Chapter 39 - 2#

I’m afraid the entire Ancestral Worship Hall would have to be burned to the ground to deal with it.

Ning Hongru thought of the Ancestral Worship Hall that had only burned a little in the rain, and then let out a long breath.

Huang Yijie was already imprisoned, so it was naturally impossible for him to control these Gu worms anymore.

It’s better to dredge than to block.

Their voices could be heard, indicating that in their disorder, they were still trying to break through the reinforced floor tiles. To prevent disaster, Wei Haidong decided to pry open these floor tiles.

As for the effect…

Looking at the gradually weakening sound, it should be working.

…

Jingzhe sat by the window, slowly drinking tea.

He woke up in the afternoon, idle and with nothing to do, already a little bored.

He had a personality that couldn’t sit still. He was used to working, and once he had no work in his hands, he felt a little uncomfortable.

With Rong Jiu gone, he could only talk to the system.

Of course, he first cursed the system hundreds of times.

Not to mention this unlucky event, just the punishment itself was described very incorrectly.

If it was really “I am the King,” then why was Rong Jiu so, so strange?

At the very least, he should be more obedient!

Now looking at him so fierce, where was the tamed look?

Jingzhe was always deceived by his face, almost forgetting that this person was a dangerous existence through and through.

What filled his bones was probably a sharp and fierce aura.

The system honestly took the scolding, but also raised an objection, [The buff will not make mistakes. For any behavior, please refer to the special notes of the buff.]

Jingzhe snorted: “Besides causing me trouble, what other use do you have?”

The system struggled for a moment, [It’s because the host has completed too few tasks.]

Its energy all came from the feedback after completing tasks. Without completing tasks, of course, there was no energy to help.

Jingzhe: “Your tasks, what kind of person can complete them?”

The task of Huang Yijie, even if he really wanted to complete it, but upon careful inspection, perhaps… Emperor Jingyuan didn’t want to stop Huang Yijie at all.

This was something Jingzhe realized belatedly.

He had already hinted through Rong Jiu, in a roundabout way, that there was a problem with Huang Yijie. If Rong Jiu had investigated, he would definitely have discovered Huang Yijie’s abnormality.

He was an imperial attendant. Since he could deliver evidence to Emperor Jingyuan’s desk, would the Emperor be unaware of what he found out?

Not very likely.

But the assassination of Emperor Jingyuan by Huang Yijie still happened.

…Perhaps, Emperor Jingyuan wanted to take the opportunity to eradicate the Huang family’s power?

If so, many things would have a reasonable explanation. For example, why he encountered Rong Jiu in the Ancestral Worship Hall, and why the Ancestral Worship Hall was burned… that was all because of a pre-arranged plan.

After all, it was impossible to let His Majesty the Emperor lead the charge.

However… after this incident, many people in the harem would definitely be in danger. Such a price was too high. Why so?

Perhaps, Emperor Jingyuan was just turning the tables, which was why there was such a change?

He thought of a bunch of things, and when he asked the system for the time, only a quarter of an hour had passed. He immediately hugged the teacup and wailed.

Staying in the room was really boring.

Last night, he was greatly frightened by Rong Jiu. In the end, he used the sleeping method to stop the man’s madness. He was terrified for a long time before he really fell asleep.

As a result, when he woke up, he found that he had changed places.

He didn’t know where this new place was. It looked smaller than before, but it was also much quieter. He could no longer hear those occasional buzzing sounds.

Rong Jiu said that it was the palace guards still clearing out the remaining Gu worms everywhere.

Jingzhe rubbed his ears in annoyance. How did he not know that his hearing was so good in the past? Why could he hear so clearly?

[All Gu worms share a set of operating systems. Before the host’s buff influence, their king was the worm witch. After the buff catalysis, the Gu worms’ nature will recognize the host as the only king.]

Therefore, Jingzhe would be very easily affected by them. To some extent, the king was the brain in their operating system.

So they would crave Jingzhe immensely.

They would also be driven by Jingzhe.

This was the root of them coming to find Jingzhe one after another. A very persistent group of worms, it sounded like.

Jingzhe: “…”

Thinking of the lives they had injured, and then thinking of their terrifying appearance and number, even if Jingzhe had more pity, he really couldn’t pity them.

He might as well pity himself for almost being scared crazy.

After two full days, these worms would probably gnaw on him as food.

Jingzhe sighed, finished the last sip of tea, and looked down at the clothes on his body.

It was no longer the eunuch uniform he was used to wearing, but new clothes that Rong Jiu had gotten for him. They fit well, but Jingzhe always felt a little unaccustomed.

He originally wanted his eunuch uniform back, but Rong Jiu said it hadn’t dried after washing. Such a perfunctory reason made Jingzhe stomp on his foot fiercely.

Thus, Rong Jiu leisurely went on duty with that footprint, but Jingzhe, without his eunuch uniform, dared not wander around.

Damn it, could Rong Jiu have had this in mind?

Jingzhe tugged at his sleeve. If he could put on the eunuch uniform, it would be very easy to slip out. Now this set of clothes had become a burden.

After all, in the harem, although it was a bit strange for a young eunuch to wander around, it was easy to muddle through; a stranger without a waist tag and no palace servant to guide him was very suspicious.

Jingzhe pushed open the window and found that it was a simple courtyard. He didn’t know which palace it was in among these overlapping palace walls.

This imperial palace was very large. Not to mention that Jingzhe had lived here for more than ten years and had only been to a few places. Even if he lived here for thirty years, he probably couldn’t walk through this entire palace city.

He leaned on the window and looked at the scenery outside. The sky was a bit dim, and it was very quiet all around. There wasn’t even the sound of birds…

Just as he thought this, he heard a tender chirp. Looking down, he saw a fluffy little yellow bird hopping back and forth in front of the window.

It was very small, smaller than a clenched fist. It chirped, hopping to the left and then to the right, very lively.

Jingzhe’s breathing softened, afraid of disturbing it.

Soon, this yellow bird flew to Jingzhe’s neck, its fluffy little head bent down and rubbed against him. The subtle touch made Jingzhe’s eyes light up.

So small, so warm.

With the yellow bird’s active approach, Jingzhe couldn’t help but reach out and gently stroke the yellow bird’s back. It didn’t mind at all, spreading its wings and flapping a few times under Jingzhe’s palm, then retracting them, and finally fell asleep leaning against him.

Jingzhe dared not move, afraid of waking the sleeping little bird.

After sitting blankly for a while, as he was considering how long he should maintain this posture, one, two, three… suddenly appeared in front of the windowsill.

Many small heads suddenly popped out.

Jingzhe was completely stunned, sitting in front of the window listening to a chorus of chirps, very noisy.

These uninvited little guys were very lively. As soon as they appeared, they boldly landed on Jingzhe’s arm, walked around his hands, stepped on his shoulders, pecked his hair, and even fought in front of his eyes.

Jingzhe: “…What’s going on?” It couldn’t be that damn buff again, right?

[It seems so.]

Jingzhe smiled without smiling, standing up with difficulty under this flock of birds.

One bird is cute, many birds are terrifying.

Jingzhe stepped on the chair, flipped over, and jumped out of the window, startling countless bird wings.

He looked back and saw that although most of the birds had flown out with him, many feathers had still fallen inside.

Jingzhe looked at the colorful feathers with a bit of a headache, and what gave him an even bigger headache was that he found this flock of birds had a tendency to call their friends, stepping on him with such ease.

When fighting, they were also very fierce.

Ahhh, more bird feathers are falling!

After luring this flock of birds out, Jingzhe thought about going back into the room, but there were too many clingy birds on him, so sticky that he couldn’t get rid of them.

Grab a few, and a few more fly over.

Jingzhe was a little desperate, his ears so noisy that he felt like he was going deaf.

Just then, two sets of footsteps sounded.

Jingzhe’s heart jumped. The commotion was too big and attracted people!

He moved his feet, just as he was thinking of jumping over the wall regardless of everything, he heard a man’s steady voice say: “Young master, don’t move, we will help you drive away these bad birds.”

Jingzhe blinked. This form of address…

He subconsciously stopped his steps and saw two tall guards rush over. One took off his outer coat to help him drive away the clingy birds, while the other escorted Jingzhe to hide in the room.

They entered the room, but there were still birds chasing in. When the people in the room noticed this, they decisively closed all the doors and windows, leaving only the person outside to support.

Jingzhe: “…Aren’t you letting him in?”

He casually caught a bird that flew over. There were fewer birds in this room.

But there were still a few.

“Please don’t worry, young master, his skills are not bad.” The guard said seriously.

…It still sounded like he was suffering.

Jingzhe’s movements were not slow. Together with the guard who entered the room, they caught all the remaining ones, then picked the farthest window, opened a crack, and threw them all out.

When there were no birds in the room, Jingzhe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Without seeing him, the flapping sound outside also lessened a lot. For a moment, it seemed to have quieted down.

Just as Jingzhe was hesitating whether to open the window to check the situation outside, he heard the guard outside shout: “Those birds haven’t dispersed, they have all landed on the trees and walls outside the door.”

Hearing this, Jingzhe’s vision went black.

How outrageous!

He grabbed a handful of his hair, and sure enough, he grabbed a lot of feathers. Looking at his body, it was also a mess.

Jingzhe smiled bitterly and looked at the tall guard who was at the door, talking to his colleague outside, “Thank you very much for your help just now.”

As soon as Jingzhe’s voice fell, he saw the guard immediately turn around, clasp his fists, and say respectfully: “Young master, you don’t have to be like this. You are Brother Rong’s friend, so naturally you are also our friend.”

For some reason, Jingzhe always felt that when he said the words “Brother Rong,” his body seemed to freeze, exuding an aura of reverence. It was as if with just a word from Rong Jiu, it was not surprising for a stranger to appear in the palace.

…And, if you’re going to clasp your fists, then clasp your fists. Why is your waist bent so low?

Jingzhe subconsciously wanted to help him up, but saw him suddenly take a few steps back, as if very afraid of Jingzhe touching him.

Jingzhe was a little surprised, and the guard said seriously: “Just now when driving away the birds, my body has a lot of strange smells. I don’t want to disturb the young master.”

“You don’t have to be so… I’m not a noble person.” Jingzhe didn’t know how Rong Jiu introduced him to them. After grunting for a while, he still didn’t say his identity as a eunuch, “Just be at ease.”

“Yes!”

The guard immediately responded loudly.

…Forget it.

Jingzhe took a few steps back. If he was a little farther away, this guard brother looked more normal.

After a lot of tossing and turning, Jingzhe determined that this safe distance was from the door to the table, so he had to make do with this distance to talk.

Actually, he didn’t want to see people.

The birds just now, plus this guard’s overly respectful attitude, also showed that the buff was still in effect.

But the guard outside had already warned that the door could not be opened for the time being.

Jingzhe dared not imagine that grand occasion.

There were only two people in the room, so they couldn’t just stand there awkwardly.

Jingzhe had been familiar with Rong Jiu for so long and rarely inquired about Rong Jiu’s affairs. Now that his acquaintance was in front of him, he couldn’t help but be a little curious.

In a brief conversation, Jingzhe learned that this guard was named Shi Li and was Rong Jiu’s subordinate.

Shi Li said that there were many people like him who all took orders from Rong Jiu.

Jingzhe blinked. It seemed that Rong Jiu indeed had a good position in front of the Emperor.

Jingzhe: “Does Rong Jiu have anything he particularly likes on weekdays?” he asked tentatively.

Rong Jiu seemed very cold and had no preferences. Every time he tried to guess what gift to give, it was always a difficulty.

“Killing people.”

Jingzhe rubbed his ears, thinking he had misheard. He looked up at Shi Li and said with a smile: “I didn’t hear clearly, can you say it again?”

Shi Li was clearly a dark and strong man, but his body couldn’t help but tremble. He said softly and firmly: “Killing people.”

Jingzhe fell into a long silence.

“Then, besides this… hobby, what else does he do more often?”

After a long while, Jingzhe regrouped and tried to ask for a different answer.

Shi Li held it in for a while and squeezed out another answer: “Watching beast fights.”

Jingzhe’s raised heart was only half relieved… okay, it wasn’t relieved at all. This also sounded very bloody.

But at least it was a more normal hobby. Maybe he liked watching cricket fights, cockfights, dog fights, or something.

Jingzhe convinced himself several times, and then tried to say: “Isn’t there anything more common, for example, liking to eat pastries, sweet and sour food, drinking soup…”

“He doesn’t like to drink soup.”

The only thing Shi Li could rule out was that Rong Jiu didn’t like to drink soup. As for what he liked, he had no idea.

Okay, trying to find out what the boss likes from a subordinate was a wrong decision in the first place.