Chapter 93 Kiss Me

In fact, Rong Yin did not realize Li Chu's purpose at first. She thought he really came to tell her gossip and ask her to help speak well of him in front of Zong Zheng Xiao.

Until Li Chu deliberately made a mistake. He said that Zong Zhengxiao found out that those people who were silenced were members of the Cui family. But Rong Yin clearly remembered that Zong Zhengxiao told him that the true identities of those people were found out by Li Chu.

Given Li Chu's meticulous mind, how could he possibly misremember such an important thing? So Rong Yin realized at that moment that Li Chu had made the mistake on purpose.

Rong Yin didn't understand what his purpose was, but he subconsciously corrected his mistake.

It was not until she left Qingqiu Pavilion and was on her way back to the hot pot restaurant that Rong Yin gradually figured out his routine.

Li Chu first confirmed again and again whether Zong Zhengxiao would tell him everything. After confirming, he used gossip to confuse his mind and let him relax his vigilance.

Then Li Chu deliberately got the point wrong on the pretext of asking for his help.

Because Li Chu had laid a lot of groundwork before he said this wrong sentence. If Rong Yin had heard the wrong version from Zong Zhengxiao, Rong Yin would not have reacted much.

If Rong Yin heard another version, that is, the true identities of those people were discovered by Li Chu, then Rong Yin would definitely hear such an obvious mistake.

Li Chu's purpose was to test which version Zong Zhengxiao told Rong Yin.

So it's not unreasonable for Rong Yin to say that she doesn't like to have contact with Li Chu. This man is too scheming. He does everything with a purpose, and you will fall into the trap he digs if you are not careful.

"Why does he want to know which version you told me, Your Majesty?" Rong Yin didn't quite understand.

After hearing Rong Yin's words, Zong Zheng Xiao's originally calm eyes suddenly became filled with a storm, but he concealed it well.

"Because the true version is that I actually found out that those people were members of the Cui family. I knew that the palace maids were not arranged by Li Chu, but I still followed the Cui family's frame-up and severely punished Li Chu."

Upon hearing this, Rong Yin's eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately understood Zong Zheng Xiao's intention.

Zong Zhengxiao pretended not to know that Li Chu was innocent. If he punished Li Chu, Li Chu would definitely resent the Cui family and would definitely retaliate. Coincidentally, Li Chu met the second young master Cui who wanted to retaliate against the entire Cui family. This sowed the seeds of internal strife in the Cui family.

In order to prove his innocence, Li Chu had to hand over the entire list of Li family's spies in the palace, and in order to put on a show for the people from the aristocratic families, he had to swallow the blame imposed on him by Zong Zhengxiao.

Zong Zhengxiao's schemes, when put together, are more than just killing two birds with one stone.

The reason why Li Chu came to find Rong Yin was because he noticed some clues, but he couldn't play Zong Zheng Xiao face to face, and he couldn't find any problems behind the scenes, so he set his sights on Rong Yin.

Rong Yin looked at Zong Zhengxiao and said, "Your Majesty didn't tell me the truth before. Did you guess that this day would come?"

If Rong Yin had known about this earlier, she might have been tricked by Li Chu today.

"It's just a precaution." Zong Zhengxiao touched his head, a little cautiously, "Will Ayin blame me for hiding so many things from you?"

"How could that be? You didn't do it on purpose. You just considered the overall situation. And it's a good thing that you didn't tell me." Rong Yin, a modern man, was too stupid and naive. There was no way he could beat these ancient people who had been tempered by thousands of hardships.

Rong Yin sighed: "The job of the emperor is indeed not something that ordinary people can do. If it were me, I would have revealed my true colors in front of Li Chu long ago."

Zong Zhengxiao smiled and said, "Ayin is also very capable. Not only did she discover Li Chu's conspiracy in time, but she also successfully counterattacked. She is no worse than me."

Rong Yin shook her head: "You don't know, I was so scared that my legs went limp and I almost fell down. I absolutely will never meet him alone again. It could cost me my life."

Zong Zhengxiao patted his shoulder soothingly and said, "Okay, I'll warn him not to meet you alone again in the future."

Rong Yin hummed happily, then suddenly remembered something, frowned, and said, "Your Majesty, do you think Li Chu believes what I said? Will he continue to doubt you?"

Zong Zhengxiao said without hesitation: "Yes, once Li Chu becomes suspicious, he will not easily dispel it. Even if all the evidence is placed in front of him, he will still be a little cautious."

Rong Yin was worried: "What if he doesn't obey or turns against us?"

"Don't worry. As long as he fails to prove his guess, he will not break up with us. After all, he can't go back to the aristocratic family anymore."

"Alright." Rong Yin returned to Zong Zheng's caress and said lazily, "Let me lean on you for a while. With Your Majesty here, I feel safe and I'm not afraid of anything."

These words sounded like a spoiled child, Zong Zheng Xiao was overjoyed, he lowered his head and kissed Rong Yin on the top of his head.

"Ayin can rely on my arms for the rest of her life."

"Hey, okay."

The two of them were having a great time, but Li Chu was feeling mixed emotions.

After Rong Yin left, he also quietly left Qingqiu Pavilion without leaving any trace.

Although it has been proven by Rong Yin that Zong Zhengxiao did not find out the identities of several spies in advance, Li Chu still feels inexplicably uneasy.

In fact, he was gambling when he joined Zong Zhengxiao, gambling with the future of the Li family and his own life. He only wanted a stable future, and he could do anything for it, but he was afraid that it would be a waste of time and he would become a pawn of others.

Without solid evidence, he couldn't prove that Zong Zhengxiao was deliberately using him. It was also unrealistic to turn back now, so he could only take things one step at a time.

After returning to the mansion and having dinner with his mother, Li Chu said, "I'm going to go to my father's place to tell him that my aunt has a new home. Would you like to come with me, mother?"

Li Chu had already told Madam Li about the matter between his aunt and Young Master Cui. Madam Li had had enough of the hustle and bustle and didn't want to see the ugly face of the head of the Li family again.

"I'm a little tired and want to rest early. My son, go by yourself. Remember not to stay too long, so as not to be infected with his bad luck."

"Yes, Mother."

The winter was extremely cold, but there was only a charcoal basin in the main house of the Li family. It was not warm enough, but it was not enough to freeze people to death. The quality of the charcoal was not very good, and the smell was a bit pungent.

Knowing that Li Chu was coming, the manager in the yard replaced the incense with better quality silver carbon and quickly opened the windows to ventilate the room so that the smell would dissipate.

When Li Chu arrived, the house still smelled stuffy, but not to the point where it was unbearable to stay there.

The head of the Li family was lying on the bed. Because of the curtains, Li Chu couldn't see his face clearly, but he could feel that he was still alive.

Li Chu sat down beside the bed and said calmly, "Dad, I came here today to tell you a good news."

There was no movement inside.

Li Chu continued: "You still remember, I told you that the Cui family secretly brought my aunt back to Beijing from the manor to threaten me to help them."

At this point, a hint of resentment flashed in Li Chu's eyes, but when he thought of what he was about to say, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.

"I was worried that my aunt would be bullied because she was alone and helpless in the Cui family and had no status. But my aunt is always more powerful than I thought. Dad, you would never guess that she actually climbed into the bed of Master Cui. Yes, the Master Cui who is young enough to be her son."

Before he could finish his words, a fierce "Haha" sound came from inside the bed curtain. It sounded like someone wanted to say something, but couldn't utter a single word. He was extremely anxious.

Li Chu seemed not to have heard what was going on inside, and continued to add fuel to the fire, "Dad, you think that mom and I are the ones who harmed you, Li Ao, and your aunt. Now that your aunt has finally left the Li family and has a new home, you must be very happy for her. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that your aunt is pregnant with Master Cui's child."

The breathing inside stopped abruptly, probably because the person was shocked to the extreme.

"The monk said before that Li Ao, the child you and your aunt love the most, will be born again through your aunt's belly. So, Dad, tell me, is the child your aunt is carrying now the reincarnation of Li Ao?"

"Dad, not only has your woman become someone else's woman, but your child will also call someone else dad when he is born."

In fact, Li Chu did not believe in the concepts of dreams and reincarnation, but the head of the Li family did. Li Chu came today just for his lung puncture, so naturally he would say whatever made the head of the Li family most heartbroken.

Heavy breathing sounds like bellows came from inside the bed curtains. Li Chu opened the curtains and the candlelight shone in. The head of the Li family had tear marks on his sunken face, and his cloudy tears kept rolling down his face, with a look of extreme despair.

Now he no longer even had the intention to hate Li Chu.

And this is the result Li Chu wants to see.

"Dad, don't worry. I will definitely come to inform you when my aunt remarries. In a few days, the Cui family may ask you to write a letter of release. But you are in such a state now that you probably can't write it. Then I will do you a favor with reluctance."

“Heh…heh…” Patriarch Li looked at Li Chu with tears in his eyes, his breathing becoming more and more rapid.

Li Ao said, "I say, you deserve it. You willingly served the Cui family as a butcher, but your beloved son was killed by them, and your beloved concubine also became a member of the Cui family. It's really sad. When you die, I wonder if you will have the face to face the ancestors of the Li family."

"Wu...Wu..." The head of the Li family made an unpleasant crying sound from his throat, his expression was distorted, and saliva flowed down the corners of his mouth.

Li Chu was indifferent to his father's plight. Instead, he taunted him, "It seems that you have been in good health recently. You have not fainted even though you are so sad. You have made progress. You should keep up the good work. After all, I still need you to live for a while."

After venting his emotions, Li Chu no longer looked at the head of the Li family, turned around and left.

The next day, Li Chu was summoned by Zong Zhengxiao to Yu's study.

Li Chu knew why he was looking for him, so he knelt down before Zong Zhengxiao could speak.

“臣有罪，還請陛下責罰。”李楚板板正正地磕了一個頭。

宗政逍靠在椅背上，面無表情，看向李楚的眼神充滿了壓迫感。

“哦，李大人自己說說，何罪之有？”

李楚道：“臣不該一時激動，在明知戎老板不想見臣的情況下，還邀他見面，讓他在陛下面前替臣求情，為臣說好話。”

宗政逍忽然笑了一聲，像是無語，又像是蔑視，“李楚，朕是不是跟你說過，不要把你的小聰明用到朕和朕身邊人身上，一旦被朕發現，後果你承擔不起。”

李楚擡起頭，但是不敢直視宗政逍的眼睛，“臣不懂陛下的意思。”

“還想狡辯！”宗政逍猛一拍桌子，動靜大得把旁邊的四喜都驚得一跳，宗政逍抓起手邊的硯臺，直接砸在了李楚面前，厲聲呵斥：“你這算計都算計到朕頭上來了，這就是你所謂的忠誠？”

李楚臉色煞白，沒有說話。

宗政逍道：“你懷疑朕不是真心接受你的投靠，覺得朕發現你被崔家陷害了還裝作不知，利用你去對付崔家。你的想法朕都能理解，因為朕心裏也在懷疑，懷疑你是否是真心投靠朕。”

李楚瞳孔微震，咬緊了牙關。

“本來我們之間的合作就不算穩固，如果你私底下調查，朕可以容忍，因為只有你安心了，才會盡心幫朕辦事，但你千不該萬不該觸碰朕的底線，當初你算計戎音的賬朕沒有跟你計較，現在你又想重蹈覆轍……”

他嘆了口氣，凝視李楚的眼睛：“李楚，朕看起來很好說話，是嗎？”

這一句話如同含冰的利劍，直逼李楚胸口，只要宗政逍一聲令下，李楚就會血濺當場。

李楚知道自己逃不過了，蒼白着一雙唇，再次俯身磕頭。

“臣罪該萬死，還請陛下責罰！”

他承認以後，宗政逍神情忽然變得平和了許多，他起身走上前，依舊和李楚保持距離，居高臨下地看着他，像是在看一只蝼蟻。

“你覺得朕該怎麽罰你？”

李楚不敢耍花招了，老實道：“臣不知。”

宗政逍沒有先回答會怎麽罰李楚，而是道：“戎音不喜歡你，以後別去打擾他了。”

“臣遵命。”

宗政逍又道：“等開春，你就去季燮那邊幫他找新糧種吧，省得你總夾在朕和世家之間左右為難，放心，你母親和李家朕會替你照顧好，不會讓你叔伯上位，他們不是朕的人，朕不會給自己找麻煩。”

宗政逍的意思是，李楚的這次試探擊垮了他們之間本就岌岌可危的信任，現在宗政逍奪了他的權，讓他去季燮那邊，就是讓季燮監督他。

但同時宗政逍也沒有放棄他，因為他最後那句話的意思是，李楚是他的這邊的，而李楚的叔伯們不是。

如果以後宗政逍對他放了心，自會再安排他回來。

李楚有些後悔，昨天他的确是心急了，這才讓宗政逍抓住了把柄。

他要是不順從這個懲罰，就證明他有反心，到時候宗政逍可不會再給他留面子，他是死是活，可就說不一定了。

李楚只後悔做得不夠缜密，但不後悔昨天那麽做。

直到現在，他也沒有完全相信宗政逍，可在權勢面前，他不得不屈服。

李楚垂眸：“臣謝主隆恩！”

宗政逍只靜靜地看着他，不置一詞。

李楚走後，戎音才從裏間出來。

禦書房裏面有個給皇帝休息的地方，方才宗政逍教訓李楚的時候，戎音就躲在裏面。

戎音看着李楚離開的方向，問道：“陛下，你說，李楚有沒有後悔當初投靠我們？”

宗政逍道：“他不會後悔，因為那是他當時最好的選擇。”

“不過你都把他調出京了，這個懲罰對他來說其實挺嚴重的，你說他會不會轉頭又報複我們？”

“他不敢。”宗政逍語氣肯定，“現在他名義上已經是我們的人了，只要他敢起報複之心，我僅需要将他投靠我們的事告訴世家那邊，都不用我們動手，世家的人就不會放過他。”

戎音隐約明白了：“所以他現在只能賭，賭陛下會看在他為你做了那些事的份上，給他留一條退路。”

“說對了。”宗政逍摸摸戎音的腦袋，像在誇獎一個答對題的小孩，“如果李楚當初執意站在世家那邊，那李家注定要倒在崔家前面，李楚百分百會死，所以他才想在我這裏賭一把，至少還有一半的生還可能。”

戎音有些好奇地問：“那陛下你會給他這一半生的機會嗎？”

宗政逍食指抵在唇上，眯眼微笑：“不可說。”

“切，不說就不說，反正到時候我都會知道的。”

戎音說完，忽然笑了一下，道：“果然當皇帝演技就是得好，明明陛下你算計了李楚，李楚也算計了我們，可剛才你那麽理直氣壯一罵，感覺錯的全是他一樣，啧啧，再一次理解他為什麽怕你了。”

被愛人說可怕，宗政逍也不惱，他反而覺得這是種贊揚。

“因為他算計你，被你和我抓到了把柄，證據确鑿，他自然心虛，我罵他是因為他對我們使用陰謀詭計，但沒有否認也沒有肯定他的猜測是對是錯，而他不敢也沒必要問我。”

宗政逍唇角上揚，“因為無論我說是或不是，他都不會完全相信，這兩個結果的代價他都承受不起，他現在唯一能做的，就是揣着明白裝糊塗，以後說不定還能等到翻盤的時機。”

戎音好奇：“你把他丢給季燮，季燮應付得過來嗎？你不怕季燮背地裏偷偷罵你啊？”

宗政逍是無所謂的語氣：“罵我的人多了，季燮以前也不是沒罵過，而且他要是連李楚都搞不定，以後朕還怎麽敢對他委以重任。”

這是對李楚的懲罰，也是對季燮的考驗。

戎音嘆氣，為可憐的季燮默哀三秒鐘。

“阿嚏！”

臨海的某個碼頭上，正在檢查貨船的季燮突然打了個噴嚏，吓得旁邊的下屬趕緊道：“大人，海邊風大，您還是先回去休息吧，小的查完貨物，會如實彙報給您的，您可別被吹生病了。”

季燮瞪了他一眼，“去去去，你以為本官跟你一樣沒用，吹個海風就會染上風寒啊？本官常年習武，身強體壯，哪會說病就病。”

下屬聞言趕忙假裝抽自己嘴，陪笑：“是小的狗眼看人低，大人勿怪。”

“算了，你也是為本官考慮，怪你做什麽。”他笑呵呵道：“聽說打噴嚏是有人在想念我，說不定是我家裏人或者陛下在念叨我呢。”

下屬：“……呵呵，肯定是大人您想的這樣。”

他們這位季大人可真自戀。

季燮沒想到的是，前一天他還在跟屬下吹牛自己身體好不會生病，結果第二天早上起來就發燒喉嚨幹澀，這是染上風寒的前兆。

不過他嫌丢臉，不想吃藥，覺着應該能熬過去，就強撐着繼續工作，直到中午，燒得腦子暈乎到走不動道了，他才急忙叫大夫過來。

這長時間不生病，一病起來就氣勢洶洶，季燮一個大漢，硬是在床上躺了三天才能下床行動。

季燮莫名覺得心裏不安，他怎麽這麽倒黴，說病就病，之後不會又遇見什麽不好的事情吧？

他正想着要不過幾天去附近的寺廟上柱香去去晦氣，結果晦氣就自己找上門來了。

季燮看着宗政逍寫給他的那封密信，頓時眼前一黑，差點又暈過去。

陛下，你這是嫌我過得太輕松，給我添堵來了是嗎？

我真是這世上最命苦的臣子了！！！

季燮的怨念宗政逍并不知道，即便知道他也不在意，年關封筆後，他就跟戎音躲在銀鲛園裏貓起了冬。

此時他正美人在懷，享受着戎音親手喂給他的橘子，然後跟戎音講八卦。

崔大少和姨娘的故事，至今還沒個結果，宗政逍派去監視崔家的暗衛，天天都會跟他彙報進度。

“京城權貴圈雖然都聽說了崔大背着家裏人，搞大了自家一位外客的肚子，那外客還是位跟他娘差不多年紀的婦人，但其實他們很多人都不知道那位婦人是李老頭曾經最疼愛的貴妾。”

“因為那姨娘懷了孩子，又被外人知道了她的存在，而且她還是用來威脅李楚的把柄，崔家主不能直接處置她，但又不能真把她娶進門，因為她現在還是李家主的妾室，要娶她，只能是讓她先跟李家斷關系。”

“可這無異于是送把柄給李楚，李楚只要揪住崔家大少爺睡了自己父親姨娘這個點，就能在與崔家的談判中立于不敗之地，因為崔家但凡還要臉，就不會願意這個秘密被傳揚出去。”

“目前崔李兩家對歭，崔家屬于劣勢，崔家主當然不肯把臉伸過去給李楚打，所以就一直拖着不肯處理，但姨娘和崔老二可不會允許崔家有歇口氣的機會。”

"Auntie was afraid that the Cui family would consider it for too long and finally give up on her. Cui Lao Er felt that this matter was not lively enough and not enough to make the head of the Cui family anxious and exhausted. So Auntie began to surround the head of the Cui family every day, crying and shouting for him to make a decision for her. And what about Cui Lao Er..."

Zong Zhengxiao suddenly stopped talking here.

Rong Yin was listening attentively. When he saw that he was silent, he asked anxiously, "What did Cui Laoer do? Tell me."

Zong Zhengxiao pointed to his mouth and said, "I'm thirsty."

Rong Yin hurriedly stuffed the peeled orange into his mouth. Zong Zhengxiao finished eating the orange and said, "It's too sour. I don't want to talk about it."

Rong Yin: "...You are just talking nonsense. This orange is obviously very sweet."

"But I just feel it's sour." Zong Zhengxiao was like an unreasonable child, "Unless someone kisses me, I'll feel sweet and continue talking."

Rong Yin: “…”

I endured it in order to listen to gossip.

He held up Zong Zheng Xiao's face, leaned over and smacked him.