A carriage stopped outside Jiangdu City. Yu Hong lifted the curtain and took one final look towards the city gate.
"What, can't bear to let go?" Yu Yan stood by the carriage window, smiling.
Yu Hong withdrew his gaze and smiled. "Yes, Kind of."
Maybe it was because a lot of things had happened lately, or because he didn't need to pretend to be innocent in front of Yu Yan, he looked more mature than he did in the past. His appearance had become more settled.
Yu Yan: "It's not like I'm exiling you. You can come back any time you want."
"Just don't want to add to Elder brother's trouble," Yu Hong joked.
After ascending the throne, Yu Yan honored Emperor Yan as the father of the reigning emperor and stayed in the imperial city to recuperate. Yu Hong's origins were not revealed, and following the customary practice, he was crowned prince and dispatched to his fiefdom.
As for the rebellious eldest prince, Yu Shu, he was confined to the royal garden outside Jiangdu City for the rest of his life.
Yu Hong asked, "Is Imperial brother really not worried that the Qin clan will seek my cooperation and conspire to rebel?"
"What is there to worry about?" Yu Yan elaborated, "That's what I'm hoping for rather than being out of control in the fiefdoms, and I can't find a reason to clean them up."
The Empress' death was said to be a fall in the well during the palace mutiny. As for the Qin clan behind her, Yu Yan had just ascended to the throne and had no time, nor reason to take care of it.
The Qin fiefdom was in the Great Yan, remote, and had never been very peaceful. Now that the Empress lost her life and Yu Yan ascended to the throne, it was foolish to move.
Yu Yan suddenly remembered something. He shook his head: "No. Better not."
Yu Hong: "What?"
"If the Qin clan wanted to rebel and cause a war, then ......" Yu Yan paused, his eyes swept to his side.
Mu Yungui was in the other carriage, dressed in an ink-black attire that outlined his slender figure.
...Then his great general would have to be at the front of the battle.
This child was not born yet.
Yu Hong: "......"
Yu Hong dropped the carriage curtain, annoyed. "I just want it!"
Yu Yan waved his hand. "Have a safe trip!"
The carriage drove away in the distance, and Yu Yan had just turned around when Mu Yungui came to his side and reached out to help him.
"I'm fine." Yu Yan could neither laugh nor cry. "I still have both arms and legs, there's just an extra piece of meat. It's not like I can't walk."
"Who made His Majesty so careless?"
Mu Yungui ignored the man's weak resistance, and directly picked him up, heading towards the carriage.
Yu Yan: "!"
It was dusk. People came and went to the gate of the city. Yu Yan buried his face in Mu Yungui's arms, and said in embarrassment, "There are so many people here. What if we are recognized!"
Mu Yungui didn't answer, not until he carried the person into the carriage and laid him on the soft couch, "It doesn't matter if they recognize. Who doesn't know that Your Majesty is now pregnant with the heir? This official should be taking good care of Your Majesty."
Yu Yan: "..."
Mu Yungui turned his head and told the coachman to set off. Yu Yan shrank on the small, soft couch, covered with a fleece blanket, and understood everything clearly.
"I just realized that you are different from before." Yu Yan said.
Mu Yungui: "How am I different?"
"Being ruder to me day by day." Yu Yan grabbed the blanket and whispered, "You used to always listen to me."
Mu Yungui was helpless. He half kneeled in front of Yu Yan, "How did this official upset Your Majesty?"
Yu Yan: "You haven't made me pastries for a few days."
"..." Mu Yungui explained patiently, "Physician Feng said that Your Majesty can't eat too many sweets, it's not good for the fetus. Only three days have passed since the last time."
Yu Yan knew that he was in the wrong, so he turned his head and didn't speak.
Mu Yungui did not move, quietly kneeling on the spot to look at him.
Yu Yan asked, "Why are you still kneeling?"
"This official angered Your Majesty, so naturally dared not get up." Mu Yungui was grave and solemn, his every action loyal and devoted.
Yu Yan could tell at a glance that he was acting.
Before, he was dazzled by this person's beauty, hence felt he was a blockhead that did not understand love.
But now he knew. What blockhead? After slicing it open, his heart was totally black.
He would never be deceived now.
Yu Yan snorted, wrapped the blanket tightly around him and did not speak.
Mu Yungui still did not move, his eyes drooped slightly, and at this angle, Yu Yan could clearly see those slender and curly eyelashes.
He knelt on the spot without moving, almost as if Yu Yan kept silent, he would continue kneeling until the end of life.
The two stood in a silent stalemate for a moment.
Yu Yan compromised. "Okay, I know. I won't eat pastries and won't get angry. Alright?"
Mu Yungui could not hold back: "...Pff."
He fell for it. Again.
Yu Yan was so angry and annoyed, that he turned to his side and pulled the blanket up to cover half of his face.
The exposed ears were slightly red.
There was a moment of silence in the carriage. Then someone hugged Yu Yan from behind.
Autumn had just started and the weather was not cold. Yu Yan leaned against that embrace, and the warmth passed onto his body.
Mu Yungui whispered, lips almost touching his ear, "This subordinate is wrong. Master, don't be angry."
The voice was low and soft.
Yu Yan couldn't stand these words at all.
Can't blame this person for always squeezing himself. It was obvious he easily relented.
Not promising at all.
Yu Yan thought angrily.
The carriage was bumping while it was moving, but Yu Yan realized that there were no familiar noises of the marketplace outside the carriage. He lifted the carriage curtain to take a look outside. The carriage was already on the mountain road.
Yu Yan asked, "Where are we going?"
"Will know after reaching."
Yu Yan glanced at him and nodded. "Okay."
Mu Yungui asked, "Your Majesty is not afraid that this official might be abducting you?"
"If you want to abduct, you must also bring Little Blockhead along. I'm not afraid."
The child was not born yet but Yu Yan decided to nickname the cub Little Blockhead.
Mu Yungui had no objection to this. But he occasionally worried. Naming a girl Little Blockhead, won't she be angry when she grows up?
Unfortunately, His Majesty the Monarch was very pleased with this name. Mu Yungui had no choice but to follow.
The carriage shook, making Yu Yan a little sleepy and he yawned lazily.
Mu Yungui: "We still have some distance to go. Your Majesty can take a nap."
"Then you should remember to wake me up," Yu Yan said in a daze. "I have some papers that have not been approved yet. Since the great general brought me out, on the way back, you have to help me approve the backlog."
Mu Yungui agreed. "Alright. I'll do it."
Saying as if it wasn't him who usually did the approving.
It was not that His Majesty the Monarch was lazy, but Mu Yungui was worried that he would be tired. He always first read the papers that were handed over, filtered out the important ones and then relayed them to Yu Yan.
This emperor's son lived a life happier than the Gods.
Mu Yungui's embrace was particularly warm, and Yu Yan fell asleep shortly afterwards. When he woke up, the carriage had stopped.
Yu Yan rubbed his eyes sleepily , and asked Mu Yungui: "Reached?"
"En. Reached."
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I wanted you to sleep longer." Mu Yungui looked down at the dazed look on the face of the young man in his arms and rubbed the side of his face with his fingers. "Alright, this official dare not deceive the king. It was because His Majesty looked so cute while asleep that I wanted to look at him a little bit longer"
Yu Yan looked away, his ears red.
Mu Yungui helped Yu Yan get out of the carriage.
This was a valley.
At this time, it was twilight, and the sea of clouds in the distance was churning. The setting sun broke through the clouds, casting a thousand rays of sunshine in the valley.
A tall banyan tree stood on the green grass.
The grassland under the tree was full of unknown wildflowers. Looking around, there were large red maples in the mountains and forests, more dazzling than the sunset. The crowns of countless banyan trees hung down, floating gently in the evening breeze.
"This...here..." Yu Yan's voice was a bit hoarse.
He didn't know that there was such beautiful land outside Jiangdu City.
Mu Yungui: "Unfortunately, we arrived a bit too early and can't see the stars right now."
"You......"
"Your Majesty once said that you wanted a sea of flowers for ten miles, a sky full of stars, and fireworks that bloom. The last two are easy to prepare. Just that it's autumn right now, and the former is.." Mu Yungui paused, then continued, "But this official did not want to wait until the next year's early spring, so could only replace it with maple trees. I hope your Majesty doesn't mind."
When he said this, his eyes were focused and gentle. He stared at Yu Yan until his heart was beating rapidly. He quickly turned his eyes away. "But this is obviously my idea. How can the great general steal it like this? How will I propose to you in the future?"
"Why don't you let this official propose?" Mu Yungui pulled Yu Yan under the banyan tree and gave a faint smile. He asked, "The position of the empress has been left empty for a long time. When will Your Majesty allow this official to enter the harem?"
Yu Yan's eyes flickered.
After he ascended the throne, he uprooted the remnants of the country and revised the unfair laws. Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, except for the matter of Mu Yungui.
It wasn't that Yu Yan was unwilling. But he just didn't know how to deal with it.
Of course he wanted to tell the world about his relationship with Mu Yungui. He wanted to tell them that Mu Yungui was the father of his child. He wanted to tell them how much he loved this man.
But... It wasn't the right time.
Mu Yungui had just been named a great general. Now was the time for him to show his skills. If the truth was told now...
"Your Majesty doesn't have to worry about this official." The two sat side by side under the banyan tree, and Mu Yungui encircled Yu Yan in his arms. "This official just wants to tell your Majesty that no matter what decision you make, I will be more than willing to follow it."
"Yungui..."
Mu Yungui lowered his head and looked at him, his eyes soft. "Even after all this time, I still can't believe it. I don't know what I did to deserve to have you with me, to have all of this with you right now."
His hand gently rested on Yu Yan's lower abdomen.
Yu Yan had been pregnant for several months now, but his pregnancy was not obvious. He could only feel a little bump.
"You pulled me out of the abyss, and now you give me so much. Such deep kindness that I can never repay."
Yu Yan looked up at him: "I am not..."
"Shhh, listen to me first." Mu Yungui said softly, "but I have finally understood."
"If Your Majesty hopes to wholeheartedly have mutual respect with your imperial consort, I will enter the harem and be a virtuous and worthy empress for Your Majesty. But if Your Majesty hopes to forever have a strong ruler-minister relationship, to govern the imperial court together, I will also do my best to make myself worthy of Your Majesty. "
"Your Majesty said that I have changed, and perhaps it is true." Mu Yungui continued, "I don't take the gap in our statuses so seriously anymore, nor have my thoughts become muddled because of this."
He lowered his head and kissed Yu Yan's lips gently. "In any case, no matter what our relationship is, what identity I have, you are already mine."
This kiss went from shallow to deep. Mu Yungui pressed Yu Yan into the soft green grass, and kissed his lips gently but irresistibly.
The sunset glow penetrated the dense canopy of the banyan tree, casting spots of shadow on the two of them.
In the end, he never saw the stars.
Shortly after the sunset, dark clouds appeared on the horizon.
The night darkened, accompanied by the patter of light rain, drenching the entire valley.
Yu Yan wrapped himself in a woolen blanket and pulled aside a corner of the carriage curtain to look outside. "This is the place you had meticulously selected?"
"..." Mu Yungui pressed his eyebrows, and said helplessly, "The rain might not stop tonight. Your Majesty should head back to the palace."
"No hurry." Yu Yan didn't feel annoyed. "This is also a good experience."
Maybe it was the Heavens who didn't want to give this blockhead a chance to be romantic. Jiangdu hadn't rained for ten days, but to make up for the deficits of the past ten days, it picked the exact day this blockhead decided to confess.
Mu Yungui indeed.
The rain got stronger, pelting the carriage, making uninterrupted noises.
Inside the carriage, the two cuddled together and listened to the sound of the rain. The atmosphere was rarely this tranquil.
"Actually, in a particular area, we two are rather alike." Yu Yan suddenly smiled lightly, "Too silly in actions."
Mu Yungui: "What?"
"When I first fell in love with you, I always thought, why do you treat me so well, and what should I do to return all the good you gave me." Yu Yan said, "You're good to me, so I want to give back to you. But when I'm good to you, you also want to give back to me. Tossing here and there. In the end, it's no longer so distinct."
"But now, I think it's better to be unclear."
"This manner of you owing me, I owing you, will leave us entangled forever."
Mu Yungui lowered his head to meet his crystal clear gaze and then they laughed together: "Good."