CH 105

Second-in-command Rong Ting wasn’t too happy.

Perhaps it was because at his age, he realized that the ministers were trying to deceive him and treated him like a child. In modern times, he was indeed a child, but in Great Ye, he was twelve years old. No matter what, he couldn’t be considered a child, right? If he was a child, what were those ministers doing by submitting memorials every day, suggesting that he should have a crown prince consort?

When twelve-year-old Rong Ting was dealing with some matters, he sadly discovered: second-in-command was indeed only one step away from first-in-command, but the difference in treatment wasn’t small.

It was also at this time that he understood why the relationship between the royal family’s father and son was described as “monarch and subject, father and son”–they were first monarch and subject, then father and son.

More than once, his loyal followers had both explicitly advised and subtly hinted that he should keep a low profile as a crown prince. The position of crown prince truly had to be calculated; since ancient times, it had always been more dangerous than that of the emperor.

Although Emperor Father only had him, this one son, Emperor Father was still in his prime–so long as he had the intentions, he could give Rong Ting a younger brother anytime he wanted.

Life isn’t easy, Rong Ting sighed.

It was impossible for him and Emperor Father to have a pure, intimate father-son relationship in this lifetime.

Every time this happened, he would miss his Empress Mother very much. As the saying goes, one would rather have a beggar as a father than an official; this was quite reasonable to say.

Even so, Rong Ting was extremely resistant to getting too close to the ministers in the court. Instead of worrying over things that didn’t happen, it was better to quickly build his strength. Although he couldn’t see through his Emperor Father’s heart, he knew that Emperor Father was a wise ruler. As long as he was sufficiently outstanding, and as long as Emperor Father was not blind or senile1, his position as crown prince was very secure.

Rong Ting worked conscientiously every day to be a good crown prince. In modern terms, Rong Heng was most definitely a “specialist” emperor; he was outstanding in literature, but he was average in martial arts. Perhaps Rong Heng knew his own shortcomings, and he himself was a perfectionist, so he strived to cultivate his son in both civil and military talents.

One day, when Rong Ting returned from outside, he heard that his Emperor Father was sick again.

He didn’t dare to delay in heading to his Emperor Father’s bedchamber. Though separated by a layer of curtains, he could hear Emperor Father’s weak coughs.

“Crown Prince, His Majesty said that you2 should not get too close, lest he pass on his illness to you.” The head eunuch stepped forward and spoke with a look of respect.

Rong Ting didn’t listen. “Gu will go take a look.”

He approached the bedside and heard his Emperor Father tell the palace workers to withdraw. Soon, only the father and son remained in the enormous bedchamber.

“Emperor Father, what has been ailing? I asked the imperial physician, and he said that you are overworked. I was worried and looked through the medical records of the past six months and found that you have often fallen ill. What happened?”

Rong Heng lifted the bed curtain. Though his complexion was indeed not very good, it wasn’t to the point of poor health.

This caused Rong Ting, who had been filling the holes in his brain, to be stunned.

Rong Heng’s right hand clenched into a fist, which he raised to his lips. He gave a low cough, then suggested with a smile: “Maybe it’s because of old age.”

Rong Ting: “…”

You’re in your thirties and you’re calling it old age?

If Grandfather and Grandmother were to hear him, wouldn’t they kill3 Emperor Father.

To tell the truth, he felt that Emperor Father’s health was so good he could beat a tiger to death!

In the past few years, Emperor Father had clearly been paying attention to his health. Not to mention his morning runs nearly every day, rain or shine, he also changed his habit of staying up late. He slept early and rose early, and he regularly ate three meals a day. Since Rong Ting was six, to now at twelve, Emperor Father had never gotten sick, so why was he falling ill so frequently in this half a year?

But according to the imperial physician’s records, it seemed that Emperor Father was extremely exhausted and may collapse at any time…

“Emperor Father is in his prime, only in his thirties.” Rong Ting comforted him in a low voice.

In modern times, people in their thirties were young. So many people still haven’t married!

Even Auntie Siyu was almost thirty when she gave birth.

Rong Heng leaned into the pillow and laughed. “Then tell me, how old is your Empress Mother now? Probably in her thirties? And she looks young, too. Who knows, maybe I’m ten years older than her now.”

There was a look of yearning on Rong Ting’s face. “When we left, the age on Empress Mother’s ID said she was 23.”

“Is that so. I had a dream last night that she was with someone else, smiling happily in her wedding dress.” Rong Heng gave a wry smile. “I couldn’t sleep after waking up in the middle of the night and just sat there. Maybe that’s how I was exposed to the chill.”

Rong Ting wasn’t sure whether he should sympathize with Emperor Father.

After some thought, he spoke: “Emperor Father, that is how modern times is; the customs there are very open, and Empress Mother has many admirers. You have me here, but she has nothing there. Could it be that you wish for her to be single and alone her whole life?”

Rong Heng shot him a glance before quickly withdrawing his gaze. He coughed several times, his expression quickly turning inexplicably lonely. “You’re right. But I want to ask: do you hope your Empress Mother is with someone else, or with me?”

What kind of question was this.

Rong Ting concluded that Emperor Father may indeed be ill.

When ill, one’s brain would be addled, and one’s IQ would occasionally go offline. He was like that before when he was sick.

“You are in ancient times and Empress Mother is in modern times. It is very difficult to be together.”

They could only be together in spirit.

“I’m saying what if.”

Rong Ting gave it some thought, but he still chose to tell the truth. “It’s not a question of what I want or don’t want. It should be based on Empress Mother’s choice.”

“Sigh.”

Rong Heng heaved another sigh.

“If one day, Emperor Father meets a woman he truly likes,” Rong Ting said, clenching his teeth, “I will try to accept it. Just like how Empress Mother accepted that Grandfather and Grandmother divorced to find new happiness.”

Or so he said.

If there really was such a day, Rong Ting didn’t know whether he could accept it, but he still had to say it. And he only said that he would try to accept it, not that he would definitely accept it.

Rong Heng gave two short laughs. “You’re quite optimistic. My body and bones currently have the will but not the strength.”

At the mention of this topic, Rong Ting’s heart was an equal mix of uncertainty and worry.

Although being second-in-command wasn’t easy, he still hoped that his Emperor Father was healthy and peaceful..

“Be at ease, Emperor Father, you will definitely live a hundred years.”

Between the father and son, there were no falsehoods about ‘living ten thousand years.’ In their day and age, being able to live more than sixty years was considered a long life.

‘May you live a hundred years’ was the most practical blessing.

Rong Heng’s expression relaxed. “A hundred years or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I only hope that when I meet your Empress Mother one day, she will recognize me, and I will recognize her.”

Rong Heng paused again. “As for my lifespan and my health, you don’t need to worry too much. The State Preceptor once said that traveling through time-space is a forbidden technique that reduces one’s lifespan. Perhaps my time has come. Birth, old age, disease, and death are all common events. My only hope now is that, when it is time for me to let go, you are already able to stand on your own and become the backbone of Great Ye. Then I can be at ease.”

Why did this sound so strange?

Rong Ting felt that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t figure it out. He could only comfort Rong Heng, “Don’t worry, I will definitely live up to your expectations.”

“When it is time for me to let go and leave, will you blame me?” Rong Heng asked him. “When I meet your Empress Mother again, I’m really afraid she’ll blame and scold me.”

“I will not blame you.” Rong Ting felt a bit uncomfortable. Emperor Father must really be sick, to speak such nonsense.

Rong Heng expressed his regret. “It’s too bad we couldn’t bring anything from modern times. It would have been great to have a voice recorder.”

Rong Ting heard his Emperor Father mumble to himself and lifted his head. “Emperor Father, what did you say?”

“Nothing, just talking to myself.” Rong Heng whispered again, “I only fear that the hurdle with your Empress Mother…is difficult to overcome .”

“Emperor Father, rest well. Don’t say such things.” Rong Ting pulled up his quilt for him.

“En. You go back and rest. You’re also exhausted after running about for so long.”

When Rong Ting emerged from the emperor’s palace, he didn’t return to the East Palace, but instead to Kunning Palace.

He would often come to Kunning Palace. When he was young, he would frequently stay overnight. He didn’t do so anymore now that he was older, but he would also come over to sit there after encountering a worrisome matter.

After returning from modern times, he was busy every day, to the point that he could only set aside a bit of time to miss Empress Mother.

Kunning Palace was still left the way Empress Mother had arranged it.

He entered the palace and ordered everyone to retreat. After taking a simple bath, he familiarly lay down on the bed. After being washed so many times, the quilt had long since lost his Empress Mother’s scent.

When he was still very young and hadn’t yet transmigrated to modern times, he had once uncovered a notebook in one of Kunning Palace’s secret compartments.

At the time, he didn’t understand much of it, but he knew that it was left behind by Empress Mother. Now, he understood that it was Empress Mother’s diary–

D157, sunny.

When he came to eat in the afternoon, he said his neck hurt and his head was spinning. The imperial physician said it is exhaustion, but I think it might be cervical spondylosis4. Unfortunately, I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know how to treat it.

D253, cloudy.

He asked me to shave his beard. When I refused, he said it was fine, but then I accidentally nicked his lower jaw and made him bleed.

D362, rain.

The imperial physician said that I’m pregnant. Sure enough, Weibo’s popular science didn’t deceive me, the ‘safe period’ or whatever is unreliable. What a pit. How did ancient people use contraception? But I don’t dare ask, because others will think I’m insane. Can I be a good mom? Will I love this child? I don’t know.

D390, clear.

I’m afraid that I’ll forget simple characters5, so I can only casually write down these feelings. For ‘disgraceful’ words, I’ll use English, so I won’t be too bold . Haha. I had a dream that a little black dog was following me. I didn’t let it follow, and it barked at me. Is it a conception dream? A little black dog? Will my baby be very dark-skinned6?

D425, very cloudy.

I can’t let myself gain too much weight. Why do I have to drink so much tonic soup every day? Fortunately, he’s read up on some medical skills recently and said that I don’t need to drink too many tonics; if the baby is too big, it isn’t beneficial during birth. But the tonic soup is sent every day as usual. If I don’t drink, he’ll drink it all. I hope the baby is healthy.

…

…..

Rong Ting couldn’t read simplified characters before, but now he can. D should stand for “Day,” and the number should be the number of days Empress Mother was in the palace. He had already memorized the diary by heart. There were many little things recorded in it, and the people who appeared the most were him and Emperor Father. Once, when he was bored, he counted, and when he found that the word count about him was 78 characters more than the word count about Emperor Father, he immediately felt satisfied.

[1] 耳聋眼瞎昏聩可笑: blind, deaf, and (laughably?) muddle-headed

[2] Polite “you”

[3] Raws used “shark” (鲨), which sounds like the word “kill” (杀)

[4] 颈椎病: age-related wear and tear of the spinal disks in your neck

[5] 熟悉的字体: probably referring to simplified Chinese characters

[6] The color black and the word dark-skinned are both 黑