The sky was clear, clear as the mood Rong XingLi was in. His little bun had successfully evaded the calamity and reunited with his parents. They were currently watching a stage play.
It was the legend of Huan Jing defeating the devil of the plague, who had brought disease to his family and the people of the Ruhe River. With the help of an immortal, he had learned the magic arts to kill the devil of the plague.
The play was full of emotions, dramatic music and hardships. Of course, they had to add a romantic subplot, or the women of the inner court wouldn't even pay attention to the play.
Rong XingLi reclined on his little master's lap and let himself ruffled without shame. He even lifted his chin to indicate Gao Qingxuan where to stroke next.
"Ding— Host, please stay alert," Jing Yi reminded. His host had completely abandoned his dignity and asked a child for physical labor.
Rong XingLi's eyes narrowed in satisfaction. His little master was a genius at fondling animals. It was truly a shame, that he had a traumatic experience and hated them as a result. After getting scratched enough, he finally answered his system.
"En, but there hadn't been any suspicious movements of Consort Wei or any other person present. By the way, do they plan to watch chrysanthemums for the rest of the day? The crown prince is too small to climb a mountain and the concubines, as well as the Empress Dowager, look too fragile to do so either," he surmised. His tone was neither playful nor coquettish contrary to his actions.
Jing Yi seized Rong XingLi up profoundly, his host was only ditzy on the surface, but had actually stayed attentive since the farce from earlier.
"Ding— System 01 has detected an unusual substance in the vicinity, please proceed with caution. The perpetrator used a special method of concealment, the exact whereabouts of the substance can't be located at the moment."
"You can't? How could that be..." Rong XingLi murmured.
"Ding— There are traces of spiritual fluctuations matching the profile of magic talismans."
Rong XingLi's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. He asked incredulously, "Magic... there really exists magic in this world?"
"Ding— It does. Although the spiritual energy is sparsely in this plane and only a handful of people can use it," Jing Yi explained.
It was only natural to encounter a world with magic someday, just that this day had come faster than Rong XingLi had expected. There was this irrepressible urge to slam his head against a wall welling up in him. On one hand, he was excited to see real magic, but on the other hand, he felt a sudden headache since it could complicate his mission.
However, his time to brood over his small dilemma was cut short by another urgent matter; His little ancestor had become restless. After he had whispered something to his mother, the boy sprinted off with his Kumquat in his bosom. None of the servants followed him nor dared to look at him.
Tears ran down Rong XingLi's face. He had a hunch about what could make his protege move. When Gao Qingxuan had disappeared behind a door and he was placed before the room with the command "Kumquat, guard this prince well," it was clear. The little milkbun had to take a restroom break ah!
No, don't leave your mother! Please, go back fast! I beg you ba!!!
Rong XingLi flopped to the floor. If Liu Nana consumed the suspicious substance in his absence and it turned out to be poison, wouldn't his mission fail because of a tinkle break?! He could only pray, that Gao Qingxuan was quick...
However, man proposes, heaven disposes. He was taking his sweet time whereas Rong XingLi printed circles into the stone floor. He even suspected, that Gao Qingxuan had done so deliberately, after all the play was full of dull monologues and dog blood. It was already impressive that a five-year-old had sat still for so long without falling asleep.
While he had waited with a heart full of worry, the play slowly reached its climax. Gao Qingxuan and Rong XingLi were just in time to watch Huan Jing slay the devil and save the people from their suffering. Of course, he had gotten the beauty in the end.
The palace women discussed the play under them, only Liu Nana had the privilege to talk to the emperor. They showed off their affection for each other without reservation. This caused black clouds to form over Consort Wei as she had watched them with a dark face. Forget being intimate, it had been over a month since the last time she could even converse privately with her husband!
The Empress Dowager watched her favorite daughter in law with sorrow, how could her son ignore such a refined woman? It was truly a pity.
That child was considered to be the future empress for a long time, thus she groomed her into the perfect wife for her son. She always regarded Consort Wei as her own since she never had a princess to pamper. If it weren't for the sudden attack of the neighboring country, Liu Nana would have been the imperial consort and Wei the Mother of the World.
The Empress Dowager didn't hate Liu Nana, but the latter had suppressed all the other concubines, resulting in having only one heir in the imperial harem so far. Gao Qingxuan was healthy and abided by the rules; he was a good seedling. Nonetheless, his personality had a fatal flaw; he was too timid and introverted. Would he be able to compete against neighboring countries with that mindset?
The lack of competition made him weak. The elder could only shake her head in disapproval. The empress had to be magnanimous and can't deny the emperor of his rights and duties.
The elder remembered the prophecy of a famous wandering monk, who once had peeked into the future of the newborn Gao Tianlu. It was said that his downfall will be caused by the actions of the opposite gender. Since then the Empress Dowager had been vigilante of all the women near her son and Liu Nana was the most dangerous one. She had the knowledge, power, and appearance to cause the fall of a king. Furthermore, the elder heard one or two rumors about the Liu family...
In contrast, even though she hadn't the shrewdness Liu Nana possessed, Consort Wei was loyal and had a pure heart. It was unlikely that she would pose a danger for the emperor.
The Empress Dowager could only lament more in her heart. She looked lovingly at Consort Wei and spoke a few words of consolation, "Don't worry, Gao Tianlu will wake up sooner and later from his muddle-headed state."
Consort Wei's face was filled with gratitude. "En, mother-in-law is right."
The two women chattered a bit about the play, but subconsciously they kept an eye on the emperor's camp. Meanwhile, the servants started to arrange lunch for the chrysanthemum watching; colorful dishes and mild chrysanthemum wine were served. The scene was quite buzzy and the two women were distracted.
They didn't even notice that the servant, who had poured them the wine, had an unfamiliar face.
Soon the tune of the guzheng ensemble filled the place; A soft breeze swept over and the chrysanthemums in the garden unhurriedly swayed with the melody. After the prelude finished, the prized dance troupe across the land slowly emerged on the stage and began to bewitch the audience. The mood turned cheerful instantly and everyone was enjoying the food; everyone but Rong XingLi. He could only look from the sidelines at the tasty dishes and refined chongyang cake with deep envy.
Why did he have to possess the body of a fox cub ah!
While his little master's family of three ate together, the pet was shoved aside. They especially prepared a "feast" in fox terms. As he stared blankly at the clustering mincemeat in front of him, the sudden wish for instant noodles was stronger than never before.
Rong XingLi wanted to cry. Setting aside that he'd never raw meat, he even doubted that the original fox cub would've been able to do. Kumquat's stomach was easy to upset because of the retained stress of the original soul. If it hadn't been for Jing Yi's cheat halo, the cub's original digestion system would've gone on strike long ago.
Thankfully there were also fruits in a separate bowl, or his "unintentional clumsiness" would have to flare up again and flip the bowl of mincemeat. With a bit of luck, he would get a portion of human food. After eating the few pieces, Rong XingLi snuggled back to Gao Qingxuan's side. He just dropped his head down, when a system alert resounded.
"Ding— The suspicious substance was detected in the chrysanthemum wine. 7 minutes until the servants will serve the wine for Liu Nana. Start analyzing. Analysis completed. Toxicity level: 78% deathly; in case of survival probability to receive permanent brain damage is 95%. Please prevent the consumption of the wine," Jing Yi stated.
Rong XingLi sucked in a cold breath of air. That was an assassination attempt in broad daylight and such a savage at that!
Toxic chrysanthemum wine on Double Ninth festival was akin to pouring poison into a well. Any adult would drink the wine, it didn't matter if the wine really could prolong the life or not; it was a tradition.
"Jing Yi, which servant has the poisonous wine?" He asked while trying to stay calm.
"Ding— The very first servant," Jing Yi replied flatly while showing footage.
Rong XingLi directed his sight to the maid and was slightly stunned. It was Gao Qingxuan's nursemaid!
Setting aside the conspiracy behind it, the problem was that even though the wine was only in small ceramic jars, each was still bigger than him! He couldn't knock it over, and breaking every single cup on the table instead was also impossible. If he were to run rampage, forget being scolded, he would be skinned alive.
Argh! I'll just act cutely and look for an opportunity to knock away the wine flask ba!
Thus, through the layers of cloth, Rong XingLi climbed upon Gao Qingxuan's lap—he stood on his hind legs, and used his front paws to stabilize himself against the table. The little ancestor was surprised at first, but then followed his family's Kumquat's actions. Rong XingLi used one of his paws to tap lightly on the table, as if he was testing the waters.
The damp tapping aroused Liu Nana's attention and she watched the small cub tilting his head in curiosity. It would stare a bit at one dish then look at the other. When the mother-son pair observed him, he'd blink his eyes at them in oblivion and lick his snout. He didn't make a sound, but the faint chuckling of his wife and child piqued Gao Tianlu's interest.
He saw the untouched bowl of mice and followed Kumquat's line of sight to the meat dishes. As an emperor, he had always been bold and spent more time in the wilderness than with poems. To say that he was more accustomed to animals than humans wouldn't be wrong.
Hence, when he saw the cub behave, he didn't hesitate to place Rong XingLi on the table and gave him a bowl. Gao Qingxuan was happy and picked his favorite meat dish for his family's Kumquat. Through a stroke of fortune, Gao Qingxuan gave him some simmered ribs and a sudden inspiration hit him.
He dipped his paws headfirst into the bowl to hold the ribs and then pretended to gnaw with 'great effort' as if the meat was too tough to rip off. Not only the prince was intrigued, the emperor and empress also watched with amusement. The spotlight was successfully grabbed by Rong XingLi and the dance performance was long forgotten by the family of three.
The servants arrived and Gao Qingxuan's nursemaid just wanted to serve the liquor, when Rong XingLi let the bone slip between his paws. At the same time, he pulled at the meat and a big and sticky piece flew with a perfect arch into the poisonous brew.
Plop—
The lid had just been opened, and the ladle hadn't even touched the translucent surface, when a fatty meat piece contaminated the fragrant and mellow scent. A bit of the whine splattered on the servants who were baffled by the scene. Even the imperial family was speechless at the events.
"Haha—" It wasn't until Gao Qingxuan broke out into laughter that the adults reacted. His milky voice was cheerful and bright. It was really contagious.
Gao Tianlu watched his wife suppressing her smile while his son laughed as freely as never before. His gaze then wandered to the silly pet that now buried his head deep into the bowl whereas his butt was high in the air. His hand wandered to his mouth to cover the wide grin on his face. He never met such an interesting little fellow before.
"This servant did wrong. This subject begs for his majesty to be magnanimous." Gao Qingxuan's nursemaid didn't dare to look up and bowed extremely low for her mistake. She trembled in fear of being punished for this blunder, it was in front of the emperor after all. The longevity wine was a special order from the best winery in the land—the stock was limited and expensive. Only the imperial palace could order this much and she let a whole jar go to waste. The wine was precious, far more than her little slave life was.
However, Gao Tianlu was in a good mood; with a flick of his sleeve, the servants were dismissed without mentioning the earlier incident.
The nursemaid heaved a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she felt bitter towards the fox cub...
Meanwhile, the offender licked his lips with relish. The sticky sauce and some meat scraps stuck on his face and made him look rather ditzy. But Rong XingLi didn't care, because he got an interesting system message.
"Ding— Host has successfully prevented the assassination attack on the imperial family. The used poison is a new and lethal kind. It's possible to exchange it in the system market. Does host wish to exchange the analysis result with [1x mid-grade lucky box]?" Jing Yi questioned.
"Oh, there is something like that." Rong XingLi nodded his head while Gao Qingxuan wiped his paws with a wet towel. He continued, "What can be drawn from it?"
"Ding— [Lucky Box] Contains a random item. Depending on the grade, the items stored in them range from powerful weapons to simple daycare utensils," Jing Yi explained.
"En, let's exchange," Rong XingLi answered without pondering much. Getting something for free wasn't bad, and it felt similar to opening a gift box. The child in Rong XingLi's heart jumped out with anticipation.
"Ding— Exchange successfully. Requirements to open the box: Titleholder, Mid-grade world, Unknown," Jing Yi replied monotonously.
"..." Rong XingLi suddenly felt cheated. As if everything was just a bad dream, he snuggled closer to his little ancestor and let himself comforted by the child.
"Oof. Jing Yi, sometimes I wish you'd love me more," he complained helplessly.
"Ding— System 01 has no emotions," Jing Yi declined without hesitation.
Rong XingLi wanted to roll his eyes; denying it vehemently was the same as indirectly confirming.
"That aside, what are those conditions?"
"Ding— The current world is a low-level plane. To prevent the disturbance of the spiritual balance, the requirements are set according to the item's grade. Host will be able to open the box in higher planes, after leveling up," Jing Yi explained.
System and host chattered away the time just like this for the rest of the day. After the failed assassination, there were no other incidents and the Double Ninth festival ended quietly.
Three days later, however, the tranquility of the imperial palace was shaken once again. Rong XingLi and Gao Qingxuan were eating with Liu Nana when the news was brought over— the empress dowager had collapsed!
Her health deteriorated visibly by the naked eye, but the imperial physician couldn't make out her sickness. When Gao Qingxuan visited her on the third day, she couldn't even sit up anymore and could barely keep her conscious.
"I-imperial Grandmother..." Gao Qingxuan choked while holding her hand. The elder glanced at her grandson and smiled. She wordlessly pinched the with cheeks that looked like steamy buns, before she slowly closed her eyes. Gao Qingxuan didn't quite understand the situation, but his grandmother looked very weak and fragile. Everyone around her cried bitter tears and he couldn't stop his tears from falling too. Just like a baby, that cried as soon as another baby cried; His big tears rolled from his red eyes like pearls.
Then, the little boy suddenly felt a big palm on his head, "Remember, Qingxuan. The Crown Prince shouldn't shed tears easily ba. Qingxuan will be the future emperor and the world will depend on you. It's inevitable to make sacrifices and abandon things our Prince cares for." Gao Tianlu said to his son.
Gao Qingxuan wiped away his tears and gave a perfunctory "En". Even though he couldn't understand his father's words yet, deep inside he felt an unfathomable regret arise.
The unavoidable happened the following day— the empress dowager passed away.
Rong XingLi wasn't allowed to be near the elder's chamber. However, every servant was talking about it secretly within the walls of the palace and he more or less knew the gist.
Rumors circulated among the servants, like "the imperial family is cursed," or that "they angered the heavens and will bring calamity to the world."
The timing couldn't be worse, the Double Ninth festivities just ended, but a completely healthy member of the imperial family actually died mysteriously. For the superstitious folk of ancient times, this was a reason to riot!
Thus, the imperial palace hadn't announced her death immediately. The uproar the information would have caused, wasn't something the emperor could deal with easily. They hadn't even announced her collapse, and she had already passed away. There were bound to be power struggles in the court and panic among the common folk. Thus, they delayed the announcement for a few days to prepare for the aftermath.
However, all that didn't really concern Rong XingLi, his mission was to protect Gao Qingxuan and Liu Nana. Nonetheless, the sudden decease of the elder shook the boy tremendously. Ever since then his temperament seemed to have changed. The times the boy cried had lessened, but so had the times he smiled. Instead of forthright facing the things he didn't like, the little fool kept bottling everything up.
A hint of melancholy followed the little ancestor for quite a while after the funeral of his grandmother, and Rong XingLi spent quite a lot of energy to bring back his spirits somewhat.
But there were limits to what an animal could accomplish. The only thing Rong XingLi could do, was silently watching over Gao Qingxuan, and give him solace. He devoted his whole attention to the little boy and neglected to observe the imperial harem.
Not only Gao Qingxuan was affected. Imperial Consort Wei was even more filled with grief. As a result, all the mourning sickened her so that the emperor had no other choice than visit her.
One visit followed the other, and slowly but surely, something bloomed with the improvement of Consort Wei's health while another began to fade.
By the time Rong XingLi would find out, the threads of fate would have already been entangled by the world's law...
***
In the blink of an eye, the season already changed. The cold winter months took over the land and Rong XingLi's typical fox appearance slowly took shape. His round eyes now showed some cleverness and his tail had the distinctive white tip.
Screech, scratch~
The sound of ink grinding filled the quiet chamber. Rong XingLi opened his mouth wide to yawn and showed his white canine teeth. As they couldn't play outside, the little prince virtuously practiced his calligraphy. Like an adult, he ground the ink all by himself, despite the boring, repetitive motions.
At first, Rong XingLi thought that Gao Qingxuan would grow tired of it very soon, but after doing it for three days straight the little ancestor became quite skilled in grinding.
"Haaa, they grow up so fast." Rong XingLi lamented, "In the short time I've been here, Ah Xuan learned so many new characters. When I was his age, all I did was eating and playing in the mud until I was black ah."
"Ding— It's all thanks to host."
"Me?" Rong XingLi perked up his ears for some juicy information, "What do I have to do with this?"
"Ding— The Male lead matured in a righteous direction because 'Kumquat' saved all his important persons and became an emotional pillar himself."
Rong XingLi's tail dropped and he snuggled closer to Gao Qingxuan.
"I couldn't save everyone." After a moment of self-reproach, he shook his head, "I've let the empress dowager die, he could've been the foolish little boy for a long while."
Jing Yi didn't answer immediately.
"Ding— Death was inevitable. The world's law will always enforce the original timeline. Host's level is not high enough yet to bend the will of heaven. Although the Empress Dowager had died later in the original plot, she did nonetheless," Jing Yi transmitted slowly to Rong XingLi in his usual mechanical voice.
Strangely enough, even though his system's words were hard and unfeeling, he felt that Jing Yi's voice had a tad of concern mixed in.
"En." Rong XingLi answered perfunctorily while wagging his tail to show some vitality.
It was a rare occasion that Jing Yi was seriously comforting him, so he had to respond accordingly. But inwardly, he understood the situation better than everyone else.
The elder was killed, to be precise, she was poisoned directly under his nose!
Even though he let Jing Yi investigate the incident, they couldn't determine the mastermind. Especially Gao Qingxuan's nursemaid was inspected with great detail, but she turned out to be innocent. She was just a substitute for another maid who went missing and had nothing to do with either of the two poisonings. They went in circles and were back to the beginning.
Sigh~
Rong XingLi sighed wistfully; his paws stuck on his head. The whole affair gave him a headache. He hated conspiracies the most. Considering that he had dealt enough with vicious people in the last world and his own life, he had his share and was fed up with them.
Being deeply engrossed in his own thoughts, Rong XingLi hadn't realized that Gao Qingxuan never began writing, and focused solely on him all this time.
The little prince looked at Rong XingLi with curious eyes. Sometimes, his family's Kumquat became awfully quiet and he would pull all kinds of expressions— from frowning like the old head steward to the smug faces the aunties make while gossiping.
It was so amusing, that watching Kumquat became a habit he developed during his moments of thinking. When Rong XingLi shook his head earlier, the little boy saw the sorrowful expression and observed him from that moment on.
Kumquat was worried about something!
Gao Qingxuan was sure of that. In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, his family's Kumquat had been staring blankly into the air, as if he was absent. Then he had raised his tail and showed some spirit, but ultimately sighed and became a flat pancake again.
Stare~
Gao Qingxuan's eyes stuck to Rong XingLi, who didn't have a shed of awareness. He sighed again and changed his position.
"At this rate, Ah Xuan will turn into a monk, studying all day and wasting his childho—"
Rong XingLi rolled halfway to the side, when he realized that the boy had been watching him since who knows when. His body flinched but still carried out the action without delay.
Holy brother! Since when has he been watching me?!
########
Author’s little theater:
Author: His name is Gao Tianlu! Tian with the meaning of heaven, and lu meaning prosperity, Gao is the surname I chose randomly.
Friend: Cake
A: Lol, whut? Oh, Gao can also mean cake xD
F: Cake Sweet Fortune...Sounds like typical new year food
( ๑•́ㅿ•̀๑) ᔆᵒʳʳᵞ
On another note, I've been writing on a second story that is on ScribbleHub! It entered the anniversary competition there and the winner is decided by reader count....Since I won't reach the 45K word count mark anyway, that project has second priority (but I don't want to lose too miserably, okay? ꒰⌯͒•̩̩̩́ ᴗ •̩̩̩̀⌯͒꒱)
Check it out! (It has snusnu)
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