001. Palace Banquet

Rong Se was still in a daze when he closed his eyes. He seemed to hear the whistling of the wind in his ears. The feeling of weightlessness from falling from the 24th floor had not completely gone away. He was covered in cold sweat, his legs were weak, and his fingertips were still trembling.

The quaint hall, with its carved railings and painted buildings, is splendidly decorated with gold and jade, and filled with the melodious sounds of stringed instruments and the graceful dances of beautiful women.

Rong Se frowned slowly.

The slightest movement was like a raging wave in my mind, with countless unfamiliar memories flooding in.

There was confusion for a while.

Rong Se barely managed to figure out that he was still alive and had traveled through a book! He had traveled through an ancient BL romance novel that he had read in a hurry a few days ago, called "I and the General Take Off the Battle Robe".

In the original novel, the protagonist, Rong Jing, is the legitimate son, with a gentle and kind personality. His official partner is Liang Shenyu, the Marquis of Dingbei, who is known as the God of War in Dajin. The two have known each other since childhood and have been separated for many years. The whole book is not long, and the plot is basically for the emotional line, everything is for the sweet love of the protagonist.

He sat quietly and kept silent because the life of the original owner Rong Se was still replaying in his mind like a slide show. It wasn't every detail, but the fragments that impressed him the most, a bit like a movie clip.

The original owner was also called Rong Se, the youngest brother of the late emperor. His biological mother, Yan Shuang, was born in a brothel and was known as the most beautiful woman in Jinjing. However, she was a prostitute who only sold her skills and not her body. After entering the palace, she was quite favored by the emperor and gave birth to a son for the old emperor - and then the old emperor died.

The new emperor, Rong Jing's father, forced Yan Shuang, who was already the dowager concubine, to sleep with him. When the news of this scandal got out, the crime of disturbing the harem fell on Yan Shuang. At that time, it was Empress Cao who personally sentenced Dowager Concubine Yan to death. In front of the eight-year-old Rong Se, she was strangled dozens of times before Yan Shuang died of suffocation. Her eyes were wide open and her tongue was sticking out. Her face was hideous and she died in an ugly manner. After that, Rong Se was thrown into the imperial mausoleum to fend for himself.

The original owner guarded the imperial mausoleum for five years. Only because Zheng Fu, a close attendant of the emperor, tried to please him, he sent the emperor's brother, who looked very much like his biological mother, back to the palace. The original owner was not stupid. He was still young, so he endured it for three years and let the old emperor treat him as a peripheral and reminisce about his biological mother. Six years later, he officially began to lay out his plan.

With the old emperor's hand, he pulled the imperial physician and secretly revealed to Empress Cao that the then emperor intended to make him the crown prince because of his mother's status. Since Rong Xu was slow to appoint the crown prince, Empress Cao would definitely be anxious. The imperial physician then gave her the medicine he had prepared in advance and told her that if she took it for a long time, she would surely die early.

As the original owner had expected, the old emperor's health gradually declined, and he rose to prominence in the court, and successfully ascended to power by taking advantage of the court's interest entanglement between the Shangshu Mansion and the Nine Temples.

Half a year before the old emperor died, he became the regent on behalf of his brother.

It was only after the old emperor's death that a traitor appeared among his followers, which led to Marquis Dingbei rushing to the Five Thousand Miles River to defend the emperor. The protagonist found that Marquis Dingbei had a large army, but he was far away at the border and his spies were hidden. The original owner only had 100,000 imperial guards. After learning that Marquis Dingbei had rushed back, he voluntarily gave up his throne in order to avoid giving him a handle, but the condition was that Empress Dowager Cao would be sent to guard the imperial tomb.

If he didn't rebel, Marquis Dingbei couldn't send out troops. He would leave the capital sooner or later, and then he would make plans. It just so happened that the original owner controlled half of the officials in the court, and Marquis Dingbei had no intention of fighting him to the death, so the original owner, who became a love tool, was born.

Until the sweetness between the top and the bottom was enough, the original owner could not help but raise an army to rebel, only to find that the useful people around him had been instigated by Marquis Dingbei to rebel, and some had been killed. He was alone and helpless, and finally ended up with a tragic ending.

The sinister, cold-blooded, ruthless villain who ended up in a tragic way was Rong Se himself.

Rong Se: “…”

It happened very suddenly.

Hell begins.

Forcing someone else's memories to play in his mind was like suddenly pouring in countless points of knowledge. He had no choice but to accept them. Rong Se didn't know how long he had been silent. When he came back to his senses, the faces in front of him could be matched one by one with the memories of the original owner.

Rong Se remained calm and weighed the pros and cons in his mind. Even ants try to survive, so since he has a new life, he doesn't want to follow the same path as his original owner.

The original owner was cold-hearted by nature and his methods were cruel and brutal. Everyone he treated was just taking advantage of him, and he thought that every frown and smile of his was calculation. It was normal for him to end up like this.

But the protagonist who was so good in the original novel was actually a villain with a dagger hidden in his smile in the original owner's memory. He was sanctimonious and malicious. For example, he insulted and beat people when no one was around, and he beat a palace servant and killed a puppy himself, and then claimed that it was the original owner who did it. He even intentionally or unintentionally told others that he was a monster who ate raw meat and drank blood.

This kind of person can be the protagonist, and the would-be villain Rong Se finds it hard to tolerate this.

He made a brief analysis.

At this moment, the time point he traveled through was exactly the first chapter of the book. The previous emperor had just passed away, and the original owner had not carried out the plan of Marquis Dingbei to return to the capital, so the new emperor Rong Jing ascended the throne. After the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky, he held a banquet to welcome Marquis Dingbei who had made great contributions.

In other words, he is still the regent who can face off against the protagonists.

The only question is, how can a chef master politics so quickly?

Rong Se stroked his brows, attracted by the purple and gold-rimmed robe on his body, and then glanced at the low table in front of him. There were a few bland dishes on the table. The presentation was pretty good, but it was not appetizing. Rong Se then realized that he was sitting on a wooden chair with dragon-shaped armrests.

...You can see how arrogant the original owner was. He dared to use Dragon Throne No. 2 even when the emperor was sitting on it.

Rong Se fell into deep thought, then looked down at the dishes on his table. They were all cold dishes. His stomach, which had just been spasming, felt cold, and he didn't want to eat any more.

"If the emperor's uncle is tired, he might as well go back home and rest early."

A caring voice sounded, and Rong Se guessed who the other party was based on the title, and his beautiful peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly.

He was sitting below the Emperor, so—

Rong Se looked up and saw Rong Jing, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and a crown. He was just as described in the original novel, fair and handsome, with starry eyes and white teeth, just like a pure and harmless little white lotus.

This was a blatant order to expel him. Rong Se was thinking uninterestedly about the vicious little waste in the original novel who relied on the protagonist to gain the throne and become the emperor. The disgust that had just subsided came up again.

Tsk.

Rong Se glanced down again and saw that all the ministers were seated on both sides below, with only him and the newly enthroned emperor sitting at the top. So the position at the head of the ministers was the protagonist Liang Shenyu——

Rong Se looked over slowly, and his gaze suddenly froze.

It focused on that person - a dish on the table.

The only hot dish in the hall was steaming egg drop soup.

It looked like a clear soup, with some green leaves floating on it and some egg drops floating in it. It stood out from the crowd of cold dishes that looked like mixed vegetables and caught Rong Se's eyes directly.

Seeing that Rong Se ignored everyone, Rong Jing's smile faded.

Rong Se has already lost! Now that he is the one who has ascended the throne, why does Rong Se still dare to be so arrogant?

Just as Rong Jing was about to continue speaking, the man sitting at the head of the ministers smiled and said slowly, "Your Highness, after looking at it for a while, do you want to eat this dish?"

Rong Se only saw a pair of bony hands holding silver-plated chopsticks, lightly tapping the soup.

Suddenly I came back to my senses.

Rong Se then saw the man sitting there. He had deep brow bones and handsome features. He was wearing a crimson-purple court robe of the same color as himself, with a unicorn treading on clouds embroidered on his collar. He stood out among the officials in the hall, with a wild and sharp demeanor. His manners were also extremely outstanding. He sat in the same upright position, but he looked calm and at ease.

Like a pine tree that stands proudly in the frost.

Marquis Dingbei, Liang Shenyu, whose courtesy name was Shuyun.

Rong Se remained calm, holding her chin with her palm, looking at him for a while before nodding reservedly.

"For the king?"

Rong Se spent half a day trying to figure out these four short words.

When I call myself "this king", I feel a little embarrassed, just like a middle school boy...

Liang Shenyu was slightly disappointed, but raised his eyebrows with interest.

Since he returned to the capital, this powerful prince has been avoiding him. Therefore, today is the first time he has seen the notorious Ninth Prince, who is rumored to be greedy and abusive.

He openly closed his eyes to rest at the palace banquet. When he opened his eyes, he ignored everyone and the first thing he said was to ask for the dish in front of him...

Kind of interesting.

Liang Shenyu had a tentative intention. He stood up slowly, holding the wide-mouthed celadon bowl, and went up the steps. He bent down and placed it in front of Rongse's desk, with a smile that showed his curiosity.

"Your Majesty, please enjoy it."

Rong Se subconsciously stepped back a little. He couldn't adapt to being too close to people, but he didn't lose his composure. He just couldn't help being surprised.

"My good nephew prepared it for you." Rong Se glanced at Rong Jing, who looked tense and even a little shocked and aggrieved. He felt much better and smiled more sincerely. "Are you really giving it to me?"

Liang Shenyu looked at the good looks of the prince in front of him. When he smiled, his eyes were like peach blossoms, his gaze was affectionate, and his temperament was gentle. He was not at all like the sinister Shura in the legend.

But the words were unpleasant to hear. Not only were they extremely disrespectful, they even put the blame on him.

"It's just a dish. Your Majesty is of noble status, so why shouldn't you give me something?"

Liang Shenyu glanced at Rong Se meaningfully, then turned around and sat back in his seat.

All the officials in the palace were silent, and they didn't even dare to look at how ugly the face of their newly enthroned emperor was.

These two clearly don't take the new emperor seriously!

The regent king had power over the government and the country and held military power.

Marquis Dingbei has made many military achievements and has a large army at his disposal.

A dish was interpreted in countless ways in the minds of the ministers, for example, these two had unknowingly completed a subtle confrontation...

Rong Se was in a very good mood after taking a sip of hot egg drop soup. Since he used the original owner's body and identity, he should give something back. After all, it was a chance to live again, which was not only precious, he could not turn a blind eye to the original owner's first half of life full of grievances and hatred.

Therefore, seeing Rong Jing suffer was naturally a great pleasure to everyone.

Rong Se drank the egg drop soup happily, still thinking about the original novel that he had skimmed through. Many plots were not involved, such as the memories of Rong Se's head aching from having been drugged just now.

But Liang Shenyu should have just returned to the court, and the love line in the original novel has not yet been fully unfolded. This man is set up as a warm-hearted, brave and warlike general, and also a gentleman with clear moon and fresh breeze. Rong Jing, this little white flower, is deeply in love with him and loves him madly. In the end, he moved Liang Shenyu and protected him.

However, Liang Shenyu did have the merit of following the dragon, and there was no guarantee that he was not biased towards Rong Jing now. Rong Se still did not dare to let his guard down.

Just as he was thinking, Rong Jing spoke again.

"I heard that on the day when Marquis Dingbei returned to the capital, the Imperial Guard Governor Yun Zhi not only did not dismount to salute, but even drew his sword against him - he should be severely punished!"

Rong Se immediately looked towards the line of military commanders. A young man in a purple official robe stood up expressionlessly, bowed and apologized: "I am terrified."

This is your own person.

Rong Se has a pair of twin brothers under his command. The elder brother manages the business for him in the mansion, while the younger brother serves as an official in the court. He has 100,000 imperial guards under his command, which also provides Rong Se with confidence.

This part is not in the original novel, because the original owner was disgusted by Rong Jing's behavior and overturned the table and left on the spot.

Rong Se sighed.

This is something that needs to be improvised.