Extra (5)

“Where is Your Highness?”

Deep in the night, Chu Yuan returned from the study to Fuju Courtyard and discovered that no one was inside.

Le Shu went over and removed the lampshade. The room brightened at once. Standing at the doorway, Xian Yu said, “His Highness has not yet returned to the residence. Xian Feng did come back once, though. He said it was His Highness’s spoken order that you should rest early.”

Chu Yuan’s brows drew together slightly, then soon relaxed again.

These past several days, Lu Ronghuai had been leaving early and returning in the dead of night, and Chu Yuan could not get a clear answer about what he was doing. There was a persistent sense that something was being kept from him.

This sense of being left in ignorance did not sit well with him. Looking out at the pitch-dark night beyond the room, Chu Yuan felt little drowsiness.

When the latter half of the night came, Lu Ronghuai returned draped in weariness. The moment he stepped into Fuju Courtyard, his gaze darkened.

There were no guards in the courtyard.

He pushed the door open and went inside, then soon came out again.

“Where is he?” he asked coldly. In the darkness, a shadow guard immediately dropped down before him.

“This subordinate greets Your Highness. The Prince Consort is in the little heir’s room.”

Without another word, Lu Ronghuai turned and strode out.

The next day, when Chu Yuan woke, he was still heavy with sleep, his whole body languid and muddled. Several strands of black hair had fallen across his chest. Just as he wished to turn over, he discovered that he could not move.

An arm lay across his waist, holding him firmly within an embrace. Behind him was the warmth of a broad chest, and breath fell at the side of his neck, stirring a faint ticklishness there.

Chu Yuan’s gaze gradually cleared and his eyes brightened. Reaching out, he took hold of the large hand at his waist and, with effort, turned himself over to look at Lu Ronghuai, who was still asleep.

The man’s sleeping face was calm, his features striking and handsome. Chu Yuan’s fingertips came to rest at his brows and eyes, tracing slowly downward along the sharp sweep of his brows. Just as his fingers brushed the corner of his eye, they were caught.

“Let me see who is up to mischief so early in the morning.” Lu Ronghuai opened his eyes, laughter in his voice, and caught Chu Yuan’s fingers to kiss them once.

Outside, the sky was already bright. Chu Yuan pushed himself up. “Is Your Highness not busy today?”

At this hour on ordinary days, he would long since have left the residence.

“Everything is already taken care of. Lie with me a little longer.” Lu Ronghuai reached out and pulled him into his arms, then lowered his head and lightly bit the earlobe of the one he held.

“Mm... Li-Little Fish?” Chu Yuan asked, his breathing unsteady.

“At first light he wanted to go to Apricot Garden to feed the turtles. Xian Yu took him there.” Lu Ronghuai had in fact woken earlier than Chu Yuan. The little fellow had woken early as well. Fearing that he would clamor and disturb Chu Yuan, he had coaxed him outside to play.

Chu Yuan lay in Lu Ronghuai’s arms, his eyes half closed with drowsiness. Lu Ronghuai was kneading his ear. Unconsciously, Chu Yuan muttered, “What has Your Highness been so busy with these days?”

“You will know in a couple of days.” Lu Ronghuai intended to keep this surprise until that day. The gauze curtains at the foot of the bed moved in the breeze. He cupped Chu Yuan’s face. “Why did you not sleep in Fuju Courtyard?”

Chu Yuan opened his eyes and used a finger to poke Lu Ronghuai’s throat. “If Your Highness is not there, I do not wish to sleep there.”

“I was in the wrong. It will not happen again.” Lu Ronghuai gave his promise.

Chu Yuan was very curious. “You truly cannot tell me now?”

“Mm, not for the moment.”

Chu Yuan looked at him. Seeing the determination all over his face, it seemed he was quite resolved to act first and report afterward.

Suddenly, Chu Yuan changed the direction of his words. Half narrowing his beautiful eyes, he asked, “Your Highness is not secretly choosing consorts behind my back, is he?”

Lu Ronghuai: “???”

Lu Ronghuai: “You are questioning my taste.”

Lu Ronghuai: “Other than you, I do not fancy anyone.”

“Truly?”

Lu Ronghuai swore to Heaven, “Truly.”

Chu Yuan said, “Hmph. Honeyed words. I do not believe you.”

After saying this, Chu Yuan pushed him away, turned over, and got out of bed, calling for Le Shu to come in.

Lu Ronghuai followed right behind him. He coaxed and attended, helping Chu Yuan wash and dress, dispensing compliments at considerable length, and the person who was normally so easy to coax simply would not be appeased today.

After breakfast, Chu Yuan brought Lu Duoyu to the study and taught him writing and reading. Lu Ronghuai stayed with the two of them, but before long he was called away by Xian Feng.

“Ah-Die, where is Papa going?” Lu Duoyu held a slender bamboo-handled brush and tilted his head up to look at Chu Yuan.

Chu Yuan lowered his eyes to the little fellow in his lap, his gaze gentle. “Uncle Nie Siran has matters with him.”

“Oh. Papa busy. Little Fish stay home and keep Ah-Die company.” The little fellow’s soft little palm caught hold of Chu Yuan’s hand. On his tender white face bloomed a bright and adorable smile.

That smile from the little fellow soothed Chu Yuan’s heart. Holding the milky-scented little bundle, he kissed him several times. That faint, indefinable oppression in his heart also dissolved along with it.

“Is Ah-Die unhappy?” Sitting in his lap, the little fellow lifted his hands to cup Chu Yuan’s face and asked with solemn earnestness.

Chu Yuan was taken aback. Softly, he asked, “Baby thinks I am unhappy?”

“These past few days Ah-Die has smiled very little and is always staring blankly.” The little fellow looped his arms around Chu Yuan’s neck and rested his head against his chest.

These past few days, it had nearly always been Chu Yuan who was looking after Lu Duoyu. Children were innocent and guileless, yet they were also the most sensitive to the emotions of the adults around them.

A trace of heartache crossed Chu Yuan’s eyes. “Ah-Die is not unhappy. These past two days, Ah-Die has been thinking about matters and thinking too intently, so Ah-Die neglected Baby. Ah-Die apologizes to Baby.”

The little fellow cuddled in his arms for a while. His big eyes turned lively circles. “Ah-Die, what is the Crown Prince?”

“Why is Baby asking this?” A smile spilled from the ends of Chu Yuan’s brows.

Lu Duoyu counted his fingers while playing with them, then said obediently, “When I went out to play with Imperial Uncle, people in the shops said that when Papa becomes Emperor, he will let some other little baby be Crown Prince.”

“Ah-Die, what is the Crown Prince? Why can Little Fish not be the Crown Prince?”

A child of two years could not understand what the Crown Prince meant. Seizing a moment when the adults were off their guard, those people turned their malice toward an ignorant young child. Those words had never been meant for Lu Duoyu to hear. They only wished to borrow the child’s mouth to carry them to Chu Yuan’s ears.

On the other side of the residence.

Lu Ronghuai dropped the bloodied handkerchief in his hand, his eyes cold as ice. “If such a thing happens again, kill on sight.”

“Yes!” the gathered shadow guards answered in unison.

When Lu Ronghuai returned to the courtyard, Nie Siran turned his head. “How does Your Highness intend to deal with those remarks?”

Lu Ronghuai said, “Men have already been sent to cleanse them out.”

Lu Rongshen said, “This is infuriating beyond measure. They actually dared say such things before Little Fish. Third Brother, is someone behind this, urging it on?”

Lu Ronghuai’s pupils were full of chill. “It is the Empress Dowager’s remaining influence. Xian Feng and the others have already seized them. It will not happen again.”

Bai Qingyu and Su Ruhe each came in carrying a register in their hands. The two handed the registers to Lu Ronghuai.

“These are the procedures for the grand ceremony. Your Highness, please review them.”

Seating himself, Lu Ronghuai carefully and seriously checked every step of the proceedings. Wherever something needed to be added or altered, he immediately told Su Ruhe and the others. Thus they pressed on in urgent preparation, until at last the day of the grand ceremony arrived.

The moment the Hour of Yin began, it was still black outside, yet a whole crowd came pouring into Fuju Courtyard in a great rush.

By the time Chu Yuan was pressed down to sit before the dressing table, his eyes still held bewilderment.

Consort Dowager Ye smiled and instructed the people behind her. “All of you, be more careful. Move lightly. Begin.”

The palace maids behind her answered in unison. Each came forward carrying a brocade box, setting them one by one upon the dressing table. Afterward, they began combing Chu Yuan’s hair and cleansing his face.

Chu Yuan: “?”

With difficulty, he turned his head and looked at Consort Dowager Ye. “Consort Dowager Ye, it would be better to let His Highness come first.”

Lu Ronghuai entered the inner hall carrying a small bowl. The palace maids lowered their heads at once upon seeing him, and their expressions clearly grew far more tense. Even their hands became less nimble in their movements.

Consort Dowager Ye said, “…it would be best for Your Highness to go out first. With Your Highness present, they would not dare move.”

Wearing white brocade sleeping robes and draped in a black-and-gold cloak, Lu Ronghuai went over to sit beside Chu Yuan. Setting the small bowl upon the dressing table, he lifted the lid. “The kitchen simmered shredded chicken congee through the night. Have a little first to settle your stomach.”

The hour was too early, and Chu Yuan did not wish to eat. He shook his head, caught hold of Lu Ronghuai’s sleeve, and turned to ask Consort Dowager Ye, “Consort Dowager Ye, does Your Highness also need to have his hair arranged?”

Not the slightest negligence could be allowed in the enthronement ceremony. Before the Hour of Mao, they had to set out, pass through the great avenue of Ye Jing, first go to the altar to worship the ancestors, then return to the palace seated in the imperial carriage and conduct the ceremony.

Consort Dowager Ye nodded. “Yes. Your Highness, sit down as well. Mingzhu, go arrange His Highness’s hair.”

Mingzhu was the senior palace maid who had served at Consort Dowager Ye’s side for a lifetime. She could almost be said to have watched Lu Ronghuai grow up, and thus she did not fear him so much. Smiling cheerfully, she went over and picked up the combing tool, about to arrange his hair.

Lu Ronghuai had originally wished to refuse. He was not so particular about such matters and had meant to deal with it casually after Chu Yuan was finished. Yet Chu Yuan would not let go of him, quite determined to make him stay here.

Lu Ronghuai laughed softly and clasped Chu Yuan’s hand. “Very well, very well, I will stay with you.”

The palace maids worked deftly. Very soon, their hair was dressed. Afterward, the two went to wash up, then shared a bowl of congee together, only to be called back by Consort Dowager Ye to have their faces made up.

“Surely there is no need to apply cosmetics?” Chu Yuan looked at the dazzling variety of ornaments and showed some reluctance.

“That will not do. The two of you are about to worship the ancestors, and the people of the capital will all be watching. Though you are naturally fine in appearance, you will look all the better once your faces are adorned.”

Lu Ronghuai leaned against the dressing table. Lowering his head, he reached a finger into a small porcelain dish and dabbed at it.

“Ah-Yuan,” he called.

Chu Yuan turned to look at him.

A finger came to rest upon his lips. The warm pad of that finger glided gently across them. While Chu Yuan was still staring blankly, Lu Ronghuai withdrew his hand.

“Mm?” Chu Yuan looked at him in puzzlement.

Lu Ronghuai looked at the person before him time and again. A trace of astonishment and admiration passed through his eyes. He let out a low laugh, his tone relaxed and pleased. The palace maids had never seen Prince Li like this before, and each of them stood staring, lost in a daze.

Lu Ronghuai went to stand before Chu Yuan. Holding his shoulders, he turned him toward the bronze mirror. Leaning close to his ear, he said in a low voice, “Ah-Yuan is so beautiful that I cannot bear to let others see.”

Looking at himself in the mirror, Chu Yuan saw that a thin layer of lip rouge had been brushed across his lips, leaving them moist and vivid, adding several more degrees of pretty charm.

He pressed his lips together, then made as if to take the small bottle and paint some onto Lu Ronghuai as well.

Laughing aloud, Lu Ronghuai dodged aside. The two made a playful scene for a time. Had Consort Dowager Ye not intervened to stop them, they might well have forgotten that today was the day of the enthronement ceremony.

In the end, Consort Dowager Ye was still unable to persuade the two to apply full cosmetics. Both were grown men, and having their faces adorned in such a way felt too unnatural. In addition, both were handsome by nature, especially Chu Yuan, whose skin was fair and delicate. The palace maid who had arranged his hair, seeing his face at such close range, felt envy rise within her.

“Your Highness, Prince Consort, it is time to change clothes.” As Consort Dowager Ye spoke, two palace maids approached them holding trays.

“Mm. All of you go out first.” Lu Ronghuai took the trays, and everyone else immediately withdrew from the inner hall and shut the doors tightly.

Lu Ronghuai lifted the brocade cover over the trays.

“I will help Ah-Yuan put them on.” Lu Ronghuai personally helped Chu Yuan into the elaborate and magnificent garments.

The black ceremonial robes embroidered in gold and made by the imperial atelier were very troublesome to put on. Fortunately, Lu Ronghuai was well acquainted with such clothes. He dressed him piece by piece without the slightest difficulty.

Only, these garments... they looked more like...

Lowering his head, Chu Yuan stared at the finely wrought flying dragons upon the clothing. Astonishment flashed through his eyes. Reaching out, he seized Lu Ronghuai’s arm. “Your Highness, you have made a mistake.”

“Mm?” Lu Ronghuai asked with a smile. “Where is the mistake?”

“This is... a dragon robe.” As he spoke, he lifted the brocade cover over the other tray. “I should be wearing this...”

Gazing at the identical set of garments inside the tray, exactly the same as those on his own body, Chu Yuan’s eyes went wide and were filled with disbelief.

He lifted his head to look at Lu Ronghuai and saw the man smiling brilliantly, gazing at him with gentleness and undivided attention.

“There is no mistake, Ah-Yuan.” Lu Ronghuai raised a hand to stroke the hair beside Chu Yuan’s temple. The love in his eyes was almost enough to overflow. “From this day forward, you and I shall govern the realm hand in hand.”

Lu Ronghuai’s words were no different from a thunderbolt striking down. For a long while, Chu Yuan could not recover his senses. Blankly, he looked at him, as though he had still not understood what he was hearing.

“Your Highness...” Chu Yuan’s lips moved slightly. His voice was light as drifting catkins. “Do not jest with me.”

“I am in earnest.”

Lu Ronghuai cast off his cloak and swiftly put on the other dragon robe. Taking Chu Yuan’s hand, he led him back before the dressing table.

“Ah-Yuan, sit down.”

Lu Ronghuai stood behind him and bent down to look into the bronze mirror. Through the mirror, one could see the two of them within, each possessing dragon-bearing grace and phoenix-like bearing.

The two dragon robes fit well and were sized with extraordinary precision. More marvelous still, the details upon them answered one another from afar. Looking at himself in the mirror, Chu Yuan thought of Lu Ronghuai, who these past days had been going out early and returning late.

“Was Your Highness’s early departures and late returns all for the sake of preparing these clothes?”

“Mm. I wished to give you a surprise. Does Ah-Yuan like it?” Lu Ronghuai tilted his head, his thin lips brushing past Chu Yuan’s ear, his tone intimate.

In truth, what he had done went far beyond this. He had handled nearly the entire ceremony personally. He only wished to give Chu Yuan a memory that would be unforgettable and radiant. This was the new beginning of their future, and even more, their new life.

Chu Yuan lowered his eyes. Even with his heart surging, he still thought of the deeper, harsher reality beneath it.

“I like it. But this is not fitting, Wangli.”

“There is no such thing as fitting or unfitting. So long as you like it, that is enough.”

Lu Ronghuai took his hand. Their hands overlapped and slowly moved to Chu Yuan’s flat belly beneath the girdle at his waist.

“On the day you gave birth to Lu Duoyu, I stood in the courtyard and thought that my Ah-Yuan had suffered such great pain for me, and I must personally place before him the most exalted Empress’s place under Heaven.”

“I owe Ah-Yuan a grand and solemn wedding.”

Chu Yuan listened quietly.

“But afterward, I was no longer satisfied with that thought.”

“My Ah-Yuan possesses talent broad enough to order Heaven and Earth. Even the position of Empress would still do you an injustice. After much thought, only the imperial throne seemed barely sufficient.”

Chu Yuan clasped his hand in return, and in the depths of his heart a tide began to rise. “I know that you cherish me and ache for me, yet, Wangli, this realm was won by your own hand. I cannot seize that merit nor can I let them leave a stroke against you in the history books.”

“Half the merit is yours.”

Lu Ronghuai spoke sincerely. When he had been campaigning in the early days, what had sustained him was Chu Yuan. After the two of them joined up, Chu Yuan had exerted immense effort in devising plans and strategies for him. Had Chu Yuan not broken through the succession of city defenses and difficult barriers left behind by Lu Rongluo, Lu Ronghuai’s road back to the capital would only have been harder still.

“Ah-Yuan perhaps does not know that Grandfather was once the one at court who opposed my becoming Emperor the most.”

Chu Yuan was astonished. “Why?”

“He thought I would not be a good Emperor, and that I would ruin the realm of Lu.”

Chu Yuan said, “Your Highness did not ruin the realm of Lu. On the contrary, Your Highness has done very well.”

Lu Ronghuai smiled. “I agree with Grandfather’s words very much.”

Without Chu Yuan’s gentle softness and goodness, what would the present Prince Li have become? Perhaps even he himself did not dare imagine it.

They were one hard and one soft, strength and gentleness combined, meeting each other exactly where they should.

“If I did not have you, I would not become a good Emperor with the realm in my heart. I would not even have any interest in the throne at all. So this realm, you must take responsibility for it.”

It was Chu Yuan who had given him new hope in this world.

“Without me, Your Highness would certainly still become a good Emperor.” Hearing him deny himself, Chu Yuan did not know why, but there was always some discomfort in his heart.

Lu Ronghuai smiled faintly and said nothing.

In the previous life, he had eventually ascended the throne. Yet at that time, he had already lost Chu Yuan, and every day he endured the torment of endless longing and pain.

He had nearly forgotten what he himself had done in those last months of life. He only knew that his later self had long ceased asking after affairs of state and thought only of ending those dark and endless lonely years.

Lu Ronghuai held the person in his arms tightly and, carrying within him the joy and gratitude of having lived this life over again, placed a solemn kiss upon him.

“Ah-Yuan, in this life, having you is enough.”

Chu Yuan looped his arms around Lu Ronghuai’s neck and, smiling, offered up his own kiss.

“The same is true for me.”

After much coaxing and wearing him down, Lu Ronghuai finally won Chu Yuan’s consent.

With his own hands, Lu Ronghuai set upon him that gilt imperial crown. The same garments, and yet when worn upon them, they gave off two different kinds of bearing, one like the blazing sun, the other like the bright moon.

Separated by the swaying jade curtain strands, the two looked at one another, then smiled, and hand in hand walked out through the courtyard gate.

The courtyard was filled with people. The moment all of them saw the two, they smiled and knelt, crying out in unison.

“We welcome Our Emperor.  Long live, long live, long live Our Emperor!”

On this day, gongs, drums, and firecrackers shook the heavens with rejoicing, and the brush of history wrote down an entirely new page.

...

The historical records state that on the twenty-eighth day of the tenth month, the whole realm celebrated.

Red silk stretched for ten li, a hundred kinds of music sounded together, passersby lined the roads, and every bloom contended in beauty. Never before had such grandeur been seen.

The two Emperors ascended the platform hand in hand, worshipped the ancestors in a shared rite, and proclaimed to all under Heaven that one realm now had two Emperors.

They created a change unknown in past and present, opened a new beginning for the dynasty, and though at first there were dissenting voices, before three years had passed, the people of the age were wholly convinced in both heart and speech. Emperor Huai was valiant and fierce, decisive in killing and judgment; Emperor Yuan was gentle and kindly, possessed of deep sight and far-reaching foresight. The two ruled together, the realm returned to unity, all within the seas prospered in peace, and spring filled the human world.

Later generations called it the Yuanping Flourishing Age.

✧ A Word from the Author ✧

Lu Dog: Matching couple outfits, eh-heh.

IsitRo: Shatappp Lu Dog!!! The name is all for Chu Yuan, isn’t it? 😭 my hearttt. Anyhoo, this is the Main Story Ending imo. True extras next!