Chapter 123 Too Long
He embezzled disaster relief grain funds and embezzled military expenditures.
The Emperor once regarded Rong Que as a poor and weak person, who was suppressed by the Duke of Zhenguo and his party and could not rise up and raise his head. Especially after the Xishan Camp case, he felt that Rong Que was helpless and alone in the officialdom.
But no matter how much he felt sorry for him before, he was now very angry when he saw these hard evidences. This anger came from the fact that the emperor felt he was being fooled.
My fatherly love was trampled upon like this.
The emperor was furious and ordered the prince to be confined to his home.
During the confinement period, all matters must be handed over, including the command of the Beijing Guard Battalion to the Third Prince, and the Patrol Battalion to the Fourth Prince. No one in the Prince's Mansion is allowed to go out.
It's like house arrest.
The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice joined forces to continue investigating the assassination.
Prince's Mansion.
Rong Que stood under the osmanthus tree in his casual clothes, looking up at the bits of light leaking through the dense leaves.
Su Qingqing came out of the main room, looked at his back, and paused. She had never seen Rong Que with such an expression.
In past and present lives, when I had contact with him, he was either indifferent, distant, playful, or he bowed his head and admitted his mistakes a few days ago, but he had never been like this, looking lonely and pitiful.
Like a wounded dog, it needs to be comforted by its owner.
Su Qingqing took a breath and stepped forward, "Your Highness, are you uneasy?"
Rong Que retracted his gaze and turned to look at the person beside him. "The year my mother was placed under house arrest, it was also at this time of year. The sweet-scented osmanthus flowers in her palace were in full bloom, with a fragrant aroma, but she could only smell the blood in the room."
Su Qingqing only knew that the queen mother passed away when the prince was young, and it was said that she died suddenly overnight.
This is a palace secret. Even if someone knows it, they won't talk about it in detail. Besides, she is a border general and has no interest in these things.
In her opinion, this was palace intrigue and was far away from her.
"My mother was suspected of witchcraft and was confined to her room. The case was handed over to the then eunuch Xi Gong, the chief eunuch, for investigation. During the investigation, my mother was not allowed to enter or leave the palace.
An elderly maid in her palace had lost her mind due to nightmares during the confinement. She rushed into the room with a knife while my mother was sleeping, and hacked her to death on the bed.
By the time the palace servants heard the noise and rushed over, my mother was already dead."
When Rong Que spoke calmly, his tone was as if he was talking about how nice the weather was and the sunshine was bright today.
But Su Qingqing was terrified when she heard it.
"Then Madam was bribed?"
Rong Que sneered, "Who knows? My mother is dead. What good will it do to find out?"
As he spoke, he suddenly turned around and looked directly at Su Qingqing. He paused and gently pressed his hands on her shoulders. "So, being alive is better than anything else. Even if you have to sink to the ground, as long as you are alive, you have a chance."
The queen didn't even have a chance to redress her own grievances.
Su Qingqing looked up at Rong Que, "You will be fine."
She patted Rong Que on the arm.
Rong Que grabbed her hand, the desolation on his face disappeared or was hidden, with a sparkling smile in his eyes, "While we are under house arrest and can't do anything else, let's interrogate Su Yunhe?"
Su Qingqing laughed, "It's not the right time yet. If we interrogate him now, he will try to argue. Let's wait a little longer."
Rong Que said, "I'll listen to you. Then... let's have a barbecue."
Jixiang was just coming in from outside. When she heard that they were going to eat barbecue, she jumped over happily and said, "Master, I bought a barbecue grate a few days ago, but I never had time to use it. What a coincidence. I'll go get it right away."
The imperial guards outside were guarding the Prince's Mansion like an iron barrel.
Inside, there was curling smoke and wafts of meaty aroma, accompanied by sweet-scented osmanthus wine, the aroma of meat and wine was intoxicating and charming.
Su Qingqing was not used to eating meat roasted on a grill, so she let Jixiang play with it while she made a fire in the yard and roasted a leg of lamb.
The lamb leg was roasted until it was greasy and sizzling.
She used a sharp dagger to cut off the roasted part and passed it to Rong Que's plate, "This is how you eat meat to make it more delicious."
Minglu brought over a few jars of wine. Rongque uncorked them and brought them to Su Qingqing. He took away the small pot of osmanthus wine and the wine bowl in front of her, "This is how you drink wine to enjoy it."
Su Qingqing immediately laughed out loud, picked up the jar and started drinking.
She was dressed in silk and satin, and although she looked charming and enchanting, she exuded the boldness and heroism of a general on the battlefield.
Like an eagle, like a ferocious beast.
Rong Que raised the wine jar and clinked it with hers, "Are you happy?"
Su Qingqing burst into laughter. "You mean being grounded? If I say I'm happy, you're in trouble. Be careful or I'll break into your house with a knife tonight."
Rong Que smiled and said, "I haven't had such a carefree life in a long time. I am very careful every day, afraid of doing or saying something wrong. Everyone says that the crown prince is second only to one person, but I am the only one who knows that this position is the most miserable position in the world."
If you are too outstanding, you will overshadow the emperor and make him feel a sense of crisis.
If you are too stupid, you will be criticized and the emperor will be dissatisfied.
If you are ordinary, it will arouse suspicion and make the emperor have doubts.
No matter what you do, it's wrong.
"It's different now. I'm a criminal now. I don't have to think about anything or do anything. I can just stay here and eat and drink."
Jixiang laughed out loud, "Eating wine and drinking meat? Your Highness can do such a trick as drinking meat?"
Su Qingqing smiled and glared at Jixiang, "You are disrespectful, I will eat your meat."
Jixiang was not afraid. He stuck out his tongue and shared the roasted meat with Minglu and Minghe.
"It's rare to have a moment of leisure, Your Highness. Enjoy it. After this barbecue, you will be busy again." Su Qingqing clinked the wine jar with his.
I don't know if it was because both of them were feeling depressed or they hadn't drunk for a long time, but under such circumstances, they each drank two or three jars of liquor without realizing it.
Su Qingqing boasted that she could drink a lot, but after three jars of wine, she felt dizzy and groggy. Minglu saw this and found an excuse to call Jixiang away.
In the courtyard filled with the fragrance of osmanthus, only Su Qingqing and Rong Que were left.
The barbecue lasted until late at night.
The sky was full of twinkling stars. Rong Que looked at Su Qingqing's flushed cheeks and approached her. Su Qingqing just cut off a piece of meat and turned to ask him, "Do you want to eat?"
The words remained between his lips and teeth.
Rong Que approached suddenly, and the two of them almost crossed their eyes when their eyes met.
The tip of Rong Que's nose was just a hair's length away from Su Qingqing's nose.
The breath was entangled, and I didn't know if it was the effect of the wine or the meat or both, but heat immediately surged into my body.
Su Qingqing blinked her eyes and tried to move away.
Rong Que felt dizzy, and the blood rushed to his head at this moment. He took a deep breath, raised his hand, grabbed the back of Su Qingqing's head, and pressed her towards him.
Su Qingqing had just drunk some wine, and her lips felt cold as she was sucked.
The moment they met, Rong Que's body froze for a moment, and then he couldn't help but attack.
After this moment, he will definitely be pushed away.
But he couldn't bear it any longer, he just wanted to ignore it, he missed this person deeply, and had been thinking about him for too long.
