Chapter 22#

At first, I actually suspected that Chu Ruiyuan was a reincarnator.

After all, his attitude towards me was a little too kind and amiable. He was either treating me like a younger brother or raising me like a pet.

I secretly wondered if there was a “previous playthrough” or something, where I first served as his study partner, then became a loyal minister who helped him ascend the throne, and finally, we spent a lifetime as a wise ruler and a virtuous minister in perfect harmony.

But after observing him, I found that this guy was only slightly better at studying than me. Every time the Grand Tutor explained a text to him, by the time he understood it, I was just about to understand it too.

I thought about it for a long time and concluded that if he had really been an emperor for a lifetime, it was impossible for him to be this dense after being reborn. I must have been overthinking it.

Just because I’m a transmigrator doesn’t mean I should see everyone as a reincarnator. There aren’t that many unscientific things in the world.

However, I no longer had the leisure to observe Chu Ruiyuan.

On the eighth of last month, Her Majesty the Empress safely gave birth to the Second Prince at the imperial villa.

After being lavishly rewarded by the Emperor and completing her month of postpartum confinement, she returned to the palace with her young son.

Then she discovered that I, a notorious dandy and the scourge who had caused her eldest son to “fall ill,” was still in the palace. She found an excuse to punish me by making me kneel for an hour, and on top of that, she bad-mouthed me to the Emperor, wanting to strip me of my post as the Crown Prince’s study partner.

Although the current Emperor had specifically chosen me to be a negative influence, he probably didn’t want to embarrass the Empress now, and secondly, I had completed my mission so well over the past six months that I had dragged his son’s academic level down to mine… So, on the third day after the Empress’s return, amidst Chu Ruiyuan’s pleas to his mother, I was “repatriated from the palace.”

Actually, if it was just about not having to be the Crown Prince’s study partner anymore, I would have been quite grateful to the Empress.

After all, even though when I accompanied the Crown Prince in his studies, he was the one studying while I was the one eating, drinking, and playing, the daily commute between the Prime Minister’s residence and the palace still took nearly an hour. The less trouble, the better.

But the problem was, after I was sent back, my father—a top scholar who also had a top scholar for an eldest son—was furious.

My father felt that his reputation and face as a great Confucian scholar were completely ruined by me. He changed his years-long hands-off policy and forced me to study diligently day in and day out, tying my hair to a beam and pricking my thigh with an awl.

My blissful life, which had lasted less than four years, vanished into thin air.

My father is my father, the one who gave me life and raised me. I can’t blame him.

So, in my heart, I put the blame on the Emperor, the Empress, and the stupid Crown Prince.

Yeah, don’t blame me for calling Chu Ruiyuan a stupid bastard.

My future sister-in-law told me that the Crown Prince used to be very smart. While not as brilliant as herself or my brother, he was definitely not at my level of a slacker. This guy must have been deliberately pretending to be the way he is now.

Although I once again felt the disdain from my future sister-in-law, what I felt more was anger towards this scheming little beauty, Chu Ruiyuan.

He probably saw that feigning illness didn’t get rid of me back then, so he devised the malicious plan of pretending to be a bad student, just waiting for his mother to return and act on his behalf to get me out of the palace.

And to think that for the past six months, I thought he was a good person on the inside. Who knew that if you cut him open, even his blood would be black.

With a future ruler like this, this dynasty is doomed.

Ever since my father confined me at home to study, only letting me out once every ten days or half a month, I’ve put Chu Ruiyuan on my blacklist.

If he weren’t so handsome and the Crown Prince of this dynasty, I would have put him on my enemy list, I tell you.

Unfortunately, this dynasty has neither electricity nor computers. As a programmer with a full set of coding skills, I couldn’t even create an anti-harassment app.

Although the stupid Crown Prince was on my blacklist, he still managed to sneak out of the palace every month or two to find me at the Prime Minister’s residence.

Anyway, I don’t know what he’s thinking. He already got me kicked out of the palace, yet he still acts friendly and innocent in front of me, clinging to me whenever he comes to my house.

After he graced our home with his presence so many times, my family’s attitude shifted from being on high alert and trembling with fear to a more casual “the neighbor’s kid is visiting again.”

But every time I saw him, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, afraid he would stage another drama like an “assassination attempt.” If that happened, I’d be screwed.

So usually, as soon as he arrived, I would lead him to my bedroom, lock the door, leaving just the two of us in the room, and then let him chat about whatever he wanted.

Anyway, I don’t know what he’s thinking. He pretends to be especially happy, sticking close to me, and has been having these “secret talks for two” with me for over four years without getting tired of it.

I look at him, a beautiful and vibrant teenager in his prime. Not mentioning his personality, just looking at his appearance makes anything he says pleasing to the eye.

He looks at me, just an ordinary young master from a noble family. My personality is so-so, my appearance is so-so. I really don’t know what he sees in me.

I feel like the only grudge between us was when the Emperor appointed me as his study partner. Even if he had some hereditary mental illness, he wouldn’t hold a grudge for five years, would he?

My sister-in-law, who has run into Chu Ruiyuan a few times, once said:

“A lingering sound can annoy for three days;

A gloomy cloud can bring a five-year chill.”

Sister-in-law is right.

Yes, sister-in-law, not future sister-in-law.

Last year, my sister-in-law’s mother fell gravely ill. Fortunately, she was saved by a famous doctor in the capital named Jiang.

After her mother recovered, our two families were officially united by marriage at the beginning of this year.

A twenty-year-old Hanlin scholar marrying a sixteen-year-old talented girl—truly in their prime and at the perfect age.

When my sister-in-law married into our family, my mother, who never liked managing household affairs, immediately handed over most of the responsibilities of the Prime Minister’s residence to her.

My sister-in-law is also a sharp and capable person. It only took her two or three months to sort out all the household staff and affairs smoothly.

Then, she started to occasionally host tea parties, poetry gatherings, and music sessions for the capital’s young ladies and officials’ wives… all in an effort to find a suitable wife for me.

I was absolutely horrified.

Let’s not even talk about how me, a gay man, marrying a girl would be ruining her life. Just the fact that this body is only fifteen years old, not yet of legal…

Okay, not yet of the modern legal age for marriage, but I’ve reached the age in this dynasty.

I have no interest in getting married, but since my sister-in-law was using the pretext of hosting parties to check out potential candidates, I couldn’t stop her.

Fortunately, at this moment, the stupid Crown Prince finally revealed his second use.

His first use was that he usually came to the Prime Minister’s residence on days when I wasn’t allowed out.

When he came, I didn’t have to study, getting a free half-day or full-day break.

Although during this break, I went from facing books to facing him, and although he was the root cause of my current need to study hard, I still had to thank him for this.

Now for the stupid Crown Prince’s second use.

It was also a coincidence. Ever since my sister-in-law started hosting those gatherings, Chu Ruiyuan’s visits to my house often coincided with them.

This caused all the young ladies attending the parties, although they couldn’t see him, to become restless, each trying to find a chance for a “chance encounter,” aiming for the position of either Crown Princess or a royal consort.

My sister-in-law persisted for half a year, until the whole capital knew that attending her parties was a potential stepping stone. She finally gave up on her roundabout plan to find me a wife.

“That bitch!” my sister-in-law cursed.

But forgive me for not being able to share her indignation this time.

But things couldn’t go on like this. Even if my sister-in-law gave up, in a few years, my parents would start thinking about my marriage.

Fortunately, a few days ago, while Chu Ruiyuan was telling me some unofficial history about several emperors from the previous dynasty who had ruined their health with excessive indulgence in wine and women and became impotent just after turning thirty, I had a flash of inspiration.

I went to find my buddy, Guan Ruiyue, and the miraculous Dr. Jiang who had previously saved my sister-in-law’s mother.

My buddy happens to be Dr. Jiang’s junior apprentice. Whenever Dr. Jiang is in the capital, he stays at his house. However, my friend didn’t become a doctor to save the living; instead, he became a forensic examiner to inspect the dead, and he’s the head coroner in the capital.

There’s an age gap of more than a full cycle (12 years) between Guan Ruiyue and me. Our friendship was a matter of chance.

One day, when I was out on my day off, I was framed by some scammers who claimed I had sullied a girl’s reputation. They surrounded me on the street, and even my servant, whom I had signaled to go get help, was caught and brought back.

Unable to defend myself, I was about to pay them off to make the problem go away when suddenly, a man pushed through the crowd. With logic, keen observation, and meticulous deduction, he not only cleared my name but also pointed out that although my clothes were inconspicuous, they were of a low-key luxury, meaning I was either rich or noble. He warned the scoundrels that while they could try to extort money from me, my family’s elders would not let them off easily.

Once he said that, this group of ancient professional scammers scattered like birds and beasts.

I took one look and thought, “A modern-day Sherlock Holmes!”

I immediately grabbed my benefactor and didn’t let go, taking him to the best restaurant in the capital, getting the best private room, and ordering the best dishes.

We talked during the meal and discovered we had a lot in common, gradually becoming sworn friends.