20
The shock didn’t last long; Rong Yan soon calmed down.
He watched as He Tian treated the tiger cub like a kitten.
She held a piece of straw in her hand, waving it back and forth in the air.
The tiger cub called Dahuang stood on his hind legs, his front paws swiping at the straw in the air.
Someone who could raise a tiger like a cat – why couldn’t they raise a lynx like a common domestic cat?
“Haha!”
Seeing Dahuang repeatedly miss the straw and get increasingly flustered, even his shadow seeming frantic, He Tian suddenly found it very amusing and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Rong Yan, who was just thinking how contradictory He Tian seemed, thought: “…”
For some reason, watching this scene, the corner of his own mouth also twitched slightly, forming a faint smile.
After smiling, he was stunned.
Since his rebirth, this was the first time he had genuinely smiled from the heart.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he had smiled so sincerely. Probably in his past life?
Thinking about his past life, he felt unusually dazed. Even though he had been reborn less than three months ago, his past life already seemed like a distant memory.
Only the memories from the final period before his death were exceptionally vivid.
On the eve of being appointed crown prince, he was schemed against by those he trusted most, dying pierced by a thousand arrows. Not only that, but even in death, he was branded a rebel plotting against the throne. It was truly hard to forget.
Dying wasn’t even the hardest part to accept.
Even now, he couldn’t accept the betrayal of those he trusted most.
He also couldn’t figure out where the problem lay. Before his death in his past life, he couldn’t figure it out. In the three months since his rebirth, he still hadn’t understood.
Perhaps, from the very beginning, he was a spy lurking by his side, gaining his trust over more than a decade of companionship, only to deliver the fatal blow at the end.
Who would ever suspect a study companion they had grown up with since childhood?
Although he was the Second Prince, he was the legitimate son of the late Empress. The position of Empress had been vacant ever since. In the court, he was the only legitimate son born of the Empress. He had been valued by his Imperial Father since childhood, and was born with auspicious signs. Whether in the court or among the common people, he was the most popular candidate for Crown Prince. Even his Imperial Father’s most favored choice was him.
But he never expected that on the eve of the appointment, his study companion Zheng Zhenyu, whom everyone believed represented him, would produce a voodoo doll with the Imperial Father’s birth chart written in his own hand, along with a ‘personally written’ letter. He entered the palace in the dead of night to expose his alleged attempt to assassinate the Emperor and usurp the throne.
The Imperial Father was furious and immediately summoned him to the palace.
On the way to the palace after receiving the oral summons, he still didn’t know what had happened. Only upon reaching the inner court was he stopped by a trusted confidant who informed him that Zheng Zhenyu had accused him of plotting rebellion, and that this trip boded ill – he absolutely must not appear before the Emperor.
Of course, he wanted to see his Imperial Father personally to defend himself. And Zheng Zhenyu – he had to see him with his own eyes, hear him speak, before he would believe he had done such a thing.
In the midst of the argument, his Fifth Brother had already arrived with the Imperial Father’s token, leading men to arrest him.
Seeing the situation worsening, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard protected him, trying to get him out of the palace. Everything happened in an instant. He didn’t even see the arrow that pierced his heart. As he fell, he only heard a voice:
“By the Emperor’s decree! Anyone who defies the order shall be killed without mercy!”
In the rain of arrows that blotted out the sky, he saw his Imperial Father’s furious face, and beside him, under guard, Zheng Zhenyu’s pale face, watching him die with an indifferent expression.
He didn’t even know when Zheng Zhenyu had gotten involved with his Fifth Brother.
Upon rebirth, he used the fastest means to eliminate the unreliable people around him. But he had only been reborn three months ago, leaving him too little time. He had done his utmost to change what could be changed.
Yet he never expected to still be one step behind. In this life, it was no longer framing him for rebellion, but directly poisoning him to death. He only managed to fake his death and escape by the skin of his teeth.
The person who poisoned him was someone he even less expected.
The capital city, hah.
He no longer wanted to dwell on who was right or wrong. His mind was filled with only one thought: to trample the land and bathe the capital in blood.
Even on the run, this was his only thought.
Time was too short, too rushed. He hadn’t managed to escape perfectly. Falling off the cliff was an accident, drifting here with the current was also an accident. People outside were probably searching for him frantically by now.
Accident after accident – perhaps it was giving him a chance to catch his breath.
At least for a short while, no one would find him here.
And there was another advantage here: at the crossroads of several states, with a mix of people, it would be easy to hide.
Of course, in his current state, even if he wanted to flee, he couldn’t move. It was better to first recover his health, wait and see how things developed, until his people found him…
“Hey?” Seeing his expression suddenly turn extremely grim, his brows tightly furrowed, and him not responding when spoken to, He Tian thought he might be having a sudden physical problem. She waved her hand in front of his eyes.
Rong Yan was forced back to reality. Looking up, he saw her holding the lynx cub, bent over, her face hovering directly above his as she examined him.
This angle caused Rong Yan a moment of discomfort.
When he died in his past life, someone had looked at him like this, with a face hovering over him.
Almost instinctively, a trace of malice leaked from his eyes.
“Are you about to die?” He Tian’s brow furrowed slightly.
Rong Yan: “…”
Even the words spoken were similar. In his past life, the face looking down at him like that had asked – “Is he dead?”
As if possessed, He Tian thought for a moment, then scooped up a ladle of water, dipped her finger in it, and flicked some water onto his face.
Yao Yao’s notebook had recorded that, in special circumstances, this was a form of emergency aid.
The cold sensation made Rong Yan blink rapidly.
He Tian: “?”
It was quite effective.
Seeing that his gaze was no longer vacant and staring, she put the ladle down on the windowsill and looked down at him from her height. “Feeling better?”
Rong Yan looked up, met her eyes, and blinked gently.
He Tian said, “I saved you again.”
Rong Yan: “?”
He Tian: “When your body is better, remember to earn money and repay me for saving your life.”
He Tian, who firmly believed money was a good thing, thought using monetary value was the most appropriate measure.
Rong Yan: “…” That was acceptable.
A life-saving debt was inherently hard to repay. Repaying with money was the simplest and easiest way.
He blinked again in response.
She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily. He Tian’s gaze towards him softened considerably – this was now her money, in the future.
Dahuang had proven very useful after all.
He Tian rubbed Dahuang’s fluffy head and praised him, “You really are the one who understands me best. Good job! From now on, you should pick up more things and bring them home.”
Rong Yan belatedly realized that the ‘things’ she was talking about probably included him.
“My cat will be called Dami from now on,” He Tian finished praising Dahuang and suddenly said to Rong Yan. “Isn’t that a majestic name?”
Dahuang, Dahei, Xiaohui… Dami.
Clearly from the same family.
Rong Yan made no comment; he couldn’t make a sound anyway.
Of course, He Tian was just in a good mood and mentioned it casually; she wasn’t really asking for his opinion.
Dahuang, thrilled by the praise, ran wildly around the yard, even dashing out and bringing back a caterpillar, presenting it to He Tian like a treasure.
He Tian threw the caterpillar away.
Dahuang was stunned for a moment, then turned and ran out again. After a while, he came back with another caterpillar.
This time it was a gray one; the previous one had been green.
He Tian threw the gray caterpillar away too.
Dahuang let out a yelp.
He Tian explained patiently, “Caterpillars are useless.”
She explained very patiently to Dahuang, “The household doesn’t need caterpillars right now.”
So Dahuang went out with Dahei.
After a long while, the two cubs returned together, followed by a string of fluffy, grayish ducklings.
They had taken someone’s newly hatched ducklings and brought them home.
This time, He Tian didn’t throw them away. Not only did she not throw them away, she praised Dahuang profusely.
Once the ducklings grew up, they could lay eggs and also be eaten for meat. Very good.
Dami, either frightened of Dahuang or simply wary of the unfamiliar environment, clung to He Tian the whole time. He Tian treated him like an accessory, letting him grip her shoulder and hang on while she worked.
She had to deal with the wolves she had hunted in the afternoon, as well as the firewood, make dinner, and feed the whole bunch of cubs at home.
While it wasn’t completely dark yet, she first went behind the house to cut some tender grass to feed the wild boar cubs and the newly arrived ducklings.
Back home, she started preparing dinner.
For dinner, she would eat wild yam tofu again – stir-fried with the leftover pork belly from lunch, another batch made into a cold dish, cook some yam and millet porridge, and for staple food, make some unleavened pancakes.
With two pots, things moved much faster.
In a few quick steps, she kneaded the dough, rolled it smooth, then rolled it into flat cakes about a finger thick, cut them into pieces about four fingers wide, and stuck them around the edge of the pot.
One pot for stir-frying, one pot for cooking porridge and sticking the pancakes. He Tian’s figure darted back and forth in the kitchen. Although busy, she was orderly, and soon dinner was ready.
Oh yes, she also boiled two eggs in the millet porridge, peeled a head of garlic, and used the stone mortar to mash the boiled eggs and garlic together, adding salt and sesame oil to make an egg-garlic paste to eat with the pancakes.
This was her first time eating it like this.
She didn’t know yet if the unleavened pancakes would be good, but the aroma of the egg-garlic paste had already whetted her appetite.
Just two simple ingredients, a very simple method, yet the resulting flavor was so tempting.
She marveled at human ingenuity. Who on earth had first discovered this way of eating?
Truly a genius!
He Tian was dying for the egg-garlic paste. As soon as the unleavened pancakes came out of the pot, she ate one first.
She tore off a piece of pancake, dipped it in the egg-garlic paste to taste it, and her eyes lit up.
The egg-garlic paste was tantalizingly fragrant, and the unleavened pancake dipped in it was even more amazing.
So delicious!
She couldn’t worry about Rong Yan for now. He had eaten well for breakfast and lunch; having dinner a little later wouldn’t hurt him. She had been busy all day and needed to fill her own stomach first.
Fortunately, after resting and eating well for a day, Rong Yan had slowly regained a little strength. Walking might still be difficult, but he could now feed himself.
So, He Tian simply placed his prepared meal in front of him and left him to it.
Liu Erniang, unsure of her daughter’s plans, asked while enjoying the delicious unleavened pancake dipped in egg-garlic paste, “Not going to the ghost market tonight?”
He Tian was too busy eating to speak and just shook her head. Only after swallowing the pancake did she say, “No, there’s nothing special. I’ll go into town tomorrow morning and sell at the market instead.”
This time, there were only a few wolves. Even if she went into town overnight, she wouldn’t get much more money; it wasn’t worth it.
Besides, there was now a stranger in the house. Although he couldn’t move easily now and didn’t seem like a bad person, she still felt uneasy leaving Liu Erniang home alone overnight.
Rong Yan, who had perked up his ears at the mention of ‘ghost market’, thought: “…”
He paused his chewing for a moment, calculated something in his mind, then continued eating his dinner as if nothing had happened.
He had to admit, although this unleavened pancake dipped in egg-garlic paste was rustic, the taste was truly not bad.
He Tian was eating so intently she couldn’t even talk to Liu Erniang; she had no energy to notice what Rong Yan was thinking.
After dinner, she cleaned the kitchen and added an old quilt from the house for Rong Yan. As she was about to return to the main house to sleep, she glanced at Xiaohui by her feet, who was intently nibbling on some unknown grass. A name suddenly flashed through He Tian’s mind.
Her eyes widened slightly. She snatched the unknown grass directly from Xiaohui’s mouth and examined it closely in the moonlight.
After a long moment, the corners of her mouth slowly curved up. She remembered what this grass was!
**
Xiaohui: Stealing my food again! [Poor thing]
…
A long, long time later, Little Rong: I don’t have any money… can I pay with myself instead? [Covers face and peeks slyly]