On the second day of April, the flower-folding party officially opens.
Rong Tang only drank half a bowl of soup at the banquet the night before. After returning to the courtyard, Su Huaijing borrowed the kitchen to cook a bowl of noodles for him. The two of them sat in the attic, one eating a midnight snack and the other playing chess. They enjoyed the breeze for half the night and waited for Ke Hongxue and Mu Jingxu to come back.
The team formation is still the same as in the previous life, except that Su Huaijing is added.
Rong Tang had just finished his midnight snack and was digesting the food. He was leaning on the railing and gazing at the lake and flowers under the night sky of Songyuan. When he heard Su Huaijing making a request to them, he paused for a moment and then couldn't help laughing.
Su Huaijing said that they couldn't force Rong Tang to be present all the time. Rong Tang suddenly thought of the time when he was in college and was assigned to a group at the end of the semester.
It's just that in the past, his roommates always took advantage of his points, and it was rare for him to take advantage of other people's points. The cast included the villain, the male lead, and the male lead's think tank. Rong Tang enjoyed the free time and was very happy.
It was getting warmer in late spring, and he had finally warmed up a little. When he saw four people gathered together, he had some bad thoughts and wanted to play four-player poker.
But as soon as Rong Tang's eyes turned, Su Huaijing seemed to know what he was thinking, and sent him back to the room to sleep on the grounds that it was late at night, the dew was heavy and the night wind was cold.
Shuangfu and Shuangshou had already gone to bed, and Rong Tangyuan also wanted to go to bed directly, but Su Huaijing magically brought him a bucket of hot water and poured it into the foot bath tub. He insisted that he soak his feet carefully to loosen up his tendons and make his whole body warm before he was allowed to go to bed.
From Yong'an Lane to Tanghua Courtyard, and then to Songyuan, Rong Tang developed a habit of listening to Su Huaijing. Especially tonight, the villain was obviously in a bad mood, so Rong Tang soaked his feet even though he felt a little embarrassed. Su Huaijing didn't allow him to go out for a breeze, and took the wooden barrel and basin out himself. Before leaving, he tucked the quilt for him, his eyes downcast, and every word he said was very serious: "Tangtang, I promised to let you be friends with them, but you can't be unhappy."
Rong Tang blinked and was stunned for a second. Then he reacted suddenly. Some light emotions surged in his heart, and he smiled suddenly: "Thank you."
It was just a guess originally, but now I have the answer. Su Huaijing did reject Ke Hongxue's invitation because of Rong Tang's instinctive reaction at that moment.
This matter actually doesn't make sense from beginning to end.
Just like Rong Tang originally thought that his attitude towards Sheng Chengli should be simply disgust and indifference, but when he heard that he was in Songyuan and might team up with him, the first feeling that flashed through his mind was still the coldness of betrayal and the intense pain when the sword pierced his chest in his previous life.
The blood flows out of the body and the flesh loses temperature little by little. The pain is a hundred times more than being poisoned or falling to death.
Sometimes physical reactions are difficult to control, and Rong Tang also feels irritated.
But Su Huaijing noticed it, and Rong Tang was happy because he changed his decision.
He smiled so hard that his eyes curved up, and said very seriously, "I am very happy."
Su Huaijing looked at him for a while, as if trying to determine the truth behind his words. After a moment, he said, "Good night."
Rong Tang smiled and replied, "Good night."
Su Huaijing then left.
-
The next day was a good day. In the morning, birds were perched on the flowers everywhere in Songyuan, chirping and making a lively scene. The courtyard they chose was far from the center of the city, so there was no noise. Rong Tang opened his eyes, listened to the footsteps and birds in the courtyard for a while, and then slowly got up after calming down.
During the period when he was just reborn, his physical condition was so poor that he was extremely tired after taking a breath or taking a few steps, so Shuangfu stayed in his room day and night to serve his master in dressing and eating. But after Rong Tang got a little better, he cancelled the rule of servants keeping watch at night. After Su Huaijing came into the mansion, he even took away Shuangfu's job of serving Rong Tang in the morning. Shuangfu was very afraid that he would be fired for a while.
Rong Tang found this a little funny. He slowly put on his clothes while chatting with the system. As usual, he had a cordial and friendly conversation. Until someone knocked on the door, Su Huaijing walked in. He was slightly startled to see that he had already gotten out of bed, but then he smiled and said, "Tangtang, why did you get up so early today?"
"Maybe it's because the weather is good." Rong Tang smiled, tied the last section of the belt, and wanted to go to the yard to wash up.
Su Huaijing's eyes stopped at his waist, which looked even thinner and almost breakable after being tied with a belt. He turned around silently and took out a navy blue cloak from the closet. He walked behind Rong Tang and tied it on him without saying a word: "It's too early. Be careful of the wind."
Rong Tang raised his head and let him tie a knot in front of his neck. His dark eyelashes flickered, reflecting the morning sun, and the agility of the wild animals in the jungle slipped out again. Su Huaijing was distracted for a moment and did not move.
Rong Tang waited for a while, blinked, and reminded softly: "Huai Jing?"
Su Huaijing finally came back to his senses, loosened his hand, took a step back, and said with a smile: "The main courtyard prepared breakfast, but I thought you might not like to eat with those people, so I asked Shuangshou to get some food and heat it up. Where do you want to eat?"
Rong Tang said without thinking: "In the attic."
"Okay." Su Huaijing nodded, "Then I'll go upstairs and wait for you."
"Yeah." Rong Tang responded and walked towards the bathroom.
He slept particularly well and felt much more energetic than usual. After washing up, he walked up the wooden steps of the attic one by one and felt that the air was fresher.
Songyuan in the early morning is different from that in the evening or at night. The morning light is dim, and there is a soft filter everywhere. Dewdrops press on the flowers and leaves, and then fall with a "puff". The blooming flowers then proudly straighten their waists and spread out in the wind.
It was a particularly beautiful picture, and Rong Tang felt itchy as he looked at it.
He wanted to buy something for Su Huaijing again.
The princess doesn't allow Rong Tang to give his farm to Su Huaijing, but there should be no problem for him to buy one for his son, right
It is unlikely to have a manor of the same scale as Songyuan, but we can find a smaller manor in a beautiful place and maintain it well, which can also be used as a summer resort in the future.
Rong Tang couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips. Su Huaijing saw him like this and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Rong Tang picked up a crystal bag and said with a smile, "Secret."
Su Huaijing: “?”
He was stunned for a moment, but did not pursue the matter. He smiled silently and habitually poured a cup of tea for Rong Tang and placed it next to him to prevent him from choking.
While they were having breakfast, a group of people came to the gate of the courtyard. Rong Tang was sitting in the attic and looked down. He saw Ke Hongxue who had changed into a bright red Shu brocade spring dress. She even changed her fan to a chicken blood red jade fan, which she was waving slowly. She looked like a big cockscomb.
Rong Tang's eyelids twitched as he watched, and he complained to the system: "The Ke family will be ruined by him sooner or later."
The system asked disapprovingly: [Host, do you really think so? ]
Rong Tang was silent for a moment and angrily took another bite of the crystal bun.
He's not, he doesn't.
He just can't stand it.
The Ke family has produced great scholars for generations, and their family background is peaceful and their character is noble.
But Ke Hongxue's father was a complete outlier. In that era when people generally believed that everything except education was inferior, Ke Hongxue's father's mind was full of: make money, make money, make money!
At such a young age, he dared to skip school and join the caravan, buying a bunch of sachets and rouge from the capital and selling them in the northern border. He then brought back a cart of jewelry from the northern border and sold them in the auction house.
When he encountered jewels that he couldn't sell, he didn't act pretentiously. He would either write poems himself or borrow my father's name to go to the school and ask his classmates or teachers to write a poem for him. Then he would spread the word to the streets and alleys of the capital, and he would praise the jewels he brought back as the most precious treasures in the world, and sell them for a good price, making a lot of money.
Ke Wenrui was a great scholar of his time, and he was often so angry that he wanted to clear out his family.
Once again, the late emperor came to visit his teacher before the New Year's Day. After seeing the chaotic farce, he laughed heartily and advised Ke Wenrui, "Taifu, why are you so angry? He is a scholar with a broad mind and is good at business. Why don't you let him go out and try his luck? If he makes a name for himself, I will be relieved. Otherwise, you should return the rewards from the palace. I really can't bear to see you living in such poverty."
Ke Xuebao was very courageous. He hid behind the emperor and poked his head out, making faces at his father and repeating, "That's right!"
The late emperor was both angry and amused. He turned around and hit him on the head with his hand, neither lightly nor heavily, and ordered the chief eunuch, "Go to my private treasury and lend some silver to Xuebo."
The emperor gave the order, and Ke Wenrui had no choice but to accept it. Moreover, he knew that his son was not a good student, and the reason he was so angry was that there had never been a businessman in his family since ancient times, and he was worried that this matter would displease the emperor.
The son of the Grand Tutor is engaged in business? This is unheard of! This is against the will of our ancestors! This will be criticized by all the officials and will be criticized even after death!
But since the emperor had agreed, Ke Wenrui breathed a sigh of relief and waited to see what Ke Xuebao would achieve in three years, secretly hoping that he would come back to study.
Then Ke Xuebao became the richest man in Jiangnan. He not only paid back the money that the previous emperor had lent him twice, but also donated a lot of silver to the national treasury. The taxes he paid alone were enough to support the people of an entire county. The emperor was very pleased and praised Ke Xuebao as a courageous and capable businessman. He also granted his descendants the right to not follow the law that "only three generations of merchants can take the imperial examinations."
In the final analysis, he was just afraid that this incident would make his teachers worry that his grandchildren would not be able to study normally or serve as officials in the court, so he just gave them a reassurance in advance.
The Ke family is incredibly rich in Ke Xuebao's hands. Even if Ke Hongxue squanders them with a jade folding fan every day, it would probably be enough for him to squander for several lifetimes.
Moreover, because Ke Xuebao was wealthy and patriotic, he donated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the national treasury every year, from the time when the previous emperor was alive to the time when Emperor Renshou ascended the throne. Therefore, even though Ke Wenrui was the previous emperor's teacher, Emperor Renshou not only did not implicate the Ke family, but instead took special care of Ke Hongxue.
-A teacher from his childhood, a wealthy businessman who contributed to the national treasury every year, and a scholar who was a top scholar in the imperial examination but only wanted to live a life of debauchery and did not care about state affairs. It was difficult for Emperor Renshou to be afraid of targeting them.
To a certain extent, he also had to appease the Ke family in order to gain a reputation for respecting teachers, valuing merchants, and treating everyone equally, so as to replenish the national treasury from time to time.
Although Ke Hongxue was clearly not a prince or a noble, he lived a much more carefree and unrestrained life in the city of Yujing than most children from aristocratic families.
But in Rong Tang's eyes, he was just a walking money-burning furnace.
He is so talented, he can create more than him.
While he was complaining, several people from outside the courtyard had already walked in. When Ke Hongxue looked up and saw the two people sitting in the red painted attic having breakfast, he smiled instantly, closed his folding fan, turned around and pulled Mu Jingxu to go upstairs. Mu Jingxu threw his sleeves away, but he was not annoyed. He turned around and grinned at Mu Shaoqing as if it was normal, and walked up quickly.
"Your Highness is so lucky. You don't have to leave the courtyard and someone brings your meals back. They even deliver them to the attic so you can enjoy the view while eating."
Rong Tang raised his eyes: "Why, are you envious?"
Ke Hongxue was stunned for a moment, then smiled even more wantonly. He pulled a chair and sat down, waving his folding fan slowly: "Master Rong, do you think I am that idiot Qin Pengxuan?"
Ke Hongxue saw clearly the scene where Rong Tang scolded Qin Pengxuan last night. He was laughing so hard that he could hardly see his eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to accompany Mu Jingxu and his trembling little disciple who had just recovered from a serious illness, Ke Hongxue really couldn't help but run to Rong Tang's dining table at that moment.
Rong Tang didn't respond after hearing this.
He had always had mixed feelings towards Ke Hongxue and Mu Jingxu. At first he thought they were just colleagues, but later he thought it would be great if he could make friends with like-minded people in this completely unfamiliar dynasty.
He didn't dare to say whether Rong Tang and Mu Jingxu became friends. After all, Lord Mu was like the snow that never melted all year round, and Rong Tang couldn't guess what he was thinking. But he and Ke Hongxue were friends at least in their previous two lives.
—The kind of bad friends you have.
Today I will take you to a gambling house, tomorrow you will take me to a brothel, and the day after tomorrow the two of us will be stared at by the Dali Temple Shaoqing who came on a secret visit. We will be so frozen that we dare not move and will go back to assist Sheng Chengli for a while.
Then you couldn't sit still. You said that a famous opera troupe from Jiangnan had just arrived in Beijing, and I said that the Shaodaozi sent from the northern border was really excellent...
Most of the few moments that Rong Tang had in his previous two lives that could be considered for leisure and relaxation were spent with Ke Hongxue.
The two of them must be the ones being referred to as "bad friends".
Therefore, after returning to this life, it was difficult for Rong Tang to be particularly wary of them.
He didn't want to fight in the first place. He knew exactly when he would be reborn and when he would die. He could clearly feel the vitality draining from his body day by day. He didn't have the energy to play tricks. He just wanted to enjoy the fun he missed in the past few years, reading storybooks, listening to songs, and gardening. When he felt really guilty, he would copy Buddhist scriptures and remind Su Huaijing of some important things he remembered.
As for the rest, Rong Tang didn't even want to bother thinking about it.
He scolded Qin Pengxuan and Rong Zheng easily, just because they were both idiots. But Ke Hongxue... After a few conversations, Rong Tang was really tired.
There are eighteen twists and turns in this sentence, seventeen of which have pitfalls, and the last one is asking for trouble.
Rong Tang decided to ignore him. Mu Jingxu was about to come up anyway, so Master Ke would just hang out for a while.
When Mu Jingxu came up, he was followed by a man who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, still very young. He was wearing a blue bachelor's suit and a hat on his head, looking very traditional and elegant like a student.
Ke Hongxue had just been chatting with Rong Tang, but now he couldn't sit still anymore. He leaned over and looked the boy up and down for a few times, then turned to Rong Tang and said casually, "Tsk tsk tsk tsk, my junior, don't you think my junior looks like an old scholar who is half buried in the ground?"
Anyone who spreads this will be beaten to death.
Whether it was the Imperial College tutor who said that a young man was half buried in the ground, or the grandson of the great scholar Ke Wenrui who said that an old scholar was half buried in the ground, Ke Hongxue deserved a beating.
Rong Tang drank half a sip of tea, turned his head, and said in a light tone: "I have never been to school, so I don't know what an old scholar looks like. But stay away from me, you look like a fighting cock, and it hurts my eyes."
Su Huaijing was originally a little annoyed because Ke Hongxue was too close to Rong Tang, but when he heard his little Bodhisattva say this, he couldn't help but smile. He quietly stood up, put away the finished dishes and put them aside, waiting for the servant to come up and clean up.
Ke Hongxue had been flattered all his life, and it was rare for him to meet someone who would argue with him every time they met. Miraculously, he did not feel angry at all. Instead, he stared at Rong Tang with interest for a while, and really moved away a little as he was told.
Mu Jingxu didn't have the habit of greeting people out loud, so they just looked at each other and then looked away, which was considered a greeting. So the young man was the only one who hadn't introduced himself.
Rong Tang drank a sip of tea, stood up to digest the food, and then heard him say, "Good luck to you, my lord. I am from the capital, a student of Linyuan Academy in the eighth year of Qingzheng, Lu Jiaxi."
Rong Tang knew his name and had met him before. However, in the previous two lives, Mu Jingxu was in charge of writing poems at the flower-picking party, and Rong Tang and Ke Hongxue took advantage of their status to take the male protagonist everywhere to show off their faces, so he didn't have much friendship with Lu Jiaxi, and only thought of him as an ordinary student who came to get points.
At this moment, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Does Lu's Bookstore in the west of the city have anything to do with you?"
Lu Jiaxi raised his head in confusion and answered politely, "It is the foundation of my student's ancestors."
Rong Tang frowned and glanced at Su Huaijing, who was pouring tea for him. When he saw him looking at him, he raised his eyebrows, meaning, what's the matter
Rong Tang felt that the association that just popped up in his mind was very strange, and he did not want to dwell on it any longer, but he heard Ke Hongxue say: "Don't look at my young age and small stature, I am very courageous! You know Jingzhao Yinfu, where common people will be beaten with three boards if they sue officials, but he dared to beat the drum for a girl he met by chance, and he actually succeeded in suing her."
"My Lord, do you know who you are telling the truth to?" Ke Hongxue asked.
Rong Tang's inner guess suddenly came true, but he still pretended not to know and asked, "...Who?"
"It was Ding Laibao, the only son of General Ding Weishan of the Left Guard of the Jinwu Guard. He was sentenced to death in the autumn. Some time ago, His Majesty flew into a rage and ordered him to be beheaded on March 22." Ke Hongxue smiled leisurely, fanning herself lightly. It was unclear whether her eyes were on Lu Jiaxi or casually glancing at Su Huaijing. She smiled slowly and said, "Don't you think this is interesting?"
Rong Tang was too lazy to say a word.
Indeed.
It's really interesting.
-
"These days, I occasionally go out of the house and see that the Lu's Bookstore in the west of the city has newly put on sale some Jiangnan popular vernacular books. Thinking that you might like to read them, I bought some and put them in the study for you to read."
You are really occasional.
Rong Tang lowered his eyes and drank another half cup of tea calmly.
(End of this chapter)