Becoming Puppet Emperor of a Paranoid Eunuch - Chapter 45

After Yan He left, before the Emperor went to the side hall for a meeting, Fu Chen truthfully confessed everything from beginning to end. He knew that if he didn’t speak up now, he might be punished even more severely once the master found out later.

Ning Qinghong, upon hearing this, merely chuckled softly, as if he found the young emperor’s expression at that time quite amusing.

Since this incident was caused by him, he didn’t hold it against anyone and went straight to the side hall for the meeting.

Before long, Fu Chen was rolling and crawling to send someone to reopen the previously filled-in pond and refill it with water and fish.

Fu Chen felt wronged in this matter. At that time, the Lord was in a bad mood and happened to encounter the emperor playing with fish in the pond, having a great time.

Afraid that the master might irrationally vent his anger on the emperor due to his illness, Fu Chen, for the sake of the emperor’s safety, had someone fill in the pond overnight.

He hoped that when the Lord next entered the palace, he would not see such a scene, which would be better for both the emperor and the Lord.

Who would have thought that the usually reclusive Lord, who didn’t even allow servants to attend to him closely, would now be so concerned about the emperor? It was not like before, when he kept the emperor just for amusement or treated him like a pet canary.

But it wasn’t exactly like he was treating him as a precious gem either.

It was just unusual compared to others.

Fu Chen thought to himself, pitying that he was already at an age where he should be enjoying a peaceful life outside the palace but still had to worry about his own life every day.

Ning Qinghong was unaware that he had been harshly reprimanded by Wu Jing over this incident, to the point of sitting up in bed in the middle of the night to vent his frustration.

He was discussing matters with the cabinet ministers.

Half an hour later, the Lord returned to the residence.

When Ning Qinghong came back, Wu Jing had just woken up, finished his breakfast, and was drowsily leaning on the desk in the study.

On the desk lay a large piece of rice paper. The servants said it was for him to practice calligraphy, but without anyone watching, Wu Jing had sat there for a quarter of an hour, and the paper was still completely blank.

Until someone lightly tapped on the desk twice, Wu Jing, who had been dazed, looked up to see the visitor’s clothing corner and, feeling a bit guilty, called out, “Brother?”

Ning Qinghong raised a finger, signaling his attendants to place the memorials on the desk, and then picked up the white paper, glancing at it briefly.

There wasn’t a single ink mark on either side.

Ning Qinghong looked at him with a faint smile and asked casually, “What have you been doing since you woke up?” He seemed to ask out of pure curiosity without any hint of blame.

Wu Jing thought seriously for a moment and said, “I ate some good food, then got sleepy and waited here for you to play with me.” He added a bit of flattery at the end to cover up his lack of productivity.

Ning Qinghong, upon hearing this, smiled again and sighed slightly, “I see.”

“Yesterday I asked you to go to the court, but you almost fell asleep on the dragon throne.”

“After court, I taught you to read and write, but you barely remembered anything after a whole day, and I don’t know where your mind is wandering.”

“Last night, I took you to the night market, and after just a bit of fun, you lost interest and just stared at me blankly.” Ning Qinghong seemed to find it a bit troublesome and spoke softly, “Even on the pleasure boat, you were curious about whatever I did.”

Ning Qinghong had only noticed something was wrong yesterday.

“You even dared to go play with the little dogs behind my back.”

Ning Qinghong stretched out his finger, slightly raising it, and Wu Jing obediently stood up and walked to him, still confused. Before he could react, he felt the other person lean in, gently brushing his hair behind his ear.

He heard in his ear, “Wu Wu, this isn’t right.”

As a fool, Wu Jing didn’t understand such a long lecture, but he still looked confused and couldn’t grasp what was wrong with his behavior.

He ate well, slept well.

Aside from being a bit bored, everything else was fine.

Seeing Wu Jing’s still bewildered expression, Ning Qinghong decided to change the topic and smiled, “Did you forget something this morning?”

The same phrase as yesterday.

Wu Jing almost instinctively tiptoed, resting on Ning Qinghong’s shoulder, and gently touched the corner of his eye, mumbling, “Good morning, Brother?”

Almost as soon as he spoke, he heard Ning Qinghong say, “I heard you didn’t eat that half-bowl of medicinal porridge this morning.”

Before Ning Qinghong could finish his sentence, Wu Jing kissed him. Ning Qinghong’s speech slowed down, nearly murmuring, and then he chuckled softly.

Clearly, Wu Jing had misunderstood his meaning.

After Wu Jing realized this, his breath immediately became warm. He heard Ning Qinghong’s gentle voice ask, “How did you become so well-behaved?”

Before, he had just been hugged affectionately and kissed on the hair tips, but now he was kissed on the corner of his eyes, and he quickly learned and applied it.

Step by step… Perhaps in the future, he wouldn’t resist even if something truly outrageous happened, like being ensnared by threads of golden threads, becoming dizzy and disoriented, not knowing what he was doing, but obediently doing whatever he was told.

Ning Qinghong looked at Wu Jing with a half-smile, as if contemplating something.

Like some small animals naturally possessing a keen radar for impending danger, Wu Jing felt a chill but didn’t know what was wrong.

He could only muster the courage to say softly, “I’ll drink it later.”

The boy was exceptionally obedient and even tried to tug on Ning Qinghong’s sleeve, explaining softly, “It’s bitter… Wu Wu will drink it.”

Fearful and unable to escape,

He could only sadly nuzzle and quietly whine.

Although Wu Jing was pretending to be ignorant, he spoke the truth; the medicinal porridge was indeed very unpleasant, and he would escape as far as he could.

After a moment, he noticed Ning Qinghong’s ambiguous touch on his eye corner and heard him whisper with a smile, “So pitiful.”

Just a few short words.

Ning Qinghong repeated what he had said yesterday and then quietly sighed, “Alright then.”

The tone seemed reluctant.

“Let’s just let Wu Wu off this time,” Ning Qinghong said with a hint of meaning, “but you must finish your lunch first.”

Wu Jing’s eyes lit up momentarily, and he nodded, but when he thought of the unpleasant medicinal meal, his spirits dampened again. Since he hadn’t had that medicinal meal yesterday, he thought he wouldn’t have to eat it anymore.

Ning Qinghong put the white paper back in place, “Practice ten times, and Wu Wu can go play.” He rolled up his sleeves, took up the brush, and wrote Wu Jing’s name, instructing someone to practice slowly.

Wu Jing spent the entire morning writing those ten times. Ning Qinghong’s instructions sounded simple, but Wu Jing’s writing was crooked and illegible, not counting towards the ten times.

By the end, Ning Qinghong had finished reviewing all the documents, but Wu Jing still hadn’t completed his practice.

Unable to bear it any longer, Ning Qinghong held Wu Jing’s hand and helped him practice, finishing each stroke together. Only then did he take Wu Jing to lunch.

Even though they were dining at the Ning residence, the food was still light and bland.

Although it was vegetarian, it was so delicious it made one want to savor every bite.

But it couldn’t compare to meat dishes.

After lunch, just like usual in the palace, they went to the pavilion to enjoy the breeze, with Wu Jing kicking small stones on the ground in boredom.

Ning Qinghong was making tea and warming wine, playing with a newly acquired chessboard. On usual days, he might invite a storyteller to read some miscellaneous books.

Until Fu Chen brought something over, “Master, it’s ready.”

Ning Qinghong said, “Just leave it there.”

Wu Jing looked over curiously and saw it was a small ball woven from white bamboo strips. It was smooth, snow-white, lacquered, about the size of an adult’s fist, very delicate and small, with a small bell that jingled.

What was this for?

Wu Jing was puzzled.

Ning Qinghong picked up the small ball, played with it for a moment, and then held it out to Wu Jing, who was sitting nearby.

Wu Jing’s gaze followed the ball, looking at it with confusion.

Was this for him?

What was he supposed to do with it?

Ning Qinghong shook it a little, and the dangling bell jingled, as if urging him.

Wu Jing obediently reached out to take it, but just as he was about to touch it, Ning Qinghong moved his hand slightly to the side.

His movements were slow, but Wu Jing still missed it.

The boy looked up at Ning Qinghong in confusion.

Ning Qinghong smiled, “It’s for Wu Wu.”

Wu Jing tried to take it again, but missed three times in a row, slowly realizing he was being teased like a small kitten or puppy.

Even a clay figurine would have some temper.

Wu Jing was quite annoyed and determined to get it. When he finally managed to catch it on the fourth attempt, he smiled with satisfaction.

However, Ning Qinghong hadn’t let go yet, and upon seeing this, he smiled, “Alright, let’s play a bit longer.”

He then took the small ball back.

Ning Qinghong got up and took Wu Jing, who wasn’t finished playing yet, to the edge of the pavilion. They were at a shallow pond beside the Ning residence, with water only ankle-deep and some tiny fish eagerly eating fish food.

Wu Jing had seen such fish in his past life; they seemed to be good for foot massages, which sounded quite comfortable.

“Earlier, I filled Wu Wu’s pond, so this time, let me make it up to Wu Wu,” Ning Qinghong said unexpectedly, which made Wu Jing, who had almost forgotten about it, remember his grievance. He had finally found some food, only to have it filled in the next day.

But was he meant to play now?

Wu Jing looked at the smooth pond bottom and was eager to try.

Ning Qinghong slightly bent down, and when he loosened his fingers, the small ball fell into the pond, floating on the water’s surface, and was blown further away by the autumn breeze.

For some reason, Wu Jing felt like Ning Qinghong was teasing him by throwing the ball far away, waiting for him to fetch it.

But Ning Qinghong’s actions were gentle.

Wu Jing tentatively asked, “Can Wu Wu go pick it up?”

Ning Qinghong smiled, “Go ahead and play.”

Wu Jing glanced at Ning Qinghong several times before slowly kicking off his shoes and socks, walking cautiously towards the pond’s edge. As he descended the steps, he moved faster, eventually running into the water, which splashed up.

Touching the warm jade-like pond bottom, the water was surprisingly warm, not cold. It flowed gently from the bamboo pipes and out from the pond bottom.

It seemed pleasant with the cool breeze, but was actually quite luxurious.

After it was set up, Ning Qinghong only occasionally passed by to feed the fish, while Wu Jing became the first to enjoy it.

The young prince seemed to be tickled by the fish, dodging around, but each time he moved, the ball floated further away.

The warm afternoon sun shone coldly on the water’s surface.

Wu Jing chased the ball, with the fish swimming around his feet. Playing joyfully, he didn’t even care about his partially wet clothes. Only when he finally hugged the small ball did he beam with a smile.

Eagerly turning around, he seemed to want to show off something. As he looked towards Ning Qinghong, who was standing by the pavilion and playing with him, he instinctively threw the wet ball back, “Wu Wu gives it to brother.”

Happily.

But the next moment, seeing the ball hit Ning Qinghong and splash water all over him, even dripping from his eyebrows, Wu Jing was instantly stunned.

He vaguely remembered Ning Qinghong had a cleanliness obsession.

Realizing this, Wu Jing hurriedly ran barefoot back to the shore.

Ning Qinghong merely closed his eyes briefly and then opened them. In the next moment, he saw the young boy running towards him.

Wu Jing stopped in front of him, anxiously trying to wipe Ning Qinghong clean, only to forget his own hands were still wet, making things worse by smudging Ning Qinghong’s face.

Ning Qinghong looked at him quietly. When he lowered his gaze, he saw Wu Jing looking up, confused and trying to make amends, but only making things worse.

Finally, Wu Jing lowered his head, looking defeated and ready for punishment.

After a while, Ning Qinghong seemed to be amused and let out a soft laugh.

Author’s Note:

Qinghong: So adorable.