"Uncle Wang's birthday, how could I forget it?"
Chi Ruanfan placed the longevity noodles in front of Jinzhu, sat down beside her, and urged Jinzhu to eat it quickly while it was hot.
Jinzhu picked up the chopsticks, rolled up the noodles and put them into his mouth.
Compared with the bowl of pancake-like object that the little emperor had made for him, this bowl of longevity noodles was much better in terms of color, aroma, and taste.
It must be the craftsmanship of the imperial kitchen.
Jinzhu thought so, but she didn't care at all.
For him, as long as it was sent by the emperor, it was the emperor's gift and was important.
Chi Ruanfan supported his chin and watched from the side.
"So? My skills haven't deteriorated too much, have they?"
He hasn't cooked longevity noodles since his uncle Wang from that life passed away. It's been about five or six years.
The time interval was too long and his proficiency was reduced. Chi Ruanfan encountered many accidents when making the longevity noodles this time and almost messed it up.
Jinzhu paused for a moment, ate the noodles in his mouth, raised his head, and asked in surprise:
"Your Majesty did this?"
"certainly."
When Chi Ruanfan said this, Jinzhu noticed a red spot on Chi Ruanfan's hand.
"Your Majesty, is you hurt?" Jinzhu quickly put down his chopsticks and reached out to check the emperor's hand.
Chi Ruanfan's hand had been scalded before, the burning sensation had dissipated, but the red mark had not disappeared.
He smiled and pulled his hand back, saying, "It's okay, I've already applied the medicine."
Jinzhu indeed smelled the aroma of the herbs, and his tense heart relaxed a little, with a look of approval between his eyebrows.
"Your Majesty is worth a fortune, please don't do this again."
Chi Ruanfan smiled and replied,
"Uncle Wang, eat the noodles first. They will taste better when they are cold."
He only cooked noodles on the Regent's birthday, and usually went to the imperial kitchen.
At least he can make up for the minor injury caused by this mistake and make him cook birthday noodles again.
As soon as Jinzhu saw the emperor's expression, he knew that the emperor would listen to him.
With his current status, he is not qualified to persuade His Majesty, so he can only try another method, such as... blowing pillow talk on the dragon couch.
"Why are Uncle Wang's ears red?" Chi Ruanfan asked in confusion, "Is it because the noodle soup is too hot?"
No matter how hot it is, can your ears get burned red again
It's really puzzling.
“…It’s a little hot.” Jinzhu put down the bowl and lowered her eyes, not daring to look at the emperor.
He ate the whole bowl of longevity noodles and even drank up the noodle soup.
Chi Ruanfan hurriedly poured Jinzhu a cup of warm tea.
Jinzhu took the tea, lowered his eyes and drank a sip, then took a deep breath quietly, as if he had made up his mind:
"Your Majesty, I haven't had a drink in months. Would you mind giving me a bottle of wine?"
Jinzhu couldn't really do something like whispering in someone's ear, so he thought of pretending to be drunk to give himself courage.
The emperor and the regent were both wine lovers, so there was naturally no wine in the Chaoyang Palace.
Chi Ruanfan didn't think too much about this request. He just thought that the Regent suddenly missed the wine and wanted to drink.
Chi Ruanfan sent someone to ask the imperial physician, and confirmed that the regent was in good health and could drink alcohol, so he asked the palace servants to fetch tribute wine.
"I drink with Uncle Wang."
Chi Ruanfan poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Jinzhu.
When Jinzhu came to take his wine, Chi Ruanfan suddenly wanted to drink a cup of wine with Jinzhu.
This is crazy.
It might irritate the Regent, or the Regent might discover his thoughts.
Chi Ruanfan suppressed his impulse and quietly drank with the Regent.
It's just that the Regent drank a little too fast.
Chi Ruanfan had just drunk half a cup when the Regent finished the whole pot.
Steward Wei, who was waiting on the side, immediately stepped forward, presented new wine and replaced the empty wine jug.
Jinzhu picked up the wine jug and poured wine into the cup.
Chi Ruanfan held his hand and said, "Uncle Wang, drink slowly, it's urgent."
Uncle Wang is really a heavy drinker, why is he like this today...
As Chi Ruanfan was thinking, he saw Jinzhu looking sideways at him with a slightly dazed look and a hint of drunkenness in her eyes.
Chi Ruanfan was a little surprised.
Uncle Wang’s alcohol tolerance shouldn’t be that bad.
Jinzhu then tilted her body and leaned against Chi Ruanfan softly, rubbing his neck.
Chi Ruanfan immediately put all those tensions behind him and raised his hand to embrace the person on his body.
He lowered his eyes to look at the person leaning on his shoulder, and thought, Uncle Wang must be drunk.
If she wasn't drunk, how could she be so close to him and look at him with such an incredibly soft gaze.
He looked very much like the regent who used to dote on him and love him.
It was as if they had never fought.
"Uncle Wang..."
Chi Ruanfan called out in a low voice, his Adam's apple rolling. He picked up Jinzhu and poured a small half cup of wine, stuffed it into Jinzhu's hand, and coaxed her in a low voice:
"Have another drink with me."
Jinzhu took the wine glass obediently.
Chi Ruanfan quietly reached out his hand, holding the wine glass, and passed it around Jinzhu's arm, making a gesture of exchanging cups.
"After drinking this cup of wedding wine, you will be together for life." Chi Ruanfan said, and noticed that Jinzhu's hand holding the wine trembled.
He thought the Regent was so drunk that he had lost his balance, so he quickly used one hand to hold the glass in the Regent's hand, and they both drank the wine at the same time.
After drinking this cup of wine that made their words go smoothly, Chi Ruanfan was in a good mood and just wanted to get closer to Jinzhu.
"Okay, Uncle Wang is mine for the rest of my life."
Seeing Jinzhu staring at him blankly, looking a little silly, Chi Ruanfan moved closer with a smile and rubbed his cheek against Jinzhu's face.
Considering there were palace servants in the palace, Chi Ruanfan didn't do anything too outrageous.
After a hug, he picked up the drunken regent who moved like a piece of wood and brought him into the inner hall.
Chief Steward Wei led the palace servants to quietly retreat into the hall and closed the door.
Inside the hall, Chi Ruanfan placed Jinzhu on the couch, then he lay on top of him, tracing his eyebrows and eyes with his fingers.
Jinzhu closed her eyes as soon as she realized it, probably because she felt sleepy after drinking.
Only her eyelashes were still trembling slightly, as if she was sleeping too soundly.
Chi Ruanfan didn't want to disturb Jinzhu, so he just restrained himself and kissed Jinzhu's lips, whispering:
"Uncle Wang, I love you so much."
Jinzhu's breathing paused.
Chi Ruanfan, who was not a martial artist and whose attention was focused on other things, did not notice this slight change.
Chi Ruanfan sat beside the couch for a long time, until Jinzhu fell "soundly asleep", then he moved lightly and left quietly.
When Chi Ruanfan left the room, Jinzhu, who had been sleeping with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes. Her breathing, which had been deliberately suppressed, became rapid and her heart was thundering.
The emperor said he loved him
How can this be...
Jinzhu thought a lot at once.
The emperor took him to the Chaoyang Palace, ostensibly to keep him under house arrest, but in fact he was caring for him deeply.
The emperor trusted him very much, so he entrusted him with organizing memorials and allowed him to enter the imperial study freely.
And the absurdities.
Did the emperor do that with him just to enjoy the pleasure of conquering him
If it were just that, there would be no need to care whether he was in pain or not, as the emperor would always take care of his feelings.
Sometimes he would even deliberately say words like "that", "like this", "stop" in order to arouse the emperor's desire to conquer. The emperor would subconsciously stop and wait for him to adapt before continuing.
After a few times, Jinzhu dared to stab the emperor at random, but was afraid that the emperor would listen to him, so he continued.
Jinzhu was in a state of confusion when she heard the emperor's footsteps approaching from afar.
He should have closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, but he subconsciously looked towards the direction where the sound came from.
It is easy to become emotionally unstable after being drunk, so Chi Ruanfan dared to leave Jinzhu alone in Chaoyang Palace. He went to the imperial study and brought the memorial back while she was sleeping.
But as soon as he returned to the room, he saw Jinzhu looking at him quietly, with no trace of drunkenness in her black and white eyes.
Considering that Jinzhu's previous drinking capacity was much worse than before, Chi Ruanfan had no idea that he had been cheated.
Thinking back to what Jinzhu did after getting drunk, Chi Ruanfan's body tensed up slightly.
He walked to the desk in silence, put down the memorial, took a deep breath, and turned to the couch where Jinzhu was.
"Uncle Wang." Chi Ruanfan stood beside the couch and looked at Jinzhu with a complicated look.
He didn't mean to deliberately hide his love for Jinzhu.
At the beginning, when he went to the Regent's Palace to bring Jinzhu back, he never concealed his love.
When he found that his love could not make Jinzhu stay in the world, he changed his method and made Jinzhu hate him instead.
This method was very successful.
In fact, he loves Jinzhu, and Jinzhu hates him and they are in conflict.
After realizing this, Chi Ruanfan leaned over, stroked Jinzhu's face with his fingers, and said softly:
"Uncle Wang already knows about this, so you think it's incredible
"I love you, so I will let you commit suicide. I will keep you by my side and make you hate me for the rest of your life."
Jinzhu opened her mouth, somewhat at a loss:
"I hate Your Majesty."
"I know you have always hated..."
Chi Ruanfan paused, opened his eyes slightly, and the calmness on his face disappeared, leaving only surprise and doubt.
After a long while, he asked blankly: "You, what did you just say?"
Jinzhu held the emperor's hand that was resting on the side of his face, sat up, looked directly into the emperor's amber-like eyes, and said slowly:
"I hate Your Majesty, but I... love Your Majesty."
Jinzhu spoke the last few words very softly, but it was loud enough for Chi Ruanfan to hear clearly.
Chi Ruan was stunned and asked stumblingly:
"How come? When did you start to be interested in me?"
"A long, long time ago," Jinzhu said in a soft voice, "before His Majesty took me back to the palace."
Jinzhu can no longer trace back to the feelings that went back further.
He also realized that he had had such a rebellious feeling since he was young.
"Before returning to the palace..."
Chi Ruanfan took a breath of cold air, which meant that the Regent had already been interested in him before he was reborn.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Chi Ruanfan hugged Jinzhu with his arms tightened.
What did he do after he was reborn
Chi Ruanfan couldn't imagine how Jinzhu had been confined to the Regent's Palace by him during those years despite her love for him.
It is also impossible to imagine how Jinzhu, after being brought back by him, resolutely sought death despite loving him so much.
He also treated Jinzhu like that, making Jinzhu hate him.
He should have known then.
The regent is someone who is willing to submit and endure humiliation in order to serve him.
He was willing to sleep on the same bed with him and do those things because he liked him.
"I knew it at first, but only after I was favored by Your Majesty did I realize my true feelings."
Jinzhu hugged Chi Ruanfan back, her movements a little awkward.
Although they had a lot of physical contact, it was mostly the emperor touching him, and he always restrained himself and dared to respond.
This was the second time he hugged the emperor back like this.
The first time was in the Regent's Palace. The emperor broke into his room, hugged him and said, "Uncle, I missed you so much."
Thinking of this, Jinzhu's fingers on Chi Ruanfan's back trembled slightly.
Could it be that... the emperor had already been interested in him at that time
Jinzhu suppressed her shock and asked, "How long has your majesty liked me?"
If Jinzhu asked him when he started to like her, Chi Ruanfan would probably answer no.
Love is something that always arises as soon as one is aware of it, and by the time one discovers it, it is already deeply rooted.
But if asked how long he had liked her, Chi Ruanfan could count the previous two lives plus the present.
Unfortunately, he couldn't answer that way and could only say "many, many years".
They understood each other's feelings, so Chi Ruanfan didn't deal with the memorials at all. Jinzhu put her hand on Chi Ruanfan's back and hugged him.
Finally, Jinzhu fell asleep in Chi Ruanfan's arms.
Jinzhu had a rare dream.
In the dream, the little emperor never competed with him for power, but instead stayed with him.
The little emperor claimed that he only loved fine clothes and delicious food and he, and power.
He believed it in his dream.
He has always been in control of the government and is very affectionate with the young emperor.
Until one day, he and the emperor were on a secret tour and encountered a Turkic assassin. He was seriously injured while trying to save the emperor.
The imperial physician saved him, but he had to stay in bed for half a year, which was very tiring and stressful.
From then on, the emperor took over the government affairs. From attending the morning court to reviewing memorials, the emperor handled everything in an orderly manner and made full use of him.
Jinzhu thought that his relationship with the emperor was over.
He cherished every moment he spent with the emperor and lived every day as if it were his last.
He spent half a year like this "last day".
Half a year later, his injury was completely healed.
The emperor immediately felt relieved and threw all his things to him. He no longer went to the morning court and slept until three noon every day.
He and the emperor lived like this for their whole lives.
…
Jinzhu thought this dream was too absurd.
How could the emperor only love fine clothes and delicious food, only love power, and how could he only delegate power so thoroughly
Everything seemed like a dream, yet it was too real.
Especially the emperor in the dream, every time he raised his eyes and tilted his head, he looked so lively, as if his Majesty appeared before him.
This dream left Jinzhu in a trance for the whole day.
Chi Ruanfan noticed something was wrong with Jinzhu, and in order to accompany him, he deliberately did not go to the imperial study, but brought all the memorials of the past two days back to Chaoyang Palace for review.
Chi Ruanfan reviewed the memorials.
Jinzhu was staring at the emperor's face absentmindedly.
When Chi Ruanfan put down a memorial and gently pinched the root of his nose, Jinzhu blinked and asked tentatively:
"Your Majesty has been overworked. I will help you review some of the memorials."
Chi Ruanfan, who was originally concentrating on reading the memorials, looked up instantly.
Jinzhu was startled and wanted to apologize, but she saw that the emperor's eyes were surprisingly bright and full of joy.
Jinzhu had only seen such shining eyes last night when the emperor was making love with him.
Chi Ruanfan immediately divided the memorial into two halves and prepared to give one to Jinzhu. Suddenly, he remembered that Jinzhu was distracted frequently and was afraid that she was overworked last night.
He felt at ease having such an uncle like Wang review so many memorials for him.
After dividing the memorial into half, Chi Ruanfan handed the remaining half to Jinzhu, smiling a little embarrassedly:
"I'll leave these to Uncle Wang first. But Uncle Wang also needs to take care of his health and not be too tired. Just put them aside when you're done. I'll deal with them after I finish reviewing them."
Jinzhu looked at the memorials sent by the emperor, and then looked at the emperor's expression, and began to believe what she had dreamed.
"After that, I will help Your Majesty review the memorials, okay?" Jinzhu asked.
"It's better than ever!"
Chi Ruanfan wanted to set off fireworks to celebrate. He held Jinzhu's hands, moved, and said:
"I am so lucky to meet Uncle Wang."