CH 32

Xiao Chengjun sucked on the sweet and smiled faintly. “This candy shouldn’t be eaten too often,” he said.

“Today’s different,” Lou Jing said. He looked left and right, and upon confirming that only Le Xian and An Shun were nearby, he lifted his chin in their direction. 

The two young eunuchs obediently turned their backs. Even as they were performing their role of “seeing no evil” diligently, they had one other duty – to look out for palace guards who might pass by every now and then.

Satisfied, Lou Jing sidled up to his husband, then brushed his lips softly against Xiao Chengjun’s. “It’s me that wants to eat it,” he said. Before the Crown Prince could react, he had captured those sweet, sweet lips with his own, and shared that one candy with the Crown Prince.

“Mmph…” Xiao Chengjun was caught completely off-guard, and before he knew it, half the candy in his mouth had been bitten off by Lou Jing.

Lou Jing chuckled softly as he took the Crown Prince’s hand in his. When he saw that the latter still had a stunned look on his face, he couldn’t resist planting another kiss on his lips before holding his hand and leading him back to the Eastern Palace. 

After returning to the Eastern Palace, Xiao Chengjun changed out of his formal Court robes, and the both of them headed to Fengyi Palace to meet with the Empress.

Lou Jing did not feel comfortable leaving the Crown Prince to go to this morning’s Court session alone; they both knew that what happened there was a matter of life and death, and Lou Jing did not want to go and do his morning greetings with the Empress whilst this was going on. He asked Chang En to send a message to the Empress, and waited on the palace path himself for Xiao Chengjun to get out of the Court session. Lou Jing had to go and give his customary morning greetings now that the morning Court session was over. Xiao Chengjun also needed to go and meet with the Empress since the edict deposing him as Crown Prince had been passed.

Fengyi Palace was always silent and solemn no matter what time of the day it was. Whether in this dynasty or the last, this place remained unchanged, unaffected by external events, as immovable as the mountains.

The Emperor’s consorts and concubines who had come to give their morning greetings to the Empress were just leaving when Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun entered Fengyi Palace.

Usually, when the Emperor’s concubines came to greet the Empress, they didn’t stay for long because the Empress was a man. Earlier today, the news that the Crown Prince had been officially deposed reached Fengyi Palace very quickly, triggering a frenzied discussion amongst the concubines gathered there. They talked until the morning Court session was over, and subsequently, on realising that the Crown Prince might come to visit the Empress very shortly, hurriedly kowtowed to the Empress and left.

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Xiao Chengjun nodded slightly, and Lou Jing clasped his fists together in a half-greeting. 

Lou Jing took the opportunity to look at the Chunde Emperor’s concubines. Chen Guifei was not among them. She probably took advantage of the fact that she was favoured by the Emperor, and seldom came to greet the Empress. The concubines Lou Jing saw certainly were not as gorgeous as Chen Guifei; even the younger concubines just looked a little fresher, but not prettier. Some of the older ones seemed to have permanently worried looks on their faces.

“They don’t have any children, so my being deposed isn’t good news to them,” Xiao Chengjun said in a low voice. He saw how his Consort looked at them, and felt that he needed to explain.

Lou Jing understood. The Empress’ actions in the past years had earned the respect of the Emperor’s concubines, and the Crown Prince was brought up by the Empress. If the Crown Prince continued in his position, the Empress’ position was also secure, and these concubines didn’t have to fear unrest in the hougong. However, now that the Crown Prince had been deposed, Chen Guifei’s power would increase greatly, and given that woman’s personality, they likely had hard days ahead of them.

“Father Empress is really good at managing the hougong,” Lou Jing said, smiling. 

“If it were you managing it, how would it be?” Xiao Chengjun asked, surprising even himself with this question. He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. They had just confessed their feelings for each other yesterday night – wasn’t it a real downer to mention his hougong?

Indeed, once Lou Jing heard this, the warm smile on his face faded. He stared intently at the Crown Prince for a moment, then a side of his mouth curved upwards in an evil, lopsided grin. “If you took in concubines, I’d snatch them all away, so that you wouldn’t be able to sleep with anyone but me.”

That fiendish expression and those wicked words coming from that exquisitely handsome face brought to mind a poisonous flower in full bloom, one that was obviously dangerous and yet so mesmerizing that one could not bear to look away. Xiao Chengjun stared at him and suddenly thought that if he really ascended the throne and took in concubines, those women might actually fall in love with this whimsical, handsome Empress of his. He, the stodgy, strict Emperor, would probably be left high and dry on the shelf.

Ji Zhuo watched the two walk in holding hands, and gratification flashed in his piercing eagle eyes. These two kids really didn’t disappoint; he hadn’t expended all that effort getting them together for nothing. 

“Since we still have half a year’s time, we should make ample preparations,” the Empress said, getting straight to the point. “Next month, the Jingnan Hou will be back in the Capital.”

“Yes, Erchen is aware,” Xiao Chengjun said, bowing in acknowledgment. He looked anxiously at Lou Jing. Getting himself deposed as Crown Prince was one of his backup plans, but at the time he married Lou Jing, he hadn’t thought that it would really come to this. It was really just a temporary retreat in any event.

Empress Ji had raised the Crown Prince as his own child, and he naturally knew what this child was thinking. He sighed. “Zhuoyu, I know all this hasn’t been fair to you. I didn’t think that things would end up like this, and originally, I had wanted you both to live out your lives together in bliss…” He had really hoped that Lou Jing would become the next Empress. Out of all the sons of the nobility, Ji Zhuo was very certain that no one other than Lou Jing could capture Xiao Chengjun’s heart. When the Emperor didn’t favour the Empress, the Empress’ position was not secure, and hougong in turn would be fraught with turmoil.

“Father Empress, you need not worry,” Lou Jing said, smiling in his usual obedient manner. “Erchen also wants to live out his days happily with Dianxia.” 

What he meant was, he didn’t have any regrets or complaints; to the contrary, he wanted to continue being together with Xiao Chengjun.

Ji Zhuo’s face was a handsome one, but it was usually cold and aloof. On hearing what Lou Jing said, his usually glacial expression turned into a warm smile. “Good. That’s good,” he said approvingly.

Lou Jing used his pinky to hook Xiao Chengjun’s palm, and Xiao Chengjun looked over at him with a slight smile.

“Father Empress, now that the Crown Prince’s position is empty, the palace also will not be a peaceful place. Please take care of yourself,” Lou Jing said. Having comforted his husband, he put on a serious face to address the Empress. Chen Guifei and the Minister of the Left had expended so much effort to pull Xiao Chengjun down, and there was no doubt that their plan was to make the Third Prince the new Crown Prince. 

“The rules set by our ancestors are still in place. It’ll be very difficult to install the Third Prince as the Crown Prince,” Ji Zhuo said, barking a short, derisive laugh. His eyelids then drooped a little, and some sadness appeared on his face. “Yesterday, the Imperial Physician sent news that Chengjin’s health hasn’t improved. After you move out from the Eastern Palace, remember to visit him more often.”

Xiao Chengjun made a deep sound in his throat in acknowledgment.

Deposing the Crown Prince wasn’t as simple as just passing an edict. In the days that followed, the edict had to be made public, and the Imperial ancestors had to be “informed” by performing a ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Not a single step could be omitted.

Luotang Square had a few unoccupied mansions, and the Chunde Emperor allowed Xiao Chengjun to pick any one of these and do minor renovations on it for his use before he left for his fief. Xiao Chengjun ended up picking a mansion that was neither the largest nor the most well-built; he chose the one closest to the Anguo Gong’s mansion. 

News that the Crown Prince had been deposed spread across the whole Capital in a day.

To the commoners, this was just a conversation topic at tea or after a meal, but to the aristocratic families, it was much more than that.

Lou Jing’s maternal Second Uncle and First Aunt were very worried on hearing the news, and sent someone to request an audience with him.

“Your Second Uncle and I have discussed. We’ll leave only after we see you settled into the Anguo Gong mansion,” the First Aunt said, holding Lou Jing’s hand. Worry creased her face. “You poor child, why is your life full of hardship? To have this happen right after you’re married…” 

“It’s a good thing,” the Second Uncle said, disagreeing. “What’s so great about being the Crown Prince Consort? After a bit, you should go and ask for an Imperial favour and come to Lingnan to visit. Erjiu will bring you to go and whack some Southern Barbarians. It’ll be fun,” Xu Che said, clapping Lou Jing’s shoulder. He looked rather happy about this whole affair; to him, marrying into the Imperial family was the real hardship.