Su Huaijing froze on the spot and remained silent for a long time. He lowered his head and let out a muffled laugh.
When he lifted his head again, his eyes curved into a smile, and he asked softly, “Tangtang, are you acting coquettishly again——”
Rong Tang was startled and was about to refute, but then he heard Su Huaijing ask again, “Or are you still feeling heartsick for me?”
Rong Tang instantly fell silent.
The Milky Way gleamed brightly on a summer night, and constellations of stars hung in the sky. There was a lit candle in the room, and moonlight gently streamed in from the window. Rong Tang looked at Su Huaijing in a daze. For a moment, he almost thought Su Huaijing was going to confess his true identity.
He remained speechless for a while, then asked, as if he didn’t know anything, “Why do you say that?”
Su Huaijing, sitting opposite him, propped his chin up with one hand and looked warmly at him, saying, “The young general from Duke Xian’s family is my biao ge.”
Rong Tang felt a sense of relief when he heard this.
Fortunately, with this identity, Su Huaijing could use the cover of being a distant relative of Duke Xian’s family to openly tell him things that only the previous Seventh Prince would know.
But it wouldn’t be uncovered by anyone.
Rong Tang nodded. “I know; he is a very powerful person.”
The novel “The Emperor’s Journey” begins from the perspective of the male protagonist, Sheng Chengli. At that time, Emperor Renshou had succeeded in seizing the throne. All the outstanding figures in the history of Dayu may be buried in the loess or living in seclusion in the busy city; the energetic resolve and spirit once visible in their eyes no longer present.
One example is Princess Duanyi, who often resides in her palace chanting Buddhist sutras, and another is Duke Xian, who previously made great contributions on the battlefield.
There are barbarians in the north of Dayu who have repeatedly harassed the border. This is a problem that has existed since ancient times and is a headache for every ruler.
During the reign of Emperor Xuan, the young General Wei Ziheng, who had just turned eighteen, requested orders to lead troops to quell the rebellion in the north. He did not return to the capital for three years, and he’d driven the barbarians back eight hundred miles.
After his father—the elder Master Wei—who was the formidable general at the time, passed away, the young General Wei naturally became Dayu’s new, mighty general.
Two heroes in one family truly earned their honour through blood and sacrifice.
General Wei died at the age of fifty-four. During the thirty-six years from when he was eighteen to fifty-four, no soldier or horse from the northern border dared to set foot in Dayu’s land.
Rong Tang said, “Zumu almost married General Wei.”
Su Huaijing laughed softly: “It was truly a very close call.”
The adopted daughter of an emperor and the eldest son of a mighty general should have been a wonderful story.
However, Emperor Xuan suddenly fell seriously ill, and Mingzong ascended the throne. Duanyi was worried about her younger brother being alone in a court surrounded by vicious subjects. The Wei family had heroes fighting for the country for generations. Before every general went to war, he would leave heirs for the family. This has been an unchanging norm since time immemorial.
It was impossible for Duanyi to retreat behind the scenes to support her husband and raise children, just as it was impossible for Wei Ziheng to abandon his orphaned mother and go to the border alone, leaving his elderly mother in a state of anxiety.
So the two, who were originally engaged, made an appointment for an evening and had a meal in Yu capital’s Liujin Parlour in a forthright and open manner, casting their gazes down at Jinfen River, where the ordinary happiness and sustenance of thousands of people lay.
I wish you a safe journey and to hold on to the territory for the country; you wish me a worry-free advance and retreat, and to tear a gap in the court.
Then they broke off their engagement, and for the next thirty or forty years, they had no more entanglements with each other.
General Wei had a son and a daughter. The eldest son joined the military to serve the motherland; the daughter entered the palace to become the mother of the world, the subsequent Empress Wei—and Su Huaijing’s imperial mother, to be exact.
Wei Ziheng held two honours. In the country, he was a mighty general who intimidated enemy troops. In the family, he was the Duke, respected by the late emperor, and titled “Xian.” His prominence was unmatched for a time.
The young general Ke Hongxue mentioned was Wei Zhun, the direct grandson of Wei Ziheng.
In the year of the northern invasion, the previous crown prince was twenty-one years old, and Wei Zhun was seventeen. They were both young men in their prime in Yu capital.
If the trajectory of history had not deviated, the previous crown prince would have ascended the throne, and Wei Zhun would have grown from a young general to a renowned figure like his father and grandfather, whose name alone could scare away the barbarians.
But there are no “ifs” in history. Wei Zhun, like the previous crown prince, died in the late spring, when the sun was rising and the border city was destroyed.
The young man was buried in the springtime, becoming part of the sandstorm guarding the border.
Rong Tang recalled the remaining memories in his mind and said softly, “When I was a child, I went to play at zumu’s house. Occasionally, I would sit on the stone steps at the door and look across the street.”
There stood a magnificent mansion with a prominent entrance.
There were no adult men in the family; the ones in charge were all women. From elder Madam Wei to Duchess Wei, each one of them was an outstanding, heroic, courageous, and resolute woman.
Wei Zhun was a teenage boy who loved to play and disliked studying. Every day, he practiced with swords and spears and banded with friends. Though he was born into a prominent family, he could often be found at the corner of the long street with a few copper coins, joining a group of children to play with crickets.
After a day’s fun, all the money he brought with him would turn into candy in the hands of the children. The young general, weighing the few remaining copper coins in his hand, would find a small liquor stall and order a pot of the cheapest, strongest spirit. He would then slowly drink the wine as he wandered home.
When he reached his doorstep, he would start to get nervous. He hid the wine bottle, straightened his clothes, brushed off the grass blades he had picked up while sitting on the ground, tidied his hair, and walked home calmly, presenting an appearance of decency and dignity.
Then he glanced over and saw a little toddler sitting at the door of the house opposite.
In memory, the setting sun filled the sky. Xuanwu Avenue was empty and desolate. Every place was a secret, hidden by high-end houses. The carefree and unrestrained young man walked forward, bent down with a smile, and—like performing a magic trick—retrieved a candy in the shape of a flying dragon and chuckled, “Call me gege, call me gege and I’ll give you candy.”
As an outsider who had strayed into the turbulent flow of time and space, Rong Tang could feel the emotions of the original owner when he occasionally recalled these scenes.
It was like…… a feeling similar to the surprise and joy of sitting on a grassy slope at sunset, waiting for your parents and elders to come home, and casually giving you a snack.
The original owner’s childhood memories, filled with bitter and acrid decoctions, had very few such vivid emotions.
It was so vivid that Rong Tang, as a bystander, unconsciously raised the corners of his lips and said, “He gave me a lot of sweets.”
Su Huaijing was slightly startled, and the corners of his lips lifted into a slight arc: “Biao ge also gave me a lot of sweets.”
“Jiufu* wasn’t home all year round, and neither jiumu** nor the duchess could control him. Sometimes when I went to the Duke’s mansion to play, biao xiong would take me to steal bird eggs and crawl into the dog kennel. Every time, we’d end up filthy from head to toe. If my mother hadn’t intervened, he would have been punished by jiumu to kneel countless times.”
(*TN: jiufu = maternal uncle, mother’s brother.)
(**TN: jiumu = maternal uncle’s wife.)
Rong Tang poured himself a cup of warm tea. The hot white steam slowly wafted upwards. He looked at Su Huaijing and became a quiet listener.
Su Huaijing said: “Biao ge had longed for the battlefield since he was a child. He said that as long as he lives, barbarians will not be allowed to cross the border. Jiumu urged him to get married. He said, if there is no country, how could one consider having a family?”
He frowned and thought carefully. He couldn’t tell if his memory was too distant and a bit blurry or if he had recalled too much, causing discrepancies, making it difficult to remember accurately.
Su Huaijing said: “It seemed to be the winter of the twenty-fourth year of Yuanxing, on New Year’s Eve. No one knew why he suddenly said that sentence. As soon as he did, the duchess struck him many times with a cane.”
He smiled, a faint sadness gradually appearing in his gaze: “But later we found out that he was the first to notice something strange. To this day, I still don’t understand how biao xiong knew that the country was in such peril. If I were to say, I can only state that he was a natural military strategist. Even while in the capital, he sensed the turmoil in northern Xinjiang, thousands of miles away.”
“The crown prince personally requested to go to the border to inspire the soldiers. Biao xiong went with him. Initially, many people disagreed. But the duchess stood up and said that his grandfather and father both died fighting for the country. Now, with something strange happening at the border and no generals garrisoning, he should go. Even if he died on the battlefield, it was much better than the innocent deaths of thousands of border soldiers and people.”
Su Huaijing’s voice grew softer and softer.
He was only eight-years-old at the time. Some things he witnessed himself, and some things he heard from others.
Children generally don’t remember well, but over these nine years, he repeatedly forced himself to recall so he wouldn’t forget entirely.
The child shouldn’t remember anything at all. He just forced himself to remember it over and over again in the past nine years so that he wouldn’t forget it completely.
“Who knew that his words would become a tragic prophecy?” Su Huaijing said softly. “The border in the north was breached, and the prince in the south was beheaded. Sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as the fortunes of a nation. Heaven does not favour us, so none of the late emperor’s descendants met a good end, and all their relatives died tragically.”
Su Huaijing lifted his gaze and stared quietly at Rong Tang, as if seeking an answer from him.
Rong Tang’s heart thudded, and he almost wanted to say: That’s not the case!
But after pondering for a long time, he realised that the wheel of history was just as Su Huaijing said. None of the late emperor’s descendants had met a good end.
Even if it was Su Huaijing himself, after he ascended the throne and started a war, the world would be completely annihilated. How could that be considered a good end?
But Rong Tang didn’t want to see Su Huaijing looking so confused and helpless. He frowned and thought for a long time, then said softly and somewhat childishly, “Not necessarily.”
Su Huaijing blinked: “Ng?”
Rong Tang: “If it were really as you said, His Majesty should have been the first to die abruptly.”
Su Huaijing’s face darkened, his pupils contracted, and he glanced sideways out the window to ensure no one was around before turning back. Feeling a bit warm-hearted yet unable to resist admonishing, he said, “How could Tangtang say such a thing?”
Rong Tang replied with conviction, “Why not?”
Su Huaijing frowned. “This is a treasonous statement. If word gets out, our entire family will be executed.”
“Wouldn’t that be just right?” Rong Tang murmured defiantly, “I won’t live long anyway. Didn’t you say you wanted to be buried with me? If our entire family were executed, it would be a sacrifice of love. We can still find a place in a mass grave and be buried together, and we’ll still have each other in death.”
Su Huaijing was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled, his expression relaxing: “Husband is right.”
He said, “Marry a chicken, follow a chicken; marry a dog, follow a dog*. My husband is a Buddha who has no regard for imperial power or rules. What can I do? If someone really reports this to His Majesty, I’ll accompany you to be beheaded and go to the underworld together.”
(*TN: A Chinese saying which means that the spouse follows the husband wherever they go after marriage.)
But Rong Tang pursed his lips again. “That’s not possible.”
“Why not?” Su Huaijing asked indulgently.
Rong Tang: “Before I die, I’ll definitely go to the Emperor and give him a sound scolding. What kind of rotten person is he? He stole his own emperor brother’s position and even spread false rumours. He eats, drinks, and has fun all day long, allowing corrupt officials to control the court and make a mess of the whole country!”
The more he talked, the angrier he became, until the topic came full circle: “And the disaster relief funds have not been allocated yet! As a result, I have used up all my personal savings!”
Su Huaijing: “……”
For the first time, Su Huaijing was not immersed in sadness or irony after recalling the past. He watched Rong Tang angrily cursing the emperor like a little hamster. He was silent for a long time, then smiled.
“You are really……”
“Treasonous.”
Su Huaijing sighed softly, left his seat, stood up, and walked to Rong Tang. He lowered his head and looked into his eyes, and asked politely and restrainedly: “Tangtang, can I kiss you?”
I like you so much.
