Chapter 70 Bygone Days

Chapter 70: Days Past

Since Lu Jiming had broached the subject of Silla, Wei Yan found the plan feasible and thus settled on this course of action.

To keep tabs on the vassal state's movements, the Qi Dynasty had long maintained a presence, with agents both overt and covert, in its capital. Abducting an overlooked seventh prince was well within the realm of possibility.

As for Qi's elite troops, Silla was a small, weak nation. Sending thirty thousand soldiers under the banner of aiding its eldest prince would be enough to march deep into its territory and take the capital unawares.

To put it bluntly, this approach was not particularly honorable, but in war, all is fair. In his previous life, after the crown prince ascended the throne, he had committed countless dishonorable acts. Tricking him once was a small price to pay.

According to Lu Jiming's thinking, once Silla was pacified and the seventh prince was installed, someone should remain by his side to assist and monitor him... It would be best to marry a member of the royal family off to him to prevent this timid and incompetent puppet from wavering and causing Silla to collapse prematurely.

As for who would be sent, everything remained undecided for now, and there was no need to consider it yet.

The Tanhua Banquet was held as scheduled. Huan Zixiao didn't actually take the 'flower scout' title so literally as to bring back a bag of snacks. In late autumn, there were indeed few flowers to choose from, so he ultimately picked a hibiscus blossom.

Yin Yuxie, who had come to the banquet uninvited, saw the hibiscus in Huan Zixiao's hand and claimed he could put it to good use. Wei Yan then granted it to him. Unexpectedly, after the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Yin Yuxie returned with a bowl of hibiscus soup, which turned Huan Zixiao's face green with anger, who scolded him for destroying something beautiful for a crude purpose—'burning a lute to cook a crane'.

At the banquet, Lu Jiming encountered many scholars he had personally selected. Some were timid, offering a distant bow, while others, bolder, came over to chat with him.

Like Wei Yan, Lu Jiming was not one to stand on ceremony. He chatted and laughed easily with these new Jinshi, making the entire banquet relaxed and pleasant.

Lu Jiming's distant cousin, as in his previous life, did not pass the imperial examination. After the final ranking banquet, he vanished without a trace. Lu Jiming thought perhaps their shared fate had run its course, and that meeting was their last.

After the Tanhua Banquet, the assignments for the new Jinshi were announced. The Zhuangyuan, Tang Chengxiu, and the Tanhua, Huan Zixiao, remained in the Hanlin Academy, working under Lu Jiming. Only Wen Tongpu's assignment remained undecided.

Wen Tongpu entered the palace daily to present himself to Lu Jiming. If Lu Jiming was busy, he would send him to the Imperial Academy to lecture in front of the students. If he had free time, he would sit with him for scholarly discourse or summon esteemed senior officials from the court to the palace to discuss matters with Wen Tongpu.

After a month like this, Wen Tongpu improved considerably. He spoke much louder to strangers, and many of his previously somewhat immature views became more seasoned and appropriate. Only then did Lu Jiming feel assured enough to send him out on assignment.

Wei Yan appointed him as the Tongzhi (Deputy Prefect) of Songting Prefecture. Located north of Mingzhou, Songting was a prosperous area with a pleasant climate. It offered many opportunities for personal gain, resulting in complex, twisty interpersonal relationships. It was most suitable for tempering Wen Tongpu's honest nature and testing his character.

If, after three years in Songting, he could still maintain his current pure-heartedness, Wei Yan would dare to employ him without any reservations.

The weather gradually turned colder. After winter set in, Lu Jiming's belly became increasingly swollen. At times, even getting up alone became difficult.

Wei Yan almost asked several times how much hardship Lu Jiming had endured in his previous life to conceal the child's existence right under his nose, but he ultimately held back.

He truly did not dare to gamble on Lu Jiming's reaction upon discovering that everything now was the result of his own meticulous planning, and he feared even more that Lu Jiming might become agitated and risk the pregnancy.

Wei Yan had calculated that, normally, A-Luan should be born around the Lantern Festival in the first lunar month. Being born on New Year's Eve would clearly be premature. Wei Yan was terribly afraid Lu Jiming might go into early labor, so he kept a close watch on him.

Lu Jiming was not as tense as Wei Yan. With Hu Si's help, the weight on his waist and abdomen had lessened considerably. Even when A-Luan grew to the size of seven or eight months, it was not as exhausting as in his previous life.

This gave him much more energy to handle government affairs and manage relationships.

He found Huan Zixiao easy to work with and didn't mind giving him more opportunities. Tang Chengxiu, however, was not as outstanding as during the imperial examinations, performing merely adequately. Lu Jiming planned to observe him further.

Lu Jiming put down the document submitted by Tang Chengxiu and covered a yawn with his hand.

"Does your stomach hurt?" Wei Yan asked.

"No, it doesn't. No movement, everything's fine right now," Lu Jiming replied quickly. "Shi Xia, put your mind at ease... he's not due yet."

For the past half month, Wei Yan asked this question daily. Lu Jiming sometimes felt that while he was the one carrying the child, Wei Yan was more anxious than he was.

Lu Jiming's belly was already very large. When he sat at the desk reading documents, he had to sit well back from the edge. When getting up, he would always carefully cradle his abdomen to avoid accidentally bumping it.

Because the weight around his waist and abdomen was reduced, Lu Jiming often didn't realize A-Luan had grown larger than expected. Therefore, he paid extra attention to prevent any collisions.

It was now time for the imperial physician to take his pulse. Lu Jiming set aside the documents and went with Wei Yan to the main hall.

After the imperial physician finished taking Lu Jiming's pulse, Wei Yan listened, then pressed on Lu Jiming's abdomen himself for a while.

Lu Jiming felt somewhat amused and helpless and asked teasingly, "Since when did Shi Xia learn medicine?"

Wei Yan certainly couldn't admit it. Since Lu Jiming had practically watched him grow up, every move was under his observation. He had no time to study medicine, something that requires years of accumulation and cannot be mastered overnight.

He just shook his head and said, "He was just spouting a bunch of medical terms. I'm checking if he's right."

Lu Jiming found this amusing and asked, "How can you check if he's right?"

"What if I'm a rare medical genius? Didn't Father say our ancestors had a forebear from the Witch Doctor Valley?"

"So, did you diagnose anything?"

Wei Yan smiled. "The imperial physician was correct about everything."

Lu Jiming didn't take his words seriously and followed the physician's instructions, feeling the lower part of his abdomen. The physician said the fetus had turned head-down, and the hard spot felt at the bottom was its head.

In his previous life, Lu Jiming had largely neglected A-Luan, only seeking a doctor when he couldn't bear it anymore. So, this was the first time he learned about such things. Curious, he casually asked the physician, "Won't he be uncomfortable being upside down?"

The physician, hearing such a question for the first time, was momentarily at a loss for how to respond and stammered, "Perhaps... perhaps he isn't uncomfortable. Your Highness doesn't remember how it was in the womb either, right?"

Lu Jiming nodded; that was true. Then it struck him that his question was rather funny and he smiled slightly.

"Your Highness is in good health. The young prince should be born after the New Year festivities," the physician said. "During this period, you must rest well and not overexert yourself."

"Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on him," Wei Yan said. "As long as the Empress remains well and the Crown Prince is born safely, there will be generous rewards."

Wei Yan had thought it over. When Lu Jiming went into labor, he would have Feng Qingyue bring Mr. Zheng into the palace, even if he had to be bound and dragged. No matter what, he couldn't let Lu Jiming suffer too much.

Just as the imperial physician withdrew, Eunuch Chen entered, reporting a snow disaster in Lingya and requesting Wei Yan's presence.

This snow disaster in Lingya had also occurred in his previous life, claiming many victims. Knowing its severity, Wei Yan told Lu Jiming and headed to the imperial study.

"I'll come with you," Lu Jiming said.

"It's almost evening, and you've been reading documents all day. Didn't the physician just say you shouldn't overexert yourself? Besides, it's snowing outside; what if you slip?" Wei Yan said. "Don't worry, Xuping. Today's matter certainly won't be concluded. Going over there is just to listen to the old men argue. I'll handle it alone."

Wei Yan pressed Lu Jiming back onto the small couch and left.

Watching Wei Yan's hurriedly departing figure, Lu Jiming recalled that around this time in his previous life, with Silla in turmoil, the Lingya snow disaster, and Chancellor Chen assisting in governance, internal and external troubles arose one after another in the court, with various forces intricately intertwined. Wei Yan was almost too preoccupied to pay attention to him, which was why he could successfully slip away.

In his previous life, after Wei Yan ascended the throne and confined Lu Jiming to the rear palace, Lu Jiming pretended to compromise, deceiving Wei Yan. He asked to be allowed to leave for half a year. After his younger cousins finished their imperial examinations and he fulfilled his duties as the eldest son, he would come clean to his family and then return to Wei Yan's side.

Wei Yan was actually not a very suitable person to be a monarch. He wasn't ruthless enough and, because of his fundamentally kind nature, was always willing to give others chance after chance. Thus, he let Lu Jiming go and still gave him a position in the Hanlin Academy.

At that time, Lu Jiming was already pregnant with A-Luan. To prevent others from noticing the changes in his body, he began binding his waist and abdomen with silk cloth.

At first, his belly wasn't too big, and he could manage. As the months passed, Lu Jiming continuously tightened the binding, but compared to his increasingly swollen pregnant belly, it was like trying to put out a burning cartload of firewood with a cup of water—utterly inadequate.

As time passed, the pain Lu Jiming had to endure intensified, and spotting became commonplace. The doctors at the medical clinic always advised him against this, saying that in the final months of pregnancy, the belly couldn't be hidden, so why suffer needlessly, tormenting both himself and the child.

Lu Jiming understood the doctors' words clearly, but he just didn't dare. He didn't want to be trapped in the rear palace for life, nor become a disgrace to his family.

Fortunately, as the weather turned cold, his robes could still somewhat conceal his waistline.

Later, his belly grew so large that Lu Jiming truly could no longer hide it. Moreover, the continuous, nearly fainting abdominal pain finally forced Lu Jiming to take it seriously. He had no choice but to have Lu Guanguan request leave on his behalf.

As for Wei Yan, although Chancellor Chen controlled the court, he did not impose excessive restrictions on him at first. Wei Yan still needed to attend court and participate in governance as usual, but his voice in major decisions was stripped away. Consequently, Wei Yan remained exceptionally busy during this time and was hard-pressed to find time to slip away.

Upon learning that Lu Jiming had requested leave due to illness, Wei Yan managed, against all odds, to finally leave the palace and visit the Lu residence.

Suffering from days of abdominal pain, Lu Jiming could hardly eat and had grown much thinner. When Wei Yan arrived, Lu Jiming remained lying on his side, preventing him from noticing the telltale bulge concealed beneath the covers.

Seeing him so frail, Wei Yan was deeply distressed, yet he did not ask Lu Jiming to return to the palace immediately.

Lu Jiming now speculates it was likely because Wei Yan already knew of the collusion between the Empress Dowager and Chen Yiqing. With the snow disaster and pirate disturbances, the court was unstable. While Chen Yiqing, an outside official, could not touch Lu Jiming within the inner palace, the Empress Dowager was a different matter.

Lu Jiming had long been Wei Yan's weakness.

Wei Yan stayed with Lu Jiming at the Lu residence until very late. Despite his own secrets, Lu Jiming should not have been able to fall asleep beside Wei Yan, yet he somehow fell into a rare, peaceful sleep.

When he woke again, someone from Mingzhou had arrived, summoning Lu Jiming to return to his hometown to observe the mourning rites for his long-ill father, who had passed away.

Many years later, Lu Jiming would still reflect on that day—the day he and Wei Yan started down divergent paths, never to meet again.

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Author's note: Finally made it through a month, and the lottery draw will be available again soon.