Chapter 40
De Quan was scared out of his wits! Just as he was about to ask, the Emperor had already stood up swiftly—
The usually calm figure quickly followed, and soon, the two of them disappeared at the courtyard gate.
Just as he was wondering whether to prop the door open with something, the young prince who had just run out quickly returned:
The little monk turned his head and saw the Emperor striding over, hurriedly bowing, “Your Majesty!”
Li Wuting’s eyes immediately fell on the tightly closed door.
He stopped in his tracks, realizing that things seemed different from what he had imagined, “What’s going on?”
Li Jingyu murmured softly, “Lord Ning was taking a bath and didn’t respond after several calls.”
“…”
Li Wuting took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Li Jingyu continued, “Could he have fainted or slipped into the water? Could Lord Ning already be—ugh!”
A large hand harshly pressed his head down, cutting off his words.
Li Wuting stared at the barred door, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
But it was only for a moment; he then pressed his hand against the door, “Ningchen!”
There was still no response from inside.
Li Wuting frowned and suddenly spoke, “Step back.” After saying that, he drew the imperial sword from his waist and struck the gap of the door, bang!
The latch fell with a sound, and he took a breath and pushed the door open.
The small room was just a single chamber.
Entering through the door, the first thing he saw was a half-open screen.
The crimson official robe and snow-white inner garment were casually draped over the screen, and the lingering steam had not yet dissipated. Behind the half-open screen, a slender white arm hung over the edge of the wooden tub.
Li Wuting’s fingertips trembled slightly as he took a few steps around the screen, “Ningchen.”
The person behind the screen was fully revealed.
Black hair spread in the water, tangled around his shoulders and arms. Wet beads of water clung to the frosty white skin, about to fall. Ning Rushen rested his face on his arm, his complexion flushed, and his damp eyelashes seemed to flutter slightly.
Li Wuting’s gaze steadfastly avoided the water.
He grabbed Ning Rushen’s arm with one hand and was about to check his breath with the other—
When he saw the latter frown, his eyelashes slowly opened:
“…Li Wuting?”
Ning Rushen felt like he had been dreaming for a long time.
Sometimes he dreamed of someone knocking on the dormitory door, sometimes of the person calling another name. In this repetitive and exhausting dream, a strong force suddenly dragged his arm, pulling him out.
The chaotic dreamscape dissipated in an instant!
His vision refocused, and a familiar handsome face was in front of him.
He instinctively called out the other person’s name, “Li Wuting?”
As he spoke, the grip on his arm seemed to tighten.
Then he saw Li Wuting exhale deeply, close his eyes, and pull the inner garment from the screen behind, throwing it over him:
“Put this on.”
The inner garment covered most of the frosty white skin, its hem dipping into the water and getting soaked.
Ning Rushen finally woke up, realizing the current situation.
A surge of heat rushed over him!
He pulled his arm out of Li Wuting’s hand, hastily wrapping himself in the inner garment, and stepped out of the bath with a splash. His jade-white bare feet left large water stains on the floor.
The person facing him opened his tightly closed eyes.
Li Wuting’s gaze fell to his feet, then he seemed to have a headache as he grabbed his outer garment and draped it over him, pulling him by the arm and tossing him onto the bed.
Thump! Ning Rushen, wrapped in clothes, fell onto the bed, looking at the Emperor standing before him:
What’s going on, what happened?
His mind was a mess.
He couldn’t understand why he was in this situation as soon as he opened his eyes.
“Your Majesty, I…” Ning Rushen had just started speaking when he heard a faint conversation outside the half-open screen.
“Is Lord Ning okay?”
“If the royal brother hasn’t called for anyone, he must be fine!”
“Thank you for your trouble, little monk. You can go back now; we will guard here.”
After speaking, the door was slammed shut with a bang!
Ning Rushen, “…”
With the door closed, the room darkened.
Li Wuting stood in front of the bed for a moment, then tossed over a towel and turned to light the lamp at the desk.
The dry towel landed on him.
Ning Rushen quickly grabbed it to wipe his hair.
His sleeves fell and bunched at his elbows, and his wet hair got caught in his collar. As he lifted his hand to dry his head, the light in front of him brightened, casting flickering shadows across his overlapping collars.
As he dried his hair, he looked at Li Wuting, “Your Majesty, why are you here?”
Li Wuting, with his back to him, slightly turned his head, “Jingyu said, Lord Ning was soaking in the water and didn’t respond.”
Ning Rushen, “…”
Great, say a bit more and you might just scare him off.
Li Wuting said slowly, “Who knew Lord Ning had fallen asleep while soaking, even the little monk knocking couldn’t wake him.”
Ning Rushen guiltily shrank further into the bed, “I was too tired.”
“Why were you so tired?”
“I climbed the mountain and prayed all over.”
“…For what?”
“For Your Majesty’s blessing.”
Li Wuting paused, then finally turned to look at him.
Ning Rushen had already dressed himself, but his wet hair clung to his shoulders and back, and his neck glistened with water.
As he finished speaking, he noticed the light flicker in front of him.
Li Wuting walked over and sat at the edge of the bed, his stern features softened by the warm light:
“Really? Then I suppose I’ll believe you meant it.”
What do you mean, suppose?
Ning Rushen craned his neck, “I genuinely did.”
His outstretched neck still bore traces of water.
Li Wuting glanced at him, then raised his hand to press his head back, “Dry your hair; don’t get me wet.”
Ning Rushen reflexively said, “Isn’t it already…”
The moment he spoke, he stopped himself.
In the earlier chaos, as he woke up between reality and dreams, he hadn’t had time to think things through. Now that he thought about it: when he was soaking in the water, it was Li Wuting who had pushed the door open and walked in.
And reached out to pull him up.
At that time, he hadn’t been…
Shit. Ning Rushen’s waist trembled, and his whole body suddenly heated up!
He sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.
He had no idea his ears to his collarbones were flushed a faint red.
It’s over, he’s not pure anymore.
No, wait, they’re both men, so he still retained some purity.
Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard Li Wuting ask:
“By the way, I haven’t pursued this yet, but does Lord Ning realize his offense?”
Ning Rushen snapped back to reality, lowering his head to admit guilt, “I… I offended Your Majesty’s eyes.”
“…”
Li Wuting’s brow twitched, holding back, “I meant, Lord Ning, you called me by my name.”
Ning Rushen froze, suddenly realizing—
When he woke up just now, he seemed to have called Li Wuting’s name.
Li Wuting looked at him, “Did it come naturally?”
Ning Rushen’s heart skipped a beat, “It just felt natural.”
The two stared at each other for a while.
After a moment, Li Wuting said, “Forget it,” then reached out to pat the back of his head, shaking it familiarly:
“I’ll just assume Lord Ning’s brain was muddled from soaking in the water. If you speak such nonsense in public again, I won’t be able to cover for you. The Emperor’s name isn’t to be called lightly, understand?”
Ning Rushen, his head spinning, “Yes…”
Li Wuting watched his dazed expression and seemed to chuckle.
Then he withdrew his wet hand and stood up.
“At most, call one character.”
Ning Rushen didn’t quite catch that: what?
Li Wuting, having spoken, already turned to leave, his tall figure rounding the half-open screen and pushing the door open:
“Have someone clean up.”
Outside, De Quan’s voice rang out, “Yes.”
A group of palace attendants quickly entered to tidy up the bath and screen.
Ning Rushen sat on the bed, watching the silent palace attendants in front of him, recalling with a strange sense of déjà vu:
…Did Li Wuting mean he could call him by one character?
·
They rested overnight at Shaojue Temple.
The next morning, Ning Rushen got up for breakfast.
The monks lived simply, and even the presence of the Emperor didn’t prompt much ceremony.
Everyone dined in the dining hall.
When Ning Rushen arrived, he saw Li Wuting, the Dowager Concubine, and Master Jingxi coming out of the hall. The three walked ahead, followed by De Quan and several guards.
He watched from a distance for a couple of seconds.
Li Wuting seemed to sense something, suddenly turning his deep gaze in his direction.
Their eyes met.
Ning Rushen instinctively held his breath.
Li Wuting’s expression remained cold, but Ning Rushen felt he might have smiled slightly before turning away and walking off.
“…”
It’s early, I must be seeing things.
Ning Rushen shook his head and tucked his hands into his sleeves as he entered the dining hall.
Inside, Li Jingyu was still finishing his meal.
Seeing him, Li Jingyu waved, “Lord Ning, over here!”
Ning Rushen approached and greeted him, then picked up a plate of steamed buns, vegetarian dishes, and tofu soup, sitting next to him, “Little Prince.”
They greeted each other and began eating together. As Ning Rushen chewed his bun, his mind drifted back to Li Wuting’s parting words from the day before:
He said he could call him by one character. But which character?
Ning Rushen glanced at the short legs beside him.
After a moment, he asked, “Little Prince, do you know His Majesty’s courtesy name?”
Li Jingyu swallowed his bun, “You want to know, Lord Ning?”
Ning Rushen nodded.
Li Jingyu waved away the surrounding attendants.
Once alone, he leaned in and whispered to Ning Rushen, “It’s a long story… You should know, my brother’s name isn’t great. And that name was given by our father.”
Ning Rushen thought: indeed, it’s not great.
“‘Ting’ represents the court, power, and justice, but putting a ‘Wu’ in front seems to deny Li Wuting’s potential to ascend the throne from the very beginning.”
“Why would the late emperor…”
Li Jingyu spoke in a reserved manner, “This involves a royal secret.”
Another secret???
Ning Rushen felt tense, “Hmm.”
Li Jingyu continued, “I heard that Father initially named my elder brother ‘Yuan Ting.’ ‘Yuan’ means the beginning. But because it was written hastily, Mother mistakenly read it as ‘Wu Ting’ on the spot.”
“……”
“Father couldn’t admit it was his sloppy handwriting, so he nodded and said: ‘Yes, it’s Wu Ting.’ So, my brother was named Wu Ting.”
“…”
Ning Rushen took a deep breath.
That was indeed a bit careless—
And why is this yet another useless royal secret!
“Lord Ning, what’s wrong?” Li Jingyu leaned in.
Ning Rushen calmed himself, “Nothing.”
Li Wuting is truly unfortunate, being burdened with such a name from birth.
He continued, “What happened next?”
Li Jingyu said, “Later, when my brother came of age, Father had already passed away. At that time, there was a struggle for the throne, and no one performed the coming-of-age ceremony for my brother. So, he chose the name ‘Chao Jun’ for himself.”
—Chao Jun.
Despite ‘Wu Ting’ being in front, his heart still leaned towards fairness and justice, embodying the conduct of a gentleman.
Ning Rushen silently repeated: Chao Jun.
It indeed suited Li Wuting.
After finishing breakfast and hearing an absurd royal secret, Ning Rushen was about to leave when he suddenly thought of the way the little prince spoke—this might turn into:
Him secretly inquiring about Li Wuting’s courtesy name.
He pondered for a moment, then called, “Little Prince.”
Li Jingyu looked up, “Hmm?”
Ning Rushen, full of concern, said, “Don’t tell His Majesty that I was secretly asking about his courtesy name.”
As soon as he spoke, he paused.
The next second, as expected, “So Lord Ning was secretly asking.”
“… No!”
Li Jingyu, as if he’d gotten hold of some secret, quickly ran off, leaving Ning Rushen to close his eyes in pain:
He must have been cursed by Shiyi.
·
Leaving the dining hall, Ning Rushen felt the need to take a walk to clear his muddled mind.
He wandered around.
Shaojue Temple was large, and he somehow found himself in a courtyard on the western side.
The serene courtyard was empty.
In one corner stood a lush bodhi tree, its branches adorned with red cloth strips for blessings.
Ning Rushen walked over, his crimson sleeves fluttering as he looked up at the tree.
A breeze passed through the courtyard, making the red cloth and his crimson sleeves flutter together in the verdant mountain courtyard.
In the midst of this tranquility, a voice sounded behind him:
“Has the benefactor lost his way?”
Ning Rushen turned to see Master Jingxi standing at the courtyard gate, smiling serenely at him.
“No, just wandering.”
He paused, “Am I in a place I shouldn’t be?”
Jingxi replied, “There is no place one shouldn’t be. If you are here, it is fate.”
Ning Rushen nodded, “Well said, Master.”
Surely, those who roam freely in his mansion—Shiyi, Prince Xuan, Geng Quan—would agree wholeheartedly.
He saw Jingxi still smiling kindly.
“Master, do you have business here? I should leave so as not to disturb you.”
“No matter. I just finished discussing scriptures with His Majesty and was passing by. Seeing you here, I thought I’d inquire.”
Ning Rushen thought he hadn’t been wandering, not like a ghost…
Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.
Those few words echoed in his mind.
Ning Rushen sharply looked at Jingxi, a shocking thought forming:
“Master, you mean…”
Jingxi still smiled and asked, “Has the benefactor lost his way?”
In the distance, the sound of a bell and drum drifted through the forest, shaking Ning Rushen’s soul. After a moment, he said, “Yes.”
Jingxi replied calmly, “The benefactor still has attachments.”
Of course. How could he forget the first twenty-plus years of his life? Sometimes he even dreamt of his life in that world.
Just yesterday, he dreamt of being in his dormitory.
Dreamt of three versions of Erkang.
“Does the benefactor wish to return?”
“I…”
Ning Rushen hadn’t really thought about this question. He had always gone with the flow, but hearing Jingxi ask this, he instinctively asked:
“Can I go back?”
Jingxi didn’t speak, and for a moment, only the wind rustled through the courtyard.
The red cloth fluttered like waves, the bodhi tree whispered.
…
Outside the courtyard, De Quan and the accompanying guards kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound.
Li Wuting stood a step away.
He lowered his eyes silently, his fingers curling slightly at his side.
