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It wasn't them, but no one wanted to be exposed to the midday sun, except for him, who was a fool.
Qiaochu no longer had any hope for herself. She kept wondering if Qin Ge gave in to her when she occasionally won when playing chess with him in the past, or if Qin Ge's chess skills had regressed after his reincarnation.
Everyone secretly groaned.
Qiaochu was the worst. Even on ordinary days, Shangguan Jinghong would not deliberately let her lose face in front of others, let alone now that there were two of them—
Finally, when even the calcium-deficient Jing Qing realized that something was wrong and started to feel hot, Qiao Chu was forced to use his quick wit and said, "Master,"
"Yeah," Shangguan Jinghong stared at the chessboard leisurely without raising his head.
"Qiaochu wants to ask you for advice."
"oh?"
"Did the master allow it?"
Shangguan Jinghong hesitated for a moment, then slowly raised his head and saw Qiaochu's fair and tender face was steamed red by the sun, with a little sweat on it, and the color of her lips became more radiant. His lower abdomen tightened and he couldn't help but utter "hmm" again.
"Qiaochu wants to ask me for advice on how to defeat me."
Qiaochu said slowly.
Shangguan Jinghong was obviously startled, raised his eyebrows, and reached out to hold her hand. Qiaochu trembled slightly, but finally did not pull away. He led her hand to make a move, and then he made a move with his other hand... Finally, he swept the chessboard and said lightly: "You win."
Everyone felt as if they had been pardoned, and they retreated in an instant. Even the four beauties were taken away by Jing Ping and others.
Qiaochu suddenly felt a little flustered and stood up and said, "I'm going back too."
But her hand was still tightly held by Shangguan Jinghong, and the hot and wet air suddenly rushed from his hand to her palm.
He sneered, crossed the stone table, picked her up and pulled her into his arms.
Without saying a word, he tightened his iron arms around her, leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
The movements are rough and violent, like plundering.
Qiaochu couldn't push him away, and he pounded her all over with his tongue. When her lips were numb and swollen, he let go a little. She was ashamed and angry, and stared at him with gritted teeth. Shangguan Jinghong was the same, staring back at her coldly, "You really didn't miss me at all in all these days? If I don't come, are you planning to never look for me again?"
Qiaochu retorted, "Why would I look for you? There is nothing left to talk about between us."
"Whether you want it or not, I can heal you tonight. You and I have a lifetime to entangle with each other."
…
It is not easy to cure the disease. Qiaochu did not understand what Shangguan Jinghong meant. He left the garden after saying that, probably to go to the second department under his jurisdiction to do some work. He disappeared in the afternoon and evening. However, the four heard the news that King Xia was seriously ill from the driver.
380
It's night, palace.
When she was falling asleep, Concubine Zhuang felt something strange. She sat up with a start and suddenly opened the bed curtains. Sure enough, in the dark bedroom, there was a figure sitting by the table.
Her heart was beating fast. She was wondering whether to shout or what to do, when a voice came faintly, "It's me."
She shuddered slightly, and the candlelight suddenly lit up, revealing the appearance of the person coming.
The man in the iron-faced blue shirt did not even change his clothes—
"My dear, do you need something? Do you want me to come in and serve you? Come on."
The maid on duty outside the door saw the light suddenly turned on and started asking.
Concubine Zhuang immediately replied, "It's okay, but I'm not in a good mood tonight. I can't sleep without hearing any noise. You and the imperial guards should retreat a hundred feet away and guard here."
The maid responded respectfully.
When the footsteps faded away, Concubine Zhuang quickly put on her shoes, got out of bed, and walked in front of the person who came.
This person is Shangguan Jinghong.
She smiled and was about to sit on his lap. He did not shy away and put his arms around her waist. Her face flushed, but he carried her to the stool next to him.
Zhuang Min's eyes gradually turned cold. The last time he entered the palace secretly at night, she was surprised and happy. But as soon as she got close to him, he pushed her away.
She sneered and said in a low voice: "Shangguan Jinghong, if you don't miss me, why bother to come to the palace?"
The person who came was Shangguan Jinghong. At this moment, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he still said calmly: "I have something to talk to you about."
"What's up?"
This man usually doesn't talk much. Zhuang Min recalled that he ventured into the palace late at night a few days ago. It was because he learned that her mother had died suddenly, and he came to the palace to express his condolences. His tone suddenly softened.
Shangguan Jinghong raised the corner of his mouth slightly, but his eyes had a completely different and dangerous meaning, "Inner elixir."
Zhuang Min was shocked, and then his face darkened.
"I understand now. You didn't come to the palace that night to appease me. You had already set your sights on this last pill. You wanted to find out whether the pill was in my hands."
"Well, your mother died suddenly, and I immediately thought of that medicine - the medicine I thought I had taught your mother to take. When I asked you, you really regretted not refusing the medicine the old lady gave you."
Zhuang Min was furious and pointed at him, "Master Ba, it's a pity that you came a step too late. Jingcong was suddenly poisoned. You are well-informed, so you must know it, right? I want to keep this medicine for him."
"Qingyu, there are two interesting things about your behavior. First, since Laojiu was poisoned, shouldn't you have given him the medicine long ago? Why? You kept it? Unless you didn't want to give it to him at all. Second, you were able to sleep peacefully. Is this what a mother should do?"
When Zhuang Min heard this, his expression changed and his smile became colder.
"Go on, keep talking. I am waiting for your advice."
Shangguan Jinghong smiled without hesitation and continued, "Qiaochu's illness is nothing new. If not many people knew about it before, the day before my ninth brother's wedding, my father 'kindly' summoned her to the palace and asked the female doctor to check her. Would her physical condition not have spread? I'm afraid everyone in the palace who cares about her knows about it."
"After all, it is a rare medicine. If Lao Jiu really wanted it, you would give it to him. But at this point, how can you not be suspicious? Although Lao Jiu spent a lot of time looking for a medicine that even the imperial physician could not cure, he would not be too harsh on himself at the beginning. Unless you are unwilling to give him the medicine, he will have to make things worse."
Zhuang Min gently clapped her hands, her beautiful eyes and eyebrows were filled with sadness, and the smile lines at the corners of her mouth slowly overlapped, "It's as if you saw it with your own eyes. Shangguan Jinghong is indeed Shangguan Jinghong."
"So, you should also know that with my temper, I will never give you the elixir. Even if Jingcong takes the elixir without caring about his own life, I will only try to make him take the medicine instead of letting him take this life-saving medicine to your woman!"
When she finished speaking, her voice was ruthless, but she still sat quietly on the stool, her eyes slowly glancing at the bright red pill in her hand.
"No, you will cooperate with me."
Shangguan Jinghong's voice became even softer, and the light in his eyes deepened.
"Shangguan Jinghong, what gives you the right?" Zhuang Min laughed instead of getting angry.
"I have something on you. I'm afraid there are some things you might not want Rongrui to know."
"Handle?" Zhuang Min sneered, "Is it the matter of my Xia family evading national taxes, or is it the matter of you and I having an affair?"
"Don't forget, the merchants my father competed with presented evidence to the Dali Temple, and you managed to get the Dali Temple to destroy the evidence. You and I have a private relationship. Although I made the request first, if your father knew about it, you would not be able to escape responsibility. You said you were seeking medicine for Lao Tie, and a servant taught you to corrupt morality. Would your father believe it?"
"Well, a slave, it does seem absurd. If I were the father, I wouldn't believe it either. I would just think that the son has ulterior motives." Shangguan Jinghong's eyes suddenly became gloomy, and he was slightly lost in memories from many years ago. Thinking of Qiaochu's dirty words, he curled his lips and smiled.
It's dirty, so what.
Zhuang Min chuckled, but stared at him coldly, "Go away, go back and think carefully about how I have treated you all these years. When you were young, I cherished you. If not, would I not report you to the emperor when I learned that you wrote a letter to Xia Haibing about the palace opening? You have grown up, I love you, I am willing to borrow the story of my old friend to tell you..."
She suddenly stopped talking and flicked her sleeves fiercely.
Shangguan Jinghong just smiled.
Zhuang Min initially thought that he was unwilling to accept this, and gradually a trace of resentment emerged in her heart. "What are you laughing at?"
"Laugh at the ridiculous things in the world. Unfortunately, I am not like Maitreya. My stomach cannot accommodate the people that the world cannot accommodate. I, Shangguan Jinghong, have always been a hypocrite."
"My honorable foster mother, you... are really in a difficult position. On the first day I slept on your bed, I was thinking about a question: what exactly is your motive?"
"Although my father had that intention, he was already willing but not strong enough at that time, which made you feel uncomfortable. But this is not enough for you to do such an extraordinary thing. If you want to do it, you shouldn't come to me."
"There are thousands of reasons for things happening in the world, but there is only one possibility for your case. Zhuang Min, Xia Jiu is not Rong Rui's biological son at all. Right?"
——————————
381
"You are guilty and don't dare to hold too high hopes for Xia Jiu to ascend the throne. You are afraid that after Rong Rui passes away, the prince will not let you and your son go, so you put your thoughts on me. If I can fight for it, it will be an extra layer of protection for you."
Zhuang Min shuddered, but then laughed and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Jingcong is indeed your father's child! Besides, if he really wasn't, would you wait until today to threaten me? You only said this because you saw that I was going to give the elixir to Jingcong!"
"Because I didn't get the evidence a few days ago. Zhuang Min, I had suspected this a few years ago, but I didn't do anything because I wanted to let you off. These days, I asked Mo Cunfeng to check the records of your relatives visiting the palace 20 years ago. What do you think they found? At that time, your parents frequently went to the palace and brought a cousin from your clan in and out many times."
"No one thought it was wrong at the time, but there was actually something fishy going on. Although you are an only child, you have many cousins in your family, but you have the closest relationship with your cousin? The cousin is because your cousins were shown to the palace servants on your wedding day, and you were a cautious person, so you re-created the identity of the person who followed your parents in and out of the palace. The cousin was actually a man dressed up as a cousin of yours."
Shangguan Jinghong spoke very quickly, as if he was chatting and joking, but he did it all in one breath. When he finished speaking, Zhuang Min's face finally turned pale. After a while, she gritted her teeth and smiled, "This is just your speculation. A man dressed as a woman, you are so lucky to come up with it."
"This was indeed just my speculation at the beginning, but now that I can point out the identity of that person, why do you think so? The reason why I didn't make things clear until tonight is because it takes time to find him, and he is now in my hands. The old man in the palace must still have an impression of your cousin's appearance. If I bring him to Rongrui, do you think he will think this is a man who looks very similar to your cousin or something else?"
"If you tell our father about our affair, I will lose everything at best, and Rongrui may not even be willing to take my life. But I can tell you for sure that Lao Jiu's background is enough to get all nine clans of your Xia family implicated."
At this point, Zhuang Min finally smiled bitterly, stood up majestically, and looked at Shangguan Jinghong with vicious eyes, "Shangguan Jinghong, you wolf cub!"
Shangguan Jinghong still looked at the flickering light of the oil lamp on the table calmly, "Wolf? After all, it was you who saved Uncle Tie's life. Even if what you did back then disgusts me, I don't intend to harm you. When the Xia family is in trouble, I will help them."
"It's not just because of my friend. I know you have me in your heart. I asked you about wealth and fame, and you even said you were willing to give it to me. I could tell from your tone that you didn't lie to me." Zhuang Min suddenly laughed softly, "I was wrong at the beginning, but we have been happy over the years. After all, I am your first woman, and Xiao Jiuer is your first child. You seem to dislike him, but you still love him in your heart. How can you force me to this point now?"
"Glory and wealth, if you like, as long as I have it, I can give it to you. As for you and me..." Shangguan Jinghong smiled softly, his eyes darkened, "We have never been happy."
Zhuang Min just shook her head, the resentment in her eyes suddenly turned into a fierceness, "Then I asked you to call me by my nickname, I went to your house to find you, I asked you to carry me on your back, and you agreed..."
"At that time, I had just entered the court and didn't want to cause any trouble. If you like, I will play with you. Now, I won't do that. Who knows whether Xiaojiu is my child or not! Even if he is, to me, he is just a piece of flesh and blood."
…
Zhuang Min fell to the ground, staring at the wooden box that had fallen to the ground. It was empty inside.
The lamp on the table has faded, the room is quiet, and the sound just now seems to still linger in my ears.
"Is Qiaochu really that important to you? Shangguan Jinghong, how can someone like you love someone? How can you..."
"Whether I love someone or not has nothing to do with you. Madam Zhuang, you just need to remember that if this medicine is not genuine and she dies, I want all nine members of your Xia family to be buried with her, including your precious little Jiuer. If she dies, no one else can survive. Do you understand?"
The moonlight shone through the curtains, and Qiaochu sat up suddenly, pinching her brows. She had asked Jingping privately that Shangguan Jingcong's illness seemed serious.
She was so frightened that she couldn't sleep at all.
No, she had to find the beauty and ask her to go to Prince Xia’s mansion to check out the situation.
Just as I reached the door, it opened.
Outside the door, Fang Ming was leading a group of maids to pay their respects, and Shangguan Jinghong was standing at the door in a green robe.
The lights on the corridor were dim. Shangguan Jinghong saw her open the door, his eyes darkened, and he picked her up by the waist and walked towards the bed.
Fang Ming led two maids into the house, turned on the light, and quickly left, closing the door behind him.
"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"
Shangguan Jinghong took off the iron mask and threw it on the table, then asked coldly.
Qiaochu was unsure of his purpose for coming over so suddenly. In the middle of the night, he sat on the edge of her bed. She suddenly felt a little strange and uncomfortable. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm hungry. I want to order something to eat."
Shangguan Jinghong looked at her thoughtfully, walked to the door, and gave her a few instructions through the door.
He served her food, which were all the snacks she liked to eat. They had not been together for long, and even after spending a long time together, he had memorized her preferences.
Qiaochu was in a trance for a while, and smiled bitterly in his heart. Finally, he couldn't help but said in a more serious tone: "Is there anything you want to say? If you do, please tell me. I'll rest after I eat."
The meaning of her words to expel the guest was obvious, but Shangguan Jinghong stared at her deeply and said: