Rong Tang was originally puzzled by Liuyun's cup of tea. After listening to his explanation today, he could instinctively conclude that the letter was written by Sheng Chengli without any evidence.
Back then, almost every one of Sheng Chengli's close confidants were dug out by Rong Tang and sent to him personally.
It can be said that those counselors have a much closer relationship with Rong Tang than the prince who has just been out of the cold palace.
Even if there are newcomers who really don't like him and think that Rong Tang has too much say in front of Sheng Chengli, they will never want to kill him.
—After all, he is the Crown Prince of Ningxuan.
On Su Huaijing's side, the big villain is the absolute leader, and none of his subordinates would disobey orders or act on their own.
Liuyun is the only exception because he is too stubborn and only needs to ensure the safety of Su Huaijing without getting involved in all the intrigues in the court. Therefore, it is much easier to start with him than with others.
Rong Tang had no idea how Sheng Chengli knew about the existence of Liuyun, but after eliminating all possibilities, the only person who would want to kill Rong Tang at that critical juncture was Sheng Chengli himself, who was becoming more and more powerful, had frequent disagreements, and had just had an argument with Rong Tang.
He wanted to consolidate his power, so Rong Tang should naturally die.
Rong Tang couldn't help but think with some amusement, in the first life he used someone else's knife to kill someone, in the second life he stabbed the person with his own hands, and now Sheng Chengli actually had the nerve to ask "Is this how my cousin thinks of me?"
What else
Otherwise, how would Rong Tang think of him? Would he think that Sheng Chengli had his own reasons and had to do this
He is not the Rong Tang who was repeatedly framed by the novel plot and system tasks. Why should he give Sheng Chengli enough patience and opportunities
He sat upright in his original position without getting up. After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the "record-taker" and asked, "Is this your master?"
Sheng Chengli was startled. Before he could respond, Rong Tang sighed and said, "You are really treating him too badly. He has been plotting for you behind your back for so long, and yet you only let him be a recorder in the palace? Master Huimian didn't even get this treatment."
Huimian was also a dead chess piece for Sheng Chengli, but since he took advantage of the situation and went down the mountain, he was able to make his own chess move come alive, to the point where Sheng Chengli was completely unable to control the situation and became furious.
Sheng Chengli opened his mouth, thought of something, and a hint of anger appeared on his face. He said, "You've always known!"
He had tried to test Rong Tang more than once to see if he had any memories of his past life, but was fooled by Rong Tang every time. But now he stopped pretending.
Sheng Chengli suppressed his anger, forced himself to calm down, and said gloomily: "Do I want to kill you, or do you want to kill me? Didn't you ask someone to dig out that eyeball?"
Rong Tang nodded silently in his heart, but he had no patience for him anymore. He turned to look at the "record-keeper" and asked, "What's your name, sir?"
Without hysteria or anger, he asked calmly. Sheng Chengli fell silent instantly, looked at him in surprise and suspicion, and did not speak for a while.
The person sitting behind the desk finally raised his head and looked at Rong Tang.
With just one glance, Rong Tang was stunned.
It was a face that... I don't know how to describe it.
The wise men in the books and the saints in the paintings all look like this, with a peaceful and simple temperament all over their bodies, a steady and mature face, about fifty or sixty years old, with a slightly graying beard and a silent smile on the corners of his lips.
It's a face that you won't remember even if you look at it ten times, but once you see it, you'll feel peaceful and calm.
However, precisely because of this calmness, Rong Tang became more alert. It was a kind of horror that was close to being inhuman.
He pinched his fingers silently to maintain the pain and looked at the other person warily.
The man said in a gentle voice: "I have no name or surname. If you think highly of me, you can call me Tiandao Laozi."
In an instant, Rong Tang felt like he had fallen into an ice cave.
-
On the outskirts of the capital, a team of carriages and horses passed by. On the truck at the back of the team were several boxes of fruits and vegetables that had just ripened this autumn. Each one was large and sweet, and piled together. The fragrance wafted in the air as the horses galloped.
The convoy stopped outside the gate of Yujing City. Sheng Chengming leaned out of the car and looked up at the plaque on the city wall.
Since he was crowned king and left the capital in the tenth year of Qingzheng, he has not returned to the capital for two years.
When Xingsheng traveled to the capital, he dreamed of the supreme throne, but as time went by, an unspoken fear hung in his heart. Sheng Chengming was definitely not the smartest among Emperor Renshou's sons, but he was very obedient.
—Listen to Su Huaijing.
It's not that Su Huaijing didn't resent him when he asked him to ask for the throne and stay away from the capital. But now looking back, among all his father's children, except him, which one had a good ending
The bloodline of his eighth brother was in doubt, and he had no idea how many letters he had received from the capital while he was far away in Lingnan. The noble princes who had been surrounded by crowds of people in those years had disappeared one by one. Looking around, only Sheng Chengli might be qualified to ascend the throne.
But… Sheng Chengming sat back in the car and closed his eyes. In his ears was the sound of the wind that lingered year after year outside the city of Yujing. But behind that distant sound of the wind, he heard another, even more ferocious sound of war and iron horses.
That was the sound of horses' footsteps of three hundred thousand troops rushing in from all directions.
Sheng Chengming pursed his slightly dry lips and unconsciously clenched his fists. There was no winner among his brothers.
There can only be one winner.
The guard outside the window asked respectfully, "My Lord, are we entering the city now?"
Sheng Chengming shook his head: "No, rest here."
The prince led his troops into the capital for no reason and was charged with treason, and in the end he could not escape death, not to mention that he had an army of 300,000 behind him.
He had to wait, wait for the man in Beijing to send out a signal, wait until everything was legitimate.
As for whether he would use this military token to attack the city and establish himself as emperor...
At this time, Sheng Chengming just felt that maybe he really wasn't cut out for it.
Even if he succeeds by chance, how long can he last
When Su Huaijing was his counselor, Sheng Chengming trusted him without reservation; now that Su Huaijing wants him to be his backer, Sheng Chengming...
After all, this world should belong to Su Huaijing—or Sheng Fuya.
He exhaled lightly and closed his eyes slightly tiredly.
It was getting dark and the city gates were about to be locked. A few crows flew out of the dense forest outside the capital, and the last ray of sunlight among the clouds in the sky returned home.
-
Inside the Qinzheng Hall, Rong Tang swallowed unconsciously, retracted the shock that flashed across his eyes, and regained his composure.
He said, "I thought you would have come to me earlier."
The old man who called himself Tiandao Laoer said: "I have always thought that we can meet after you complete your mission."
“He” paused for a moment, then said softly with a look of regret: “It’s a pity that you didn’t even finish it once.”
Rong Tang looked at Him and asked bluntly, "Are you trying to imply that I failed the mission due to my lack of ability, which led to all this?"
He said coldly: "This is called PUA."
Both of them were stunned for a moment. If the system was still there, it would have started to curse and complain to Tangtang. This way of speaking from a superior position and blaming in a nonchalant manner was a complete negative psychological suggestion.
But Rong Tang...
I have been a Buddhist all my life, so why should I care whether he wants to blame me or not
He leaned back in his chair and smiled: "Now that I think about it, it's a good thing that your crappy mission failed."
The old man was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Young man, your words are still so interesting."
"Or?" Rong Tang asked, "Have you seen me?"
Tian Dao nodded: "I am the God, and all the living beings in the world are in my sight."
Rong Tang nodded: "It sounds quite philanthropic."
As he spoke, he changed the subject and looked at Sheng Chengli, who had been silent since the two of them started talking, and asked jokingly, "If you are so philanthropic, why did you choose such a loser to steal things with you?"
Sheng Chengli: “You!”
Tian Dao frowned, and for the first time, a displeased look appeared on his face that was too peaceful. He said in a serious voice, "My friend, be careful with your words."
Rong Tang: "What do you need to be careful about? Are you saying that Sheng Chengli didn't steal Su Huaijing's world, or that you didn't steal my responsibilities?"
Tian Dao was slightly startled, and when he looked at Rong Tang, a strange emotion flashed in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly calmed down and asked, "It seems that my friend has already known something."
He paused, looked straight into Rong Tang's eyes, and said suggestively: "I just don't know if you know the whole truth?"
The palace candles in the house were bright, and the sunset glow was about to dissipate from the horizon. Rong Tang and "Tian Dao" looked at each other, and felt dizzy for a moment.
He frowned, thinking something was wrong.
The pain of his nails digging into his flesh woke him up. Rong Tang pursed his lips and tasted a hint of blood in his mouth after a long time.
A palace servant knocked on the door and whispered, "Your Highness, Lord Su wants to see you. Should we let him in?"
At that moment, the tense strength in Rong Tang's body suddenly relaxed by half, as if just hearing Su Huaijing's name no longer required him to face the storm alone.
He lowered his head and calmed his unstable mood caused by the glance just now.
Sheng Chengli looked unhappy. Just as he said "no", he was interrupted by Tiandao, who said in a gentle voice: "Go and meet him. I have something to talk to this young friend."
Sheng Chengli stopped talking, slightly hesitant, and did not move for a while, until 'Tian Dao' repeated "go meet him" again, he nodded and agreed politely.
The hall door opened and closed, and only two people were left in the hall.
Rong Tang had long felt that they should meet, and now that they had really met and were spending time together in private, he had no idea what this old man who called himself 'Tian Dao' would say to him.
Sheng Chengli is disgusting because he is clearly sinister and vicious, but he repeatedly pretends to be an innocent victim and tells lies that are easy to see through.
So Rong Tang didn't want to talk to him and felt disgusted when they met.
But Rong Tang had no idea what the old man in front of him wanted to say to him alone after he sent Sheng Chengli away.
He waited for a while, but the other party didn't say anything. Instead, he saw Him raise his head and look at the beam above his head with some nostalgia.
Rong Tang's heart skipped a beat for unknown reason. He had a bad premonition and tried his best to ram upwards. He raised his head and looked at the wooden beams that had been there for years.
The man said, "You know, the bodies of the late emperor and his wife were hung here at the time. They were hung for as many days as the palace was in turmoil. When Sheng Xuyan entered the palace, hundreds of flies gathered in the Qinzheng Hall, and maggots were crawling out of the eyes and nostrils of the dead. The eunuchs who came to collect the bodies were so frightened that they lost control of their bladders on the spot."
He smiled, ignoring Rong Tang's pale face, and said regretfully: "It's a pity, I should have let him see this scene before leaving Beijing."
"In this case, how could he be easily redeemed by you?"
The man who calls himself "Heaven's Way" speaks the most frightening and disgusting words in the world. There is not a trace of kindness or hypocrisy in his eyes, only desire and hatred that can be seen through at a glance.
He hated Rong Tang, but he couldn't kill him.
He wanted Su Huaijing to sink into darkness, but he could only watch Su Huaijing being dragged into the sun by Rong Tang.
(End of this chapter)