ITVCFITB CHAPTER 122

 Chapter 122 — Unswerving to the End (Main Story)

Less than half a year after Li Mingjin’s accession, the court had settled. Everyone knew the new emperor got things done: slack off and you’d be replaced. His early edicts all served the people, border troops were re-equipped, and for the first time in a long while, commoners felt the throne truly had them in mind.

He also opened doors, office wasn’t only through exams anymore. If a post needed a special skill and you had it, he’d use you. In agriculture, what could be improved was improved; petty taxes were pared away; proven policies from Gucheng rolled out across the realm. Hope took root.

Spring Festival approached.

Most of their warm New Year memories belonged to Gucheng; in the capital, the holiday had always tasted bland, too many forced smiles at a too-large table. This year was different.

The emperor ate only with family. No lavish waste, just a full, honest spread for four. They weren’t competing with the late emperor’s banquets; comfort beat spectacle.

The point of New Year wasn’t the mountain of dishes, it was the warmth of home.

Luo Shuyu had a carpenter make a baby chair for Chongchong. On New Year’s Eve the little prince fed himself bites of meat from a small bowl. Li Mingjin grinned, “My son indeed, born a carnivore like his father.”

Wiping oil from their boy’s mouth, Luo Shuyu sighed, “He eats with me more, yet still follows you? How about some greens, Your Highness?”

Tomorrow marked one full year since Chongchong’s birth. He could clearly call “father” and “papa,” with a handful of other words tumbling out after.

Chen Rong and Lin Yuan joined them, still living as senior and junior under one roof. Chen’s ruined health was better but winter always drew a cough; careful tending kept him steady.

As the palace’s only little prince, Chongchong was doted on from all directions, currently chanting “meat, meat” at his father.

Six people, one cozy New Year’s Eve.

“Gucheng’s mutton still wins,” Chen Rong said after a bite of stew. “No gaminess.”

“After spring plowing, we’ll start the imperial road to Gucheng,” Li Mingjin replied, popping a morsel into Chongchong’s mouth. “Good things from the north and south will move faster; the country will breathe fuller. As someone once said ‘to get rich, build roads first.’”

“Agreed,” Chen said.

“Enough statecraft at the table,” Luo Shuyu smiled. “This is family time.”

“Exactly,” Doctor Lin added. “Eat properly like Chongchong.”

Consort Mei lifted her cup, unguarded for the first New Year in years. No stiff brocade, no hollow words to the former emperor. Her son would give the people a prosperous Xia.

Fireworks, once confined to the palace, were moved to the city’s main avenues. Let the capital share the spectacle while the emperor stayed with his own. Signals bloomed, palace, grand avenue, then district after district. From a high terrace the family watched the night flower open over the roofs.

A new year, a new beginning.

When the palace quieted, Chongchong fell deeply asleep. Li Mingjin tucked him in and tugged Luo Shuyu toward the outer room. “No curfew tonight. A walk?”

Luo Shuyu glanced at their dozing son, smiling. “Fine, but tomorrow he’ll scold you for going without him.”

The boy was a tiny schemer. Once, Li Mingjin ate braised pork alone. A certain small nose caught the scent, and soon a wail “meat!”, shook the corridor until the guilty father ordered a child-sized portion. Better a bite now than a scolding later.

They weren’t sneaking out of the palace; “sneaking” only applied to keeping things secret from Chongchong.

Luo Shuyu now held an official post. Li Mingjin kept no harem and planned to institute monogamy, allowing current marriages to stand, but turning the ship slowly. You can’t boil reform like hot tofu.

In simple clothes with disguised guards, they wandered the lantern-bright streets. The emperor bought his empress clay dolls and masks; when the novelty passed, the guards took them home for the prince. They picked out a wooden horse for Chongchong then a toy boat, then two, then three. Finally Li Mingjin swept the stall clean, and the vendor beamed his way to an early night.

They ended up in a teahouse upstairs, watching the city’s happiness: a child on his father’s shoulders waving a skewer of candied haw; a couple arm in arm; a drum troupe jangling down the lane.

“I wish days like this could last,” Luo Shuyu murmured at the window. “No famine. No war.”

“Trust me,” Li Mingjin said, resting his head on his shoulder. “We’ll see it.”

“And may our family live long and well, all our lives without calamity.”

“With me here, we will.”

Snow began to fall. Flakes met Luo Shuyu’s palm and melted like old hurts, fading to nothing.

They returned with spoils and the sweet guilt of a brief, secret date without their son. After washing up and slipping beneath the canopy. 

Of course, Chongchong woke.

Luo Shuyu, breath unsteady, pressed a palm to Li Mingjin’s chest. “What do we do?”

“Wait,” Li Mingjin growled, nipping his lip before throwing on a robe to lull the boy back to sleep. Luo Shuyu lay there laughing to himself.

Soon the emperor dove back into bed, only to find an empress cocooned tight, eyes wide and innocent. “Your Highness,” Luo Shuyu whispered, “shall we play a game?”

Like the days before parenthood.

Li Mingjin lifted the quilt edge with one hand and slipped in with the other; Luo Shuyu laughed and retreated, just a little.

Face stern on purpose, Li leaned close. “Tonight I’m the aloof, lonely emperor. You’re my newly wed, reborn and head-over-heels, ready to share the rest of my life. When I fall you eat gruel with me; when I rise you feed me meat and soup. I’m moved, so I decide we’ll have a whole brood of cubs.”

Warmth filled the canopy, Luo Shuyu’s soft laugh, his arms around Li Mingjin’s neck, teeth grazing his lip.

“As long as it’s you,” he whispered. “Grain porridge or a dozen children, one lifetime or several, I’m willing. If it’s you, I am.”

“I think you’ve bound me for this life,” Li Mingjin breathed. “Willingly. Tie me tighter. Don’t let go.”

“I won’t, this life and the next,” Luo Shuyu smiled. “When we’re white-haired and creaky, don’t you dare be tired of me.”

“Love you too much for that.” Li Mingjin pulled him close against his heart.

Night deepened. Two silhouettes merged beneath the silk. In that hush, their hearts and spirits were one.

They would love, rely on, and choose each other, unswerving, to the very end.

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Author’s Note: The main story is complete, extras to follow.

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