Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Murong Jie paused briefly, then turned to the young eunuch and said, "Let's go!"

The eunuch sent to deliver the imperial edict was newly appointed. The Emperor had replaced all those around him—those implicated and those not alike, all had been poisoned or beaten to death.

The new young eunuch was fairly young, and with theatrical solemnity, he read out the edict: "Hereby, the Sixth Prince Murong Jie, filial, prudent, upright, and of profound vision, is hereby established as the Crown Prince, to assume the rightful position of heir and wield the authority of the state. All ministers, within and beyond the court, shall unite in support to secure the peace of the realm. By imperial decree."

With these simple words, Murong Jie's status as Crown Prince was sealed.

In this life, compared to his past nine, Murong Jie hadn't taken much effort, yet it hurt him the most inside.

He would rather wade through mountains of corpses and rivers of blood than lose Lu Yunqi.

He harbored resentment—he was the one who came after me first, so why did he just slip away without a word?

But he didn't dare hold a grudge, for if not for him, he might never have known what it felt like to have his heart race. He was afraid he wouldn't come back, afraid he'd never get the chance to see him again in this life.

Without him, time crawled by.

By the time he'd stabilized the whole political situation, it was already over a month later.

By then, Lu Feiluan was already past three months, and he'd grown into a sturdy little thing. At three months, he could already hold his head up straight, and he could even roll over by himself.

Murong Jie visited him every day, and every day he would hear Lu Tong fuss: "Well, I'll be damned—this kid barely eats a thing, yet he just keeps growing like a weed! The wet nurse says her breasts are painfully full, but the child won't eat. Yet he's clearly growing fast and pooping up a storm! I can't figure it out for the life of me."

Murong Jie furrowed his brow and scooped up his son, hefting him in his arms—yeah, he'd definitely gotten heavier.

A three-month-old baby usually weighs about ten jin, but Feiluan had been born premature—he'd only weighed four or five jin when he was born. Getting to ten jin by three months would've been a win.

But holding his big, precious boy, Murong Jie estimated he was at least fourteen or fifteen jin, easy—so he'd packed on a solid ten jin in three months, and he didn't even like the wet nurse's milk, to boot. So how the hell did he pack on ten jin?

This left Murong Jie deep in thought. He dropped his eyes and asked Lu Tong, "Have you had the imperial physician take a look at him?"

Lu Tong nodded: "Yes, Old Physician Zhang from the palace came by himself to take a look. He said Feiluan's way healthier and sturdier than your average kid. Also, this kid's poop ain't like a normal baby's—it's stinky and there's a ton of it. Yesterday, when I changed his diaper, it stank so bad I couldn't even choke down my dinner."

Murong Jie: ...

For some reason, a thought suddenly struck him.

The Medical Immortal said Yunqi's body was soulless—so where did his soul go?

Could his soul have... gone somewhere else?

At this thought, Murong Jie's heart suddenly started hammering. He glanced at his big, chubby boy, then said to Lu Tong, "It's all right, no need for you to worry. I'll look after him tonight! No need for the wet nurse or the maids to attend—just have them all retire."

Lu Tong hummed in acknowledgment, thinking that his grandson really hadn't had proper time to bond with his biological father in a long while.

With his son gone, his attitude toward Murong Jie had grown complicated. Murong Jie's demeanor suggested he intended to support and care for him in his old age.

But he had Lu An—there was no need for such attentiveness.

Toward Murong Jie, Lu Tong had only one requirement: fulfill his son's last wish.

His son had said he wanted his man to become Emperor, and he wanted to be Empress. He couldn't control Murong Jie's other affairs—whomever he wished to marry, he could marry; whomever he wished to name Crown Prince, he could name—but the Empress must be his deceased son.

Lu Tong was that kind of father—even with his son dead, he would continue to dote on him as always.

But he subconsciously felt he didn't need to say much. He always felt that Murong Jie, like himself, was a man of unwavering loyalty.

Though he didn't understand why he had such a thought—perhaps it was shared misery!

He understood that Xiao Yi wouldn't stay by his side forever, just as he understood his own son had his own mission and couldn't remain with him forever.

When one grows old, everything becomes bittersweet. Lu Tong returned to his courtyard and drowned his sorrows in wine before a portrait.

In the quiet night and deep courtyard, with the child asleep, Murong Jie hid quietly behind a screen, his eyes wide as brass bells.

He refused to believe a child would grow without reason, just as he refused to believe that the divine weapon before Lu Yunqi's death had appeared and vanished without cause.

These past days, he had repeatedly replayed the events of that day, finally piecing together every inconsistency from all the images.

If a divine weapon could vanish inexplicably... could his beloved have vanished inexplicably too?

Could that soulless corpse possibly... just be a corpse?

Murong Jie felt he was going mad, but that was what he thought. He could recite extraordinary poetry offhand, the literary brilliance of which rivaled that of the Immortal Liu Yi.

He could casually gift him a sleeve crossbow, and it had taken Murong Jie a long time to disassemble it and discover its ingenuity.

A person like that could not be an ordinary mortal.

So he decided to wait by the tree for the rabbit to come to him. His son was here—he had personally given birth to him. If he still had feelings, he would surely come to see him.

Perhaps Feiluan's rapid growth was because he was the one feeding him?

Thinking this way, Murong Jie felt he was losing his mind, but he couldn't help himself—he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Until the moon reached its zenith, light footsteps sounded in the courtyard, accompanied by the rustling of bamboo leaves—so faint that had he not cultivated his arts since childhood, granting him keener hearing than most, he might not have noticed the subtle sound.

The door creaked open, as if a gentle breeze had slipped through, opening just enough space for one person to pass sideways.

Murong Jie held his breath. He saw... Lu Feiluan floating in the air!!!

This incredible scene lasted for a moment, and then he saw a transparent cup, a semi-transparent bottle, and a metal canister appear out of thin air on the table...

Then the metal canister was opened, a spoonful of white powder was poured into the semi-transparent bottle, some water was added from the cup, and the bottle was shaken for a moment until the water turned milky white.

Next, the mouth of the semi-transparent bottle was inserted into Lu Feiluan's mouth in the cradle, and the cradle was gently rocked.

But throughout this entire process, he saw no one—as if an invisible ghost was doing all of this!

Murong Jie's eyes widened, filled with disbelief. He seemed to understand—no wonder the Medical Immortal said the corpse had no soul. So... your soul has returned, hasn't it?

Lu Feiluan drank quickly, finishing the entire bottle in no time. After drinking, he kicked his legs vigorously, looking thoroughly delighted to have his visitor.

The visitor made no sound, perhaps afraid of attracting the attention of the servants in the room, but Murong Jie knew—it was Lu Yunqi!

Murong Jie couldn't control himself and stepped out, startling the visitor, who flew toward the door. Murong Jie lunged forward and grabbed hard, but with a ripping sound, he tore off a strip of fabric.

Wait—that wasn't a soul. If it were a soul, how could he have touched it, and torn its clothes?

The texture of the clothing was strange—neither silk nor hemp. He examined it closely, then immediately chased into the courtyard and shouted, "Lu Yunqi! Is that you who's come back? Tell me—is that you who's come back!"

==========Author's Note:==========

A bit late today! See you tomorrow!!!