When Jing Mu opened his eyes the next morning, the first thing he saw was Shu Changyu’s sleeping face.
Jing Mu’s entire body jolted. His drowsiness instantly vanished, and he widened his eyes, staring fixedly at Shu Changyu, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms.
Could this… be a dream?
His hand trembled slightly as he gently touched Shu Changyu’s warm, soft lips.
The sensation was exceptionally real.
Just then, Shu Changyu slowly opened his sleep-heavy eyes.
The sunlight made him frown slightly. He then looked at Jing Mu with those calm, cool eyes.
At once, the memories of the previous night came rushing back.
——
Jing Mu stared intently at Shu Changyu. No matter how he looked at him, he felt that the person before him was indeed Shu Changyu.
Before the other man could say another word, Jing Mu took a single step forward and fiercely pulled him into his arms. The lantern in Shu Changyu’s hand was knocked to the ground, and the candle inside tipped over, immediately setting the lantern ablaze on the ground.
“You…” Shu Changyu had not even had time to speak when he heard Jing Mu let out a sob under the influence of the alcohol. Then he hugged him and began to cry his heart out.
“Junior Tutor…” He cried as he desperately pressed Shu Changyu into his embrace. “Don’t abandon me… I know I was wrong. I’ll never do it again.”
Shu Changyu had never heard Jing Mu cry aloud like this before. He sounded like a little puppy that had been caught in the rain, throwing itself into its master’s arms and whining pitifully.
He could only raise his arms and hug him back, gently stroking his back again and again.
“When did I ever say I was going to abandon you?” Shu Changyu asked.
Jing Mu only cried harder, repeatedly begging him not to abandon him.
At first, Shu Changyu found it somewhat amusing, but by now, all that remained in his heart was heartache. Jing Mu’s shoulders were trembling from crying, and his muffled voice vibrated against Shu Changyu’s shoulder, making it itch. He looked truly pitiful.
“All right. I’m not abandoning you,” Shu Changyu explained softly. “There were still some miscellaneous matters unfinished at the military camp this morning, and you just ran off like that. I waited for you for more than two hours last night and you never showed up. Then you came back and immediately started crying at me. What kind of behavior is that?”
Jing Mu only clung to him and sobbed.
“I know I was wrong…”
Shu Changyu laughed helplessly. “Who said you were wrong?”
Jing Mu’s tears landed with soft plops behind Shu Changyu’s ear.
Just then, the steward of the Prince’s Residence heard the commotion outside the gate and opened the door to look.
That would have been fine if he had not looked.
The moment he did, he was utterly shocked.
His own prince was actually standing in the middle of the street, hugging Lord Shu and bawling his eyes out.
The steward hurriedly wanted to come outside, but after seeing the scene, he felt that it would be somewhat inappropriate. He stood at the doorway in a state of extreme dilemma, looking at Shu Changyu with an expression of both horror and helplessness.
Shu Changyu also noticed the steward at the entrance. The two of them standing there pulling at each other was indeed somewhat inappropriate. Besides, judging from Jing Mu’s current state, he probably would not recover anytime soon.
He could only nod at the steward before saying softly to Jing Mu, “Come on. Let’s go inside and talk.”
Jing Mu, however, heard only one word: go.
The alarm bells in his heart immediately rang. He let out a loud sob and clung even more tightly to Shu Changyu.
“Junior Tutor, I’m not going.” He sobbed.
Shu Changyu had no choice. While stroking his back, he raised a hand and followed Jing Mu’s arm down until he grasped his hand.
“We’re not going. Let’s go home first, all right?”
Thus, the steward stood helplessly at the entrance of the Prince’s Residence and watched as his usually stern and unsmiling prince was led inside by Lord Shu like a little dog on a leash, holding his hand while sniffling and wiping away his tears.
When Shu Changyu passed the steward, he did not forget to smile and nod in greeting.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
The steward hurriedly returned the gesture and said it was nothing, then led the two of them to Jing Mu’s quarters.
Once Shu Changyu led Jing Mu inside, he immediately summoned all the servants and maids out and closed the door from the outside.
Shu Changyu pressed Jing Mu back onto the bed, then turned to get him a cup of tea.
But before he could take a single step, Jing Mu grabbed his robe and fiercely pulled him into his arms.
Before Shu Changyu could react, he was pulled down and seated on Jing Mu’s lap.
He froze and raised a hand to push him away, but then he met Jing Mu’s tear-filled eyes and stopped.
“I know I was wrong, Junior Tutor,” Jing Mu said softly, aggrieved.
Shu Changyu was helpless. He simply followed his words and asked, “Then tell me. What exactly did you do wrong?”
Jing Mu looked at him and did not speak for a moment.
After a while, Shu Changyu saw that Jing Mu had finally stopped crying, only for another tear to fall with a plop.
“I had no choice, Junior Tutor.” He sobbed as he spoke. “Without you, I couldn’t live for even a single day. The dragon throne was so empty and so cold. I could only sit there alone, and you were gone.”
He sobbed.
“But I couldn’t die, because the people who caused your death were still alive. You love this world so much. I had to protect it for you. Only by finding a way to bring you back to life could I have something to look forward to. Every day, I missed you so much I felt like I was going insane, but I couldn’t bear to let go. I was afraid I would forget you.”
Shu Changyu raised his arms and tightly embraced him, pulling his head against his chest.
Jing Mu continued, “I know you like cleanliness, Junior Tutor. The method I used to bring you back to life… was too filthy. But if I had another chance, I could only do the same thing again. Junior Tutor, I had no other choice. I can’t live without you…”
The next moment, Shu Changyu silenced whatever he was about to say.
He lowered his head, cupped Jing Mu’s face, and kissed him fiercely.
Remembering what had happened the previous night, Jing Mu looked into Shu Changyu’s eyes. The next moment, he tightly wrapped his arms around Shu Changyu’s waist and buried his face in his chest.
Shu Changyu, however, yawned.
“It’s still so early. Don’t bother me.”
Jing Mu rubbed his face against Shu Changyu’s chest and asked softly, “Junior Tutor, you really don’t blame me anymore?”
Shu Changyu’s voice was filled with the laziness of someone who had only just awakened.
“What good would blaming you do? What use would it be? Are you going to cry until you make the Great Wall collapse for me?”
A flush of embarrassment rose across Jing Mu’s face.
Shu Changyu continued, “Jing Mu, they say women are made of water. Yesterday, I finally discovered that you are made of water too?”
Jing Mu awkwardly cleared his throat softly in his arms.
“I… just didn’t expect it.” Jing Mu spoke in a low voice from his embrace. “How could you not blame me? I did such a…”
Shu Changyu raised his hand and rubbed the top of his head.
“What use would blaming you be? No matter what, those things happened in your previous life. Even if those people died, time was reversed, and now aren’t they all alive?”
At this point, he even gave a soft snort.
“Look at Zhao Langzhi. Isn’t he alive and kicking?”
Jing Mu had not expected him to say that and was almost stunned.
Then he heard Shu Changyu continue.
“But you absolutely cannot do something like this again in the future. The fact that I’m not holding this against you doesn’t mean what you did was right.”
Jing Mu immediately assured him, “Rest assured, Junior Tutor. There will never be another time.”
“Even if there were another time, I’m afraid you little rascal would cry until I completely lost my principles.” Shu Changyu laughed helplessly.
Jing Mu gave a quiet, silly laugh and rubbed his head against Shu Changyu’s embrace.
“There really won’t be a next time, Junior Tutor.”
Shu Changyu sighed softly, smiling as he raised his hand and stroked the top of his head.
“We’ll see how you behave from now on.”
——
The class bell had already rung five minutes ago.
Gradually, some students in the classroom had begun lying on their desks and falling asleep. There were also faint whispers here and there, while the history teacher at the podium continued rambling on with his textbook as though nothing had happened.
“The Yonghe Palace Incident of Qicheng Emperor Jing Mu is a major examination topic,” he said. “As for the causes, the process, the time, and the significance of the Yonghe Palace Incident, all of these must be memorized. Two years ago, the national college entrance examination tested a document-analysis question on an excerpt from Qicheng Emperor’s self-reproach edict before he ascended the throne. Every year, the multiple-choice questions also touch upon this…”
A girl leaned toward her best friend beside her and whispered, “Hey, do you know? The story of Qicheng Emperor is going to be made into a TV drama!”
The girl beside her looked surprised.
“Qicheng Emperor is getting a TV drama? Didn’t he never ascend the throne and spend his entire life as Regent Prince? And he never had a single wife or concubine. What is there to film about him?”
Another girl leaned over with a giggle, her expression especially sly.
“You don’t know? The unofficial histories say that Qicheng Emperor and the Prime Minister of his dynasty, Shu Changyu, had a thing going on. Apparently, the reason he didn’t become Emperor was because he wanted to spend his entire life with Prime Minister Shu, as a devoted couple of one man and one woman!”
“What? He was gay?”
The girl frowned as she stared at the portrait of Qicheng Emperor in the history textbook.
In the portrait, Qicheng Emperor Jing Mu had a broad, full forehead, thick hair and beard, a pair of large, bell-like eyes, and a face black as iron. He held the belt of his court robes in his hand and wore a ceremonial crown. His build was especially tall and burly.
And right beside his portrait was the Prime Minister of Great Qi, Shu Changyu.
Shu Changyu looked slender and gaunt, with especially high cheekbones. His eyes were extremely kind, while his back was slightly hunched. He looked like a thin, kindly old man.
“The two of them…?” The girl’s expression became particularly conflicted. “That’s a little…??”
The sly-looking girl hurriedly clarified, “Don’t look at the ridiculous drawings in the history textbook! These portraits are all exaggerated! The unofficial histories record that both of them were exceptionally handsome and elegant men back then. They weren’t like this at all!”
The other two girls giggled.
“Sounds like you’ve actually seen them!”
Upon hearing this, the girl seemed determined to restore Jing and Shu’s reputations. She cautiously pulled the forbidden item from her schoolbag—a cell phone.
She tapped and poked at the screen for a while before finally bringing up a photograph.
“Look at the character posters for The Chronicle of Qicheng Emperor! I think these two actors are practically Jing Mu and Shu Changyu themselves! And do you know what’s even more amazing? I only just found out that Shu Changyu’s courtesy name was Jingchen, and the person playing Shu Changyu this time is the movie emperor Shu Jingshen!”
The other two girls took the phone and both whispered excitedly.
“They’re so handsome!”
The two people on the phone stood side by side, slightly turned toward one another.
The taller one had sharp, piercing features and wore dark imperial robes. His eyes were like those of a hawk, and his nose was particularly straight. He pressed his thin lips together, his eyes filled with icy arrogance as he looked toward the camera.
The other wore a crab-shell-green cloak and cape, standing tall and graceful beside him. His brows and eyes were cool and composed, yet his expression carried a gentleness that seemed capable of embracing heaven and earth.
He looked exactly like a refined, upright statesman with the bearing of a pure and refreshing breeze after a storm.
The two girls began whispering excitedly at the phone.
“This… is way too handsome!” one of them exclaimed. “Shu Changyu is actually being played by my Jingshen! Who’s the actor playing Jing Mu? He’s ridiculously handsome. How come I’ve never seen him before?”
“They say he’s a super-rich second-generation heir who just graduated and entered the entertainment industry,” the girl said. “His surname is Jing too. I forgot his name for the moment… But do you know what’s amazing? He’s also three years younger than Shu Jingshen! In history, Shu Changyu was three years older than Jing Mu too!”
“That’s too amazing! I’m shipping this CP first!”
Just then, a hand covered in chalk dust ruthlessly snatched the phone away.
The three girls looked up and came face-to-face with their history teacher’s stern, impartial expression.
The teacher glanced at the still image on the screen and snorted.
“The Chronicle of Qicheng Emperor? TV dramas like this are nothing but distortions and fictionalizations of history! If you truly want to understand this historical figure, you’d be better off memorizing the material in your history textbooks properly!”
Then the teacher issued an order.
“You three, copy the significance of Qicheng Emperor’s ‘Yonghe Palace Incident’ ten times and hand it in to me tomorrow. Then you can have your phone back! What use is watching these TV dramas? Can anything said in a TV drama get you exam points…?”
The teacher continued speaking as she carried the confiscated phone back to the podium.
The three girls let out miserable whimpers. Looking at the thick half-page in the history textbook devoted to the significance of the “Yonghe Palace Incident,” they each pulled out sheets of paper.
“Significance of the Yonghe Palace Incident:
First, it overturned the feudal dynasty’s tradition of ‘establishing the son based on legitimate birth, not seniority,’ changing the traditional system of succession by the eldest legitimate son and profoundly influencing later systems concerning the succession of the throne.
Second, following the Yonghe Palace Incident, a series of related reforms were initiated, strengthening the authority of the prime minister and weakening imperial power. However, this only lasted for one dynasty. Afterward, the authority of the prime minister was already on a continuing trend of decline, making this one rise of ministerial power within the feudal dynasties…”
The three girls murmured the words under their breath while rapidly writing them down on their papers.
Outside the window, sunlight streamed through the spotless glass and fell upon the history books filled with notes.
—End of Main Story—
Author’s Note: Seriously… do you guys want to see a modern-day arc? (:」∠)_
——
There are still some things afterward that I haven’t explained clearly. I just think it’s cooler to end the main story here, so there will still be more sweet moments coming afterward~ ♡
There’ll be another update at midnight! This chapter completely slipped out by accident. (:」∠)_