Chapter 9

In the evening, inside the Wuying Hall.

In the silent hall, because Emperor Jingyuan was present, the palace servants were very cautious and quiet, not daring to make any noise.

Ning Hongru respectfully handed the document to Emperor Jingyuan, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, the people who went to Xiangfan have returned."

Emperor Jingyuan took it, but placed it by his hand, not looking at it immediately.

He was currently reviewing memorials from various places, and had already read most of them.

Ning Hongru retreated a little, standing by his side.

Later in the evening, a palace servant came to report that the person in the side hall had woken up.

Ning Hongru did not stop him and reported the news. As expected, Emperor Jingyuan, who was reading a memorial, raised an eyebrow slightly and stood up.

The Chief Steward of the Imperial Presence quickly followed, guarding him closely.

But when they reached the door, Emperor Jingyuan raised his eyes, and Ning Hongru stopped, guarding outside the door.

In the afternoon, Ning Hongru had some guesses when he saw Emperor Jingyuan change his clothes.

As expected.

However, Ning Hongru did not expect that after a short while, he would see His Majesty emerge from the North Wing, carrying someone. He and the few palace servants following behind him, upon seeing the two, unconsciously first looked at the person in Emperor Jingyuan's arms.

His appearance was unclear, and the person seemed to be unconscious. But unconsciously, one's eyes would be drawn to him, as if there was something strange and attractive about him that made him noticeable at first glance.

Ning Hongru didn't know what Emperor Jingyuan was thinking.

All he knew was that Emperor Jingyuan openly took Jingzhe to the Wuying Hall.

However, no one outside the Imperial Presence would know.

What Emperor Jingyuan didn't want people to know, no one would know.

Even the Empress Dowager in Shoukang Palace could not extend her hand to Emperor Jingyuan's side.

When Emperor Jingyuan handled state affairs, Jingzhe rested in the side hall.

Now that he had woken up, someone naturally came to inform him.

Ning Hongru stood outside, pondering... His Majesty probably didn't reveal his identity, and he didn't know if placing Jingzhe in such a remote corner suited His Majesty's wishes...

He went to such great lengths, Jingzhe should not be able to discover His Majesty's identity, right?

...

Jingzhe certainly couldn't find out.

When he woke up, the side hall was empty.

He covered his throbbing forehead, hissed when he touched it, and frowned tightly. In his hand, he held a damp, cold handkerchief, which should have been placed there to reduce swelling.

Jingzhe turned on his side, looking at the dim room and estimating the time. He felt a little regretful. Why didn't he hit himself harder? It would have been even better if he could have fainted until tomorrow, one less day of suffering.

In the afternoon, after Jingzhe realized he was losing control, he gathered his last bit of strength and knocked himself unconscious. At that time, Jingzhe didn't care how strange it was; stopping himself was the most important thing.

Jingzhe barely managed to get up, feeling the heat wave suppressed within his body, at least not as rampant as before. It seemed that without anyone around, the buff wouldn't cause too much trouble, and it also allowed Jingzhe to observe his surroundings.

This seemed to be some secluded hall. Although a bit cramped, it was much better than the North Wing. Although there were few furnishings, each one was exquisite.

Where was this?

This was clearly not the North Wing.

...Did Rong Jiu place him somewhere after he knocked himself unconscious?

"Don't you think this is unreasonable?"

Jingzhe was weak, leaning against the head of the bed, speaking feebly to the system.

"Your goal is to make Prince Rui ascend the throne. Success brings rewards, failure brings punishment. That sounds like a plan, but what are your punishments? If Prince Rui really fails and suffers these punishments, if he loses his composure, wouldn't he lose face in front of others and be unable to establish authority? Wouldn't that harm him?"

What emperor could be so humiliated?

Jingzhe had to say this in several attempts.

[The punishment for mission failure is automatically determined based on different individuals.]

"You mean, if Prince Rui fails, the punishment he draws may not be these?"

[Yes.]

"Then why am I so unlucky?"

[The host is not unlucky. Moreover, if the randomly selected buff can be hidden properly, it can also increase the host's popularity.]

[If Prince Rui's mission fails, the punishment will mostly be to expose his intentions. Now that the host's identity is unusual, if the mission fails, it will naturally be to expose his identity. Striking a snake at its seven-inch point, the host understands this principle better than the system.]

If Prince Rui exposed his intention to usurp the throne, it would be a matter of life and death... This punishment indeed struck at each person's vital point.

And what popularity...

Such a twisted method, what kind of popularity could it add?

Jingzhe said dryly, "You're just wasting time with me, and you won't achieve your goal."

[The system has tried several times. Binding is only once. Once bound, the host cannot be changed.] The system said stiffly, [However, the system is already trying to adjust the mission.]

But this would take time to gradually adjust.

"..."

Jingzhe rubbed his eyebrows, feeling a little uncomfortable.

In all fairness, the tasks issued by the system were not difficult for the original host, "Prince Rui."

Task one was more troublesome, after all, it was someone Emperor Jingyuan wanted to kill. But task two was to prevent exile, and task three was to save Talented Lady Yao's life. These two were achievable.

The former could change the charge with some effort, as long as it wasn't exile, there was room for negotiation with the system; the latter was even simpler. At present, Empress Dowager Huang in Shoukang Palace controlled the entire harem, didn't she? As long as Prince Rui entered the palace and pleaded with the Empress Dowager, he could easily protect Talented Lady Yao.

In the end, these tasks issued by the system were meant to guide Prince Rui, telling him who could be used by him, who held secrets, and who would be more beneficial alive... With his status and position, completing most of the tasks would not be difficult.

But for Jingzhe to do these things, it would undoubtedly be difficult to preserve everything, even if he gave his all.

He struggled even to preserve his own life.

In addition, Jingzhe was passively resisting the tasks. If it weren't for this time involving Talented Lady Yao, he wouldn't have paid any attention.

But these punishments...

Jingzhe curled up, hugging his knees.

Creak—

A very slight pushing sound. Jingzhe subconsciously looked towards the door where a sliver of light leaked in. It should be evening now, the sky was dim, and only when the door opened was there extra light.

A figure stood in the backlit doorway, their appearance unclear.

"It's too dark, I'll get a lamp."

As soon as the person spoke, Jingzhe knew who it was.

"No, no need." Jingzhe blurted out, "Rong Jiu, where is this?"

He vaguely saw that there seemed to be other people outside the door.

"Outside the door is..."

"It's a colleague," Rong Jiu said calmly, "This is where the guards rest."

Jingzhe blinked, and with a little afterglow of the sunset, he had just seen the situation of the house.

The palace treats guards so well?

Jingzhe refused to let Rong Jiu light the lamp. Rong Jiu closed the door with his backhand and walked over slowly. The closer the footsteps got, the more tense Jingzhe's body became. Finally, he buried his head in the quilt, rolling himself up so that not an inch of skin was exposed.

There was nothing he could do. As soon as Rong Jiu looked at him, Jingzhe's body started to heat up.

Rong Jiu paused by the bed, and Jingzhe's heart also rose.

His many actions today were very strange.

"Doesn't your forehead hurt?"

Rong Jiu's voice was faint as he sat by the bed.

Jingzhe was short of breath and even more guilty. He squirmed twice, but didn't dare to show his face. He said in a muffled voice, "It doesn't hurt."

"Is that so?"

Rong Jiu said indifferently, reaching over the quilt and pressing his hand on Jingzhe's forehead. It was so fast and precise that Jingzhe didn't even react, only hissing twice in pain.

"Doesn't hurt?"

"...Doesn't hurt."

Jingzhe's eyes welled up with tears, almost falling.

Vaguely, he seemed to hear a light chuckle, but it wasn't clear. The room was silent for a while. Jingzhe wanted to ask, but felt inexplicably awkward, so he bravely brought up a topic: "You, your colleague said you went out of the palace on official business. Is it all done?"

Rong Jiu said casually, "It's all done."

Jingzhe: "Was it troublesome?"

Rong Jiu: "Not troublesome."

He smiled again, very faintly.

"Collected some things."

Wiped out the entire Jiao family in the capital, harvesting all their heads.

"And sent some things."

Sent the corpses to the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

"And did some good deeds."

Called imperial physicians for a few old officials who fainted from anger, and by the way, let them resign and return to their hometowns, sending people to escort them all the way, very kind and benevolent.

Finally, Rong Jiu gently summarized: "I did quite well."

Jingzhe blinked in confusion. Although he couldn't see Rong Jiu's face through the quilt, he could even imagine Rong Jiu's expression when he spoke... He knew that Rong Jiu's temper was indeed a bit bad... He hoped those people were alright.

He lay for a while.

Rong Jiu neither asked him why he did it, nor why he knocked himself unconscious in the afternoon. Although Jingzhe was very grateful, it was getting late. If he didn't get back before the gates locked, it would be troublesome.

Just as Jingzhe was hesitating about what to say next, he heard Rong Jiu speak.

"You're not feeling well. Stay here tonight."

Jingzhe was surprised: "That's against the rules."

"I still have some face in the guard's office, so you can rest here," Rong Jiu said unhurriedly, "As for the North Wing, they probably won't have time to care for you tonight. No one will disturb you."

It seemed that even the people in the guard's office knew about Talented Lady Yao's matter.

"Thank you, Rong Jiu," Jingzhe sighed. He was indeed tired. Having a quiet place to rest and endure this punishment allowed his tense nerves to relax a little. "You're really kind."

In the darkness, Rong Jiu's eyes moved slightly, like a slightly curved arc.

Like a smile, like sarcasm.

Although Jingzhe was awake, he became drowsy again during the few words they chatted while lying down. He had suffered all day, expending a lot of energy to suppress the heat wave in his body. Now that he was away from the gaze, although his body was overly sensitive, it was not impossible to endure... After all, after getting used to it, the pleasure brought by those subtle frictions could be barely ignored.

But in his half-sleep, Jingzhe's confusion, along with his growing interactions with Rong Jiu, seemed to increase, so much so that at one point, he didn't even realize he had mumbled aloud.

"..."

"...Why am I so good to you?"

Rong Jiu repeated Jingzhe's words, in a strange, somewhat distorted tone.

But at this moment, Jingzhe had already fallen asleep and could no longer hear.

If he had truly heard it, he would probably have rolled up his bedding and immediately fled this place, because just a word, just a sound, carried obvious danger and gloom.

The man's fingers lifted the quilt covering Jingzhe, revealing a flushed face. In the almost dark room, it was almost indistinguishable, but the dampness stained Rong Jiu's fingertips.

His gaze fixed on Jingzhe.

The prolonged "gaze" made even the sleeping person tremble a little, as if a silent, accumulating pressure was gradually enveloping him.

"You are very interesting."

Rong Jiu gently revealed a hint of malicious gloom.

Even a small amount was incredibly thick, like a damp swamp, easily devouring people.

When the entire imperial palace was decaying and rotting to the point of wilting, Jingzhe was indeed an unexpected surprise. A trembling, pitiful bird that stumbled in during the decay, carrying an unusual allure.

A very accidental, very unintentional surprise.

Accidentally breaking into the Fengxian Hall, accidentally getting a life from him, accidentally... living until now.

There was something particularly interesting about him.

Rong Jiu keenly sensed this.

But even more interesting was Jingzhe.

—Secrets.

The man's fingertips brushed against Jingzhe's flushed eyelids without restraint, with a hint of amusement.

On his body, too, were countless mysteries.

One after another, intertwined.

Pull out one, and a ball of yarn is hidden underneath.

How many layers must be peeled away to see clearly?