Chapter 33

Rong Tang used the excuse of being drowsy after drinking medicine and went back to the room as the sky darkened.

Su Huaijing noticed that he had something weighing on his mind but didn’t think it was good to ask. He just stared profoundly at him for a while, smiled softly, and enquired, “Does Tangtang need me to help prepare the foot bath?”

Rong Tang was slightly startled, and the pessimism that had abruptly surged was inexplicably suppressed. Before going downstairs, he turned around and shook his head: “Shuang Fu will prepare it for me, but you haven’t finished playing chess yet.”

Ke Hongxue will naturally take his place after he leaves. Su Huaijing had come to Song Garden because of Rong Mingyu’s casually uttered command. Maybe he had the idea of accompanying Rong Tang to relax, but he had no other purpose… After having lived four times, Rong Tang isn’t that naive.

Su Huaijing stood up and watched him as he went downstairs to his room. It wasn’t until the wooden door closed before his eyes that the smile on Su Huaijing’s lips suddenly dropped, and his gaze suddenly turned cold as if a veil had been withdrawn to reveal the night.

Ke Hongxue didn’t glance at him; instead, he slowly bent down and lit another lantern. Then he sat where Rong Tang was sitting before, his folding fan swaying gently in his hand and the jade emitting a clear, crisp sound. He looked pensive yet found it interesting at the same time: “The Prince’s chess moves… I’ve never seen before in my life.”

“Is that right?” Su Huaijing turns around and sits down, pours himself a cup of tea, and asks, “Why does Excellency say so?”

Ke Hongxue smiled, lightly folded his fan closed, and pointed at a few white chess pieces: “Here, here, here… If the Prince had been in different positions, he would have more momentum, and subsistence would be even more favourable; but here, here, and here, if any piece is swapped, the outcome of the game would have been decided long ago.”

Su Huaijing’s body pressure was a little low, and he didn’t want to talk, but Rong Tang doesn’t wish to be disturbed now. Ke Hongxue happens to be talking to him about Tangtang again, so Su Huaijing has a little more patience.

“Referring to Excellency Ke, what does this mean?” Su Huaijing asked.

Ke Hongxue shakes his head and takes out a white piece from the chess cup. He rubs it in his hand for a moment, shakes his head, and says, “It’s hard to say; chess is like a person. The Prince appears to be a very interesting person, but I didn’t expect his chess skills to be so contradictory like this.”

Ke Hongxue is good at chess and is also good at observing people through chess.

Strictly speaking, he is good at viewing people from many angles.

Handwriting, calligraphy, qin music, singing, painting—anything created by humans in this world can be observed, and naturally, chess is no exception.

Ke Xuebo is a well-rounded businessman. When Ke Hongxue was a taciturn child who wouldn’t utter a single sound, he would observe the customers coming and going in his family’s shop.

But one will get tired after observing too much, and they will also feel bored.

But Rong Tang gave him a very novel feeling.

His chess tactics are also very amusing.

Ordinary people may play chess to compare notes or to win. There are always exceptions, but it is undeniable that most people who like chess and are good at it generally have a very strong desire to win or lose.

He does, and so does Su Huaijing.

Some people float on the surface, and some hide it in their hearts, but no one can be called pure-hearted and devoid of desires.

All except for Rong Tang. To a small extent, Ke Hongxue can’t see through him.

He plays chess…… as if for amusement.

It wasn’t like a child who doesn’t know how to play chess, fooling around with the black and white chess pieces. On the contrary, Rong Tang’s chess moves clearly show that not only does he know how to play chess, but he is also proficient in it. If he seriously plays a round, it may be hard to find many opponents in this Song Garden.

But he places his pieces too deftly, so deftly that he doesn’t seem to have any goals or desires at all.

He plays chess just to pass the time, to chat with Su Huaijing, or to simply sit in the loft and wait for the sunset.

But he is also keenly able to discern the clues in advance every time he is about to lose a chess game. He stages his pieces properly and is able to save a game on the verge of defeat in just a few moves.

Ke Hongxue originally wondered if Su Huaijing was conceding to him, but he followed the chessboard and, after deducing backwards, discovered that Su Huaijing didn’t yield to him. Even he, like himself, was so interested that… he probed discreetly without showing any signs.

The outcome of the probe was that when Ke Hongxue saw this game of chess, he split Rong Tang into two people in his mind.

One is Rong Tang, a sickly young man who doesn’t care about anything and can get everything without any effort, who is coaxed and protected by others, and who has no desire to fight for power and gain.

Another is Rong Tang, the eldest son of Duke Ningxuan, who has been born into a noble family, whose name itself represents power, and who will struggle with the desire for power throughout his life.

No matter which one he was, Ke Hongxue found it interesting. He had been bored for many years after returning to the capital. If it weren’t for his Senior, he would rather go back to Jiangnan to go boating on the lake and fish in the snowy night than exhaust himself in this sensual, dog-eat-dog world.

But Rong Tang amuses him.

Ke Hongxue’s eyes lit up, and he tentatively followed Rong Tang’s chess tactics to make a move.

Su Huaijing doesn’t utter a word and continues with a black piece.

Ke Hongxue carries on, and Su Huaijing keeps up.

After dozens of moves, Ke Hongxue holds the folding fan and does not take any more pieces. Instead, he chuckles and calmly admits defeat: “This lowly one’s chess skills are inadequate and have failed to grasp the Prince’s approach.”

He suddenly becomes curious and asks, “Young Master Su, when you play chess with the Prince, how does it usually end?”

Su Huaijing looks away from the chessboard and says, “It results in failure.”

He and Rong Tang often played chess when they were still in Yong’an Lane, but Tangtang was always sleepy and lazy. No matter what the trend of the game of chess was, whether it was good or bad, whether he had a big chance of winning or losing, he would always place a chess piece at an unexpected node.

Maybe it was the steaming snacks Shuang Shou had just bought from the street that aroused his addiction; maybe it was the sun coming out and its light falling upon a flower in the courtyard that made him feel happy; or maybe he suddenly remembered that the storybook he’d read in the morning had a few pages left to the ending and he wanted to finish reading it…

Or maybe he’s just tired. Rong Tang puts down the chess piece, wraps himself in a quilt, and lies down on the beauty couch. He turns his head and looks at Su Huaijing, unknowingly acting coquettish. “Huaijing, I’m so tired. Can you help massage me a little?”

“……”

Su Huaijing naturally agrees with him.

The next time they play chess, it will be a completely different situation.

Rong Tang doesn’t seem to have any strong desire to win, but he won’t sit back and watch his defeat.

He would try his best to think and save the soon-to-be lost chess game—that was the time when he played chess with Su Huaijing most attentively.

He would frown slightly, purse his lips a little, and increase the thinking time for each subsequent move.

Su Huaijing doesn’t rush him, but once the crisis is over, Rong Tang will, as usual, randomly place his pieces and casually chat with Su Huaijing about trivial matters while playing chess.

——“The palace womenfolk went out to pick some flowers the day before yesterday and sent a bunch to the courtyard upon their return. I want to turn them into dried flowers.” Such a trivial matter can be mentioned by Prince Ningxuan as an entertaining anecdote.

His little Buddha is truly a person with few desires.

When Su Huaijing thought of this, his expression inadvertently gentled somewhat, but what flashed through his eyes was Rong Tang’s stoic expression while he stood before the railing a moment ago, gazing at the distant sky.

Su Huaijing…… doesn’t like that expression.

He frowned a little, wanting to go downstairs to look for Rong Tang, but he restrained himself from making too many movements. He dropped his hand to his side and touched the waist tablet out of habit.

The safety talisman would actually be able to soothe him more, but Su Huaijing is always worried that the wrapped paper incantations wouldn’t be able to contain his frequent thoughts.

Ke Hongxue smiled as he stored the chess pieces from the board back into the chess cup one by one. Then he spread his hands with a grin and said, “Young Master Su, shall we play the next game?”

Su Huaijing paused slightly and raised his eyes to look at him.

From the loft, the sky was dimming, and Song Garden was brightly lit. From time to time, visitors passed by, and their laughter could be heard from a distance. How many different operas must have been enacted at Lanyue Pavilion, and how many changes of dynasties must have been performed?

Su Huaijing actually wants to be with Rong Tang. Even if he reads storybooks, it would be fine to practice calligraphy by himself.

But since Ke Hongxue took the initiative to ask him, he would definitely not refuse.

Thus, Su Huaijing conveniently picks up a black piece and places it on tianyuan*, and he asks in a hushed tone something that only the two of them could understand: “The answer Tutor Ke gave me today appears to bear some selfish motives.”

(*TN: “天元” (tianyuan) refers to the central point on the chessboard, which is equivalent to the intersection of the diagonals. It is a crucial point in the game, often considered strategically important for controlling the board and launching attacks.)

Ke Hongxue immediately laughed as he calmly placed his chess piece. He didn’t look at Su Huaijing and merely replied softly in the night, “Young Master Su wanted this answer, didn’t you?”

Ke Hongxue’s answer is known to everyone who asks and answers it. Anyone can say it, except for him.

Ke Wenrui is a tutor for two generations of emperors and a well-respected scholar in the world; Ke Xuebo is a world-famous wealthy businessman who spends a large sum of money every year replenishing the national treasury and providing relief to the victims of natural calamities.

Whether it was the late emperor or Emperor Renshou, no matter which emperor sits on the throne of Dayu, the Ke family are steadfast defenders of the people.

Ever since ancient times, their family has been honest and upright.

When he was poor, he set up a school at home and taught children from impoverished families who wanted to go to school for free. When he was rich, he would make everyone’s lives better and do his best to help the suffering that he could not bear to witness.

With such family traditions and education, how could Ke Hongxue say, “If the people abandon the ruler, the ruler can naturally act freely”?

He does indeed have selfish motives.

Selfish motives that cannot be discussed with others.

Ke Hongxue doesn’t say anything, so Su Huaijing doesn’t probe any further. They only play a game of chess in silence, chatting casually about things that might turn everything on its head if spread out, but now, only moonlight and starlight are their observers.

–

By the time Mu Jingxu returns, there’s no one in the red-painted loft.

There are four wing rooms on the east and west sides of the small courtyard. No one disturbs anyone. Mu Jingxu goes back to his room, passing by Ke Hongxue’s room and looking inside through the paper window. There’s no light, so he returns to his room without another sideways glance.

The candles were lit, and the room was very bright.

Ke Hongxue must have washed up and changed out of the fiery red robe. He is only wearing moon-white inner clothing; his hair is untied and scattered casually behind him. He is sitting rather frivolously in front of the desk, holding a writing brush in his hand, facing a table full of Imperial Court of Justice files needing review and correction.

Hearing the sounds, Ke Hongxue didn’t look back and said with a smile, “Senior, why don’t you take me to the Imperial Court of Justice to be your deputy? These trivial cases of killing, stealing, and pilfering seem like a waste of time. I can’t bear to let your eyes get tired.”

Mu Jingxu doesn’t say anything; he changes out of the robe he’s worn to go out and sits opposite Ke Hongxue. He turns a stack of files around, takes a brush from the brush holder, dips it in the ink from the inkstone, and begins handling the official business along with Ke Hongxue.

Ke Hongxue pauses slightly, raises his eyes to glance at him, and gives a light laugh.

“Sheng Chengli has been scared out of his wits?” Ke Hongxue asks casually after an unknown amount of time.

The one who died was Yuerong, Sheng Chengli’s nanny since he was a child. His Highness the Fifth Prince was able to leave the cold palace because Yuerong desperately begged all the way to the imperial physicians’ courtyard and thus managed to soften the Emperor’s heart.

Since she died outside the imperial palace, Sheng Chengli must have suffered a fright.

Mu Jingxu said, “He is very calm.”

“Oh?” Ke Hongxue raised his eyebrows. “Why do I remember that when he rushed shakily to the river in the afternoon, he almost fainted with heartache?”

He obviously meant something, and he stared unblinkingly at Mu Jingxu. Mu Jingxu frowned, his movements pausing slightly, and raised his eyes to look back.

After staring at each other for only a few seconds, Ke Hongxue took the initiative to admit defeat. He smiled and lowered his head, continuing to help his young minister from the Imperial Court of Justice correct official documents. He only said, “Senior, you said you want to choose a wise ruler for the world; I won’t stop you; I just hope you don’t pick the wrong person and drag yourself to death.”

Ke Hongxue is a person who is not completely serious about crucial matters. As soon as he said this, Mu Jingxu didn’t reply and asked instead, “So that’s why you responded to Huaijing like that today?”

Ke Hongxue asks in return, “What’s wrong with what I said?”

Mu Jingxu suddenly became angry and said in a deep voice, “Ke Hanying!”

Ke Hongxue was stunned for a moment and put down his brush in surprise. He raised his eyes to look at Mu Jingxu.

His senior is always calm; his eyes are like the snow on the top of the mountain that never melts all year round—cold and distant, as if no one or thing in the world is worthy of him troubling himself to look at even a little.

Now, because of this anger, it’s somewhat more lively.

Ke Hongxue feels happy.

He even smiles sweetly and says, “Senior, you called me by my style name.”

Ke Hongxue turns his head and glances out the window, then suddenly starts a new topic, saying, “Did you know, this courtyard was almost named Hanying Pavilion?”

The red-painted loft was originally built for him to enjoy the snowy scenery.

–

Song Garden is essentially a temporary imperial palace*.

(*TN: Temporary dwelling for the emperor when he is away from the capital.)

No one can recall exactly which dynasty and generation it was built in, but it was used as an imperial palace from the beginning when it was constructed. These courtyards within the estate were supposed to be the residences of the emperor and his concubines.

But in the previous generation, Dayu had many palaces, and the late emperor was a homebody.

He disliked going out, and he would rather put a few basins of ice chunks in his bedroom to escape the summer heat than to take great pains to bring his wife and children out with him.

But some of his children loved going out.

The third son of the late emperor possessed the most restless temperament in the entire palace. To a certain extent, the late emperor treated his sons equally.

The only difference between the legitimate princes and the concubine princes is probably the disparity in the ancestral etiquette of sacrificial rituals. The other treatments are almost entirely the same.

The late emperor’s sons—at least until the day they died—bore no intention of seizing the throne from their legitimate brother.

Everyone is definite that the future of this world belongs to their crown prince gege.

Regardless of seniority or legitimacy, it can only be him. The other princes are only too happy to be leisurely. The crown prince is the one who learns the most, does the most, and shoulders the most grievances in the entire imperial palace.

But having said that, the temporary imperial palace cannot remain unoccupied all the time; otherwise, it will be a waste of natural resources if it is abandoned. Therefore, with a wave of his hand, the late emperor presented Song Garden directly to his third son.

Third Highness was ten-years-old at the time, and he was extremely excited to suddenly take over such a large garden.

The late emperor assigned him manpower, allocated funds, and even asked a master to teach him how to conceptualise and manufacture, letting him design Song Garden by himself.

Third Highness dedicated three years to building a garden that delighted him immensely.

On the day Song Garden’s renovations were completed, the late emperor, who’d always been too lazy to go out, brought along Ke Xuebo, who, on this rare occasion, had returned to the capital, and each took their children to visit Song Garden.

It was winter then, and there had been several snowfalls. Song Garden wasn’t in as luxuriant bloom as it is now, but it wasn’t at all desolate.

Plum blossoms had blossomed all over the estate, and the aromatic scent of plums fragranced everywhere. Sunlight permeated through the clouds, reflecting on the snow-covered ground. When two or three civet cats dashed past, they left behind a scattering of plum blossom footprints on the ground, small and exquisite.

It was rare for the princes and princesses to leave the palace, and they all amused themselves most enthusiastically. The thirteen-year-old Third Highness surveyed the garden he owned with satisfaction. He was extremely happy and proud. A fiery red cloak draped over him only served as a vibrant backdrop to his youthful vigour.

That was the first time Ke Xuebo had brought Ke Hongxue back to the capital.

His family’s business was in the south of Jiangnan. It was winter when Ke Hongxue was born, and Ke Xuebo was out doing business. Lady Ke fainted on the spot when she heard that her husband had encountered bandits on the way.

Fortunately, Ke Xuebo returned safely. Although Lady Ke had a difficult delivery, the mother and child were safe after all. It’s just that Ke Hongxue has passed through the gates of hell several times since he was born. He can’t withstand long journeys, and his family was afraid that he would die on the road.

Later, he paid his respects to a master to learn martial arts from him, and his health gradually improved.

He was twelve-years-old when he returned to the capital, but he looked to be only seven- or eight-years-old, and he was very frail. He was wearing a pink winter jacket, and his hair had been tied into two small knots on his head. The Third Prince smiled when he saw him. He said, “Ke shushu*, your family’s meimei is so pretty, even prettier than my si mei**.”

(*TN: address for a father’s younger brother or a child’s address for a man one generation above but who is younger than his own father.)

(**TN: fourth younger sister.)

The hot-tempered Fourth Princess jumped up on the spot and gave her san ge a heavy punch. In the blink of an eye, she saw the “little meimei” of Ke Xuebo’s family burst into tears and shout, “You are the prettiest one! You are the most pretty! Your whole family is pretty!”

It ought to have been a rebuke, but his voice was sweet and cute, with a bit of pleasant-sounding Wu dialect that isn’t heard in the capital. Even his rebuking wasn’t as vulgar as those rich sons of the capital, but… it was so cute that it didn’t sound like censuring. Upon hearing it, the Third Prince wanted to say “thank you, meimei, for the compliment” on the spot.

Fortunately, he held back before the words came out of his mouth and quickly apologised, saying that it was actually ‘didi’. The latter was too delicate, so he was to blame for not recognising the obvious.

The Prince apologised. No matter how good the relationship between Ke Xuebo and the late emperor was, there was no way he could act pretentious. He smiled and patted his son’s hand, hoping that the two little guys would shake hands and make peace.

But what do children know? Even if he is a prince, he’s still a big dunce who is as blind as a bat and can’t distinguish between male and female. Little Ke Hongxue didn’t want to be friends with this stupid prince!

So he threw a haughty glance at the Third Prince, turned around, and ran behind his mother.

But he forgot that he’d just been fuming and crying; his eyes were red, and he looked like he was throwing a tantrum when he glared at others. The Third Prince had never seen such a disposition in the capital, where anger resembled coquettishness. Each of his meimeis was more hot-tempered than the next. The Fourth Princess, who was wearing a pink skirt, was only thinking about learning to hunt tigers from her grand aunt someday.

Ke Hongxue’s glare made the Third Prince feel… the stirrings of love.

He thinks this didi is really good-looking. It would be nice if he was a meimei, but it doesn’t matter if he is a didi. Seventh didi is still too young, and everyone else is very naughty. He just lacks a didi who is so obedient and cute.

As such, during the days when Ke Hongxue lived in Song Garden, the Third Prince would come to see him whenever he had something or nothing to do.

Nominally, he was following his Imperial Father’s orders to get along well with Ke shushu’s child. In fact, he wanted to get along well with him because he wanted to give all the delicious, fun, and beautiful things to this cute didi.

But after a few dozen snowball fights and watching a few night performances, Ke Hongxue fell ill.

He was born in winter, and his name has the word “snow” in it, but as it happens, he has a body that cannot stand the wind or the cold.

The child lay on the bed with a flushed face, mumbling feebly, and the Third Prince’s heart ached.

Ke Hongxue couldn’t go out, but he loved watching snow very much. He’d never seen such vast snowy scenery in the south.

The Third Prince then ordered people to build a loft in the courtyard. The bright red colour contrasted with the white winter snow, making it extremely eye-catching.

The imperial descendant personally dressed him and fastened his cloak closed, carried him on his back, step by step from the house all the way to the loft, placed him next to the stove, and accompanied him to watch an unparalleled magnificent snowfall.

Third Highness said, “Ah Xue, I gift this courtyard to you. When you grow up, you can name it by yourself.”

Third Highness said, “Ah Xue, you need to get well soon. I’ll take you to the Jinfen River to release river lanterns, to Saibei* to shoot goshawks, and to Minnan** to cross the Insect Valley.”

(*TN: territories beyond the Great Wall.)

(**TN: southern Fujian.)

Third Highness said, “I know a lot of fun places. When you get better, when I’ve been conferred an imperial title, I’ll take you to play.”

“.…..”

Ke Hongxue recovered. Anyone who sees the famous Third-rank Scholar of Yu capital now would never imagine that he once resembled a cute and delicate, sickly little girl.

But he wasn’t able to wait for Third Highness, who’d been conferred an imperial title and made prime minister, to take him across the grassland via Saibei, nor was he able to wait for him to take him to Insect Valley to view the scenery of Miao territory.

All that awaited him was an armed rebellion, a human head, and a lonely tomb.

Then, many years later, he met Mu Jingxu at Linyuan Academy, who looked nothing like the Third Prince.

Now Ke Hongxue is handling official affairs for Mu Jingxu, and when he suddenly mentioned this matter, he received no response as usual.

Ke Hongxue smiled, with a rare hint of bitterness, and said, “Senior, you said that the people in this world are innocent, and you said that you want to choose a wise ruler for the world. I’ll let you do as you wish. Whatever you want, I’ll never refuse you.”

“…But I hope for your happiness.”

I hope for your happiness, safety, peace, and the ability to avoid overly worrying in this life. You clearly want to take revenge, yet you still bear the responsibility of your xiong zhang’s death.

I hope you can be that unparalleled, handsome youth. I hope you will be that jewel of Yu’s capital who can shine even in red instead of being like the cold snow in the mountains.

I hope you don’t love the common people.

You can only love yourself, Your Highness.

The author has something to say:

Ke Gong Mu Shou, in this life, yes?

Mu Jingxu’s character design: the reckless person becomes deathly still, the bright person no longer smiles, and the victim has the common people in his heart.