Hua Hua You Long - Volume 1 - Chapter 8

Hua Hua You Long Chapter 8 : Misery

Compared to the Imperial Palace and its sprawling gardens, Xizhen's place of residence had an atmosphere more similar to Lu Cang's temporary homee by the Yue Long bridge, the gardens were beautiful and serene, and a gentle cool breeze marked the coming of spring.
 Jing dragged Lu Cang across a bridge over a man-made pond. Xizhen approached from a distance, laughing, " You majesty...and brother Lu. What took you two so long? The tea I brewed is almost cold."

This palace is built on a lake...how much work must have gone into it? Lu Cang thought idly and from the looks of it, Xizhen wasn't just any regular noble.

Xizhen smiled gracefully and ushered the two inside, ignoring Jing's somewhat irritable expression.

"This is my younger cousin XuanYuan Xizhen, formerly known as princess Xizhen before she married."

Lu Cang couldn't even respond to the "cousin" part and just stared blankly at Jing. The situation was pretty awkward, so Xizhen took over explaining. "....After marrying, my title is Zhen Guifei. I am the mother figure of the Datong Empire."

Note: Guifei=high ranking concubine. They married for political reasons and back then, many nobles married within the family.

 "What..." The porcelain cup in Lu Cang's hands fell to the ground, and he stood from his seat. Jing was pretty frustrated as he had not planned to reveal his relationship with Xizhen just yet, but did not deny Xizhen's words either.

Lu Cang stood motionless, a thousand words choking his heart, staring stupidly into space before finally slumping back onto the chair after some time.

Taking into account Jing's age and status, it was impossible he wasn't married, but never expected the Empress to show herself so soon. Moreover, it was Xizhen, whom he knew from quite some time ago!

" Hai hai..." Jing cleared his throat, drawing Lu Cang's attention back to him. "Xiaozhen and I were been betrothed before birth for political reasons. Now, she is the highest ranking in the Datong harem."

Note：小"xiao(3)" [small, little] is added before the name as a term of endearment. In the first chapter, Jing calls addresses Muyue as Xiaoyue, and in later chapters he calls Lu Cang Xiaocang.

Xizhen smiled widely. Her male clothing could not really hide the fact that she was female, and Lu Cang berated himself for not realising earlier - not only was he unable to recognise Jing as a man in ladies' clothing, he was also unable to tell Xizhen was a woman when she wore male garb.

Angry and somewhat hurt at his own stupidity, Lu Cang started to act up, "Why are you telling me this? It has nothing to do with me!" He jumped up and headed for the door, but as usual, Jing caught hold of him again.

Jing firmly pressed Lu Cang into the chair and turned to Xizhen. "Xiaozhen, Lu Cang has received my favour. He's now considered my concubine, you have to teach and strictly discipline him from today!"

Lu Cang wanted to explode from anger. "You--piece of shit! Sack of dog shit -- receive your favour?! Pile of crap, what retarded harem concubine! You bastard! Let go of me...let me go!" He screamed and flailed, trying to free himself from Jing's grip.

Xizhen pretended not to hear all the foul language. She bowed slightly," I understand."

"Lu Cang is a stubborn one... .. I've been busy with the whole Yujia expedition thing again , so I can't stay to watch over him. I'll leave you to teach him some discipline, hopefully he'll be more obedient when I get back..." He sent a grin Lu Cang's way, hinting that Xizhen was not to be trifled with.

"The Yujia expedition? ...Your majesty, which area are you conquering?" As if she had not heard him the first time, Xizhen focused on the fact that there would be a battle. Although she was still smiling, she seemed like a totally different person, nervously waiting her emperor's reply.

Jing sneered, " Where else do you think I have to personally go to conquer?"

Seeing Xizhen's face pale, he relented. "Anyway, you don't have to bother yourself with this business.... Help me look after Lu Cang!"

He grabbed Lu Cang and pushed him to Xizhen, and hastily turned around and left.

"Hey-- You!!" A half oblivious Lu Cang wanted to chase him, but Xizhen grabbed on to his hand, refusing to let him go. For a girl, she was really quite strong.

"Brother Jing--"

Note: 静哥 "jing(4) ge(1)" 哥= big brother. Lu Cang's mountain minions also address him as 哥. It shows fondness but also respect.

So this is how she addresses him... Lu Cang could not help but feel a little jealous.

Hearing his name, Jing hesitated for awhile, but finally stopped. "What is it?"

Xizhen hesitated for a moment, then suddenly dropped to her knees, dragging Lu Cang down to an awkward half bow.  "I...I know treason is an offence of utmost severity, but please...please... after all those years of support, spare...spare his life!"

Despite her desperate tone, Lu Cang did not sympathize much. He was too busy wondering who 'that man' was. Why was Xizhen begging Jing to spare his life? Although his own relationship with Jing was pretty messed up, he could not help but worry for the other person.

Jing did not reply, he only flicked his wrist once and continued walking, leaving behind the pond's fragrant lotuses and Princess Xizhen's sad face.

"You asked him to spare the life of..who?"  Seeing as Xizhen had forgotten there was anyone around, Lu Cang could not help but pop the question.

Startled, Xizhen glanced at Lu Cang's face before letting the look of sadness slide of her own.

"Brother Jing has left you in my care, what do you want to learn first? Manners, palace etiquette.... so you'll know you to serve Brother Jing and I next time..."  She covered her mouth with the long white silk of her robes and couldn't help but laugh, her expression lighthearted.

Hearing her make fun of his and Jing's relationship, Lu Cang unconsciously blushed. Both his and Xizhen's relationship with Jing was strange. He knew that he had no right to poke into their business - they were married, and cousins since young. Of course they were close. Then what did that make him?

Some kind of unusual toy?

Lu Cang laughed at himself, and bluntly plopped down on a chair opposite Xizhen, downing a big mouthful of tea.

"Brother Jing is preparing to leave the country..." Without him having to ask again, Xizhen began to speak.

"Yes--", Lu Cang nodded. The Datong empire was a great military power, but this other rogue country has been around for some years - everyone knew the younger brother of the former emperor, Jing's uncle, Xuanyuan Yongyi had defected and formed his own small country of Luo, but it was never clear why Datong had never sent its army to crush Luo, which was ruled by a rebel.

"The ruler of Luo...is my father...", Xizhen trailed off.

Lu Cang nodded his head. Ah..so it's not that complicated...

But he suddenly thought of something, "Ah, but aren't you Jing's maternal cousin?"

"I'm his paternal cousin, but my mother was his mother's maternal cousin."

"Ah..", it was pretty complicated. Lu Cang, not knowing what to say, dumbly stared at her.

Xizhen looked at his stoned face and let out a laugh, but quickly sobered up, " Do you know? You look like my father when you make this expression...?"

Before Lu Cang could reat, Xizhen beat him to it. " Let's not talk about such depressing things. We have to discuss your future in the palace!"

"What?!" Lu Cang suddenly jumped up, "Who says I want to live in the palace?!"

Xizhen patiently looked at him. "Do you not understand what it means to be a guard of the inner court?"

....My god! Someone come and save me!

After hearing his job description, Lu Cang wanted to collapse. His responsibility was to ensure the safety of the emperor around the clock. An impressive title, but the work was hard. He was to stand by the emperor in court, while travelling, inspecting, and even when the emperor visited his concubines. Simply put, an inner court guard was like the emperor's personal servant.

"I--I don't want to be his ...whatever- guard....I want to go back to Hangzhou!"

"You want to, but can you?" Xizhen sneered and raised a brow, reminding him of his current situation.

Remembering the drug that Jing forced into him, as well as the consequences for his brothers were he to escape, Lu Cang quieted down.

But....

"But aren't you married to Jing?  why are you helping him watch over...watch over...", Lu Cang did not know how to refer to himself, so he blushed again.

"...Helping him watch over his male pet is weird, isn't it?" A certain kind of sadness drifted across Xizhen's face. She stood up and walked to the open window, " Since young, I knew I was to be Jing's wife, and my mother taught me how to be a good empress. The most important thing was...

...was to know how to look after people like you!" Xizhen joked, but it sent shivers down Lu Cang's spine.

The women in the harem lived between beads of emerald, but beneath all that silk, their hearts might just be filled with melancholy.

Did he have to suffer the same fate as them? The memories of him happily playing and enjoying his freedom back on the mountain made panic well up inside him.

As if reading his thoughts, Xizhen could not help but laugh. "You don't have to worry so much, Jing ..he-" She paused for a moment, "he is a fickle man. After he's done playing with you, you should be able to get your freedom back."

"Really?" It seemed like good news, but Lu Cang was not exactly happy - who wanted to be some toy to be thrown away? He was struggling to find excuses for the discontent in his heart.

"But if you follow me obediently, maybe brother Jing will change his mind when he gets back and let you go. We can't say for sure." She saw something light up in Lu Cang's eyes, but he still remained oblivious to the implications of her words.

"Aiya, from today onward, just do what I tell you to do, you should be fine. I'm tired. Attendant, please take master Lu to the Wangsong court to rest." A female attendant appeared from behind the door to usher Lu Cang out. Although his head was filled with a million questions and he still did not fully understand Xizhen's words, he quietly followed the attendant out to avoid unintentionally offending anyone in the palace.

......

The palace days were boring and passed quickly, and Jing soon left the forbidden city with the imperial army to conquer Luoguo. On the day they went to see the army off, he remembered feeling his pupils tremble when he saw Jing in his golden armor, riding out like some kind of god, and when Xizhen laughed and asked about their relationship, he looked down and stubbornly refused to admit he was even friends with that beautiful man.

Reports came frequently from the battlefield, but Lu Cang realised that Xizhen had slowly become very quiet, and though she still tried to put on a strong front with him, he always saw her sitting alone by the harem window, gazing quietly at the distant horizon.

After all, her father.... Lu Cang himself had never even met his own father, and knowing that Xizhen was miserable under her lively and caring surface, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for her.

As long as Jing remained away, everything would be alright.

Although he felt some sort of emotional attachment to Jing, after all the pain and suffering he had gone through under his hands, Lu Cang was still afraid of his impending return.

While he was terrified of the way Jing used his body, he was unwilling to admit he also hated to see Xizhen so depressed. People who spend time together inevitably develop feelings, and although Xizhen forced him to study the palace rules every time she saw him, he thought of her as one of his dearly missed brothers from the mountain, a good friend in this luxuriously lonely existence, and he had no wish to see resign to the fate of her husband and father constantly warring.

Lu Cang prayed daily for Jing not to return so he could continue to live freely and without worries in the palace, but his luck soon dried up and a messenger came up to him one sunny morning to tell of the imperial army's victorious return.

"Damn, why must you come back...", Lu Cang breathed as he casually scanned the crowd and fair faced concubines.

After a numerous rows of frontline troops marched past, he finally caught a glimpse of Jing - the emperor whose face somehow looked unfamiliar, dressed in court robes and surrounded by eight flag bearers regally drifted past him.

Can he see me? ...Will he see me...?

Lu Cang himself was kneeling among a team of bodyguards, and though he was still resentful at Jing's return, he still screamed those words in his heart, somewhat hoping that Jing would miss him.

That day way disappointing - Jing didn't even spare the bodyguards a glance, and later when Lu Cang followed behind Xizhen to greet him in the harem, Jing did not even give a smile, as if he had totally forgotten about his exciting new toy.

"I'm sorry! But I need to tell you something...", He stared intently at a hopeful looking Xizhen, " Xuanyuan Yongyi has been captured alive by the imperial army..."

Jing didn't continue because Xizhen suddenly screamed and stumbled backwards onto the floor, her hands over her eyes as the palace maids scrambled to pick her up.

Jing flicked his wrists to signal the maids to attend to her, himself coldly turning around and gesturing for the sedan bearer to follow him, leaving behind the strangers in the room -  Lu Cang was rooted to the spot, hate surging up inside him. He stood there tongue-tied, but murderously glared at Jing's back as he exited.

Ah-! Is that man a human? Is he even human?! After Jing had ravaged him, he threw him aside so carelessly as if he was transparent.

........

"Xizhen, are you there?"

"Xi...", After returning to his quarters, thoughts plagued Lu Cang's mind until he could not help but seek Xizhen out to tell her the truth and let his misery out, but the sound of Jing's voice from inside made him forcefully swallow the rest of his call.

He clenched his jaw fiercely. Although spying was really shameless, he was still full of grieve and disregarded his morals, poking a small hole in the window - the sight that met him made him jolt in surprise.

Note: The window is made of paper.

He had expected to see Jing and Xizhen confronting each other, but in the room stood Jing, his back facing an unknown man who was tied to a pillar - so this was the man who was hiding in the sedan chair, Lu Cang had initially thought the person in the sedan chair was a beauty taken from the Luoguo harem as a war spoil.

The stranger's expression was resigned and weak, completely different from the beautiful woman he had expected. He was tall and burly, even bigger than himself and Jing, and his face was very masculine - surprisingly, he looked aged, totally opposite what many would expect.

The stranger looked tired, as if he had just awoken, and as a prisoner of war, his eyes held no hostility, just indescribable exhaustion.

"You're back here, how do you feel about it?" Jing's voice sounded strange, filling Lu Cang with an emotion he could not quite put his finger on.

Note: Jing is speaking pretty complicated language here. In the Chinese version it's more obvious that he's a little off.

"....I thought I'd never had the chance to come back, I never would've thought I'd find myself here....", Although weak, he sounded like a hero, or what was left of one, and it made Lu Cang feel sad for him.

Lu Cang was confused - this was Xizhen's residence, why has it become this man's prison?

"Really? You underestimate me!" Jing crouched down in front of the man, and Lu Cang clearly saw his hands go underneath the man's clothing, slowly tightening his grip...

The man's face contorted slightly, trying to hide his discomfort, but eventually his eyes weakened and showed the chaos in his mind.

"I've already let you return, you should want to stay here for the rest of your life... ", a satisfied smile drifted across Jing's face as he leaned down to smear his lips on the man's, his hands starting to rub the man's body, and a lascivious atmosphere filled the room...

Lu Cang snapped his head away, and then could not help but turn his head back to see the two entwined figures. He slowly bowed his head - although he was standing in a garden of flowers in full bloom, his whole body felt icily stiff and unable to move.

Jing moved away as the kiss ended , "Yongyi, it's only been a few years, your self-control has slipped!"

The man's lips were red and swollen and his breath was heavy. He struggled with his words for quite some time," If you remember what our relationship was like, even just a little, let me go, let me live and fend for myself..."

Complex emotions swept across Jing's eyes. Both the Yongyi and Lu Cang were awaiting his reply, but he suddenly turned around and coldly said, "Lu Cang, you've heard enough, come out."

Note: Jing says 给我出来 : 出来[chulai] = come out. 给我 [geiwo] =literally, give me. Adding 给我 is like saying, do this for me, because i command it. It's a very demanding tone. Jing does this a lot, like almost every time he asks(orders) anyone to do anything.

Lu Cang drew in a sharp breath, daring not to move. Jing quickly walked over, and roughly dragged him into the room. Although the stranger was tied immobilized to the pillar, the spark in his eyes had not diminished when Lu Cang's met his.

Jing shoved Lu Cang and roughly twisted his arm into his chest. "Make a guess, guess what I do with this boy?"

Yongyi stared at the Lu Cang who was roughly grabbed by Jing -  somehow, his face became red and the colour spread to his neck as well - to hide his embarrassment, he resolutely shook his head, "I don't know!"

Knowing that the man could immediately tell the situation between him and Jing, Lu Cang began to tremble in shame.

Jing released Lu Cang and shoved him away, moving to crouch down in front of the man.

He lifted the man's chin until their eyes met, then started tearing madly at his clothes.

"You- you- what are you doing?!" The man roared, but could not stop Jing's actions - the sound of tearing cloth mixed with his voice, and soon he was naked - the ropes highlighted his strong muscles, and the remaining scraps of cloth made him look even more erotic.

"Uncle Yongyi, take a good look at what I'm going to do next!“

Note: In the original, Jing says 勇义王叔, yongyi wangshu. 王 refers to royalty, but I can't easily transfer that into the english translation. Also, Jing uses 给我 [geiwo] here again.

Lu Cang couldn't process the "uncle" part before Jing walked over and threw himself down on his body like a wolf.. His gradually peaking body temperature and his roaming fingers revealed his intentions, although he spoke no words.

"Don't!"

The appearance of Yongyi had thrown him into chaos and confusion. Even after their reunion, Jing didn't show any hints of warmth, just sex right from the start.

Although this was not the first time Jing used violence to coerce him, Lu Cang had never seen such a frightening Jing before -  his calm disposition was gone, the air was filled with fury and his rough and violent were fingers all over the place, leaving numerous embarrassing, ugly red marks in their wake.

"No! No, no! You're crazy! Let me go!", sheer terror gripped his heart - he knew that if Jing were to ravage his body in this state, he would never see the sun tomorrow.

"Go away! Go away!", almost petrified, Lu Cang forgot there was anyone else in the room. He screamed with all his strength, his trembling seeping into his speech as he haphazardly tried to punch Jing and bit his shoulder as hard as he could. Jing was completely unmoved, and continued savagely tearing at his clothes.

Clothes scattered on the ground, the man by the side could no longer stand the sight of such cruel torment ,"Stop! Xuanyuan Jing, let go now, what are you doing?! Do you not know shame?!"

Jing's eyes grew colder, making Lu Cang shudder - the fingers above him forcefully entered his bare flesh, the pain completely drowning out the pleasure, making Lu Cang gasp in misery.

"Ah....", the pain made his body contract and tighten against the intruding fingers and Lu Cang cried out involuntarily.

"Yongyi, can you hear him? Do you remember that night you moaned and yelled beneath me... crying while I helped you come!", Jing looked at Lu Cang's lifeless body, his punishing fingers thrusting rapidly in and out while waiting for an answer from the third male.

Lu Cang was so pained that he couldn't even cry out, and Jing's deliberate ignorance to his wordless, painful convulsions made his heart hurt even more -  he was more of an object than a person, an object for others to use when they felt nostalgic, an object Jing took liberties with when his lover escaped.

His body was wretched beyond compare - cold hands grasped his naked body and violently pushed him into the deepest parts of hell, the pain in his heart causing him to sob uncontrollably.

Tears rolled down Lu Cang's cheeks like droplets of rain, dripping onto the parquet flooring - quiet gasping, hands propped against the floor in a humiliating position, accommodating Jing's destruction. Lu Cang's consciousness started to blur...

"You- you're a beast! I was blind! I was blind to advise my brother to pass the throne to you!" The man apparently could not stand watching the scene unfold any longer, and at the atmosphere of the room and the sight in front of him, his genitals showed signs of excitement. Embarrassment turned to anger, and the words he uttered were harsher than any of his words had ever been.

Jing's took his words hard, and roughly pulled himself out of Lu Cang - Lu Cang cried out at the stress and pain, totally limp and unaroused. As Jing withdrew, a sense of panic crept into his consciousness...

His anal canal was badly torn, a large amount of fresh blood pouring out of his entrance, along the thighs and straight onto the floor.

Jing scarcely spared him a glance, and turned to stand with his lower body facing the man - the defected prince, Xizhens father, Xuanyuan Yongyi,coldly looking down on him for some time before viciously slapping him across the face. "You bastard! Who asked you to persuade my father to pass the throne to me?! Who asked to to pretend nothing happened when you married your daughter to me? Who asked you to avoid me like the plague? Who asked you to choose treason over staying by my side?....."

"You clearly knew I wanted nothing of that!"

Shocked by Jing's shouting, Xuanyuan Yongyi looked up, and was immediately made to flex his mouth.

"Nnh--" He had barely the time to cry out before Jing pushed his shaft into his throat, his hand pressing Yongyi's head, hips moving vigourously, the same part that had been drawn out of Lu Cang was so soon forced into this man's mouth...

A naked, tongue-tied Lu Cang looked at the scene before him - this man of royalty, Jing's uncle, suffered with closed eyes, the object in his mouth preventing him from making any noise-- Lu Cang looked as tears of pain fell from his eyes, his strong body slightly shaking.

Despite the misery of it all, while obtuse, even Lu Cang could see the sparks between the two.

Then...

There was no space for his existence.

Lu Cang himself didn't know how he regained his composure - he quietly picked up his scattered and torn clothes, very carefully helped himself dress, struggled to his feet and calmly walked out, leaving the confusion and the smell of blood, tears and sex behind in that room.

As he walked to the gates of the small courtyard, he carelessly ran into a hurrying figure.

"God! Brother Lu! What happened to you?"

It was Xuanyuan Xizhen, her panting handmaidens trailing behind her, a heavy tapestry in her hands, clearly she had just awoken and rushed here.

"What?", Lu Cang tried hard to make his voice sound calm, but found that it was trembling uncontrollably.

"Why... why are you crying?"

Xizhen stared at Lu Cang's face, and though she was asking him, she could see the answers in his eyes.

"Ah...some sand probably got in...", he raised his hands in a bid to wipe the tears from his face, forcing out a smile.

"Come, let's go find a place to talk properly," He reached out and dragged her in across the courtyard in the opposite direction.

"Wei! What are you doing? I'm here to find Jing!"

In spite of her struggling, Lu Cang desperately dragged her away.

 A sudden gust of wind picked up and blew sand all over the courtyard -- Lu Cang pulled Xizhen along and walked aimlessly, his mind directionless like the wind - no matter what, unable to explain the pain in his chest that had tossed him into confusion.

I didn't fall for him --

I don't! I don't love him!

Frantically denying the feelings in his heart, his emotions were more turbulent than the petals trembling in the wind- he could not shake off the image of the two entangled men in his mind.

"I don't-!", he finally shouted out loud, powerlessly slumping down onto the ground....

..............................

End of chapter 8