Translator: Vivi from dummytranslations
Editor: mimishijie
Chapter 3.12 - The Emperor is an incapable ruler(12): En, we can try
Character list: here
---

At the peak of his fury, Xiang Han directly summoned Zhao Ze back to the palace under the guise of needing to discuss state affairs. But after issuing this summons, he immediately regretted it.

Zhao Ze was already over twenty. Don’t mention matchmaking, even getting married was very normal. Why was he so agitated? Moreover, he had already decided to walk down the route of a virtuous monarch and official with him, why did he care whether the other person got married or not?

But the summons had already been issued and he could not let the other person turn back half way. Xiang Han sighed dejectedly and after dismissing Luo Bai, he ordered the memorials to be brought up.

After realising the Little Emperor had never liked him, Zhao Ze was like a man who had lost his spirit. Last night, he did not know how he had walked out of the palace.

When he returned home, Mother Zhao called him over for a discussion, but he did not hear even a single word and only distractedly hummed in response. Watching her leave happily, he did not think too much and instead found a place where he could collect his thoughts in silence.

After a whole night, he had thought through many things. He believed that the past did not matter, as long as the Little Emperor did not have someone he currently liked, he still had a chance. Moreover, the Little Emperor had only told him to think about matters carefully, but had not immediately rejected him.

Zhao Ze instantly had his own plans, sobering up just in time for morning court. However, after the morning court, the Little Emperor had not summoned his for a discussion as usual and called for Luo Bai instead.

Zhao Ze’s heart instantly cooled as if it had suffered a blow. Was this the Little Emperor’s way of...rejecting him? Purposely avoiding him in order to destroy any hopes he had?

A few high-ranking ministers passed him by, their voices hushed in deep discussion. Recently, the Emperor had been extremely satisfied with Minister Luo and it looked like he was going to give the other person even more responsibilities.

Zhao Ze wasn’t in the mood to listen and simply bid them farewell. Unfortunately, the moment he returned, he was dragged away by his mother to look at pretty ladies and instantly felt an impending headache.

Thankfully, the Little Emperor’s summons came just in time. Without a moment's hesitation, he fled from those ladies and left.

When he finally returned to the palace and saw the Little Emperor’s expression was as per normal, Zhao Ze silently breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps he had thought too much. The Little Emperor had truly needed to discuss some matters with Luo Bai and was not intentionally avoiding him.

Xiang Han saw him and also did not know what to say. The memorials on his desk were flipped through many times and anything he said at this point would be nit-picking like an old man. In the end, he could not find anything they could discuss.

Putting down the memorial, Xiang Han struggled for half a day before he coughed lightly, “Minister Zhao, Zhen intends to use the land in the Imperial palace to test some new crops before commercialising them. What do you think?”

Zhao Ze’s head was filled with the Little Emperor and without thinking, he replied, “Okay.”

The moment he spoke, he finally regained his senses. Then, he asked in embarrassment, “Pardon, dare I ask...what did Your Majesty just say?”

Xiang Han was speechless before repeating his words. At the end, he helplessly asked, “What was Minister Zhao thinking about?”

“Thinking about Your Majesty.”

Zhao Ze once again spoke without thinking, leaving both of them stunned. Zhao Ze’s ears grew red and he hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

Xiang Han swiftly dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs with a burning face. But mostly, he was furious.

He could not hold himself back and thought, very good, Zhao Ze. Going on blind dates and YY-ing the Emperor, don’t tell me you are intending to marry a wife and the monarch?

“Minister Zhao, one must be single-minded. Don’t commit the taboo of peering into the pot while eating from a bowl[1],” He said angrily.

Hearing this, Zhao Ze’s heart thumped with frenzy. He could not help but wonder, What is His Majesty trying to say? Could it be that he knew the matter of his mother bringing him to look at women?

Thinking of how the Little Emperor had urgently summoned him back to the palace even though there were no pressing matters to discuss, a small ray of hope ignited in his heart. He raised his head and boldly asked, “Is Your Majesty aware that this Minister was home to…”

“Your family matters, why would Zhen know?” Xiang Han immediately denied.

Watching him deny so frantically, Zhao Ze was even more sure of his guess and purposely asked, “This minister had thought it was the people from the manor who informed Your Majesty.”

Xiang Han finally came to a realisation. His men had gone to the Zhao manor, so whether he knew of Zhao Ze’ matter or not was very normal, but he had anxiously denied it. That was too abnormal, making it  look as though he had been trying to cover it up, which only made the situation worse.

He touched his forehead in annoyance, wanting to muddle over this matter, but Zhao Ze did not intend on giving him this opportunity. He continued to pursue, “Could it be that Your Majesty also minds today’s matters? So, your heart actually has…”

“Zhao Ze,” Xiang Han hurriedly interrupted him before he calmly continued, “There are some words that you should think twice before saying.”

Zhao Ze was even more sure that His Majesty held him in his heart. He slowly stepped away from the desk and walked step-by-step towards the other man before kneeling down. With an expression that made one difficult to reject, he said, “Your Majesty, this minister is extremely clear. No matter what kind of words may come, let this minister face it all. Since you don’t like women and we have mutual feelings for each other, why don’t you try and follow your heart?”

Xiang Han’s hands were hidden behind his back and because Zhao Ze kept approaching, he was forced to continuously step backwards. When he heard this, he unconsciously froze. Looking into the pair of familiar eyes, he couldn’t help repeating, “Try it?”

“That’s right.” Zhao Ze was very firm before he took another step forward.

Xiang Han could only move back another step before he lost his balance and nearly slipped. Zhao Ze reached out and instantly grabbed ahold of his waist. Taking opportunity of their positions, he pushed Xiang Han down and both of them fell onto the ground.

Xiang Han’s eyes instantly widened and began to struggle desperately but Zhao Ze pinned his weak arms against the floor. In the next instance, he captured his lips.

This kiss was extremely intimate but gentle, slow and meticulous, sweeping over every inch. It was as if he wanted to invade every corner of the Little Emperor’s mouth.

Even if he had experienced two worlds, Xiang Han was still nevertheless enraptured. It didn’t take long for him to become giddy from the kiss and his tongue had long gone numb, even responding unconsciously.

Having received a response, Zhao Ze’s heartbeat sped up and his kisses became more passionate. His hands easily slipped into the trousers beneath the dragon robes. Xiang Han abruptly woke up and swiftly turned his head, struggling with all his might.

Zhao Ze also finally regained his senses and realised that he had lost control. He hurriedly retrieved his hands and gasped for air above the Little Emperor’s body as he did his best to rein in his desire.

Xiang Han wanted to evade the warm spray of breaths beside his ear but his efforts were futile. Something hard was pressing against his inner thighs, scaring him frozen.

Based on his past experience, if he were to struggle now...Heavens, this was a place for meetings and discussions. Anyone could request for an audience anytime.

Xiang Han was on the verge of crumbling as he hardened his scalp to say, “Zhao-Zhao Ze, do you know that what you are doing right now is extremely disrespectful?”

It was just that his gasps were unsteady after the kiss and his tone carried a hint of lust that had yet to fade. His words simply lacked any threat and was even filled with seduction.

The desire that had just been calmed instantly raised its head once more. Zhao Ze could not stop himself from throwing himself onto the Little Emperor’s body and grinding against him.

Xiang Han shivered and his scalp felt a burst of numbness. Zhao Ze took a moment to catch his breath, his gaze fixed on the other man as he said, “Your Majesty, you obviously have feelings for this minister and even responded just now. Why is it that once you regain a bit of clarity, you need to reject me?”

“That is…” Because of the previous two... fine, he’d admit it. He did like it, but what about the task?

Xiang Han did his best to avoid the piercing gaze as he asked in his consciousness, [Little Nine, what happens if I fail the mission?]

The System was silent.

[Stop playing dead, I know you guys can definitely hear what I’m saying.] Afterall, he had changed the settings of the censorship once.

System, [Cough, cough. Normally, this will result in the collapse of the story world. But Mr. Xiang, you don’t have to worry. Before the world collapse, I will definitely pull you back out.]

[If it collapse… it won’t affect…that person, right?] Xiang Han asked with hesitation.

[There won’t be any problems, he will be sent into the next world.] Big A explained in system’s place.

Xiang Han slowly relaxed and when he turned his head back once more, Zhao Ze was still staring at him with a gaze full of expectations, apprehension, restlessness...and other countless emotions in the mix. This pressure made him nearly unable to breathe.

Xiang Han took a deep breath and used all his strength to escape from his line of sight and wiped his damp palms nervously, “I guess we can...try it.”

The moment he said it, he shut his eyes and awaited for the changes in the world.

One second, two seconds...

His surroundings was as quiet as ever apart from Zhao Ze’s increasingly heavy breaths.

Xiang Han silently opened his eyes and before he could observe his surroundings, his was engulfed in a tight hug and firmly pushed into Zhao Ze’s embrace.

“Your Majesty, t-this minister…” His voice was filled with inconcealable agitation as he stuttered.

Xiang Han was instantly overwhelmed by his breath and struggled, “Zhen-Zhen is going to be suffocated by you…”

Zhao Ze hurriedly released his grip and saw the Little Emperor’s crown had become crooked and his hair messy. His damp eyes had faint traces of red and tears as he stared furiously at him.

Zhao Ze was unable to restrain the smile at his lips, only feeling that the Little Emperor was adorable beyond words.

He stepped forward and took hold of the Little Emperor’s crown, saying softly, “Your Majesty, let this minister help you rearrange your hair.”

Xiang Han unwillingly nodded and complained, “Isn’t it all your fault?”

Zhao Ze quickly nodded, but his heart was filled his honey-like sweetness. He took his time helping the Little Emperor rearrange his crown before leaning forward and stealing another kiss.

Xiang Han immediately reached out to block him, glaring angrily at him before he left with a wave of his sleeves.

Zhao Ze only treated it as the Little Emperor having been embarrassed into anger, and swiftly chased after him with apologies.

Xiang Han walked out of the palace and looked towards the sky. There was no changes, the palace maids and eunuchs were at their positions as usual. After confirming that the world did not appear to be collapsing, Xiang Han sighed in relief and nodded as he repeated, “Okay, we can try it.”

Unlike his apprehension earlier, his eyes were now filled with mirth and his expression extremely relaxed.

The corners of Zhao Ze’s lips rose and happiness flashed through his eyes. If only there weren’t any one else around them, he would have directly embraced the Little Emperor and savoured this hard-to-obtain bliss.

The two people stood together for a while, and when he finally regained his senses, Xiang Han seemed to suddenly remember something. His brows unconsciously dipped.

His expression cooled as he swept a gaze of Zhao Ze and unhappily said, “Follow Zhen.”

Zhao Ze was stunned. The Little Emperor had clearly been in a good mood earlier, why did he suddenly become so cold?

Xiang Han returned to the palace and directly sat on the higher platform. He instructed, “Close the door.”

Zhao Ze could not understand but he still suppressed his uneasiness. After closing the door, he saw that the palace was rather dark and then lit a candle before walking towards Xiang Han.

Xiang Han angrily pushed him away and pointed towards the lower seat, “Minister Zhao , don’t tell me that you have forgotten your own position?”

Zhao Ze’s heart thumped. The Little Emperor’s tone...was not good, ah.

***

T/n: I feel that there is a play on words here when Xiang Han took a seat on the higher platform(上方) and told Zhao Ze to remember his own position and go sit on the lower seat(下首). The lower seat(下首) is homophonic to Bottom Shou which makes me think that the author is implying their positions during s*x. And since XH has always been trying to top…

Hope yall had a great thanksgiving~

[1] eating from the bowl and looking at the pot: to overstep one’s boundaries and be greedy for more.

---