IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 101

Chapter 101: If One Goes and Doesn’t Return, Then One Doesn’t Return

Chapter 101: If One Goes and Doesn’t Return, Then One Doesn’t Return

Today he was going to meet the new Emperor, Lin Yan woke up early and made a table full of dishes.

Four dishes and a soup, plus two bowls of rice. Yun Qi didn’t understand why his big brother was suddenly feeding him so much, but he still insisted on finishing everything.

After confirming that Yun Qi was full and wouldn’t be hungry until the afternoon, Lin Yan reluctantly let him go, taking the burping Yun Qi towards the agreed-upon Heavenly Suite.

The waiter greeted them respectfully, obsequiously leading them upstairs. Before the flattering words he was about to say could leave his mouth, two tall men took over his job, escorting Lin Yan and Yun Qi towards the innermost room as if they were prisoners.

Along the way, guards stood every three steps and a sentry every five. Lin Yan had a momentary illusion that this wasn’t a restaurant, but a prison.

“This is…”

The two men ignored him, standing at the door like door gods with their stern faces.

Lin Yan swallowed the words he hadn’t finished, awkwardly raising his hand to knock on the door.

A steward-like person came out of the room. He made a gesture of invitation, his voice thin and somewhat grating: “His Majesty is inside, please come in, Your Highnesses.”

Lin Yan tilted his head to look at the poorly attached mustache on the man’s face, painstakingly fishing out the memories belonging to this person from the depths of his mind.

This was Yun Song, the Yun·New Emperor·Ruthless and Black-hearted·Sugar-coated Bullet·Big Liar, and the lackey by his side, the chief eunuch of the palace – Tingchao.

Tingchao led the two into the room, gave a shallow bow, and retreated.

Candlelight flickered on the gilded candlesticks, illuminating Yun Song’s black sleeves embroidered with dark gold dragon patterns.

“Brother is not keeping his promise,” the new Emperor said casually, poking at the spicy chicken in the dish with his chopsticks. The jade chopsticks clinked crisply against the porcelain plate, but the words he spoke were devoid of warmth: “You said at the beginning that you only wanted Sister-in-law and nothing else, has that changed now?”

Hearing this, Yun Qi immediately jumped to his feet: “How could I go back on my word…”

“Oh, Sister-in-law is here too.” The new Emperor acted as if he had just seen Lin Yan. He leaned forward, deliberately dragging out the end of his sentence, “Sister-in-law must keep your eyes open, a fickle person like this is not worth entrusting yourself to.”

“Yun Song!” Yun Qi stood up abruptly, using his body to separate Lin Yan from the new Emperor.

Lin Yan soothingly patted Yun Qi on the back, giving the bristling puppy a reassuring look.

Yun Qi felt the fire in his chest subside a little. He took a deep breath and sat back down in his chair: “Did you read the things I gave you?”

“I did.” Yun Song casually picked up a silk handkerchief, carefully wiping his hands, then threw it aside in disgust, “I must say, brother does have the talent to govern the country, so? Do you want to use these things to exchange for an official position? Or…”

“I’m leaving,” Yun Qi shook his head, casually picked up a chopstick of food and placed it on his plate, flipping it over as if struggling to decide where to start eating, or as if he was contemplating how to phrase his words.

After a long while, Yun Qi finally looked up at Yun Song, earnestly advising: “Take a good look at those things. I’m not saying you can recreate a golden age, but at least be a ruler who maintains the status quo, don’t be infamous for ten thousand years.”

The ice in the glass melted, and water droplets slowly slid down the patterns on the cup.

“Brother is leaving?” Yun Song absentmindedly picked up a slice of fish covered in peppercorns and put it in his mouth.

The spicy flavor exploded in his mouth, and Yun Song coughed violently, his face instantly turning red. He slammed the chopsticks on the table, picked up the glass and took two big gulps, and it took him a long time to recover his ability to speak.

“When did the Xiang-style dishes become so heavy?”

It wasn’t that the Xiang-style food had become heavy, it was just that Lin Yan saw Yun Song tripping Yun Qi up every other day, and wanted to vent his anger on Yun Qi’s behalf.

Lin Yan, having succeeded in his scheme, chuckled softly. He walked to the new Emperor’s side, picked up the serving chopsticks, and added several heavily spiced dishes to the new Emperor’s plate: “This is a farewell banquet, Your Majesty must enjoy himself, these newly developed Xiang-style Mao Xue Wang, Spicy Chicken, Double Pepper Fish Head… you must have more.”

The new Emperor raised his eyebrows and forced a smile: “You’re too kind, Sister-in-law.”

Yun Qi let Lin Yan mess around, watching the new Emperor being forced to eat two more pieces of meat and turning red again before calling Lin Yan back and continuing the previous topic.

“I’m leaving in a few days, and I won’t be back. This time you don’t have to send people to monitor me, just be careful.”

Yun Song drank two more mouthfuls of water, and seeing that he really couldn’t bring himself to eat the heavily spiced dishes on the table, he had no choice but to reluctantly put down his chopsticks, planning to return to the palace to have a feast later.

Yun Song didn’t respond, but Yun Qi didn’t care. He continued on his own: “I’m going to the place my mother has been talking about all her life, to brother’s hometown.”

As he said this, he leaned closer to Lin Yan, the corners of his mouth unconsciously rising.

Yun Song had a moment of illusion.

His brother looked like he had been bewitched by a demon, as for this demon…

The new Emperor glanced at Lin Yan, secretly shaking his head.

This demon was beautiful, but looked so cheerful, optimistic, and upward-looking (naive and clueless), it was hard to believe he had the capability to trick his brother but it was very possible that he would be tricked by his brother.

This scene was very different from a few months ago, but this time he could really rest assured.

Without the threat, the murderous intent and scheming quickly faded away, leaving only tenderness.

Yun Song looked at the unreliable Lin Yan again, deigning to walk up to Yun Qi and whispered, “Those weren’t crazy words?”

Yun Qi brushed away the new Emperor’s hand on his shoulder, not at all avoiding Lin Yan’s gaze. He pointed to the spicy chicken on the table, then to the potatoes: “Look at the dishes on this table, and think about the things in that book, do you still think these are crazy words?”

…

The cooking methods of these dishes were not common in Great Zhou, and the side dishes had never even been seen before. But these things had good yields, were of excellent quality, and had saved many lives.

In the book his brother had handed into the palace, the reform methods, from engineering to agriculture to governing the country, were obviously not from the hand of one person, and some things even far exceeded this era.

At first glance, he thought it was whimsical and laughable, but upon closer inspection, he found a different flavor.

In this way, his crazy mother, his sentimental brother, and his quirky sister-in-law were indeed telling the truth.

His mother hadn’t returned to that place for more than ten years, and now if there was a way to go there, and his brother went too, perhaps it was…

Truly farewell.

This wasn’t a bad thing, he no longer had to worry about someone taking his position, nor did he have to worry about the people below trying to rebel. His brother had been deeply poisoned by that crazy woman, and his views were different from ordinary people, so he would definitely be more at ease in that world.

This was a win-win choice, but Yun Song suddenly felt that today’s dishes were so spicy that they choked him, making his eyes red and his heart sour.

He was leaving, he always had to say some heartfelt words. Yun Qi tried to put on the air of an older brother, took Yun Song’s hand and rambled: “You should change your temper, don’t be too hasty in everything. Although those old officials in the court are a bit nagging, they are still…”

“Why are you saying these things like those old men?”

Yun Song didn’t like being close to people, and he didn’t like being lectured even more. His rebuttal was a conditioned reflex, and the movement of pulling out his hand was also like muscle memory.

But he regretted it as soon as he finished speaking, but he couldn’t bring himself to apologize, so he could only stand there awkwardly.

“You are more suitable for that position than I am, and you will definitely do better than the late Emperor.” Yun Song’s reaction wasn’t unexpected to Yun Qi. He calmly withdrew his hand and filled his own cup with tea, “Only one thing, no matter what, you must not be too hasty, being eager for quick success may not end well.”

Yun Qi couldn’t directly say the system’s prophecy, but Yun Song was a smart man, so he couldn’t fail to understand the reasoning behind this indirect suggestion.

Yun Song pondered for a long time, successfully catching Yun Qi’s signal. He drank the tea in his hand in one gulp and said solemnly, “I have taken note of it.”

What needed to be said had been said, and he had seen his last face.

Yun Qi breathed a long sigh, preparing to say a few words of farewell and leave, but Yun Song suddenly picked up an untouched wine pot and filled the cups.

“Sister-in-law, I’ll toast you with this cup.” Yun Song walked to Lin Yan’s side and raised his glass to Lin Yan.

“What are you doing?”

Yun Qi reached out to stop him, but Yun Song deftly avoided him. He bowed slightly and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.

“My brother is dull, and the journey is long. There must be many places where he needs Sister-in-law’s care. Please take care of him, and please take care of yourself.”

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