Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 63

Unlike the torrential rain the day before and the sweltering heat of yesterday, today at the Jade Dragon Terrace, the sky was bright and clear, the air fresh, and the breeze gentle.

It was as if even Heaven itself favored the Young Prince.

“On this auspicious day and fortunate month, you begin to wear the cap of manhood. Cast aside childish aims, follow the path to cultivated virtue. May your years be long, your blessings great, your fortune radiant…”

The entire venue was utterly silent. Every gaze was fixed on the Young Prince whose mere appearance had stunned the gathering.

For the coming-of-age ceremony of a noble son, three caps are placed in turn and with each, the attire is changed.

As the officiant chanted, Prince Xiao took from the attendant the cloth headscarf and wooden hairpin and placed them one by one upon the youth.

The second cap, the leather cap, was bestowed by the most senior elder of the Xiao clan, Xiao Hao. The wooden hairpin was exchanged for silver, and the officiant presented a straight-hemmed deep robe for the heir to don. This cap signified permission to take up military office.

The third cap was not the customary top cap, but a crown of gold with a jade hairpin, placed by Prince Xiao himself. The deep robe was replaced with an exquisitely crafted robe of jade white silk. The cap signified that the heir could inherit the duty of presiding over the ancestral sacrifices.

The youth was already of unmatched beauty; now, robed in jade white and crowned in gold, his bearing was peerless, his radiance dazzling.

“Since your teacher has already given you the name Zhiwei, I shall not bestow another. You must remember well the meaning of Zhiwei; do not betray the Grand Chancellor’s painstaking care and instruction.

“For the sons of noble houses, to don the third cap of gold is to make the heart as steadfast as gold, shining ever brighter the more it is tempered. From today onward, you must guard against arrogance and impatience, uphold the virtues of filial piety, brotherly respect, courtesy, and quiet diligence. Shoulder the burdens of our clan, continue the glory of the Xiao lineage, and never forget the teachings of your forebears.”

The three caps bestowed, Prince Xiao’s words carried the weight of admonition.

Naturally, only father and son could hear them.

Xiao Rong responded respectfully.

Prince Xiao regarded the youth for a moment before saying, “Now, thank the guests.”

Xiao Rong rose, turned to face the assembly, and gave a deep bow.

Throughout the entire process, Xiao Rong never glanced aside and thus did not notice the two burning gazes from among the guests below, so intense they could have seared through him.

And at the moment when the youth turned fully toward the audience, revealing his face in its entirety, even Cui Xie, who had sat watching with indifference, and Cui Jiu, standing behind him, showed the same shock and disbelief.

Cui Xie’s expression changed in an instant, his eyes flashing with suspicion and incredulity.

The Princes of Wei and Jin also fixed their eyes upon the figure on the dais, staring unblinking.

The Prince of Wei had clearly not expected that the proud and aloof heir of Prince Xiao, famed in rumor, would possess such a countenance. For the first time, he understood what it meant for a person to seem to have stolen the very craft of Heaven itself.

Yet those most shaken were the men of the Eastern Palace.

The little swindler who roams the mountains and rivers and had tricked and schemed his way through life had, in the blink of an eye, become the exalted heir of Prince Xiao. Even after the ceremony concluded and the guests began to depart, Song Yang and the others still stood rooted in a daze.

“Could it be… just a resemblance? There are others in the world who look alike…” Zhou Wenhe turned his head to the other two, muttering.

“Yes.” Jiang Cheng, his soul seemingly adrift outside his body, nodded faintly in agreement. “I think… it must just be a misunderstanding…”

After all, having spent several months together, he knew that young man’s temperament well: lazy, fond of sleeping, incompetent at all practical matters, forever mooching off food and drink, and greedy for money, so much so that, for a mere hundred taels of silver, he had been willing to marry a man already lying in his coffin in a ghost marriage. How could such a person possibly be the heir of Prince Xiao?

Even at his lowest ebb, the heir of the foremost of the Five Great Clans and Seven Noble Houses could never have fallen so far.

And how could the heir of Prince Xiao have had the idle leisure to wander into the mountains of Songzhou pretending to be some country boy?

“Old Song, what do you think?” Zhou Wenhe looked to Song Yang and used the private form of address he would never normally use in public. So rattled was he.

Song Yang’s bewilderment and shock were no less than theirs.

Uncharacteristically, he found himself unable to make sense of it. If forced to choose, reason told him it was more likely to be a coincidence.

Because the notion was simply too far-fetched.

A backwater youth and the heir of Prince Xiao were worlds apart. Even with all he had seen, he could hardly reconcile two people who, beyond sharing the same face, were utterly different in every other respect.

“No. This is neither a coincidence nor a misunderstanding.”

The three were still dazed when Xi Rong suddenly spoke.

“I would not mistake him. It is him,” he pronounced each word with crystalline clarity.

Over the past days, His Highness’s sorrow over that young man who had left without a word was something Song Yang had seen with his own eyes. But precisely because of that, he was all the more concerned. He said earnestly, “I understand Your Highness’s feelings. But… since this matter has yet to be confirmed, Your Highness must not act on impulse. The Xiao clan is not like the Cui clan; they are not to be provoked lightly.”

“Of course I know that. But I am telling you, I would not mistake him,” Xi Rong repeated, unwavering. “Xiao Rong, Gu Rong; how could such a coincidence exist in this world? Find the steward of the Xiao Royal Residence. Tell him I wish to pay my respects to their heir. No matter how late it is, I will wait.” His voice trembled slightly.

Song Yang could only accept the order.

The heir’s capping ceremony today was unlike most. The receiving and sending of guests, as well as every detail of the rite, were personally overseen by Xiao En.

When most of the guests had dispersed, Song Yang approached Xiao En, announced his identity, and stated his purpose.

Naturally, he did not dare reveal the truth. He merely said that the Crown Prince had long admired the Xiao clan’s heir’s reputation and wished to meet him in person to seek his advice on a few matters.

Even as he spoke, Song Yang himself felt the excuse was feeble and unconvincing.

Xiao En studied the Eastern Palace retainer before him and replied with a genial smile, “I’m afraid today will not do. After the capping ceremony, the heir must accompany His Highness to the ancestral temple for worship and then attend the clan banquet. There will be no time for guests. Perhaps His Highness might come another day instead?”

The noble clans were bound by endless rules and elaborate formalities, and a family as exalted as the Xiao clan was even more exacting. Song Yang knew the man spoke the truth and could only nod. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Forgive my boldness, but has the heir ever traveled south for his studies?”

Still smiling amiably, Xiao En said, “You jest, sir. Our heir has always studied in Qizhou because his honored teacher, the Grand Chancellor Qi, hails from there and he has never been to the south. Might I ask why you pose such a question?”

This elder, who had survived unscathed from the perilous struggle for succession in the late emperor’s reign and even been granted the Xiao surname by Prince Xiao, was certainly no ordinary figure. Although his face was as warm as spring, there seemed to be a glint of lightning in his aged eyes as he regarded Song Yang with a hint of scrutiny.

Song Yang had no wish to make him think he was deliberately probing into the heir’s whereabouts with ulterior motives. He hastened to explain, “It’s nothing. Just now at the banquet, I heard someone say the heir had studied widely across many regions. Our Crown Prince recently returned from the southwest, bringing back some ancient local texts with some in foreign scripts quite unlike our own and hoped the heir might be able to take a look at them.”

Xiao En indeed asked no more, merely expressing his apologies.

Xi Rong was still seated atop the dais. Hearing Song Yang’s account, he did not move and only said, “Every banquet ends eventually. I’ll remain here and wait; he will return.”

Were it not for the need to maintain decorum, he would already have rushed forward as the ceremony concluded to seize him and demand an explanation.

Ever since receiving that heartless letter of farewell, he had been tormented daily by longing. Now that he had finally caught a trace of him, how could he possibly let go? Although he had not been able to speak with him immediately, he did not feel disappointed. On the contrary, a heat was surging in his chest.

“Forgive me for speaking frankly, Your Highness,” Song Yang said, “but this is not a rational course. At present, you only suspect the Xiao heir to be that young man…”

“I do not suspect,” Xi Rong cut him off. “I am certain.”

“Very well. Let us say Your Highness is certain. But the people of the Xiao Royal Residence know nothing of this, nor does anyone else. The Eastern Palace has no prior dealings with the Xiao Royal Residence. If you suddenly and stubbornly insist on seeing the heir, how will they take it? How will others see it? Here in the capital, there are countless eyes watching both the Eastern Palace and Your Highness.

“And one more thing, do not forget that the Prince of Jin is already serving in the Silver Dragon Cavalry. At present, the Xiao clan is supporting him.”

The last point was cruel to say, but Song Yang had no choice.

Xi Rong gave a brief laugh. “So you mean to say that he and I are destined to be strangers? You mean that Heaven finally took pity on me, moved by my sincerity, and let me stumble upon him by sheer chance… yet you still expect me to turn a blind eye and to act as though it never happened?”

His gaze locked onto Song Yang’s, eyes reddened and traces of tears still clinging to the corners. It was a far cry from the decisive, cold, and aloof ruler he normally was.

Song Yang felt his scalp prickle. “I mean nothing of the sort, Your Highness. I only hope you will act with prudence and take things slowly. Now that the Xiao heir has come of age, he will not easily leave the capital. If today is not possible, there will be other opportunities to meet.”

At last, Xi Rong rose to his feet.

He looked toward the high platform for a moment and then said, “Let’s return to the palace.”

***

“How could it be him?”

Ever since returning from the ceremony, Cui Xie’s brow had been tightly furrowed. Even now, he could not forget what he had seen that night at the Golden Lantern Pavilion, standing on the second floor, looking down at the scenes unfolding below.

From the first moment, he had found that face profoundly irksome.

Cunning and skilled at entangling others, yet feigning a façade of innocence and purity.

But he, the dignified eldest son of the Cui clan, would hardly stoop to quarrel with a poor scholar from the countryside.

Until today, when he saw that face again, in an entirely unexpected place, and in an entirely unexpected way.

How could that Xiao Rong also bear such a face?

“You saw him twice in Songzhou. Did you get a clear look at his face? Is he the same man as this Xiao Rong?” Cui Xie, his expression grim, questioned Cui Jiu, who stood outside the curtain.

Cui Jiu, too, was deeply unsettled.

“To speak honestly, they look very much alike. It’s only that on both occasions I was some distance away, so I cannot be absolutely certain. I’m afraid we’ll have to have Yan Hemei come and confirm it in person. He was on the first floor that day and saw him up close. During the encirclement at Lingyin Mountain, he was also the one who stepped forward to speak with the fake Thirteenth Protector.

“However, it seems the Eastern Palace is completely unaware of the matter. When they attended the ceremony today, His Highness was clearly distracted. After returning to the capital, there has been no contact between the Eastern Palace and Xiao Royal Residence. And when the heir of Xiao Royal Residence appeared today, I noticed the expressions of the Eastern Palace’s people; they were all genuinely shocked and taken aback. This leaves only two possibilities: either the heir to Xiao Royal Residence has nothing to do with the fake Protector and it is only a resemblance of features that prompted such a reaction… or the Eastern Palace itself did not know that the fake Protector’s true identity was the heir to Xiao Royal Residence.

“If this is truly a coincidence, then so be it. But if the heir to Xiao Royal Residence had, in fact, once impersonated Northern Yan’s Thirteenth Protector and gone north to attempt an assassination on Prince Yan, that would be a matter of great consequence. Prince Yan and the Minister of State Affairs agreed to cooperate on the condition of capturing that fake Protector and clearly neither knew his true identity. Prince Yan and Prince Xiao are already at odds; if Prince Yan were to learn that the one who tried to kill him was Prince Xiao’s own heir, do you think he would pass up such an opportunity to attack Prince Xiao? This might even turn out to be advantageous for the Minister of State Affairs and for you, Eldest Young Master.”

Cui Xie gradually gathered his thoughts.

“You’re right. The most important thing right now is to confirm whether the heir to Xiao Royal Residence and the fake Protector are the same person. Once I’ve reported this to my father, you are to send a letter to Yan Hemei immediately and have him come to the capital at once.”

Cui Xie’s face was so dark it seemed it could drip ink.