Chapter 8: CH 8

Sui Yan dazedly held onto the hot hand warmer and only reacted when Duan Zhisu brought him into Taihe Palace.

Sui Yan didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. What was this? 

He couldn’t understand what young people nowadays were thinking, so Sui Yan shook his head and followed Duan Zhisu to take a seat.

Since the emperor was holding a banquet, all the members of the royal family came, and they were already seated. Maids served countless exquisite snacks. Sui Yan glanced at them, En, no sweets. Boring.

Since the emperor hadn’t yet arrived, those in attendance didn’t need to care about their etiquette. Those who were close toasted each other, saying things that others wouldn’t understand. Naturally, people with grievances didn’t settle them during such an occasion.

Such as Jiang Enhe, who was sitting across from Sui Yan. 

Sui Yan rested his chin on the back of his chair and lazily glanced at Jiang Enhe, wondering, Why is this idiot here?

Not to be outdone, Jiang Enhe gave him a death glare, clearly conveying, Why haven’t you died yet?

Sui Yan burst into laughter, thinking, Why am I regressing? What is there to argue about with a child?

When he thought of this, he retracted his gaze.

Duan Zhisu’s seat was relatively far from his, and there was an empty seat between them. Sui Yan didn’t know who it belonged to.

But he soon found out.

Right before the emperor arrived, Duan Mingchong walked towards the seat and sat down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sui Yan staring at him and glanced at him awkwardly before quickly looking away.

Sui Yan was confused. What was going on? 

Just then, the emperor of Beilan walked out from a side hall. Everyone hurriedly stood up and cried, “Long live the Emperor!”

The emperor was in the prime of his life, and his solemn face made him seem stern and dignified. After he sat down, he raised his hand, and with an expression that could barely be considered gentle, he said, “This is a family banquet. Everyone doesn’t need to be so polite.”

Everyone quickly responded and returned to their seats.

Sui Yan kept his head down and didn’t dare to look up. After he sat down and faced the lavish meal, he felt hopeless. 

At this time, dancers dressed in red filed into the hall and began to dance as music sounded from behind a beaded curtain.

Sui Yan wasn’t interested in watching these beauties, and his mind was full of thoughts about when he could go back home. Just as he fell into a daze, Duan Mingchong suddenly kicked him under the table.

Sui Yan came back to his senses and blankly gazed at Duan Mingchong. Only then did he realize that everyone was staring at him.

Sui Yan was startled and quickly looked towards the head of the table. 

The emperor was looking at him amicably, and he didn’t blame Sui Yan when he saw his confusion. He lightly said, “How come Wanggui is so well-behaved today? You didn’t even move your chopsticks to eat anything. Are the dishes not to your liking?”

Sui Yan looked at the emperor, shivered, and forced a smile, “Many thanks for Your Majesty’s concern. These dishes are to my taste.”

Duan Zhisu gave Sui Yan a weird look.

The emperor smiled and said, “When you suddenly become this sensible, Imperial Uncle is even more worried than before. Don’t you like sweet porridge? Zhen let the Imperial Kitchen make a sweet soup just for you. Why don’t you try it?” 

Sui Yan froze. In the eyes of others, this could be considered a great reward. and he didn’t have any reason to refuse it. He hurriedly got up to give his thanks.

The emperor waved his hand and said, “How come you learned to behave when you were sick? This has been bestowed to you, so take it.”

Sui Yan instantly paled, but he still forced a smile to thank the emperor.

The sweet soup was quickly served. Sui Yan didn’t know who was still eyeing him, but he felt uncomfortable. 

The fragrant, impeccable sweet soup was placed in front of him. In a daze, Sui Yan seemed to see the crystal jade bowl slowly turn into a glass of wine.

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“Tbeg Zjpfras!”

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“……klii yf yfrabkfv ab sbe.” 

Sui Yan suddenly couldn’t tell whether he was in the cold and empty Taihe Palace of his previous life or the family banquet full of aristocrats from his rebirth. A chill climbed up from the soles of his feet, and it seemed as if there was a ghost locked onto his soul, determined to drag him down.

This continued until a hand reached over and firmly grasped onto his wrist.

Sui Yan shuddered and woke up from the daze.

Fortunately, the emperor had been watching the dancers and hadn’t noticed Sui Yan’s unusual behavior. 

Sui Yan suddenly covered his mouth.

Duan Mingchong raised his hand and called over the guard on the side before giving him some instructions. The guard went over to the emperor’s chamberlain and whispered to him. Soon, the emperor waved towards Duan Mingchong.

Duan Mingchong nodded in thanks, walked over to help Sui Yan up, and slowly walked outside with him.

Sui Yan was muddleheaded. He only returned to his senses when Duan Mingchong supported him to walk out, and he breathed in some fresh air. 

Duan Mingchong used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Sui Yan’s forehead and worriedly asked, “What’s wrong with you today?”

Sui Yan opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything.

The two of them stood on the veranda outside the palace. Under the light of the lanterns, Sui Yan’s face seemed all the paler.

Duan Mingchong stayed with him for a while before Sui Yan caught his breath. He quietly said, “Many thanks to Your Highness. I’m just not feeling that well. I’ll be fine after a short rest.” 

Duan Mingchong frowned and said, “Just now, it didn’t seem like you were experiencing any physical discomfort, but more like……”

It was more like being possessed.

Sui Yan forced a smile, “Your Highness is overthinking it.”

Duan Mingchong touched his forehead and said, “Since you’re not feeling that well, why don’t you go to a side chamber and lie down? Just now, I told Father Emperor that you drank too much, so you don’t need to go back to the banquet. Anyways, it’s just a family banquet. Nothing important will happen.” 

Sui Yan shook his head, “It doesn’t have to be so inconvenient. I’ll be fine after staying here for a bit.”

Since his rebirth, Sui Yan had felt that after seeing through everything, he had become completely fearless, whether it was about Duan Zhisu, who had granted him the glass of poisoned wine, or the emperor, who had made him suffer all kinds of misery.

But today, a casual sentence from the emperor had brought out the most unbearable scene from the depths of his mind.

“This has been bestowed to you.” 

Then came the sharp pain that seemed to have shredded his throat.

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Terror.

This type of terror was rooted so deeply, as if it had been carved into his bones.

Even after so many years, he was still shaking in fear when he thought about it. 

If Duan Mingchong hadn’t sensed that something was wrong and brought him outside, Sui Yan might’ve done something disgraceful in front of all those people.

Duan Mingchong worriedly looked at him before he silently turned and left.

Sui Yan stood alone on the veranda, wearing a cloak, blankly staring at the raging wind and snow. He couldn’t control his own body and was forced to watch as he slowly walked towards the steps leading up to the veranda.

Below the step was a clear lake. 

There seemed to be a voice whispering in the darkness.

“Come over. You won’t feel fear anymore once you’ve come.”

Sui Yan was frightened, and he dazedly wanted to walk towards where the sound was coming from.

It was just that when he took the first step, he heard the sound of something crashing before Duan Mingchong, who had just returned, pulled him back. 

Sui Yan was caught off guard, and he stumbled. His back slammed into a carved wooden door.

There was a bang.

Duan Mingchong’s usually gentle face was uncharacteristically dark, and he coldly asked, “What are you doing?”

Sui Yan looked at him blankly and said in a daze, “Someone is calling me to go over there.” 

Once he heard this, Duan Mingchong broke out into a cold sweat.

He took a deep breath and went straight to the point, “Were you trying to die again?”

Sui Yan was stunned, and it took him a long time to answer. He evaded the earlier question, “What did you do just now?”

It was disrespectful for him not to use the formal “you” when talking to the Crown Prince, but Duan Mingchong didn’t mind and answered, “I went to get you your sweet soup.” 

Sui Yan let out an “ah,” and despondently said, “I heard the sound of the bowl breaking.  Was the soup spilled……”

Duan Mingchong, “……”

Duan Mingchong was so angry that he laughed. He let go of Sui Yan’s shoulder, rubbed his eyebrows, and helplessly said, “Is now the time to be talking about this?”

Sui Yan murmured, “The soup……” 

Duan Mingchong was completely helpless, and he said, “Alright, I’ll let someone make you another bowl of soup later.”

Only then did Sui Yan nod.

Since Sui Yan still seemed to be in a trance, Duan Mingchong didn’t dare to ask him about his previous suicidal actions. He sat with Sui Yan for a while before leaving.

However, before he left, he ordered many people to guard Sui Yan out of fear that he would feel depressed and try to jump into the lake and commit suicide. 

The banquet quickly ended. Sui Yan held onto the hand warmer and stayed in the veranda with Duan Mingchong for a while before he was escorted out of the palace by a servant.

After he entered his carriage, Sui Yan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

He rubbed his eyebrows, thinking that the Crown Prince was so hard to deal with. If he hadn’t played dumb, this matter might not have been resolved so easily.

Sui Yan began to think. The emperor was a decisive man, so why was his son this indecisive? The two of them weren’t familiar at all, yet Duan Mingchong cared so much about him. 

However…..

Sui Yan lightly touched his wrist before he smiled.

However, he didn’t hate this feeling.

As he thought about Duan Mingchong’s somewhat childish face, Sui Yan confusedly felt that the terror he felt when seeing the emperor had slightly faded. 

It’s not a big deal, Sui Yan thought, I’m not afraid of him. I won’t provoke him in this life, so even if he wanted to make me drink poisoned wine, he won’t have the opportunity to do so.

As he thought of this, Sui Yan calmed down.

But even so, he had been frightened earlier, and he had a high fever by the time he returned to his manor.

Haitang and Li Zhao were busy all night taking care of him and feeding him medicine, and the fever finally broke late at night. 

The next morning, Sui Yan held onto the small hand warmer and basked in the sun. There were peeled oranges on the small table next to him.

Before noon, Haitang entered the Weeping Flower Gate, followed by someone from the palace.

Sui Yan looked up.

Haitang led the person over and said, “Young Master, the Crown Prince sent someone to give you something.” 

Sui Yan looked sickly, and he lazily rested his head on his hands. He replied, “He sent me something? Let me take a look.”

The palace servant respectfully stepped forward, holding onto a small wooden box. He saluted before half-kneeling on the ground and unlatching the small door on the box.

Soon, a rabbit with snow-white fur jumped out.

Sui Yan, “…..” 

Sui Yan couldn’t express what he felt as he looked at the hopping rabbit. He asked, “Did His Highness really ask you to send that to me?”

The servant hurriedly explained, “Yes. His Highness said Little Young Master likes cute things and sent me to the morning market to buy something cute. It took a long time to find this.”

Sui Yan didn’t know whether he should be happy or worried.

The palace servant respectfully asked, “Little Young Master, what do you think?” 

Sui Yan stared at the rabbit for a while before his lips curved up, and he smiled, “I think it’s great.”

Before the servant could sigh in relief, he heard the Little Young Master add with a gentle smile.

“It must taste delicious when it’s roasted.”

The servant, “……” 

The author has something to say:

Rabbit: QAQ!

Bunny is so cute. Why do you want to eat bunny?!

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