Zheng Xiao Mistake: The Mistake of Rebirth Provoked the Cold Master

The purpose of the court bulletin was originally to help Rong Yan adapt to the court life of Dayong and find out what positions those unfamiliar names held, what power they held, and whether they had any leverage...

This is what his master taught him, to be prepared before anything else.

The only exception is Zhu Zheng.

The exception is that compared with others, she is almost useless. In terms of planning and layout, the little daughter of an ordinary family seems insignificant.

But Rong Yan had a photographic memory, so once he remembered something, he would remember it.

The second time he noticed her was around the beginning of the following spring. Rong Yan was reading memorials in the study, and An Fengxue was reporting trivial matters as usual, and he heard Zhu Zheng's name again.

She said that she saw a pot of fine-leaved moon orchid in a flower shop in the west of the city, but she failed to grab it before others and returned home dejected.

There happened to be a pot of moon orchid on Rong Yan's desk, but it was dying from lack of care.

For some reason, he did something unnecessary and gave the orchid to An Fengxue, asking her to put it in the flower shop.

When the official report she bought was delivered back, Rong Yan had just returned from the palace. He stared at the report, which said that she had thanked the four flower gods for this pot of flowers, named his orchid "Ruyuanxian", and kept guessing what color the orchid would bloom.

Rong Yan suddenly said, "The sky is blue."

After he answered, he found himself talking to himself in front of a newspaper, and an ambiguous curve appeared at the corner of his lips.

Everything has its own way.

Hearing that Zhu Zheng was looking for a torn copy of a strange story in various bookstores, Rong Yan casually gave away the books in his study. She was happy for three or five days because of this.

Rong Yan had read the book of strange stories earlier. The wording was quite humorous. He didn't remember whether he found it interesting when he read it, but he actually smiled when he saw a few witty remarks made by Zhu Zheng in the court bulletin.

Then there was a pot of asparagus fern, a crab, two boxes of cakes, and three silver deer... Rong Yan thought it was just a simple task, but it could make her feel very happy and satisfied.

This kind of happiness and satisfaction would feed back to Rong Yan, making him feel a little dazed.

Rong Yan remembered that when he first came to Shengjing, he was about the same age as Zhu Zheng is now, or perhaps even younger, and Gongyi Fuguang specially built a palace for him.

From then on, he was trapped in the court, just like Zhu Zheng was trapped in the Zhu Mansion. She found a way to climb over the wall and get out, but his wall... stood alone on the snowy plain, silent and desolate, not even the slightest breeze could blow in.

There is no Chengxu Mountain in the sky anymore. The days of practicing Taoism seem like things from the previous life. The wind, frost, rain and snow that I have witnessed under the green tile eaves, along with the name engraved on the bamboo plaque, have become increasingly mottled remnants of the past.

He knew better than anyone that times like that would never come again.

The master promised Gongyi Fuguang, "to ensure that his beloved son can succeed to the throne smoothly, and to ensure the well-being of the country and the peace of the world."

So he also said, "For the sake of world peace..."

Did the reason that failed to convince Liu Feng really convince himself?

He had no worries in this life he had been given, and he had no complaints about bearing all these things, but he also knew he had to try his best.

But when the night was quiet, Rong Yan would always stare at the moon alone in a daze. The pale moonlight illuminated this strange land. His own contribution was so insignificant and so little. Everything here seemed to have nothing to do with him.

His master did not have the time to explain to him what exactly did national well-being and world peace mean. He could only find stereotyped answers in the books of sages, which made him feel empty and unreal.

But now, Rong Yan thought, maybe he could give a new interpretation, that there was a little girl in the world who shared the same suffering as him, and because of his help, she was freer and happier, and could go to see flowers and grass, read poetry and chase the wind.

Even if it wasn't for his master or the Gongyi royal family, he had other reasons to convince himself that what he did might be worth it.

The four seasons go by in a cycle, but to Rong Yan, it is just one day upon another, with no difference.

For Zhu Zheng, it is enjoying the flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, the cool breeze in summer and listening to the snow in winter.

She was very enthusiastic about finding fun in life. The four seasons were vivid and distinct in her life, and Rong Yan also got a share of the vitality.

These strands of vitality gradually gathered and took root, sprouted leaves, and seemed to be able to bloom in the snow.

Gradually, whenever Zhu Zheng bought something new, whether she thought it was fun or not, Rong Yan would ask Liu Feng to buy the same thing for her to see.

No matter what food she bought, whether she thought it was delicious or not, Rong Yan would buy some to try.

He even developed a new habit. Since Zhu Zheng loved to read strange travel stories, he bought a lot of such books. And since Zhu Zheng loved sweet things, he also developed a preference for sweet cakes.

As time goes by, what she said, "sharing the sweetness of the world", is still happening quietly.

In this world, there is a person whose joys, sorrows, likes and dislikes are connected with Rong Yan. This feeling is strange and novel.

From the plain words and sentences, a care that he got used to gradually grew. If there was no news from Zhu Zheng for several days, he would actually feel worried and there would be a void in his heart, as if he was deliberately waiting for something.

But it's just waiting.

What he is best at is waiting, nothing special.

It is not easy to gain a foothold in the court. He is still young and has no foundation. He needs to make foolproof plans and calculations to step up to the lonely and high platform step by step.

People only think that he is silent, aloof and self-restrained.

No one knew when his hidden little selfish desire rolled from a grain of sand into a small stone and was thrown into the silent frozen lake, smashing a tiny crack on the ice surface and winding away into the endless distance.

A narrow ray of light filtered through this crack, which was his only relief, allowing him to occasionally float to the surface and take a breath.

Such an adventure was an extra blessing, and Rong Yan always thought that he had already been content.

Until Zhu Zheng’s coming-of-age ceremony.

He somehow noted down the date, picked out many gifts, and finally chose a pair of blood amber bracelets as a gift. She usually preferred bright colors and objects, so she should like it.

When An Fengxue came back, Rong Yan was grinding ink and painting by the window.

"The gift was not signed, so the fourth girl refused to accept it." An Fengxue said.

Rong Yan looked at the unopened box, which came with half a piece of paper.

The beautiful handwriting on the paper expressed gratitude for the kindness and politely declined the gift. The few strokes were written in a distant and appropriate manner.

Even though I don't know who he is, it was written to him, in the tone of sending away a stranger who had crossed the line.

stranger.

Rong Yan's brushstrokes were somewhat disrupted, so he simply stopped writing. This was a painting that was destined to never be finished, so there was no point in regretting it.

There was a picture of his pot of Clivia on the paper, and next to the orchid there was a girl leaning against the window looking at the flowers. Her face could not be seen clearly because of the mottled shadows of the flowers.

Rong Yan lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking. After a long while, he asked casually, "Zhu Zheng, what does she look like?"

An Fengxue didn't know how to answer, so she said dryly, "He has a nose and eyes, is very energetic, and very smart."

Rong Yan was silent for a moment, his eyes falling on the unfinished painting on the table.

An Fengxue understood and pointed casually, "It's probably like the one painted on the porcelain vase in the illustration."

The painting on the porcelain vase...

Rong Yan turned his gaze to the porcelain vase...it was the monkey stealing the peaches.

But he stared at the porcelain vase in a trance.

A few days later, An Fengxue heard from Liu Feng that the Lord had arranged to help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince choose a concubine, and asked the Ministry of Rites to collect portraits of all the noble ladies who had reached the age of 15 in the capital.

When those portraits were sent to the palace, one was withheld by the adults.

The picture of the girl with a red turtle painted on her face was neatly framed and hung in the dark room of the study.

In the mundane world, we stay together day and night long, without saying a word and never leaving each other.

I'm afraid even Rong Yan couldn't tell clearly on which day his care gradually grew and flourished, and finally grew into bones and blood in the darkness, giving rise to hidden desires, making him taste the feeling of being out of control when he woke up in his dreams at midnight.

Because he saw her name on the palace banquet list, Rong Yan went for the first time.

Just a look, he told himself.

Someone in the crowd toasted him, and Rong Yan persistently looked for a figure through the noise of clinking glasses.

From a distance, she looked at him. The person in the painting had eyes and eyebrows that were so vivid and lively that one could not look away.

The scriptures said that everything is unpredictable and fateful. Rong Yan suddenly had an absurd idea. Perhaps he had traveled thousands of miles for many years just for this encounter.

The clear sound of bells rang out over the vast snowy plains. After crossing layers of moraine, this hopeless and dark journey finally saw the light of day.

Rong Yan felt his heart wavering, and he only took a glance and almost ran away.

What he didn't expect was that after meeting her once, he was no longer satisfied with the speechless and unsmiling Zhu Zheng on paper.

It is difficult to draw the bones of a tiger even though it is skin-deep. The portrait that I look after day and night in the study is indeed a bit dull. Even if there were divine pen and ink in the world, it would be unable to describe the touching moments between a frown and a smile.

It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality, so he began to "unintentionally" create chance encounters. He frequently appeared at gatherings and palace banquets where he had rarely participated before, just to catch a glimpse of the beauty's clothes from afar.

Unfortunately, Zhu Zheng seldom attends and often leaves early, so it is most likely a futile wait.

Only once recently, at Su Dongling's Hundred Flowers Festival, she stayed behind to dress up as Xingxian, wearing a dress with wide sleeves and falling behind the crowd. Rong Yan took out his flute and played a song of "Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix" through a bunch of flower shadows.

The sound of the flute was long and clear. On one side of the flower shadow, the woman stopped, as if she was curious about the flute player hiding in the dark.

Rong Yan stood there, motionless. When she was about to go forward, she was suddenly called by someone and hurried away.

Rong Yan looked at her back, unable to tell whether he was disappointed or relieved, or something else. The feeling was swelling and resonating in his chest, making him feel a bitter feeling.

At this time, he had already learned how to seek power and strategies, and he was very familiar with it. It was not difficult for him to get whatever he wanted.

The only person he had no plans for was Zhu Zheng.

Playing power games is like trying to get the skin of a tiger.

I already knew my own ending and never thought that I would be able to escape unscathed.

It would be best if she did not know him. He should always stand in a place she never knew and just watch from afar for his whole life.

But the world has taken a turn for the better, which is beyond people's expectations.

Upon hearing that something had happened at the Waterside Poetry Gathering, Rong Yan rushed over. An Fengxue used a stick of incense to put Wen Boqiu to sleep, and then dragged him to another room.

The moonlight is as bright as water, and the candle wax is hanging low.

Rong Yan sat upright beside the couch, carefully staring at the eyebrows and eyes of the person in front of him, a little absent-minded, and called her name softly.

"Zhu Zheng."

She looked at him with drunken eyes and responded weakly, "Yeah."

This was the first time he heard her voice, a short one that made him uneasy.

This was also the first time he was so close to her, so close that the shadow of her profile fell on his face, so close that the faint red mole on her cheek was clearly visible, so close that his heart was beating like a drum, and his former self-restraint was gradually disrupted and turned into noisy drumbeats.

Zhu Zheng smelled slightly of alcohol, but she was very drunk. Rong Yan helped her to lie on the couch. She leaned back softly and leaned against him. Her warm breath fanned against his neck, as if she was tightly wrapped by a soft vine.

He wanted to talk to her. He knew so many stories about her that he couldn't finish telling them in three days and three nights.

But the next sentence did not come for a long time.

Even if Rong Yan tried to deceive himself, there were times when he could not deceive himself. He had thought about what she looked like and the scene of meeting her more than once. Ever since the deep dreams of his youth, he had imagined countless possibilities just for the first sentence he would say.

But there was no such thing as her leaning on his chest like this, with her hands tearing his collar.

Rong Yan restrained Zhu Zheng's hands from groping and grabbing, and fed her water to sober her up. With a serious expression, he thought to himself, maybe he should first tell her who he is and why he came here...

...and all those complicated and winding thoughts, which one should I say first so as not to make her feel weird and abrupt.

He was silent for a long time, pondered for a long time, but in the end he said nothing.

While Rong Yan was thinking, Zhu Zheng suddenly threw him onto the couch and covered his lips tightly.