The rain didn't fall. God wasn't that cruel after all.
On June 21, Suzhou City and the entire Jiangnan region began post-disaster reconstruction.
The house that Rong Tang bought in Suzhou was originally the former residence of a top scholar in the previous dynasty. It has elegant scenery and exquisite shape. It is named "Lin", which means the auspicious beast Qilin.
Linyuan was crowded with people from the day they moved in. Jiang Shanxing, the governor of Suzhou, visited three times, managers from various manors and shops in Ningxuan Palace came to pay a visit to the young master, and Sheng Chengming and a group of officials stayed there under the pretext of "staying overnight".
Not until the rainstorm passed and the sky cleared did the guests in Lin Garden leave the house one after another like fish swimming in the river.
Rong Tang woke up in the morning, listening to the chirping of insects and birds outside the house. He subconsciously felt the pain in his bones that had been lingering for many days, but found that it didn't hurt that much. It was not like those days when it rained heavily, when the slightest movement felt like a bug drilling into his bone marrow and biting him.
He didn't know whether it was because the weather was clear or the medicine Su Huaijing prepared last night had taken effect, but there was improvement after all.
But when he thought of Su Huaijing, Rong Tang lay on the bed for a long time, closed his eyes, sighed silently, and covered his face with his hands. The warm touch on his lips seemed to still remain.
He didn't know how to face it.
[Host.] The system suddenly called out in a faint voice, and Rong Tang inexplicably felt that the two words contained more resentment than a ghost.
He was stunned for a moment and asked, "Aren't you in hibernation?"
[…]Do you think I can sleep
Fortunately, the system has no entity, otherwise it would have darker circles under its eyes than an owl. It asked: [Are you going to agree to Su Huaijing? ]
Rong Tang: “…”
He was silent for a long time, then asked, "Can I live more than four years?"
The system also asked back: "Can Sheng Chengli become the emperor?"
Shuangfu began to prepare Rong Tang's early morning washing outside the house. Birds chirped in the treetops, and Su Huaijing's deliberately low voice occasionally leaked in. Rong Tang stared at a pair of wooden lotus buds on the top of the bed, blinked, and sighed softly: "So it's impossible to agree."
There is no solution to this problem.
After experiencing the same life twice, if you want to live it again, you must have a goal to support you.
Rong Tang's original goal was simply to protect Su Huaijing, and these days he had a hidden hope.
If the timeline of the original novel and the previous two lives had developed, Su Huaijing's character would have collapsed and turned evil in the end. He became the mastermind behind the war and was obviously a tyrant without the qualities of an emperor.
If he becomes emperor like that, Dayu will be doomed. This is the judgment of heaven.
But what if Su Huaijing will never turn evil in his life
If he can care about the people, be diligent and wise, and let the wise become the emperor, then even if the male protagonist of the Heavenly Dao is not in power, will the world not collapse
No one could discuss this speculation with Rong Tang, and he couldn't mention it to anyone else, but he still couldn't help but have such an expectation.
In addition to looking forward to protecting Zhu Huaijing, I hope he can grow up to be a wise ruler.
If that was the case, how could he let Su Huaijing be buried with him
Why would he let others give up their lives to accompany him
Or in other words, there has never been anyone in this world who is worth giving up one's life for.
Rong Tang didn't know how Su Huaijing could make it sound like death, but what he said was always true. After last night, Rong Tang confirmed this once again.
If three or four years later, as the story line develops and his body gradually deteriorates, he is headed for an irreversible death, and Su Huaijing goes with him, then what is the meaning of this life that he had the courage to survive
Rong Tang hoped that Su Huaijing could have a good ending. Even if the heavens really didn't allow it, he still wanted to give it a try. As for himself -
He is bound to Sheng Chengli.
Sheng Chengli cannot become the emperor, and the plot of the small world cannot return to its original track. Even if he will not be punished, he will not be able to obtain the reward promised by the system master.
He had no way of getting a healthy body back, so he could only drag along this sick body that had accompanied him for three lifetimes and that he had long been familiar with, and try to survive for a few more years.
How could he possibly agree to Su Huaijing
He wants him to be well.
Su Huaijing has lost all his relatives, and has gone through many hardships and walked alone in this world for so many years. How can it make sense for him to think of being buried with a patient who is half buried in the ground at such a young age
Three years later he was only twenty years old.
Rong Tang lay in bed for a long time. Someone knocked on the door and Su Huaijing called softly from outside the room: "Tangtang, are you up?"
Rong Tang blinked his eyes, slowly pulling away from his thoughts, and just as the door was about to be pushed open from the outside, he spoke: "It's up."
Su Huaijing paused, but still pushed the door and walked in.
The light from the yard instantly poured into the room, then quickly retracted. The door closed behind him. Rong Tang sat up hurriedly. Su Huaijing came in and saw his slightly messy hair and dull eyes.
He couldn't help wanting to laugh, so he turned around and took out a set of clothes for Rong Tang to wear today from the closet. He was very virtuous: "Half of the staff in the mansion went out to distribute porridge, so there weren't enough people to serve, so the breakfast was just average. I only asked the kitchen to cook a pot of porridge and two side dishes. If you're not used to it later, I'll make you a bowl of tofu pudding. It just so happened that the west courtyard was flooded a few days ago, and Uncle Wu caught a small bucket of river shrimps. I'll sprinkle some on the tofu pudding for you later."
Su Huaijing spoke so naturally that Rong Tang followed his train of thought unconsciously. He got off the bed, picked up a piece of clothing and put it on himself: "Porridge is enough."
Su Huaijing smiled and nodded. After he put on his inner garment, he handed him an outer robe.
Rong Tang took it and put it on halfway when he suddenly realized something was wrong. He frowned and looked at Su Huaijing: "Why did you come into my room?"
Su Huaijing opened his eyes in surprise: "Why can't I go in?"
The latter blinked, as if he suddenly realized something, walked over and lowered his head, while helping Rong Tang put on the robe that he had put on halfway, he said: "Tang Tang, what you want to say is that you rejected my courtship last night, so I shouldn't come to your room today?"
Rong Tang didn't quite understand why he could say these words without blushing or getting nervous. He pursed his lips and uttered a muffled "hmm".
Su Huaijing's smile deepened. He put on his clothes for him and stepped back. He picked up the belt from the bed and handed it to him. When he saw Rong Tang tying it himself, he lowered his eyes with regret and said, "But I have always done it this way."
Rong Tang was slightly startled, Su Huaijing said: "Since we got married, whenever I have time, I have helped you get dressed in the morning, and I have fetched water for you to wash up at night. If the weather is bad, and it rains continuously, I will bring breakfast to your room, serve you after you finish eating, and then fetch water for you to wash your hands."
He paused and opened his mouth exaggeratedly: "Brother Tangtang, you haven't forgotten everything, have you?"
Rong Tang: “…” I regret that I shouldn’t have been so greedy for temporary pleasure.
Su Huaijing waited for his reaction for a while, lowered his head in melancholy, and pouted his lips. He didn't know whether it was true or false, but he looked very depressed: "Brother Tangtang is a little too sad."
"…" Rong Tang had no choice but to say, "I haven't forgotten."
"You really haven't forgotten?" Su Huaijing immediately raised his eyes and stared at him.
Rong Tang choked for a moment and nodded: "I haven't forgotten."
Su Huaijing smiled and said, "Since you haven't forgotten, Tangtang should know it too. Not only you, but everyone in the courtyard can see it. If I have been doing this for a few months and suddenly change now, will Shuangfu and Shuangshou think that I have bad intentions and tricked you into handing over all your wealth to me, and then stop serving you?"
Rong Tang's scalp tingled as he listened to his nonsense.
"We are in Suzhou now, and mother can't hear any gossip. But when we return to Beijing, if any of the servants and maids in the mansion gossip about me, won't I be able to live my life as a human being?" Su Huaijing raised his eyes. After a good night's sleep, the dark circles from days of hard work had all disappeared, and even the redness and swelling from crying last night were gone, but they were still bright. When he raised his eyes to look at people, he had a kind of pitifulness that made people unable to refuse.
He said, "It's obviously not that I don't want to serve."
Su Huaijing's voice became lower and lower, with a hint of grievance and subtle accusation in his tone: "It was Tangtang who took the initiative to ask to marry me, and I fell in love with you and confessed my love to you. I wanted to be a real couple with you, but you rejected me. Now you won't even let me enter your room."
"I am the one who feels the most wronged, okay? If people continue to gossip about me and ruin my reputation, how can I still live as a human being?" Su Huaijing asked in a muffled voice, even with a hint of tears in his voice.
Rong Tang was totally at a loss as to what to do and wanted to beg for mercy from him.
But he rarely showed any toughness, stiffened his neck and didn't say anything for a long time. Su Huaijing felt wronged for a while, raised his eyes to glance at him, nodded, and his voice gradually became cold: "I understand."
Rong Tang was confused: "What do you know?"
Su Huaijing: "Tangtang won't let me into your room now. I think you think my confession is annoying, but you didn't say it out loud because of our relationship. In fact, you hate me. You will probably give me a divorce letter when you return to the capital, right?"
Rong Tang: “?!!!”
He was shocked for a while, then he opened his eyes, got a little angry, and glared at Su Huaijing: "What are you talking about?"
Su Huaijing raised his eyes innocently: "Isn't that right?"
Rong Tang: "No! What are you thinking about all day long!?"
Su Huaijing responded decisively: "I'm thinking about Tangtang."
Rong Tang choked and realized belatedly that he seemed to have fallen into Su Huaijing's trap again.
Su Huaijing leaned close to her and coaxed her softly, "Tangtang likes me, right?"
Rong Tang looked away: "No."
Su Huaijing lowered his eyes: "It's wrong, so what? Tangtang always says one thing and means another. I've long been used to it."
Rong Tang retorted: "... You always confuse right and wrong!"
Su Huaijing was scolded, but instead of getting angry, he laughed: "So Tangtang admits that she said one thing and meant another, and that she likes me?"
Rong Tang: “?”
"I didn't." He said stubbornly.
Su Huaijing nodded, took a step back very tactfully, and then untactfully slid Rong Tang's crooked belt along her thin waistline until it was straightened: "Then no, you will like me sooner or later."
He asked, "Tangtang, are you hungry? Go out and have breakfast. I'll take you out after breakfast. Don't you want to see if you saved those people? I'll take you to see."
Go and see the world you like, go and see the people you love, and then please take a little care of yourself.
I don't ask you to live a hundred years, I just ask you to be free from pain and disaster.
(End of this chapter)