Volume Five: Those Years When I Was the Prime Minister
To Call You Warmth
Sheng Tingwan looked at the pieces on the chessboard and paused. “You two… Gomoku1?”
Wen Nuan2 sat over. “Yes, this commoner and Military Doctor Fang are playing Gomoku.”
“You taught him?”
The corner of Wen Nuan’s mouth lifted in a barely perceptible smile. “Yes. This commoner finds Go3 uninteresting, so I taught Military Doctor Fang how to play Gomoku. Is there anything wrong with that?”
Of course not! In all the world, no one knows how to play Gomoku except for her and Ling Wen Nuan. It was clearly a secret between the two of them, so why would Ling Wen Nuan teach it to someone else?!
She hadn’t even taught Shen Zhijin when he wanted to learn.
Could it be that Ling Wen Nuan has taken a liking to Fang Minghe?
At this thought, Sheng Tingwan’s fingertip slid lightly across the chessboard.
【Blackening Value is rising. The female lead’s current Blackening Value is 7.9!】the System sighed, 【The Blackening Value that you worked so hard to lower these past few days, you’ve raised it right back up for me.】
“Slowly, no rush.”
Ever since Wen Nuan learned that the person whose Blackening Value needed to be lowered in every world was “her,” she was no longer in such a hurry.
Sheng Tingwan narrowed her eyes. She swept the pieces on the board back into the chess bowls. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Teach him if you want to teach him.”
What could she say? What right did she have to make demands of Ling Wen Nuan?
Wen Nuan glanced at her. Sheng Tingwan’s sulky, tsundere-like4 appearance was simply too obvious.
She silently hooked the corner of her lips. “Does Your Majesty wish to play with the white stones or the black stones?”
Sheng Tingwan pushed the white bowl at her side over, looking at the black bowl next to Wen Nuan. “I’ll use the black stones.”
“Alright,” Wen Nuan passed the black bowl over, took the white bowl, and gestured with her hand, “Your Majesty goes first.”
Sheng Tingwan played a black stone, placing it on the Tengen point5.
Wen Nuan played a white stone, placing it on the star point6 to the upper right of the black stone.
Sheng Tingwan looked at where Wen Nuan had placed her stone, then played a black stone to the left of the white one. “Why place it so… far away?”
Why did you have to come to Xizhou, the state furthest from the capital?
Wen Nuan placed her stone next to the black one. “The view is wide, one can see the situation clearly.”
Xizhou may be far, but from here, I can protect the Tianyang Kingdom.
When Wen Nuan had first returned to this mission world, she wasn’t in Xizhou, but in Qiuning City, several dozen kilometers away. She knew the main storyline of the world, knew that the Tianyang Kingdom’s grand army would be annihilated in Xizhou, so she had deliberately rushed here to offer Sheng Tingwan her apologies.
Sheng Tingwan’s feathered lashes trembled. She played a black stone above the white one. “This place is too far from the Tengen point. There is no room to maneuver.”
Xizhou is remote and barren, a place of wild weeds and desolate smoke, of flying sand and swirling gravel. Blizzards rage, and the cold nights freeze one’s very blood and bones. You, who reside high in the imperial court, standing in the morning sun, have never been touched by frost or snow. How could you possibly endure the desolation here?
Wen Nuan placed a white stone to the right of the black one. “How could there be no direction? The white stone has been watching the Tengen point from the very beginning.”
“But it’s getting farther and farther away.” Sheng Tingwan played a black stone, blocking the upper-right corner of the white stone’s path.
“It’s not far,” Wen Nuan played a white stone below. “As long as the black player shows mercy.”
“A pity,” Sheng Tingwan blocked the white stone’s escape route without hesitation. “The black player… is too black-hearted.”
Wen Nuan smiled. “Then the white stone will voluntarily return to Tengen point.” [LP: The original text uses 天云 (Tiānyún, “sky cloud”), which is likely a typo for 天元 (Tiānyuán, “Tengen point”), continuing the metaphor of returning to the center/capital.]
She placed a white stone to the left of the black stone Sheng Tingwan had just played on the Tengen point.
Sheng Tingwan’s hand, placing the stone, trembled. She played a black stone to the right of her own piece and said in a low voice, “…Things are the same, but people are not7.”
“Things are…” Wen Nuan did not block the black stone’s path, but continued to play her own. “…but the people are not necessarily gone.”
Seeing that Wen Nuan didn’t block her, Sheng Tingwan tentatively played a black stone on the path that would most quickly form a “five-in-a-row.” “But we are already… turning our backs to the road and galloping8.”
“Only once,” Wen Nuan still did not intercept Sheng Tingwan’s black stone. [LP: The original text says “white stone” (白棋), which is a likely typo. Sheng Tingwan is playing with black stones (黑棋), so Wen Nuan would be intercepting the black stones.]
Sheng Tingwan looked at the board. At this moment, she only needed to place one more black stone to achieve victory, and throughout this process, Wen Nuan had never once tried to block her.
She placed the black stone down. The outcome was set. “Why didn’t you block me?”
Wen Nuan put down the white stone in her hand. “I wanted to play another round.”
She looked at the astonished Sheng Tingwan, the corner of her mouth lifting. “Your Majesty, care for another round?”
Sheng Tingwan lowered her head, but her earlobes quietly turned red. “…S-sure… let’s play.”
Why did you have to lose to me on purpose?! Clearly, every time we played Gomoku before, you were so aggressive you’d slaughter me until not a single piece of armor remained9. But now, you go easy on me10 once, and it makes a person so… so heart vexed, thoughts disordered.
Sheng Tingwan watched Wen Nuan clear the board, feeling wronged. She had thought Wen Nuan did it on purpose, specifically to coax her and make her happy, but she never expected it was just to get her to keep playing?!
“Are you happy?”
Sheng Tingwan was still grumbling about Wen Nuan internally. Hearing her question, she froze for a moment. “What?”
“You won. Are you happy?”
“Though it was a victory without honor, but…” Sheng Tingwan deliberately tried to provoke her, “I won, so of course I’m happy.”
Wen Nuan smiled. “That’s good, then.”
“What do you mean?”
Wen Nuan raised her eyes to look at her, those captivating peach blossom eyes11 shimmering with a watery light, and said with a soft, faint smile, “As long as you’re happy.”
“….”
Sheng Tingwan, as if she’d been scalded, quickly lowered her head, not daring to meet Wen Nuan’s gaze. She frantically placed a black stone down. “Let’s play. This time… this time you’re not allowed to let me win again.”
“Alright.”
The night was still long, but the people were tired.
In a pause between placing stones, Wen Nuan saw Sheng Tingwan sleeping with her hand against her forehead, eyes closed. There were faint, dark shadows under her eyes12. She definitely hadn’t slept well these past few days.
Wen Nuan thought of Shen Zhijin’s delicate gasps from the past few days and suddenly let out a small laugh.
Speaking of tired, Shen Zhijin was probably even more tired.
But, he should be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
Wen Nuan walked to Sheng Tingwan’s side, slid one arm around her waist and the other under the crook of her knees, and lifted her up, gently placing her on the bed.
She lay down beside her, touching her still-icy hands.
Wen Nuan sighed deeply. “Is there no way to completely get rid of this problem?”
【Maybe the scar on her chest is still there,】 the System also sighed, 【This is voluntary. Just like the tattoo on your body, if you don’t want to remove it, we won’t automatically remove it for you.】
Speaking of the tattoo, Wen Nuan pulled open her collar, looking at the rose on her right breast, which was already stained red all the way to the top of its stem.
“To this day, I still don’t know why this rose moved from my thigh to my chest.”
Other than the searing pain brought on by a fever once or twice in each world, it was completely unresponsive the rest of the time.
And now, Wen Nuan had finally figured out why the rose on her chest was always scorching hot: because she was moved by “her,” time and time again.
The late autumn sunlight spilled over the vast, wild mountains.
Specks of faint light filtered into the tent, landing on her brow and eyes, causing her to furrow her brows.
Sheng Tingwan raised a hand to shield her eyes. Her nose twitched slightly as she caught a familiar, clean fragrance, as faint as mist.
Sunlight fell through the gaps between her fingers. Sheng Tingwan took a moment to adjust to the brightness.
Consciousness gradually returned.
She clearly remembered that her own bed wasn’t supposed to be hit by such strong sunlight. Could it be that Shen Zhijin had switched sleeping spots with her?!
No, wait. Wasn’t she playing chess with Ling Wen Nuan?
How did she get back to the tent?
Why didn’t she have any memory of it at all?
“What’s wrong?” a low, husky voice sounded by her ear. “Is the sunlight too harsh?”
Sheng Tingwan looked at the palm shielding her eyes. It was as fair as jade, with slender, long fingers, and the faint blue veins showing were just right.
That wasn’t her hand!
And it couldn’t be Shen Zhijin’s hand either!?
That voice—
Sheng Tingwan whipped around, looking in disbelief at Ling Wen Nuan in front of her, sharing the same pillow, their faces a mere breath apart.
She could see her pert eyelashes, her high-bridged nose, and the faint pink blush showing through her fair skin, like a piece of the finest-quality jade.
Her gaze drifted down, landing on her crimson lips, which were like a red plum blossom in winter that outshines all other flowers, exuding a subtle fragrance.
Sheng Tingwan subconsciously swallowed, and with a sudden realization of how close they were, she shot up with a whoosh.
Wen Nuan also sat up. Seeing the faint blush on Sheng Tingwan’s cheeks, a hint of a smile appeared in her eyes as she feigned confusion, “What is it, Your Majesty? Did you have a nightmare?”
Sheng Tingwan realized they were actually lying in the same bed, under the same blanket—if she hadn’t been mistaken just now.
She had actually been sleeping in Wen Nuan’s arms!?
“Why… why were… we sleeping… together?” Sheng Tingwan asked, her expression terrified as she stammered.
“Last night, Your Majesty was tired, so this commoner carried you to the bed to rest.”
“You carried me?!” Sheng Tingwan’s tone rose, her eyes wide. “Why was I… in your arms?”
“It was cold late at night, and Your Majesty kept calling out that you were cold. This commoner could only use my own body to warm Your Majesty,” Wen Nuan’s brows furrowed, and she pressed her lips together. “Although this commoner’s status is lowly, I truly could not bear to see Your Majesty sleeping uncomfortably, so I audaciously held the sacred body13, Please, Your Majesty, bestow punishment.”
Just as she was about to get out of bed and kneel, Sheng Tingwan grabbed her clothes. She quickly accepted Wen Nuan’s reasoning, and upon hearing that Wen Nuan had used her own body to warm her, her cheeks grew even redder.
She sighed to herself. “N-no need. I won’t punish you. You were also doing it for… my own good.”
“Your Majesty is enlightened. This commoner thanks Your Majesty for pardoning me.” Wen Nuan breathed a sigh of relief.
Sheng Tingwan saw Wen Nuan raise her hand, her fingertips brushing a stray strand of hair from her brow as she said softly, “A hair has fallen here.”
“…” Sheng Tingwan felt a violent, deafening pounding in her chest14.
She turned her head away. Seeing her clothes were still on, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, yet a trace of disappointment welled up in her heart.
Sheng Tingwan got up and took her clothes from the rack nearby.
“Shall this commoner help Your Majesty dress?” Wen Nuan got off the bed and reached out her hands.
Sheng Tingwan paused, then handed the clothes to her, spreading her arms to let Wen Nuan dress her.
The sash was tied, and Wen Nuan fastened the jade hairpin for Sheng Tingwan. “There, Your Majesty.”
Sheng Tingwan looked at the sash and snorted softly. “I never knew you had this kind of… skill.”
“When one wanders the four corners of the earth15, one sees much and learns much,” Wen Nuan smiled. “If Your Majesty likes it, this commoner can tie it for Your Majesty often in the future.”
Tying my sash?!
How could you tie it often?
Could it be that you could enter the palace and become Zhen’s Phoenix Consort16?
At this thought, Sheng Tingwan was startled by her own idea. She dodged Wen Nuan’s gaze and turned to walk out.
Reaching the doorway, Sheng Tingwan spoke without turning back, “I don’t like you calling yourself ‘this commoner’.”
The corner of Wen Nuan’s mouth hooked up. “Oh17? What would Your Majesty have this commoner call myself?”
Sheng Tingwan pulled open the fabric curtain, and in the instant she stepped out, she said, “…Wen Nuan.”
Just as it was in the beginning, you are still Ling Wen Nuan, and can still always be by my side.
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