Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 17: Expect Setbacks after Successes (2)

When the next day he arrived, Jing He was still sleeping soundly. It had been a long time since he had stayed up that late and with having walked around half the night, his thoughts occupied with thinking about everything that Qiu Ling said, he had been tense all the time. Thus by the time they had been on the lake, he had been tired in both mind and body and couldn't help but sleep longer.

His usual guards arrived outside and couldn't help but exchange glances when they heard nothing from inside. Normally, the crown prince would already be up and about at this time of the day, either tending to the garden, making some curtsy calls or sitting inside and reading something. Every now and then, they would be able to hear his steps from inside.

But today, everything was quiet. The couldn't help but feel that it was odd but there were no grounds for inquiring further. They knew that the crown prince liked to keep up to himself. The reason why they had been able to be his guards for such a long time was also that they knew the limits of what they could and couldn't do.

Bothering him just because they felt that something was unusual really wasn't the right thing to do. At most, they could go and request his uncle to take a look. That way, he wouldn't feel too disturbed.

For the time being, that wasn't an option though. After all, it wasn't like they had heard anything suspicious. It was just that he was even more quiet than usual. But who knew? He might just be inside and practicing calligraphy or reading in the study. If he didn't take a break in between or went to get himself a pot of tea or something of the like, then they naturally wouldn't hear anything.

Before they had the time to ponder any further, steps sounded from close by. It wasn't the crown prince that had woken up though but instead the Heavenly Empress that was coming by for a visit.

The guards bowed and then stepped to the side, one of them clearing his throat to announce her. "The Heavenly Empress came to visit His Highness, the crown prince."

Bai Fen smiled at the two of them and patted their shoulders while she walked past. "Sometimes I feel that I only ever get to see the two of you here. Aren't you getting tired at all?"

Huang Lan and Mu Kun both smiled. "The Heavenly Empress is praising us too much. It is our honor to be able to serve His Highness."

Bai Fen almost wanted to make a joke about how that had to be because of her son's good looks but she reconsidered when she thought of just who might be inside with her son. She stopped in her tracks and then motioned to the door. "The dragon king wouldn't have come by, would he?"

The two guards exchanged a glance, feeling awkward. "If he did, then he did not announce himself."

Bai Fen chuckled and shook her head. "I guess we will have to remind him one day that it would be better if he did." With that, she finally stepped through the door, and past the screen on the other side.

As soon as she did, she stopped in her tracks though. This ... Wasn't that her son who was still asleep? What time was it again? Could it be that she had woken up extremely early today?

Bai Fen took a step back and looked out of the door, checking the sky. No, it was bright blue with the sun shining brightly as well.

The two guards gave her an alarmed look but Bai Fen waved. Her son was only asleep. That might be strange but it really was nothing to make a fuss about. It wasn't like he had been lying there in a pool of blood.

Bai Fen walked over and sat down at the edge of the bed, her lips curling into a smile. In fact, this was quite nice. When was the last time she had seen her son like this?