Chapter 41#

Extra: Third Life#

When Chu Ruiyuan was reborn once more, he felt little surprise.

Yet after such a long interval, the prospect of seeing Liu Jun’an again suddenly stirred in him a faint sense of trepidation at returning to familiar territory.

Liu Jun’an was now but a ten-year-old child.

The sovereign who had passed away peacefully in his sixties in his previous life gazed upon the youthful form of his lover across two lifetimes. He felt both tender affection and a hint of the doting affection one might reserve for grandchildren.

In his life before last, he had died young, and his reunion with Liu Jun’an had not stirred much reflection.

Now, seeing Mingzhi again, he found this small youth utterly pleasing to the eye, as if he were his own lover, his own child, his very flesh and blood.

Chu Ruiyan wished only for Liu Jun’an to live a long and peaceful life, to see this empire endure and the realm remain tranquil.

Even if it meant this emperor, who had endured the entanglements of past lives, would forgo the chance to save his mother…

He felt guilt within his heart, yet harboured no regret.

Chu Ruiyan had already resolved that if his Mingzhi could not recall the tumult of their former existence, he would grant him freedom in this lifetime.

They had grown up together as youths, becoming both sovereign and confidant in adulthood.

Should Liu Jun’an show no inclination when he ascended the throne, he would keep his affection unspoken for all eternity.

Each taking a wife, bearing children, and living to see their descendants fill the halls in a hundred years - that too could be a path forward.

Yet Liu Jun’an remembered. He was deceiving him once more.

This little deceiver was acting again, likely fearing he would settle the accounts of their past life.

It took Chu Ruiyan over half a year to see through the deception. Yet he felt no anger, only joy—joy at being granted another chance at this life.

This time, he would firmly grasp every variable from the past in his hands.

He would love Mingzhi truly and completely, from beginning to end, growing old together, never parting.

Chu Ruiyan mobilised the power he had amassed over these six months, swiftly orchestrating a play.

A play whose intended conclusion was for the two to be captured together, escape together, and deepen their bond together.

Alas, man proposes, heaven disposes. Guan Mingyue emerged unexpectedly.

Were he not Liu Jun’an’s dear friend, nor the senior disciple with masterful medical skills, this future monarch could have had him transferred to the most remote and impoverished region, never to return to the capital for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, the outcome was favourable.

When Chu Ruiyan and Liu Jun’an shared a knowing smile, a sudden sense of clouds parting to reveal the sun, of enduring to greet the dawn, filled their hearts.

It was joyful, sweet.

So joyful and sweet that he longed to tear apart the fabric of life itself, to join them together day after day.

Alas, this body of his was still too young, lacking the capital for such endeavours.

When he finally reached puberty and yearned to unleash his desires, he was warned that premature intimacy would hinder future endeavours.

Thus, the future Emperor, who craved nothing but their daily union, was forced to endure restraint.

He endured until he turned sixteen, until he ascended the throne following the path of his past lives and completed mourning for the late Emperor.

Having lived through a lifetime apart, the reborn Emperor naturally intended to make up for decades of pent-up desire.

When two lovers unite in the embrace of Mount Wu, it truly brings blissful relief to both body and soul.

Even when his beloved Ming grew flustered and spoke harshly afterwards, he could only find her pitifully endearing. Had he not feared the other might not endure it, he would have sought another encounter.

But life stretched ahead; what was spared today could be reclaimed tomorrow.

Thus Chu Ruiyan waited three months.

On the night of his wedding to Liu Jun’an, when they consummated their union, he reclaimed every moment of passion owed from before.

Chu Ruiyan had intended to spend his life solely with Mingzhi, leaving the vast empire to the Crown Prince of his previous incarnation.

His uncle, the late emperor’s full brother, had adopted his legitimate grandson as his own son. The empire would not lack an heir.

Yet Mingzhi’s words jolted him awake, revealing an unexpected path through the darkest of forests.

The reborn Emperor rejoiced in his lover’s tender understanding and utter detachment from power, yet couldn’t help but compare her actions to those of her past lives.

He sensed something amiss.

But what did it matter?

The past was gone, all grievances and truths now dust beneath the earth.

As long as this life was filled with genuine affection and sweet contentment, why trouble oneself with the trivialities of life and death?

Thus, in this lifetime, Chu Ruiyan held his beloved in his arms and had his own child at his side.

The only regret was that this Crown Prince was not born to Mingzhi herself.

Having reigned as emperor for three lifetimes, possessing myriad skills and boundless power, he remained unable to bear a son through another man.

Thus, he could only ensure this child regarded Mingzhi as his birth mother.

Even should he pass away first, Mingzhi would have a pillar of support, shielded from the cruelty of those bearing ill will.

Having installed Liu Jun’an, a man, as his consort, Chu Ruiyan was well aware of the opposition within the court and among the literati.

Even if he became a sage ruler whose name would be celebrated for millennia, these so-called “purists”—who never held themselves to high standards yet were never generous in their dealings with others—would not cease their attacks on him, however great his achievements might be.

Chu Ruiyan, unwilling to unleash a literary inquisition, dispatched several spies to monitor the ringleaders.

Yet he never imagined that one of the very secret guards he had sent would nearly cause Mingzhi to suffer calamity.

When the commander of the secret guards reported that Liu Jun’an had been abducted, Chu Ruiyuan momentarily lost his footing.

Unbidden, the scene of Mingzhi’s death before his eyes in his previous two lifetimes played over and over in his mind.

Three lifetimes, each ending at the age of twenty-seven.

Was this not the insurmountable obstacle destined between him and Mingzhi?!

The shadow guards and imperial guards who had accompanied Liu Jun’an had already pursued him into the mountains. Chu Ruiyuan selected elite troops and followed without delay.

His heart was filled with nothing but constant supplication, beseeching the heavens: even if it meant shortening his own lifespan, he prayed that his Mingzhi would not be taken from him prematurely once more.

Thankfully, Heaven favoured the living.

After three lifetimes of twists and turns, he and Mingzhi finally avoided being parted by death before reaching thirty.

As Chu Ruiyan held Liu Jun’an in his arms, a profound sense of destiny and divine providence washed over him.

He could only hope that, as Mingzhi had said, they might live a hundred years together, growing old side by side.

But growing old together was a matter for a hundred years hence. For now, other matters demanded attention.

The grievances of past lives were settled; the bonds of this life remained long… They must seize the moment, indulging in carnal pleasures, lest they betray the love woven through three lifetimes.

[The End]