At that time, Ji Rong had already written a line of characters. He hadn’t seen much, but he had caught a single keyword.
“Freedom.”
Freedom.
Qi Zhaoxuan’s eyes were pitch black and unfathomable, his expression shifting unpredictably.
Regent Father wanted freedom?
Did Regent Father still want to run away?
Why?
Qi Zhaoxuan bit down on his back molars, forcing himself to suppress his somewhat out-of-control emotions.
His throat rolled as his gaze stared intently at Ji Rong before him.
Wisps of stray hair at his temples rested against his cheeks, and the ears on the fox mask stood erect, making them look as though they had truly grown out of Ji Rong’s head.
He had the ears, and as Qi Zhaoxuan’s gaze shifted downward to a certain spot, he thought that a tail was probably missing.
“Are you finished writing?”
The train of thought in his mind was interrupted by Ji Rong’s voice. Qi Zhaoxuan folded the blessing slip once, looked away, and gave a soft acknowledgment.
Having received an affirmative answer, Ji Rong harbored no suspicions.
The surface of the North Lake was already dotted with floating lotus lanterns, accompanied by people around closing their eyes to make sincere wishes.
Ji Rong squatted by the lake, holding the lantern and gently setting it afloat. The warm glow of the lotus lantern shone upon his face, illuminating his gentle brows and eyes.
He watched the lantern’s shadow drift into the distance. The lake was filled with lotus lanterns, resembling a river of stars plunging into the water.
The lotus lantern brushed past the reflection of the moon in the water, scattering the moon before it reformed.
Ji Rong stood up. Qi Zhaoxuan, who had been standing beside him all along, had also risen and kept his eyes fixed on Ji Rong’s back.
“Let’s go.”
Ji Rong put away the brush and ink, and the two of them returned the same way to the shop. They returned the writing materials while collecting the orange cat lantern they had bought earlier.
The vendor said, “Have the two young masters finished making their wishes? Wishes made during the summer Lantern Festival are exceptionally efficacious. Every year, a multitude of people achieve their desires, so I wish both young masters success in all your wishes!”
Departing from the stall, time slipped away silently. There were fewer people on the street than at the beginning, though it was still quite lively.
Having seen just about enough, they planned to head back.
Ji Rong stroked the fur of the orange cat lantern, finding the texture not all that pleasant, far less comfortable than Luobo’s real fur.
The carriage back to the palace was parked far away from the crowds, with Li Youde waiting right by its side.
Ji Rong casually handed the orange cat lantern to Siyue to hold, while using a glance to signal her.
Siyue pursed her lips and nodded with a very slight motion.
Only then did Ji Rong feel at ease boarding the carriage.
Having played for an entire evening, Ji Rong had certainly not forgotten the main business of tonight.
He had instructed Siyue to prepare wine early on.
Now, they only needed to return to the palace.
As the carriage curtain fell, the overwhelming clamor from outside was seemingly blocked by an invisible barrier. The carriage rumbled forward, completely leaving the noise behind.
The palace city was deep, silent, and chillingly solemn.
The carriage passed through layer after layer of vermilion gates, and the vast palace city was dead quiet.
Their masks were already removed. Ji Rong lowered his gaze, his fingers twisting the tassel. There was no sound inside the carriage save for the breathing of the two of them.
The hustle and bustle of a moment ago felt like a lifetime away. Now, only he and Qi Zhaoxuan remained, surrounded by boundless silence and a sudden sense of emptiness rising in his heart.
It felt like an illusive dream.
“On the blessing slip, what did you write?”
A somewhat muffled voice belonging to Qi Zhaoxuan broke the quiet interior of the carriage.
He originally hadn’t wanted to ask, but those two glaring words kept echoing relentlessly in his mind, prompting him to blurt it out directly.
“Wishing for a lifetime of freedom, unrestrained and untethered.”
Ji Rong raised his gaze to look at Qi Zhaoxuan. Sure enough, Qi Zhaoxuan’s expression changed instantly.
Qi Zhaoxuan clenched his fists so tightly that his fingertips turned white. Beneath his eyes surged a hint of vicious hostility he probably hadn’t even noticed, his entire body tightly coiled, his back molars gritting down hard as veins bulged on his face.
Ji Rong’s eyelashes fluttered before he suddenly chuckled.
“I’m lying to you.”
Qi Zhaoxuan raised his head to look at him.
Ji Rong saw that there were even red veins in Qi Zhaoxuan’s eyes.
“Lotus lantern wishes lose their efficacy if spoken aloud,” he said softly.
It was already the hour of Hai when they returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The moment Ji Rong leaped down from the carriage, an orange shadow pounced flying toward him.
Just as it was about to hurl itself into Ji Rong’s arms, Qi Zhaoxuan grabbed it by the scruff and tossed Luobo toward Li Youde.
Luobo whimpered plaintively to lodge a complaint with Ji Rong.
In the past, whenever Luobo cried out, Ji Rong would scoop it up into his arms, but tonight Ji Rong still had matters weighing on his mind, so he let Luobo flail blindly over by Li Youde.
“Your Majesty,” Ji Rong called out to stop him, “The moonlight is exceptionally wonderful tonight. Shall we drink some wine?”
Qi Zhaoxuan paused his steps and turned back to look at him.
The summer night breeze swept past carrying the fragrance of lotus flowers. The moment their eyes met, everything around them vanished abruptly, leaving only the two of them.
After a long pause, he said:
“Alright.”
A wine decanter was set upon the stone table in the courtyard, cicadas chirped incessantly back and forth, and the palace attendants had all been dismissed.
Two cups of wine were quickly downed.
While Ji Rong was still thinking of a topic to broach, Qi Zhaoxuan spoke up at that moment: “Regent Father, I often wonder what it would look like now if I hadn’t imprisoned you in the palace from the very beginning.”
Perhaps you and I would only meet once a day during early morning court, or perhaps you would have resigned from office and left the capital.
There might be many other possibilities, but none of them could fulfill my deepest desires.
It seemed that no matter which possibility, it could not be any worse than the present, yet the present felt to me like the best possible outcome.
I suppose I do not regret doing this.
“I still remember the first time I officially met Regent Father. Back then, I was still the Crown Prince while you were the Prime Minister. You were ordered to teach me poetry and books, but you were exceptionally cold and never took the initiative to speak to me.”
Shifting the blame.
Ji Rong thought to himself.
Clearly, the eccentric person who refused to talk to anyone was none other than you.
Over half of the decanter of wine was already gone. While Ji Rong was still wondering how to get Qi Zhaoxuan drunk, looking at it now, Qi Zhaoxuan was actively drinking on his own.
He hadn’t remembered it incorrectly; a few years ago, Qi Zhaoxuan had become drunk after drinking just one single decanter.
Over the span of several years, his alcohol tolerance should roughly be around the same level.
Ji Rong hadn’t expected it to go this smoothly.
“…You were always so good to me,” Qi Zhaoxuan said hoarsely, “Why are you no longer good to me now?”
“Clearly, you often sent people to monitor how I was living back then, yet you always avoided appearing before me. You treated me so well, so why did you abandon me?”
When on earth had he ever abandoned him?
Ji Rong himself knew nothing about this matter.
Ji Rong kept pouring wine for Qi Zhaoxuan, quietly listening to him recount the past with a twisted distortion of black and white.
“Qi Zhaoxuan,” Ji Rong suddenly interrupted, asking with curiosity, “I have always wanted to know why you used to love sitting up on the roof so much.”
Qi Zhaoxuan’s face was already somewhat flushed, and his speech was slightly stuttering, making him look somewhat intoxicated.
He had purposely instructed Siyue to prepare strong liquor with a lasting afterkick.
“The roof…” Qi Zhaoxuan’s gaze drifted vaguely, “The roof… you can see far…”
Seeing far?
What kind of reason was that?
“…The roof of the East Palace lets you see far. You can see Regent Father passing by.”
Ji Rong suddenly froze.
“My alcohol tolerance is not good.” Qi Zhaoxuan frowned as he stared at the stone table.
The wine decanter on the stone table was already three-tenths empty. Ji Rong hadn’t even drunk a few cups, as the majority had been consumed by Qi Zhaoxuan.
Ji Rong weighed the sobriety level of the person before him and ultimately judged that this person was probably drunk.
“Are you drunk?” he asked.
Qi Zhaoxuan stared at the calm wine in his cup.
Am I drunk?
Perhaps yes, perhaps no.
He suddenly recalled that yesterday Li Youde had mentioned Regent Father asking about his alcohol tolerance.
He also conveniently remembered hearing palace servants say that Regent Father’s maid Siyue had prepared a great deal of strong liquor.
He wanted to know what Regent Father intended to do.
Yet it seemed he already knew what Regent Father was planning to do.
He had realized his own feelings long ago and was far more perceptive in this regard than Ji Rong. Because of this, he probably knew that Regent Father’s heart had been stirred.
Yet was this real?
Not necessarily.
Perhaps it was merely that in the day-to-day companionship, Ji Rong had generated an illusion.
“Qi Zhaoxuan, then can you let me go?”
The words from earlier still echoed in his mind, impossible to erase.
Regent Father wanted to leave.
He did not want Regent Father to leave in such a manner.
Therefore, he could not miss tonight’s opportunity. He would go with the flow and obtain what he desired.
Even though those methods were not honorable.
Qi Zhaoxuan’s fingertips stroked the side of the wine cup.
Besides…
Why would he know that Ji Rong had asked Li Youde?
Did Ji Rong not know that by asking Li Youde, he would find out?
Siyue searched the palace for strong liquor; did Ji Rong really not know that he would find out?
Ji Rong knew.
And he knew as well.
The two of them were clearly clear-minded to each other, yet they insisted on using a thin layer of fog to cover it up.
The only difference was simply that he had deceived Ji Rong.
His alcohol tolerance was long no longer what it had been back then.
And he was not drunk at all.
“Are you drunk?”
Waiting in vain for an answer, Ji Rong asked once more.
Qi Zhaoxuan looked at Ji Rong, their gazes abruptly colliding in mid-air.
“No,” he said.
A drunk person would never admit they are drunk.
Starting from those pretty eyes, Qi Zhaoxuan scanned Ji Rong’s face bit by bit with his gaze.
Until finally, it landed on those rosy lips.
When remaining quiet and unspoken, they carried a touch of cool detachment.
Yet when the corners of his mouth curved up slightly, shallow dimples appeared on either side, and his brows and eyes would curve along with them, becoming increasingly captivating.
He wanted to kiss him.
“Qi Zhaoxuan, do you have someone you cherish in your heart?”
Qi Zhaoxuan felt somewhat dizzy.
“I do.”
He wasn’t drunk, but perhaps the alcohol had gone to his head.
The emotions he usually suppressed welled up.
He craved to hear Ji Rong keep asking, yet he feared Ji Rong continuing to ask.
He was unworthy of Ji Rong’s affection.
He thought with self-loathing.
“…Who is it?”
An answer known to both parties, yet both of them insisted on playing dumb.
The two of them sat very close, Ji Rong’s lips parting and closing as he spoke, making him feel somewhat parched and dry.
He leaned even closer to Ji Rong.
The soft texture was close at hand, tempting Qi Zhaoxuan’s breathing to hitch.
He wanted to kiss him, yet at the very last moment, he swerved aside.
He embraced his Regent Father.
The clear moonlight cast shadows upon the ground, and the night breeze brushed across the sleeves of both men.
“It’s you.”
Qi Zhaoxuan pressed his head against Ji Rong’s shoulder.
Ji Rong caught the cool fragrance on Qi Zhaoxuan, along with the strong, steady, and forceful sound of his heartbeat, while his own heartbeat fluttered wildly like a drum.
The chilling wine could not soothe the scorching summer night. Heat surged from bottom to top, clearly perceived by both embracing figures.
Seemingly sensing the stiffness in Ji Rong’s body, Qi Zhaoxuan stepped back and caught sight of Ji Rong’s slightly watery eyes.
He kissed those pretty eyes of Ji Rong.
“You’re drunk.”
Ji Rong flusteredly pulled back. “It’s very late. You should rest after bathing.”
Qi Zhaoxuan pulled down Ji Rong’s hand, dragging him into the bathing hall.
Steam billowed in the bathing hall, and Qi Zhaoxuan pulled him straight into the water.
Their distance was so close that any reaction was glaringly obvious.
It grew even hotter.
“Regent Father,” he sounded aggrieved, “help me.”
The candlelight flickered incessantly, the scent of wine mixed with that chilling incense, and Ji Rong’s neck was filled with the hot breath expelled by Qi Zhaoxuan’s breathing.
Qi Zhaoxuan wreaked havoc at his neck, kissing and biting.
“Regent Father…”
Qi Zhaoxuan’s voice was as hoarse as if it had been ground by sandpaper.
Not knowing how much time had passed, the candle had already burned down halfway.
Ji Rong grew somewhat displeased.
It was taking too long.
His hands were aching.
“Qi Zhaoxuan,” his tone contained a warning, “I will give you at most the time it takes to steep a cup of tea.”
“…”
Not knowing how much more time passed, Ji Rong pushed Qi Zhaoxuan away with feeble strength.
“How much longer, I’m so sleepy…”
His response consisted of dense, overlapping kisses.
As he drifted into drowsiness, Ji Rong’s thoughts ran wildly in a daze.
It was far too chaotic.
Catalyzed by alcohol, they both became far too crazy.
Ji Rong felt as though he too was a little drunk and not entirely clear-headed.
How did things end up like this?
Yet he was simply too sleepy.
Unawares, his eyes slowly closed as he sank into deep slumber.
The man raised his head, looking at Ji Rong’s serene sleeping face.
He didn’t just want a short-lived romance; what he wanted was forever.
His Regent Father had already walked into the chessboard he meticulously arranged for this purpose.
The man affectionately rubbed against Ji Rong’s neck.
My, Regent Father.