Chapter 38 - 2#
The casual words, as if talking about something as trivial as the weather, made Jingzhe freeze on the spot.
His fingers trembled slightly for a moment, then he clenched them into fists and held them in his arms.
Jingzhe said softly: “Rong Jiu, what are you talking about for no reason?”
“Huang Qingtian’s biggest trouble is not that corruption case, but that he interfered with the national treasury and touched the military supplies; but what made it difficult for him to defend himself and unavoidable was because of the corruption case. The corruption case is related to Cen Xuanyin. If this matter can really be overturned, then naturally…”
“The matter of the Cen family back then was the late emperor’s judgment.” Jingzhe calmly interrupted Rong Jiu’s words, “Even if Huang Qingtian is imprisoned, even if there is some evidence. It was indeed found from my home, but which of these officials would dare to touch the late emperor’s judgment?”
The late emperor is dead, and it is difficult to pursue the affairs of the past, let alone the ruler of the world.
Jingzhe has been in the harem for many years and knows little about court affairs, but he has a keen judgment on how they will do things…
They won’t.
They don’t dare.
Except for Jingzhe, everyone in the Cen family died, and Jingzhe entered the imperial palace and became a eunuch.
Even if the Cen family’s case could be overturned, if Jingzhe left the imperial palace, he would only be a eunuch for the rest of his life. But whether to leave the palace or not was not his choice.
“Rong Jiu, people like me can’t think about ‘if it’s possible’.” Jingzhe’s tone was very calm, even a little cold, “It’s not good for me.”
If you imagine too much, you will easily have delusions.
To think about things that cannot be.
Jingzhe would never have such a dream. If the dream was too beautiful, the fall would be even more tragic.
Jingzhe: “The Empress Dowager tried to assassinate His Majesty through Huang Yijie. The failure of this matter will undoubtedly accelerate the decline of the Huang family. If everything goes smoothly, Huang Qingtian will be imprisoned, the Cen family’s case will be overturned, my father’s bones will be buried, and I will at most get some rewards as a comfort, and this matter will end like this.”
As for leaving the palace, it’s not impossible, but the hope is slim.
The biggest possibility is just more promotions.
Leaving the palace is not necessarily a good thing.
If he left the palace, not to mention the trouble of the system on him, Jingzhe still remembered that the system had said that Emperor Jingyuan would burn all the clansmen in a frenzy.
Then the iron cavalry entered the pass, and there was no need to say more about all kinds of things.
It’s better to stay in the palace.
It has to be said that Jingzhe saw this matter very clearly.
Most of the scenes he described were things that might happen or were happening.
After he finished speaking, he seemed to feel that his tone was a bit cold, and he scratched his hair in embarrassment, and said softly: “But thank you, Rong Jiu. If you hadn’t bought the courtyard and helped me find…”
“The land deed was given to you, it’s yours. The evidence was found because you wanted to find it.” Rong Jiu said lightly, “It has nothing to do with me.”
Jingzhe couldn’t help but laugh, and the restrained coldness dissipated, becoming a little funny, “But the evidence, after all, was handed over to the emperor by you.” His voice was very firm.
Having evidence is useless.
Whether it was his father’s past experience or Jingzhe’s current strength, if Rong Jiu hadn’t helped, even if Jingzhe had found the evidence through hardships, he would not have been able to find anyone who could accept this evidence.
What kind of person is Huang Qingtian?
He is the Empress Dowager’s own brother, one of the six ministers, and the next one to enter the cabinet, a person on the list.
Who would believe Jingzhe?
Even Cen Xuanyin back then, holding this clear evidence, couldn’t find a way to break the situation for himself.
A higher official can crush a lower one.
How can the Cen family compare to the Huang family?
If Rong Jiu hadn’t helped in this, it would have been harder than climbing to the sky for Jingzhe to send this evidence out on his own.
“I don’t like it, don’t thank me.”
Rong Jiu pinched Jingzhe’s face. His two fingers had a faint fragrance, and the drooping fabric revealed the plain white bandage on his wrist.
Jingzhe was about to say something more, but looking at Rong Jiu’s wrist, he forgot for a moment and hugged his hand, “Is this… the injury you mentioned just now?”
Just looking at the size of the bandage, it was by no means a trivial matter.
Jingzhe frowned, a little annoyed. If it was as serious as Rong Jiu said, and he could still rest in such a severe situation, how serious could this wound be?
Why didn’t he react just now?
“This injury has reached the forearm, and you still say it’s not serious?” Jingzhe frowned, his voice a little anxious, “Did I really bite this?”
Were his teeth really that good?
Rong Jiu: “I bit it.”
The man’s words scared Jingzhe into looking up.
“…You bit yourself?” Jingzhe said suspiciously, “Why did you bite yourself for no reason?”
In his memory, there were not many scenes of bite marks, but Jingzhe remembered that he had hugged Rong Jiu’s arm and ground his teeth… Of course, he didn’t believe that he could really be so cruel as to bite so seriously…
But why did Rong Jiu bite himself?
Rong Jiu gave a slight smile. His lips were a little thin, and even when he smiled, it was hard to give people a relaxed feeling. Sometimes it looked more like a sneer, with a lingering gloom.
Jingzhe subconsciously stepped back. This was an instinctive reaction, although he still didn’t know what this action was for, but…
“You were crying, crying so hard,” Rong Jiu’s eyes had a hint of malice, and he said softly, “In order not to let me be too impulsive, I should restrain myself properly.”
Although Jingzhe’s body retreated, his hand was still on Rong Jiu’s body. He subconsciously touched the wound, his face a little pale.
“You…”
Jingzhe’s face was slightly pale, and he was a little annoyed in his heart.
This was probably also related to the buff. Without this buff, Rong Jiu would not be by his side all the time, triggering an overreaction, and in order to control himself…
“Rong Jiu, from now on, you don’t have to be so…” Jingzhe paused, “I’m not saying you can’t restrain yourself, but do you have to self-harm like this?”
Jingzhe was also afraid.
Rong Jiu’s feelings were too violent. If they were not restrained, he always had the illusion that he would be easily crushed.
But to watch Rong Jiu hurt himself like this, Jingzhe also felt bad in his heart.
Rong Jiu: “You should worry about yourself.”
Just now his words easily aroused Jingzhe’s guilt, as if he was asking for some reward. But when Jingzhe was really worried, Rong Jiu was unhappy instead, showing a bit of cold suppression.
The man withdrew his hand, put it behind his back, and said coldly: “Without any preparation, without any planning, you just ran out rashly. Who is the perpetrator, who is the victim, can’t you tell?”
Jingzhe was scolded by Rong Jiu and muttered: “According to this, you are the vicious perpetrator, then I should stay far away from you.”
Rong Jiu’s brows furrowed slightly, and a flash of gloom passed through his eyes, making it difficult to see his expression. He just heard him say slowly: “This is not wrong.”
Jingzhe frowned, looked up at Rong Jiu and was about to speak, but saw Rong Jiu pull his collar, his lips pursed into a straight line, and an inexplicable coldness froze on his face, so much so that the words he said were like unmeltable ice.
“But, no matter where you run, you can’t escape.”
Those sinister words were extremely chilling, as if they would freeze one’s blood, and one wouldn’t even dare to breathe heavily.
“How could you… no, why should I run?”
Jingzhe subconsciously wanted to refute Rong Jiu’s words, but before he could finish, he suddenly realized, how could he fall into the trap of his words?
He never thought of running.
Rong Jiu gave a smile that was completely out of place with gentleness, and said concisely: “No, you will.”
Jingzhe wanted to refute with all his might.
But Rong Jiu had a lot of evidence and vividly described the scene of his “escape” for Jingzhe.
Jingzhe was dumbfounded.
…No, how could “running away” in that situation count?
These are two completely different things!
Jingzhe’s face turned red: “I’m not talking about that kind!”
Rong Jiu stopped leisurely, staring at Jingzhe with bright eyes, as if waiting for his rebuttal.
Jingzhe should have said it smoothly, but after trying several times, the roots of his ears were burning red. He rubbed his ears in frustration and muttered: “Anyway, I’m not talking about that kind…”
Then, his voice became even lighter.
“I don’t have any… experience, isn’t it normal to be scared?” Jingzhe looked at Rong Jiu’s lower body hesitantly, then immediately looked away, “You… it’s not right!”
Rong Jiu looked down following Jingzhe’s action. He didn’t know why this somewhat obscene action, when done by him, would feel elegant.
“What’s wrong?”
Jingzhe held his breath and gestured the size with a trembling hand, “This is not right at all!”
Length, size, these, how can they be so amazing!
And time.
Jingzhe gritted his teeth. That damn, long time, it would be a ghost if he had it!
Rong Jiu was silent for a moment, and said faintly: “Then where did you get this knowledge?”
The man leaned closer, his beautiful face blocking Jingzhe’s eyes.
“I also want to learn well.”
A sense of crisis without reason exploded on Jingzhe’s back, as if he was being targeted by some terrible monster. When Jingzhe reacted, his whole body was frozen on the spot, and his mouth was full of bitterness.
…Still learning, now he has been tortured to death, if he really “learned well”, would he really die!
…
“Hachoo, hachoo—”
Zheng Hong sneezed repeatedly, squatting at the palace gate, his face a little anxious.
At this moment, it was almost noon.
They went out of the palace to buy things in the morning, followed the director to do things scattered, who would have thought that this sudden heavy rain disrupted their pace and they couldn’t go back on time.
The director was afraid of being late and it would be difficult to explain when returning to the palace. After the rain subsided a little, he hurriedly took people and things back.
As a result, at the palace gate they usually entered and exited, they were all stopped.
Zheng Hong heard the director negotiating with the guards from a distance. Not long after, the director eunuch in a straw raincoat came back with a gloomy face and cursed in a low voice: “These dog things.”
Zheng Hong calmly ignored the director’s words: “Director, we are not late, why won’t they let us in?”
The director eunuch shook his head and had the cart driven to a distance to shelter from the rain, facing the palace gate from afar. He let everyone else scatter and hide in several carts before loosening his straw raincoat and speaking.
“They are all new faces, not the old people.”
Zheng Hong’s face changed slightly, and the faces of several other little eunuchs were also not good.
These buyers who often entered and exited the palace could feel the atmosphere that people living in the harem could not feel.
These days, because of the Huang family’s affairs, the atmosphere everywhere was very strange. They were already on edge doing things. Now the director’s words made them almost unable to hold back and showed strange expressions.
But although the director eunuch’s words were solemn, Zheng Hong unexpectedly saw a bit of relaxation in his eyes.
…Such a strange thing, why would the director feel relaxed?
The guards at the palace gate, they were all very familiar with them. After all, they were people they had to deal with every few days, and such an omission had never happened.
Zheng Hong thought for a moment before realizing.
If something really happened in the palace, these people who happened to be outside the palace… when the incident happened, they were not in the imperial palace, which was the safest.
This was probably a good thing for Zheng Hong.
But inevitably, he would think of other people in the palace, such as those few who could be called friends, and for example…
Zheng Hong touched the small booklet hidden in his bosom and firmed his face.
He had specially brought Jingzhe what he wanted, and it was such a dangerous booklet.
If this guy accidentally died in the palace coup, even if he burned incense for him, he would first burn Jingzhe’s debt slip to ask for money!
Zheng Hong hid in the corner of the cart, listening to the continuous sound of rain outside. His whole heart was like this spring rain, and the endless dampness seemed to swallow him whole.
They waited until the afternoon.
Zheng Hong was drowsy and was woken up by the person next to him. When he went out to relieve himself in the rain, he unexpectedly glanced at the palace gate and his face changed again.
The people guarding the gate were different from the people at noon. Not only were the people different, but the clothes were also different.
Those were soldiers stationed in the capital, who were not allowed to enter the city without a summons.
Zheng Hong was terrified in his heart. He went back to discuss with the director. The director hesitated again and again, but still went again. This time, after he came back, his face was still strange.
“Go back and wait first.” The director eunuch said, “Come back tomorrow.”
This was a definite answer.
They found an inn to stay, and changed their wet clothes, only then did they feel as if they had come back to life.
Zheng Hong shared a room with others, but the changes of this day really made him uneasy. After a few people discussed it, they went to find the director eunuch together.
This director eunuch was probably also familiar with the temperament of the people under him. He had already asked the errand boy to make tea and bring pastries.
“Sit down and talk.”
Zheng Hong and the others sat down, and the first to speak was Zheng Hong. No other reason, just because Zheng Hong was the most favored in front of the director eunuch, and his words carried more weight.
And what he asked was also very skillful, only saying: “Director, after we go back, we won’t be punished and moved, right?”
The director eunuch glanced at Zheng Hong and said with a smile.
“Everything as usual.”
These four simple words immediately put Zheng Hong at ease.
He didn’t care who was in power in the palace, who was the emperor, but if the people above changed, it would definitely affect the people below… At the very least, the change of positions and personnel was obvious.
But this was trouble for Zheng Hong.
His connections would have to be re-established, which was not an easy task.
Zheng Hong had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the director eunuch say again: “However, when you go back tomorrow, all of you keep your mouths shut for me. You should know what to say and what not to say. If you look for trouble yourself, I won’t take care of you.”
Zheng Hong squinted his eyes. It seemed that the changes in the palace were so great that even the director eunuch couldn’t figure it out.
Not long after, they left one after another.
The director eunuch’s face turned gloomy little by little. He couldn’t get any news.
The entire imperial palace seemed to be sealed by an invisible force, and no one could enter or exit. And after those soldiers entered, it was even more so.
He could already see many court officials gathered in front of the palace city, but they could not enter.
The imperial palace was completely sealed off.
This was so terrifying.
The few eunuchs outside the house still didn’t know the director’s panic. When passing through the corridor, Zheng Hong caught a glimpse of a little girl flashing by in the back kitchen downstairs and subconsciously stopped.
“Zheng Hong, what are you doing?”
Someone in front of him called him.
Zheng Hong answered, but didn’t move. Instead, he leaned out of the window at the end of the corridor, trying to find the figure of the girl just now.
Unfortunately, the end of this corridor faced the back kitchen of this inn. No matter how hard Zheng Hong looked, he couldn’t find the girl’s trace, so he had to turn back in embarrassment.
…Strange, did he see wrong?
The little girl just now looked a bit similar to Jingzhe.
But he remembered that Jingzhe had said that his family was all dead, and he was the only one who survived. Then he probably saw wrong.
In the back kitchen, Cen Liang carried the medicine and carefully avoided many people before finding Liu Shi in the bustling kitchen.
“Mother, I’m here to bring you medicine.” Cen Liang said with a smile, and ran to Liu Shi in a few steps.
This inn and the restaurant next to it were originally owned by the same owner. Therefore, the kitchens on both sides were also connected, and both families shared them.