Rising Phoenix

“Hold him.”

When this thing was stuck in his arms, Young Master Gu jumped as if burnt by fire[1]. His first reaction was to throw the baby, and Feng Zhiwei watched him nervously, ready to dive to catch the infant, but before Young Master Gu could complete his throw, the startled infant began to cry. Young Master Gu was also startled, so he immediately pulled his hands back and hugged the infant tightly, still and motionless.

“That’s right, don’t throw, don’t throw.” Feng Zhiwei said soothingly, sighing in relief. She smiled at Young Master Gu and said: “Look, isn’t it cute?”

After a long moment, Young Master Gu turned to her: “I don’t want.”

“You do.” Feng Zhiwei insisted.

“I don’t want…”

“You do…”

“I don’t want I don’t want…”

The curt Young Master Gu was actually stammering. Clearly, the shock he faced was immense. Feng Zhiwei smiled teasingly and brought Gu Nanyi’s hand to the infant’s smooth face, “Touch that. This is a baby… so sweet and gentle.”

Before Young Master Gu had time to handle the first lightning bolt, a second lightning bolt had followed. His finger brushed against the baby’s face, and Gu Nanyi shivered as he jerked his hand away.

“Isn’t he so soft?” Feng Zhiwei smiled, staring up evilly at him. “You were also this soft and sweet once, lying in your mother’s arms. You must have heard your mother’s hums, and your father touched your face just like this.”

Gu Nanyi quivered again, and he seemed to fall into a trance, led by Feng Zhiwei’s words and the strange, warm softness in his arms. He was transported to a distant world filled with color and music and smiles, everything he never had in this life.

The small, soft human in his arms filled him with such discomfort that he felt like he was walking nude. He hated it and wanted to throw this thing away, but a soft, tender voice filled his ears and felt that there was something different in her voice. He did not understand, but somehow he knew that he could not refuse her, that he could not throw aside the baby.

Expectation and hope filled her voice.

She wanted his world to be more than three inches around him, and more than eight pieces of meat. She wanted more for him than emptiness rejection; she hoped that he could have a colorful life of wide heavens and deep earths, with emotion and complexity.

She wanted him to understand that there were things worthy crying for, worth fighting for, worth joy.

Young Master Gu stiffly hugged the baby; no one could tell whether he was hearing Feng Zhiwei’s words. His only perceivable reaction was the quivering of his arm as he held the infant. Feng Zhiwei was greatly amused, and she thought Young Master Gu seemed very cute, but it did not seem too proper to force a powerhouse like him into this corner. His improvement would have to come slowly.

Feng Zhiwei rescued him from the child, and Young Master Gu let out a long breath of relief and jumped away, immediately dashing into a tent in the distance.

The imperturbable Young Master Gu had been forced to flee in panic by this vicious hearted woman, and the girl in question felt no shame. She giggled to herself before finding Yan Huaishi and having him find a wet nurse. Finally, she walked over to Ning Yi’s tent.

Ning Yi was still awake, meditating by an oil lamp. A quiet yellow halo hung around his brows, casting his face and long lashes in a tired shadow, adding to his composed tranquility.

At the noise, Ning Yi looked up and spoke: “What were you looking for so late into the night…”

Then the baby murmured.

Ning Yi’s words froze in his mouth, and his lips fell open.

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After shocking two people, Feng Zhiwei’s heavy mood lightened a little, and she smiled as she replied: “Ah? What was Your Highness saying? Will you continue?”

“Where did this child come from?” Ning Yi replied, pulling her close as Feng Zhiwei explained what had happened, not mentioning the necklace.

Ning Yi reached out to the baby’s cheek and the brave baby accepted his offering. Ning Yi chuckled as the baby sucked on his finger, and he smiled as he turned to Feng Zhiwei: “I thought for a moment that I had traveled ten years into the future.”

“Ah?”

“I’m working, and you bring in our child to accompany me.” Ning Yi explained, his eyes half serious. He chuckled and continued: “Then I ignore you and you flip my desk.”

Feng Zhiwei could not help but chuckle in response, even if the man was poking fun at her again. “Your Highness has a very good imagination.”

Ning Yi reached out and gently brushed his fingers against her face. “Is it impossible?”

His voice was deep and quiet, and the cold autumn night seemed to linger in the tent. A cold breeze swept in through the folds of the tent entrance, shifting an envelope on his table. Ning Yi shifted his elbow to pin the wayward paper down.

Feng Zhiwei sat up straight.

“Who knows what will come in ten years?” She replied, her smile not reaching her eyes, her gaze shimmering with melancholy and uncertainty. “Perhaps we will be strangers, or just passing acquaintances. Perhaps things will be like this, or perhaps I will kneel before your throne. And perhaps… perhaps we will be enemies.”

At her final words, both of them trembled. Feng Zhiwei turned her face away as Ning Yi fell silent; when he spoke, he asked: “Why?”

Feng Zhiwei smiled and replied: “Am I not just listing possibilities?”

She stood, hugging the baby as she continued saying: “I’ll go see if the wet nurse is here.”

Ning Yi listened to her walk away, his face expressionless under the faint yellow light. After a long moment, he slowly shifted his elbow and picked up the envelope.

The urgent missive was sealed by his own intelligence officers, marked with great urgency.

He held the letter for a long while; he did not need to open it — the contents were already carved into his heart.

Finally, he rose and touched the letter to the lamp’s fire.

Dark yellow flame curled up the edges of the envelope, licking up the paper and turning it to a pile of ash.

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The envelope burnt itself out as the lamp ran low; Ning Yi leaned his elbow against the desk, letting the lamp burn itself out, allowing darkness to consume the tent.

A while later, a long, directionless sigh filled the air.

After leaving Ning Yi’s tent, Feng Zhiwei returned to Yan Huaishi, planning the Yan Family’s charity for the new orphans.

“This is a good opportunity for your Yan Family to earn public support.” Feng Zhiwei said calmly, her expression peaceful as she watched the baby drink milk. “It is true that your Yan Family opposed this gathering, but you should not flaunt this. Demonstrate the sturdy foundations of your wealth, and then allow reconciliation; show your strength, power, and dignity from start to finish, and you will make yourself a desirable ally.”

[1] I though at the pagoda where the crown prince was killed, Gu’s clothes was on fire and he didn’t really care.