The Ke family's ancestral home is in Jiangnan, and Ke Xuebao also made his fortune in Jiangnan. After Ke Hongxue returned to Beijing when he was young, he was in poor health in the first two years and did not travel long distances. After that, he would return to Jiangnan every year to worship his ancestors and stay for a while.
After Rong Tang woke up from his coma at the Flower-Zhehui, they met in the Gilded Tower. Ke Hongxue caught up with Mu Jingxu and pestered him to accompany him back to Jiangnan to worship his ancestors. He didn't have much hope in the first place and was just expecting it out of habit and said it casually, but Mu Jingxu really agreed to it.
Mu Shaoqing took leave and accompanied him back to Jiangnan from Yujing. His face became increasingly gloomy as he went south. Finally, when they passed through Huizhou, his face turned dark as he looked at the rushing river and the dilapidated dam.
Ke Hongxue asked him what was wrong, and Mu Jingxu said: A great disaster is coming.
After offering sacrifices to their ancestors, the two hurried back to the capital.
It was just the beginning of summer and the rain had not yet arrived. No one was sure whether the "great disaster" that Mu Jingxu mentioned would come true. It was not until the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, who had been dealing with some of the accumulated official documents day and night, looked up and suddenly realized that many people had left the capital without his noticing, and without exception their destinations were all in the south of the Yangtze River. Only then did he realize that his speculation was likely to come true.
Mu Jingxu did not dare to delay and immediately took the assignment from the Dali Temple Minister, preparing to go to Jiangnan alone.
But on the morning when I left the gate of Yujing City, a horse neighed behind me, its hooves kicked up the dust, and the new sunlight scattered on the tips of the grass leaves on both sides of the official road.
The elegant and graceful young man, wearing a snow-white riding suit, with his long hair standing up high and a simple package on his shoulders, stopped the carriage of the Dali Temple and jumped into the carriage with a smile: "Where are you going, brother? Why don't you take me with you to elope?"
He was used to being persistent and unreasonable. No matter how many times he denied, no one could change the facts he had determined. Mu Jingxu had no way to deal with Ke Hongxue.
He sat in the carriage and stared into Ke Hongxue's eyes. The hawking voices of vendors and peddlers could be heard outside the window. Mu Jingxu looked at him and was silent for a long time. He leaned over to open the curtain of the carriage and told the driver to continue on his way.
He couldn't stop Ke Hanying.
The only time he stopped him in his life was nine years ago, when the seventeen-year-old Ke Hongxue broke into the palace with the Grand Tutor's token and insisted on going south with him.
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In early July, the Jiangnan area began to become humid and hot.
Rong Tang came to the south under the pretext of escaping the summer heat, but was troubled by the weather that felt like stepping into a steamer as soon as he stepped out of the door.
He simply couldn't stay outside for more than a few minutes. He would get heatstroke if exposed to the sun. Every time he wanted to go out for a walk, he would feel dizzy and had to hold on to someone beside him to avoid falling down.
After this happened three or four times, Su Huaijing strictly forbade him to go out again.
No matter how much he acted like a spoiled child, it was not allowed. Rong Tang had no choice but to hide in the study room, reading a storybook and listening to the system's ridicule: [Does he like you? He bullies you like this before you're even together. What will happen if you agree to him? ]
Rong Tang was speechless for a while and was very puzzled: "When did you learn so many human emotions?"
The system said righteously: [You taught me.]
The disaster is still ongoing, and everyone coming and going in Linyuan is very busy, but Rong Tang's daily life is extremely simple.
He took medicine, read storybooks, quarreled with the system, listened to Lu Jiaxi chatting with him about the situation outside from time to time, waited for Su Huaijing to come back after a busy day, took a walk in the slightly cool evening breeze, and racked his brains from time to time to reject the sudden confession of the big villain.
Wang Xiuyu sent several letters from the capital, urging him to go back. Rong Tang replied carefully, telling her not to worry, and at the same time he felt a little more at ease.
Even Wang Xiuyu's letter was sent at full speed, indicating that the news of the flood in the south of the Yangtze River had spread throughout the capital.
So no matter how Lord Zhang or others want to benefit themselves from this natural disaster, the disaster relief money and people from the court will come to Jiangnan sooner or later, it's just a matter of sooner or later.
Rong Tang was lying on the small couch, with half a basin of ice cubes melted in water next to him slowly emitting cool air. He silently calculated in his mind how much money he had left from the travel expenses he brought to Jiangnan and the savings in the major silver shops.
Although Prince Ningxuan was wealthy, it was undoubtedly a fantasy for him to settle so many disaster victims by himself.
He sighed deeply, hoping that those people in the capital could reach a conclusion of their argument as soon as possible.
Rong Tang turned his head and looked at the long sunlight outside the window. The persimmon tree was bearing a few large, green and sour fruits. As he looked at them, he couldn't help but wonder if they could stay in Jiangnan for the summer before returning to the capital.
He also felt like eating persimmons.
On the sixth day of July, at dusk, large patches of fish-scale clouds accumulated over the sky above Suzhou Prefecture, set off by the purple-red sunset glow, and then fell onto Linghu Lake. The four words "floating light and leaping gold" fell from imagination into reality.
Only this time and early morning are slightly cooler in the day. After reading a storybook all day, Rong Tang walked out of the courtyard, strolled along the stone path in the garden, and saw the pond in the center of the garden was full of lotus flowers.
Shuangfu prepared a fishing rod for him, so he simply sat in the pavilion, put on a straw hat and started fishing.
After fishing for a while, Su Huaijing came over. Rong Tang raised his head and looked at him in the afterglow of dusk. He intuitively felt that the big villain had grown a lot.
If we say that when they first met in Fengyue Tower, Su Huaijing still looked like a young boy who had not fully grown up, now half a year later, he was not only taller than herself, but his shoulders seemed to be much broader as well. Occasionally, when they stood next to each other, even though Su Huaijing did nothing, Rong Tang could sense an invisible sense of power.
It’s just that the big villain has never shown this kind of power to him. In front of Rong Tang... Su Huaijing is as obedient as a dog that recognizes its master.
He came in from outside the mansion. Sheng Chengming walked and talked with him all the way. Su Huaijing consciously lagged behind him half a step, looking like a wise leader and his counselor.
But Rong Tang felt unhappy when he saw this. He let out a light click of the tongue and looked away, focusing on the fishing rod in his hand.
When the two men walked up to him, Rong Tang could no longer pretend to be blind and wanted to stand up and salute Sheng Chengming, but the latter casually lifted his robe and sat on the small stool beside him. He also picked up a fishing rod and said while threading earthworms: "Cousin, don't salute me every time you see me. It's awkward for a family to be so distant. What's more, I'm staying in your house now, so you are the master."
Rong Tang paused for a moment, but did not force it. He simply asked "okay" and sat back in his original seat without moving.
Su Huaijing looked up at the sun that was almost gone, then naturally walked to Xiangyang's side to block the sun for him. He lowered his eyes to look at the crucian carps flopping in the bucket, and asked with a smile, "Tangtang, do you want to give me a snack tonight?"
Su Huaijing was startled, then laughed and said, "It's definitely enough for me alone, but I don't know if Tangtang will snatch it from me."
Rong Tang paused, and forgot to lift the float which moved several times on the water. Su Huaijing then bent down and took the young master's hand with one hand and held the fishing rod with the other. With a little skill, a crucian carp weighing about three or four taels came out of the water.
Su Huaijing's hands were suitable for touching jade, but his movements of pinching the fish body from the hook in the setting sun were surprisingly graceful.
He threw the spoils into the bucket, turned around and smiled, "Now that's enough for us to eat."
Shuangfu understood and immediately carried the bucket to the kitchen.
Rong Tang's ears turned red after realizing it, and he glared at Su Huaijing fiercely. Sheng Chengming, who was watching from the side, was jealous and said sourly, "The relationship between cousin and his wife is really good."
Rong Tang then paid some attention to him and said, "Your Highness has reached the age to marry. There are so many ladies from famous families in the capital. His Majesty and Concubine Yi will definitely make a good choice for you."
I don't know what touched Su Huaijing about this. He was washing his hands peacefully on the shore. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He looked up at Rong Tang and smiled cutely.
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, but still couldn't help but care: "Pay attention, be careful not to fall."
"Okay." Su Huaijing said obediently, then turned around and washed his hands carefully.
Sheng Chengming's eyes almost turned red. He looked at Rong Tang and then at Su Huaijing. Finally, he had no choice but to focus his eyes on the float that was swaying gently with the waves. He sighed heavily and replied, "To be honest with you, cousin, I didn't want to get married and have children so early."
Rong Tang looked at him, and Sheng Chengming continued, "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by my cousin. I'm a lazy person. Everyone in the palace knows that if I'm not in the palace or the court, I'll be fooling around in Fengyue Tower the rest of the time."
He smiled. His skin had been tanned these days. He had dark circles under his eyes and seemed to be putting on a show. Sitting here fishing, his eyelids began to droop and his voice became low: "I don't want to get married so early and be controlled by others. Besides, I don't have a good reputation, and the ministers in the court may not be willing to marry their daughters to me."
He laughed as if he was mocking himself: "Compared to me, my third brother is more handsome, more talented, and his mother is of a higher status. Why choose me when it's better to choose him?"
Rong Tang frowned slightly. For some reason, he always felt that his words had a hidden meaning.
As expected, after Sheng Chengming finished speaking, he glanced at Su Huaijing without making a sound. The latter walked to Rong Tang and sat down, holding a cattail leaf fan to fan Rong Tang, and said lightly: "Your Highness, don't belittle yourself. The nine sons of the dragon are all different. Although the third prince is very talented, your Highness is courageous and has a simple heart, and you have qualities that other princes don't have."
He laughed, raised his phoenix eyes and looked at Sheng Chengming, as if to reassure him: "Not to mention the flood in Jiangnan this time. If it weren't for your decisive decision, I don't know how much more damage would have been caused."
Su Huaijing's boasting was so true and so false that Sheng Chengming lowered his head in frustration after listening to it. He said in a muffled voice: "But I was still too reckless. If it weren't for the hasty arrest of Governor Lu, the disaster relief money might have been sent down long ago, and the people in the south of the Yangtze River would not have suffered so much. I should have listened to—"
As he spoke, he seemed to realize that there were some things he couldn't say in front of Rong Tang. He paused and raised the fishing rod.
The bait on the hook had been eaten long ago, so Sheng Chengming replaced it with a new earthworm.
Rong Tang was somewhat surprised, but he understood what he meant and asked, "Your Highness, are you willing to bring Lu Junxian to justice?"
Sheng Chengming was just throwing the hook back into the water. He was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and was more surprised than Rong Tang: "Why don't you want to?"
Rong Tang: "Governor Lu is a disciple of Lord Zhang."
"So what?" Sheng Chengming frowned. "Jiang Shanxing warned him many times that there would be floods in Jiangnan, but he refused to listen and believed them. He even ordered people to block the letters sent back to the capital. If he hadn't been so pedantic and treated the lives of the people as fish, how could there be tens of thousands of casualties in Jiangnan?"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became, and his voice became louder and louder. Rong Tang was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Su Huaijing.
Su Huaijing had not told him the specific amount of losses caused by the flood these days, and Rong Tang could not get the answer when he asked Lu Jiaxi privately. He knew that Su Huaijing was deliberately hiding it from him because he was afraid that he would be sad.
But when he actually heard the number of people affected from Sheng Chengming, he was still shocked for a moment.
Sadness was inevitable, but other than that, he felt fortunate.
Hundreds of thousands and tens of thousands of people, anyone who knew the original trajectory of their fate and then looked back at the current results would be surprised that man can conquer nature.
Su Huaijing thought he was sad, so he pinched the back of his hand to comfort him silently.
Rong Tang turned his head away, restraining himself from looking at him, and praised Cheng Ming: "Your Highness is righteous."
Sheng Chengming's anger suddenly dissipated, and he was a little dazed. It took him a long while to react before he shook his head: "It's not that I am righteous, but that the people in Jiangnan are suffering."
He fell silent after he finished speaking, and Rong Tang didn't know how to comfort him for a moment.
After all, what Sheng Chengming said was indeed right, the people are suffering.
He was distracted and gradually felt a chill in his heart, but suddenly he heard a laugh from behind him. Someone walked towards him in the twilight and moonlight, laughing heartily: "What's wrong? Why are you all so sad? I came all the way from Hangzhou to Suzhou to invite you to celebrate the Chinese Valentine's Day together. If the Queen Mother saw your expressions, I'm afraid she wouldn't even build the Magpie Bridge this year. What's the point of celebrating?"
Rong Tang turned around and saw the 26-year-old Ke Hongxue, who was full of vigor and vitality. The setting sun shone on him, making it look like a layer of golden light.
The kind of real money.
(End of this chapter)