Draft

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When Rong Ci and Su Jingyang's youngest turned one year old, Su Jingyang and Rong Ci left the young boys and went to have a drink together.

After savouring fine wine, Su Jingyang and Rong Ci passed by a small waterfall. Su Jingyang was very hot, when he saw the water, he happily ran off and took off his shirt to take a bath.

Once Su Jingyang was cool enough, he spun his head around, shaking off the water droplets. He wiped his face, put his clothes back on, and ran back to Rong Ci, but he found Rong Ci rubbing his chin. His deep black eyes were looking at him meaningfully.

"... Su Jingyang, did you also take a bath here a long time ago?"

Su Jingyang suddenly thought of something: yeah, he did bathe here before, and he felt like someone was peeking at him at that time!

But he didn't even know Rong Ci back then, so how could Rong Ci know about this!?

Su Jingyang quickly came to the conclusion that the person peeping at him must've been this dirty-minded City Lord Rong.

Su Jingyang squinted his eyes and shook his head, "The world’s going downhill, morals are declining. I didn't expect you, a scheming man, to covet me from so early on!"

Rong Ci crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "I was just passing by that's it. I didn't look much, if at all, I was afraid of my eyes going bad, why do think I only recognized you now?"

"You look at me every night, are you still afraid of bad eyesight!" Su Jingyang said angrily: "Then say, how did you recognize me if you didn't look carefully?!"

Su Jingyang was very persistent.

Rong Ci pondered for a moment, and said, "It was probably your hair flicking that caught my eye, it looks just like... a dog flicking it's hair."

"... Can't you phrase it better?"

"A very cute puppy."

".................." There's no difference, thank you very much.

Rong Hua, Ning Que

Ning Que saw the figure standing by the water from a distance. Black hair and red clothes, even his back showed hints of his indifference and coldness. He skimmed over with martial arts, and hurriedly grabbed that man's arm, "Rong Hua!"

Rong Hua turned his head and looked at him silently, he held his hand, "Why so nervous? I don't have a boat, do you think I have the ability to walk on water?"

Ning Que felt a little uneasy, he wanted to hug him, but Rong Hua lightly pushed him away with a hand.

Rong Hua looked at the seemingly endless sea and said, "Do you know why, when I came to the Ning Family with Ning Yu to see you, I stared at you blankly?"

Ning Que watched him and said, "Who do I look like?"

Rong Hua replied: "You somewhat resemble an old friend of mine. What's more, your names are also very similar."

After thinking about it, he continued: "But your personalities aren't similar in the slightest, he's very dull and seldom talks. His temper was also very twisted."

Ning Que's mouth became tight for a moment, but he smiled quickly, "I'm not him, but I probably like you as much as him."

Rong Hua stared at Ning Que for a while, his hair tie bobbed up and down with the wind, rubbing against his fair and bright cheeks.

"So if I think of you as him, you wouldn't mind?"

Ning Que said: "You also said that except for my face, there's no other similarity to him. How would you able to regard me as him?"

Rong Hua curled his lips, "I can?"

Ning Que put his hands on Rong Hua's shoulders, his stubborn eyes gazed into his, "You can bury your deceased friend in the depths of your heart, but I'm the one who's accompanying you in the world of the living¹, and I want to marry you as my wife."

He was already old, the word "Gu" had already been lost. He doesn't care so much.

Rong Hua and Ning Que stared at each other for a long time. Rong Hua finally retracted his eyes, he lowered his head and said lightly: "Let me go, don't trap me in this island. I really don't like it."

Ning Que's pupils dilated, he grabbed his hand tightly, Rong Hua slowly said: "Let me go, and I'll give you a chance."

"What chance?"

"In three years, I'll work on myself and heal these wounds. I'll wait for you to find me." Rong Hua said to him: "If you can find me, I'll have nothing more to say, and I'll promise to marry you."

"What you're saying is the truth?"

Rong Hua nodded, "Well, I give you my word."

"Good!" Hearing his promise, Ning Que was also very decisive, he responded, "Three years will be three years. After three years, I'll find you and marry you into the Ning family!"

Ling Li, Ming Zhan

Ling Li accidentally fell asleep while guarding in front of the sickbed. He had a particularly bad dream. He woke up and wiped his tears, only to find that the man who had slipped into a coma for a day had already woken up. He was sitting upright, slightly tilting his head, dark eyes looking at him softly and intently.

Ling Li happily called out: "Your Majesty!"

He was about to turn his head and announce the news to the imperial physicians but Ming Zhan stopped his hand. His voice was a bit hoarse, "Ah-Li sit with me."

"But..."

"Come." Ming Zhan took his hand, Ling Li tilted his body and leaned into his arms.

"What was Ah-Li's dream? Why did you cry out my name?"

"No, it's nothing." Ling Li dodged a little.

Ming Zhan raised his voice slightly, "Ah-Li?"

Ling Li raised his red eyes and looked at him, he then said sadly: "I dreamed that you were gone, I..."

In Ling Li's dream, His Majesty passed away at this age. Ah-Xuan ascended the throne and became the Emperor, and he was revered as the Empress Dowager, living the rest of his life lonely and deserted.

Ling Li didn't continue speaking, his voice choked a little, "Your Majesty, you must take care of your body. For this world, and for... me."

Ming Zhan sighed almost imperceptibly, he stroked his hair, "Ah-Li, it's been twenty years since we've gotten married."

Ling Li nodded, Ming Zhan paused for a moment, and asked, "Did you ever regret it?"

Ling Li shook his head vigorously, "Never." He really had no regrets, they stayed together for 20 years. No matter what feelings he had buried in his heart, he really wouldn't be able to accept the loss of this man.

Ming Zhan chuckled lightly, he kissed the top of his head and said, "Don't worry, the imperial doctor had already visited, he said that I've passed this hurdle."

Ling Li got up from his arms, he couldn't believe it at first, and then started weeping with joy. The hands holding him were shaking, "Really, Ah-Zhan, is what you said is true?"

Ming Zhan smiled: "I'm the Emperor, how could I deceive others? Let alone the Empress?"

Ling Li's lips trembled, his tears dripped down silently. Ming Zhan took him into his arms again, "Don't cry. In the future, I'll be able to repay the Empress, and spend the next twenty years with you."

Full Moon Villa, Ming Jiasheng

Mu Yun was outside the delivery room, anxiously pacing back and forth. It had already been two days and one night, but the baby still wasn't born.

He stood by the door and was about to look inside, when he suddenly heard the baby's loud cries, Mu Yun was overjoyed, he heard the midwife cry out: "It's a successful birth. Congratulations, Madam! Congratulations, Master, it's a daughter!"

Three days after the child was born, her name still hadn't been decided.

Mu Yun was pleased with his daughter, he couldn't stop thinking about her, he ran to ask Xu Mei anxiously, "Dad, have you picked out a name yet?"

Xu Mei crossed out another row of names on the paper, and glanced at him. "What's the rush? The most stable period for naming is a few months after the birth."

Mu Yun was ridiculed by him, but this time, he didn't care. Leaning over, he saw Xu Mei pondering for a while, eventually crossing out Mu Rong Hua.

Mu Yun said, "Mu Rong Hua's pretty good, why didn't Dad choose this?"

Xu Mei wrinkled his brows. He liked the name back then, but a faint intuition was telling him that it shouldn't be used now.

Xu Mei couldn't provide a reason, so he scowled and scolded him: "Do I need a reason to discard a name?"

Mu Yun replied quickly: "No, dad does these things casually, how can he need a reason"

Immediately after, Full Moon Villa's owner, who was reading and drinking tea, couldn't help laughing. Xu Mei put his pen and notepad down, "Keep on giggling, don't you see that I'm busy? Think of a name for your granddaughter, else you'll be an uncaring grandfather."

Mu Jin covered half of his face with a book, arguing in a low voice, "You thought I was obtrusive and drove me away."

Xu Mei glanced at him, and Mu Jin immediately put down the book, "Come now, come now, Madame, don't be mad."

Hao residence

A young man rushed over to report.

"Master!" The young man turned to Ming Jiasheng, who was lying on the recliner with a pale indifferent expression: "The young lady of Full Moon Villa has been born!"

Ming Jiasheng suddenly stood up, he stared at him with dark eyes. "Born?!"

The young man said: "Yes, she gave birth to a daughter named Mu Rong Yan!"

A daughter... Ming Jiasheng's face was full of horror, and his hands trembled violently. There was something in his eyes that collapsed completely,

The Demon Cult had no Lin Que, Ming Jiasheng was no longer in the Imperial Palace, and now, there was no Mu Rong Hua in Full Moon Villa.

Everything's gone.

Ming Jiasheng's cheeks twitched, he spat out a big mouthful of blood while gripping his chest.

Before fainting, the words the old City Lord said before sending him over came to mind, "Meaningless rebirth is just a punishment for you, but if you insist, then I'll be willing to fulfill you."

Rong family, Ning family

Su Jingyang originally wanted a daughter, but his fifth child was still a duo. No matter how Su Jingyang wanted a daughter, he didn't plan to continue giving birth, Rong Ci also agreed to this.

He and Rong Ci paid careful attention to it afterwards, but there was always a layer of tension coating his heart. It wasn't always a satisfying experience.

Su Jing yang had heard that the Ning family had many secret medicines. The pill that Rong Hua gave him to treat back pain was also from the Ning family. When Su Jingyang was pregnant with the fifth, his back pain returned with some episodes, after taking half of the pill, those pains vanished.

Su Jingyang ran to find Rong Hua to inquire and Rong Hua really found a pill for him. He only needed to take it once a year. It didn't hurt the body, but it didn't guarantee a complete defense. Su Jingyang was already satisfied with the effect of this medicine, so he smiled unceremoniously.

Su Jingyang came to Yi Shui this time with his fifth and fourth. When he finished looking for Rong Hua, he found that the fourth child had wandered off somewhere he didn't know. The fifth child, Rong Guang, and Rong Hua's son, Ning Zhi, was having a wedding in the yard. Rong Guang was a little more than three years old, and Ning Zhi was a little more than four years old. The two fathers were watching and enthusiastically acting as witnesses.

Ning Zhi put the wreath on Rong Guang's little head. The bad hearted little boy smiled and said, "Brother Rong Guang, you're my wife from now on. You can't marry someone else once you grow up, alright?"

Rong Guang was the most like Su Jingyang. He was very foolish and slow. When he heard Ning Zhi say this, he vigorously clapped his hands and happily said, "Brother, brother, then, can I kiss you now?"

Ning Zhi hadn't even replied yet. Rong Guang had already taken the initiative to lean forward and slapped Ning Zhi's face.

Ning Zhi yelped, and immediately yelled at Rong Ci: "Father!"

Rong Ci only smiled lightly, besides him, Ning Que laughed so hard he couldn't straighten his waist.

Ning Que asked Su Jingyang with a smile, "Fellow in-law, why are you staring at me like that?"

Su Jingyang narrowed his eyes: "....." He looked at the sly little pig from Ning family, then looked at the silly and sweet cabbage from his family². He finally knew why Ning Que inexplicably felt like such an eyesore when they first met!

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Notes:

1- May not be accurate

2- There's a saying that roughly goes: Farmer works hard to nurture the cabbage, but the pig steals it off in the end.

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