Chapter 495 The Female Ruler's Child Bride (Seeking monthly votes! QAQ)
On the third floor of Yunshui Pavilion, in the Qinghe private room.
The atmosphere was completely silent.
Under Rongzhen's expressionless gaze.
Ouyang Rong turned his head, staring blankly at the tea on the ground, then looked at the cold, palace-dressed girl sitting upright in front of him.
"What is Lady Rong doing here?" he asked.
"Who is Prefect Ouyang waiting for?"
Rongzhen persisted in her questioning.
Ouyang Rong snapped out of his daze and frowned as he asked:
"How did you know I was... Wait, you didn't spend the whole afternoon at Yunshui Pavilion, did you follow me here? Why didn't you come in earlier? Did you wait all afternoon?"
Rong Zhen said calmly, "Didn't you wait all afternoon too? Waiting for whom?"
Ouyang Rong's expression showed some hesitation:
“This is different. I… I thought it was Brother Qin or his men rushing back.”
“Brother Qin?” Rong Zhen squinted at him.
"Yes. General Qin Heng, formerly the Commandant of the General's Guard."
Ouyang Rong nodded in agreement, but his face flushed slightly, and he looked away somewhat awkwardly.
"It might be a little inappropriate to say this, please don't laugh, Lady Rong... Actually, Brother Qin and I have a very good relationship. I've known him since I was the magistrate of Longcheng."
"Now we're working together in the same place again, and we've agreed on some signals that only the two of us know about."
"Right now, isn't he supposed to be on campaign? But today my men discovered that there are new signals coming from over there..."
As Rong Zhen listened, her expression froze for a moment, then she showed a look of disbelief.
She frowned, staring intently at Ouyang Rong's expression as he slowly spoke, scrutinizing his face and not missing a single subtle expression.
At this moment, Rong Zhen saw Ouyang Rong look around and sigh:
"So I took half a day off and came to this old spot to wait for someone, but no one has come yet... Um, how did I end up here, Ms. Rong? Did we just bump into each other?"
Rongzhen did not answer.
Ouyang Rong looked at her with curiosity, her brows furrowed.
He got up and walked over, squatted down to pick up the teacup, then took out a new teacup and poured a cup of hot tea for the cold, palace-dressed girl in front of him.
Rongzhen did not take the teacup; her hands remained tucked into her sleeves, subtly displaying a state of vigilance.
Ouyang Rong carefully pushed the teacup towards her and asked:
"My relationship with Qin Heng is a personal one. General Qin Heng has never actually met anyone from the Xunyang Prince's Mansion."
"Although the prince and his son already knew about this matter, the two sides had never exchanged letters, so it shouldn't be considered that a vassal king was colluding with a military commander, right?"
Rong Zhen saw that Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, and sighed, saying:
"If I had to say something, I wouldn't hide it from Lady Rong. Because I once wrote a letter to plead for the soldiers who were returning north before their rebellion, General Qin was indeed very grateful to the Prince and me. It can be said that we have a secret friendship."
"However, General Qin has never revealed any confidential military information from the front lines to us from beginning to end. I, Ouyang Lianghan, can guarantee this with my personal integrity. If you don't believe me, Lady Rong can also investigate thoroughly."
"Furthermore, General Qin has no further entanglements with those returning soldiers from the north, including Cai Qin. With national affairs of paramount importance at hand, he will not be concerned with past relationships..."
Ouyang Rong, sitting behind the coffee table, adjusted his posture, straightened his back, and said with a serious expression:
"Actually, the signal warning we agreed upon was for other purposes. It was prepared long ago, and it would have been too boring. Lady Rong, you should also make it clear that the Xunyang Prince's Mansion and I have a rather unfavorable relationship with certain people..."
"Of course, there is one point that I must face squarely, and I will not evade this mistake."
He raised his right hand as if making a vow, like someone raising their hand in class to admit a mistake and apologize, and said in a serious and methodical manner:
"As the Prefect of Jiangzhou, I should only be in charge of civil affairs and logistics, and should not have too much contact with military commanders. Unlike the Prefect, I do not have the corresponding military power. This is my mistake, and I do not blame Lady Rong for investigating. I have come here today to question you!"
Rongzhen suddenly said:
"Do you think I came here for this matter?"
Ouyang Rong was slightly taken aback:
"Huh? What else? Didn't Lady Rong ask me who I was waiting for as soon as we met...?"
He paused, then smiled wryly:
"Does Lady Rong not know who I'm waiting for, or does she think I'm waiting for some other people?"
At this point, Ouyang Rong looked on with curiosity:
"Who did you think you were waiting for?"
Rongzhen frowned as she looked at him, without saying a word.
Ouyang Rong suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He looked down at the tea, then at himself, who was sitting upright and looking very serious as he admitted his mistake.
His expression grew increasingly embarrassed, and he stammered:
"Ms. Rong, could you please pretend you didn't hear what I just said, just let it go in one ear and out the other, and let's... let's start over, cough cough, just pretend nothing happened, okay?"
He gave his advice in a very serious manner.
"Ouyang Lianghan!"
For some reason, Rongzhen suddenly became angry and scolded him with a stern face:
"Do you think this is child's play? You're taking it back?!"
Ouyang Rong shut his mouth and focused his attention on his nose and mind.
Rongzhen stared at the person who had become obedient, her eyebrows raised in anger. Her palace dress rippled as she looked at her chest, which was not overtly revealing but quite substantial.
Perhaps it's his somewhat unserious face that catches the eye, or perhaps it's something that seems to have been misunderstood today.
The girl in the cold, aloof palace attire was furious.
She suddenly stood up and walked towards the door.
"Get out here."
Ouyang Rong immediately put on his boots and went out, only to find Rong Zhen walking straight downstairs, so he followed closely behind.
Ouyang Rong walked behind, unable to see her expression clearly.
Where are we going?
"Shut up."
Ouyang Rong looked around, changed the subject, and asked with a puzzled expression:
"So, Ms. Rong, who did you initially think I was waiting for?"
Rongzhen ignored him and walked ahead.
The two went downstairs and arrived at the backyard of Yunshui Pavilion.
We arrived at the place where the guests' carriages were parked.
As dusk approaches, gazing at the distant mountains, the last rays of the orange-red sunset divide the sky and earth into two halves, yin and yang.
Xunyang City is currently in the transition between day and night.
Most households had not yet lit their lights, and the scene of thousands of lights in the city was far from being seen. Most buildings in the city were still pitch black, including the area near Yunshui Pavilion.
However, when Ouyang Rong followed Rong Zhen to the backyard, he immediately saw more than twenty silent figures hidden in the darkness of the courtyard.
They were all female officials from the Imperial Observatory! Among them were even some whom Ouyang Rong knew quite well and greeted daily.
Their positioning was deliberate, subtly surrounding an ordinary carriage in the courtyard and the main building of Yunshui Pavilion in front of them.
As Ouyang Rong walked out, the group of female officials in the darkness silently turned to look.
But Ouyang Rong's eyes were fixed on the familiar carriage in the center of the courtyard.
Looking back at his increasingly serious expression, Rongzhen pursed her pink lips.
At this moment, a middle-aged female official emerged from the darkness and whispered in Rongzhen's ear:
"Your Excellency, Lin Cheng has also arrived. He's asking what's wrong and if we need his help..."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong turned his head and vaguely saw the figure of a Xia Guan Lingtai Lang lingering in the alley not far from the courtyard gate.
Rong Zhen, with her sleeves tucked behind her, walked towards the carriage, leaving without turning her head to say:
"Tell him to get out."
"Yes, Ms. Shi."
The middle-aged female official nodded, first glancing at Ouyang Rong who was looking around, then walked out of the backyard, closing the gate behind her.
Rong Zhen stopped by the carriage, turned around, and cast a cold glance at Ouyang Rong.
The latter remained silent and continued to follow.
The two boarded the carriage together.
The carriage was pitch black, with no one lighting a lamp. In the darkness, two women's breaths could be heard, one rapid and one steady.
It was Ye Weilai and Miaozhen.
When Ouyang Rong saw this, his expression remained solemn, showing no surprise whatsoever.
Because this was the carriage Ye Weilai rode in when she left that morning.
At that time, Ouyang Rong instructed her to return to his residence in Huaiye Lane immediately after booking the private room.
At this moment, Ye Weilai's face looked haggard, and a few strands of hair slipped down her forehead. When she saw Ouyang Rong get into the car, she remained motionless and silent, her mouth tightly closed, only her eyes could move left and right.
Miaozhen sat down beside her, her hand resting on her thin shoulder.
The two of them stood motionless, like statues.
Rongzhen took her seat.
Miao Zhen, who had just returned from the front-line military camp, glanced deeply at Ouyang Rong, whose expression remained unchanged. She stood up, got out of the car, and before leaving, uttered a single sentence:
"This little girl is quite tight-lipped."
After Miaozhen left, only Rongzhen, Ouyang Rong, and Ye Weilai remained in the carriage.
Ouyang Rong didn't look at Ye Weilai for long, and turned to ask directly:
"All the Qi Refining warriors that the Imperial Observatory arranged in Jiang and Hong prefectures have arrived, right? Hmm, except for that newcomer, Lin Cheng."
Rong Zhen seemed not to hear, picked up a small short sword from the small tea table in the carriage, and examined it with her head down.
Ouyang Rong recognized it as Ye Weilai's short sword for self-defense.
At this moment, after Miaozhen left, the white-haired girl remained sitting motionless... as if frozen in place.
The handsome young man, who hadn't brought his violin case today, immediately asked with a smile:
"So, who are they targeting? Does Your Excellency have leads on the thief? Why didn't you call me when you were catching the thief..."
"Fortunately, I happen to be here having tea, so I'm not absent."
Rongzhen looked at him without speaking, and under her silent gaze, he continued to nod and say:
"So, Lady Rong, did you just happen to run into me, or was the thief you were waiting for... me?"
In the darkness, the girl in palace attire lowered her eyes to examine the sword, and answered softly:
"The person I'm waiting for."
Ouyang Rong frowned and asked, "Qin Heng?"
Rong Zhen twirled the short sword, its cold light illuminating half of the man's face, revealing a puzzled expression on his face.
"Are you really waiting for Qin Heng and his men?" she asked rhetorically.
Ouyang Rong's expression slowly calmed down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Ms. Rong, please stop beating around the bush. I'm getting tired. You've been speaking in riddles. I don't want to repeat myself. One is one, and two is two. Why all the beating around the bush?"
"Are you angry?" Rongzhen asked.
"No."
“You’re angry,” she said seriously.
"I'm just mentally exhausted."
"Heart?"
Ye Weilai, who remained seated, glanced sideways at the two who were exchanging rapid-fire remarks.
Ouyang Rong, without opening his eyes, said, "Actually, there are some things that you, Lady Historian, can ask me directly."
Rong Zhen seemed not to hear him, staring at his expression for a while, then suddenly said rather loudly:
"Ouyang Lianghan, just because you're angry doesn't mean I won't be angry. Just because you're emotionally exhausted doesn't mean I won't be..."
She paused, and the cold glint of the short sword in her hand pierced the eyes of the white-haired girl who was peeking at her from the side.
Ye Weilai closed her eyes tightly, tears welling up in her eyes from the stinging light.
Rong Zhen, without looking to the side, spoke again:
“There is something very important that you did not tell me the truth, it is… about Yunmeng Yue Nu.”
"The Lady of Yue?" Ouyang Rong nodded. "I understand. Did Your Excellency believe what I said in jest during the Censorate meeting? Did you readily believe the slanderous accusations leveled against you by Wang Lengran and Wei Shaoqi?"
Rongzhen lowered her eyelashes and said:
“I didn’t listen to them. Do you remember, after the last meeting, before I left, I asked you if you remembered our first meeting, which was like this, in the carriage outside the West Gate, when you provided the clue?”
"Remember."
"After this matter was brought up, I actually remembered something else."
"At what moment?"
Rong Zhen tossed Ye Weilai's short sword onto the carriage floor and said, her eyes fixed on it:
"The maiden is split open."
"Your personal maid knows the sword techniques of the Yue women."
"This move comes from the legend of the first Yue maiden in the Spring and Autumn Period slaying the dragon and splitting the Guan. Although she only learned the basics, it is definitely a sword technique from Yunmeng Sword Marsh."
"So, Ouyang Lianghan, what is the relationship between your maid and Yunmeng Jianze? Is she familiar with a Yue maid of the Queen level? Or is she actually a junior Yue maid?"
"You have never explained this matter to me. Do you think I have forgotten, or what?"
“In the past, that would have been fine, since Yunmeng Sword Swamp hadn’t yet shown any signs of getting involved with the Donglin Buddha, but now…”
The girl, dressed in a cold, aloof palace attire, spoke only briefly and to the point.
"oh."
Ouyang Rong nodded calmly and asked:
"So these past few days, you haven't seen me, not even this morning. Are you being polite, waiting for me to bring it up, or... are you already seriously suspicious of me and secretly searching for clues, like today, to lure me out and catch me in one fell swoop?"
Rongzhen asked earnestly, "Does this difference... matter?"
"Isn't it important?"
Does it matter?
"Maybe it really isn't important."
Ouyang Rong nodded, then shook his head, and finally sighed:
"I always thought that I was a comrade-in-arms with Lady Historian, someone who trusted each other, and that we could work together to do a good job in Xunyang City and fulfill our responsibilities to the people of the Great Zhou."
Rongzhen interrupted:
"Before that meeting, I trusted you just as much, but I had to thoroughly investigate any suspicious points. The more I trusted someone, the more I had to investigate them thoroughly. I couldn't just rely on relationships. I was being responsible to everyone."
"good."
Ouyang Rong opened his eyes, his gaze unusually calm, and he no longer addressed her as "Lady Historian."
“Rongzhen, I remember someone once said that everyone has selfish desires, some big and some small.”
"I did say that."
“Rongzhen, I do have my own selfish motives,” he said.
"you say."
“At that meeting, I wasn’t really joking. I did know the name of a Yue woman, and I could say I knew her. She… might have been a female ruler.”
"Why? What does it mean to consider someone an acquaintance?"
"Because...she was my child bride."
Rongzhen suddenly turned her head.
"What?"
(End of this chapter)
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