Brat, Give Me a Smile.
Nie Siran held the child in one arm and took out a letter from home for him. “Prince Li has sent a letter. He has already emptied out the treasury of Shi Kingdom and says he is giving it all to Little Fish as a first-birthday gift.”
Chu Yuan suppressed a smile and took the letter.
Lu Ronghuai had returned too late on New Year’s Eve, and Lu Duoyu was already asleep. Early the next morning, he had hurried away again, without even having the chance to speak to Lu Duoyu. Later, when the little one’s first-birthday banquet was held, he was still fighting Shi Kingdom and had been unable to return in time. Chu Yuan knew that guilt weighed on his heart, and that he wished to make it up to the child.
He was just about to open the letter when Lu Rongshen ran in from outside, shouting as he came, “Third Sister-in-law, the imperial edict has arrived.”
Lu Rongze’s ascension ceremony had not yet been held, yet the imperial edict had already reached the Western Frontier.
Emperor Hongjia did not have much time left. Lu Ronghuai was ordered to return to the capital at once with Chu Yuan and fulfill filial duty before the imperial presence.
After hearing this edict, Chu Yuan was rather surprised.
Once the eunuch who had delivered the edict was sent away, Chu Yuan carried the edict and returned with the others to the courtyard.
“These people truly linger like restless ghosts. Time and again they ask you to return. It is fortunate we escaped, otherwise who knows what might have happened.” Jiang Ni took Lu Duoyu into his arms and fed him a small piece of sheep’s milk cheese with his right hand.
Chu Yuan sat down beside him and casually set the edict on the table.
Nie Siran opened the edict and swept his eyes over it, then smiled. “So His Majesty truly does not have much time left this time?”
Nie Xuxing said, “How can you speak that way? Mind your words.”
Nie Siran gave a shrug with a smile. “I am not wrong. Once the same excuse has been used too many times, it is hard not to grow suspicious.”
“This time is somewhat different.” Chu Yuan pinched Lu Duoyu’s little cheek and turned back with a smile. “Before, the edicts only ordered me to return. This time, it especially stresses that His Highness must return as well.”
Nie Siran understood at once. “His Highness has now conquered two kingdoms in succession, and his military merit is too great. They fear him and now wish to lure the man into the jar.”
“Should this matter be told to His Highness?” Jiang Ni pointed at the edict.
Chu Yuan’s eyes curved with a bright, radiant smile. “No need. We will go to him ourselves.”
“Have you decided?”
“Mm. Empress Dowager Xu governs from behind Lu Rongze. She will not let us go lightly. For everyone’s safety, we must leave as early as possible.” After saying this, Chu Yuan turned to look at the others. “What about you, Ah-Die and Father?”
A month earlier, they had already discussed going to find Lu Ronghuai. This edict had simply become the opportunity.
Nie Xuxing and Jiang Ni exchanged a glance, and both expressed their agreement.
Nie Chouwen did not go with them.
At present, the court was fraught with peril. Though he said nothing of it aloud, each day he still fished and played chess as usual, yet more white hair appeared day by day. Nie Siran knew that Grandfather’s heart remained fixed upon Lu Kingdom. Fearing that he would brood, he and Su Ruhe often accompanied the old master to fish and tried to cheer him.
Before their departure, Nie Chouwen suddenly decided that he wished to wander and delight in mountains and rivers. Chu Yuan and the others could not be at ease, so they sent several quick and capable shadow guards to protect him, and repeatedly urged him to correspond often. The two groups set out at the same time and parted outside the city.
They passed through mountain forests and crossed the Ye River. Taking into account Lu Duoyu’s young age and fearing his little body could not endure too much, the group traveled slowly, finally reaching Fengle Jun of the Kingdom of Kang at the end of the fifth month.
After receiving the letter, Prince Li personally came to meet them. He had been separated from Chu Yuan for nearly half a year. The moment he saw the person he had thought of day and night, Prince Li’s eyes seemed to cling to Chu Yuan.
“Ah-Yuan, drink some Hundred Flowers Clear Brew. It is a specialty sent from Duan Kingdom, clear and moistening, and good for dispelling heat.” Lu Ronghuai removed a delicate little bamboo tube from his waist, carefully wiped the mouth of it, and held it to Chu Yuan’s lips.
Curious, Chu Yuan lowered his head and took a few sips from his hand after catching a faint fragrance.
“Is it good?” Lu Ronghuai stared at his rosy, fair face.
Chu Yuan said, “Mm. It carries a slight taste of wine, and also the fragrance of jasmine and lotus. It is rather special.”
“I want another few sips.” Chu Yuan licked his lips and tugged at Lu Ronghuai’s sleeve as he spoke.
How could Lu Ronghuai refuse him? He was just about to feed him again when two coughs suddenly sounded one after the other from nearby.
Nie Siran said, “Your Highness, we are thirsty too. Why do we not see you letting us have a few sips as well?”
Lu Rongshen said, “Exactly so. We have stood here for a good while. Third Brother only has eyes for Third Sister-in-law and will not even give us water to drink.”
Lu Ronghuai shot them a sharp glance, his face full of displeasure toward these two obstructions. He turned slightly to shield Chu Yuan from them, then wrapped an arm around Chu Yuan’s shoulder and started walking forward.
“Let us go back inside.”
Chu Yuan quickly caught hold of him and said with helpless amusement, “Your Highness, Little Fish is still here.”
Only then did Lu Ronghuai remember. He passed the bamboo tube to Chu Yuan, turned, strode over to Nie Siran, and took the deeply sleeping little brat from his arms.
Lu Duoyu napped for one shichen every day. Today, after he had slept his fill and awakened, he kicked his legs and found that he had arrived in an unfamiliar room, with no one around him.
The room was quiet and still. The window was half-shut. A faint fragrance of flowers wound through the air, and from time to time, a few crisp birdcalls could be heard.
He climbed off the bed by himself and, with bare feet, pattered toward the doorway. Halfway there, someone suddenly caught him by the back of his collar and lifted him up whole.
In the next instant, he was turned around and met a pair of eyes dark and deep as a cold pool.
Lu Ronghuai stared at him. “The moment you wake, you run about wildly, hm?”
Lu Duoyu stared right back at him. His glossy black eyes blinked again and again. Even being held suspended in the air, he was not afraid. One large pair and one small pair of similar phoenix eyes looked at one another.
After several months apart, Lu Duoyu curiously looked at this person before him who felt somewhat familiar and somewhat strange.
Lu Ronghuai gave the little brat’s plump bottom a pat and carried him toward the inner chamber.
Chu Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, with several thick account books laid out before him. Just now, he and Lu Ronghuai had been checking the accounts. When he looked up, he saw the little fellow running about through the light gauze curtains, and had Lu Ronghuai bring him back.
The moment he saw Chu Yuan, the little brat immediately twisted in his arms and stretched out his short, plump little arms, wanting to burrow into Chu Yuan’s embrace.
“Ah-Die~” the little fellow called clearly.
Chu Yuan smiled and tapped his little nose, then pointed at Lu Ronghuai and asked, “Little one, who is this?”
Seeing that Chu Yuan would not hold him, and unable to wriggle free on his own, Lu Duoyu pursed his lips and looked toward Lu Ronghuai.
Lu Ronghuai lowered his eyes. He bounced the little fellow in his arms, his handsome brows lifting slightly. “Quite heavy. Little fatty.”
For the time being, Lu Duoyu could only understand the word “fat.” Looking at the smiling brows and eyes of this man, he clenched his tiny fists, and his white, tender little face completely fell.
Lu Ronghuai found it a novelty. Amused, he lifted a hand to poke the little fellow’s face. “Ah-Yuan, he is angry... uh...”
Caught entirely off guard, his finger was savagely bitten by the little fellow. The little one puffed up with anger and even ground at it hard with his little sharp teeth.
Lu Ronghuai: “...”
“Hahaha...”
Chu Yuan laughed so hard he clutched his stomach and toppled sideways onto the bed.
After the time it took to burn one stick of incense, Chu Yuan was holding Lu Duoyu and wiping his face and hands. Lu Ronghuai sat at the edge of the bed, his long legs stretched out carelessly, his arms folded as he watched the two of them.
His gaze was too impossible to ignore. Lu Duoyu sat obediently in Chu Yuan’s arms, expressionless as he stared back at him.
Lu Ronghuai watched the little fellow’s appearance with great interest. The corner of his lips hooked up, and he let out a soft laugh through his nose. “Brat, give me a smile.”
Holding Lu Duoyu’s fragrant, soft little hand, Chu Yuan lifted his eyes and shot him an annoyed look. “Your Highness, though the little one is only one year old, he is very clever. If you keep making mischief like this, he will remember it.”
Lu Ronghuai’s eyes held a smile. “Could it be that Ah-Yuan is trying to frighten me? Little children generally do not remember anything from before the age of three.”
Chu Yuan tossed the cloth at him. “If Your Highness does not believe me, then so be it. Do not blame me later for not warning you.”
Lu Ronghuai’s gaze paused. He sized Lu Duoyu up suspiciously. “This boy bears grudges so deeply?”
“The little one has a very good temperament. He smiles whenever he sees anyone, and does not bear grudges.”
Lu Ronghuai: “...Did he smile at me just now?”
“...” Chu Yuan gave a soft cough and pressed down the smile at his lips. He lifted Lu Duoyu and handed him to Lu Ronghuai. “The little one is hungry. Your Highness should carry him off to eat.”
“Come together.”
With his left arm, Lu Ronghuai held Lu Duoyu, and with his right hand, he took Chu Yuan’s hand. The family of three slowly made their way toward the dining hall.
News that Prince Li and the Prince Consort had defied the imperial edict and refused to comply spread through Ye Jing, stirring up public uproar and a sky full of debate.
Empress Dowager Xu secretly sent people everywhere to incite matters further, fastening the charge of disloyalty and unfilial conduct upon them.
Since time immemorial, virtue has always been judged through filiality. Now that Prince Li disregarded filial duty and wrought great slaughter, how could anyone rest easy placing faith in a person without filial righteousness?
Gradually, almost all opinion tipped to Empress Dowager Xu’s side.
Scholars and literati bitterly denounced Prince Li. They tore up the storybooks in fury and wrote countless impassioned poems, mocking him both openly and in secret.
When this news arrived, they were in the midst of gathering troops and preparing to seize the capital of the Kingdom of Kang in one stroke.
Xian Yue said, “Your Highness, Ye Jing has already turned into complete chaos. The ministers have jointly submitted memorials, demanding that your title and fief be stripped away.”
Lu Ronghuai sat with one knee raised. Before him lay a map of Kang Kingdom’s terrain. He lowered his eyes and studied the map intently, his left hand lifted to prop up his chin, utterly ignoring Xian Yue’s words.
Chu Yuan sat at his side. He set down his brush, lifted his eyes, and asked with a smile, “What movement has there been in the palace?”
Xian Yue replied, “Empress Dowager Xu has used quite a few methods behind the scenes. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she has even destroyed one of our intelligence points.”
Chu Yuan was not surprised by this in the least. From the moment he decided to leave the Western Frontier, he had known clearly in his heart that this day would come sooner or later.
Or rather, as early as when Lu Ronghuai set out to war with the army, they had already foreseen every consequence.
“During this time, is it still the Empress Dowager who listens behind the curtain and governs?” Chu Yuan asked.
Xian Yue nodded.
Chu Yuan smiled. He turned his head to look at Lu Ronghuai, his tone unhurried. “Your Highness, I think we should fight a bit faster. Otherwise, I fear we will not make it back in time to see His Majesty one last time.”
Lu Ronghuai nodded, his eyes still fixed on the map. In a low voice, he said, “He is now no more than a puppet in Empress Dowager Xu’s hands. More than anyone else, Empress Dowager Xu fears his death. No matter what, she will desperately keep one last breath in him.”
Chu Yuan clearly knew this as well. His fingertip tapped the table, and his gaze remained clear and light. “Before leaving the Western Frontier, I gave that Lingku pill to the envoy and had it sent to His Majesty.”
“That pill Bai Yi gave?” Lu Ronghuai thought back for a moment. “That pill can indeed keep him alive a while longer.”
Xian Yue asked, “Your Highness, then what should we do next? The people of Ye Jing are now full of objections toward you.”
Lu Ronghuai relaxed and leaned crookedly against Chu Yuan, his tone languid as he asked, “When have they ever not had objections toward This Prince?”
Xian Yue: “Uh...”
Lu Ronghuai said, “You seem to care about this a great deal?”
Xian Yue blinked. “Well... this subordinate only fears that those court historians will write recklessly and ruin Your Highness’s lifelong good name.”
“It does not matter. In the first place, This Prince never had such a thing.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
My dears, I have finally come home, wuwuwu. I was transferred out of town for more than a month, and it left me with no way to update. Thank you all for waiting so long.
0 Comments