Bai Qingyu X Lu Rongshen (1)
Recently, Lu Rongshen had been leaving the palace with striking frequency.
Each day he went out all smiles and came back with his heart blossoming in delight. The eunuchs and palace maids within the palace all knew that Eighth Highness was about to be married.
Of all people, the happiest was naturally Consort Ye.
She was not favored. Watching her son grow up, she had never once seen Emperor Hongjia show the least concern or ask after him. She had no choice but to ask her natal Ye family to help find a suitable match among the young ladies of Ye Jing. Now that the great matter of marriage had been settled, Consort Ye’s heart too had found some peace.
“Take more silver with you. Whatever Miss Bai likes, buy it for her. You must by no means be stingy with money.” Consort Ye caught Lu Rongchen by the arm as he was heading out the door, pressing instruction after instruction upon him with earnest care.
“Also, you must be more considerate and attentive toward her. Pay close attention to what she likes. Do not think only of your own eating, drinking, and amusements.”
“Oh, and Miss Bai is a general’s daughter. From childhood she followed General Bai and grew up in the western borderlands. When you have nothing to do, read more books on the art of war. Otherwise, when Miss Bai speaks of something, you will understand nothing and only make yourself look like a fool.”
As he was scolded by his Mother Consort, Lu Rongshen puffed out his lips. “Mother Consort, I have at least some good points, do I not? Why do you always dislike me so much?”
Consort Ye said, “It is all for your own good. Your Mother Consort also only hopes that in the future the two of you may live in harmony as husband and wife, and raise the tray together to the eyebrows.”
These were words Lu Rongshen loved to hear. Happily, he said, “Mother Consort, rest assured. Qingyu is accommodating in all things, and I too will treat her well. It is getting late, so I will leave the palace first to go find Qingyu.”
Consort Ye stood at the palace gate and lovingly watched him go.
The marriage between Lu Rongshen and Bai Qingyu had been bestowed by imperial decree. Since it had passed through proper form, even if they appeared together on the great streets of Ye Jing, it could still rightly count as an upright and proper outing between the two of them.
Today, Lu Rongshen had invited Bai Qingyu out to listen to music. He had reserved a private room, yet when he pushed open the door, he discovered that Bai Qingyu had actually arrived before him.
The instant Lu Rongshen saw her, an exceedingly bright light burst from his eyes. He at once smiled, and together with his happiness, there was also a trace of shyness.
He had invited a young lady out to meet him, yet he had arrived later than she had. From now on, he would certainly set out another half hour earlier.
“Forgive me, I am late. Qingyu, you must have waited a long time.”
Bai Qingyu stood up. Looking into Lu Rongshen’s eyes, he smiled lightly. “No. I arrived too early. Your Highness is not late.”
Lu Rongshen grinned. He ordered a few plates of pastries to be brought up, then walked over to Bai Qingyu’s side. “Qingyu, sit quickly. I brought you a gift.”
As he spoke, he drew from his sleeve an exquisite brocade handkerchief embroidered with twin fish at play among lotus blossoms, and with both hands presented it before Bai Qingyu.
“I saw it in a shop. The embroidery pattern was done so well. I took a fancy to it at first glance and felt it suited you perfectly.”
Bai Qingyu lowered his eyes. Looking down, he accepted the handkerchief and murmured his thanks, then solemnly put it away.
Lu Rongshen pushed the pastries that had just been set out toward Bai Qingyu. “The pastries here taste tolerable enough. Try them and see whether you like them. Once the music ends, I will bring you to Fuxian Tower to eat. The pastries there are the most delicious.”
“Very well.” Bai Qingyu almost never refused him.
During the musical performance, Lu Rongshen’s mind was not on the melodies at all. Every so often, he would sneak two glances at Bai Qingyu, his face full of a barely restrained restlessness.
Bai Qingyu took all his little movements into his eyes. Pretending not to know, he devoted himself to listening to the music. After a while, one hand crept quietly over, the warm palm pressing to the back of his hand before slowly closing around it, taking his hand into its grasp.
Bai Qingyu’s gaze moved slightly.
Lu Rongshen did his utmost to hold down the excitement in his heart. Holding Bai Qingyu’s hand, his joy-clouded mind no longer seemed to know what it was saying at all.
“Qingyu, your hand is rather large.” It was also somewhat rough.
Lu Rongshen thought this in his heart, though he did not say the final sentence aloud. He knew that Bai Qingyu had grown up in the western borderlands, where conditions were harsh. Wind and sun must surely have caused her to suffer no small hardship.
Now that he was her betrothed, he did not mind such things in the least. Rather, from the bottom of his heart, he only hoped Bai Qingyu could have better things. Whatever the young ladies of Ye Jing possessed, his Qingyu must likewise have.
Bai Qingyu did not know the course of Lu Rongshen’s thoughts in this moment. Upon hearing those words, the corners of his lips, which had held a faint smile, slowly drew straight again. The line of his eyes lowered, and within those downcast eyes was hidden a complexity unknown to others.
His gaze fell downward, looking at their joined hands. His own hand was much broader and thicker than Lu Rongshen’s, and on the pads of his fingers and at the tiger’s mouth there were thick calluses, marks left behind by one who handled blades and spears over long years.
It was only because the little fool at his side was so simple-hearted and so guileless that he had never once doubted such things.
Yet Lu Rongshen might not doubt, while Bai Qingyu could not continue to conceal the truth. Eighth Highness had a kind heart, and marriage was a matter for an entire lifetime. He absolutely could not, for the sake of his own selfishness, ruin him. In doing this, he had wronged Eighth Highness’s goodness toward him.
Bai Qingyu’s heart was full of tangled thoughts, and through the latter half of the performance he had no mind at all for the music. Lu Rongshen, for his part, was immersed in the excitement of holding hands and for the moment did not notice that Bai Qingyu’s emotions were amiss.
Once the performance ended, the two of them went to Fuxian Tower for a meal.
In the afternoon, Lu Rongshen brought him around to stroll through shops for a long while, and only at dusk did he escort him to the gate of the Bai residence.
Bai Qingyu, arms full of things, went up the steps and then turned to look back.
Lu Rongshen stood below the steps, smiling broadly and waving at him. “Go in quickly. Another day I will bring you to go boating.”
His tone was full of bright, bouncing joy and delight.
Looking at his pure and unclouded smiling face, his eyes bright and clean, Bai Qingyu swallowed back the many words in his throat, still unable to find a suitable moment to speak them aloud.
Forget it. The next time they went out, he would find some quiet place and tell him openly and honestly.
Bai Qingyu smiled once, then turned and entered the gate.
After returning to his own courtyard, Bai Yi soon came over.
Bai Qingyu rose. “Father, why have you come?”
“I came to have a look.” Bai Yi’s gaze swept across the table and, seeing the dazzling assortment of boxes upon it, he was greatly astonished. “What are all these?”
“They were given by His Highness.” Bai Qingyu poured tea for his father, his expression steady. “All of them are things used by young ladies, embroidered handkerchiefs, rouge, hairpins, and some little trinkets of the current fashion.”
“...”
Bai Yi was struck dumb. “You still have not found an opportunity to explain things clearly to His Highness?”
Bai Qingyu shook his head. Choosing his words with care, he said, “His Highness seems to... like me very much. Every time he comes, he is especially happy. Father, I have not yet found a suitable moment.”
“Qingyu, you have always acted cleanly and decisively. Since when have you been so hesitant?” Bai Yi said with deep earnestness. “The longer this drags on, the deeper you will both fall. At that point, for both you and him, it will be a blow enough to kill.”
“What is more, you ought to understand that even if he likes you now, what he likes is still a daughter of the Bai family, not a son of the Bai family.”
Bai Qingyu tightened his grip on the tea cup in his hand. After a long while, he lowered his head and said softly, “I understand. I will explain it clearly to him.”
“Mm. It is enough that you know your own measure.” Bai Yi sat down wearily. “The court is in turmoil. His Majesty has grown old and can no longer suppress the demons beneath him. I too have grown old, and the military command is no longer in my hands. In the future, I will no longer be able to protect you...”
What Bai Yi worried over day and night now was precisely Bai Qingyu’s marriage. The bestowed marriage had dispelled Emperor Hongjia’s wish to send Bai Qingyu away in a marriage alliance, thus resolving the immediate danger. Yet for him to marry Eighth Highness, how was that not another trouble in itself?
When choosing the lesser of two harms, Eighth Highness was without question a better choice than being sent away in a marriage alliance.
Only, the crime of deceiving the sovereign hung over their heads day and night like a great blade, and no one knew at which moment it might fall.
Seeing the white at Bai Yi’s temples, Bai Qingyu felt a pang in his heart. “Father, you have already protected me for twenty years. It is I who am unfilial and have caused you to worry so greatly.”
“I have only you, this one child. If I do not make plans for you, then for whom should I make them? It is also my fault. If in those years I had told His Majesty the truth and then laid down my armor and returned to the fields, perhaps you would not have needed to conceal your sex and suffer such grievances.”
“Once my identity is exposed, even if Father gave up everything, His Majesty might still not tolerate me.”
As he spoke, Bai Qingyu rose and came before Bai Yi. Then he bent his knees and knelt. “Had it not been for you, I would already have been buried in the wilderness. This life of mine was given by you. You have already given up far too much for me. I truly do not wish to see you yield still more.”
Bai Yi moved to help him up, but Bai Qingyu shook his head, his expression firm. “Father, this matter has arisen entirely because of me. If something is exposed, then this child alone will bear it, and it will have nothing to do with you.”
Bai Yi said, “When on campaign, father and son go into battle together. How can there be any abandoning the son and fleeing alone? Do not always think only of the worst. From the way I see it, that Eighth Highness may truly forgive you. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if he hates you for deceiving him, then the two of us will go together and apologize to him. His Highness is soft-hearted. There may yet still be a turning in the matter.”
“I know. He is very good. Yet we must still prepare for the worst.” Bai Qingyu spoke with calm reason.
Bai Yi nodded and forcefully dragged him up from the ground. “Enough, enough. Let us not speak of these matters any more. Come, you will accompany me in drinking two cups.”
Bai Qingyu was pulled out the door by him, and helplessness showed faintly on his face. “Father, the physician told you to drink less wine.”
Bai Yi looked extremely aggrieved. “That physician simply does not wish me to live comfortably. I have not tasted the flavor of wine in half a month. Today, no matter who tries to persuade me, I am going to drink.”
A smile flickered through Bai Qingyu’s blue eyes.
Two days later, the evening clouds were like fire and a cool breeze drifted faintly through the air.
As promised, Bai Qingyu arrived at Feng River.
Lu Rongshen brought him aboard a painted pleasure boat. At the stern, the boatman lightly poled them along, while at the bow there was a famous singing girl playing and singing. Her soft and charming voice drifted over the river’s surface, mingling with the river lanterns along the bank, leaving lingering echoes that circled without end.
The windows on both sides of the painted boat stood open. The two of them sat facing one another within. On the low table before them burned a lotus-scented censer, and at the center sat a black-lacquered, red-wood eight-treasure food box.
Lu Rongshen opened the food box, and a cool white mist spread out. Within were revealed eight kinds of exquisitely shaped pastries.
He pushed the food box in front of Bai Qingyu. “These are iced pastries made by the Imperial Kitchen. In summer, they are the best for dispelling heat. Qingyu, try them quickly.”
Seeing that sweat covered Lu Rongshen’s brow, Bai Qingyu asked, “Did Your Highness run here from the palace?”
Lu Rongshen’s face was very red, as though the evening clouds had fallen upon his skin. “Yes. The palace gates are barred very early. I was afraid I would not make it out in time, so I ran all the way from the palace gate. I am terribly exhausted.”
Bai Qingyu drew out a handkerchief, leaned slightly forward, and lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from Lu Rongshen’s forehead.
Blushing, Lu Rongshen enjoyed Bai Qingyu’s care. His eyes shone even brighter than the moon. Once Bai Qingyu finished wiping him down, he raised his hand and caught hold of Bai Qingyu’s wrist.
“Qingyu, you truly treat me so well.”
Bai Qingyu lowered his eyes. His voice was still rather hoarse, but when one listened to it for a while, it became a flavor all its own. “Your Highness treats me even better.”
Lu Rongshen was delighted beyond measure. His heart was beating noisily, as though he kept a rabbit within it. Every time he saw Bai Qingyu, the rabbit inside his heart jumped and leapt without cease.
He said, “It is still far from enough. These days, I have often gone to ask Third Brother for advice. He dotes on Third Sister-in-law most dearly, and I must learn much from him. Once you cross my gate in the future, I will treat you a thousand times, ten thousand times better, even better than Third Brother treats Third Sister-in-law.”
Words like a solemn vow sounded at his ear. Bai Qingyu’s fingertips could not help but move slightly. Yet that warmth rising within his heart turned soundlessly back to ice the moment he met Lu Rongshen’s clear and innocent eyes.
“Does Your Highness treat me so well because His Majesty bestowed the marriage?”
Lu Rongshen blinked. He scratched at his chin and looked intently into those blue eyes. “It cannot quite be put that way. I simply wish to treat you well. Even if... even if Father Emperor had not bestowed this marriage, I think I would still have gone of my own accord to your house and sought your hand.”
At the martial grounds of the Wanchao Hui, he had fallen in love with Bai Qingyu at first sight.
Only, at the time, shyness and nervousness had occupied his whole mind, and he had not been able to tell why his heart had been so stirred. It was only after the matter had settled that he slowly savored the meaning of his own difference in conduct.
He liked Bai Qingyu as a person. From the first glance in which he saw her, he had liked her very much.
When Bai Qingyu heard these words, the bitterness in the depths of his eyes only deepened. The other’s sincerity and frankness were, without question, the last straw that broke him.
If Lu Rongshen had been some terrible scoundrel and hypocrite, he would certainly have made use of him without mercy to preserve himself.
However, he was so good, so clean and pure, and Bai Qingyu could not bear to make use of him.
“Your Highness, if I have deceived you, would Your Highness still treat me well?”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Thank you very much for everyone’s support. I will continue to work hard!
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