Teahouse.

Liao Qiubai sat on the opposite side of Rong Ting. Looking at his expression, he was obviously holding back some anger. "There is obviously someone more suitable than the Ninth Prince. Why can't he find anyone else? Why did Xi Zimo, that bald guy, insist on appointing you? Did the Emperor agree?"

"The emperor's order is really strange. He accepted Xi Zimo's proposal without consulting the court officials. If he said that the war in Huaizhou was urgent and he was waiting for his approval, it doesn't seem to be the case. If he said that he relied on Xi Zimo, the emperor was very suspicious. He was afraid that all the military power would fall into the hands of one person, which would cause trouble. Xi Zimo had the least number of soldiers, so it doesn't seem that the emperor relied on him."

Liao Qiubai frowned and said, "That's weird."

Rong Ting was neither hurried nor slow, his fingers stroking the teacup with a white porcelain bottom and a lotus flower pattern, his face indifferent, "Father doesn't care whether I'm dead or alive, he just wants to know whether Xi Zimo will affect his country. I'm his son, and also his chess piece."

Liao Qiubai: "Suspect Xi Zimo?"

Rong Ting: "General Xi and the people behind him were impatient and gave themselves away."

Liao Qiubai was a little confused.

Rong Ting said, "My father summoned me to the palace yesterday and told me to go to Huaizhou to quell the epidemic and the chaos while investigating which officials in the capital Xi Zimo had contact with."

Liao Qiubai was so excited that he almost couldn't sit still. "Isn't this the moment your Highness is waiting for?"

This time it was Emperor Zhaowu who sent him to investigate, which was different from taking the initiative to impeach.

If he were to be impeached, outsiders would see Rong Ting as someone who had been raised with great difficulty by Empress Jiahe and then turned against him. Even if he could find evidence against Empress Jiahe in the end, it would be considered a case of sacrificing one's own family for the sake of justice, but he would still be accused of being unfilial.

But if Emperor Zhaowu himself asked him to investigate, it would be very different.

Rong Ting looked very cold.

It was so cold that Liao Qiubai immediately remembered what Huaizhou was like today.

I may not be able to come back after this trip, so how can I talk about the timing?

His face turned pale, "Your Highness the Ninth Prince must go?"

"Yes." Rong Ting put down the teacup, "If I go to Huaizhou, you stay in the capital and help me do these things."

Rong Ting raised his hand and signaled Wu Que to hand a letter to Liao Qiubai.

Liao Qiubai took the letter and saw that he had already arranged everything, so he finally did not utter the unlucky words "What if he can't come back?"

You can't get a tiger cub without risking it.

He glanced at Rong Ting's leg and asked, "How long do you plan to keep this leg injury a secret?"

"If General Xi is really a member of Xu Guozhang's gang, you will be exposed sooner or later if you go to Huaizhou." Liao Qiubai was a little worried.

"Exposed means exposed."

"Since the day I lent you the horse, I never thought I could keep it a secret for long."

Jiang Rao already knew that his leg injury had healed, and he could no longer use this defect to act pitiful in front of her.

He pretended that his leg injury had not healed, just to let his opponent relax his vigilance and give him a few moments to catch his breath.

But now, with all the commotion he had caused in the six departments...even if he continued to pretend, it was useless.

Before leaving the teahouse, Liao Qiubai frowned and asked one last time, "Huaizhou is the only option this time. How confident are you that you can come back?"

Rong Ting did not give him a clear answer. His eyes were as dark as ink and full of hostility. "The Queen will not take my life so easily."

…

The night wind blew away the fallen leaves on the sycamore tree. The dusk deepened. Jiang Rao did not return from Concubine Yun's Shuxiang Palace. Jiang Qinshi looked out the window frequently, and asked with a worried look on her face, "Why can't Niannian come back?"

Jiang Xingzhou seemed to have expected this. He gently placed his hands on Jiang Qinshi's shoulders and patted her twice. "I know where Nian Nian went. Let's have dinner first. There's no need to wait for her."

He knew where his daughter had gone.

After all, she is the child I raised, and I know her character best.

Jiang Qin looked back at her husband's gloomy face and asked, "Are you saying that you go to see the Ninth Prince every year?"

"Yes." Jiang Xingzhou picked up his chopsticks first. "Before she entered the palace, I told her maid that if Nian Nian was unhappy when she found out that Rong Ting was going to Huaizhou, she should take her to see him."

Jiang Qin was a little surprised.

He was clearly furious when he heard that his daughter was going to see Rong Ting. Why would she...

"If we meet in private three months before the wedding... we will be criticized."

"His Highness the Ninth Prince is going to Huaizhou, so the wedding date will inevitably be postponed." Jiang Xingzhou raised his eyelids, glanced at Jiang Qinshi, and said coldly, "It doesn't matter if people criticize me. I will shut up anyone who dares to criticize me. I can't change the emperor's orders, and I don't understand the strange and supernatural things. But I have the ability to deal with some gossipers. Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, and this is what you often tell me."

Jiang Qinshi watched him use her usual words to stop her, which was completely different from his previous attitude. She finally asked the doubts in her heart, "You go to see His Highness Ninth Prince every year. Why aren't you angry this time?"

"I get annoyed whenever I see him." Jiang Xingzhou refused to admit it, "but I can tell the difference between big things and small things."

Jiang Xingzhou looked worried. "I stopped her this time. If something really happened to that kid in Huaizhou, I don't know how much she would hate me."

"Don't say such unlucky words." Jiang Qin frowned in annoyance. "Good things take time. The Ninth Prince will be fine in the end."

"I'm not saying anything unlucky. I'm worried to death too." Jiang Xingzhou rubbed his brows. "I hope everything is fine."

…

When returning to the mansion, the secret guard arranged by Rong Ting to be beside Jiang Rao reported to him that Jiang Rao had entered the palace today. The palace was heavily guarded, and the secret guard did not chase her again, but Rong Ting almost guessed why Jiang Rao entered the palace.

It was she who knew that he was going to Huaizhou.

My heart became heavy.

Once back at the mansion, Rong Ting stopped at the gatekeeper and said, "If the fourth lady comes over, stop her."

If she comes, she will probably persuade him not to go to Huaizhou, but he will not agree.

He just wanted her to feel that he was obedient to her and didn't want her to remember any bad things about him.

When returning to Beishenyuan, Rong Ting stopped in the corridor.

Looking at the palace lanterns in the corridor.

The glazed goat-horn lamp illuminated the remaining green of the autumn wood in the bonsai placed in the yard, and also brightened the shadows. He looked down, and his gloomy eyes became peaceful.

After Jiang Rao asked someone to bring in the palace lantern, he never changed it again.

From now on, when the lights are turned on, the whole yard will become bright and warm. The bonsai trees were lush and green this summer, and the camellias were blooming beautifully. The yard was not as lifeless as any other place he had lived in before.

There was a commotion behind me.

"Girl, please don't force your way in."

"Your Highness the Ninth Prince really cannot see guests today. Please come back another day."

"I won't be able to see him again if I come another day."

Rong Ting looked back.

Jiang Rao was standing at the hanging flower gate with a lantern in her hand. She was alone, a petite figure, standing under the hanging flower gate, in the twilight lit by lanterns. She looked a little annoyed, her forehead was full of sweat, and her face was red.

He strode toward her.

Jiang Rao raised her head, her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist. She came in a hurry, her hair was blown messy by the wind. She didn't ask him about finding someone to stop her, but asked directly, "Huaizhou, do you have to go?"

She wanted to find a way to take revenge on the queen, but the most urgent thing was to stop him from going to Huaizhou first.

Rong Ting fell silent.

He originally wanted to hide this news from her.

"The Emperor has issued an order."

"Do you have to go?" Jiang Rao glanced at the wheelchair behind him. It was clear that in the eyes of others, he was a person who would never be able to stand up. Why should he go to such a far and chaotic place like Huaizhou?

Rong Ting

Silence fell again.

Huaizhou is only feasible, it is not a dead end.

There's just not much vitality.

The abyss is ahead and the jackal is behind.

The epidemic is spreading from person to person; Xi Zimo is a dog of the Xu family, and he has hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command.

He himself didn't know how dangerous the road ahead would be, but he was so used to living like this that he had even forgotten the feeling of fear.

Since he was a few years old, if he took a wrong step, he would be dead. Since he has survived until now, he should be able to continue living.

But today I have a soft spot compared to before. I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of never seeing her again.

He pulled Jiang Rao to the study room, and after closing the door, he did not go in. He stood by the door, looking at her calmly, "If this trip could quell the epidemic and take away the military power in Xi Zimo's hands, I would not be constrained by the queen like I am now."

He knew what she wanted. She cared about the honor and disgrace, rise and fall of the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion just as he cared about whether she belonged to him alone.

"Your father will never be framed again." He stretched out his slender fingers and tidied her messy hair. There was no panic on his face. He blinked slowly. His face was beautiful enough to deceive people. His tone was gentle and sweet. "Wait for me to come back."

Jiang Rao looked at him in panic.

She had clearly been hoping that he would become her golden thigh.

But she was not happy at all, not at all.

"But you might die." She panicked even more and grabbed his sleeve tightly. "Go tell the emperor that your leg injury has not healed yet and you can't go that far."

Her eyes were red, tears were hanging in her eyes, rolling around, "Can you change someone else?"

Rong Ting sighed.

He had to go to Huaizhou because he had what he wanted.

"If someone else goes, they will also die."

He knew her weakness and said slowly, "The epidemic in Huaizhou mostly affects young children. If they are not treated within three days, they will be beyond recovery. Add to that the bandits and barbarians..."

She would be sad if a stray cat or dog died on the road in front of her, let alone a human.

His voice and expression turned cold. "The streets were littered with corpses. Apart from crying and screaming, there was no other sound."

The hand that was tightly grasping his sleeve loosened, and Rong Ting curled his lips, "If you had heard the news first, it was about the war and epidemic in Huaizhou, you would definitely hope that the court would send people there quickly, right?"

"But you heard first that I was going there, so you didn't want to."

He smiled faintly, and looked at her with deep eyes, bitter and tender.

When he saw her like this, he knew that she had him in her heart.

I just don't know how much weight I hold in her heart.

If he really couldn't come back, would she shed more tears for him than the stray cats and dogs on the roadside?

It would be nice if there was more.

"Huaizhou is inevitable." Rong Ting looked at her and took a few breaths as if his soft spot had been touched. Her breathing sounded like she was crying, but the tears were in her eyes, as if they were about to burst out with heavy sadness. He quickly reached out his hand to hold her face, put his calloused fingertips on the corners of her eyes, and comforted her earnestly, "What you worry about will not happen."

"But, what if..." Jiang Rao's chest heaved and she choked up.

Rong Ting gently wiped away the tears from her eyes, and continued her words in a light voice, "Without the ifs, I would not die."

"Even if I die..."

He looked at her red eyes, his gaze darkened, his eyes focused to the point of cruelty, his fingers moved to her wrist and grasped it, unable to control himself and leaving red marks on her fair skin, "Even if I die, you must marry my tablet. You can't, you can't marry anyone else."