Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 27

The night was clear and fine, stars strung together like a ladle hanging high in the sky. From the wooden hut nestled in the mountains, the chirping of spring insects outside the window could be heard clearly.

“What do you think His Highness is really planning?”

Jiang Cheng was already lying down on his own straw mat, fast asleep with his sword in his arms, back turned to the window. Zhou Wenhe sat upright on another mat, removing his boots as he asked Song Yang, who was busy at a low, crude table in the corner.

Song Yang was flipping rapidly through a thick stack of intelligence reports just delivered by covert agents; some from down the mountain, others from the Southwest, and a portion from the capital.

Without pausing, he replied, “I don’t know what His Highness is thinking, but I do agree with his decision.”

Zhou Wenhe was clearly surprised. “Although they haven’t found anyone, it’s obvious the Cui clan believes what that hunter said. They’re convinced His Highness is hiding here. If he continues to stay, wouldn’t that be like a fish in a barrel, just waiting for danger to strike?”

Song Yang countered, “And do you think His Highness would be safe if he left?”

Zhou Wenhe considered the question, but couldn’t give an answer right away. “What do you mean?”

Song Yang selected a few of the more important reports, sighed, and said, “When His Highness seized military command in the Southwest, it was like tearing flesh from the Cui clan’s bones. Not only the Five Great Clans and the Seven Noble Houses, but all the powerful families across the court and realm were shaken. The army rations His Highness used in the Southwest were extracted by breaking the backs of powerful clans, forcing them to cough up resources bit by bit. Several of those clans are deeply entangled with the Cui clan.

“Cui Daohuan is used to having the final say, so how could he tolerate such provocation? Now that the Cui clan harbors murderous intent, they won’t let His Highness leave Songzhou alive. Frankly, even if His Highness hadn’t chosen to lodge here temporarily, the road back to the capital would still be littered with threats.

“By staying in the mountains, he may still be in danger, but the Cui clan is wary of that possibly real, possibly fake ‘Thirteenth Protector,’ so they won’t act rashly. If His Highness descends the mountain, there will only be more ambushes and assassins, not fewer. Besides, the mountainous terrain here is complex. If something urgent happens, it’s easier to hide or escape.

“And of course,” Song Yang added, “there’s an even more important reason.”

Zhou Wenhe looked at him.

Song Yang stroked his beard and said two words slowly, “The treasure.

“By staying in the mountains, His Highness can use the opportunity to investigate the whereabouts of that legendary treasure. If he left and people from the Eastern Palace kept entering the mountain, the alert Cui clan would definitely grow suspicious.

“Although His Highness now holds military power in the Southwest and has some influence in the north, without solving the issue of funds, it’s all meaningless. You can’t support an army without money. The Cui clan controls the Ministry of State Affairs and the Xiao clan controls the Ministry of War, those two won’t give him a single coin or piece of equipment. If that treasure truly exists, it would be invaluable to both His Highness and the Eastern Palace.”

Thinking of the perilous road ahead, both men sighed inwardly.

At that moment, the door of the wooden hut creaked open from the outside.

Seeing the tall, imposing figure appear in the doorway, Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe both jumped up in shock and bowed quickly. Jiang Cheng also woke up instantly, scrambling to stand despite only being in his underrobe.

The three of them were confused. Why would His Highness suddenly appear in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

“Is there urgent intelligence?” Xi Rong asked, his face calm and unreadable.

There were always many matters requiring His Highness’s attention. Although the Eastern Palace received intelligence from every direction and a copy was sent to Xi Rong’s desk, most of it was first reviewed by Song Yang who filtered out the most important parts for him.

“Reporting to Your Highness, aside from Liu Xin going to see Cui Jiu after informing the authorities, everything else is normal. There are no unusual developments… Oh, there is one matter.”

Song Yang returned to the table, swiftly pulled out one document from the pile, and presented it to Xi Rong. “This morning, a scholar named Ji Ziqing came to the Eastern Palace’s residence requesting an audience. The guards asked what business he had, but he didn’t say. However, I suspect he came to submit a letter of intent to serve.”

“Ji Ziqing?” Xi Rong took the report, glanced through it, and asked, “Why does that name sound familiar?”

Song Yang quickly replied, “He’s the top scorer from the recent Chu River Gathering. He comes from a humble background, his grandfather served as a judicial official. He’s reputed to be upright and his writing is excellent, quite talented.”

“Then how are you certain he comes to pledge service to the Eastern Palace?”

“I believe I know part of the reason,” Jiang Cheng chimed in respectfully. “When Your Highness instructed me to… handle things at the Huanghe Tower, I overheard some patrons say that a top scorer was beaten up by Yan Maocai, son of Yan Hemei. It seems the scholar had submitted his name card to the Cui clan and Yan Maocai feared being outshone, so he pressured him to withdraw the card. The scholar refused and was beaten. If I recall correctly, the name mentioned was Ji Ziqing.”

“Is that so?” Xi Rong pinched the report thoughtfully. “Then why did he change his mind and withdraw his name card?”

Neither Song Yang nor Jiang Cheng could answer.

“I suspect something must have changed,” Jiang Cheng offered.

Xi Rong nodded.

“Then look into it. If he’s suitable, try to recruit him.”

Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe both responded in unison, “Yes, Your Highness.”

When the two lowered their heads, they finally noticed that His Highness was wearing a dark outer robe over his nightclothes. He had clearly already gone to bed but had gotten up deliberately and come straight over from his bed.

After asking his question, Xi Rong did not linger; he turned and left immediately.

The two men exchanged glances, confusion in their eyes.

Normally, if there were urgent or important matters, they would report to His Highness at once. There would never be a situation where Xi Rong would have to come and ask. And although he was diligent and had long set the rule that reports needn’t observe the time of day, he had never before come over in the dead of night to inquire about intelligence like this.

“Do you think His Highness suspects we’ve been slacking off lately?” Zhou Wenhe asked anxiously as he lay back down on his straw mat.

“I doubt it… Maybe he just couldn’t sleep,” Song Yang replied.

Gu Rong, however, truly could not sleep.

He’d been lying on the stone bed for two years now and usually, the moment he lay down, he’d fall asleep. But that night, he’d turned over several times and still couldn’t fall asleep.

After the door of the wooden hut creaked once, there had been no more movement. The man had gone out. In the middle of the night, what would he be doing outside? Could it be he was troubled or had something on his mind?

And what could be weighing on his mind?

Gu Rong’s scalp prickled as he didn’t want to think too deeply.

Yet even without thinking, he could guess that it most likely had to do with the outrageous thing that happened between them the night before. The other man had volunteered to sleep outside. It must be because Gu Rong’s reaction earlier had been too obvious.

Although last night had indeed been absurd, had he been too rude to his guest?

When the guest, out of concern for his feelings, had offered to sleep outside, Gu Rong had actually accepted it by default, without trying to stop him, without a word of protest.

It was utterly disgraceful.

Gu Rong placed a hand over his forehead, wanting to knock himself out.

But from a rational standpoint, it did seem inappropriate for them to continue sleeping in the same bed under the current circumstances.

So although his silence might have been impolite, it wasn’t entirely unjustified. After all, had he offered to sleep outside instead, it would have only made things even more awkward for the other man.

Thinking so, Gu Rong couldn’t help turning his head slightly to glance outward.

The outer side of the bed was empty and the pillow that had been there had vanished.

The man, always thoughtful to the extreme, had not only taken himself away but also removed the pillow, along with the robe that had been folded on the stone table, as though afraid even a trace left behind might stir feelings or displease him.

Complicated emotions churned in Gu Rong’s chest when finally, the sound of returning footsteps reached him from outside. A moment later, the wooden hut door creaked shut. After a few soft steps, silence fell again and no more movement was heard outside.

It seemed the man had truly gone to sleep.

Gu Rong closed his eyes, determined to make use of his usually carefree nature and fall asleep. No more overthinking.

But he had only just shut his eyes when the wind suddenly picked up outside. The doors of the wooden hut slammed noisily back and forth, like a quarrel between fighters, loud and jarring in the still night.

Gu Rong was not the sort to be overly hesitant. He opened his eyes, no longer wavering. In the end, he slipped on his shoes, got out of bed, and picked up an oil lamp to head outside.

There, on the straw mat usually used for drinking, Gu Rong saw Xi Rong; not lying down, but seated cross-legged, eyes closed, while wearing a cloak.

“Brother?” Gu Rong called softly.

Xi Rong slowly opened his eyes. Upon seeing who it was, he smiled faintly. “Why did you come out?”

“I came to see how you’re sleeping. Why are you sitting out here like this?”

“I was just thinking. I couldn’t sleep, so I’m adjusting my breath a little.”

“Adjusting your breath?” Gu Rong caught the key point. “Brother, are your injuries worsening again?”

He suddenly remembered that back when Xi Rong had accompanied him to Liu family’s residence to stir up trouble, he had spent the night similarly seated, treating his injuries. Over the past two days, he had seemed better, but now, was his injury worsening again?

Gu Rong couldn’t help but think of certain wild and frenzied images from the previous night…

“No,” Xi Rong denied. “Even when uninjured, I often use this method to quiet my mind. You should go back to sleep. I’m fine, really. You don’t need to worry about me.”

But Gu Rong said firmly, “Brother, I’ve thought it over. Let’s just sleep together again. You sleeping out here is really not proper, I won’t be able to rest easy.”

Xi Rong shook his head.

“No. Last night was my fault. If I sleep inside again, it’ll affect your rest.”

“It won’t,” Gu Rong said, eyes curving in confidence. “I’ve already come up with a perfect solution. Brother, just come back and sleep in peace.”

A moment later, Xi Rong stood by the bedside, lowering his gaze to see Gu Rong kneeling upright on the stone bed with his sleeves spread, stacking three thick piles of books right along the dividing line between them. Gu Rong had even pushed the books slightly toward his own side, deliberately leaving more space on the outer edge.

Xi Rong glanced briefly at the book titles. The Pure Heart Sutra, Tao Te Ching, Bodhi Sutra, Heart Sutra, a stack of Daoist and Buddhist classics.

“This way, there absolutely won’t be any more problems!” Gu Rong said, satisfied as he surveyed the results of his arrangement.

Seeing Xi Rong remain motionless, he quickly explained, “Of course, brother, you are virtuous and upright, a true gentleman. I came up with this idea not to guard against you, but to restrain myself and to stop myself from doing anything improper or discourteous to you. Like… mistaking you for A’Li again. I’ve tested it, it won’t stop us from sharing the same blanket.”

He slid under the covers first, pulling half the quilt over himself and leaving the other half for Xi Rong. “Brother, come on up and sleep.”

Xi Rong glanced once more at the moral and spiritual Great Wall made of Daoist texts, silently removed his boots, and lay down on the outer side.

“Brother, if you think there’s anything else inadequate, I’ll come up with another solution tomorrow,” Gu Rong said, now relieved, stifling a yawn.

After a second beat of silence, Xi Rong replied, “No need. It’s quite thorough.”

The author has something to say:

Baby Rongrong: I’m a genius.
Xi the Dog: Mm. [smiles]
Thank you all, happy holidays!