The Blood Crown - Side Story 2: Waning Moon (Part 6)

Side Story 2: Waning Moon (Part 6)

Chen Mu softly spoke about his childhood.

Empress De Rui was disliked by Emperor Zhaowu, and as the eldest son, he was neglected from a young age. Even eunuchs and palace maids would bully him. In winter, the charcoal fire was always insufficient, and in summer, he had to endure the bites of mosquitoes day and night. His allowances were always delayed or reduced, and there were two occasions when he nearly died due to schemes by Consort Wen. Empress De Rui had to rely on embroidering for other concubines to exchange for silver to make their lives a bit easier.

Chen Mu spoke calmly, but it was truly shocking to hear. Since the incident of the succession dispute, Consort Wen had wanted to eliminate him and his mother, yet he survived. Wasn’t it a sign of heaven’s favor?

But heaven was far less merciful toward the pitiful Empress De Rui.

By the end of his words, Chen Mu’s voice trembled slightly: “In this life, only my mother truly cared for me. She never harmed anyone in her life. Why couldn’t she even wait until the day I held the world in my hands?”

Yuan Nanyu felt deeply moved upon hearing this. No matter how much Chen Mu seemed despicable in his eyes, the sorrow and regret of being unable to care for one’s parents before they passed was something he could empathize with. However, he didn’t know how to comfort Chen Mu, so he remained silent, listening quietly.

“Everyone who wronged me and my mother will pay the price,” Chen Mu said coldly.

Yuan Nanyu hesitated and replied, “You’ve already killed many people.”

Chen Mu sneered, “Not enough. I want to make my father watch, to see the evil fruits he sowed, and let him live the rest of his life in pain.”

“You don’t want your legitimate elder brother, and you had Qi Manbi executed. How are you different from your hated father?”

Chen Mu chuckled darkly twice. “I’m smarter than him. He shouldn’t have allowed me to be born.”

Yuan Nanyu felt a chill run down his spine.

Chen Mu stared absently at Yuan Nanyu’s face. “I once thought that Yan Sikong was the second person who treated me well after my mother, but I was wrong. He only used me.”

Yuan Nanyu furrowed his brows.

“It doesn’t matter, I don’t need him anymore,” Chen Mu said softly as he gently stroked Yuan Nanyu’s face.

“You don’t need me either,” Yuan Nanyu replied coldly.

“It’s not about need. I want you,” Chen Mu replied.

Yuan Nanyu mocked, “Because you can’t have Yan Sikong, you’re using me to take revenge on him.”

Chen Mu’s expression darkened. “So what if I am? So what if I’m not? I’ve said it. Anyone who wronged me must pay the price.”

Yuan Nanyu clenched his fists and turned his face away.

Chen Mu stared at Yuan Nanyu’s profile and pressed his body even closer, whispering softly in his ear, “You’ve never wronged me. Even though you shot an arrow at me… I guess that means we’re even.”

Yuan Nanyu remained silent.

“Come to think of it, now only you don’t want anything from me,” Chen Mu said, his voice tinged with sadness. “But you still want to leave me.”

“I don’t belong here.”

“You do belong here,” Chen Mu tightened his strong arm around Yuan Nanyu. “Because you belong to me.”

Yuan Nanyu took a deep breath.

Chen Mu closed his eyes. “I haven’t slept peacefully in a long time. You keep saying you want to kill me, but I… I feel like only you won’t harm me.”

Yuan Nanyu’s eyes flickered with surprise.

“You always wear your thoughts on your face,” Chen Mu chuckled. “Should I say you’re honest, or just foolish?”

Yuan Nanyu rolled his eyes. More than one person had told him that he couldn’t hide his thoughts. Yan Sikong had said this since childhood, and although he had become more reserved over the years, hearing it from an enemy still annoyed him.

Chen Mu said no more. He held Yuan Nanyu, and the room fell silent as he soon drifted off to sleep.

At first, Yuan Nanyu was stiff, desperately trying to move away from Chen Mu, but even a small distance seemed impossible. They were so close that he could feel Chen Mu’s breath against his neck. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, thinking how strange it was that such a cold person also had a warm body.

He had planned to slip away quietly once Chen Mu fell asleep, but fatigue overcame him, and his eyelids grew heavy. Before long, he too fell asleep.

They slept with their necks touching, seeming so intimate.

—

After returning to the palace, Chen Mu didn’t appear in front of Yuan Nanyu for several days, which seemed unusual. Yuan Nanyu couldn’t help but feel anxious—though not because he wanted to see Chen Mu, but because he was eager to know when he could return to Datong.

One night, just as Yuan Nanyu was about to sleep, the steward suddenly knocked on his door and said the emperor summoned him to the palace immediately.

While cursing Chen Mu in his mind, Yuan Nanyu quickly changed his clothes and hurried to the palace.

When he arrived at Qianqing Palace, Sun Mo was pacing nervously outside. As soon as he saw Yuan Nanyu, he looked like he had seen a savior. “General Yuan, you’re here! His Majesty has been drinking and has been asking for you.”

Upon hearing that Chen Mu was drunk, Yuan Nanyu couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. If Chen Mu were sober, he wouldn’t know how to face him, especially after the night they had shared in Xiang Chan Temple. Chen Mu would most likely tease him about it, which was quite frustrating.

Even so, Yuan Nanyu still didn’t want to go in. He said irritably, “If His Majesty is drunk, he should rest. Why summon me?”

“His Majesty refuses to rest. Please go in,” Sun Mo whispered, getting closer to Yuan Nanyu. “His Majesty is still grieving over Empress De Rui. This morning’s court session…” Sun Mo glanced at Yuan Nanyu and hesitated. “Anyway, His Majesty’s temper has been bad these days. Please be careful not to anger him.”

“What happened in court?”

“The matters of the court, it’s a long story. Please just go in.”

Yuan Nanyu’s face grew serious as he pushed open the door and entered.

A strong smell of alcohol hit him immediately. The wine Chen Mu drank was certainly the finest in the world, but now it had no fragrance, only a pungent odor.

Chen Mu was lying on a recliner, with wine bottles scattered around his feet. He held one in his hand, his blurry eyes gazing toward the door. Yuan Nanyu couldn’t tell if he had actually seen him.

Yuan Nanyu closed the door behind him.

Chen Mu’s gaze was still on him, but his eyes gradually focused.

Yuan Nanyu spoke, “As an emperor, how can you indulge in drinking to the point of disgrace? Where is the majesty of a ruler?”

Chen Mu sneered, “‘An emperor’? ‘Majesty’? Nonsense!”

Yuan Nanyu frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“They… won’t let me build a separate imperial tomb for my mother,” Chen Mu said vaguely. “My mother… once went to Xiangchan Temple, and she never forgot it in her life.”

“Empress De Rui was the empress, she should rest in the imperial tomb.”

“Rest?” Chen Mu’s eyes widened, and he suddenly shouted, “How can she rest, lying next to the husband who neglected her and the concubines who humiliated her!”

Yuan Nanyu was silent.

Chen Mu staggered to his feet and pointed at his chest, “I am the emperor, I am her son! Why can’t I decide where she is buried? Why?!”

Yuan Nanyu saw Chen Mu’s hair in disarray and his eyes bloodshot. He looked so disheveled that he hardly seemed like a spirited emperor.

Chen Mu slammed the wine jug onto the ground and shouted hoarsely, “They just can’t stand to see me happy! They interfere with everything, even the matters of my bedchamber, since I ascended the throne, I’ve exerted all my energy, managing state affairs without a day of laziness, and yet they—everywhere, everywhere they oppose me!”

Yuan Nanyu spoke in a low voice, “Harsh words are difficult to hear, the officials are thinking for the country.”

“They are thinking for themselves!” Chen Mu kicked over a chair. “They think of their own futures, their family’s prosperity, their reputations, but never think about me! No one thinks about me!”

Yuan Nanyu instinctively took a step back.

That step seemed to enrage Chen Mu, who glared at him with murderous intent. “You too, you’ve been thinking of leaving here, leaving me. I gave you beautiful women, marriage, wealth, and I let you be reckless in front of me, and yet you still want to leave!”

“I’ve said before, I don’t belong here,” Yuan Nanyu said calmly. “Why must Your Majesty force me?”

“Then where do you belong? Who do you belong to? Datong? Feng Ye?!” Chen Mu took a few steps towards Yuan Nanyu, grabbing his collar and viciously slamming his back against the wall. “Why? Why does Feng Ye have everything, Yan Sikong, you, he has everything—why?!”

Yuan Nanyu met his wild gaze and answered fearlessly, “But you have the throne. You took the world from him, isn’t that enough?”

“The throne, hahaha, yes, the throne.” Chen Mu laughed uncontrollably, tears actually welling up in his eyes. “I saw… I saw Yan Sikong for the last time, he said, he said when I sit on that throne, I will understand what it means to be a ‘lonely king’…”

Yuan Nanyu bit his lip, for the first time feeling some sympathy for Chen Mu.

“The ministers deceive and plot against each other, the harem is full of intrigue, even a small eunuch hides his own schemes.” Chen Mu stared at Yuan Nanyu without blinking. “Since I sat on that throne, I haven’t dared to let my guard down for a single moment. Every day I think, who is deceiving me? Who wants to harm me? Who wants to use me? Everyone… everyone has their own agenda. It’s like once I became emperor, I’m no longer… human.”

Yuan Nanyu steadied Chen Mu, whose shoulders were shaking, and sighed, “Your Majesty, you’ve drunk too much, let me help you…”

“Don’t call me Your Majesty!” Chen Mu suddenly threw himself at Yuan Nanyu, using brute strength to bring him crashing to the ground.

As Yuan Nanyu tried to get up, Chen Mu held onto him tightly, and suddenly, he heard suppressed sobs in his ear.

Yuan Nanyu froze.

Chen Mu clung to him, crying, “I miss my mother…”

Yuan Nanyu never expected that Chen Mu would lose control like this after drinking, and he was completely at a loss for what to do. Listening to Chen Mu’s crying, he actually felt a pang of heartache. His mind involuntarily recalled the first time he met Chen Mu, when the disheveled youth’s eyes lit up upon seeing Yan Sikong, the genuine joy and dependence he felt was clearly not feigned.

It seemed that Chen Mu had truly cared for Yan Sikong, and Yan Sikong had once sincerely wanted to help him inherit the throne. But everything later twisted, everything was distorted by fate.

Yuan Nanyu sighed inwardly, and for a moment, forgot to push Chen Mu away.

He felt something warm and wet brushing against his face, it was Chen Mu’s tears. In the next moment, Chen Mu’s lips, soft and mixed with tears, touched his. Chen Mu kissed him tremblingly, without aggression, without taking, but as if seeking his comfort.

Yuan Nanyu froze. He remembered the reckless nights he spent with Chen Mu in the Chu army’s camp. They had kissed countless times, tangled in madness, and those most shameful but intimate memories suddenly flooded his mind, making him realize that the person holding him so tightly was no longer a stranger.