CH 87

They indulged in a night of passion.

As dawn broke, Xie Chaoling opened his eyes to the familiar scent by his neck. Xie Chaoyuan was still sleeping soundly, his head resting on Xie Chaoling’s shoulder. After a brief moment of bewilderment, Xie Chaoling recalled the events of last night. He raised his hand and lightly touched Xie Chaoyuan’s face, which was even more disheveled than the stubble on his face the night before. He let out a sigh of relief.

Everything from last night wasn’t just another dream.

Xie Chaoling was lost in thought when Xie Chaoyuan caught his wrist and opened his eyes, saying lazily, “Brother, you’re up early.”

His voice was hoarse from satisfaction. Xie Chaoling felt a tingling in his ears and coughed lightly, “I’m used to it. I used to wake up even earlier every day.”

For the past four years, he had never slackened off. He rose before dawn, attended the morning court every day, and focused all his attention on political affairs, so as not to be distracted by other things.

Xie Chaoyuan chuckled, “Every day? I heard that His Majesty summons his courtiers to the morning court before dawn every day, and the meetings last for at least two hours. The officials complain but dare not speak out. So, it turns out that it’s true.”

“…You seem to have heard a lot.”

Xie Chaoyuan leaned closer, and his laughter grew even softer, “If His Majesty stops holding the morning court from now on, will those officials curse me as the wicked imperial consort who brings disaster to the country or will they thank me for saving them from the fire?”

Xie Chaoling slapped his hand away and sat up, thinking of calling someone in to help him change clothes, but then changed his mind.

He leaned over and whispered in Xie Chaoyuan’s ear, “Do you want to take a bath? The bath is in the adjacent room.”

Xie Chaoyuan laughed again, got up naked, and lifted Xie Chaoling in his arms, heading towards the adjacent room.

The water in the bath was fresh and hot. As he sank into the water, Xie Chaoling suddenly felt invigorated. Xie Chaoyuan leaned against him, helping him tuck his wet hair behind his ears, and exclaimed, “Brother being an emperor is definitely more enjoyable than before.”

Xie Chaoling lazily lifted his eyelids, hugged him around the neck, and kissed him passionately. Following Xie Chaoling’s instructions from the night before, no palace maids came to disturb them. It was just the two of them, entangled in the steamy intimacy of this private space, once again passionate and deeply in love.

Outside the palace, Xie Huizhen came to pay his respects at the usual time, but was stopped by Wang Jin.

“Your Highness, please return. His Majesty has not yet risen. He said that you don’t need to come and pay your respects until the New Year, so you can have fun on your own.”

Xie Huizhen looked at the closed palace doors and felt a bit strange. “It’s already morning. Why hasn’t Royal Father woken up yet?”

Wang Jin said without any change in his expression, “His Majesty summoned Tekeli Khan of Xirong to the palace for a secret conversation last night. He must be exhausted.”

Xie Huizhen remained silent.

Well, he really didn’t need to come and pay his respects these days.

After bathing, it was already late morning. Xie Chaoling instructed someone to bring in breakfast and dismissed the servants, but still didn’t open the doors to the palace.

Anyway, he had already stopped handling court affairs since yesterday and wouldn’t be bothered until the New Year. It didn’t matter if he lived a ridiculous life these days.

Xie Chaoyuan finally changed back to his appearance as a man from Daliang and trimmed his messy beard, leaving some newly grown stubble. Xie Chaoling looked at his face in the mirror and said, “This is good enough. Don’t make it too clean. It looks better like this.”

Xie Chaoyuan smiled but didn’t say anything.

“I will have to make you settle for this these days. Stay with me in this palace and don’t run around. It’s not good if someone sees you. After the New Year, I’ll find a way to give you a formal position,” Xie Chaoling said.

Xie Chaoyuan reminded him, “Brother, you said before that there’s no reason for a man to become an empress. I was just joking with you last night. Why not give me an official position? There have been precedents of foreign envoys serving in the court of Daliang. That way, I can stay here legally. Don’t worry about the rest, so you won’t be in a difficult position.”

Xie Chaoling was slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected that after a few years, this little rascal would become so understanding, considerate, and generous. “What you said to the Crown Prince yesterday was also a joke?” he asked.

“Yeah, just teasing him. But I don’t mind if he calls me Daddy in private,” Xie Chaoyuan said with a smile.

Xie Chaoling reached out and touched his face, but didn’t say anything.

His little rascal had finally grown up.

After having breakfast, Xie Chaoling continued reading while Xie Chaoyuan played with Little Huang, the yellow bird in the cage outside the window for a while. He laughed and said, “I didn’t expect this bird to still be alive. Your Majesty has taken good care of it.”

Xie Chaoling glanced at him and continued flipping through his book.

Xie Chaoyuan walked over and casually flipped through the piles of memorials on the imperial desk, which had piled up over the past year and were not considered urgent.

Even small, insignificant matters were bothering Xie Chaoling. Xie Chaoyuan read a few before throwing them down, feeling that being the emperor was not an easy task and was very tiring.

“The court sessions should be changed back to every five days, and any non-urgent memorials should be handed over to your Crown Prince to approve. He should learn this as soon as possible,” Xie Chaoyuan said bluntly.

Xie Chaoling sat at his desk, looked up at him, and smiled. “What if I don’t agree?”

Xie Chaoyuan leaned in close to him and said, “If you don’t agree, I will tie you up and let someone else handle the affairs of the state.”

Xie Chaoling shook his head with a smile.

He had just said that this little brat had grown up, but his overbearing nature had not changed at all.

“Brother, I’m serious,” Xie Chaoyuan’s tone turned dangerous as he restrained his laughter. “When I let you come back, I didn’t want you to work yourself to death in this position. If you really don’t agree…”

“I agree,” Xie Chaoling interrupted him. “If I don’t want to work myself to death, you have to help me shoulder more of the burden.”

Xie Chaoyuan immediately agreed, “Okay.”

Xie Chaoling gave a slight clap to his hands and said, “Only you would dare to speak to me in that tone.”

Others, even Xie Fengjue and Li Congyu, started to observe the etiquette of monarch and subject after his coronation, treating him as a true emperor. Only Xie Chaoyuan remained the same as before. Even if he was rude and unreasonable, he was happy to tolerate him.

“My brother’s temperament doesn’t fit being a lonely king,” Xie Chaoyuan said. “Without me, he might be able to live a proper and formal life, but once he has experienced the tenderness of love, who would be willing to lead a monk’s life?”

Xie Chaoling smiled and asked, “Are you the tenderness of love?”

“To my brother, aren’t I?” Xie Chaoyuan raised his eyebrows.

Well, Xie Chaoling admitted it. It was true, so he indulged in it.

Xie Chaoyuan leaned against him when he sat down and saw him still holding a book. He took it away and said, “Don’t read anymore. We haven’t seen each other for four years. Isn’t it boring to just read all the time without talking?”

Xie Chaoling wasn’t angry and asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

Actually, he deliberately tried to appear normal to conceal the ups and downs of his emotions since last night.

Xie Chaoyuan didn’t expose him and casually took an orange, peeled it and roasted it on the charcoal fire. He then fed it to Xie Chaoling and he ate it off his hand. “Why don’t you tell me how you’ve been these past few years? Start from the beginning and let me ease my boredom.”

Xie Chaoyuan threw a slice of orange into his own mouth and chewed it a few times before casually saying, “After sending off my brother, the King of Xirong died, and the capital city fell into chaos. The princes and nobles fought for the position of the King, leading to much bloodshed. I used my brother’s name to exchange benefits with the living Buddha of Xirong and gradually gained support while they were fighting. I took advantage of the situation, killed many people and consolidated my power.”

This Xie Chaoling naturally knew about it. During that time, Xie Chaoyuan had sent many gold necklaces as a reward for his achievements. “Wasn’t anyone suspicious?”

“Of course, they weren’t fools. They soon realized it and wanted to take my life. At that time, I had already organized my own guard and fled from Lidu. Along the way, someone sent troops to intercept me. The worst thing was that I had only a hundred people left and was trapped in the desert with no food or water. We almost perished completely.”

Xie Chaoling frowned upon hearing this. “I’ve never heard anyone mention this.”

Xie Chaoyuan smiled, “Why would I let anyone know about such a humiliating incident? But my luck wasn’t that bad. When I was about to give up, I dreamed that my brother came to save me. When I woke up, I found a source of water.”

“…But the one who saved you was yourself,” Xie Chaoling felt uneasy. Over the past few years, Xie Chaoyuan had almost died more than once, but now he spoke of it so lightly.

“It was my brother,” Xie Chaoyuan insisted. “He showed me the way in my dream, and my people found the source of water, so we were able to get out of that desert.”

Xie Chaoling no longer argued. If such a thing did happen, and he had saved Xie Chaoyuan, that would be good.

“Afterwards, we fled to a place near the northwest border of Daliang and settled in a small tribe there. At first, life wasn’t easy. The tribe was short of food and clothing, and they didn’t have the ability to raid Daliang like the other big tribes did. We had to ‘offer tribute’ to the surrounding big tribes every year. So, I led my men to fight against the biggest tribe there, and we directly chopped off the head of their leader. At that time, even our weapons were borrowed from King Xing in secret.”

Xie Chaoling still frowned. Xie Chaohui had never told him about this. Xie Chaoyuan saw through his thoughts and said casually, “King Xing wouldn’t dare say anything, after all, lending weapons to Xirong people would be seen as collaborating with the enemy. It was me who asked him for help. If he didn’t lend me the weapons, I would have returned to the capital and caused trouble for the Daliang court and Your Majesty. King Xing’s expression at that time was quite interesting. Even His Majesty, the third brother who rarely smiles, found it amusing.”

Xie Chaoling was speechless and asked, “What happened after that?”

“Thanks to the Emperor’s protection, no one dared to have any ideas about me. Instead, I had ideas about others,” Xie Chaoyuan continued. “My cooperation with the Northwest Army became more open, and the Xirong people knew that I was still supporting Daliang, so they came to me for trouble one by one. Some of my subordinates were unhappy about it, including one who was the first to escape with me from Li Du. He made contact with Li Du and even tried to tamper with the things I gave to the Emperor, but I found out and beheaded him in public.”

Xie Chaoling sighed at his words, “Surely there were people who turned against you?”

Xie Chaoyuan fed him another segment of orange and said indifferently, “Yes, but the deterrent effect was good. Those subordinates who escaped with me were a bit arrogant before, but after this incident, I promoted a new group of people and gave some benefits to the old ones, and they became obedient.”

He looked up and smiled at Xie Chaoling, “The art of controlling people was taught to me by you, brother.”

Xie Chaoling asked calmly, “When did I teach you that?”

However, in the past, Xie Chaoyuan would not have used such methods of reward and punishment. He would have simply killed those who did not obey him until they submitted. Xie Chaoyuan was indeed different now.

Xie Chaoyuan did not explain further. Everything he did was to be able to return to Xie Chaoling today. Xie Chaoling’s every word and action influenced him, without Xie Chaoling, there would be no Xie Chaoyuan today.

Xie Chaoling seemed to sense something and asked after a moment, “What kind of official position do you want?”

Xie Chaoyuan smiled and said, “If you’re willing to give me military power, let me lead the Forbidden Army for you. That way, I can stay in the palace openly.”

“You’ve been planning this for a long time, haven’t you?” Xie Chaoling chuckled. After finishing an orange, he suggested, “Let’s take a walk behind the main hall. I’ll show you something.”

They didn’t go anywhere else, just walked behind the Emperor’s sleeping quarters. It had been sunny for the past two days, and the scenery was no longer monotonous. As they approached, Xie Chaoyuan saw that several qiong flower trees had been planted there, and they were blooming even at this time of year.

What Xie Chaoling wanted to show him was this.

“It was transplanted from qiong flower Island and carefully nurtured according to the special method you mentioned. It can bloom even at this time of the year,” Xie Chaoling said. “The qiong flower dew you sent in the first year tasted good, but there was none afterwards, so I could only let people make their own wine.”

As he spoke, he looked up at the sparsely placed flower buds on the branches, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. Xie Chaoyuan, however, only looked at him and said, “Since leaving Lidu, I haven’t seen qiong flowers again, and I can’t make wine for my brother.”

Xie Chaoling withdrew his gaze and looked at Xie Chaoyuan, with a stronger smile in his eyes. “I still have some wine from last year here. Let’s make some good dishes for younger brother to welcome you.”

The wind blew through the branches, causing a half-opened cluster of qiong flowers to tremble and fall, landing on Xie Chaoling’s shoulder and accentuating his smiling face.

Xie Chaoyuan also smiled and responded in a deep voice, “Okay.”