Chapter 32

The imperial rewards are all treasures, such as thousand-year-old ginseng, pearls from the East China Sea, and fully waxed deer antlers… The medicinal ingredients are so precious that Rong Tang suspects that Sheng Chengming pried into his Imperial Father’s treasure trove.

Rong Zheng didn’t explicitly say that Sheng Chengming had personally sent them. He only inadvertently mentioned a few words during their conversation, leaving a favourable impression on Rong Tang.

Rong Tang detained him until he’d drank half a cup of tea before all the boxes and gift lists were matched and moved into the small courtyard. After Rong Zheng left, Rong Tang stood anxiously in front of the warehouse.

Su Huaijing washed a bunch of grapes for him, handed one over, and asked, “Tangtang doesn’t like these?”

Rong Tang’s eyes moved from the boxes of medicinal ingredients to the green grapes. He swallowed them one by one, their sweet coolness relieving him of his drowsiness after waking up from his nap.

He shook his head. “I don’t like them.”

“Why?” Su Huaijing was taken back. He vividly remembered the sparkle in Rong Tang’s eyes whenever he obtained many insignificant items from Rong Zheng in the past. Why doesn’t he like it this time?

Rong Tang’s expression fell. “Bitter.”

Su Huaijing was stunned for a moment, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and then he couldn’t contain a burst of laughter.

Rong Tang glared at him accusingly. “Do you realise how many medicines I drink in a day? Soon, I’ll taste of the bitterness that I’ve been soaking in for so long!”

Had it not been for Shuang Fu’s diligent efforts to infuse sandalwood into his clothing and room every day, Rong Tang suspects that the bitter odour of the medicinal soup would permeate the air wherever he ventured outside.

Su Huaijing felt a little pang of distress when he hears his simple complaint. He moved his palm to Rong Tang’s mouth, caught the grape seeds he spat out, and said softly, “Once you’re healthy, you won’t need to take so many medicines.”

Rong Tang glanced up suspiciously and instantly realised that he seemed to have not been vigilant against the main villain for a long time!

When he first said that he wanted to marry Su Huaijing into his household, he explicitly disclosed him that he would not live for long and that most of his inheritance would be his after his death. The main villain has been so virtuous, kind, courteous, and magnanimous in the past few days since he got married to him that it makes Rong Tang want to give him some additional performance bonuses. He mustn’t let Su Huaijing suspect that he is deceiving him.

At this moment, the conversation came to a halt, and Rong Tang sensed it was the perfect opportunity to boost Su Huaijing’s morale.

Tilting his head, he coughed weakly twice, gathered the collar of his robe close, and says, “You believe I will get better eventually.”

Su Huaijing is stunned for a moment, and his eyebrows furrow a little. Rong Tang didn’t catch his expression. His gaze has shifted up to fix on the misty clouds in the sky. “No matter how effective the medicine is, it only prolongs my life. I won’t live for more than three or four years. By then, you…”

He paused, then continued sincerely: “While I’m still alive, the monthly stipend from the palace will be delivered to you. But you can’t exist solely on that. Take some time, as you’ll still need to purchase more properties so that there will be a monthly income. This way, even if I leave and you move out of the palace, you won’t be dependent on others like before.”

Su Huaijing: “…”

Rong Tang said it so dramatically that he even acted it out. In his mind, the system emitted an evil scoff. Just then, Rong Tang couldn’t figure out what it meant. He cast a bright-eyed look at Su Huaijing, filled with hopeful expectation that he would praise him.

Su Huaijing: “…”

Su Huaijing turned his head, took a deep breath, and tried his best to suppress his desire to cover Rong Tang’s mouth. Instead of looking at him, he summoned Shuang Fu, who happened to be passing by.

“Go and tell the steward of Song Garden that Prince Ningxuan’s old illness has relapsed. It is not advisable for him to go out at night to shield himself from to the cold wind. For the next few days, we shall be lighting a fire in our courtyard to cook in the evenings.”

Shuang Fu, without harbouring any doubts, turned around and left to carry out his instructions.

Rong Tang blinked. He doesn’t feel that his old illness has relapsed and asked, “I’m fine; why can’t we go out at night?”

Su Huaijing shot him a glance, entered the warehouse, and opens the medicinal ingredients that Rong Zheng had just sent. In his eyes, the imperial rewards seem mundane, so he scrupulously selected a piece of ginseng and coptis. His voice was cold: “I just suddenly remembered that previously at the palace, the doctor gave me a prescription that suits your symptoms. Since there happens to be medicinal ingredients here, I’ll decoct it for you to drink at night, and it’ll be good to nurse your health.”

Rong Tang: “???”

[Heh. ] The system sneered once more.

Rong Tang was so awfully confused by him that he straightaway stretched his arm out and grabbed Su Huaijing’s sleeve. His eyes were filled with panic and defiance against taking the medicine.

Su Huaijing’s mood improved a little; however, it was rare that he refused to indulge him. Instead, he said softly, “Tangtang, you’ve interpreted it wrongly.”

Rong Tang is puzzled: “What?”

Su Huaijing: “You’ve indeed relapsed.”

Rong Tang: “?”

“No one desires for their own death so fervently.” Su Huaijing explained in a warm tone, “If you keep doing this, I shall assume that you were lying to me before.”

He said softly, “I would think you actually had a mental illness.”

Rong Tang: “…”

Rong Tang: “!?”

Su Huaijing carried the medicinal ingredients to the small kitchen. Rong Tang stood there in bewilderment for a long time before he suddenly regained his senses and asked the system, “He’s scolding me, right?”

The system laughed most amiably: [You didn’t get the wrong impression, host.]

Rong Tang: “Why did he scold me?”

System: [Because you’re a little idiot, host.]

Rong Tang: “…”

Rong Tang was taciturn for a while, then he asked the system, “Have you recovered your energy and thus no longer need to hibernate?”

Otherwise, why are you so excited when resenting him?

Relying on the fact that no one could see him, the system cheerfully jumped up and down in the courtyard, sometimes springing to the top of the tree and at other times bouncing up and down on Rong Tang’s head. [After all, witnessing your humiliation is one of my pleasures. Host, haven’t you gotten used to it yet~~~]

Rong Tang was so infuriated that he was on the verge of quarrelling with it when, all of a sudden, his head began to hurt violently.

He couldn’t stand steadily for a while and clung to the door frame for a long time before coming back to his senses. The system also froze in place and didn’t make any sound.

The pain was acute and jarring, but it only lasted for a moment. It was like someone had swiftly stabbed a needle into his head from his temple before quickly withdrawing.

[Host!]

The system called out urgently.

Rong Tang’s mouth gapes as he inhales, and he stayed in place for a very long time.

Shuang Fu had been sent out, Shuang Shou was packing things, and even Su Huaijing had taken the medicinal ingredients into the kitchen. At that moment, there was no one who’d noticed anything strange about Rong Tang, and he felt a little relieved, at least.

The pain gradually abated and dulled into a lingering ache. It was no longer severe, but it was hard to ignore.

Rong Tang lowered his head and curled his lip. Then he made his way to the osmanthus tree and poured himself a cup of tea before sitting on a chair and slowly sipping it.

He closed his eyes and entered the system space.

The light grey fog rising from the edges is still converging towards the centre, almost dividing the entire space into two. On one side is the grey that is about to break free from the darkness, and on the other side is the thoroughly black fog.

There’s an indistinct boundary stretched down the middle. Rong Tang can’t touch it, but he can see the fog surging above it, as if there are two opposing forces locked in a struggle.

He released a soft sigh and asked, “What’s going on?”

The system is silent for a long time before replying in dismay: […I can’t see it. ]

Rong Tang was startled for a moment until he realised that only he could see this space. What the system sees when it enters is still the same map and anchor points as in the previous two lives, so it can’t see the separation and annexation happening here.

Rong Tang wanted to speculate based on experience or the novels he’d read in modern times, but this world itself is very reasonable and clear, and he doesn’t dare hypothesise.

What speculation can be more cruel than a person who already believes that he’s going to die but unexpectedly discovers that there appears to be a possibility to keep on living, and for that possibility to be completely crushed in the end?

So Rong Tang didn’t think about what was competing for turf within his head. He only wants to know when the wrenching pain will disappear and whether he could avoid drinking the bowl of medicine Su Huaijing is decocting. He forced himself to concentrate on some current matters and disregarded the anomalies unfolding in the system space.

After having dinner, Rong Tang and Su Huaijing are playing chess in the loft when Ke Hongxue sets foot in through the moon gate alone.

Rong Tang subconsciously looked behind him but found no trace of Mu Jingxu’s shadow.

Ke Hongxue makes his way upstairs, pulls up a chair, and sits next to them, observing the two of them play chess. “Prince, your chess style…… Play a round with me later?”

Rong Tang rolls his eyes at him and retorted, “No energy.”

Ke Hongxue is stunned. He shifts his gaze left and right, then notices a medicine bowl placed on the low table. When he picked it up and smelled it, his brows immediately wrinkled: “Eee! Which doctor is so cruel as to make a prescription for you with Coptis chinensis?? Don’t they just want to ‘bitter’ you to death?”

Rong Tang was almost recovered, but when Ke Hongxue remarked it like this, a bitter taste began to reappear on the tip of his tongue. He glares in dismay at Su Huaijing sitting opposite him, and his chess moves have become more forceful, almost like he is letting off steam.

Su Huaijing raised his eyebrows and gave a helpless smile. He casually peels a grape for Rong Tang, then asked Ke Hongxue, “Why did Excellency Ke come back so early today? Lil’ Bro Mu didn’t accompany you?”

Ke Hongxue’s movements pause, and he sighs faintly. He opens his fan, waves it in the evening wind, and says, “How can Senior still remember me? He went to find his precious student again.”

Su Huaijing glances calmly at Rong Tang. Seeing that his expression hasn’t changed and he’s continuing to stare at the chessboard, he asks, “What’s wrong with Fifth Highness?”

“It would be nice if something happened to him.” Ke Hongxue snorted and said, “It’s the elderly nanny with him. I don’t know what she was thinking today, insisting on going to the Lanxin Building to pick fragrant herbs. When passing by the pond, she accidentally misstepped and fell. It was broad daylight when they fished her out. Her body was already cold.”

Rong Tang was slightly startled. He holds the chess piece in his hand for a long time before placing it. In that moment, none of his actions were right. He asked Ke Hongxue, “Dead?”

“Dead.” Ke Hongxue nodded. “Sheng Chengxing reassigned most of the guards to the island. There aren’t many left on the estate, and most are basically in the courtyards where the banquets are held. All the way from Langyu Pavilion, where Sheng Chengli lives, to the Lanxin Building, few attendants can be seen, not to mention guards. The young miss from Minister He’s family wanted to feed the koi with her female companions when she found someone floating and called for the guards. She was completely dead at that time..”

“When was this?” Rong Tang asked.

Ke Hongxue turned his head to glance at the sky, then estimated: “It was about six quarters into the Mei period*. When the news reached the island, the Purple Jade Troupe was staging a new play. I took note of the time.”

(*TN: about 2:30 p.m.)

Rong Tang’s expression froze slightly, and he pursed his lips in silence.

Six quarters into Mei period was when he’d woken up from his nap with a headache.

The small courtyard remained tranquil, and Song Garden is shrouded in twilight, reminiscent of years past and those yet to come.

In the fourth month of the eleventh year of Qingzheng, on the evening when Rong Tang and Sheng Chengli had a dispute, he’d stopped in the corner and watched a blossoming peony flower in silence with Su Huaijing.

But now, in the fourth month of the ninth year of Qingzheng’s reign, Rong Tang and Su Huaijing are sitting in the red-painted loft, playing chess under the waning daylight. He abruptly realises once again that Heaven’s Way truly treats this male protagonist…… with the utmost partiality.

Someone next to Sheng Chengli had died, and he still needed to be specially notified?

——What relevance did it hold for him in the end?

Rong Tang tossed the chess pieces back into the chess cup, smiled silently, then left the chess table, stood at the loft, and surveyed the estate from his vantage point.

Su Huaijing narrowed his eyes, glanced over, and noticed that his expression was unprecedentedly… cold and fed up, like a deity who’d seen enough of humanity’s farce and wanted to abandon the world of mortals to return to his magnificent jade tower.