The seeds he had planted soon broke through the dirt as small sprouts but died because of a blizzard after early winter came and never emerged. Xia Xi didn't have any regrets, he knew that the plant wouldn't be able to survive long, it was a good thing that he didn't waste too many seeds, he could try again next winter.
Winter came early in Yudu, after the first snowfall the weather only became even colder. Xia Xi's health wasn't very good, he couldn't stand the cold and so nestled inside his palace every day, sitting by the charcoal fire to keep warm. In his free time, he would make clothing and shoes for Chu Lan.
Some servants in the Palace specialized in making clothes but Xia Xi felt that he had nothing better to do anyway. Xia Xi made a belly bandĀ¹ for Chu Lan, Chu Lan often liked to kick the quilt off while sleeping at night which always made his stomach feel cold and hurt. Cai Huan felt that there were other reasons for the King's stomachache, she whispered: "The King eats so much meat every day, some of them even look undercooked. With a diet like that, stomach pain is no surprise."
There were no other people in Xia XI's quarters, the two people nestled together. Xia Xi was languid with a small smile on the corners of his mouth, he said softly: "They're used to eating like that and can bear it, it shouldn't be the reason. The Barbarian people don't wear bellybands when sleeping, he also doesn't like wearing clothing." Chu Lan probably felt shy whenever they sleep together so he always wore a thin overcoat, whenever he had to sleep on his own again, he mostly didn't even bother to wear shirts and was only willing to put on pants.
Cai Huan helped with the lining and asked: "Will he wear it after it's made?"
Xia Xi said: "I'll coax him to put it on. After the cold began, he's been experiencing a few stomachaches." Xia Xi used a piece of fur as a material for the belly band. The fur was very soft and warm, and the straps were ones he had brought together with him. Xia Xi was moderately skilled at making clothes, it only took him a few days to sew the belly band. When Chu Lan came back that evening, Xia Xi took it out and held it in front of him, saying that it was for him to wear.
The teenager looked at the thing and found it quite strange. He fiddled with it for a while and then asked, "Why would I need to wear this?"
Xia XI said: "You can protect your belly button in the evenings. Even if you kick off the quilt, your belly won't catch a cold."
Chu Lan stared at him, disbelieving, "I kick the quilt when I sleep? How is it possible? Every day I wake up and is covered."
Xia Xi didn't know how to explain the fact that Chu Lan kicked off the quilt regularly and it was him who covered him several times every night. So he only said: "This is also good for you to wear, can you try it? Do you like this? Or should I make another one tomorrow?"
Chu Lan moved his gaze away from his face to his body, he suddenly asked curiously: "Are you wearing this too?"
Xia Xi nodded lightly, "Yeah."
Chu Lan stared at him eagerly, "Let me see."
Xia Xi was stunned for a moment and subconsciously covered his collar, his face turning red. He wanted to shake his head but his mind was still enforced with the moral: 'can not disobey any order fromĀ the King'. He had always felt that if he ever disobeyed his ending wouldn't be good, so he quickly stopped himself from thinking about it. He felt shy. Although they had been married for nearly five months, they had never copulated or done anything immoral, mostly because of their young age and lack of proper knowledge about it. They had always slept on the same bed but just simply sleep, at most Chu Lan would roll over and hug him.
The red glow that appeared on Xia Xi's face seemed to have fascinated Chu Lan, he stared in a daze and forgot to urge Xia Xi. After a while, Xia Xi took the initiative to gently pull the knot on his waist and push his collar aside. A moment later, a little bellyband was revealed.
It looked like it was made from very smooth cloth, wrapped in a white carcass with something embroidered on the belly. Chu Lan had only seen a momentarily glimpse before Xia XI closed his clothes again, blushing: "Well, that's it. Chu Lan, are you willing to wear it now?"
Chu Lan gulped- although he did not know why he made the action, he said, "It seems that yours looks better. Is it made of cloth from the Xia kingdom? Your clothes are very well woven, our products can't compare, we still need to exchange or cattle and sheep for your cloth, silk, and china every year. I'll have someone give you some fabric, are you willing?"
Xia Xi said: "I'm willing, thank you. I only want you to not get too cold in winter and warm you with the fur."
Chu Lan nodded lightly and began to undress while saying: "I want one for the spring and summer; do you know how to embroid? If you can, you can embroider a wolf head on it for me." It was the stamp of the Barbarian King, except for rituals, it wasn't used on most special occasions. Unlike in the Xia Kingdom where the stamp of the Emperor was made by a special person, there were strict regulations on what could and couldn't be embroidered.
Xia Xi helped Chu Lan put on his belly band, fastening the knot while saying with a smile: "It's fine, it's just that my craftsmanship is rough and may not look very nice."
Chu Lan stared at him fixedly, "It's fine, I don't despise you!" His tone was too serious and made Xia Xi feel a little amused but he was more concerned in his heart. He was going to be busy all winter, making clothes, pants, and shoes for his little husband, he was estimated to have no leisure time for days.
The little King wasn't idle either. Despite the cold weather, he still went to school every day to study. He would get up early, after breakfast he would practice his horseback riding and archery, he would also sometimes practice martial arts. In the afternoon, he would attend classes and study. After dealing with state affairs, he would come back to the palace at night but would still have to learn Chinese characters under candlelight. After winter went, the early spring soon came. The western Barbarian state continued to riot at the border, with a faint tendency of getting violent, Chu Lan became busier and busier as the days passed.
Xia Xi stayed in the Barbarian country for more than half a year and understood some of the local skirmishes. The Barbarian nation was originally formed by many nomadic tribes, it was unified by Chu Lan's grandfather 45 years ago, 30 years ago the then King's cousin staged a rebellion. The rebellion failed and the traitor tribe was whisked to the west to occupy a few several cities and founded the western Barbarian country of today. The two countries belonged to the same source but they had been fighting each other over the last few decades. Naturally, the kingdom of Xia meddling with their affairs was inevitable. The territory of western Barbarians wasn't large, its military strength wasn't strong but it could still last to this day thanks to the Xia's secret support.
Xia Xi also knew about it. In fact, three years ago, the Barbarians almost defeated the western Barbarians and took back their land, but the King at that time suddenly fell ill and died within half a month, all military exploits could only be halted.
Chu Lan's father was only thirty-five years old when he died. He was in the prime of his life and no one could've imagined that he would pass away so suddenly. As a result, the succession of the throne also took place.
Unlike in the kingdom of Xia where the throne must be passed from the father to son, in the Barbarians, there was a precedent of passing the throne to the younger brother. Therefore, at that time in addition to Chu Lan, the other candidate for the throne was Chu Lan's uncle, Sang Sangmu.
Sang Sangmu was 30 years old, brave and good at combat. Compared to Chu Lan who was just ten years old, he made the people feel that he was more suitable for the position. The reason why he didn't succeed was that Chu Lan also had another uncle who was also brave and good at fighting, Zaha, a first-born warrior of the barbarians.
At that time, the two factions were fighting each other, after seeing that more disruptions could most likely cause another disaster, the Barbarian officials asked the great priest to invite the wolf god at once and confirm an heir. And so, Chu Lan ascended the throne.
Naturally, Xia Xi didn't know how they got the readings and so didn't dare to think about it too much. He felt flustered when he heard that they were going to fight but hadn't dared to ask too many questions. Seeing that Chu Lan was busy, Xia Xi tried to cook some soup with the crockpot he had brought along with him. He then waited until Chu Lan came back in the dark to serve him the soup.
Chu Lan probably hadn't had Xia soup before, at most, he only drank mutton or beef soup. The taste of the Barbarians was heavy, even their soup had some spicy seasonings mixed in it. Compared to it, Xia Xi's soup had a little medicinal taste. Chu Lan wasn't used to it, pouting and reluctant to drink. Xia Xi reduced the amount of herbs a bit to coax him to drink a bowl or two.
After running around like a bee all day, it was already late when Chu Lan came back. Xia Xi had already taken a shower and his loose hair was slightly wet. Seeing him come back, he quickly brought out the soup he prepared and whispered: "Today's soup was made with beef bones. I also put in some medicinal materials that can invigorate your qiĀ² and restore your energy, but I made the medicinal aroma so weak that you can hardly smell it. Try to taste it."
Chu Lan mumbled: "Why do you have so many tricks?" But he still sat down in front of him, obediently posing in a posture of waiting to be feed. Xia Xi scooped up some soup with a spoon, blowing on it gently before sending it to him. After Chu Lan slurped it, he asked, "How is it? Was there no medicine smell?"
Chu Lan felt that the taste was acceptable so he nodded and opened his mouth again, waiting for Xia Xi to give him another serving. Before getting married, he had never let other people feed him like this ever since he turned three years old. The Barbarians were all independent, even the prince was no exception. Even if a child fell, they could get up by themselves, it wasn't even worth mentioning for an adult. It was a shock to receive help, unlike the royal family in the kingdom of Xia, all of them looked like helpless children and had someone waiting on them for every little thing. But Chu Lan liked letting Xia Xi do these things for him, when he saw Xia Xi carefully blowing on the soup to cool it for him, he felt very satisfied. After being carefully fed a bowl of soup for almost half an hour, he didn't feel impatient at all. While drinking the soup, he noticed Xia Xi's long loose hair and couldn't help but play with the strands with his fingers, suddenly saying, "Why didn't you wait for me before taking a bath?"
Xia Xi was shocked by this question, his body stiffened and his expression was a little panicked. Chu Lan looked at him with a hint of childishness on his face, "Isn't easier for you to wash together with me?"
Xia Xi tried his best to calm himself, saying softly, "I- I was afraid that you wouldn't be used to it, also the tub's too small to accommodate two people..."
His reason seemed appropriate, Chu Lan didn't take it to heart. He continued to fiddle with his hair, brought it under his nose, and sniffed at it, "Even your hair smells good." He thought of some things and said: "A book says that in knotting, you'll need to tie the hair of both the husband and wife together. If you do this, the couple will stay together for generations and generations to go. Do you also knot your hair?"
The bowl of soup had been finished, Xia Xi put down the bowl on the table next to him and looked down at his hair wrapped around Chu Lan's finger, he asked, "Do you want to knot our hairs together?"
Chu Lan answered: "Of course!"
Xia Xi looked at him and a small smile blossomed on the corners of his mouth, his tone was as gentle as always, "Then I'll help wash your hair first."
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Notes:
1- it's apparently this thing, basically what you see Chinese babies wearing on calendars. The literal translation is [the thing] that wraps the belly.
2-Ā ę°/ę°£ is energy in the broadest sense possible, basically the Chinese four humors.