Chapter 58 - 3#

“I think Cui San can’t forgive his friend. So what if there were extenuating circumstances? One betrayal is enough…”

“But if it weren’t for his friend’s ‘betrayal’, Cui San wouldn’t be alive now. He can seek revenge on his friend with his life, and that’s thanks to his friend’s efforts. How can he kill him?”

“Betrayal is betrayal, where are there so many great principles to talk about?”

“Hey, you’re getting worked up, aren’t you? Do you want to fight?”

Well, very intense.

Jingzhe cautiously avoided their flying spittle and silently went back.

Cui San, in the story, was betrayed by a friend at a critical moment, who stole the treasure. From then on, his temperament changed greatly, and he practiced martial arts hard, just to seek revenge on his swordsman friend. But when he found that friend, he discovered that the once highly skilled swordsman had already lost an arm and was living in the forest like an old man.

He was very calm about Cui San’s revenge, even with a kind of calm that sought death.

In the end, another friend of Cui San rushed over, blocked Cui San’s last sword, and told the truth of what happened back then.

“Cui San, back then you had the treasure map, but you paraded through the streets without any thought of hiding it. If it weren’t for Xu Lin risking his life to stop those thugs for you, and cutting off his own arm to guarantee for you, stealing the treasure map from your hands and giving it to those people, do you think you would still be alive today?”

The person who stole the map back then, the betrayer, was also the person who saved his life.

The story got stuck here, making many people scratch their hearts and lungs, just wanting to know the subsequent ending.

When Jingzhe returned to Rong Mansion, Rong Jiu was already at home.

He looked a little scary.

…Probably because he sneaked out.

Jingzhe pretended not to see Rong Jiu’s dark face and went to pull his hand.

Rong Jiu didn’t dodge.

Hehe, Jingzhe knew that no matter how angry Rong Jiu was, he would never dodge Jingzhe’s active contact.

In order to escape Rong Jiu’s questioning, Jingzhe very diligently told this story to Rong Jiu as well.

Rong Jiu said coldly: “Since it’s a betrayal, just kill him. Why talk so much?”

Such an iron-blooded answer was indeed what he would have.

Jingzhe: “If it weren’t for the swordsman’s betrayal, Cui San would have died long ago.”

Died at the hands of those martial artists who were fighting for the treasure map.

Rong Jiu raised his eyebrows, his cold voice filled with malice: “Did Cui San ask to be saved? What if he was more willing to die gloriously in this martial arts event, rather than honing his martial arts in hatred and immersing himself in revenge?”

“Death is death, there is no glory or dishonor.” Jingzhe frowned. “Indeed, dying on the battlefield and dying as a thief are indeed completely different in the eyes of outsiders. But in the final analysis, they are all death.”

For the deceased, there is nothing left, everything is empty and clean. Those posthumous honors, or humiliations, are things that the living have to consider.

Rong Jiu raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jingzhe: “You hate praising death?”

Jingzhe quickly glanced at Rong Jiu as well: “I just feel that for anyone, there is only one life. No matter how much this person’s death is praised, how much benefit it brings, for this person alone, death means nothing.”

He met Rong Jiu’s gaze and heavily landed on the last half of the sentence.

The two looked at each other in silence for a long time.

Then, it was Jingzhe who took the initiative to bring up the topic just now, “…We’ve strayed too far, let’s go back to Cui San. His friend betrayed him, this is a given fact. His friend saved him, this is also a given fact. There is a problem with his friend’s approach, this is also not wrong. So, he can kill his friend, and then use his life to pay for it.”

“You are very particular about so-called fairness.” Rong Jiu said thinly, “It’s just that in this world, there is not so much fairness to speak of.”

Jingzhe: “Of course. But this is a story. If it can’t be fair and satisfying in a story, do we have to wait for life to strike a heavy blow?”

His eyebrows flew up, and he looked at Rong Jiu with a smile.

“At least, just like in this story, give the swordsman a chance to explain through a second friend.”

As for whether to accept it after the explanation, that was Cui San’s own choice. But at the very least, he was no longer living in pain without knowing it.

Jingzhe knew that Rong Jiu thought that explanation was an excuse. A person like him always only looked at the results, not the process.

It’s just that sometimes, the explanation itself is just an explanation.

Although this explanation may not be acceptable to people, perhaps this is reality.

Drip—

The crisp sound of water dripped from the earthenware pot and splashed into the mud pit. This sound seemed to wake Ning Hongru up as well.

He swallowed, feeling extremely dry.

Emperor Jingyuan never gave people a second chance.

With his environment back then, if Emperor Jingyuan had been soft-hearted, the one who died would have been him.

Every moment, he had to worry about food, worry about utensils, and even when he went out, something might fall from the sky and injure him.

For a period of time, the Ninth Prince had to be vigilant at all times, like a young beast living in a terrible jungle. Only in this way could he struggle to survive.

No one could help him, not even Ning Hongru and Shi Lijun who were by his side at that time.

They were just mere palace servants, how could they resist a noble master?

If the young man had given others one more chance, the cold corpse would have been him.

This was a deep-rooted nature, the foundation that allowed Emperor Jingyuan to live to this day.

But what did he just hear?

Ning Hongru’s mouth opened, but the words didn’t come out, and he choked first.

My goodness, has heaven opened its eyes?

Emperor Jingyuan’s cold voice sounded: “So dirty.”

Ning Hongru quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, “Your Majesty, this servant is happy!”

Emperor Jingyuan was expressionless, very good.

He saw Ning Hongru’s tears without any soft-heartedness. On the contrary, he just wanted to chop him.

It seems that the problem of feeling pain in the heart when seeing tears is rooted in Jingzhe.

Jingzhe is the cause of this illness.

…

Silently, Ning Hongru returned.

This chief manager didn’t know what mistake he had made in the past. After coming back, he looked a bit thinner.

In Qianming Palace, I don’t know how many people were happy and how many were sad.

But most people should still be happy. During the time Ning Hongru was not here, I don’t know how many people were lost in this Qianming Palace.

It wasn’t until a few days ago that it finally quieted down.

Emperor Jingyuan was in a bad mood, and the people under him naturally didn’t do things smoothly. Now that the emperor was happy and Manager Ning was back, Qianming Palace finally had a few days of peace.

This was also true for the entire harem.

Except for the Zhidian Si.

On the fifth day after Jingzhe just came back, which was today, the Prudent Punishment Department came to the door.

The ones who came from the Prudent Punishment Department were two kind-faced eunuchs who spoke gently and without any anger.

They wanted to take Jingzhe away.

At that time, Jiang Jinming was holding a teacup. Hearing this, he couldn’t drink it.

Jingzhe… ha, it’s Jingzhe again.

Jiang Jinming rubbed his forehead with a headache, put down the teacup and looked at the two people, “When the Prudent Punishment Department comes to arrest someone, there must be some evidence. What mistake did Jingzhe make that he needs to be called for questioning?”

One of them said: “Someone reported that Jingzhe had private dealings with others, committed theft, and repeatedly bribed his superiors. All of these are major offenses.”

As Jingzhe’s superior, Jiang Jinming raised his eyebrows. How did he not know that he had accepted bribes from this kid Jingzhe?

Not to mention a few taels of silver, but not even a single coin.

That kid didn’t look like someone who would do such a thing.

Jiang Jinming: “I wonder who this informant is, to say such baseless words?”

The person from the Prudent Punishment Department smiled: “Whether it is or not, we will know after taking Jingzhe for a trip. Please don’t stop us, Director Jiang.” He had no intention of telling Jiang Jinming who that person was.

Jiang Jinming shook his head and tapped his finger on the table.

“It’s just unfortunate, Jingzhe is not in the Zhidian Si right now.”

The two men narrowed their eyes and looked at Jiang Jinming together.

“Oh? Director Jiang, are you determined to protect this eunuch?”

The people from the Prudent Punishment Department always made people tremble with fear when they did things. How could they be rejected?

Even Jiang Jinming couldn’t, and shouldn’t have such confidence.

Jiang Jinming picked up the teacup again, took a sip, and then said: “You two are wrong. Jingzhe is indeed not in the Zhidian Si at the moment.”

He smiled and said to the two.

“He has something to do and went to the Imperial Guard. If you two want to arrest him, please go directly to the Imperial Guard.”

…

“Achoo—”

Jingzhe was so embarrassed that he wanted to cover his face, but Zong Yuanxin, who was sitting opposite him, refused and signaled him to open his mouth.

“Let me see inside.”

Jingzhe pinched his nose, hoping it would be more cooperative and not sneeze again, and then carefully opened his mouth.

Zong Yuanxin looked for a while, then lowered his head to write a prescription.

“Remember to take the medicine on time.”

Jingzhe muttered: “Who would dare to pour it out?”

Every time Rong Jiu came back, it was as if he had eyes installed in the room. He knew clearly whether he had drunk it or not.

In Rong Mansion for those few days, Jingzhe had already started taking medicine. When he returned to the palace, the medicine bag also appeared, and Jingzhe had no choice but to take it for a few more days until it was all finished.

But finishing the medicine didn’t mean the matter was over.

Rong Jiu had instructed that after finishing the medicine, he must go to the Imperial Guard and let Zong Yuanxin continue to take his pulse.

Jingzhe didn’t know what kind of doctor Zong Yuanxin was, but at least he was an imperial physician… he couldn’t be a royal physician, right? Rong Jiu could order an imperial physician, but a royal physician… that should only be for diagnosing the imperial concubines.

No matter what, Zong Yuanxin was always ordered by Rong Jiu to run errands, which made Jingzhe a little embarrassed.

Zong Yuanxin saw what Jingzhe was thinking at a glance and smiled and shook his head: “Your thinking is wrong. I can’t ask for anything more than to be able to treat you.”

Jingzhe was slightly surprised: “Why?”

Zong Yuanxin stroked his beard and said with satisfaction: “I have to adjust your body well. At that time, that Lord Rong will not be able to part with my medical skills and can only let me treat him.”

Jingzhe laughed, not expecting Zong Yuanxin’s hobby to be so… different.

Zong Yuanxin glanced at Jingzhe: “Don’t think that your illness can be treated casually. If it weren’t for me, you would have lost at least thirty years of your life and lived to be forty or fifty at most.”

If it were an ordinary doctor, it would not be so easy to save him.

Jingzhe smiled calmly: “There are few people in this world who can live to be sixty or seventy. To be able to live to be forty or fifty is already something many people can’t envy.”

Zong Yuanxin clicked his tongue, no wonder Emperor Jingyuan and he could be a pair. What kind of mentality was this that made a doctor angry!

So angry.

Zong Yuanxin was writing a prescription. Outside the originally quiet and comfortable house, it was a bit noisy.

Jingzhe vaguely heard some movement. Zong Yuanxin stopped his pen and called out, “Shi Li.” He saw the guard who was originally guarding the door stride in and bow to the two people in the room.

Zong Yuanxin: “What’s going on outside, why is it so lively?”

Shi Li: “Someone from the Prudent Punishment Department came and had a conflict with the people outside.”

Zong Yuanxin was incredulous: “The Prudent Punishment Department, came to the Imperial Guard to arrest someone? Who gave Sun Shaotao the guts?”

This Sun Shaotao was probably the director eunuch of the Prudent Punishment Department.

Shi Li: “The person they want to arrest is the young master.”

Jingzhe, who was still listening to gossip, looked up blankly, his clear eyes full of confusion, hmm?

This could also be related to him?

Zong Yuanxin’s face looked strange as he glanced at Jingzhe, and suddenly he chuckled: “Jingzhe, do you want to go out and watch the show?”

Interesting, interesting, the Prudent Punishment Department arrested someone, and actually arrested Emperor Jingyuan’s sweetheart. A few days ago, he had just seen a big show, and Zong Yuanxin’s heart was active at this time. How could he hold back?

There must be some particularity in this, but what does this have to do with Zong Yuanxin?

He was happy to watch the show.

Jingzhe sat quietly and obediently in the chair, smiled weakly at Zong Yuanxin, “Then please help yourself, I won’t go out.”

Zong Yuanxin raised his eyebrows: “The person they are looking for is you.”

Jingzhe: “Do they dare to trespass into the Imperial Guard?”

Shi Li: “They can’t.”

In the indifferent words, there was a cold killing intent.

Jingzhe nodded: “Then I won’t go out.”

Zong Yuanxin looked at Jingzhe strangely. This shouldn’t be. According to Jingzhe’s character, with such a big thing happening, he couldn’t possibly not show up, stay in the room and be a coward, doing nothing.

Although he had only seen Jingzhe once or twice, he also knew that he was not this kind of person.

As Zong Yuanxin said, Jingzhe was on pins and needles.

But he could only sit like this.

If he went to the Prudent Punishment Department, he would probably be skinned. If Rong Jiu knew that he went into that place regardless of everything, wouldn’t he go crazy again?

Jingzhe was not afraid of anything else, just afraid that after he came out, all the people around him would have their heads chopped off by Rong Jiu.

…Terrifying, Jingzhe shivered.

Compared to the Prudent Punishment Department, this was the most terrifying thing.

…

Qianming Palace, a beautiful and clean hand was playing with a brand new sachet.

In the sachet, a faint orchid fragrance was emitted.

The stitches were not dense enough, a bit rough, not very fine, but this hand liked it, and finally clenched it in the palm.

By Emperor Jingyuan’s hand, there was a bowl of medicine that had already been drunk.

In his mouth, what was contained was the dregs of the medicine that had to be eaten.

“He’s learned his lesson.”

A strange light sigh, with a bit of satisfaction.

He thought that Jingzhe’s clear little head would have to be killed a few more times to make him learn his lesson.

To know what it means to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and not to drill into danger wherever it is.

Crunch, crunch—

Emperor Jingyuan crushed the dregs of the medicine in his mouth.

I don’t know how the dregs were made, but they were a bit hard, making a strange cracking sound, like white teeth grinding someone’s bones.