Fear flashed through his mind, and Rong Tang suddenly remembered a fact that he should have paid attention to but had been ignored.
When he saw Sheng Chengli for the first time on the cruise ship during the Zhehua Party, he decided that he was a protagonist who did not belong to this time period. If we break down the time, it was at the end of the eleventh year of Qingzheng and the beginning of the twelfth year.
Rong Tang pursed his lips, his face flickering in the afterglow of the sunset, and he finally realized what this speculation meant.
By the end of the eleventh year of the Qingzheng reign, Mu Jingxu had died.
—In the predetermined fate of the original work and the past experiences he had in his previous life.
The heavy snow at the end of the eleventh year took away Mu Shaoqing, and Sheng Chengli now looks the same as he did then.
The panic was magnified at that moment. Rong Tang lowered his eyes and walked out of the yard without delaying for a second.
But he ran into Su Huaijing at the Moon Gate. The latter was stunned for a second and subconsciously wanted to laugh, but when he saw Rong Tang's expression, he became serious, held his hand, and asked in a gentle voice: "What's wrong?"
Rong Tang looked at Su Huaijing, his face showing a rare panic. He reached out and grabbed his arm tightly, and asked quickly, "Sheng Chengli went to the Dali Temple? When and for what? Is brother still there?"
With such a series of questions, it was hard for Su Huaijing not to have doubts.
His expression changed, his eyes became sharp, and he unconsciously looked at Rong Tang with a bit of scrutiny, observing his emotions. However, he restrained his sharpness in the next second, held Rong Tang's hand, led him out of the house, and asked in a gentle voice, "What do you want to say, Tang Tang?"
Before he saw the person, Rong Tang was extremely anxious, but now he has calmed down a little.
According to the information he originally learned, Mu Jingxu did not survive the winter because of his old illness and overwork.
This is normal. After all, the medical level in this era is so low, and Mu Jingxu has always been in poor health.
But because of the variable of Sheng Chengli, Rong Tang now has to suspect that Mu Jingxu’s death may be related to Sheng Chengli.
But even though the system no longer resides in his mind, he still cannot completely and uncontrollably tell Su Huaijing about what he saw and heard in his previous two lives or the plot of the original novel. This limitation may not be entirely due to the limitations of the system or the main brain, but rather the rules of this world itself.
Rong Tang tried, but in the end he could only hint indirectly: "Brother used to help Sheng Chengli, but then he suddenly abandoned him and stood with us. Sheng Chengli went to the Dali Temple without any warning. What was the reason? Did he want to take revenge on him?"
As they were talking, they walked to the gate. Su Huaijing pulled everyone into the carriage and ordered Shuangshou to drive to the Mu Mansion, his face slightly gloomy.
Rong Tang thought of something and frowned slightly. He asked uncertainly, "Did you have an argument with Lord Mu on the Ghost Festival? What was it about?"
Su Huaijing was stunned, looked at Rong Tang in surprise, and finally shook his head helplessly, wondering: "Tangtang, how do you know everything?"
Rong Tang did not listen to his praise, but looked straight at Su Huaijing, insisting that he give him an explanation.
The latter stared at him for a long time, and the carriage rolled forward.
After a long while, the villain said softly, "Just ask your brother."
Along the way, he did not dwell on this issue any further, but instead asked Rong Tang some seemingly irrelevant details.
For example, what cases might happen in the capital next, which ones would be assigned to the Dali Temple, and which ones would be handled by the Censorate. What forces would be involved in these cases, and what changes would they bring to the situation in the capital.
These are all speculations, and they cleverly avoid direct information from key figures.
Rong Tang understood the meaning behind his words, so he answered his question in an ambiguous way that would not get him banned. They both knew why they were asking these questions.
If Mu Jingxu did not die from overwork, then he must have died from a conflict of interests and hatred.
Either there was a conflict between him and Sheng Chengli, or there was a hidden danger posed by his identity as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.
The Dali Temple hears a large number of cases every year, and it is hard to say that there won’t be one or two cases where one unintentionally steps on a minefield.
Rong Tang talked with Su Huaijing all the way, but hesitated for a moment before reaching the Mu Mansion.
Su Huaijing noticed his hesitation, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Tangtang, is there anything that is inconvenient for you to say?"
Rong Tang seldom took the initiative to ask Su Huai about official affairs, but now that the beginning of autumn had passed, one person was still alive.
He asked, "Is Li Changfu still in the prison?"
Su Huaijing was stunned for a moment, frowned slightly, and replied: "I'm dying."
Rong Tang has always believed in him, but he has doubts about this matter.
As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Li Changfu naturally had close contacts with the Minister of War, not to mention the military general Wu Kangbo in the court.
Last autumn, the Wukang Earl's family was wiped out, and everyone in the Ministry of War was in danger.
The matter of treason was serious, so Emperor Renshou ordered a thorough investigation of the Ministry of War, which was hosted by the Censorate and assisted by the Dali Temple.
It wasn't long before Li Changfu was found guilty of a series of crimes including embezzlement and bribery. However, he had been an official for many years and had been dealing with the situation for a long time before he was thrown into jail in late spring of this year.
Because the Ministry of War was a powerful weapon of the country, and the cases of Wu Kangbo and Zhang Baoshan occurred last year, Emperor Renshou was furious and ordered a strict investigation of Li Changfu. In the end, more than ten charges were found and he was sentenced to execution in the autumn.
This happened in both the original novel and the previous life, and Su Huaijing contributed a lot to it. Rong Tang even witnessed Li Changfu being pushed to the execution ground for execution. Because the scene of a wild dog jumping out and biting half of Li Changfu's face was too bloody and horrible, Rong Tang even had a fever after returning.
This kind of little cannon fodder who is destined to die cannot cause much trouble, but I don't know whether it is because Su Huaijing was not completely sent to Qin Pengxuan's backyard in this life, or some other unknown reason, Su Huaijing did not seem to be more hateful in promoting his death.
Emperor Renshou clearly issued a memorial to execute people in the autumn, but before the Wanshou Festival of that year, he ordered a general amnesty and commutation of sentences. Li Changfu was among them, and his sentence was changed from execution in the autumn to life imprisonment.
Su Huaijing frowned, and seeing his hesitation and worry, he comforted him: "I have another way to make him die, Tangtang don't have to worry."
Rong Tang glanced at him and emotionally wanted to believe him, but intuitively he felt that there was some huge trap waiting for them to fall into.
In the end, Rong Tang just nodded, trusting Su Huaijing as always. When they arrived at the Mu Mansion, they were having dinner.
Yuanyuan was very happy to see Rong Tang coming. She threw away her bowl and chopsticks and ran to him, pointed to the top of her head, and excitedly told him that she had grown taller again.
Su Huaijing glanced at him and coldly said, "There are three layers of insoles in the shoes."
"How did you know!" Yuanyuan was quite surprised, her mouth opened wide enough to swallow an egg.
Su Huaijing uttered a disdainful "huh" and did not answer. Ke Hongxue pulled her silly child back, sighed quietly, and explained: "I just saw you a few days ago. You are not a sapling that can grow tall overnight."
Yuanyuan was a little frustrated, and her shoulders relaxed, but she still said, "He didn't even look at me, so how could he know how tall I was a few days ago, and how could he accurately report how many layers of insoles I put in?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jingxu glanced at Su Huaijing for a moment, with a look of obvious admonition, as if asking what on earth he had done to make the child feel that he didn't care about him at all.
Su Huaijing didn't care anyway, he pulled Rong Tang and sat down naturally. The servant brought two sets of bowls and chopsticks, and he put the ribs into Rong Tang's bowl.
Rong Tang was very helpless. He called Yuanyuan over and took out a bag of maltose from his pocket: "Uncle Su bought this for you on the way here."
"Why give it to him?" Su Huaijing was unhappy, "Anyway, I am a bad uncle in his eyes."
Rong Tang: “…”
Mu Jingxu: “…”
The two looked at each other and saw speechless emotions in each other's eyes.
Master Ke has already started to mock: "Oh my, you are such an adult, but you are arguing with a child, isn't it embarrassing?"
After saying that, he picked up Yuanyuan who was about to eat some candy and said as he walked out, "Let's not play with him, so as not to be infected by him and become childish."
Su Huaijing didn't even glance at them, and was focused on picking up food for Rong Tang. He watched him eat the food before he started to eat his dinner. Mu Jingxu was confused by what he saw. He didn't understand why these two people had no food or firewood at home and had to come all the way here to eat a meal with them.
But since everyone was there, he couldn't leave, so he scooped another bowl of soup and drank it slowly while accompanying the two of them.
It was not until the guests who came later were about 70% full that Mu Jingxu asked with a smile: "Why did you come without saying hello?"
Su Huaijing seemed determined to be childish to the end. He glanced at his brother unhappily when he heard this: "Don't you know?"
Mu Jingxu was slightly stunned, his smile paused, he looked at him in confusion, and finally looked at Rong Tang.
Rong Tang shook his head and asked him directly, "Why did the Fifth Prince go to the Dali Temple? Does your brother know the inside story?"
Mu Jingxu opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and did not answer Rong Tang immediately.
Su Huaijing said unhappily, "He invited me."
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, remembering the papers scattered in the study on the Ghost Festival.
Su Huaijing has always been an overly rational person. He is never stingy with sacrifices and calculations on himself. Even if it means losing an arm in exchange for the death of others, he would probably agree.
But once in front of his family and loved ones, the villain becomes an immature child.
Knowing that Sheng Chengli was a poisonous snake who might bite back at any time, Mu Jingxu still invited him to work with him. Su Huaijing was naturally very unhappy when he heard this, and a quarrel broke out.
Mu Jingxu was somewhat helpless, but indulged his younger brother. He glanced at Su Huaijing and explained in a gentle voice, "It's either the Dali Temple or the Censorate, or any other of the six ministries. Rather than leaving the danger in an invisible place and letting it develop, it's better to put it in front of me."
Rong Tang also disagreed: "But he is not a good person."
Mu Jingxu was slightly startled, as if he had never heard Rong Tang comment on others like this. After he realized what was happening, he smiled and said, "At least I can check and balance him."
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, and a bad feeling came to his mind: "How to check and balance?"
Mu Jingxu looked at Su Huaijing and finally chose not to hide it. He confessed: "I drugged him. He must take the antidote every month, otherwise he may die at any time."
Rong Tang's pupils suddenly dilated, surprise written all over his face, his voice trembling a little: "When did it happen?"
Mu Jingxu didn't understand why his mood suddenly changed, but he still said, "The Spring Festival two years ago."
Rong Tang: “…”
In the ninth year of Qingzheng, Mu Jingxu had no intention of supporting Sheng Chengli from the very beginning.
In this situation, could Sheng Chengli really endure for three or four years without taking action against him
He couldn't even learn to be grateful. Being treacherous and revengeful was the best solution for him in this game of power that had never been played with sincerity from the beginning.
How can it be a check and balance? This is clearly inviting a wolf into the house and raising a tiger to cause trouble.
(End of this chapter)