Chapter 49: He Can’t Let Go of Xiao Wan
The bed curtains in the sleeping quarters opened.
Soft light poured in.
Wei Wanlan woke up and rubbed his eyes.
Seeing that the light in his vision was from lamps and not the morning sun, he realized that the people in the Zichen Palace were already diligently carrying out the Regent King’s wake-up plan for him.
Wei Wanlan couldn’t help but feel sad:
—It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, not even the roosters had crowed?
He sighed.
But under the candlelight, his eyes slightly stung from the glare, and the Regent King, already dressed in his king’s robes, stood in front of the dragon bed. He was almost blinded by the golden python pattern.
Wei Wanlan: How can some Regent Kings have such abundant energy?
Su Jingzhi disliked being attended to, and was currently fastening the collar of his king’s robe himself. The buttons were so high, and his aura immediately became restrained and gloomy, arranging with a cold expression: “Get up this morning, eat, take a walk, and read the list of officials submitted by the Ministry of Personnel this morning.”
Do you care about how many bites I chew my food?
And whether I take my left or right foot first when I walk?
You’re like the sea, you’re so controlling.
Wei Wanlan sent a series of unseen complaints towards the Regent King in his mind. Seeing that Eunuch An had already brought over the dragon robe, he habitually reached out to put on the clothes, cooperating well and obediently accepting Eunuch An’s service.
But he felt that the Regent King’s face seemed even worse: He really still disliked me wearing the dragon robe, wanting to change it with me?
So dangerous.
Wei Wanlan shivered.
It seemed that he still needed to study the Sage Emperor Cultivation System carefully.
He didn’t know what the effect of the “My Emperor’s Reassurance Pill” was last night, but anyway, he fell asleep, and the Regent King seemed to have fallen asleep as well. Although someone was sleeping soundly beside him, there was no conversation all night, and he slept soundly and sweetly.
Even though he got up at five o’clock in the morning, he didn’t feel exhausted.
Even An Ruyi noticed, “Your Majesty slept soundly last night and is in good spirits.”
“Yes,” Wei Wanlan nodded, “I slept very well. I’ve never slept so comfortably.”
The air in the Zichen Palace seemed to become much lighter.
The Regent King adjusted the collar of his robe, looking impeccable, and cleared his throat:
“The New Year’s pictures won’t be confiscated; they will remain in the Zichen Palace. There will be more tribute delivered here at the end of the year, and An Ruyi will specifically prepare a room.”
“Yes.”
Hey, more good stuff to get!?
Wei Wanlan immediately perked up his ears, his eyes sparkling. Although he didn’t know the political implications of the Regent King’s actions, his thoughts were simple—if there’s good food, I’ll eat it; if you give me good things, I can play.
Hooray, finally, I don’t have to spend my days with the Go board.
Wei Wanlan blurted out, “Regent King, you’re wise, Regent King, you’re so kind. I wish you a pleasant day at court~~~”
“Heh.”
Su Jingzhi let out another cold hum and left gracefully.
The Zichen Palace without the big bad guy was so harmonious and refreshing!
Wei Wanlan took several deep breaths of free air.
Breakfast arrived. He had no grievances against breakfast, even though it was served almost an hour earlier than usual, he could still manage it. His recent illness seemed to have completely healed.
After stuffing himself with seven or eight shrimp dumplings and two bowls of sweet porridge, Wei Wanlan squeezed the custard buns, feeling a little unable to eat anymore.
An Ruyi served him on the side, smiling, “Your Majesty is eating well, I’m happy for you. The Regent King will also be very happy…”
What’s he happy about?
Happy that I’ve become a little glutton.
Wanting to improve the puppet’s professional skills while also hoping that the puppet has no ambitions. The Regent King is so hard to please.
Wei Wanlan stood up from the dining table, full, and unwilling to deal with this: “I’m full, let’s go for a walk.”
“This servant obeys.”
The walk was in the Imperial Garden.
Although the Imperial Garden was far away, it was Wei Wanlan’s favorite place.
And since he had sent away the hundred beasts, it was becoming more and more like a normal and elegant garden.
The garden was lush with greenery, clear water, and green mountains. Wei Wanlan happily brought a small chair and admired the blue sky.
He liked nature, the chirping of birds. Before traveling here, he lived in his three-dimensional family. To make him watch less electronic products and protect his eyes, his parents would arrange trips during weekends and holidays.
If he was destined to not be able to return to the modern world.
Being a carefree emperor in ancient times would be great…
But he also missed his parents in the modern world.
How peaceful the modern world is, no one would bully him, there were no sudden rebellions, and there was no cultivation system in his head urging him to kill people to become a good monarch.
I really want to go back to the modern world QAQ
Wei Wanlan said to An Ruyi while sitting on the small chair, “Eunuch An, do you have any coins?”
An Ruyi was slightly stunned, a little dazed, “Coins?”
There was no such thing as coins in ancient times. Wei Wanlan, “Do you have any copper coins?”
“This…” There were some, but copper coins were very rare in the palace. Royal nobles, when rewarding others, would use silver ingots and gold nuggets; who would reward others with a handful of copper coins?
However, An Ruyi was resourceful, and soon found two handfuls of copper coins and presented them, “Your Majesty, please use them.”
Wei Wanlan was delighted, “Too many! Too many!”
If you’re undecided about internal affairs, ask Zhang Zhao; if you’re undecided about external affairs, ask Zhou Yu. He didn’t have Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu, so he could only toss coins.
Come on, coins!
“Can I return to the modern world?” Wei Wanlan whispered.
The coin flew up, spinning several times in the air, and landed beside a four-leaf clover: it was the reverse side.
Wei Wanlan asked again, “Can I defeat the big bad guy?”
The coin flew up again, this time it was the front side, showing the four characters “Great Wei Tongbao,” written in elegant and graceful script.
Then the third question.
Wei Wanlan said, “Will I complete all the tasks in this world?”
The last coin, carrying Wei Wanlan’s expectations, rolled on the ground. The edge of the coin drew a metallic arc, slowly moving, finally wedging itself between two plants.
The copper coin wedged between the plants shone with a hard, ancient luster under the sun.
Wei Wanlan tilted his head and stared at the coin, dazedly shaking his little head.
An Ruyi, observing carefully from the side, naturally saw what the young emperor was doing; fortune-telling was far more prevalent in ancient times than in modern times.
An Ruyi patiently asked, “Your Majesty is asking heaven for fortunes, have you gotten a good result?”
“Uh, this.” Wei Wanlan scratched his head.
His expression suddenly showed a little difficulty.
How should he say this?
—He was only focused on tossing coins and asking questions, and forgot to specify what each side meant…
Wei Wanlan slid down from the small chair, squatting in a large patch of four-leaf clovers.
Wuwuwu, Eunuch An, I’m so angry!
Little pufferfish Wei Wanlan covered his face with his dragon robe sleeves, scratching back and forth inside his sleeves.
This asking heaven for fortunes was just a waste of effort, wasted QAQ
An Ruyi didn’t know that he was angry because he hadn’t prepared well.
Thinking that the young emperor hadn’t gotten the answer he wanted, he quickly comforted him gently:
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, usually accumulating virtue, practicing kindness, and being compassionate. Even if heaven doesn’t give you good news for the moment, in the future, you will turn misfortunes into blessings and overcome dangers.”
It must be said that Eunuch An spoke very nicely. Nicer than a certain Regent King.
Wei Wanlan’s small face emerged from his robe sleeves, comforted, his eyes wet:
“Eunuch An, really?”
“Really, but you should go back and look at the list of officials now.”
An Ruyi promptly steered the conversation back to the main topic, pointing to the sky, because Wei Wanlan had been playing happily, immersed in the mountains and waters of the Imperial Garden, to the extent that the sun was about to climb to the center of the sky, noon was approaching.
“Ah!”
It’s time for the big bad guy to come for lunch.
The homework assigned by the big bad guy—not—a—single—bit—done.
One table, one roster. One emperor who hadn’t done his homework, and one cold and ruthless Regent King.
The Regent King tapped the table.
The hollow sound of the light tapping made Wei Wanlan extremely nervous. He felt each tap hit his head.
“So, Your Majesty, who is the Chancellor of the Zhongshu and Menxia provinces?”
“It’s, who, that who?”
“Who.”
“QAQ…”
Wei Wanlan pouted, his lips trembling, his voice shaking.
“What rank are the Zhongshu She Ren (Zhongshu secretaries), and what are their respective responsibilities?”
“Rank, several ranks, responsible for various aspects.”
“What a ‘various aspects’, Your Majesty is really good with words. You haven’t even opened this roster.”
Su Jingzhi’s voice was flat, his tone not questioning, but stating a fact, which Wei Wanlan couldn’t handle.
“I…”
He couldn’t blame others.
He should blame himself for insisting on going for a walk in the Imperial Garden, which was a bit far.
Although he rode a palanquin on the way back, it was almost noon, and he was afraid of being discovered by the Regent King for being late, so he didn’t dare to pass by the Zhongshu Province and took a detour. When he returned to the Zichen Palace, he bumped into the big bad guy who had just returned from court.
Then the big bad guy had lunch with him, and chased him to take a nap.
When he woke up to have class again, he couldn’t answer a single question the big bad guy asked.
Wei Wanlan was so scared that he quickly begged for forgiveness. He quickly brought out the method of appeasing him, randomly grabbing a small tangerine from the fruit plate on the desk and peeling it for the Regent King, offering it to his lips:
“Regent King, calm down, calm down, eat a tangerine, it can clear away heat…”
The little thing trembled, holding the tangerine.
A tangerine segment the size of a flower petal was placed by Wei Wanlan into Su Jingzhi’s mouth. The sweet and sour juice slowly lowered the anxiety rising to the top of the Regent King’s head.
Seeing Su Jingzhi speechless from the tangerine, Wei Wanlan immediately pressed on, after feeding him the tangerine, he used the memorial to fan him:
“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry, not hot, not hot, I was wrong, I was wrong, we’re good, we’re good.”
—Why does it seem like he’s coaxing a childish him?
—The positions are completely reversed!
Su Jingzhi swallowed the small tangerine and slowly inhaled.
Looking at Wei Wanlan’s earnest fanning, and Wei Wanlan’s attentive expression, he looked like a little animal trying hard to act cute.
If it were anyone else who hadn’t completed the task, Su Jingzhi would have gotten angry, but it was Wei Wanlan, so he was able to swallow his anger with excellent composure and tolerance.
Then he grabbed Wei Wanlan’s wrist that was fanning him:
“Stop.”
Wei Wanlan stopped, his small hand stiffening, “Oh. I’ll stop.”
Wei Wanlan sat obediently.
Su Jingzhi instinctively resisted mentioning the matter of his short lifespan, only asking him in a low voice:
“If one day this King goes on a campaign and can’t return for a very long time, who should handle court affairs?”
Uh… At that time, the Regent King, for the sake of consolidating his power, would definitely arrange for someone else, right?
The little puppet was afraid he was testing him; Wei Wanlan, believing he had self-awareness, said, “The Regent King’s confidants.”
Su Jingzhi: “What if the confidants are indecisive?”
Still testing?
“Then I’ll find your other confidants.”
Su Jingzhi was depressed, waved his hand, eliminating extra options, “There are no confidants! What will you do when you encounter a major event!”
“Then—”
If he tested him again, he wouldn’t answer QAQ
This Regent King was so difficult to please, how humble should I be?
Could it be that he meant…
Wei Wanlan understood.
Before, he only thought that the big bad guy wanted to consolidate his power.
He never expected that his desire for power could be so extreme.
Wei Wanlan burst into tears:
“…I understand, I won’t be able to do anything then, I’ll follow you to the military camp, I’ll bring memorials to accompany you in battle. Please, Regent King, live a long life, never leave me, don’t ask me anymore, woo.”
Su Jingzhi: “…”
The hand holding Wei Wanlan’s suddenly trembled violently.
His heart trembled as well.
Soft as if being carefully cared for in a pile of cotton.
His protective instincts completely exploded at this moment.
He never imagined that the words he intended to motivate Wei Wanlan would end up moving himself:
—His Xiao Wan is so cute, so obedient, so dependent on him.
When Su Jingzhi learned that he would be tortured to death by chronic poison, he wasn’t that painful because he knew his death was imminent, and instead felt a kind of resolute calm born out of despair.
But now, he clearly felt—he couldn’t accept death, didn’t want to die, couldn’t bear to die, couldn’t let go of the things behind him.
But if he must die, and he couldn’t change that, the only thing he could do was help Wei Wanlan grow more before he passed away.
“Alright. Don’t cry.”
Su Jingzhi collected himself and wiped away the tears on Wei Wanlan’s face with his knuckles.
Wei Wanlan’s deer-like eyes were watery.
The tips of his eyelashes, carrying drops of water, lightly brushed against Su Jingzhi’s knuckles, making him feel a chill and a tingle.
He, couldn’t let go of Wei Wanlan.
The Regent King’s face remained cold and severe: “Get ready, wash your face, and come to the Zhongshu Province with this King to attend the afternoon court meeting.”
“Eh.”
The deer-like eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
But Su Jingzhi was thinking to himself, it’s fine that you can’t remember things, it’s also fine that you don’t want to stay in the room copying books and reading. For the next lesson, we’ll skip the theory and do on-site teaching.