DTTM 11

Chapter 11: No wonder Xiao Mitang¹ doesn’t like you.

Twenty years ago, a civil war broke out in the Kingdom of Wo. The rebel leader, Bondor, pursued Yu Xuan and other members of the Wo royal family all the way to Penglai. After overcoming countless hardships, some died, some were captured, and in the end, only Yu Xuan escaped to Baiyujing. He met with the King of Penglai, hoping to obtain protection, but the King of Penglai ignored his pleas and wanted to hand him over.

In despair, Bondor, wanting to humiliate him, offered to allow him to spend the rest of his life in Penglai if he was willing to castrate himself.

Castration, whether for royalty or for any man, was a profound disgrace. But to save his life, Yu Xuan had no other choice.

In the main hall of Penglai’s royal palace, with a menacing enemy on one side and an old friend standing idly by on the other, he bit his lip until it bled, “performing” a spectacular act of self-mutilation with a knife in front of everyone.

He fainted in the main hall, his face deathly pale. Bondor clapped his hands and laughed, and decided to leave him there. King Penglai was wondering what to do with him when Chu Shengcheng, who had watched the whole thing, found it amusing and asked for him.

From then on, the Crown Prince had a brown-haired, red-eyed eunuch by his side, and the Kingdom of Wo had an indelible shame.

The Wo people’s feelings towards Yu Xuan were complex, but these feelings were mostly negative. If the Yu family hadn’t been incompetent, how could the people of Wo have become displaced, their country destroyed, and their homes ruined? If Yu Xuan hadn’t been so cowardly and afraid of death, how could the people of Wo have become “the Eunuch’s people” and been looked down upon?

Therefore, even though Yu Xuan was now considered a favorite of the Crown Prince and had a certain amount of influence, the Wo people still did not regard him as an honor, and rarely mention him.

As soon as the Crown Prince and his wife entered, they were immediately surrounded by a crowd. Xu Chengye wanted to pull us over to the dignitaries to make our presence known, but we couldn’t squeeze in. So he told us to wait until later when there were fewer people and then we could go and pay our respects to His Highness.

I grabbed a glass of sparkling water and retreated to a corner with Yi You and the others, not in a hurry to join in the fun.

“Tell me, between the Crown Prince and the Princess, who will be the next King of Penglai?”

I blinked, looking at Yi You with a surprised expression as he discussed this sensitive issue with me in public. He turned his gaze away from the Crown Prince and Zong Yanlei in the distance, and seeing me looking at him, he chuckled, scratched his cheek, and said, “Everyone’s speculating, I can’t be the only one curious.”

Indeed, everyone was speculating.

The King of Penglai had three wives, the middle one of whom bore him two sons. Sadly, over twenty years ago, all three died in a car accident while on a trip abroad. Some say it was an accident, others say it was a terrorist attack, and others… believe it was the work of the Wuxi clan. In any case, opinions vary, and nothing has been confirmed over the years. Therefore, the only legitimate heirs now were Chu Shengcheng and Chu Luo.

Chu Shengcheng’s advantage lay in his noble birth. His mother was a direct descendant of the Wuxi family, a noblewoman who, at sixteen, full of youthful anticipation, married into the royal family. However, she was driven mad by the stifling and harsh court life and the heartless emperor, and died in her thirties. There were different accounts of her sudden death among the common people. Some said it wasn’t illness, but suicide; others said that during her madness, she mistook her son for her husband and wanted to die with him, only to be killed by the crown prince.

Regardless of the truth, Chu Shengcheng had become somewhat abnormal since his mother’s death. Not only did he dye his silver hair red, but he also began to indulge in pleasure all day long, and he didn’t dress properly, always exposing his chest and walking around in a pair of cloth shoes.

The people of Penglai privately call him “the Mad Prince”.

Chu Luo’s advantage was also significant, she had a large following among the people. The good reputation she had built since her mother’s time made her the most popular member of the Chu royal family in three hundred years. Of course, Zong Yanlei also played a crucial role in this popularity.

“Who do you support?” I asked Yi You in return.

Yi You turned his gaze back to the throng of people and said, “I am not one of those old-fashioned pure-blood theorists. As an ordinary citizen, I just want a normal monarch.”

His answer indicated a preference for the princess.

“Do we really have to choose between these two?” I looked at the others as well.

Under the enormous crystal chandelier, everyone was impeccably dressed, their smiles obsequious. Then, Chu Shengcheng said something, and the group immediately burst into laughter, their expressions strained to the point of distortion.

“Or, how about skipping the elder and choosing the younger one?” Yi You chuckled as he playfully punched my chest. “The little prince isn’t even three years old yet.”

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess had been married for many years without children. Three years ago, the Crown Princess finally became pregnant. To keep her in a good mood, the Crown Prince sent her back to her motherland to rest and prepare for childbirth, only bringing her back after the baby was born. The little prince, with brown hair and blue eyes, was cute, which greatly improved his father’s reputation.

While using a high-level character to level up a low-level character was one method, that’s not what I meant…

Suddenly, my gaze sharpened as I spotted an unexpected figure in the crowd.

“That person…” On such a night filled with distinguished guests, I actually saw Bing-ge in the crowd. If I hadn’t immediately transferred the two million I received from the Sun God Group to him, I would have thought he had come all the way here to collect the debt.

His thin frame hunched and he followed a middle-aged man with a mustache, squeezing his way to Chu Shengcheng’s side. The man with the mustache must have some status in front of Chu Shengcheng. Unlike others who fawned over Chu Shengcheng, he did try to lick Chu Shengcheng’s boots, but it was subtle.

After exchanging a few words with Chu Shengcheng, the man with the mustache pushed Bing-ge in front of the other party. Bing-ge was so nervous that his face turned pale. He tremblingly took out a stack of something from his pocket and presented it to Chu Shengcheng with both hands.

Another hollow, insincere laugh rang out. Chu Shengcheng extended his hand to take the stack of papers and patted Bing-ge on the shoulder. Bing-ge’s face quickly turned from pale to red, as if he had been encouraged.

“Oh, that’s the Crown Prince’s confidant, his treasurer.” Following my gaze, Yi You assumed I was curious about the man with the mustache and explained. “You know that GTC was actually founded by the Crown Prince, right? He founded GTC and also set up the official GTC betting platform, but he can’t act as the bookmaker himself. This Mr. Wen Nan is the one who manages the betting for him.”

I already know what Yi You said. The reason the Crown Prince was so enthusiastic about GTC was because he made money from racing; every racer was his cash cow. The only thing I didn’t expect was that Bing-ge would be here.

Not content with such a huge sum of money, Chu Shengcheng even tried to make money from loans.

Feeling a bit annoyed, I handed Yi You the cup and walked towards the restroom.

I splashed cold water on my face, pulled out a tissue to wipe away the water droplets, and looked at myself in the mirror. The man in the mirror was wearing a tailored black swallowtail tuxedo, with a corner of a red velvet handkerchief peeking out of the breast pocket, and a matching red diamond eye patch over his right eye, his face blank and indifferent.

I closed my eyes, lowered my face, adjusted myself, and when I looked up again, the figure in the mirror had changed to a standard fawning smile.

“Ouch…” I bumped into someone right after I stepped out of the restroom.

I quickly helped the other person up, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Bing-ge.

As soon as he saw me, he excitedly grabbed my hand: “Oh, Jiang-ge, I was just looking for you.”

My lips twitched, and I greeted him warmly, “Bing-ge, what a coincidence that we meet here.”

Things were different now. Before, he called me a lowly commoner and made me kneel down, but now he was calling me brother.

“Hehe, to be honest, I work under Mr. Wen. Today, thanks to his kindness, he specially introduced me to the Crown Prince. I just presented His Highness with the few plots of land I recently acquired as a gift. He was very pleased and told me to come often. He also praised me for being good at my job.”

“What are the recent land acquisitions?”

I quickly followed up with, “The Phoenix Nursery?”

Bing-ge slapped his forehead, and said, “Look at my brain! I was thinking that if I could see you, I would definitely return this land to you. But I was so excited to see His Highness that I forgot all about it. Unfortunately, the seedling nursery is also in those areas, and His Highness has already bestowed all the land in Zengcheng upon Mr. Zong.”

“Mr. Zong… Zong Yanlei?”

“Exactly.”

I was stunned. What Xiang Ze had given his life for was, in the eyes of these nobles, nothing more than a trinket that could be given away.

After exchanging pleasantries with Bing-ge, he praised me for being a hidden talent and earnestly asked me to put in a good word for him with the Crown Prince in the future. He also mentioned that the past was all a misunderstanding and told me not to take it to heart.

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The banquet lasted for an hour, and the number of people from the Crown Prince’s side gradually dwindled. Xu Chengye led the three of us forward to greet Chu Shengcheng one by one. Yi You and Tan Yunmei were no different, but when it was my turn, Chu Shengcheng suddenly raised his right hand slightly towards me.

I was a little confused looking at that hand, but fortunately Yu Xuan spoke up in time.

“A kiss on the hand,” he whispered a reminder.

I snapped out of my daze, immediately grabbed that hand, and bent down.

Chu Shengcheng looked like a ball of fire, but his hand was cold, exuding a slippery, icy quality reminiscent of some kind of snake. With just a light touch, I eagerly let go.

“You did very well, child.” Chu Shengcheng chuckled, turned around and took a glass of whiskey from a waiter’s tray before handing it to me. “I look forward to more exciting matches from you in the future.”

I glanced at the amber liquid in the glass, then at Chu Shengcheng, and tried to politely decline: “Your Highness, I don’t drink…”

“Hmm?” Chu Shengcheng smiled and handed over some more glasses.

…Alright

This meant you absolutely have to drink it.

I understand.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” I no longer refused, took the glass of wine, and drank it all in front of Chu Shengcheng.

The liquor was extremely pungent and fiery upon entering my mouth, like a ball of fire crashing into my stomach. Although I drink a little alcohol occasionally, it’s limited to low-proof liquors. I haven’t had any strong liquors over 50 proof for many years, and I don’t know if my sensitive stomach can handle it. I hope it doesn’t cause an upset stomach here.

Having made his presence known to the Crown Prince, Xu Chengye, out of social etiquette, led us to greet the Crown Princess on the other side.

The Crown Princess, holding Zong Yinzhuo in her arms, sat elegantly and dignifiedly on a sofa chair, looking up as she spoke to Zong Yanlei. Upon seeing us approach, her expression turned blank, practically screaming “I’m not interested in you.”

“Ah, Auntie!” As soon as Zong Yinzhuo saw me, he hugged the Crown Princess’s neck, turned his face away, and looked like he was afraid I would eat him.

“Xiao Mitang.” Zong Yanlei frowned slightly from the side.

Zong Yinzhuo ignored him and wiggled his bottom: “No…”

“It’s alright, he’s still young, it’s normal for him to be scared.” The Crown Princess patted Zong Yinzhuo’s back affectionately, while she looked at me coldly. “You may leave.”

I bowed slightly and said, “May the stars shine as brightly as you.” Then I obediently withdrew.

But what you dread comes to pass. My stomach cramped slightly after only a few steps. I knew something was wrong. I tried drinking water, eating, and even going to the bathroom to vomit, but nothing helped. The rest of the night was spent enduring intermittent stomach cramps.

In the end, I was a little out of it. I just wanted to go out for some fresh air, but I missed a step and almost fell down the steps.

Before me lay the ever-accumulating snowflakes, and the hand around my waist was strong and powerful. I grasped that burning hot hand and looked back. I only had time to see Zong Yanlei pull me into his arms before I lost consciousness.

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My body was feeling hot and cold intermittently, and I was sweating profusely. I knew I had a fever, but I couldn’t open my eyes no matter what I did.

“How did it get so high… could it… be neurological?” Xu Chengye’s voice came and went.

“You’re asking me?” By the time it was Zong Yanlei’s turn, my hearing was fully functioning. “Didn’t I tell you to prepare painkillers for him?”

“I’m innocent! I gave it to him, but… but I didn’t watch him take it.” Xu Chengye’s voice trailed off. “I’ll go call the doctor right now.”

The door was closed gently, and after a while, I felt someone unbuttoning my shirt.

He undid the buttons one by one, and when he reached my chest, I reached out and grabbed his wrist, asking indistinctly, “Where…where is the child?”

The muscles under my palm suddenly tensed. He tried to pull his hand away but failed. He could only answer in a low voice, “The Crown Princess took him away. She likes Yinzhuo very much and often invites him into the palace to play with the little prince.”

Crown Princess? Little prince?

No, it’s someone else… someone else who needs me more…

“No… Rui… Where is Rui Rui?” I gripped that hand even tighter.

What about Wei Jiarui? Is anyone picking him up from school? Is he eating enough? Is he cold at night? Has he been crying a lot?

The muscles under my hands tensed up again, pulling up my collar little by little. I tried my best to open my eyes, but everything seemed to be shrouded in a misty fog, and I couldn’t see anything clearly.

“Oh, I forgot. You have a child.” After a long while, the voice rang out again, faint as a ghostly whisper.

He ran his fingertips over my Adam’s apple and pressed down slightly, I immediately gagged and released his wrist.

The other person then opened my shirt, and his fingertips traced along my throat to my shoulder.

“It’s still there.”

His hand kept rubbing and pressing on the aching spot on my shoulder. I instinctively resisted, curling up to stop him from touching me: “Don’t…don’t touch me…”

The hand recoiled slightly, seemingly withdrawing.

My breath was hot, and my whole body felt like it was on fire. I wiped the sweat from my eyelashes and tried to open my eyes again, but my hands were suddenly pinned above my head.

“Even when you’re sick, you’re still so annoying… No wonder Xiao Mitang doesn’t like you.” My neck was also being held, and I gradually felt suffocated. I struggled to tilt my head back, trying to break free from this painful restraint, but to no avail.

Just when I thought I was about to be strangled, I suddenly heard a knock on the door.

The next instant, all the forces that had been binding me vanished, my consciousness relaxed, and I plunged into boundless darkness once more.

1. The word ‘蜜糖’ specifically refers to honey. It combines the characters ‘蜜’ (mì), meaning honey, and ‘糖’ (táng), meaning sugar. ↩︎