Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 121

At the Eastern Palace gate, Jiang Cheng, Song Yang, and Zhou Wenhe were already waiting.

“Rumor said the Grand Chancellor Qi personally went to Prince Yan’s command tent to bring Your Highness and the Young Prince out. We didn’t believe it at first, but it’s actually true!”

Song Yang had been so anxious the entire night that he looked as though he might cry from relief.

Jiang Cheng added, “Your servant kept watch outside Prince Yan’s command tent all night. I originally planned to find an opportunity to rescue Your Highness, but the place was far too heavily guarded. Your servant couldn’t find a single opening and didn’t dare act rashly. I could only return empty-handed.”

Xi Rong nodded and asked about the martial arts tournament.

Song Yang replied, “Neither Prince Yan nor the Northern Yan generals appeared today. So Cui Daohuan sought the Emperor’s instruction and announced that the tournament is suspended. Your servant has already prepared hot soup and rice. Your Highness and the Young Prince should go in to rest and eat.”

Xi Rong brought Xiao Rong directly into the sleeping quarters where he rested on normal days.

Xiao Rong, familiar with the place, immediately took A’Li, the tabby cat, out of his cage. He knelt on the floor cushion beside him, lowering his head to stroke the cat’s sleek, glossy fur. The tabby cat affectionately bumped its head against Xiao Rong’s sleeve.

Xiao Rong’s lips curved faintly upward.

The reason he chose to come to the Eastern Palace first was not to force Xi Rong to acknowledge him, nor to cling to the Eastern Palace. But in that one night and half a day at Prince Yan’s headquarters, far too many things had happened and he needed to sort out his thoughts.

And he didn’t want to sit alone in a room stewing over everything.

Xi Rong walked over, silently watching for a moment. Then he bent down, lifted the tabby from Xiao Rong’s arms, set it aside, and sat down next to him. After that, he reached out and gathered Xiao Rong’s hand into his.

Xiao Rong lifted his gaze.

Xi Rong’s calloused hand slipped along the inside of his wide, soft silk sleeve.

Xiao Rong felt ticklish and couldn’t help asking, “What is Your Highness doing?”

“I’m checking properly whether you’ve hidden any more dangerous things in your sleeves.”

Throughout their time at Prince Yan’s headquarters, Xi Rong had remained gentle and composed. Even when Xiao Rong first awoke from unconsciousness, Xi Rong only wiped his sweat and fed him medicine softly, never losing control or pressing him about why he had swallowed the Gu to take his own life.

It didn’t fit Xi Rong’s usual temperament, but Xiao Rong understood that Xi Rong simply didn’t want to burden him with more psychological pressure.

Only now, back in his own territory, Xi Rong’s true emotions finally surfaced without restraint.

Xi Rong’s expression was tight, his jawline drawn taut like a bowstring. He turned out both of Xiao Rong’s sleeves completely, confirming there were no more golden needles or Gu. Only then did he stop.

“Rongrong.”

His expression was more serious and more sorrowful than ever.

“Don’t ever do something so foolish again, all right?”

Xiao Rong nodded slowly. He actually felt ashamed because the moment he made that decision, it was equivalent to abandoning Xi Rong once more without mercy.

Even if Xi Rong said nothing, he must have been hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Xiao Rong said sincerely.

Xi Rong shook his head. “Don’t tell me you’re sorry. You only need to promise me.”

Xiao Rong nodded again. “I promise Your Highness. I’ll never do that again.”

“So,” Xi Rong asked, “when did you begin planning that?”

Xiao Rong couldn’t answer immediately.

How was he supposed to explain?

At first, he had intended to go to Northern Yan and kill Yan Ju, to end everything once and for all.

If Yan Ju died, the Mother-Child Gu would cease to exist and no one in this world would hate him anymore.

If Yan Ju died, he could finally break free from the fate of being a mere chess piece.

However, ultimately, he couldn’t do it.

Not because he lacked the ability.

In truth, he had made extremely thorough preparations and crafted an airtight plan for the assassination. He had even coated the dagger with a deadly poison. Just a scratch would kill instantly.

And Yan Ju had been gravely injured at the time; he didn’t even need the dagger. Simply sprinkling the poison onto the wound would have been enough to send Yan Ju to the afterlife.

However, in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Because after staying in the Northern Yan military camp for half a year, aside from Yan Ju’s obvious favoritism toward Jing Xi, he could hardly find a single fault with the man.

As Prince Yan, he led by example, willing to risk his own life to save an ordinary soldier. He guarded the northern border like an iron fortress; not a single inch was allowed to be violated by the barbarians.

As a commander, his orders were absolute, his army strict and disciplined, rewards and punishments clear, victories unbroken. His soldiers were willing to die for him. In the infirmary, he heard praise after praise of countless stories of how Prince Yan cared for ordinary soldiers.

He had even seen with his own eyes that man, drenched in blood, lying on a camp bed, silently clenching his teeth while the military doctor pulled an arrow from his body, never uttering a sound. Such iron will.

Although he hated Yan Ju, hated him for making him a pawn and hated him for using that blood-soaked fox pelt to frighten him, he had to admit that Yan Ju was a hero.

If he killed Yan Ju, chaos would erupt along the northern border and once the barbarians invaded, who knew how many lives would be lost?

He could not kill Yan Ju for his own selfishness.

The classics he had studied, the upbringing carved into his bones since childhood; none of it would allow him to do such a thing.

That night, in the dim central command tent, he had sat frozen with his blade raised for a long, long time. He had already planned to put down the dagger. What he never expected was that Yan Ju would suddenly wake up.

Seeing the dagger so close at hand, a fierce, wolf-like ruthlessness flashed in Yan Ju’s eyes; so sharp it felt as if he could tear him apart through sheer gaze alone.

That gaze was almost exactly the same as what he had imagined countless times before.

He froze on the spot, sinking again into that drowning, suffocating panic. He knew he should run, but his body wouldn’t move at all.

Then, the next moment, Yan Ju suddenly grabbed his right hand, the one holding the dagger, gripping it so tightly he nearly crushed his wrist. Yan Ju stared straight at his face, almost deliriously calling out…

“Rongrong.”

“You’re Rongrong, aren’t you?”

Despite his severe injuries, the man’s strength was immense and his tone urgent, almost desperate.

Xiao Rong snapped out of it in terror. He broke free from that iron grip with all his strength and fled without looking back.

He had no idea why that man used a nickname that only close family would use. Even less did he expect Yan Ju to recognize him at a glance. He had no time to think. He only knew one thing.

He had to escape.

He had to use every possible means to get out of that place.

Otherwise, once his identity was exposed, Yan Ju would surely make a huge issue of it and strike against the Xiao Royal Residence.

With the Mother-Child Gu binding them, Yan Ju wouldn’t dare kill him. But given how much Yan Ju hated him, he would certainly torment him worse than death. And that dog Jing Xi wouldn’t let him off either.

Fortunately, he had prepared long ago. When he learned that the feather token worn by the Prince’s adopted son allowed free passage within Northern Yan, he seized Jing Xi’s token during the martial competition at the Platform of Challenge. With that, he cleared one checkpoint after another and escaped the pursuers Yan Ju sent.

Yan Ju could not die. The unnecessary one was him.

He had to find a way to break the Mother-Child Gu that tied his fate to Yan Ju’s.

While living with Shang Buyu and Cen Yun, he had pored over many medical texts and finally reached one conclusion: to destroy the mother Gu without harming the child Gu or its host, one needed to find a higher-level King Gu to devour the mother.

So he left without saying goodbye and went deep into the mountains of Songzhou, beginning his plan to raise King Gus.

However, the conditions for King Gu’s birth were harsh and he was an amateur. He killed many insects before managing to raise four that had potential.

Now, hearing Xi Rong ask such a question, Xiao Rong felt guilty and looked away.

Xi Rong immediately guessed the truth. “So, at the Golden Lantern Pavilion Gathering, the reason you took interest in that Western Region King Gu was also for nurturing Gu?”

Xiao Rong nodded guiltily. To be honest, without that King Gu from the Western Region, his Blood-Killing Gu probably wouldn’t have succeeded.

“Rongrong, you’re truly heartless!” Xi Rong was so pained he looked ready to cough blood.

Xiao Rong knew he was in the wrong and had no idea how to comfort him. He could only say, “How about you hit me a few times to vent your anger?”

“Hit you?”

“Yes.” Xiao Rong smilingly extended his hand. “When I was a student, I hated getting my palms smacked the most. Your Highness, your martial skills are superb. If you hit me twice, I’ll definitely be in agony.”

Xi Rong really stood up without a word and fetched a black jade ruler from the desk.

Xiao Rong had only said it casually to coax him. Seeing Xi Rong actually take it seriously, he immediately pulled his hand back. He had been pampered since childhood, delicate to the extreme. A single bamboo strike would leave a red welt. If it were a jade ruler, he might die from the pain.

Xi Rong deliberately darkened his tone. “Who was speaking big words just now?”

Xiao Rong hid his hand behind him and argued, “I didn’t say you had to use that thing.”

Seeing his expression, Xi Rong couldn’t help laughing a little, his voice softening. “Don’t worry. I won’t hit you.” But he still didn’t put the ruler down.

Under Xiao Rong’s gaze, Xi Rong suddenly lifted his hand and struck his own palm heavily with it. He used great force, so much so that the palm that always held bows and swords instantly showed a deep purple mark, even dotted with blood.

Xiao Rong’s expression changed at once. He immediately grabbed Xi Rong’s left hand that held the ruler. “What are you doing?!”

Xi Rong’s expression remained calm and light, as though that ruler had not landed across his own palm. But his tone was solemn and serious. “I can’t bear to hit you, so I can only hit myself. I must remind myself never to fall for your tricks again, nor be so foolish.”

There was no need to mention the word trick outright.

Xiao Rong immediately understood that by foolish, Xi Rong meant letting himself be led into buying that Western Region’s King Gu and how Xiao Rong had tricked and coaxed him into it.

That had clearly been Xiao Rong’s little scheme, yet Xi Rong took all the blame onto himself.

Looking at the blood-speckled palm of Xi Rong’s hand, Xiao Rong’s eyes grew hot and sore. “How can you be so silly? What does any of that have to do with you?”

“Of course it concerns me.” Xi Rong’s tone stayed stern. “If I had been more attentive back in Songzhou and noticed the strangeness of those insects, you would never have had the chance to cultivate any King Gu. Rongrong, because of my negligence, I almost lost you. How is that not a grave mistake?”

Xiao Rong could not speak. He reached out and held Xi Rong tightly. After a long moment, he said, “You’re not allowed to do something this foolish ever again. If I said I’ll promise you, then I will.”

Xiao Rong’s tone, too, carried solemn weight.

Yan Ju appeared utterly unconcerned about the Mother-Child Gu. Perhaps it was an act, or perhaps it was something else. Although Yan Ju had spoken to him with deep earnestness, recounting countless absurd stories that Xiao Rong had no memory of, Xiao Rong remained highly wary.

More accurately, he did not believe any of it.

How could he ever have lived in the Yan Royal Residence?

And even if he truly had, it certainly wouldn’t have been the version Yan Ju described.

By logic, after finishing their game of chess today, when he went alone to the bedchamber to see Yan Ju, he should have had the chance to question him about some things.

However, Xiao Rong instinctively resisted learning more.

In the end, his existence was never something that brought joy. He did not want to place himself in an even more humiliating position.

Being a chess piece was already his bottom line.

At least, as a chess piece, he once held some value.

Because of that value, he had lived arrogantly and confidently from childhood, never once feeling guilty in front of Prince Xiao.

He feared that digging further would only reveal uglier truths.

For example, that even the chess piece was not something Prince Xiao had wanted, but something forced upon him, humiliatingly and accidentally produced.

If that were true, then the fact that Prince Xiao had not killed him all these years and had instead raised him as a chess piece was already something he should be grateful for.

And if that were true, he feared he would lose control and truly want to kill Yan Ju.

He relied on his talent; he had been arrogant and sharp-eyed from childhood, with a pride far beyond ordinary men. This same pride was what made it so difficult for him to speak, even to Xi Rong, with whom he had lived and died together, about his origins and the truths he hid.

***

“What? Qi Ru took Xiao Rong and the Crown Prince away from Prince Yan’s residence?”

Hearing the report, Cui Daohuan frowned and stroked his beard.

“That’s right.” Cui Jiu stood respectfully below him. “It’s said that Qi Ru even returned Thirteenth Protector Jing Xi to Prince Yan, claiming the whole matter was a misunderstanding. I’ve also heard that last night at Prince Yan’s residence, Prince Xiao nearly came to blows with Prince Yan and was unable to take Xiao Rong away. If that old Grand Chancellor Qi hadn’t intervened, the situation would never have been resolved.”

“Indeed. What a pity to lose such a perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone.” A flash of obvious regret crossed Cui Daohuan’s eyes.

Cui Jiu naturally understood that the two birds were, first, driving a wedge between the two princes and, second, using Prince Yan’s hand to severely damage the Eastern Palace.

“Grand Chancellor Qi has been recuperating in Qizhou recently. Why did he suddenly return to the capital?” Cui Daohuan asked again.

Cui Jiu smiled. “The Secretariat is in chaos, Prince Yan has entered the capital, and His Majesty’s health weakens by the day. How could the old Grand Chancellor possibly sit still in Qizhou? But in my opinion, before the situation settles, the Qi clan will not bet lightly. Master need not worry too much.”

“That’s true. That old tortoise of three reigns is famous for his cunning. My real opponent right now is Xiao Jingming. After the summer hunt, Xiao Jingming directly slashed half of the Imperial Guard’s budget. The disciples and confidants I’ve placed across the Six Ministries have been removed by him under all sorts of excuses. At this rate, even my position as Minister of State Affairs will be hollowed out.

“As long as Xiao Jingming is here, no matter how much I scheme, the Prince of Wei cannot ascend the throne smoothly. I have endured humiliation for so many years. It’s time to strike back.”

Cui Jiu immediately understood. “Master intends to execute that plan?”

Cui Daohuan smiled broadly. “Everything is ready. We only need Xiao Jingming to enter the trap.

“The feud between Xiao Jingming and Yan Ju began years ago over control of the Xiangzhou garrison. With all the accumulated resentment over the years, a clash is inevitable. Go to Prince Yan’s residence yourself. Meet Yan Ju and tell him that I have a strategy to eliminate Xiao Jingming. And if he succeeds, in the future, Xiangzhou will be incorporated directly into Northern Yan’s territory.”