The moment Lu Yunqi's words fell, whispers spread throughout the hall, the murmur of discussion unceasing, with gasps of shock frequently ringing out.
"I've long heard there were rumors between the Sixth Prince and Lu Yunqi, but I never thought they were actually true."
"Good heavens, has he lost his mind? Even if they fool around in private, how can he bring this sort of thing out into the open?"
"I think Lu Yunqi has grown tired of living. No matter how little favor the Sixth Prince enjoys, he is still an imperial prince. Is he not slapping the face of the royal family just now?"
"Not just slapping the royal family's face—Lu Yunqi is practically slapping the Emperor's face directly!"
Murong Hua could no longer hold back. She stepped forward and pointed at Lu Yunqi, cursing, "Lu Yunqi, do you even know what you're saying? The Sixth Prince is an imperial prince. If he cannot marry a princess, do you think you can marry a prince?"
Lu Yunqi raised a hand and picked at his ear, saying with a look of disdain, "So what? Is a prince… not allowed to be married?"
The moment he said this, the entire hall erupted in uproar. Even the old Emperor was stunned on the spot.
A moment later, a burst of wild laughter rang out through the hall. Everyone turned toward the sound—it was Lu Tong.
Lu Tong slapped his thigh and rose to his feet, letting out a sigh as he said, "Ah! Your Majesty, the thoughts of young people these days are beyond us old-timers. However… Your Majesty, your subject has only this one son. Whoever he likes, whoever he wants to marry, your subject has never once objected. Your Majesty, what do you think?"
When he finished speaking, the hall fell into dead silence, everyone waiting for the Emperor to speak.
Unexpectedly, the Emperor also let out a great laugh and said, "Well said. Little Yunqi is someone I've watched grow up with my own eyes. I have twelve sons. Since he has set his heart on the Sixth Prince, what more can I say? Jie'er, I shall today bestow a marriage upon you and Young Marquis Lu. What say you?"
Lu Yunqi turned to look at Murong Jie. He still remained silent, kneeling there like a beautiful sculpture.
The old Emperor seemed to have merely asked casually, with no intention of soliciting his opinion, and directly issued the decree: "Then it's settled. I shall act as the authority today and decree your marriage to Young Marquis Lu."
Lu Yunqi had anticipated the Emperor would agree, but he hadn't expected him to agree so hastily. Although Murong Jie carried foreign blood, he was still the old Emperor's biological son. And yet, without even asking a single question, he was betrothed to a man.
Heh. No wonder Murong Jie killed the old Emperor once he gained power—this father truly was not one to keep around.
Lu Yunqi quickly knelt to give thanks: "Yunqi thanks His Majesty the Imperial Uncle for his blessing! However, Imperial Uncle, since your nephew is to marry the Sixth Prince, and he is still only a prince by title, wouldn't that be somewhat inappropriate? Even the Seventh Prince, who is a year younger than him, has been enfeoffed as Prince Anding. Perhaps your nephew might be so bold as to request a title for my future prince consort?"
The old Emperor gave an "mm" and nodded, saying, "Qi'er speaks sense. Sixth Prince, since Yunqi has spoken up for you, I shall today enfeoff you as Prince Cang and bestow upon you the Cang Prince Manor. May you and Yunqi grow old together, side by side, and spend your lives in harmony."
With that, the old Emperor waved his hand and said wearily, "Alright, I am tired. Let today's matters end here!"
The old Emperor then rose and, supported by the chief eunuch Fuhai, departed from Qianyuan Hall.
Only after the Emperor had left did someone finally dare to discuss: "The Fifth Prince and Seventh Prince were only enfeoffed as two-character commandery princes. The Sixth Prince's mother was a deceased foreign consort of low rank—how was he directly enfeoffed as a full prince?"
"Does Eighth Brother have a complaint? If you had the skill to seduce Young Marquis Lu, perhaps Father would enfeoff you as a full prince too."
"Fourth Brother, you were also initially enfeoffed as a commandery prince and promoted to full prince after three years. Aside from the three elder brothers born of Her Majesty the Empress, which prince born of a low-ranking consort has ever been directly enfeoffed as a full prince?"
This was the ancestral tradition of the Great Xia Dynasty—a prince's initial title was always commandery prince, and unless he committed a major offense, he would be promoted to full prince three years later.
Only princes born of the Empress would be enfeoffed as full princes from the very beginning.
Enfeoffing Murong Jie as a full prince was the old Emperor's way of saving face for the Lu family—even if a son was being married off, the Lu family must be given full honor, lest Lu Tong find cause for complaint.
Lu Yunqi, however, gave a mental tsk, thinking: They made him a Sea King—then what does that make me?
In ancient times, "canglan" was an elegant term for the sea, and since Murong Jie was enfeoffed as Prince Cang, wasn't he essentially a Sea King?
Fine. Sea King it is!
At least it's a full prince.
In the previous nine lifetimes, Murong Jie had never been enfeoffed as a prince before his usurpation—he hadn't even gotten a commandery prince title. This lifetime was a small compensation for him.
Though Murong Jie might not care, I don't give a damn whether he cares or not—whatever I give him, he'd better accept!
When they came out of the palace, Lu Tong deliberately shared a carriage with him and scolded him the entire way: "Your nonsense needs to have limits! If not for me today, how did you plan to resolve this? By having my Lu family's young marquis fail to win a prince's hand and then be humiliated by the Emperor? If word of this gets out, where am I, the Nine Thousand Years, supposed to put my face?"
Lu Yunqi felt that his father was truly an eccentric man—shouldn't his focus be on when his son had become gay?
But Lu Tong didn't seem to care much: "But since you like him, your father will find a way to get him for you no matter what. Don't worry, son—as long as it's something you like, even if it's the moon in the sky, your father will find a way to pluck it down for you!"
Fine, fine, just keep spoiling him like this!
Sooner or later, this spoiling would cause trouble!
Lu Tong continued rambling on his own: "Don't worry about the matter of offspring either. When the time comes, your father will find you a few beautiful concubines. If that Prince Cang dares to disagree, then… then he's not upholding his wifely virtues! He's already produced no children, and if he's also jealous, that violates the Seven Grounds for Divorce—you can just divorce him! Then, whichever prince you fancy, just tell your father, and I'll get him for you!"
Lu Yunqi: …
Enough, Father, can you be any more absurd?!
If you want descendants, your son can produce them himself—please don't go ruining other families' daughters.
Back at the Nine Thousand Years Estate, Lu Yunqi returned to his own courtyard without looking back. Having been lectured by his father the entire way, his head was buzzing.
No doubt, news of his courtship proposal to Murong Jie would spread throughout the capital within a single night.
His list of embarrassing moments would gain another glorious entry, and Murong Jie's disgust toward him would rise to yet another level.
But so what? What could be done about it?
In this lifetime, he was deliberately here to disgust Murong Jie!
It was already late in the day, so Lu Yunqi had no intention of checking on his vegetable patch. Instead, he turned and instructed Liubao: "Call Murong Jie to attend to this young lord's bedtime!"
Liubao responded: "Yes, Young Lord, I'll arrange it right away."
A moment later, Murong Jie appeared in yet another change of attire—a golden gauze robe paired with a black headband set with rubies, a gold-and-red auspicious cloud belt hanging at his waist, barefoot on the floral carpet tributed from Persia. That charming appearance was simply too alluring for words.
Lu Yunqi crooked his finger at Murong Jie and whistled at him: "Come here, let your young master have a look at you."
Shackles had been placed on Murong Jie's feet once again. He glanced down at them and sneered: "Now, you and I have been officially recognized before your imperial father. Whether you like it or not, you're now your young master's man. If you behave obediently, I'll have someone remove those shackles from your feet starting tomorrow. If you don't behave…"
Lu Yunqi rose, shoved the man onto the bed, and rolled over to press down on top of him: "I don't mind playing a little rough. You haven't forgotten that beating last time, have you?"
Though it was the original owner who had done the beating—he had nothing to do with it.
That gloomy, damp male ghost of an expression finally shifted slightly. His jaw muscle twitched as he looked up at Lu Yunqi and asked: "Why?"
"Why?" Lu Yunqi frowned. "Why what?"
Murong Jie said: "Why did you petition for my title."
Lu Yunqi chuckled softly, his hands gently encircling Murong Jie's neck as he looked down from above at that handsome, sinister face: "What do you think? A man of mine, Lu Yunqi's, can't be a prince without a title. But don't think about anything else—you carry foreign blood, so you'll never be qualified to inherit the throne in this lifetime. However, if you're willing, I wouldn't mind seizing the position of Crown Prince and giving it to you. After all…"
He yanked hard, tearing off the auspicious cloud jade belt at Murong Jie's waist: "My father commands six hundred thousand elite troops. With a single word from me, every one of them will serve my bidding."
With that, his breathing grew slightly unsteady. He sat down on Murong Jie's waist, his hands gliding over his abdominal muscles, and let out a soft, dazed moan: "Murong Jie, call me 'hubby'…"
"Not calling? Then… your young master will call for you…"
"Hubby… hubby… kiss me!"
Lu Yunqi felt his sanity about to collapse, because he realized his body was no longer entirely under his own control.
The System Sprite appeared at that moment to warn him: "Host, this physical body has entered the Ger's estrus period. During estrus, intimacy greatly increases the chance of conception. Right now, your body is not under your mental control. You'd best have Murong Jie consummate with you as soon as possible, or there will be unforeseen dangers."
Lu Yunqi cursed under his breath, thinking no wonder—but that bastard Murong Jie clearly didn't want anything to do with him right now, because he could feel his intense resistance.
Last time, it had taken him tremendous effort to succeed, and now with his body in estrus, there was no guarantee he could force him to submit.
Just as Lu Yunqi was at a loss for what to do, he suddenly remembered that Liubao had given him a bottle of Bedchamber Incense last time.
To put it nicely, it was called Bedchamber Incense. To put it bluntly, it was… Bedchamber Incense.
At the time, Liubao had said: "Even the most chaste of maidens will willingly throw herself into your arms once she encounters this."
Perfect—today was just the day to put it to use.
He staggered to his feet, casting the Bedchamber Incense into the censer. Wisps of smoke curled upward, and a faint, lingering fragrance drifted through the air. Lu Yunqi returned to the bed, wrapping his arms around Murong Jie's neck, and whispered hoarsely by his ear: "Weren't you asking why I petitioned for your enfeoffment? Your mother, Noble Consort Rui, her greatest wish in life was to see you receive a title and enter your fief, never once embroiled in court disputes for the rest of your days. She never lived to see it, but after her death, I fulfilled it in her stead."
With that, he kissed Murong Jie, inhaling the intoxicating Bedchamber Incense, and sank utterly into the tide of desire and passion that came with the estrus period.