Chapter 53: Completely Eliminating the Rival
The Regent King decisively refused. Wei Wanlan’s previously cheerful expression completely collapsed upon hearing the Regent King’s words.
Like a flower suddenly wilting.
He was a little unwilling, so he boldly probed, “Why not?”
The reason couldn’t be said.
The Regent King’s brows furrowed, his tone stiff:
“This King says no, it’s no.”
“…I want to know why.”
Wei Wanlan raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. He seemed to be intending to negotiate, bringing up his performance in the Zhongshu Province that afternoon and replaying it.
“I gave you a lot of face. My comments were reasonable; they now think you taught me well.”
Wei Wanlan’s appearance in the Zhongshu Province was indeed impressive. The Regent King had nothing to fault and pursed his lips.
Wei Wanlan felt he was in the right again, leaned forward, and gently tugged at the sleeve of the Regent King’s robe, shaking it.
Su Jingzhi’s sleeve was lifted. The man didn’t move.
Wei Wanlan pressed his advantage, cautiously approaching:
“And you clearly promised me just now. I can have a reward. Are you going back on your word, Regent King?”
—He was acting coquettish.
A sudden fuzzy, warm feeling surged in his heart. Su Jingzhi’s heart throbbed, and his arm, through the sleeve, was gently shaken by Wei Wanlan several times. His soft tone almost made him agree.
But the thought of assigning a Zhongshu Shere to Wei Wanlan’s side, to be constantly near him, was unacceptable to Su Jingzhi.
Furthermore, Xiao Mengshi was in a special situation. If he were to be placed beside Wei Wanlan for a long time, he might teach Wei Wanlan something.
And he always had official duties to attend to.
It was inevitable that they would neglect each other…
Su Jingzhi didn’t want to appear fickle in front of Wei Wanlan, so he had to find another way to compensate him.
“You can eat delicious food.”
“No.”
What kind of delicacies didn’t Zichen Palace have?
Compared to getting a good helper, Wei Wanlan could calculate that he temporarily resisted the temptation of food.
“I’ll give you a few more boxes of miscellaneous books to read.”
“No. I don’t want to read them.”
Even more coquettish.
Su Jingzhi had noticed earlier that Wei Wanlan could be surprisingly intelligent at times. His clumsiness might lie in his excessive naiveté and simplicity, making him appear dull, but it certainly didn’t mean he lacked intelligence.
This time, he keenly sensed that the Regent King’s attitude was negotiable and not completely firm, so he also adopted a bargaining attitude.
Wei Wanlan even boldly took the lead:
“I can only bring the Brave One away every afternoon. This won’t interfere with your morning work arrangements for him, right?”
Su Jingzhi frowned, feeling that Wei Wanlan was determined to keep this person.
Unwilling to give in, he conceded half a step:
“This King can arrange for a Zhongshu Shere to be on duty in Zichen Palace every day.”
Unexpectedly, Wei Wanlan’s face fell, and he looked like the sky was falling, thinking to himself:
Ah, if there are so many, how can they plot important matters with me!
—Wouldn’t that make the whole palace know?
Wei Wanlan tilted his head and pouted, a guilty conscience in his heart.
But he couldn’t explain why he wasn’t willing to accept the Regent King’s seemingly reasonable condition of “scheduling Zhongshu Shere for rotation”. He only knew that the rotation would be detrimental to his plan and had to be opposed.
He racked his brains to find a plausible reason:
“I don’t want to trouble so many people. I don’t want to trouble you either, and you’d have to arrange more people for me. One Mengshi is enough for me.”
You don’t want to trouble this King?
You want to trouble others?
One Xiao is enough?????
—What kind of words are these!
The Great Wei Regent King, hearing these words, gritted his teeth secretly, a sudden pang of jealousy piercing from his lungs to his stomach.
What’s going on?
Wei Wanlan regarded Xiao Ji, whom he had only met twice, as indispensable, while he himself had painstakingly taught Wei Wanlan, pouring his heart out to be good to him, yet Wei Wanlan didn’t even bother to trouble him. Why?
And that “Mengshi, Mengshi,” why did he call him so affectionately, using his courtesy name? Are your relations really that good!
A strong possessive desire had made Xiao Shere the thorn in the Regent King’s eye.
The Regent King coldly snorted.
He set aside the grievances between himself and Xiao Ji for now.
The Regent King intended to first dissuade the young emperor, offering the best possible compensation:
“This King doesn’t mind the trouble. I’ll arrange for Zhongshu Shere to be on duty, and if you agree to this proposal, This King will take you on an incognito trip. Horseback riding, walking in the snow, hunting… anything you want.”
Don’t you always like to go outside the palace?
Don’t you like to go out and play?
This King will handle official matters quickly to free up time to take you out.
Su Jingzhi knew that Wei Wanlan liked the outside world and didn’t like being confined to the palace. He could even agree that if Wei Wanlan felt it was too monotonous going out with him alone, he would let Wei Wanlan go out to play and secretly send secret guards to protect him.
Su Jingzhi gently breathed in.
Once again preparing for Wei Wanlan’s joy.
However, it proved that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Wei Wanlan puffed up his cheeks, his eyes moist, like a wronged little animal.
“…What?”
He was touched by this expression. Su Jingzhi suddenly felt anxious, his lips pursed, his gaze locked on Wei Wanlan’s.
But Wei Wanlan’s gaze shifted away. He was timid and cowardly. He had just mustered the courage to propose a counter-offer, only to be decisively rejected.
Wei Wanlan suddenly realized that it was normal for the Regent King not to agree to him. It was his own fault:
He was merely relying on others, and he should unconditionally cooperate with the Regent King. How could he have the qualification to ask for a reward from the Regent King?
He had overstepped his bounds.
【He is the big bad guy, you are the little puppet.】
—Little puppets have no human rights!
—Little puppets have no right to anger or joy.
So Wei Wanlan understood and softly said, “Then I’m sorry, Regent King, it was my fault just now. I don’t want to go out to play, and I don’t need the Shere on duty.”
As for the Brave One, my life is uncertain, and I will not give up on my task, but let’s meet again when we are fated to.
Su Jingzhi: “…”
The storm seemed to have subsided for now.
But the Regent King wasn’t happy. He had clearly won, eliminated a potential rival, and dispelled Wei Wanlan’s erratic thoughts. Yet, the Great Wei Regent King, just like Wei Wanlan, was in a very depressed mood.
Although Su Jingzhi didn’t show it, he was becoming increasingly despondent. A dark cloud seemed to hang over his head.
Dinner. Zichen Palace.
No one spoke. The atmosphere was even more eerie than at noon. The only sound was the faint clinking of silver chopsticks against the cups and bowls.
Wei Wanlan lowered his head and ate, but he didn’t have any appetite; he was merely going through the motions of eating.
The Regent King was anxious.
On the one hand, he was worried that something was wrong with the little one, that he had something on his mind.
On the other hand, Wei Wanlan was always thin, with a pointed little face. Doctor Fang had repeatedly advised that Wei Wanlan’s constitution was weak and needed proper care.
But now, with all these dishes on the table…
Wei Wanlan was about to put down his chopsticks.
Su Jingzhi frowned, “Don’t waste food.” It’s bad for your health, eat more.
Wei Wanlan picked up his chopsticks again, but he couldn’t hide his pouting, eating as if it were a task.
Wei Wanlan felt even more sad and wronged. He had no say in personnel matters; he was deceived, and even his meals were not free; the big bad guy ordered him to eat more, so he had to eat more.
Wuwuwu, I’m a little puppet, QAQ…
Wei Wanlan felt even more uncomfortable.
As he swallowed a silver silk roll, he took too large a bite, choking him.
But Wei Wanlan didn’t dare to spit it out. With red eyes, he tried to swallow it, but couldn’t, and he felt like crying.
The Regent King quickly reached out to help.
Wei Wanlan dared not spit it out into his palm. He picked up a small porcelain bowl of silver ear soup and forced it down, then pressed his chest and coughed violently.
“Cough, cough, cough… cough…”
These coughs made the Regent King feel very distressed. He quickly patted Wei Wanlan’s back to help him breathe. His hand was strong, but he patted very gently, deliberately restraining his strength, but he clearly felt Wei Wanlan dodging his touch.
Wei Wanlan was actually dodging him!
This was a great blow to the Regent King; the person he liked was actually avoiding him.
That feeling of unease surfaced again, making Su Jingzhi’s heart sway.
The Regent King thought the root of their problem was whether Xiao Ji, the Zhongshu Shere, could serve in Zichen Palace long-term. The Regent King couldn’t overcome this hurdle. Neither could the young emperor.
—He wasn’t that magnanimous; he wouldn’t just add people to Wei Wanlan’s palace!
This is a matter of principle. No coquettishness allowed!
For a moment, the Regent King’s dinner was filled with mixed thoughts.
He even compared himself to a jealous wife in ancient times.
This was an area he had never explored before.
But now, the Regent King thought about it carefully and felt that being the empress or the main wife was really difficult. Not only did she have to allow her husband to have other women, but she also had to manage them.
If it were Wei Wanlan…
Someone wants to share Wei Wanlan with him…
Who dares to rub the dragon’s head, touch the dragon’s claws, or kiss the dragon’s lips…
—He had only kissed the dragon’s lips once, and he didn’t even remember what it tasted like. How could anyone else touch it!!!
Good, one eliminated, two eliminated, he’d treat his rivals like enemies; he just had to eliminate them. Completely eliminate them.
The Great Wei Regent King was emotionally turbulent because of his own random thoughts.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was eerily dark.
Dinner ended on schedule.
An Ruyi called the servants to clear the dishes.
Even An Gonggong, the shrewd eunuch, felt that tonight’s dinner was more disturbing than a death-row meal. The two masters didn’t know what was wrong with them.
In the afternoon, Xiao Luzi had brought back news that His Majesty had made a great splash in the Zhongshu Province, and the entire Zichen Palace had thought that the Regent King and His Majesty would be happy when they returned.
Why is it like this?
An Ruyi played the role of peacemaker: “Regent King, Your Majesty, it’s still early. It’s not time to sleep yet. Regent King, before you leave, I’ll set up the Go board for you two, and then I’ll light some incense for you to calm your minds.”
Just, add some atmosphere and interaction.
Su Jingzhi was grateful to An Ruyi for his assistance, giving Wei Wanlan some space. Perhaps when he was asleep tonight, Wei Wanlan would forget about Xiao Ji. If they stayed together now, this issue wouldn’t be resolved.
“Hmm. This King will leave tonight. Set up the Go board, I’ll play a few rounds with His Majesty.”
But Wei Wanlan’s next reaction puzzled the Regent King again.
Wei Wanlan softly said, “Why would the Regent King leave? Zichen Palace is your home, Regent King. You can leave whenever you want and stay whenever you want.”
—What…do you mean by that?
Su Jingzhi’s body suddenly tensed, his lips pursed, his eyes flashing.
He found that he was increasingly unable to understand Wei Wanlan’s true meaning.
He wasn’t sure what this was.
Indulge him, love him, keep him, can’t bear to let him go?
Or was Wei Wanlan angry and sarcastic?
He couldn’t answer this question…