Ch 41 (2) – Late night rendezvous~
Today, Li ZeChen was in the imperial study room, handling the doc.u.ments of the country"s affairs. The leader of his secret guard slipped in soundlessly to report to him.
“Your Majesty, you were correct. Zuo Yu has really pa.s.sed on the information to the Zheng Guógōng, Li ZeYuan now knows of this matter. It seems that he is ready to act, and waits only for a chance to infiltrate the Imperial palace.”
Li ZeChen"s eyes were cold, “Zhèn has put up with him for long enough. Since it has come to this, it is time to settle this once and for all.”
In the evening, Li ZeChen returned to Fengyang Palace. As he was taking his meal with Ye Ming, he said, “Zhèn has decided to stay at the temporary palace for a while. Wen Qing, you will accompany zhèn.”
T/N : 行宫 (Xínggōng) – Temporary palaces are imperial palaces for short stays away from the capital, it also serves as a temporary dwelling place of an Emperor.
Ye Ming merely gave a deferential reply, and did not question him on the reason.
Li ZeChen looked at him fixedly, but said nothing more. You are always like this, you show no interest in anything, you don"t question anything, you don"t care about anything.
The next day, their group set off amidst much pomp and splendor.
The temporary palace was not far from the capital, and was nestled at the base of a forested mountain from which sprang several hot springs. The environment was beautiful and tranquil. This place was specially built by the late Emperor for his Empress, Li ZeYuan"s birth mother. After the pa.s.sing of the Emperor and Li ZeChen"s ascension to the throne, this place now naturally belonged to him.
Back then, Li ZeChen was an unfavoured Prince, and the late Emperor has only ever brought the Crown Prince and his cohort here, never him. And after Li ZeChen ascended to the throne, he did not indulge in any frivolous pleasures, and hence this was his first time visiting the place.
This was where Li ZeChen had brought Ye Ming. As they walked, there was a rare expression of peace on his face.
“Imperial Father may have been a romantic, but he never stopped loving his Empress. Hence when Li ZeYuan was born, he was immediately conferred with the t.i.tle of Crown Prince.” Li ZeChen smiled faintly, “This was Imperial Father"s favourite temporary palace, he used to come here every year with Li ZeYuan. In his eyes, only Li ZeYuan was his true son, whereas….. the rest of us were but accidents of birth, we could never stand on the same level as Li ZeYuan. To ensure that the other Princes knew their places, Imperial Father had always treated us very differently.”
T/N : -cough- He means womanizer.
Of this, Ye Ming knew very well. Recalling how Li ZeChen was treated in the past, his heart could not help but soften. The late Emperor had truly been biased in this regard.
His most beloved son had always been Li ZeYuan. As for the rest of the Princes, if their mothers had significant status to back them up, they could at least live their lives peacefully. But Li ZeChen was born to a palace maid……. life had not been kind to him.
“But I have never blamed him, Imperial Father did this for the stability of the nation. If he had given every Prince hope, and allowed them to start having ideas, the consequences of the resulting internal strife would have been severe. And so, selecting the Crown Prince early was not wrong, but life does not always turn out the way you expect it to…..” Li ZeChen laughed self-deprecatingly, his brows lifting as he continued, “Humans have always been greedy and capricious, always eyeing what does not rightfully belong to them. Like myself, I was not content with my lot….”
T/N : Li ZeChen sometimes uses the normal ‘I" instead of ‘zhèn". I just follow along.
Ye Ming said slowly, “For Your Majesty to be the Emperor, this was Heaven"s will.”
“Is that so…..” Li ZeChen smiled faintly, “But zhèn does not believe in Heaven"s will, you have to work hard and fight for what you want.”
From the day I was born, from the day I could think, I had known that I could only fight for what I want, else I would have nothing……. And so, to keep surviving, to obtain my heart"s desire, I used every means, fair and foul, to achieve my goals.
Not only will I seize everything Li ZeYuan has today, I will seize you back from him as well.
They walked slowly, and eventually came to the site of the hot springs. Everything that was built here was beautiful. The pebbled pathways spread out as far as the eye could see. Deep round pools were sunken into the ground. Hot mist swirled and wafted into the air. The place was like a land in a dream.
Li ZeChen walked over and looked at it intensely for a moment, then took a big step and plunged into the pool. It seemed that he may have slipped on the slippery pebbled paths lining the pools, and hence fell straight in.
Ye Ming had been closely following Li ZeChen. When he saw Li ZeChen fall into the pool, he rushed over without another thought, his sole intent was to pull the person out. But when he reached out, his arms were grabbed by Li ZeChen, and suddenly his whole body was dragged into the hot spring with a resounding splash. He looked up in worry, and met Li ZeChen"s smiling gaze.
There was no need to think about it, it was clear that Li ZeChen"s actions had been deliberate. He made to leave, but was hugged by Li ZeChen.
Li ZeChen rested his chin on Ye Ming"s shoulder, his lips brushing Ye Ming"s ear as he spoke, “You are still the same as before.”
Ye Ming"s face turned red, his eyes flitting about nervously.
Li ZeChen said, “I still recall the first time we met, when I jumped into the lake to retrieve the ball for Third younger sister, you were watching from the side….. I saw the look in your eyes. Everyone was laughing as they watched me, you alone stood there looking worried, as if you wanted very badly to pull me out, you looked at me so kindly…..”
“Since that day, I"ve always thought of you.”
As he spoke of this, he did not refer to himself as zhèn.
Ye Ming"s eyes were blank for a moment, as if he had returned to the scene that was described, recalling the first time they met. But he had not realized that the younger Li ZeChen of that time would still remember the look in Ye Ming"s eyes……
Li ZeChen continued, “After that, you always spoke up for me in front of Li ZeYuan, you would smile at me, and secretly look for a chance to see me…… to ask if I have been well.”
Ye Ming"s lips moved soundlessly for a moment, “I……”
Li ZeChen shook his head, a small smile on his lips, “I know. You don"t feel that way about me. I"ve known since the first time you refused me.”
At that time, I was terrified, furious, lost…… I had stinted on nothing to obtain what I have today, but it turns out that the thing I truly desired was still out of my reach, was there anybody who understood the sense of loss and dismay I felt that day.
Every night my thoughts were centered on one person, I couldn"t hold myself back, and in the end, I hurt the both of us.
Li ZeChen gazed at the soft, pink curve of Ye Ming"s lips, they were like the delicate petals of a flower…… he longed to kiss them, but for the first time, he did not.
If you were given the chance again, who would you choose?
Me? Or Li ZeYuan?
Once upon a time, I would have been absolutely certain that you would choose me. But now, I"m no longer sure.
Because now you hate me, I am no longer the person you wished to protect back then, but someone who has hurt and forced you against your will.
Li ZeChen closed his eyes and loosened his hold, “Let"s go back.”
The rooms in the temporary palace have already been cleaned in advance, with incense lit and placed inside. The dishes for their evening meal consisted of the wild herbs and edible plants picked from the neighboring mountain tops. Asides from the servants who usually followed after Li ZeChen to serve him, there were also some unfamiliar faces mingled in. These people were the ones who originally stayed here to manage the estate of the temporary palace.
When dusk fell, Li ZeChen left for a while to handle some official matters. Ye Ming went out to the courtyard by himself for a stroll.
Here, a bamboo forest grew in dense, verdant thickets. Ye Ming walked slowly amongst shadowy eaves of the forest. Suddenly, he noticed an elderly eunuch balancing two pails of water on a pole, walking over from the side. This elderly eunuch must have been one of those servants located in the temporary palace, as Ye Ming has never seen him before.
When he saw Ye Ming walking over, the elderly eunuch immediately lowered his pails of water and knelt down to the ground to respectfully greet Ye Ming.
Ye Ming was not used to such deference from others, and said softly, “There"s no need for this, please stand up.”
The elderly eunuch stood up slowly, a smile creasing his wrinkled face. He sighed, “Gōngzǐ is really as benevolent as the rumours say.”
T/N : Gōngzǐ (公子) – son of an official/n.o.bility, usually used to address young n.o.blemen
Ye Ming was startled, “You have heard of me?”
The old eunuch replied, “This old slave heard it from his Master. Master said that Gōngzǐ is a good man, but unfortunately, is being held against his will, hence Master is feeling very grieved about it.”
Ye Ming began to feel like something was not right, why would an old eunuch here be telling him these things? His voice was low as he spoke, “I have to go back now.”
The elderly eunuch did not try to detain him, and merely replied, “Gōngzǐ, there is no need to be afraid. This old slave is merely a messenger, and would absolutely not dare to harm Gōngzǐ. The Master told this old slave to inform Gōngzǐ that he misses you very much and is worried for you, he cannot bear to see you in this state, and hopes to be able to help you…… if Gōngzǐ does not wish to continue living this way, at midnight tonight, an old friend would like to meet you.”
T/N : zǐ shí (子时) – referring to the time between 11PM to 1AM
Ye Ming"s eyes revealed his wariness. He turned around and hastened away. After walking for a while, he turned around again to look back at the bamboo forest, but there was n.o.body there.
[888: Don"t bother guessing, that was Li ZeYuan"s follower.]
[Ye Ming: Was there any need to guess? You look down on me too much.]
[888: …….]
[Ye Ming: But I really didn"t expect that after being shut away for a year, Li ZeYuan"s mind has sharpened a lot. He even knows how to be manipulative now. I didn"t think that besides being bossy and overly domineering, he also has this despicable side to him…… he can barely sustain himself but has the cheek to offer to help me, it"s obvious he just wants to use me ^_^ ]
[888: So will you be going tonight?]
[Ye Ming: Of course I"m going. Weren"t all the plans I laid out for the specific purpose of luring him to me?]
[888: Are you sure you want to do this? If you really meet up with Li ZeYuan, Li ZeChen is sure to hate you, it won"t be the same as his previous temper tantrums. He has already begun testing you today!]
[Ye Ming: Relax, I know what I"m doing.]
When Ye Ming returned to the courtyard, Li ZeChen had just finished his work as well. He looked at Ye Ming intently, “Wen Qing, where did you go today?”
Ye Ming lowered his head, “Just wandered around.”
Li ZeChen"s hands were tightly clenched beneath his sleeves, disappointment flared in his eyes before fading away, but his face revealed none of his thoughts. He said softly, “The day grows late, we should retire early. Tomorrow zhèn will bring you out for a walk in the vicinity, the scenery is worth seeing here.”
Ye Ming looked ill at ease, but he did not dare lift his gaze to meet Li ZeChen"s eyes. He answered simply, “Yes.”
That night, Li ZeChen hugged Ye Ming as they lay on the bed. He remained silent, and eventually, his breathing evened out in sleep.
Ye Ming was unable to sleep. He looked out through the half open window, before deeming the time to be right. His expression revealed his conflict as he struggled with his choices.
After a long while, he seemed to finally come to a decision. Gently lifting Li ZeChen"s arm away from his waist, he sat up on the bed slowly.
These two simple actions left Ye Ming pale and fraught with anxiety. He observed Li ZeChen quietly for a while, before confirming that Li ZeChen was still asleep. Then he quietly put on his shoes and slipped out.
The bamboo forest was not far off. After a short while, Ye Ming arrived at the designated meeting spot, but there was no one waiting for him there.
He stood there frozen for while, then suddenly came to his senses. He must have been mad, why did he come out here? Who was he hoping to see? Who would possibly help him? This sudden act of sneaking away was too impulsive….. his eyes flickered with determination as he made up his mind, and he turned around to leave. But he was suddenly pulled back against a chest, a hand covered his mouth firmly, and warm breath brushed against his ear as he listened to a familiar, deep voice say, “It"s me.”
Sorry for the late chapter. Thanks for reading.
-Syeki
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