Before Xiao Heng entered the room, he smelled the scent of gardenia. As expected, as soon as he entered the room, he saw a vase of gardenia on the table by the window, and then he met Su Yao's smiling eyes.
At that moment, everything in the world seemed to disappear.
All he could see was Su Yao's smiling face.
All the tiredness from these days was swept away. The person in front of me was standing against the light in the warm sunshine of Kunming. It was almost impossible to tell whether she was prettier or the flowers were prettier.
Su Yao hadn't heard him speak for a long time, so she blinked and looked at him, only to find that he was just staring at her blankly.
She was reborn, and no one in her past life or this life had ever looked at her with such eyes. She felt a little flustered unconsciously, and her heart was beating fast. She was a little at a loss for a moment, and she didn't even know where to put her hands.
She felt a little shy and a little angry. She turned around to look at the vase of flowers and asked, unable to bear it any longer: "Have you seen enough?"
What's wrong with this person? He usually looks very smart, but now he acts like a fool.
Xiao Heng couldn't help laughing, looking at her with some confusion and some ridicule: "I think you are so beautiful that I was stunned. Aren't you happy?"
Su Yao turned her head and glared at him, not sure whether this always serious man was teasing her.
Fortunately, Xiao Heng quickly recovered and said with a smile: "Let's go out for a walk. There are some beautiful views in the garden of the Governor's Mansion. I'll take you to see them."
Su Yao thought about it, changed her clothes and went to the garden with him.
Xiao Heng was walking side by side with her, and suddenly called out softly, "Yaoyao."
He used to call her Miss Su, and he didn't know when he changed his way of addressing her.
But when the two words "Yaoyao" came out of his mouth, they seemed to be stained with a layer of heat for some reason, and Su Yao's heart always trembled.
She nodded and glanced sideways at Xiao Heng. From her angle, she could see Xiao Heng's chin. She retracted her gaze and responded softly.
"I used to hold my breath. You know, my parents' death..." Xiao Heng paused, lowered his eyes and sighed softly before continuing: "I knew from a young age that I wanted to avenge my parents. But who should I avenge? My godfather and my grandfather both told me that I should find the people who framed my parents, but I always felt that this was wrong. Don't they know? It was indeed those people who framed my parents, but if it weren't for the emperor... my parents wouldn't have died."
Su Yao stopped dead in her tracks. Even though she knew that Xiao Heng would bring her here and that this place must be safe, she still couldn't help but look around. She only felt relieved when she saw that there was no one around.
Song Heng had said these words to her in his previous life.
When she was in a state of panic in Cheng Dingan's backyard, Song Heng came to see her.
He looked glorious on the outside, but in reality he was like walking on the edge of a cliff, having to be extremely careful with every move. At that time, he should have decided to seek refuge with the Fifth Prince who had already been enfeoffed. He came to her to ask her to take care of herself in the future.
As fate would have it, she heard these words again today. Su Yao couldn't tell what she felt in her heart, but she must have felt more heartbroken. She thought about it and knew that Xiao Heng had not finished speaking, so she waited patiently for him to continue.
In fact, Xiao Heng never liked to talk in front of others because he felt there was nothing to say.
But it was different when facing Su Yao. For some reason, no matter what it was, he really wanted to talk to Su Yao.
So, he continued, "I originally always hated this. After all, those bad guys just took advantage of the situation, but the knife was handed to them by my great grandfather. Even before I came to Yunnan, my feelings had never changed."
He wanted to be the crown prince, the heir to the throne, and sit on that throne in the future. All this was because he felt that everything belonged to his father. As his father's son, he should help redress the former crown prince and get the honor he deserves.
I came to Yunnan to quell the rebellion just to make my position more secure.
Su Yao stopped and asked him softly, "Don't you think so now?"
She thought about it, and thought about how Xiao Heng had been dealing with the natives recently, and she suddenly realized: "Did something happen?"
Xiao Heng nodded, and after a moment of silence, he told the story of Taodan and the others.
Taodan is really pitiful. Both his parents have passed away, and his grandparents are very old. I don’t know how long they can accompany him. If he had not met me and had not had this encounter, Taodan might not even live to adulthood.
Xiao Heng lowered his eyes: "Although I have been in the military camp with my grandfather and godfather, I have never come into contact with the lowest level of military households. This time is different. Yaoyao, I looked at Taodan and finally understood that my royal grandfather is actually a good emperor."
He may not be a good husband or a good father, but he is indeed a good emperor.
Having taken over the mess from the deposed emperor, Emperor Yuanfeng was faced with the pervasive restoration forces and all kinds of obstacles and schemes by the old ministers and nobles of the previous dynasty. However, Emperor Yuanfeng suppressed all of this. He did fall into the trap and demoted the prince, but he never thought of taking the prince's life from beginning to end, even when he was most angry.
He reduced taxes, lived in harmony with the people, resisted the Oirat in the north and fought against Japanese pirates in the south. Over the years, no matter where there was a disaster, there was never a large wave of refugees. This was already a rare achievement.
And as for Yunnan, he understood why Emperor Yuanfeng insisted on pacifying Yunnan.
Yunnan has always been the land of the Great Zhou, so why should it be handed over to others
Why should the people of Da Zhou be inferior to the natives
What's more, the real lower-class natives also live a very hard life.
He didn't say these words out loud, but Su Yao quickly understood what he meant. She knew something was wrong with Xiao Heng.
After waiting quietly for a while, Su Yao saw Xiao Heng looking at him, so he nodded and said, "In fact, His Majesty may not be unaware of your true thoughts. After all, you have not been close to His Majesty in these years."
At first it was just for show, to express the anger of just finding out about my past.
But Emperor Yuanfeng was the emperor, couldn’t he see it
It can be seen that he still gave his grandson the status he deserved and returned to him everything that was given to him.
She thought of Song Heng in her previous life, and reached out her hand to smooth the wrinkles between his brows, but she stopped in the end and just said softly: "Your Highness, there is still time for everything. Besides, the emperor is broad-minded. In his heart, your pacification of Yunnan is much more important than forgiving him and being close to him."
Xiao Heng looked at Su Yao steadily for a while, and then suddenly smiled.