CH 179

Half a month later, the Emperor announced that he was unwell, the Emperor officially abdicated and Sheng Cen took over as the new Emperor of the empire.

On the day of the ceremony, Tang Qi Yuan came to Orchid Palace early. Empress Xia looked very nervous and kept walking around the living room, while Sheng Xi and Yan Fei also came early and kept comforting him.

Only Sheng Cen remained calm, and when Tang Qi Yuan came upstairs, he had not yet gotten up.

Tang Qi Yuan was helpless for half a day before he reached out and patted him to wake him up. He was woken up and became angry, sitting on the bed with a black face and the hair on top of his head fluffy, not at all looking like the man who was going to be the Emperor.

Looking at his appearance, Tang Qi Yuan could not help but purse his lips and smile, reaching out to touch the top of Sheng Cen’s head and teasingly saying: “Your Majesty, how old are you this year ah?”

Sheng Cen frowned at him and said unhappily: “Don’t call me Your Majesty.”

Tang Qi Yuan thought for a moment, “Then I’ll call you Your Majesty the Emperor?”

Sheng Cen frowned furiously and gave him an annoyed look, suddenly reaching out to drag him to the bed and tickling him with his hand.

Tang Qi Yuan dodged while laughing out loud, “Stop it……I won’t call anymore ok……hahaha…… ”

Tang Qi Yuan has always been most afraid of tickles, sometimes Sheng Cen blew a breath behind his ears, he can be tickled to laugh for half a day.

But Sheng Cen did not let him go, pressed him to the bed and continued to tickle him, “Say properly, what should you call me?”

“Cen Ge…… Cen Ge!” Tang Qi Yuan could not stop laughing, and even began to beg for mercy without a bottom line.

Sheng Cen hooked his lips, finally satisfied and stopped, he smiled and lowered his head, his eyes looked straight at Tang Qi Yuan and did not move his eyes for half a day.

Tang Qi Yuan’s dark hair was scattered on the bed, with a few strands mischievously sticking to his cheeks, his fair face was flushed with scarlet, the tears from his laughter staining his long, slender eyelashes, the smile on his lips unbroken, the curve of his mouth pure and beautiful.

Sheng Cen’s eyes finally fell on Tang Qi Yuan’s sweet red lips, and he unconsciously lowered his head and gradually moved closer.

When Tang Qi Yuan had had enough of laughing and saw that Sheng Cen had not let go of him for half a day, he looked up and their eyes met and they unconsciously froze at the same time, Sheng Cen’s body froze.

For a long time, Sheng Cen was the first to remove his gaze, let go of Tang Qi Yuan, got off the bed, and went to the bathroom without a word.

“……Hasn’t the wake-up temper passed yet……” Tang Qi Yuan murmured, sitting up from the bed and reaching out to fix his hair.

He glanced in the direction of the bathroom and reached out to touch his cheek, he felt his cheek was inexplicably a little hot and his heart was pounding, as if it was beating a lot faster than usual.

When Sheng Cen came out of the bathroom, his face looked calm, and Tang Qi Yuan was slightly relieved, it looked like Sheng Cen’s wake-up temper should have passed, but he frowned a little strangely, he always felt that Sheng Cen seemed to be avoiding his gaze all the time.

Tang Qi Yuan couldn’t help but shake his head, his table mate seemed a bit strange today. He thought that although his table mate might not show it, he might still be nervous in his heart as he was about to become an emperor.

He walked over and patted Sheng Cen’s shoulder and said comfortingly: “Don’t be nervous.”

Sheng Cen finally looked at him and denied: “I’m not nervous.”

“Then that’s good.” Tang Qi Yuan nodded although he felt that his table mate was trying to be brave.

“Go downstairs ba.” Sheng Cen said, taking the lead and going downstairs.

Tang Qi Yuan was supposed to go down with him, but halfway down the stairs, he realised that his phone had been left on the bed during the madness earlier, so he returned to get it again, and Sheng Cen walked down first.

When Tang Qi Yuan came down, Yan Fei and Sheng Xi were nowhere to be found, and only Sheng Cen and Empress Xia were in the room. Empress Xia was tying Sheng Cen’s bow tie, his gaze comforting and gentle, even faintly containing tears.

Tang Qi Yuan stopped in his tracks, not wanting to disturb them, he was just about to turn around and leave when he heard Empress Xia smilingly say to Sheng Cen: “Now that things are settled, after you become emperor, you should find time to settle the marriage between you and Xiao Qi, then there will be no more worries for Mum.”

Tang Qi Yuan unconsciously stopped in his tracks and looked at Empress Xia with some surprise, who seemed to have misunderstood his relationship with Sheng Cen.

He opened his mouth to explain, but some tension inexplicably arose at the bottom of his heart, and he unconsciously looked at Sheng Cen.

When Sheng Cen heard Empress Xia’s words, his back stiffened slightly. He was silent for half a day, then he lowered his eyes and looked at the wrinkles at the corners of Empress Xia’s eyes and the few strands of white hair by her ears, and spoke slowly as if he had made up his mind: “Mum, you misunderstood, Xiao Qi and I are not in that kind of relationship.”

“……What?” Empress Xia didn’t react for a moment, she showed her dismay and stopped tying his bow tie, “Aren’t you guys dating?”

Sheng Cen pursed the corners of his mouth, and after a moment, a smile pulled up on his lips and he said breezily: “Am I crazy? It’s not enough to be controlled by him for so many years, but you want him to control me for the rest of my life?”

Empress Xia’s brow furrowed, and no words came out for half a day.

Tang Qi Yuan’s eyes blinked, not knowing why he felt a little uncomfortable and stuffy inside, like he was sick.

He turned around and went back upstairs, it seemed like it would be a bit awkward for him to show up in this situation now, so it was better to go back down later.

He sat down on the sofa in Sheng Cen’s room and didn’t move for a long time, his head was blank, as if he was thinking about a lot of things, and as if he wasn’t thinking about anything at all. When he came back to his senses, Sheng Cen was already standing at the door looking at him and asked: “What took you so long to come down?”

Tang Qi Yuan froze and looked back at him and said: “Coming……”

Sheng Cen frowned and walked over and touched his forehead, “Why is your face so white, are you unwell?”

Tang Qi Yuan avoided his hand and said in a very low voice: “No……”

Sheng Cen’s hand hung in mid-air, his brows locked tighter, but he was silent for a moment but didn’t say anything else, just stuck his hands back into his pockets and said: “Hurry up and come down, it’s almost time.”

Tang Qi Yuan nodded and followed him out in silence.

The ceremony of Sheng Cen’s succession was very grand, with national attention and unlimited lights. Tang Qi Yuan stood in the crowd, looking at Sheng Cen not far away, feeling both relieved and unable to help but feel some faint sadness.

He had always felt that Sheng Cen should be admired by all in this way and believed that he would be a good emperor, but as he looked around at the flashing lights of the reporters and the adoring gazes of everyone, he suddenly realised that both he and Sheng Cen had grown up.

They were no longer sitting next to each other at the same table every day, but two people with a long distance between them. Perhaps he had understood this long ago, but it is only now that he had to admit it.

After receiving the crown representing supremacy, Sheng Cen looked up at Tang Qi Yuan, his deep gaze full of expectation, just like when he was in high school, he would look at Tang Qi Yuan with such a gaze every time he achieved high marks, waiting for Tang Qi Yuan’s praise.

Tang Qi Yuan met his gaze and his stiff face struggled to tug at the corners of his mouth to reveal a smile.

After Sheng Cen’s succession ceremony, there was a dinner party. Everything at the dinner party was the same as before, as if there was no difference even without His Majesty, except that the object of everyone’s flattery became Sheng Cen.

Tang Qi Yuan stood in the corner, his eyes quietly gazing at the beautiful banquet hall, where exquisite murals hung from the roof, the walls were covered with carefully carved portraits of the emperors of the past generations, and the chandelier in the middle was brightly lit, illuminating the bright banquet hall, revealing nobility in its exquisiteness.

He smiled faintly, looked up at Sheng Cen, who was surrounded by the crowd, watched quietly for a moment, and walked out alone in silence.

Outside the room was equally crowded, with people raising their glasses to drink from time to time, but the air was well-ventilated here and did not give him an inexplicable feeling of suffocation as it did inside.

After Tang Qi Yuan walked out, Sheng Cen raised his head and looked at his back, his gaze sunken, he was so focused that he didn’t react even though the person opposite him had spoken to him for half a day.

Yan Fei looked up at him in surprise and followed his line of sight, only seeing the back of Tang Qi Yuan. He leaned closer to Sheng Cen and lowered his voice to ask: “Do you want to go and see Xiao Qi Ge? Xiao Qi Ge doesn’t look like he’s too happy today.”

“……No need.” Sheng Cen withdrew his gaze, his eyebrows deepening as he lowered his head and took a sip of wine, his voice flat as he said, “He doesn’t like such occasions and isn’t used to socialising, let him be ba.”

He looked at Sheng Cen and wanted to say something, but he was silent for a while and finally said nothing, only looking at Sheng Xi who was not far away and gave a bitter smile, his own feelings were still a mess, who was he to care about other people’s feelings, now that Sheng Cen had become emperor, according to the agreement, there was no way for him to keep Sheng Xi around anymore.

Sheng Cen lowered his eyes, hiding the emotions in them, and continued to talk to the people in a false manner, but there was a wry smile on the corner of his mouth.

Tang Qi Yuan’s character is sincere and pure. He shouldn’t be polluted by the complexities and changes in the palace, and he shouldn’t waste time dealing with these people with different thoughts. He can’t let Tang Qi Yuan become like his mother and be bound all his life, in this palace and its rules, like a canary with broken wings, gradually losing its freedom and happiness.

According to the rules, if Tang Qi Yuan married him, he would not be able to go out to work in the future, nor would he be free to go out to meet the people he wanted to meet, he would be bound by too many people every day using the so-called rules.

Sheng Cen tugged up the corners of his mouth bitterly, his little table mate loved being a teacher so much and was so caring, how could he tie him up in this cold palace?

Sheng Cen tilted his head and downed a glass of wine, his gaze sunken as he set it down and picked up another glass.

Sheng Cen was the main character at the night banquet and drank a lot of wine. After the banquet, he was walking a bit staggered, so naturally he could not drive Tang Qi Yuan home,  Fortunately, General Tang also came to today’s dinner party, and Tang Qi Yuan went home in his father’s car.

He sat in the car, leaning over the window and looking at the lights thinking in a trance, looks like it doesn’t have to be Sheng Cen sending him home.

He should not bother Sheng Cen anymore, he should learn to go home alone in the future, and also learn to go to work and leave work alone, maybe he can also try to take the driving test again, maybe this time he can pass it in one go?

Tang Qi Yuan thought dazedly and slowly closed his eyes, and when Tang Bo Te looked over, he was already asleep.

When he saw his son sleeping so soundly, he smiled lovingly and picked up a blanket and gently covered his son’s body. His family only had this one cabbage left, he had to take good care of it, he couldn’t let just anyone cheat his family’s little cabbage away.

melon: