I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 396 - 307: Golden Crispy Chicken (Part 3)

Xie Yun, Gu Lan, and Rong Heng looked at him, knowing he was about to play the grandson.

Young Master Gu picked his teeth and began to ponder what Su Zixiao would bring tomorrow. He hoped for something lighter, as the fried chicken just now was a bit greasy.

Just as Su Zixiao left the Xie family, a cool voice stopped him: "Young Master Su, please wait."

Su Zixiao turned around and saw Geng Tao, immediately softening his odd expression and smiling gently, "Little Tao, what brings you here? What’s up with Brother Zixiao?"

Geng Tao took a deep breath and cautiously said, "I... I... want..."

Su Zixiao scratched his head, thinking he understood the young girl’s mind, and said warmly, "You want some fried chicken, right? I’ll bring you some tomorrow, and Xie Yun and the others won’t get any!"

The girl in front of him had a clean and pretty face, with bright eyes and a slight blush, reminding Su Zixiao of his cousin, Rong Miaoyan.

Hmm, Miaoyan was quite cute as a child, especially when she wasn’t talking back.

And Little Tao is soft and kind, obviously more adorable than his sister!

Geng Tao shook her head and murmured softly, "I don’t want to eat fried chicken."

Su Zixiao asked puzzled, "You don’t want to eat? Then what do you want? Brother can make anything for you, just order."

Geng Tao looked steadily at Su Zixiao, mustering up the courage to seriously say, "I want to learn how to make fried chicken from Young Master Su... to make it for my teacher."

Su Zixiao: "..."

He took back what he said earlier.

Su Zixiao sighed. Naturally, he wouldn’t refuse a young girl’s request, so he carefully explained the fried chicken recipe, advising her to be cautious with the oil temperature before leaving with a sigh.

Geng Tao was about to head back when a sweet and innocent voice came from beside her.

"Sister Tao, what are you doing?"

Geng Tao was startled to see Wei Lan appear beside her, her small face still chubby with baby fat, her big eyes full of curiosity and scrutiny.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she composed herself and said seamlessly, "Just enjoying the view."

Wei Lan glanced at Su Zixiao’s retreating figure and blinked, "I don’t believe you. Sister Tao, you don’t like Brother Zixiao, do you?"

Geng Tao sighed with relief, "Why would you think that?" How could she like Su Zixiao? She had a respectful and admiring affection for her teacher...

Wei Lan, hands on hips, declared with an air of understanding: 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Because the teacher is Brother Zixiao’s enemy! You already know I’m clumsy at doing things, applying medicine will surely hurt the teacher, but to avenge Brother Zixiao, you deliberately let me do it... And, what did you just call Brother Zixiao, Young Master Su? You asked him for the fried chicken recipe just to talk to him more, how greasy, tsk tsk tsk."

Geng Tao was amazed by Wei Lan’s reasoning, nodding, "You’re right..."

She didn’t tell Wei Lan that the reason she called Su Zixiao "Young Master Su" was to make them see her as a peer;

And she didn’t apply medicine to the teacher because she had her own motives.

—The clumsy person applying the medicine was Wei Lan, so she hoped the teacher would remember only her goodness.

...

During the time Xie Yun’s arm was injured, Su Zixiao kept wishing Xie Yun a quick recovery while secretly bringing him nutritious meals every day.

Thus, Gu Lan fully embraced the neighborly principles of harmony and mutual aid, dragging Rong Heng next door daily to freeload off Su Zixiao’s hospitality—which was supposed to be for his adversaries.

If Rong Heng wasn’t so unwilling, Gu Lan might have wanted to break through the wall between the two households.

Many events took place in the past few days.

First, Rong Qichun was stripped of his title as Crown Prince and demoted to a commoner, personally escorted to Qingliang Temple in Lu State by Song Zhi to pray for Dayan.

Next, Rong Qijun got implicated and was confined to the Prince Mansion.

—Without a Holy Decree, Rong Qijun could never leave the mansion.

Finally, Rong Jing rewarded Prince Xiang with a pair of golden hook and jade belt and a thousand taels of gold, sending envoys to Yinzhou. He also bestowed Rong Mu’s grandson, Yan Qing, son of Princess Wen’an, with a thousand taels of gold and a pair of jade.

Rong Heng, as the former Emperor’s Fifth Prince, theoretically had a chance to inherit the throne;

Yan Qing, being the grandson of Minister of Rites Rong Mu and the only son of Princess Wen’an, could also be considered part of the Imperial Family.

Rong Jing’s unexplained rewards to these two were intended to tell the world that with the Crown Prince gone, he could give that position to anyone he wished, and no one could interfere with his decisions. As for him having two sons but rewarding others, well, it’s all just for fun.

Originally, Rong Qijun was on the brink of securing the position of Crown Prince. Now, it’s possible that even until Rong Jing’s old age, he might never be appointed as Crown Prince.

Perhaps when Rong Jing dies, he might only mention in his will—Second Prince’s house arrest is lifted.

This is Rong Jing’s warning to him: he can give Rong Qijun everything he wants, but if Rong Qijun dares to seize it before he gives it, then... bye-bye.

Confined in the Prince Mansion, Rong Qijun will from now on worry day and night, fearing that Rong Heng, Yan Qing, or other Imperial Family members might replace him.

Xie Yun, taking advantage of his paid leave while recuperating, finally put martial arts on his agenda.

—He never wanted to be the unintended victim again!

However, Xie Yun truly lacked martial arts talent. He mastered the six gentlemanly arts—rites, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and arithmetic—at sixteen. Yet, at twenty-five, after practicing blade techniques with Su Zixiao for nearly a month, his skills in rites, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and arithmetic remained unmatched... with no progress in anything else.

Gu Lan pondered for a moment, thinking maybe the teacher was the issue, so he let Xie Yun and Rong Yunhao learn swordsmanship from Wei Chengyuan.

After a period, Xie Yun was almost losing to the under-ten-year-old Rong Yunhao.

Moreover, the young prince’s approach to learning swordsmanship with Wei Chengyuan was rather inconsistent; he spent much of his time at home with his mother.

A few days ago, Princess Rui Li Furong’s father, Li Qing, requested to return home.

Li Qing was gravely ill and elderly, so the Emperor allowed his retirement to enjoy his remaining years at home.

Therefore, Princess Rui also requested the Emperor’s permission to accompany her father back to her ancestral home in Tongzhou and return to Yan Capital after his health stabilized.

The explicit meaning of this request was to accompany her father home, but the implicit meaning was that her father was on his deathbed, and as a daughter, she wanted to ensure he returned to his roots. Once her father passed, she would return, possibly a year or a bit more, or even three to five years, depending on how much longer Old General Li lived.

Rong Shuo always felt guilty towards his wife, so naturally, during such times, he wanted to be by her side. Additionally, Tongzhou was the state city of the Southern Border, and he wished to see how it was in his absence.

But Rong Yunhao couldn’t leave.