She couldn't see where he was, so she went back to the house and waited.

Rong Ting came back with a bucket of hot water and a wooden basin. When he opened the door, the little girl who was sitting on the edge of the bed trembled slightly. His eyes were too bright. Even though she wiped her face quickly, he changed it to saw the tears she shed.

Jiang Rao didn't cry when she was outside, and she didn't cry when there were people around her. She was the only one left in the room, and she burst into tears without realizing it.

Seeing him coming back, hurriedly erased it.

Rong Ting remained silent.

She wiped the tears off her face just because she didn't want him to see it, so he pretended not to know and walked over to pour out the hot water.

Jiang Rao watched him walk in with his long legs, and he said angrily, "Your legs..."

Rong Ting froze for a moment.

...

Jiang Rao saw something from his stiff figure, she frowned, "Are you having any difficulty?"

"Then I won't ask." She was tired today, and her voice was hoarse, so she could only say softly in the smallest voice, "It's fine." She also had one less thing on her mind.

She didn't even have the strength to remember the dream that he had recovered from his leg injury, and murmured again, "It's fine."

Rong Ting's vision was complicated.

The little girl's temperament is too soft and too good.

So good that he felt that he was terribly sinful.

Her temperament was so pure and white, and it became increasingly apparent that he, who wanted to sully, looked like a wicked person.

Jiang Rao kept turning her head to look at the moon outside, "Tomorrow morning, can you take me home?"

She can't wait to blink another eye, the sky will be bright outside, the sound of the morning drums will beat, and she will be able to go out and think of a way.

But she was a little afraid of the arrival of tomorrow.

Can't wait, time just stops here.

Rong Ting narrowed his eyes slightly, he was dissatisfied with her putting her mind on things other than him, and felt uncomfortable in his heart, but he said "yes" softly.

"You sleep here tonight, I'll sleep in the study." He put the wooden tub half filled with hot water at her feet, and the hot air slowly rose, "Wash your feet."

Jiang Rao looked at him in surprise.

Rong Ting's hand had already grabbed her ankle, about to take off her embroidered shoes, which made Jiang Rao shrink back in fright.

Even though she is usually a little unruly, showing the skin of her ankle to a man is a bit beyond her acceptable range.

"Look." He didn't let go, "You don't want me anymore."

Jiang Rao took a breath. This

What kind of reasoning? How does not wanting to be seen by his ankle have anything to do with not wanting him?

"The marriage will be settled sooner or later. It's not against the rules." He glanced at her with a little angry but not afraid to be angry, with a slightly aggrieved expression, "It's just that you don't think so, only I think so. You change I think there will be problems with the marriage, and I want to throw me away at any time."

The tone was obviously low, but there was sigh and annoyance in the ending, it sounded like a spoiled child.

His subconscious thoughts were broken by him, Jiang Rao lowered his head.

"There's no one else here." He grabbed her feet that were retracted into the bed with his fingers, and didn't mean to let go at all, and didn't even give her a chance to come by herself, "Only I can see it."

Jiang Rao's body gradually relaxed a lot as he was pressed by a moderate force on his ankle, completely ignoring the domineering implied in his words.

He, who values ​​reputation more than her, said so, and she didn't seem to have anything else to say. After all, she was already a person who was driven to a dead end. Etiquette, chastity, and she really were things that couldn't save her family.

Then go to hell with her, she poked her feet weakly and submissively.

Rong Ting received the hint of her movements, took off her embroidered shoes and socks, and soaked her feet in the water.

In fact, he didn't take her promise or not to heart.

She promised the best, if not, he would not let go.

In the end, there is no escape.

Otherwise, both of her embroidered shoes are already wet, what would it be like to wear them cold.

The embroidered shoes placed beside the wooden basin were wet inside and outside, stained with snow and mud.

The soles of the embroidered shoes were thin and soaked through.

These shoes are for the pampered eldest lady, not for walking. The soles of the shoes are soft and thin, and if you walk two or three miles on the snow, you will be soaked by the snow.

Jiang Rao was stabbed in the wooden barrel by her frozen red feet, and slowly regained consciousness. The bone of the left ankle, which was originally white as jade, was now swollen so high that it was purple and red, and it was exposed on the water.

She was a little worried about whether she would be able to walk tomorrow. Rong Ting half-squatted in front of her and looked down. His eyes changed immediately. He raised his eyes and asked her, "Fang Cai, who was the one who bumped into you on the street?"

His voice was cold.

If someone hadn't hit him with his foot and fell on the road, his ankle wouldn't have been injured to such an extent.

"It's a maid." Jiang Rao recalled, she was in a hurry at that time, and she didn't even see what the person who bumped into her looked like.

"I don't know whose maid belonged. It was so dark that I couldn't see it clearly," she added.

Rong Ting pursed his thin lips and did not answer.

He suddenly stood up, his palms pressed against the bed board behind her, and a shadow instantly shrouded Jiang Rao's body.

Jiang Rao's right shoulder sank.

Rong Ting's face was close to her, his forehead just pressed against her right collarbone, buried deep.

She didn't realize what he meant by suddenly arching into her arms like a big dog, he straightened up and frowned in disgust, "You smell like someone else."

Jiang Rao turned her head to the right and lowered her head to smell it.

She was a little surprised that there was an unfamiliar aroma on her body.

She sniffed the scent on her body carefully again—it was the scent of lilac.

Beside him, Rong Ting said, "You don't use this kind of incense."

"It's the scent of the incense that hit my maid." Jiang Rao turned to look at him, and said slowly in a hoarse voice, "I rarely use incense."

Her right shoulder was stained with the fragrance of lilac flowers, and the girl on the road bumped into her right shoulder.

Anyone who can afford aromatherapy must be the maid of a big family.

Rong Ting squatted down again, he put his head on her knees, listening to her hoarse voice, he felt a little distressed, and half turned up his face and said to her, "Don't talk."

He tilted his head and said to her again, "You smell good by yourself."

His chin was pressing against her knee, as if pressing the weight of his head, but Jiang Rao didn't feel the weight. Instead, because of his closeness, she felt a sense of peace in her heart.

After begging all day, no one was willing to help her.

She could figure out what they were worried about. Some people take care of their families, others take care of their future, and each has its own pursuits and responsibilities.

She is neither complaining nor annoyed.

Just sad and desperate.

When she was walking on the road in the dark, she kept thinking, if only one person could stand by her side, it would be nice to be alone.

There is such a person in front of her right now.

Really good.

After washing her feet, she was fed a bowl of medicine for the wound, and then she was wrapped in a quilt and placed beside the couch like a triangle.

There was the smell of his medicine on the quilt, she shrank her head down, smelling her eyelids was a little heavy, she glanced at the medicine bowl suspiciously, and pulled Rong Ting before falling asleep, "You remember to tell me, It will be louder tomorrow, and if I am not awake, I will have someone wake me up."

She didn't want to be a shrunken tortoise who overslept and sat still.

Rong Ting agreed to her, and she closed her eyes, not forgetting to say thank you to him, her soft voice was very well-behaved.

outside the window

In a bright moon, Rong Ting watched her fall asleep, and pulled the quilt for her with his palms close, and did not lift it up for a long time.

It's such a good time to change it.

He traced her eyes, got up and walked out of the room with the medicine bowl mixed with sleep aids that could make people sleep well all night.

Huai Qing was waiting under the porch with a lantern, seeing Rong Ting walking slowly towards him, he stood up tremblingly, bowed his head, and did not dare to look at Rong Ting.

Rong Ting's pace was calm and unhurried, his foundation in martial arts was solid, and the sound of his footsteps seemed to be absent.

Huai Qing looked at the shadow walking towards him on the ground, and the hand holding the lantern was tight.

Anyone with a brain can know that the Ninth Highness will definitely not get better in a day.

But even someone like him who served him personally didn't notice that something was wrong.

Not at all.

"Wu Que invited Master Liao back and is in the front hall." Huai Qing reported truthfully.

Rong Ting handed him the medicine bowl in his hand and instructed, "Tell Wu Que to bring Master Liao to the guest room."

...

When Liao Qiubai was accompanied by Wu Que into the guest room, Rong Ting was wiping a long sword with a rough cloth towel.

Next to the candlelight, he stood with a sword, raised his finger and knocked twice, the long sword rang twice, and the cold light was like water, covering half of his face.

Hearing Liao Qiubai's movement, he smiled and raised his head, "Lord Liao is here?"

Liao Qiubai was almost scared away by the icy sword glow.

Although the eyes that looked at him were smiling, and even said to be clean and thorough, Liao Qiubai felt like a needle had fallen on his body, and shook for no reason, not feeling the slightest warmth.

He smiled dryly and greeted Rong Ting, "Here it is."

If you have something to say, speak well, what kind of sword to rub.

After taking a second look, he took a seat on the seat farthest from Rong Ting, lowered his head for a long time, and suddenly said, "As for the matter that the Ninth Highness can stand up, the lower official will keep his mouth shut."

He doesn't consider himself stupid.

After Rong Ting rode off his horse, he did not forget to ask someone to take him to his mansion, holding a sword in his hand, wasn't he implying this?

He was probably the first person in the Ministry of Works to know that his disability was fake.

Maybe even the only one.

Thinking of the weakness and sickness that Rong Ting had shown to them this year, as well as the lonely and pitiful expression on his face when he was ridiculed for being disabled, all his actions were extremely real and natural.

Too much like a really crippled...

Liao Qiubai's whole body was cold, and his arms shook, but there was also a bit of thought in his eyes.

Rong Ting laughed and put the sword aside, "Master Liao is a smart person."

"It's just that Master Liao has this heart. Regarding my leg injury, Master Liao doesn't need to keep a secret. Even if it is dark at night, I am afraid that someone has seen it, and it may not be able to continue to hide it."

Liao Qiubai breathed a sigh of relief, "If that's the case, why did His Highness Ninth invite me to your house?"

"Master Liao lent me a horse, so I should thank you."

Liao Qiubai: "..."

To thank him with a sword? Is there such a thank you?

He looked at Rong Ting again, the young man was sitting upright with a good-looking smile, but he couldn't tell the difference. The person in front of him had a deep scheming, or he didn't understand the world.

Rong Ting didn't finish his words, he didn't hurry or slow down, got up and made a cup of tea for Liao Qiubai, "My manor has few capable people and sages, and few staff."

Liao Qiubai's eyebrows folded, and he loosened it in a flash. He touched his head and refused with a smile, "I'm used to being laid-back and lazy, I have no ambitions, a capable sage, this... I'm not either, Your Highness Ninth Highness. Look at me."

Rong Ting said in a low voice, "Your direct elder brother is already a second-rank official, can Master Liao really swallow this breath and don't want to make a fortune?"

In one day's work, Jiang Xingzhou's matter has reached the point where it is almost irreversible. Regardless of whether the painting is true or false, this must be done intentionally. He has arranged for spies to inquire about news in Jinling City, and he will report every few days to avoid chaos. But in the market, the governor was slow to speak, and the news he got was mixed and chaotic, and it was impossible to tell whether it was true or false.

He hadn't thought about such a rush about the staff, but if it hadn't been for the lack of staff in the officialdom today, he wouldn't have known so late.

Liao Qiubai has seen the painting, this person is useful.

Liao Qiubai's face changed, and his eyes became sharp, "My eldest brother and I are both descendants of the Liao family. It is the glory of our Liao family that he can be ranked second. How can I not swallow this breath?"

"Brother Guangzong Yaozu, I live a loose life, there's nothing wrong with it." He looked away from Rong Ting's inquiring gaze.

Rong Ting said: "If you really don't want to, why do you have to stay in the Ministry of Engineering every day until the sound of drums? The biological mother will be bullied by the mistress."

Liao Qiubai squeezed his fist tightly.

He was stabbed in the same way.

His birth and his weak biological mother tied his feet.

His father wished he hadn't been born, even if he only managed to get the job with his direct-born brother, he could only pretend to be a jerk.

But he couldn't take this breath in his heart, he wanted to climb higher.

three princes

, The fourth prince is replaced by the seventeenth prince. He has been watching which prince will become the future prince, but before today, he had never paid attention to Rong Ting.

In his eyes, at the age of thirteen, Rong Ting, who had become a crippled man, lived a better life than him.

However, today he let him know with a few words that the person in front of him is not a kind person.

He knew all the things that he had never mentioned to anyone.

The fox's tail is really hidden.

However, if he didn't have such a scheming and shrewdness, it wasn't that he wanted to serve only one person.

This is not a trivial matter, he did not dare to act rashly, and did not immediately agree, "Let me think about it for a few more days."

Rong Ting looked tolerant and nodded slightly, "Today is late at night, and tomorrow is the time of Xiu Mu. In exchange, I invite Lord Liao to be my admiral for a few days. Your Excellency has always been curious about what books I have read, and you can enter and leave me at will. The study. Wait for me to deal with the good things, and then discuss."

Liao Qiubai was overjoyed to be able to read Rong Ting's collection of books, he pondered that what Rong Ting said just now was a few days rather than one night, knowing that Rong Ting was taking precautions against him, he said knowingly, "Even if the ninth highness said that there is no need to keep your mouth shut, the lower official will Know what to say and what not to say, the ninth Highness's leg injury will not be known from my mouth."

He asked curiously, "It's so late, what can your Highness do?"

"The matter of Ning An Bo's house is my business."

To solve this matter, Jiang Rao will continue to look at him wholeheartedly, and only he will be in his eyes.

Rong Ting said it lightly, and Liao Qiubai's face was horrified, "The matter of Ning An's mansion is basically a foregone conclusion. Everyone wants to put aside their relationship with Ning'an's mansion. You are going against the trend and seeking your own death."

Rong Ting ignored his words.

Seeing that he couldn't stop him, Liao Qiubai suddenly wanted to see how capable he was. After being silent for a while, he said, "If your Ninth Highness can settle this matter, I will be your assistant."

"But." He lowered his voice and warned for the last time, "Prince Jing is a piece of the Holy Spirit's heart for a long time. I'm afraid that you will not be able to come back alive if you get caught in this matter."