Regent (17): 

Although Gu Juntian took a moment to get affectionate with Zhou Qinghao while handling government affairs, he was, on the whole, still quite serious.

Before noon, he finished all his work.

After that, he could rest.

It was midwinter, and there wasn’t much to do for leisure around the capital of Jin, so Gu Juntian simply went with Zhou Qinghao to practice martial arts.

He wanted to become stronger, and he also wanted to beat Zhou Qinghao.

Not the kind of win he got yesterday by playing tricks, but a real win.

When news spread that Gu Juntian was going to spar with Zhou Qinghao, quite a few palace guards gathered to watch.

Seeing them, Zhou Qinghao felt a little complicated.

Yesterday, he had thought they were there to arrest him. Now that he thought about it, they were simply here for the spectacle.

Zhou Qinghao scolded them coldly. “What are you all standing around here for? Go do your jobs!”

The guards had originally been afraid of both Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao.

But recently, since both men had been treating them well, they had grown bolder.

One general, who had followed Zhou Qinghao in many battles, even said, “General, our duty is to protect you and His Majesty—we have to be here to watch over you.”

The others all echoed, “That’s right!”

Zhou Qinghao: “…”

By then, Gu Juntian was already calling him over. “Qinghao, come fight!”

The match went much the same as yesterday.

Soon enough, Gu Juntian was exhausted.

He tossed aside his sword and said to Zhou Qinghao, “I admit defeat.”

Yesterday’s trick had only been because Zhou Qinghao had been a bit distracted, and he’d wanted to tease him.

Doing that every day wouldn’t be fun.

Gu Juntian said, “Uncle, you’re truly formidable—worthy of being my regent! Since you’ve beaten me, you can make one request of me, and I’ll fulfill it.”

Zhou Qinghao asked, “Any request?”

Gu Juntian replied, “Any request.”

Zhou Qinghao suddenly said, “Then… when His Majesty performs the ancestral rites early next year, can I stand with you?”

According to Jin’s rules, the queen would stand with the king to offer sacrifices to the ancestors.

He had already carefully reviewed his year with Gu Juntian.

Gu Juntian had in fact given him tremendous trust—after all, he was the only one in all Jin allowed into Gu Juntian’s study.

He wanted to know if he could ask for more.

Without a second thought, Gu Juntian said, “No.”

Afraid Zhou Qinghao would be displeased, he quickly explained, “You’re supposed to be with me for the ancestral rites anyway—that doesn’t count as a request.”

Zhou Qinghao was stunned.

Gu Juntian said, “Uncle, you can choose another.”

Zhou Qinghao had no other requests.

Everything he wanted, he already had.

That’s what he thought, and that’s what he said.

Seeing Zhou Qinghao looking so content, Gu Juntian suddenly realized something.

Zhou Qinghao had thought he wouldn’t take him to the ancestral rites?

Too much! How could he distrust him like that?

Tonight, he would definitely have to “teach” Zhou Qinghao a lesson.

As for now… Gu Juntian said, “Since Uncle can’t think of a request, why don’t I cook you something delicious?”

The iron wok he had wanted had been delivered by the craftsmen not long ago.

He was going to use it to cook a full table of dishes!

Personally going into the kitchen, he picked out some ingredients and prepared food for Zhou Qinghao.

In this era, there weren’t many available seasonings, and vegetable varieties were limited—hard to make a fine meal without the basics—so many dishes he would’ve liked to make were impossible.

But there were still some he could do.

Gu Juntian fried eggs, stir-fried meat, and even rolled out noodles from flour to make chicken noodle soup.

The food was simple, but rich and fragrant.

Zhou Qinghao ate a good amount of noodles.

Seeing his good appetite, Gu Juntian started wanting to “eat” Zhou Qinghao himself.

That night, he pressed Zhou Qinghao down and kept calling him Uncle.

Zhou Qinghao: “…”

Before, when he had been keeping things to himself, he’d thought of their days together as stolen moments.

Under those circumstances, he hadn’t minded the “Uncle” title.

But now, things were different!

He couldn’t help saying, “Your Majesty, could you stop calling me Uncle?”

“Don’t you often call me Your Majesty? Why can’t I call you Uncle?” Gu Juntian refused, and whispered in his ear, “Uncle, I’m fond of you.”

Zhou Qinghao took a deep breath.

At a time like this, he no longer cared to argue over a title.

To prevent his subordinates from being purged after his death, Zhou Qinghao hadn’t contacted them much in the past few months.

Now, realizing he’d misjudged and misunderstood Gu Juntian, he reached out to them again.

When he met his most trusted former retainer, he asked, “What have you been busy with lately?”

The man replied, “General, I’ve been busy with His Majesty’s coming-of-age ceremony—already for a month now.”

“Just follow the ceremonial rules—how could it take so long?” Zhou Qinghao asked.

At that, the man’s voice grew louder, with a hint of complaint. “General, follow which ceremonial rules? His Majesty’s requirements are different from all of them!”

Then he began to grumble, glancing resentfully at Zhou Qinghao as he did so.

His Majesty wanted the General to attend the sacrifices and ancestral rites with him.

His Majesty wanted the General to perform the capping ceremony for him.

And since the General was a man, unlike an ordinary queen, many items had to be specially remade.

His Majesty even required that their clothes be identical!

If it weren’t for the fact that the two of them had killed so many people that no one in court dared oppose them, these demands would never have been approved.

The retainer listed out all the things he had to prepare.

Zhou Qinghao suddenly felt a bit guilty—though not toward the retainer, but toward Gu Juntian.

His Majesty had been doing all this behind the scenes, and he hadn’t known a thing!

After that, Zhou Qinghao met with more people.

And he discovered that what he thought few people knew—his relationship with Gu Juntian—was actually common knowledge.

“General, when I first found out, I wanted to advise you—being with His Majesty might not end well—but now… His Majesty’s mind is full of love, so just treat him well.”

“General, don’t let His Majesty down.”

“General, even though you can’t marry a wife in the future, His Majesty isn’t a bad choice.”

“General, you raised His Majesty yourself, and yet you… sigh!”

…

The more Zhou Qinghao listened, the stranger it felt.

These people seemed to think Gu Juntian was the one “below,” and some even looked at him with reproach, as if he had seduced Gu Juntian when he was young.

After all, he was much older than Gu Juntian.

But he hadn’t—he really hadn’t!

After a round outside, Zhou Qinghao returned to the palace in disbelief.

He had long felt the court officials looked at him oddly, but back then he’d thought he wouldn’t live long, so he hadn’t asked.

Now he realized—they thought he had lured a young king.

It was truly unjust.

Still, even though it was unfair, Zhou Qinghao didn’t bother to clarify.

He figured it wasn’t bad—at least everyone believed they were a couple.

After Gu Juntian rested for fifteen days, he found that four hours of work a day was enough, so he continued to “rest.”

In the blink of an eye, it was year’s end.

By this time, the kings of Qi and Chu had received reports from their spies, telling them that Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao were lovers.

The two rulers were delighted.

Such a relationship was perfect to exploit!

“No wonder Zhou Qinghao stayed overnight in the palace after returning from war.”

“After the late Prince of Jin died, the new prince was raised by Zhou Qinghao… he surely never imagined this is how he’d be ‘raised.’”

“Send Zhou Qinghao beautiful youths! He must like young men!”

“Spread this in Jin—we’ll ruin their reputations!”

“We can even embellish it, say Zhou Qinghao was involved with the late prince, so the current prince will resent him.”

…

Qi and Chu sent people to Jin to spread rumors about Zhou Qinghao and Gu Juntian’s affair, intending to damage Zhou Qinghao’s standing.

But as soon as they arrived in the capital, they found the city decked out with lanterns and decorations. Asking around, they learned it was to celebrate the prince’s wedding.

The prince had married? Then Zhou Qinghao… These men were thrilled and asked, “Who is your queen?”

“It’s the regent!”

“It’s General Zhou!”

“They’ve finally made it official!”

…

The would-be rumor-mongers were dumbfounded.

They were about to spread the news, only to find everyone already knew.

And making Zhou Qinghao queen—was the prince serious?

Still, they could spread the rumor that Zhou Qinghao had seduced the prince when he was young.

They could even claim he’d truly loved the late prince.

But when they tried telling someone, the person just looked at them oddly. “Haven’t you read The Tale of the Two Kings? That’s not how it happened at all!”

What was The Tale of the Two Kings? they wondered—until they learned it was the story of the prince and the regent.

According to the tale, after the late king died, the regent devoted himself to teaching the young prince.

The prince, isolated and bullied by his clan, had only the regent to trust, and so fell for him.

But the regent saw himself as an elder and refused, even leading troops away for three years.

When he returned, the prince, through various means, finally won his heart, and the two lived happily together.

The troublemakers: “???” Your Jin kingdom really knows how to play!

And the people actually believed it!

The rumors in Jin were outrageous—in the story, the regent was a beautiful youth, and the prince even forced himself on him…

These agents went home empty-handed. After all, some of what they intended to do had already been done by the prince himself, and the rest—no one would believe.

In the palace, Zhou Qinghao was exasperated. “Your Majesty, it’s one thing to write a story, but why have people spread it everywhere?”

The story even had a plot where the prince imprisoned the regent and refused to let him leave the palace—that part was completely made up!

Gu Juntian said, “It has to be done, or some people will twist the truth!”

He had overheard a rumor saying Zhou Qinghao had loved the late king and was only using him as a substitute.

What nonsense! In their story, why should there be a late king at all?

He decided it was necessary to promote his and Zhou Qinghao’s romance.

Since he’d had some free time lately, he wrote a book.

As for including the imprisonment plot, he simply thought it would be fun—imagine keeping Zhou Qinghao in the palace, doing whatever he wanted…

Thinking of this, Gu Juntian looked at Zhou Qinghao. “Uncle, why don’t I imprison you for a few days?”

Zhou Qinghao: “…”