During the silent night, only the sound of wind knocking against the window was audible along with the light patter of droplets from the drizzle hitting the window lattice. It was the time when even the residual flowers were withering and countless leaves were falling. Upon looking outside the window, one could see the ground littered with fallen red leaves, an indicator of autumn.
Qi Mingyue was not a person who was easily sentimental and did not hold much interest towards the scenery outside. He just remembered the words he sent through Little Black to the palace a few months ago and wondered how Father reacted to it. It must have made him angry, and that’s why there had been no word from him these days.
He pleaded for Qi Musheng not because of sudden softheartedness, but because of a long-term plan. Father must be aware of it as well. It was just that the person who wanted to harm him was spared so easily, Father couldn’t stand it and threw a tantrum.
In fact, at times when he pondered about it, Father Emperor was a bit headstrong when it came to matters related to him, he also had a domineering attitude and strong possessiveness. If calculated carefully, when referring to the age of the soul alone, Father was still a few years younger than him. However, it could not be denied that as an Emperor, his methods were not weak in the slightest.
This time, Hua Fengjin was removed and the identity of the alien star was dumped on Qi Musheng’s head. Both witnesses and physical evidence were present, there seemed to be no room for sophistry, but no one knew that everything was arranged by father; from the palace guards bribed by Qi Musheng to the ministers, all were intentionally facilitated by him. Even the source of the poison could be verified. The bribed guards claimed that they were ordered by the Eldest Prince, so who would believe that he was actually innocent?
Now, the entire world knew that the Eldest Prince had poisoned his mother because he was afraid of being dragged down by his imprisoned consort mother. The fact that Hua Fengjin was restless and caused an obscene mess in the imperial court had also spread somewhat. If the Eldest Prince had his reputation tainted, there would unfortunately never come a day in his life when he would become the Crown Prince. Everyone was aware of the fact that the higher the ranking, the more hope there was of being instated as the Crown Prince.
How could the Crown Prince of CangHe have a consort mother with such a tarnished reputation? Therefore, the Eldest Prince was so ruthless and killed his biological mother to clear the way for the future.
It was said that on the day Hua Fengjin was interrogated, the Eldest Prince pleaded for her but was not sincere. This was obvious to all that from then on, he did not want his consort mother to live.
Under all the divergent opinions, Qi Musheng murdering his mother had become an indisputable fact, no one sympathised or felt sorry about his departure. As the alien star, not being executed was already considered a good outcome. Everyone wanted him to be as far away from CangHe as possible.
Today, everyone knew that the Eldest Prince Qi Musheng was the alien star that the Grandmaster had spoken about. Fortunately, His Majesty was wise and drove him away to Tanzhou. Still, His Majesty was also benevolent and cared about familial affection towards his own flesh and blood, so he did not execute the alien star.
Putting aside the letter from Jiang Yao brought by Little Black, Qi Mingyue narrowed his eyes slightly with a mocking smile on his lips. As long as an obvious conclusion was placed in front of the people, everyone would find all kinds of clues to support the ‘truth’ and automatically string a chain of events to tell its ins and outs.
He shook his sleeves that got wet after closing the window, the sound of raindrops was cut off and the room suddenly became quiet. The soft light from the pearl illuminated the room with warmth.
The weather had turned colder as autumn continued. The bed had been covered with a cloud quilt which was received as a tribute and was light and soft, scented with a light fragrance of jade ice sandalwood. The robe he wore was made of brocade silk with a thin silk outer robe adorned with silver satin threads and sewed with coiling dragon buttons. He took off the robe with wet sleeves, leaving only a single garment on but did not feel cold in the slightest; there was a pearl close by emitting heat, the best treasure sent by LianTong.
All these were prepared on Father’s instructions.
He lifted the cloud quilt and lay down on the bed and closed his eyes but did not feel sleepy.
He heard the indistinct sound of rain outside the window but suddenly perceived something unusual. He abruptly opened his eyes, and his clear eyes were flooded with frostiness. Someone actually ascended the Lofty Mountain and had already approached his courtyard.
Before he could get up, someone’s silhouette flickered and a figure clothed in black came inside through the window.
“MingEr.” The stranger called out with a familiar voice, leaving Qi Mingyue stunned. He looked at the man who should presently be in the imperial capital with surprise and saw that all his clothes were wet. He came in the rain.
“Father...” He never expected that Father would suddenly appear in front of him.
Seeing his dumbfounded appearance, Qi Xutian smiled deeply and raised his eyebrows teasingly, “Rarely have I seen you make such a startled expression, do you feel surprised?” Qi Xutian casually tossed the hair that fell on his forehead aside and seemed to be somewhat proud that he had surprised him so much, but this inadvertent action made Qi Mingyue’s heart jump after not seeing him for a long time.
The tall figure stood in front of him, his robe was slightly messy because of running in the rain and his long hair stuck close to his ears. Water drops slowly dripped down his hair and his face was wet from the rain. Under the illumination of the pearl, there was a hazy lustre, and those bewitching narrow eyes were full of tender affection as they looked at him.
Father Emperor was born with a captivating face and he exuded the domineering aura of an Emperor, he could make women fall in love at first sight. The scene in front of him was full of wild temptation and dangerous charm.
“I haven't seen Father for some time, why do I think that you look younger and even more good-looking?” Qi Mingyue turned over, sat up and pulled Qi Xutian close, not minding his clothes that were soaking wet. He leaned in to drop a kiss on his lips.
Before he could kiss deeper, Qi Xutian slowly pushed him away and closed the window first before pressing him down to sit on the bed, “Don’t get up, I will take care of myself.”
“I am neither suffering from an illness nor am I in pain, only the weather has cooled down a bit. You don’t need to be so cautious; my body is fine and I haven’t even had an attack.” He still got up, fetched a towel for him and carefully wiped away the water from his face. He held some hair and ran his hand along the length while using energy to dry it.
Everything was exactly as what Father did for him in the past.
Qi Xutian didn't speak and just looked at the young man in front of him as if pouring out all the thirst he had accumulated over the past few months. His scorching gaze made it impossible for anyone to ignore his stare.
After drying his hair, Qi Mingyue stretched out his hands to undo his clothes and met his gaze, “Father, take off your clothes, you are soaked. Although you will be fine, I feel distressed.”
When Qi Xutian heard these words, he couldn't restrain the thirst in his heart anymore. He yanked his half-worn clothes apart and took Qi Mingyue into his arms, leaned in to kiss him and plundered his mouth, capturing all his response as he teased his tongue to tangle with his own. The two tongues intertwined as both of them poured out their feelings of love and yearning. The kiss was fierce as they actively moved and sucked. The moist sound of their lips and tongues entwining sounded in the room tinged with an atmosphere of intense passion.
“You know how to worry about me, I am really happy.” Letting go of Qi Mingyue, Qi Xutian gently pecked his lips, his soft, hoarse voice was tinted with pleasure.
“I thought you were angry because I pleaded for brother to be allowed to live.” Qi Mingyue chuckled in his arms with a hint of provocation in his eyes, but there was more joy in them because of seeing him. ”Why did you come? Since you didn’t send a message to me for so long, I thought you were punishing me.”
“This punishment not only punished you, but also made me sleepless and unable to even eat properly, so why should I continue to punish?” He also did not expect that just breaking off communication would make him so disturbed and irritable. Then, suddenly, the idea of visiting MingEr came up and this thought was impossible to restrain, so then, he finally came.
“You should know that I am considering CangHe's reputation. If you really killed him, the narrative about the alien star would become a reality. The world would think that you are afraid of Tan Wu’s predictions and would even execute your own son because of it. It would also give other countries the opportunity to provoke disasters in the name of the alien star.” Leaning in his arms, Qi Mingyue spoke as his fingers unconsciously wandered all over his sturdy chest, feeling the enticing touch under his fingers.
“I know that you are doing it for the sake of CangHe, but I don’t care about those who intend to cause trouble. If they really want to cause chaos in the world, I do not care whether people live or die. I also do not mind if the world is delivered right into the palm of my hand, I will take it.” Qi Xutian held down his moving hands with a warning in his eyes.
The palm of his hand was pressed against Father's chest, and he didn’t dare move at will. Qi Mingyue raised his head and said, “Father, do you know the other reason why I did not want you to kill him?”
Qi Xutian was visibly a little surprised. He hugged him a little bit tighter, leaned in to kiss his lips softly and asked in a low voice, “What is the other reason?”
“For my sake, you gave up Ninth Imperial Brother and two imperial sisters. No matter what Qi Musheng did, he’s still your eldest son.” He only said this sentence, but Qi Xutian understood the meaning of his words and couldn't help sighing. He said, “But I can't sit back and watch someone try to hurt you. Even if he dies, he still deserves it.”
“I am not a weak person; Father must not forget this. If someone wants to harm me, I will never show the slightest mercy. No matter who it is, I will not let them go.” A hint of coldness appeared in his eyes. His eyes similar to that of Qi Xutian’s were narrowed slightly, and then he raised his eyebrows lightly, “He, Qi Musheng, is not so capable. Father, you don’t need to care, he is not worthy.”
His forgiveness was not an indulgence, but contempt. He never regarded Qi Musheng as an enemy, so naturally, there was no need to target him.
Knowing his temperament, Qi Xutian had no choice but to let him be. In fact, when he spared Qi Musheng in court, he had already agreed with MingEr's decision.
“I understand what you think,” Qi Xutian continued to nibble on his lips, holding back more of his lust as he whispered, “But do you intend to just talk about state affairs with me this evening?”
“What do you want?” Qi Mingyue felt the burning length underneath and asked knowingly with a smile on his face.
“No matter what you want, wait for a moment.” Qi Mingyue suddenly backed away a bit and raised his voice, “Wu Yao.”
Right as his voice fell, Wu Yao clothed in white appeared like a ghost. His vacant eyes still did not hold the slightest emotion as he stood with a blank expression, waiting for Qi Mingyue's instructions.
“There is no need tonight, you can withdraw.” Sleep seemed to be superfluous for Wu Yao. Even if he had free time, he (QM) hadn’t seen him rest which always amazed Qi Mingyue.
Wu Yao silently disappeared from in front of the two, it was as if a ghost had appeared just now. Seeing him disappear, Qi Xutian frowned, “He’s always hiding in your room?”
“Wu Yao is like a shadow guard, so naturally he stays there all the time.” Aware that Father would again be bothered about this, Qi Mingyue quickly yanked his collar down to bring his face closer and captured his lips.
The soft lips were still as sweet as he remembered. This time, Qi Xutian wasn’t as impatient and sucked them tenderly, delicately pecked his lips and licked them slowly. He teasingly hooked his tongue and brought it into his own mouth and entangled with it. While kissing MingEr, he enjoyed the rare sweet taste.
At that moment, there was a soft knock on the door, “Your Highness, I seemed to have heard you call Wu Yao just now, is there something wrong?”
Hong Qi’s question sounded, she seemed anxious.
“There’s nothing, leave.” Qi Xutian patted and soothingly caressed MingEr who was panting lightly and said to her standing outside.
His Majesty?! Hong Qi and Ying Ran stood outside the door and looked at each other in surprise. Although the Lofty Mountain wasn’t far from YeYao City, it was still a day's journey. But His Majesty left behind court affairs and came here in the rain. Their affection made others feel moved.
The two of them returned to their room. In their sleep, they seemed to hear whispers coming from His Royal Highness Mingyue’s room; vague fragments and ambiguous whispers were particularly thought-provoking in the dead of night.
Inside the room, it wasn’t known what Qi Xutian had done that caused Qi Mingyue to gasp lightly and suppress a moan in his throat. His eyes were clouded and his face was flushed scarlet as his body trembled slightly. The shadow cast on the window paper showed two entangled figures.
The next morning, Hong Qi pulled Ying Ran and hurriedly knocked on His Royal Highness’ door but did not hear a response. Usually, His Highness was very vigilant and would never be unresponsive. She felt anxious thinking that His Majesty might have tossed His Highness Mingyue too much last night which made him unable to get up...
She hastily pushed the door open and looked around only to see that clothes scattered on the ground and the quilt was crumpled in an ambiguous manner. However, His Highness was still asleep on the bed which made them incomparably relieved. Next to him, His Majesty hadn’t left yet and was embracing His Highness, gazing tenderly at the sleeping young man. It was a look they had never seen him make before. And right when he heard their movements, his razor-sharp gaze swept towards them.
Although she understood that His Majesty wanted them to leave, Ying Ran was still a little worried, and Hong Qi was also blushing and wanted to say something.
Seeing them still standing at the door, Qi Xutian raised his eyebrows, “I didn't do anything of that sort, you don't need to worry about it. MingEr is just tired.”
Qi Mingyue heard the familiar voice in his sleep, opened his eyes a little and his half-naked body leaned in and snuggled into Qi Xutian's arms as he murmured, “Father...”
Qi Xutian responded softly, hugged the young man in his arms tighter and said to the two people at the door, “Get out.”
Naturally, they would not ask why His Highness was so tired. Hearing His Majesty's command, it was apparent that he was displeased. They hurriedly shrank back with red faces and closed the door behind themselves.
As they turned to leave, they heard His Majesty's low and soft voice calling His Highness’ name softly.
With a gentle smile, both of them left. Perhaps, the scene of the two embracing each other on the bed would be remembered by them for a lifetime; the eyes of both His Majesty and His Royal Highness were etched with love and lingering attachment that would never be seen by others.
- End of Volume One -
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