Chapter 41: He Likes Wei Wanlan
The moment the soldier announced the emperor’s arrival, a small, golden figure rushed into view.
“Your Highness…”
“I’ll go greet him myself.”
The conflicting emotions in his heart were further muddled by Wei Wanlan’s sudden arrival.
Night fell early in winter. The fading light made it difficult to see clearly. Su Jingzhi forced himself to compose himself, until the outlines of everything in his vision gradually became clear, then he went to meet him.
Wei Wanlan had already walked onto the reviewing stand.
However, his steps were hurried and unsteady, lacking energy. The strong evening wind blew, making his small face even whiter, his eyes filled with visible urgency.
He was rapidly approaching.
“Regent King!”
His eyes were red-rimmed, as if he had been crying.
Su Jingzhi noticed his unusual state, giving him the illusion that the other party was coming to him with a huge grievance, and he almost instinctively spread his arms.
Su Jingzhi was slightly startled by his own reaction, forcing himself to stand still:
“What are you doing here?”
He deliberately lowered his voice, his rationality gradually returning.
And what legitimate reason could Wei Wanlan possibly have?
He was being forced by the system, ordered to kill Su Jingzhi within the day, regardless of time, conditions, or location; even if he was ill, he had to do it, otherwise, the system (404) would electrocute him.
Wei Wanlan quickly lowered his head, remaining silent when questioned by Su Jingzhi, feeling that both 404 and Su Jingzhi were now his opponents. One was full of schemes, the other exceptionally intelligent.
“I… I came…”
His tongue was tied. Under Su Jingzhi’s gaze, he clenched his hands in his sleeves.
His left hand clutched a doll, his right hand held a piece of paper. He couldn’t speak.
Su Jingzhi was used to his evasive little demeanor, but today, his small face was weary, his nose quivering slightly in the winter wind, looking utterly disheveled.
Remembering that he had been ill last night, Su Jingzhi’s conflicted thoughts shifted towards sympathy. He lowered his head, grasped Wei Wanlan’s wrist, and led him away from the wind:
“Come over here.”
The two walked to the railing of the reviewing stand.
Wei Wanlan trembled violently. He hadn’t expected the Regent King to pull him. The doll in his left hand was only inches from Su Jingzhi; he could be caught red-handed if he touched it again. He blurted out:
“I suddenly missed you! I had to see you!!!”
“What?”
This direct confession hit the Great Wei Regent King hard.
Between hatred and affection, the scales tipped to the right.
Su Jingzhi’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. Even with his skill in disguise, he couldn’t erase the shock of those words. He couldn’t help softening his tone:
“If you wanted to see me, you should have had An Ruyi summon me.”
404 ordered him: 【Kill him quickly.】
Wei Wanlan: “But he was holding my hand.”
Wei Wanlan’s arms trembled within his dragon robe; his palm clutched the neck of the puppet doll.
But 404 didn’t give him any chance to explain:
【I’m counting down from three; if you don’t stick the note on, I’ll electrocute you.】
【Three.】
Wei Wanlan: “I wanted to see the Regent King in person! Please let go of me, Regent King, I have something to say.”
The little emperor’s voice rose, and Su Jingzhi’s grip on his wrist stiffened slightly. He released Wei Wanlan, carefully observing his expression, noticing his increasing discomfort. He sensed something was wrong with the young emperor:
“Speak.”
【Two.】
“I’m sorry!” Wei Wanlan suddenly said repeatedly, “I have done many things that have wronged you, and I’ve caused you a lot of trouble, but it wasn’t intentional. I had to do it. I’m sorry, sorry, sorry…”
His freed hands were clasped behind his back.
Wei Wanlan held the note, trying to touch the back of the puppet doll.
His palms were covered in cold sweat, his mind went blank. The voodoo doll slipped in his hand like a fish. He tried to stick it, his hand trembled, unable to touch or stick it.
His nose began to tingle, tears welling up in his eyes:
——I really don’t want to kill anyone.
——To take another’s life for my own survival, this task itself is a test of my conscience.
The living Regent King opposite him would die painfully because of the voodoo doll he used.
Wei Wanlan’s lips trembled.
That utter despair startled Su Jingzhi.
The Regent King suddenly put his hand on Wei Wanlan’s shoulder, looking down at the helpless little figure.
At that moment, where was the conflict between hatred and affection?
He only wanted to find the culprit who had frightened him so badly. Su Jingzhi felt his own blade was about to slip.
At this moment, he clearly perceived:
…He had long been swayed by Wei Wanlan’s emotions.
He liked to see him smile, liked to tease him until he cried, liked him sweetly circling him, liked his clumsiness, liked his silliness.
Su Jingzhi calmed his emotions and said calmly: “You’re best at causing trouble; in the future, cause me less trouble.”
【One.】
Unexpectedly, Wei Wanlan suddenly bumped into him. With his hands behind his back, his head hit the other’s chest, and he mumbled:
“Regent King, I won’t be able to trouble you anymore, because being emperor is a cruel thing.”
Su Jingzhi was stunned.
The note and the puppet doll touched.
Invisible light bloomed from the sleeves of the dragon robe.
Su Jingzhi suddenly felt a sharp tightness in his chest.
His brows furrowed, his grip on Wei Wanlan’s shoulders tightened.
Pain and shame made Wei Wanlan’s sleeves tremble violently. He lowered his head, his questioned conscience made him tightly close his eyes, wanting to find a crack in the earth to hide in.
But the puppet doll fell out of his sleeve!
Plop.
“…”
【！！！】
It’s over.
His palm clutched the note, wet with cold sweat.
He had been caught red-handed. Wei Wanlan heard a sound behind him, his eyes widened, his heart sinking.
Su Jingzhi’s expression of pain was gradually easing, and he was about to open his eyes.
Frightened, Wei Wanlan shivered, then with a swift kick, sent the voodoo puppet flying off the reviewing stand.
The little doll with the bloody smiling face tumbled down the platform.
Wei Wanlan, terrified of being electrocuted by the system, squatted on the ground, his hands scrabbling, trying to discharge the intense current from his body.
The system didn’t electrocute him, but he was pulled up by the Regent King, again facing Su Jingzhi’s face, which had recovered from the pain. He dared not look into the Regent King’s eyes for fear of being reprimanded.
He might really die in this chapter…
He couldn’t live on…
Wei Wanlan trembled, covering his face, wanting to hide.
But even more foolishly, he had forgotten that although the doll had fallen, he still held the note, and it hadn’t been properly attached.
Su Jingzhi took his hand.
“What just happened? What’s in your hand?”
Under Wei Wanlan’s terrified gaze, the note was taken and opened.
Although the ink was smeared, the strokes were still discernible. Su Jingzhi read softly:
“The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month of the Jiazi year. It’s my birthday. Why did you write this?”
The soldiers standing on the reviewing stand swayed slightly, as if they were going to retrieve the object that had fallen from the platform.
But Wei Wanlan dared not let them find it.
If his clumsy attempt to destroy the evidence wasn’t enough to deceive the Regent King, with the voodoo doll and his birthdate appearing together, his actions would not only be caught red-handed but also be irrefutable.
Fear choked Wei Wanlan.
He had lost his weapon and had gone from perpetrator to potential victim. A peace-lover didn’t want to kill others, nor did he want to die himself.
But the Regent King kept his gaze locked on him.
Wei Wanlan swallowed, activating his system reward.
Brilliant fireworks exploded across the reviewing stand!
Amidst the grand spectacle and thunderous roar, Wei Wanlan’s mumbling voice couldn’t be heard; only his softly drooping hair and clear lip movements could be seen:
“Because I wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”
Su Jingzhi: “…”
Layer upon layer, fireworks brightened and darkened the black night sky, extinguishing and reigniting, clusters of different colored fireworks appearing and disappearing, illuminating everything under the heavens, casting a fiery glow on the distant mountains, the nearby army formations, and Wei Wanlan opposite him.
Su Jingzhi was first startled by the spectacle, looked up, then gradually relaxed his brows.
As he gazed at the fireworks, he was stirred by memories of his own childhood years.
Once, he had a loving family, a time when his parents were alive, when he was a dashing young man in Chang’an.
Every birthday, someone remembered him, meticulously preparing a grand, bright, and warm fireworks display.
“Yan’er.”
“Ayan.”
“Mother hopes that in the future, you will have a confidante, allowing you to let down your guard and be yourself.”
Su Jingzhi’s surprise turned into intense excitement, his heart pounding in his chest, then suspended as if in the clouds.
From gazing at the fireworks to looking down at the person who had set them off for him, the clumsy little thing had eyes filled with the fragments of fireworks.
Bright and clear.
Innocent and guileless.
He had secretly asked Yunniang about his birthday, traveled so far, and was still ill, yet he had only wanted to create a surprise, preparing for it for an unknown period to wish him a happy birthday today.
…
Su Jingzhi’s suspended heart felt full and heavy.
If the Wei family had produced generations of heartless and cruel emperors for nearly a hundred years,
Wei Wanlan was certainly not one of them.
He liked Wei Wanlan.
He could no longer deceive himself.
Hatred was no longer a barrier.
Now that he had confirmed his feelings, rather than continue to torment himself in conflict, it would be better to reconcile with himself and do something private he had never done in twenty-seven years.
A man dies for those he knows.
He was getting closer to death.
He would use his remaining life to teach the little fool to be an emperor on his own.
That way, even if he was gone, the little thing wouldn’t need to trouble anyone else, nor would he be bullied by anyone.
——He would leave Wei Wanlan a peaceful and prosperous land.
Su Jingzhi said, “Your Majesty’s kindness is appreciated. Today is the Little New Year; Your Majesty has traveled far from the palace, and the three armies are waiting to see Your Majesty’s presence. Now, please review the troops.”
Wei Wanlan slowly breathed a sigh of relief. It was a close call. The other party had once again believed his lies.
He was alive.
The cold sweat subsided.
He walked to the reviewing stand to overlook the scene, as the three armies followed Su Jingzhi’s gesture to salute the emperor: “Long live the Emperor, may the Emperor live ten thousand years—”