The next day, Xu Duofu went to school with eyes that were bruised, red, and swollen. His deskmate asked him, “Did you get your heart broken too?”
Xu Duofu was speechless.
Several other female classmates noticed, their eyes instantly lighting up. Before the bell for morning reading even rang, the squad of top-student besties already knew that Xu Duofu had been reading a novel last night.
“It was amazing, wasn’t it!”
“Where did you get to?”
“Did you see the little cub with the same name as you?”
“He must have finished it.”
“You were devastated by the angst, right? I cried so much my eyes swelled up. I wanted to write fanfiction, but unfortunately, I’m not a good writer.”
“What’s the point of writing? The head teacher is watching us like a hawk right now. Forget it, let’s wait until after the college entrance exams.”
The female students huddled together. Even after several days, they were still indignant and heartbroken just talking about it. “Their lives were so bitter in the early days, yet they were so sweet together. Xiaoman, that stubborn, kind-hearted mule who sticks to his guns, was thinking about Zhong Cheng even as he died. And Zhong Cheng isn’t a tyrant emperor at all. His core nature is good; he received a proper education on benevolent rule before he was ten. It’s just a pity that the Xiaoman who kept Zhong Cheng grounded died…”
There were too many pities and regrets.
It was enough to leave a person numb from the tragedy.
The more they talked, the more upset they got. The girls went back to the website to see what the author had to say. The comments section was filled with negative scores, trigger warnings, and thousand-word-plus essays. It was because the author had first tricked readers into the story before slaughtering them. It was tagged as HE, and the beginning was hilarious, with everyone joking, “Is this an HE where the E is silent?” and “I can’t believe jj allows this kind of speed!” But the ending was a complete gut-punch. Ahhh!
Listening to the long essays, Xu Duofu could only nod in his heart and think, Yes, yes, exactly.
But the most common plea was for the author to change the ending. Xiaoman didn’t have to die. Zhong Cheng wasn’t a tyrannical person at his core. They could have had a world of peace and prosperity, where the people lived and worked in contentment, instead of a broken nation, ruined homes, and widespread suffering.
There were too many “if onlys.”
The after-effects of this novel were too intense. Xu Duofu hadn’t slept well for several days. Fortunately, he was an underachiever in his class, so his head teacher was used to it and just assumed he was staying up late playing games.
Before he dozed off from post-meal drowsiness, Xu Duofu was still thinking about those “if only” regrets.
In the middle of the night, Xu Duofu woke up. He felt much better, but he was hungry and had to pee. He opened his eyes to the unfamiliar bed curtains and surroundings. It took him a few seconds to remember he was in the book.
Just as he was hesitating whether to call for someone, he heard a rustling sound. Someone was coming in.
“You’re staying up all night again instead of sleeping.”
Xu Xiaoman turned his head and lowered his voice, “Shh, shh, shh, shh.”
On the bed, Xu Duofu instinctively closed his eyes. Even though he had read the novel over half a year ago, he had a very strange feeling at this moment. Unfamiliar people from a distant story had come to life, so vividly, right in front of him. The plot of the two of them flashed through his mind—
HE, with a silent E.
Wait, don’t you two start kissing in the middle of your argument, will you?
These two loved to get frisky.
“…See for yourself,” Zhong Cheng’s voice softened.
Xu Xiaoman walked to the bedside to look at the cub. “He still needs to be nursed back to health. Getting sick every few days, it’s all because…” he muttered under his breath.
Xu Duofu heard the mutter clearly: It’s all my fault back then.
“Wait until Duofu is fully recovered before he goes back to school. Remember to ask the Grand Tutor for leave tomorrow,” Xu Xiaoman said, afraid of dealing with teachers.
Zhong Cheng grunted in agreement and said, “Go back to sleep.”
“I already told you I’m not sleepy.”
“Xu Xiaoman, your eyes are as red as a rabbit’s.”
“Oh, so now you’re calling me a rent boy, Zhong Cheng?”
Zhong Cheng was speechless. He knew Xu Xiaoman was just being deliberately unreasonable because he wanted to stay and watch over Xu Duofu. The temperature around him dropped a few degrees, and it was quiet for a second or two. Xu Duofu, pretending to be asleep on the bed, was genuinely afraid the two would start kissing at his bedside. Don’t start a tongue battle! Otherwise, as a single, straight man from birth, he wouldn’t know what to do!
Panic.
“It’s just two nights without sleep. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. I’ve stayed up for three nights straight,” Xu Xiaoman relented first. “I’ll just watch Duofu for a little while, then I’ll go to sleep.”
Zhong Cheng said, “You think this is eight years ago? How old are you now?”
“What’s wrong with being thirty-one?” Xu Xiaoman retorted. “Fine, you’re saying I’m old.”
Zhong Cheng didn’t want to listen anymore, his eyes darkening. This person was here being stubborn with him.
Xu Duofu on the bed: Oh no, oh no, this conversation is so familiar. Zhong Cheng doesn’t like to bicker with Xu Xiaoman. Under normal circumstances, he’d just start a tongue battle directly.
Ahhh!
“Mmm, so hungry,” Xu Duofu mumbled as if talking in his sleep, then he squirmed theatrically to remind the two living fathers by his bed to “spare him,” that he was still there.
Xu Xiaoman heard him. Ignoring Zhong Cheng, he strode to the bedside. “Duofu, you’re awake? Are you hungry? I knew it. He was sent back yesterday afternoon and has only had one bowl of congee since. It’d be strange if he wasn’t hungry.” He had a smug look on his face, as if to say, I’m so damn prescient and smart.
Zhong Cheng stood where he was, closed his eyes, then opened them again, all his previous thoughts gone.
Xu Duofu opened his eyes, not daring to look at Zhong Cheng. He looked up and met Xu Xiaoman’s gaze. The room was dimly lit, and he couldn’t see Xu Xiaoman’s features clearly, but he could see the dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot and red, yet they shone with bright happiness upon seeing him awake.
This scene struck him right in the mind, and Xu Duofu froze.
Some emotion churned and rose within his heart.
Xu Duofu didn’t understand it. He was baffled, unable to figure out what that emotion was. In a weak voice, befitting his illness, he called out, “Dad.”
“Good boy,” Xu Xiaoman said happily, patting his cub’s head.
After that, eunuchs and palace maids came in. Some lit lamps, some brought food, and others served the young master as he dressed, rinsed his mouth, and washed his hands. In short, it was a busy but swift process. Xu Duofu was soon seated at the dining table. His body had shrunk, and his hands were tiny. He hadn’t looked in a mirror, so he didn’t know how old he was, but he was clearly a small child.
“You’re not fully recovered yet, so eat something soft and light first. Dad will eat with you,” Xu Xiaoman said, taking two sips from a bowl of congee. He normally hated such bland food, which didn’t even have any meat.
Zhong Cheng, standing to the side, didn’t move. He wasn’t in the habit of eating at this hour.
“How are your studies in Chongming Hall? Are you used to it?” Zhong Cheng asked.
Duofu is a little afraid of Zhong Cheng. Zhong Cheng has such a cold face, all children are scared of him. But he can’t say that—how embarrassing would that be for him. As he thought, Xu Xiaoman’s mind began to wander again.
The question was sudden. For a moment, Xu Duofu couldn’t recall the details about Chongming Hall—that was from the later part of the story. Besides, back when he was reading, his mind was filled with the male leads having tongue battles every day. Who cared about the cub’s schooling? So, he gave a very vague answer.
“It’s okay, I guess.”
Zhong Cheng glanced at Xu Duofu. Terrified, Xu Duofu buried his face in his bowl and slurped his congee, afraid the other man would see that something was “off.” Seeing this, Zhong Cheng said faintly, “If you’re not used to it, tell your father.”
“I know,” replied the obedient cub.
After finishing his late-night snack and rinsing his mouth, Xu Duofu also went to the toilet—he really couldn’t hold it any longer. His father carried him and tucked him into bed, even “laughing” at him. “If you have to pee, just say so. You think Dad would laugh at you? It’s a fact of life. Can you hold it in forever? What if you hurt yourself?”
Xu Duofu was mortified.
“Mmm, mmm, I know, Dad.”
Xu Xiaoman ruffled his son’s hair. So obedient. It must be because Zhong Cheng is here that Duofu was too embarrassed to mention peeing. So, after Duofu closed his eyes, Xu Xiaoman didn’t need Zhong Cheng to prompt him and announced he was going back to sleep.
But before leaving, he gave a reminder, “If he gets up in the night, keep an eye on him.”
“Understood, Supervisor,” Zhu Yue replied.
The room fell quiet again. Many of the candles that had made it as bright as day were extinguished, leaving only two candlesticks in the outer room. Their wicks were trimmed, and the light dimmed.
Xu Duofu had slept too much and wasn’t sleepy now. He was full of energy, his emotions still immersed in the recent moments. Xu Xiaoman holding him, ruffling his hair, talking to him, teasing him—it was all very fatherly. There was an impulse deep in his bones, in his very body, that screamed, Dad, my great dad.
It was truly strange.
He was clearly a stranger—
And a fictional character at that.
Xu Duofu turned over. At the foot of the bed, Zhu Yue asked softly, “Young Master?”
“It’s nothing, I ate too much, just moving around a bit,” he explained, then a thought suddenly struck him. “Sister Zhu Yue, you should go to sleep. I’m fine. I’ll definitely call you if I need anything.”
Zhu Yue didn’t move, still standing guard at the foot of the bed.
“I can’t sleep with you standing there. Go lie on the couch,” Xu Duofu tried a different approach.
Only then did Zhu Yue acquiesce.
Within the bed curtains was a small world of his own. Xu Duofu hugged the quilt and tried to recall the details about Chongming Hall. The imperial palace of the Sheng Dynasty was called Taiji Palace, and it was divided into two halves. The entire front left side consisted of grand halls—places for handling political affairs, the emperor’s court sessions, and the offices of the Six Ministries and the Cabinet.
The right side was the Son of Heaven’s rear palace, filled entirely with “palaces,” like the Palace of XX.
Chongming Hall was the only “hall” on the right side, closest to the palace gates and connected to the left side. It used to be where the emperor and the Grand Tutor or Civil Officials would hold Classical Lectures every few days—
How do I remember this so clearly!
Xu Duofu muttered “strange” and continued his train of thought. Anyway, after Zhong Cheng, who was then the King of Wuzhou, fought his way in and ascended the throne, two years passed before Ningwu Emperor Zhong Cheng issued an Imperial Edict. On the surface, it was an act of benevolent and enlightened grace for his court officials.
All officials in the capital of Shengdu, fourth rank and above, who had children of school age between six and ten, had to send one child to study in Chongming Hall.
Xu Duofu was among them.
On the surface, the ministers had gotten a great deal. This was a “Palace School,” after all! For the son of a minor official to study in the palace was a great blessing. In reality, at that time, the Ningwu Emperor had only been on the throne for two years. He had ascended through forceful means, forcing his younger brother to his death, and even the Retired Emperor’s death was a bit suspicious—
Xu Duofu knew the inside story of all that, but he’d set it aside for now.
In short: at that time, the Civil Officials felt that the Ningwu Emperor’s ascension was illegitimate and bordered on rebellion. They grumbled behind his back. When this Imperial Edict was issued, the more cunning ones overthought it, and conspiracy theories arose. They believed the Ningwu Emperor wanted to get a hold of their weak spot, their lifeline, using their children’s lives to threaten them into behaving and recognizing the situation.
Later, a rumor spread that this Imperial Edict was suggested by the Nine Thousand Years, Factory Overseer Xu Xiaoman.
This was because Xu Xiaoman had stayed in the Son of Heaven’s bedchamber for a long time, and right after he came out, the Son of Heaven issued the edict.
Thinking of this, Xu Duofu couldn’t help but cry injustice for his father. His dad was taking the fall again.
When those two got together, could it not be about something other than edicts, like, for example, getting frisky!
The court officials didn’t know the truth. The more the rumor spread, the more they believed it, cementing the fact that Factory Overseer Xu Xiaoman was a ruthless, treacherous, dead eunuch. As described in the novel: everyone in the court and the rear palace feared Xu Xiaoman. The respect and fear for him were considerable; they would take a detour if they saw him from afar.
And Xu Xiaoman was delighted by this.
He had been annoyed by all the flowery flattery he used to hear every day.
Now it was suddenly quiet. How nice.
Xu Duofu: My dad was just there to discuss my schooling problems.
He never expected Zhong Cheng to turn it into something so big.
In the novel, he entered Chongming Hall to study at the age of seven. His education had started late. Previously, the King of Wuzhou, Zhong Cheng, and Xu Xiaoman had been fighting wars all the way, a perilous journey, so the cub’s schooling had been delayed.
He remembered that Xu Xiaoman died in the year his son, Xu Duofu, turned ten.
“Zhu Yue, how many years have I been in school?” Sits bolt upright as if on his deathbed.jpg
Zhu Yue, keeping vigil on the couch, wasn’t asleep at all. Hearing the young master’s question, she answered instinctively, “Two years. Young Master, you entered the school in the second year of Ningwu’s reign, also in the autumn. By a full count, it has been exactly two years.”
Then he was nine years old this year. There was still one year until Xu Xiaoman’s death.