World of Chessboard

"Is this everything that Gong Tiangshuang found out?" Zhao Qingyan was curled up in a chair and looking at the lake with squinted eyes. She didn't seem to be nervous at all.

"Are you not surprised at all?" Lu Sobbing laughed and asked.

Zhao Qingyan said lightly, "I guess."

Lu Sobbing did not wait for him to finish and couldn't help but urge, "Keep talking. Are you trying to keep us in suspense?"

Zhao Qingyan lowered her eyes and spoke softly. Her voice was just loud enough for Lu Sobbing and Ran Hao, who was sitting behind him, to hear, "The empress is confident that her royal brother can seal the crown prince."

Lu Sobbing was stunned. "Where did this come from?"

Zhao Qingyan said, "The empress is very smart and would not shoot for no reason. It has been so many years since she made a move. For her to make such a big fuss, it can only mean that she has the confidence to make her royal brother the crown prince. "

Lu Sobbing thought about it for a moment and finally accepted his idea. "You can continue."

Zhao Qingyan lightly caressed the armrest of the chair with his finger, "From the empress's actions, it's not hard to see two possibilities. Uncle Huang has already given up on the idea of having a son, or the empress knows that Uncle Huang will not be able to have a son. Of course, they all have the same meaning. "

Lu Sobbing curiously asked, "What's the reason behind this?"

Zhao Qingyan pointed at her nose and asked, "Why would the empress want to harm me?" This is because my royal uncle has not only once expressed his desire to have me under his knee. The empress didn't react either, not because she was enduring, but simply because she thought that whether it was me or her royal brother, they were both her adopted sons, with no conflicts of interest. And now? I grew up in the Qi King's Manor. My parents are alive, unlike my royal brother, who has no parents and has always been raised by my side. Furthermore, my royal brother's personality is truly kind. I am clearly a wolf with hidden fangs. I can bite the throat of someone I had friendly relations with at any time. In any case, she would no longer place any hope in me. Since it's useless, then I will become a stumbling block. "

"All I know is that you are a man of terrible intelligence. I originally thought that Gongzi's deduction was crazy enough, but you actually dared to think about it even more than he did. "

"Gong Tianxiong is indeed very smart." Zhao Qingyan's eyes curved into a smile. "But he doesn't understand the empress and royal brother." There was a smile on his lips, but he did not want to say anything more.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhao Qingyan said, "I'm thinking... If it were Tang Xiao, would he have been taken advantage of by the Puppet Palace to be framed? "

Weeping Lu tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Is he that smart? Is it possible to calculate step by step? "

Zhao Qingyan shook his head. "I'm just used to imagining things. If it were Tang Xiao, what would he have done?"

Lu Sobbing curled her lips: "Would he do that? What else can he do? "

Zhao Qingyan murmured, "Yes." She looked a little tired.

"Yun …"

Just as Lu Sobbing said that, Zhao Qingyan's expression changed slightly. He leaned over and vomited twice. Ran Hao quickly picked up the spittoon that he had prepared earlier and handed it over, using his other hand to support the young master, who had used too much strength, almost falling down from his chair.

As soon as Zhao Qingyan vomited out two mouthfuls, she coughed again. Moments later, she spat out a mouthful of blood-stained porridge. It seemed that it hadn't been long since she drank it.

Fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead. His already pale face was now as white as paper. His wet lips had also turned green. With the support of Ran Hao, Zhao Qingyan barely managed to stand up. He slightly bent his back and covered his face with his hands, breathing heavily.

Weeping Lu looked at him silently for a while, then softly said: "You're vomiting like this again?"

Zhao Qingyan took his right hand off his forehead and looked at the beads of sweat on his palm. Forget it, I'm already used to it anyway. "

Lu Sobbing frowned, but only asked, "Did you force yourself to eat too much again?"

Zhao Qingyan closed her eyes and only opened them after a while, her eyelashes covering her expression, "To them, as long as I eat more, I will be better and they will be happy. As for what happened after I ate these things, they didn't want to see it, and I didn't want them to see it. Rather than explaining it clearly to them and making them worry about me, it would be better to eat it and vomit it out of sight. " He raised his head and smiled, "Don't tell me you've never done this before."

Lu Sobbing smiled bitterly, "I did, but when I'm not eating, it's mostly to ruin my body." If you don't eat, you will feel uncomfortable. If you eat, you are destined to vomit, and it will be even worse, so you shouldn't eat anymore.

"Yeah." Zhao Qingyan lay back down and covered his eyes with his hands, "I really hate my body. But after that, I will continue to live." Therefore, since I am unable to change it, I can only accept my fate and work hard to get used to it. "

Lu Sobbing silently shook his head, then asked, "Six days from now, it will be the Imperial Palace's banquet, right?"

Zhao Qingyan hummed in a low voice and did not say another word.

Lu Sobbing sighed, "That's what I'm worried about."

Zhao Qingyan smiled but did not reply.

He did not say anything, and also did not want to talk too much. The scholar leaned his body back, covering his eyes with his hands as he quietly enjoyed the gentle breeze.

The wind was very comfortable, cool as it blew across the surface of the lake, without the heat and restlessness of summer. Hearing the delicate chirping of the cicada, he could not help but feel sleepy. It would be the best choice to sleep in such a place.

Ever since many years ago, Lu Sobbing loved to come here, move a chair, make a pot of tea, and accompany Zhao Qingyan as they chatted for the whole day.

Actually, what he wanted was just a calm summer day to be lost in thought, right?

Why …

Lu Sobbing sat up straight, and suddenly opened her eyes wide, as if she couldn't say anything.

"Lu Sobbing? What did you remember? "

Lu Sobbing slowly retracted the hatred in her eyes and turned to look at Zhao Qingyan. She smiled and lay back down. "No, I'm just looking at where the cicada is chirping so irritatingly."

Zhao Qingyan smiled and retracted his gaze. He softly added, "That's right, this year's cicadas are really annoying. I wonder how many of them there are."

"Wait for what?"

Weeping Lu seemed to realize that she had accidentally said something that flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but laugh. "When winter comes, they'll die as well."

Although Zhao Qingyan did not know why he was smiling, she could not help but smile when she saw his happy smile. "I hope so."

Weeping Lu turned his head to look at him: "What? You don't believe me? "

Zhao Qingyan shook his head and replied, "I believe you." Finally, he added, "But why should I care about the cicadas that appear every year?"

Lu Sobbing squinted, looking for cicadas that could not be seen from a tree far away: "You don't need to care, but I think I care especially about these noisy cicadas. Do you know why? "

"I'd like to hear more about it."

Lu Sobbing laughed at what sounded like "I don't care." Then she decided to explain what she had heard: "Because I've been waiting for these cicadas to die year after year — every year — ever since I caught them."

Zhao Qingyan smiled and said, "It's really unfortunate. Since I was eight years old, I can stick cicadas. One rod can stick quite a few cicadas."

"That's why we'll have to wait for them to die."

"But there will be a new year."

"So I was waiting for winter the next year."

"They will always be there. They will never die."

"I can wait until I can't hear them."

"Since you can't wait for them to die, why wait?"

"Because I can see them die."

The meaningless conversation came to an abrupt end.

Lu Sobbing was laughing, while Zhao Qingyan was looking at him with an indifferent expression. He was wearing a fake smile. As they looked at each other, no one made any new movements.

Pei'er looked curiously at her young master before turning to ask Jin'er, "Jin'er, what are they talking about?"

Jin'er replied, "They're talking about cicadas." Should we stick the cicadas down or wait until the winter for them to die? "

Pei'er pursed her lips. "Viscous cicadas are fun to play with. It's boring to wait for a long time in the winter." Seeing that the Young Master and Marquis Lu were both looking at him, he could not help but be startled. "Did I say something wrong?"

Zhao Qingyan laughed, "No." Do you want to stick to cicadas? Shall I ask Hao to fetch the pole? "

Pei'er's eyes lit up and happily exclaimed, "That's great!"

Zhao Qingyan nodded to Ran Hao: "Go get it."

Lu Sobbing said, "Give me one too."

Zhao Qingyan looked at him in surprise. "What? "Why is Marquis Lu so interested in this?"

Lu Sobbing rubbed her chin. "All of a sudden, I also want to try and kill a few annoying little things."

Zhao Qingyan asked, "What is it? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble? "

Lu Sobbing smiled, "Anyway, it's very interesting. It's better to try and kill him than to just sit there and do nothing."

Zhao Qingyan raised an eyebrow, "Really? When do you plan to start? "

"Today."

A trace of surprise flashed across Zhao Qingyan's eyes. After a moment of silence, he smiled and asked, "When can it end?"

Lu Sobbing pretended to be deep in thought. "That depends on whether or not I can play with it. I'll give it a try first." After all, it's been so many years since I've tried it that I've almost forgotten how to glue it. "

"Let me teach you!"

Weeping Lu turned around and smiled at her, patting her head. "Alright, then I'll be counting on you."

Pei'er avoided his hand and pouted in dissatisfaction. "Young Master, look, he messed up my hair again!"

Zhao Qingyan lazily suggested, "Let him compensate."

"What can he compensate?"

Lu Sobbing said, "I plan to leave the city for a few days. I can bring you some food that you can't find in Liang City."

Pyle laughed. "Sure!"

Zhao Qingyan watched him with a smile and reminded him, "Don't be late."

Weeping Lu laughed, "Naturally. How could I be willing to miss out on such a good show?"

"Is this a good show?" Zhao Qingyan thought to himself as he lowered his eyes and smiled.