Title: Infinite Power Over The World
Original title: 权倾天下[重生]
Author: 叶默凉(Ye Moliang)
Translated by: ~PurpleLy~
The little lion gradually grew up in their company. His physique began to grow more powerful, and his size could even reach Murong Heng’s waist. The golden fur all over his body made him appear majestic, completely different from his petite form when he first arrived.
In addition, Shen Ci’s fondness for this little lion had also skyrocketed. This was because during the times when Murong Heng was busy, the little lion would mindfully come over to accompany Shen Ci, warm his bed, and serve as his bolster when he slept. Consequently, Shen Ci adored it immensely.
On this day, Murong Heng finished handling the affairs in the palace early, and upon returning to the Yangxin Hall, he happened to catch sight of Shen Ci conversing with the little lion. Interestingly enough, the little lion appeared to be listening attentively. The exchange between the person and the lion struck him as endearing and laughable.
Thus, Murong Heng made his way in and sat down on the soft couch beside Shen Ci. The little lion also came over to nudge his palm. At the moment, it is no longer the delicate little lion it used to be. It looked very gentle when nudging his hand, but for Murong Heng, he was almost pushed to the ground by it.
“A new batch of livestock has been added to the imperial hunting grounds. How about we go hunting later?” After all, Murong Heng had nothing to do in the palace, so he wanted to bring Shen Ci to exercise so as to prevent him from always staying with the lion cub. He was jealous.
“Sure.” Shen Ci listened and gave a little nod. He placed his hand on the little lion beside him and said with a smile, “Then Xiao Heng is going too. He’s been bored in the palace for the past few days.”
The corner of Murong Heng’s mouth twitched again. Xiao Heng… He’d been revising it for so many days, but he still couldn’t remedy this address. Never mind; let Ah Ci be happy; just consider it as if he’s calling him.
Thereupon, both of them and the lion walked to the imperial hunting grounds together. Murong Heng made it a point to change into hunting attire, and it made him look extremely formidable. When he arrived outside the imperial hunting grounds, he instructed the imperial guards to fetch the prepared quiver of arrows and slung it behind his back.
Shen Ci had become especially familiar with the little lion these days. He was standing a distance away when the little lion suddenly rubbed against his palm. He observed it staring at him, then immediately understood what it meant and sat sideways on it.
The little lion let out a low growl, stretched its legs, and then followed Murong Heng’s horse into the hunting grounds. It controlled its speed just right—neither too fast nor too slow. This was so that Shen Ci, who was sitting on it, wouldn’t fall off.
When he arrived at the hunting grounds, Murong Heng began to seek out a quarry. All of a sudden, he caught a glimpse of a water deer. He narrowed his eyes and quickly pulled out an arrow from the quiver behind him. He positioned it on the bow, drew the string to its fullest, and then aimed at the water deer. Just as he was about to fire the arrow, the lion cub beside him let out a roar without warning. The deer shook with fright, took off in an instant, and vanished.
Murong Heng threw an exasperated look at the little lion. He noticed that it seemed to be showing off to him. He fumed, “Did you do that on purpose?” Of course it was on purpose!
Shen Ci, who was sitting on it, let out a light laugh. He patted Xiao Heng’s head and then stroked its fur, telling him not to cause trouble for Murong Heng. The little lion obeyed him so much, and sure enough, it didn’t make any sound after that.
But because the lion’s earlier roar was too deafening, many small animals in the hunting grounds scattered every which way after hearing it. That prevented Murong Heng from being able to find much prey. Subsequently, the three of them just switched to playing around in the woods. Seeing that it was about time, Murong Heng informed the guards who followed nearby to carry some prey and walk out of the hunting grounds.
When they reached the exterior, Murong Heng leapt off his horse and tallied the prey he’d caught just now. There were water deer, roe deer, etc. He’d still made some good gains and didn’t return empty-handed. Murong Heng ordered the imperial kitchen to take these animals and cook them. He also asked them to prepare good wine since he wanted to accompany his Ah Ci sufficiently tonight.
At sunset, the cooked food was brought over piping hot, one by one. The little lion sat obediently by the side, neither scrambling for food nor making trouble. Murong Heng looked at it with satisfaction and instructed someone to bring it a big platter of raw beef and lead it outside to eat.
Once the dishes had been served, the palace attendants withdrew one after another. Murong Heng and Shen Ci sat in front of a decent-sized table. He raised his hand, poured him a glass of good wine, and served up some food into his bowl.
Shen Ci’s mood was also very good. As long as Murong Heng poured him wine, he wouldn’t refuse it, and he tossed back his head to gulp it down. However, he clearly forgot that his capacity for alcohol wasn’t particularly great. After drinking for a while, his face became red, and his eyesight grew blurry.
Murong Heng knew that Ah Ci was intoxicated, so he wanted to carry him to rest in the imperial bedroom. However, as soon as his hands touched his body, Shen Ci wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face in his chest. This caused Murong Heng to look down at Shen Ci in surprise. Ah Ci had never been so proactive. Could it be that once he became really drunk, even his temperament would change?
Shen Ci’s actions that followed truly confirmed that he was drunk.
Murong Heng carried Shen Ci and walked towards the dragon bed. He discerned that the weight in his arms had somewhat increased, and it seemed like he could feel more flesh. So he decided to persist and vowed to make his Ah Ci a little fatter.
He reached the bedside. Just as he was about to place Shen Ci down and remove his clothes, the clothing on his chest was grabbed by both hands. Shen Ci refused to get down no matter what, and his legs kept flailing like a drunk child who was showing his temper. He then nuzzled his cheek on Murong Heng’s chest. His complexion was ruddy, and his gaze was bleary.
Murong Heng was instantly stunned. So he simply held him and sat on the bed together, letting him nestle in his embrace. After a while, he wanted to try again. Sure enough, Shen Ci did the same thing as before, climbing on top of him and refusing to get off. Murong Heng immediately burst out laughing. He never expected that Ah Ci would be so cute when he was drunk.
He remembered that Ah Ci had been drunk once before, but after being drunk that time, he had a nightmare, and his tears wouldn’t stop flowing. It made him feel very distressed when he thought about it now. But perhaps the current mood is different from then, so his drunken nature had burst out, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Due to this, Murong Heng straightaway picked Shen Ci up and laid down with him. He didn’t expect that Shen Ci would nuzzle against his chest again. Aside from that, one of his legs lay between Murong Heng’s legs. Murong Heng immediately sensed that he was aroused, the heat having spread throughout his entire body. How he wishes he could pin Ah Ci right away.
But he still had his wits around him, so he gently pushed Shen Ci away. He comforted him a bit, and the person in his arms moved off his body, turned to face the inside, and fell asleep. Murong Heng heaved a sigh of relief at once, rushed out of bed, and went to douse himself with cold water to put out the fire.
He’d discovered that after being with Ah Ci, his endurance had strengthened significantly…
After extinguishing the fire, Murong Heng dragged his ice-cold body back to the bed. At this time, Shen Ci’s drunkenness had subsided a lot. When he climbed onto the bed, Shen Ci turned around and looked at him bewilderedly before continuing to sleep.
Murong Heng laughed when he recalled Shen Ci’s earlier behaviour when he was drunk, and he found it terribly adorable. If there was a chance in the near future, he ought to find a suitable time to get him drunk. Then there wouldn’t be a need to bathe in cold water!
The corners of Murong Heng’s lips curled slightly, having been bolstered by these wonderful ideas, and he fell asleep with a smile.
****
It was another session of morning court. Murong Heng was sitting on the dragon throne, observing the ministers below shouting ‘long live‘, before saying an indifferent ‘rise’. When morning court commenced, all the courtiers began to report the events that were happening, and Murong Heng discerned that none of them were serious matters.
He thought of Ah Ci’s joyful expression when they’d travelled to Jiangnan last time, and his heart itched. He wanted to bring Ah Ci out of the palace to stroll around. He promised him that after his eyes recovered, he would take him to all sorts of places and see the beautiful scenery of the world.
With this in mind, Murong Heng immediately decided to take Ah Ci out of the palace again. Now that the country and its people are at peace, he should also travel incognito this time to observe how the common folk are faring. While he was in disguise, he could take Ah Ci sightseeing everywhere. It was perfect.
Therefore, once morning court was over, Murong Heng immediately went to the imperial garden, where he saw Shen Ci playing with the little lion. He strode over to hug him and tell him his plans.
“Mingle with the citizens incognito?” Shen Ci repeated his words as a rhetorical question. This was a good idea. There are many things that will never be seen in the palace. It could only be felt when they left the palace and actually integrated into the lives of the people. So he nodded in agreement without hesitation.
With Ah Ci’s ascent, Murong Heng ordered a month’s worth of affairs to be arranged for him in these few days. He had to hasten and finish attending to them in order to be able to leave the palace with Ah Ci as soon as possible.
Murong Heng started to get busy again. This time, Shen Ci didn’t wait for him in the hall but continually remained by his side. When he began dealing with affairs, he would get up with him, and when he left the hall to retire, he also accompanied him, waiting for him so that they could return together.
On this day, Murong Heng lowered his head to read a memorial. With great difficulty, he finished reading all the folded booklets. He rubbed his groggy eyes and turned his head to see Shen Ci leaning on the soft couch, already asleep. The little lion lying beside him served as a cushion. The scene appeared exceptionally tender.
Murong Heng couldn’t resist the urge to laugh. These days, he has been dealing with affairs non-stop, causing Ah Ci to suffer. He’d been accompanying him without leaving even once. With this thought, he walked noiselessly over, picked him up, and walked out of the hall. The little lion was awoken by his movements. It didn’t kick up a fuss but obediently followed behind.
Holding the person in his arms, Murong Heng walked all the way forward. Before he’d gone too far, Shen Ci woke up. He rubbed his drowsy eyes, then looked up and noticed the dark night sky. Surprisingly, he said that he wanted to enjoy the scenery of the moon. For Murong Heng, the response to this slightly unreasonable request from his young wife was to pamper, dote on, and spoil him. What the wife says, she gets. As such, he used his light footwork skills to deliver the both of them onto the roof and found a place to sit before letting Ah Ci lean against his chest.
If Shen Ci hadn’t mentioned it, Murong Heng would never have realised that the night view of the imperial palace was this splendid, especially when it was only him and Ah Ci on the roof. It seemed as if the night sky could envelope them both. One would never be able to experience that kind of vast and distant feeling from below. It made Murong Heng even more determined to take Ah Ci to travel to all the beautiful landscapes. There were so many beautiful places. If one couldn’t go with their beloved at least once in their lifetime, it was truly a pity.
Shen Ci, beside him, rested his head on Murong Heng’s shoulder, and the two held hands, sitting until midnight before descending from the roof. However, neither of them were in a hurry to return to the imperial bedroom to rest. Instead, they ambled along hand in hand on the pathways of the palace.
Murong Heng and Shen Ci turned their heads to look at each other. Their gazes revealed their unconcealed love for each other. They walked all the way to the front of the bedroom. Without warning, Shen Ci held onto Murong Heng, moved closer to him, and placed a kiss on the cheek with a smiling expression in his eyes.