Xunyang Tower.

The lobby on the first floor is empty, but the lights are brightly lit. There is a river view outside the window. This building is particularly quiet tonight.

Rong Zhen stood in front of a white wall in the center of the hall, looking up at a framed Qi Jue poem hanging high on the wall.

"The rustling west wind fills the courtyard with plants, and the fragrant pistils are cold and the butterflies are hard to come... If I were the Qing Emperor in another year, I would repay peach blossoms... blooming in one place..."

She murmured with pink lips and stared at the sleeves for a while. The meaning of this sentence is easy to understand, and even Rong Zhen, who is not familiar with poetry, can immediately understand:

Once you become the Qing Emperor, the God of Spring, you must let the chrysanthemums and peach blossoms bloom in the great spring, so that the chrysanthemums that are originally bitter and cold in late autumn and ranked last can also enjoy the joy of having warm and fragrant pistils and being surrounded by bees and butterflies...

…

"It's so heroic and bold. Is this the pattern and ambition..." In the hall, the girl in palace clothes spoke alone to the white wall and the new poem, and it was quiet for a while.

"He's awake."

Suddenly a clear and slightly cold female voice came from behind.

Rong Zhen turned around and saw a tall figure in a delicate and elegant skirt, standing at the entrance of the stairs leading upstairs.

It is said that Mrs. Xie, who may be engaged to Ouyang Lianghan, is the only daughter of his mentor, the great scholar Xie Xun.

This noble daughter, who was the 17th in the Xie clan of this generation in Chen County, was shouting to her from a distance.

The keen sense of smell unique to women told Rong Zhen that this noble lady of the Xie family might not welcome her.

Rong Zhen's expression did not change, and he had no intention of leaving in anger.

"Miss Xie, did you tell him?" She took the initiative to step forward and asked seriously.

Xie Lingjiang looked at her, turned around and walked upstairs, leaving behind only a tall figure with her head held high and her chest raised like a swan.

"Come with me."

Rong Zhen raised his feet and followed Xie Lingjiang upstairs.

Along the way, there was silence between the two women, one behind the other.

No one spoke first.

Until Rong Zhen, who was walking behind, took out a small orange-red sachet from his sleeve and tied it around his waist with a calm expression.

Xie Lingjiang's steps slowed down slightly as he walked ahead, then returned to the same pace without looking back.

There is a faint scent of osmanthus in the air.

Xie Lingjiang suddenly said:

"Elder brother is not a good drinker. He often asks him to drink less but refuses to listen. He slept all afternoon today. Although he is awake now, he still has a headache. It is an old problem brought from Longcheng. I just used to have it.

When I took office in Longcheng, I drowned once, and then I was injured and fell into coma once when I was treating floods. I bumped my head all the time..."

Rong Zhen raised his eyes slightly and looked at the back of the tall girl on the stairs in front of him who was suddenly chattering about some trivial things.

After listening to this girl Xie talk a lot, she turned back and told her calmly:

"So, Ms. Shi, please hurry up and finish explaining the matter. Let the senior brother rest. He has been worrying too much about the affairs of Xunyang City before. The period when he was transferred to Jiangzhou Sima should be the longest since I met the senior brother.

His most relaxed and calm state.

"Let me tell you this privately, maybe it's something that senior brother doesn't like to hear... Actually, I think it might not be too bad for him to take the post of Jiangzhou Sima and take a break."

Rong Zhen suddenly asked: "Miss Xie knows what I am here to do?"

Xie Lingjiang smiled and continued to walk up the stairs with his head slightly raised.

After a while, Rong Zhen heard her strange rhetorical question:

"Don't you need to guess? Everyone who comes to see Senior Brother is asking him to take action and do something to wipe their own ass.

"If nothing goes wrong, no one will think of him. When something goes wrong and the situation deteriorates, it would be better to think of him again and be the first to find him."

Rong Zhen was quiet for a while.

Suddenly asked:

"If I were the Qing Emperor in his lifetime, I would be rewarded with peach blossoms blooming everywhere... Was that poem on the wall written by him on the spot at the Chrysanthemum Poetry Festival in the morning?"

"Um."

"It's not his handwriting on the wall, and it doesn't have his style. It must have been copied by someone else."

"Well, the owner of Xunyang Tower loved this poem so much that he made a copy of it with the consent of the eldest brother and the organizer of the poem meeting, Her Royal Highness the Princess Princess... If he has the foresight, this Xunyang Tower can become several famous names in the south of the Yangtze River.

One of the buildings is not unreasonable."

Rong Zhen was about to speak but stopped.

Xie Lingjiang's faint words came:

"I like this poem. Senior brother sent me the manuscript. What's wrong?"

"nothing."

Rong Zhen turned his gaze away and asked casually:

"Why didn't he go back to Huaiye Lane? He was still staying in Xunyang Building."

"The female historian and the deputy superintendent had not yet ordered the city to be closed. I was planning to take my senior brother back to Huaiye Lane in the afternoon, but I was told that the whole city was under martial law. The owner of Xunyang Tower and Miss Qin, the steward of the Qing Dynasty, kept my senior brother in the building.

Let's rest for a night and wait for the city to be lifted. I don't know how long the female historian will close the city. The court has arranged it, so the common people like me can only suffer.

"Elder brother has not rested for a while in the afternoon, but the prince, the prince, General Qin, Yuan Changshi, and Yan Canjun all came to the door one by one to disturb his rest.

"It's good now, the female historian is here too."

Rong Zhen lowered his eyes and said:

"But he seems to have refused."

Xie Lingjiang didn't look back and asked softly:

"So Ms. Shi thinks she can convince him by taking action herself?"

Rong Zhen didn't know how long he was silent before he answered in five words:

"The people need him."

Xie Lingjiang corrected: "The premise is that you also need it."

Without waiting for Rong Zhen to say anything more, Xie Lingjiang led her to the Tianzihao box on the top floor, stopped and turned around:

"We're here, little lady, go get some tea. Senior brother needs a rest. Lady Shi only has time for a cup of tea. Please be considerate."

The girl in palace clothes stood there, slowly tilted her head, and watched Xie Lingjiang's figure disappear on the stairway.

This woman is a head taller than her.

I was walking all the way up the front stairs just now, always maintaining a big height difference when talking to her.

She didn't like it very much, especially his tone of understanding and concern for Ouyang Lianghan.

Rong Zhen glanced at the box door and knocked twice.

"Please come in."

Rong Zhen opened the door and found the sound of pipa echoing in the box.

Turning around, I saw two figures in the large box.

Miss Qin, a noblewoman holding a pipa, and a young man with downcast eyes listening to music with his chin propped up.

Rong Zhen walked over and sat down.

She softly took the initiative to talk about the current situation in the city, as well as what happened at the Xingzi Lake construction site in the morning, all in detail, including the progress of her and Aunt Song's investigation and the speculation on the suspects...

Ouyang Rong suddenly interrupted her:

"If you are not in your position, you will not seek to govern. Your Majesty, Brother Qin, and Brother Yuan have been here this afternoon. I should have told you when I got back.

"I have little talent and little knowledge. My only advantage is that I am honest and responsible. The King of Wei and the King of Liang think that I am getting in the way. Your Majesty has listened to the opinions of the two princes and will transfer me to Jiangzhou Sima. I understand that I will keep my position in this position.

"I am flattered that you can allow me to see you tonight. Please refrain from talking about state affairs except for personal friendship."

Ouyang Rong continued to drink tea and listen to the pipa.

Rong Zhen stared at the serious face of the man in front of him for a while, then suddenly nodded:

"I know this, so when I come this time, I won't talk about state affairs, and I won't force you to talk about anything else out of any righteousness."

Ouyang Rong nodded calmly, "That's good, thank you for your understanding..."

But who would have thought that Rong Zhen lowered his head, took out a sachet from his waist, put it on the table, and said something that made Ouyang Rong's eyelids jump:

"This morning, when you were composing a poem in Xunyang Tower, I was actually outside the building, planning to come in and ask you for a poem."

She nodded again, opened the sachet, took out an IOU, and said with a straight face:

"Originally, it seemed that your right hand was injured and it was inconvenient to compose poetry. I wasn't planning to ask you for it recently. But now it seems that you can compose poetry in the morning and you should be able to do it in the evening as well. The injury will not hinder you.

"When Miss Xie comes later, Ouyang Sima, please exchange the IOU and compose a poem."

Ouyang Rong's expression changed slightly: "What do you mean, Ms. Shi?"
To be continued...