Chapter 81

Chapter 81

The carriage wheels rolled forward, their sound scattering in the silent night sky.

The winter night was quiet, unlike the bustling summer, with only the sound of the lamp's flames crackling inside the carriage. The pain on his neck gradually dulled, feeling less like a bite and more like a slow nibble, as if the predator wanted to engulf its prey entirely, leaving only a faint warmth at the end, marking everything as its own, to be savored later.

Yong Tang blinked uncontrollably, his crow-feather-like lashes covering the panic in his eyes.

Su Huaijing asked again, "Tangtang, who am I?"

Yong Tang's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his swallowing sound magnified in the carriage, overlapping with the rhythmic rolling of the wheels outside the window.

Yong Tang was at a loss for words, unsure of what to respond.

This question had countless answers, each one true, each one worthy of full marks.

But the answer Su Huaijing held seemed different from Yong Tang’s, and he was unsure of what to say to be correct.

"Just expose him!"

The system sounded a bit angry, its mechanical voice trembling slightly, whether from anger at the antagonist for biting their host or at this person who was clearly hiding something and then playing the victim!

In any case, the system was very angry, egging Yong Tang on!

"Just say it! What's he going to do, kill you!?"

Yong Tang: "......"

Indeed, he couldn't.

But if he answered and Su Huaijing asked how he knew, what should Yong Tang respond?

The system has restrictions on him; he cannot say anything that goes beyond the limitations of the era or involves spoilers. So, how can Yong Tang explain to Su Huaijing, who has been confined to his residence since childhood due to illness, not only about the secrets following the internal strife in Da Yu nine years ago but also the truth that the Seventh Prince is not actually dead?

Especially considering Su Huaijing's sharpness, once he gets a thread of logic, he can easily unravel and discover deeper hidden truths.

For instance, how does Yong Tang know about that early spring this year when Su Huaijing was drugged and sent to the Fengyue Tower?

All these are risks. He knows Su Huaijing wouldn't do anything bad to him, but what if?

What if the main antagonist still turns evil, suspects Yong Tang's approach has ulterior motives, scrutinizes his intentions and actions, then what direction would everything take?

A lifetime of thinking in terms of power and struggle instinctively drives Yong Tang to analyze the pros and cons and every possible outcome. He would not tread any path that does not guarantee absolute success.

However, Su Huaijing sat opposite him, his eyes filled with an urgent desire, his posture overwhelmingly oppressive, yet Yong Tang still felt he was more blustering than truly menacing.

He was not angry; he was being petulant.

Because his demand wasn't met, he bit Yong Tang's neck uncontrollably, using it to alleviate those emotions he couldn't show, whether frustration or restless anxiety.

The answer he needed seemed written on his face.

Yong Tang looked straight into his eyes and said softly, "You are Su Huaijing."

This was clearly not the answer Su Huaijing wanted to hear, but he still restrained himself, his voice slightly hoarse: "And?"

"You are my husband," said Yong Tang.

Su Huaijing was stunned for a second, seemingly instantly soothed.

A flicker of joy and confusion mixed in his eyes, and Yong Tang continued: "The nephew of Li Changfu—"

The antagonist's brow furrowed immediately. He never hides his emotions in front of Yong Tang, showing happiness, anger, and sadness clearly on his face, like a thoroughly pampered child.

Before Su Huaijing could react, Yong Tang threw out a few more answers: "The grandson of Duke Xianxian, the brother of Mu Jingxu, and in a sense, my cousin."

The system, which had been urging Yong Tang to be bold, suddenly froze upon hearing these words, with an almost imperceptible electric buzz in its space, returning the carriage to silence.

The coachman let out a soft sound of surprise, speaking in a low voice to the accompanying guards and servants: "It's snowing!"

On the eleventh day of winter, snow began to fall in Yu Jing, gently draping the capital and covering the towering blaze to the north of the city.

Su Huaijing lowered his head, quietly gazing at Yong Tang for a long, long time. Then he suddenly laughed, leaning back in a more relaxed posture, and asked in the dim light of the candle, "How did Tangtang know?"

The constraints dissipated, and the space to breathe expanded again, but Yong Tang didn’t feel any relief.

Su Huaijing seemed relaxed, but his whole body was clearly tensed, not in opposition to someone, but more like...

Preventing his escape.

Yong Tang was puzzled, but since Su Huaijing posed a question, he couldn't just leave it unanswered.

Yet, he couldn't divulge the entire truth either. Frowning in thought, he decided to decisively throw his brother under the bus.

Looking into Su Huaijing’s eyes, Yong Tang utilized all the acting skills he had learned in his life: “Ke Hongxue told me.”

The system momentarily glitched more severely, almost generating pixelated question marks above.

Even Su Huaijing seemed slightly surprised, tilting his head and blinking at Yong Tang.

Yong Tang’s expression remained unchanged, his heart pounding.

He found it strange; in his past two lifetimes, when he negotiated with many court officials to help Sheng Chengli, he had told countless lies, truths, and half-truths, but never had he felt his heart nearly jumping out in protest against his lies like this.

Yong Tang even suspected that his heart might be remotely controlled by Ke Shaofu, because of his blame-shifting.

Su Huaijing looked at him for a long time, then smiled faintly, not revealing whether he believed it or not. He asked another question, "Then who is Sheng Chengli?"

Yong Tang: "?"

Frowning displeasedly, his heart suddenly steadied: "What does he have to do with this?"

Su Huaijing let out a low hum, eyeing Yong Tang: "I'm quite curious myself. What is your relation to him?"

The carriage jolted over a raised stone, causing Yong Tang to move within the blanket. His foot instinctively stretched forward, touching Su Huaijing's leg, and was immediately trapped underneath, unable to move.

Su Huaijing's voice softened, deep and tempting as if trying to bewitch: "Tangtang, tell me the truth, what is he to you?"

"What is he to you, that you would spontaneously mention his name without having seen him, that you instinctively recoil at the thought of him, that at the first sight of him you vomited, cried, and told me it hurt, that despite your aversion, you always keep track of his whereabouts?"

"What is he to you, that he is so special? Why do you have such strong emotional reactions towards him?"

"You don't even have such big emotional fluctuations with me."

After the jolt, with his foot immobilized, Yong Tang suddenly felt a sourness in the air.

He looked up suspiciously, meeting Su Huaijing's deep, clear eyes.

His eyes were moist and clear, with a hint of a smile, giving the illusion of being obedient and cute.

But Yong Tang blinked, cleverly discerning the faint jealousy and comparison hidden in the depths of those eyes.

The young master Yong was baffled, not understanding why Su Huaijing felt the need to compare himself to Sheng Chengli.

In his eyes, the main antagonist was a thousand times better than the protagonist.

Yong Tang thought for a moment and then attempted to placate: "He's an insignificant person."

What he said was indeed the truth, but Su Huaijing's mood didn’t seem to lift at all. He even unconsciously furrowed his brow and started to search for his waist token by his side.

Yong Tang quickly added: "If I have to say, he might be my enemy."

Su Huaijing paused abruptly, his eyes and brows sharpening, his voice naturally deepening with an innate sense of authority unconsciously emanating, he slowly repeated: "Enemy?"

Yong Tang stiffened, belatedly realizing he had revealed a significant secret in his attempt to appease Su Huaijing. With no way back, he braced himself and admitted: "Yes."

Su Huaijing sat up slowly, twirling his fingers and asked, "What did he do to become your enemy?"

Yong Tang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the sense of blockage he hadn't felt in a long time came over him again, leaving him still unable to be forthright with Su Huaijing.

Feeling defeated, Yong Tang thought hard. Su Huaijing waited patiently beside him, playing with the cord of his waist token, the speed of his fingers growing faster, indicating his inner restlessness and urgency.

After a long time, Yong Tang finally spoke in a low, uneasy voice: "Huaijing, do you often dream?"

Su Huaijing was taken aback, his face stiffening slightly as if recalling something.

Yong Tang started from a mysterious yet unverifiable angle, trying to express the matter in a different way: "I’ve been having a recurring dream since I was very young."

He paused, feeling no obstruction or punishment from the system, and continued with slight relief: "Strictly speaking, it started when I was nine, before I had ever met Sheng Chengli."

"You're getting better at lying," the system said coldly, unable to watch anymore.

Yong Tang faltered slightly, frustrated: "Then you tell me, how should I say it without arousing the antagonist's suspicion!?"

The system promptly fell silent, not daring to dampen the host's survival instincts.

Yong Tang began to carefully fabricate the lie: "In the dream, it seems like things are happening in another world, but every time I wake up, I feel exhausted, as if I had really gone through it."

Su Huaijing, leaning against the carriage, asked, "How so?"

The continuous fine snow fell on the carriage roof. Yong Tang sat in a dim environment, holding a hand warmer, his foot pinned down by Su Huaijing.

Initially, he just wanted to smoothly navigate past Su Huaijing's persistent questioning, but as he spoke, he seemed to fall into it, creating a faintly sorrowful atmosphere around him, which Su Huaijing found he couldn't penetrate.

"It was around this time, it started with a heavy snowfall on New Year's Eve. I fell into a pond and when I woke up, everything was different."

"On the Lantern Festival, the Emperor invited my parents to a banquet. I had just recovered a bit and went with my mother. I got bored during the feast, left my seat to walk around, and unwittingly wandered into a dark, abandoned palace."

Yong Tang slowly narrated, his gaze naturally falling, not focusing on anything specific. His vision alternated between clear and blurry, eventually filling with the halos reflected by the candles and the fluffy blanket.

"The palace was dilapidated and dark. I walked in and found someone burning with fever, delirious in bed. I just glanced at him and wanted to go out to find a doctor, but he grabbed my sleeve. He was very young, delirious, mistaking me for his mother, crying to me."

Su Huaijing's expression became pensive, his thin lips slightly pursed, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on Yong Tang.

"I comforted him for a while, pried his hand open, and found a doctor to cure his cold," Yong Tang said softly. "Some time later, when I entered the palace again, he thanked me respectfully, calling me his savior, and asked if I could save him again."

Su Huaijing inquired, "Was it Sheng Chengli?"

Yong Tang nodded: "He begged me to teach him how to leave the cold palace, how to win the Emperor's favor, how to build his power, and even asked me to teach him the ways of being a ruler."

"I didn't know much myself, but I learned as I taught him. It was like supporting each other, and we walked together for three or four years."

Then, suspicions and jealousies arose, leading to estrangement and distancing from each other, until finally, everything completely fell apart in a nameless, broken temple.

Yong Tang didn't go into details, simply saying: "In the end, he betrayed me and did some bad things."

"What did he do?" Su Huaijing asked softly.

Yong Tang shook his head: "I can't remember clearly. Things in dreams are always elusive and start to blur once I wake up."

Su Huaijing, holding the waist token, looked down at him for a long time before nodding slightly: "That is to be expected."

He asked, "Does Tangtang hate him?"

"Not hate, exactly," Yong Tang frowned slightly. "I just dislike him and don't want any contact with him."

Su Huaijing: "Do you want to kill him?"

Yong Tang was startled, quickly looking up at Su Huaijing, ready to deny, but catching the turbulent undercurrent in his eyes, his words got stuck.

Su Huaijing took it seriously.

He harbored a thought of killing.

The system sounded frantic alarms. Yong Tang swallowed, foregoing any vague answers like 'it's just a dream,' and gave Su Huaijing the response he wanted to hear: "Yes."

As soon as he spoke, Su Huaijing smiled lightly: "Then should I kill him for Tangtang?"

He didn’t care whether it was a dream or not. If Sheng Chengli's existence caused fear and disgust in Yong Tang, then in Su Huaijing’s eyes, he ought to be dead.

He cheerfully made this suggestion, but Yong Tang shook his head.

Su Huaijing, surprised: "Doesn't Tangtang want him dead?"

Clutching the hand warmer tightly, Yong Tang said something he couldn't discern as true or false: "Yes."

Su Huaijing: "Then why don't you agree?"

"I'll do it myself," Yong Tang said softly, his voice tinged with a hint of hoarseness and tremble: "Let me handle it. You mustn't do anything."

Su Huaijing was stunned, looking at Yong Tang in disbelief, but only saw calm clarity in his eyes, as if everything he said was true, only his body trembling slightly with discomfort.

He watched him intently for a long time, finally nodding: "Alright, I'll leave his life to you."

Suddenly, Yong Tang's tense body relaxed, a fine layer of sweat appearing on his palms, and the blaring alarms in his mind finally ceased.

When the carriage arrived at Prince Ningxuan's mansion, Su Huaijing alighted first and reached out to help Yong Tang down.

The moment their palms met, snow fell from the gate, lanterns swaying in the wind. Su Huaijing suddenly asked, "What am I like in Tangtang’s dreams?"

Just relaxing from the intense urgency as if he was about to fail his mission and the world would collapse, Yong Tang replied without thinking: "You are not in my dreams."

Su Huaijing's brows slightly furrowed, a light hopping sound beside him.

Yong Tang stood beside him, stepping on the yet to be piled-up snow, with the unfading light of the fire in the distance.

Standing amidst the snowflakes and resplendent fireworks, he murmured softly: "You are in my reality."