Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 42

“General, it’s time to wash your face.”

A personal attendant entered the room carrying a bronze basin filled with warm water and set it down in front of Gongsun Yu, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Due to the disfigurement of his face, Gongsun Yu wore a mask year-round. To maintain cleanliness, he had a habit of washing his face with warm water every night before sleeping.

Gongsun Yu did not move but asked, “How is he?”

The attendant replied, “Rest assured, General. He’s been properly settled. That young master went straight to sleep after eating, seemed very well-behaved, and didn’t make any trouble. He’s wearing shackles and the room is surrounded by guards. Even if he had wings, he couldn’t possibly escape.”

Gongsun Yu nodded, but his expression remained grave. “That young master is full of tricks, do not let your guard down. Keep a close watch tonight. No carelessness.”

The attendant answered in agreement.

According to Gongsun Yu’s original plan, to avoid unforeseen trouble, he had intended to leave Songzhou immediately that night. But that young master insisted he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t travel by night. Otherwise, he said, he’d go down with them in mutual destruction.

So Gongsun Yu was forced to change plans and temporarily lodge in an inn, going as far as to book the entire rear courtyard to prevent mishaps.

In truth, their arrival in Songzhou had been entirely unplanned.

He had been accompanying Thirteenth Protector Jing Xi on a journey. Naturally, Jing Xi was out to relieve his spirits, while Gongsun Yu had other assignments. A few days ago, as they neared the Jiangnan region, they happened to hear a rumor that the Thirteenth Protector of Northern Yan, Jing Xi, and General Feiyu Gongsun Yu had appeared in Songzhou Prefecture.

But how was that possible?

At the time, they hadn’t even formally entered Jiangnan and were still far from Songzhou Prefecture.

The Thirteenth Protector had already been away from Northern Yan for some time. With the Prince’s birthday approaching, they hadn’t intended to remain away for long and were preparing for their return. Hearing that rumor, the Thirteenth Protector flew into a rage. Gongsun Yu was also filled with suspicion and speculation, and they hastened to Songzhou Prefecture.

It happened to coincide with the Golden Lantern Pavilion Gathering. Rumors were circulating among the noble families that the Thirteenth Protector would attend in person. Thus, the night’s events unfolded.

Upon discovering that the one impersonating the Thirteenth Protector was actually that young master, Gongsun Yu was surprised, but not entirely shocked. After all, how could an ordinary person dare impersonate someone from the Northern Yan Army and play those noble officials so thoroughly?

That young master had never been ordinary when it came to daring.

Not to mention all the things he’d done while infiltrating the Northern Yan Army. In fact, Gongsun Yu himself had once admired his talent and considered recruiting him, even recommending him directly to the Prince of Northern Yan. But he had never expected that the young master would, after a major battle, take advantage of the Prince’s injuries to sneak into the central command tent as a medical attendant and attempt an assassination.

Fortunately, the Prince awakened in time and avoided the attack.

Normally, the young master would have been doomed and executed in a particularly gruesome manner.

But when Gongsun Yu burst into the command tent, the Prince had first erupted in fury, then suddenly froze, staring at the young master’s face in astonishment. He muttered something and then shockingly ordered Gongsun Yu not to make a sound.

Gongsun Yu had been by the Prince’s side since his days as heir apparent, so no one knew the Prince’s temperament better than him. Toward enemies, the Prince was always ruthlessly vindictive. Especially toward someone who had tried to kill him.

So that command left him completely baffled.

The young master had taken the chance to escape.

When the Prince regained his senses, he was once again furious and ordered a manhunt but with the strict command that the target must be captured alive, unharmed. Violation would incur martial punishment. That very night, the Prince even ignored his injuries to personally lead a squad in pursuit.

Unfortunately, the young master had just recently won Jing Xi’s feather pendant, which allowed him to move unimpeded through Northern Yan, and he used it to slip through their fingers.

Otherwise, with the strength of the Northern Yan Iron Cavalry, how could they possibly fail to capture a defenseless scholar?

Ever since that assassination attempt, the Prince had become visibly more preoccupied and emotionally unstable.

And the first thing he did after recovering was to write ten furious letters to the capital, scolding Prince Xiao, Xiao Jingming.

Gongsun Yu couldn’t quite understand why the Prince scolded Prince Xiao after being attacked.

Could it be that the assassin had been sent by Prince Xiao? But if that were the case, why send such a weak, harmless young man instead of a true expert?

Still, it wasn’t all that important. After all, when the Prince was in a foul mood, writing letters to berate Prince Xiao was nothing new. Sometimes after drinking, he’d dash off a few out of sheer impulse, occasionally attaching them to military reports or official documents and sending them straight to the Grand Court or the Ministry of War under Prince Xiao’s jurisdiction.

For a time, everyone at the Ministry of War dreaded receiving dispatches from Northern Yan.

There was almost never a reply from Prince Xiao’s side.

Except once.

A commendation from the Ministry of War had arrived with an additional thick letter, seven or eight pages long, scolding the Prince and the entire Northern Yan command to the heavens and back.

Gongsun Yu had been surprised that Prince Xiao, with all his responsibilities, had found time to write such a lengthy reply.

The Prince, however, did not respond with anger. In an uncharacteristic move, he filed the letter away in his desk.

After that, he scolded Prince Xiao even more frequently but never received another reply.

The old grudge between Prince Xiao and His Highness was truly hard to explain in a few words. As a subordinate, Gongsun Yu dared not comment. Over the years, with Prince Xiao controlling the Secretariat and the Ministry of War, his conflicts with Prince Yan had only escalated. The entire court knew the two princes were at odds.

However, lately, mere letters cursing Prince Xiao no longer seemed enough to ease His Highness’s anger. Unexpectedly, Prince Yan had started to behave unusually. He did not outright reject the goodwill gestures from the Cui clan, nor from Minister Cui Daohuan of the Ministry of State Affairs. On the contrary, it seemed he was genuinely considering an alliance with the Cui clan.

Such a thing had once been nearly unthinkable.

After all, it was common knowledge that the Cui clan supported the fourth prince, the Prince of Wei. For Northern Yan to ally with them would be a tacit entry into the imperial princes’ struggle, something Prince Yan had always held in disdain.

Although the Xiao clan had always remained publicly neutral in the struggle between the imperial princes, Gongsun Yu had caught wind of a rumor that Prince Xiao might agree to let the fifth prince, the Prince of Jin, train with the Silver Dragon Cavalry.

If that were true, the tension between Prince Yan and Prince Xiao would only worsen.

In short, judging by His Highness’s reaction, if the young master really had ties to Prince Xiao’s household, then he was a true political landmine.

That so-called ‘Fourteenth Protector’ title, of course, had been fabricated by Gongsun Yu. Only by doing so could he pressure Yan Hemei and the others into letting him take the boy away. His Highness’s rare insistence on capturing the young man alive likely concealed deeper plans. Perhaps he intended to extract a full confession and use the matter as leverage against Prince Xiao.

So naturally, Gongsun Yu had to ensure the boy’s safety to keep His Highness’s schemes intact.

After days of travel, they finally had a brief chance to rest. Jing Xi had changed into a freshly pressed silver robe and came before the heavily guarded room with a grim face. “Open the door,” he commanded.

The guards saluted but did not comply. Instead, one said, “Thirteenth Protector, General Gongsun has ordered that the prisoner inside is under strict watch. No one is permitted to enter.”

Jing Xi sneered. “No one? Does that include me, the Protector? What, do you only recognize General Gongsun in your eyes and ignore me completely? You dare show such disrespect, are you not afraid I’ll report you to my foster father and have you punished for insubordination?”

The guards hesitated, clearly troubled.

It was true that His Highness doted heavily on the Thirteenth Protector. Under normal circumstances, they would never dare offend him.

However, in the Northern Yan Army, the most important thing was the command of the commanding general. After weighing the matter, the guard replied, “This subordinate does not dare, but even so, you truly cannot go in.”

Jing Xi pressed, “And what if this Protector insists?”

He had come immediately after dressing, skipping dinner altogether, just to trouble Gu Rong. That little bastard had deliberately provoked him into wagering his feather pendant in a duel on the Platform of Challenge and made him lose it publicly, becoming a laughingstock throughout the army. When his foster father found out, not only did he refuse to stand up for him, but he even punished him by forbidding him from wearing the feather pendant for two years.

Without the feather pendant, he lost all the privileges of a Protector. He could no longer attend the hunts that were open to all Protectors accompanying his foster father. The humiliation was unspeakable.

The journey, supposedly to relax, was in truth for one purpose: to capture Gu Rong, tear him to pieces, and reclaim the pendant to avenge that shame. Tonight, he had been so close to his goal, only for Gongsun Yu to repeatedly get in his way.

The man’s rank and prestige in the Northern Yan Army far exceeded his own and he had the Prince’s full trust, so Jing Xi dared not provoke him lightly. But in the Golden Lantern Pavilion earlier, Gongsun Yu had repeatedly embarrassed him in front of the noble families, leaving him humiliated and fuming.

Now, even the guards treated him this way. How could he endure it?

He was just about to force his way in when the window to the room was suddenly pushed open from the inside.

A lazy voice drifted out, “So this mutt barking outside late at night turns out to be the Thirteenth Protector.”

Jing Xi whipped his head around and glared at Gu Rong, who sat cross-legged on the bed, shackles on his wrists, cradling a small jar of wine. He had not the slightest air of a prisoner.

Jing Xi frowned. “Who gave him alcohol?”

The guard replied, “General Feiyu.”

Jing Xi could only grit his teeth as he could hardly object to that. But his dissatisfaction with Gongsun Yu’s indulgent attitude only grew. He stared venomously at Gu Rong and then sneered, “You think your arrogance will last long? Just wait until we reach Northern Yan. I’ll settle this with you slowly.”

Gu Rong took a sip from the wine jar, utterly unconcerned. “Why not settle it now? What’s the point of waiting until we arrive at Northern Yan? Or do you need Yan Ju to back you up just to get revenge? Trash is trash.”

Jing Xi’s temple twitched. “How dare you call my foster father by name so casually, such disrespect!”

Gu Rong scoffed. “They say Yan Ju is brilliant and a great warrior. But I say he must be blind. Otherwise, why would he dote on trash like you?”

Jing Xi snorted. “He favors me because I’m obedient and pleasing, of course, he likes me. What, you think he’d favor a little thief like you instead?”

Gu Rong lowered his lashes, face blank, and took another sip of wine. Clicking his tongue, he sighed, “Even if he ends up with no heirs, what’s that got to do with me? I hope you two enjoy your deep father-son bond. May it continue in the next life and the next.

“But hey, Thirteenth Protector, without your feather pendant, even if you beg to be someone’s son, it won’t be legitimate. The Prince already has plenty of sons. What if he falls for someone else next time?”

Gu Rong deliberately unfastened the feather pendant from his waist and dangled it in the air, examining it. “This pendant’s made with fine materials. It’s quite pretty, really. Even if I sold it for scrap, I bet I’d get a decent price…”

Jing Xi’s face turned livid. He strode quickly to the window, clenched his jaw, and reached out to snatch it, only for Gu Rong to dodge effortlessly.

Still toying with the feather pendant, Gu Rong said, “Pathetic. A dignified Protector, yet you’re restrained by your subordinates. You can’t even enter a room to take revenge. If you ask me, you should change your title from ‘Protector’ to ‘Too Useless.’” |15|

Furious, Jing Xi kicked the door open despite the guards’ attempts to stop him and stormed inside.

“Protector, wait!” a voice rang out.

It was Gongsun Yu who had hurried over.

He swept a glance over the scene before him and gave a low, calm order, “Escort the Protector back.”

Two guards immediately stepped forward, flanking Jing Xi on either side, gesturing politely but firmly for him to leave.

Jing Xi could no longer maintain his composure. He stared coldly at Gongsun Yu and said, “General Gongsun, don’t forget that although my foster father has thirteen protectors, I’m the one he loves most. The position of Northern Yan’s future young commander can only be mine. Don’t tell me you think the day won’t come when you must bow to me.”

Gongsun Yu’s expression remained unchanged. Calm but unwavering, he replied, “If that day truly comes, I will, of course, serve the Protector as loyally as I now serve the Prince, and submit to whatever punishment the Protector sees fit.”

Jing Xi let out a harsh snort, flung his sleeves, and stormed off.

Only then did Gongsun Yu turn his gaze onto Gu Rong. “Young master, don’t think I can’t see through you. The Protector is young and hot-headed, prone to impulsive action. I, however, won’t fall for your tricks. My patience has limits. If you try anything again, I’ll have no choice but to tie you behind a horse and drag you tomorrow.”

With that, he ordered the guards to shut the window.

On the way back, his attendant whispered, “General, the Thirteenth Protector is smashing things in anger. He’s likely to hold a grudge after being slighted like that. Perhaps you should go and smooth things over?”

Gongsun Yu hadn’t wanted to clash with him in public.

He knew all too well how much the Prince doted on the Thirteenth Protector. While the other twelve had earned the Prince’s favor through merit and military feats, this one was different. Years ago, the head of the Jing family, then under the Yan family’s protection, brought his youngest son to the Prince’s manor to offer birthday congratulations. The boy caught the Prince’s eye at first glance and had been taken under his wing ever since, receiving far more favor than any of the other Protectors.

And indeed, the Protector was sweet-tongued and clever, highly skilled at pleasing the Prince.

The Prince had no wife or heir. Sooner or later, someone would have to succeed him as the Prince of Northern Yan. And among the Protectors, this one was clearly the most likely, although Gongsun Yu didn’t much approve of his character.

However, such things were not for him to comment on.

He waved the concern away, although inwardly, he sighed.

For the Prince, for Northern Yan, and for himself.

Meanwhile, Gu Rong sat cross-legged on the bed, unable to sleep.

He had said those things earlier with full intent to provoke Jing Xi, hoping to push the man into breaking his shackles but that damned Gongsun Yu had ruined it. He had already secretly tried every method he knew to unlock the shackles, all to no avail, which left him somewhat dejected.

If he truly were taken to Northern Yan, even setting aside whatever cruel revenge Jing Xi might enact, there was that person and his hatred, combined with all Gu Rong had done before, meant he could expect no mercy. His fate would almost certainly be tragic.

But for now, he had no other escape plan in sight.

Fortunately, he was someone without much worry or care. Even in the face of such a dire, seemingly hopeless situation, he could take it calmly, with no thoughts of madness or despair.

With no other ideas, Gu Rong simply drank a little more wine.

He grew drowsy and soon drifted into a light sleep on the bed. He hadn’t dared drink too much, so his rest was shallow. In the middle of the night, somewhere between sleep and waking, he suddenly heard a rustling sound from the ceiling above.

At first, he thought it was a rat and woke up in alarm.

He had been afraid of two things since childhood: rats and thunder.

The sound continued for a long while like a swarm of rats scurrying overhead.

A shiver ran through him. Instinctively, he tightened the blanket around himself and edged toward the window. He was already scanning the room for something he could use to chase off rats. The guards outside wouldn’t care about his fears, much less come in to help him.

Just as panic was setting in, a black figure suddenly dropped from above, as swift and silent as a swallow.

Gu Rong’s heart jumped.

His first thought was, ‘That bastard Jing Xi actually sent someone in the middle of the night to silence me?!’

The room was pitch-black, save for the moonlight shining through the window, casting a silvery glow on the floor beside the bed. The figure searched the room quickly, spotted him, and strode over to the bed, stepping right into that patch of moonlight.

Gu Rong’s hand moved on instinct, reaching into his sleeve to draw out a golden needle.

“Rongrong, don’t be scared. It’s me,” the intruder spoke in a whisper and then pulled down the black cloth covering his face.

Gu Rong froze, staring at the handsome face mere inches away. For a moment, it was like a dream.

Whether from joy at there being no rat, or some other unknown feeling, Gu Rong flung aside his blanket, jumped barefoot to the floor, and threw his arms around the man’s waist.

The author has something to say:

Rongrong the Great’s Nemesis: A mouse.

Thank you all, happy reading!
(Some readers were asking about the characters’ ages, so here’s a quick note: The Crown Prince is set to be 24 years old and Rongrong is 19. The age gap is around five years.)

E/N: Ohho, I have a bold guess. Daddy couple???