The royal rewards were all treasures, including thousand-year-old ginseng, pearls from the East China Sea, and fully preserved deer antlers... The preciousness of the medicinal materials made Rong Tang suspect that Sheng Chengming had pried into his father's treasure house.
Rong Zheng did not directly say that this was sent by Sheng Chengming himself. He only mentioned it casually during the conversation, leaving a good impression on Rong Tang.
Rong Tang let him drink half a cup of tea before all the boxes and gift lists were checked and moved into the courtyard. After Rong Zheng left, Rong Tang stood in front of the warehouse and felt worried.
Su Huaijing washed a bunch of grapes for him, handed him one and asked him, "Tangtang doesn't like these?"
Rong Tang shifted his gaze from the boxes of dead medicinal herbs to the emerald green grapes. He swallowed them one by one. The sweet and cool taste dispelled the drowsiness he felt after waking up from a nap.
He shook his head: "I don't like it."
"Why?" Su Huaijing was surprised. He clearly remembered that Rong Tang's eyes lit up many times when he tricked some worthless trinkets from Rong Zheng. Why didn't he like it this time
Rong Tang's face fell: "It's bitter."
Su Huaijing was stunned for a moment, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and then he couldn't help laughing.
Rong Tang looked at him accusingly: "Do you know how much medicine I have to drink every day? I'm almost bitter!"
If Shuangfu hadn't been diligent and used sandalwood to fumigate his clothes and room every day, Rong Tang suspected that the bitter smell of the medicine would be in the air every time he took two steps outside.
Su Huaijing felt distressed when he heard his shallow complaints. He stretched out his palm to Rong Tang's mouth, caught the grape pit he spat out, and said softly, "You won't have to take so many medicines when you get better."
Rong Tang raised his eyes suspiciously, and suddenly realized that it seemed like he hadn't given the villain a shot of defense for a long time!
When he said he wanted to marry Su Huaijing, he clearly told him that he would not live long and most of the inheritance would belong to him after his death. The villain had been so virtuous and gentle since they got married that Rong Tang wanted to give him more bonuses and performance, so that he would never think that he was lying to him.
Now that the topic has come to this, Rong Tang feels that it is a good time to give Su Huaijing a shot of cardiac stimulant!
He turned his head, coughed twice in a weak voice, straightened the collar of his outer robe, and said, "You are the only one who thinks that I will get better sooner or later."
Su Huaijing was stunned, frowning slightly. Rong Tang did not see his expression, and looked up at the misty clouds in the sky: "No matter how good the medicine is, it can only keep me alive. I won't live for more than three or four years. But you..."
He paused, and spoke earnestly, "I am still alive now, and the monthly allowance from the palace will be delivered to you. But you can't just live on the monthly allowance. You should find time to buy more property and have income every month. That way, even if I am gone and you move out of the palace, you won't have to live under someone else's roof like before."
Su Huaijing: “…”
Rong Tang was getting into the role, even acting it out. The system in his mind sneered evilly, and Rong Tang couldn't figure out what it meant for a moment. He looked at Su Huaijing with bright eyes and full of expectation, almost wanting him to praise him.
Su Huaijing: “…”
Su Huaijing turned his head, took a deep breath, and tried hard to suppress the urge to cover Rong Tang's mouth. He did not look at him, but called Shuangfu who was passing by.
"Go tell the manager of Songyuan that the Ningxuan prince's old illness has relapsed and it is not advisable to go out at night to avoid catching a cold. We have been cooking in our own yard at night these few days."
Shuangfu had no suspicion and turned around to go out to report.
Rong Tang blinked, not feeling any relapse of his old illness, and asked, "I'm fine, why don't you go out at night?"
Su Huaijing glanced at him, walked into the storeroom, and opened the herbs Rong Zheng had just sent. In his eyes, the royal reward was nothing special. He selected carefully, and brought out a piece of ginseng and coptis root. He said in a cold voice, "I just suddenly remembered that the doctor told me a prescription in the mansion before. It is just right for your condition. I happen to have the herbs here. I will boil it for you to drink in the evening to regulate your body."
Rong Tang: “???”
[Heh.] The system sneered again.
Rong Tang was terribly confused. He stretched out his arm to grab Su Huaijing's sleeve, his eyes filled with panic and resistance to taking the medicine.
Su Huaijing's mood improved a little bit, but he rarely indulged him. Instead, he said softly: "Tangtang, you are wrong."
Rong Tang was confused: "What?"
Su Huaijing: "Your old illness has indeed relapsed."
Rong Tang: “?”
"No one wants to die so badly." Su Huaijing explained gently, "If you keep doing this, I'll think you were lying to me."
He whispered, "I would think you have a brain disease."
Rong Tang: “…”
Rong Tang: “!?”
Su Huaijing went to the small kitchen with the herbs in his arms. Rong Tang stood there in a daze for a long time, then suddenly came to his senses and asked the system: "He is scolding me!"
The system smiled very kindly: [You are not wrong, host. ]
Rong Tang: "Why did he scold me?"
System: [Because you are a little fool, host. ]
Rong Tang: “…”
Rong Tang was silent for a while, then asked the system: "Do you need to sleep to recover your energy?"
Otherwise, why do you get so excited when it comes to confronting him
The system took advantage of the fact that no one could see it, and happily jumped up and down in the yard, sometimes jumping to the top of a tree, and sometimes jumping on Rong Tang's head: [After all, watching you get humiliated is one of my pleasures, host, aren't you used to it yet~~~]
He couldn't stand steadily for a moment, and he held on to the door frame for a long time before he came to his senses. The system also stopped in place without making a sound.
The pain was sharp and stimulating, but it only lasted for a moment, as if someone had quickly stabbed a needle into my head through my temple and then quickly pulled it away.
[Host!]
The system called urgently.
Rong Tang opened his mouth wide to breathe and stood there for a long time.
Shuangfu was sent out, Shuangshou was packing up, and even Su Huaijing took the herbs to the kitchen. For a while, no one noticed Rong Tang's abnormality, and he felt a little relieved.
The pain gradually dissipated and turned into a lingering reminder, no longer intense, but still hard to ignore.
Rong Tang lowered his head, curled his lips, walked to the osmanthus tree, poured himself a cup of tea, and then sat in a chair and sipped it slowly.
He closed his eyes and entered the system space.
The light grey mist arising from the edge was still gathering towards the middle, almost dividing the entire space into two halves. One side was grey that was about to break free from the darkness, while the other side was extreme black fog.
There was a vague dividing line in the middle, which Rong Tang could not touch, but he could see the undercurrent of fog above it, as if two forces were struggling.
He sighed softly and asked, "What's going on?"
The system was silent for a long time, and replied in frustration: [… I can’t see. ]
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment before he realized that he was the only one who could see this space. When the system came in, it still saw the same map and anchor points as in the previous two lives, so it could not see the separatism and occupation that had occurred here.
Rong Tang wanted to speculate based on his experience or the novels he had read in modern times, but this world itself was very logical and he did not dare to speculate.
What speculation could be more cruel than a person who has already determined that he is going to die suddenly discovers that he seems to have a possibility of survival, and finally completely crushes this possibility
So Rong Tang didn't think about what was trying to occupy territory in his head. He was only wondering when the pulling pain would disappear and whether he could not drink the medicine prepared by Su Huaijing. He forced himself to think about current events and ignore the abnormalities happening in the system space.
After dinner, Rong Tang and Su Huaijing were playing chess in the attic, and Ke Hongxue walked in from the moon gate alone.
Rong Tang subconsciously looked behind him, but did not see Mu Jingxu's shadow.
Ke Hongxue went up to the small building, pulled over a chair and sat next to them to watch the two of them play chess: "My Lord, your chess moves... will you play a game with me later?"
Rong Tang rolled his eyes at him: "No strength."
Ke Hongxue was stunned. He looked around and saw a medicine bowl on the low table. He picked it up and smelled it. His brows immediately frowned: "Ah! Which doctor is so cruel to use Coptis chinensis as a medicine prescription for you? Doesn't he want to make you suffer to death?"
Rong Tang was almost recovered, but when he mentioned that, a bitter taste began to rise on the tip of his tongue again. He glanced at Su Huaijing, who was sitting opposite him, with a gloomy face, and his moves became much more powerful, as if he was venting his anger.
Su Huaijing raised his eyebrows, smiled helplessly, peeled a grape for Rong Tang, and asked Ke Hongxue: "Master Ke, why did you come back so early today? Isn't Mu Shaoqing with you?"
Ke Hongxue paused, sighed quietly, opened his fan and fanned himself in the evening breeze, and said, "How could my senior still remember me? He has gone to look for his precious disciple again."
Su Huaijing glanced at Rong Tang calmly, and seeing that his expression had not changed and he was still staring at the chessboard, he asked, "What happened to the Fifth Prince?"
"It would be great if something happened to him." Ke Hongxue snorted and laughed, "It was the nanny next to him. I don't know what she was thinking today. She insisted on going to Lanxinzhai to pick herbs. When she passed by the pond, she accidentally stepped on empty air and fell into the pond. It was broad daylight, and when she was fished out, she was already dead."
Rong Tang was slightly startled. He held the chess piece in his hand for a long time without dropping it. For a moment, none of his moves seemed right. He asked Ke Hongxue, "Is he dead?"
"Dead." Ke Hongxue nodded. "Sheng Chengxing transferred most of the guards to the island. There weren't many guards left in the manor, and they were mostly in the courtyards where banquets were held. On the way from Langyuxuan where Sheng Chengli lived to Lanxinzhai, not to mention guards, there weren't even many servants. It was the daughter of Minister He who wanted to feed the koi with her female companion, and she called the guards when she saw someone floating up. He was dead at that moment."
"When did it happen?" Rong Tang asked.
Ke Hongxue tilted his head to glance at the sky and estimated, "It was about 6:30 pm. When the news reached the island, the Purple Jade Troupe had just changed to a new play. I noted the time."
Rong Tang's expression was slightly solemn, he pursed his lips and said nothing.
It was six quarters past noon, when he woke up from his nap with a headache.
The courtyard is still peaceful and Songyuan is shrouded in dusk, just as it was many years ago and many years later.
In April of the eleventh year of Qingzheng, on the evening when Rong Tang had an argument with Sheng Chengli, he stopped in a corner and watched a peony bloom in silence with Su Huaijing.
And now, in April of the ninth year of Qingzheng, Rong Tang and Su Huaijing sat in the red-painted attic, playing chess in the lingering daylight. He suddenly realized once again that the way of heaven was really... biased towards his hero.
Someone around Sheng Chengli died, and they had to notify him specifically
What does it have to do with him
Rong Tang threw the chess piece back into the chess cup, smiled silently, left the chess table, stood on the attic and looked up at the manor.
Su Huaijing lowered his eyes and looked over, and saw that his expression was unprecedented... cold and bored, as if he was a god who had seen enough of the farce in the world and wanted to abandon the entire world and return to his palace.
(End of this chapter)