His deep and laughing voice made him sound uninhibited, which startled Jiang Rao. She looked at him carefully again and saw that his eyebrows were bent, and his pupils were as holy and clean as a sparkling lake under the starry sky. The gleam in his eyes just now seemed like she had misjudged it.

He sighed softly, "You have to think about it carefully."

He really didn't want to use the same method he used against Yu Yinxue on her. But in Jinling, rumors were spreading that Fourth Master Jiang intended to make Pei Songyu his son-in-law. As more and more people talked about it, people's speculation gradually changed from possibility to certainty.

——Master Pei is pure and chaste, and the fourth young lady is even more beautiful than her mother was in her youth. They are a talented man and a beautiful woman, what a perfect match.

——Who says it’s not true? I wonder what a grand occasion it was on the day when Lord Pei got married.

He is going crazy.

He was afraid that she would be sad, so he tried his best to control himself and not use those mean methods on her. But it was always her who indulged him step by step and gave him the opportunity to use those despicable and shameful means to trap her. She presented those opportunities to him like a hungry hyena sniffing out pieces of prime meat.

Rong Ting clenched his fingers.

He asked Huai Qing to deliver the medicine just to let her know that he was injured, but her reaction was to want to apply medicine to him, and her eyes were pure and innocent.

How come you don't have any vigilance at all?

He gave her enough time to think it over, and also gave himself enough time to calm down.

Jiang Rao lowered her head and slowly turned the small jade medicine box in her hand. She unscrewed the lid and the cool jade slowly seeped into her skin.

The sound of the wind under the eaves grew louder, making the palace lanterns sway. I couldn't tell whether it was Huai Qing or Wu Que who had lit the lanterns.

The bright lamp was shaking violently and was on, blending into the twilight. The whole yard was suddenly bright and the boundary between light and shadow became clearer.

The soft light fell on Jiang Rao, making her face look particularly calm and gentle. She sat there and thought for a while, "It's okay."

Everyone has something they care about, be it power and profit, or face and reputation. What she dreamed about made her see clearly what she wanted most. Fame was an extremely illusory thing. She didn't do anything improper in her dream. In the end, she was unable to save her family. When the torrent of fate swept in, she didn't even have time to resist and was swept into hell.

"You continue to treat me as a little kid in the academy

Isn't it enough to be dumb? ”

Jiang Rao spoke lightly, but Rong Ting seemed to be hesitant to speak, staring at her with his glassy eyes, as if they could speak, as if they were trying to persuade her.

She looked like a shameless scoundrel...

Jiang Rao: “…”

She simply threw away all her dignity and prestige, stood up, held his shoulders, ripped open his collar, and began to look for wounds and apply medicine on him.

Summer clothes are thin and will open easily.

This was the first time that Jiang Rao saw his naked back outside of a dream, in a brightly lit place.

He looked weak when he was dressed, but when he took off his clothes, he looked like a warrior, with broad shoulders covered with thin muscles. Even with his head lowered, he looked like a sleeping beast.

However, there was no intact spot on the exposed part; there were scars everywhere, including whip marks, knife marks, and bruises.

When the Seventeenth Prince's guards called for help and pulled the Seventeenth Prince away from Rong Ting's grasp, Rong Ting, with red eyes, refused to acknowledge anyone. Several guards stepped forward together, some pulling the wheelchair back and some pulling his arms back, before they pulled him away.

How difficult it was to pull him away at that time was how heavy the bruise left on his shoulder was.

Jiang Rao's breathing paused.

Unfortunately, she didn't understand medical knowledge, so she examined his body in vain and couldn't tell how his health was recovering.

Apart from him, the only man's body she had ever seen was that of Master Jiu in her dreams.

Jiu Ye looked much weaker than him and had more scars on his body.

The man who was cold and violent to others was also extremely cruel to himself. He often cut himself with a dagger. His cold pupils were reflected in blood, but without any emotion or expression.

Jiang Rao felt a little depressed. She washed her hands, took out the medicine from the medicine box, and applied it evenly on the bruises on his back little by little, with very gentle movements.

When her hand touched his skin, his back instantly tensed up and the direction of the undulating lines of his shoulders changed.

Her eyes slid silently down and saw that his right hand was clenched into a fist and rested on the armrest of the wheelchair at his side.

Does it hurt this much?

Then she wouldn't believe him anymore if he said he wasn't in pain or that he was fine.

The ointment was cool, but his body felt hot.

Rong Ting had a forbearing look on his face, but what he was enduring was not the pain.

"Okay." Jiang Rao withdrew her hand.

"Next time you meet the Seventeenth Prince, don't argue with him."

The power of Empress Jiahe and the Xu family in the capital cannot be underestimated. There will be no benefits in confronting them head on.

This time, he was punished to go to a place less than a hundred meters away from the capital.

Supervisor Yunling from here, what about next time?

Jiang Rao washed her hands and called Huai Qing in to pour some water. Just as she was about to find a handkerchief to wipe her fingers, her left hand, which was wet with water, was grabbed by a dry hand.

Rong Ting lowered his eyes and carefully wiped away the water droplets on her hands bit by bit.

He is so good.

Wasn't the tone of her voice a little too harsh just now?

"I'm not saying that what you did was wrong." Jiang Rao explained, "It was not the right time."

"When you are stronger than them, I won't stop you from fighting any way you want. If you want to fight tooth for tooth, you have to find a time when your teeth are sharper."

Huai Qing heard Jiang Rao's instructions, came in from outside, picked up the used basin and was walking out. When he heard Jiang Rao's words, he paused and almost dropped the basin in his hand.

The fourth girl looks like the kind of girl who has no bad intentions and would not even step on an ant.

When someone offends her, she actually has this kind of tooth-for-tooth attitude?

I really didn't expect that.

…

The wind blew all day, and shortly after noon, it started to rain.

The rain at the end of August still comes suddenly and fiercely.

Jiang Rao had returned home before noon. She originally wanted to go to the study, but was trapped in a remote corner of the backyard corridor by the sudden rain. Looking up at the rain falling down like a broken string under the eaves of the corridor, there was a sorrow in her eyes that was deeper than the sky.

"If we hadn't gone to the Ninth Prince's Mansion, the girl wouldn't be trapped here."

"You're making sarcastic remarks again."

Jiang Rao knew that Ming Shao was not happy for her to go find Rong Ting again. She glanced at her and saw Ming Shao standing at the steps, very close to the rain. She reached out her hand and pulled Ming Shao closer to her to prevent her from getting wet in the rain.

Jiang Rao refused to listen, Ming Shao was angry and anxious, stamped her feet, and refused to come over, "I'll shield the girl from the rain."

"I can't get wet."

Ming Shao insisted on standing in front of Jiang Rao, "If the young lady gets sick, it is inevitable that I will be infected. The young lady should hide well. Yu'er went back to the yard to get an umbrella and should be back soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, the rain suddenly got heavier. Just now it was like bowls falling down, but now it was pouring down.

Ming Shao looked at Jiang Rao pleadingly, "Miss, do we have to go to the study tonight?"

Jiang Rao wanted to nod, but when she saw Ming Shao was still helping her block the rain, she hesitated.

But she wanted to find a topographical atlas of Yunling Mountain to give to Rong Ting before he set off for Yunling. If she couldn't find it in her study at home, she would go to the bookstores in the city to look for it.

It was only three days before he set off. This kind of atlas might not be easy to find, and if you waste a day, you might not be able to find it.

In addition to looking for Tu Zhi, she also wanted to find someone to go to Chen Bing to make arrangements and ask him to take care of Rong Ting.

If I don't go to the study tonight, I will be too late.

Ming Shao saw Jiang Rao's dilemma and just wanted to sigh.

The girl should obviously treat the man who could become her husband in the future with the same care she gives to the Ninth Prince.

"Young lady, go back and rest early, and don't go to the study." Ming Shao said sincerely, "Even if you find what you want, the Fourth Master may not really let you give it to His Highness the Ninth Prince as you wish."

A man in brocade boots and black clothes walked in the rain, holding a black umbrella, and approached the corridor with steady steps.

When he walked in front of Jiang Rao, he stopped and tilted his umbrella back to block the heavy rain behind him. "Are you back?"

The servant beside Master Jiang Si was holding a few new umbrellas in his arms, which were brought for Jiang Rao to use. He gave them all to Ming Shao.

Fourth Master Jiang had a stern face and one hand behind his back.

Jiang Rao looked at Fourth Master Jiang's solemn expression and felt inexplicably guilty.

Why did her daddy look so angry?

It was raining so hard, but I still came here in person.

It’s over. I’m going to be scolded.

"Yeah." She shrank her head, nodded weakly, and lowered her head waiting to be scolded, but instead of being scolded, two yellowed old books were stretched out and came into her sight.

The words on the book cover are, Yunling Tuzhi?

"Take it."

Fourth Master Jiang stretched out his hands behind his back in front of Jiang Rao. He grabbed the two books all the way, causing creases on the title pages and a few drops of rain on the cover. He took his hands back, brushed away the drops of rain, and said again in a cold voice, "Take it."

His brows were tightly furrowed the entire time, and his expression was exceptionally cold and hard as he stood in the mist and rain.

Jiang Rao took the two books and quickly understood what was going on.

"father……"

"Stop it." Fourth Master Jiang frowned, not wanting to hear any flattery from her at this time. "I just don't want to see you thinking about that boy all day long."

"While you were going to look for him, I went to meet with Mr. Chen from the Ministry of Works. I have taken care of all the things that you are worried about. When he goes to Yunling, he only needs to stay in the room and think about how to repair the plank road and come up with some ideas. He doesn't need to run outside, out of the wind and rain. When you send this book to him, you are not allowed to ask me about him anymore."

Jiang Rao: “…”

How come her father knows everything she wants to do?

She held the two illustrated books in her fingers.

She was touched and walked around to Fourth Master Jiang, looking up with a smile, and finished what Fourth Master Jiang had just interrupted. She clung to her father like a little rascal, "Daddy is so nice, so nice."

Fourth Master Jiang was a little annoyed that she had been particularly disobedient to him in the past year, but he could do nothing about it. He tapped her forehead, but was reluctant to use too much force. He lifted his fingertips as soon as they touched her forehead.

"Don't go looking for him, you hear me?"

He went to Pei Songyu's house many times to invite her but she ignored him. However, he went to the west of the city very diligently.

It’s really hard to manage children when they grow up.

His sighs sounded deeper amid the sound of rain.

"I..." Jiang Rao rubbed her head. She was very spoiled in front of her father. She didn't feel any pain on her forehead, but she pouted and looked very delicate. She muttered, "I won't go to see him this month, but can I go and see him off?"