Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 33

“We can’t possibly take the young master’s bed. That’s inappropriate. We’ll just squeeze in with these two gentlemen, it’s no trouble.”

Upon hearing Gu Rong’s sleeping arrangements, Ji Ziqing firmly refused. Especially once he learned that Xi Rong would also be sleeping on the only stone bed, he became even more flustered.

Zhang Jiuyi added, “That won’t do at all. I think the little room in the courtyard is great. We can admire the view and the moonlight at night, so we’ll stay there!”

“You gentlemen don’t mind, do you?”

Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe gave each other awkward looks. How were they supposed to respond?

It wasn’t that they were unwilling, but the small side room was originally just a storage space. It was already cramped with the three of them, plus a writing table. If two more people squeezed in, they’d have to stack like firewood.

But under those circumstances, even if they had to pile up like logs, there was no way they’d let their master give up his bed.

So Jiang Cheng spoke up voluntarily. “I’m on night duty tonight. You can use my sleeping mat. But it’s a narrow one-person mat, so you’ll have to squeeze in a bit.”

Ji Ziqing wasn’t blind. He could tell it was meant to accommodate them. He already knew the quiet and highly skilled young man was in fact the current commander of the Eastern Palace’s guards, trusted deeply by Xi Rong. With that kind of status, even if the offer was sincere, how could he feel at ease accepting it?

Gu Rong had never imagined that one day, his shabby wooden hut in the mountains would run out of room due to having too many guests. He himself didn’t mind, since he could sit on a straw mat all night without complaint. Seeing everyone passing the buck around so awkwardly, he simply made the call, “My word is final. You two are injured and still need to travel tomorrow. You must get proper rest. Tonight, you’ll sleep on the bed.”

“The host has spoken. Just follow the arrangement,” when Ji Ziqing still tried to decline, Xi Rong walked over and spoke calmly.

With that, no one dared say anything more.

Ji Ziqing was anxious and uneasy, but knew that when the master had spoken, he could not defy it. All he could do was comply.

It was still early and after a simple supper, Zhang Jiuyi dragged Ji Ziqing outside to admire the mountain night scenery. Gu Rong reminded them not to wander too far in case they ran into wild animals and then returned to the hut.

Both the hut and the inner stone cave were lit. Xi Rong had already tidied the bed and moved their blankets and pillows to the straw mat in the outer room.

There was only one sleeping mat, so the two still had to share it.

Gu Rong walked over to help, but Xi Rong said, “No need. I’ll be done soon.”

So Gu Rong sat cross-legged at the other end of the mat, watching him work.

He saw a small jar of wine left by the stove, the remainder from before, and casually picked it up to take a sip. The cool wine slid down his throat with a familiar silky smoothness.

It was truly painful not being able to drink freely these days. But the guests would eventually leave. The liveliness was only temporary.

“Brother, I must apologize for making you share this straw mat with me.”

Gu Rong suddenly recalled that technically, Xi Rong was also a guest and still recovering from injuries. Yet during the sleeping arrangement discussion, he’d overlooked that and just assumed Xi Rong would share the mat with him. In hindsight, it seemed inappropriate.

Xi Rong didn’t pause in his movements.

“I don’t mind. But the straw mat isn’t as comfortable as the bed. You might not sleep well.”

“There’s actually another solution.”

Gu Rong perked up. “I’m listening.”

Xi Rong said, “You could choose to go to sleep on the bed with that Scholar Ji.”

Gu Rong said, “Huh?”

Xi Rong continued what he was doing at the same unhurried pace, his tone just as gentle. “I noticed you get along very well with him. You admire him and take care of him. If you two share a bed, I imagine you’d have plenty to talk about. Sharing a bed with me would probably be rather dull for you.

“You still have time to change your mind. Shall I move your pillow back for you?” he asked with an air of seriousness.

Without thinking, Gu Rong shook his head at once.

“No, absolutely not. I’m the host, so how could I take the bed from the guests? Besides, I don’t even know him that well. That’d be too forward.”

“Not well-acquainted?” Xi Rong raised a brow, finally lifting his head in the dim light. The candlelight cast a stark line of light and shadow down the bridge of his straight nose. “Then with me, would you say we’re well-acquainted?”

Gu Rong smiled. “I wouldn’t say very well, but at least better than with them.”

“Then once you get to know them better, would you be willing to share a bed and chat about everything under the sun with that Scholar Ji?” Xi Rong paused and asked.

Gu Rong thought for a moment and then still shook his head.

Xi Rong was clearly a bit surprised. “Why not?”

“No real reason. Ever since I was little, I have rarely shared a bed with others. You’re an exception. Besides, I’m quite lazy. I don’t like folding blankets and I tend to toss my shoes everywhere. Not everyone has your good temper. They might not tolerate my bad habits.

“And you, brother, surely you don’t think I have a good temper, do you? Actually, my temper’s terrible. I’m picky too. Give it time and even you will probably find me insufferable.”

Gu Rong took another lazy sip of wine as he spoke.

Xi Rong looked intrigued, his gaze fixed on that clean, refined side profile haloed by candlelight. “Bad temper? I really haven’t seen it. To me, you seem quite well-behaved.”

Gu Rong nearly choked. “Huh?”

Xi Rong replied, “I mean, you dislike sharing a bed with others, yet you’ve tolerated sleeping beside me for so long. That’s very accommodating of you.”

Gu Rong took a third sip of wine but said nothing this time.

Because he realized that he didn’t exactly dislike sharing a bed. As long as it was the right bedmate, he was surprisingly open to it. Even when he slept alone, he needed to hold onto something.

However, that sort of confession was easily misunderstood, so Gu Rong wisely chose silence.

Otherwise, he’d sound clingy.

Once the bed was made, Xi Rong hung a tattered bamboo curtain across the cave entrance, something Song Yang and the others had accidentally found while cleaning the storage room earlier, to act as a makeshift divider, sparing both sides from disturbing each other.

Later, Zhang Jiuyi and Ji Ziqing returned from admiring the night scenery. After a few polite exchanges, they each turned in for the night.

“Do you want to put the books down tonight?”

As soon as Gu Rong lay down on the straw mat, he heard Xi Rong’s voice nearby.

Whether it was because they were lying so close or because the straw mat sat directly on the cold ground, the voice, mixed with warm breath, hit his ear damp and hot, making the whole side of his neck feel itchy.

Gu Rong: “…”

He cleared his throat. “We’re just sleeping in here for the night, so let’s skip it.”

It’s not that Gu Rong had any such intention but even if he did, the conditions wouldn’t allow it. The larger mat had been given to Song Yang and the others. The one they were sharing now was narrow, forcing them to lie close together to avoid rolling onto the ground.

There was barely room for two bodies, let alone a towering stack of books.

“As long as you’re fine with that. Is it cold?” Xi Rong asked again.

Gu Rong shook his head. “It’s okay.”

Although lying on a straw mat was definitely not like lying on a bed. Cold was secondary. What really bothered him was how the rough mat jabbed at his back.

Back when he’d passed out drunk and collapsed straight onto the mat, he hadn’t felt a thing. But now, dressed in just a thin inner robe with his outer layers removed, the sensation was much sharper and harder to ignore.

“If you feel cold or uncomfortable, just lean closer to me,” Xi Rong spoke again, as if he were the worm in Gu Rong’s stomach.

Gu Rong, full of pride, replied, “I’m not uncomfortable. Brother, no need to worry about me.”

To prove his point, he even scooted a little farther to the outer edge.

Xi Rong didn’t object, only said casually, “It’s a bit cramped tonight, why don’t we let the cat sleep in its cage?”

Gu Rong nodded in agreement.

What Xi Rong said made sense. They were lying so close that there was practically no space between them. It wasn’t like sleeping on the stone bed, where Gu Rong could lie on the inner side and hug the cat.

Now, if he held the cat facing outward, he might end up off the mat and on the floor. If he faced inward… the cat would end up squashed between him and Xi Rong. That really wasn’t appropriate.

After all, not everyone was comfortable sleeping with a cat. Gu Rong was even more afraid of a man-and-cat scuffle ending with A’Li’s claws injuring a guest.

Xi Rong got up, grabbed the tabby cat that had just slinked back inside, casually tossed it into the cage still sitting under the window, and then latched the door.

The first half of the night passed tolerably. But in the latter half, Gu Rong clearly began to feel the cold. The mountain wind was fierce and they were lying diagonally across from the door. The chill slipped through the gaps in the wooden door, whistling under the blanket and right into his bones, eventually waking him.

Just as he was about to tug the quilt closer, an arm suddenly wrapped around his waist and pulled him inward. Gu Rong crashed directly into a hot, solid chest.

“Your hands are freezing. And you said you weren’t cold.” A low, deep voice followed, quiet like a whisper in the blanket.

“Want me to warm you up?” The voice continued.

Gu Rong’s experience sleeping on the straw mat tonight had been rather miserable; no cat to hold, either. So, before he could think it through, he gave a small nod.

He thought, just lying close to get warm wasn’t a bad idea.

But the very next second, the world spun. That arm at his waist suddenly exerted force and rolled him over completely. By the time Gu Rong realized what had happened, he was lying face-down on that firm, burning chest.

The blanket wrapped them tightly in that narrow space, completely different from their time in the bathing tub. His head was practically buried against Xi Rong’s chest. With the enclosed space and a built-in human furnace beneath him, waves of heat surged in from all directions.

He had to admit, the two of them pressed together was indeed the most efficient position to get warm.

“This way, your whole body warms up. Works faster,” Xi Rong explained in a low voice.

Gu Rong silently agreed, because by now he could no longer feel the mountain wind at all. And lying on that broad, warm chest was undeniably more comfortable than the poky straw mat.

The awkward part, however, was that Xi Rong’s inner robe seemed partially open. As Gu Rong lay there, his hand accidentally brushed bare skin.

It was a firm, muscular chest, but the patch he touched wasn’t smooth. By touch, it was likely an old scar.

Startled, Gu Rong pulled his hand away as if shocked.

Beneath him, the body tensed ever so slightly.

“Did I scare you?” Xi Rong asked a moment later.

Gu Rong shook his head. “No. I was afraid I’d hurt you.”

Xi Rong let out a low chuckle. “That scar’s from a long time ago. It doesn’t hurt anymore. If it scares you, I’ll cover it.”

Gu Rong said there was no need.

“Do you want to feel it?” Xi Rong suddenly asked again.

Before Gu Rong could answer, his hand was gently guided back to that scarred patch of skin. It was a long scar, likely from a blade, and it stretched across a vital spot between the upper and lower abdomen. It wasn’t hard to imagine how grave the injury must’ve been.

“It’s a bit ugly,” Xi Rong murmured, “but in the dark, you can’t see it, so it shouldn’t frighten you.”

Gu Rong was carefully tracing the outline of that scar when he heard him and said, “I’m not afraid and I don’t think it’s ugly either. Brother, why would you think that way?”

Gu Rong’s knuckles were beautiful too; long and fair, especially elegant when holding a chess piece. It was a pleasing sight. That was something Xi Rong had newly discovered earlier today as he silently observed their game. Now, those pale fingers caressed the rough, jagged scar of an old wound and it was as if a current of electricity surged through him.

The heart that had been submerged in an icy pool for years was pierced by that electric current, cracking the frozen shell and filling him with a searing heat.

“You… truly aren’t afraid?” Xi Rong, unusually taken aback, asked.

Gu Rong shook his head as if he’d heard something amusing. “I’m not afraid at all. Why would I be? Brother, do I really seem so timid in your eyes?”

Xi Rong gave a quiet laugh.

Then he asked, “Are you feeling warmer now?”

Gu Rong nodded.

Xi Rong liked seeing him behave so obediently.

Gu Rong was actually tall and slender, with a graceful frame, but even so, he was still a head shorter than Xi Rong.

Xi Rong was quite pleased with that difference.

Because it allowed him to completely envelop Gu Rong within his arms.

“Then let’s warm up a little longer,” he said and reached out to naturally rest his hand on the small of Gu Rong’s back, just where a loose strand of hair had fallen.

Xi Rong knew how sensitive that spot was. Sure enough, the body lying against him unconsciously softened, gradually melting into him with complete pliancy.

He had eleven scars like that old blade wound across his body.

Even if he didn’t fear them himself, he didn’t dare let Gu Rong see them all at once.

It was the first time he had ever cared so much about someone’s opinion of him.

***

In the second half of the night, Zhang Jiuyi suddenly woke up in a panic.

He sat up straight, dazed and on alert, and then immediately reached out with trembling hands to shake his sleeping friend beside him. “Ziqing, Ziqing, wake up!”

Ji Zi Qing was jolted awake, blinking in confusion. “Why aren’t you sleeping? What’s going on?”

“I remembered.” Zhang Jiuyi’s face was pale as death, drenched in cold sweat.

“Remembered what?”

“That young man…” Zhang Jiuyi lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear, whispering with dread, “That young man’s face, it’s the exact same as the bandit leader on the wanted posters. Ziqing, we’ve walked right into a bandit’s den!”

Ji Ziqing felt like his arm was about to be crushed.

His expression changed immediately. Almost instinctively, he pressed his hand over Zhang Jiuyi’s mouth, his voice grave. “Jiuyi, there are countless people in this world who look alike. With no solid evidence, you absolutely must not say things like this.”

“Of course I know that. If I said it out loud, we’d both probably end up buried here.”

Zhang Jiuyi looked utterly shaken.

Just imagining that the picturesque mountain cabin could be home to a group of ruthless outlaws made his skin crawl.

Especially that elegant and delicate-looking young man, who would’ve thought he was one of them too?! It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying!

Zhang Jiuyi even suspected that the young man had been so eager to let them stay the night because he wanted to serve them up as side dishes the next day!

“Ziqing, we have to run.” Zhang Jiuyi clung to his own arms, terrified.

At that moment, the first pale streaks of dawn began to stretch across the eastern sky.

A lone rider on horseback burst through the city gates at full speed, galloping along the long street until he finally stopped at the gates of the Yan family’s residence. Dressed in plain clothes, the man leapt off the horse and strode straight toward the main hall.

Inside the courtyard, Yan Hemei, Assistant Prefect of Songzhou, was practicing swordplay in casual robes. Although he was a civil official, his sword strikes were sharp and forceful.

After finishing an entire set of sword movements, only then did the steward dare to step forward and report, “My lord, the men you sent north have returned.”

Yan Hemei immediately sheathed his sword and took the handkerchief a servant handed him, wiping off his sweat.

“Let him in.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before long, the rider who had returned on horseback strode in quickly and knelt down in salute. “This subordinate greets my lord.”

“Well? What news?” Yan Hemei’s gaze was piercing as he asked directly.

The man lowered his head and replied, “The Northern Yan Army is heavily guarded. I was unable to enter, but I managed to meet with one of your old acquaintances. That gentleman confirmed that the Thirteenth Protector, Jing Xi, is indeed traveling outside and has not yet returned. As for his exact whereabouts, no one knows.”

Yan Hemei frowned.

“Could that boy really be Jing Xi?”

Cui Jiu stood in the Jinlin Inn, hands behind his back as he looked out the window, his eyes somber.

Yan Hemei stood respectfully behind him and said, “That acquaintance of mine, although only a minor clerk in the Northern Yan Army, is quite informed about internal matters. Since he said so, I believe the information is credible.”

Cui Jiu couldn’t help but sigh.

“Recently, the Prince of Jin submitted a memorial requesting to join the Silver Dragon Cavalry for training. Although Prince Xiao hasn’t officially agreed yet, how could the Xiao clan stay out of this struggle for succession forever? If the Prince of Jin really gains their support, His Highness the Prince of Wei will be in grave danger. Cooperation with the Northern Yan clan is now more urgent than ever. The Grand Tutor has already sent another envoy north. If that truly is Jing Xi, then we likely won’t be able to touch the Eastern Palace for a while. The Eastern Palace and that person, what rotten luck they’ve stumbled upon this time…”

Before he could finish speaking, a servant in a blue robe rushed in, holding something in his hands. “Master, someone delivered this just now.”

The object was clearly no ordinary item and the servant’s face was pale with rare alarm.

At a glance, Cui Jiu saw it was a jade cicada of vibrant, translucent green, and his face changed immediately, disbelief overtaking his expression.

“Your Excellency, what is this?” Yan Hemei asked from the side.

“This… is the Eldest Young Master’s personal token,” Cui Jiu answered slowly, recovering from his shock.