*edited: combined original chapter 10 with added stuff because this is how chapter 10 was supposed to go.

"Do you happen to like Tao as well?"

Lu Han glared at Kris, eyes widened dramatically and hands clenched tightly on the table. The former immediately averted his gaze, anywhere away from the exchange student's sight. Lu Han slowly shook his head, obvious that he was gritting his teeth when the thick veins on his neck shown.

"I knew it…" Kris murmured under his breath.

"You've been trying so hard to make me give up, because you like Tao."

"…"

"So why don't you back down?" Lu Han raises his voice, the rim of his eyes turning red.

"So why don't you just get the hell back to Canada? I have been waiting for more than two years, but who the hell do you are, marching in here and making him like you in less than two days?" Kris realizes that he had been lifted and harshly pushed against the noticeboard, the edges painfully digging into his back. "I warned you, ing . I have warned you so many ing times to leave him alone, but you just decided to push that limit, didn't you?"

For a soft-looking guy like Lu Han — he sure as hell packed a load of weight in a punch.

"ing foreigners think they could waltz in and steal —"

So the next punch that lands on his abdomen hurt more than it should, probably because Kris has never gotten punched before, or —

"— being good looking doesn't give you the ing upper hand, motherer!"

Wow.

That kick in his guts.

Shouldn't someone be pulling Lu Han away now?

Or was it really just a major conspiracy to kill him today?

Kris doesn't even register the fact that he had fallen onto his knees, the other boy no longer supporting onto him. The punches still continued to rain down on him a couple more times, before Lu Han got pulled away by the physical education teacher. He thinks his face is sort of swollen? Not that he could see or feel a thing now that his entire body was basically numb. Less than a week into the trip and he'd already made his student host punch him till he literally couldn't speak. The kick which settled itself on his guts earlier was causing a bigger trouble than the fists, and Kris was groaning and spitting out saliva which kept forming in his mouth. Weird that the saliva tasted a little like blood. Was it blood?

Well, not that Kris would find out anyways.










Jia Heng had taken notice that Imperial Noble Consort Huang's jade was no where to be found. It was neither on her dresser, nor her bed. He raged — was it stolen? Did the undertaker leave it on her when they had her body prepared for burial? The old maid who was the sole witness of the murder was brought in, questioned by the Emperor himself.

"Your humble maid, Meng Ning at her last service, Your Majesty." she says in her feeble voice, slightly bowing.

"You may rise." Jia Heng took a step forward, "I will only ask you once, so listen carefully."

The old maid nodded — something she would never have dared to do so if she was in her younger days.

The Emperor cleared his throat, a hand reached out to swipe his robe back. "Did you happen to see a piece of jade of Imperial Noble Consort Huang's body before she was taken away? The Imperial Doctor had also told me that there was no child in my beloved's body. I am sure that you were the only one there, before the other maids rushed in. I was told that they did not know what had happened — would you care to explain?"

Meng Ning smiled, the wrinkles crinkling on her face and showed the side-effects after years of living.

"If you may, please follow me, Your Majesty. I have sworn to secrecy with Imperial Noble Consort Huang, that your humble servant shall only share of this news to the Emperor when he asks of." she bows once again, weak in her knees.

He stares at the old maid suspiciously, only to agree when he decides that it was only his beloved, who could think of such ways. Jia Heng murmurs a soft 'take the lead,' before threading behind Meng Ning, his guards left behind in the court.

The walk to the retiring chambers for the maids was eight lis away, and the place was surprisingly neat for somewhere which houses more than a hundred palace maids. The trailing Emperor was thrown aback when he was led to a wall, only for Meng Ning to pull away the drapes beside it, showing a narrow entrance. She beckoned the man over, telling him to stay extra quiet, and to follow her as she slowly walked into secret chamber.

It was a short walk with a couple of turns here and there, and the small tunnel ended with a red curtain at the end. The maid lifted the other set of drapes, and gently walked in, footsteps getting lighter as she smiled as a particular space before the piece of red cloth fell back into its place. Jia Heng soon followed suit, pushing the curtain aside.

"What…" he gasped.

It was a re-creation of the red chamber.

"What is this pla—" Jia Heng was cut off when he had heard the shrill cry of a baby, only to stop moments after a soft feminine voice starting singing.

The Emperor drew in a sharp breath, turning to look at the compassionate smile Meng Ning had on her face.

'Go ahead,' she mouthed.

In hasty but silenced footsteps, he approached the beautifully sewn silk-covered platform. Every step he took towards partitioned chamber made his heart pound even harder in his chest. The Emperor doesn't bother to lift the drapes; letting the red sheet of silk slide past his robe — eyes momentarily shut as the side flew a little with the breeze. The suffocating feel around his neck accelerates at the speed of lightning when he hears a soft gasp on the mattress.

The Emperor doesn't hesitate to drop onto his knees, and let his tears fall when he sees Zi Yu nestling a child in her arms.

"My Lord…" she whimpers, her dulcet voice ringing in his ears.

Zi Yu turned rigid — the child in her embrace started wailing as his mother had ceased to lull him back asleep.

"B-But you were murdered by the previous First Consort…"

How was this possible?

"Zi Yu… was indeed stabbed on the back by First Consort Xiongnu. However, Meng Ning had found Zi Yu in time, and managed to aid in the birth of Yu Heng." she turns to look at the fragile child, a gentle smile present on her lips as he squirms in his sleep.

"My Lord, please do not think that Zi Yu is being selfish…!" the mother of Jia Heng's first born hurried to add on, "I… just did not want to put Yu Heng at harm anymore. Zi Yu… is nothing but a mere commoner, and to be taken to the likings of The Emperor, is something that Zi Yu has never dreamt of — not even in my wildest dreams. For someone with Zi Yu's background, all one would want was for a marriage to a man whom I could rely on and take care… However, Zi Yu knows that if I was to continue staying with the rest of the ladies for The Emperor, Yu Heng would ultimately come to harm. All a mother could want for a child… is for them to grow up safely, and watch them marry happily.

"Your Majesty, please do not harm Yu Heng if you are angry at Zi Yu's choice. Zi Yu understands that a day when The Emperor would find out, and eventually will no longer care for someone as plain as your female servant. Please, if you wish to punish anyone, that person has to be Zi Yu, for I have been nothing but a greedy person only caring for my child's interest — but please, on the account that we were once in love, please take care of Yu Heng. Zi Yu is not asking for much, but only for Your Majesty to let an innocent life live what he has been born to do. On the account that Yu Heng is your child, Your Majesty." Zi Yu cradled Yu Heng even tighter, her silken robes flowing with every movement she took.

The Emperor lets out a loud and broken sigh, his tears staining his cheeks as he stood up, to only sit back down on the bed.

"Why do you look so afraid of me?" he sobbed, hands reaching out to cup her cheeks.

"Zi Yu…" Jia Heng whispers, petrified that all he has been seeing the entire time, was nothing but an illusion.

"My beloved, please…" he pleaded, "Please do not be afraid of me. I am still the same man you met back in the village — still the same man whom you loved."

"First Consort Chen is extremely beautiful, and I wish the both of you the happiness Your Majesty deserves… The child that The Queen is carrying will be very beautiful as well." Zi Yu whispered, a forced smile plastered on her face all the while her tears started to fall.

"No. No! Zi Yu, you have to understand, I do not love Chen Fei. It was an obligated task for me to marry her — please, anything, but please don't turn me away! I have been dwelling in sadness for close to a year, and now that I have finally seen you… Please, don't…"

Zi Yu sobbed quietly as the child in her arms continued stirring, his little hands softly tapping on her cheeks. She could not help but cry even harder when Jia Heng reached out to pull her into an embrace; the familiar warmth was all so nostalgic. The Emperor smelled just the same — the scent of his cherrywood desk and the slight fragrance of the rosella tea he drank for the pangs of pain. Zi Yu shifted and pulled away when Yu Heng started struggling, his light cries filling the space, shooting The Emperor right in his heart.

This is his child.

The child he has never gotten to meet.

"…Yu Heng…" he tested the waters.

"My child…"

"My son!" Jia Heng choked out as Zi Yu stretched out her arms and passed the bundled form to him.

"Yes, My Lord. Yu Heng is your child. The jade which you have given to me, has been passed down to my only son. I only hope that with the promise of a jade, Yu Heng will be able to find a woman who loves him deeply, like the way I do for Your Majesty. I do not wish for him to be known to the public, and that is why Zi Yu has been hiding Yu Heng."

The Emperor sighed once again and nodded. "On one condition — you shall move back into the Red Chamber. I can no longer stand a moment away from you, for a second is like eternity."

"But Your Majesty! First Consort Chen is staying in the Red Chamber, and Zi Yu ca—"

"She is staying in the Pink Chamber. I did not allow anyone to step into the Red Chamber after the news of your death had been spread. It was the only thing I had left of you, and no one was to take that away." he exhaled, face contorted to a grateful expression. "I kept your writings in a pouch, and brought it along with me wherever I went. I was always thinking about the 'Zi' and 'Tao' which you wrote, and the piece of my heart that you continued holding captive of, 'Heng'. I had my 'Yu' hung on the top of the Red Chamber's door, so I would never forget about you.

And now that you are back, I will hang the jade on the sheath of my sword, for it is the reason why I fell in love with you. Now that you are back… The late Empress Dowager no longer has to worry about me not finding my second love in heaven — for my first and only love had never disappeared."










"—ris!"

"Why the are all of you shouting?" he retorts, hand rubbing his forehead in an attempt to sooth the migraine.

", dude! We heard what happened! That girly dude really dude some in, didn't he?" Henry cautiously said.

" off. Both of you, off. I feel hella' sick and neither of your bugging is making things better. Get the out!"

Kris sighs when Amber and Henry leaves the infirmary, their shoes shuffling on the floor and soft mumblings drifted around till the door slid shut. It feels sort of awkward to see his jacket be covered in blood — and to know that he's really just a weak and useless bastard. Still, knowing the fact that Lu Han (that ing rat) likes Zi Tao actually makes him queasy.

Also…

What the was that dream he had about the same female again?

His head throbbed with every second of thinking, and the image of Huang Zi Yu just kept popping up in his mind. It’s not that similar dreams have never happened before, but it is different this time. It was just vivid. Every single facial expression of hers was burned into the back of his eyes, and her voice was replaying themselves in his ears.

In the dreams, Kris was always the man Huang Zi Yu was speaking to, and she seemed to treat him with so much love and adoration only sparkled in her eyes. Whenever they exchanged glances, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was the woman he had once loved. Was she the reason why he could not find himself settling down? There was never a comparison though, since most of the girls in school were as great as the entire state gets. Or that a young Chinese boy had just walked into his life during his student exchange program (despite all it took was a simple glance over), and since then, all Kris could ever do was to wonder why did Zi Tao’s every movement seem to throw him off tasks.

Kris wouldn’t ever lie about the fact that the young boy was beautiful. He was lanky, yes, but the way his jet black hair had been styled to fit him so faultlessly was wondrous (in any case, it could’ve just been Zi Tao’s bed hair and Kris wouldn’t even care). Kris gets that little tingle up his spine when he thinks back of how perfectly their lips fitted together, and how adorable Zi Tao had been when he had to tip-toe for the kiss, when Kris had already tried to bend a little lower to accommodate the height difference.

The warmth that was shared between the both of them was just what he had needed with this cold weather, and just somehow, it didn’t fail to bring him back to reality — that Kris was almost killed by a very jealous effeminate-looking boy. It wasn’t his fault just because Zi Tao had obviously made his choice between the both of them, even though Lu Han had known him for years, whereas Kris had ‘waltzed in and stole their people away’ within two days. The main point was that Lu Han was right, and agreeing with him was hard enough. So even if Kris does end up getting together with Zi Tao, how were they going to work this out? Both of them had a life outside of this —whatever they were sharing— and it doesn’t involve the other.

Another ten days was all they had, and Kris was pretty sure that eating together with Zi Tao during lunch was now out of the question. Lu Han that bastard was going to watch every step he took to make sure they didn’t get any closer than they were now.

Under surveillance, that’s what it really meant.

The stupid exchange program only got tier by the minute when Mr. Cobbingweb entered the infirmary. Was it even supposed to come off as a surprise when Kris receives the news that he was to be exchanging hosting families with Marcus? If it was, then it sure as hell didn’t affect him that much. If he could say, it was more of a pleasant accident, when Lu Han had beaten the out of him. Even so, Kris was glad that his parents had not insisted on wanting him back in Canada, despite knowing of the conflict. God, if news of him getting pummeled got spread around back in Vancouver, Kris might as well start on his death will.

Then again, he doesn’t know which was worst — getting publicly humiliated, or the fact that he was probably never going to meet Tao for the remaining ten days they were supposed to be here. If Kris was lucky, the new family he was allocated to might stay somewhere near to the younger boy. Maybe it would be all dramatic, and he finds out that they were actually neighbors. This way, Lu Han wouldn’t be able to stop them from meeting the other then. As juvenile and naïve a wish it was, Kris couldn't help but holding onto that little hope; he wasn't asking for much — even a tiny glimpse of Zi Tao was fine.








If only the kiss had lasted a couple of seconds longer…








And if only his hands had held onto the other that much tighter…








Kris didn’t think he was prepared enough to face this situation he was currently in. When the hell did Zi Tao even slip in without him knowing?

“I have heard from Yi Xing. That you were involved in a fight with Lu Han…” he twiddles the hem of his sweater with his thumbs. “Is that true?”

It probably wasn’t that good of an idea to straight out admit, but how was everything his fault? Lu Han was the one who had been picking a bone with him over everything Kris did. The day where they cleared things up was bound to come — even though it had arrived nine days too early. It would have been much better if they had started this on the last two days, by then Kris would have had things sorted out. He ends up nodding anyway, hesitantly looking over to the fidgeting boy.

“You should not have done so. No matter what, you have only been here for barely a week, and Lu Han is very popular around.”

Zi Tao’s words had hit straight home; reminding Kris that he was merely nothing but a high school student on his culture exchange program.

“Lu Han is the captain of the soccer team. He has many friends and can make your life very miserable—”

Smart, athletic and good-looking. Did someone call for the exact opposite of Kris (smart and athletic, that is) to wreck his time even in China?

“Even if you are angry at him, please do not blame him. I have known Lu Han for many years—“

Way to rub it in!

“—And he is someone with a very hot temper. I am sure if the both of you can work things out, everything would be fi—” the flustered boy says, fists clenched at his sides.

For a moment, Kris thinks that he shouldn’t be letting the cat out of the bag, but listening to Tao repeat a name that wasn’t his… It was as though someone had stabbed him in the chest, only to stop a few millimeters away from his heart.

…

Suffocating… Was that the word? The way he spoke of Lu Han’s name was affectionate, and if it wasn’t hurting enough, Zi Tao had seemed to be wanting Kris to apologize, not for the both of them to make up, but for the sake of appeasing that son of a .

“You.” Kris mutters.

Zi Tao had stopped speaking, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he inhaled sharply. “What?”

Kris sat up, a dull ache gnawing into his sides while he fluffed up the hard pillow. “We fought over you.” He threw the thin blanket over his legs before laying down on the bed once again.

“Did you know that Lu Han likes you?” Kris chuckled at that, “It’s pathetic enough that I get called out as a ert, and to think I have been here for only such a short period of time.”

“ert?”

“Your friend, Lu Han… He thinks that I am getting close to you for reasons.”

Zi Tao only gasps in shock when his ability to think kicks in, that no, the biggest he surprise was not that Kris was labeled as a ert, but Lu Han likes him? How was it possible? The both of them have been together ever since he had turned six, and there was never a sign. Never in his right mind would he have thought of Lu Han in a way other than brotherly affections, and so should the latter be thinking in the same way! There was no way Zi Tao could ever view Lu Han in the same light as… Kris… just because he doesn’t feel the same way. As in, sure, Lu Han was a really good looking person, but he just doesn’t make Zi Tao want to throw himself into the pits of fire whenever he was caught staring.

He takes a step back, and eventually makes a run for it. Zi Tao doesn’t even know where his feet were taking him to, but all he knew was that he couldn’t possibly stay in the infirmary for another second. The stifling tension between the both of them was so thick, that if you ran a knife through the air, small white wisps of awkwardness might just float out. Most importantly, something that bugged the hell out of him was that Lu Han had actually beaten Kris up — the same person who would for the non-existent crushes Zi Tao had.

There was just this small part of him which was telling him that there was no way Lu Han would do that, and maybe Kris was trying to fool around. Then again, the attraction between them was undeniable, but just what was really going on? One moment, he was still leading the same boring life he had been for the past few years, and the next, a foreign exchange student appears and takes all the boredom away, replacing it with confusion and a peculiar feeling which constantly made its appearance during the latter’s presence.

It wasn’t exactly all that of a happy moment when Lu Han had grabbed onto his arm, and the scrutiny he felt under the piercing gaze was painful. In all honesty, Zi Tao had only seen his friend getting mad (enough to even think of throwing punches) once. That being the captain of the basketball team fooling around, asking Zi Tao if he was free the next Saturday, and if he was, they could possibly hang out. It barely took Lu Han two minutes to start a fight, on the basis that Tao was just too young, and no one was around to supervise them both. The older boy had always been protective of him ever since they were young, so it was all rather normal in his own eyes.

“Why?” Lu Han seethed, his grip on Zi Tao’s arm growing tighter.

“Did you kiss him because he forced you to? Tell me,” he gritted both sets of his teeth together, “I do not believe that you were willing at that point, Tao.”

It took Zi Tao seconds to recompose himself, inhaling a deep breath and twisting his hands to loosen the grip Lu Han had on him. “But the truth is, I did kiss him. I like him, Lu Han.”

“You like him?” Lu Han spat, “That ing bastard has only been here for two days, and you like him already? Did he put some voodoo on you or something?”

“Lu Han! Why are you so rude? I—” he trails off, breathing hard with nervousness. “I just… feel… something between us.”

“You are only fifteen, Zi Tao! What kind of feeling can it be? You are at the age of your youth, and I am sure it will go away soon, so please—”

“Lu Han ge—!”

No.

No.

It was an entirely different feeling when Lu Han grabbed onto the back of Zi Tao’s head, puling him up for the kiss he had been waiting for the longest time. He feels the struggle Tao puts up, palms pushing against his chest hard, but it eventually died off, fingers were digging into his shirt when Lu Han slid his hands around the younger boy’s waist. “I like you,” Lu Han muttered breathless into the kiss, lips parting for air while Zi Tao had his freed arms wrapped around the older boy’s neck.

“I like you so, so much.” Lu Han continued whispering, pulling away and moving to pepper kisses along Zi Tao’s jawline, on the skin close to his ear.

“He doesn’t deserve you like I do…”

“I have been waiting for this moment for years…”

“God, please just let me be the one.”

“Let me be the one whom you look at.”

“Only me, Tao. Only me…” the soft, lingering kisses Lu Han placed were trailing down to Zi Tao’s neck, slowly getting aggressive with each audible gasp the younger let out.

“Please,” Lu Han pleaded, his lips stopping their ministrations.

“I am not like him — I don’t have to leave you!”

And Zi Tao thinks he was the bravest at that very second, when he had finally calmed his racing heart and realized what had just happened. He doesn’t try to run for the second time, but opted to let his tears fall and his head to lay on Lu Han’s shoulder as he cried.

--
school compound make out session yaaasssss.
sorry for the late update btw lol
thank you for reading!
If you have enjoyed reading my historical story, do give Checkmate: The Emperor's Last Wish some love :D

it is 3.11AM, and I shall sleep. Will check for errors tomorrow afternoon morning.