the swaddled infant as he walked over to him of his own accord.
A ringing filled Lu Ronghuai’s ears. He could not hear clearly what Jiang Ni was saying. His gaze remained fixed on the inner room without yielding even an inch. He desperately wished to stride in and see Chu Yuan, yet his two legs refused to obey him.
At last, in a dry and hoarse voice, he asked, “How is Ah-Yuan?”
Jiang Ni replied, “I fed him a bowl of ginseng soup. He was too exhausted and has now fallen asleep.”
“Your Highness may go in and see him.”
Jiang Ni stepped aside of his own accord. Dragging his stiffened legs, Lu Ronghuai slowly entered the room.
The others, meanwhile, followed Jiang Ni in high spirits to the west side room to see the child.
Le Shu had already tidied the room, changed the bed linens, and lit incense to disperse the smell. Yet when Lu Ronghuai stepped inside, he could still catch the scent of blood at the tip of his nose.
He moved with extreme care, walking softly to the bedside.
On the bed, Chu Yuan lay with his eyes closed, breathing lightly. His face was white to the point of bloodlessness. He had exhausted himself to the very edge of his strength. Even in sleep, weariness still lingered in his brow and eyes.
Looking at the person on the bed, Lu Ronghuai bent his knees and knelt down. His trembling hands cupped Chu Yuan’s hand.
He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
When Chu Yuan awoke, in his hazy state he felt a warm touch on the back of his hand, as though someone were kissing him.
His hand was being held tightly. His eyelids were heavy, and every bone in his body seemed to have fallen apart. Only when cool drops landed on the back of his hand did he force his eyes open with effort.
“Wangli…” His lips moved slightly, and only a faint breath of sound emerged.
It was so weak that it was nearly inaudible, yet the man crouched by the bed abruptly raised his head.
Bloodshot veins filled Lu Ronghuai’s eyes. The moment Chu Yuan made a sound, he was already on his feet, pulling him into an embrace.
“I am here. Ah-Yuan, you have finally woken.”
Chu Yuan listened to his hoarse voice. He had no strength to embrace him in return. Just as he was about to speak, the man had already released him and strode to the warming stove outside, bringing in the ginseng soup that had been kept hot there.
After a bowl of steaming black chicken ginseng soup went down, some color returned to Chu Yuan’s face.
Lu Ronghuai carefully lifted him and laid him flat on the bed once more.
“Wangli…” Chu Yuan’s black hair lay scattered across the pillow, his skin white as snow, his eyes clear and pure. “Were you… crying just now?”
He had not forgotten the dampness on the back of his hand.
Lu Ronghuai was washing a cloth. At those words, his hand paused. Feigning calm, he said, “No. Why would I cry?”
He washed the cloth and then carefully wiped Chu Yuan’s hands and face.
Chu Yuan stared at his eyes. The man’s expression remained entirely normal. No matter how he looked, there was only firmness in his gaze.
He absolutely would not admit that he had cried.
“How long did I sleep?”
Lu Ronghuai sat by the bedside and bent to kiss his lips. “A day and a night.”
Shock flashed across Chu Yuan’s face. He had thought he had slept only two or three hours. He had not expected that so much time had already passed.
Lu Ronghuai gazed at his face and lifted a hand to touch his smooth cheek. “Does it still hurt?”
Chu Yuan shook his head lightly. “It does not.”
It had hurt terribly while he was giving birth, yet once it was over, it had eased greatly. Now there was only weakness in his body, along with a faint soreness. Compared with the pain of labor, this amounted to nothing.
“Where is the child?” he asked with concern.
“He is asleep in the room next door. A wet nurse is watching over him.”
Chu Yuan’s eyes lit up at once. “Your Highness, bring him here for me, all right?”
At the time, he had managed only one glance before exhaustion sealed his eyes shut. Until now, he had not truly looked at his precious child.
Lu Ronghuai nodded. Tucking the quilt securely around him, he turned and left the room.
Not long after, he returned carrying the child.
The moment he entered, Chu Yuan raised his head and craned his neck, looking eagerly at the swaddled bundle in his arms.
Lu Ronghuai took each step with great caution and slowness. This tall, imposing man held the infant in his arms as though he had forgotten how to walk. His arms were stiff, his expression tight, his posture rigid and awkward as he placed the child beside Chu Yuan.
Once he set him down, the infant still did not wake. He merely continued sleeping soundly in the swaddling cloth. Lu Ronghuai let out a long breath of relief.
Chu Yuan could not help laughing.
Then he immediately lowered his head and looked at the sleeping child.
“He is so tiny, and all pink.”
The moment Chu Yuan saw the child clearly, his heart melted like water.
He extended one finger and gently touched the infant’s little clenched fist.
The baby’s mouth moved twice.
Like a little rabbit, he even blew out a tiny bubble.
Chu Yuan’s eyes curved into crescents.
Lu Ronghuai stood by the bedside, staring at the one large and one small figure on the bed, his eyes filled with tenderness.
“Has Your Highness chosen a name for the baby?” Chu Yuan lifted his eyes. Afraid of waking the child, he spoke very softly, his voice especially gentle to the ear.
Lu Ronghuai paused. “No.”
Chu Yuan: “?”
Lu Ronghuai said, “I forgot.”
“...”
Chu Yuan choked for a moment. Looking at Lu Ronghuai’s innocent expression, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “This whole day and night, did Your Highness perhaps never once go to see the baby?”
Lu Ronghuai spoke as though his reasoning were impeccable. “I had to care for you. Ah-Die and the others could care for the child.”
“...Oh.”
“Then Your Highness should give the baby a name now.”
Chu Yuan lowered his head. His eyes were full of that little bundle, as though he could never look enough. The smile on his face never faded.
Lu Ronghuai stared at this warm scene before him and spoke without a moment’s thought. “Then let her be called Lu Jiaojiao.”
The smile on Chu Yuan’s face froze at once.
He raised his head in disbelief, suspecting he had heard wrongly, and repeated it. “Lu Jiao…jiao?”
“Yes.” Lu Ronghuai did not think there was anything wrong with it.
As Lu Ronghuai’s daughter, naturally she should be raised in tender indulgence and become the most carefree and blessed little princess beneath heaven.
Chu Yuan’s face darkened. His grape-dark eyes rested quietly on him.
“Hm?” Only then did Lu Ronghuai realize something was amiss.
So he hastily adjusted his wording. “If Ah-Yuan does not like it, it would make a fine milk name.”
Chu Yuan: “................”
“Lu Ronghuai…” Chu Yuan drew in a deep breath, then pointed a pale finger straight at the infant’s face, his beautiful eyes wide. “Look carefully. This is your son, not a daughter.”
“??”
Lu Ronghuai seemed to be struck by thunder out of a clear sky. The whole man stood there stunned. “A son?”
Chu Yuan nodded sternly.
“Yes. Your son.”
Lu Ronghuai stared at that little bundle. “I do not believe it. Ah-Yuan must be deceiving me.”
Chu Yuan’s face had gone expressionless. “Then open the swaddling cloth and look with your own eyes.”
Lu Ronghuai hesitated three times over, before stepping forward and very carefully loosened the little quilt.
Then his eyes widened, and even his breathing stopped.
“How is it a son?”
His disbelief was complete. Where had his daughter gone?
Chu Yuan was already beyond words. Wooden-faced, he said, “Oh. Your Highness does not want a son? Then I…”
“No, no, no.” In that instant, Lu Ronghuai could think of nothing else. Son or daughter, none of it mattered as much as his wife.
He could not provoke his wife into anger.
“Lu Wangli, do you find your son distasteful?” Chu Yuan, however, had no intention of letting him off so lightly.
“No, no, no.”
“Do you want this son or not?”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.” As soon as he said it, Lu Ronghuai lowered his head and offered the sleeping little bundle the smile of a loving father. “Son, your father loves you.”
Chu Yuan gave a soft huff, then moved the unsuspecting little bundle to his own side and pressed close against him. Then he began dismissing a certain Lu from the room.
“The baby and I are going to sleep. Your Highness should go now.”
“?”
“This is our room.” It should be that brat who leaves if anyone is to go.
Lu Ronghuai did not dare say that latter half aloud.
Chu Yuan kissed the plump little face of the bundle and lay down in perfect contentment. “Ah-Die said I must rest properly. For one month, I am not to sleep in the same bed as Your Highness. Please find some other place to sleep.”
Lu Ronghuai clung to the bed edge and refused to leave, attempting to reason with him. “You now require rest, but someone must also remain by your side to care for you. He should return to the west side room to sleep. The wet nurse must still feed him at night.”
“Then let the wet nurse sleep on the daybed in the outer room, so that she does not have to walk back and forth at night.” Chu Yuan was now wholly occupied with his son. He could not bear to part from him.
Lu Ronghuai looked pitiful. “Then what of me?”
Chu Yuan said, “Mm, Your Highness may do as you please.”
“Let the three of us sleep together. The bed is large enough.” Lu Ronghuai offered the suggestion with complete sincerity.
Chu Yuan refused. “What if Your Highness presses down on the baby? You are not permitted on the bed.”
Lu Ronghuai: “...”
He stared at the little thing on the bed, grinding his teeth inwardly as jealousy overturned the heavens inside him.
That wretched brat. The moment he was born, he started stealing Ah-Yuan from him.
Prince Li, having failed in the struggle for affection, darkened his face and stepped out of the room, standing in the winter night while the cold wind blew over him.
Xian Shuang and Xian Feng drifted down from the trees like ghosts.
Xian Feng spoke first. “Congratulations to Your Highness on the birth of a son.”
Lu Ronghuai gave a cold laugh, his expression as aggrieved as that of a resentful woman deep within the palace.
Xian Feng: “?”
Lu Ronghuai asked, “What is the youngest age at which one may enlist in the army of Lu?”
Xian Shuang answered, “Fifteen.”
Lu Ronghuai tilted his head and looked at the stars, his face full of gravity. “Too old. Change it to five.”
Xian Shuang and Xian Feng: “................?”
Xian Feng said, “Your Highness, you…”
Xian Shuang said bluntly, “Your Highness has no authority to alter the age of enlistment.”
That was a matter for the Emperor.
Lu Ronghuai cast him a sidelong glance. “You have reminded This Prince. The weather has grown cold. The pace may therefore be quickened.”
Xian Shuang asked directly, “Your Highness intends to seize power and usurp the throne?”
Xian Feng hurriedly covered his mouth with a hand, cold sweat breaking out in fright. “Your Highness, please do not heed his nonsense. The wind has blown the sense from his head.”
“He has not spoken wrongly.” Lu Ronghuai turned back to look at the door. Within, the soft light of the night-bright pearl shone faintly through. His expression softened. “Ah-Yuan has borne This Prince a son. This Prince must present him with a great gift.”
“Tell me, if This Prince gives Ah-Yuan the position of Empress, will he like it?”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Lu Dog:What goes around comes aro— ptui, give me back my daughter!
Lu Duoyu: Tsk.
(Last night, when I came back from a banquet, I found a soaked British Shorthair. Ah, how adorable. I asked in the residents’ group chat all day, and no one answered me.)
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