Chapter 34 - 1#

Rong Jiu had rushed back from Shangyu Garden.

Hearing this, Jingzhe was stunned for a moment, looking at Rong Jiu’s appearance… Sure enough, was his feeling just now correct?

He had felt that Rong Jiu looked like he had rushed back from outside.

Jingzhe: “You… the news of what happened yesterday reached you way too quickly.”

He squinted his eyes, which were swollen like bubbles.

“It must have grown wings to fly to you, right?”

Even if Rong Jiu had bribed people around him, this speed was so fast that it made Jingzhe suspect that this person also had a system or something similar…

“No.”

“Who is it?”

“Won’t say.”

For every question Jingzhe asked, Rong Jiu replied coldly.

Jingzhe was angry and snatched back the egg.

Rong Jiu let Jingzhe snatch it empty-handed, then put his hands behind his back and said indifferently, “Don’t cry.”

Jingzhe raised his eyebrows and looked at him, feeling that his tangled appearance seemed quite interesting. He paused before saying, “I rarely cry usually.”

Crying is useless.

But sometimes people cry precisely because it is useless and they are powerless.

Things that could make Jingzhe like this were rare.

Feeling that his eyes were not so uncomfortable, Jingzhe peeled an egg casually, glanced at Rong Jiu, and silently stuffed it into his own mouth.

Eggs were a rare delicacy.

When Jingzhe fell as a child, his mother would roll an egg over the swollen area. The used eggs were also eaten.

But particular people would not touch them.

Jingzhe was embarrassed to give it to Rong Jiu. He finished one himself, silently broke open the second one, took two bites, and choked a little on the yolk, coughing twice involuntarily.

A warm and cool temperature wrapped around Jingzhe’s wrist. Rong Jiu pulled his hand over, lowered his head, and ate the remaining half.

The feeling of touch and separation made Jingzhe stunned.

…Soft.

He thought subconsciously.

Rong Jiu looked like a cold person, but his lips were very soft when touched, with a hint of moisture.

He suddenly pulled his hand back and put it behind his back.

“You, you came back, what about His Majesty?”

Jingzhe’s heart felt like a lively rabbit had moved in, jumping so much that he panicked a little. To distract himself, he began to bring up things he hadn’t thought of before.

Rong Jiu: “Does the Emperor only have me as a guard?”

His attitude was very casual.

Jingzhe: “…”

No, even if there were a hundred guards, there was only one Rong Jiu. Just like there were so many young eunuchs around Jiang Jinming, but there was only one Jingzhe.

Today he was in bad shape, and anyone who saw him would tell him to take a leave, but if he ran away directly, see if they would catch him.

Jingzhe: “His Majesty is really tolerant of you.”

Rong Jiu: “He is not tolerant of anyone.”

He said lightly.

Jingzhe looked at him nervously, and moved two small steps towards him: “I’m fine, why don’t you… go back?”

Actually… Jingzhe was not unmoves in his heart.

Because of this small matter, Rong Jiu rushed back from Shangyu Garden. But if it affected Rong Jiu’s affairs, then it was unnecessary.

Rong Jiu’s voice was cold, the end of the sound slightly curled up, with an elegant rhythm, “Driving me away?”

Jingzhe: “That’s not… you have important things to do…” He muttered in a low voice.

And today was not a day ending in five.

Rong Jiu pinched the bridge of his nose and said lightly, “Go back and rest.” He could see that the dark circles under Jingzhe’s eyes were actually due to exhaustion. “Don’t think too much.”

The last sentence sounded almost gentle.

Jingzhe rubbed his hands behind his back. Sleepiness did surge up, making him a little tired. He reluctantly said goodbye to Rong Jiu and walked back, yawning every three steps.

Back in the room, Jingzhe thought for a while, rummaged through the boxes and cabinets, found a stick of the soothing incense Rong Jiu gave him before, and lit it. A faint fragrance filled the air. In this small room, Jingzhe took a few deep breaths, letting the scent pass through his chest.

It was amazing. Originally, he was tossing and turning, but as soon as he lay down, Jingzhe fell asleep directly. This sleep lasted from the afternoon until the middle of the next night.

When Jingzhe woke up, he was dazed.

He turned his head and looked out the window. It was still pitch black. Looking inside the room, he vaguely saw a person. Huiping should still be asleep.

The night in the Imperial Palace was not completely dark.

There were always some places with high lanterns, but this did not include the Zhidian Si. After nightfall, those rooms without money to buy candles would quiet down. When everyone fell asleep, the entire Zhidian Jian would fall into the thick black night.

With Jingzhe’s eyesight, he could only vaguely see outside the window. There should be stars dotting the sky. Not many, but on a rainy spring day, such a starry sky was vast enough.

There was no moon today. Jingzhe lay in bed and watched for a while, then scrambled up.

He lay on the head of the bed watching the stars.

This was an experience he hadn’t had for a long time. Being held in his parents’ arms at a young age, counting the stars in the sky, and reciting the directions, seemed as distant as something from a previous life.

Jingzhe watched and recited silently in his heart.

Counting one by one.

Unknowingly, the east turned white, a hazy mist covered everything, and the silence everywhere was broken by the rustling sounds of early risers.

Behind Jingzhe, Huiping’s mumbled voice also came.

“Jingzhe, when did you get up?”

Jingzhe turned his head with a grin and said happily, “Huiping, I counted the stars for half the night. They were really beautiful.”

Infected by the smile on Jingzhe’s face, Huiping couldn’t help but smile too, and said softly, “Yes, the stars are really beautiful.”

He went out the door, walked under the corridor, and looked up at the gray sky.

At the junction of day and night, a few lingering stars were still struggling to twinkle. Huiping watched for a moment, then turned back to look at Jingzhe.

“Maybe, we can still see relatives we haven’t seen for a long time.”

Jingzhe blinked slowly and smiled at Huiping, “That’s it then. When I looked yesterday, I didn’t see anyone next to anyone. Maybe I wasn’t sincere enough.”

Huiping whispered, “That doesn’t matter. They will always bless us from the sky.”

Huiping was taciturn, but sometimes very keen.

He walked towards Jingzhe, rubbed his hair, and patted his shoulder, “Being well is more important than anything else.”

Jingzhe touched the corner of his eye. The moist and swollen eyelids from yesterday, after a day’s rest, no longer had that sore feeling.

He stretched his muscles and bones, stretched on the bed, and jumped nimbly to the ground.

“It should be so.”

Breaking down was temporary. He still had such a long life to live. Some things couldn’t be erased, so he could only live with them. But compared to before, his life was much better.

Getting better day by day, then the family still in the sky… probably wouldn’t worry anymore.

Jingzhe changed his clothes and walked out quickly.

“Let’s go.”

There was a smile in his clear eyes. Yesterday’s decadence was completely covered up, as if it no longer existed. He walked briskly with Huiping to wash up, and then picked up the broom and other tools.

When Gusheng, Shi’en and the others arrived, Jingzhe was already forcing Huiping to recite the Three Character Classic.

Not to mention anything else, Jingzhe still remembered the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic.

As soon as Gusheng and Shi’en saw Jingzhe back to normal, they were happy in their hearts, when they saw him turn around and bump into them, showing a happy smile.

“…You guys, the previous part, have you finished reciting it?”

Shi’en and Gusheng’s movements froze.

…This, this, this… hey.

They lowered their heads, looked at ants, just avoided looking at Jingzhe.

For some reason, ever since Jingzhe started teaching them to read and write, once they got lazy, they would feel inexplicably guilty facing his smile.

And somehow… with this turn and movement, the body started to learn automatically and consciously.

On the way to sweep, Jingzhe checked the situation of Gusheng and Shi’en, and finally felt relieved. It wasn’t too bad.

Shi’en: “Jingzhe, did you teach Mingyu like this before?”

Mingyu had been to the Zhidian Si once or twice, and every time he came, he would bring some food.

Jingzhe was not a stingy person. As long as there was extra, he would always share some with friends.

Jingzhe: “Mingyu is much more motivated than you two.”

Jingzhe naturally taught Mingyu to read.

At first, it was just because Jingzhe didn’t want to forget what he had learned before. Later, he seemed to get some pleasure from it, so he liked teaching even more.

At that time, the only person who was poisoned was Mingyu.

They changed several places for sweeping. Today they were going to the Imperial Garden. Besides them, there were two other groups.

This was arranged by Jingzhe.

Some places had less work, some places had more work.Taking turns was fair.

Today, the Imperial Garden was a troublesome place.

There were many flowers, plants and trees, as well as many mosquitoes and fallen leaves. In addition, from time to time, they might encounter a palace concubine taking a walk in the Imperial Garden. If they bumped into one, it would be troublesome.

The only fortunate thing was that perhaps because Consort Zhang and others had accidents in the Imperial Garden before, few people dared to walk here recently.

A number of people scattered, and without speaking, buried their heads in cleaning.

Jingzhe was used to these chores, and had calluses on his palms. The Zhidian Si was much busier than the North Wing. When he was in the North Wing before, he didn’t have so many calluses on his fingers.

He bent down to clean up the mud after the rain. Just as he managed to remove it, he felt the hem of his clothes being tugged, “Noble Consort.”

It was Gusheng’s voice.

Jingzhe immediately took a few steps back, knelt on the side of the palace road, and lowered his head to give way.

Now that few others came to the Imperial Garden, the only one who still frequented it was Noble Consort Huang Yijie.

It wasn’t a habit formed just now.

The Noble Consort seemed to like to take a walk outside when she got up in the morning, mostly in the Imperial Garden.

And she got up very early, basically coinciding with the sweeping time of the Zhidian Si.

Those who often came to the Imperial Garden to sweep were already used to it.

Jingzhe buried his head. After the group left, he hurriedly changed positions with others, trying to stay as far away from the place just now as possible.

Anyway, this Noble Consort didn’t give him a good feeling, and he instinctively didn’t want to have too much contact with her.

Just after leaving the Imperial Garden, the Noble Consort stopped.

Yushi, who was serving by her side, whispered: “Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

Huang Yijie: “Yushi, just now, did you smell anything?”

Yushi sniffed strangely and shook her head.

“Your Highness, this servant didn’t smell anything. Is it the fragrance of flowers in the Imperial Garden?”

It was spring recently, and flowers in the Imperial Garden often bloomed.

The palace staff who tended the plants also needed to come and prune them in the morning. Just now, they also saw many blooming delicate flowers. If there was any smell, Yushi could only think of this.

Huang Yijie shook her head: “No, it’s not the fragrance of flowers.”

At first, she also thought it was the fragrance of flowers. The faint scent was not strong, mixed in the fragrance of so many flowers, it was not obvious enough.

Huang Yijie walked to the door, then suddenly dug out a little familiar feeling from her memory.

She had smelled it before.

It was just that the scent was too faint, and Huang Yijie really couldn’t remember. But it could vaguely remind her that something seemed wrong.

She looked back at the Imperial Garden, keenly looking at the place that impressed her most, but the few young eunuchs sweeping there were not familiar.

…Was she too sensitive?

And Jingzhe, after finishing the morning affairs, washed his hands and returned to his room.