When Song Xiao heard this voice, he was startled for a moment, then couldn’t help chuckling. “Gonggong, your voice has changed.”
“Cough, that’s right.” Cao Gonggong looked around, sniffled, then regained his original grace and calm. “It’s inconvenient to speak here. Please wait, empress, laonu will come pay his respects to you tomorrow.”
Song Xiao’s lips quirked. “Gonggong, how many times have I told you not to call me empress?”
Cao Gonggong actually followed them here as well. In the past, the emperor had tried to look for Gonggong, and Song Xiao had even found it laughable. After all, transmigrating wasn’t something where just because you wanted someone, they would follow.
Cao Gonggong, the secret guard, the imperial younger brother, the emperor… Song Xiao pondered these names in his mind. Why was it these people – what was the connection?
The Empress Dowager didn’t have her memories; neither did the Anyuan Princess, the former emperor, Song Xiao’s father, and Grandpa Song. It was only the few who had been in the main hall at that time!
Song Xiao’s eyes flashed. That was right, when he died back then, these people had all been in the main hall.
If so, then the general and Zhang Xiaoren could also have their memories of their previous incarnations. When Song Xiao thought of Zhang Xiaoren, the image of that foolish husky with its tongue lolling out in the Yu house appeared in his mind. He couldn’t help laughing as he fell onto the bed. If Zhang Xiaoren had truly become a dog, that would be utterly delightful.
Since the party still hadn’t ended, it seemed that Yu Tang wouldn’t be coming back today. Song Xiao got under the covers and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Song Xiao heard the door open and sleepily opened his eyes. He felt someone get under the covers and embrace him from behind.
He didn’t react warily to the familiar warmth. Song Xiao raised his head slightly to rub his face against the person behind him, and he received a sweet kiss.
“It’s fine, go back to sleep ba,” Yu Tang said softly as he shed his clothes before gathering the warm and sleepy empress into his arms.
“Why did you come back?” Song Xiao yawned and turned around to nuzzle into Yu Tang’s embrace.
“How can zhen allow the empress to stay at home alone?” Yu Tang said with a serious face as his naughty hand felt Song Xiao up.
“Wu…” Tickled, Song Xiao wanted to avoid it, but Yu Tang flipped him over and pressed him down.
Their lips touched and Song Xiao faintly tasted alcohol. This fellow was probably drunk. Yu Tang still wasn’t satisfied after sharing a mouthful of the alcoholic scent, and he covered Song Xiao’s entire body in it; even the deepest part of Song Xiao’s body wasn’t exempt.
After being in the US for so long, the two of them still hadn’t gone on a proper date, much less had sex. Yu Tang had originally intended to return and get some proper sleep while holding his wife, but once he held his wife, he didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.
Song Xiao was tossed about until the sky started to brighten; only then was he able to get some rest. He was so exhausted that he didn’t feel like moving at all, and fell asleep sticky all over. Worried that he might fall sick, Yu Tang took a warm towel and gave him a simple wipe down.
The two of them slept until almost noon, and just as they were about to wake up, they heard a rhythmic knocking at the door.
Yu Tang buried his face into his pillow and didn’t want to pay attention to it. Roused by the noise, Song Xiao sat up with the intent of opening the door, but his waist suddenly turned soft and he flopped back down.
“Slow down.” Yu Tang caught him and dragged him back under the covers to go back to sleep while he got up and opened the door himself.
“Paying respects to Your Majesty.” Outside the door was Butler Cao, who was dressed in a suit and a bowtie. One hand was pressed to his chest as he gracefully made his salutations.
Yu Tang frowned slightly. “Why are you here?” As he spoke, he let Butler Cao in. Although this was the US, there were a lot of Chinese in Luo City; it was more than likely that someone who could understand them would definitely believe that the two of them were crazy.
When Butler Cao entered, he began to tidy up the messy clothes and placed the discarded bedsheets into the laundry basket. By the time Song Xiao sat up, hot tea had already been placed before him.
Song Xiao blinked and looked at the emperor who had crawled back into bed, then looked at the handsome uncle passing him the tea.
The impeccably dressed man was roughly in his thirties. His figure was slender and perfectly proportioned, and his East Asian face had a mild and respectful smile on it.
“Cao Gonggong?” Song Xiao said uncertainly.
“This slave is here.” Cao Gonggong lifted the tea to Song Xiao’s mouth. Seeing Song Xiao drink a mouthful, he immediately took out a container and had Song Xiao spit out the tea, then switched to another cup of tea for him to drink.
Song Xiao dumbly took the teacup and slowly sipped on it. The past Cao Gonggong didn’t look like this. Cao Gonggong at that time had long put on weight and was plump. When he smiled, his eyes couldn’t be seen. It was nothing like this person before him…
“Good morning, Your Majesty.” Cao Gonggong placed a hand on his chest and gave a gentleman’s bow.
“Why aren’t you using Great Yu etiquette?” Leaning against the headboard, Yu Tang pulled Song Xiao into his embrace and took the tea offered by Cao Gonggong.
“This is the 21st century already, and laonu also has to keep up with the times.” Cao Gonggong smiled and took the cup the emperor had finished drinking, then passed him a warm towel.
His Majesty the emperor then unhurriedly began to wipe Song Xiao’s face.
“Oh, no need, I’ll get up to wash my face.” Song Xiao evaded it. Everything in this hotel was set up for convenience; allowing two people to serve him was just too much.
“With laonu here, you have no need to do all this.” Cao Gonggong was very happy to bustle about. By the time Song Xiao got up, Cao Gonggong had already ironed his clothes as well as delivered the hotel breakfast. All the food was in line with the empress’s preferences.
Cao Gonggong draped a napkin over his left arm and served the two of them meticulously as they ate.
“When did Gonggong arrive?” With Cao Gonggong serving the dishes, Song Xiao felt like he had returned to the past. It was very odd.
“I arrived over a decade ago.” Cao Gonggong sighed. When he first woke up, he had been studying at a butler college in Britain. Because of his outstanding ability to serve people, he graduated with exceedingly excellent grades after two years. After that, when all sorts of bigwigs had come to choose a butler, he immediately saw the gaozu emperor, or Yu Tang’s grandfather.
He had initially thought that if he followed the gaozu emperor, he would be able to meet the emperor. Who knew that the emperor was in China with his father, and didn’t come to America at all. The one time Yu Tang finally did make his way here, he still didn’t come to the ancestral home, and Cao Gonggong was never able to recognise his master.
Song Xiao frowned slightly. Unexpectedly, Cao Gonggong arrived earlier than the emperor. This didn’t seem to follow any sort of pattern.
After brunch, Cao Gonggong inquired whether the emperor intended to return to the ancestral home. Yu Tang took one look at his empress, whose eyes were still pink at the corners, and no matter what, was reluctant to go. Thinking about the matters over at his grandfather’s, he was even less willing to return. “See if there are any ball games in the afternoon, and book the tickets.”
Cao Gonggong made a sound of assent, and after checking for a long time, he discovered that there weren’t any tickets left.
“Let’s go there ba.” Song Xiao pointed at the commercial playing on the television.
Movie City? Yu Tang initially just wanted to keep his wife company, so it was fine to go anywhere on a date. Naturally, he didn’t have any objections.
Who knew what Cao Gonggong said to Yu Taixian, but he was actually able to accompany these two on their visit to Movie City in the afternoon, and even adopted a very leisurely appearance. Dugu An was staying in the room next to theirs, and when he heard them leave, he appeared in a flash and silently followed behind them.
“Anyi ah, why aren’t you hiding in dark places anymore?” Seeing Dugu An, Cao Gonggong couldn’t help talking to him. In Great Yu in the past, Cao Gonggong had always known of the secret guards’ existence, and when he glanced at the ceiling beams occasionally, he would spot two of them. However, he rarely interacted with them. Thus, seeing a secret guard following behind the emperor so openly felt very rare.
“A secret guard also needs to keep up with the times,” Dugu An shot a glance at Cao Gonggong and replied expressionlessly.
Cao Gonggong: “…”
Little Theater
Xiaoxiao: Gonggong also needs to keep up with the times?
Cao Gonggong: Of course, the competition in our profession is very bloody
Xiao An: As a trendsetting… grandpa