Chapter 23

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Emperor Renshou has fathered seven princes in total. The Eldest Prince was born in the imperial palace by the Empress, but he died young, during the second year after Emperor Renshou came to the throne.

Among the current surviving princes, except for the male protagonist Sheng Chengli, whose mother was a foreign singer that had died long ago in the cold palace, the biological mother of the Second Prince Sheng Chengming is Concubine Yi, the daughter of the cabinet minister Zhang Ge, and the Third and Sixth princes are both from Senior Concubine Hui. The mother of the Fourth Prince is also a concubine, who is originally a maid by Concubine Yi’s side. The mother of the Seventh Prince is a noble lady named Fang, who’d only entered the palace a few years ago and has a good relationship with the Empress.

Lately, Emperor Renshou has been showering frequent praise upon the Second Prince, enhancing the reputation of Concubine Yi’s family, much to the displeasure of Concubine Hui.

Concubine Hui’s father is the Grand Marshal of the army, with meritorious service to Emperor Renshou. In the upcoming flower-picking festival that will be held by the Third Prince upon his departure from the palace to set up a residence, not only did the Emperor grant approval for some civil officials to attend, but upon learning that the Third Prince intends to select first, second, and third ranks from among his literary friends, he waved his hand and generously offered a position of an Imperial Hanlin Academy shujishi* as a bonus. All this was done in order to appease Concubine Hui’s side.

(*TN: title of a temporary position in the Hanlin Academy conferred upon meritorious candidates until the next .)

A Hanlin Academy shujishi isn’t an official position but is closely related to the cabinet. Many cabinet ministers from past dynasties started out as a Hanlin Academy shujishi.

The standard admission of a Hanlin Academy shujishi is based on the selection of the best of those from the imperial examination. Emperor Renshou said this move was to appease, but it was more of a signal.

——A signal allowing the Third Prince to associate with close ministers, cultivate influence, and recruit subordinates.

Hence, prompted by this order, not only did the skilled individuals in the capital who are acquainted with the Third Prince respond, but also the offspring of noble households like Rong Tang and Rong Zheng were encouraged by their fathers to dedicate themselves to study earnestly and attend the gathering.

Rong Tang doesn’t have much interest in being a shujishi. For others, this flower-picking festival serves as a stepping stone into a career as an official. But for him, it is merely an opportunity to go on a short trip out of the city.

But Rong Tang can’t ascertain whether or not Su Huaijing wants this opportunity. If he wants it, Rong Tang will fight for it for him.

Early the next morning, at Rong Tang’s forceful request, the two rode Su Huaijing’s carriage out of the city. A total of three carriages drove out of Duke Ningxuan’s Palace. The first carriage is for the prince and shizi fei; the second carriage is for Rong Zheng, Rong Yuan, and Rong Zhe; and the third carriage is for Rong Ying and Rong Ning.

Rong Tang sank into the seats as soon as he got into the carriage, then took out a wool blanket and wrapped it around himself. His eyes lit up as he retrieved a box of leaf cards and said, “Shall we play poker?”

Su Huaijing was about to pour him tea when he heard him and was startled. He then laughed and said, “Just the two of us?”

Rong Tang then cheerfully knocks on the carriage door: “Shuang Fu!”

A round head pops in from behind the carriage curtain. When Shuang Fu saw what Rong Tang was holding, his eyes brightened: “Young Master, Sir.”

Su Huaijing simply doesn’t know what to say to this master and servant pair. He laughed for a while, poured a cup of tea for Rong Tang and set it aside, then set up the small table and started playing with the two of them.

When he was a child, he’d also seen his Empress Mother and the concubines playing leaf cards in the palace. When san ge was thirteen or fourteen years old, he would smile while counting cards behind the ladies and waving his fan. More often than not, he would vex even the most calm and serene Concubine Mei, who couldn’t stand it and would want to drive him away. Thus, the Third Prince would smile and bow to excuse himself before picking Su Huaijing up and making his way to the imperial garden to fly a kite and catch crickets to while away the lengthy hours.

Therefore, Su Huaijing has never actually witnessed the court ladies play a full round of leaf cards. However, based on his impression, leaf cards weren’t called ‘poker’, and the patterns were completely different from the ones Rong Tang is holding.

Shuang Fu said that Rong Tang had drawn the patterns himself, then went out to find a craftsman to fashion them. At the time, Su Huaijing was a little suspicious, but after hearing Rong Tang say last night that he’d never been half-witted, he felt much relieved.

Perhaps there are other reasons why Rong Tang had to pretend to be a half-wit. The imposing courtyards of the Duke’s Palace are like the jaws of a man-eating beast. The young prince possesses a Buddha-like heart, so it is actually safer to be a fool who stands aloof from worldly affairs.

The rules of poker were taught by Rong Tang, and the jackpot was copper coins. Shuang Fu and Shuang Shou had lost several times to the point of exhausting their monthly allowance. The next time the Prince asked if they want to play cards, they would run over excitedly.

Fortunately, after Rong Tang won the money, he would use various means to return it the next day; otherwise, Su Huaijing would have to find a way to placate his servants.

Su Huaijing played half a game with him. Seeing that the tea has been steeping just about enough, he moves it to Rong Tang’s mouth, “Moisten your throat.”

Rong Tang is enjoying the game very much. He doesn’t blink when he hears the words and very naturally tilts his head to drink from Su Huaijing’s hand.

Su Huaijing is a little surprised but can’t help smiling and still indulges him. He gently lifts his wrist to slowly and steadily feed Rong Tang half a cup of tea.

As soon as the tea enters his mouth, Rong Tang became dumbstruck for a moment. After he withdrew, he pursed his lower lip and asked Su Huaijing, “You changed the tea leaves?”

Su Huaijing nods. “Is it not tasty?”

Rong Tang said, “Not really; it’s just that I’m so used to the previous one.”

Su Huaijing smiles and puts the cup down. As he played cards, Rong Tang asks casually, “Are the tea leaves finished?”

“Ng.” Su Huaijing said, “Previously, I brought the tea from Sichuan. There was only so much, and it’s all finished. If Tangtang gege likes it, sometime later I’ll go ask my uncle if there are any more at his home.”

Rong Tang couldn’t help frowning when he heard Li Changfu’s name. Neither of them went to Li Changfu’s house for huimen*. Later, he heard from Shuang Shou that on the twentieth of the third month, the Li Mansion on Songjing Lane swept the floors early in the morning in preparation for welcoming, and two long strings of firecrackers were hung at the door. Li Changfu and several of his sons waited at the door for half a morning, but they didn’t see Prince Ningxuan bring the Shizi Fei to huimen, which triggered a lot of jokes.

(*TN: a Chinese wedding tradition where the bride pays the first visit to her parents’ home with her husband after getting married.)

Rong Tang doesn’t care about him. Since Su Huaijing entered the doors of Duke Ningxuan’s Palace, he is his person. Holding a wedding banquet is already giving sufficient face to Li Changfu and he will definitely not give this vile person any chance to climb socially.

So Rong Tang’s tone grew heavier and bore a hint of displeasure as he said, “Don’t ask him; this is also nice to drink.”

Su Huaijing smiled and asked, “Tangtang likes it?”

Rong Tang looks askance at him, somewhat confused. “It’s actually not bad.”

The tea is slightly bitter compared to the tea he has drunk before, but it has a sweet aftertaste once it enters the mouth. The taste is light, with the flavour of morning dew, which rather suits his taste.

Before Su Huaijing could say anything, Shuang Fu smiles and reveals a secret: “Young Master, it’s a good thing you said you liked it; otherwise, I would’ve felt sorry for Sir.”

Rong Tang was slightly surprised: “What’s going on?”

Shuang Fu: “This is the dew that Sir went to the garden to collect early in the morning before the sun rose. The grass blades and petals were boiled in separate pots and well-prepared. He only went to knock on your door when the sun came out. How could it not be delicious?”

Rong Tang is taken aback for a long time and even played with the wrong card in his hand. Su Huaijing’s eyebrows twitched a little, but he didn’t yield to him. He took it with a smile and directly laid out all the leaf cards he’d been holding. In one second, Shuang Fu is still boisterous, but the next second, his expression collapsed and he is reluctant to acknowledge reality. He took out two coins from his pocket and placed them in front of Su Huaijing.

Su Huaijing spreads open his right hand and brings it before Rong Tang: “Tangtang, hand over the money.”

Rong Tang automatically moves to take out the money. His hand went halfway to his waist when he suddenly came back to his senses and glanced at Su Huaijing. “Isn’t my money with you?”

“But that’s the pocket money you gave to me.” Su Huaijing said this without a hint of psychological burden; his phoenix eyes curving slightly, and he smiled harmlessly and innocently: “Tangtang gege plans to use my pocket money to pay for gambling? “

Rong Tang is speechless and can’t help but curse.

The system said coolly, [Host, you deserve it.]

Rong Tang doesn’t feel he deserves it; he just feels like he is being controlled.

Su Huaijing takes meticulous care of him these days, and Rong Tang has became dependent on him. Not only did he give him the keys to the private store in the courtyard, but he also randomly stuffs money into Su Huaijing’s pocket every time he goes out. He himself strolls out, hugging a hand stove and carrying nothing else.

It is the same this time when he goes to the flower-picking festival. He doesn’t bring any money with him at all. His money is either with Shuang Fu or Su Huaijing.

Now that he’s lost money playing cards with these two people, he has to find his wife and ask for gambling funds…

Rong Tang’s face reddened with embarrassment.

Su Huaijing smiles, turns to untie the money bag, takes out a handful of broken silver and copper pieces, piles them in front of Rong Tang, and whispers, “Remember to pay me back aaa.”

Rong Tang is being teased so much by him to the point of being utterly embarrassed. Almost forgetting that the money is originally his, he casually agrees and hands two coins from the pile to Su Huaijing as gambling capital.

The system clicks its tongue in amazement: [Host, what kind of games are you playing?]

It is clear that all the banknotes Rong Tang have given Su Huaijing are at least one hundred taels, but now this small mountain-shaped pile of silver coins adds up to less than ten taels, yet the two of them are still going back and forth, making it appear as if they are flirting.

The system actually wants to spout this conclusion directly, but it is aware that its host is really thin-skinned, so it pondered it for a while, strolls around in the system space a couple of times, then curls up into a ball on Rong Tang’s lap to watch him play cards.

It was Rong Tang who wanted to play poker, and in the end, it was also Rong Tang who’d lost everything, including his pants. He eyes the pile of copper coins in front of him that has gone into Su Huaijing’s money bag intact, feeling quite puzzled: “Were you faking it with me before?”

Su Huaijing smiles: “I didn’t.”

Rong Tang doesn’t believe him at all. Seeing that Shuang Fu has also lost miserably, he hands over the two broken pieces of silver in front of him. He initially wants to give them all to him, but he knows that Shuang Fu won’t accept them, so he says, “One piece for you, and you save the other one for me, and give it to me the next time we play cards.”

Shuang Fu looks at him, then at Su Huaijing, hesitates for a long time, and finally accepts it before turning around and exiting the carriage.

Rong Tang lost the whole game, and his rarely-seen temper isn’t particularly good. He sulkily drinks more than half a cup of tea and wants to pour more, but Su Huaijing stretches out his hand to stop him.

Rong Tang scowls at him. Su Huaijing lowers his eyebrows, appearing somewhat pitiful and a little aggrieved: “Tangtang gege gave my pocket money to others.”

Rong Tang’s scalp tingled. “Don’t I have to pay you back?”

Su Huaijing adds, “Tangtang gege is still grumpy.”

Rong Tang retorts: “I’m not.”

Su Huaijing doesn’t believe it, so he stares intently at him for a while, shaking his head, and concluding, “You’re literally still fuming.”

Rong Tang: “…”

After confronting Su Huaijing for two seconds, he finally loses his temper and firmly admits, “Yes, I’m somewhat incensed.”

He asks in confusion, “Are you able to count cards?”

Su Huaijing blinks: “It’s not difficult.”

Rong Tang is floored for a moment by his relaxed tone. After a while, he resentfully complains in a low voice, “There’s no point in playing and counting cards. It’s like standing naked in front of you.”

Su Huaijing’s eyes darken slightly, then diffuses all of a sudden. He smiles and coaxes, “I was wrong; I won’t memorise the cards next time.”

Rong Tang looks doubtfully at him and says, “Really?”

Su Huaijing nods: “Really.”

Rong Tang asks again: “Then why did you memorise the cards this time?”

Su Huaijing smiles and rolls his eyes: “Because Tangtang gege said he would pay me back.”

Rong Tang: “Are you short of money?”

Su Huaijing shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Then…?” Rong Tang is even more confused.

Su Huaijing said: “The key to the warehouse is in my possession, as is the palace’s monthly silver. Tangtang gege gave me all the cash as pocket money just after we got married… Tangtang, you don’t have any money with you now, right?”

He smiled mildly and contentedly. Rong Tang seems to be looking at a fox, and his eyes widen in disbelief.

Su Huaijing moves forward and takes his hand, squeezing it slowly. “If you can’t pay back the money, Tangtang gege can give me something else.”

Rong Tang takes a long time to digest his words, and his tone is rough: “What do you want?”

Su Huaijing obediently shakes his head. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll tell you when I’ve thought about it.”

Rong Tang is almost vexed to death by him. He bites his lip, and just as he is about to fly into a rage, his hand is squeezed again and again. Su Huaijing releases him, then he spreads his palm in front of him and pushes up his sleeve: “It hurts…”

Rong Tang is dazed and lowers his head to look. The main villain’s fine, white wrist is intricately covered with many bright red scars. Each one is very fresh. There are traces of scratches and scrapes from grass stalks or twigs.

When Rong Tang thought of what Shuang Fu said earlier, his anger instantly dissipated, and he even felt a little heartache. Su Huaijing raises his eyes to look at him; his voice is gentle and soft: “Okay?”

Rong Tang: “…Okay, okay, okay.”

What can he do? He himself wanted to marry this wife.

Su Huaijing smiled and acted coquettishly: “Then can Tangtang help me apply the medicine?”

Rong Tang: “…”

The medicinal salve prepared by the palace’s doctor is very effective. Rong Tang has some leftover after using it before. When they ventured out this time, Shuang Fu packed it in his luggage and brought it along.

He rummages through and finds the bottle of black salve, opens it, and scoops out a little. He remembers the last time he was in Yong’an Lane, the man in front of him had an almost murderous aura while helping him apply the salve. He couldn’t help but glare at Su Huaijing, with an unfriendly tone: “You’ve gotten hurt collecting dew water, so you shouldn’t be collecting it.”

Su Huaijing senses that the pattern of this sentence is very familiar. He was stunned for a moment, then recalled it for two seconds and failed to muffle his laughter. Without moving his wrist, he let Rong Tang help him apply the medicine, but said, “That’s not right.”

Rong Tang looks bafflingly at him.

Su Huaijing said, “It should be, ‘How can you hurt yourself collecting dew water? Huaijing, you shouldn’t have collected it’.”

The word ‘Huaijing’ rolled off his tongue effortlessly, even carrying a hint of a low, languid tone, as if entwined with threads of emotion, sticky and sweet.

After Su Huaijing finished speaking, he looks at Rong Tang, his eyes sparkling, and asks, “Tangtang, repeat it once?”

Rong Tang: “…” I refuse.

[You deserve it.] The system once again bashed its host.

It also completely doesn’t comprehend. The host obviously knows that he’s no match for the villain, but he still insists on provoking him over and over again. He must embarrass himself until he’s blushing and speechless before he can calm down for a while.

Rong Tang said, “You shut up.”

He can’t even defeat Su Huaijing; how can he defeat this little dummy of a system?

[You can still be mean to me!] The system said indignantly, jumping up and down on Rong Tang’s avatar’s legs as if to vent its anger.

Su Huaijing didn’t hear an answer, so his tone turns even softer and stickier than before: “Tangtang?”

Rong Tang can’t stop his ears from growing a little hot. There is really nothing he can do, so he asks in an especially faint and weak voice, “Don’t call me like that.”

Su Huaijing is startled for a spell, then smiles. The salve has been applied, and there is a scent of herbal medicine on his wrist. Su Huaijing withdrew his hand, supported his chin with his other one, raised his eyes, and looked at Rong Tang with a smile: “Tangtang gege bullied me.”

Rong Tang cracked even further.

Su Huaijing said, “I’m neither allowed to call you Husband nor Tangtang; then what should I call you?”

He pauses a bit, then his smile deepened, and he asks softly, “…Husband darling?”

Rong Tang panicked, rushed forward, and places his palms directly on Su Huaijing’s mouth, pressing down securely. His ears became redder and redder; he evades his gaze, wishing he can find a hole in the ground to crawl in. His expression is filled with embarrassment.

However, his fingers happen to press on the back of Su Huaijing’s hand, which is resting on his cheek. Su Huaijing paused, looks down, and a smile escapes from the corner of his lips. Rong Tang shrank as if he’s been scalded, but he doesn’t take away his hand. Su Huaijing follows this posture and changes the movements of his left hand. Little by little, his fingertips squeeze in between Rong Tang’s fingers until their hands are clasped together. He moves and raises it before Rong Tang with a smile.

It was like he’s showing off a treasure: “Look, ten fingers are intertwined!”

Rong Tang: “…”

I’ll die, and that’s it.

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The flower-picking festival is held in an estate that Emperor Renshou awarded to the Third Prince at the end of last year. It is called Song Garden, located on the outskirts of the capital, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and boasts a beautiful scenery.

Duke Ningxuan’s Palace convoy moves slowly all the way because they worry that the prince’s body cannot bear the bumps. When they arrive outside the estate, a row of carriages and horses are already tied to the hitching posts.

The spring scenery is perfect. The mountain forests on the left and right are filled with blooming flowers and shady trees everywhere. Rong Tang awkwardly avoids Su Huaijing’s hand and gets off the carriage. He takes a quick scan and happens to catch a glimpse of Ke Hongxue getting out of the carriage.

Tutor Ke is wearing a green spring outfit today, paired with a white jade folding fan. His hair is tied up, his form is slender and graceful, and his passionate eyes convey a myriad of amorous feelings. The noble ladies that pass by and inadvertently look at him, one after another, shyly cover their faces.

Rong Tang: “…” A scourge.

Just as he is cursing inwardly, Ke Hongxue looks over leisurely. His eyes widen, he snaps his fan close with a swing, and he says with a smile, “Prince, we meet again!”

Rong Tang turns around to leave, but Su Huaijing stops him and takes him a few steps forward with a smile: “Excellency Ke.”

Rong Tang has no choice but to go over and ask, “Brother Mu isn’t with you?”

The corners of Ke Hongxue’s mouth drop, and he laughs at himself: “Senior is terribly biased. He’s worried that his little student would be neglected on the road, so he’s escorting him personally. How would he still think of me?”

Rong Tang is slightly startled and frowns. “Sheng Chengli here too?”

As soon as he spoke, Ke Hongxue’s expression changed. He eyes Rong Tang pensively and says with a hint, “Duke Ningxuan is indeed favoured by His Majesty.”

Rong Tang is stunned and turns to look at Su Huaijing, only to see the latter looking at him thoughtfully. His heart froze, and just as he is about to explain, he hears Su Huaijing say: “His Majesty is delighted with the auspicious beast, and everyone in the world knows it. Could it be that Tutor Ke has forgotten what you said in Shudao Pavilion last night?”

There’s a simple reason why Ke Hongxue has become suspicious. It is because they hasn’t mentioned Sheng Chengli’s name at all last night. However, when Rong Tang heard what Ke Hongxue said just now, he opened his mouth to ask if the male protagonist was here too.

This kind of keenness easily triggers people to suspect that he knows something.

When he hears this, Ke Hongxue’s smile doesn’t change, and he unhurriedly asks Su Huaijing, “Oh? What did this subject say that allowed the Prince to guess who my senior’s student is so quickly? Do elucidate, Shizi Fei.”

Rong Tang frowns. He somewhat feels like punching Ke Hongxue.

But Su Huaijing says calmly, “It seems that Tutor Ke does have a bad memory. Excellency Ke moves around the imperial palace as a tutor. In addition to the eunuchs in charge, the people you associate with are also the princes and companions of the Imperial Academy.”

Ke Hongxue waves the folding fan: “This is reasonable.”

Su Huaijing: “The person who can make Tutor Ke risk his life to rescue him regardless of his own safety is unlikely to be an eunuch.”

Ke Hongxue says directly: “Shizi Fei is very astute. Not only is it unlikely that he is an eunuch, but more likely he ought to be a prince. But how did Shizi Fei manage to guess that he was the Fifth Prince?”

Although recently Grand Tutor Ke Wenrui suggested to Emperor Renshou that Sheng Chengli should serve as an assistant minister, this matter is secret and not known to anyone but the Emperor’s closest officials.

And the confidants of Emperor Renshou, like Rong Mingyu, are all extremely tight-lipped. It is absolutely impossible for them to tell the secrets of the palace to their families. When Ke Hongxue asked this question, his intention isn’t simple.

While he is suspicious of Rong Tang, he has also become suspicious of Duke Ningxuan.

Rong Tang felt his temples pound upon hearing it and wanted him to stop talking. In this life, Rong Tang doesn’t understand him. After all the years of getting along with him in his two previous lives, how could he still not understand Ke Hongxue?!

This person inexplicably called out to him in Shudao Pavilion last night. Even if it was truly a chance encounter, the subsequent words about “tiger” and “your student” were mentioned by him himself.

Not to mention that today they just “happened” to bump into each other at the gates of Song Garden. When he asked casually, he’d brought up his student again.

Repeatedly, it was clear that there’s some scheme, and yet he’s still able to pin the suspicion on him, setting himself in a high position to hold him accountable.

Rong Tang doesn’t believe that Su Huaijing hasn’t taken notice. If it isn’t because he senses that Su Huaijing coming here to talk to him definitely has a plan in mind, he really wants to expose Ke Hongxue directly.

His head is aching, then he heard Su Huaijing laugh and say, “This will sound disrespectful. Since he’s a prince, he should be escorted by palace carriages and horses when travelling and Dragon Guards who accompany him to protect him. Except for the Fifth Highness, who would dare to neglect an offspring of the Emperor’s?”

Ke Hongxue paused for a moment, and the way he looked at Su Huaijing also changed. He is a little satisfied and a little afraid. He leisurely closes the folding fan and smiles as if he’s just realised it: “So it was me who let it slip and drew Prince’s and Shizi Fei’ suspicions. If Shizi Fei hadn’t reminded me, who knows how many more mistakes I would’ve made in the future? Thank you very much.”

Su Huaijing avoided his thanks; his gaze grew a little colder, his voice deepened somewhat, and he felt a sense of oppression: “I dare not receive your thanks, as I don’t know what’s the reason for Tutor Ke to probe repeatedly.”

The author has something to say:

Su Huaijing: Soft-rice-is-hard-to-eat-tea-performance artist.

Tangtang: What can I do? He really made my heart ache maa!

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