Chapter 57 - 1#

Jiang Jinming paced in the room.

At this moment, the dawn was breaking, and there was some movement outside. It was the palace servants who were busy. The weather was getting colder and colder. Although it had not snowed yet, it was enough to freeze people’s hands and feet.

The director’s face had two red patches from the cold.

Not long after, there were light footsteps outside the door, and someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Yunkui opened the door quietly, then squeezed in through the crack.

Jiang Jinming saw it and said angrily: “You’ve been like this since you were little. Push it open a bit more, then come in, what’s wrong with that?” But he just loved to squeeze in and out through the crack of the door.

Yunkui chuckled: “Master, you called me here early in the morning, is there something wrong?”

He was in the Miscellaneous Purchase Office. If he hadn’t received Jiang Jinming’s letter, he wouldn’t have gotten up so early.

Life in the Miscellaneous Purchase Office was still happier than in the Zhidian Si.

“Do you know what trouble Jingzhe has gotten into recently?”

Yunkui’s face changed slightly: “Ah, has he?”

Jiang Jinming had raised him for so many years. Looking at his face, he knew that this brat had a guilty conscience, and kicked him: “Brat, if there’s something, say it quickly.”

Yunkui rubbed his butt and said aggrievedly: “You gave me such a big footprint, it will be annoying when I go out later.”

Jiang Jinming: “Don’t try to change the subject, spit it out quickly.” His voice carried a little irritability, implying that if he didn’t tell the truth, he would hit someone.

Yunkui became a little more honest: “I don’t know exactly what happened, I only know that he might have had some friction with the Yongning Palace.”

“Yongning Palace?”

Jiang Jinming frowned.

Consort Kang of Yongning Palace was a formidable character.

Don’t look at how inconspicuous she was in this harem, but living safely until now was already a skill, not to mention that her seemingly weak temperament had once relied on Consort De… Was Consort De’s temperament so easy to rely on?

Don’t look at how Consort De was somewhat down and out now, but with such a background, it was not easy to get any benefits from her.

How could Jingzhe conflict with the Yongning Palace? How did these two places that had nothing to do with each other come together?

Yunkui knew that his master was not someone who would kick someone when they were down, but if the trouble encountered was too big, he would not hesitate to abandon them.

Jingzhe was not Yunkui, and Jiang Jinming could not possibly give his all for him.

Yunkui didn’t want Jingzhe to be in a difficult situation, nor did he want Jiang Jinming to encounter trouble, so he considered his words carefully.

However, as soon as Jiang Jinming heard it was Kangman, he snorted coldly.

Yunkui was surprised: “You, seem to dislike him very much?”

Although Jingzhe didn’t say in detail who the person he conflicted with was, anyone who had checked the Yongning Palace could guess who was the most likely.

He wasn’t surprised that his master would know Kangman. After all, having reached their current position, the prominent eunuchs in the palace had probably all met.

Only the attitude showed rare dissatisfaction.

“If he ran into this person, then even with Jingzhe’s temper, it’s normal to offend him.”

Jiang Jinming shook his head with his hands behind his back: “This person is petty, cunning, and insidious. Sometimes just one sentence can offend him. If you meet him in the future, don’t get close to him.”

This kind of villain was disgusting. It was like a pervasive reptile. Once you offended him, unless you crushed him to death, you would always be framed by him for no reason at some moment.

“Did you ask me just now because something happened to Jingzhe?” Yunkui pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a little cold fear.

“It was the Imperial Guard, not the Prudent Punishment Department.” Jiang Jinming said lightly.

Yunkui: “Imperial Guard?”

His eyes widened slightly, then he said pleasantly: “That’s great.”

Not the Prudent Punishment Department meant that there was still room for maneuver, and the Imperial Guard… wasn’t Rong Jiu there?

In the past, Yunkui had never seen Rong Jiu, only knew of his identity as an imperial guard. But seeing him yesterday, that person’s aura was definitely not ordinary. He was probably in a high position or had a stern character.

But no matter which one it was, his protection of Jingzhe was obvious.

Jingzhe entering the Imperial Guard would not be worse than the Prudent Punishment Department.

The Prudent Punishment Department was a place one couldn’t go to. Even if one was truly innocent, one would lose at least half a layer of skin upon entering.

Those who walked in often came out lying down.

Jiang Jinming was not as optimistic as Yunkui.

Just now, the seal-holding eunuch sent someone to tell him that Jingzhe, a second-rank eunuch of the Zhidian Si, was taken away by people from the Imperial Guard, saying that he needed to cooperate with an investigation and his return date was uncertain.

Jiang Jinming’s first reaction felt something was wrong.

The Imperial Guard in this palace was led by Wei Haidong and was in charge of the harem’s defense. But when it came to investigations, it was usually the Prudent Punishment Department. Why would someone from the Imperial Guard come to inform him?

How much trouble did Jingzhe cause to be taken away for investigation?

That’s why he called Yunkui over.

He knew that this kid had been mysterious recently and had come to the Zhidian Si several times. There must be Jingzhe’s reason in this.

It’s just that the answer he got was a little unsatisfactory.

If it was Kangman, then the trouble would be big.

This person was vicious and ruthless. Once he bit onto his prey, he wouldn’t let go. Even if Jiang Jinming could understand and knew clearly that there was a high probability it wasn’t Jingzhe’s problem, he couldn’t help but start to consider the implications.

Yunkui, this kid, didn’t know the severity.

He probably still felt that friendship was deep and helping was nothing. But Jiang Jinming was absolutely unwilling for him to get into such trouble.

Yunkui’s guess about him was correct.

Jiang Jinming liked Jingzhe very much, but he was absolutely unwilling to sacrifice Yunkui for Jingzhe.

After asking Yunkui, Jiang Jinming quickly told this bastard to get lost.

Recently, whenever he saw him, he thought of that day when he came to find him with a beaming face, saying that he planned to hold a wedding banquet with that person.

Jiang Jinming’s teeth hurt just hearing it.

He had beaten him and scolded him, but now that the person was gone, he was still thinking about him. In the end, they still got together after going around in circles. What could he do?

Anyway, the person was already outside the palace now. Even if something really happened, it wouldn’t be a big mistake. Jiang Jinming was too lazy to pay attention to Yunkui.

After Jiang Jinming drove Yunkui away, in the afternoon, he got a new explanation.

After investigation, there was no problem with Jingzhe. However, because someone in the Imperial Guard was injured and Jingzhe happened to be present, he was urgently transferred to serve, and I’m afraid he won’t be back for a few days.

Jiang Jinming stood silently in front of the seal-holding eunuch, feeling his teeth start to hurt again.

Too much curiosity in the palace is unnecessary.

But Jiang Jinming really found it hard to hide that moment of surprise.

“…But what kind of injury requires urgently transferring people to take care of?” Jiang Jinming raised his eyebrows. “Eunuch holding the seal, if you have any news, don’t hide it, so that the people below can know how to do things.”

He didn’t doubt the words of the seal-holding eunuch.

Just shocked.

The harem has never been peaceful, and people die anytime and anywhere. Sometimes those who die are noble people, and sometimes those who die are inconspicuous palace servants.

However, the death of the former would cause an uproar, while the death of the latter was silent and simply ignored.

The seal-holding eunuch said softly: “Kangman, was arrested. He resisted arrest, injured someone, and is now being held in the Prudent Punishment Department.”

His tone was somewhat meaningful.

“Jiang Jinming, this Jingzhe is a treasure. You have to treat him well.”

…

When Jingzhe woke up, he was a little dazed.

He was woken up by the sunlight.

The sun was just right, and the brilliant sunlight rushed into this room with the force of sweeping away a thousand troops, dispelling all the haze. In winter, it was rare to have such good sun. Just looking at the brilliant gold, there seemed to be an illusion that one would be burned.

Jingzhe’s breathing was very light.

As if afraid of disturbing a dream that had inadvertently broken in.

This dream was magnificent and splendid, like an illusory bubble.

This room was so familiar that his heart ached tightly. He sat up very slowly from the bed, his eyes greedily scanning every corner of the room.

The dent on the edge of the bed still remained in the old place. The shadow of the child waving a small knife wildly and finally crying loudly after being scolded by his mother seemed to be right in front of him.

On the floor at the end of the bed, there had always been a small stool, obviously to make it easier for the child to get on and off the bed.

A little further away, there was half a copper mirror on that table.

The reason why there was only half was that the other half was shattered, shattered to pieces.

His mother felt that a broken mirror was not a good omen and wanted to take it away and replace it, but the child would only act coquettishly. In the end, the elders didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and could only let the copper mirror remain by the table.

The half-open window faced the peach tree in the courtyard.

This room was close to the front yard and connected to the study. As long as you walked out the door, you could see the transplanted peach tree.

The peach tree in spring was very splendid and would fill the whole room with flowers. The spring breeze blew, sweeping those pink petals to the ground, the eaves, the floor. They could go anywhere, carefree and at ease, turning the whole home into a pink ocean.

…Too familiar.

Everything was so familiar that it made one want to cry.

It was an incomparably precious dream.

Jingzhe’s eyes felt sour, and he couldn’t help but blink gently. A hot tear suddenly fell down and landed on the back of his hand with a platter.

That deliberate scalding made his fingers curl for a moment, and suddenly a new sense of trance and uneasy unreality was born.

Hot?

He slowly raised his hand and touched the corner of his eye.

Wet, it was tears.

Jingzhe was stunned and pinched his face hard.

It hurt very much, and the skin immediately became red and swollen.

…Not a dream?

It actually wasn’t a dream.

Strange ecstasy and inexplicable panic swept through his whole body, making his fingers tremble unconsciously, then suddenly clench into fists. His fingernails dug deep into his flesh, digging out crescent-like marks.

Haha… not a dream… unexpectedly not a dream.

The things in front of him were quickly covered by a layer of misty water vapor, which was desperately wiped away by Jingzhe.

He cried and laughed, looking miserable but extremely cute.

It was at this time that Rong Jiu appeared outside the door.

The sunlight cast light and shadow on his body unscrupulously. He walked as if parting a river of light. That hazy interweaving of light and shadow made Jingzhe hold his breath for a moment.

A strange heaviness slowly permeated into Jingzhe’s heart. Besides the sourness, there was also some sweetness.

He heard Rong Jiu say: “Why are you crying again as soon as you woke up?”

There was a hint of faint distress in the man’s voice. He walked to the bedside and slowly raised his hand to wipe away the tear stains from the corner of Jingzhe’s eye.

“This time, it doesn’t count as me talking nonsense.”

These were real tears.

The wet traces on his fingertips were proof.

That cold voice made Jingzhe suddenly burst into tears.

He couldn’t hold back that emotion anymore, grabbed Rong Jiu’s hand to cover his face, lowered his head and sobbed one after another.

The hot tears wet Rong Jiu’s fingers, making his body stiff for a moment.

Tears were usually understood as the craving of the weak.

If one could hold everything in the world in one’s hands, what was there to sob about?

As long as one was strong enough, one was invincible.

In the past, those people taught him with such naked facts, and in such bloodiness, he stepped on their bones and walked up to that position step by step.

Only the weak cry uselessly.

But now, Rong Jiu didn’t think so.

Tears, sometimes, were truly powerful and sharp weapons.

Stabbing into the heart, making people feel so much pain that they wished they were dead.

This experience was too strange and weird, so much so that he didn’t react for a moment.

He carefully tasted that flavor.

Pain.

It seemed like his heart was aching.

But his heart was clearly not injured, so how could it hurt?

Rong Jiu sat slowly by the bed, thinking, and finally, he hugged Jingzhe in his arms.

At the beginning, his movements of hugging people were always a bit rough.

As if he had never done this action before.

But after hugging tightly time and time again, he knew that his arms needed to be relaxed and his fingers could be gently placed on the body.

Like at this time, although he didn’t know what use patting the back lightly could have, it was indeed useful.

For example, making the crying louder.

Rong Jiu was expressionless.

His fingers were stiff.

So, those hot tears penetrated into the flesh and blood along the clothes, and finally seemed to drill into his limbs and bones, and everything was hurting.

Jingzhe cried so miserably and uncomfortably, feeling like he had poured all the water out of his body. Finally, he cried until his body twitched, hugging Rong Jiu like a child.

Rong Jiu sighed: “I didn’t know you had so much water. Are you made of water?”

He added.

“I don’t want to raise a little teary dog. Crying really makes people feel uncomfortable.”

Jingzhe opened his mouth to refute, but let out a sob.

Rong Jiu wiped his face with a handkerchief, covering his face with a wet and cold feeling, and said coldly: “If you cry again, I’ll take you back.”

Sometimes, he quite liked Jingzhe crying.

As long as he was crying for him.