Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 68

When the room finally fell completely silent, Xiao Rong slowly sat up in the bed.

The bead curtain hanging beside the bed still swayed with a faint rustle. Beyond the curtain, that shadowy figure was nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Rong let his rumpled under robe lie in disarray on the bed. He sat in silence for quite some time before pulling on his socks and boots, dressing himself neatly, and stepping out from behind the folding screen painted with ink landscapes.

On the tea table by the window, plates of brightly colored pastries still lay untouched, gleaming with a tempting luster beneath the sunlight.

Xiao Rong could not help recalling the moment he had first entered the room; how that dark-clad figure had turned, set down his teacup, and looked at him with a gentle, smiling gaze as he called his name.

Such a scene would never happen again.

He himself had destroyed it.

At the thought, a sharp ache seized his chest for a moment. But only for a moment.

Because he quickly mocked himself inwardly, ‘It was your own choice to walk this path. And now you sit here pretending to grieve, putting on a show for whom, exactly?’

Just as on that bed earlier, he had been the one to insist he must ‘repay a debt,’ and yet at the crucial moment, shamefully, he had shed tears. What right did he have to feel wronged?

And now, thanks to his weakness, Third Brother had been unable to vent the fury in his chest. He would likely hate him for a lifetime.

Xiao Rong walked to the tea table, picked up a small piece of peach blossom cake, and brought it to his lips, biting into it slowly. The sweet fragrance of peach blossoms immediately filled his mouth and throat. He finished the entire piece before leaving the private room.

Calling over a waiter, he asked whether the bill had been settled.

The man answered with a smile, “Young Master, rest assured. The gentleman who was here earlier has already paid.”

Xiao Rong nodded, said nothing more, and went downstairs.

Mo Dong hurried up to him. “Does the Young Prince wish to go anywhere else?” he asked.

Xiao Rong shook his head and left the teahouse, circled back through the rear door of the Apricot Blossom Pavilion, and returned to the private room from before. After changing back into his original robes, Xiao Rong instructed, “Go fetch someone for me.”

Half an hour later, Imperial Censor Liu Bingyang was ‘invited’ into the room by Mo Dong.

To call it an invitation was generous. He had been practically dragged in by the collar.

“I say, Junior Brother,” Liu Bingyang grumbled, “if you need something, you could have arranged a time. For your guard to behave so roughly, what sort of decorum is that?”

Xiao Rong dismissed Mo Dong, then lifted a wine flask, filling a cup with his sleeve raised. “I know you’ve not dared come drink at the Apricot Blossom Pavilion lately. You must be craving it sorely. Out of kindness, I thought to ease your longing. If you have no interest, you’re free to leave now.”

Liu Bingyang chuckled, sweeping up his robe hems and plopping down opposite him. “Since I’m here, there’s no rush. Junior Brother, you really do know how to look after your senior.”

“Please, Senior Brother.” Xiao Rong personally handed him the wine cup.

Liu Bingyang took a sip and instantly put on an expression of bliss. “Thirty-year-old apricot blossom wine. Junior Brother, you’re generous indeed.”

“No hurry. Drink slowly,” Xiao Rong said.

Liu Bingyang drained two cups before setting his cup down, eyeing the youth across from him curiously. “Junior Brother, just say what you need. The way you’re staring at me is enough to send shivers down my spine.”

Xiao Rong slowly withdrew his gaze, poured him a third cup, and said, “It’s true, I do have a small matter that requires your help.”

“That’s more like it.” Liu Bingyang accepted the refilled cup without hesitation. “It’s rare for you to ask me for help. Although I can’t promise to march through fire and blade for you, lending a hand in small things is no problem. Go on, what do you need from your senior?” he spoke while savoring the wine.

Xiao Rong said, “I’ve heard there’s a man in the Censorate, Cao Ancheng, who has lately been impeaching the Crown Prince. Do you have any means of putting a stop to it?”

Liu Bingyang promptly spat out the mouthful of wine he had just swallowed. Coughing, he looked at Xiao Rong with deep suspicion. “Junior Brother, what is this? Since when do you concern yourself with matters of the Eastern Palace?”

Xiao Rong replied, “It has nothing to do with the Eastern Palace. It’s about those aristocrats he arrested. They once offended me and now Cao Ancheng is trying to wash away their crimes. Is that not the same as pissing on my head? Just answer me, can you stop it, or not?”

Liu Bingyang waved his hand. “That’s not easy. Every censor has the right to submit an impeachment regardless of rank. Even as Imperial Censor, I can’t prevent my subordinates from exercising their proper authority. Besides, that fellow Cao Ancheng is an obstinate firebrand, detested by all. And behind him stand the Prince of Wei and the Cui clan, why would I risk offending them?”

Xiao Rong picked up the wine jar on the desk and gave it a light shake. “It seems this thirty-year apricot blossom wine isn’t much after all. Since Senior Brother doesn’t care for it, why not pour it out and let the dogs have it?”

Liu Bingyang instantly clutched the jar tight in both arms. “Junior Brother, let’s talk this out properly. For such a treasure to end up in a dog’s belly, our sin would be immeasurable!”

Xiao Rong said, “Didn’t Cao Ancheng rally more than twenty censors together? If you can’t restrain him, surely others can. The Censorate is supposed to be a tribunal of discipline, surely not every man in there will debase himself as a dog to the Cui clan and the Prince of Wei. As long as Cao Ancheng can’t gain momentum, the Cui clan won’t keep trying to drag you down with them, Senior Brother. Helping me is, in truth, helping yourself.”

“All right, all right! I’ll think of a way, isn’t that enough? Now give me the wine first!” Seizing the chance, Liu Bingyang snatched the jar back into his arms and held it as though his life depended on it, wearing a look of lingering fright. “Such fine wine is nearly ruined by you!”

Xiao Rong’s lips curved in the faintest smile. “I’ll be waiting for Senior Brother’s good news.”

***

Song Yang had been waiting in the Eastern Palace all morning for word. Close to noon, Xi Rong finally returned on horseback. Song Yang immediately hurried forward to greet him.

“I went to the palace to attend to my father’s illness,” Xi Rong slipped off his cloak and said lightly.

Song Yang froze.

Xi Rong had clearly gone out that morning for an appointment. Why would he end up in the palace instead? An appointment that important shouldn’t have ended so quickly. Instinctively, Song Yang glanced toward Jiang Cheng, who had followed behind. But Jiang Cheng too looked puzzled and only gave him a slight shake of the head.

Xi Rong handed his horse over to the grooms and walked straight into the main hall where he usually conducted affairs.

Song Yang and Jiang Cheng followed after him.

Xi Rong, robed in heavy dark silk, stood with his hands clasped behind him, back to the sunlight streaming in.

“How did Your Highness’s talk with the heir of Prince Xiao go?” Song Yang ventured.

“What heir of Prince Xiao?” Xi Rong’s reply was utterly detached. “I have never known any such person. And this ‘talk’ you speak of, sir, where could that notion have come from?”

Both Song Yang and Jiang Cheng were struck dumb.

Song Yang stammered, “But—”

“No buts. I merely mistook him for someone else.” Xi Rong’s tone was even and calm as water. With that, he lifted his steps and walked into the inner chamber.

“What in heaven’s name is going on? Did His Highness not set out this morning for an appointment with the heir of Prince Xiao? Could it be that the heir never showed and he broke the appointment?” Once they had left the hall, Song Yang turned to question Jiang Cheng.

He himself still found it hard to believe that the young man they had met in the mountains of Songzhou would truly turn out to be the heir of Prince Xiao. Yet last night, His Highness had first slipped into a carriage from Xiao Royal Residence, only emerging when it rolled into the city and turned down the street leading to the royal residence. Then this very morning, the heir had sent books with a bodyguard, with a slip of paper tucked inside inviting His Highness to meet. Piece after piece of evidence all but confirmed that the heir must indeed be that young man. Otherwise, why arrange a secret meeting in the first place?

Naturally, when His Highness saw that slip of paper, he did not show any delight as Song Yang had expected. He only fell silent, put it away, instructed Jiang Cheng to scout the location, and deliberately canceled today’s council session to prepare for the meeting.

In short, His Highness had set out with some measure of expectation. Who would have thought he would return in such a changed mood?

Jiang Cheng said, “The heir of Prince Xiao did not fail to appear. He arrived at the teahouse shortly after His Highness did.”

Song Yang’s heart sank. He had not failed to come but this was worse than failing. His Highness’s reaction could only mean that the meeting with the heir had been exceedingly unpleasant. And the problem, in all likelihood, lay with the heir of Prince Xiao himself.

After all, Song Yang had seen with his own eyes how deep and unyielding His Highness’s feelings ran. With even the faintest glimmer of hope, His Highness would never give up so easily.

For His Highness to utter such words, it could only mean that the heir of Prince Xiao truly intended to sever their old ties with him. After all, the Xiao clan now supported the Prince of Jin and stood in direct opposition to the Crown Prince.

Between an old romance and the interests of the Xiao clan, it was only natural for the heir to choose his clan. All the same, it was pitiful for His Highness.

***

When Xiao Rong returned to his chamber, drowsiness overtook him again. He had no habit of sleeping during the day, so instead he picked up several scrolls of Silver Dragon Cavalry affairs from his desk and began to leaf through them.

Before long, Mo Dong came in carrying a tray of food. “This was sent over by Chief Steward Xiao. Please have something to eat, Young Prince.”

Xiao Rong had no appetite. He only told Mo Dong to set it down.

By dusk, when Mo Dong came back in, Xiao Rong had already succumbed to exhaustion, fallen asleep at the desk, with a military dispatch scattered across the table. The untouched plate of food remained exactly as it was.

The Young Prince had a temper and detested being disturbed in his sleep.

Mo Dong hesitated at the doorway, holding an invitation in his hand, wondering whether he should come back later. He had just begun to turn quietly when Xiao Rong, already roused by the faint sound, opened his eyes and sat up.

“What is it?”

Mo Dong presented the invitation. “Second Young Master Wang has sent this. He invites you to attend the birthday banquet of Matriarch Wang in three days.”

The ‘Second Young Master Wang’ referred to Wang Hui, whose grandmother was the honored matriarch.

Xiao Rong was not unfamiliar with the great clans of the capital. Matriarch Wang was the daughter of a princess of the former emperor’s reign. Even before marrying into the Wang Clan, she had already been ennobled as a County Lady. Her husband’s career had been smooth and distinguished, and later she was further honored as a Lady of the First Rank, an exalted status indeed.

However, fate was unkind because not long after her elevation, her husband died of illness.

Still, within the Wang household, her position remained unassailable.

Xiao Rong glanced at the invitation and tossed it aside.

Summer weather was fickle. The day had been bright and clear, yet by evening, rain poured down. Thunder rumbled ceaselessly. The Jade Dragon Terrace, built high above the ground, made the sound all the sharper.

The room was already dim, the lightning splitting the sky into savage streaks, roaring like wild beasts and casting the lattice windows in fitful light. Jerked awake by the thunder, Xiao Rong raised his head from the desk.

His forehead was drenched in sweat because he had just suffered a nightmare. In the dream, his Third Brother stared at him with eyes full of cold loathing, sword in hand, striding through the storm and driving the blade straight through his chest.

The vision had felt terribly real.

Xiao Rong shook his head and only when he saw the bamboo mat beneath him in his chamber did he realize it had been a dream.

For the next three days, Xiao Rong remained in his residence, turning away all invitations with a cold face.

On the morning of the fourth day, he ordered Mo Dong to prepare the carriage and set out for the Wang clan’s estate.

Since the passing of the Wang clan’s old patriarch, the family’s power had waned, its younger generation showing signs of decline. Yet once it had been among the most eminent houses of the capital, with connections sprawling wide. For the matriarch’s birthday, the Wang residence was still thronged with guests.

When word spread that Prince Xiao’s heir had arrived, the current head of the Wang clan, Wang Yanshou, now serving as Vice Minister of Rites, personally came out with his two sons to greet him.

“For the Young Prince to grace us with his presence truly brings glory to the entire Wang household,” Wang Yanshou said with utmost respect.

Xiao Rong replied, “Lord Wang, no need for such courtesy,” and instructed Mo Dong to present the gift.

Wang Yanshou hastily accepted it himself before passing it to a servant and then personally led Xiao Rong into the residence.

Although the banquet would not formally begin until noon, the waterside pavilions and flower halls for entertaining guests were already filled. The moment Xiao Rong entered, countless eyes turned upon him.

Since his coming-of-age ceremony, tales of the heir’s brilliance had quickly spread through the capital. Yet those who had attended were few and most people were eager to see with their own eyes the young heir whose reputation was already so dazzling.

Because it was a birthday feast, Xiao Rong’s attire was modest, with a silver robe and a silver coronet, his whole appearance elegant and plain.

And yet, when he entered the flower hall, many of the young scions of noble families could not help but stare in a daze. Even the group of sons from great houses gathered around Cui Xie not far off could not resist casting their gaze, one after another, upon the youth in his understated yet radiant bearing.

Matriarch Wang was fond of opera, so a stage had been set up by the waterside pavilion. Two performers, already dressed in costume, stood waiting.

The younger guests sat on this side of the pavilion.

Someone said, “It’s time to choose the play.”

However, choosing the program was not a privilege open to just anyone.

At such gatherings of noble heirs in the capital, it was typically the prerogative of Cui Xie, the distinguished eldest son of the Cui clan.

Today was no exception and the list of plays had been set aside on the table before Cui Xie.

Yet at that moment, the entire hall was silent. No one dared speak directly to Cui Xie to ask him to choose. Instead, their gazes, whether openly or by stealth, drifted toward another youth seated in a quiet corner, leisurely sipping his tea.

The Cui clan was certainly not easy to provoke. Yet on such an occasion, who would dare openly bypass the Xiao clan?

By custom, the opera booklet had already been placed before Cui Xie. At such a moment, the heir of Xiao Royal Residence needed only to display magnanimity and yield, and the matter would have proceeded smoothly, as it always had.

However, the young heir seemed oblivious to the situation at hand, concerned only with drinking his tea in silence.

Wang Hui, who had been diligently attending to Xiao Rong, noticed this and signaled a servant.

The servant stepped forward to Cui Xie, offered a brief apology, retrieved the opera booklet, and presented it to Xiao Rong.

“Please, Young Prince, choose a play.”

Xiao Rong glanced toward Wang Hui. “I know nothing of opera. Would this be proper?”

“Of course it would. Young Prince, rest assured, the booklet contains only classic pieces suited to today’s occasion. You may select any one at random.”

So Xiao Rong did just that and he casually picked a piece.

When the performance ended and the banquet was about to begin, a family servant suddenly arrived with a report, “Second Young Master, the Prince of Jin, the Prince of Wei, and His Highness the Crown Prince have arrived. The Master bids you accompany him to greet the guests.”

Everyone was taken aback.

Especially at the mention of the Crown Prince, more than a few faces changed.

Yet it was no real surprise. Matriarch Wang held the rank of County Lady, placing her in a generation equal to the Emperor himself. For the imperial princes, as juniors, to come pay their respects was only natural.