Chapter 139: Little Wan’s Separation Anxiety
In truth, from the moment he drifted off to sleep that night, Wei Wanlan was in a state of hazy consciousness.
In his mind, the System’s notification sounds began to fade away.
Replacing them was a rising, deep sense of exhaustion.
He felt his body become very light, fluttering as if about to fly. His toes barely touched the ground before his body soared into the air.
He floated down from a vast white mist onto an emerald green grassland. The grass was lush like a carpet, and tiny wildflowers of various colors twinkled in the wind like stars. He sat amidst the field of flowers, breathing in the fresh air for a long time.
But after sitting for a while, he realized that he was the only one there.
In that case, no matter how beautiful the scenery was, it would eventually feel boring.
He really wanted to find someone to share it with…
Where was the Regent?
Where was he?
“Xiao Wan.”
Su Jingzhi’s arrival was always so timely, always appearing right when Wei Wanlan needed him most.
Today, the Regent of Great Wei wore casual attire. Although the fabric was expensive, the style was not overly ornate. His hair was tied back loosely, draped casually behind him—this was how he dressed on his days off.
Wei Wanlan was overjoyed to see him and pounced over, chattering away:
“Regent, Zhen knew you would be nearby! Are we in the Classic of Mountains and Seas right now? Or somewhere else? Regent, last time I went to Qingqiu to pet the foxes. The foxes were so fluffy and cute. And as soon as I touched their heads, they squinted their eyes.”
As Wei Wanlan spoke, he looked around with a hint of regret. The grassland was beautiful, and the greenery was soothing to the eyes, but it felt like something was missing.
That was it.
Cattle, sheep, animals!
There were no living creatures active here, so no matter how he looked at it, the place felt like a shell without a soul.
Wei Wanlan cupped his small face, pondering what he should raise.
But what to raise?
His eyes darted around as he thought for the span of three or four snaps of the fingers.
Suddenly, two furry little heads nudged against him. He heard the sih-ha sih-ha panting of little milk dogs. Two puppies were nestled in Su Jingzhi’s arms.
The puppies hadn’t been born long ago; their eyes had just opened, dark and shiny like beans, filled with curiosity about the world.
The little milk dogs reached out their front paws to claw at Wei Wanlan’s lapels, their eyes full of longing and friendliness.
Wei Wanlan was delighted and reached out to hold them.
But Su Jingzhi froze, stepping back to stop Wei Wanlan’s movement. He asked solemnly, “Xiao Wan, are you sure you like them?”
“Like, like, like, like, like…”
Saying ‘like’ once wasn’t enough.
He liked small animals the best!
Su Jingzhi asked him solemnly again, “Then, this Prince gives these two puppies to you. We will take good care of them, alright?”
“Mn, mn, mn!”
Another bout of frantic nodding.
Wei Wanlan was so excited he didn’t even realize he was nodding like a maniac; his heart was set on taking the puppies from Su Jingzhi’s arms immediately.
Back in his modern family, he had really wanted to raise something furry. Their home definitely had enough space for a dog to run around, but Wei Wanlan’s grandfather had severe rhinitis. Xiao Wan was a filial child and had never brought up raising a puppy.
—Now, when they returned to Zichen Hall, there were plenty of places to raise fluffy puppies.
Zhen can walk them to other palaces, and take them to the Regent’s estate.
The puppies will give birth to many tiny puppies.
The empty halls of the palace will be filled with dogs then. It’s wonderful.
He took the puppies from Su Jingzhi into his own arms. Wei Wanlan lowered his head and kissed the tops of the puppies’ heads, one by one.
Just as he was rejoicing, something drifting and crystalline suddenly fell between him and Su Jingzhi.
It was a snowflake.
The first snowflake fell like a warning.
Immediately after, the vast, lush green grassland turned bleak and withered.
The flowers and grass were buried by wind and snow, and a bone-chilling cold filled the air.
amidst the freezing cold, he hugged the two puppies tightly as they burrowed into his embrace, his eyes blinded by the blizzard.
He couldn’t find Su Jingzhi anymore. Heaven and earth were vast and white, the wind and snow mournful.
His surroundings turned into the ruins of a battlefield in the heavy snow. Wolf smoke twisted into shapeless forms, flagpoles were snapped, and the tattered military flags of Great Wei were stuck slantwise into the snow-covered earth. At his feet lay countless corpses of soldiers clad in Great Wei’s golden armor.
A deep sorrow welled up in Wei Wanlan, and he cried out:
“Regent!!!”
…
“The Regent has already gone to coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue regarding the grain and pay for the expeditionary army,” Xiao Ji said.
Ever since dreaming that strange, grief-inducing dream, he had been in a trance all morning.
Wei Wanlan rubbed his temples.
He had even forgotten how he got out of bed, put on his clothes, and proceeded to the Secretariat to handle administration as usual.
A thick sense of sadness, like an undissolvable solid, weighed heavily on his heart.
Especially when he heard the word “expedition,” his mood sank even lower, as if the giant stone pressing on him had deliberately rolled back and forth. He couldn’t catch his breath.
“Expedition to the Turks?”
“Correct. But not immediately,” Xiao Ji said. “Many officials are advocating for war, hoping Great Wei will seize the opportunity to march north and sweep away the Turks. But he says we must wait. This humble official guesses that, like the fisherman catching the profit while the snipe and clam fight, he wants to maximize the gain and let Antang exhaust the Turks completely.”
“Oh…”
Wei Wanlan nodded thoughtfully, not daring to express too many opinions for fear of revealing his ignorance.
In truth, ever since Su Jingzhi returned the government to him, Wei Wanlan had been handling court affairs personally almost every day. With Prime Minister Xiao’s help and the assistance of the Wise Monarch Cultivation System, he could now keep internal affairs running fairly well.
The only exception was military affairs, which he dared not attempt because lives were directly at stake. Su Jingzhi understood him; the Commander’s Seal belonged to Wei Wanlan, but Su Jingzhi still managed the military duties as much as possible.
So Wei Wanlan couldn’t interject much.
He bit his lower lip, trying to wave away that wave of sadness.
But he couldn’t wipe it away.
Knowing that the “Nine-Dragon Mirror of Universal Peace” was a treasure, that terrifying dream of total annihilation must be somewhat related to reality. This made him even more uneasy.
Wei Wanlan shifted his thoughts. “Minister Xiao, besides military affairs, is there anything else Zhen can handle today?”
Xiao Mengshi handed over a memorial and replied, “The wheat harvest situation this year is gratifying. The grain from the Jiangbei region alone is enough to cover the army’s provisions. Your Majesty should offer sacrifices to Shennong and Heaven and Earth.” Propaganda and educational activities could not be skipped.
Wei Wanlan nodded. “Arrange for the Ministry of Rites to prepare it. Zhen will go in two days.”
Prime Minister Xiao added, “After the hot summer, it will be the Autumn Exams. The court needs personnel everywhere, so this matter should not be delayed. We need to immediately appoint officials as chief examiners.”
“Then draw up a list, and Zhen will make the selection.”
“This subject obeys the decree.”
As for other state affairs, Wei Wanlan handled many items step-by-step. He also inspected the Drum Office he had arranged in the palace, which was responsible for collecting the voices and grievances of the people from all over the nine provinces.
By the time he finished dealing with these, it was already time for the evening meal.
Wei Wanlan hadn’t returned to his sleeping quarters yet; he was at the Drum Office, listening to the officials in charge report some strange civil cases.
Nowadays, these officials in the Drum Office were all personally selected by Wei Wanlan from among officials with upright character.
But Wei Wanlan didn’t let go completely. The Petition Drum was a system he promoted. When commoners kept appealing, were dissatisfied with the court’s solutions, or when even the officials receiving the cases couldn’t cope, he would step in and find a way to solve it.
It could be said that the Petition Drum was one of the key systems by which he won the hearts of the people.
At this moment, Eunuch An came in to ask for instructions:
“Your Majesty, shall the meal be served?”
The sun had set behind the western hills. Wei Wanlan certainly didn’t want to delay others from getting off work, so he said to send the imperial meal to Zichen Hall.
As Eunuch An started walking out the door, Wei Wanlan stopped him. “Eunuch An, go and ask if the Regent is coming home to eat?”
Eunuch An reported back, “News came from the Ministry of War this afternoon; the Prince definitely won’t be able to come back.”
Saying this, An Ruyi bowed, then disappeared.
Wei Wanlan lowered his eyes and fiddled with a row of brushes on the pen rack of the Drum Office. The bamboo shafts collided with a clear sound. This action, performed by Wei Wanlan, carried a sense of absent-minded listlessness.
Xiao Ji could vaguely guess what he was feeling lost about.
Prime Minister Xiao stopped at merely having a good impression of the Little Emperor, so he wouldn’t go so far as to deliberately poach the Regent’s partner while Su Jingzhi was absent. However, he was very willing to offer Wei Wanlan some comfort, fearing Wei Wanlan would be unhappy.
“The great affairs of the state lie in sacrifice and war. Leading troops in battle is actually a very troublesome matter. Last time the Regent went on an expedition to the Turks, the preparations took a full two months.”
“But didn’t they say we have to wait, that we aren’t fighting yet?” Wei Wanlan asked.
“We are waiting for the opportunity, but preparations must be made now,” Xiao Ji explained patiently. “Once the time comes, speed is precious in war, and we must act immediately. Although this subject is not skilled in military affairs, I can understand the general principle.”
But after listening to Xiao Ji’s explanation, Wei Wanlan felt as if he wouldn’t even see the Regent by tomorrow’s breakfast.
His stomach grumbled, but his interest in eating plummeted.
Wei Wanlan originally wanted to keep Xiao Ji for a meal, but thinking of the Regent’s intense jealousy—he didn’t want Su Jingzhi to be uneasy while outside—he changed it to sharing a portion of the evening meal with Xiao Ji.
The Emperor’s intention was simply that he couldn’t eat it all and feared waste.
The result was that the Prime Minister was moved to tears of gratitude:
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for bestowing the banquet! This subject is extremely honored. I thank the Lord for his profound grace!”
The eunuch recording the Imperial Diary scribbled furiously in the corner.
…So, sharing half his rations had extraordinary political significance. Sigh.
After eating.
He went back to the dragon bed to sleep alone.
Lying inside the bed curtains, Wei Wanlan flipped through the Atlas of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, looking at it over and over again.
Usually, in this situation, Su Jingzhi would cover the book and not let him read it. Sometimes he would get jealous directly, hugging him and doing things that wouldn’t make the sheets “dirty” the next day.
So sometimes he slept peacefully. Sometimes he slept exhausted. And sometimes he was urged to sleep quickly. In short, it had been a long time since he experienced sleeping alone.
There is a small ailment called separation anxiety.
Hmph.
Zhen does not have separation anxiety.
Zhen is just… really, really unable to sleep, ah…
Wei Wanlan yawned. The Nine-Dragon Mirror reflected his fatigue, and he closed his eyes with great clarity.
As soon as his eyes closed, he fell once again into that vast, snowy scene. Banners were tattered, corpses littered the ground. He held two tiny milk dogs, smaller than his palm, in his arms, searching for someone in despair.
“Regent…”
Then his foot slipped. Hugging the puppies, he stumbled a few steps, fell into a snowdrift, and crawled up again.
He stepped on something in the snowdrift.
Wei Wanlan’s brows twitched slightly. Putting down the puppies, he dug with both hands. The two little milk dogs dug along with him. amidst the wind and snow, a sorrow that seemed increasingly ready to explode accumulated within him. Tears fell pitter-patter into the snow pit.
Until his fingertips trembled. He had dug it out.
He saw Su Jingzhi’s head, severed by a Turkic curved saber!
Wei Wanlan burst into tears.
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