CH 99

“Pinky swear not to change in a hundred years. Whoever changes is a little dog!”

Early the next morning, Rong Ting changed into the kindergarten uniform.

Song Yuan’s eyes were still swollen. After simply reducing the swelling, she sat back in front of the dressing table and redid her makeup.

She didn’t know how long it took for other people to do makeup, but she generally needed 20-30 minutes. From eyeliner and eyeshadow to blow drying her hair… she felt she was already quite fast.

Rong Ting stood by, somewhat anxious. The mother and son tacitly didn’t mention the previous matter and got along as usual. “Empress Mother, I’m going to be late!”

Although he didn’t particularly like kindergarten, he was a child with a sense of punctuality. He really didn’t want to experience something like tardiness in his short kindergarten career!

“Empress Mother, you don’t need to send me to kindergarten if you have something to do. I know the way, I can go myself.” Making up his mind, Rong Ting slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Empress Mother, I’ll go by myself, okay? I promise not to talk to strangers.” Finally, he added helplessly, “I’m really going to be late.”

“It’s fine.” Song Yuan was in the middle of choosing a lipstick. She had a long-enjoyed hobby of buying lipstick–just the number she brought to B City totaled over thirty. “Come here, come help me choose. Should I use this, or this? I really like this color, but it rubs off easily. That one’s good, but it doesn’t last long…”

Rong Ting: “… Empress Mother!”

Why is Empress Mother like this! He was going to be late and she wanted him to pick a lipstick. What was there to choose when they’re all red, why make it hard for him like this!

Seeing that he was about to go crazy, Song Yuan smiled with curved eyes and said slowly, “Don’t be anxious, I’ve asked your kindergarten teacher for leave, so you don’t need to go today. Let’s go out and play, okay?”

Asked for leave? No need to go to kindergarten?

Rong Ting responded, “Go where?”

Although his expression remained calm and composed, as an old mother, Song Yuan could see through to his excitement.

Thinking about it, when she was a student and didn’t have to go to class, even if it was because of a sickness, she was very happy and thought that she’d made a profit.

“How’s the museum? It seems I haven’t taken you this whole time, that’s such a shame.”

Song Yuan had always thought that she still had a lot of time, so every time she thought about taking Rong Ting to the museum and saw there were too many people, she would chicken out, thinking that she could go back later… Now, in fact, there was no later.

“Let’s go to the museum in the morning. In the afternoon, Mom will take you to the park to go boating, okay?”

After a moment of surprise, Rong Ting gave a cheer of delight.

Okay, that’s so great!

B City’s museum had many visitors every day. It was the off-season now, but Song Yuan and Rong Ting still had to line up for a long time before they could go in. This museum was very large, with displays from ancient civilizations to modern times. One morning wasn’t enough to cover everything. Song Yuan had been to this museum a few times before, but every time she came she was a casual observer1, only giving everything a cursory glance. This time, she specially invited an excellent tour guide to present the museum to Rong Ting. The guide spoke with humor, and Rong Ting listened carefully.

Song Yuan noticed that every time the tour guide talked about a dynasty’s end, Rong Ting’s expression was very solemn.

By the time they left the museum, it was almost two o’clock. Song Yuan found it inconceivable–there was actually a time in her life when she would spend five hours in a museum!

Rong Ting had a look of regret on his face. Generally speaking, few restaurants were still in operation after two o’clock. Song Yuan looked around on her phone and found one artistic cuisine restaurant. The reviews and ratings weren’t too good, but there weren’t many options at this time. Sure enough, when they arrived at the restaurant, there were only one or two tables that were still eating.

Rong Ting wasn’t too picky with his meals. He just didn’t like eating outside. His reason was simple: every time they ate outside meals, he was easily thirsty.

But it seemed he was really hungry right now, because he inhaled two bowls of rice in one go, and he wasn’t as dismissive of the dishes Song Yuan ordered as he would have been before.

Song Yuan’s phone vibrated. She clicked it to look, then lifted her head to look at Rong Ting. She said with a smile, “Your Emperor Father heard we’re going boating and said he’d come with us. Later, we’ll have him paddle the duck boat2 on his own; we’ll enjoy the scenery.”

At the mention of Emperor Father, Rong Ting’s expression showed a clear change. He poked the fruit in his cup with his straw, asking in a low voice, “Empress Mother, do you want me to go back?”

Song Yuan was amused by his question.

“Don’t tell me that if I don’t want you to go back, then you won’t go back? My son has his own opinions.”

Once Song Yuan said this, she straightened her expression and said, “I don’t want to say what I think, nor do I want to put pressure on you. You only need to follow your heart. This time, your Emperor Father and Empress Mother won’t force you, so you decide what you want to do.”

Rong Ting said nothing. With his age and his experience, he was clear on the outcome after he did what he wanted to do.

Song Yuan looked at his face, her expression softening. “One day when you become emperor, you may be restricted by circumstances, and you may be suspicious of everyone, and of course, there will be a lot of people who will be outwardly obedient but inwardly defiant3, but Empress Mother wants to be a person who will never lie to you. I’ll always support any decision you make. Even if that decision is to leave me, I’ll support it, because I know that my son has ideals and ambitions.”

Rong Ting’s heart ached, and his nose felt sour. He didn’t want to let Empress Mother see his crying appearance, so he ducked down and crawled under the dining table. He curled up into a ball, sobbing quietly.

He didn’t want to leave Empress Mother. He had always missed Empress all these years. But he knew he couldn’t be selfish and ask Empress Mother to go back with him.

Song Yuan felt extremely uncomfortable when she heard him crying. Her eyes reddened, but she didn’t dare to cry, and she didn’t want to cry anymore. She didn’t want her Gugu’s final memory of her to be of her being unhappy and sad. Forcing back her tears, she helped him peel the shrimps and place them, one by one, on his plate.

When Rong Ting emerged from under the dining table, some tears still clung to his face. He ducked his head, wiping them away with the back of his hand. His voice was stuffy and quiet. “Empress Mother, I also don’t want to deceive you. I can never become a child from here.”

He’d tried. He tried getting along with his peers, tried to blend in with his environment, but he found that it was exhausting, and he couldn’t do it.

“I want to go back.” Rong Ting lifted his head, his gaze firm. “Empress Mother said, everyone in this world has their own responsibility, and so do I. It’s impossible for Emperor Father to like someone else and have a Peppa or George with another person. Perhaps in his plan, he will hand the throne to another child of the imperial family, but I am not at ease.”

In fact, “I am not at ease” coming out of the mouth of a 5 year old child seemed a bit incompatible, but Rong Ting’s expression made Song Yuan believe him. Although her son was small, he had a broad mind and carried the world in his heart.

“I am confident I will be a good emperor, but I cannot believe in others.” Rong Ting pursed his lips. “The Grand Tutor once told me, in prosperity, the common people suffer; in death, the common people suffer. I didn’t understand what it meant at that time, but what I thought in my heart was, in the future I will become an emperor that will not let the common people suffer like that.”

When Song Yuan heard these words, her face filled with relief, but at the same time, she felt extremely guilty. As a mother, she brought him into this world without his consent, but she couldn’t watch him grow up, nor could she stay by his side. She really was incompetent.

She still remembered when he was still young, before she disappeared. In the blink of an eye, he was six months old. So obedient, so sensible, so loving. She’d always thought she would stay by him as he grew up, that she would take him out to see the vast world, but she didn’t expect that just as they met again, they would be separated again after just half a year.

She truly felt apologetic to him.

Rong Ting looked at her. Naturally, he understood her guilt. He reached out and patted her hand. “Empress Mother, even if you wanted to go back with me, I wouldn’t agree. I would tell Grandfather and Grandmother to stop you. The palace is not a place you liked. If you went back, even if the palace has me, I believe you wouldn’t be happy. I still think as I said before: I only wish for Empress Mother to be happy.”

“Empress Mother, do you still remember the bet you lost before?”

Song Yuan was blank. Soon, she recalled it. At that time, he had insisted that Xie Heng was Rong Heng. She didn’t believe it, but he proposed a bet with her.

If he won the bet, she would promise him one thing.

At that time, she worried that he would dig a pit for her, so she deliberately ruled out many things. One of them was that if he had a chance to return to ancient times, he could not force her to go back.

“En, I remember.”

Rong Ting smiled, his eyes bright. “Then I want you to promise me something now. After I leave, I want you to be as happy as you are now. Don’t forget me, but don’t always miss me. You can’t cry when you think of me.”

Song Yuan almost couldn’t hold it in anymore. She didn’t dare to open her mouth, for fear that if she did, she would cry out.

Rong Ting stretched out his little paw and touched her face, saying, “Then I also promise Empress Mother, I’ll eat my meals, and grow big. Then I will listen to you, not just to be a good emperor, but also to become a person with no shame in his heart.”

“Let’s promise each other?” Rong Ting held out his hand. “Empress Mother, let’s pinky swear.”

Song Yuan choked up and nodded–

“Pinky swear not to change in a hundred years. Whoever changes is a little dog!”

[1] 走马观花: flower viewing from horseback

[2] A boat shaped like a duck or swan that you pedal to operate

[3] 阳奉阴违: outward devotion but inner opposition

Cheese: wahhh my little boy will be leaving soon QQQQQQ

on another note: are you more of a “must be on time or early or i will feel terrible” or a “time is a construct and i will arrive if fate allows” kind of person?