Little clingy one. (Part Two)
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Special_K
After the bath, it was time to eat.
In the main hall, Meng Huan and Lin Bozhou sat together eating dinner. Meng Huan kept his head down and stuck his small hands out from his sleeves, a little afraid to put them on the table.
His cheeks flushed as he remembered what Lin Bozhou had used his hands for just earlier.
To tell the truth, Lin Bozhou wasn’t too far removed from a male lead in a GV. Guiding his hands without the slightest hint of shame, he watched Meng Huan’s expression with eager anticipation.
—Huan Huan, use a little more force.
—Huan Huan’s strength is really so small.
—Huan Huan, move your hands a little faster.
“…”
Really, to be able to give such thorough, methodical guidance on the subject must make him no different than a pervert.
Meng Huan picked up his bowl and slowly ate, face hidden by his bowl. Then he heard a faint chuckle from Lin Bozhou.
Chen An entered to read letters and Lin Bozhou listened while eating, saving time while dealing with official business.
In ancient times, there was no internet, so communication had to be done through letters sent via horse and carriage, which was slow. The letters sent back and forth often hid many pointed words. Chen An began, “There’s a letter from Liangzhe saying that earlier, when the Imperial Inspector Xu made his rounds, he collected three million two hundred taels in salt tax, but he only reported two million taels in his record. He’s playing us, and there’s no sign of where the rest of the money has gone.”
Lin Bozhou chewed his food without saying a word, then he picked up a piece of fish and put it into Meng Huan’s bowl.
“Your Royal Highness, are we letting this matter slide or investigating it? Inspector Xu was someone recommended by Senior Cui, if Inspector Xu was to be investigated, the investigation might lead us to Senior Cui.”
Lin Bozhou finally stopped his chopsticks and said, “The national treasury is tight. Whether it’s military supplies, flood relief funds, or building His Majesty’s mausoleum, money is needed everywhere. This Regent doesn’t know what Senior Cui was thinking. Even after being an official for decades, it’s like his brain has decayed and he understands less. Or has he become used to satisfying his greed? With his cautious character, it is quite strange for him to dare swallow that much money.”
“Maybe Senior Cui really is getting too old and has become muddleheaded. Your Royal Highness, do you think there’s anything abnormal going on?”
Lin Bozhou frowned and shook his head. “It only feels like things are getting more and more chaotic. Though it doesn’t matter if he gets too greedy, since everything can be reclaimed after the searching of his house and confiscation of his possessions.”
Chen An nodded. It seemed that Lin Bozhou was already being clear about his intent to go after Senior Cui. “Understood.”
After that, he saw Meng Huan bite the tip of his chopsticks and look at Lin Bozhou in a slight daze. He looked like a hamster trying to eat this melon seed despite being unable to distinguish the flavor.
Lin Bozhou reached out and gently wiped the corner of his lips. “Huan Huan, eat properly.”
“Oh.” Meng Huan held a sparerib between his teeth and slowly sucked on the juice.
Watching their interaction like a doting father, Chen An read the next letter.
After the letters were read, Shan Xing entered the study with a copy of Annotation of Three Rites to read to Lin Bozhou. When he saw Meng Huan, he beamed. “Royal Consort.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Meng Huan scratched his chin and said sarcastically, “Why aren’t you watching plays right now?”
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“……”
Meng Huan snapped his head towards Lin Bozhou, eyes filled with a plea for help.
Lin Bozhou chuckled. “It is also good to learn words, otherwise…”
In ancient times, power was held by intellectuals. There were bureaucrats in the court and scholars among the people. Reading and writing were the foundations of wealth. After all, all the benefits were in the hands of this group of literati. If one couldn’t read and write, it would be difficult to find a place in society.
If he wanted to walk hand in hand with Meng Huan, he also needed the youth to take his own steps.
Meng Huan made a sound in acknowledgement then requested, “Can I just not do it every afternoon?”
Lin Bozhou nodded. “Sure, how about every other day?”
“Alright.” Meng Huan wasn’t as resistant anymore.
Shan Xing read aloud for Lin Bozhou. When ruling a nation with virtue, virtue was the standard and the framework for governance. Lin Bozhou could recite these contents by heart since his early teens, but he kept revisiting and ruminating on them.
Shan Xing asked, “Why does Your Royal Highness keep smiling?”
“The book is too idealistic.” Lin Bozhou said, “This Regent agrees with legalism and its public standards, concepts of power, and techniques.”
Shan Xing nodded. This was how Lin Bozhou governed. Confucian on the outside, Legalist on the inside; generous on the outside, iron-willed on the inside. However, most of the ministers were still followers of Confucianism, so even if Lin Bozhou disguised himself, he still offended a great deal of people.
Meng Huan could understand a handful of words of their conversation, so he barely followed along. Then Lin Bozhou started to recite an ancient text which he couldn’t understand, so he lowered his head and practiced his writing.
After Shan Xing left, Lin Bozhou began to write again.
Meng Huan looked at him for a while and asked, “Husband, are you tired?”
“No.” With the corner of his lips curved slightly, Lin Bozhou said, “The days keep going by, so this husband will have to do something with the time.”
Meng Huan widened his eyes. “Then what about me? I don’t do anything.”
“It is fine if Huan Huan doesn’t work.” Lin Bozhou said, “This husband is in this position where I have to do what must be done, but Huan Huan doesn’t have any burdens. This husband only wants Huan Huan to live happily every day.”
Meng Huan fidgeted, then fidgeted some more before sitting right next to the man. “Are the others working as hard as you are?”
Lin Bozhou paused in his writing and answered, “Not all are.”
His gaze, as he turned to Meng Huan, was amused, but a deep seated bloodlust hid beneath the surface.
“However, what this husband occasionally has to do is drive those vermin holding office without doing a stroke of work out of their positions and leave them for more enthusiastic and motivated people, even if they are too ambitious.”
He lowered his head and continued, “If this husband doesn’t work hard, this court will be like a pool of stagnant water, becoming stale and eventually falling into decline.”
Meng Huan nodded, feeling something dawning deep inside.
According to Lin Bozhou’s words, he was like the king of high-performers, and wanted to make everyone else reach for the top with him.
They were in a position where they enjoyed all the glory and wealth while doing nothing, this was why they got so much hate.
Meng Huan’s hands were propped up on the table as he watched Lin Bozhou quietly.
Perhaps he was indeed a minister with too much power like in the original book.
But perhaps…he wasn’t actually a treacherous minister?
When the brush stopped, Meng Huan yawned, exhausted tears rolling down his face. “Your Royal Highness, it is time to sleep.”
When Lin Bozhou turned his head, he saw Meng Huan looking like a curious little child who was sleepy but insisted on sitting beside him and refusing to go to bed by himself. He smiled and held his small hand. “This husband made Huan Huan wait too long.”
Wrong.
Meng Huan thought, with sleepy tears in his eyes, that the chances were if he was to fall asleep, he would still be banged awake by Lin Bozhou, so he might as well wait and sleep together with the man. After all, after transmigration, he no longer had to worry about waking up at eight in the morning for his first lecture, so it wasn’t a big deal when he went to sleep.
The two of them walked over to the bed and Meng Huan tugged at the covers. “Your Royal Highness, please.”
As he finished speaking, a familiar body pressed against his back.
Meng Huan stiffened for a moment before relaxing his shoulders. Lin Bozhou picked Meng Huan up so that his legs were off the ground, and then removed his shoes and put him on the bed, pinching his little feet a few times.
Meng Huan smelled the heavy scent of sandalwood on the other’s shoulder and buried his head in the crook of his neck, biting his lip as he felt Lin Bozhou pull open his clothes.
A series of ripples surged in, along with a deep intermittent voice, still gentle and calm, whispering enchantingly into his ear.
The ripples flowed into the merging point, then gushed out.
With a layer of sticky sweat on his forehead, Meng Huan felt Lin Bozhou’s palm on his waist, ready to move. His face was pale and moist as he persistently shook his head. “Enough.”
“Mmm?” The man’s voice was husky.
Meng Huan said, “Your Royal Highness should go to sleep.”
“Ah.” Lin Bozhou’s words seemed to trail off with rising interest.
Meng Huan stopped saying anything and desperately wrapped himself in the quilt, rolling himself into a burrito to avoid getting touched. “I don’t want it right now. Your Royal Highness said before that he would ask my opinion, so my opinion is no.”
“…”
Lin Bozhou seemed to chuckle softly, like a gust of wind.
“Alright, this husband will wipe Huan Huan’s body and then sleep.” Lin Bozhou said as he got off the bed.
Exhausted after their intense exercise, Meng Huan was so sleepy that he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He felt a hot, wet towel landing on his body, and the gentleness of Lin Bozhou wiping away his sweat and carefully cleaning his hands, just like the caretaker auntie at the orphanage would do when he was a child.
In the dim light, Lin Bozhou’s eyes were downcast. He seemed to be accustomed to supporting and caring for Meng Huan, quietly tidying him up, instructing the eunuch to take away the basin of hot water, then removing his own shoes and getting into the bed.
Leaning against the other person, Meng Huan closed his eyes.
Because he went to bed early, he also woke up early. The movements Lin Bozhou made when getting up to prepare for the morning court were very light, but Meng Huan still opened his eyes and saw Lin Bozhou carrying his shoes to put them on outside the door, so as not to make too much sound when walking.
Meng Huan froze for a moment. Feeling less sleepy, he also clambered up.
When You Jin saw him, he gasped, “Oh, the Royal Consort is also awake?”
Lin Bozhou, who was getting his hair combed by the eunuch, shifted his gaze.
“Huan Huan?”
Meng Huan willfully got out of bed with his eyes half-closed, went over to Lin Bozhou and squatted down to lean against Lin Bozhou’s leg. As he did so he yawned hugely, two hot lines of tears falling from his eyes.
After a moment of silence, Lin Bozhou said, “Go back to sleep.”
“…” Meng Huan shook his head. “I want to see.”
“What is there to see about washing one’s face, or combing one’s hair?”
It was dark outside the window, and because Lin Bozhou had to leave very early, several lamps had been lit. Meng Huan propped his head up, as he couldn’t explain what he wanted to see. “I just want to see.”
Lin Bozhou smiled again.
His wife didn’t seem to realize he was just being clingy.
He made an affirmative response and gently pinched Meng Huan’s cheeks. “Alright, Huan Huan will sleep after this husband leaves.”
Meng Huan nodded.
After freshening up and changing into his court outfit, Lin Bozhou was led all the way to the compound’s entrance by a eunuch carrying a lantern. He had been walking this dark path in the night for six years. The only difference today was that there was a little clingy one beside him.
He held hands with Meng Huan, who was still looking around with curiosity, like he was fascinated by the dark night.
At the gate of the compound, the carriage was waiting. “Your Royal Highness.”
Lin Bozhou said, “Huan Huan, this husband is leaving now and will be back to accompany you in the afternoon.”
Meng Huan replied, “Mm-hmm.”
Lin Bozhou leaned closer and pecked him gently. “Walk around the compound more often. Once you’re familiar with Shan Xing and the others, they can take you out to play, so you won’t get bored.”
The attendants and eunuchs nearby bowed their heads lower, as if they heard and saw nothing.
Meng Huan’s ears were red, but he nodded calmly. “Mm-hmm.”
Lin Bozhou stooped down and got into the carriage. He lifted the curtain and glanced back at the youth. “Go back, Huan Huan”
The carriage moved slowly through the night until it became a tiny dot, then it turned a corner and was soon out of sight.
While yawning and looking toward the carriage, Meng Huan didn’t know why, but he felt like he had fulfilled his filial duty to Lin Bozhou.
“…”
Meng Huan nipped this ridiculous idea in the bud.
On the contrary, as he watched the carriage drive away, welcoming and sending off made him feel that he had his own ties in the compound, and it felt…good.
Meng Huan laughed, turned and ran happily back to the bedchamber.
You Jin followed behind and was frightened to death. “Oh, wait, it’s so dark, ancestor—”
He had been serving Lin Bozhou for half his life, and now that Lin Bozhou had a wife, he had to serve this wife as well. Life was hard!
SO MUCH ADORABLE Behaviour
Cuteness is Huan Huan’s superpower. It is mighty.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME!!!
A raise and vacation for You Jin 😔🕯
Aw, Huan Huan is so adorable, wanting to see his hubby off to work so early
Thanks for the chapter!
Why is he so cuteee!!!!
I love it when he gets clingy, it’s so cute 🥹🩵
Pfft, silly and sweet Huan Huan… Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Thank You for the new chapter (๑´• ₃ •̀๑)
Lin Bozhou had never had a wife to bounce on or to fuss over him, or a child to bathe and tuck into bed, or probably even a kitten to pet and carry around and tease. Meng Huan is filling a lot of roles in spite of his new awareness that his husband works much harder than he does.
Huan Huan is so cute lol
I’m loving that his misconception of Lin Bozhou from reading the novel is slowly being fixed~ clingy, adorable wife definitely heals the worn soul of this regent uwu)b
Lol, is Huan Huan making him sleep more? Huan Huan for president 2024
He’s so cute babe~~~💔😭🥺
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚