That night, half asleep and half awake, Rong Tang heard a faint conversation outside the yard. As the door opened and closed, a wind suddenly blew, blowing the trees in the yard, and heavy rain poured down.
He didn't sleep particularly well, and he opened his eyes the moment thunder roared outside the window.
There was no candle in the room, it was pitch black. Lightning appeared from time to time outside the window, illuminating the entire sky and then suddenly disappeared. Thunder sounded one after another irregularly, which was very noisy.
Rong Tang frowned, still feeling extremely sleepy. He pulled the quilt over him and covered his ears to continue sleeping.
There was a knock on the door, mixed with the sound of wind and thunder, and Rong Tang didn't react for a moment.
But then the door was pushed open from the outside. Rong Tang poked half of his head out from the quilt, opened his eyes hazily, and saw a faint light moving in the room.
The lantern painted with goldfish swayed steadily. Su Huaijing walked to the bedside in silence. He was stunned for a moment when he saw the scene on the bed. Then he curved his eyes and raised the corners of his lips, and asked softly, "Were you woken up?"
The thunder outside the yard was getting louder and louder. Early summer thunderstorms always come without warning and are very annoying. The rain fell heavily, breaking the restless molecules in the air.
Rong Tang only showed the upper half of his face, with his nose and mouth still hidden in the quilt. He looked a little sleepy, and his eyes kept blinking, as if he had not yet recovered.
Su Huaijing placed the lantern on the ground farther away, so that it would not make the room pitch dark, nor would it be too bright to burn Rong Tang's eyes and drive away the little sleep he had left.
"Tangtang, move a little inside." Su Huaijing spoke almost in a whisper, very lightly. Rongtang instinctively moved inside wrapped in the quilt.
Su Huaijing sat down on the edge of the bed and tucked in the quilt for Rong Tang.
He lay on his side, facing outward. Su Huaijing raised his hand and covered his left ear. "The thunder was a bit noisy. I was worried that it would wake you up, so I wanted to come and see if you were woken by me opening the door?"
The voice had an extra layer of obstruction, making it particularly unreal, revealing a sense of emptiness. Rong Tang reacted for a while and shook his head: "No, I woke up before you came."
He raised his eyes and glanced towards the window. His voice was muffled under the quilt, with a hint of complaint. He muttered softly, "It's so noisy."
Su Huaijing smiled silently. The thunder continued to rumble and lightning exploded outside the window in an instant, but it only made his profile look gentle, like a perfectly polished jade, emitting a bright light in the dark night.
"Go to sleep, I'm here." Su Huaijing coaxed him softly.
Rong Tang was indeed very sleepy. Due to physical reasons, he was more sleepy than the average person. He had walked for such a long time during the day. If it weren't for the sudden heavy rain, he would probably have slept until dawn.
After Su Huaijing said this, a switch hidden somewhere in Rong Tang's body seemed to be pressed lightly, and an almost irresistible drowsiness rushed to his head.
But he pulled at the last bit of his remaining sanity, and asked vaguely, "Did Mu Jingxu and the others come back just now?"
Su Huaijing said: "Yeah."
Rong Tang was so sleepy that he could hardly open his eyes, but he still pulled himself together and asked, "What did you say? Did you dig anything out of the pond?"
Su Huaijing smiled lightly: "It was dug out, but Lord Mu was a little tired, Ke Tanhua sent him back to his room to rest, and said that if there is anything, we can talk about it tomorrow, Tangtang don't need to worry."
Rong Tang frowned: "Aunt..."
"It has nothing to do with the Queen." Su Huaijing interrupted him, his eyebrows firm and gentle. The thunder and lightning outside the window were inexplicably well-behaved and quiet. Only the sound of wind and rain sounded in the yard. Su Huaijing lowered his eyes and repeated to him: "It has nothing to do with my aunt. Tangtang should go to bed."
It was very late. He had been tired after a whole day. Walking and thinking were very tiring. If Su Huaijing had not been afraid that the thunderstorm would wake up Rong Tang, he would not have wanted to disturb his rest. He was even more unwilling to let him worry about the troubles caused by Sheng Chengli.
Rong Tang blinked and looked at his own child.
For some unknown reason, he was too lazy to think about it anymore. Su Huaijing was here, and as long as he stood on his side, it seemed that he didn't have to worry about any problems.
—Rong Tang inexplicably made this judgment subconsciously.
After a while of silence, Rong Tang closed his eyes obediently. He neither asked Su Huaijing to leave nor took his hand away from his ear. He just lay on his side in the quilt, facing him, and fell asleep normally. He said naturally, "Good night."
The wind in the yard was very loud, but it was all blocked by the thickness of a palm. Occasionally, there would be a loud thunder, but people would sense it in advance and pat the quilt to calm it down.
Rong Tang was not awakened by the sound of thunder and rain in the second half of the night. It was not until the thunderstorm passed and the candle in the lantern was about to burn out that Su Huaijing sat on the edge of the bed, staring at Rong Tang for a long time, and then he carefully pulled down the quilt that was covering his mouth and nose, fearing that he would have difficulty breathing.
Unable to hold back, looking at the sweet sleeping face, Su Huaijing tapped the quilt with his hand. Finally, unable to suppress himself, he raised his hand and touched the cheek of his nominal husband.
The movement was very gentle, moving from the chin to the cheek. The dimple that was so lively when smiling was now a flat piece. Su Huaijing pressed lightly, a smile gathered in his brows, until his fingertips stopped at the corner of Rong Tang's lips.
The prince's skin had a pale color that came from not seeing the sun for many years, and his lips were extremely pale, even a little thin.
Su Huaijing once heard someone say that people with pale and thin lips are usually very heartless. He originally thought this was nonsense, but when Rong Tang happened to fit this characteristic, Su Huaijing felt that he did not like this conclusion.
His Tangtang is more gentle and patient than anyone else in the world. How could he be so heartless
Su Huaijing's eyes darkened, the sound of rain outside the window gradually subsided, his slender fingers stayed on his cheek for a long time, and finally touched his lips.
A sound so soft that it almost sounded like a whisper appeared in the room. If you didn't listen carefully, you might even think it was just a gust of wind blowing, leaving a trace that would soon dissipate.
"You have to be good, Tangtang." Su Huaijing said softly, "Good night."
-
It rained in the middle of the night, and a number of flowers in Songyuan were blown down, but those that were still in bloom looked even more vivid and juicy because of the rain.
Rong Tang woke up in the morning, stretched out in bed, and felt that he had slept very well.
Subconsciously glancing at the bedside, he remembered that Su Huaijing came last night, but he was so sleepy that he lost the ability to think independently and was too lazy to use his brain. He slept very well at this time, and he suddenly wondered why the villain came to his room in the middle of the night? And when did he leave
Rong Tang was puzzled. He put on his clothes and went out. He saw Ke Hongxue and Mu Jingxu sitting in the Qihong attic. After washing up, Ke Hongxue said with a smile, "Are you awake, my lord? You slept well. Your wife has gone to prepare breakfast for you again."
Mu Jingxu was eating a bowl of thick fish porridge. He frowned and glanced at Ke Hongxue unhappily when he heard this.
Sometimes he didn't quite understand. Although Ke Hongxue looked unruly and had no sense of propriety, a truly unproper person would not have won the honor of Tanhua Lang from the emperor in the palace examination with a smile, nor would he have walked around the Imperial College and associated with princes every day without being criticized by anyone.
Even if he has no sense of propriety, he is still much more sensible than most people. However, he just can't help but be rude when he meets Rong Tang. He is especially like a disobedient cat, stretching out his claws to hook him from time to time. The more Rong Tang ignores him, the more he tickles him.
Mu Jingxu lowered his eyes, glanced at his bowl, and asked coldly: "Have you finished eating?"
Ke Hongxue was still looking at Rong Tang. Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment: "Huh? No, have you finished eating, senior brother?"
Rong Tang watched it carefully from the side and said with a smile: "Master Mu wants you to shut up and eat peacefully if you haven't eaten well."
After a pause, he asked in confusion: "Master Ke, why are you always so concerned about Huai Jing? You keep talking about my wife. If you continue like this, I will suspect that you want to steal my wife."
After saying that, Mu Jingxu lowered his brows and continued eating without saying a word. However, when he heard Rong Tang's obviously teasing words, he subconsciously frowned slightly, and the hand holding the spoon unconsciously tightened a little.
Ke Hongxue was stunned for a rare moment: "Ah?"
Before he could react, footsteps were heard on the stairs. Su Huaijing hadn't even come close yet, but his voice came out with a smile: "Thank you, Master Ke, for your kindness. But I have already married Tangtang. I belong to Tangtang in life, and I will be buried with Tangtang in the same place when I die. I really can't bear Master Ke's concern and care. I hope you will forgive me and find another good man."
The air was fresh in the early morning. It had rained all night, and even the wind was filled with the scent of grass and trees. Birds were playing music on the branches. Rong Tangyuan was just joking with Ke Hongxue while Su Huaijing was away. When the joke was heard by the person involved, he felt inexplicably hot in his ears. He dodged for a moment, then instinctively raised his eyes and looked at his wife in a particularly obedient manner, as if the nonsense he had just said was not said by him.
Su Huaijing wanted to laugh when he saw him like this. He lowered his eyes and looked at him. Without saying a word, he walked towards him, set the table for him one by one, and even handed the chopsticks and bowl to Rong Tang, and ate breakfast with him.
The two of them were being affectionate and oblivious to the people around them. Ke Hongxue sat there for a long while before reacting. Finally, she looked at Rong Tang in disbelief and loudly accused him, "You slandered me?!"
Rong Tang glanced at him and snorted in his heart, but said to Mu Jingxu: "Master Mu, please take some time to look after your junior. Your eyes are always on my Huai Jing. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
When Su Huaijing heard the words 'my Huaijing', he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in excitement, picked up a quicksand bun for Rong Tang, and then added obediently: "But I only like Tangtang."
Ke Hongxue was a little confused at first, but when he caught a glimpse of his senior's freezing expression, he panicked and quickly explained, "Senior, I was just asking casually. How could I possibly covet someone else's wife? You know me, right?"
Ke Hongxue blinked pitifully at Mu Jingxu. He didn't look like the famous playboy in Kyoto at all. However, Mu Jingxu didn't even look at him and said coldly, "Eat."
He gritted his teeth secretly and swallowed his grievances. After breakfast, he pestered Mu Jingxu and called him "senior brother" for a long time. Only when he saw that he was not so angry anymore did he swallow his anger back into his stomach.
Rong Tang watched the whole thing from the side, drinking the tea that Su Huaijing poured for him. He was very surprised and asked in a low voice: "Lord Mu's expression didn't change at all. How do you think Ke Hongxue judged his emotions?"
Su Huaijing's eyes fell on Rong Tang's lips which were stained with tea, and he raised his hand to help him wipe it off without making a sound. Rong Tang blinked unconsciously, as if he was already used to it. Su Huaijing smiled and said, "Tang Tang, I know what you are thinking just by looking at you. I am much better than him."
Rong Tang: “?”
What kind of inexplicable desire to win is this? Does the villain want to compete with everything he sees? Rong Tang immediately stopped talking nonsense.
After they had a good meal, they finally got down to business.
Mu Jingxu took out a wet sachet with red background and colorful embroidery and said, "I dug this out from the pond."
Rong Tang originally wanted to take it, but Su Huaijing took it in advance, took out the grass leaves inside the sachet, and spread the side with the embroidered pattern on the table: "Just look at it like this."
It was dirty. Even if it had been washed, it had been soaked in the pool for so long. It was something from a dead person. He didn't want Tangtang to touch it.
Rong Tang didn't know what he was thinking, but he felt that this was convenient.
He first glanced at the grass leaf, then turned to the sachet, his face suddenly turning cold.
The mark of Fengqi Palace was clearly printed on it.
Ke Hongxue was tricked by Rong Tang just now, but now he used his fan instead of his hands to scratch the table twice, pushing the sachet in front of Rong Tang and the Magic Glass Grass in front of himself, and said with a smile: "It rained heavily last night, and the pond was flooded again after half of the water was pumped out. We found nothing, so we searched Yue Rong's room and found the Magic Glass Grass in her pillow. As for this sachet, my senior and I have never seen it before."
Rong Tang understood what he meant, and was slightly startled. He subconsciously looked at Mu Jingxu, but saw that he had a calm expression and did not show any sign of refuting Ke Hongxue. Rong Tang felt warm in his heart and said, "Thank you."
"You are welcome, my lord," Ke Hongxue said, "My fellow apprentice and I owe you a favor, and we should return the favor."
Rong Tang did not say anything more, although he knew in his heart that this was not a matter of favors, and asking Mu Jingxu to destroy the evidence personally was actually very inconsistent with his character setting, but he was willing to do so, mostly because of Ke Hongxue, so Rong Tang could only agree.
Su Huaijing asked: "I wonder how you two adults would like to use this Huanli Grass?"
Ke Hongxue smiled and said, "No need. This matter will develop as it should."
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, then he understood.
Ke Hongxue was a person who was too lazy to get involved. The reason why he got involved was just because he wanted his senior to see Sheng Chengli's true face.
Using a sachet or a handful of fragrant herbs alone would hardly change Emperor Renshou's impression of the Empress or Sheng Chengli. These things needed to be linked together step by step to achieve the greatest effect. If they took the initiative to do anything, it would be too obvious, so they simply did nothing and let the situation develop.
The only thing we did was to remove the part that was harmful to each of them.
Rong Tang doesn't have to worry about Queen Wang being framed by Sheng Chengli, and Ke Hongxue can also use this opportunity to persuade Mu Jingxu to stay away from Sheng Chengli.
Su Huaijing's purpose was just this. He wanted his little Bodhisattva to be able to make friends he wanted to make without any psychological burden.
As for the disputes in the royal family and the turmoil of the succession struggle, what did it have to do with them? They just went on with their lives, even though the world was turned upside down.
Even a little more chaotic would be in line with their intentions.
-
On the third day of the flower picking party, Song Garden picked a batch of flowers. The four of them chatted and then dispersed. Rong Tang felt relieved and walked around the garden with Su Huaijing again.
He was actually a little curious about what choice Mu Jingxu would make in the end, but it seemed that no matter what choice he made, it would not be worse than his previous two lives.
If he was lucky and had put in less effort, he wouldn't have died alone in the cold snowy night.
Rong Tang was happy about this.
As soon as he was happy, Su Huaijing's mood also improved. The two of them strolled around for a whole day, and even went to a banquet and listened to a poetry competition between talented scholars. It was not until it was getting dark, clouds gathered in the western sky, and a stuffy heat arose in the air, as if a rainstorm was about to come, that the two of them hurried back to the courtyard.
As usual, Su Huaijing prepared a bowl of very bitter medicine for Rong Tang, but after Rong Tang finished drinking it, he smiled and handed him a candied fruit.
Rong Tang didn't like sweet food, but at this moment he felt that this was a life-saving medicine. He hurriedly put it in his mouth and held it for a long time to suppress the bitter taste in his mouth.
The sky outside the window was gloomy, and in an instant it changed from day to night. The wind was blowing hard, and muffled thunder could be heard in the sky far away.
Su Huaijing watched Rong Tang soak his feet, and did not leave after he got into bed. It seemed that he wanted to wait until he fell asleep before leaving.
But Rongtang didn't feel sleepy, so he leaned against the head of the bed and read the storybook. Su Huaijing moved a stool to accompany him, and sat aside to read Shanhezhi.
The doors and windows were all closed, and many lanterns were lit, making the room particularly bright. Rong Tang noticed that Su Huaijing would subconsciously look up almost every time a flash of lightning appeared outside the window, and when the thunder struck, they would mostly look at each other.
The villain's hand holding the book will suddenly clench, as if... a little scared.
Rong Tang blinked, not quite sure of his own judgment.
But after secretly observing for a while, he found that without exception, Su Huaijing would raise his eyes every time there was lightning, purse his lips at the moment of thunder, lean his body slightly, and clench his fingers, as if he was suppressing the urge to hide somewhere.
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, then again, and suddenly he realized!
No wonder he came to his room last night!
He is scared!!!
When Rong Tang realized this, he was suddenly overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of guilt.
The villain had lived in a foreign land since she was a child and had long been accustomed to hiding everything. After marrying him, she rarely revealed her true feelings. She ran into his house in the middle of the night to ask for protection, but he was only concerned about sleeping!
Rong Tang felt extremely guilty, and felt that his son was a pitiful little thing, while he himself was extremely excessive.
Rong Tang moved very slowly and moved closer to the bed.
The moment Su Huaijing heard the noise, he raised his eyes and looked at him in confusion. Just then, there was a loud thunder outside the window, and the leaves rustled. Su Huaijing's hand uncontrollably fell on Rong Tang's bed.
Rong Tang couldn't bear it anymore and asked directly: "Are you scared?"
Su Huaijing: “?”
Rong Tang was a little conflicted. On the one hand, he wanted to take care of Su Huaijing's self-esteem, but on the other hand, he felt that being afraid of thunder was not a shameful thing. He was also afraid of it when he was a child. But when he really asked the villain, he was still a little hesitant: "...Are you afraid of thunder?"
Su Huaijing was confused and did not respond immediately.
Rong Tang asked tentatively: "Were you scared by the thunder last night and came to see me? Are you not going back today because you don't want to be alone?"
Su Huaijing was silent for a century, listening to the sound of thunder and rain outside the window and watching Rong Tang obviously move closer. Suddenly, he felt a sense of blessing and an uncontrollable joy surged in his heart.
He wanted to laugh very much, but he held it back. His eyebrows drooped, and when he raised them again, he looked pitiful and innocent. His fingers nervously tugged at the corner of the quilt and he uttered "hmm" softly, in a very low voice.
"When I was a kid, I lived with my uncle. There were often thunderstorms in the summer nights. The roof of the house I lived in had been broken for a long time and had not been repaired. Whenever it rained heavily, water would leak into the house bit by bit. There were rats squeaking in the corners, and the sound was very scary."
His voice was very soft, and he seemed a little embarrassed to talk about the old days, and Rong Tang's heart softened immediately.
Su Huaijing raised his eyelids and looked at him pitifully. He pursed his lips, as if he was a little uneasy. Just asking the question seemed to have consumed all his energy. He asked softly, "Can I sleep with you tonight, Tangtang?"
(End of this chapter)