Chapter 17

Rong Tang’s lunch was served in Wang Fei’s courtyard.

Originally, he was very dissatisfied with Rong Mingyu’s arrangements, but when he stepped into Wang Xiuyu’s courtyard and saw the maids and servants bearing the gift lists to show the Wang Fei, Rong Tang’s spirit immediately revitalised.

On the surface, this wedding between him and Su Huaijing is a warding off*, but privately, each is taking what they need. To be more selfish, Rong Tang is raising a paper Boyboy.

(*TN: a wedding arranged for one or one’s immediate family member who is dangerously ill, in hopes that the wedding would ward off imminent death.)

At the moment, he isn’t lacking in money, and Duke Ningxuan’s Palace doesn’t lack money for him. Naturally, Rong Tang wants to spend as much gold as he wants. If there is any ranking here, he will definitely make Su Huaijing spend until he becomes number one.

The level of abandon not only shocked the servants, but even Wang Xiuyu, who dotes on him to no end, can’t help frowning: “Enough, enough; the betrothal gifts are already more than excessive.”

Rong Tang is still dissatisfied and acts spoiled: “Mother, please include the pair of jade ruyi* that my yimu bestowed on me the year before last.”

(*TN: an S-shaped ornamental object, a symbol of power and good fortune)

Wang Xiuyu is being pestered helplessly by him, so she pats his hand gently and scolds him in jest: “Those who know might say you want to marry a wife, but for those who don’t know, it might seem that you are marrying a Buddha home to provide for. You want to give him all the best.”

“It is literally to provide for him.” Rong Tang muttered softly.

Wang Xiuyu didn’t hear clearly: “What?”

“It’s nothing.” Rong Tang smiled, his eyes roaming over several gift lists.

There are four sheets of red paper, each one unfurling from the table down to the floor. Rong Tang thought about it and said, “Mother, those estates in Longxi——”

“Hold it.” Wang Xiuyu glared at him. “The annual income of those estates in Longxi goes directly to your private treasury. I don’t care how much money you want to give him from your private treasury. Don’t even think about giving away the estates directly.”

Having been seen through at a glance, Rong Tang’s neck shrank, and he fell resentfully silent.

Wang Xiuyu coaxed him again: “The wedding garments have been completed and will be delivered tomorrow. Do you want to take a look at them together first or send them directly to the Su residence?”

Rong Tang paused a little, blinked, and abruptly realises that he’s forgotten something very important.

Although Dayu permits same-sex marriage, same-sex wedding ceremonies with grand feasts and family entries in the genealogy are still quite rare among the high-ranking families. At least in his previous two lifetimes, Rong Tang has never witnessed one.

He has no idea what wedding garments look like!

He turned pale just thinking about the image of Su Huaijing wearing a phoenix coronet and an embroidered tasselled cape. Wang Xiuyu noticed his expression and panicked. She held Rong Tang’s hand and asked softly, “Tang’er, what’s going on?”

Rong Tang steadies himself and asks, “Mother, I forgot to ask you, what does Su Huaijing’s wedding garment look like?”

There was an imperceptible tremor in his voice. Wang Xiuyu is confused: “Didn’t the embroiderer show you the style? It’s red-crowned cranes facing clouds.”

When Rong Tang heard the name, his mind made a sketch of it, and he blinks: “It’s not going to be the phoenix coronet and embroidered tasselled cape?”

“What are you thinking?!” Wang Xiuyu scolds him, “Since when has a man taking a husband worn a phoenix coronet and embroidered tasselled cape?”

Rong Tang: “It’s not a skirt either?”

This time, Wang Xiuyu threw him a bizarre look: “If you want a skirt, Mother can ask the embroiderer to change it—”

“No need, no need!” Rong Tang’s longing for survival stopped her. “Don’t change it!”

Wang Xiuyu smiled and patted his hand. “Don’t worry, the ones chosen for him are of quality material and superior styles. I won’t offend your little lover.”

She rendered Rong Tang speechless, and he blushed. He drawled, “Mother——”

Wang Xiuyu suddenly has an idea: “Then, we won’t let you see it and have it sent directly to his home. If the size doesn’t fit, the embroiderer can alter it on the spot. You’ll get a surprise on your wedding day.”

Since it isn’t a skirt, Rong Tang is reassured and doesn’t feel embarrassed being teased by his original owner’s mother. He smiled and helped Wang Xiuyu tidy up for a while before she drove him back to take a nap.

Rong Tang walked slowly towards Tanghua Courtyard while enjoying the warm spring sun. He passed by a pond, grabbed a handful of fish food, and fed the koi before returning to the small courtyard.

Not long after, Shuang Shou came back. He hurried over to greet him upon seeing him: “Young Master.”

Rong Tang asked, “You’ve conveyed the message?”

“Yes, Young Master Su didn’t say anything,” Shuang Shou said.

Rong Tang paused in his step. He turned back to glance at Shuang Shou and repeated in a dangerous tone, “Didn’t say anything?”

“He didn’t say anything aaa.” Shuang Shou is slow on the uptake, and Shuang Fu gave him a whack.

Rong Tang discreetly let out a snort. The safety talisman is still in the pouch at his side. He flattened it as if to vent his anger.

Heartless. For crying out loud, he even campaigned all morning for his benefits, to the extent that he actually wanted to transfer the estates to his name.

He’s quite something—upon hearing that he is being confined in the palace, he doesn’t say a word.

Rong Tang feels a little unhinged. He suppressed his thoughts and asked Shuang Shou another question: “Did you hear anything new when you were in the streets today?”

Shuang Shou ushers him into the house and pours him a cup of tea.

Rong Tang took a sip and frowned a little.

He is someone who doesn’t like sweet things, but he doesn’t have the habit of drinking tea in the modern era. He likes to drink carbonated beverages and juice when he is studying. After studying, aside from tea, he only drinks plain, boiled water.

It doesn’t taste good, to be honest. But wealthy people can’t help but drink tea.

Remarkably, Su Huaijing’s tea is to his liking. Rong Tang’s tastes have become so picky that it’s like he’s gone back in time overnight and can only drink the bitter tea from the palace.

Rong Tang is a little vexed, thinking that this little brat has done it on purpose.

If not, don’t just give him the small tin of tea leaves. Even if you’re giving, you actually measured enough for exactly six days. And knowing that he likes to drink it, Su Huaijing didn’t think to give Shuang Shou another tin for him to bring back when he went to his place today.

Infuriated, Rong Tang put the tea cup on the table. He didn’t realise that his force had been too great, causing tea to spill out of the cup.

He looked at Shuang Shou and said, “You speak.”

Shuang Fu is a little shocked on the inside, but Shuang Shou acts as if he hasn’t seen it and recounts to Rong Tang what happened in the city these few days.

Firstly, the imperial guards committed a crime.

Rong Tang suppressed his emotions—important matters took precedence. He asks, “What happened?”

Shuang Shou explains that there are a total of twenty-four imperial guard teams responsible for security patrols in the city. Among them, the captain of the third squad is Ding Laibao, the only son of General Ding Weishan of the Left Vanguard, Imperial Guards.

Ding Laibao is a playboy and doesn’t do anything productive. Owing to his father’s merits, he enjoys a life of luxury since birth and received an easy job as a captain on the patrol team. However, he does evil every day, bullying the merchants.

The merchants in the capital have been silently resenting him for a long time, but he doesn’t know how to exercise restraint. The incident that Shuang Shou mentioned today happened over a month ago and has only recently surfaced.

They said that it had been a cold winter last year. Some farmers couldn’t endure past the winter solstice and had died of hunger. The farmer’s daughter had gone to the streets to sell herself in order to bury her father. She’d been spotted by a young man from a merchant family who’d come out to study. He felt pity for her and wanted to buy her back to serve as a maid for his mother. However, Ding Laibao happened to be passing by, and seeing the girl’s beauty, evil thoughts emerged in his heart. Without a word, he abducted the girl in broad daylight.

If someone else had done it, they would suffer dire consequences. Even the emperor himself might face severe repercussions. Not only did Ding Laibao get away with it, he actually succeeded in abducting her.

He nabbed the girl back to his house, but her father’s body was thrown on the street without any care. The girl was violated in his house for three days. When she was released, there wasn’t a single part of her body that was good. Upon returning to the place where she sold herself to bury her father, she saw that her father’s body was still there. What remained were only a few bones that hadn’t been eaten clean by wild dogs.

The girl was so mournful that she returned to slam her head to death in front of General Xiaowei’s mansion.

It wasn’t until the first day of the third month, when the school closed for rest, did the young man hear about this incident. Filled with grief and indignation, he straightaway reported it to the capital’s magistrate office. Ding Laibao is currently being detained for investigation.

The second matter is based on hearsay—ungrounded and unsubstantiated.

Apparently, a group of warriors have arrived from outside the city. The warriors have studied under a master from outside and taken it as their duty to uphold justice in the world. They come from the south and struck terror into corrupt officials and tyrant gentry wherever they went. Certain officials who’ve transgressed and mistreated righteous citizens faced execution by warriors within their domains, and the ill-gotten riches of their families were distributed among the populace. As such, they are quite loved and respected by the people. There are even some small counties in the south where the people have spontaneously erected temples promoting their virtues and good deeds.

It just so happens that during the incident of Ding Laibao forcibly seizing a common woman, resulting in her death, there were quite a few voices in the capital city hoping that the warriors would capture Ding Laibao.

Once Rong Tang listened to these two matters, he was taken aback for a moment, and then felt an indescribable tremor surge in his heart.

At the side, the system heard everything. It was silent for a long time and then imperceptibly said, [Host, I know how you lost in the past two lives.]

[He really understands you.]

Rong Tang took a sip of tea to suppress the emotions in his heart and calm his thoughts.

This first incident hadn’t been disclosed in his previous two lives. General Ding Weishan of the Left Vanguard of the Imperial Guards sat securely in his general’s chair until the end of this year. However, it wasn’t until the following autumn that Su Huaijing employed some means to pull him down from his position due to an incident where he blocked the Second Prince’s path.

But in this life, he hadn’t expect that, in order to push Chen Feiyi before the emperor, not only did Su Huaijing fabricate a background for him to gain fame among the masses, but he’s also set about resolving Ding Weishan ahead of time.

If Rong Tang’s prediction is correct, Su Huaijing is inclined to let Chen Feiyi take over Ding Weishan’s position.

He originally thought his idea was brazen enough, but unexpectedly, Su Huaijing is even more tenacious.

How can you be so gutsy aaa… The emperor’s heart is unpredictable. One wrong step, and there’s no hope for reprieve.

Moreover, in this life, Su Huaijing doesn’t have the same kind relationship with the second prince as Qin Pengxuan does. How on earth did he convince him to heed and execute his plan?

Rong Tang is a little frustrated and unwittingly swallowed the tea in his mouth. He involuntarily furrowed his brows as he pondered: if it were himself, what would he be able to achieve?

The second public opinion battle is bound to happen, but the first…

Ding Laibao has committed atrocities for so many years. Just the fact that the person who reported the matter to the authorities is able to safely set foot into the capital’s magistrate’s office and take the matter to court is truly astonishing—let alone actually getting Ding Laibao arrested.

Rong Tang looked a bit bewildered. “The main antagonist didn’t have a growth process, did he?”

He is only seventeen years old. Why does Rong Tang feel that Su Huaijing is not very different from the nearly twenty-year-old Su Huaijing he met in his previous life?

He is terribly confused. His hazy brain drifted off into his afternoon nap, and as expected, he had a nightmare.

One moment he dreamt Su Huaijing had turned into a crane with long legs and neck, chasing after him and pecking him with its long and sharp beak. The next moment, he dreamt that the main villain who ascended the throne shackled him with a gold chain under the dragon throne. Rong Tang knelt on the ground. Su Huaijing smiled coldly in his dream, and his gaze was chilly enough to kill someone: “Indeed, who gave you the guts? Shamelessly boasting that you will marry me back home? Ng?”

Rong Tang broke into a sweat from the fright and felt that this dream was truly unreasonable.

Su Huaijing isn’t exactly the epitome of filial piety, but at the very least, he’s a genuinely good person. Since the last time Rong Tang returned from outside the city, he noticed there was a hint of turning dark after being strangled. Once he coaxed him back to his usual self, Su Huaijing has been surprisingly well-behaved and virtuous up until now.

Rong Tang silently despised himself: didn’t he just refuse to give you tea? As for thinking so badly of people?

After Rong Tang remonstrated, he sat on the bed and calmed down for a while. He plans to go to the study and copy the scriptures.

Once he stood up, he automatically picked up the tea cup on the table and took a sip to moisten his throat. However, he is confounded by its vague sweetness.

Rong Tang paused, holding the teacup a little further away, and looking around before taking another sip.

He tasted it right; this is Su Huaijing’s tea. He’s never tasted it anywhere else in all his lives.

Hasn’t he finished it all? Or has Shuang Fu actually been stashing some on the sly?

Uncertain, Rong Tang pushed open the door and went out. Shuang Shou is in the midst of making tea in the study, and the unique fragrance of tea from Yong’an Lane filled the room.

“This is…?” Rong Tang is somewhat bewildered.

Shuang Shou smiled at him: “Young Master, you should first go to the desk and take a look.”

Rong Tang is almost convinced that he is still in a dream and hasn’t woken up yet. Dumbfounded, he walks to the side of the desk and spots a letter beneath the paperweight.

The handwriting on the envelope is strong and powerful, like a graceful dragon, displaying an air of free and unrestrained elegance that Rong Tang might not be able to achieve despite a lifetime of practice.

[To be unsealed by Tangtang.]

Rong Tang picks up the envelope in a daze. He can still detect the fragrance of ink. It seems to have been just written today.

Shuang Shou said with a smile, “Young Master Su has specifically asked me to make you a pot of tea from our palace first. If the Young Master dislikes it, then I can brew Young Master Su’s tea. He gave me a huge jar, enough for us to drink until he enters our house!”

Rong Tang: “…And this letter?”

Shuang Shou: “Young Master Su said that Young Master is thin-skinned. If this subordinate does some things for you, I’m afraid you won’t want to see me for the next few days. Therefore, he asked me to wait while he personally wrote a letter for me to bring back to you.”

“Although he said to wait a while, I waited outside the study for a full stick of incense’s time!” Shuang Shou smiled like if he were about to marry a wife: “Young Master Su’s sincerity towards Young Master isn’t false at all!”

Rong Tang was befuddled for a long time. He twirls the envelope over and over in his hand and can’t figure out what Su Huaijing is playing at.

It wasn’t until Shuang Shou went out did Rong Tang tentatively open the letter and read four conspicuous words:

Tangtang, my husband——

Rong Tang withdrew the letter with a swish: “…F*ck!”

The author has something to say:

The answer is: Write a love letter! ! ! You little juice…