ch 72

Zong Huan couldn't do anything about the little demon in his arms. If you said he was timid, he was bold enough to pluck the hair from the tiger's mouth. If you said he was bold, he was scared to tears by a mere nightmare. His thin and weak body was still trembling, as if he was badly frightened.

He reached out and smoothed out Su Yang's hair, asking, "What did you dream of?"

Su Yang gasped for breath, tears once again gushing out of his eyes.

He said, "I dreamed that I stole someone's precious treasure. That person was in great pain, I know I was wrong … I wanted to return the treasure to him, but it was already too late. It was really too late."

Su Yang opened his eyes wide and looked at the window. There was a red lantern there, which reminded him of the Ghost King Temple that was crazily burned by flames in his dream. Mo Yan said that the flames in the temple were controlled by him. Only when he lost control of his emotions would such a situation occur … That fool was really panicking.

Su Yang didn't dare to imagine. With Mo Yan's stubborn personality, he didn't know how long it would take for him to accept the reality of his departure. After accepting, what would he do?

He didn't dare to think, or more accurately, he was really afraid of knowing the truth.

When he left Fu Zhou, he only felt relieved. That man's personality was treacherous and unpredictable. Being with him was very stressful. Later, when he left Jing Cheng, he narrowly escaped death. He only remembered that he had almost lost his life, so he didn't have the time to think about love.

It was only after he was reunited with Zhao Feng that he truly felt reluctant to part with him, but Mo Yan's appearance dispelled his uneasiness. That stupid Qiong Qi was silly, straightforward and cute, and treated him like a female beast to protect and pamper, allowing him to gradually adapt to that terrifying world.

Thinking about the scene of him crying silently in his dream, for the first time in his life, Su Yang questioned himself: How could you bear to do that?

Zong Huan kissed the tears on his cheeks. It was a cold and bitter taste. He couldn't help but frown, saying, "It's just a dream, why are you crying like this? No matter what precious treasure you took, I will repay it ten times, a hundred times … Don't cry, my heart hurts."

Su Yang shook his head. How could he repay the deep feelings of several lifetimes?

At this moment, he felt an unprecedented resistance to the system's mission. If the price of living was to continuously hurt others, then he was willing to give up.

The System noticed his abnormality and said, "Don't do anything rash."

Su Yang did not say anything. At this moment, his thoughts had never been as clear as they were now. If this was the result of filling up the progress bar, then he would rather Zong Huan never fall in love with him. Both of them would live happily in this world. It was better than one of them leaving and the other suffering for the rest of his life.

= = =

Seeing that the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and the King of Wu's people had already entered the capital, the Empress Dowager was in a very good mood these past few days. For several days in a row, she held a flower-admiring banquet in the Imperial Garden, wantonly inviting the noble ladies of the capital. Her intention was obvious; she wanted to select a First Consort for Zong Xu.

The King of Wu, Zong Xu, was already twenty-five years old this year. He only had two concubines in the inner court. If he had not been banished to the wilderness three years ago, he would have already had a son by now, let alone a First Consort.

The two brothers were very similar in this aspect. Zong Huan would be thirty years old after the New Year, and the position of Empress was still undecided. All the civil and military officials in the court were worried sick about him, but he still did as he pleased, and no one could do anything about it.

Naturally, Su Yang took the blame for this. Now, the whole capital was saying that the reason the Emperor refused to appoint an Empress was because of the eunuch named Tong Jiabao. The Emperor was bewitched by this demon and could not tolerate other women.

There were also rumors that the Emperor issued an absurd imperial edict saying that no one in the world could bully his darling. Those who disobeyed the edict would be beheaded.

After all, the Son of Heaven had a sense of propriety. In places slightly further away from the capital, the rumors were even more fantastic. Some people said that Tong Jiabao was the reincarnation of a vixen. He had a devastatingly beautiful appearance and a graceful figure. The Emperor was bewitched by him to the point of obeying his every word.

When they arrived at the Flower Admiring Banquet, Su Yang sat upright on one side. He was dressed in a royal blue phoenix embroidered robe. His jet-black hair was tied up with a jasper hairpin, and there was a calming fragrance pouch at his waist. It exuded a faint fragrance of indocalamus and grass. His flawless white jade-like cheeks were expressionless, and he allowed everyone to size him up with hidden or bold gazes.

Seeing him like this, the Empress Dowager nodded inwardly. At least he did not lose face for the imperial family.

Naturally, she was biased toward Zong Xu, but Zong Huan was also her son. When two tigers fought, one of them was bound to be injured. The only thing she could do now was to try her best to avoid this kind of injury.

As long as Tong Jiabao sat firmly on the Empress Dowager's throne, the dragon and phoenix omens would be a revelation from the Heavens. At that time, the Emperor would not be able to take concubines, and naturally, he would not be able to have any children in this lifetime. She would then persuade Zong Huan to choose one of Zong Xu's sons to be his successor. In this way, the Zong family would be as stable as before, and both of her sons would be safe.

The most important thing now was to choose a generous and decent consort for Zong Xu, who had a prominent family background.

The Empress Dowager's eyes flashed. She looked back at Song mama and said, "I heard that King Wu entered the palace today to report on his work. I haven't seen him for some time and miss him very much. Invite him to come here. Tell him it's my decree."

Song Mama curtsied and quickly left.

In this era, the customs were relatively civilized. Unmarried girls did not have the rule of not seeing outside men. As long as they did not meet in private and did dirty things, most of the time, it would not attract gossip.

Hearing that King Wu was coming, these girls had different expressions. Some were curious, while others were worried. What were they worried about? Naturally, they were afraid that they would be chosen by King Wu and return with him to that desolate and barren Hebei.

Their expressions were all seen by the Empress Dowager. She lowered her eyes without batting an eyelid and slowly said, "Jiabao, boil some tea for me."

Hearing this, Su Yang obediently stood up and walked over to her. He bowed half a way before leisurely picking up the tea set. His movements were as smooth as moving clouds and flowing water. Each of his movements was as elegant and calm as an ink painting. It was pleasing to the eye and intoxicating to watch, completely unable to move their eyes away.

A moment later, the refreshing fragrance of tea spread from the warm jade porcelain cup, refreshing the mind.

He picked up the jade porcelain cup and placed his index finger and middle finger on the side of the cup to feel the temperature of the tea. He slightly curved the corners of his lips and said, "The temperature is just right. Please have some tea, Empress Dowager."