Chapter 91

The banquets in Shaohua Palace were arranged in several locations. In the main hall, only the powerful officials of the current regime or members of the imperial family were seated. As the heir of Duke Ningxuan, Rong Tang was naturally expected to head to the main hall.

Fortunately, although the officials were seated, the Emperor and Empress had not yet arrived. They slipped in through the side door, feeling their way to their seats and sitting down. With a bang, a jade folding fan was thrown onto the low table.

Rong Tang froze for a moment and instinctively looked up, catching sight of Ke Hongxue’s eyes crinkling into a smile.

Tutor Ke retracted the folding fan and leisurely unfolded it, using it to cover the lower half of his face on this winter day. He turned his body slightly in Rong Tang’s direction and teased in a low voice, “Prince, as enjoyable as indulgence may be, the location requires more discretion. If you’re fond of plum gardens, I happen to own an estate on the outskirts of the capital with half an acre of wintersweet flowers. You and Shizi Fei are more than welcome to enjoy it after the New Year.”

Rong Tang was dumbstruck by his words. Mu Jingxu approached from the side, cast a sideways glance at Ke Hongxue, and wordlessly brushed his sleeve. In an instant, a wintersweet petal floated before Rong Tang’s eyes, which he instinctively reached out to catch.

Rong Tang: “……”

He stared dazedly at the petal in his palm, slowly realising the hidden meaning behind Ke Hongxue’s words.

[He’s saying you were cavorting outdoors.] The system adeptly stepped in to translate at the perfect moment.

Rong Tang: “…” Destroy me now.

Su Huaijing arrived fashionably late and finally sat down beside him. He poured a cup of tea and handed it over with a smile, asking, “What are you chatting about?”

Rong Tang immediately found an outlet for his frustration and shot Su Huaijing a glare so fierce it looked like he was ready to devour him.

Su Huaijing blinked, suppressing a laugh but not daring to show it. His expression softened into one of pure innocence as he pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to Rong Tang: “Tangtang, wipe your mouth.”

Ke Hongxue burst into laughter, causing the nearby sons of nobility to turn their curious gazes towards him.

Some of them were companions to the princes. Ke Hongxue waved his hand and chuckled, “It’s nothing.”

Rong Tang nearly buried his head under the table as he took the handkerchief from Su Huaijing and furiously wiped his mouth.

His actions were far from gentle, almost aggressive. Su Huaijing’s brow furrowed as he watched, repeatedly tempted to snatch the handkerchief away and do the wiping himself. But seeing the bright red of Rong Tang’s ears, he decided against it.

He couldn’t keep making Tangtang blush.

Main Villain Su sighed silently, picked up his teacup, and forced himself to take a sip, trying hard not to look at Rong Tang’s increasingly reddened and swollen lips.

Rong Tang felt embarrassed, but there was no way to explain that he and Su Huaijing hadn’t done anything outside. After all, Su Huaijing had kissed him madly for quite a while, and his eyes were likely still red. Whatever he said now would seem unbelievable.

He felt utterly wronged and thought that it was all Sheng Chengli’s fault.

From the male protagonist escaping the cold palace earlier than expected, to Yuerong falling into the water at the flower-picking festival, and now the carefully prepared dishes served before this palace banquet, Rong Tang couldn’t deny that certain suspicions were emerging in his mind.

Sheng Chengli had either been reborn, or there was some new assistance by his side that wasn’t in the original story. Either way, he seemed to have a more profound understanding of the capital’s situation, even down to Rong Tang’s tastes.

If it were the former……

Rong Tang steadied his thoughts, and the shame and anger from being bullied by Su Huaijing beneath the tree ebbed away, leaving behind only a chilling calm.

He actually didn’t want to kill Sheng Chengli.

Though he thought the male protagonist was an ungrateful wretch, the events of the past two lives had nothing to do with Sheng Chengli in this life. If there were grudges to settle, doing so immediately would be far more satisfying.

Rong Tang didn’t see the point in avenging himself on the third-life Sheng Chengli for betrayals and assassinations that happened in the second life. It seemed rather meaningless.

Even if it was the same person, without memories, the other party wouldn’t understand why someone harboured such deep hatred and disgust towards him.

Rong Tang didn’t like him and chose to stay away—never getting close again to avoid repeating past mistakes. The reason he had agreed with Su Huaijing to personally kill Sheng Chengli was simply because the perpetrator couldn’t be Su Huaijing himself. Rong Tang didn’t want to see Su Huaijing, and the lives of everyone else in the world, bound to a male protagonist whose morals were unworthy of his position.

But what if Sheng Chengli remembered?

What if he possessed the full memories of his past two lives?

Rong Tang’s eyes narrowed. It seemed more likely, compared to the second possibility, that the Heavenly Way had simply granted the male protagonist his memories.

But were these memories complete? Were they whole, or merely fragments from a particular past life, or even specific moments?

Rong Tang gripped his teacup tighter, his fingers unconsciously tensing. He glanced towards Su Huaijing, who was chatting casually with Ke Hongxue.

Looking away, he took a sip of tea.

If the memories were complete, Sheng Chengli wouldn’t have survived unscathed until the twelfth year of Qingzheng’s reign.

A male protagonist with the memories of two lives would know Su Huaijing’s true identity.

That was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

There was no way he could allow such an unpredictable factor to linger around Su Huaijing.

[Host, what do you plan to do?] the system asked, its tone steady, as if Sheng Chengli wasn’t the male protagonist it was meant to assist.

Rong Tang paused for a moment, then asked, “Why would he send me that table of dishes?”

System: [To suggest something or to curry favour.]

“You’re right,” Rong Tang replied. “In this life, aside from a fleeting moment at the flower-picking event, we’ve had no interactions. It should be quite difficult for him to figure out my preferences.”

[But he still prepared a table of spicy food.]

Rong Tang scoffed, adding, “Not only did it perfectly suit my tastes, but it also came at a time when I’d been starving all day, almost unable to bear it any longer. When someone is extremely hungry or cold, it doesn’t matter who offers them a bite to eat or a piece of charcoal—they’ll remember that person for a very long time.”

The system was silent for two seconds before saying: [Those are your own words.]

They were indeed Rong Tang’s words, ones he had taught the fifteen-year-old Sheng Chengli, when he himself was nineteen, on how to win people over and gain the trust of eunuchs in the cold palace.

“But using this tactic on me… don’t you think it’s a bit condescending?” Rong Tang sighed softly.

The system didn’t respond, though it briefly considered agreeing with Rong Tang’s assessment. Yet logically, it knew there were other possibilities.

Because he was aware of Rong Tang’s indulgence and favouritism towards him, Sheng Chengli believed that by simply showing a bit of kindness and hinting at their shared identity and past relationship, Rong Tang would accept his “kindness” and return to supporting the person he was originally supposed to assist.

This was the conclusion the system reached after analysing the character of the protagonist from “The Emperor’s Journey” and the two lifetimes of interactions between them.

As much as the system didn’t want to admit it, it had to recognise that Sheng Chengli was not a particularly clever protagonist.

His methods were clumsy and crude, far from the calculated manoeuvres he employed when he caused Yuerong’s death in the Song Garden.

Why?

Because he thought that Rong Tang would never betray him?

Because he believed that Tangtang would always stand by his side?

The system was silent for a long time before finally saying: “[Host, I believe his memory is incomplete.]”

Rong Tang smiled gently, his eyes curving slightly. “I think so too.”

“With Sheng Chengli’s temperament and shrewdness, if he had all his memories from the previous two lives, he would have found a way to kill me at the flower-picking event. How could he have let me live until now?”

But if his memory is incomplete, to what extent is it lacking?

Does he know Su Huaijing’s identity?

Will his memory always remain incomplete, or will it gradually return, bit by bit?

Just as in their previous two lives, when he didn’t dare gamble on how many unknown tricks Su Huaijing had up his sleeve, Rong Tang now didn’t dare to gamble on how much preferential treatment Sheng Chengli, as the protagonist of this world, had received from Heavenly Way.

“We still need to meet,” he said softly, his eyes passing through the rows of people sitting at attention, resting on the other side of the hall where the princes and concubines were seated.

“What are you thinking about, Tangtang?” Su Huaijing followed his gaze and asked in a measured tone.

Rong Tang paused slightly and turned to look at him.

Su Huaijing turned towards him as well, the smile never leaving his lips. “Can’t you tell me?”

In an instant, Rong Tang’s irritation flared, and he snapped, “Didn’t you say that everything I say is a lie? Why should I tell you?”

The system, witnessing the entire exchange, sensibly went back into dormancy.

When it came to serious matters, its host was always rational and composed. Though it had never been assigned to another host, the system doubted there could be anyone better or less troublesome than Tangtang. But when Su Huaijing was involved, all of Rong Tang’s rationality vanished, and he acted purely on emotion.

In a way, this was a good thing. Because when his host was too rational, the system sometimes felt as though he were an emotionless machine, made of the same data as itself, there only to maintain world stability, watching the mortal world from a high vantage point with a look of benevolence.

Ke Hongxue had dragged him into a vibrant, colourful world, and Su Huaijing had painted his life with emotions, giving him joy, anger, and sorrow.

The system felt comforted, though it still found Su Huaijing highly irritating!

He wasn’t the main villain; he was more like a cunning seducer!

Bah!

The little system grumbled as it went back to sleep. Rong Tang glanced at Su Huaijing before looking away again, not in the mood to pay him any attention.

His mouth was sore, speaking was annoying, and seeing the person responsible was even more irritating!

The court eunuch announced the emperor’s arrival, and everyone rose to their feet before kneeling, calling out, “Long live the Emperor!” Su Huaijing chuckled softly, the meaning of his smile unclear. He knelt down but discreetly placed his hand beneath Rong Tang’s knees, shielding them from the floor and preventing him from fully kneeling.

Rong Tang was startled and turned to question Su Huaijing with his eyes. The latter replied silently, “He is not worthy of your kneeling.”

Rong Tang’s heart trembled. The hall was silent, save for the sound of the Emperor and Empress walking in. All of the empire’s nobles and officials knelt in pious reverence, welcoming Dayu’s supreme ruler.

In a corner of Shaohua Hall, four young masters knelt side by side, none of them sincere in their reverence, none wishing the emperor a long life.

On the platform, the emperor’s robe trailed along the ground as he spoke: “Rise.”

Everyone responded in unison, “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Then they stood and returned to their seats. Rong Tang’s gaze lifted, and he saw in those gathered countless lives and deaths intertwined.

Su Huaijing brushed the dust from his robes and asked with a smile, “Does Tangtang enjoy watching a performance?”

“It’s about to begin,” he said.

The author has something to say:

Some readers were unclear why Su Huaijing knew that Tangtang had taught Sheng Chengli in the previous chapter. It was mentioned in Chapter 81. Tangtang briefly explained his past two lives in a dream, where this detail was revealed.