Chapter 71

Xiao Heng felt that the proposal of hand-copying scriptures was not reliable. However, considering the other party was reluctantly considered a highly accomplished monk and Chu Zhaoyou’s unique situation, he reluctantly gave it some thought.

It wouldn’t take much time, and I have some free time.

His own upbringing had been blessed by the Buddhist sect. Hand-copying scriptures for an unborn child could be seen as a form of heritage. If it managed to please Chu Zhaoyou, all the better.

The Regent cleared his throat. “Do you think I don’t know that you scared people with all those scriptures? Even if you have time, just eat a bit of meat in front of him.”

Feng Xingzhou, seeing that the Regent wasn’t going to adopt his suggestion, felt a bit regretful.

Two days later, Chu Zhaoyou hosted a farewell banquet for Lu Jinghuan and Feng Xingzhou. They had already had an official farewell in the court, so this meal was private.

They also extended a formal invitation to the physician, who coldly declined but discreetly gave Lu Jinghuan some delicate unlabeled vials as gifts, fearing they might be confiscated by Feng Xingzhou. He had adhered them to Lu Jinghuan’s back for an entire afternoon.

Chu Zhaoyou and Xiao Heng couldn’t drink alcohol, and Feng Xingzhou, being a former monk, abstained as well. He also forbade Lu Jinghuan from drinking.

So, at the table of the four esteemed guests, the tea pot held only water.

Chu Zhaoyou filled Lu Jinghuan’s cup with pear soup. “They spent eight years together on a hill, grew tired of each other, and now, just as we brothers meet, it’s time to part ways. When one is on the imperial throne, one’s actions are not entirely one’s own. As the saying goes, ‘A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near.'”

Regent: “Your Majesty, I’ve wronged you.” Look at how adeptly he uttered those sly words. They spent every day together, who knows what baseless accusations might arise.

He grimaced and drank half of the pear soup from Chu Zhaoyou’s cup. Why was he talking so much with Lu Jinghuan? Every few words filled the cup. Even if it wasn’t alcohol, it shouldn’t be consumed like this!

Chu Zhaoyou had just filled Lu Jinghuan’s cup, but upon glancing at his own, he realized it wasn’t even enough to moisten his lips.

He glanced at the Regent, and Xiao Heng responded with a gaze.

Oh well, how could I have an opinion?

Lu Jinghuan sneaked a look at the pear soup in Chu Zhaoyou’s cup, his eyes curved. It was rare to see Chu Zhaoyou crack a joke. Pregnancy was truly not an easy journey.

Just as he began to feel pleased, Feng Xingzhou casually remarked, “Don’t talk to me about latrines on the road.”

The painful experience of not being able to use latrines was a lesson learned. It was a terrible ordeal, and people would take advantage of it to make excessive demands.

Lu Jinghuan’s hand, holding the pear soup, trembled for a moment, and he took only a small sip.

They were truly in a difficult situation.

After obtaining the National preceptor’s consent, Lu Jinghuan presented the prayer beads to Chu Zhaoyou, saying, “Four months later, when the border is calm, I’ll come back to Great Chu. I have many things to give to him.”

He sounded elated. “By that time, your child will also be born. You can go wherever you want to play, leave the state affairs to them. I’ll take you to a place. I’ve been particularly wanting to go there during this trip. We’ll stay there for a month, and then we’ll go on to—”

Chu Zhaoyou interrupted, “That’s good—why are you pulling me? Stop it.”

Chu Zhaoyou moved away from the Regent’s hand on his shoulder, frowning. “What’s with that look, Your Highness?”

The Regent replied, “Nothing, just worried that you two will be swindled out of the entire treasury when you go out.”

That would be a significant loss, no, two significant losses.

Chu Zhaoyou was so annoyed that he pinched the Regent’s thigh. “You’re underestimating me. Let me tell you, with my status, I could earn one hundred taels for each performance in the countryside. Singing from the capital to Qionghai, I could definitely make a profit for the treasury.”

He turned to Lu Jinghuan. “Are you good at counting money? When the time comes, you can handle the money. We’ll split it evenly, not taking a single coin from the treasury.”

I’m not boasting, my performances could support a hundred Lu Jinghuans.

Xiao Heng pinched Chu Zhaoyou’s cheek, his gaze serene. “Would you sing to support anyone you meet?”

Chu Zhaoyou’s eyes darted around, and he responded smoothly, “No, I would pay him a salary. I only support you.”

Xiao Heng was briefly delighted, but then he listened to Lu Jinghuan and Chu Zhaoyou chatting animatedly about the future, making plans. What was disheartening was that in this “future,” there was hardly a trace of the influential ministers.

Originally, the meal was meant to allow the two men to bid each other a good farewell. Now that they had almost finished their meal, Xiao Heng and Feng Xingzhou exchanged a glance and tacitly snatched the chopsticks from their hands before they could finalize a specific date.

“It’s about time. If we don’t leave soon, we won’t reach the town before dark,” Feng Xingzhou held Lu Jinghuan’s hand and said to the Regent and Chu Zhaoyou, “Until we meet again.”

Lu Jinghuan added, “I’ll bring something to visit you in September.”

Chu Zhaoyou handed Lu Jinghuan a small notebook filled with various jokes. Initially, he had shared a few jokes with Lu Jinghuan, who had shown great interest.

Chu Zhaoyou dictated the jokes for Cui Geng to transcribe. Later, Cui Geng didn’t appear for two days, reportedly having laughed until his stomach hurt.

Chu Zhaoyou was a professional performer and generally didn’t laugh unless he couldn’t help it.

Having weathered many storms, how could they laugh so boisterously, just like people from ancient times!

In reality, it was because he had to restrain himself. If he laughed until his stomach hurt, the Regent would order him to stop and then spank him while holding him down on the bed.

Chu Zhaoyou handed the book to Lu Jinghuan, saying, “Please keep it. I was domestically abused three times by the Regent while writing this.”

Lu Jinghuan was deeply moved and couldn’t help but burst into laughter as soon as he received the book.

“You said the lady is pregnant, and her husband occasionally pulls up her pants at night, claiming he’s tucking the blanket in for the baby. Haha, that’s so funny…” Lu Jinghuan couldn’t stop laughing, perhaps thinking of something else.

Due to Lu Jinghuan’s low threshold for humor, the somber atmosphere vanished in an instant.

Chu Zhaoyou said, “Can you change the example?”

The Regent noticed a change in Chu Zhaoyou’s expression. What on earth was he thinking about every day?

Chu Zhaoyou coldly told Lu Jinghuan, “You may leave.”

Before parting ways, their fraternal bond faced a significant test.

As Lu Jinghuan was assisted into the carriage by Feng Xingzhou, just before departing, Feng Xingzhou deliberately gave the Regent a meaningful, almost mocking look.

After more than a decade, the Regent felt the urge to start a fight.

Chu Zhaoyou held the Regent’s fist and said, “Stay calm.”

The Regent calmly said to Feng Xingzhou, “By the way, the governance strategies I’ve written, your Emperor hasn’t finished reading them. Why don’t you take two copies back to continue?”

Feng Xingzhou immediately lost his mocking thoughts about Xiao Heng.

As the carriage traveled into sparsely populated areas, Feng Xingzhou, with narrowed eyes, settled the score: “You actually dared to cross-dress and impersonate the Regent’s wife?”

Lu Jinghuan was horrified. Why did the National preceptors know about this? “At that time, I was too hungry. I was deceived.”

Feng Xingzhou stared at him. “You won’t study the governance strategies at home but insist on reading what Xiao Heng writes?”

Lu Jinghuan said, “I can explain.”

Feng Xingzhou patiently replied, “Explain.”

Lu Jinghuan weakly said, “I… I wanted to stop for a bathroom break.”

It really wasn’t for an escape to urinate.

Feng Xingzhou said, “Do you remember what I told you to do last time?”

Trembling, Lu Jinghuan timidly embraced Feng Xingzhou’s neck, his cheeks burning red… Help, he didn’t want to go back.

Chu Zhaoyou stood on the city tower, watching as the Dayan’s convoy faded into the distance, leaving only a trail of yellow dust.

Reflecting on the events from Lu Jinghuan’s appearance at the Regent’s back door to the sudden appearance of the physician, he realized that what had unfolded was beyond anything he could have ever imagined.

The Regent cared for him, willingly accepted fatherhood, set aside his resentment, and indulged him without reservation.

For the four of them, these days marked a profound transformation in their lives.

The reassuring aspect was that everything was moving in a positive direction.

Chu Zhaoyou leaned against the Regent’s shoulder and suddenly said, “I need to use the bathroom urgently.”

Then, he remembered the Regent’s shoulder injury and corrected himself, “I feel mistaken; it seems it’s not urgent.”

Pregnant individuals often need to use the bathroom more frequently, which was also why Xiao Heng didn’t allow Chu Zhaoyou to drink too much.

Xiao Heng swiftly carried Chu Zhaoyou, swiftly flying down from the city tower, and raced back to the Funing Hall.

“Don’t carry me, you’re injured—” Chu Zhaoyou didn’t even finish his sentence before being lifted up; the Regent genuinely believed he was in urgent need.

Chu Zhaoyou regretted speaking out and immediately checked to see if the Regent’s wound was bleeding.

Xiao Heng shrugged it off, “It’s been a few days. Even if it were a new injury, I could still carry you anywhere.”

Chu Zhaoyou replied, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Xiao Heng quickly added, “That’s great. Don’t go out with Lu Jinghuan.”

Chu Zhaoyou glanced at the Regent with a smile, “Can’t I go out to have fun?”

“Of course, you can, but only I can accompany you, and no singing to earn extra money,” the Regent responded.

Chu Zhaoyou teased, “Are you still discriminating against me now?”

Xiao Heng held Chu Zhaoyou’s hand and kissed it, saying, “No, I just don’t want you to sing for others.”

The Regent had never seriously listened to a performance himself.

Chu Zhaoyou looked at him suspiciously, “Really?”

The Regent quickly provided strong evidence, “Actually, in the first two years, I followed Xiao Man around and also learned a few things.”

Chu Zhaoyou, considering the Regent’s age at that time, realized that during his own early years of struggling to learn acting, the Regent had a similar experience.

“What did you learn?”

The Regent calmly replied, “At that time, I often overheard the troupe leader advising Xiao Man not to bring this burden (referring to himself) and to send me off to a good family, which would be better for everyone. I didn’t want to leave, so I secretly learned somersaults and handstands from the martial artists in the troupe. Some troupes also took in children…”

With no one to teach him, Xiao Heng often ended up with bruises and swelling. He quietly used leftover makeup water to paint his face, causing his once fair and tender complexion to turn red with irritation.

As Xiao Man refused to change careers, Xiao Heng could only force himself to forget the Confucian classics his grandfather had taught him and clumsily strive to integrate into the troupe, like a resilient weed, desperately pushing through the theater’s paving stones.

But his efforts were in vain as Xiao Man wouldn’t allow him to learn and scolded him every time she saw him.

Later, when Xiao Man performed on stage, he met Uncle Ma, who overheard a conversation between the troupe leader and Xiao Man and offered to arrange for him to be adopted to the Ding family, as he was worried about not having an heir.

Uncle Ma took Xiao Man to see Mr. Ding’s mansion and met “Mr. Ding.” At that time, the troupe was heading south to Yangzhou and had to leave in a hurry. The troupe leader made it clear that they wouldn’t take useless children along. Xiao Man didn’t want Xiao Heng to learn acting. Seeing Mr. Ding’s earnest attitude, she readily agreed.

No matter how much Xiao Heng cried and protested, it was futile.

His mother was both naïve and cruel, and she couldn’t understand how she had given birth to a son like him.

Chu Zhaoyou recalled Xiao Heng’s preference for wearing black clothes and his aversion to flamboyance. Perhaps there was a reason for it. Chu Zhaoyou had even tried dressing differently, but it made no difference.

Xiao Heng said, “That’s why I’m not discriminating against you. It’s just that when I hear the lines from the play, it’s easy to remember the lyrics Xiao Man used to sing to lull me to sleep. She left as soon as I fell asleep, and unfortunately, I didn’t fall asleep as she wished, and she didn’t stay as I wished.”

Chu Zhaoyou’s eyes reddened. “The Regent Prince is about to become a father. If I hear them again in the future, it won’t be about parting ways, but about missing you.”

“Okay,” Xiao Heng maintained his despondent mood and casually asked, “Can I select a play?”

Chu Zhaoyou replied, “Of course you can… just not a comedy.”

Xiao Heng looked regretful. “Can’t we compromise?”

“Absolutely not!”

Can’t someone of your stature listen to “Loyal to the Nation”?

The day after Lu Jinghuan’s departure, Chu Zhaoyou happened to find several hand-copied Buddhist scriptures on the Regent’s desk.

The restrained font subdued the exuberant nature, lending it a sense of solemnity.

It was clearly written by the Regent.

Chu Zhaoyou was surprised and concerned, “Did Feng Xingzhou pass on his mantle to you?”

After all, he was his junior.

He felt like returning the prayer beads to Lu Jinghuan.

The Regent Prince replied, “…” Misunderstood.

Author’s note: It’s the end of the month! Don’t throw away expired coins; they help Xiao Xingxing grow!

He’s about to be born and urgently needs to grow!