Chapter 50

What does Rong Tang think?

Rong Tang thought that the development of things had deviated from the original work and was far from the direction he was aware of.

He was somewhat confused.

If the facts all coincided with what Ke Hongxue said, the Second Prince lost a scholar, the Third Prince lost Emperor Renshou’s imperial favour, and the Fifth Prince—who was the male protagonist himself—ended up with a crippled leg.

No one has obtained any advantages. Just as Su Huaijing said, even if someone wants to profit from this farce, it can only be him.

But what if…… that wasn’t the truth?

Rong Tang couldn’t help but have uncertainties about these matters.

Firstly, Xia Jingyi’s son-in-law, Zhang Baoshan, indeed amassed troops in the southwest and embezzled military funds. The incident should have occurred in the winter of the tenth year of Qingzheng, during heavy snowfall, when a small force from the southwestern barbarian tribes disrupted the border. The imperial court sent an imperial envoy to supervise the army, and only then was this dirty case uncovered. The evidence was overwhelming and indisputable, unlike the current situation, where a scholar who submitted a memorial to the throne on behalf of the Second Prince’s faction was hastily accused of slander and false accusations.

The second matter concerns the Third Prince, Sheng Chengxing, who left the palace and established a residence last year. Emperor Renshou even rewarded him with Song Garden. If it were solely because a nanny had died that he was brought to the palace and made to kneel in the Great Buddha Hall to recite sutras and repent, this punishment was too severe. It would bring disgrace to Concubine Hui and Marshal Xia, and negatively affect the Sixth Prince, who shares the same mother as Sheng Chengxing. This doesn’t seem like a decision that Emperor Renshou would make.

Thirdly—and what surprised Rong Tang the most—was how could Sheng Chengli have fallen and broken a leg?

As Heavenly Ways’s male protagonist, Sheng Chengli has experienced various hardships since he was a child. But in the final analysis, these hardships were all written by the author to toughen him up and to grant him skill and talent points. It’s not possible for them to leave any indelible marks on his body.

Although there is no explicit law in Dayu, it is almost the consensus of the imperial family that those with physical disabilities will not be eligible for the throne. Although Sheng Chengli was a son abandoned in the cold palace, he is still an heir with the right to inherit. If he was lame and unable to walk, how could he seize the throne in the future?

How could Heavenly Way possibly allow him to experience such a crisis?

Unless what the imperial doctor said was a lie or this was simply a smokescreen orchestrated by Sheng Chengli. Otherwise, from Rong Tang’s perspective, this point is fundamentally baseless.

Of the three things, none of them fit the original work, none of them had ever occurred previously, and none of them were within the scope of Rong Tang’s comprehension.

When asked by Ke Hongxue, he lowered his head, picked up the tea cup, took a strategic sip of tea, then said, “I don’t understand.”

The hot pot bubbled and simmered. Outside the window, night had descended, and Shuiling Street remained as lively as ever. Sitting in the private room of Shudao Pavilion, one could still hear the sounds of revelry from the upstairs ofLiujin Parlour and catch the fragrance of the courtesans from Fengyue House.

Rong Tang put down the tea cup and kept blathering without changing his expression: “I have been stupid for nine years, and the whole capital knows it.”

With a “kua” sound, Lu Jiaxi’s chopsticks accidentally hit the edge of the table and “patter-patter” rolled to the ground.

Rong Tang displayed a wide-eyed innocent look and met Lu Jiaxi’s stunned gaze for a moment. Young Master Lu immediately hurried to bend down and pick up the chopsticks.

Not knowing where they went, his picking-up went on for a long time, and he didn’t get up. He just continued squatting on the floor.

Ke Hongxue regained his senses and blinked. His usually romantic and affectionate peach blossom eyes were filled with astonishment. His mouth gaped without saying anything for a long time as he stared at Rong Tang.

Rong Tang stared back at him, perpetually calm, unperturbed, and innocent.

Ke Hongxue was silent for a century before clasping his hands into fists: “This lowly official was rude and inadvertently brought up Prince’s painful memory. I deserve to be punished.”

As he spoke, he poured himself a full glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

Rong Tang raised his eyebrows and lowered his head to eat the hot pot meatballs in his bowl. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Su Huaijing watching him with a smile on his face.

“What’s it laa?” He leaned over and asked softly.

Su Huaijing’s voice was also soft: “Tangtang gege’s way of prevaricating, it’s really…… hard to refute.”

Rong Tang paused for a moment, blinked, and pretended not to understand what he meant: “I have truly been stupid for nine years. Don’t I always say that to outsiders?”

It wasn’t clear which word in this sentence stirred the main villain’s heart, but Su Huaijing was stunned for a second before bursting out into laughter. It was both hearty and lazy, characteristic of the natural vigour of his seventeen years of age. Sitting upstairs with friends, drinking and dining, laughter was countless times more intoxicating than the chirping cicadas on a summer night.

Su Huaijing looked away, the smile in his eyes still lingering. His gaze landed lightly on the table, and then he said, “Mr. Lu didn’t manage to find your chopsticks? Just ask the waiter for a new pair.”

Before his words could finish, Lu Jiaxi quickly stretched out a hand from the edge of the table, holding a pair of long bronze chopsticks: “Found it, found it. Earlier, I had leg cramps—yes, leg cramps.”

He hurriedly stood up and quickly scanned around at the people present. Seeing that none of them had any intention of continuing the previous topic, he sat down with some trepidation and hastily wiped the cold sweat from his forehead while pretending to wipe his chopsticks.

Rong Tang observed in amusement from the side. He wanted to tease him for some reason, but as soon as the word “Lu” was uttered, Lu Jiaxi’s expression was filled with pleading, which instantly struck Rong Tang. He suddenly felt like a feudal patriarch coercing juniors to perform at the dinner table, so he immediately shut up.

Lu Jiaxi breathed a sigh of relief. Once he was done wiping his chopsticks, he continued to immerse himself in the food. When everyone finished eating and put down their chopsticks, he gave a belated burp and asked, “Are you all…… full?”

“……”

Ke Hongxue couldn’t help closing his fan and rapping him lightly on the head. He said, “This temperament of yours is fine in Hanlin Academy. But if you get into the Six Ministries, do you want to get yourself eaten by those old foxes?”

Lu Jiaxi’s eyes widened; he looked at him, and he uncontrollably glanced at Mu Jingxu, and then naturally said, “But…… The junior minister of the Imperial Court of Justice is my senior aaa.”

Mu Jingxu had just stood up. When he heard this, he bent his waist a little and eyed Lu Jiaxi.

Just a moment ago, young Excellency Lu was speaking confidently to Ke Hongxue, not ashamed to have his backing at all. But as soon as Mu Jingxu’s icy gaze swept over him, he immediately panicked, quickly shifting his eyes away and using Ke Hongxue’s figure to block himself.

Rong Tang once again found Lu Jiaxi’s adorable and couldn’t resist smiling softly. In the blink of an eye, he saw that sort of fright in Lu Jiaxi and Mu Jingxu’s standard stoic expression, like frozen frost.

But after all, he and Mu Jingxu have been associated for two lifetimes. The deep emotions might not be visible, but the plain ones were extremely evident.

Lil’ Bro Mu showed no signs of displeasure towards Lu Jiaxi’s recent attempt to ingratiate himself or even his intention to use him as a background to exert influence. On the contrary, when observed by Rong Tang, it even seemed like he displayed a subtle acquiescence and indulgence on his face.

He found it amusing and asked Ke Hongxue when he went downstairs, “Don’t you think your senior is very tolerant and generous towards young Mr. Lu?”

Rong Tang had something to discuss with Ke Hongxue, so Su Huaijing naturally stood a shoulder’s distance behind him, while Lu Jiaxi and Mu Jingxu walked ahead.

One is a socially awkward figure, whose Hanlin robe couldn’t even conceal his youthful awkwardness, appearing both immature and nervous yet occasionally revealing a hint of youthful elegance, while the other is a towering presence unmoved as a mountain, the worldly hustle and bustle seemingly brushing past him, unable to touch the immaculately clean white robe in the slightest.

The two of them stood together, neither speaking to the other; one was calm while the other was terrified.

But the moment Lu Jiaxi was so panicked that he accidentally misstepped, Mu Jingxu immediately reacted and grabbed his arm. His voice ever cold and emotionless, he said, “Be careful.”

When Ke Hongxue noticed this scene from behind, he was not as brimming with jealousy as Rong Tang assumed he would be. Instead, he was stunned for two seconds and then smiled and said, “Then that’s pretty good.”

Rong Tang was slightly surprised: “You’re not jealous?”

“What’s there to be jealous of?” Tutor Ke asked in response, “If there’s one more person who can make him feel that this world has some meaning, it’s more that I can hope for. Besides—”

He glanced back calmly, then averted his eyes before Su Huaijing met his gaze and said softly, “Senior might think that he somewhat resembles his didi.”

Rong Tang was really confused now: “Excellency Mu has a brother? How come I haven’t heard of him?” Not only now, but also in the previous two lives, he’s never heard so much as a peep from Mu Jingxu or Ke Hongxue.

Even when Tutor Ke gets drunk, he won’t utter any information with regards to Lil’ Bro Mu.

Previously, there were officials who targeted Mu Jingxu and wanted to find some excuse to take him down. Someone suggested that he start with Ke Hongxue, but the other party snorted lightly and said, “That grandson of Ke Wenrui’s? Believe it or not, even if I roast him on a spit, throw it into a pan, and fry him, he won’t say a single unfavourable thing about his senior. If he is allowed to come back alive, the first thing he will do is draw a topographic map of my house and present it to his senior. Then I’ll just wait for the day when the imperial edict will fall on my head and the Imperial Court of Justice will come with their men to raid my house.”

Rong Tang instantly realised that even if they were in the same camp in the past two lives, they seemed to have never been completely honest with each other.

On the contrary, now that they are scattered, Ke Hongxue doesn’t toil for the male protagonist, and he himself is too lazy to get involved in the struggle for succession, but the conversations are becoming increasingly uninhibited.

Ke Hongxue narrowed his eyes, waved his fan, and covered his mouth. He spoke softly, not knowing whether he was afraid that it would cause Mu Jingxu to get upset if he heard this or if he was just talking nonsense. “He’s dead. He’s been dead for many years.”

Rong Tang was startled, but before he could speak, he heard Ke Hongxue continue; his expression seemed a little despondent as he stared at Mu Jingxu’s back: “It would be great if there was a magic potion that could bring the dead back to life.”

Not merely bringing the body back to life, but even the soul from before is also returned to the body; only that can be regarded as bringing the dead back to life.

But the world is filled with things that are always unattainable.

Ke Hongxue folded his fan and went downstairs in two to three steps. A customer finally managed to get a table and was led upstairs by the waiter. They passed by each other. Ke Hongxue caught up with Mu Jingxu and nudged Lu Jiaxi to the side in a magnanimous yet petty manner: “You don’t have a senior of your own? Why are you pestering mine?”

Ke Hongxue gave Mu Jingxu a shy smile and asked, “Senior, I am going back to Jiangnan next month to worship my ancestors. Do you want to take on a task and come with me?”

Mu Jingxu threw him a sideways glance, and what he said could not be heard clearly amid the noise in the room.

Su Huaijing came from behind, leaned forward, and held Rong Tang’s hand. He lowered his head and asked with a smile, “Shall we go strolling in the streets and then go home? I’ll buy you a few more sets of clothes.”

Rong Tang nodded, his eyes glittering as he said, “Order a few sets for yourself at the same time and buy some for my mother. We’ll bring them along to give to her when we return to the palace.”

“Okay.” Su Huaijing agreed with a smile and asked casually, “Do we need to want to buy some for the Duke?”

Rong Tang frowned when he heard Rong Mingyu’s name and immediately objected: “No need. Father’s government salary is substantial, and he has no shortage of children and concubines, so there’ll naturally be someone who will give him gifts. We need to save money; earning money isn’t easy.”

Su Huaijing’s eyes widened with a smile. “I shall listen to my husband.”

The four of them walked out of the hall in twos. Lu Jiaxi still hadn’t recovered from being nudged by Ke Hongxue. He stood there blankly, inhaling the spicy aroma in the air, covering his belly that was about to explode. “……”

Why on earth did I go out for a walk with Senior Ke when I’d gotten off duty and it was time to go home?

The author has something to say:

Xiao Lu may turn out to be the most miserable in the entire narrative (points to eating dog food) (tender gaze).