I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 71 - 64: Rong Zichan (2)

A family?

He hadn’t heard those three words in a long time.

Unconsciously, the moon had risen to the tip of the willow, the water in the copper pot had been replenished three times, and the wine in the jug was almost finished, leaving only a few green plums.

The small courtyard was filled with joy and warmth.

The cold, pale cheeks of Rong Heng were tinged with a flush, and the Gu Lan before him seemed to have multiplied, as if talking to her maid, both laughing, with Wei Chengyuan also chuckling foolishly.

How lively it was.

It had been a long, long time since he had experienced such liveliness.

So long that he was amazed to realize that just three or four people could create such noise and clamor.

Days like these had once existed.

Back then, Xiao Ning was the beloved Princess Consort Xiao of the Six Palaces, Rong Luo was still around, Jiu was also there, and that person called Father Emperor would lift him high, looking at him with grand spirit, saying, "I will bestow the title of King Yan upon Heng’er."

Later, these people all departed.

Yet he remembered clearly, as clear as day.

Gu Lan hugged a cup of wine, her face flushed, earnestly trying to brainwash Wei Chengyuan: "Listen to me, your name is Wei Chengyuan, courtesy name ’Sandbag’."

Wei Chengyuan was already drunk, a large figure lying straight on the ground, completely missing Gu Lan’s words, and even Zijin felt pity for him.

Rong Heng lowered his gaze, looking at Gu Lan, who was nearly leaning against him and kept calling out Wei Chengyuan’s name, silently creating some distance: "Look clearly, I am not Wei Chengyuan."

His body was cool, carrying a pleasant medicinal fragrance that made Gu Lan involuntarily draw nearer.

Gu Lan lifted her head, gazing at Rong Heng in confusion for a moment, then suddenly realizing: "Oh, it’s Brother Hang! Brother Hang, your body feels so cool, could it be you’re having kidney deficiency too?"

Rong Heng: "...Not every man is like you."

His words fell on deaf ears, as Gu Lan didn’t hear him, instead turning to ask, "Zijin, what is my courtesy name?"

Zijin quietly sat in the distance, acting as an emotionless hotpot-eating machine. Upon hearing Gu Lan call her, she thought for a moment and said, "Young Master hasn’t come of age yet, so no courtesy name has been given. But, if you wish to think of one, you could ask Madam or the Marquis."

Gu Lan uttered an "oh": "Then Brother Hang doesn’t have one either, but, in the future, when we swear brotherhood, we have to state our full names."

She really hadn’t forgotten about swearing brotherhood?

Rong Heng thought about what Gu Lan said earlier. He ate Gu Lan’s food, drank Gu Lan’s wine, and was now living at the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, yet he couldn’t even satisfy her wish for brotherhood; it seemed rather inappropriate.

As he pondered, Gu Lan had already laid her chin on the stone table, her burning cheeks rubbing against the cool stone, feeling very comfortable.

He recalled the rare times he met Rong Shuo in his childhood, that man would bend down and pat his head, saying, "You seem to have grown taller again, Fifth Brother."

Rong Heng lowered his head, his palm finally finding Gu Lan’s soft, black hair.

They locked eyes, his palm feeling the smooth strands, his dark eyes deep and hazy, softly saying: "I do have a courtesy name."

"What... what is it?" Gu Lan stammered, intending to get Rong Heng drunk but seeming to have become drunk herself as the wine seemed quite strong.

Rong Heng’s eyes were like cups filled with intoxicating wine, vast and distant, hiding memories of the past.

"Zichan." His voice was low, clear.

Rong Zichan.

Though Gu Lan was drunkenly muddled, she earnestly tried to remember it, then asked: "Which character? Goodness, abdication?"

She looked at Rong Heng’s expression, quickly realizing it was the "Chan" of abdication.

A Fifth Prince, at such a young age, being given a courtesy name like "Chan," signified something significant.

Rong Heng of the past was more gloriously unmatched than she had imagined.

"Zichan..." Gu Lan whispered to herself, seriously asking, "Am I the only one who knows?"

Her voice was soft and slow, causing the slight bitterness in Rong Heng’s heart to gradually warm.

"Is it important?"

Gu Lan: "I only eat my hotpot with you!"

Rong Heng lifted his head, glancing once at Wei Chengyuan lying on the ground and at Zijin sitting in the distance.

Apparently, in Gu Lan’s eyes, they didn’t count as people.

Oh well, if she said one person, then one person it was.

Rong Heng thought for a moment, looked at her, and replied: "Only you know."

"Good, then you must not tell anyone else, Zichan." Gu Lan smiled contentedly, her bright eyes curving into crescents.

Shedding the usual carefree demeanor of Young Master Gu, at this moment, Gu Lan resembled that smug white cat in the palace.

Rong Heng’s heart softened.

The last cup of wine in the jug was finished by both, and Gu Lan was helped up by Zijin: "Young Master, you are drunk, let’s return to rest."

Gu Lan stood in front of Rong Heng, her face quite red, yet her eyes uncommonly bright, hugging Rong Heng’s shoulder: "Zichan, you must be drunk too, let’s go pee together!"

Good brothers even go to the toilet together!

Rong Heng: ...

Zijin: ... She often suspected Gu Lan was really a man.

After much persuasion, Zijin finally brought Gu Lan back to her room.

Before leaving, Gu Lan did not forget to remind: "Brother Hang, you should eat more!"

Rong Heng watched their retreating figures and finished the last piece of meat on the plate.

Since the Xiao Family was annihilated, he was no longer the Fifth Prince of Dayan, and no one had ever treated him this well again.

A younger brother?

He seemed to have gained a younger brother.

How did Rong Shuo treat him? He wanted to learn how to be a good elder brother.

When Zijin had settled Gu Lan and returned to the courtyard, only the snoring Wei Chengyuan remained on the ground.

And the Fifth Young Master Rong had already disappeared without a trace.

The night was cool as water, a bright moonrose over the vermilion palace walls, casting silvery light that enveloped the Xiaoxiang Palace in solitude.

In the palace courtyard, scattered Xiangfei Bamboo sliced through the moonlight, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

Rong Heng, clinging to the last thread of sobriety, returned to the Xiaoxiang Palace, walking straight into the hall.

Jiu was sitting there lost in thought, turning around to see his Highness walking in reeking of alcohol.

"Your, Your Highness? Why have you been drinking—" Jiu was startled, catching a glimpse of Zhang Fu’s fleeting figure, knowing that Rong Heng’s return had been observed.

Rong Heng, unconcerned, looked at him, a smile spreading on his lips.

Jiu stared in shock at Rong Heng’s smiling visage, quickly wiping his moist eyes, hesitantly asking, "Your Highness, is there something joyful?"

Rong Heng unwrapped a bundle, revealing the snacks left from the hotpot dinner tonight.

"You haven’t eaten yet?" He asked Jiu with a cheerful smile.

Jiu, both worried and elated, took the snacks: "No, I didn’t expect Your Highness to still think of this servant."

Rong Heng’s eyes smiled: "These were given to me by Gu Lan, now for you."

Jiu frowned, suddenly losing his appetite: ".....Does that make you so happy?"

"Do you want to know what my courtesy name is?" Rong Heng eagerly asked.

Jiu looked blank: "What is it?"

Does Your Highness have a courtesy name? How could he not know? Could it be given by Princess Consort Xiao before her demise?

Rong Heng patted Jiu’s head: "I won’t tell you, my courtesy name is only known by my younger brother."

Jiu’s mouth twitched as he asked: "Your Highness, where did you get a younger brother?" Could it be that person he was thinking of?

Rong Heng narrowed his eyes, recalling Gu Lan’s drunken visage, and said: "Gu Lan, very well-behaved."

Jiu: ... 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Rong Heng lifted his gaze, looking at the empty, cold Xiaoxiang Palace, seeing multiple shadows, making it appear noisy as if a Gu Lan was calling beside him, Zichan, Zichan, Brother Hang, Brother Hang.

Having eaten hotpot, his body was warm.

It was no longer cold here.

Rong Heng returned to his bed, discarding his outer robe, covering himself with a thin blanket, his hands placed on either side of his body, peacefully drifting into slumber.

The smile at the corner of his lips never faded.

Jiu stared dazedly at Rong Heng for a while. This was the first time he saw Rong Heng drunk and the first time he saw him so happy.

Imprisoned beneath a cold mask, the sullen and unfeeling Fifth Young Master Rong, once drunk, transformed into the gentle yet unconstrained Fifth Prince of Dayan.