CH 76

Content Warning: Sexual intercourse

The two of them stared at each other. Xiao Chengjun did his best to hold it in, but in the end, a burst of laughter still escaped his lips. “Pfft-hahaha!” 

Lou Jing wiped his nose with his hand, then realised that his hand was covered in blood, and hurriedly leapt up to wash his hands in the water basin.

Xiao Chengjun followed him over and wiped his face with a warm towel. “I told you to eat less lychees, but you just wouldn’t listen,” he admonished.

Lychees were heaty by nature, and eating too much of them would also cause one’s body to become too heaty. Xiao Chengjun had expressly told Lou Jing not to eat more than one platter of lychees, but the fellow simply refused to listen, and continued eating plate after plate of lychees.

Lou Jing puffed out his cheeks disconsolately. That sexy atmosphere earlier had been completely destroyed thanks to his nosebleed, and he was very unhappy about this. He took Xiao Chengjun’s wrist in his hand and pushed him against the wall. “You’re not to laugh!” he said. 

“Okay, okay. I won’t laugh…” Xiao Chengjun promised. He pressed his lips together in a valiant effort to stop himself from laughing, but the corners of his mouth continued to twitch.

“Mmph…” Lou Jing had sealed those twitching lips with his own, stopping them from continuing to laugh at him. He trapped Xiao Chengjun within his arms and the wall behind them, kissing him passionately.

The lure of a thinly-clothed beauty with bells at his ankles far exceeded that of decadently eating three hundred lychees.

The fresh scent of lychees still lingered in their mouths, and this kiss was also full of the fragrance and sweetness of lychees. Xiao Chengjun and Lou Jing’s bodies heated up, as if in response to the sultry heat of midsummer.

“Your back… it’s still injured…” Xiao Chengjun mumbled, pushing at the fellow whose lips were pressed insistently against his.

“It’s not a problem,” Lou Jing said, nibbling at a little bean through Xiao Chengjun’s thin clothes. A wet patch formed around that area, turning the white cloth translucent. The little pink bean could be faintly seen beneath.

Xiao Chengjun arched his neck. His hands were still pressed against the wall, as if he were a fish nailed to a chopping board. He felt powerless before this hungry cat that licked him from head to toe, and even stopped to nibble a little at the parts of him that were tastier.

The tasty parts of him were also the parts that were the most tender and sensitive. When the cat’s tongue licked them, the helpless little fish quivered and shook and struggled. Towards the end, the cat, whose hunger only increased with all this tasting, took out a black-painted little box, applied its contents evenly to a certain part of his body, then used that part of his body to eat his fill of the trapped little fish. 

Xiao Chengjun’s long legs were wrapped around Lou Jing’s waist, and the small golden bells were still tied onto one ankle. With every thrust, the little bells tinkled prettily, and every time they tinkled, Xiao Chengjun felt himself get more and more embarrassed. He covered his eyes with his hands.

The golden bells provided a tinkling counterpoint to the couple’s ragged panting, and Lou Jing felt like the whole room was covered in a heavenly mist of pleasure.

“Ting-a-ling… ting-a-ling… ting-ling-ting-ling-ting-ling…” The bells rang faster and faster, until the individual tinkling sounds merged into a continuous ringing.

Le Xian was on duty that night, and he was completely flabbergasted as he stood watch outside Xiao Chengjun’s room. What on earth were his Wang ye and the Shizi doing? What could possibly be so fun about ringing a bunch of bells in the dead of night? 

Tec Vl jcv Tec Qe kfgf bc atf cluta kjamt atja vjs. Ktfs uijcmfv bcmf ja atf meglber ilaaif fecemt bea bo atf mbgcfg bo atflg fsf, atfc mbcalcefv erlcu atflg tjcvr ab yja jkjs wbrdelabfr yehhlcu jgbecv atfw.

The next day, Wang ye was unable to get out of bed. Lou Jing got up on light hands and feet and asked Le Xian to inform the Minzhou officials that their usual morning meeting would be held in the afternoon today.

Le Xian was totally used to this by now – in the Capital, Min Wang Dianxia had temporarily put off official business for pleasure every now and then. He trotted obediently to the front atrium to inform the officials.

Snfg rlcmf Wljb Jtfcupec tjv ajxfc atf gflcr bo ubnfgcwfca lc Zlchtbe, tf tjv cfnfg yffc ijaf obg j rlcuif wbgclcu wffalcu, jcv atlr tjv mjerfv atf ibmji boolmljir j iba bo jcuelrt ja atf yfulcclcu. Ktfs kfgf bcis yflcu qjlv j ibmji boolmlji’r rjijgs, yea atfs kfgf cbk fzqfmafv ab qfgobgw ja atf rjwf ifnfi jr jc lwqbgajca boolmlji lc atf Jjqlaji – atflg ilnfr lc atlr njrrji xlcu’r olfo kfgf rb tjgv jcv mgefi! Ktfgf qgbyjyis kjrc’a j rlcuif njrrji olfo boolmlji ktb tjv ilnfr jr qeclrtlcu jr atflgr. 

However, after persevering for two months, the officials were now used to it. This morning, when they had suddenly been told that the peerlessly industrious Min Wang Dianxia was pushing back to the morning meeting, they’d all found this incredibly difficult to believe.

“Is Wang ye unwell?” the Head of the Department of Justice asked, trying to test the waters.

Le Xian continued smiling inscrutably at them. “My Lord, you need not be overly concerned,” he said, leaving with the same smile on his face.

The Defence Department Head clapped the stunned Justice Department Head on the back. “Wang ye now has a beauty accompanying him, so it won’t be unusual for him to get up a little later than usual. Why are you so dense?” he said in a low voice. 

The Justice Department Head smacked his forehead. “Ah, my bad,” he said.

Lou Jing supported his head with a single finger as he rested on his side on Xiao Chengjun’s big bed. A jade mat had been placed on it to make it cooler, and Lou Jing himself languidly fanned the soundly sleeping person next to him with a large fan. He thought back on the delicious “meal” he’d had the night before, and his face broke into a satisfied grin. He inched over and pressed his lips gently against Xiao Chengjun’s slightly swollen ones.

The exhausted Xiao Chengjun didn’t seem to notice a thing and continued his sweet dreams.

The bright Minzhou sun poured in from the window, and Lou Jing adjusted his position on the bed to block the sun’s rays, keeping the soundly sleeping Min Wang in the cool shadows. He continued to fan him industriously. 

In the Capital, the Chunde Emperor’s life wasn’t even half as good as this.

“Right now, the only one who can assume the mantle of the Crown Prince is the Third Prince,” an official said, stepping forward. “The people’s hearts will be in turmoil for as long as the Eastern Palace remains empty. In Chen’s humble opinion, it would be best to appoint the Crown Prince as soon as possible.”

A number of people came forward to say similar things. The gist was that, every day that the question of who was to be Crown Prince remained unanswered was another day that the Imperial Princes would fight for the title, and if they continued on this way, there might not be any Imperial Princes left at all.

“The Third Prince was raised by Chen Guifei, and was not brought up by the Empress even a day in his life. He does not meet the criteria to be appointed as Crown Prince,” the Minister of Personnel, Yang Youting declared. He had always said things in a straightforward manner, and today was no exception. The moment the words left his mouth, the agreeable mood in the Imperial Court disappeared. 

As the Left Minister Zhao Duan looked at the upright, upstanding Minister of Personnel, the corners of his mouth hidden in his thick beard curved upwards ever so slightly. This was a very big part of the reason why he had placed this stubborn, hardheaded old Yang Youting in the position he was presently in. Yang Youting was someone who could – and would – obstruct the Right Minister’s plans.

“Your Majesty is still young and sprightly. Electing a Crown Prince isn’t an urgent matter in the circumstances,” Zhao Duan said, stepping out and bowing as he spoke.

These were words after the Emperor’s own heart, and the Chunde Emperor gave a small nod of approval. Actually, he knew that the Third Prince was now the only choice for Crown Prince, but doing so would run counter to the rules set by their ancestors, and he hadn’t figured out how to do this in a way that wouldn’t invite too much rebuke.

The Taizu Emperor had decreed that only the children of the Empress were allowed to take the throne. Unless… he could depose Ji Zhuo, and install Chen Guifei as the Empress instead… 

“Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince’s coffin will enter the Capital tomorrow,” the Minister of Rites Yao Zhu said, stepping forward to highlight this matter.

The Fourth Prince had died in battle, and the Chunde Emperor had proclaimed that he would be buried as with all the pomp due to a Qinwang. It had taken seven days to convey his body from Jinzhou, so they only had to do the funeral rites for another three times seven or twenty-one days before burying him.

Chen Guifei was currently managing the six palaces and was therefore in charge of the arrangements for the Fourth Prince’s funeral, but she hadn’t produced any plan for this ceremony yet. The Ministry of Rites was freaking out, and that was why Yao Zhu had no choice but to raise this issue before the Emperor today. “Your Majesty, if I may, could I ask how we will be proceeding with the funeral when the coffin arrives tomorrow? The funeral plans have yet to be given to the Ministry of Rites,” he said.

The Chunde Emperor was displeased to hear this. “What is the Empress doing? It should have been settled by now,” he said. 

“Your Majesty, the Empress is still ill. Chen Guifei niangniang is the one who holds the Phoenix Seal,” Huai Zhong reminded the Emperor quietly.

Ever since the Shizong Emperor had installed a male Empress, all the rites involving the Imperial family had fallen under the Empress’ jurisdiction. The Minister of Rites had to follow the plans laid out by the Empress in planning the rites in question. However, Chen Guifei had always been deeply ensconced inside the hougong and was very unlikely to know how to do these things. Even a simple matter like the assignment of the Yulin Guards was enough to make her head explode. On top of this, the Third Prince had been criticised and punished not too long ago, and her focus had been on trying to get back into the Emperor’s good books. She hadn’t paid any attention to this issue of the Fourth Prince’s funeral rites, and now that his coffin was about to enter the Capital, she didn’t have a draft to show.

The Chunde Emperor suddenly realised what a disaster it was for a woman to be in charge of the six palaces. She simply could not manage this responsibility well. He was someone who really hated troublesome things, and the notion of deposing Ji Zhuo as the Empress suddenly seemed like a terrible one. The Shizong Emperor clearly had very good reasons for wanting all his descendants to install a man as his Empress.

After the morning Court session ended, the Chunde Emperor immediately decreed that the Phoenix Seal was to be returned to the Empress, and that Ji Zhuo was to come up with the plan for the Fourth Prince’s funeral immediately. 

When Chen Guifei received the Imperial decree, she felt the world go black, and she could only stare helplessly at Huai Zhong as he took the Phoenix Seal away. She had barely held that Phoenix Seal at all! When Huai Zhong disappeared out of sight, she couldn’t help screeching in frustration. “What is going on? The plan for the funeral was clearly sent to the Ministry of Rites!” she wailed.

She didn’t know how to do these things, but her father, the Right Minister, had a whole bunch of civil officials who knew exactly what to do. Three days ago, Chen Guifei had ordered the Chen family officials to prepare the funeral plan and had it sent on to the Ministry of Rites.

“This official has never seen any funeral plan done up by Chen Guifei,” Yao Zhu said, a confused expression on his face as he answered the palace servant’s question.

That servant had no choice but to turn and leave. Yao Zhu smiled a secret smile. The handwriting in the funeral plan had clearly been that of the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Defence. Madam Chen certainly wouldn’t dare to confront him on this score. 

As expected, when Chen Guifei received this reply, she was so angry that she felt her chest start to hurt, but she didn’t dare to make a fuss. If she admitted to allowing external ministers to interfere with the affairs of the hougong, the whole of the Chen family would be implicated, and the consequences would be dire.

Ji Zhuo picked up the carved white jade block that was the Phoenix Seal, and amusement flashed briefly in his cold eagle eyes. He hadn’t become the Empress by choice, nor did he have any real attachment to this position, but he wasn’t going to let anyone take it from him. He took out a funeral plan that had already been prepared in advance from a box and gave it to an official from the Ministry of Rites, instructing them to get to work immediately. At the same time, he summoned the Left and Right Commander-Generals of the Yulin Troops to give them instructions.

When the Fourth Prince’s coffin entered the Capital, the Yulin Troops were waiting to escort his spirit as they marched into the Fourth Prince’s mansion. The Ministry of Rites arranged and executed everything perfectly according to the Empress’ instructions.

The mourners were also organised into batches consisting of the Court officials, the nobility, and finally the relatives of the Fourth Prince. They came and went in an orderly fashion, and the funeral proceeded without a single hitch. 

Because Chen Guifei had earlier messed up the Empress’ arrangements that did not allow the concubines of the hougong to visit the Emperor whenever they wished, a few of the the high-ranking and favoured concubines also went to to visit the Emperor, bringing nourishing herbs and dianxin with them to the Panlong Palace to show their loyalty and commitment to the Emperor, causing the Emperor to be increasingly irritated.

Now that the Empress had resumed management of the six palaces, the concubines didn’t dare to do this anymore, and they went back to following his old rules obediently. The Chunde Emperor felt like he could finally catch a breath now that Empress Ji Zhuo was back in power, and he flung all thoughts of deposing him as Empress out of his mind.

The Fourth Prince had been buried, but Xiao Chengjun still had not received any summons from the Imperial Palace to return to the Capital.

Vassal kings could not leave their fiefs without an Imperial summons, so if the Emperor did not send a summons, Xiao Chengjun could not go back to the Capital to pay his final respects to his brother. He could only light a stick of incense in the worship hall within the Min Wang residence in honour of his fallen brother. 

“He was very simple and straightforward since he was young, and my Father Empress and I were very protective of him. Perhaps that was why he grew up to have this one-track mind,” Xiao Chengjun said, watching the smoke from that single stick of incense spiral upward with a melancholy expression.

The affection one had for someone you grew up with wasn’t something that easily displaced.

“Jing Wang will send him off in your stead,” Lou Jing said, hugging his husband and patting his shoulders comfortingly.

Xiao Chengjin sent letters to Xiao Chengjun very often, and the last they’d heard was that he’d gotten so much better in summer that he was able to walk around on his own outside his residence now. 

A solemn, sorrowful mood hung over the Fourth Prince’s mansion in the Capital. Strips of white silk hung all about the mansion, and the cries of the grieving filled the air. The officials went in one by one to light incense offerings to the Fourth Prince. They were all dressed in plain white robes and wore anguished expressions on their faces.

“Announcing the arrival of Jing Wang!” the official from the Ministry of Rites sang out.

When the mourners heard that a Wang had arrived, they automatically stood in two rows, forming a human corridor to await the arrival of the Wang. They’d all fallen in line when they suddenly realised the implications of that announcement.

“Jing Wang?!” 

“The Second Prince?”

Low exclamations of disbelief could be heard all around the funeral hall. They all stared unblinkingly at the entrance.

Xiao Chengjin wore soft, wide-sleeved brocade robes of pure white. The light, thin material of his robes fluttered gracefully as he walked. He didn’t wear any accessories at all, which only served to make his pale, handsome face stand out even more.

— 

Beansprout: As announced on Discord, all three of my projects (Peach, The Submissive Emperor and Mr Dior) will be on a one-week hiatus from 24-30 Jan 2022.

Also, there was a typo in a few chapters – the Captain of XCJ’s guards is called Lu Zhao, not Lu Tao. I was reading Application for Divorce at the time I was translating this and I think I got a bit confused…  The ML’s name there is Lu Tao. Anyway, I’ve fixed it in all the previous chapters.