Chapter 47

"Seal all four gates at once! Let people in, but no one out!" If Meng Zhou had truly meant to leave, sealing the gates now would already be useless. With the situation still unclear, they would seal them first and worry about the rest later.

Chu Huaiyin had learned his lesson from the incident at Qianyang Lake. He had only searched the lake without promptly ordering the city gates closed, and Meng Zhou had simply walked out of the city!

Ji Yang said, "The Feng Kingdom delegation is due to leave the city today... what about them?"

"Let them wait." Chu Huaiyin swept a sharp gaze toward Guan Jiasheng. "What exactly happened?"

Guan Jiasheng said, "Your Majesty, it has something to do with the Feng Kingdom delegation as well. Yesterday, I..."

"You mean Meng Zhou is sleeping at an inn right now?" Chu Huaiyin confirmed each word.

"Yes. Brother Meng said he was too tired to walk, so he found somewhere nearby to rest."

"Ji Yang, come with me." Chu Huaiyin gave his orders quickly. "Xiao Jiu, summon an imperial physician to examine Lord Guan's injuries."

But when Chu Huaiyin reached the inn, he found nothing. The bed was completely empty, without so much as a quilt. Refusing to give up, he lifted the bedboards, hoping a little cat might be hiding underneath. The well-worn boards could not withstand his rough handling and split in two with a creak, sending dust and wood chips drifting and swirling through the morning light.

With a sweep of his right hand, Chu Huaiyin hurled the boards against the wall, shattering them completely. The entire second-story floor shook three times. Downstairs, the kneeling innkeeper and attendants were scared out of their wits.

Surely we didn't let some rebel stay here?

Heaven means to destroy me.

The innkeeper's face turned ashen. When the emperor raged, blood flowed deep enough to float shields. He was in serious trouble.

Chu Huaiyin punched the bed frame to vent his anger. He feared that when he found Meng Zhou, he would lose control and hurt him.

He feared even more that he would never find Meng Zhou.

"Where is the guest who stayed in the best room last night?" Afraid Chu Huaiyin would frighten the attendants into fainting, Ji Yang asked first.

The innkeeper jabbed the night attendant with his elbow. Hurry up and tell them!

Surrounded by hundreds of Imperial Guards with weapons drawn, the attendant struggled to remember through chattering teeth. "L-last night, the capital magistrate came looking f-for that guest. After His Lordship left, in the middle of the night, the guest came downstairs wrapped in a quilt and s-said he was going out. I-I told him the quilt belonged to the inn and he couldn't take it, so the guest p-put down the quilt and left alone."

The attendant had been half asleep last night. All he remembered was Meng Zhou trying to leave wrapped in a quilt. He had not caught the reason at all, nor had he bothered to listen.

This behavior... the more they heard, the more it sounded like he had packed up his bedding and left, only to discover he had accidentally packed someone else's bedding and had to travel light instead.

It sounded rather funny.

But no one could laugh.

Hearing this, Chu Huaiyin felt almost dazed. Had his little cat become so poor he had to make off with someone else's quilt?

Yet no matter how much money I have, I cannot keep him.

It was as though a wild, untamable cat had toyed with his heart between its claws, scoring it with deep crimson gashes, then tossed it aside once it was bloody and hideous.

Chu Huaiyin closed his eyes. Even as he worried that Meng Zhou might be shivering in some corner without a quilt, he could not stop thinking that, once he found Meng Zhou, he would lock him away somewhere and keep him within sight for the rest of his life.

He took a deep breath, suppressing those mad, ill-timed thoughts, and asked Ji Yang, "Any news from the grand general?"

"None."

"What about the Meng Residence I bestowed on him? The Guan Residence?"

Ji Yang lowered his head, suddenly feeling rather sorry for His Majesty. This was the second time. He knew perfectly well that any news would be reported immediately, yet Ji Yang had already heard him ask several times in this short interval.

Just then, the hidden guards assigned to follow Miss Shui Bi last night returned with a report. They had followed her into a house in the west of the city, and the man meeting her there in secret was none other than the Liu Residence adviser who had long been wanted.

The adviser was skilled in lightness arts and highly vigilant. Once the two compared notes and discovered neither had set off fireworks, they immediately realized it was a trap and fled in different directions. There were three hidden guards; two pursued the adviser, while one followed Shui Bi. Who could have known Miss Shui Bi possessed exceptional skills? After chasing them all night, they had only managed to bring back the adviser that morning.

They asked His Majesty how he wished to deal with him.

The adviser had walked straight into the line of fire. Chu Huaiyin immediately ordered his martial arts crippled and severe torture administered. So long as he was left breathing, anything went.

Outside, the Imperial Guard was constantly on the move. Inside the diplomatic guesthouse, the delegation was in a panic. Miss Shui Bi had not returned after going out last night, and just as they were scheduled to leave that morning, the entire city had suddenly been locked down.

Could something have been discovered?

At the wet nurse's home.

Li Wenle rose early and touched Meng Zhou's forehead. There was no sweat or fever, and his breathing was steady, easing his worries somewhat.

The medicine Meng Zhou had taken contained a sedative, and he had also spent the night running about. Even now, he showed no sign of waking.

Something major seemed to have happened outside; it was noisy and chaotic. Li Wenle locked the doors and windows and decided not to go to the clinic at all that day.

Li Wenle checked Meng Zhou's pulse again. Though somewhat weak, it was not sluggish. The pent-up strain had eased, as though he had laid down some great burden.

When the wet nurse woke to find Meng Zhou sleeping in her home, she excitedly declared that she would cook for the young master. She had cared for the young lady during her pregnancy, and had always regretted that her status prevented her from staying close to care for Meng Zhou.

Before the wet nurse could bring the dishes to the table, a group of people suddenly arrived. Their leader wore a gold crown and the most formal dragon robes. Even without recognizing his face, anyone would know he was the reigning emperor.

"Is Meng Zhou here?" Chu Huaiyin's stern manner belied his apprehension, a barely perceptible panic flickering in his eyes.

This was the last place he could think of.

The wet nurse hesitated briefly. She did not yet know Meng Zhou had told Jiang Yi and still believed he was impersonating Guan Jiasheng, so her instinct was to help conceal him. Flustered, she wondered whether His Majesty had come with such a force to punish the young master for deceiving the sovereign.

At her reaction, Chu Huaiyin's eyes brightened. He passed her and pushed open the door with bated breath, finally finding Meng Zhou sound asleep in a room on the south side.

Outside, everyone had been thrown into chaos, while he slept obliviously, even smacking his lips.

I could spank him in front of everyone.

Chu Huaiyin's clenched fists creaked. He had switched back with Guan Jiasheng without consulting anyone, run off to Li Wenle's home without a word, and slept more soundly than anyone in another man's bed...

"Your Majesty!" Ji Yang called.

"Shh." Chu Huaiyin bent down to lift Meng Zhou out of the covers, but Meng Zhou must have been too cold last night. His limbs were hopelessly tangled in the quilt, and the moment Chu Huaiyin tried to extract him, Meng Zhou slapped him.

"This official wants to sleep."

The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Ji Yang silently turned his head away. Only Meng Zhou dared tug an angry tiger's whiskers and still emerge unscathed.

Chu Huaiyin took several deep breaths, then scooped him up quilt and all, with a pillow bundled inside as well. He held the tightly wrapped bundle like a litter of newborn kittens.

Li Wenle stepped forward to say something, but Ji Yang stopped him. "For Meng Zhou's sake, if nothing else, don't say a word."

Anyone who tried to take Meng Zhou from His Majesty now had better be prepared to lose his head.

After His Majesty carried him away, Li Wenle and the wet nurse stood dazed for a moment before thinking, "Let's go find the grand general."

His Majesty's gaze had been truly frightening. Li Wenle did not know what had happened, but Meng Zhou stubbornly refused to reveal his pregnancy, and His Majesty seemed unaware as well. If something happened...

Li Wenle had also begun to suspect that Chu Huaiyin was the child's father, and could not help breaking into a cold sweat.

When Meng Zhou woke, imperial yellow filled his vision. He jolted fully awake and saw that the quilt covering him still belonged to Li Wenle, as did the pillow in his arms, but the sheets and bed belonged to Chu Huaiyin.

Had I teleported in my sleep?

I knew I'd forgotten something yesterday. I forgot to tell Chu Huaiyin.

Chu Huaiyin must have gone to Li Wenle's home to look for him that morning.

For the first time, Meng Zhou was grateful for his poor sleeping posture. Chu Huaiyin must have been unable to separate him from the quilt and unwilling to wake him, so he had transported the whole bundle into the palace.

On any other day, Meng Zhou would probably have bristled at finding himself suddenly brought into the palace, but this time, he had been in the wrong first.

I'm still very reasonable.

I'll have to coax Chu Huaiyin later.

Now that he had switched back with Guan Jiasheng, he no longer needed to rush to morning court, worry about tarnishing Guan Jiasheng's good name, or fear that his identity being exposed would put Chu Huaiyin in a difficult position.

It was not that he had felt no pressure over the past month; he simply had not dared show it. Afu had never been particularly brave and needed his constant reassurance. Guan Jiasheng's mother was elderly, and Meng Zhou feared even a small mishap might upset her. His child had endured all this rushing about and exhaustion with him. Compared with Shen Baiqing, who nurtured his pregnancy every day, Meng Zhou felt guilty enough to die.

Fortunately, on this slightly chilly morning, he could set all of that aside for a little while.

Meng Zhou stretched, and the clink of a metal chain reached his ears. His rising smile abruptly froze.

He stared incredulously at the iron shackle around his right wrist. However finely crafted it was, however carefully the cuff was lined with leather, it could not change the fact that he was chained to the dragon bed.

How could this be?

He frantically tugged at the cuff, hoping Chu Huaiyin had only fastened it loosely to frighten him. But even after rubbing his wrist red, he could not get it open.

The chain clattered with his movements, drawing the attention of the person outside.

"Xiao Jiu, what's going on?"

Xiao Jiu often joked and played with Meng Zhou, but this time, he could not even meet his eyes.

Half the warmth drained from Meng Zhou's blood. A thousand words lodged in his throat as he tugged pointlessly at the chain, not knowing where Chu Huaiyin had fastened its other end.

The chain was very long. It seemed Chu Huaiyin had graciously allowed him a generous range of movement.

He stood up in a daze. "Where's Chu Huaiyin?"

Hearing Meng Zhou call him directly by name made Xiao Jiu tremble. "I-I'll inform His Majesty."

Meng Zhou had thought Chu Huaiyin was different from those people.

But he had forgotten: with power in hand, who would bother playing hide-and-seek when they could simply crush you with authority?

Meng Zhou left the bedchamber, descended the white marble steps, and walked a hundred meters, dragging the heavy shackles.

The chain trailed on, seemingly without end.

Meng Zhou's mind was blank. Why would Chu Huaiyin do something like this?

"What could I possibly do to you... I was wrong..."

Back then, the moment he cried, Chu Huaiyin abandoned his principles and did not even dare raise his voice.

Had his own ignorant fearlessness exhausted the other man's patience, or had Chu Huaiyin finally become a "proper" emperor?

A voice deep inside Meng Zhou wanted to defend the Chu Huaiyin he knew, but the little figure panicking over his lost freedom kept pressing it down.

As he walked, he suddenly sensed something wrong.

Isn't this a little too long?

In a flash of inspiration, Meng Zhou suddenly hauled on the chain as though in a tug-of-war, flinging it to one side.

The iron chain banged against the steps, twisting and jumping. The resistance at the other end grew lighter and lighter. Meng Zhou held his breath and peered into the distance-

Nothing was attached!

I knew Chu Huaiyin wasn't that overbearing!

Relief washed over Meng Zhou, leaving his legs too weak to support him.

How pathetic.

He stared at the heap of useless chain, a hint of laughter returning to his eyes.

Because of the Feng Kingdom delegation, Chu Huaiyin could not stay beside Meng Zhou until he woke.

As though venting his frustration, he had fastened one cuff around the sleeping Meng Zhou, but had not dared secure the other end.

He only had to imagine it to know his little cat would bristle.

He knew perfectly well that even if Meng Zhou did something worse, he would not dare do anything to him-if Meng Zhou grew upset or angry, he would still have to coax him back himself.

He only dared vent a little while he slept.

He had been gone for barely a quarter of an hour when Xiao Jiu hurried over and said Meng Zhou was awake and appeared deeply shaken.

Scared out of his wits, Chu Huaiyin had thought Meng Zhou would not wake so soon. Heart aching with regret, he said, "Did none of you see the key I left by the bed?!"

Author's note:

A great big "COWARD" for Chu Huaiyin.