Xia Xi was ashamed and refused to say, he covered his face and sobbed for mercy, his body softening into a puddle of water. After a while Chu Lan let him go, he pressed his legs together to clamp his sexual organ and began moving between his legs. Xia Xi's legs were tender and love liquid flowed freely. The difference between just rubbing and real intercourse wasn't too big, but Chu Lan still took half an hour before shooting out.
On the day of the child's full moon¹, the royal city held a grand full moon banquet. To show his magnanimity, the Emperor of Xia also sent some envoys to give gifts. The second day after the full moon banquet, the child was sent to the temple, where the great witch-doctor performed the first fortune-telling and gave him a name. The child's name in the Barbarian language meant the sun in the sky. The literal translation of the Barbarian name sounded awkward, Xia Xi wasn't used to it, so he simply called him by the nickname Jin Jin, which was also the abbreviation of Jin Wu. The result of divination was also very good, saying that the future of the child was unlimited and that the territory under him would be larger than that of his father. He would be a very capable monarch who would bring blessings to his people.
When Xia Xi heard the results of the divination, he couldn't help but have a subtle feeling. Over the years, he still hasn't forgotten Chu Lan's original ideals. Although he doesn't inquire about state affairs, he knew that the Barbarians were training soldiers and hoarding food, and that it might not even take a few years for a war to spark between the two countries.
His expression was too stiff, and Chu Lan, who was standing next to him, was afraid that he didn't understand. He explained to him in Chinese in a quiet voice and chuckled: "When I go back, I'll make him the heir."
Xia Xi was stunned and said, "Isn't this too urgent?"
Chu Lan squeezed his waist without a trace of shame and laughed lowly: "Why? Are you planning to give me some more options to slowly choose from?" Xia Xi flushed, there were too many people around him, and he was too embarrassed to speak.
Chu Lan had always done what he said, after going back he wrote an edict, and after choosing a lucky day, he announced his eldest son as the Crown Prince. Xia Chao heard the news and sent someone to congratulate him, but this time the envoy didn't leave immediately after delivering gifts but asked to see the Queen.
Of course, Xia Xi didn't immediately find this out. When he had finally known of it, the envoy had already been waiting for two days. Chu Lan casually told him about it during dinner, Xia Xi was stunned, "Meet me?"
Chu Lan took a sip of Xia Xi's soup, he licked his lips unsatisfactorily and said: "Yes, they want to see you. They've requested it the day before yesterday, I ignored it and sent someone to say as much both yesterday and today, but I thought that you might want to meet so I came back to ask."
On the contrary, Xia Xi was a little cramped. He said: "I- I don't know who the other party is... we're definitely not familiar. I don't know anyone in court. My mother's supporters have already declined and there's no one left." He struggled, he didn't even want to eat anymore, "Why do they want to see me? If they know me, what should I say?"
Chu Lan didn't seem to think he was having an overreaction, he smiled soothingly and made a suggestion, "Treat them like a guest at home? Maybe warmly? Reminisce? Ask about the situations of past acquaintances?"
Xia Xi showed a slightly sad look, "Remembering the old... after my mother passed away, I don't have any more people left there... Alright, I'll see them."
The fact that he wanted to meet an envoy from his homeland made Xia Xi extremely nervous, his emotions were a bit intense. Chu Lan teased him with a few words and Xia Xi managed to cope with it, but only he knew that it wasn't because he afraid of meeting a stranger, but because of another matter.
The two countries were peaceful on the surface but undercurrents were surging. His identity truly made it inappropriate to meet with envoys. If the other party was here to talk about the past, it would be nice, to say the least, but if he was asked to do other things, Xia Xi didn't know what attitude he should have².
On that day, Xia Xi dressed early. After having breakfast and playing with his son, he heard the maid announcing the arrival of the envoy. He got up and went to the main hall outside. After opening the door, the familiar Xia clothes were the first thing he saw. His heart trembled. After he sat down, he asked the Palace servants to waive the ceremony and give them tea. He was nervous and his complexion was a bit unnatural, he didn't take the initiative to say anything. The envoy standing in lead approached him in two steps, they raised their head and looked at him with a smile, asking in a crisp voice: "Your Highness Xiao³ Xi, do you still recognize me?"
This voice— the voice was both unfamiliar and familiar. Xia Xi looked up and saw a face as beautiful as spring flowers and autumn moons, with large eyebrows and a shallow dimple on her cheek when she laughed. After going over her face twice, Xia Xi finally recognized her. He suddenly stood up and exclaimed in surprise: "Princess Hui?"
The maid beside him watched the envoy approach and was still on guard, but when she saw Xia Xi's reaction she relaxed a little. The envoy in front of him took off the hat on her head, and her black hair fell loose. Those facial features were no different from the ones in his memory from a few years ago, it was Xia Hui.
Xia Hui jumped in front of Xia Xi three times and smiled happily at him, "It's me, after all this time you really haven't forgotten me. That's good, otherwise wouldn't my efforts in running over here to see you be in vain? How are you?"
It was inconvenient for Xia Xi to touch her, and the two stood a few steps apart. Xia Xi was still surprised and asked: "Why are you here?"
Xia Hui waved her hand and said: "You're now the most favoured partner of the Barbarian King, I'm just the wife of a fifth-rank official of the Xia Kingdom, don't use honorifics⁴ for me." Xia Xi flushed, Xia Hui said: "My husband was assigned to this errand. I had nothing to do, so I came to play with him. There's been a lot of experiences along the way, the style of the Barbarians really is completely different from that of Xia. I thought it would be a very dry experience, but it's unexpectedly cozy when looking at it now." Seeing that Xia Xi didn't dare to even touch her, Xia Hui took the initiative to grab his wrist through the thick Barbarian clothes, she looked at him up and down and giggled, saying: "Xiao Xi'er also looks like he's living very well. I still feel a bit sorry because of back then. You were exchanged for me and sent to a place like this. But looking at it now, blessings and virtue will really decide what one's experience will be, even if we're walking on the same road. What the ancients said makes sense."
Xia Xi understood something from her words and was startled: "You..." Xia Hui reminded, "Don't use honorifics." Xia Xi changed his words, "How have you been lately? How could you marry a fifth-rank official..." Xia Hui, the Emperor's favourite daughter, who wasn't willing to be any other rank than royal, would marry a mere five-rank official? Xia Xi was surprised. Xia Hui briefly explained the matter in a few words, Xia Xi realized that her mother Yuan Gui Fei fell out of favour about two years after he got married. After that, her husband committed a crime, her father-in-law abandoned them and her husband was demoted. She went back to the Palace to find her father and cried out, but couldn't even glimpse the corner of his clothes. After a few more troubles, even though her title of Princess was deprived, she was ordered to move out of the Princess' mansion and became an ordinary princess.
After experiencing this, Xia Hui gradually became discouraged and left the capital to live in another city with her husband. This time her husband received an order to be an envoy for the Barbarian nation, so she simply followed. When she was a teenager, she had hoped to be able to travel around. This time she fulfilled her wish and the depression in her heart gradually eased, she finally became a bit more cheerful.
Xia Xi listened, he didn't know how to comfort her, but Xia Hui didn't take it seriously. She walked around his palace, and when she saw something novel, she would reach out to touch it. She suddenly said, "You have a baby, right? Why don't you show them to me? I prepared a gift."
Xia Xi hurriedly asked Lan Duo'er to bring the baby. The baby was only more than three months old, he was at the age where he'd just sleep almost all of the time. When he arrived in Xia Xi's arms he had already woken up and opened his mouth for a big yawn. Xia Hui leaned over, she stretched out her finger and poked the baby's cheek lightly. She said with a chuckle: "His face is so tender, but the features don't look like yours, only your mouths are alike."
Xia Xi smiled and said, "Yes, he looks more like my King."
Xia Hui took the child and hugged him, she then took out two more things from her arms. It was a pair of golden bracelets, suitable for babies, and she put one on each of his wrists. There were bells on the golden bracelets, which would ring when shook. Xia Hui shook his hand gently and smiled happily: "Do you like it or not?"
The baby looked at her with eyes wide open but didn't respond. Xia Hui teased him for a while, and then suddenly asked in a low voice, "What's the reason for your late conception? Is it true that the King's too old?"
Xia Xi was stunned for a moment, as if he had never expected that she would ask such a thing. It took a long time for him to realize that Xia Hui might've misunderstood, she still thought that Chu Lan was a very old person. She suspected that he wasn't very active, and it's the reason why it took him so many years to conceive a son. Thinking of this, Xia Xi felt that it was a little funny, he thought that he too had the same misconception at the beginning. Neither of them expected the truth of the matter to be exactly the opposite of what they thought. Xia Xi's face flushed and he lowered his voice, saying: "The age of my King... he's five years younger than me."
Xia Hui's eyes widened in disbelief, it took a long time before she said: "So that's it." Xia Xi suppressed a smile and asked, "Where's your child?" Xia Hui said: "I've only given birth to a girl, and the process of childbirth had been difficult, I shed a lot of blood. The doctor said that I won't be able to give birth in the future. We left her at home and didn't bring her out this time."
When Xia Xi heard this, he didn't know what to say. Xia Hui knew what he was thinking when she saw his face and quickly said: "Don't worry about it, my husband's good-tempered and loves his daughter like life. It's enough to have her, he hasn't put any pressure on me. I don't allow him to take concubines, and he doesn't want to take in a concubine."
Xia Xi was startled, Xia Hui smiled brightly at him, "What's the matter? Are you envious of me? Xia people often say that many children mean good fortune, but now I think that if the father really has so many children, how could he be good to all of them? Our brothers, do you know? They're fighting for the throne now, they're fighting for power, ganging up everywhere, and no one knows what'll happen in the future." Her expression was a little sad, "Of my three younger brothers, one's disabled, one's dead, and the other's stuck in the frontier. They're completely out of touch with the throne, the youngest is the only one out of this mess, I only hope that he can grow up safely in the future."
The topic could now be regarded as "retelling the old", Xia Xi said: "It's just a throne... is it so serious?"
Xia Hui nodded lightly, teasing the baby in her arms, she said: "The Emperor has been obsessed with immortality in recent years. In court, my mother persuaded him with a few words and she was sent to the cold palace. I can't enter the Palace, but I want to come. I may not be able to see her in the future."
The two talked a lot, from funny to heavy topics, it was the first time that Xia Xi could chat about such things with others. When it came to happy topics, their mood was uplifted, so that when Xia Hui was about to leave, she was still a little reluctant. He had already ordered people to prepare two boxes of treasures; half a box of jade, a box of fur, and then some items unique to the Barbarians to give to Xia Hui, Xia Hui accepted it bluntly. She gently pulled at his hand before parting. She said: "I only hope that we can have times like this in the future as well, so that we can chat again."
Xia Xi said: "I'm looking forward to it too."
The two looked at each other for a while, their smiles gradually dissipated, and their expressions were a little sad, knowing that there would never be such a chance again. It may take decades, or there might never be a chance at all. Xia Hui finally left at the repeated urges of the Palace staff.
_____
Notes:
1- A celebration from ancient China. Because infant mortality was high, people celebrated it when an infant stays alive through the first month of their life. It meant that they had higher chances of living long enough to be adults. Talk about cheerful.\n2- A bit.... confusing. So I changed it.\n3- Translates to 'little', used as a term of endearment and a prefix before the name. Like 'Xiao Lan' which means Little Lan (surname is first and then a personal name in most of East Asia)\n4- The word 'you' there have two characters. One informal, and one formal reserved for higher-ups. Xia Xi was using the formal one probably because of reflex \n<b>____</b>
<b>PastTimer: I forgot to announce but since there are less than 10 chapters left I'm going to be updating every day now. It's a tradition from my first translation that's sure as hell gonna continue! See ya tomorrow! ❣️ </b>\n