In the distance, frogs croaked by the pond. The sky above the estate seemed lower than that in the city. It felt as if one could reach out and touch the stars.
Shi Ning'an lowered her head and let Rong Sui lead her. On this peaceful night, her heart was full. The feeling of emptiness that had always haunted her was gone.
This peaceful time was exactly what she liked the most.
However, the croaking of the frogs grew louder. Shi Ning'an looked up and found that Rong Sui hadn't taken her back to her room but had brought her to the pond.
Shi Ning'an asked blankly, "Third Brother, aren't you sleepy?"
Her soft and sweet voice was extremely charming.
Rong Sui took off his outer cloak and put it on her.
Shi Ning'an shook her head. "It's too late. The night wind is strong. Be careful not to catch a cold."
She tried to take it off, but Rong Sui hugged her tightly and wouldn't let her move. Then his lips kissed her all the way from her forehead.
Shi Ning'an quickly tried to break free.
Rong Sui hugged her even tighter, his voice a bit hoarse. "Don't move around."
She stopped moving.
Every kiss from him could stir her soul. She was in a daze yet also seemed to understand.
Fortunately, this time, he just hugged her and only kissed her.
The two of them seemed to be the only ones left between heaven and earth. The croaking of the frogs beside them became like music. With just one kiss, Rong Sui had stirred up a pool of spring water.
When Shi Ning'an could hardly breathe, Rong Sui let go of her and hugged her even closer. She could hear the strong beating of his heart in his chest. She even felt a bit dazed. Was it his heart or her excited heartbeat?
The ambiguous atmosphere lingered around the two of them.
Shi Ning'an didn't dare to stay still like this. She tried to calm herself down a little and finally thought of something useful. "Concubine Zhao..."
Rong Sui seemed to be smiling. She couldn't hear clearly.
"Although the Zhao family is a merchant family, they're not stupid."
Shi Ning'an pondered. "I thought Concubine Zhao didn't get along with the Zhao family."
Rong Sui's hand gently rubbed her back. "Family interests come first. Even if she doesn't think about herself, she'll think about her brothers. The master of the Zhao family may be a bit muddled when it comes to the women in the inner courtyard, but as a merchant and a person, he's not too bad. At least he knows what a wise king is and knows not to seek benefits from a tiger."
A good bird chooses a tree to perch on. The Third Prince was going against the will of heaven. As long as people could see clearly, they wouldn't really side with the Third Prince.
At the beginning of the year, Concubine Zhao had severely set up her own younger sister in the matter of the First Prince. She had been able to take revenge after seven or eight years, which showed that her willpower was extremely strong.
Shi Ning'an had thought that Concubine Zhao was an ambitious person. It seemed that she had misunderstood.
"So you've been prepared for a long time? You didn't even tell me. I was so worried."
Rong Sui chuckled. He hooked her chin and was about to kiss her again, but stopped just an inch away. "What are you worried about? Worried that I'll fail?"
Shi Ning'an pounded his chest. "Who's worried about you... I'm worried about myself."
Rong Sui pecked her on the nose. "Actually, if it weren't for my wife's cleverness, we might really have fallen into a trap."
Shi Ning'an blushed and scolded, "What wife? We're not even..."
"You're already mine. Do you still want to run away?"
Without giving her a chance to argue, Rong Sui kissed her again.
The crowing of roosters and barking of dogs in the distance disturbed people's dreams and also separated the two people who were reluctant to part.
Shi Ning'an shyly pushed him away and found that the sky was already getting bright. They had actually stayed up all night.
"Do you still need to go to the palace?"
Rong Sui held her hand tightly. "I'll go later."
Shi Ning'an quickly said, "Then why don't you go and rest?"
Rong Sui looked at her. "Ning'an, it's okay when I don't see you. But once I see you, how can I rest well?"
Shi Ning'an turned her head. "Humph, are you saying that I shouldn't have come back? Then I'll tell Cousin Zeng tomorrow that we'll go back to Nanling. Even if you come to pick me up, I won't come back."
Rong Sui hugged her from behind. He didn't dare to move around and just rubbed her hand. After a long time, he pointed at the sunlight that hadn't appeared in the distance. "Ning'an, I'm very happy to watch the sunrise with you."
The two of them didn't say a word.
When the sun slowly rose and the sky finally brightened up, they heard the servants in the back house getting up and starting to be busy. The two of them separated and walked back with a few feet of distance between them.
"What did you mean by saying that we might fall into a trap before?"
Rong Sui replied, "Before you went back to Nanling, you told me about He Mengzhen's strangeness. After investigating the He family's situation, we found out about their collusion with the Third Prince."
Shi Ning'an nodded. That day had been too hasty. After thinking it over carefully later, she could figure out the clues. He Mengzhen had never been to the capital before. How could she have known Shi Qingmei? Her behavior that day had been too abrupt.
Rong Sui continued, "Today's matter was well-prepared. How could ordinary people see the things of the Crown Prince? We showed He Mengzhen some things a few times before. She thought they were real. The He family was really stupid. They thought that by sacrificing a daughter, they could become extremely powerful in the future."
He Mengzhen was a daughter from the inner courtyard. She didn't know much about the major affairs in the court. After seeing those things three or five times and secretly sending a message out of the palace, the He family thought they had grasped the Crown Prince's weakness.
Of course, it was hard to tell whether it was the He family's doing or if the Zhao family had played a role in it. Rong Sui didn't say, but Shi Ning'an could guess a bit.
"The Third Prince was too eager. After hearing the news of the Rong family's downfall, he wanted to take advantage of the victory and pursue. If he had been more patient and calm, he would have found that one trap after another was aimed at him. Every page of that stack of books pointed out the things the Third Prince had done secretly over the years. If it weren't for the Crown Prince, the world would have been in chaos long ago."
Maybe it was because it was dawn, or maybe there were a few busy servants around. The tenderness on Rong Sui's face faded away, and he was once again the cold and unapproachable person.
When talking about the affairs in the court, his voice was also cold.
"Do you know what the Emperor meant in the imperial garden that day?"
A young maid from the estate passed by. Maybe she thought the two masters in front of her were very good-looking, so she stopped and secretly sized them up. But when she saw Rong Sui's cold expression, she shivered in fear and quickly lowered her head and walked away.
Shi Ning'an didn't notice. She asked, "That day, the conversation between the Crown Prince and the Emperor was so confusing. I didn't understand it."
Rong Sui explained, "The Emperor wasn't blaming the Crown Prince for the struggle for the throne. He was just afraid that the Crown Prince was too weak. Before, the Crown Prince was really too soft-hearted. Whether it was towards the First Prince or the Third Prince, he always thought there was still brotherly affection. If the Third Prince hadn't pushed too hard, the Crown Prince wouldn't have treated him like this. However, a king is heartless. This doesn't happen overnight."
Shi Ning'an was stunned. Did this mean that the Emperor had always been watching the disputes among his three sons? Even worse, he just watched calmly and would choose the most capable son in the end?
They were his own flesh and blood, not strangers!
Rong Sui tightened his lips. "Ning'an, we're just ordinary people."
Ordinary people with flesh and blood wouldn't be suspicious of their fathers and sons, let alone kill each other among brothers.
Shi Ning'an felt a lump in her heart. She couldn't let it out and couldn't swallow it either.
Rong Sui quickly said, "The Xia family has been punished by the Emperor. All the direct descendants of the Xia family, regardless of gender, will be sentenced to death, and the collateral branches will be enslaved..."
Shi Ning'an's eyes widened. Except for her second aunt and Xia Anhai, she had never met other members of the Xia family and didn't know much about the Xia family's affairs. But how could a young man like Xia Anhai end up like this?
Rong Sui let out a long sigh. "I pleaded with the Emperor last night, but I couldn't make him change his mind. The Emperor only said one sentence to us: Raising a tiger will bring disaster."
Shi Ning'an didn't understand what it meant.
"Thirty years ago, the Xia family fell into a trap set by the people in the northern desert. The whole Wuyun was filled with blood. Nearly ten thousand people died. If it weren't for my grandfather leading the elite soldiers of the Rong family to defend the city to the death, Wuyun might have been ceded. And the Xia family actually abandoned the city and fled."
Shi Ning'an stopped in her tracks, unable to believe it. "This... The Xia family made such a big mistake, but they weren't punished?"
Rong Sui let out a long sigh. "My grandfather returned to the capital seriously injured. During the heavy war, in order to sneak attack the enemy general, he and his guards lay in the river under the bridge hole for three whole days. The sneak attack was successful, and Wuyun was also saved. But my grandfather's leg... At that time, when my grandfather returned to the capital, he and the Emperor - who was still the Crown Prince at that time - knelt in front of the late Emperor and pleaded for the Xia family."
It turned out that such a thing had happened once thirty years ago. After thirty years of going around in circles, everything had returned to the starting point.
Rong Sui continued, "The late Emperor only lightly punished the Xia family at that time. And at that time, he said these four words to the Emperor and my maternal grandfather: Raising a tiger will bring disaster. Now the Emperor doesn't want to make the same mistake again. No matter how much I or the Crown Prince plead, it's useless."
Shi Ning'an's face was pale. The Xia family was Rong Sui's maternal family. In this case, Rong Sui, Rong Heng and their second aunt must be very sad.
They had already walked into the courtyard. Rong Sui couldn't accompany her anymore. He stopped and said, "The Xia family didn't collude with the Third Prince. They colluded with the northern desert."
Shi Ning'an's eyes shrank. If the Xia family had only been for power, there might still have been some room for maneuver. But it turned out that they had really betrayed the country. But if so, why did Rong Sui plead for the Xia family? Rong Sui wasn't a person who only considered family affection.
Rong Sui saw Shi Ning'an's confusion. "My parents and A Heng are safe because of Xia Anhai's rescue."
Xia Anhai?
"Yes, Xia Anhai. He didn't want to see his father in trouble, and he didn't want to be a traitor. He knelt in front of his father and threatened to die..."
Threatening to die, he saved the Rong family and the people of the Great Zhou. But what about him?
Rong Sui added, "However, the Crown Prince has replaced someone. Xia Anhai has changed his name and will set off for the South Seas."
Shi Ning'an was a bit dazed. She didn't know whether this ending was good or bad for Xia Anhai. Moreover, did the Emperor really not know about the Crown Prince's actions?
Rong Sui chuckled. "The Emperor... Ning'an, we all thought the Emperor was blinded, but in fact, he's the most sober one. He knows about Xia Anhai's matter and won't pursue it."
When Shi Ning'an returned to her room, her heart was heavy. Was the Xia family really gone? The Xia family had always been a family that walked side by side with the Rong family. But just one wrong step, and they could never turn back.