Chapter 48

Chu Huaiyin picked up the key that had fallen to the floor. When he rushed out of the sleeping palace and saw Meng Zhou sitting in the square outside, wearing only thin nightclothes, such a small, slender figure, he immediately doubled back for a fox-fur coat.

When Meng Zhou had come out in despair earlier, he had not noticed how cold it was outside. After learning the truth, he desperately wanted to crawl back under the covers.

But then he reconsidered. Since he was already out here, he had to accomplish something else. Chu Huaiyin might only have been scaring him this time, but would he do it for real next time something made him even angrier?

For example... running away while pregnant.

Meng Zhou planned ahead. He sat on the ground, waiting for Chu Huaiyin to explain. The paving stones were icy. Meng Zhou counted down sixty seconds in his head. If Chu Huaiyin did not come, he would... go back himself.

Behind him came the sound of air stirring and fabric rustling. Warmth settled over Meng Zhou's back as a fluffy cloak draped over his shoulders.

"Don't sit on the ground." Chu Huaiyin put his arms around him and pulled him up. With a click, he unlocked the handcuffs and kicked the coiled chain far away.

"I was only, only..." Looking at Meng Zhou's clear eyes and drooping brows, Chu Huaiyin could not go on. He enclosed Meng Zhou's right hand in his palm and gently blew on the ring of red marks around his wrist. He had frightened Meng Zhou. Whatever his original intentions, whether or not he had left the key, he had unwittingly subjected Meng Zhou to fear and panic. That alone was already an unforgivable offense.

"I was wrong." Chu Huaiyin embraced Meng Zhou, bundled in all that fluff, and sighed. "Whatever happens in the future, this will never happen again."

He seemed to know what Meng Zhou wanted to hear and offered a promise without hesitation.

Even if Meng Zhou became a rebel someday, that promise would still hold.

"I left the key at the head of the bed. I don't know when it fell into the gap beside it. I'm deeply sorry for frightening you."

Chu Huaiyin phrased it very tactfully. In fact, Meng Zhou had kicked it down in his sleep.

Meng Zhou rested his head against Chu Huaiyin's neck and said earnestly, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I forgot to tell you. I originally meant to come find you this morning. But I wasn't feeling well last night, so I went to Brother Li for treatment, and then I slept until now... If only I'd woken up earlier."

Chu Huaiyin suspected Meng Zhou had deliberately made himself sound so pitiful. Otherwise, why did his heart ache more with every word?

"You did nothing wrong. You just don't think of me first." Chu Huaiyin sighed.

That sigh made Meng Zhou feel as though he had committed some unforgivably faithless act. He thought silently, I do think of you, actually. But he was used to being alone and could not yet naturally extend "thinking of him" into other acts of reliance.

It was a learning process.

"Then teach me." Meng Zhou's fingers lightly stroked Chu Huaiyin's palm.

His voice and touch were both very soft, like a feather brushing between fingers, leaving a trace of moisture from the tip of a cloud.

When Chu Huaiyin lowered his head, all he could see were the reddened tips of Meng Zhou's ears, hidden in a ring of white fur.

Meng Zhou took the initiative to step closer, and Chu Huaiyin's faintly bitter mood abruptly brightened. "Really?"

"Mm."

"Then could you kiss me once?"

Meng Zhou said, "No."

Chu Huaiyin ground his teeth. "A student like you would certainly be the death of his teacher."

Not at all. This official was a model student every year.

Wait... Wasn't he now an unemployed drifter whose household registration had been canceled?

"I'll issue a decree tomorrow," Chu Huaiyin said deliberately. "You can go back to being an adjudicator at the Court of Judicial Review."

He had been only one small step from his goal of "commanding armies and serving as chancellor," only to find himself right back at square one overnight. Meng Zhou condemned Chu Huaiyin fiercely with a look that said, Doesn't your conscience hurt?

Chu Huaiyin said, "Unless..." He took the opportunity to make a little demand.

Seeing through his intentions, Meng Zhou raised a brow, his eyes teasing. "Then I won't have to attend court. Perfect."

Am I the sort of person who climbs the ranks by selling his looks?

An incorruptible official, understand?

Chu Huaiyin: ...He had been careless.

"Your Majesty, the grand general has entered the palace on urgent business," Xiao Jiu reported breathlessly. The grand general looked very anxious-the sort of anxious that could tear the palace apart.

Looking at His Majesty and Meng Zhou's joined hands, Xiao Jiu felt a little envious, and his vision was a little blurry too. After all, because his defective eyes had failed to spot the key, His Majesty had ordered him to pick all the black beans out of a basin of red beans before tomorrow.

To train his eyesight.

"Come with me." Chu Huaiyin took Meng Zhou's hand. "Get changed first."

He could roughly guess that Jiang Yi had come for Meng Zhou. Under those circumstances, the wet nurse would certainly have turned to Jiang Yi for help. Yet... Chu Huaiyin rubbed his nose. He was clearly the one who had needed reinforcements.

Jiang Yi was even more... irritable than Chu Huaiyin had expected?

The grand general had been leading troops in a citywide search, ostensibly hunting rebels while actually looking for his nephew as well. The secret meeting between the Liu Residence's adviser and Miss Shui Bi had conveniently given Chu Huaiyin a ready-made, reasonable excuse for this extensive search, making him look less like a muddleheaded ruler.

A covert guard had reported that His Majesty had found him and the grand general need not worry. Before Jiang Yi's heart could settle back into place, Li Wenle hurried over and told him to get to the palace quickly to check on Meng Zhou.

Jiang Yi was puzzled. "Surely His Majesty wouldn't do anything to him?" Though he was reluctant to admit it, their relationship was unusual; otherwise, His Majesty would not have mobilized so many people. Besides, it would do Meng Zhou good to learn a lesson. The boy was far too heedless. After falling into Qianyang Lake, he had actually gone somewhere so far away alone, with danger at every turn. How could anyone not worry?

After some agonizing, Li Wenle found somewhere deserted, weighed his options, and revealed Meng Zhou's pregnancy. Afraid of upsetting the grand general, Li Wenle only said that while treating Meng Zhou, he had detected a pregnancy pulse, three or four months along. He did not mention that Meng Zhou had known long ago and still run away alone.

Jiang Yi felt as though lightning had struck him. Stunned by the news, he did not even stop to ask how Meng Zhou could be pregnant. His reaction was identical to the wet nurse's: he drew his sword with a swish. "What beast took advantage of him? I'll kill him!"

Li Wenle voiced his guess.

Three or four months ago... Hadn't His Majesty only recently returned to the capital then?

Beast.

Chu Huaiyin said, "Meng Zhou has just woken up. You've come at just the right time, Grand General."

"Hmph."

Jiang Yi snorted through his nose. Don't speak to this general in that junior's tone.

Chu Huaiyin was utterly bewildered.

Meng Zhou's eyelid twitched.

Watching apprehensively, he found that Jiang Yi's gaze did indeed fall on his lower abdomen.

Meng Zhou discreetly edged behind Chu Huaiyin.

His uncle was a little frightening.

Jiang Yi snorted again.

After a moment's thought, Meng Zhou emerged again and shook his head at Jiang Yi, his eyes pleading. His Majesty had just had a shock today. Couldn't he have a little time to recover?

Most importantly, he had to think about how to say it. The longer it went on, the less he dared speak, and the more he feared Chu Huaiyin would be angry. This was different from when he had angered Chu Huaiyin before: from simply fearing Chu Huaiyin's authority and the hardships of the world, he now longed for understanding, tolerance, and equality. Meng Zhou had not merely dug a pit and jumped into it; he was filling it with earth day after day. One day, the pit would be too small to hold him and the child. Before that day arrived, Meng Zhou had to find a gentle, non-shocking way to tell Chu Huaiyin.

Ah, difficult.

Jiang Yi certainly would not tell Chu Huaiyin.

The two of them had conspired to conceal the fact that Guan Jiasheng was Meng Zhou. He was merely giving them a taste of their own medicine. The Jiang Clan had few members. He decided that this child would be the designated heir to the general's residence, and he would teach the child every supreme martial art of the Jiang Clan.

Jiang Yi glanced at Meng Zhou's thin little frame, then recalled Chu Huaiyin's heroic figure sweeping through armies on the battlefield. On this point, his uncle was willing to compromise. It would be better if the child took after Chu Huaiyin a little.

Meng Zhou had no idea that his uncle was already thinking as far ahead as "inviting every civil and military official to the child's full-month banquet except His Majesty." He kept signaling to Jiang Yi not to tell anyone.

"Come here," Jiang Yi said.

Meng Zhou meekly went over.

Jiang Yi discussed restoring Meng Zhou's identity with His Majesty, and they reached an agreement: there was no need to make things too complicated. They would simply announce that fishermen downstream had rescued Meng Zhou and that the corpse had been misidentified.

Then they came to a serious disagreement over where Meng Zhou ought to live.

Chu Huaiyin believed Meng Zhou should live in the Meng Residence he had bestowed upon him. Once an adult, he should establish his own household. How could he live with his maternal uncle? It would be bad for his reputation.

-Jiang Yi is a highly skilled martial artist. I won't be able to slip into Meng Zhou's room undetected anymore.

Jiang Yi believed Meng Zhou had to live with the Jiang Clan. Assassins were targeting him now; only by living at the Meng Residence could he protect him at close quarters.

-With His Majesty around, my nephew won't dare properly nurture his pregnancy. Look at how Hanlin Academician Ji treats his wife!

Meng Zhou covered his mouth and yawned, feeling as though none of this had much to do with him. He narrowed his eyes, watching the two go back and forth, and could not help wondering whether they were this long-winded when they disagreed on the battlefield. Would they simply draw their swords?

In the end, the decision fell to Meng Zhou.

Meng Zhou thought that since his uncle knew anyway, living with the Jiang Clan would give him another person to help cover for him, which was good. But he had just promised Chu Huaiyin that he would learn to think of him first, and that made him waver again.

"Why don't you stay at the Meng Residence with me for a while, Uncle?" Meng Zhou offered a terrible idea.

It could be said that neither man was satisfied.

That afternoon.

Meng Zhou introduced Physician Liu to His Majesty. Liu Yixiu easily landed himself a position as an imperial physician and felt a little like the protagonist of a storybook.

"I'll establish an Imperial Medical Academy outside the palace. You and the other imperial physicians will conduct research together. Once it proves viable, we'll turn the academy into a school on the spot, enroll students, and print and distribute the texts to benefit the common people."

After reading the other half of the book, Liu Yixiu had become an utterly brainless fan of the divine physician. He excitedly showed His Majesty the miraculous folk remedies in the ancient text, such as increasing a pregnant woman's milk supply, or determining whether she was carrying twins...

Meng Zhou, who had warned Liu Yixiu beforehand not to reveal his pregnancy: ...Endure.

Chu Huaiyin listened with interest as Liu Yixiu praised the divine physician as though he were an immortal. "Mr. Liu, you're truly entertaining. When the school opens, you'll surely attract more people to study medicine."

His Majesty's praise left Liu Yixiu floating on air. "Medicine actually isn't difficult. Your Majesty is exceptionally intelligent. If you wished to learn, you would surely attain greater mastery than this commoner. Martial arts guard against assassins' ambushes; medicine guards against villains' poison. Your Majesty's person is precious beyond measure. Learning some medicine can only benefit you. All you need to do is place your fingers on the pulse like this..."

Unable to endure it any longer, Meng Zhou seized Liu Yixiu by the back of his collar. "Urge someone to study medicine, and may lightning strike you down!"

This official advises you to be kind.

Author's note:

Chu Huaiyin: The whole world knows... :)

Soon.