Ten Months On

Chapter 17: Sun Rui

A/N: Some mature descriptions in this chapter.

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Sun Rui walked angrily back to his carriage. He had ignored the eunuchs who had clambered to try to persuade him, and went on his fast pace, furiously thinking about his mother.

His mother had always been his goddess to him. She doted on him and more than once, she protected him and silenced the different parties who accused him of many crimes, referring to them as "errors" and "mistakes" unsuitable for a future Emperor.

Hnnh. "Mistakes"? Those foolish ministers spout nonsense. He was the Emperor and Empress' firstborn official son. He had every right to do as he pleased, regardless of the consequences. It didn't matter if he was the ninth prince, with four older "brothers" still alive before him. In a noble family, these brother would be known as illegal sons, not fit to even be seen in public. The fact that Father Emperor had hinted that he would appoint him, Sun Rui, as the Crown Prince said enough about his official status.

Hah! What dashing First Prince? What mysterious Fourth Prince? In the end, they would still bow before him when he is crowned Emperor. It didn't matter that the ministers spout drivel ocassionally against him in court. At the end of the day, wouldn't he be alright?

He had tried his best to be filial to his mother, obeying her request to marry that Su Chen despite his distaste for how child-like she looked.

But looks aside, Sun Rui didn't really care actually that he had to marry that short, quiet girl. His feelings regarding that started to change when he started noticing Su Li. Su Li started following Su Chen to meet him when he was 13 years old and they were 10 years old. He had not really thought much about women and his relationship with them. In any case, as he grew up, he had an outlet for his sexual desires in his tongfangs, maids that were also bedservants. He didn't feel the need to get close to any woman mentally. They simply existed. Like objects in his home. Or distant figures in his life. Some he was closer to as he called them to his bedchambers. While everyone else was simply just... there.

He did play with Su Chen quite a bit when they were more childish. Innocent games. But as he grew older and mingled more with the other sons from noble families, he grew to dislike this child-like play. Soon, their meet-ups became a once-a-year sordid affair that he reluctantly went to. This affair became more bearable when he met Su Li.

Even then, Su Li was like a fairy. Cheerful, bright and bubbly. Thought he still disliked girls and women, finding them and their chatter boring and pointless, he was somewhat interested in her.

She had hid behind Su Chen's back, shyly while glancing at him.

He was used to interested glances. But Su Li simply looked at him innocently.

Yet those meetings did not do much to change any tangent in his life.

Years passed and they still met once a year, all three of them. And soon, he was 17 and they were 14.

By then, he had at least two concubines at home. Voluptuous, curvy and well-figured, these women satiated his appetite well.

If it was not enough, he and his friends would often head to the nearby institutions to chat about poetry and life. And well, what joy would the appreciation of culture be without the assistance of beautiful flowers serving them fragrant wine and themselves?

Sun Rui had his fill. Su Chen was simply a decoration to his home in the future.

He knew she knew about his lively inner palace. He had not kept it a secret. But her expressionless face had told him she did not care for it.