Chu Lan didn't leave Xia Xi's bedroom until the next morning, he enjoyed Xia Xi's service for a while before leaving. Xia Xi washed his face, brushed his teeth, tied his hair, dressed him, and did everything that should be done, Chu Lan watched him with joy, just like when he was still twelve, and when Xia Xi was done he finally separated from him. He kissed his raised abdomen and said, "I'll see you again tonight."
Xia Xi sent him out of the house happily, Lan Duo'er and the others came in to serve him without a hint of surprise on their expressions. Even Xia Chun seemed to be used to this and didn't show anything unusual on his face.
His palace was cleaned up prior to his return and it looked bright wherever you looked, creating a gentle atmosphere. It seemed like it had never lacked its master. At noon, Chu Lan sent over lots of gifts; exquisite utensils, beautiful and comfortable fabric, and a special dressmaker who came in to measure his size to make him summer and autumn clothes. Xia Xi's clothes were indeed too narrow, especially the bottom part, almost all of his clothes were modified by either himself or the maids serving him. It was fine to wear that in the temple, but it was a bit out of place to wear it in the Palace.
His status was noble to the end, he was the Queen of a country and couldn't wear such casual clothing.
When the sizing was almost finished, Xia Xi heard a maid announce: "The Imperial concubine is here", and before she was invited in, Cai Huan walked straight inside with a smile on her face. When she saw him she was very affectionate, seeing that Xia Xi was about to wear a robe, she quickly pushed away the others and dressed him personally while saying: "When I used to dress and freshen up your Royal Highness you were always so simple and elegant, I know what Your Highness likes the most."
Xia Xi was a little surprised when he heard these words. He thought that with Cai Huan's temperament, she would reject her past of being a court maid before and would try her best to downplay it, but he didn't expect that she would say it herself. His heart towards her softened a bit more. He stretched out his hand, stroking Cai Huan's head and saying with a chuckle: "You're a noble concubine now, you're not allowed to say such things."
Cai Huan replied: "This is all rewarded by His Royal Highness, what is a noble concubine to that? Today, I understood that only Your Highness is in the King's heart. I'm just a cover for him. Besides, I lied to Your Highness last time. He... had never pampered me..." She spoke in Chinese, the others couldn't understand. After she finished speaking, a lost expression appeared on her face, "I thought that I could have somehow leave an impact in his heart, but I didn't expect the King's heart to only have Your Highness, even a spot the size of a nail won't be surrendered.¹"
When Xia Xi heard her words the smile on his face slowly subsided, revealing some guilt. He whispered softly: "Cai Huan, I can't help you. The reason why I originally proposed it to Chu Lan that day was because I originally wanted to fulfill your...." Cai Huan interrupted quickly: "I know, Your Highness is the most gentle and generous, I don't blame you, I only hate that I don't have any charm. I couldn't attract the interest of the King at all." She swept her eyes to the side and changed the subject. "Now that Your Highness has come back, not only has the threat from the King's side been removed, you're also pregnant and had been rewarded by the King with so many beautiful things. This cloth is so pretty, it looks like something from the Xia Kingdom. Is it ice silk?"
Xia Xi's attention was also diverted, his gaze fell on the piece of fabric and he nodded lightly, "It's a product of Xia Kingdom, not ice silk, but Liuyun brocade." Seeing that it was to Cai Huan's liking, he said: "If you like it, I'll make a set of clothes for you as well. This fabric is breathable in the summer and won't get you sweaty. Just let the Palace staff measure your size."
Cai Huan hesitated a little, "This is something that the King rewarded His Highness. How could I use it? Isn't it inappropriate?"
Xia Xi smiled and said: "There's nothing inappropriate." He asked the Palace staff to measure Cai Huan's size as well. Cai Huan really liked the fabric, she didn't refuse and took off her robe to let them measure. Later, Xia Xi was informed that there was still some leftover fabric, so he called Xia Chun in and asked the Palace staff to make a set for him too. Cai Huan said with a smile, "His Royal Highness really treats this child well." She said again: "I thought that since Your Highness would have his own child soon, you would throw the child away. I didn't expect him to be brought back to the Palace."
Her words made Xia Chun's face darken, he raised his head to stare at her viciously and even bared his little tiger teeth in a fierce expression. Cai Huan was bluffed by his appearance, she pointed and said, "Your Highness, this child is... so wild!"
Xia Xi quickly stood between the two and chuckled lightly: "The kid is indeed ignorant, but Chun'er is very good. I promised to raise him so I won't abandon him, otherwise wouldn't it be a violation of my promise."
Cai Huan said: "But he's so fierce, Your Highness still has to pay attention. He doesn't seem to abide by the rules. The child in Your Highness's belly is the most important thing, be careful to not let him ruin it."
There was clearly deep concern in her tone, but Xia Xi felt that what she said wasn't the truth. He couldn't help but blame himself for being too guarded, just because Cai Huan was a noble concubine he had thought of her intentions maliciously.
Cai Huan played with him for a long time, when Chu Lan came back at night she finally seemed to realize that it was late, so she got up to leave. She saluted Chu Lan and Chu Lan treated her indifferently, she walked straight to Xia Xi to help him stand up. Xia Xi was a little embarrassed and said warmly, "It's almost dinner, Cai Huan, do you want to stay and eat together?" After he said this, he received a dissatisfied look from Chu Lan, but he didn't dare to look back and could only maintain his current expression.
Cai Huan quickly said: "No, my Lord, Your Majesty, this concubine will leave first."
Seeing her leave, Chu Lan's strained face eased, he leaned in close to Xia Xi's ear and his tone was coquettish, "I'm hungry, quickly, give me food." Xia Xi hastened to arrange the food. The Barbarians didn't have many Palace rules, and the King didn't have any special rules about dining. The dishes weren't like the dinners of the Xia Emperor where every meal must have twenty or thirty delicious main dishes. There were only about seven or eight dishes on the table, and a bowl of nutritious porridge specially cooked for Xia Xi.
Chu Lan wasn't really that hungry, he took a sip of Xia Xi's porridge and then returned to his own dishes. He asked, "Why did she come? How long did she stay?"
Xia Xi answered: "Half a day, I have an old relationship with her and just came back, it's normal for her to come and stop by. Is it possible that my Lord is jealous even of this?"
Chu Lan said shamelessly: "You know, as long as it concerns you, I am jealous of everything."
Xia Xi blushed because of his sudden honey words, and when they finished the meal, he said with a serious face: "Chu Lan, Cai Huan's matter... in the end it's me who caused this current situation. Now it's unfair to her, so I thought..." Before he could finish speaking, Chu Lan had already leaned dangerously close, squinting at him, "What did you think of?" Xia Xi quickly explained, "I didn't think about that. How could it be possible for me to be blind to how our hearts suffered till now?² How could I be willing to push you to others again? I won't do anything like that anymore."
Chu Lan's expression eased, he hugged him, dragging him into his lap lightly and kissing him on the lips. He said, "Then we are of one heart." With a hand, he loosened his hair tie, tangling his long hair for his fingers to play with, he said casually: "You continue. "
Xia Xi said: "It's been precedented before, a concubine can remarry. It's best for you to find a suitable partner for her, if she's unwilling to marry a Barbarian, you can also send her back to Xia. Buy her property, give her money, and find a good family for her. Although she's already twenty years old, she's still in perfect shape. She has a good temperament and has a large dowry, if she wants to she wouldn't be rejected." When Xia Xi came back with a belly swollen with child, he felt even more guilty about Cai Huan. In fact, he had wanted to arrange this for Cai Huan three years ago. Who knew that a moment of weakness would result in the current status quo today.
The corners of Chu Lan's mouth hooked upwards, he showed a mocking expression. He said: "Do you think I haven't thought about this? A few days before you came back, I sent someone to tell her similar to that, but her reply was that she wanted to stay in the Palace. After hearing those words, I personally went to her and asked her if she would rather be a widow in all but name. Her answer was yes and I let it go."
Xia Xi was stunned, he never thought that Cai Huan's choice would be this. After a moment of silence, his tone became even more guilty, "She must like you very much, so she refused to leave. I've hurt her."
Chu Lan sneered and said, "Where's the harm? If it weren't for her debauchery in blatantly seducing me that day, how could you know her intentions? She just poked at your softheartedness and did it deliberately. She's now a person in the harem, an Imperial concubine. I made sure she doesn't lack either food or clothing, nor did I reduce her expenses. Compared with the little maid from years back, there is now a world of difference today. That's the choice she made for herself, why should you feel guilty?"
Xia Xi was a little confused by his words, it took him a long time to reply: "But she's very lonely..."
Chu Lan glared at him, "What the hell do you mean? Do you want me to go sleep with her and don't leave her, so that you can feel at ease?"
Seeing that he was really angry, Xia Xi was taken aback and hurriedly hugged him, he whispered: "I didn't mean that... I— I have achieved acceptance by myself, so I also hoped that she could achieve it as well. She's beautiful and there'll always be someone who'll love her sincerely and protect her for a lifetime, so that she won't have to be alone in this Palace her whole life."
Chu Lan bit his lips angrily, he deliberately said, "Not necessarily, maybe one day I'll see her pleasing to the eye and sleep with her. I'll admire and appreciate her beauty, so that she wouldn't be lonely." He wanted to arouse Xia Xi's jealousy, but he didn't expect that after saying this sentence Xia Xi would be startled. His eyes slowly reddened and he resisted a sob to slowly say: "T-That is also possible......"
Chu Lan was so angry that felt he was going to die of it, but he didn't dare move rashly for fear of Xia Xi's stomach. He could only say annoyedly: "It's impossible! My heart and my body have been seduced by you for life, it's impossible for me look at others! You're not allowed to push me to other people again. Once I see that you don't love me enough, I'll definitely not let you go!"
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Notes:
1- I played around with this so the original/literal mensing still shines through but it's been badly modified so\n2- Modified because I didn't understand, I just based it on context and gut feeling
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<b>PastTimer: Recently, I've noticed a boom in people posting translated works in wattpad. Most are discreet (with only the CN title and the cover) but some are practically advertising itself completed with all right received and all the stuff. Now, I was someone who read bl books through this so I won't be a hypocrite and say that it should be taken down unless explicit permission from the owners of the translation, but! If you really just want to read it offline or share it discreetly please do: remove tags, don't use the english title, make sure that people know you're not the author/translator, explicitly not ask for votes and comments, take it down after you've finished reading it, update three days or more after the translator does. Since you're already getting benifits out of someone else's work at least make a chapter explaining why people should support the translator, it's not much but at least it has a greater impact than a single sentence. Also: IF THE TRANSLATOR HAD ALREADY ASKED YOU TO TAKE IT DOWN, DON'T POST IT UP AGAIN! Aghhhhh! So mad!</b>
<b>Early update today because I have some errands with the bank 💸</b>