Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw

Chapter Fifty-three,
Xiao Yuan

Strangely enough, his heart softened up, Xiao Zuo hugged the He Xuan who fell into his arms, and patted his back like coaxing a child, then sighed inconspicuously.

“Your Highness……”

“Duke, the sobering soup is here.” The maidservant agilely brought in the sobering soup, and waited at the side with a bit of constraint.

“Place it on the table.”

Normally when they ate, there were only two or three servants waiting, Xiao Zuo did not want them to see He Xuan being drunk, so he had them all sent to other places, then tidied up his feelings to deal with this uneasy drunkard to the side.

Now that there wasn’t anyone around, the night winds carrying the faint scent of the rosebushes from the courtyard lightly brushed past, above their heads was a jade plate-like moonlight, brightly suspended in midair.

Xiao Zuo actually strangely felt at peace, he changed into a comfortable position and looked at He Xuan who shrunk himself into a ball and was stuffed into the chair at the side, and spoke with a patient and gentle tone.

“Only we are left now, if there is some concerns with your Highness, it would be fine to say it.”

This rice wine seemed like a basket of gently burning fire, burning the ice all over the silk wrapping over He Xuan into ashes that danced along with the wind, Xiao Zuo could briefly gaze into his deeply-hidden, body-temperate burning and jumping heart.

He Xuan very slowly lifted his head up, he propped his chin on his arm, his eyelashes very lightly shook, like the passing winds in the city in spring, yet also like the slow and continuous rain during the season plums turn yellow[1].

“I……” He Xuan’s throat was a bit hoarse, like the thickest string on a zither being plucked, “I sort of miss Mother.”

Xiao Zuo froze, he blankly looked at He Xuan’s closed eyes, like he had sunk into a distant memory.

“If Mother were still here……” He Xuan spoke halfway, then suddenly halted, like the hand plucking the strings suddenly stopped, only left with an echo yet to disperse.

XIao Zuo swept by He Xuan’s faintly reddened corner of the eyes, and felt a bit at a loss for the time being. Truthfully, in terms of comforting people, he was a complete novice, there wasn’t any chance for him to practice normally either, so at this time, the words he could use were too few. He hesitated for a moment, then dryly patted his back, just like a young brat that did not understand romance, even though a weeping beauty was in their embrace, they did not know what to say.

The Mother he is talking about at this time…… should probably be his birth mother, the Xiao Yuan Empress.

“What kind of person, is your Highness’ mother?” After pondering for a long time, Xiao Zuo then said these words, he was trying to imagine what Empress Xiao Yuan looked like in his mind while waiting for He Xuan to reply, but after waiting for a long time, he felt the surroundings were strangely quiet, and could clearly hear the rising and falling sounds of insects in the grass and the cicada’s cries in the trees mixing together, weaving into a trap in the summer night.

Xiao Zuo turned his head over and lightly pushed He Xuan’s elbow. He Xuan still did not move one bit, [Xiao Zuo] could only see his two eyes slightly closed, the ends of his eyes were shrouded with a shallow red, making his cold and sharp face have an extra stroke of an amorous colour.

Actually slept away.

Xiao Zuo lightly laughed, he took a deep breath, watched the few stars that weren’t willing to be lonely in the distant skies, like beads of water splashing up on the surface of a lake. Xiao Zuo hung his eyes down, reached out to the corner He Xuan’s eye, and his thumb lightly stroked it for a bit.

“Someone.”

Afterwards, he extended his hand out to call to the guards far off, then worked together to lift He Xuan back to the room. Thankfully, clothes worn in the summer were light and cool, so Xiao Zuo did not need to spend the energy to change him into sleeping robes, and only covered him with a thin blanket, undid his hair for him, then sat beside his bed and watched the burning candle on the table in a daze.

“Duke.” Xiao Zuo got startled, Li Fu Hai came in from the outside holding a lantern, and looked towards the bed.

“Li gong’gong.” Xiao Zuo stood up, “His Highness is drunk and has already slept.”

“Thank you, Duke.” Li Fu Hai nodded his head. After finishing, he paused, lifted his eyes to see Xiao Zuo want to say something, then turned to head out the door, “If there is something the duke would like to ask, please come with this old servant.”

Xiao Zuo put down the bed curtains on top of He Xuan’s bed, then followed Li Fu Hai out the door.

“Does the duke want to ask about the Xiao Yuan Empress?”

Xiao Zuo stopped in his his steps, and nodded his head, “What kind of person, is the Xuan Yuan Empress?”

Li Fu Hai had a humped back, and walked very slow step by step, as though sunk into a reminiscence, “The Xiao Yuan Empress…… the Xiao Yuan Empress was not of a high birth, that year, the former emperor originally wanted to make the Empress his concubine, but his Majesty was in love at first sight with her, and knelt in front of the former emperor one day and night, then managed to marry the Xiao Yuan Empress as his official consort.”

“The Xiao Yuan Empress was of a kind-hearted disposition, never hit or scolded the servants, also led a simple lifestyle, and the clothes she wore were often mended many times. Normally, she spoke softly and quietly too, even when the consorts in the back palace at that time with aristocratic backgrounds acted rude, the Xiao Yuan Empress would never be uncongenial because of it.”

“Later on, when the Xiao Yuan Empress gave birth to his Highness, she hurt her body, then gotten sick, where the body would get worse by the day. When his Highness was seven, the Xiao Yuan Empress was moved to the west capital with his Majesty……”

Li Fu Hai paused, then sighed, “Then caught a wind chill, and did not manage to get past that winter……”

Xiao Zuo thought, the He Xuan of that time was only seven, perhaps just the previous day, he was still acting spoiled in his mother’s embrace, grumbling how he wanted to eat some steaming hot sweet cakes……

He closed his eyes, his heart had a dull pain, he heard his voice go hoarse, “His Highness……”

“His Highness…… his Highness has had it hard these years too.” Li Fu Hai shook his head, he stopped in his steps, then turned to look at Xiao Zuo, “If there is some places that his Highness has wronged the duke, please do make some allowances for him……”

Xiao Zuo froze, for the time being, his insides were all a mess, he silently hung his eyes down, and very softly said en.

❀

On the next day when He Xuan woke up, he felt like his head hurt to the point it wanted to split, he lifted his hand up and smelled the clothes on him, a dense fragrance of wine made him wrinkle his brows, and very impatiently yelled, “Ling Xiang!”

Ling Xiang was originally waiting outside, once He Xuan spoke up, she then quickly pushed the door and came in, with her hands holding up a wash basin, with a towel soaking inside.

“Your Highness drank yesterday, in a moment, the duke will bring some sobering soup for your Highness, this servant will first help your Highness wash up.”

He Xuan coldly humphed, his entire body was standing up with thorns, just missing having the words annoyed written on his face, and his eyes unkindly swept by the main door. Under He Xuan’s gaze that was about to see through this wooden door, Xiao Zuo brought in a sobering soup, and slowly pushed open the door.

“Is your Highness awake now?” Xiao Zuo’s risen face was against the light, the early morning’s yellowish glittering sun poured all over the floor behind him, like bits of gold had fallen all over. Bathed in the vast morning light like this, his eyes were holding in a bright smile, and he walked towards He Xuan step by step.

The stomach of morning grumpiness He Xuan originally had at this time disappeared and vanished, he pretty much blankly watched Xiao Zuo put the tray down, and forgot what he had wanted to say immediately. Xiao Zuo had no knowledge of this at all, he extended his hand and touched the bowl of sobering soup, it was just tepid, “This is the lingzhi soup the kitchen boiled for a dual hour, I know you don’t like to drink sweet things, so I had them put less honey in it. Drink it while it’s hot.”

Xiao Zuo saw He Xuan in front of him be in a daze, and thought he had not waken up just yet, and only helpless scooped a spoonful and placed it by his mouth, and coaxed him with a slow tone, “Be good, finish this soup, otherwise, your head will hurt.”

He Xuan obediently hung his eyes down, and opened his mouth to finish that spoonful of soup, “What…… did I say yesterday?”

Xiao Zuo put the emptied bowl onto the table, and smiled at him, “Nothing, perhaps you drank too fast, after you finished drinking, you slept away.”

“Is that so?” It was unknown if He Xuan believed it or not, he knitted his brows and massaged his temples, and changed the topic, “There is something today at court, I will have to go out in a moment.”

“Alright, I will wait in the residence for you.” Xiao Zuo hung his head down and tied his waistband for him, obedient like a cat that flipped its stomach out.

He. Xuan’s eyes slightly moved, his right hand covered over the back neck he revealed, and intimately stroked it.