While He Zisheng was busy sowing dissent, He Ziming was munching on melon seeds and watching him through the system in his head.
“Tut-tut[1], incredible. This son of destiny’s acting skills could bring him to the Oscars and let him act out palace fights.” He Ziming watched as he thought in his head. “Let him be the son of destiny and the prince, and waste his talent.”
He looked indifferent, but the system was very anxious: “That is not the point of the video I showed you, host …”
“What’s the point?” He Ziming said, as he cracked a melon seed and spit out the skin.
The system felt extremely helpless: “The main point is that the target’s favourability for you has dropped again.”
He Ziming felt no fear: “So what? It hasn’t fallen below 60 points yet.”
“You don’t plan to save it? If it falls again, it will go back to its original state.” The system was too anxious for him and his work.
He Ziming chuckled: “You can rest assured, “Tem-tem2. I am laying a long line to catch big fish[3]. I know my limits.[4]“
“I’m afraid you’ll run away without the fish on it.” The system was extremely distrustful of such an unreliable host.
Facing the distrust of the system, He Ziming just smiled[5] and didn’t talk anymore.
He Zisheng was a very good younger brother.
At least, the image shown in front of He Ziming wass.
“Big Brother——” Since He Ziming allowed him to call him elder brother, he would regularly greet He Ziming every day and never forgot even once.
He Ziming glanced at him, and thinking of what he said to Gu Chen, looked at him thoughtfully: “Chang’an.”
“What’s wrong, brother?” He Zisheng was quite observant, and seeing that He Ziming had something to say, he asked.
He Ziming glanced at him, and after a bit of inquisition and teasing, he asked: “You have been with me for a long time. Do you have any plans for the future?”
“Plans?” He Zisheng was a little stunned, and wasn’t sure what He Ziming meant. He was afraid what he said to Gu Chen yesterday fell into He Ziming’s ears, so He Ziming came to beat him.
Immediately pretending to be confused, he said: “Chang’an doesn’t understand, what does big brother mean?”
He Ziming hesitated for a moment and said, “You are not young anymore. Do you have any ideas about your future?”
“… Chang’an has no other ideas, Chang’an … Chang’an has no disloyalty to elder brother.” Looking at He Ziming’s bottomless eyes, He Zisheng quickly expressed his loyalty to him: “Please don’t misunderstand me!”
He Ziming saw how scared he was and felt it was very funny. He suddenly laughed: “Don’t be afraid, elder brother’s question doesn’t mean anything else. Just considering that you aren’t young anymore, even if you have any ideas, it’s normal… You can’t follow me all my life, you have to find a job and a career for yourself … “
He Zisheng looked at him, hesitant.
“About a position in the court, you should think about it some more. If you have something you are considering, talk to me. Provided it is within my scope, elder brother will definitely get it for you.” He Ziming looked at him.
The more He Zisheng believed he couldn’t and didn’t want to give it to him, the more he would have to send it to him and play the part of a good big brother vividly.
So… even if He Zisheng insists on betrayal in the future …
He would recall this moment, profoundly remember his goodness, and fall deeply into guilt …
He Zisheng was shocked. He didn’t expect that He Ziming would open his mouth and say such words to him. He hesitated for a moment, but still made a look of panic, and timidly said, “Chang’an… Chang’an has no other ideas, he just wants to follow elder brother and serve elder brother.”
“Ridiculous! You are both a prince and a man. A man who is ambitious, yet still says he doesn’t want anything and that he just wants to serve me is worse than a woman. It’s shameful.” He Ziming looked at his brother who was timid and cowardly, as if he had no ambitions. He immediately lashed out at He Zisheng, like an old father who looked at his unambitious son. Hating iron for not becoming steel, he scolded him.
He Zisheng was scolded by him for a while. He really did not expect that He Ziming would think about his future. After considering many things, although he was scolded, he felt inexplicably warm and sweet.
Just…
He Zisheng’s hands clenched into fists involuntarily. Even when his nails pinched into his flesh, he felt no pain.
He Zisheng was always like a quail[6] in front of He Ziming, unable to fight back or scold him.
He Ziming then took the opportunity to vent his anger and express his dignity as an elder brother. He scolded the son of destiny, and left him a sentence at the end: “I didn’t think about it before, so from today on you will think about it for me. A man who has no ambition, isn’t he like a woman?”
“I’ll give you a month. If you have a good idea of what you want to do in the court, come and tell me again! If you don’t speak up, it will be hard to get a lucrative post. Even if someone is in that position, I can pull that person down and send it to you!” He snapped with a severe face.
He Zisheng’s nails pinched deeper and deeper into his flesh, but his heart became sweeter and sweeter: “…Yes, brother, Chang’an knows. Chang’an will think about it when he goes back.”
Seeing that he was so obedient, and He Ziming felt some pity in his heart. He patted him on the shoulder and said, “Chang’an, elder brother knows that he has a bad temper. For so many years… I have really wronged you.”
After hitting with the stick, you have to give a sweet jujube.[7]
He Ziming could play this game perfectly, with ease.
“Brother, Chang’an is by your side and never feels wronged. Chang’an feels … I’m very grateful.” Sure enough, He Zisheng was grateful at that moment.
He Ziming patted his shoulder and told him about brotherhood, showing love and respect like a brother should. After seeing that it was already dark, he sent him off, saying: “It’s already late. Chang’an, go back and rest.”
“Yes, brother.” He Zisheng did everything he said.
After He Zisheng parted with He Ziming, he walked all the way to the door, but suddenly turned back. He reluctantly looked in the direction of He Ziming’s room, and immediately made a firm decision in his heart.
The game has already been set, and the decision has already been made. Once you have shot the arrow, you cannot retrieve it. Even if it is a mistake, it can only be seen through to the end. There is no way back.
One day, one day, he will get everything he wants.
And He Ziming will be his.
——
He Ziming had a surly temperament, and Gu Chen was self-righteous and proud. The two had been together for a long time, and there had been constant friction and unhappiness. On top of that, He Zisheng deliberately stirred up trouble between them.
The two people quarrelled even more frequently, creating more trouble.
Gu Chen’s elder brother Gu Wen was in the party of the third prince. He was almost in opposition of He Ziming, and he often conflicted with the party under He Ziming.
Nowdays, the crown prince’s party and the third prince’s have risen again in the court. The crown prince’s party caught a serious mistake of the third prince’s party through a case, and had all the third prince’s confidants thrown into prison.
Gu Chen’s elder brother Gu Wen was among them.
Gu Chen had not seen He Ziming for many days. On this day, he went to Prince’s House to plead for his brother.
However, they hadn’t seen each other for a while and weren’t agreeing with each other, so they quarrelled again. He Ziming burned with rage and threw a teacup, shouting: “Gu Chen, do you still have me in your eyes? I wanted you to come, yet you weren’t willing to come even if you died. Now you have, yet you seem disgusted and hate everything I do[8]. You start nitpicking on all of my mistakes, all for your elder brother!”
Gu Wen’s case wasn’t a mistake. He Ziming held on to him because he wanted to force Gu Chen, whom he was in a cold war with, to pamper him gently.
Who would have thought that Gu Chen might have been spoiled by him.
When he came, not only was he not gentle, but be accused him of being disgusted with him and hating him.
“Are you asking for help? Gu-gongzi[9], this is the Crown Prince’s residence, do you think this is your own house?” Suddenly, He Ziming felt very angry, and according to the Crown Prince’s temperament, quarrelled with him.
Gu Chen, who was born in an aristocratic family and was He Ziming’s long-time lover, had a noble and proud character. He was quite dignified, saying to He Ziming: “The Gu family’s intellectual fame is handed down from generation to generation, and the scholars of past dynasties know how to appeal to one’s emotions. Forgive Gu Chen’s failure to learn the way of slander and flattery, for his Royal Highness cannot see the way I am pleading! “
“Good, good! You’re ruthless, Gu Ziqing.” He Ziming was so angry his eyes became bloodshot: “This matter, let’s not mention it for the time being, let alone that you seem so disgusted with me and hate all that I do. Now tell me, what is the matter between you and Miss Sun? Hm?”
Miss Sun is Gu Chen’s blind date, and there have been a lot of rumors about them recently.
Gu Chen had his pride, and he did not yield in the face of He Ziming: “It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Doesn’t mean anything? Nothing at all? The whole capital is spreading rumours that the Gu family and Sun family are about to get married. What do you mean, shouldn’t you be inviting me to your wedding banquet in a few days, ah, Gu Chen?” The more he spoke, the angrier He Ziming became.
Gu Chen stared at him and remarked coldly, “It is merely the matchmaker’s words ordered by my parents. I have not agreed to it, yet His Highness is already questioning me?”
“Then should I also ask about the matter between His Royal Highness and the Minster of Rites’ daughter? What does that mean?” He sneered.
He Ziming was so angry that he spoke without thinking: “I alone am the crown prince, but you’re still so displeased with my actions. Do you still expect me to be alone for your sake without a marriage, and not have a crown princess for a lifetime?”
“Good! Good! Since I can’t count on His Royal Highness, can’t ask His Royal Highness to not have a Crown Princess for me, then His Royal Highness can’t ask me not to marry a wife! For the sake of our lives, we don’t owe each other!” Gu Chen fiercely struck the table without fear of He Ziming, gritting his teeth so hard he almost crushed them.
TL Note
If you just wanna support me, here’s the link to my ko-fi.
Sorry there’s no author’s note! If you would like me to include them, lmk!
Anyways! I’m the new TLer for this novel, bc I think the last person dropped it? It hasn’t been updated for awhile, so I thought it would be cool to give TLing a try! I partially grew up in Singapore, but my knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is quite lacking TT. This story will mostly be MTLed, and I will do my best to update weekly.
I will try to see this novel through till the end, if you wanna help out or if you find a mistake in my TLs, also lmk!
Also that “like a woman” comment ZiMing? not cool 😡
Footnotes
[1]“Tut-tut”: an Onomatopoeia for clicking the tongue.
[2]“Tem-tem”: in the original text, it is 统统 (“tǒngtǒng) from 系统 (“xìtǒng”) which means system. I used temtem from System to try and keep the same feeling in english!
[3]“laying a long line to catch a fish”: an idiom, basically playing the long game.
[4]“know my limits”: “有分寸” meaning to have a sense of propriety, knowing how far to go and when stop.
[5]“smiled”: same character for laugh, so it could be either way.
[6]“quail”: considered quiet and timid in chinese culture, like how mice are in western culture.
[7]“…hitting with a stick…”: Basically carrot and stick training.
[8]“…everything i do…”: the literal meaning of the phrase here is “nose is not the nose, eyes are not the eyes” (鼻子不是鼻子眼睛不是眼睛挑), describing the face someone makes when they’re disgusted or displeased with you. It means that no matter what a person does, it is always criticized by the other because they dislike them that much.
[9]“Gongzi”: pinyin for son of nobility.
Thank you for the hard work ^-^
So did you already move? Did you dropped? What is the situation? Just curious I miss the translatings.
A redemption??? Intriguing.
Mixed feelings la~~~ on one hand im excited yo come back to a stock of chapters. On the other hand……
Good to know, I check in there regularly, so I’ll keep an eye out for you! X
uh, im good. 
Thanks for picking this up
LikeLiked by 1 person
np ! thank u for reading ❤
LikeLike
Thanks for picking this up
LikeLike
Sorry, I don’t know why this automatically sent this today when I clicked on the chapter
LikeLike
lol its okay!!! 💖
LikeLike