The effect of coaxing people was excellent, as reflected in the way Rong Tang finally collapsed on the edge of the bucket, barely able to lift his arms, and the frequency of his gasping with his mouth wide open, as if he was almost out of breath, like a dying fish.
Su Huaijing bent over with a lazy look on his face, and scooped hot water with a wooden ladle and poured it on his back to prevent him from catching a cold.
The sound of flowing water was slow and gentle. Rong Tang took a long time to calm down before his eyes finally stopped being filled with a halo that made it almost impossible to see the world clearly.
Su Huaijing lifted his arm and raised his neck. The water flowed down along his slender collarbone, passed through his chest, and then rolled into his waist, leaving winding dark brown marks on his dazzling white skin.
Rong Tang let him do what he wanted. After coming to his senses, he finally realized what he had just done. His ears turned red and he dodged for a moment. Then he quickly gathered his strength and glared at the villain. Just as he was about to accuse him, he heard the villain whisper confidently, "Tang Tang provoked me first."
As he spoke, he did not forget to water Rong Tang, just like tending to a precious flower, his eyebrows relaxed and his eyes bright, he asked softly: "Brother Tang Tang, do you want to be the first to complain?"
Rong Tang's momentum dissipated in an instant and he couldn't gather it again.
He thought about it and found that there was really no way to refute the villain's accusation.
It was his own fault that he even invited her to take a bath with him.
The fact that Su Huaijing didn't really take off his clothes before coming in was a sign of his upbringing telling him to be self-disciplined and not be frivolous or reckless.
After all, Rong Tang invited it himself.
He is an evil person.
The young master was dazed. He leaned down on the edge of the bucket and tried to empty himself.
I couldn't argue with Su Huaijing, but I was also angry.
Su Huaijing smiled softly when he saw this, and the water flow moved to Rong Tang's back again. He reminded him, "Tang Tang deliberately kept me here, what do you want to say?"
He was in a much better mood at this time. No matter how jealous and dissatisfied he was, he could ignore it all in front of Rong Tang's active kiss.
Therefore, seeing Tangtang like a quail, wishing he could bury himself in a bucket, Su Huaijing chose to give him a way out.
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, and his brain finally recovered from the oxygen-deprived state and began to gradually resume functioning.
He raised his head and looked into Su Huaijing's eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Why do you suddenly hate Sheng Chengli so much today?"
The reason Su Huaijing gave him was to avoid the main point. Even if Rong Tang was disturbed by the system at the moment and couldn't figure it out immediately, he could still figure out the clues at this time.
It was an obvious fact that Su Huaijing disliked Sheng Chengli, but this dislike had never reached the point where he had to kill him.
It was when Rong Tang mentioned that dream that his dislike gradually turned into disgust, and he even had murderous thoughts.
Rong Tang shifted his mind slightly and suppressed this thought, and made Su Huaijing promise to do it himself.
But today was very strange. Just because he saw Sheng Chengli in the yard, did Su Huaijing want to kill him
What's more, his inquiries are very interesting.
It was as if he had clearly endured to the limit, but he still had to ask Rong Tang's opinion before taking any action, and only after getting his consent would he put his idea into action.
But this shouldn’t be the case.
Sheng Chengli has not grown up yet, so not only will he not fall into Su Huaijing's revenge net, but he will not feel fearful or on guard.
The reason why Su Huaijing had the intention to kill but didn't do it yet...
Rong Tang couldn't help but suspect that he actually knew that he couldn't do it.
Even though it was not completely clear, he somehow felt that Su Huaijing knew that if he killed Sheng Chengli, there would be irreversible consequences.
The question he asked Rong Tang was, firstly, to seek consent, and secondly, to assess the consequences.
If this kind of "irreversible" situation is like a mantis losing its arm, and is within Su Huaijing's control, he may still act without hesitation.
The reason why he asked Rong Tang whether he was threatening him was because the answer Rong Tang gave him in the end was a response that Su Huaijing did not want to hear.
He began to hesitate because of the answer.
He was unwilling to bear such consequences.
Rong Tang was confused, but he was still thinking about why he asked this question. It was impossible that he felt that this person was so annoying that he had to be eliminated as soon as possible after just meeting him once.
Rong Tang asked Su Huaijing: "Did you meet anyone today?"
Su Huaijing paused for a moment, a faint smile on his lips: "Why do you ask?"
Rong Tang immediately knew that his guess was almost right.
Because of who he met and what he heard, his attitude towards Sheng Chengli took a sharp turn for the worse.
Who is this person? What did he say
Rong Tang frowned slightly. Su Huaijing didn't wait for an answer and answered his previous question first: "I met someone and heard some nonsense."
Rong Tang pursed his lips and looked at him with a smile that could not be mistaken. His throat felt a little dry. He hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Is it Qin Pengxuan?"
His voice was light and soft, with a hint of unconscious panic and comfort, as if he clearly knew the answer but still hoped that his guess was not true.
In Su Huaijing's eyes, such reactions almost all confirmed his previous inferences.
Su Huaijing blinked his eyes lightly, reached out to wipe away a drop of water stain on the corner of Rong Tang's eyes, and asked with a smile: "What are you afraid of, Tang Tang?"
Rong Tang flatly denied: "I'm not scared."
"Is that so?" Su Huaijing said softly, "Tangtang guessed correctly. Today, the prince of Wukangbo came to the Imperial Censorate to find me and asked me a strange question."
Rong Tang immediately became nervous: "What's the problem?"
Su Huaijing smiled and said, "He asked me if I had any birthmarks."
The mugwort water became much cooler, and Rong Tang began to feel cold again.
Su Huaijing handed him a bath towel, asked someone to get up from the bucket and go into the inner room to light the fire, and soon brought him a bucket of warm water to continue bathing.
Rong Tang looked unhappy and never asked the next question.
He felt sad.
He had felt sad the first time Fengyuelou saw him, and now hearing Su Huaijing say it so lightly, he felt even more desolate.
There must be something wrong with the course of history that has forced a gifted person to encounter these things.
Rong Tang couldn't even ask the following questions, for fear that he would reveal something and make Su Huaijing suspicious again.
But Su Huaijing smiled and asked him: "Didn't Tangtang ask me how I answered?"
Su Huaijing looked at him, speaking every word seriously, as if he wanted to engrave this answer into Rong Tang's mind: "I don't have any birthmarks on my body."
Rong Tang was stunned, and his lips slightly opened and closed, with undisguised surprise in his clear eyes. Su Huaijing laughed and said, "If Tangtang doesn't believe me, I'll take it off and show you."
Rong Tang: “…”
His worries were instantly dispelled by Su Huaijing's inappropriate attitude. Young Master Rong rolled his eyes at him and dived under the water to soak off the dark brown moxa liquid that had just been left on his neck. He kept looking at the villain from time to time, as if he wanted to get an answer from him.
Su Huaijing said: "Tangtang, do you still remember the Huanli Grass that was found on the body of the drowned palace maid in Songyuan?"
Rong Tang was puzzled: "What does it have to do with Yuerong?"
Su Huaijing: "There are many kinds of hallucinogenic drugs in this world, and the effects of each are different. I don't know why Qin Pengxuan thought I had a birthmark and was so serious that he had to ask me about it. I just wondered if he also used drugs and mistook someone else for me, or if he created a completely fictitious me in the illusion. The illusion is not reality, so it is naturally different from the truth. Of course, the mark he imagined could not appear on me."
Su Huaijing looked calm. While explaining to Rong Tang, he used clean water to clean the traces of moxa on his body. His tone of voice didn't even change, but Rong Tang's heart sank little by little.
He lowered his head and looked at his reflection in the water for a long time, and had to admit a fact.
Su Huaijing knew.
Even if he couldn't know everything, he must be aware that there were some inexplicable strange phenomena appearing in this world.
Rong Tang, Sheng Chengli, Qin Pengxuan...
There were some strange things about them that were beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
If we trace the source of this weirdness, the most likely explanation is past lives, present lives, dreams and reality.
Rong Tang mentioned the latter, and it was easy for Su Huaijing to associate it with the former.
There was no need for him to lie to Rong Tang about what question Qin Pengxuan asked him, and if Qin Pengxuan had not asked this question, Su Huaijing would definitely not have thought of it.
only…
Rong Tang stood up, took the towel and wiped his whole body clean, changed his underwear and went to the inner room.
It was getting late, and Su Huaijing used the water he used to wash himself to wipe his body.
Rong Tang curled up in bed, looking up above his head, and countless answers that Su Huaijing could use to deceive him flashed through his mind.
Li Panyan mentioned it, Li Changfu said it, and he could even make up a story that he was spied on while taking a bath at Li's residence...
But he didn't. He told Rong Tang frankly that it might be an illusion.
He might even know how this illusion came about.
Even if it had never happened in this life, he had guessed it.
So Su Huaijing told Rong Tang to comfort him and ease his guilt, and then told him that there was nothing wrong between him and Qin Pengxuan.
No matter in the past life where they had no memory, or in this life which was supposed to continue, nothing unbearable had ever happened between them.
Rong Tang sighed softly, and almost instantly understood why Su Huaijing wanted to kill Sheng Chengli so much today.
He guessed how he died.
"It's not good to be too smart."
Too much wisdom will lead to harm. Su Huaijing has been trapped by these four words throughout his life.
The sound of running water outside the screen stopped. Su Huaijing walked into the inner room and habitually tucked in Rong Tang and said goodnight, but the person on the bed moved inwards and said, "Just sleep here."
Su Huaijing was slightly stunned, Rong Tang looked at him seriously: "I'm cold, help me warm up."
A whole winter has passed, and now it’s cold...
Su Huaijing laughed a little, walked out to turn off the lights outside, and blew out a few candles in the house.
The light suddenly dimmed, he took off his shoes and socks and got on the bed, crawled into Rong Tang's bed, and asked in a low voice: "Tang Tang, how far can you coax me?"
He was genuinely curious.
She clearly knew that she admired him and had desires for him, yet she dared to say all these words in a row. Was it because she trusted herself too much, or did she think he was not good enough
Rong Tang curled his lips, knowing what he was thinking, and whispered back: "That's it, I'm not in good health, you know."
“… Threatening me again.” Su Huaijing smiled softly.
His body was warm, and Rong Tang unconsciously pushed the quilt towards him. Su Huaijing turned sideways and waved his hand, then took him into his arms.
The heat swept through his whole body. Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, and sleepiness slowly rose up in him.
He used the last bit of his rationality to emphasize: "You really can't kill him."
He deliberately did not mention Sheng Chengli's name so as not to displease Su Huaijing again.
The villain was silent for a long time, and finally sighed helplessly: "I listen to you."
Rong Tang felt relieved, and after a while, he heard Su Huaijing ask him: "Tangtang, am I really not in your dream?"
He had asked this question on the first snow day, and Rong Tang’s answer at that time was “You are in my reality.” When he asked again today, he paused and nodded: “You are here.”
Su Huaijing: "What am I like?"
Rong Tang was speechless, thinking back to the two lives that had rolled by like old film reels, and whispered, "You are you."
You are salvation itself.
He is someone I want to get close to even if I have no choice but to do so, even if it means going against my orders.
It is a quiet and relaxing roof away from the high-pressure tasks and intrigues.
It is those intersections that constantly converge and separate, and a pot of sake under a tree in the moonlight or at dusk.
Rong Tang said: "You are irreplaceable."
(End of this chapter)