<b>Translator: PastTimer</b>
<b>Editor: PastTimer\n</b>
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Chu Lan stared at him intently and stretched out a hand into his coat, saying: "If it isn't you then who else? Xi'er, you're not allowed to be tempted by her, you're mine!"
Xia Xi was a little dumbfounded, "Why would she seduce me? I- I'm not a normal man..." How could normal women be appealed to him? What's more, it was Cai Huan, he was certain she had no such feelings for him. Chu Lan stroked his crotch, rubbing the soft flesh through a layer of cloth and said: "You have this. It's hard to guarantee that won't suddenly someday want to try the taste of a woman on a whim. And she always sticks to you, always hugging you, it's inappropriate¹! If she's not seducing you, then is it possible that she's seducing me?" Chu Lan had never considered this possibility. For him, since he married Xia Xi there was no need to look at others needlessly, no matter if they were men or women, let alone Cai Huan. He had always ignored Cai Huan and only occasionally noticed her. He was also annoyed by the fact that Xia Xi was too close to her, especially after knowing the secret of Xia Xi's body. Every time he saw the two getting close together, he would secretly think about what method he should use to send that little maid away, and get some older maids to serve Xia Xi.
At that moment, the young King clearly saw Xia Xi's expression and frowned, realizing that his casual sentence actually contained the truth. He recalled the situation this morning. At that time, Xia Xi was still asleep, and it really seemed that it was more likely that she was seducing himself. He paused and said, "Seducing the Lord, this isn't allowed. I'm not Xia Chao and this isn't Xia. I won't tolerate such a person, Xi'er, I'll ask someone to send her out tomorrow."
When Xia Xi heard what he said, he didn't know how he should feel and hurriedly replied, "My lord, Cai Huan had followed me since then, please don't be like this..."
Chu Lan was a bit impatient, he took a bite on his lips and said with a sour tone of voice, "Protecting her like this, does she really mean nothing?" Xia Xi shook his head quickly and denied it, "I'm not..." He hesitated for a while before whispering: "Chu Lan, or.... you can take her..." He was extremely uncomfortable saying those words, as if he was being stabbed by something. At this time only did he realise that his mother might've not had such strong affection for his father, otherwise, why would she be willing to share favour with so many women? Or was it, you'll get jealous and sad just at the beginning, but just slowly get used to it?
Then will he get used to it one day, when he sees Chu Lan with other women; when he sees him smiling at others and acting coy, would he be unwavering and unmoved?
Xia Xi was ashamed of his inability to do that now. He didn't know exactly when he became possessive of his young husband. It was obviously wrong. Chu Lan was the King, how could he belong to him alone?
When Chu Lan heard what he said, he froze for a while at first. When he understood it, his pupils suddenly shrank, and the smile on his face disappeared. His eyes were fixed on him and his voice was a little cold, "What did you say?"
Xia Xi didn't dare to look at him, he lowered his head, uncomfortable and conscious "I mean... do you want to take her...? Although Cai H-Huan isn't that sensible, she's not bad-hearted. She's beautiful... she told me that she liked y-you..." The more Xia Xi spoke, the drier his throat became. He didn't speak anymore after not getting a response from Chu Lan.
The boy stopped touching him. Although the two of them were still leaning against each other, their bodies seemed to stiffen. Xia Xi suddenly felt cold, even though the room was so warm. For a while, Chu Lan didn't make a sound. Xia Xi had to bite the bullet and raised his head to look at his expression. After meeting his cold gaze, his whole body suddenly trembled, and his face paled.
Chu Lan looked at him and sneered. When he acted coy he still had the shadow of the twelve-year-old boy, but when he became cold he was undeniably a King. His aura alone made people fearful. He mocked: "Xi'er's so generous. Your maid loves me, so you let me take her. What do you think of me? A tool for you master and servant?"
Xia Xi had never seen him become so angry and subconsciously wanted to kneel in fright, but Chu Lan seemed to get angrier and shouted: "Don't kneel!" Xia Xi didn't dare to move again, his lips shook, looking at Chu Lan and explaining in a flustered manner: "I d-didn't, I don't..."
Chu Lan said: "I heard that the Xia Kingdom's women are very virtuous. Not only do they take care of the housework for their husband, but they also pick concubines for their husbands. Although Xi'er can't be fully regarded as a woman, you still got the spirit."
Xia Xi didn't expect him to have such a big reaction and didn't understand the reason why, he whispered: "Xia Kingdom's folk customs are like that, I... I..." He closed his eyes, trying to calm down and said: "The King's getting older but the harem is empty. I'm your Queen. I should take care of these matters. If the King doesn't like Cai Huan, I can also find other women... I- I heard that the general gave the King a beauty. If you like her, I can..." Before he could finish speaking, a loud noise interrupted him; it was Chu Lan angrily kicking the table beside him. He used too much strength. It was obviously a solid wood table, but he kicked it to two or three separate pieces, parts of it rolled on the ground. Most of the porcelain placed on the table had broken into pieces when it fell.
Xia Xi was shocked by the loud noise, and his face paled further. Before he could react, several maids rushed inside to see what was going on. The one who was heading them was Cai Huan. Cai Huan was about to speak but Chu Lan shouted angrily: "Get out, no one can come in!"
His voice was too loud and scared people to run out tripping and tumbling. The room suddenly became quiet again. Xia Xi knew that he had completely angered Chu Lan. He was flustered and nervous, subconsciously bitting his lips hard, not daring to say a word. Chu Lan stared at him and sneered again: "What if I like her? Will you take them all in? Xi'er, you're so virtuous, you want to stuff a woman beside me so badly, why? You can't stand me anymore? Huh? Do you want to find someone else to share with?"
Xia Xi widened his eyes and looked at Chu Lan in panic. Chu Lan approached him and whispered: "You want to push me away?"
Xia Xi quickly shook his head, "I didn't think about it that way, no..." In fact, even if Chu Lan wouldn't let him get out of bed every day, Xia Xi was still unwilling to share him with others.
He didn't know when he started liking this person so much.
The corners of Chu Lan's mouth arched with a bit of mockery, "Even Hu Ji's matter is being considered for me? That person is being given to me by the general. I'm still considering whether to refuse or take her; how to refuse, how to take her in. Why are you so talented, you even took the initiative to take her in for me. It saves me the trouble." He leaned forward very closely, their noses were almost rubbing together, and the heat that was exhaled whenever they talked could be felt. This was obviously a very intimate posture. Both of them couldn't count how many times they had stayed like this before, but they had never made each other as uncomfortable as they were now.
Xia Xi felt that his heart twitching with pain. He panicked, but Chu Lan calmed down, with a smile on the corners of his mouth. He stretched out his hand to wrap around his black hair and said while playing with it: "You're so virtuous, let me find a Palace helper to help you tomorrow. Tidy up a courtyard so that I can welcome my new concubine. Or if you really want to, I can also take in Cai Huan. Anyway, one is already having canonization, why not have them both together? Saves me the trouble; lest you think that there aren't enough women around me in the future and work yourself out again."
Xia Xi stared at him blankly, unable to say a word. After a while, Chu Lan let go of his hair and said casually: "Since you're tired of serving me, you can go to the temple and stay with my mother for a while after the canonization."
Xia Xi's mind seemed to be been struck by lightning, his back stiffened. When he understood the meaning of the sentence, his heart hurt like someone was stepping on it. He opened his mouth and the words seemed to float away. He did it again, he managed to say: "Alright..."
Xia Xi knew that he had stepped into the same path as his mother's. His mother used to be very spoiled, but unconsciously said something that offended the Emperor. Since then, she has lost his love. Although she lived in a luxurious palace and the cold palace both. There wasn't much difference between the two.
Letting him go to the temple was no different from sending him to the cold palace, right?
He was inferior to his mother, who still had a pair of children by her side. Although one died early and the other was married, they stayed with her for some time. Unlike him, all alone, it could almost be foreseen how bleak the future would be.
In fact, Xia Xi wasn't afraid of living a bleak life. In comparison, he was suffering even more from the earth-shaking changes of Chu Lan's attitude towards him. The person who would happily deliver fresh fruits for him to eat, the person who tolerated him sleeping in. The person who bought him several carts of gifts had now moved to another bedroom since that day, and hadn't visited him for several days ongoing.
Xia Xi tasted the bitter fruit he planted. It was clear that the room wasn't cold at night, but he still felt the cold invading his body and the bed that was suddenly too big. He always fell asleep and woke up, fell asleep and then woke up again. What was more painful was that he had to pretend to be normal and discuss the canonization ceremony with the Palace helpers, the chosen day was just a mere seven days away.
After learning that she was going to be Chu Lan's concubine, Cai Huan was naturally overjoyed. Her eyes and brows were dyed with spring and she kneeled in front of Xia Xi, repeatedly promising that she would be loyal to him and would work hard. That if the King's favour was drawn to both of them, that Hu Ji would never be able to take the limelight. Listening to her words, Xia Xi felt numb in his heart. He just nodded gently, saying, "Just do your part."
He had also seen the general's gift. Her name was Hu Ji. She was a descendant of the royal family of Guanyue Kingdom, a small country in the northwest. She was a princess, very beautiful, her big eyes were charming and her skin was as white as snow. She looked especially good when she laughed. She could actually speak Chinese, but only awkwardly, just like Chu Lan when he was still at the age of twelve. She obviously had a pretty temperament, not afraid to love and to hate. The first time she saw Xia Xi, she kept smiling, it was hard to not have a good impression of her.
The canonization ceremony of the Barbarians was very simple, far less cumbersome than the procedures in the Xia Palace. Xia Xi let two small palaces be cleaned up, while he chose to stay away in his own palace. When everything was done, the canonization ceremony was only two days away.
According to Chu Lan's orders, Xia Xi would leave for the temple the day after tomorrow.
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Notes:
1- Take with a pinch of salt
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<b>Translator: Double updateeeee</b>