Chapter 139

That makes perfect sense.

It’s not unusual for immortals to leave behind children of fate before descending to the mortal world.

Besides, Tangtang and Tongtong… even the names sound alike. How could anyone not suspect?

Su Huaijing had a fleeting thought: If that glowing ball really is Tangtang’s son, could I even be jealous? And if not, how am I supposed to help Tangtang raise a kid?

Maybe the look on his face gave something away, because the system’s line—“I’m his dad”—got stuck halfway and never made it out.

It wanted to say, “I’m his dad, and I’m yours too, you dumbass!”

But after two seconds of silence, it softened its voice and mumbled, “Right, you caught me.”

The carriage fell into an awkward, stifling silence. The system stared at Su Huaijing. Su Huaijing stared silently back. Rong Tang was sound asleep.

Before the light completely faded, the system cracked first. It couldn’t hold back its anticipation and blurted out, “So? Are you going to divorce Tangtang? You don’t want people calling you the third party, do you?”

Su Huaijing didn’t know what “third party” meant, but he didn’t trust Tongtong’s words entirely either. He paused a moment, then smiled elegantly and shook his head. “No.”

“I’m your stepdad,” he said. “Come on. Call me Dad.”

The system nearly exploded. It wasn’t exactly a mild-tempered one to begin with, and it liked Tangtang—enough to argue with him every day. How could it possibly show any civility to the jerk who stole away its precious cabbage? It shot back without hesitation, “I’m your dad!”

Su Huaijing replied blandly, “My dad’s dead.”

“I’m your mom!”

“My mom’s dead too.”

“I’m your father-in-law!”

“I plan on killing Rong Mingyu.”

“…Then I’m your mother-in-law!”

The main villain finally nodded and smiled. “Alright, Wang Fei.”

System: “…”

It wasn’t sure if it had won… or lost.

Aggrieved and furious, it didn’t want to waste another second arguing with the dumbass villain. It simply veered away, floated over to Rong Tang’s sleeping face, and affectionately gave him a kiss.

The glowing orb grew dimmer and dimmer, on the verge of vanishing. Su Huaijing stared at it for a moment, then said gently, “Take care of yourself. Tangtang’s really worried about you.”

The system froze mid-motion, then muttered, “…Okay.”

The air was awkward. It had clearly been mentally preparing for this goodbye, and although it was bitter about it, it still said, “You too. Be well. Tangtang… really likes you.”

Su Huaijing was caught off guard, then smiled. “Okay. Thank you.”

“I don’t need your thanks,” the system grumbled under its breath. “Dumbass.”

“…?” Su Huaijing blinked, a mix of confusion and amusement. “That’s awfully rude. Didn’t Tangtang teach you manners?”

“You stole my Tangtang and you still want me to be polite to you?” the system said incredulously. If it had eyes, they’d be rolling right now.

Su Huaijing, feeling vaguely in the wrong, scratched his nose and didn’t reply.

Just before it vanished, the system flung out one last “magnanimous” statement: “Whatever. I’m the mature one here. I won’t stoop to your level. You’re the childish one, not me.”

Su Huaijing: “…”

What do I do with this? I’m so mad. And yet… I can’t even be mad.

The ball of light disappeared, leaving only the faint red glow of the brazier behind. The carriage rolled to a stop at Tangjing Residence, and Rong Tang, by some miracle, woke up.

The moment he opened his eyes and saw Su Huaijing, his first instinct was to kick him. But he caught sight of the pitiful, slightly wronged expression on Su Huaijing’s face and blinked. “What’s wrong with you?”

Su Huaijing looked mournful and whispered like a child, “Someone scolded me.”

“…?” Rong Tang was honestly surprised. There are people in this world who can roast the main villain like that? He choked slightly on a laugh, sat up, straightened his clothes, nodded in agreement, and said quietly as he scooted toward the carriage door, “Good for them.”

Then, before Su Huaijing could react, he leapt out the carriage like lightning. Not even a corner of his robe got caught.

The main villain: “…”

Incredible. That reaction—it’s in the genes. No way they’re not related.

Su Huaijing gave a ghost of a smile, but decided for now not to tell Tangtang what he’d missed.

He was in a mood.

He hadn’t managed to bully Tangtang, and had gotten cursed out instead.

For the next few days, the main villain carried around a visible storm cloud. His mood was gloomy, and he looked so pitiful that Rong Tang couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. He even went to ask Mu Jingxu if anything troubling had happened at court, but there was nothing.

He had no clue what was bothering Su Huaijing, so he resorted to his own method of cheering him up.

One evening after dinner, Rong Tang asked, “The Purple Jade Troupe’s staging a new play. Want to go watch?”

Su Huaijing’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Oh? Is it the one where the young master and his ex-wife take their three-year-old child to meet the stepdad and stepmom?”

“…?”

Rong Tang didn’t know how to respond. He stared at Su Huaijing for a long moment, then turned and told Shuang Fu, “Go to the other residence tomorrow and ask Bi Xin to come back. Something’s wrong with Huaijing’s brain.”

Su Huaijing: “…”

The main villain snapped a finely made Cangzhou writing brush in half and stomped out to interrupt them. “There’s nothing wrong. I’m perfectly fine.”

Then he grabbed Rong Tang’s hand and pulled him toward the door. “Didn’t you want to see a play? I wouldn’t dare stop you. It’s not like you married me to control you.”

Rong Tang’s head throbbed. He rubbed at his temples, waved off Shuang Fu, and followed Su Huaijing out the door.

The carriage quickly arrived at the Purple Jade Troupe. Rong Tang reserved a private room. The door was locked, a small window opened in the wall, offering a clear view of the stage below, and the room itself was bathed in soft, dreamlike light.

When the play reached a tender and slightly risqué scene, Su Huaijing got bored and looked away. But Rong Tang quietly squatted down, looked up at him… part warning, part shyness, all nerves.

“If you keep sulking,” he whispered, “I won’t care about you anymore.”

Su Huaijing froze, surprised, and the next second, saw Rong Tang lifting his hem.

The noble young master sat on the floor, fair and beautiful hands sliding upward, head moving closer…

Su Huaijing panicked, immediately shut the window and dimmed the lights. The room became a sealed, private space.

Su Huaijing tried to stop him. “It’s… unclean—”

“Just this once,” Rong Tang said lightly. The unspoken threat hung in the air: refuse, and there won’t be a next time.

Su Huaijing hesitated for two seconds, looked down at him. And, in the end, lost to the base instincts of man.

…

The performance on stage was fiery. The atmosphere off stage was even more so.

Time passed. The show ended. Private room doors opened, few remained innocent, many left satisfied. Su Huaijing finally realised why Rong Tang had dragged him here. On one hand, he was thoroughly soothed; on the other, his teeth itched with suppressed resentment.

The young master wore a cloak, lips red, head down as he walked out, too embarrassed to meet anyone’s eyes.

Su Huaijing’s gaze swept back and forth.

The next day, Ke Hongxue came to the Tangjing Residence wanting to invite Rong Tang out. But before he even stepped inside, the doorman politely and respectfully turned him away.

Tutor Ke was baffled. When he returned and told Mu Jingxu, the man shot him a glare. “Who told you to corrupt Rong Tang?”

“I didn’t corrupt him!” Ke Hongxue was deeply wronged. “There’s a lot he knows better than me, alright?”

Mu Jingxu didn’t believe a word of it. He shot him another cold look and went back to sorting his paperwork.

Ke Hongxue, bored out of his mind, clung to him and teased, “Want to come out with me tonight, Senior? Spring nights are gentle, lanterns glow softly, even the nightscape looks prettier.”

Mu Jingxu calmly continued reviewing documents. “No.”

Ke Hongxue: “There’s a new batch of dancers from the Western Regions at Fengyue House. You sure you don’t want to take a peek?”

Mu Jingxu’s brush froze mid-stroke. Without lifting his gaze, he softly called, “Ke Hanying.”

“I’m here.” Ke Hongxue smiled. His fingers had already crept up Mu Jingxu’s collar, tugging at his tie, just a breath away from pulling it loose.

Mu Jingxu said, “You need a good lesson.”

Ke Hongxue’s voice dropped to a whisper, brushing against his ear like mist, melting into the air: “Ruler, bamboo cane, rattan switch… Whatever you want to teach me with, I’ll fetch it for you.”

The documents lay open before him, but Mu Jingxu couldn’t read a single word.

Mu Jingxu lowered his eyes, gaze sweeping over the table full of classics and poems by the sages. With quiet grace, he set the brush back on the rack, stood up, and calmly pushed Ke Hongxue towards the bed. His voice dropped to a low murmur:

“And what made you think I needed you to teach me how to punish someone?”

Ke Hongxue let out a soft laugh, hook of his finger tugging Mu Jingxu’s cravat loose. The immortal was pulled down into the dust of the mortal realm, his eyes touched by desire.

“You’re right, I misspoke,” Ke Hongxue said sweetly. “Please, Your Highness. Punish me.”

Mu Jingxu’s eyes darkened ever so slightly. He reached for the candle on the desk without a second thought.

A sudden chill hit Ke Hongxue’s teeth. His gaze flickered warily.

Hiss—

Looks like I’ll have to stock up on low-temperature wax next time… Senior really does have a thing for this…

The debonair, flirtatious top scholar gave a low chuckle.

Exactly his kind of flavour.

Spring was in full bloom. Ripples shimmered on the water. The migratory birds had returned to the capital and now chirped merrily from the trees, casting flickering shadows through the window lattice.

They tangled, covered, overlapped… until death did them part…

—

After that day, Su Huaijing stopped being so passive-aggressively weird, and Rong Tang finally enjoyed a few days of peace.

He never said what had caused his strange behaviour, and though Rong Tang asked a few times, Su Huaijing only replied, “Someone scolded me.”

But Rong Tang didn’t believe that for a second.

The main villain was not the type to swallow his pride and stew in silence. If someone really did scold him, and he didn’t cut off their arm on the spot, that was basically an act of mercy.

—Of course, this rule didn’t apply to Rong Tang.

And as far as Rong Tang remembered, he hadn’t actually scolded him. Whatever insults were flung around in bed barely counted. They were just… part of the mood. Su Huaijing wouldn’t seriously be upset over those.

So, after a few attempts, Rong Tang gave up asking altogether.

Then, on the fourteenth of the third month, Su Huaijing suddenly turned to him and asked:

“Do you know someone called Tongtong?”

Rong Tang blinked. The words “I don’t” slipped out reflexively, then he caught himself. His eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“Which ‘Tong’?”

“As in ‘to govern.’ Looks like a floating blob of light.” Su Huaijing didn’t beat around the bush.

Rong Tang froze on the spot. His thoughts spun wildly. After two seconds of silence, it all clicked into place.

“It scolded you?”

Su Huaijing nodded. “Ng.”

“…”

Rong Tang took a tactical sip of tea, then set his cup down and spoke, voice soft and touched with a barely concealed glee:

“Good for it.”

No wonder. Itwas a system he’d trained himself!

Rong Tang was a little pleased. Three months of tension eased a fraction, and with a relaxed air he asked:

“What did it say to you?”

The big bad villain fell silent.

He stared at Rong Tang for a long, long while, then slowly curled his lips into a smile, eyes gleaming with mischief.

“It said it’s not coming back to see you anymore.”

Rong Tang’s face went rigid. His teacup slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor, shards of porcelain scattering across the room.

He was utterly shaken.

“…”

Su Huaijing’s playful mood died instantly.

He crouched to gather the pieces, checking anxiously if Rong Tang had been hurt, muttering under his breath:

“It said it wants to recognise me as its stepfather. It’s coming tomorrow to serve tea and kneel. Now you’ve gone and broken the cup. What if I’m down a son?”

He looked up at Rong Tang, phoenix eyes full of wounded grievance.

“Will you compensate me?” he asked, refusing to let it go. “Tangtang, will you get me another son?”

Rong Tang: “…?”

What nonsense is this?

That system was dying to become my dad. How could it possibly want to call you stepdad?

The author has something to say:

Tongtong: This is slander! ! ! The villain is a stinky idiot! ! !

What’s this? This is a limited-time return of the “sunlit orb.” Let’s all hope it sticks around permanently, thank you very much! (Don’t mind me—I’ve completely lost it, woo woo woo.)