The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

He Dongchen returned to the mansion with a large batch of rewards. Shen Weining was directing the servants to pack their belongings, taking this and that, resulting in several carriages being filled haphazardly.

The palace they were heading to was over a hundred miles north of the capital, nestled among mountains and water, with extremely beautiful scenery, but purchasing things there wasn’t very convenient.

Shen Weining didn’t want the Prince to make do with anything. Clothes, accessories, medical books, chess sets, everything, both common and uncommon, had to be brought along.

He Dongchen watched Shen Weining bustling about in the messy courtyard, feeling helpless yet touched by her consideration. He walked over, led her to the table, and poured a glass of water.

Shen Weining gulped down the water, then suddenly exclaimed, slapping her forehead in fear. “I almost forgot, the prince’s tea set hasn’t been packed yet.”

He Dongchen watched her hurriedly trying to get up and held her back. “Let the servants handle it.”

Shen Weining smiled shyly, about to speak when a young eunuch ran in, hesitating as he glanced at her.

Shen Weining paused, quickly saying, “If you need anything, you should go attend to it, Your Highness.”

“It’s nothing.” He Dongchen shook his head, observing the unfamiliar young eunuch. It seemed like he had served in the Eastern Palace before, then luckily escaped with his life and was sent to recuperate in the mansion. He looked well-rested now?

“Your… Highness, this servant has an urgent matter to report.” The young eunuch, seeing that the Lady didn’t plan to leave, became increasingly sweaty.

“What is it? Speak.” He Dongchen said casually. Since coming here, he hadn’t been in contact with officials, and without any worries, he had nothing to hide.

The young eunuch gritted his teeth, pulled out an envelope from somewhere, and handed it over with both hands. Under Shen Weining’s suspicious gaze, he forced himself to say, “This is a letter Young Lady Tian asked the servant to deliver…”

Young Lady Tian!

He Dongchen fell silent. Why would the female lead, who was now deeply in love with the male lead, send him a letter?

Shen Weining fell silent too, then cautiously watched He Dongchen. Tian Weirong was the Prince’s childhood sweetheart, his fiancée of over a decade. Surely there must be some feelings left?

The room fell silent. The young eunuch was full of remorse, regretting why he had gambled on such a slim chance.

He Dongchen took the envelope, waved for the attendant to leave, and decided to have the young eunuch reassigned to retirement.

As he pondered, Shen Weining stood up beside him, bowed respectfully, and said, “I remember there are some kitchen matters I need to attend to, so I won’t disturb Your Highness.”

After speaking, she turned and left, the hem of her green dress swaying twice before disappearing around the corner.

The system popped up from nowhere, excitedly saying, [According to my precise calculations, she’s jealous! So…] A few items popped up above the little yellow dog’s head, all beauty and slimming products. It urged eagerly, [Quick, buy, buy, buy to appease the beauty!]

He Dongchen was speechless. The system really seized every opportunity for points, finding every possible way in.

He lifted his foot and pushed the dog aside, then opened the envelope by himself. After scanning through it quickly, he chuckled. “Should I say the female lead is overconfident, or she’s daydreaming? At this point, she still wants me to help her change her fate and start anew.”

The letter was filled with their childhood memories, attempting to evoke his sympathy.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the original owner.

Even if he were, he wouldn’t bother with this mentally unstable cousin.

He crumpled the letter into a ball and tossed it onto the system’s head.

“Destroy it.”

“Okay!” The system promptly swallowed the paper ball whole and wagged its tail like a blur.

Then, a mechanical voice sounded…

[Special item Trash Can used 1 time, deducting 1 point!]

This trash can could destroy anything, tangible or intangible, as long as the host could capture it. In other words, if the host was strong enough, even the sun could be thrown in for destruction.

Of course, the points required to destroy the sun and a paper ball varied greatly.

In his leisure time, He Dongchen browsed through the online store and found the trash can quite interesting, a handy helper for disposing of enemies, so he bought it on a whim. Little did he expect it to become a daily prop for the system to collect points by acting cute.

[Boss, are you really not going to buy something to appease the beauty?] After destroying the paper ball, the system continued to flatter He Dongchen, circling around him with a lively puppy face.

He Dongchen ignored it and got up, heading to the study in the front courtyard.

During dinner, Shen Weining, as usual, had prepared a large table of dishes for him, eating her own food in small bites, behaving well and dutifully.

As He Dongchen added more food for her, she thanked him politely. After dinner, she even proactively urged him to rest in the front courtyard to avoid getting tired from the journey the next day.

Apart from staying in the Mingyue Pavilion on their wedding night, He Dongchen spent the following days in his own courtyard. After all, he could see but not eat; there was no need to torture himself.

But in the past, Shen Weining would always try to keep him around for a little longer. Now that she was actively driving him away, He Dongchen felt somewhat conflicted.

He glanced at the quiet girl who was lost in thought.

***

The next morning, as the sun rose, a row of carriages was neatly parked outside the side gate of the mansion. Roughly counting, there were more than a dozen carriages for cargo, several for the servants, and one luxurious carriage. The caravan was accompanied by hundreds of guards.

Without a doubt, the luxurious carriage belonged to He Dongchen.

When he was about to leave, Shen Weining had already arranged for the caravan to be checked and ready to depart at any moment.

“Your Highness.” Shen Weining stepped forward to bow.

Today, she was wearing a relatively light red dress, with a jade hairpin adorning her hair bun, shimmering in the morning sunlight, exquisite and translucent.

“Let’s go.” He Dongchen naturally took her hand, leading her to the carriage. With one hand on her waist, he helped her onto the carriage.

Shen Weining let out a soft exhale, feeling the warm hand on her waist, her ears slightly flushed. She quickly lifted the curtain and slipped into the carriage, curling up in the corner.

He Dongchen followed closely, sitting next to her naturally, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

Shen Weining caught a glimpse, feeling inexplicably flushed.

“Bark bark!” The system agilely slipped into the carriage, and Shen Weining, who was feeling awkward, brightened up and quickly embraced the little yellow dog, gently stroking it.

[ So comfortable~] The system proactively placed the dog’s head in her hand.

He Dongchen’s face darkened, he reached out and grabbed the dog’s neck, then lifted the curtain and threw it out skillfully, all in one fluid motion.

The system was caught by the quick hands of the coachman outside, grumbling discontentedly.

“Little Yellow?” Shen Weining looked worried and couldn’t help but get up to check.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He Dongchen held her hand, then turned to give orders outside, “Depart.”

“Yes!”

With the command given, the massive caravan began to move slowly towards the city gate. As it passed through the bustling streets, the sounds of peddlers filled the air, creating a lively atmosphere.

Shen Weining’s mind was focused on the hand being held, her heart pounding wildly. She didn’t hear the sounds outside at all.

When she came to her senses, she found the surroundings had quieted down. The caravan had already left the city and was heading north. The population along the road gradually thinned out, and as she looked around, she saw lush greenery, tall trees, and distant mountain ranges. The majestic city walls of the capital were long gone.

The carriage was padded with cushions, but the rough road made it sway and jolt. Shen Weining soon lost interest in anything else, clutching her chest with a pale face.

“Not feeling well?” He Dongchen asked with concern. From a nearby cabinet, actually from the online store exchange, he took out a bottle of motion sickness pills, poured one brown pill into his palm, then pinched it between two fingers and stuffed it into Shen Weining’s mouth without hesitation.

“What is this?” Shen Weining’s eyes widened slightly. She subconsciously licked her lips and accidentally touched He Dongchen’s fingers that hadn’t yet left.

Boom! Shen Weining was stunned, her mind went blank.

He Dongchen smiled and calmly took out a green handkerchief from his sleeve, wiping the corners of Shen Weining’s mouth as she stared at him angrily.

“It’s a motion sickness pill. After taking it, you’ll feel sleepy. You can rest for a while, and I’ll wake you up when we reach the inn,” He Dongchen explained.

Shen Weining stared at the handkerchief, subconsciously touched the corner of her mouth, and responded lightly, “Then I’ll trouble Your Highness.”

The medicine took effect quickly. In no time, Shen Weining nodded off, her head eventually leaning on He Dongchen’s shoulder as she fell asleep.

He Dongchen adjusted his position, using one hand to support her shoulder to prevent her from being jostled by the carriage, while the other hand picked up a travelogue from the nearby small table. The book’s pages turned automatically every now and then without any wind.

The caravan moved leisurely and reached the first inn.

***

Seeing Shen Weining sleeping peacefully, He Dongchen didn’t call anyone, but carried her down from the carriage directly and went into the guest room prepared at the inn.

People around them dared not look up, but secretly exchanged glances, thinking that Prince Jing was indeed considerate.

When Shen Weining woke up, her stomach grumbled with hunger. Momentarily confused, she suddenly sat up from the bed, bewildered. Wasn’t I on the carriage? How did I end up lying in bed?

In the midst of her confusion, a maid entered with a food box, smiling warmly. “Madam is awake? His Highness is truly thoughtful, he had me bring up the meal.”

Seeing the familiar maid, Shen Weining relaxed. It seemed they had arrived at the inn.

Wait, how did I come in?

“Of course, it was His Highness who carried you in personally,” the maid teased, her face full of playfulness.

Shen Weining felt embarrassed all over. With so many people watching, they must think I was undignified.

Suddenly, Shen Weining remembered last year’s flower appreciation banquet, where when Tian Weirong left and accidentally sprained her foot, the then Crown Prince didn’t come forward to help, only instructing a maid to assist her.

Although this didn’t mean much, Shen Weining still felt secretly pleased. At least their current relationship didn’t require them to restrain themselves and avoid suspicion.

With that realization, Shen Weining’s mood lifted, and she eagerly asked the maid, “Where is His Highness?”

“Behind the inn, there’s a mountain forest belonging to the Duke of Weiguo. His Highness took people there for a hunt and caught several roe deer. Right now, he’s downstairs with the guards, grilling meat over the fire. Look, this plate of meat was personally grilled by His Highness.” The maid opened the food box, revealing a plate of fragrant grilled meat.

Seeing the evenly sliced and beautiful pieces of meat, Shen Weining’s hunger intensified. She quickly picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The savory aroma of the grilled meat mixed with the sweetness of honey, creating an incredibly delicious flavor. Shen Weining couldn’t help but close her eyes, savoring the taste, and her eating speed increased.

***

After finishing her meal, Shen Weining bathed and changed clothes. When she emerged from the screen, she saw He Dongchen sitting at the table in black riding attire, and her heart skipped a beat. “Your Highness, what are you doing here?”

He Dongchen tilted his head, looking at Shen Weining, who had just bathed, her cheeks flushed. He raised an eyebrow slightly, then leisurely got up and walked towards her.

Shen Weining instinctively took a step back. Normally, the Prince wore either blue or white, always in light-colored clothes, gentle and refined. But now, dressed in clean and neat black attire, his face, usually filled with smiles, turned cold, exuding a powerful aura.

She inexplicably became nervous, her fingers quietly pinching her skirt. “Your Highness?”

Originally, He Dongchen only intended to go to the bathroom to freshen up. But seeing her like this, he suddenly had a mischievous thought. He approached Shen Weining step by step, his aura dangerous. Just when her face flushed and her heart raced, he pretended to be a gentleman and passed by her, heading to the bathroom behind the screen.

“Someone, change the water.”

With a command, a few eunuchs waiting outside quickly entered the room with their heads down, not looking around. They skillfully carried out the bath bucket used by Shen Weining and brought in a new, steaming one.

The movements were quick and natural, coming and going with a whoosh. The last eunuch gently closed the door behind him.

Now, there were only two people left in the room.

Feeling teased, Shen Weining puffed up her cheeks, standing outside the screen, listening to the sounds of activity inside. Her face flushed again, and she took a deep breath, asking softly, “Do you need me to attend to you?”

After a moment’s pause, a lazy and casual male voice came from inside, “No need.”

Shen Weining breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a strong sense of disappointment welled up within her.

Sigh.

The system, which had slipped under the bed at some point, solemnly updated Shen Weining’s character profile.

[Character Objective: Wedding night.]