In the gilded building, the lights are just coming on, and the river lanterns in the Golden River are floating slowly, reflecting each other with the stars in the sky, together weaving a splendid scene of the world.
There are storytelling and music downstairs and banquets and wine cups upstairs.
Rong Tang lost his manners, sat hunched in the chair, and drank a bowl of iced sweet soup attentively.
Ke Hongxue watched for a while, then became amused. She smiled and asked the waiter to bring up a few more non-greasy desserts. She asked, "Have you changed your taste, young master? Do you prefer sweet food instead of spicy food?"
Rong Tang suppressed the strange taste in his mouth and looked at him with resentment.
Master Ke paused while waving the fan, his brows slightly raised, he was surprised and amused: "Hey, who wronged our prince? Tell me, I will get it back for you."
Rong Tang: "... You really know how to take advantage."
"Then what else can I do?" Ke Hongxue said with a smile, "My fellow students don't want to marry me. They don't want to marry me and they don't want to be responsible for me. I can't do anything except take advantage of you verbally."
On the surface, Su Huaijing said that he recognized Mu Jingxu as his brother, but secretly everyone knew what the relationship between these people was.
Listening to Ke Hongxue's Sima Zhao's intentions, Rong Tang couldn't help but want to give him a thumbs up.
He looked at Mu Jingxu, and saw that the cold-faced Mu Shaoqing's expression moved slightly, and his brows slightly frowned, as if he was blaming Ke Hongxue for speaking too inappropriately.
Little Master Lu, who came to eat for free, blinked his eyes and asked seriously, "Responsible? What responsibility? Have you been flirted with by Master Mu?"
Rong Tang paused slightly when he heard this, and his eyes lit up. The grievance that his throat was numbed by the bitter Chinese medicine was instantly replaced by the desire to watch a good show. He stared at Mu Jingxu without blinking.
What a loss!
It’s a great loss that I didn’t have a close friendship with Master Xiao Lu in my previous two lives!
The child is still young, but why does he always say shocking things? Who led him astray
Rong Tang laughed secretly in his heart and waited for Master Ke's answer. Su Huaijing sat beside him and served another bowl of sweet soup in front of him as if to please him.
Rong Tang lowered his eyes lazily and glanced around, then turned his head to glance at Su Huaijing.
The latter smiled at him and looked very well-behaved and sensible.
Rong Tang: "Huh."
He turned his head away and didn't look at him.
Ke Hongxue was confused by Lu Jiaxi's question for a moment, but couldn't stop laughing after she reacted: "Not really, I'm just ruining your reputation. If you have a conscience, you can spread the word that the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple cheated on me and played with my heart, deceived me physically and mentally, and didn't take responsibility for me. I'm so miserable that I'm about to hit my head against the stone statue of Bi'an at the gate of the Dali Temple and die."
He spoke in a very serious manner, sobbing a few times as he spoke, as if he had really suffered a great injustice.
Rong Tang shuddered all over, silently stepped back, and sat up straight with his back almost touching the back of the chair. Su Huaijing took the opportunity to reach out and rub his lower back.
He was too flattering and overly humble, so Rong Tang couldn't get angry with him even if he wanted to.
Helpless, he could only glare at him fiercely, and then let the villain gently rub his back.
Ke Hongxue's lies couldn't even fool the simple-minded Lu Jiaxi. Little Master Lu looked at Ke Hongxue for a long time with a distorted face, as if he had seen a ghost. The two idioms "dumbfounded" and "full of disgust" appeared alternately on his face as if they had substance.
Finally, he turned his head, with a firm expression as if he was ready to join the army and serve Dayu immediately, and said to Mu Jingxu: "Brother, don't believe him, that's all nonsense. If he dares to ruin your reputation, I will find all the confidants he made since he was in the academy, line them up and take them to the Ke Mansion to see if Master Ke wants to break his legs!"
Ke Hongxue froze: "?"
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help laughing. His back, which had just straightened, bent down again, and tears almost came out of the corners of his eyes from laughing.
Su Huaijing was afraid that he would choke, so he patted his back to help him calm down, and then poured him a cup of hot tea and placed it aside.
Rong Tang laughed until he was done and said, "Then remember to bring a few more carriages, otherwise they might not be able to fit."
Ke Hongxue had just recovered from the rebellion of his silly schoolmate. Hearing this, he blinked and looked at Rong Tang in disbelief: "Why are you also adding insult to injury?"
Rong Tang: "It's rare to see you get humiliated. If I don't add fuel to the fire, I'll get up in the middle of the night in frustration."
Outside the Gilded Building was the bustling and crowded Shueleng Street. Ke Hongxue looked at the people in the house by candlelight.
The sickly and pale Prince Ningxuan smiled with a flushed face. Su Huaijing indulged him and let him laugh wildly. Lu Jiaxi joked as if he was going to die a heroic death. Even Mu Jingxu, after a brief moment of shock, raised the corners of his lips slightly.
Ke Hongxue was silent for a while, then lowered his head and smiled helplessly.
He and Lu Jiaxi have known each other for so many years, and this is the first time that he has gained the upper hand verbally, but it doesn't seem that he has to get it back.
Ke Hongxue picked up the wine glass, took a sip with a smile, then turned his gaze to meet Mu Jingxu, and immediately put on an innocent and pitiful look, trying his best to distance himself from the various kinds of confidants they both mentioned.
Mu Jingxu originally wanted to turn his head and not look at him, but somehow, perhaps Xiao Qi's behavior of coaxing Rong Tang all night caught his attention, or perhaps Lu Jiaxi and Tangtang's misunderstanding of Ke Hongxue was too deep.
It does seem a bit unfair to be told this.
Mu Jingxu's mind raced as he nodded slightly: I know.
Ke Hongxue was stunned, with a mouthful of sake still in his mouth. Seeing this, his eyes widened, and the next moment he was choked uncontrollably by the sake. He used up the last bit of self-control to turn his head, squatted on the ground and coughed all over.
Mu Jingxu: “…”
Lord Mu turned his head and silently picked up a piece of vegetables with chopsticks.
It’s better to ignore him.
Rong Tang couldn't help but smile after watching the whole scene. He turned around and whispered to Su Huaijing: "He is really a loser."
Rong Tang paused for a moment and glanced at him: "What did you do wrong?"
Su Huaijing: "I shouldn't have taken the initiative to add coptis root to your medicine, and added it for so many days in a row."
When Rong Tang heard those two words, his tongue felt bitter, his face wrinkled, and he said fiercely: "Aren't you afraid of poisoning me to death?"
"How could that be?" Su Huaijing immediately retorted, "I asked the doctor before adding it, the medicines are not in conflict with each other. And I think the weather is hot now, so using some Coptis chinensis can also help relieve liver heat."
Rong Tang had a blank expression on his face: "The anger hasn't subsided, thank you. I really want to beat you up now."
"Okay." Su Huaijing nodded obediently, grabbed his hand and placed it in his palm, whispering: "Become a spanker for Brother Tangtang. If you're afraid of hurting your hands, I'll borrow a ruler from Ke Hongxue for you later."
Rong Tang: “…”
There is something wrong with you!
[He is somewhat ill! ] The system complained at the right time.
Rong Tang clicked his fingers, and their palms touched each other. A warm touch came over him, almost jumping from his palms to his face.
Rong Tang raised his hand, thinking it was very heavy, but in fact he patted Su Huaijing's palm very lightly, and said coldly: "This will not happen again!"
The villain smiled with his eyes curved, and nodded: "Okay."
Lu Jiaxi looked left and right. On one hand, the young couple was playing the fun of clapping their hands, and on the other hand, the playboy came back after recovering from his cough and kept sticking to his senior.
They don’t look like human beings at all, Master Lu thought.
They're like two dogs, one is almost coming of age, and the other is about to reach thirty, but they both think acting coquettishly is fun.
Little Lord Lu shook his head secretly, picked up a piece of pork ribs from the table, and thought while chewing, looking at these two serious people, how could they be so childish in front of the person they like
Do those officials in the court who regard the Censorate as a thorn in their side know how the newly appointed Censor is like in private
As for Master Ke... Never mind. I haven't seen him being serious many times in the academy.
The filter that Lu Jiaxi had created for his senior fellow student was about to be shattered layer by layer, and he could no longer go against his conscience and praise his senior fellow student as a handsome and elegant man, the most elegant and romantic young man in the city of Yujing.
After all, twenty-seven or twenty-eight is not considered a teenager. When the new imperial examination was over, Tanhualang became a nickname for others.
As the years roll by, all the glory of the past will disappear bit by bit, and in the end only the marks left by the years on the cheeks and souls will remain.
but…
Still in his prime, which is admirable.
Everyone at this table was extremely talented and gifted in this dynasty. Lu Jiaxi was very happy that he could make friends with them.
He ate half of the food with a huff and puff. Just as he was about to put down his chopsticks, he saw Ke Hongxue looking at him with a smile and asked gently, "Are you full? Do you want some more?"
Lu Jiaxi was stunned and asked tentatively: "Is it okay?"
"Of course you can," Ke Hongxue said, "You can't make me poor by eating me. You're still growing, so I won't bother with you."
There was an inexplicable air of pretentious generosity in these words. Although he said he didn't care, it was obvious that he was caring about those so-called confidants that Lu Jiaxi had just mentioned.
Xiao Lu slowed down, glanced at him boldly and cowardly, and said, "How stingy."
Su Huaijing said with a smile: "Add some more. Master Lu has been working too hard recently, so he deserves to eat more."
Lu Jiaxi immediately nodded, and secretly moved up the status of the Crown Prince's Consort in her mind, right up to Ke Hongxue!
Rong Tang found it funny and asked casually, "What are you busy with?"
"The Emperor's birthday is approaching and envoys from various countries will come to celebrate. We have been busy renovating the posthouse and the palace recently," said Lu Jiaxi.
Rong Tang was puzzled: "Isn't this the Ministry of Industry's business?"
Lu Jiaxi made a bitter face, secretly glanced at Ke Hongxue, and whispered: "Little Lu is a brick, move wherever you are needed..."
Rong Tang was slightly startled, then he smiled, thinking that this kid was really interesting, and asked, "Did your senior ask you to go?"
"Yeah!" Lu Jiaxi nodded, paused, and said, "Although the Ministry of Works is in charge, the Ministry of Rites also needs people to supervise the work to prevent mistakes in etiquette, which would cause conflicts in the future."
Rong Tang remembered that there were no conflicts during this birthday celebration.
The purpose of Emperor Renshou's birthday in the original novel is nothing more than giving Sheng Chengli the opportunity to meet and make friends with the princess of a neighboring country, laying the groundwork for him to borrow troops and start a rebellion in the future.
It’s just that Sheng Chengli didn’t last until that time.
But Rong Tang still asked, "Are there many distinguished people here?"
"Not bad." Lu Jiaxi counted on his fingers: "The Princess of Yuezhi, the Crown Prince of Dongshan, the Prince of Baiyue, if we really want to say which one is more noble, it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Dasui."
"But Da Sui has always had conflicts with my Dayu border. I don't know what their intention is in sending the prince here this time." Lord Lu frowned again, like a little old man.
(End of this chapter)