Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 67

The room was deathly still.

Xiao Rong could not refute a single word Xi Rong said.

He knew very well that although Xi Rong had confessed his feelings more than once, had he not yielded, had he not indulged in a fleeting moment of desire, had he not chosen to press that kiss further on that day, they never would have become lovers.

In their brief and fragile affair, he indeed bore a large part, perhaps the greater part, of the responsibility. At the crucial moment when their relationship was sealed, the choice had lain entirely in his hands. The other had never once forced him, and even after being rejected, Xi Rong had still braved danger and risked his life to save him.

That Xi Rong now came to collect his debt in the cold tone of negotiation was only natural.

After all, no one is a saint, not even his Third Brother. There is no one in this world who, after being deceived in love, would not turn affection into bitterness.

Unlike him, he had always been a cold and indifferent soul.

From the ages of four to seven, he grew up in a Buddhist temple. By reason, left in a strange place, he ought to have cried endlessly, homesick and desperate. Yet after a few days of sadness, he quickly fell in with the monks, laughing and playing without a care.

That first year, he still looked forward every day for his father to fetch him home.

However, by the second year, he no longer waited at the gates of the temple so often.

By the third, he had nearly forgotten the existence of both his father and his home. Carefree, he dressed like a little novice monk, trailing behind the elder disciples down the mountain to beg for alms, utterly delighted.

When he saw older scholars, also abandoned to the temple, still weeping for home and writing letters to their families, he only scoffed in disdain.

He never wrote such letters.

First, he had no idea where to send them. Second, his writing was hardly legible. Third, he had just overheard idle gossip from two passing eunuchs and in his heart, he was sulking against his distant father.

If his father would not come to coax him home, then he would never write. And if no letter arrived from him, would his father not reflect upon his own neglect?

One wave of scholars after another came and went. Still, his father never came to fetch him.

At last, he realized that perhaps his father truly never meant to come. And so he gave greater credence to those eunuchs’ words.

However, he was not crushed by this. After only a few days of fear and loss, he adjusted his mindset. The temple became his home, the monks his kin. He even began, in secret, to plan for his own ordination. He knew tears gained him nothing. Only by swiftly adapting to this new world could he live well.

Without his father, so be it. Even if his father never came for him, he could still live well.

Later, when he returned to the Xiao clan, he relied on his talent to stand out in everything, to be first in all things. He knew nothing of humility or deference. Only by becoming the very best could he secure his place as the irreplaceable heir of the Xiao clan.

When he formally entered apprenticeship, his master, seeing his arrogance and his utter ignorance of modesty, named him Zhiwei, to see the profound in the subtle, to remind him always to correct his outlook on people and the world.

Now, hearing Xi Rong’s cold questioning, Xiao Rong drifted for a moment, then thought, ‘Good. Third Brother has finally seen me clearly for what I am.’

Back in that valley on Lingyin Mountain, when they rode through seas of blossoms and the man behind him first confessed his feelings, his initial reaction had been astonishment. For he was arrogant, domineering, fiercely possessive, and stone-hearted. Without the status of the Xiao clan’s heir, who would ever willingly endure such a temperament?

The other had been deceived by his appearance, mistaking him for someone gentle-hearted and magnanimous. Now, at last, he had proved to him what kind of man he truly was.

Sunlight poured into the chamber.

Xiao Rong returned to himself and asked evenly, “Then, what does Your Highness intend?”

So, it had come to the stage of negotiation. As long as he could give the other a way to vent his resentment, he was willing to accept whatever might come.

Xi Rong did not answer at once. Because of those words, he studied him in silence for a long while and then gave a short laugh. “It seems the heir is eager to draw a clean line with me.”

Xiao Rong did not deny it. He said, “Our association brings no good to Your Highness. I only hope you will act with reason and not drag yourself into danger because of someone like me, heartless as I am.”

Xi Rong listened to all this with a faint smile.

When Xiao Rong finished, he fixed his eyes on him and said, “There is a bed inside.”

Xiao Rong froze. And then, at once, he understood the weight behind that simple sentence. He had no choice but to answer, “It is daytime now.”

“And what of it?” Amusement curled at Xi Rong’s lips. “In the mountains, when you kissed me, Young Prince, you never cared whether it was day or night. Since this is a debt of the bed, ought I not to reclaim it in bed? Of course, you may refuse. Then the accounts between us can be settled slowly, another time.”

“No need.” Xiao Rong rose directly to his feet. “I agree.”

The bed lay behind the screen with a beaded curtain and a gauzy veil hanging outside; the arrangement was refined and elegant. Because it was daytime, the inner veil was hooked up with golden clasps.

Xiao Rong stepped around the screen, pushed through the beaded curtain, and came to stand before the bed.

He stood waiting for a moment before Xi Rong finally reached out, lifted the curtain, and entered.

The man’s tall figure nearly blocked out all the daylight from the outer room, casting a long shadow upon the veil. Xiao Rong lifted his gaze to meet Xi Rong’s dark, brooding eyes. He did not flinch, only pressed his lips lightly together and said, “My guards are waiting outside. I hope, Your Highness… will not take too long.”

Xi Rong’s smile was a mask without warmth. “The heir’s beauty is peerless. On the day of your coming-of-age ceremony, you stunned the world. I fear this matter may not be mine alone to decide.”

Xiao Rong stilled. He neither moved nor spoke again, quietly waiting for what was about to come.

He knew well enough Xi Rong’s prowess in bed. In the past, the man had still been tender, full of indulgence, and controlling himself for Xiao Rong’s sake. But today, since it was for revenge and for venting his fury, he would certainly show no such consideration.

Xiao Rong could already imagine the disgraceful state in which he would leave this room.

As his thoughts scattered, Xi Rong’s unhurried voice came again, “What is the heir waiting for? In the past, it was always I who served you. But today, since I have come to collect my debt, should it not be you who serves me?”

Xiao Rong started from his daze, stunned, and then engulfed by a wave of shame.

It was true. In all their encounters, it had always been Third Brother who carried him to bed, who undressed him with patient gentleness, who prepared him carefully before they finally embraced, kissed, and came together.

During those nights and days of intimacy, Xiao Rong had never once taken off his own clothes. Later, when they had slept together often enough that all modesty was gone, he would even wake the next morning and shamelessly let the other dress him and put shoes on his feet, sometimes even seize the chance to loop his arms around his neck and steal a kiss.

However, now, everything was different.

Since the man had come for revenge, to vent his anger, naturally, he would not treat him as before.

Xiao Rong, this is what you deserve, what you should endure. Did you not always boast that you feared neither heaven nor earth? Then what is this little humiliation in the face of that? You were faithless and heartless, deceived his feelings, and shattered his heart. You were never worthy of Third Brother who once treated you so well and even risked his life to save you.

Xiao Rong admonished himself silently and stepped forward to undo the black jade belt at Xi Rong’s waist.

To conceal his identity today, Xi Rong wore only the plainest of dark belts. It came loose easily beneath Xiao Rong’s hands.

He hung the belt upon the stand and, without waiting for Xi Rong to speak again, helped him remove robe after robe, garment after garment, and hanging each neatly aside until only the innermost layer remained.

From childhood, Xiao Rong had been pampered and had never served another in such things. He was clumsy, but after two years fending for himself away from home, he had learned self-sufficiency. It was not such a difficult task and he managed it tolerably well.

Although he was the heir of the Xiao Royal Residence, a man of noble birth, in his bones, he lacked that ‘supreme dignity’ and ‘unyielding pride’ so often found in scions of great houses. Instead, he carried a natural ease of one who never placed himself too high.

Back at the temple, he had blended easily with the monks, delighting everyone with his sweetness. At meals, the elder brothers, charmed by his cheerful manners, would heap the best morsels into his bowl.

Later, when he ran away from home, he slipped just as smoothly among all manner of people, making fast friends even among common soldiers, who treated him with heartfelt trust. Once, one of them had clutched him in tears, pouring out his grief. When he defeated Jing Xi at the Platform of Challenge and others feared Jing Xi’s retaliation, they went out of their way to shield him.

Whatever the environment, whatever the circumstance, Xiao Rong could swiftly adapt and adjust his heart.

Including now.

After neatly hanging Xi Rong’s clothes, he turned, ready to kneel and remove the man’s boots and socks.

This too was something Third Brother had once done for him.

However, perhaps finding him too slow, Xi Rong had already pulled off his own boots and now sat upon the bed, eyes fixed upon him without wavering.

So Xiao Rong began to disrobe himself.

Soon, he too was clad in nothing but a thin inner robe.

Yet Xi Rong only continued to watch him with that same brooding stillness, making no move. Thus, Xiao Rong stepped closer, reached out to encircle the man’s neck, and pressed his lips against his,
just as they used to begin.

However, his skill was clumsy, his kisses aimless and unpracticed, with no attempt to pry open lips and tongue. So even after a long while, Xi Rong sat rigid, eyes open upon him, showing no sign of being stirred.

Clearly, he truly was heartbroken and bitter with him.

Otherwise, at this point, even with his sloppy kisses, the man would already have seized him in return, pressing him into the pillows and reversing roles to claim his mouth.

Xiao Rong was naturally ill at ease in such a scene and even felt, for the first time, a trace of helplessness. Slowly, he rose, suppressing the faint ache that had welled up at the bridge of his nose, and said, “Your Highness, perhaps you should lie down.”

Xi Rong asked, “Lie down for what?”

Xiao Rong replied, “Did not Your Highness command me to serve you?”

Xi Rong looked faintly taken aback and then his eyes grew darker still. “Does the heir not realize that I am deliberately humiliating you?”

Xiao Rong immediately shook his head with a smile. “How could that be? This is what I owe Your Highness. Since I have already given my word, I will never go back on it.” He could not at all adapt to the unfamiliar Third Brother. Indeed, it was the first time he clearly understood that the Third Brother he once knew was lost to him forever.

And yet he was surprised at himself that he could still manage to smile.

Xi Rong gave a cold laugh and truly lay down. With merciless command, he said, “Come up.”

Lowering his head, Xiao Rong slipped off his shoes and socks, then climbed onto the bed, straddling Xi Rong’s taut waist.

Xi Rong went on, “Take everything off.”

Xiao Rong froze, not moving at once.

Expressionless, Xi Rong said, “Take them off. Did the heir not say he would never regret?”

Xiao Rong lowered his gaze, loosened the ties, and little by little slipped the last inner robe from his body. But halfway through, the world suddenly spun. His waist was seized and in the next instant, he was pressed down beneath Xi Rong.

Xi Rong’s face was nearly ashen as he said, “To sever ties with me, the heir can endure and sacrifice to this extent. Truly, I must admire you. Since the heir is so heartless, why shed tears?”

The faint ache at Xiao Rong’s nose finally spread through his chest, but at such a crucial moment, how could he allow himself to collapse in defeat? Eyes reddening, he quickly raised a hand to wipe away the trace of wetness at the corner of his eye, and said, “Forgive me, dust entered my eye. I did not mean it. Let us… continue.”

Xi Rong’s expression froze for a heartbeat.

“Go back, heir. Rest assured, our old debts are canceled, once and for all.”

After a long silence, Xiao Rong heard the quiet words from above. He opened his eyes and indeed saw Xi Rong already risen from the bed, his robes fastened, striding out the door.

E/N: Guys, our baby has abandonment issue T^T. No wonder he’s so fast to run away. Hurt before being hurt.