Becoming Puppet Emperor of a Paranoid Eunuch - Chapter 14

In the days when no one was watching over him, Wu Jing spent his time happily playing with cats and dogs.

 

The palace servants no longer restricted Wu Jing’s movements; he could go anywhere in the Imperial Garden now, no longer confined to the obscure corners like before.

 

He came to the Imperial Garden every day to play, but he never coincidentally encountered the nine-thousand-year-old again.

 

“Without a trace” would be an apt description.

 

But while the other party didn’t care about him, Wu Jing couldn’t truly forget about this newly acquired connection. Every day, he still went through the motions with Yan He, and then happily went to feed the puppies in the Imperial Garden.

 

Although the palace servants treated him respectfully and refrained from gossiping in front of him, except for Yan He, who would speak to him, everyone else remained silent in his presence, like dead men walking.

 

Wu Jing couldn’t understand why, but he didn’t want to confine himself to the palace chambers; it wouldn’t be good if he became depressed and fell ill.

 

Fortunately, within a couple of days, he saw the little stray dog with a limp leg again in the Imperial Garden. It was a sandy brown color, nestled in a corner gnawing on wildflowers to stave off hunger.

 

It was a hibiscus flower fallen to the ground, with sweet nectar.

 

Clearly a stray, yet it kept itself well-fed by scavenging; perhaps the palace servants secretly fed it.

 

Wu Jing squatted down, stroking the fluffy dog’s ears. He shared his snacks and tea with it, not minding the dirt, squatting in the corner watching the little dog eat.

 

Yan He was afraid he would get bitten, so she didn’t let him get too close. She was also afraid the stray dog might carry something dirty on it and transfer it to the esteemed emperor, so she had the palace servants take it away to clean it before allowing Wu Jing to interact with it again.

 

Wu Jing pretended to sulk, stubbornly refusing to speak to Yan He, who took the dog away. When it returned, he resumed his cheerful demeanor.

 

The little stray dog still liked to eat the hibiscus flowers on the ground. Wu Jing, observing it eat, became curious; animals are much more familiar with nature than humans.

 

In front of Yan He, he deliberately picked a hibiscus flower from a tree branch and put it in his mouth to eat.

 

Besides curiosity, he also acted foolishly.

 

Today marked the eleventh day, and he thought he might see Ning Qinghong yesterday, but after spending a day in the Imperial Garden, Yan He didn’t mention it again.

 

Clearly, ten days had passed.

 

It wasn’t until this morning that Yan He said the same thing as before, “Today, His Majesty is coming to the Imperial Garden. Your Highness, please do not run around to avoid accidentally colliding with His Majesty.”

 

Wu Jing stroked the dog’s head; it had become quite attached to him, even nipping at his robe.

 

He slowly recalled.

 

Yan He always said this whenever he might encounter Ning Qinghong. She hadn’t said it in the past few days because Ning Qinghong hadn’t entered the palace? But wasn’t he in charge of court affairs?

 

Didn’t he have to attend court?

 

Wu Jing thought of the crane-patterned court attire, quieting down for a moment. The next moment, the neglected dog dragged its lame leg into his palm.

 

The young emperor blinked, then picked up the dog and stood up, preparing to fetch some pastries from the stone table to feed it.

 

As he turned around, he froze for a moment.

 

It was him again, in the Imperial Garden.

 

Always so coincidental.

 

Wu Jing looked towards the distant pavilion. Because it was far away, no one pulled him away under the pretext of him colliding with the nine-thousand-year-old.

 

Ning Qinghong still wore his crimson official robes, standing in the pavilion with a distant look in his eyes, as if gazing at something unknown. He seemed to have been standing there for a long time. The red robe was draped with dew in the morning mist, losing some of its color.

 

Coupled with his cold expression, even the crimson court attire appeared exceptionally bleak, sending shivers down one’s spine.

 

It was a far cry from his previous always smiling demeanor.

 

Wu Jing glanced a few times, then walked with the puppy to the stone table, placing it on the table and pushing a plate of pastries towards it, watching it eat quietly.

 

After the little dog had eaten half of the pastries, he couldn’t help but glance back.

 

Outside the pavilion stood many palace servants with lowered heads. Inside the pavilion, only Fuchen remained, and Ning Qinghong’s posture remained unchanged.

 

Wu Jing didn’t know what he was looking at; it seemed like he was admiring the early autumn scenery, but upon closer inspection, Ning Qinghong’s gaze seemed unfocused, as if he didn’t care about anything, as if nothing mattered to him.

 

Wu Jing looked at Fuchen beside Ning Qinghong again.

 

Fuchen frequently glanced at its master, its face showing a hint of struggle. Finally, it took a step forward, lowered its voice, and said something.

 

Because they were far away, Wu Jing couldn’t hear it.

 

“Your Highness, you’ve been standing here for almost an hour. Why not wear a fur coat to keep warm?” Fuchen lowered its voice. “Your clothes are all wet.”

 

Seeing no response from his master, Fuchen plucked up its courage and raised its voice. “The ministers in the cabinet are all waiting in the Golden Luang Hall. After waiting so long for Your Highness to be in the mood to enter the palace, they all want to see you.”

 

It was really pleading for the nine-thousand-year-old to divert some attention to him, cautiously advising, “The mansion has been closed to guests for many days, and there are many matters in the court waiting for your decision.”

 

Ning Qinghong seemed intoxicated by the early autumn scenery. After a moment, he suddenly spoke, his voice very light, asking, “Have you all reviewed the documents?” His tone then abruptly turned cold, “Is there any dissent?”

 

Fuchen trembled in fear and apologized, “This servant dare not dissent against the courtiers. It’s just… It’s just that if Your Highness doesn’t appear, people’s hearts may become uneasy.”

 

Although he was anxious, all these days, his master still hadn’t recovered from his illness. Today, after finally entering the palace, halfway through the journey to court, he stopped to admire the scenery in the Imperial Garden.

 

At this hour, the small court session in the cabinet was probably also ending. Although the servants under the nine-thousand-year-old were already accustomed to his ways, there was no guarantee that someone wouldn’t harbor rebellious thoughts.

 

He considered himself adept at reading people’s expressions, but he couldn’t guess his master’s thoughts at any time. They were truly unpredictable, making him extremely uneasy.

 

Not to mention that now was the time when his master was ill.

 

Ning Qinghong only said, “Is that so?”

 

As if he didn’t care.

 

Fuchen said, “Your Highness—”

 

He was about to advise again when he suddenly realized that his master’s gaze was fixed on him, weighing something, extremely cold.

 

As if he were looking at a dead person.

 

“I’ve spoken out of turn!”

 

Fuchen immediately wanted to kneel down.

 

“Woof—”

 

Inside the pavilion, there was silence. Suddenly, a distant dog’s bark echoed faintly, barely audible due to the distance, but it still caught attention.

 

Startled by the noise, Wu Jing glanced down and realized that the puppy had finished eating the pastries and was now tugging at his sleeve. Seeing his lack of response, it let out a whimper.

 

He gently comforted the puppy, picking it up and softly saying, “There’s no more food.”

 

The puppy continued to bite at Wu Jing’s sleeve, wanting him to play.

 

Wu Jing vaguely felt someone watching him but was busy comforting the stray dog in his arms.

 

Upon seeing it was the emperor, Fuchen’s face turned pale, wanting desperately to have the palace servants take His Majesty away but dared not speak up again.

 

Ning Qinghong looked for a moment, then seemed to remember something and asked, “The creature His Majesty is holding, is it the small animal I had treated and brought back?”

 

Fuchen trembled with fear, not daring to confirm, “This servant, this servant can’t see clearly.”

 

Why did His Majesty have to play with the things brought by the nine-thousand-year-old? His eyes were starting to go black.

 

Thinking of something good to say, Fuchen continued, “You haven’t visited His Majesty for some time. According to the servants in the Imperial Hospital, His Majesty thinks of you every day, asking when you will come to see him every morning and evening. His Majesty even learned to carve marks on the table himself, with each mark representing a day. Yesterday, he pointed to the marks and said, ‘It’s been ten days already, why hasn’t he come to play with me?'”

 

As Fuchen finished speaking, Wu Jing, who had just looked up, glanced over, meeting Ning Qinghong’s eyes in a trance-like moment.

 

A distant gaze locked.

 

However, Wu Jing noticed the terrified expression on Fuchen’s face behind Ning Qinghong, signaling him urgently to leave. He seemed to be telling him to hurry away.

 

He didn’t understand why.

 

The small stray dog in his arms suddenly trembled and desperately burrowed into Wu Jing’s embrace, as if it had seen some ferocious beast.

 

Distracted, Wu Jing asked in confusion, “What’s wrong, little dog?” But he felt a warm, wet sensation on his fingertips; the puppy seemed to be licking his palm in fear.

 

The tickling sensation made Wu Jing smile softly.

 

A young man dressed in white with a red embroidered robe, holding a small yellow dog no bigger than his palm.

 

Black hair, fair skin, with gentle eyebrows and eyes.

 

Ning Qinghong smiled ambiguously, “Duster, he looks quite happy.” He had said this sentence a long time ago.

 

Fuchen thought the master would ask him the usual “What do you think?”, but he suddenly heard a coldness in the laughter and a soft voice saying, “But I’m not happy.”

 

Fuchen collapsed to the ground with a “thud,” bowing his head.

 

No more words were spoken.

 

“Why are you kneeling?”

 

“Can’t you see clearly? Get up and look carefully. Otherwise, if you go blind, you won’t be able to see this beautiful scenery again.”

 

Ning Qinghong asked leisurely.

 

“I can see clearly, I can see clearly,” Fuchen replied. “That is indeed the small animal His Majesty held some time ago.”

 

Ning Qinghong stopped smiling. “That’s right,” he said. “These sincere words are much more pleasant to hear than what you think I would like to hear.”

 

Fuchen wiped cold sweat in secret. “I admit my mistake,” he sweated profusely. “The autumn scenery in the Imperial Garden is excellent, and this pair of eyes still wants to continue enjoying it. I hope Your Highness will grant me this.”

 

“Is that so?” Ning Qinghong asked again. Without looking at the kneeling duster, he shifted his gaze, seeming to want to look at the young emperor who was smiling in the distance.

 

As he looked around, he suddenly caught sight of a butterfly dancing under the pink and white hibiscus flowers on a branch. The lukewarm sunlight filtered through the trees, making the butterfly’s wings clear in Ning Qinghong’s eyes.

 

It fluttered exuberantly with the halo of light,

 

Flapping its wings.

 

Seemingly very happy.

 

The morning light dazzled, scattering light spots all over the ground.

 

From afar, Wu Jing watched, not understanding why Fuchen suddenly knelt down or why Ning Qinghong had stopped moving again. He seemed to have been watching for a long time, perhaps a quarter of an hour or even half an hour…

 

Suddenly, he saw a slight change in Ning Qinghong’s cold expression, his brows and eyes moving slowly, bringing a hint of warmth.

 

The small dog in Wu Jing’s arms was still trembling.

 

But Wu Jing couldn’t help but feel that, compared to before, the nine-thousand-year-old seemed to suddenly be in a much better mood.

 

He didn’t know what had happened,

 

and he didn’t understand anything.

 

Wu Jing only saw Ning Qinghong smiling as he gave some instructions, and the kneeling duster instantly collapsed to the ground. Soon after, palace servants approached him.

 

“Your Majesty, His Highness asks for your presence.”