Chapter 28 - 3#

Rong Jiu’s eyes moved slightly, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, but the smile looked somewhat strange and twisted, with a distinct malice.

“Jingzhe, have you ever thought… that maybe I was the one who instigated the conflict between them?”

Jingzhe: “…”

Rong Jiu would always, at some point, suddenly reveal his cruel side in a very frightening way.

The thick malice in his tone was simply too obvious.

It was as if he was blatantly stating that he was the biggest villain.

So Rong Jiu’s family was complicated, and his relationship with his half-brothers was also very bad… although it was not clear to what extent it was bad…

Jingzhe rarely asked about these things.

Rong Jiu had mentioned it once in passing and never brought it up again.

Today was the first time.

Jingzhe cautiously glanced at Rong Jiu and was relieved to see that his mood had subtly improved.

Revealing past secrets is not always a bad thing.

Jingzhe thought for a moment and then began to slowly talk about his own past.

He rarely mentioned it.

Sometimes, after a long time, it was as if those things were forgotten.

He talked about the courtyard of the Cen family.

Lady Liu liked to eat peaches, so his father planted several peach trees in the courtyard. Every early spring, the entire courtyard would be full of peach blossoms. The tender pink color forged Jingzhe’s first impression of spring.

The spring breeze was gentle, and occasionally the petals would fall like a shower of pink rain. The little Jingzhe would always excitedly run into the peach blossom rain. And his mother would stand under the tree, holding Liang’er and smiling at him.

A small pond was also dug in the courtyard. Lady Liu put some koi fry in it. Although the pond was not very big, the koi survived and thrived.

Then they disappeared one by one.

Because Cen Xuan loved to fish. He could usually bear it, but when the koi grew up and splashed around, wasn’t that just tempting him? As a father, he would sneak out in the middle of the night to fish, and he would also sneak Jingzhe out to fish with him!

What’s the point of fishing by yourself?

You must have someone to praise and sing your praises when you catch a fish!

It was the age of admiring his father, and little Jingzhe’s reaction to everything his father did was “wow,” “amazing,” “father is so great.” Cen Xuan was blinded by Jingzhe’s praise and happily fished out all the koi in the pond.

As for the koi that were caught…

They were all secretly sent to the kitchen by Cen Xuan, and the cook made them into daily meals, which then went into the family’s stomachs.

Lady Liu found out about this because of Liang’er.

Cen Liang also liked to lie by the pond and watch the koi. She didn’t remember all the colors of the koi, but she always remembered a few. But the orange-red koi were all gone, and now the koi swimming in the pond were all yellow!

That day, Lady Liu’s roar was so loud that Jingzhe, who was copying books in the study, could hear it clearly—after Lady Liu found out that he was a little accomplice, she punished him by making him copy books in the study—Cen Liang lay on the table, obediently acting as a paperweight for her brother.

“How miserable.”

Jingzhe sighed.

“How miserable.”

Cen Liang shook her head and learned from Jingzhe.

And so the siblings both laughed.

Jingzhe once thought that he had forgotten many things, and that it would be difficult to remember things that he no longer recalled.

But strangely, when he opened his mouth, the words poured out of his throat continuously, as if there was a warmth that had been hidden in Jingzhe’s body all along, constantly supporting him, allowing him to remember his father’s embarrassing pleas for mercy and the image of his mother twisting his ear after so many years.

…How nostalgic.

Silently, Jingzhe lay on Rong Jiu.

Rong Jiu said slowly, “Why did you enter the palace?”

Jingzhe opened one eye.

He didn’t speak, just looked at Rong Jiu.

Rong Jiu pinched his face and said slowly, “You won’t say? But it’s not difficult to find out.”

He lowered his head, and his voice brushed past Jingzhe’s ear.

“The family fell into decline, the official father was corrupt and sentenced to beheading, the others received various punishments, and the mother jumped into the water with her little daughter on the way to exile…”

Rong Jiu was talking about the reason that outsiders knew. But when he heard the word “corruption,” Jingzhe still closed his eyes.

Rong Jiu whispered, as if he was bewitching him: “Jingzhe, what do you want to say… why are you unwilling to say it?” His palm rested on Jingzhe’s heart, as if with a firm grasp, he could tear his heart out alive.

His words seemed gentle, but together with his actions, they brought a strange pressure.

Jingzhe’s sensitive nerves were touched.

He frowned slightly: “Rong Jiu, this is my business.”

Rong Jiu’s cool fingers pinched Jingzhe’s face, squeezing his mouth into a pouting shape, and said slowly, “Jingzhe, do you know what happened to the last person who ignored me?”

Jingzhe’s pouting mouth couldn’t speak, so he moved and looked up. He blinked his eyes, asking with his eyes what happened to that person.

Rong Jiu: “Since his ears were not working well, I cut off his ears.” His other hand rubbed Jingzhe’s ear, and his index finger touched the sensitive ear canal, drilling in inch by inch.

The ear is the most sensitive place. Jingzhe felt the numbness and tingling that spread almost over his skull, and his whole body trembled.

It was a reaction that his body could not control at all. Fearing that Rong Jiu’s finger would drill in further, he grabbed Rong Jiu’s wrist and struggled, whimpering… his ear…

Rong Jiu finally let go.

There were clear finger marks on Jingzhe’s cheeks. Although the marks were slowly fading—Rong Jiu’s grip had not been strong, just enough to stop Jingzhe’s struggle—the glaring marks still made Rong Jiu’s eyes darken.

It was hard to say whether he was dissatisfied with its disappearance or strangely pleased.

Jingzhe: “And then?”

After he could finally speak, this was the question he asked.

Rong Jiu said flatly, “And then? He should be able to hear more clearly, right? After all, without the obstructive piece of flesh, isn’t there only a hole left for listening?”

Rong Jiu: “…”

Ha, a really cold joke.

He laughed awkwardly twice.

…

Intimate, yet distant.

This might describe the relationship between Jingzhe and Rong Jiu.

Their feelings were not shallow. At least the busy Rong Jiu would always come to see Jingzhe on the fifth day of every ten-day period, and Jingzhe, without realizing it, had indulged many of his quirks.

He had never been so intimate with anyone else, nor had he ever liked someone so much. The strong feelings had indeed drowned the sufficiently steady Jingzhe.

But at the same time, they were not completely intimate.

Jingzhe had no intention of telling Rong Jiu about the hatred he carried on his back, nor had he ever thought of using Rong Jiu’s power to investigate.

This was to avoid dragging Rong Jiu down.

This was the main reason.

There was also a secondary reason.

Although it was a bit harsh, it had to be said that their relationship was only a few months old, and it had not yet reached the point of life and death, where all secrets could be revealed.

He had never even told Mingyu, with whom he had survived in the palace until now.

Liking someone is one thing, but other things are another.

On this point, Jingzhe made a very clear distinction.

If he were not so rational, he would not have survived until now.

But on this day, he was a little sad on his way back.

Huiping noticed that Jingzhe’s mood was a little low and couldn’t help but ask, “Jingzhe, what’s wrong?”

As the person who lived with Jingzhe, Huiping knew more of Jingzhe’s little secrets than others. For example, on the fifth day of every month, he would take advantage of his free time to meet someone.

Huiping never asked who that person was, and if someone asked, even Yunkui and the others, Huiping would say he didn’t know.

But he knew that when Jingzhe came back on that day, he would always be very happy.

It was an undisguised joy.

But this time, Jingzhe came back dejectedly, like a little dog that had been caught in the rain, looking pitiful.

Jingzhe: “I think I made my friend angry.”

The friends on the side of the Department of Palace Services didn’t know much about Rong Jiu. Even Huiping only had indirect contact, knowing that someone would come occasionally, but he had never run into them and didn’t know what they looked like.

“That’s impossible.” Huiping blurted out, “With your temper, how could you make someone unhappy?”

Jingzhe rested his chin on his hand and said faintly, “Maybe he has a bad temper?”

Huiping laughed, “Then you don’t look worried.”

Jingzhe shook his head, wanted to say something, but stopped.

In fact, he could vaguely feel that… Rong Jiu’s desire for control was getting stronger.

In the past, their relationship was more like a kind of telepathy.

Jingzhe didn’t ask what Rong Jiu did when he was free, and Rong Jiu never mentioned Jingzhe’s past. But when Rong Jiu spoke today, Jingzhe suddenly realized that many things would progress step by step.

Desire is also endless.

When he accepted Rong Jiu’s violent feelings, it did not mean that the burning flame would be extinguished. It would only crazily devour all the love and hatred that nourished it and grow strong.

He sat silently by the bed and suddenly realized.

This was a monster that he had fed and raised himself.

…

Now, this was the third body dragged out of the Qianming Palace.

The smell of blood that assailed the nostrils had long been accustomed to. Shi Lijun’s face did not change as she stepped over the bloodstains on the ground and strode into the hall. However, the further she went inside, the smell of blood did not dissipate, but became stronger and stronger.

Standing in the hall was a person.

Most of the terrifying smell of blood emanated from this person.

The female official stopped a few steps away and bowed respectfully.

“Your Majesty, it has been checked. Apart from the three people just now, the rest of the people have no traces of Gu worms on them.”

Shi Lijun’s movements were even stiffer than before.

Usually, the Qianming Palace would not be in such a mess.

Emperor Jingyuan’s temper would not be so bad either.

…Yes, compared to before, His Majesty’s temper is much better now.

But today, who knows who angered this tyrant.

Shi Lijun sighed in her heart.

Don’t look at her serious face. In fact, she also had many emotions in her heart, but her expression was always so serious that no one could see that she, like Wei Haidong, loved to join in the fun.

But today’s fun was really too big.

It was really frightening.

It was always difficult to find Emperor Jingyuan’s whereabouts when he was not dealing with government affairs. Sometimes he would rest in the Qianming Palace for a long time, and sometimes he would disappear without a sound.

The people of the Qianming Palace had already been trained, so when His Majesty the Emperor slowly came from outside, Shi Lijun just smiled and went up to him.