"During the years when Emperor Lu was alive, life wasn't that difficult."
"The late crown prince is not a mediocre person. My grandfather was in charge of the palace gate in the previous dynasty. He told me that when the northern border was attacked, no one in the court dared to go up. The late crown prince took the initiative to go to the border!"
"Hey, hey, hey? Have you ever been to the outskirts of Beijing? There's a garden there, I think it's called Song Garden, and it's... wow, it's not an exaggeration to say it's a paradise on earth."
"Come to think of it, my distant cousin was actually engaged to the fourth princess in the palace. That princess didn't look like a proud and arrogant master raised in the palace."
"… "
Rong Tang and Lu Jiaxi came out to eat, but they did not go to a private room. They just found a corner, ordered three or two dishes, and sat down.
Wine, sex, money and anger are the things that are most likely to make people let down their guard. This has been the same principle since ancient times. After three glasses of wine and a few bites of meat, people will be able to say anything.
Rong Tang listened to the whispers from more than one table around him, but he was reluctant to pick up his chopsticks.
Lu Jiaxi hung his head, feeling a little depressed, and asked in a muffled voice: "My Lord, what do you think can be considered real in this world?"
At that time, he hated the late emperor's family so much that he wanted to dig them out of their graves and expose them to the sun, but now he was defending them in words and felt complacent about having a little relationship with them.
The court didn't even do anything, but several ministers and princes died one after another. However, there was a horrific accident on the day of the empress dowager's funeral, and then when the rumor of "eating rot" spread among the people, it grew legs and flew into thousands of households.
Rong Tang lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, and replied, "Myself."
Lu Jiaxi didn't understand and looked up at him with confusion in his eyes.
Rong Tang picked up a piece of sea bass, put it in his mouth and sipped it, then frowned slightly.
In the plain areas of central Beijing, river fish are not as delicious as those in the south of the Yangtze River.
He put down his chopsticks and said, "Eternity and truth are just settings in the understanding of ordinary people. There is no reason to be framed. Your truth may not be someone else's falsehood. It's just a different perspective."
Lu Jiaxi blinked, and Rong Tang said, "So just maintain what you think in your heart and what you believe to be true, and don't be distracted by external voices."
The waiters were busy in the lobby, the diners were eating and chatting, and the royal secrets were just a few idle talks among ordinary people after dinner, and the topic soon turned to other places.
Rong Tang collected his thoughts and ate a simple meal. Seeing that the person opposite him was also full, he asked casually, "What has Huai Jing been busy with recently?"
Lu Jiaxi was slightly stunned for a moment, and it took him two seconds to react. Seeing Rong Tang's eyes evading, he said in a muffled voice, "It's probably about the Censorate. His Majesty has been in a bad mood recently, and the Censorate has been very busy."
"Really?" Rong Tang responded casually, smiling: "Okay then."
The emperor claimed to be ill from time to time, rumors spread among the people, and the ministers advised the emperor to appoint a crown prince.
This is understandable in all dynasties. A country cannot be without a monarch for a day. When the emperor is in poor health, a crown prince must be appointed first to prevent an accident from happening one day and being unable to cope with it, thus leading to a turbulent situation where the princes fight for the throne.
But the emperor sitting on the dragon throne now is Sheng Xuyan.
He was a man who would do anything to keep power firmly in his hands, and was suspicious of every minister and son. When the ministers jointly submitted a petition to establish a crown prince, he must have been furious and wanted to execute all those who submitted the petition.
Therefore, the Censorate has been very busy recently, having to silence the ministers and investigate the crimes of all officials.
They are the emperor's lackeys and mouthpieces, and everything they do must be based on the emperor's will.
Lu Jiaxi's answer could be considered honest to some extent, but it was definitely not the accurate answer that Rong Tang wanted to know.
But precisely because of this avoidance, Rong Tang was sure that his guess was correct.
Su Huaijing and Sheng Chengli reached some kind of agreement. The rumors spreading throughout Yujing City now not only created momentum for Su Huaijing to seize the throne in the future, but also provided Sheng Chengli with some convenience.
Rong Tang was feeling uneasy. It was the 15th day of the seventh month of the year again, the Ghost Festival. Smoke was floating over the capital, and incense ash and paper money were scattered everywhere. After burning paper in the courtyard, Su Huaijing said he had some things to deal with, and went to the study alone. Rong Tang sat in the room waiting for the system.
The moonlight was bright, the smoke from the mortal world was about to cover the clouds in the sky, and a light source appeared before my eyes.
Rong Tang subconsciously smiled, but saw that the system that usually jumped up and down was listless this time, and the whole little ball of light looked particularly depressed.
Rong Tang raised his eyebrows, stretched out his hand to rub it, and asked softly: "What's wrong?"
System: "Tangtang..."
"I am here."
The system whispered, "It's almost over."
Rong Tang was slightly startled, then realized what it was talking about. His smile faded a little, but his tone was as calm as ever: "It's almost over."
The entanglement of three lifetimes is finally coming to an end.
The system was unhappy, and Rong Tang did not speak, just accompanying it. After a long time, the little ball of light suddenly asked out of nowhere: "Tangtang, do you remember how long you have been here?"
Rong Tang was slightly startled and stared at it. Subconsciously, the three words "eleven years" were about to come out of his mouth. But when the words came to his lips, a Sanskrit bell sound suddenly rang in his head. He didn't know where it came from or where it was struck. He fainted instantly. The last picture he caught his eye was the particles falling around the small ball of light on the Eight Immortals Table.
Each one of them is glowing with a faint and lustrous light.
-
The world was empty and all I could see were large patches of drifting clouds.
Rong Tang was stunned for a long time, vaguely realizing that he had had this perspective before.
He once fell into a nightmare and saw the Great Yu Imperial City. He was awakened by Su Huaijing and temporarily blinded. He was hugged and comforted by Su Huaijing, telling him that everything was fine and that he could rest in peace in this life.
Now he couldn't tell whether this was a dream or not.
It seemed as if he was the only one in the world who died in another world and then came back to this one.
He floated in the clouds for a long, long time. The sun, moon and stars rotated day by day, the creatures on the earth multiplied and thrived, and the tree rings turned in circles. He was at the top of the clouds, waiting for the predetermined plot to happen along with the passing sun and moon.
It’s hard to say when it started, but he was too bored and a cloud floated by from under him. For the first time, he reached out his hand tentatively and plucked a small piece from the huge cloud.
The clouds and wind were silent for a moment. The person who did it seemed that he had not expected it to be so easy. He was stunned for a second, then quickly fled with the cloud in his arms, like a little robber!
After coming here, he had no joy or sadness for a long time. Day after day he was just a spectator above the clouds, witnessing the rise and fall of dynasties. Suddenly, he stole someone's baby from the big clouds. His heartbeat instantly returned to normal, pounding violently. Rong Tang ran all the way to a place where there were no clouds or wind. He spread out his hands and looked at the small ball of cloud in his palms.
He said, "It's so boring, let's play role-playing! You can be the system!"
"I am also a time traveler, so it's just like what is written in ordinary novels." "I am the host, you are the system, I will tell you where this place is."
"… "
The god in the clouds stole his companion, and then for thousands of years, he repeatedly told a ball of mist about a book called "The Emperor's Journey", saying that he actually liked the villain in the book very much.
He said that he came here to stop the war and mistakes that happened in the first place.
"Huh!"
The body was embraced by someone, and the scene that had happened before was played out again. Su Huaijing held the person in his arms and patted him gently again and again: "It's okay, Tangtang, I'm here, it's okay."
Rong Tang trembled unconsciously. He opened his eyes and tried his best to see things, but he could not see anything clearly.
There were several balls of light hanging in the darkness, emitting a faint glow, just like the scene he saw before he fell unconscious.
I was in a state of confusion and uncertainty, but I instinctively calmed down after being comforted.
Rong Tang paused for a long time, like a person who had been blind for a long time, and slowly blinked his eyes. He raised his head and asked Su Huaijing in an unusually hoarse voice: "What day is today?"
-
How long have I been unconscious
Su Huaijing: "July 20th."
Rong Tang's Adam's apple rolled slightly and he swallowed subconsciously.
Five days. He hadn’t been unconscious for a long time, let alone for such a long time at a time, let alone such a weird dream during this coma…
Su Huaijing was much more stable than him. He didn't go crazy, nor was he overly nervous. Instead, he asked softly, as if he was afraid of disturbing something: "Tangtang, what do people with deep obsessions dream about?"
At a certain moment, Rong Tang almost thought that he was asking himself what he dreamed about, but he knew inexplicably that it was not the case.
Su Huaijing asked him, and then answered himself: "I heard that if one's obsession is too deep, one will dream about the previous life, but why have I never seen it?"
He was a little confused: "Do I have no obsession?"
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, and when he reacted, he felt cold all over.
Among the people he knew, there were only two people who were related to each other in this life and the previous life.
Qin Pengxuan, Ke Hongxue.
The former suffered a miserable end, while the latter suffered separation of life and death.
Rong Tang originally thought that Qin Pengxuan's dream about his past life was a shortcut given to Sheng Chengli by the main brain, but if we use the word "obsession" to explain it...
Then there must be more than just these two people.
He suddenly thought of Wang Xiuyu in this life, who planned a divorce so easily.
Su Huaijing hugged him and said softly, "I have always wanted to enter Tangtang's dream, but I have never been there. Why is that?"
The autumn night was deep and Rong Tang had some suspicions in his heart, but the answer would only make him more sad and he could not speak directly.
-
Because in every life, Su Huaijing had cleared his obsessions. Even if they all turned into appearances he didn't recognize, he did take revenge on them all. In the end, he was left alone and had no worldly obsessions anymore.
No desire, no hope.
Therefore, there is no need for an afterlife to witness the previous life.
Rong Tang asked in a hoarse voice, "What happened?"
He added: "I was in a coma for days."
The room fell into silence for a long time. After a long while, Su Huaijing spoke softly, "The crown prince has been appointed."
Rong Tang was startled and widened his eyes in disbelief, trying to see Su Huaijing's expression in the dark, and also trying to understand this plot that had never happened.
Su Huaijing said calmly: "Appoint the eighth prince as the crown prince."
The person who was least likely to become the crown prince was pushed to the position of crown prince by Sheng Xuyan; the most ignorant and immature prince, who was being suspected by the whole world, became the crown prince of a country.
This was a completely unexpected development, but Su Huaijing was neither anxious nor annoyed. He just asked Rong Tang lightly, "Tangtang, why did you come here?"
He lowered his head and rubbed Rong Tang's face lightly, his soft hair brushing against his skin. Rong Tang couldn't find his voice for a long time, his throat tightened again and again, and he didn't dare to answer at all.
-
To prevent the war and mistakes that happened in the first place.
Was it stopped
No.
(End of this chapter)