Chapter 108

Chapter 108

The play reached intermission, and Su Huaijing returned to his seat with Muru Jingxu.

Rong Tang carefully observed the stage actors, relieved that there were no inappropriate scenes for children, and finally relaxed a bit.

Su Huaijing asked, "Do you enjoy the play?"

Rong Tang decisively replied with a cold demeanor: "It's mediocre."

Su Huaijing was momentarily stunned, observing Rong Tang's stern expression, then glanced at Lu Jiaxi who seemed to be shrinking into his chair. A moment of realization struck, and he sat down with a laugh: "I thought Rong Tang liked it."

Rong Tang: "?"

He blinked in disbelief, eyes widening as he turned to Su Huaijing: "You knew?"

"Knew what?" Su Huaijing teased with a playful smile, his eyes brimming with undisguised jest.

As the curtain drew, the dim candlelight created an early evening ambiance in the room, dark enough to only discern the stage and nearby companions.

Rong Tang met Su Huaijing's gaze for a few seconds before looking away first.

The sound of fabric rubbing against the chair was heard as Su Huaijing leaned in closer, whispering lazily in Rong Tang's ear: "It was the book Rong Tang read and Ke Hanying's suggestion to watch the play. Rong Tang wasn't shy while reading the book, nor did he object to coming here; why blame me now?"

The actors' singing echoed in the room, portraying life through ink and pen on stage, while the audience indulged in their own dreamlike existence.

All other noises were faint, conversations a soft murmur carrying an indescribable intimacy and tenderness. Rong Tang's ears turned red as Su Huaijing's breath brushed his ear. Shifting slightly away, he whispered, "I'm not blaming you."

Su Huaijing asked, "Is it really not good?"

Rong Tang: "..."

He hesitated, recalling the book and the glimpses of the play he had seen, and muttered, "I didn't watch it."

Su Huaijing: "…?"

He hesitated for a moment before bursting into laughter, his eyes and brows curving in amusement. His hand reached across the armchair to gently grasp Rong Tang's, playfully teasing, "Don't want to watch or... too embarrassed to watch?"

[You jerk!] the system exclaimed indignantly.

Rong Tang nearly blurted out in agreement!

His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at Su Huaijing. The latter's bright smile quickly turned into a plea for mercy: "I'm sorry, I won't ask anymore."

Frustrated, Rong Tang turned away from him, choosing instead to focus on the embroidery on Lu Jiaxi's robe, treating both Su Huaijing and the stage performance as if they were fleeting clouds.

Su Huaijing couldn't help but chuckle at Rong Tang's series of actions, the previous melancholy and tremors dissipating slightly after his conversation with Mu Jingxu.

In the year Yuanxing 24, the crown prince married the daughter of the Minister of Rites, Lady Xu.

The following year, during a disturbance on the northern border, the crown prince was sent to quell the rebellion. Two months later, amidst intense warfare, the crown prince’s wife, Xu Yumin, sought permission from the emperor and empress to join her husband at the frontier.

Initially denied by the late emperor, a night-long conversation with the empress led to Xu Yumin being escorted to the frontier by the imperial guards at dawn.

After the war, surviving soldiers found the crown princess in a village on the frontier and brought her back to the capital, which had drastically changed. Mourning her husband's and father's deaths in the rebellion, Xu Yumin faced a dilemma.

Even the ruthless Emperor Renshou couldn't harm the widow of the former crown prince during the nation's stabilization. Thus, Xu Yumin vowed before the emperor and empress to become a nun, promising to never leave the temple again and to pray for the country for the rest of her life.

Su Huaijing had a vague memory of this elder sister-in-law, recalling her as a gentle woman.

She was always meticulously dressed, her makeup perfect, and her attire exquisitely intricate. Whenever she entered or exited the palace, she walked half a step behind the crown prince, embodying grace and modesty, the ideal candidate for a crown princess in noble circles.

She lacked the imposing authority of Princess Duan Yi or the playful cleverness of the late empress. If anything, she epitomized the traditional image of a virtuous lady of high society, exuding warmth and tenderness, a paragon of propriety in every action and word.

Su Huaijing was young back then, not taught much about many things and didn't understand. But whenever he looked up at his sister-in-law and saw her smile, almost rigidly fixed in place, he felt overwhelmingly tired at heart, wondering if she was wearing a mask.

However, during a family banquet, he wandered alone to the Imperial Garden to chase butterflies and came across a corner where he saw a bright yellow hem of a garment.

Yellow is the color of respect; the emperor wears golden yellow, the crown prince wears bright yellow, and the other princes, regardless of legitimacy or rank, can only wear shades like apricot yellow or orange yellow.

The young seventh prince, upon seeing his elder brother, the crown prince, forgot about the butterfly he was chasing and hurried towards him, only to suddenly hear a sigh, sounding more like the coquettish tone he used when asking his mother for sweets: "So tired..."

With a deep, lazy voice, the crown prince, praised countless times by the emperor for his stability and respectfulness, capable of great responsibilities, was in a corner of the Imperial Garden under the emerging crescent moon, holding his wife, burying his head in her neck, uncharacteristically saying, "I really want to go home."

Not back to the Eastern Palace, but home.

At that time, Su Huaijing didn't understand the difference, but he saw his sister-in-law, whom he always thought looked tired when smiling, change her expression. There was a hint of a young girl's shyness, mixed with the dignity of a wife. She patted her husband's back, her voice soft and gentle, soothing and persuading: "Just hold on a little longer, when we get back, I'll make sweet dumplings for you, okay?"

It was then that Su Huaijing suddenly remembered, that day's family banquet was actually to celebrate his elder brother's birthday.

The protagonist slipped away from the banquet, joining his wife in a corner of the Imperial Garden, seeking a moment of respite from the complexities of palace life, and to watch the moon rise.

He had originally thought that Xu Yumin was fortunate to have survived the war and that spending a lifetime in meditation in an ancient monastery in the mountains was a good fate. That she had no contact with people from her past might be the best protection for her.

It turned out that the delicate lady, who seemed unable to withstand any turmoil or setbacks, had secretly given birth to the crown prince's child and, while pregnant, repeatedly ventured into the desolate battlefields to retrieve her husband's remains.

As for the decision to send the child to Daisui, Su Huaijing couldn't judge whether it was right or wrong. However, it was undeniable that between the 25th year of Yuanxing and the first year of Qingzheng, if it were discovered that the former crown prince had a surviving child, the infant might be killed before they could even learn to speak.

Mu Jingxu's decision was not only influenced by Sheng Chengli actively seeking him out, but also because his and Su Huaijing's thoughts were actually aligned.

Divide and conquer, defeating each one in turn.

Choose a prince, assist him wholeheartedly, outmaneuver each of his competitors, and then weaken him to reap the benefits like a fisherman.

The only difference was that Su Huaijing chose Sheng Chengming, while Mu Jingxu chose Sheng Chengli.

The former had a powerful maternal family but was impulsive and easily influenced; the latter, with no family backing or imperial favor, was more susceptible to manipulation by advisors.

Neither of them was sincere. To the children of Emperor Renshou, all the princes of the former emperor were merely pawns.

After hearing all this, Su Huaijing remained silent for a long time. Under the splendid spring light, with the halo of the sun falling across the western sky, he stared at the dappled shadows of a banyan tree and suddenly asked Mu Jingxu, “What if you never recognized me?”

Mu Jingxu was startled, “What?”

Amidst the swaying tree shadows, Su Huaijing, lost in thoughts, mused, "What if you hadn't recognized me at all, or only did so much later?”

"What would you have done?" Su Huaijing pressed, "Would you have continued paving the way for that child, or given up on Sheng Chengli to come find me?"

"I would find you," Mu Jingxu answered without hesitation.

Su Huaijing smiled faintly, turning to him, yet inquired, "Why?"

Mu Jingxu fell silent, a faint confusion furrowing his brow, seemingly unsure why Su Huaijing would ask such an ethereal, hypothetical question, and why he would choose to answer it.

He thought for a moment and said, "Because I need you, and you need me."

Because they both carried hatred, understood the despair of losing loved ones, and sought a glimmer of joy in what was once lost but could be regained.

They needed each other, just like many years ago in the palace of Da Yu, where the young seventh prince needed his elder brother to lift him onto his shoulders to catch cicadas in the trees.

Su Huaijing probed further, "Under what circumstances would you not come to find me?"

Mu Jingxu frowned, reluctant to entertain such a despairing hypothetical, and softly said, “Xiao Qi…”

“Brother,” Su Huaijing interrupted, “If you recognized me but chose not to come find me, not to acknowledge me, why would that be?”

His expression was so grave that Mu Jingxu couldn't help but ponder seriously.

Admitting the likelihood was slim, he still thought carefully before responding in a low voice to those entirely hypothetical scenarios: "I'm nearing death, you're on a steady path, we're adversaries, and you can reach where you want to go alone."

Mu Jingxu paused, then said, "If that's the case, I wouldn't come looking for you."

Su Huaijing fell silent for a long time, leaning back and relaxing slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips, murmuring to himself with an unreadable thought, "I see…"

Because he believed Su could fulfill his revenge, due to their longstanding enmity and mutual accusations, and knowing he wouldn't live much longer, he preferred not to meet, not to acknowledge each other, letting him continue with hatred rather than suddenly realizing his brother was withering away and nearing death under his constant antagonism.

The third prince would never want his beloved Xiao Qi to feel guilty because of him.

But what happened later?

Su Huaijing couldn't help but recall when they parted at Shu Dao Pavilion, walking along the banks of the Jin Fen River with Rong Tang, asking why he wanted to be friends with Ke and Mu. Tang's spontaneous "Because of you" and the fleeting sorrow in his eyes puzzled him.

Because of him, why? Because he needed his brother?

But back then, Tang didn't even know who Mu Jingxu really was, so why?

Was it their interactions that led Tang to suspect something? Because his brother never acknowledged him? Because the possibilities Mu Jingxu had just mentioned had once been reality?

Because he had died in a world unknown to Su Huaijing, and Tang had witnessed his death.

So, Tang wanted to alter the ending, to change the possible outcomes.

It was to save him, and also to save his brother…

"Huaijing, Huaijing?"

Lost in thought, he was brought back by Rong Tang's voice. Turning his head, he saw the play had ended, and people were leaving their seats, marking the end of life's drama in the garden. Tang asked, "Shall we go home?"

Su Huaijing paused briefly, then smiled softly, taking Tang's hand, "Yes, let's go home."

Outside, the evening hues lingered, bathing the sky in a late sunset glow, the spring beauty seemingly boundless.

Su Huaijing stepped under the sky, glancing upwards nonchalantly, a flash of sharp coldness fleeting across his eyes.

"How many lives do you owe me, after all?"