Morning light

It was a quarter to six, and the sky had yet to grow fully light. The air after the rain seeped through the window cracks, carrying the earthy sweetness of soil mingled with green grass, along with a faint trace of osmanthus.

Liu An had been standing outside the hall for quite some time, but there was still no movement at the doors. His Majesty would ordinarily have risen long before this hour. Today, the hall was very quiet.

He gently pushed the door open a crack and looked inside. Morning light filtered through the window paper, gray and hazy, falling over the two people on the bed. His Majesty lay on his back, the collar of his nightclothes tugged loose to expose a stretch of collarbone. The crown prince lay curled on his side beside His Majesty, one hand clutching the front of His Majesty's nightclothes. He was wrapped in His Majesty's thin quilt, its edges tucked snugly around him.

Liu An gently closed the door, stood beneath the covered walkway a moment longer, then turned and carried the tea tray back to the tea room. He had no intention of urging His Majesty to attend morning court-the assembled civil and military officials could wait. At worst, he would beg forgiveness once His Majesty woke.

His Majesty had not slept so peacefully in a very long time.

Still muddled with sleep, Xiao Huaijin sniffed with his eyes closed. It was the scent of the osmanthus trees outside. So fragrant. He turned onto his side and caught a colder, deeper scent-his father's scent. He buried his face a little farther into the pillow, and his forehead touched warm skin.

He opened his eyes and saw his father. His fingers were still clutching his father's nightclothes, and when he let go, the fabric was crumpled into a ball. Afraid of waking his father, he slowly burrowed deeper into the quilt, moving as lightly as a cat that had stolen a bite of osmanthus cake, until only his two eyes showed and the edge of the quilt covered the tip of his nose.

"You're awake." Xiao Lin did not open his eyes.

The little fellow beneath the quilt opened his eyes wide.

"Father, you're awake?"

"Do you want to sleep a little longer?" Xiao Lin's voice carried the huskiness of someone who had just woken.

Xiao Huaijin shook his head, then remembered something and panicked.

"Father, morning court!"

"Liu An hasn't come to hurry me."

"It's already past seven."

"Mm."

Xiao Huaijin sat up in bed, looked at the fully bright sky outside the window, then looked at his father, who lay quietly beside him without the slightest intention of getting up. For a moment, he was bewildered.

Every morning when he woke, his father would already have reviewed several memorials in the main hall. Yet today his father was still in bed, with weariness lingering in his eyes.

"Is it really all right not to go to morning court?"

Xiao Lin did not answer. He placed his son's hand in his own palm, the large hand and the small one resting together on the quilt.

He remembered attending morning court in his previous life. This child had risen between three and five every day to prepare, then stood at the head of the eastern ranks in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, his back ramrod straight. He had never once been late to court. Yet Xiao Lin had not even known what time he rose.

He had only been in his teens then, still so young.

"There's no hurry. It's fine to hold court a little later."

He sat up in bed and set his bare feet on the golden floor tiles. Reaching out, he lifted Xiao Huaijin off the bed and set him on the floor, then walked to the clothes rack, picked up his outer robe, and put it on. He also fetched the little padded jacket Xiao Huaijin had flung over the back of a chair when he ran in last night and tossed it to him, leaving him to put it on himself.

"You went to sleep a little late last night. Did you sleep well?" With his back to him, Xiao Lin straightened the front of his robe.

"Yes. Only your pillow was a little hard."

Xiao Lin turned his head and glanced at him.

"Then bring your pillow over tonight."

Xiao Huaijin's hands stopped midway through fastening his buttons.

"Bring it over?"

The child's eyes widened in delighted surprise.

"I can sleep with you, Father?"

"Mm. You have my permission."

Xiao Huaijin fastened the last button and ran to the side hall to fetch his pillow, several times faster than usual. He stumbled over the threshold of the main hall and nearly fell, but quickly steadied himself and kept running.

Breakfast was laid out on the low table in the main hall. Liu An had specifically asked the Imperial Kitchen to add a plate of lotus root with candied osmanthus and a bowl of milk-steamed egg custard. As he set down the food carrier, he saw the crown prince carefully placing his own pillow on the side of His Majesty's bed nearest the wall. Liu An said nothing; only the smile in his eyes deepened.

Xiao Huaijin picked up a boiled egg, tapped it against the corner of the table, and lowered his head to peel it carefully. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped.

"Father, you said no one held you when you were little." Xiao Huaijin put down the boiled egg and raised his head beside the low table. "Then from now on, I'll hug you every day from now on. All right?"

Xiao Lin held his teacup with its rim poised at his lips. The hall was very quiet, with only a few birds calling from the osmanthus trees in the Imperial Garden outside the window. He set down his teacup, picked up the half-peeled boiled egg, stripped away the remaining shell in a few quick motions, and put it back in Xiao Huaijin's bowl.

"Eat."

Xiao Huaijin lowered his head and took a bite, his cheeks bulging as he persisted indistinctly, "But is that all right?"

Xiao Lin lifted his teacup and continued drinking without answering. Taking this as tacit consent, Xiao Huaijin contentedly took another large bite of his boiled egg.

After breakfast, Xiao Huaijin went to the imperial study for his lessons. He walked faster than usual today, one corner of his padded jacket's hem lifting in the breeze, his little leather boots clacking against the bluestone slabs of the passageway. Passing Taiye Lake, he stopped to look at the lotus flowers on the water-the downpour had knocked several blossoms off, but the lotus leaves were greener than ever.

"Why is Your Highness so happy today?" Zhou Rucheng was already waiting in the imperial study and saw the smile still lingering on Xiao Huaijin's face as he pushed the door open.

"I moved my pillow to Father's quarters today." Xiao Huaijin took his books out of his cloth bag and placed them on the desk, unable to resist adding another boast. "I'll be sleeping at Father's from now on."

Zhou Rucheng's hand paused as he turned a page. He opened the book and pushed it in front of Xiao Huaijin, pointing out the day's new lesson. His teaching voice remained as steady as ever, but a barely perceptible smile hid in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

That evening, Xiao Huaijin returned from the imperial study holding up a newly written policy essay. The topic of today's essay was "Autumn Defense Strategy." Zhou Rucheng had asked him to write another essay on autumn defenses along the northern frontier, incorporating the latest military dispatch from Shuofang City. He had written several pages, listing his views one by one, and brought them for Xiao Lin to read.

Xiao Lin took it, read it from beginning to end, and nodded in approval.

"This is well written. You've improved."

Building on his success, Xiao Huaijin went to the side hall to fetch the other pages of large-character calligraphy he had written that day for his father to inspect. He lingered for quite some time, until Liu An came in carrying a bowl of hot milk and placed it on the low table.

"Your Highness, it's time to rest." Liu An's voice was quiet but measured.

Xiao Huaijin picked up the milk and drank it in one go, set the empty bowl on the tea tray, and glanced at his father, who sat behind the imperial desk. Xiao Lin had just finished reviewing the last memorial and was placing his vermilion brush on the brush rest.

"Father, you should rest too."

Xiao Lin rose and walked to the bed. Xiao Huaijin had already burrowed under the quilt, his pillow neatly arranged on the side nearest the wall. Xiao Lin lay down on the outer side of the bed and reached over out of habit to tuck in the corners of his quilt.

"Father."

"Mm."

"Today the Grand Tutor taught me a line from the Book of Rites-'Affection between father and son, harmony between husband and wife, and the way of the household is set right.' The Grand Tutor said affection between father and son is the foundation of the way of the household..."

His voice grew softer and softer, and he fell asleep before he finished speaking. The fresh candle on the candlestick had only been burning a short while. When Liu An came in to extinguish the light, he saw His Majesty lying on his side, seemingly asleep as well. He blew out the candle and closed the door.

Outside the hall, the moonlight was lovely. Washed by the rain, the glazed roof tiles shone with a soft luster beneath it, while frogs called here and there in Taiye Lake. The night breeze stirred the bronze bell beneath the covered walkway, drawing from it a single, exceedingly faint chime.