‘Ziyu, if I were to go out, would you rather go with Qin Wei’s family or go back to Xiaoyun Villa with your wooden brother?’ Situ Ping said this while eating his rice, as if he were talking about something very ordinary, but Tang Ziyu could only stare at him. After finally getting Mu Wu to stop walking, did he want her again? Mu Xiaotian looked at her, hesitating about something. ‘I’m done eating, Ziyu. Let’s go talk in the flower hall.’ Situ Ping’s expression was very serious, and Ziyu followed him into the flower hall. Compared to the last time, the atmosphere this time was completely different. Neither of them spoke, each thinking their own thoughts. ‘I want to go home, and you don’t have to arrange for anyone to take care of me,’ Tang Ziyu endured for a long time before suddenly saying this, and then turned and walked out the door.
Two steps later, Situ Ping caught up with her and held her in his arms. ‘Don’t be angry, little pepper! I haven’t forgotten what you told me, but there are many things that you and I can’t decide. Don’t cry!’ Tang Ziyu took a strong sniff, ‘I’m not! I just feel like going home now.’ ‘If you could go back so easily, I think you would have left already. I don’t want to leave you, and neither do you!’ Situ Ping turned her around, ‘Be good, sit down and listen to me for a bit.’ Tang Ziyu sat down and looked at him.
He moved a stool and sat opposite her: ‘Don’t you think I’m a suspicious person? A doctor who doesn’t work in a clinic, who spends his days partying and gambling, and who gives you more than 10,000 taels of silver so easily?’ ‘I thought about that, but I thought you didn’t care about money because your family was rich.’ ‘You’re right, but have you ever thought about what kind of family is so rich? And in such a small town? My surname isn’t Situ, it’s Zhao! What did you think?’ ‘You’re a prince?’ ‘More or less. My father is the eighth prince. You should know that his position is second only to the emperor’s. I am his third son. My eldest brother is very clever, but very lustful; my second brother is martial, but very tyrannical; I am a prodigal son. So my father thinks that my two older brothers are the best heirs to the throne, or even the imperial throne. As for me, he just hopes that I won’t become a laughing stock.
‘Why? You’re so clever, and you’re not a womaniser at all!’ Situ Ping pecked her sweet little mouth. ’No wonder I like you so much! But to a large extent, I want others to think of me this way. I had a fiancée, don’t worry, she’s dead. She was Sun Xing’s sister, a woman who was sure I would be a good husband, Sun Yuejuan. Because of Sun Xing, she saw me a lot and naturally fell in love with me, the capital’s number one playboy. But I really wasn’t a good man, so I didn’t arrive in time when she was in danger. When she went to find me, my older brother drugged her and raped her. But he didn’t realise that the playboy’s fiancée was actually a virgin, and as a result she bled to death in bed.’
‘Someone had to answer to Prime Minister Sun for this, so I confessed that I had violated her because I couldn’t resist. After all, I was engaged to her, so it was a way for Sun and my father to save face. In this way, Yueh-chuan became a victim, and I voluntarily moved to this remote town as a way to remember her. Sun Xing knew the truth and said he would come here to be with me no matter what. Qin Wei was originally a military general and a good friend of ours. Who knew he would go even further and actually move his entire family here, saying he was looking for a place for his father to recuperate. So the three of us have been living here peacefully for about three years now, and just when everyone was about to forget about me, something came up. My father is dying. He was secretly imprisoned by the emperor because he and my eldest and second eldest brothers attempted to assassinate the emperor, so the emperor intends to make them all give up this idea forever. But he didn’t want to see unrest in the court, so he wanted me to become the Eighth Prince.‘
’So you have to face your destiny?’ ’Yes, because although I was not my father’s favourite son, I loved him in my own way. The Emperor promised me that he would let the three of them die of old age if I agreed to go back. But if I go back, you will be my greatest weakness, because the Emperor is not the only one in the capital, and I don’t have enough power to protect you. So if you choose to remain the second wife, I want Qin Wei to protect you; or you can go to Xiao Yun Villa and let the hero Mu be the protector.’ “I feel the same about both, I don’t want to choose, I think it’s best if I go home.” Tang Ziyu looked at him with some loneliness, “I also have to face my own destiny, don’t I? I should go back too.” “No!” Situ Ping clasped her in a firm grip, ’I know that once you go back, you will never come back again, and I’m not sure if you will regret it, but I definitely will!’
Tang Ziyu looked at him and saw the sincerity in his expression for a moment: ‘What do you want me to do?’ ‘Zi Yu, I’m selfish, I want you to wait for me! I remember what you said, that if I go, you won’t be sad because your heart is already dead and won’t be sad. The same goes for me. Sun Xing and I have already come up with a plan. We will find a way to settle everything and get out of it again in the future, because the emperor doesn’t need an intractable Prince Ba, he just needs someone who will do as he is told, so in fact anyone can be that person. But we need time now, so please give me some time, okay?”