CH 81

Undercurrent (4)

In less than ten minutes, under Zheng Yue’s dazed eyes, Jiang Jianming quickly explained what he knew, conveniently, he also reported the Brandon family taking advantage of their power and the bullying situation a few days ago.

The face of the old marshal on the opposite side of the projection remained calm and composed, while Jiang Jianming was wearing an earpiece, this made Zheng Yue unable to hear their interchange.

After hearing a series of short answers such as “Yes”, “No”, “Okay”, “I understand”, the Silver Big Dipper lieutenant saluted and bid farewell to the projection, hung up the communication and turned around.

Jiang Jianming: “Old Marshal Chen said he would send someone to thoroughly investigate this matter, don’t worry.”

Zheng Yue chuckled dryly, the muscles on his face were obviously cramping. The man then repeatedly waved his hands, “Don’t, little brother, let’s be honest. You won’t be my sworn brother. Look, I’ve been so depressed these days, just invite Aslan’s chief magician—”

Jiang Jianming: “No.”

Zheng Yue’s face was a riot of colors, and broke down, “Perhaps my wife’s resentment towards me was hard to dispel and hired a hacker to punish me!? Your projection is fake right, ah, it’s fake right?”

“…Sir, your imagination is too rich.”

Jiang Jianming walked to the window and pulled open the hanging curtains. “Have a look at where this is.” 

Zheng Yue turned his head to probe in a daze and saw a piece of delicate and scattered white buildings.

“Where is this?” 

“Look carefully.” 

Zheng Yue said blankly, “Why does this look so much like the White Jade Palace?” 

Jiang Jianming said calmly, “This is the White Jade Palace.”

“…….”

Zheng Yue froze for a few seconds and his eyes rolled up.

Jiang Jianming hurriedly said, “Don’t faint! If you faint, I won’t be able to move you.”

Poor Zheng Yue could only roll his eyeballs back again. He sat down on the floor, his face was pale, and he wanted to cry without tears. “Your Excellency! Who are you…… “

Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but curl his lips. He didn’t say that this was the room used by the former crown prince, but only said that he would take Zheng Yue to stay in another place and to let him go out with him.

In fact, he deliberately communicated with Marshal Chen to complain in front of Zheng Yue, but inside, he had other thoughts.

Although Jiang Jianming was 80% convinced that what this person said was true from the perspective of the near death situation, it was still necessary to keep an eye out. He purposely called the old marshal in front of this uncle filled with righteous indignation, just to see his reaction. The earpiece was put on during the communication to prevent Zheng Yue from directly hearing the old marshal’s strategic decision.

However, looking at this Uncle Zheng’s reaction at present…..

Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but laugh, and thought to himself: If he really were acting, his acting skills would be exaggerated to the point of being extraordinary and refined.

Soon, the two walked out of the palace building. Jiang Jianming led Zheng Yue to walk on the beautifully carved corridors. Under the corridors was unmelted snow and the fragrance of rose that seemed to be close but not at the same time. Occasionally, intelligent robots with two wings floated past them.

For Zheng Yue, originally, he would never have the opportunity to step into the depths of the White Emerald Palace in his lifetime, at most it would only just be patrolling the perimeter. As a result, he felt like falling into a dream, he stared blankly for a long time before finally saying, “Why is the place…..why aren’t there many people?”

Jiang Jianming patted the small robot passing by smoothly, and said in a warm voice, “The White Jade Palace is classically decorated, but it is almost fully intelligence inside. Because the fewer living people, the less likely it is for evildoers to lurk in.”

Speaking of this, he thought of someone, “Otherwise, why is it that no one has seen the Empress Dowager Sylph in the deep palace? It is because there is almost no need for servants in the palace.”

(t/n: deep palace or forbidden palace=palace where the emperor lived in ancient times.)

Zheng Yue was placed in the guest room in the side hall. At this point, it was already getting late, Jiang Jianming then said, “Stay here first, move with me tomorrow, and we’ll investigate the problem you mentioned.”

Zheng Yue panicked, and embarrassingly scratched his nose. “Your Excellency, do you really want me to stay in the White Jade Palace? Even if you have a noble status, this is not…not quite appropriate.”

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. A room is built for people to stay in. No matter where it is built, its nature won’t change.” Jiang Jianming said lightly and used his authority to open the door of the room and the nearby monitor, “The palace occupies such a large area, and it’s already unreasonable to have more than half of it empty for 300 days a year.”

He turned around and gave Zheng Yue a mysterious smile. “But there are many secrets in the deep palace. If you see something unscientific in the future…..I mean, for example, people you think that shouldn’t be here…”

“Remember to tell yourself that it is not a big problem, and don’t be too flustered.”

****

After hiding Uncle Zheng Yue, Jiang Jianming didn’t have time to take a breather and eat something, facing the wind that started to cool down, he turned halfway through the White Jade Palace. In the middle of the journey, Kevin, the young man from the military academy, sent him a message and asked him why he wasn’t in the dormitory.

Jiang Jianming said that he had something to do and couldn’t give them lectures for the time being, and sent a few packages of files as a gift for them to write and play as homework.

After putting away his wrist device, he held together his coat and coughed twice lightly, with vacant eyes.

The sunset on the west was sinking towards the other end of the horizon. The sky was gradually dimming, time waits for no one, unresolved problems piled after another, yet it would be night again today.

More than an hour later, Jiang Jianming saw Garcia standing at the end of the corridor. There was a tall fountain pillar built there with gurgling water flowing at the top, and that figure was leaning on that white pillar.

Jiang Jianming walked over and stood still a few steps away.

At this time, the winter sky was completely dark, and the intelligent sensor lights of the White Jade Palace lit up one by one from a far distance.

Garcia didn’t turn around or looked at him either. His voice was very cold. “It’s late, what are you doing here?”

“Too many things got in the way, it had been delayed so late.” Jiang Jianming squinted his eyes, and from his perspective, the lights in the distance looked like a hazy patch of fireflies.

“There is nothing to say between you and me.”

Garcia was silent for a few seconds, during which the sound of water from the fountain pillar overwhelmed the breathing of the two. Until he spoke again, “Let go of your obsessions, this is my final advice.”

Jiang Jianming said, “An obsession that can be easily let go, isn’t it still called an obsession?”

“Then I can only tell you one thing.” Garcia’s tone became even lower, “Your authority in the White Jade Palace, it was actually been forcibly shut down by the empire long ago. I restarted it for you.”

“…….” Jiang Jianming remained silent for two seconds, then said, “Really.”

He then added, “Then…thank you.”

When Garcia turned around, only then did Jiang Jianming see that he was playing with a hovering robot in his hand. When he let go of his hand at this moment, the little thing flew away.

“Don’t thank me, I just pity you.”

Garcia had a piercing and cold sneer at the end of his eyes, “Whether it’s the immortal old man surnamed Chen, whether it’s the front-line general like Xie Yuduo, or the chief of the Black Shark base, including high-ranking nobles, ministers………..On the surface, they respectfully call you “Your Excellency”, but in fact, who has given you the treatment of a real crown prince’s widow?”

“Even this little bit of respect and being cherished on the surface was in exchange for your three years of forbearance and tactfulness. If you keep being aloof and won’t care, they will only leave you with a little pity. When the empire finds out about you overstepping your authority, who can protect you? Nobody.” 

When the robot flew by, Jiang Jianming saw the tracking red dot displayed on the screen.

He immediately realized that it was his position. In this magnificent and intelligent palace, his every move was easily monitored by the higher authorities.

Jiang Jianming closed his eyes, as if something heavy weighed down his spine, he gasped softly and said in a hoarse voice, “I know, I know everything.”

Garcia pursed his lips irritably, and suddenly said, “You……”

Jiang Jianming: “What?”

Garcia’s Adam’s apple moved, he frowned sullenly, and seemed to have swallowed something back into his throat.

“Give it up, go back to your room to sleep tonight, and leave the White Jade Palace tomorrow…..leave me. Don’t go back to Silver Big Dipper either.”

“The existence of Ryann has indeed dissipated in the world. I can’t compromise my position for you. The so-called truth is not something that you, a disabled human, can be in contact with.”

Jiang Jianming: “……Am I not worthy?”

Garcia looked at Jiang Jianming’s pale face, and he understood how hurtful his words were. He once saw with his own eyes Jiang Jianming’s attempt to go beyond and surpass the constraints of his natural race, and how he had come all the way with great effort and dedication. All of this was for the Crown Prince Ryann.

And now, against this Ryann’s face, he was asked to throw the scarred and fiery heart from his palm, and then step on it on the ground.

The sky in the distance seemed darker, and the clouds did not give way for a little moonlight. Garcia turned his head and no longer looked at Jiang Jianming, his long hair curled and unwound in the wind.

“You should understand one thing in your heart.”

When he opened his lips, he uttered the words very slowly, as cruel as delivering Ling Chi, “Originally, you were able to leave the officers in adaptation period early on and act as a formal Silver Big Dipper lieutenant because I wanted you to.”

(t/n: Ling Chi-death by thousand cuts)

Garcia caressed the Slash Comet on his wrist, this action was to imply to the other party–“you even throw your only remaining A-level mecha Snow Dove at the bottom of the river”.

If he couldn’t find it back, Jiang Jianming would only have the most basic M-IP 18 of the Silver Big Dipper that was available.

“Later, the reason why you were able to break the conspiracy of the space bandits, turn the tide and save hundreds of people, firstly, it’s because I have the ability to take a disabled human to the battlefield. Apart from me, no one else in the fortress would have such confidence.”

The gurgling sound of the water pillar fountain seemed to be far away, Jiang Jianming sighed. “…Yes.”

“So you see, you are not as capable as you imagined, and I will no longer take care of you anymore, there’s no place for you in the Silver Big Dipper.” Garcia said, “As for the situation of being abandoned by everyone, what method do you have?”

Jiang Jianming said, “I have no method.”

“Then there is no point in persevering. Even if you return to the army, you will only consume yourself to death.” Garcia lowered his eyelashes, and with this movement, the cold and cruel aggressiveness around him was largely restrained. “Enough, that’s all for my warning, you should go.”

After he finished speaking, he closed his mouth tightly. Although he allowed Jiang Jianming to go, he turned around and stepped forward first.

Jiang Jianming saw Garcia walking towards him, the two passed by each other quickly, and there was a very thin friction sound between the clothes. The prince didn’t stop. 

“Originally.” 

Jiang Jianming spoke suddenly.

“Even if my military achievements are not recognized by the fortress, and continue to stay in Silver Big Dipper for at least one year as an officer in the adaptation period,”

Jiang Jianming took a deep breath, and his cold voice was a little astringent, “It was you who said that night, ‘Come with me okay’, thus I simply went with you.”

Garcia’s pupils shrank slightly.

..These light and ethereal words seemed to have a special force, like a sharp knife cutting through flesh and blood, easily surpassing the ridicule and insult he had been brewing for Jiang Jianming for a long time.

Garcia’s chest heaved violently twice.

He gritted his teeth and didn’t open his eyes.

“If you leave me now, frankly, there’s really nothing I can do.”

Jiang Jianming continued, the slight astringency in his tone gradually turned into a vibrato, “I can only accept the ridicule from fate again like three years ago, and taste the knife personally stabbed into my body by the same person again.”

Garcia suddenly turned around. “What are you talking about!?”

“——I wanted to tell you, three years ago, before Ryann Kaios died, he personally bid me farewell and he also admitted that he had destroyed my life. He wants to sacrifice me for a certain purpose.”

An expression of disbelief appeared on Garcia’s face, before he even had time to refute Jiang Jianming’s “the same person”, he blurted out, “That is impossible.”

Jiang Jianming: “What’s impossible.”

“Because you love him.” Garcia said coldly, “It is impossible with your personality to fall in love with someone who would treat you like that.”

“Then why do you think I’m standing here now?”

The determined tone of voice made Jiang Jianming’s temples throbbed and hurt with anger, along with it was a burst of darkness in his eyes. He coughed twice, then sneered angrily.

“Here I am, Your Highness Garcia. You strangled my neck and pulled my ring, released crystal bones to threaten me, belittled me and insulted me with words, and said that you would abandon me, but I am still standing here, pulling apart from scratch these sentences with you, why?”

“You……enough, I don’t want to listen to you tonight.” Garcia suddenly became restless, “Go back to the room.”

Jiang Jianming was also annoyed by him, and he said coldly, “Kaios, you at present have no position to control me. You can leave, but you can’t keep me from talking.”

He went on like this, using emotionless declarative language, starting with his acquaintance and love with Ryann, and then talking about the sudden parting and death.

The former was mentioned in a few words, but the latter was detailed to the point of being depressing.

Garcia’s face became increasingly ugly, he tried to interrupt several times, but Jiang Jianming turned a deaf ear. He turned around and wanted to leave, but Jiang Jianming followed him stubbornly, always three steps behind him.

The prince was forced to listen to this suffocating story, and finally Jiang Jianming taunted him in a hoarse voice, “In the final analysis, why are you so opposed? After all, you are not Ryann, and you no longer cherish me.”

Garcia’s fingers were squeezed by him, causing the joints to snap lightly. He halted, then said angrily without warning. “Shut up! Don’t make any noise.”

Jiang Jianming: “It’s you who have been making noise, what a bad temper.”

“I told you to shut up…” Garcia suddenly turned around and took two steps, the space between the two was erased. With a violent and terrifying expression, he grasped Jiang Jianming’s arm and said in a terribly hoarse voice, “You are suffering from a fever.”

“………”

Jiang Jianming was stunned for a moment, “……What?” 

It took him a long time to frown slowly and come back to his senses, only then did he realize that Garcia’s hand holding him was cold.

“I said, you have a fever, don’t you realize it yourself? Jiang Jianming, you are a creature that can’t survive on its own!”

However, Garcia seemed to be completely ignited with emotions, his eyes were red, and he roared in despair, “Perhaps, are you using this method to force me? Are you so embarrassed that you only have such a despicable method left!?”

Jiang Jianming’s mind was buzzing, and he couldn’t think of what to say for a while.

He was a little dizzy and out of breath, but he was being constantly pulled by Garcia. He then heard the latter say in a trembling voice, “Listen, Jiang Jianming, stop here.”

“No,” Jiang Jianming shook his head, thinking that he would never stop here. He then heard Garcia say again, “Let’s make a deal, I’ll satisfy you.”

“I will go to Crystal Nest, I will fight against the empire, I will find the whereabouts of Ryann and the truth that you want. Whether this person is alive or dead, and what exactly is he and I, I will give you an explanation within three years.”

“In exchange, you must promise me.” Garcia’s wrists were tense, and he looked at Jiang Jianming fixedly, then suddenly took off his coat and wrapped him tightly.

Like a gentle hug–even if the prince’s eyes were as cold as iron.

“You will stay here and won’t go to the frontline again.”

Jiang Jianming raised his face in shock.

“Don’t take risks, don’t go crazy, stop everything you’ve been tossing about and let your life return to the normal track before you meet Ryann Kaios,” Garcia paused, and suddenly wiped the cold sweat on Jiang Jianming’s forehead with his fingertips, “That’s it, very simple requests. “

Jiang Jianming didn’t give an answer, his figure became thinner in His Highness’s arms, as if he was about to dissolve in the night.

He just stared at Garcia’s eyebrows and eyes in a daze, and suddenly began to cough again, trembling and quietly leaning towards Garcia’s chest, and an indelible sadness welled up in the bottom of his eyes.

Garcia didn’t push him away this time, but patted him on the back and asked in a low voice, “Why are you so sad?”

Jiang Jianming closed his eyes and shook his head, then said hoarsely, “I’m not, Your Highness.”

Garcia said, “Don’t call me Your Highness, I’ve said it before.”

Jiang Jianming stopped talking, but the trembling of his body became increasingly severe, and his suppressed cough also became increasingly worse, as if he was enduring a kind of breakdown. Garcia was silent for two seconds, and then said, “Forget it, you can do whatever you want.”

Anyway, when he goes back to Silver Big Dipper, they won’t meet again.

Jiang Jianming didn’t call “Your Highness” again, but just laid quietly in Garcia’s arms. After a long while, he stretched out his hand to smooth the man’s long messy hair and placed it behind the ear.

He said he was not sad, but he knew it was a lie.

The fact was that he was suddenly hit by great sadness, even when he first found out that Garcia no longer recognized him, even when Garcia spoke coldly to him, he had never felt such sadness before.

It came all of a sudden, the irresistible sadness.

It’s too late. Jiang Jianming closed his eyes, thinking sourly to himself.

He has already ignited his own life for this purpose.

And now, he can’t stop no matter what.