Chapter 98

The house where Huaijing was sent to stay had no name, and some details inside were still incomplete. They simply came to have a look, had lunch, and returned to the capital before nightfall.

Rong Tang asked Su Huaijing what name he had thought of this time, strictly forbidding him from using both their names again. Su Huaijing smiled and replied, “Then I’ll think of another.”

Rong Tang frowned and thought privately that this person was so clever to begin with, how could he act so shamelessly and flout the rules when it came to naming.

But Young Prince Rong was kind-hearted and did not press the issue.

Birthdays are mainly celebrated in the evening. Rong Tang later saw that the eight-character name card given to Su Huaijing before the wedding did not have the eighth day of the first lunar month written on it. If Ke Hongxue had not asked specifically in Song Garden, Rong Tang might not have known when Su Huaijing’s actual birthday was until now.

However, when he thought about it, Rong Tang could not help but feel surprised.

It should be said that Su Huaijing is one of the smartest people in the entire story. With just a few exchanges, Ke Hongxue had already doubted Su Huaijing’s true identity. On reflection, he likely harboured suspicions long before.

Rong Tang could not help but feel a little melancholy while eating the candied fruit in the carriage.

Had it not been for Su Huaijing being trapped in Earl Wukang’s manor at this point in the previous two lives and unable to reveal his true status, it was likely that Ke Hongxue would have interacted with Su Huaijing long before the male protagonist left the palace.

Many things could have gone in a better direction.

Rong Tang leaned against the carriage, his eyes vacant, chewing on the candied fruit while working through the possibilities in his mind.

Suddenly, the soft cushion beside him sank. Before Rong Tang had time to recover and look up, his lips were captured.

The scent of sandalwood had clung to Rong Tang’s clothes all year round, giving him a simple, elegant fragrance like ancient Buddha. A light herbal scent always lingered on Huaijing’s body, with an additional very faint aroma of tea.

Rong Tang disliked taking medicine or drinking tea, but when these scents appeared on Su Huaijing, he did not feel repulsed. He even found the scent similar to rice wine brewed from fermenting tea leaves.

It was subtle, not overly obvious—much like Su Huaijing himself. It silently seeped from the pores, almost intoxicating in its quiet way.

When the scent mixed with his lips and tongue, the lack of oxygen and the intoxication surged in his head, and his senses reached their peak.

The sound of the rolling wheels grew distant, and what he saw before him was Su Huaijing’s eyes wide open with a faint smile and his trembling eyelashes as his eyes closed.

The tip of his tongue was teasing, invading him, and the seedless candied fruit was unconsciously swallowed, leaving only a sweet taste, which was slowly explored over and over, lingering with a slight astringency.

Rong Tang was stunned for a long time. Su Huaijing moved to gently squeeze his waist. Their foreheads touched, their lips and tongues separated just a little, and Su Huaijing’s breath brushed against Rong Tang’s cheek.

The main villain’s voice, deep and suddenly very dangerous, spoke: “Tangtang, concentrate.”

Rong Tang did not know how else to concentrate. He opened his mouth to retort, but his lips were taken again, and bitten.

Su Huaijing seemed to like biting, whether on the neck or on the lips. It was as though he marked and showed intimacy through bites, like a wild, untamed beast in the jungle.

Rong Tang raised his head slightly, letting him bite his lips gently, rubbing the tip of his nose innocently, appearing both lustful and pure at once.

What “main villain”? This was a pitiful little man lacking love, Rong Tang thought, almost absentmindedly.

After a long while, when the peaceful stillness of the exclusive suburb outside the carriage was gradually overtaken by the noise, there was a soft tug on his belt. Warm air permeated his clothes, and Su Huaijing’s hands moved silently inside.

“Stop—” Rong Tang gasped, nearly unable to breathe. He pushed him away, reached out to hold him down, panting and reprimanding, “That’s too much.”

Su Huaijing blinked innocently, looking at the beauty lamp in front of them that seemed to flicker after a slight kiss, and asked, “Aren’t we dating?”

Rong Tang was still panting. He had never had enough physical strength. He hadn’t fainted just now simply because Su Huaijing had directed some air into him.

He was dumbfounded. This person knew how to channel air to him, but didn’t seem to know when to stop!?

Who wants to devour everything in one go?

He glared at Su Huaijing, a faint blush now appearing under his eyes, even his cheeks turning slightly red. This look was not only unthreatening but even a bit flirtatious… something he hadn’t even realised.

Su Huaijing felt a heat in his stomach and his gaze darkened.

Rong Tang glanced at it and quickly looked away as if he had been burned. He grabbed a blanket and threw it over. He gritted his teeth and said, “It’s an outrage against decency!”

Su Huaijing followed his gaze and smiled: “What kind of ‘outrage against decency’ is this? Or does it mean that when Tangtang agreed to date me, we can only hold hands and kiss on the lips, and nothing else?”

[He’s such a scoundrel!] The system suddenly appeared and dropped this line angrily.

Rong Tang was startled by the system and asked quickly, “How much have you seen?”

[Everything!] the system replied. [He’s a rogue! He kissed you secretly and even touched you! After touching you, he got hard! And even when he’s hard, he still uses ridiculous arguments!!!]

[Dump him, Tangtang!] The small light orb floated frantically over Su Huaijing’s head.

Rong Tang was silent for a moment. “No… I just promised him.”

The system was half furious. Just as it was about to speak, the pixel villain raised his hand inexplicably, straightened his hair, glanced up at the void, and then asked Rong Tang: “What is Tangtang thinking about?”

His tone was always natural and composed, exuding the leisure and grace of a main villain in his own right. However, the system that had been jumping above his head just a moment ago froze and looked at Su Huaijing with wide eyes, in disbelief.

It had just felt… the airflow around it seemed to change, as if a hand had actually brushed against its body.

But how could this be?

It and the host were in two different worlds. How could the main villain have touched it just by raising his hand slightly?

The system waited for a while, and once Su Huaijing had directed all his attention to Rong Tang, it silently drifted down and bumped against his fingers with its own body.

There was no obstruction; just like with everyone else in this world, it could only be seen, not touched.

The system suddenly felt bored. It didn’t care that its foolish host was being bullied—after all, one of them was willing to hit, and the other was willing to take it. It wasn’t about to get involved.

It bounced a few more times on Su Huaijing’s hand in frustration, then disappeared to rest.

Almost at the same moment it vanished from the space, Su Huaijing frowned and lowered his gaze to his hand, looking thoughtful.

Rong Tang was still educating him from across the way: “You need to take things step by step, do you understand? Holding hands, dating, kissing, travelling, having sex… How can you jump straight into thinking about all these messy things from the start!”

Seeing Su Huaijing lost in thought, Rong Tang asked seriously, “Are you listening?”

Su Huaijing shifted his gaze upwards, momentarily pushing aside the strange sensation he’d just felt, and nodded obediently, “I understand.”

Rong Tang let out a sigh of relief and surreptitiously relaxed the tip of his tongue, which had gone numb from Su Huaijing’s sucking. However, he then heard Su Huaijing ask seriously, “So, when will we have sex?”

“Uh, cough, cough, cough—!”

Rong Tang choked on his saliva, coughing for quite a while. Finally, he found a cup of tea, drank it to calm himself, and raised his head, asking in disbelief, “What did you just say?”

Su Huaijing counted on his fingers, “Holding hands, dating, kissing, travelling… we’ve done them all, except for the last one. According to Tangtang, we can do it tonight.”

Rong Tang: “…”

He turned his head silently, gazing out of the window at the long street, muttering four words under his breath as he decided not to acknowledge Su Huaijing: “You’re hopeless.”

Your head is full of dirty thoughts!

What happened to your revenge plan? Has it been eaten by your accomplices!?

Rong Tang purposely held his neck and ignored him, but the entire length from his neck to his ears was flushed with a light pink hue. Su Huaijing watched for a while and couldn’t help but smile quietly.

Tangtang is so cute.

He twirled his fingers and warned himself not to pounce on him again; otherwise, Tangtang would probably get embarrassed and throw him out.

Su Huaijing leaned back against the carriage and said softly, “Tangtang, I’m going to sleep for a while. Will you wake me when we get there?”

Rong Tang didn’t want to look at him, but after a few seconds, he still responded, “Oh.”

Su Huaijing smiled more and more, closing his eyes and feigning sleep, but his thoughts were still racing.

That sensation hadn’t been an illusion, nor was it the first time it had happened.

Back when he was at Song Garden, Su Huaijing had occasionally felt the wind by his ears was disordered.

It was as though an organised stream of air had briefly been disturbed by a small vortex, swirling up and down, throwing the direction of the wind off course, causing a moment of chaos and stagnation in the air.

This sensation didn’t occur often, and he wasn’t always able to capture it precisely, so he never gave it much thought.

But now, thinking back on it, during those moments, Tangtang had mostly been lost in thought.

It was as if there were another space that Su Huaijing couldn’t see or hear. When the turbulence appeared, the other party came to see Rong Tang, and they communicated in a way that he was unaware of.

This realisation was unsettling, and the lack of control made him inexplicably irritated.

Su Huaijing pinched his fingers slightly, a vague sense of unease rising within him.

He had always suspected that Rong Tang was a little Buddha from the heavens who had descended to earth to save him. When this frail, sickly body could no longer bear it, Rong Tang would return to heaven, never to be seen again.

The encounter at the Fengyue House, the foresight of the flood in Jiangnan, his insight into Su Huaijing’s identity, and even the house in the countryside that was almost identical to the Duke Xian’s mansion…

All these things seemed to confirm Su Huaijing’s strange speculations.

Now, he had suddenly noticed the occasional turbulence in the air.

Why had he only just discovered it?

Is Tangtang leaving?

The moment this possibility crossed his mind, Su Huaijing furrowed his brows and instinctively reached out to grab Rong Tang.

Rong Tang paused for a moment, clearly still sulking. But he subconsciously grasped Su Huaijing’s hand in return and softly comforted him, “Did you have a nightmare?”

Su Huaijing blinked in surprise, then lowered his eyes, speaking pitifully, “I dreamed that Tangtang didn’t want me anymore.”

Rong Tang frowned, slightly angry, “You need to trust me more.”

Su Huaijing: “So Tangtang won’t leave me?”

Rong Tang was puzzled: “Why would I leave you? There’s no one better than you in this world.”

He said it naturally and casually, without thinking. It was as if he had no idea what kind of storm these words would stir in someone else’s heart.

Su Huaijing stared for a while, then lowered his head and smiled, lifting his gaze with a playful glint in his eyes. He whispered, “I really do like Tangtang the most.”

I’ll be kind to him without holding back, and praise him without any pretence.

Where in the world is there anyone more deserving of my love than Tangtang?

Rong Tang, who wasn’t at all embarrassed by speaking love words, habitually blushed when Su Huaijing expressed his affection. He turned his head shyly and said softly, “Go back to sleep. Excellency Mu is going to celebrate your birthday tonight.”

“Okay.” Su Huaijing smiled obediently.

And one more thing: it was because of Tangtang that gege returned to him.

There really is no one better than Rong Tang in this world.

How can gods and Buddhas be bound to the human world?

Should I build a temple for Tangtang?

Su Huaijing pondered seriously.