Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 56

The two were still in shock and confusion when Xi Rong suddenly turned back and re-entered from outside.

He had left the courtyard but returned for two reasons: first, he suddenly realized he didn’t know where the perilla Gu Rong had mentioned yesterday actually grew. Second, the mountain air after the rain was chilly and Gu Rong had left early in the morning. It was bound to be cold, so Xi Rong planned to fetch a cloak for him.

They had clearly agreed to go gather herbs together and yet, Gu Rong had still gone off alone at dawn to do it. That showed just how much he cherished that perilla as if he feared someone else would pick it first.

Seeing Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe standing inside the room, Xi Rong asked, “What are you doing?”

Song Yang didn’t know how to answer, but Xi Rong had already seen the items placed on the straw mat.

To preserve medicinal potency, Gu Rong typically used Ice Soul to make a new dose for him every half-month. But now, there were three complete pills in the wooden box.

Clearly, it wasn’t time for his next dose yet. Most alarming of all, Xi Rong had no idea when Gu Rong had made so many pills.

Then he saw the letter placed beside the wooden box. It was a rather worn, ordinary-looking envelope. He was almost certain he had seen it once before on his own bookshelf. Xi Rong bent down and silently picked it up.

On the envelope were four characters, ‘To Third Brother, personally.’

Clutching the letter, he smiled with trembling lips. “Going to gather herbs and leave a letter behind for me, huh?” With that, he tore the envelope open and took out the letter inside. It was only half a page long but when Xi Rong finished reading it, his hands began to tremble.

Song Yang instinctively spoke, “Your Highness…”

“I’m fine.” Xi Rong clenched the letter tightly in his hand, lips pressed into a cold line. “He went to gather perilla. I’ll go find him. He said he saw it on the way back, so it should be somewhere near the mountain path.”

That last sentence carried a faint tremor in his voice. With that, Xi Rong turned and walked out again.

Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe looked at each other, not daring to speak or stop him.

It wasn’t until nearly noon that Xi Rong returned.

Even though the weather was perfectly clear, he looked as if he’d just walked through a downpour. His hair was disheveled, his face terrifyingly pale, his dark robe soaked and stained with grass and leaves, the soles of his boots caked in wet mud. He held in his hand a large bundle of perilla, uprooted and dripping. He carefully arranged the perilla on the wooden rack in the courtyard where they dried herbs, and then walked silently back inside.

Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe stood stiffly in the yard, watching everything with fear. Because just now, they had caught a glimpse of that familiar red in Xi Rong’s eyes.

Ever since he began taking the Ice Soul, he had never relapsed and that ominous color had not reappeared.

Until now.

Song Yang hesitated for a moment, then mustered his courage and followed him inside.

Xi Rong sat alone on the straw mat, head bowed, his entire figure cloaked in shadow where the sunlight could not reach. His loose hair covered most of his face. The hand hanging at his side trembled slightly, veins bulging under the skin like coiled snakes.

In the depths of his cold eyes, that red light surged, wild and unrestrained, as if about to break free from its chains. He looked like a demon risen straight from hell.

“Your Highness?” Song Yang suddenly felt a heavy sense of unease pressing on his chest. He called out cautiously, “What happened?”

Xi Rong said nothing.

For a long time, Song Yang thought his master had truly lost his mind or that something terrible had happened to his body, when at last, Xi Rong rasped hoarsely, “He’s gone.”

Song Yang froze. “How could that be…”

“He said he regretted it; that he went back on his word and he didn’t want to be with me anymore. He said he had been lying to me all along. He said that when he agreed to stay with me before, it was only out of gratitude because I saved him. He was moved, but he never actually loved me. He said he’s leaving this place and going far away. He told me to forget about him and to never look for him again.”

Xi Rong still held that letter in his other hand, gripping it tight atop his knees. His whole body shook as he choked out the words written on the page. Tear after tear spilled from those blood-red eyes, rolling down his mud-streaked, beautiful face. “He also said that he used the last of the Ice Soul to make me medicine as repayment for saving his life.”

Suddenly, Xi Rong let out a low laugh.

He laughed and cried at the same time.

“He even said to me things like, ‘Let’s part peacefully and each find our own happiness. I hope that in the future we can forget each other, never dwell on the past. May you forget me soon, find a good match, and be blessed with many children and grandchildren’… Tell me, isn’t that laughable?

“‘Forget each other, never dwell on the past… find a good match, many children and grandchildren’… He wants to forget me. He wants me to forget him. But just yesterday, he still took the initiative to lie with me. What a cruel heart he has… ha ha…”

Song Yang stood to the side, shocked and heartbroken. In all his years serving in the Eastern Palace, he had never seen his master like this.

Although he had already begun to suspect something the moment he saw the letter, he never imagined it would be a farewell letter. At most, he thought the young man might have had some urgent matter and left in haste, unable to say goodbye in person, so he wrote a letter instead.

Song Yang quickly said, “Your Highness, please don’t be too saddened. There may be more to this. That young man had no other relatives and nowhere else to go. Perhaps this is just a joke he’s playing on you.”

Xi Rong slowly lifted his tear-streaked face and stared at Song Yang. It was as if he had suddenly figured something out.

“You’re right,” he said. “This is his home. He has no other kin in this world. Even if he left, where could he possibly go? Yesterday, he asked me to take him horse riding and asked me to carry him on my back to see the mountains. He kept calling me ‘Third Brother,’ over and over. He was so happy. How could he just leave me behind? He loves his books, his wine, his herbs. How could he abandon them all and just leave?”

Xi Rong kept convincing himself, over and over again, while deliberately ignoring all the glaring signs that didn’t add up. Clinging to that fragile hope, he suddenly stood up and walked back into the cave, searching around the stone bed. After a moment, he found a stack of silver notes hidden beneath the bedding.

“If he were really leaving, he’d need money. How could he possibly leave without taking this?” Clutching the silver notes, Xi Rong returned to the wooden house outside and headed straight to the cat cage placed beneath the window.

The cage door was already open and inside it was empty. There was no sign of the tabby cat.

Xi Rong froze in place. Just then, a faint meow came from outside the window. He whipped his head around and saw the tabby cat quietly walking in through the door, gazing up at him from the doorway.

Xi Rong immediately broke into a smile. “Then it’s certain. He loves this little creature so much. If he had really left, how could he not have taken it with him?” With that, Xi Rong strode quickly into the courtyard.

Song Yang hurried after him.

Xi Rong made his way to the northwest corner of the courtyard. He knew that Gu Rong kept four treasured Gu there, hoping one day to make a fortune from them. The herbs drying in the yard were their food. But now the corner was empty, the jars and Gu were all gone. All that remained was damp earth sprouting wild grass and a few stacked stone bricks.

Xi Rong stood there silently for a moment before coming up with another excuse.

It must’ve been the rain yesterday that spoiled too many of the herbs. The Gu got hungry, so Gu Rong took them into the mountains early to find something to eat.

He refused to think about why Gu Rong would take the Gu to find herbs instead of simply bringing the herbs back.

If asked, the answer was simple: they were starving.

Xi Rong left again, this time on horseback. He galloped all the way back to the flower valley they’d visited the day before. The sea of violet blossoms swayed in the breeze as before, the long wind whipping at his robes and sleeves. He rode deep into the flower field, trampling the blooms beneath his horse’s hooves as he searched and scanned the area. But aside from the heartless wind brushing past his ears, there was no other figure in sight, certainly not his.

Of course not. How could he be there?

This place was deep in the mountains. Even on horseback, it took over half an hour to reach. He didn’t know the path and there was no way he could’ve come on foot.

But yesterday, he had clearly said that he hoped they could come there every day, riding together…

Xi Rong tilted his head back and looked up at the deep blue sky, feeling his heart slowly breaking. Even when he was seventeen, lying bloody and barely alive in his bed in the Eastern Palace after stabbing himself eleven times, it hadn’t hurt this much.

All day long, Xi Rong galloped through the mountains, visiting every place they’d ever been together, even the stream where they had once caught fish. He scoured the entire mountain before heading down into the valley. Jiang Cheng had returned from his trip and, upon hearing the news, brought the shadow guards to join the search.

They looked until night fell, but found nothing.

Still, Xi Rong refused to give up. He crossed mountains by night to reach the old cottage where Shang Buyu and Cen Yun once stayed. However, that little house, too, was locked, with a wooden sign on the door reading, ‘Gone to visit friends. Return date unknown.’

Xi Rong stood there, unmoving, for nearly half an hour before turning his horse around and returning to Gu Rong’s mountain cottage.

To his surprise, the main house was lit.

Xi Rong dismounted and strode toward it. When he pushed the door open, he stopped slowly. There was no one inside, only a single oil lamp burning on the table.

Song Yang’s careful voice came from behind him. “It was this subordinate that came in earlier to boil water…”

Xi Rong didn’t reply. He stood there with his back to Song Yang, silent.

At that point, everyone had no choice but to accept the truth. The master of the little mountain courtyard, the young man who had formed such deep bonds with them, had truly left.

So suddenly. So unexpectedly.

Staring at the silent, motionless Xi Rong, Song Yang gritted his teeth and was the first to kneel, lifting his robe respectfully. “Your Highness, this subordinate knows your heart is heavy, but returning to the capital is a matter of utmost urgency. This subordinate dares to ask Your Highness to put the great cause above all else.”

Following Song Yang’s lead, Zhou Wenhe, Jiang Cheng, and all the guards knelt down in unison.

Song Yang pleaded sincerely, “That young master is unlikely to have left the borders of Da’an. Once the situation stabilizes, Your Highness can dispatch more men to search for him slowly. Since he has made up his mind to leave, Your Highness remaining here will not help the matter.”

Xi Rong closed his eyes and a single tear slowly slid down from the corner.

“I know. Everyone, rise.” The young Crown Prince’s low voice came from within.

Song Yang let out a subtle sigh of relief and then said, “There’s another piece of great news to report, Your Highness. According to the Gazetteer of Songyang County, Jiang Cheng, together with several Feng Shui masters, has been surveying the area day and night these past days. The exact location of the underground palace has now been confirmed. Your Highness would never have guessed that the underground palace is located directly beneath the very mountain we are standing on, almost directly under that young master’s small courtyard.”

Xi Rong was silent for a moment before asking, “How can we enter the underground palace?”

Song Yang replied, “There was originally an entrance, but after several natural disasters and floods, the entire underground palace has been deeply buried. Currently, there is only one way to enter and that is to blow open the mountain and create a new entrance. Although this method is troublesome, it is not difficult. All we need is enough gunpowder.”

Early the next morning, Xi Rong arrived at the base of the mountain with his entourage. They surveyed the detected entrance to the underground palace and the designated location for blasting. Several Feng Shui masters and craftsmen were already waiting respectfully.

Xi Rong stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the lush green mountain and the small courtyard now hidden from view within it. He asked, “If we blast the mountain, what will happen to it?”

Song Yang was momentarily stunned. He answered, “Part of it will collapse.”

“And what about the courtyard?”

Song Yang naturally understood what Xi Rong was referring to and replied, “That young master’s courtyard lies directly above the underground palace. It will likely collapse along with the mountain.”

The morning sun rose slowly in the east. Golden sunlight bathed the young Crown Prince’s sharp, handsome features.

Bathed in that golden light, Xi Rong turned his head and said faintly, “The matter of the treasury ends here.”

Everyone was stunned.

Song Yang couldn’t help but say, “But Your Highness has searched so long and hard, and this treasury is of great importance to you…”

Xi Rong tugged at the corner of his mouth, a ruthless gleam flickering in his eyes. “The treasure in the underground palace is only speculation. Instead of placing our hopes in something so illusory, why not use more practical means? Has Han Feihu arrived?”

Song Yang nodded. “After receiving Your Highness’s secret letter, he traveled day and night. He’s currently waiting outside the Songzhou Prefecture.”

***

Songyang County, the Liu family’s residence.

A servant rushed frantically to the main hall where the family head Liu Xin was receiving guests, looking panicked. “Family Head, something terrible has happened!”

Liu Xin set down his tea cup, displeased. “What is it?”

The servant pointed toward the main gates, trembling. “A group of soldiers has arrived outside. They say they’ve come under orders from the Crown Prince to search and confiscate the Liu family’s residence!”

The author has something to say:

Xi the Dog: Currently transforming into a mad dog.
Thank you all, happy reading!