Give the Guest a Smile.
The Kingdom of Yu had incited the Kingdom of Shi to attack the Kingdom of Lu, and Lu Lingshuang had also played no negligible role in it. Once this news spread, it instantly swept through every part of the Kingdom of Lu.
In the end, it reached Emperor Hongjia’s ears.
The Emperor was enraged.
The common people were also cursing Lu Lingshuang, saying that this princess was a wolf-hearted, dog-lunged creature.
At the end of the sixth month, Lu Ronghuai received Emperor Hongjia’s imperial edict. Lu Lingshuang was no longer fit to be a princess of the Kingdom of Lu, and he was ordered to lead troops out, seize Lu Lingshuang, bring her back to Ye Jing, and hand her over to the Court of Judicial Review for severe punishment.
This time, the one who delivered the edict was somewhat different.
It was actually Eunuch Yuan Sheng, the one most trusted at Emperor Hongjia’s side, who had personally come.
Inside the study, Yuan Sheng set down the teacup in his hand and looked toward Prince Li with a kindly smile.
“After His Majesty learned that Your Highness had been blessed with a noble son, the Dragon Countenance was greatly delighted. He ordered this old servant to bring over three chests of imperial rewards, merely a small token of affection for the little heir.”
Lu Ronghuai nodded calmly. “Father Emperor is thoughtful.”
The smile on Yuan Sheng’s face was without the slightest flaw, and his manner was all the more humble and courteous. “Your Highness, this old servant has heard that the little heir is clever and adorable. May this old servant have a look at the little heir?”
Lu Ronghuai knew that he had come under Emperor Hongjia’s instructions, to see whether the child was real or false.
Amusement flashed through Lu Ronghuai’s eyes. His thin lips curved lightly upward. He called out toward the outside of the study, “Very well. Xian Feng, go and bring the little heir here.”
Xian Feng returned very quickly.
He handed Lu Duoyu over to Lu Ronghuai, then went back outside to stand guard.
Lu Duoyu had just been sleeping. Xian Feng’s hold had been steady, and he had not awakened all the way over.
Now, however, he was awake.
Lu Ronghuai reached out and pinched his little nose. When the small fellow wriggled unconsciously, he let go again. After repeating this a few times, Lu Duoyu opened his dark, watery eyes.
Though he had been disturbed awake, he did not cry. He merely stared fixedly at Lu Ronghuai with those black eyes.
Lu Ronghuai arched a brow. “A guest has come. Give the guest a smile.”
Lu Duoyu remained expressionless.
“Oh my, the little heir is truly good-looking, and really does resemble Your Highness.” Yuan Sheng hurried over in quick little steps, leaned in, and examined Lu Duoyu closely. After seeing the child’s features clearly, a flicker of astonishment flashed through his eyes.
This child not only resembled Prince Li, he actually also bore a few traces of the Prince Consort.
He blinked again.
As Yuan Sheng looked at the child’s face, his heart began to pound.
“Take a good look, Eunuch. His nose and his mouth, whom do they resemble?” Lu Ronghuai gave a low laugh.
Yuan Sheng studied Lu Ronghuai’s expression, then said with care, “Forgive this servant’s dim eyes. The little heir’s small face, carved from jade as it is, also bears some resemblance to the Prince Consort.”
Lu Ronghuai nodded in satisfaction. “Eunuch’s eyesight is still very good.”
Yuan Sheng had spent so many years in the palace and seen every manner of situation imaginable. He could usually charm anyone with a few well-placed words. Today, he was very nearly at a loss for any.
Had he not seen it with his own eyes, it would have been far too inconceivable.
This child actually looked like both Prince Li and the Prince Consort.
The Prince Consort was a man. Anyone who did not know better might have thought this child had been born by the Prince Consort himself.
Yuan Sheng raised his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Lu Ronghuai teased Lu Duoyu for a while longer, or rather, he unilaterally toyed with the little fellow for a while. Before the little fellow could lose his temper, he handed him over to Xian Feng and had him send the child to Chu Yuan.
Xian Feng made another trip. By the time he returned, Lu Ronghuai had just slammed the door firmly shut, leaving Yuansheng on the other side of it.
Xian Feng: “?”
Yuan Sheng looked once at the tightly shut door. His expression was not very good. He turned his head and left.
That night.
“Your Highness, I heard from Xian Feng that you sent Eunuch Yuan Sheng away?” After entering the room, Chu Yuan came straight to the bedside and asked in astonishment.
Just now, he had been next door soothing the little fellow to sleep. When he came out, he heard Xian Feng and Xian Yu chatting. He listened to a few lines, his eyes gradually widening, and he could not help quickening his steps back to his room.
Lu Ronghuai reclined against the head of the bed. He had already bathed. His black hair hung loosely behind him, and he was leisurely turning the pages of a military treatise.
“Mm. The old thing was displeasing. I sent him away.”
Chu Yuan sat down beside the bed. He drew the military treatise from Lu Ronghuai’s hand, his beautiful eyes taking on a slight sharpness. “Eunuch Yuan Sheng has served Father Emperor at his side for decades. Even if Your Highness will not look at the monk’s face, you should still look at the Buddha’s face. At the very least, you ought to be somewhat courteous to him.”
Lu Ronghuai curved his lips. He simply took hold of Chu Yuan’s waist and lifted him into his arms. His voice carried a smile. “Are you angry?”
“Of course I am angry.” Chu Yuan glared at him in vexation. “Your Highness has only just finally gained a good reputation. If he goes back and complains, the remonstrance officials will no doubt start scolding you again.”
“So Ah-Yuan is distressed for my sake.” Lu Ronghuai smiled as he rested his chin on Chu Yuan’s shoulder. Taking advantage of the moment, he rubbed his waist a couple of times.
Chu Yuan reached out and pushed at him. Sulking, he said, “I am not distressed for you at all. Your Highness has always been wanton. You do whatever you please, and no one can control you.”
“Others cannot control me, but you can. Whatever Ah-Yuan says, I listen.” Like a great dog, he nuzzled and sniffed back and forth at his neck and shoulder, utterly practiced in acting obedient and currying favor.
Chu Yuan turned his head. “Whatever I say, you listen?”
“Mm.”
Chu Yuan said, “Then tell me honestly, why did you send him away?”
Lu Ronghuai paused for a moment, then said as though nothing were amiss, “Nothing much. I merely found him displeasing to the eye. You know that I have never had any liking for Father Emperor or the people around him.”
“You are lying.”
Lu Ronghuai had never been an impulsive man. All the more so because there had never been any conflict between him and Yuan Sheng. Whenever they met, they had always been courteous. This sudden driving of the man away was strange in every direction.
“Mm, indeed, nothing can be hidden from you.” He gave a languid laugh, his brows and eyes open and at ease, and affectionately kissed his earlobe.
A numb, itching sensation spread across his ear. Chu Yuan turned his head aside to avoid it. “What exactly happened?”
Lu Ronghuai’s tone was casual. “He came under Father Emperor’s orders to take Lu Duoyu back to Ye Jing.”
“What?!” Chu Yuan grabbed his sleeve, so tense that the joints of his fingers turned white. “Did Your Highness agree?”
“Had I agreed, would I still have sent him away?” Lu Ronghuai looked at him with a half-smile.
After hearing this, the strength instantly left Chu Yuan’s fingers. “So that is how it is. Father Emperor wanted to use the child to hold Your Highness in check. It is well that Your Highness drove him away.”
Had it been him, he would also have driven the man off without ceremony.
Lu Ronghuai laughed aloud. “Were you not just saying that I had offended him, so angry you wanted to bite me?”
Chu Yuan puffed out his cheeks. “That is different. At first, I thought Your Highness was making trouble for no reason.”
Lu Ronghuai: “...”
So this was the childish image he had in Chu Yuan’s heart?
Chu Yuan gave a little laugh and smoothed a hand over his chest as though stroking his fur. “Your Highness is wise. You sent him away quite effectively.”
To dare set his mind upon their son, even if Emperor Hongjia himself had come, they still would not have shown courtesy.
“I am going to bathe.” Having finished asking what he wished to know, Chu Yuan briskly rose from Lu Ronghuai’s arms and lifted his step to head toward the bath chamber.
As a result, halfway there, someone picked him up.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?”
Lu Ronghuai carried him inside, his expression languid, the smile in his eyes like spring. “This one invites the Prince Consort of Prince Li to bathe together in mandarin-duck water, and then further discuss the matter from before.”
Chu Yuan clutched his arm and bit his lip in embarrassed anger. “You have already bathed!”
“Yes. Ah-Yuan may take it that I am... making trouble for no reason.”
“...”
Could he take back that remark or not?
The water in the bath chamber was changed twice that night. By the time all had grown quiet in the depths of night, Lu Ronghuai carried the unconscious Chu Yuan back to the bed.
He gently placed him on the inner side of the bed. Afterward, he turned and got onto the bed himself. The night was cool, so he pulled a thin blanket over Chu Yuan, then gathered both man and blanket into his arms.
Chu Yuan let out two soft whimpers. His lips, red to the point of seeming to seep into his eyes, were faintly swollen, and his brows knitted lightly, as though his sleep was not at ease.
Lu Ronghuai raised a hand and gently stroked his back again and again. As he looked at the sleeping Chu Yuan, his eyes were clear, without the slightest trace of sleepiness.
In truth, he had lied to Chu Yuan.
The reason he had sent Yuan Sheng away was not because Emperor Hongjia had ordered Yuan Sheng to take Lu Duoyu back.
Emperor Hongjia had ordered Yuan Sheng to take Chu Yuan back.
As compensation, he had even had Yuan Sheng bring over the other half of the military tally.
When Lu Ronghuai had looked at that half of the military tally, the hostility deep in his heart had once more burst into clamor, and his gaze had turned fierce.
At times, he truly could not suppress the thought of patricide in his heart.
Chu Yuan was his reverse scale. No one was permitted to touch him.
Yet his Father Emperor had shamelessly wanted to exchange a military tally for his Ah-Yuan.
For the sake of obtaining Chu Yuan’s blood, he had cast aside even his face.
How dared he?
Half a military tally, and it was worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as his Ah-Yuan?
Lu Ronghuai’s expression surged and churned. He sat up from the bed, casually took an outer robe and draped it over his shoulders, then walked out of the room.
“Your Highness.” Xian Feng and Xian Shuang, who were standing guard at the door, hurried over and bowed when they saw him come out.
“Notify Xian Yue. Give that one at the imperial mausoleum something to do,” he said in a deep voice.
Xian Feng acknowledged the order, and Lu Ronghuai turned and went back into the room.
Xian Shuang said, “Who has provoked Your Highness into anger now?”
Xian Feng let out a sigh. “It is likely someone in the palace. The deposed Crown Prince is guarding the imperial mausoleum. At a time like this, to go and give him something to do, it is quite plain that His Highness wants those two in the palace not to have peace.”
Xian Shuang said, “They deserve it.”
There was no one they ought less to have provoked than their prince.
Yuan Sheng remained in Sang Cheng for two days and was shut out at the door for two days. Prince Li seemed to have set his mind on not seeing him. Yuan Sheng knew there was no further chance to speak, and on the third day he prepared to leave.
Leaving with him was Min Chao.
This time, Min Chao had only been responsible for bringing troops over and, on the way, handing the military tally to Prince Li. Now that the Kingdom of Shi had already been defeated, and his daughter at home would very soon be married, he was anxious to hurry back.
On the day of departure, Prince Li did not come. Prince Li’s consort and Bai Yi came to see them off.
Both of them had prepared wedding gifts and handed them over into Min Chao’s care.
A slight smile rested on Chu Yuan’s face. “Congratulations on Miss Min’s wedding. His Highness and I are unable to return for the time being, so we send the gifts ahead first. Once we do return, General Min must not forget to make up the wedding wine for us.”
Min Chao said, “Good, good, good. Your Highness and Prince Consort are thoughtful indeed. Once you return to the capital, I shall certainly invite all of you to my residence for wine.”
Bai Yi patted his shoulder. “Good brother, I am keeping count of that. The two children in my family no longer let me touch wine these days, and I have been craving it badly.”
Min Chao burst into loud laughter.
“Do not worry. I shall make certain the Marquis drinks his fill.”
After seeing them off, Bai Yi and Chu Yuan walked back together.
“Did Your Highness go to Lu Cheng today?” Bai Yi asked.
Chu Yuan said, “Mm, he left early in the morning.”
Bai Yi pounded his waist. “No wonder. That boy of mine is not around either. He should be with His Highness.”
Everyone now already knew Bai Qingyu’s true identity. The Western Frontier was also the place he knew best, and his trusted subordinates were all here. Bai Yi had grown too lazy to keep concealing it, and directly changed the form of address.
“There is still half a month before the campaign sets out. This time, I intend to have Qingyu follow His Highness and go together.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
The campaign is coming, the campaign is coming, at last it is about to begin wrapping up.
0 Comments