Chapter 33 - 4#

Tears fell like rain onto the ground.

He cried like a child.

Jingzhe’s heart was heavy. He patted Sanshun’s shoulder, but couldn’t find any words of comfort.

Sometimes he felt his own powerlessness, especially in the face of such suffering… whether it was Rong Jiu’s indifference to his parents, or Sanshun’s heartbroken sobs at this moment, people could never truly empathize.

Even the words of comfort he spoke, Jingzhe felt were incredibly shallow.

After Sanshun calmed down, he was about to see Jingzhe out. Jingzhe looked up and saw Lidong peeking over here.

An idea struck Jingzhe, and he suddenly said, “Sanshun, can you help me block Lidong? I have something to say to Qitui.”

Sanshun nodded at Jingzhe and then walked towards the door.

Not long after, he was dumbfounded.

Lidong was being carried on Sanshun’s shoulder, struggling and shouting “Let me down,” but to no avail. He was directly carried to the latrine by Sanshun.

Jingzhe: “…”

Very good, very strong execution.

He couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

He walked towards the door.

“Qitui, I have something to say to you.”

Qitui looked at him warily.

“You are no longer a person of the North Wing.”

“But I have lived in the North Wing for so long, do you think I would harm you?”

Qitui struggled for a while, staring at Jingzhe: “I really don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Having left this mess of a place, why come back.

He didn’t even need Jingzhe to ask, he already knew what he wanted to ask.

“The atmosphere in the North Wing is indeed not right. After Mother Ming pulled herself together, she fought with Grandpa De several times. I don’t know what Mother Ming’s purpose is, but she clearly wants the say-so of the entire North Wing.” Qitui said anxiously, “But I don’t understand, what’s so great about this small place in the North Wing to fight over?”

A person’s purpose will be reflected in their actions.

If Mother Ming was fighting for the say-so of the North Wing, it could only mean that there was something she wanted in the North Wing… or rather, something the person behind her wanted.

Jingzhe rubbed his temples. He never would have thought that the North Wing, where he had lived so quietly for so long, would have so many troubles in the past one or two years.

Qitui glanced at the bundle on Jingzhe’s back: “What’s this?”

Jingzhe said honestly, “It’s a few pieces of clothing that Grandpa De gave me.”

He took the initiative to untie it and let Qitui take a look.

Qitui recognized them. Several pieces, he had indeed seen Chen Mingde wear them before.

At this time, Lidong also hurried over, still carrying a strong smell, which scared Qitui and Jingzhe back in unison.

Jingzhe covered his nose: “Don’t come over.”

Lidong stood not far away, and saw the bundle in Jingzhe’s hand clearly, and said with some disappointment, “Grandpa De only gave you this?”

Jingzhe: “What else could it be?”

The smell on Lidong was really too strong. Jingzhe couldn’t stand it. After packing up his things, he waved at Sanshun standing under the corridor and turned to say goodbye to Qitui.

Behind him, Lidong couldn’t help but look at him again, but was blocked by Sanshun.

Facing Sanshun’s tall figure, Lidong dared not speak.

He wandered off to guard the gate again.

After leaving the North Wing and striding along the corridor, Jingzhe’s face became gloomy.

He touched the bundle on his back.

He guessed the real reason why Chen Mingde had asked him to come today.

It was probably in the things in this bundle.

Jingzhe hurried back to the Zhidian Si, went straight back to his room, closed the doors and windows, carefully put down the bundle, and took out all the clothes.

These clothes looked very exquisite, but they were also of the palace style, the kind that only a high-ranking eunuch like Chen Mingde would have.

Jingzhe touched the material and then the hem.

His face changed slightly. This was summer clothing, it shouldn’t be so thick…

Thick?

Jingzhe turned over the lining and felt another layer between the two layers of fabric. It was as if a separate piece of fabric that had not been sewn was sandwiched between the two layers of fabric.

He immediately took out a pair of scissors, cut off all the places that felt wrong, and took out seven or eight pieces of cloth. When he opened them, he saw that they were all densely written with blood characters.

When Jingzhe saw the handwriting on them, it was as if he had been hit hard with a club. He swayed and almost couldn’t stand firm.

The impact of that moment made his face change drastically.

This… this is my father’s handwriting.

It was Cen Xuanxin’s handwriting!

Jingzhe’s hands trembled as he held the blood-written strips, and his vision blurred, unable to see clearly. He blinked hard and wiped his face, only to find his hand covered in cold water.

He wiped his tears with his sleeve and tremblingly read the blood characters.

After he finished reading from beginning to end, Jingzhe clutched all the cloth strips in his hand and squatted on the ground, holding his head.

Even his body was trembling.

The tears fell patter, patter. He had no face to talk about Sanshun.

When Jingzhe cried, his tears were no less than his.

The clothes in the bundle were indeed old clothes.

But they were not Chen Mingde’s old clothes.

They were Chen An’s.

After Chen An’s death, Chen Mingde had somehow hidden some of Chen An’s old belongings, which eventually ended up in Jingzhe’s hands.

The blood characters were not entirely left by Chen An. The things related to Cen Xuanxin, and what was written on them, were also related to the Huang family.

The reason why the Huang family framed Cen Xuanxin back then was hidden in his home.

But compared to hatred, when he saw the blood characters, the familiar handwriting rushed towards him, so much so that the long-suppressed emotions could no longer be endured.

He cried silently.

…

Jingzhe didn’t know how long he cried. After he sobered up a bit, he struggled to get up.

He sewed all the blood strips back together according to the previous method, but not back into the clothes, but into the interlayer of Jingzhe’s old clothes at the bottom of his trunk.

Of course, these cut-up old clothes were also all sewn back together by Jingzhe to avoid leaving any traces.

By the time he finished all this, the sky had darkened.

When Huiping returned to the room, he saw someone lying on Jingzhe’s bed and thought he was not feeling well today, so his movements also became smaller.

Unexpectedly, the next day, when Huiping got up and looked at Jingzhe’s appearance, he was startled.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Jingzhe’s eyes were swollen.

—From crying.

And they were red and bloodshot.

—Yesterday, he did needlework with teary eyes, overusing his eyes.

Jingzhe said calmly, “I might be a little uncomfortable.”

Huiping: Is this a little!

This looks like a lot!

He pushed him back to bed to rest and hurriedly asked for leave for Jingzhe. Shi’en and Gusheng came in to take a look and were also scared, and quickly told him to lie down.

Jingzhe thanked them for their kindness. After confirming that Jiang Jinming knew, he pulled up the quilt and went back to sleep.

He had had many muddled dreams yesterday and didn’t sleep well at all.

Unfortunately, catching up on sleep was the same. Jingzhe struggled to get up in the afternoon and was dragged by Huiping to eat something.

When he went to Jiang Jinming’s place in the afternoon, the managing eunuch looked at his eyes, was silent for a while, and then told him to go back.

The older the ginger, the spicier it is. Jiang Jinming could tell at a glance that Jingzhe had been crying.

But besides crying, he didn’t know how he had managed to get such bloodshot eyes.

So, when Jingzhe left, he not only received comfort, but also two hot eggs.

—Jiang Jinming told him to take them back to apply to his eyes.

He felt that he was fine, but unfortunately, anyone who saw him would not let him do any work.

Jingzhe wandered outside for a while, planning to go back and eat the two eggs. Just as he was walking slowly with his head down, a cold voice sounded.

“This time, I didn’t scare you.”

Jingzhe held the two eggs and looked up to see Rong Jiu standing in front of him, a sword hanging from his waist, looking very neat and handsome.

For some reason, he had a cold and gloomy air about him, as if he had just rushed back from a long journey.

His cold gaze swept over Jingzhe’s face, and finally rested on his eyes, which were swollen like poached eggs. After a moment of silence, his fingertips touched the swollen and moist eyelids.

“Crying so ugly.”

Jingzhe was listless and decided to forgive Rong Jiu’s harsh words. He had no energy to jump up. He lowered his head and was about to walk around him.

He also knew he looked ugly like this… so don’t look… especially with Rong Jiu, such a beautiful person, standing right in front of him, the contrast was even more unbearable.

Rong Jiu took a long stride and blocked him.

His fingers deftly took the egg from Jingzhe’s hand and rolled it on his eye, “Is this how you do it?”

Jingzhe just grunted in a muffled voice.

Rong Jiu rolled the egg on Jingzhe’s eyelid. He kept his eyes closed for a long time, his head slightly raised, and obediently let Rong Jiu do as he pleased.

“What’s the use of crying?”

“Because it’s useless, that’s why I cry.”

Rong Jiu was silent for a while, and then said coldly, “Don’t cry in the future.”

Very domineering and cold.

Jingzhe opened one eye, “Don’t you like it very much?”

He was suspicious.

His feeling before should be correct.

This malicious interest.

Rong Jiu: “Only for me.”

So matter-of-fact.

Alright.

Jingzhe closed his eyes again.

It was unnecessary for him to say that.

Rong Jiu: “It will all be resolved soon.”

His voice was faint, but it carried a hint of sharp killing intent.

Jingzhe wanted to ask what would be resolved.

However, under Rong Jiu’s caress, he felt drowsy again. He leaned against him and almost fell asleep.

He yawned lazily and whispered, “Don’t bribe people to watch me anymore.”

“You know?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

Jingzhe gritted his teeth.

No matter how stupid he was, seeing how fast Rong Jiu arrived, how could he not have noticed?

“No.”

Rong Jiu said coldly.

A fragile life is fleeting. Even breaking a spine only takes a moment.

Danger is everywhere. If Jingzhe were to die one day, he must die at his hands.

By Jingzhe’s side, there was not just one eye.

There were countless eyes.

Like Rong Jiu’s externalized eyes, staring at him gloomily and paranoidly.

At all times.

Everywhere.

Author’s note:

(*) Quoted from “The Analects of Confucius”