Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 71

Xiao Rong changed back into his robes and, after reuniting with Mo Dong, wandered aimlessly down the street.

Mo Dong carried a jar of wine and followed silently behind.

After walking for who knew how long, the crowds thinned, and Mo Dong finally had to remind him, “Young Prince, the Imperial City lies ahead.”

Xiao Rong lifted his head and suddenly asked, “Where is the Eastern Palace?”

Mo Dong froze. After a moment’s hesitation, he replied, “The Eastern Palace, naturally, is also within the Imperial City. Does the Young Prince wish to…?”

Xiao Rong stared ahead for a long time before withdrawing his gaze. “It’s nothing. Just asking.” He really was mad to have harbored such a dangerous thought. Never mind that he and Third Brother had already parted ways in discord; even if they had not, how could the other possibly accept something so absurd?

How could he explain it?

The other would likely think him a monster.

And yet, at the thought of that usually composed, steady man perhaps showing a rare look of fright, Xiao Rong almost wanted to laugh.

By the time they returned to the residence, dusk was falling. Instead of going back to his quarters in the Jade Dragon Terrace, Xiao Rong went straight to the main residence to see Prince Xiao.

The main residence was lit with lamps. Xiao En personally came out to receive him, smiling kindly as he said, “Young Prince, you’ve come at just the right time. The Prince has just returned.”

Xiao Rong cast a glance inside and asked, “I saw carriages outside the residence. Do we have guests?”

“The two young masters of the third branch are here, come to inquire after the Prince’s injuries.”

“How long have they been here?”

“They’ve only just arrived.”

Xiao Rong nodded and walked straight into the main hall.

Prince Xiao, dressed in a silver robe for home wear, was seated in the central hall while an imperial physician tended to his wound. Below him sat two young men of similar age; one with a scholarly air, while the other was more martial in bearing, both in their early twenties. They were the two sons of Third Master Xiao Jingcheng, namely Xiao Yulin and Xiao Yuke.

As Xiao Rong entered, both rose together and saluted him.

Xiao Rong accepted the courtesy with composure, his gaze lingering on neither of them. He saluted Prince Xiao and then sat down on the opposite side at the chief seat.

“I hear the Young Prince has long been studying in Qizhou. When you have the time, it would be good to tell us about your experiences there,” Xiao Yulin said with a smile, breaking the silence as he sat across from Xiao Rong.

Xiao Rong lifted the teacup handed to him by a servant, stirred the tea leaves gently, and took a graceful sip. His tone was indifferent, “I’m clumsy with words, so I can’t describe it well. If you have the time, you should see for yourselves.”

Xiao Yuke’s face darkened at once. His brows knitted and he seemed ready to retort, but Xiao Yulin grabbed his sleeve firmly and shook his head. Xiao Yuke could only glare at Xiao Rong in displeasure.

Xiao Rong ignored him completely, drinking his tea with unhurried composure.

No further words were exchanged between them.

Before long, the physician withdrew. Xiao Yulin immediately rose to his feet and said, “I had long wished to visit Fourth Uncle, but the duties at the Imperial Academy have been heavy of late, so I was delayed until now. I hope Fourth Uncle will not take offense.”

Prince Xiao said, “It’s enough that you had the thought. Your duties come first.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Yulin stepped to the center of the hall, spread his robe, and knelt.
With head bowed, he said, “At the last clan council, my father’s words and conduct were rash and discourteous, and he offended the Young Prince. Here, I beg forgiveness from Fourth Uncle and the Young Prince on his behalf. I ask that you both pardon his offense.”

Prince Xiao replied, “Your father’s actions have nothing to do with you. There is no need for you to apologize in his stead. Rise.”

Xiao Yulin assented, rose, and returned to his seat. Together with Xiao Yuke, he presented the supplements and medicine they had brought.

Prince Xiao accepted them with a smile and ordered the meal to be served.

Xiao Rong, who had been observing coolly all this time, finally stood and said, “I’ve already eaten outside, so I won’t disturb Father’s meal. I came today to report something to Father.”

Prince Xiao glanced at him.

Xiao Rong said, “Now that I have come of age, I ought to shoulder some proper duties and ease Father’s burdens. I hear the Silver Dragon Cavalry is much occupied with military affairs these days. I wish to serve with them for a time.”

Prince Xiao said, “It’s no problem for you to go into the army. However, your teacher had intended for you to take a post in the Secretariat. What do you think yourself?”

At sixteen years old, Xiao Rong had already passed the most difficult of the imperial civil service examinations and became an imperial scholar with such a commanding lead that he ranked first. Since the founding of the Da’an Dynasty, fewer than a hundred men had ever succeeded in this test and Xiao Rong’s results were the best of them all. It was only because he was too young that he had not been granted office immediately. Now, for him to enter court as an official required no more than a single letter of recommendation. |18|

All the more so as he was heir to the Xiao clan, foremost among the Five Great Clans and Seven Noble Houses. Ordinary scions of noble families had no need to attempt such a grueling path as the imperial civil service examinations.

Xiao Rong said calmly, “I have no objection. But I would prefer to be practical. Let me serve in the army for a time, to familiarize myself with military affairs.”

Prince Xiao said no more. “Since you have thought it through, you may go to the army tomorrow.”

Xiao Rong gave a respectful answer, withdrew without glancing aside, and left the main courtyard with head held high.

Back in his quarters, Xiao Rong had no mind for anything else. He sat at his bamboo mat, elbow propped against his brow, lost in a daze.

Mo Dong assumed his sour mood came from Xiao Yulin’s arrival.

The heir had always enjoyed competing with the third branch’s Young Master Yulin. Back when they studied at the Jade Dragon Terrace, the heir had even publicly pointed out errors in Young Master Yulin’s essays, humiliating him before everyone. Mo Dong remembered it well.

“Would the Young Prince like something to eat?” Mo Dong asked. It was already growing late.

However, Xiao Rong’s present mood had nothing to do with Xiao Yulin. At this moment, even hearing the word food made him seethe. Yet there was no place to vent that anger. With a voice like dead embers, he said, “No. You eat by yourself, don’t bother about me.”

Once Mo Dong had gone out, Xiao Rong lowered his head almost guiltily. Tentatively, through the fabric of his belt, his hand brushed over his own abdomen.

Could there really be something small inside?

Something that belonged to him and Third Brother?

The thought had barely arisen before he jerked his hand back as though scalded.

That day in the teahouse room, they had cut everything off.

He had already broken the man’s heart. At the birthday feast in the Wang clan’s estate, although only a few paces apart, they had looked straight past one another like strangers. The same Third Brother who, days before, had kissed him with wild desperation in a carriage, now acted as if he truly did not know him and had not spared him even a glance. It was exactly the ‘forget each other upon the rivers and mountains’ ending Xiao Rong had told himself to expect.

Now that things had come to this, how could he possibly trouble him with something so absurd?

Fortunately, there was still a way to set things right.

In the northern garrisons, he had heard from the old army doctor that for the first three months, a woman’s pregnancy was most precarious. He was not a woman, but the principle should be the same.

Medicines likely would not work on him, so he would have to find another method.

The simplest approach was through food.

But he had no experience in this. Worse, he had once seen a woman miscarry in the north from eating the wrong thing. The look of agony on her face lingered in his memory.

If he made himself ill through an improper diet, Xiao En would surely notice. And if Xiao En noticed, the household physician would be summoned. If by then something was discovered, all his plans would collapse.

If food could not be relied upon, then he would have to create an accident. A simple slip or tumble would not suffice. It had to be violent enough.

After much thought, Xiao Rong found the most natural and least suspicious method: falling from a horse.

Even if he were genuinely injured, the physician would only tend to external wounds; no one would probe deeper into his pulse. And a common fall from a horse need not be dangerous; he could control the angle and force himself.

To carry out the plan, he would need a place where he could often be around horses. The Silver Dragon Cavalry was the obvious choice.

Of course, he could not remain in the army for long. By the normal path of a noble heir’s career, once he came of age, he would prepare for official appointment.

Even if he wanted to stay in the army, his teacher would not allow it.

However, for a short period, there was no issue.

Besides, with the capital’s current turbulence, going into the army was, in fact, more practical than taking up a civil post. Before he spoke, he had already guessed Prince Xiao would hardly oppose it.

Having resolved his mind, Xiao Rong unrolled a map of the Silver Dragon Cavalry’s garrisons, sat before his desk, and studied it closely.

He was not one to fight unprepared battles. Since he was going to the army, he would first make himself familiar with its workings.

***

The next morning, Xiao Rong set out for the Silver Dragon Cavalry.

Xiao En had dutifully prepared a great many travel supplies, but Xiao Rong coldly cast them aside. In the end, only a small trunk remained, holding just a few clothes and books.

Before departure, Xiao Rong deliberately sent Mo Dong to the Censorate.

“Just ask him how the matter I entrusted him with last time is progressing. He’ll understand,” Xiao Rong instructed curtly.

“Young Prince, Lord Liu is not there,” Mo Dong reported upon riding back.

Xiao Rong lowered his eyes, idly playing with a gilt-edged folding fan, his brow furrowed. “Not there?”

“Yes. I heard the Censorate was hosting a banquet. Someone secretly slipped laxatives into the wine and now the entire bureau, including Lord Liu, is stricken with diarrhea. Apart from a few lucky ones who missed the feast, they have all taken leave to recover. Shall I go to Lord Liu’s residence to inquire?”

Xiao Rong mused for a moment and then asked, “What about that Cao Ancheng?”

“They say he has been quite pleased with himself of late. He drank the most at the banquet, even leading drinking games. As a result, his diarrhea is the worst. Old Master Cao has already summoned an imperial physician to tend to his grandson. It seems he won’t recover in less than ten days, perhaps even half a month.”

The corner of Xiao Rong’s lips curved. “No need to go. But you are to make another trip to the Apricot Blossom Pavilion. Tell them that from now on, all the wine served to Lord Liu of the Censorate is to be charged to this heir’s account.”

***

Life in the army was dull and time slipped by quickly. Before long, half a month had passed.

Xiao Rong had deliberately chosen a remote camp near the northern outskirts. Mountain bandits had been sighted in the area, so Xiao Rong spent most of his days accompanying the camp’s commanding general, Zhang He, on patrols.

Today was a rare day of rest.

Dressed in a loose, wide-sleeved robe, Xiao Rong sat cross-legged in his tent, drinking.

In between sips, he took his own pulse once more, only to withdraw his hand, heart sinking into ash.

As the saying goes, man proposes, Heaven disposes.

Who could have foreseen that after half a month of tirelessly riding through rugged mountain paths, barely halting even for storms, until his legs were nearly worn out, his pulse remained smooth and strong, the beaded sensation within even more pronounced? His painstakingly executed plan had yielded not the slightest result.

Once, he had even tried falling from his horse. He suffered little more than a scrape, but he had frightened General Zhang He and Mo Dong badly. Since then, whenever he went out, the two watched him like hawks. Zhang He even assigned him three times the usual number of guards, leaving Xiao Rong no chance to ‘accidentally’ fall again.

Moreover, Xiao Rong had trained in horsemanship and archery with the Silver Dragon Cavalry since childhood. Competitive by nature, he had excelled and the veteran soldiers all knew his riding skills. If he repeatedly ‘fell’ from his horse, not only would suspicion arise, but his reputation would suffer.

Weighing his options, Xiao Rong abandoned that method. Instead, he began extending his daily patrols, even daring to gallop across flat stretches of land, but still, the results were negligible.

Lifting his flask, Xiao Rong tilted back his head and drank deeply.

Before long, Zhang He entered with cheerful news. “Young Prince, your flood tactic worked splendidly. Last night, the Seventh Battalion wiped out those remnant bandits hidden in the mountains, seizing a fine haul. Would you care to come and choose something?”

Zhang He, forty years old, was witty and talkative. Once a veteran under Prince Xiao, he had watched Xiao Rong grow up and thus felt little restraint in the heir’s presence.

Xiao Rong had no interest in the spoils of bandits. He was just about to wave it off when a deputy general entered.

“Young Prince. General.” He saluted both and then looked to Zhang He.

“What is it?” Zhang He said. “The heir is here. Speak freely.”

The deputy general said, “The Eighth Battalion reported that two guards of the Jin Royal Residence slipped out again without permission and were caught. They ask how General wishes to deal with them.”

“Slipped out again?” Zhang He stroked his chin. “What were they running out for this time?”

“They claimed the Prince of Jin’s stomach has been unwell of late, so they went to fetch mountain spring water to brew tea for him.”

“These princes and royal brats are always so damned troublesome,” Zhang He muttered. After a moment’s thought, he added, “Forget it. It’s nothing too serious. Handle it lightly.”

The deputy accepted the order and was about to leave when Xiao Rong suddenly lifted his gaze. “Don’t they say the Prince of Jin is clever and well-mannered? How is it that his household guards behave like this?”

The deputy sighed. “The Young Prince may not know but those two were assigned by the Prince’s grandmother, Matriarch Wang, to tend to his daily needs. They’ve long been used to throwing their weight around. Not only do they flout military discipline by sneaking out, but in camp, they constantly demand special treatment and have quarreled more than once with our soldiers.”

“Then why indulge them?”

The deputy replied, “For fear of embarrassing the Prince of Jin, of course. Besides, apart from being overly fussy, they haven’t caused real trouble.”

Xiao Rong set down the wine jar and rose with deliberate leisure.

“Is that so?” His voice was cool. “Then I would like to see for myself just how grand they think they are, to dare flaunt their airs in the Silver Dragon Cavalry.”