Shi Ning'an nodded repeatedly. "Yes. I just came to take a look, but Cousin Rongheng insisted on dragging me to practice martial arts. Cousin, I really can't practice. Besides, your grip is too strong. Look..."
She rolled up her sleeve aggrievedly to show the red mark on her wrist.
Rongheng exclaimed, "Cousin, you're so frail! I really didn't use much strength just now. Look at you..."
He reached out his hand to touch Shi Ning'an's wrist, but Rong Sui, who had walked over, grabbed his hand.
Rongheng looked up. "Brother?"
Rong Sui then supported him. "Are you all right?"
Rongheng heaved a long sigh. "I'm in a bad state. My neck hurts, and my chest hurts. Your kick was too hard. Brother, could you let me know next time before we have a spar? I thought it was some villain. I was still thinking about protecting our cousin, so I didn't dare to make big moves. It hurts so much!"
Rong Sui supported him and walked inside. "It's my fault. I'll help you go in and take a rest."
Rongheng rolled his eyes. "Humph. It's rare for you to be so self - aware. I want to eat steamed stuffed buns and waxberry cakes."
Rong Sui nodded. "Okay. I'll ask Rong Ping to buy them later... All right. I'll go buy them myself later."
Rongheng clicked his tongue a few times. "Hey, are you being so nice? Hehe. Forget it. You can ask Rong Ping to buy them. You look like you haven't slept all night. Go and rest early."
Shi Ning'an followed them in. "Is Cousin Rongheng really all right? Otherwise, I'll send someone to invite a doctor. We mustn't leave any root of illness."
Rongheng waved his hand. "No need. This little injury is nothing. Think about when we were on the battlefield. We survived on the edge of the knife. What kind of wounds haven't we had? There are countless sword and spear wounds on my back and chest. This kind of kick injury is nothing."
Shi Ning'an watched with concern as he was supported by Rong Sui and lay down. Then she let out a sigh of relief. She quickly poured a cup of tea herself and was about to hand it over, but Rong Sui took it.
Rongheng was still rambling on, talking about the dangerous things on the battlefield. More importantly, he was talking about how brave he was. When he got excited, he even wanted to lift up his clothes to show his cousin the wounds on his body.
Rong Sui pressed his hand down, and his attitude was unusually gentle. "All right. Stop talking. You need to have a good rest."
Rongheng protested. "Brother, I'll be fine after lying down for a while."
Rong Sui insisted. "Lie down properly. Don't lift your clothes all the time. Cousin is a young lady, and this is the capital. We still have to follow the proper rules."
Rongheng gave a sheepish smile. "I got too excited and forgot."
Rong Sui glanced at Shi Ning'an and then said, "And don't casually pull a young lady's hand. Your grip is too strong."
Rongheng forced a smile, lifted the brocade quilt and covered his face. "Don't bother to see me off."
Shi Ning'an carefully instructed the servants to take good care of Rongheng. If there was anything wrong, they should invite a doctor. After giving the instructions, she followed Rong Sui out of the door.
When they walked into the yard, Rong Sui asked, "Is your hand all right?"
Shi Ning'an shook her head. "It's all right. It hurt a lot just now, but it doesn't hurt anymore."
She looked down at the bruise on her wrist and then smiled again. "I've been like this since I was a child. No matter what I encounter, there will be a mark. It just looks scary. It will be fine in a few days."
After leaving Rongheng's yard, Rong Sui said again, "I'll apply some medicine on your hand."
It was an undeniable tone. Shi Ning'an wanted to refuse, but for some reason, her legs and feet didn't listen to her. She followed him into the yard.
Rong Sui took out a medicine bottle and personally applied the medicine on Shi Ning'an's hand.
The medicine was cold, and his fingers were also a bit cold. But when they touched her wrist, she didn't feel cold at all. Instead, there was a strange warm feeling. Shi Ning'an lowered her head and didn't say a word. Rong Sui also didn't say anything. They just sat there slowly and applied the medicine slowly.
When the medicine was almost applied, Rong Sui stood up and put the ointment bottle back on the treasure cabinet.
Shi Ning'an looked up at him. His tall figure exuded a special aura with every move.
She didn't dare to look anymore. She lowered her head and wondered how she should say goodbye and leave. Why did she actually feel a bit reluctant to leave?
Rong Sui turned around and casually said, "Do you know about Tang Chutong's matter?"
Shi Ning'an was stunned for a moment and nodded as a response. She seemed to hear Rong Sui let out a laugh, but she thought it must be an illusion. How could Rong Sui laugh?
Rong Sui said, "Do you believe me now?"
Shi Ning'an looked up in surprise. "What?"
She thought that Rong Sui seemed unusually gentle today - if not for the way he suddenly attacked Rongheng.
"I've said that I have nothing to do with her."
Shi Ning'an lowered her head embarrassedly. She had misunderstood him before, and she had even been bent on making him take the initiative to look for Tang Chutong.
Rong Sui said again, "There are frequent floods in Quzhou area every year during the plum - rain season. This is a natural disaster, but it can also be artificially intervened. The heir of Prince Huai will be ordered to go to Quzhou as the governor in a few days to focus on dealing with water - conservancy issues."
Shi Ning'an asked in surprise, "Water - conservancy has always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Works. Isn't the Ministry of Works..."
The Minister of the Ministry of Works was from the Dong family. The whole Ministry of Works was equivalent to the territory of the eldest prince.
Rong Sui didn't comment.
Shi Ning'an seemed to suddenly understand. The Crown Prince didn't have many capable people under his command. In the past, Prince Huai had avoided getting involved in officialdom and only lived as a care - free prince. As the heir, Yin Taiping had always been a playboy, and his knowledge and literary talent were just for show. Now, were they going to take action?
"Then, what about Sister Tang?"
Rong Sui looked at her with a glinting look in his eyes.
"Sister Tang... will also be all right? She won't enter the Eastern Palace?"
Rong Sui nodded. "Don't worry. The selection date hasn't come yet, so the matter hasn't been settled. Since the Crown Prince knows the feelings of the two of them, how could he take someone else's love?"
Shi Ning'an was overjoyed. She thought the matter that was extremely difficult to solve had been solved so easily?
Rong Sui saw what she was thinking and explained again, "The Crown Prince doesn't care, but it doesn't mean that this matter won't be used by people with ulterior motives. So we still can't let our guard down. Tang Chutong will still be sent away. We have to wait until Yin Taiping finishes dealing with the matter and returns to the capital, and then make other plans."
Shi Ning'an didn't understand the affairs of the court. She just nodded randomly. She was still worried. She looked up and asked with concern, "Cousin, how about you... are you all right?"
Rong Sui didn't quite understand what she meant by "all right". He just didn't want her to think too much, so he nodded and replied, "Don't worry. Since the opponent is in the open, there's no need to be worried."
Shi Ning'an nodded, but her brows were still tightly knitted.
Rong Sui didn't understand why every time they talked about the affairs of the court, his cousin always looked worried. He patiently explained, "The eldest prince has made too many moves, which is actually beneficial to the Crown Prince. Both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works are under his influence. He thinks it's his ability, but he doesn't know it may be a shortcoming. Now the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue is empty, and they just shift the blame to other places. In the final analysis, it's the incompetence of the Ministry of Revenue."
Shi Ning'an didn't understand the affairs of the court, but she had followed Wei Hongmiao for ten years in her previous life, so she knew a little bit. Hearing this, she just asked, "So, the eldest prince's current goal is to get money?"
Rong Sui looked at her approvingly and nodded. "Yes. Originally, they wanted to target the Zhao family, but the Zhao family has been cautious for many years. They know that it's not easy to make contributions to the new emperor. So they have to find another way and try to bring down the Zhao family."
Shi Ning'an's eyes widened. The Zhao family was a well - known imperial merchant, but they only relied on the "imperial" name to establish a foothold in the capital. Such a foothold was not very stable. The "imperial" name could be given to the Zhao family, and it could also be given to other families.
"Have you come up with a countermeasure? It's not easy to win over the Zhao family. What about Concubine Zhao?"
Rong Sui looked up at Shi Ning'an. "Win them over? Just the Zhao family?"
Shi Ning'an paused for a moment before she realized that in her previous life, whether in the Shi family or the Wei family, she was used to mobilizing the whole family to climb up. She never missed any opportunity to win over or attach herself to others.
But this was the Rong family. The Rong family members disdained to attach themselves to others or make the gesture of winning others over.
She didn't know whether her thinking was wrong or theirs was wrong.
For a moment, Shi Ning'an felt a bit dejected. Clearly, she had been reborn, but her thinking was still the same as before.
Rong Sui saw that Shi Ning'an's mood was not right. His fingers unconsciously tapped on his leg, and then he smiled. "Ning'an, actually, when the aristocratic families support poor students and have many retainers, it means winning others over. Look, whether it's the Crown Prince's Mansion or our Rong family, there are countless people closely related to us. If we talk about fairness, there may be nothing fair in this world. But I think that people should be open and aboveboard in their lives. If we lose our last bit of courage, what's the difference between our era and those dynasties recorded in history books where sycophants like those who called a deer a horse ran amok?"
Shi Ning'an's eyes turned red instantly. Rong Sui's words represented the thoughts of every member of the Rong family. But in her previous life, the Rong family, which disdained to do such things the most, finally ended up like the sycophants recorded in history books.
It had to be said that this was really ironic.
Rong Sui frowned and asked in confusion, "Ning'an, what's wrong with you?"
Shi Ning'an took a deep breath, shook her head and smiled. "No. I just think that what you do is very good. I was too scared before. I always worried... In fact, there's nothing to be scared of. As long as we work together, I believe that justice will prevail over evil."
Rong Sui nodded and then said, "However, the eldest prince's move means pushing the Zhao family completely away."
Shi Ning'an asked, "Has the eldest prince already taken action against the Zhao family?"
"Yes. Half a month ago, on the day when you and Miss Tang got drunk. I happened to see someone attacking a young lady from the Zhao family on the street. At that time, I just thought there was something strange about this matter. Later, it was indeed found out that the Liu family was involved. The Liu family is also a well - known merchant family in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was supported by the eldest prince to replace the Zhao family."
Shi Ning'an frowned and unconsciously asked, "Did you save Zhao Yiyi again?"
Rong Sui thought seriously for a while. "It seems to be this name. Did I save her before?"
Shi Ning'an suddenly felt a bit uninterested. She stood up and said, "It's getting late. Cousin, you should rest first. I'm going back."
Rong Sui was confused. He quickly stood up and blocked her way. His face became cold. "Ning'an, there's no need to be so polite between you and me. I also hope that you can be more honest with me. If there's anything, you might as well just say it directly."
Shi Ning'an thought for a few times in her mind before she carefully asked, "It's nothing... It's just, Cousin, I want to ask you, if you were Tang Chutong, would you like a passionate and amorous person like Yin Taiping?"