Ever since Qin Yuanxi got married, his heart has finally settled down. His life with his wife and child was warm and happy, and he couldn’t be more happy. They say to start a family before building a career, and now that he had his family, he could focus on his ambitions without worry.
Being an emperor offered a lot of opportunities for creativity. Qin Yuanxi had many ideas and believed he could make the Qin dynasty stronger and more prosperous, ushering in a golden age with his own hands. The mere thought of it filled him with excitement.
With such a wise and capable empress like Lu Bohuan by his side, they were a formidable duo. Qin Yuanxi handled the big picture, bringing in various advanced systems from the modern world and adjusting them to fit their country’s needs. Lu Bohuan managed the details and ensured the smooth execution of their plans. Their teamwork was impeccable, and their efficiency was remarkably high.
In just three short years, the people’s living standards had improved significantly. It was a time of peace and prosperity, and everyone spoke highly of the changes.
The court officials’ mindset had also progressed a lot. Through a process of natural selection, corrupt officials and those who sought personal gain were thoroughly weeded out. With a positive cycle of integrity, the entire court worked as one, with everyone aiming to contribute to the golden era. Even if they didn’t become famous in history, they could proudly go home and tell their children, ‘Your father is an official, a servant of the people!’
That pride was unmistakable.
Gone were the days when being an official meant a tarnished reputation. The bad image left by previous officials was completely transformed.
And this was all thanks to our emperor and empress.
The emperor and empress were quite an interesting pair. Right after their wedding, for a few days, the emperor attended the morning court alone. All the officials could see the emperor’s reluctance towards the early court sessions. Although he was a wise and benevolent ruler, there was one thing about him—he wasn’t a morning person. Despite having already pushed back the morning court time, he still struggled to wake up on time.
At first, everyone was worried, fearing that the emperor might completely abolish the morning court sessions, which was absolutely unacceptable!
But their worries turned out to be groundless.
After a few days of the emperor attending the morning court alone, another figure appeared on the dragon throne.
Naturally, it was the empress.
Initially, there were many whispers and suspicions that the empress might be trying to seize power. But they soon realized how wrong they were. Who was the empress? If it were anyone else, there might have been a possibility, but this was Lu Bohuan—they had nothing to worry about!
The empress appeared at the morning court purely because the emperor couldn’t stand the idea of getting up early by himself while Lu Bohuan, sharing the same bed, could sleep in peacefully. It felt incredibly unfair to him.
Especially after some nighttime activities, Qin Yuanxi could barely open his eyes in the morning. Yet, he still had to attend the morning court; there was no way around it.
Meanwhile, the person who participated in those nighttime activities with him could still sleep soundly and wake up refreshed. Qin Yuanxi felt deeply unbalanced about this, so he decisively pulled Lu Bohuan into the morning court routine with him.
Following the principle of ‘if I can’t sleep in, neither can you,’ they had to share both the good and the bad.
However, this shared routine didn’t last long, because winter arrived.
When it got cold, Qin Yuanxi found it even harder to get up. The bed was so warm, and the thought of getting up before dawn to attend the morning court was depressing. So he began to have other ideas.
Having both of them at the morning court was unnecessary and a waste of resources. Why should two people do what one person could handle? It simply didn’t make sense.
So, he began trying to persuade Lu Bohuan to attend the morning court alone every other day.
At first, Lu Bohuan refused, no matter how much Qin Yuanxi pouted, sweet-talked, or even rolled around on the bed.
Morning court was an essential duty of the emperor, the most important part of his daily routine. It wasn’t just about attending court; it represented the emperor’s grace and authority. Skipping it would make the emperor seem lazy and unfit.
Lu Bohuan would never allow such a thing to happen. He could be lenient about some matters, but not when it came to principles. He wouldn’t let Qin Yuanxi mess around with such an important duty.
“No way, the emperor must attend the morning court,” Lu Bohuan said firmly, unmoved by Qin Yuanxi’s persistence. “I can only agree to push the time back by half an hour, but that’s it. Don’t even think about having me go in your place.”
“Who’s the emperor here, you or me? How can an emperor skip the morning court? Do you think our ancestors would approve?!”
“But you’re my empress. Can’t you help ease my burdens?”
“Anything else is negotiable, but skipping the morning court is absolutely out of the question,” Lu Bohuan said, poking Qin Yuanxi’s forehead. “An emperor not attending morning court is the start of his downfall. Are you planning to be a lazy emperor? Have you forgotten the lessons from Feng Xiao Hall and want to revisit them?”
“You’re crossing the line,” Qin Yuanxi quickly backed away, eyeing Lu Bohuan warily. “Bringing up old, irrelevant issues just because of morning court! Mentioning Feng Xiao Hall, don’t you feel guilty about using private punishment?”
“I do, and I don’t like doing it.”
Lu Bohuan pulled Qin Yuanxi into his arms. “So, be good. Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake you up. Get up obediently.”
“You! Have! No! Heart!”
Despite all his little tricks and schemes, Qin Yuanxi couldn’t get his way. Every day, he ended up being dragged to the morning court by Lu Bohuan, head hanging in defeat.
The ministers felt genuinely sorry for him. They always thought our emperor was being unfairly treated. It was just a morning court session, after all. The weather was freezing; if he didn’t want to come, he shouldn’t have to. If there were any urgent matters, they could simply report them directly in the imperial study.
Unfortunately, under the empress’s watchful eyes, the ministers could only express their sympathy through their glances. They didn’t dare to utter a single extra word.
After a few days of feeling defeated, just when Qin Yuanxi was about to give up hope entirely, he found a new opportunity.
And this opportunity was none other than Qin Yuanxi falling ill.
It was inevitable, wasn’t it? Can’t an emperor get sick? Even emperors eat regular food; how could they not get sick?
“I want sick leave!”
“I have the physician’s advice; I can take sick leave with pay!”
While most people would be miserable and downcast when sick, he was practically overjoyed. If circumstances allowed, he would have thrown a grand celebration.
“No, take your medicine and go to bed early. I’ll let you sleep in an extra half hour tomorrow.”
“Do you have any conscience at all? You, you’re like Huang Shiren, exploiting the workers with your capitalist ways. Your heart is so bad!” Qin Yuanxi’s face turned pale at these words. “No, I refuse. I’m dizzy, I can’t get up. I need a break, I need a sick leave.”
He pulled the covers over his head, ready to throw a tantrum. He wasn’t getting up tomorrow, no matter what. Let’s see what Lu Bohuan could do about it!
Qin Yuanxi didn’t believe Lu Bohuan could actually drag him out of bed. If he really dared, then there was no way they could live together anymore—divorce!
“Absolutely!” Qin Yuanxi declared.
“First, take your medicine,” Lu Bohuan said, pulling the blanket with one hand. “Why are you fussier than Xiao Bao? Drink the medicine, and you can skip the morning court tomorrow, okay?”
“Now that’s more like it. I knew you had a conscience.” Qin Yuanxi poked his fuzzy head out from under the blanket. “Are you serious? No morning court tomorrow?”
“I mean it.” Lu Bohuan really didn’t know what to do with him. “No morning court tomorrow, but can you take the medicine now?”
“Where’s the sugar?” Qin Yuanxi’s head popped out a bit more. “The medicine is bitter. Did you get me some sugar?”
“I did.” Lu Bohuan took out a small, exquisite ceramic jar. “I got you some sweet preserves from your favorite old shop outside the palace.”
With sweets to eat and no morning court, Qin Yuanxi felt much better. He tried the preserves first and, satisfied, his eyes squinted with pleasure. “I should write a recommendation for their shop, give them some royal endorsement, help them make money!”
Lu Bohuan looked at him with a hint of indulgence in his eyes. “If you keep writing endorsements, your royal calligraphy will lose its value.”
The whole capital was covered with the emperor’s calligraphy. Every good eatery got a royal recommendation, so much that it was losing its exclusivity.
It took Qin Yuanxi ages to finish the bowl of medicine, and he had to pinch his nose to drink it. But he quickly polished off the entire jar of preserves.
Despite his illness, Qin Yuanxi looked quite pitiful, his listless face tugging at Lu Bohuan’s heartstrings.
Lu Bohuan touched his forehead. “Still a bit warm. Go to sleep, I’ll stay with you.”
“Sleep next to me. Without you, I’m cold.” Qin Yuanxi furrowed his brows, seizing the chance to act spoiled while sick. “I can’t warm up.”
When Qin Yuanxi was sick and acting spoiled, his voice was soft and tender. Lu Bohuan had no choice but to move his documents and undress, getting into bed to warm it up.
“Ah Tuo, you’re so warm,” Qin Yuanxi said contentedly, closing his eyes as he clung to his personal heater. His hands and feet wrapped around Lu Bohuan, not caring that the latter was still trying to review documents with an inkstone balanced nearby.
“Slow down, don’t move around too much, or you’ll knock over the inkstone.”
“I won’t,” Qin Yuanxi murmured sleepily, his voice growing softer. “If it spills, we’ll just sleep in it and change the bedding tomorrow.”
He hugged Lu Bohuan even tighter, his whole body plastered against him. With the medicine taking effect, he soon drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, true to his word, Lu Bohuan didn’t wake Qin Yuanxi for the morning court.
Even without Qin Yuanxi asking, he couldn’t bear to disturb the pitiful sick young man. Those watery eyes looking at him made Lu Bohuan wish he could take on the illness himself.
He checked Qin Yuanxi’s forehead, finding it cool. Likely exhausted from being sick, Qin Yuanxi was still deeply asleep when Lu Bohuan got up.
After changing into his court attire, Lu Bohuan tucked the blankets around Qin Yuanxi and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead before leaving for the morning court.
As soon as Lu Bohuan left, Qin Yuanxi opened his eyes, which sparkled with mischief. He was fully awake and peered out, then rolled around in the bed happily.
A day without morning court was such a joy. He wished it could always be like this!
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
