The emperor's birthday is celebrated by the whole world.
It also happened to be the tenth anniversary of the new dynasty's national calendar. Emperor Renshou cared a lot about this celebration. One can get a glimpse of this by looking at the extent to which Lord Lu, a brick in the Ministry of Rites, has been working non-stop in the past few months.
There were many banquet halls in the palace. The main hall was filled with royal relatives, first-rank officials, and envoys from various countries. Rong Tang did not join in the fun. Mu Jingxu and Su Huaijing's official positions were not high enough, so they sat in the side hall, which was quite leisurely and comfortable.
At the banquet, eunuchs were watching everyone's every word and action. Some people smiled sincerely, but some were wearing masks.
Rong Tang looked at Mu Jingxu who changed into white clothes before getting off the car, and the cloak that Ke Hongxue brought into the palace, and he felt that he could not eat a single bite of the meal.
But he still had to pretend to be grateful for the emperor's grace and appreciate the prosperous times together with the other ministers, which was somewhat annoying.
The people attending the party were divided into different classes. Rong Tang sat at the table with a bowl of soup in front of him. He pretended to take two sips and then put it down. He glanced around the hall casually and saw a figure. He paused for a moment and gave Su Huaijing an inquiring look.
Su Huaijing glanced in the direction he was going and saw Qin Pengxuan getting up, as if he was about to leave the table to go to the toilet.
He stared intently for a few seconds, then looked away and nodded at Rong Tang.
The decree requesting the throne for Sheng Chengming was issued two days ago, and he would set off for his fiefdom after the Wanshou Festival.
It is said that because of this, the promoted Concubine Yi and Lord Zhang had a fierce quarrel with Sheng Chengming in private.
But the Second Prince had made up his mind and was determined not to stay in the capital and get involved in this mess. His Majesty, grateful for his filial piety and magnanimity, bestowed him with the title of Rui to show that the Emperor values him highly.
Rong Tang watched Qin Pengxuan leave the side hall. For the first time in his three lifetimes, he began to like this incompetent prince.
In the original novel, Wu Kangbo started the rebellion in this autumn, but not during the Wanshou Festival celebration.
But under the influence of various factors in this life, Su Huaijing received a letter the day before yesterday, saying that Wu Kangbo had already planted a secret line in the palace and planned to assassinate Sheng Xuyan after the banquet.
It's hard to say whether the matter will be accomplished or not, but when he made his move at this time, Rong Tang really wanted to go up and stab him twice. Whether it was for Su Huaijing, Mu Jingxu, or his own resentment that he had nowhere to vent.
Even for those innocent people who died tragically in the previous dynasty and should have lived...
The palace banquet lasted from dawn to dusk. Before leaving the palace, Rong Tang looked back and saw a city that never sleeps with magnificent buildings.
The princes walked out of Shaohua Palace. Sheng Chengming walked in front with a slight blush on his face, and it seemed that he had drunk a lot of wine.
Surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids, someone walked slowly at the end of the team with a slightly disordered pace, and was soon left behind by his brothers.
Rong Tang withdrew his gaze indifferently, and walked side by side with Su Huaijing, following the crowd of people leaving the palace, blending in among the people in high crowns and court robes and leaving the towering palace city. He had nothing to do with the Fifth Prince in the Dayu Palace.
Su Huaijing glanced in that direction, held Rong Tang's hand and squeezed it gently.
Rong Tang understood, looked up and smiled at him.
The Wukangbo Incident is a very important turning point in the original novel. The focus of the novel gradually shifts from the early palace fighting to the later conspiracy. For the male protagonist Sheng Chengli, it is a godsend opportunity.
But what happened in this life was actually more like watching for fun for Yu Rongtang.
He was quite happy to see the capital city become a mess, and there was no need for him to mediate and try every means to seek some benefits for Sheng Chengli as he did in his previous two lives.
Wu Kangbo was destined to die, and Sheng Chengli must have had his own plans and plots when he returned from the imperial mausoleum before the Wanshou Festival.
But all this actually has little to do with Rong Tang or Su Huaijing. What he wants to see more is the diagnosis report issued by the director of the Imperial Hospital after tonight.
It's impossible to let Sheng Xuyan spend his birthday unscathed, right
Rong Tang thought so and walked out of the palace in silence. The imperial city was still bustling with activity. There was no curfew during the Wanshou Festival. Lights were bright everywhere, fireworks were lit on the city walls, and the night sky was dotted with stars.
Rong Tang sat in the carriage and asked Su Huaijing: "When do you think the news will come out?"
Su Huaijing said, "Let's wait three days, when the Wanshou Festival is over and the diplomatic envoys from various countries have not yet left Beijing."
Rong Tang asked casually, "Why?"
Su Huaijing put out a plate of candied fruit for Rong Tang to fill his stomach after not eating at the banquet, and said, "The emperor being killed on his birthday is an ominous sign, implying that he came to power illegally. Sheng Xuyan would never leave a handle for himself on such an important day."
Rong Tang held a candied fruit in his mouth and said, "Why do we have to do this when the diplomatic corps from various countries have not yet left Beijing?"
Su Huaijing: "If a minister plots rebellion on the emperor's birthday, it is a serious crime punishable by execution of the entire clan, and will also cause public criticism. But if Your Majesty is kind-hearted and invites princes, princesses and envoys from various countries to our Dayu for a banquet, but is assassinated by someone with ill intentions at the banquet, it will be suspected of destroying the peace between the two countries and provoking disputes. At that time, you can detain the delegation and ask for an explanation from the surrounding countries."
The carriage suddenly slowed down. Su Huaijing paused and said, "After all, it would be difficult for Wu Kangbo to avoid the heavy searches in the palace by himself. It is normal for him to attack the emperor at the banquet with the help of others."
Rong Tang hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "Did you do anything?"
Su Huaijing curled his lips slightly, finally revealing the only smile that could be called sincere in the past three days, and got straight to the point: "Tangtang wants to ask me if I helped Wu Kangbo?"
Rong Tang nodded.
At most, he just ordered people to pass some half-true and half-false information to Wu Kangbo, making him mistakenly believe that today was a good opportunity. There were many people coming and going in the palace, and the guards could not check them all, making it suitable for him to take action against Emperor Renshou.
There was no other contact.
However, Rong Tang felt that with Su Huaijing's personality, it was impossible for him to resist adding fuel to the fire.
The scars on Mu Jingxu's back were still vivid. The white robes stained with blood were washed, dried and hung in the yard one by one. Rong Tang saw Su Huaijing staring at the blood-stained white cloth in a daze more than once.
How could he really not do it
Seeing his concerns, Su Huaijing smiled, held Rong Tang's hand, spoke in a gentle and calm tone, and said softly: "Tangtang, you know that some wounds, if not handled properly, may be normal at first and heal quickly. But as time goes by, the inside will fester little by little until it hurts the bone marrow. One day, it will burst and can never be healed. Will you die within a few days?"
Rong Tang was slightly stunned and almost wanted to blurt out: Tetanus.
Su Huaijing: "I have nothing to do with Wu Kangbo's rebellion, and the treatment of His Majesty's injuries has nothing to do with me. Today, one day in the future, His Majesty should have passed away, but I always think that if he was killed lightly and simply by a treasonous usurpation of the throne, killed by his son, or killed by the betrayal of his concubines..."
The villain smiled lightly, his expression showing a bit of innocence, and said softly: "I always feel that it is not enough."
He had to experience all of them one by one, to make him fall heavily from the throne, to experience being deserted by his friends and relatives, to experience betrayal by his partner, to experience the separation between his parents and his children, to experience the rebellion of his subjects... and then to inflict the pain on his body bit by bit.
Whipping, finger clamping, face licking, tendon picking, limb cutting, eye digging, cutting into human sticks...
Then let him go with the snakes, insects, rats and ants, in the dark dungeon, in the busy vegetable market, on the city wall with flags flying high, day after day, feeling despair, able to hear but not see the gazes and discussions of the people, and die in the bright daylight like the lowest kind of livestock.
Otherwise, how could he avenge the death of his father and brothers? Otherwise, how could he repay his third brother for the broken bones and bloodstains on his back
Su Huaijing smiled gently and warmly, without any trace of gloom in his eyes.
He just wants justice for his family. He is not an unforgivable bad person.
No one in this world can punish Sheng Xuyan, and no law can be used on the emperor of this dynasty, so it is reasonable and natural for him to do it himself, and no one is qualified to comment.
Rong Tang looked into his eyes for a long time, then added in a low voice: "We must also make public what he has done."
Su Huaijing was slightly startled and looked at him in surprise. Rong Tang said, "We need to correct the history that has been misunderstood and forged."
The prince was frail and pale, and after two years of recuperation his complexion was much worse than that of an ordinary person. But on such a busy night with people coming and going, and among the carriages and horses passing on the long street, Rong Tang's eyes were clear to the point of being bewitching.
Su Huaijing's heart moved, and he lowered his head slightly and wanted to kiss her. The carriage, which was moving slowly, suddenly stopped abruptly. The slow horse neighed loudly, and Shuangfu pulled the reins and let out a long "whoa". There was a commotion in the crowd. Rong Tang, who was sitting in the carriage, lost control of himself due to inertia and fell forward, and only stopped when he bumped into Su Huaijing's chest.
It didn't hurt, but at that moment, the villain's mood, which had not changed at all when he mentioned the murderer of his father, suddenly darkened and his face became quite grim.
The curtain was opened from the outside, and someone jumped into the carriage without following the rules. He immediately said pitifully, "Young man, please help me and drive away. My black-hearted uncles want me to get married at the age of ten to exchange for family benefits. Please, take me away, otherwise I will be sold to a sixty-year-old sister as a concubine."
Shuangfu, who was driving the car, was stunned for a moment, then he reacted immediately, turned the horse around and quickly drove away from the street.
Su Huaijing's stern expression suddenly became even colder.
Rong Tang buried his head in his arms, too embarrassed to get up for a moment.
Su Huaijing said: "Shuangshou will not be deceived."
Rong Tang: “…”
Su Huaijing: "Shuangshou is still my younger brother."
Rong Tang stopped him in a low voice: "... Stop talking."
A loyal servant follows his master, and the villain is calling him a fool.
Too much...
Rong Tang took a long time to relax, rubbed his head which was hurt by the collision, stood up, sat in the car and looked at the person who suddenly jumped into his car.
The little boy, who is about ten years old, looks thin, but his face is fair and pretty, and his eyes are very standard and beautiful phoenix eyes. He hasn't fully grown yet, but he already has a demonic look that can fascinate everyone. He will probably be a disaster when he grows up.
She was wearing a very ordinary Dayu folk costume, but it seemed like she was wearing it for the first time, with the right lapel tucked to the left and the left sleeve shortened and tucked into her inner garment. She had no accessories on her head, and her long black hair fell down, giving her a beauty that made it hard to tell whether she was a man or a woman.
His round eyes were tearful as he looked at the people in the car timidly. He sat cross-legged on the floor of the car obediently, with his hands on his knees and his head tilted up to look at the people. He looked so pitiful and familiar no matter how he looked at him.
—It was clear that except for the eyes, there was no part of his body that looked like Su Huaijing.
Ke Rongtang stared at him blankly for a while, then turned his head and repeated faintly: "Black-hearted uncle...?"
Su Huaijing: “…”
(End of this chapter)