Emperor, Your Son Is Into Men! - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Although I was always going on about finding myself a wife,

I still preferred the kind of love that grew over time, after two hearts had come to understand each other.

I mumbled something, trying to decline.

But one look in the Dog Emperor’s eyes, and I knew there was no getting out of it.

The Dog Emperor said that after I was married, I would no longer have to serve as the Crown Prince’s Study Companion.

The meaning was perfectly simple.

I was useless now. I could get lost. And I had better not fail to read the room.

Well, fine. Who wouldn’t want a wife, children, and a warm bed waiting at home?

Worst case, we could marry first and fall in love later. Lady Tan was beautiful, and she was a famous talented young lady in the capital besides.

I had seen her a few times at banquets. Compared to the Crown Prince, who treated silence as gold, she was quite lively.

After thinking it over, I said with delight, “Many thanks, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor smiled in a way I couldn’t read, then turned his head and looked smugly at the Crown Prince.

That old bastard.

Why did he look like he was taking such pleasure in someone else’s misfortune?

The Old Emperor deliberately put on a tired, ready-to-rest air. Before dismissing us, he even said to the Crown Prince,

“Taoyan has shared many years of friendship with you, and Tan Fan is from your maternal uncle’s family. This joyous occasion must be celebrated grandly. Crown Prince, you will oversee it.”

Qin Yuanxi’s face was about to turn green.

It looked as foul as if he had stepped in dog shit.

I could only awkwardly drag him out of the Imperial Study and coax him, saying,

“Hehe, you only need to come drink at the wedding feast.”

“How would I dare trouble Your Highness to actually put effort into arranging it?”

We were scoundrel friends, after all. The two of us had been messing around together for years.

If nothing else, once he ascended the throne safe and sound in the future, I would be one of his close ministers.

He ought to come show his support.

The Crown Prince ground his back teeth. Faced with my beaming smile,

he reached out, his palm brushing across my cheek.

In a slow voice, enunciating every word, he said,

“Drink at your wedding feast?”

“Rest assured, Beloved Minister. I will be there in person to congratulate you on this fine match.”

Beloved Minister.

This Crown Prince had finally learned to speak like a proper person.

Ever since the Dog Emperor granted the marriage,

the Crown Prince had not summoned me to the palace again. It seemed he was sulking.

I figured it was probably because I was getting a wife before he was, while he did not even have a single consort in his palace.

After so many years together, I had even begun to suspect he had some hidden illness.

Then, on my birthday,

Qin Yuanxi suddenly summoned me.

When I arrived, he was drunk out of his mind, leaning crookedly against the doorway of his study.

I had never seen him so… heartbroken?

I walked forward and caught his swaying body.

“His Highness the Crown Prince, hey, what’s wrong?”

“Who upset you again?”

Qin Yuanxi lifted his face to look at me, his eyes holding a lingering tenderness and reluctance I could not understand.

He frowned.

After a long while, he suddenly lowered his head.

His breath drew close, almost brushing my cheek.

In a hoarse voice, he said,

“Taoyan, you lied to me.”

“You said I was your Qin-lang. How can you turn around and marry someone else?”

The smell of alcohol rushed over me. He was absolutely wasted.

Talking nonsense.

I could only humor him.

“How could I lie to you?”

“Get up quickly. If someone sees the dignified Crown Prince of an entire nation drunk to this state…”

“What a disgrace that would be.”

His eyes flickered. His little finger hooked around mine, refusing to let go.

“Taoyan, you’re a liar!”

“Don’t quibble.”

“You were the one who provoked me first.”

Well, true enough. His Highness the Crown Prince had no father or mother to dote on him, and it had not been easy for him to have me, his Study Companion, by his side.

Now that I was getting married,

he would be alone again. It was only normal for him to feel upset.

It was just that, for someone so quiet and reserved,

he became this troublesome when drunk?

I had no way to deal with him.

I couldn’t pull him up no matter what.

All I could do was sit beside him and keep him company. After a long while, he finally mumbled,

“Taoyan, stay with me tonight, all right? I don’t feel well here.”

I was a little troubled.

Spending the night in the Eastern Palace…

If word got out, the rumors would be endless.

But he was pressing a hand against his chest, as if he could hardly breathe.

I shook my head.

“Your Highness, don’t be willful.”

“I am about to be married, and there is still much to prepare.”

He froze slightly. The faint light in his eyes went out.

As if he had only just remembered that I was to be married in two days, he said,

“Then…”

“Wait here. I have something to bestow upon you.”