Chapter 60
Ji Qingzhou stepped out of the bath with a flushed face, fumbling to grab clean clothes and hurriedly get dressed.
The sensation from when Li Zhan’s hand had rested on his lower abdomen hadn’t faded yet—it left Ji Qingzhou feeling extremely unsettled.
Strangely enough, now that he thought about it, Li Zhan wasn’t the only one who had touched his belly since the pregnancy was discovered. Both Tang Shu and Xiao Shan had done so more than once. At first, Ji Qingzhou had felt awkward and embarrassed too, but even then, it hadn’t felt anything like how it did when Li Zhan touched him.
He couldn’t quite say what the difference was—only that his face still felt hot, and he just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
But Li Zhan, completely unaware of what he was feeling, followed him out of the bath as well.
Li Zhan moved quickly—within moments, he had put on his inner robe. Then, without a word, he draped his outer robe over Ji Qingzhou’s shoulders.
“Wang Ye?” Ji Qingzhou turned and looked at him in surprise.
Li Zhan calmly said, “It’s chilly at night. You’ve just finished bathing—don’t catch cold.”
Ji Qingzhou glanced at the thin robe Li Zhan was wearing and said, “But Wang Ye is wearing even less. Wouldn’t you be more likely to catch a cold?”
“I’m still warm. It’s fine,” Li Zhan replied casually, adjusting Ji Qingzhou’s clothes for him. Then he grabbed a clean cloth and began drying Ji Qingzhou’s hair.
Ji Qingzhou was startled by the gesture, but Li Zhan looked completely composed—as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a high-and-mighty regent to personally dry the hair of an inner attendant.
“When it gets colder, have them bring a bathing tub to your room instead,” Li Zhan said.
“My room’s too small—it wouldn’t be convenient,” Ji Qingzhou replied. “Besides, the bathhouse isn’t far. It’s no trouble.”
Li Zhan paused, then said, “My sleeping quarters are fairly spacious. If not, you could move there.”
Ji Qingzhou was so shocked he nearly forgot how to breathe. Had he heard that right?!
“What I mean is…” Li Zhan paused, attempting to explain, “Didn’t Doctor Tang say I should spend more time bonding with the child? If you move in… it would be more convenient.”
Only then did Ji Qingzhou breathe a little easier. He thought to himself, Li Zhan really did care about the child. And he had benefited a great deal from that—Li Zhan was now drying his hair and even inviting him to move into his chambers.
“M-maybe in a few days,” Ji Qingzhou said.
“Mhm, no rush,” Li Zhan replied.
As they spoke, Xiao Shan entered carrying a cloak.
Ji Qingzhou was just about to return Li Zhan’s outer robe when Li Zhan spoke first: “Go prepare some refreshments. I’m a little hungry.”
Xiao Shan, being clever, immediately turned and left with the cloak.
Only then did Li Zhan look at Ji Qingzhou and say, “Come on. I’ll walk you back.”
“But Wang Ye hasn’t finished bathing yet. Should I have them prepare another tub of hot water for you?” Ji Qingzhou asked.
“That can wait, I’ll walk you back first.” Li Zhan replied.
Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou could only nod and follow him out of the bathhouse.
The walk from the bathhouse to Ji Qingzhou’s quarters took less than half the time of a single incense stick burning, but Li Zhan deliberately walked slowly—like he was determined to stretch the short distance to a full incense’s length.
Thinking of Xiao Shan, Ji Qingzhou suddenly remembered something and said, “Wang Ye, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a while… but I’ve been hesitant since it feels a bit forward…”
“I told you before—ask whatever you want. There’s no need to be cautious,” Li Zhan said.
Ji Qingzhou nodded. “Do you still remember He Man? The stableman who was sent to the Office of Judicial Review because of Xiao Shan’s matter?”
“I had him sent to the estate,” Li Zhan replied. “They have horses there too—he’s taking care of them.”
Ji Qingzhou was visibly surprised. He hadn’t expected Li Zhan to relocate He Man to the estate.
This meant He Man was not only safe but had a clear place to stay.
That made it much more likely for Xiao Shan to see him again in the future!
“Xiao Shan is very thoughtful—he’s taken good care of you,” Li Zhan said, seemingly guessing Ji Qingzhou’s thoughts. “Once the child is born, if he no longer wishes to stay in the palace, he can go to the estate.”
Ji Qingzhou immediately felt relieved and said, “Then I’ll thank Wang Ye on his behalf.”
“You seem to care a great deal about other people,” Li Zhan said, casting a glance at him.
Ji Qingzhou turned to look at him. In the moonlight, their eyes met briefly. Then Ji Qingzhou replied, “Wang Ye is the same, isn’t he? You also care a great deal about others.” Whether it was the Ji family, or Xiao Shan and He Man, Li Zhan had done far more than Ji Qingzhou had expected.
“You’re not ‘others,’” Li Zhan suddenly said.
Ji Qingzhou was caught off guard by that. His footsteps came to a halt.
By now, they had reached his quarters. Li Zhan reached out, pushed the door open for him, and said in a low voice, “Rest well.”
With that, he gave Ji Qingzhou’s arm a brief squeeze and turned to leave.
Ji Qingzhou turned around and watched Li Zhan’s departing figure, unable to stop himself from replaying those words—“You’re not others.”…
Somewhere inside him, it felt like a string had been gently plucked. The feeling was subtle and delicate. Ji Qingzhou tried to hold onto it, to grasp what it meant—but it slipped through his fingers, and in the end, he had to let it go.
The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Ji Qingzhou had already requested leave from Li Zhan the day before. That afternoon, he changed into casual clothes to visit the Chi residence.
Today, he wore a robe of lake-blue, paired with white short boots that Ji Qinglan had made for him. The whole ensemble gave him a distinctly youthful appearance. Xiao Shan had even fastened a white jade hairpin into his hair, adding a quiet nobility to his look.
“Wow! Ji Gonggong, you look so beautiful in that outfit!” The young emperor had arrived without anyone noticing. As soon as he saw Ji Qingzhou, he ran over excitedly, grabbed his hand, and looked back at Li Zhan with a grin. “Imperial Uncle, don’t you think so too?”
“Mhm,” Li Zhan replied faintly, his expression unreadable.
But Ji Qingzhou caught a quick glimpse of faint amusement in his eyes.
“This year, the Empress Dowager intends to observe a fast behind closed doors, so the palace hasn’t prepared a banquet,” Li Zhan explained to Ji Qingzhou. “With nothing going on, I thought I’d take His Majesty and join you for a meal at the Chi residence.”
Only then did Ji Qingzhou notice that both Li Zhan and the young emperor were also dressed in casual attire.
He had long known the Empress Dowager had taken to eating vegetarian meals and chanting sutras all day. She no longer involved herself in palace affairs, and showed little affection for the young emperor—only seeing him every few days to formally inquire about his studies. That was exactly why the young emperor was so close to Li Zhan—his imperial uncle was his dearest relative aside from the Empress Dowager.
“Ji Gonggong, can you take me and Imperial Uncle with you?” the young emperor looked up at Ji Qingzhou, eyes full of anticipation.
“Of course… I was just thinking how lonely it’d be to go alone,” Ji Qingzhou replied quickly.
Upon hearing that, the young emperor beamed, grabbing Ji Qingzhou’s hand with one of his own and Li Zhan’s with the other, happily leading them out of Yinghui Pavilion.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival today, and the streets of the capital were bustling with activity.
Inside the carriage, the young emperor kept poking his head out, unable to contain his excitement at the lively scene outside.
As Ji Qingzhou watched the crowds, he suddenly recalled the question Li Zhan had asked him earlier—if given the choice, would he rather stay in the palace or go to the northwest to be with his elder brother? He hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but thinking back now, he realized there had been a trace of melancholy in Li Zhan’s tone when he’d asked that question.
“Wang Ye…” Ji Qingzhou suddenly turned to Li Zhan and asked, “If it were up to you, what kind of life would you want in the future?”
Li Zhan was caught off guard—he clearly hadn’t expected Ji Qingzhou to ask such a question. Even the young emperor beside him looked curious, eagerly turning to hear his answer.
“I think… I’d like to be a leisurely prince, free from the constant entanglements with court officials… to spend time with my child, either in the Prince Residence or the estate in the suburbs,” Li Zhan said, and as he spoke, a hint of a smile crept into his eyes. “Or maybe travel to the northwest once in a while to enjoy the scenery.”
Ji Qingzhou’s heart gave a subtle stir when he heard the word “northwest,” and he instinctively glanced at Li Zhan.
Li Zhan happened to be looking at him too. Their eyes met briefly, then quickly shifted away—both expressions just slightly unreadable.
The young emperor chimed in: “I want to go too…Imperial Uncle, can’t you take me with you?”
“That will have to wait until His Majesty grows up and has his own heir,” Li Zhan said. “Then court affairs can be entrusted to the next emperor.”
The young emperor pouted—he felt like Li Zhan’s hypothetical future was a lifetime away from his own.
Though still young, he understood that one had to grow up first before marrying and having children. And by the time his own child came of age, who knew how long it would take?
So before that happened, if Li Zhan and Ji Qingzhou went off to admire the scenery in the northwest… wouldn’t he be left all alone?
“If you both leave, what about me?” the young emperor asked, clearly unhappy.
Ji Qingzhou couldn’t help but laugh. He was just about to explain that it was Li Zhan who would be going to see the scenery, not them—
But Li Zhan smoothly replied, “Don’t worry. We’ll come back to visit you.”
He spoke with such ease, as if the young emperor had already assumed they would be going together, and Li Zhan had simply confirmed it. Without even thinking about it, he had included Ji Qingzhou in his vision of the future. Ji Qingzhou hadn’t yet fully processed the deeper meaning behind the words, but he instinctively felt that something about it wasn’t quite right.
The young emperor didn’t think there was anything odd at all. Relieved, he reached out and hooked his pinky finger around Li Zhan’s.
When they arrived at the Chi residence, the household had already stationed someone at the gate. As soon as the carriage was spotted, that person hurried back to inform the household, and moments later, Assistant Minister Chi and Ji Qinglan came out to greet them.
“Your Majesty… Wang Ye?” Chi Zhou clearly hadn’t expected the Regent and the young emperor to come along—he was startled.
Ji Qinglan, however, remained composed. She greeted both Li Zhan and the young emperor respectfully, then gave a courteous bow to Ji Qingzhou.
Once inside the Chi residence, Ji Qinglan personally prepared tea for the guests, while Chi Zhou rushed off to the kitchen to give further instructions, asking the staff to add more dishes. Now that Li Zhan and the young emperor were here, they were accompanied by several guards as well, and their meals had to be prepared in advance—no one could be allowed to go hungry during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“Don’t drink too much tea,” Li Zhan said, placing a hand over Ji Qingzhou’s as he held his teacup. He turned to Ji Qinglan and added, “Your brother hasn’t been sleeping well these days. The physician advised that he should cut back on tea.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Qinglan quickly said, “I’ll have someone make a bowl of lotus seed soup for him instead.”
“Sister… I want some too,” the young emperor said to Ji Qinglan.
Ji Qinglan smiled and gave instructions to prepare two bowls of lotus seed soup.
Soon, the soup was served. Ji Qinglan, worried the young emperor might burn himself, personally fed him spoonfuls.
Back in the palace, the young emperor had little contact with women. The only one he had been close with before was Qiu Lanxi, the Empress Dowager’s younger sister. But after the Qiu family was punished, Qiu Lanxi had been spared exile but was demoted to commoner status, and no longer permitted to enter the palace.
Now, being cared for so gently by Ji Qinglan made the young emperor feel a bit unaccustomed to it.
But since Ji Qinglan bore some resemblance to Ji Qingzhou in her features, the young emperor quickly warmed to her.
“Sister, do you know why my Imperial Uncle likes coming to Assistant Minister Chi’s house?” the young emperor suddenly asked Ji Qinglan.
She smiled and replied, “I’m not close to Wang Ye, so I wouldn’t dare guess his thoughts. But what does Your Majesty think the reason is?”
The young emperor giggled and whispered in her ear, “Because Ji Gonggong likes to come.”
Ji Qinglan smiled at that, then turned to glance at Ji Qingzhou and Li Zhan without making any comment.
“Cong’er…” Li Zhan suddenly called out to the young emperor.
The young emperor immediately straightened his expression and looked at him.
“Has your tutor ever taught you to draw close to virtuous ministers and stay away from petty ones?” Li Zhan asked.
“Yes, he has,” the young emperor said quickly. “Assistant Minister Chi is a virtuous minister. Imperial Uncle and I both need to be close to him.”
Li Zhan gave a faint smile. “Then how should one draw close to such ministers?”
The young emperor looked at Ji Qinglan, then at Ji Qingzhou, and whispered, “By visiting Assistant Minister Chi’s house often… for meals?”
Li Zhan: …
Ji Qingzhou: …
Ji Qinglan: …
Soon after, the food was ready.
Chi Zhou hurried in to oversee the meal.
It was rare for the young emperor to dine with so many people, and he was in especially good spirits, smiling all throughout the meal.
Ji Qinglan sat beside him, attentively serving him food.
Feeling happy, the young emperor turned to her and said, “Sister, you’re really pretty.”
The moment he said that, everyone at the table couldn’t help but laugh.
Chi Zhou chimed in, “Looks like His Majesty likes beautiful people, haha.”
“Who doesn’t like beautiful people?” the young emperor said, turning to Chi Zhou with a grin.
Caught off guard, Chi Zhou’s face turned slightly red. He glanced at Ji Qinglan and gave an awkward laugh.
Then the young emperor turned to Li Zhan. “Imperial Uncle likes beautiful people too, right?”
Li Zhan glanced at him and said, “Don’t speak carelessly while eating.”
“I wasn’t! Imperial Uncle likes Ji Gonggong,” the young emperor blurted out. “Ji Gonggong is a beautiful person.”
His words were completely sincere—he hadn’t considered that it might be inappropriate. But the moment he finished speaking, the atmosphere at the table shifted ever so slightly.
Chi Zhou and Ji Qinglan exchanged a nervous glance.
Ji Qingzhou looked utterly embarrassed. He glanced at the young emperor, then at Li Zhan, and opened his mouth to smooth things over, but didn’t know what to say.
The young emperor was quick-witted. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he’d said something he shouldn’t have.
Just like the time when his Imperial Uncle asked him to keep the secret about wanting to kiss Ji Gonggong, he now realized that Imperial Uncle’s feelings for Ji Gonggong were also a secret—one that shouldn’t be spoken aloud, especially not in front of others.
“Imperial Uncle…” The young emperor got up and walked over to Li Zhan, nervously inching closer to him.
Though he realized he’d made a mistake, he didn’t know how to fix it. All he could do was silently seek Li Zhan’s help.
Li Zhan chuckled softly, reached out to pat his head, and said, “You can’t call Young Lady Ji ‘Sister.’”
Ji Qingzhou was startled. Only then did he realize that he and Ji Qinglan had both forgotten to correct the young emperor’s form of address earlier.
After all, the young emperor was the ruler of the nation. Even if Li Zhan usually wasn’t strict about these things, it was still inappropriate for him to refer to Ji Qinglan as ‘sister’…
“Then what should I call her?” the young emperor asked.
“If you really want to call her something… you can call her ‘auntie,’” Li Zhan said.
Ji Qingzhou was momentarily stunned, unable to respond.
Ji Qinglan instinctively exchanged another look with Chi Zhou. This time, both their gazes held a trace of understanding—though neither said a word.
That evening, after everyone had finished dinner at the Chi residence, they bid farewell and left.
The palace gates had already been locked for the night, and although they could still enter through a side gate, Li Zhan had no intention of going back. He decided instead to take Ji Qingzhou and the young emperor back to the Prince Residence to spend the night.
The young emperor was full from dinner and started nodding off from drowsiness. Worried he might suffer from indigestion, Li Zhan didn’t take a carriage but chose to walk back to the residence with him.
Ji Qingzhou noticed that the young emperor had been in low spirits the entire evening. He knew the child was still upset over something he had said earlier.
Having spent a lot of time with the young emperor, Ji Qingzhou had come to understand that despite his innocent appearance, the boy was actually quite sensitive and thoughtful. Just like tonight—he had realized he’d said something wrong, and even though Li Zhan hadn’t scolded him, he’d been quietly blaming himself and had no mood to play.
Thinking of this, Ji Qingzhou went to a street vendor and bought him a flower lantern.
The young emperor held the lantern in his hands, and only then did his mood slightly improve.
“If you’re tired, go to sleep. I’ll carry you,” Li Zhan said, lifting the young emperor into his arms. The child obediently wrapped his arms around Li Zhan’s neck and soon dozed off, still tightly clutching the lantern Ji Qingzhou had bought for him.
“Tired?” Li Zhan turned to ask Ji Qingzhou. “If you are, you can take the carriage back.”
Ji Qingzhou knew that Li Zhan wanted to walk, so he replied, “I’m not tired. I ate a little too much, actually—walking will help with digestion.”
Li Zhan smiled at that, and carrying the young emperor, continued walking beside him through the street.
Passersby occasionally glanced at the three of them with expressions of curiosity but no malice, their faces warmed with soft, amused smiles.
“The moonlight is beautiful tonight,” Li Zhan suddenly said.
Ji Qingzhou instinctively looked up at the sky. The moon hung brightly overhead, so perfect it almost looked like it had been painted there.
“I once… had a dream,” Li Zhan began, his voice tinged with a trace of melancholy. “In the dream, Cong’er had grown up… but he wasn’t close to me.” Ji Qingzhou immediately realized that the dream Li Zhan spoke of was the storyline from the original book—in other words, it was from the life Li Zhan had already lived once before.
“In that dream… Second Brother, Fourth Brother… everyone was gone,” Li Zhan continued. “I always thought that after I woke up, I’d probably live the rest of my life in loneliness, with no one by my side.”
Li Zhan stopped walking, turned to Ji Qingzhou, and said, “Thank you.”
He didn’t say what he was thanking Ji Qingzhou for, but Ji Qingzhou understood the deeper meaning behind his words.
The appearance of this child had been like a gift to Li Zhan.
It gave his life a whole new possibility…
That night, after returning to the Prince Residence, Li Zhan first made sure the young emperor was settled in properly, then ordered someone to fetch new bedding for Ji Qingzhou, worried he might not sleep well in an unfamiliar place. Ji Qingzhou had never been picky about such things and didn’t see himself as particularly delicate. But knowing that Li Zhan was doing this out of care for the child he carried, he accepted it with a smile.
If a father wanted to love his child, he couldn’t very well get in the way.
Just before leaving, Li Zhan suddenly remembered something and turned back to Ji Qingzhou. “I haven’t read to him from the classics yet today.”
Ji Qingzhou glanced at the sleeping young emperor and said, “It’s too late now—we might wake His Majesty.”
Li Zhan looked at the child and said, “But Doctor Tang said it’s good to connect with the child every day.”
Ji Qingzhou scratched his nose a little awkwardly and said, “Then… maybe you could touch him instead?”
Li Zhan’s eyes lit up. Containing his excitement, he walked over to Ji Qingzhou.
Ji Qingzhou loosened his outer robe, and Li Zhan reached out to feel his belly. “Feels like it’s a bit bigger than yesterday.”
“Not there…” Ji Qingzhou took Li Zhan’s hand and moved it from his stomach down to his lower abdomen. “What you were touching just now was my dinner….”
Li Zhan: …
So the baby was actually smaller than his dinner?!
That night, after returning to his room, Li Zhan tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
His mind kept replaying the sensation of Ji Qingzhou’s belly under his hand, that subtle roundness lingering in his thoughts.
Even late into the night, he still felt no sleepiness. In the end, he had someone bring him a jug of wine, and sat alone at the stone table in the courtyard, drinking beneath the moonlight. Perhaps because he was in such a good mood, he didn’t hold his liquor well tonight—one jug in and he was already a little tipsy.
Li Zhan was usually highly self-disciplined and never allowed himself to get drunk. But tonight was different. It was Mid-Autumn Festival. Beside him was someone he wished to spend the rest of his life with. Together, they were expecting a child…
And with the young emperor too, the people accompanying Li Zhan tonight practically made up his whole world.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. When the wine jug was finally empty and he was about to get up and return to his room, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
Turning back, he saw someone approaching, draped in a light blue robe. The robe hung open at the front, revealing the white undergarments beneath.
In the moonlight, with his clothes swaying gently in the night breeze, the person looked like an immortal who had stepped straight out of a painting.
As he got closer, the faint scent of soap carried on the wind. Li Zhan, already light-headed from the wine, felt his senses grow even hazier.
“Wang Ye?” the youth’s voice sounded beside Li Zhan’s ear, but muddled by the effects of the alcohol, it felt oddly distant and unreal.
Seeing Li Zhan unresponsive, the youth leaned down to support his arm, trying to help him up.
But the next second, he felt a sudden weight on his arm as Li Zhan pulled him forward and into his arms.
The two of them were suddenly very close. The youth instinctively reached for Li Zhan’s robe to steady himself.
Just then, Li Zhan’s hot, wine-laced breath drew near. The youth felt a sudden warmth against his lips, and his whole body froze…
It wasn’t until Li Zhan’s tongue slipped into his mouth that the youth truly realized what was happening.
But he had been so startled by the sudden turn of events that he just stood there, gripping Li Zhan’s robe in stunned silence, completely forgetting to push him away. Only when his breathing had grown completely erratic did Li Zhan seem to realize what he was doing, and loosened his hold a little.
Their lips parted. The youth instinctively licked his lips, now tinged with the taste of Li Zhan’s wine.
The night breeze picked up again. The youth finally came to his senses from the shock, turned around, and ran off into the darkness…
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