076. Willing

Xi Chaoyi was the son of the Minister of the Chancellery and also served as an official in the court.

Rong Se weighed the pros and cons for a moment and knew that he couldn't just kill him here.

But it was so disgusting. Xi Chaoyi's appearance was slowly overlapping with the man in his memory who was cursing and waving his fists. There was the same excitement and pleasure in their eyes, as if what they were doing was the ultimate bliss in the world, madness, insanity, and disgusting.

That dark memory gradually overwhelmed Rong Se's calmness, and Xi Chaoyi's face in front of him was replaced by the vicious face that had entangled him for many years.

His past was a mess, desolate without a trace of spring. Now, the desolation that was confined in a small space seemed to be being drawn, spreading wantonly and uncontrollably.

The cold fingertips suddenly felt a touch of warmth.

Rong Se gradually came back to his senses. It was Liang Shenyu who was beside him. With worry in his eyes, he used his wide sleeves to cover his expression and gently hooked his fingertips.

Liang Shenyu gave him comfort and warmth in a corner where no one could see him.

It's like a person who is immersed in a bottomless abyss and grabs a vine that can pull him up.

Rong Se came back to her senses and shook her head gently at him to indicate that she was fine. She then took off her sky-blue double-breasted robe and covered the curled-up Rong Zhixu with it. She politely did not look at her for long, but stood up and turned to look at Xi Chaoyi, who was pressed to the ground with Yun Chu's knee on his back, and spoke in a cold voice.

"She is the Princess of Dajin. How dare you?"

Xi Chaoyi was shocked when his elegant coat was torn off, but he quickly calmed down. He was clearly at a disadvantage, but he laughed fearlessly and said provocatively: "Princess of Dajin? Dajin is not even the emperor—" He tilted his head to look at Rong Zhixu who was wrapped in a robe, his expression gloomy, "What kind of princess is a princess? Regent, what's the difference between what you did and what I did?"

"Don't compare our prince with you."

Yun Chu pressed down hard with his knee, and heard Xi Chaoyi groan in pain. His face turned a little pale, but he still laughed wantonly: "Hahaha, Your Highness really has a loyal dog. But Your Highness, don't forget that Xuan and the princess are from our Xi family. This is our Xi family's family affairs. Even if Your Highness exercises power over the government and the country, he can't interfere in other people's affairs!"

Seeing him so arrogant, Rong Se was unwilling to let him go, and said in a deep voice: "According to the generational division, she is my niece, and I am her family, so why can't I control her? If I asked you to divorce, would you dare to disobey my order?"

Xi Chaoyi's expression suddenly became amused. "Of course I can. Your Majesty, please ask her if she is willing."

Rong Se turned her head and saw that Rong Zhixu had stood up. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were red, but she seemed to be used to it. She was calm and looked at Rong Se straight in the face.

Rong Se took it for granted that she would be willing, and that Xi Chaoyi, a violent man, was not a good match. However, to his surprise, Rong Zhixu looked at him with a complicated look, even with a hint of hatred, and said distantly and indifferently: "Thank you, uncle. Xuanhe is very satisfied with this marriage and does not want to divorce."

She said it very naturally, as if she hadn't thought about it, but when she said this, the expression on her face clearly showed that she was about to cry. Rong Se saw despair and fear in her expression.

She was obviously afraid, but she still chose to be with Xi Chaoyi.

“Haha…hahahaha…”

Xi Chaoyi laughed wildly, knocked his forehead to the ground, and raised his eyebrows proudly, "Prince, this is my family business now, right?"

Rong Se looked at Xi Chaoyi's confident expression and his anger gradually subsided. He suddenly remembered what he had just said.

He looked at Rong Zhixu and said, "The emperor is not the emperor."

Rong Se looked at the quietly standing Rong Zhixu and understood why she would rather live like this and stay in the Xi family.

She herself knew that she was the hub between Rong Jing and the court officials.

It was not difficult for Rong Se to understand why she hated herself.

"You think you are great, but you are enduring humiliation." Rong Se's eyes lost their warmth, and he said calmly, "You hate me, but Xuanhe, do you know what you are paying for? Rong Jing? Does he know what you are going through here?"

Rong Zhixu bit her lip and said stubbornly, "Xuanhe didn't sacrifice anything, and didn't pay anything."

Rong Se sneered and nodded to Yun Chu, signaling him to let go of Xi Chaoyi. He then said to Rong Zhixu, "Why not tell him about it? If he truly loves you, how could he bear to let you suffer? Little girl, I advise you not to be so self-indulgent. At least you should know whether that person is worth it for you to do this."

Having said that, Rong Se cast his eyes towards Xi Chaoyi, his voice was very soft, but his eyes were cold: "I am not afraid of killing you here, Xi Chaoyi, it is easy for me to take your life, but that would be too boring, I have time to waste with you slowly."

"We have a long way to go."

No one dared to doubt the weight of the Regent's words.

Rong Se didn't stay long. He came suddenly and left decisively.

Xi Chaoyi was upset and looked at Rong Zhixu with a cold gaze, "Bad luck, get out!"

Rong Zhixu walked out of the door with shaky steps, and not long after he went, he heard a gentle call.

"Your Highness."

Liang Shenyu walked out from behind the mountain view, with a faint smile on his lips, and said in a gentle voice: "Your Highness Princess will not take the initiative to inform Your Majesty of these things, but I will do it for you. I will report to you in person. Your Highness Princess will wait and see how Your Majesty handles it."

Liang Shenyu smiled gently, but his expression was clearly one of cold mockery.

It is best to punish the evil heart.

He just wanted to let Rong Zhixu see whether Rong Jing would turn against the Xi family in order to save her.

Rong Zhixu consciously retorted: "The overall situation is more important, my royal brother..."

"What do you think the prince saved you for?" Liang Shenyu interrupted her, not hiding his sarcasm. "When he overturned the verdict for the thirteen merchants in Jizhou, your good brother was still thinking about how to keep his throne. So what? If you are the same as him, there is no point in saying more. This marquis came here for--"

Liang Shenyu pointed at the finely embroidered sky-blue robe in Rong Zhixu's hand and said calmly, "Take this back."

Rong Zhixu then realized that he was still holding Rong Se's outer robe in his hand. He was stunned for a moment and quickly handed the robe over, "I..."

"Your Highness, there is no need to say more." Liang Shenyu took the robe carefully, his expression softening slightly, "The prince is the most tenacious and gentle person I have ever seen in my life. If the prince and your majesty were in the same situation, and the little girl in the prince's house was humiliated today, the prince would definitely save her without hesitation. This is the difference between him and your majesty. Your Highness, just wait and see."

On that day, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture arrested Lan Ying. The Prince Regent ignored the criticism from the censors and his own bad reputation and did not even bother to go through the formalities. Fearing that Lan Ying would be wronged, he directly brought people to smash the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Liang Shenyu held Rong Se's outer robe and nodded to Rong Zhixu: "I will take my leave."

Rong Zhixu stood there for a long time. His cheeks felt like they were burning with pain and his mouth tasted of blood mixed with an inexplicable bitterness.

At the same time, there are also hidden expectations and hesitations.

...If Marquis Dingbei really told his brother, would his brother really save her from this hell?

.

Rong Se completely lost interest in this banquet and directly ordered to return home. After waiting in the carriage for a long time, Liang Shenyu finally arrived. The robe fabric in his hand looked particularly familiar.

"Did you go get this?"

Rong Se pointed to the intricately embroidered robe.

Liang Shenyu nodded gently, "How could your clothes fall into the hands of others? So I took them back. But what do you want to do about Xuanhe's matter?"

Rong Se was completely sober, but his expression remained indifferent and he did not say a word.

"I will inform your majesty of this." Liang Shenyu said gently, "She was raised in the palace of Empress Dowager Cao. His Highness Xuanhe's mother, Wei, died on the day she gave birth. In my opinion, if a prince was born, he would also die young. If Princess Xuanhe is alienated from your majesty and breaks with Xi, it will be beneficial to us."

Although Liang Shenyu was not ashamed of Xi Chaoyi's behavior, in his eyes, Rong Zhixu was asking for trouble. Moreover, Liang Shenyu was very stingy with sympathy. He didn't care what kind of life Rong Zhixu lived. His goal was clear, which was to end this marriage with the Xi family in a miserable way.

Rong Se was silent for a moment, and then said softly, "The Xi and Liu families are indeed a nuisance. I heard that the one who is in charge of the Xi family's backyard is the concubine named Liu."

The original novel did not dwell much on the events in the Xi family's backyard, and Rong Se only heard about it from Yun Chu's few words.

"That's right." Liang Shenyu nodded. "It is said that when Xi Yan failed to pass the imperial examination, he was born in a noble family in Dianzhou and was childhood sweethearts with Liu Ran. However, after he came to Beijing, he married Xue Jin, the daughter of the Duke of Xin, and took advantage of the Duke's Mansion to get along smoothly in the court."

Rong Se nodded, "What happened later? The daughter of the Duke of Xin was the principal wife and married off to a lower class. How could she be bullied to such an extent by a concubine?"

Liang Shenyu said: "Xue Jin had a younger brother, Xue Ling, who was a playboy, alcoholic and gambling, and frequented red-light districts all year round. I heard that he died suddenly of illness. The old Duke lost his son in his later years and was devastated. He died within a year. At that time, the Duke's Mansion had been squandered by Xue Ling, and Xue Jin's family had lost power. Xi Yan then brought Liu Ran into the mansion. At that time, Xi Chaoyi could already walk, so it was obvious that the two had already met several times and were pregnant."

Rong Se nodded.

That's the good-for-nothing Xi Yan. After getting married, he used his wife to rise to power. When his wife's family fell into poverty, he brought his childhood sweetheart and his son back home, and even gave the power of housekeeper to Liu Ran.

It sounds quite infatuated, but also quite disgusting.

"No wonder you gave birth to such a son." Rong Se sneered, then looked at Liang Shenyu and asked, "How do you know all these things so clearly?"

Liang Shenyu chuckled: "Although I am far away from the border of Qiangzhou, I lived in Jinjing for a while when I was young. There are no real secrets in Jinjing, not to mention that what Xi Yan did was not secret. Xi Chaoyi was often ridiculed for this when he was young. Even Rong Jing said behind his back that he was a bastard."

Rong Se nodded.

Sounds like something Rong Jing would do.