Liao Qiubai said in a serious tone, "Tonight, the Censorate has sent people to surround the Ning'an Marquis's residence, and even the Qin residence has been implicated. If the case had not been decided, why would they be so anxious to start a war? I'm afraid that the verdict on Fourth Master Jiang will be announced at dawn."
Rong Ting nodded, but his tone was very calm, "There are still four hours until dawn."
He got up and left.
His expression cooled.
If the Qin family was implicated, then Liao Qiubai's words about a trial after daybreak were not just a bluff.
Even if he wanted to find out who was behind this, he had to stop his father from issuing an edict of trial too early.
Given his father's arrogant character, if the imperial edict was issued first, even if he made a wrong judgment, he might not admit it later for the sake of so-called face.
The thought of this made him feel the situation was tricky, so he went back to the inner courtyard before leaving the mansion. Looking at the little girl sleeping peacefully on his bed, he raised his fingers to draw her eyebrows and eyes, and her frowned brows slowly relaxed.
He looked at her for a long time and suddenly moved closer to her face, lifted her hair, bit her ear, and whispered viciously, "You are not allowed to marry anyone else."
He became satisfied, walked out of the courtyard and called Huai Qing.
"If I don't come back soon, and something happens to the Ning'an Marquis's mansion, I will take her to find Concubine Yun immediately, no matter what means are used."
…
Jiang Rao slept soundly, and her dreams were all jumbled. Sometimes she dreamed of her father kneeling down to the soldiers who came to confiscate their property. Sometimes she dreamed of her uncle. Finally, she dreamed of a figure kneeling outside the imperial study in the palace. He knelt for a long time, and heavy snow fell, almost burying him.
She couldn't see the man's back clearly, it was just blurry. She saw the red palace wall and the dark sky. The man's clothes were dark red, which were washed away by the falling snow.
…
At five o'clock in the morning, outside the imperial study.
Emperor Zhaowu stayed in the Imperial Study yesterday. The eunuch Li Ren, who served Emperor Zhaowu, went to the kitchen to serve meals in the morning, but stopped when he saw the figure kneeling in the outer courtyard of the Imperial Study.
The figure was covered in snow, and there was a thick layer of snow on his head and shoulders, more than the snow on the branches. It seemed that he had been waiting here for a long time.
As the snow from the sky began to fall, more and more snow fell on his body, and gradually he turned into a snowman. Looking at the marks under his knees and the snow piled on the wheelchair beside him, he had not moved a step.
The lonely and chilly figure in the wind and snow looks stubborn and pitiful.
Li Ren looked up at the dark sky and frowned.
He raised his eyebrows, grabbed a young eunuch and asked, "When did His Highness the Ninth Prince come?"
"The Ninth Prince issued an urgent order last night and entered the palace in the middle of the night. After that, he has been waiting here to ask for an audience with His Majesty. His Majesty slept restlessly last night because of the matter of the Fourth Master of the Jiang Family. When he woke up and walked around the courtyard, he saw the Ninth Prince waiting here. He said he didn't want to see him, but the Ninth Prince knelt down directly... until now."
"He wants to plead for Jiang Xingzhou?"
"yes……"
Li Ren's expression changed.
It was because of Fourth Master Jiang’s matter that Emperor Zhaowu stayed in his study all night. Throughout yesterday, Concubine Yun asked for an audience several times, but Emperor Zhaowu no longer had the indulgence he had shown her in the past and completely ignored her.
"The emperor is in a bad mood. Why didn't you persuade the Ninth Prince to leave?" Li Ren scolded with some displeasure.
The young eunuch felt particularly aggrieved, "I have already told His Highness the Ninth Prince, but he just won't leave."
Li Ren didn't say anything else. After thinking for a while, he walked towards Rong Ting.
Li Ren stopped in front of Rong Ting, bent down, and said in a low voice: "Your servant greets His Highness the Ninth Prince."
"Your Highness, the Emperor is determined not to see anyone. Yesterday, the Imperial Concubine came several times, but she didn't even see the Emperor's shadow."
In Emperor Zhaowu's heart, Concubine Yun was more important than his ninth son.
Even Concubine Yun couldn't see her, so how could he possibly see her?
Li Ren almost said the four words "retreat when encountering difficulties" out loud.
"If Father doesn't see me, I will kneel here forever."
Seeing that Rong Ting seemed not to hear his hidden meaning, Li Ren frowned, his expression was exactly the same as Liao Qiubai's when he knew that Rong Ting was going to plead for Fourth Master Jiang. He couldn't understand why he was rushing to die.
He shook his head, all his confusion turned into a sigh, "You can't see it."
Not only will they not be able to see him, but they will also bring bad luck to Emperor Zhaowu. If the emperor gets angry, they, the slaves, will also suffer.
"The case has been decided. If you know what's happening, go back quickly."
Rong Ting still did not move, his long eyelashes were covered with snow, and every time he blinked, he looked very heavy, "Please tell my father, if my father asks, don't say I am here to plead for the Fourth Master, but tell him that the painting is not his."
Li Ren couldn't understand his behavior. He stopped interfering and went to the kitchen to serve the meal. When he came back and saw Rong Tinghuan standing there, he shook his head again.
As much as I had admired Rong Ting during the previous martial arts test at the hunting ground, I was just as disappointed today.
Rushing to die,
It is something that a clear-minded person can do.
Li Ren returned to the imperial study, where Emperor Zhaowu had just stood up and was standing by the window.
He heard the noise of Li Ren coming back and turned around, "He can't be replaced?"
"Yes..." Li Ren answered stiffly.
Emperor Zhaowu's face darkened.
Li Ren secretly said that Rong Ting was confused, and said, "I have already informed him and asked him to go back, but he still wants to wait for His Majesty to see him."
"Continue to tell him that no one who asks for mercy will be seen." Emperor Zhaowu turned his head and stopped looking outside the courtyard. "Such a crime that undermines the dignity of the royal family cannot be forgiven lightly."
Li Ren suddenly remembered Rong Ting's words and said without much hope: "His Highness the Ninth Prince said that he is not here to plead for Fourth Master Jiang. He said that the painting is not Fourth Master's."
Emperor Zhaowu suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes.
…
A moment later, Rong Ting was called into the imperial study.
Unlike his royal brothers who had been the focus of Emperor Zhaowu's attention since childhood, he only set foot in the imperial study twice in more than ten years.
One time was when he was summoned after returning from Yecheng, and the other time was today.
His face was frozen by the wind and snow, and his body was slightly shaking when he came in. Emperor Zhaowu suppressed his anger and looked at him. Seeing him in such a mess, he didn't know what to say, but his eyes were filled with rebuke, "I have invited more than a hundred people to verify the words on this painting, and no one questioned the result, except you who said it was not true. I want to hear it from you, how is this painting fake?"
He also didn't want to punish Jiang Xingzhou. If he punished Jiang Xingzhou, Qin Yun would probably be at odds with him for several years.
But if Jiang Xingzhou really colluded with Prince Jing and allowed such a person to live safely in the world, where is the dignity of the royal family?
"Is the painting here with you, Father?" Rong Ting asked in a deep voice, "I want to take a look at it."
Emperor Zhaowu had a cold face and knocked on the table, signaling the eunuch to present the painting.
Rong Ting saw this painting for the first time and looked at it for a while. Emperor Zhaowu said, "It's useless for you to say that the characters don't look like the characters."
Rong Ting shook his head.
He looked down at the painting, originally just wanting to take a quick look, but gradually his brows began to frown.
His fingers pressed on the silk cloth of the drawing paper, stroked it slowly, used a little force and lifted it up again, looking at his fingertips, his expression changed slightly.
Rong Ting spread his fingers in front of Emperor Zhaowu, "The impeacher said that this painting was painted more than 20 years ago, and the signature was indeed 22 years ago. Although the brushstrokes are deliberately light, the ink is a little too fresh."
Stands on fingers without a speck of powder.
He then used the fingertips of his other hand to press down on the drawing paper.
Butterfly, "Logically, both the butterfly and the poem were written by the Fourth Master when he was drunk, but after rubbing the butterfly's ink with his hands, it turned into powder. This is what ink marks from more than 20 years ago should look like."
Emperor Zhaowu waved his hand and told Li Ren to try it as well. Li Ren raised his hand in astonishment, "Your Majesty, it is true."
Emperor Zhaowu's expression finally trembled, "You mean..."
"The painting is from the past, but the words on it were written by someone new." Rong Ting rolled up the painting and said, "The people who impeached him only said that the painting and the poem were written when he was drunk because there were a few words in the signature of the painting: 'Written after drinking'. But it seems that Fourth Master Jiang has never been drunk since he returned to Jinling."
"But if it wasn't him, who could have written it like this?" Emperor Zhaowu still frowned. "Even if you imitate him, you won't find anyone in the whole of Jinling whose handwriting is so similar to his. If he wrote this, it would be disrespectful no matter if it was written more than 20 years ago or today."
"There is something fishy going on." Rong Ting said sincerely, "If we listen to the words and wrongly accuse the Fourth Master, I am afraid that the emperor will lose his prestige and the trust of the court officials. I am worried about this, so I went to the palace overnight."
Emperor Zhaowu attached great importance to face, so he hesitated.
He frowned and thought for a long time, and finally said with a headache, "Go and check it out. If there is really someone who framed him behind the scenes, I will release Jiang Xingzhou."
When Li Ren sent Rong Ting out, his attitude became enthusiastic again.
Rong Ting frowned slightly.
What he said just now was just an excuse he prepared.
Emperor Zhaowu was fond of fame and valued face, so he used this as an excuse to persuade him.
But I never thought that there was something strange about this painting.
But as others have seen, who else could have handwriting that is 100% similar to Jiang Xingzhou's, except Jiang Xingzhou himself?
…
Jiang Rao was awakened by the coldness on her ankle.
After waking up, her head felt heavy. She rolled her eyes and saw someone massaging her ankle beside the couch.
She suddenly sat up with a dry mouth, looking at the dark figure beside the bed, her voice soft and weak, "Why are you here?"
She rubbed her eyes and looked outside. She felt like she had slept for a long time, but she didn't expect that the sky outside had turned dark. Suddenly, her ankles became colder, and she retracted her feet because of the cold.
The hands that were massaging her ankles felt so cold.
It was not the usual coolness that naturally came from his palms, but the kind of coolness that almost froze his bones after being buried in the snow for a long time.
Rong Ting pressed her sprained ankle with his fingers, and then held the snow to cover it. He said in a gentle voice: "The medical book says that it is best to apply cold compress to the sprained area. The sooner you apply cold compress, the sooner the injury will heal."
"What time is it now?" Jiang Rao looked at the dark blue in Rong Ting's eyes and asked anxiously, "I'm occupying your bed. You're in the study. Can you sleep well?"
Even after sleeping for a whole day and night, her little face still looked pale and haggard.
"Of course it's good." Rong Ting didn't continue to act good and pitiful.
He raised his eyes to look at her and smiled indifferently, covering up the fact that he had not slept all night. "It's only the first watch, you can sleep for a while."
The medicine he fed her could make her sleep for a day and a night. After a while, he would feed her another bowl of medicine.
He couldn't bear to see her suffer any more, so he would rather let her sleep peacefully until the truth came out.
Today he has searched everywhere in Jinling City and west of Qinhuai River, but he has not found anyone who can imitate Fourth Master Jiang's handwriting 100% or even 80% of the way.
But there is a solution.
He is not a person who only follows the upright path.
If we can't find the person who committed the fraud, at least we should find a scapegoat.
Jiang Rao's eyes flickered, and through the door blown open by the wind, she glimpsed the snow on the ground outside.
It's only the first watch and the snow outside has become so thick?
Rong Ting got up and closed the door. When he came back, he fed Jiang Rao some medicine.
Her little head drooped, her face looking somewhat reluctant. Rong Ting coaxed her, "If you drink the medicine, your foot injury will heal faster.
Jiang Rao lowered her eyes, took the bowl obediently and drank the medicine.
But after Rong Ting left, he climbed out of the bed, ran out of the door, pinched his throat, and quietly spit out half of it.
But the few mouthfuls of medicine she swallowed took effect quickly, and her head began to feel dizzy again. She grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it against her neck, and finally became sober.
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