Chapter 265: 275. Ru Shixiong is Bad

275. Ru Shixiong is Bad

In the study.

The Wang Lixian family and the Xiao Shimei, standing or sitting, had thoughtful expressions.

"Spending money to build a pagoda, Uncle praying for blessings, broken jade reunited, offering auspicious omens, claiming to be seriously ill... reasonable and logical, interlocking."

Li Guoer tapped her chin with her finger, her eyes brightened, and she looked at Ouyang Rong: "Good!"

Wei Mei frowned, considering more, or rather, knowing that mother-in-law better:

"Will it be seen through by her or them at a glance?"

Ouyang Rong looked at Wei Mei strangely:

"Of course this will be seen through. Isn't this self-evident?"

Wei Mei opened her mouth: "Huh?"

Ouyang Rong smiled:

"Who says auspicious omens must be true? Isn't a fake auspicious omen a true auspicious omen?"

He lowered his eyes and muttered, like a tongue twister:

"When the true is fake, the fake is true; when the fake is true, the true is fake; true and fake, fake and true, true and fake, fake and true."

Li Fusu was thoughtful, touched his head, and his tone was a bit worried:

"Tanlang, fake things will eventually have a flaw. Although the preparation is very thorough, what if someone stands up to dismantle the stage? If they take it seriously and send someone to investigate carefully, won't it be bad?"

"Eldest Brother is right."

Ouyang Rong nodded, and in an instant, raised his slender palm to point to the Zhou court in Luoyang in the north:

"But who dares to take it seriously, who dares to investigate? In front of the Saint, who dares to say that the Buddha's auspicious omen and the blessing of the Great Zhou are fake?

"Ask the public officials, do they have the guts?"

The twenty-year-old strategist raised his chin and sneered sarcastically.

"Tanlang is right, but it seems there are still prime ministers who dare to remonstrate directly in front of the Saint." Li Fusu said weakly: "For example, Master Di."

Ouyang Rong looked strange: "Why would Master Di dismantle your stage?"

Li Fusu and the crowd were instantly speechless.

That's right, they are all friendly forces. Why would the pro-Li faction of the imperial court dismantle their stage? See through but don't say it.

It's not like everyone is Ouyang Lianghan, who prepared a coffin and dared to stand up to the Princess and the Empress.

"Makes sense." Li Guoer nodded, and pondered again: "What about Prince Wei and the Wei family? They can also say quite a lot in front of the Saint."

Ouyang Rong smiled and nodded, agreeing one hundred percent:

"Then investigate! Exactly, before Gan was changed to Zhou, they offered those bullshit auspicious omens. Master Di and the others can also investigate them and see who has problems first."

Li Guoer, Wei Mei, and Li Fusu turned their heads and looked sideways, all with enlightened expressions: "What a brilliant scheme!"

Only Wang Lixian was still struggling and scratching his head, asking weakly:

"Tanlang, it's easy to talk about the people below, but the main thing is the Saint's attitude toward me. What if she hates me and doesn't accept this auspicious omen?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head and said:

"The person who needs to worry the least about this auspicious omen offering is the Saint herself."

Speaking of this, he paused and sighed:

"In other words, it is precisely because of her attitude that we have to take the initiative to offer auspicious omens today. This is an opportunity, an opportunity she gave. If we don't grasp it, we will miss it."

Wang Lixian was stunned and asked in a panic: "What opportunity is Tanlang talking about?"

Ouyang Rong pointed to the jade Jue fragments by his boots:

"Uncle, haven't you seen that this piece of Jue is her attitude?"

"But since ancient times, isn't the main meaning of Jue 'sever' (jue)?"

Ouyang Rong asked back: "Why not 'decide' (jue), the 'decide' of being resolute."

Wang Lixian wanted to speak but stopped.

Ouyang Rong asked back again:

"If it really was 'sever,' you wouldn't have committed suicide after receiving the 'Jue' on the street.

"Now that so much time has passed, the news has long been passed back by the palace messengers.

"Being so disrespectful, according to the Saint's temper, would she not send someone to help you be respectful?

"The fact is, she didn't."

Wang Lixian was completely silent. A moment later, he muttered to himself:

"Jue, decide... so that's it."

Ouyang Rong said calmly:

"Uncle, the most dangerous moment has passed. This is the last opportunity.

"Is the auspicious omen true or false important? It's not important, because in this Great Zhou Dynasty, the Saint always controls the final interpretation, and the truth or falsehood is judged by her alone.

"And this piece of Jue is actually a question the Saint gave you."

"What... what question?"

"A question to test you, a question about how to roundly go around in circles.

"The Saint wants to see if you have learned how to go around in circles after being demoted to Longcheng for so many years. This is the foundation for being reused in the future, and also a certain... basic course for an emperor."

Wang Lixian was stunned for a while, and couldn't help but ask with reverence:

"Tanlang, did you know all this from the first moment you saw the jade Jue?"

Ouyang Rong didn't commit himself, walked to Xie Lingjiang's seat, picked up a piece of watermelon from the food box, and took a light bite.

Wang Lixian lowered his head and chewed repeatedly:

"Go around in circles... Tanlang, you proposed offering auspicious omens and pretending to be sick, is that going around in circles?"

"That's right." Ouyang Rong nodded, chewing melon in his mouth, and muttered casually:

"The more beautiful this circle is, the better."

Wang Lixian's family and Xie Lingjiang, who was holding a silver spoon, all tilted their heads and stared at Ouyang Rong, their eyes different.

Ouyang Rong didn't look at them, lowered his eyes to eat melon, finished eating, and put down the melon ladle.

There were light red watermelon juice stains on his fingers.

Two handkerchiefs were handed over almost at the same time, under his eyes.

One was a moon-white embroidered lotus handkerchief, and the other was a peach-red embroidered phoenix handkerchief.

The former was held in the red-clad woman's hand, and the latter was held in the little girl with plum blossom makeup's hand.

Xie Lingjiang turned her head as usual, and Li Guoer looked sideways with wonderful eyes under the masked veil.

The two women who handed the handkerchiefs looked at each other.

Just before Ouyang Rong raised his hand, Li Guoer suddenly withdrew the embroidered phoenix handkerchief, stuffed it back into her sleeve, her eyes looking as usual.

Ouyang Rong raised his hand and took the Xiao Shimei's white lotus handkerchief directly.

Lowering his eyes to wipe his mouth, and then carefully wiping his fingers, he folded the handkerchief in half, handed it back to Xie Lingjiang, and pointed to the corner of her mouth that was stained with a little milky white, left over from eating Sushan.

Xie Lingjiang took back the handkerchief, wiped the corner of her mouth with the clean side of the handkerchief that the Ru Shixiong seemed to have deliberately left, and her eyes avoided the sight of Li Guoer and the Li family, feeling a bit shy.

Ru Shixiong is so straightforward, he doesn't treat me as an outsider at all.

The Xie family daughter's heart beat a little faster.

A bit of resentment.

I don't know if I tasted the watermelon juice he wiped off between my lips.

A little sweet.

She quickly glanced at the Ru Shixiong's direction, but found that after handing back the handkerchief, he turned around as if nothing had happened, put his hands behind his back, and paced in the room.

Ouyang Rong didn't pay attention to the Xiao Shimei's slightly resentful gaze.

He paced around the room, looked left and right, and looked at this Su Fu in a corner of Jiang Nan with emotion, muttering:

"Why did the Buddha's five-finger mountain only press the Monkey King for five hundred years, instead of five million years, or five million million years?"

The twenty-year-old strategist seemed to be asking himself, or asking someone else.

Li Guoer raised her eyes, her eyes curious: "What five-finger mountain, what Monkey King?"

"Uh, nothing."

Ouyang Rong shook his head. He remembered that this world didn't seem to have Journey to the West, so he didn't waste his breath.

Li Guoer and the others looked at him with increasing curiosity.

Ouyang Rong curled his lip and changed the way of saying it:

"In that game in the sky, most people don't dare to make mistakes, and don't even dare to try. What if they try and make a mistake, and are really demoted and ignored?"

"But Uncle is different, your family is different,

"Even if you are pressed under the five-finger mountain... as long as you don't die, opportunities are always there.

"Why?"

He asked and answered himself:

"Because Uncle is the Saint's flesh and blood, the direct bloodline of Taizong, an Imperial Scion."

The words were extremely straightforward.

Causing everyone to look at each other.

Wang Lixian heard it and took it as his nephew Lianghan's emotional tone. His face was ashamed, and he didn't dare to answer, because the nephew in front of him was of humble origin.

But these peaceful words fell into the ears of Xie Lingjiang, who knew someone, but had a kind of indescribable mockery.

She couldn't help but look at the Ru Shixiong with a calm face.

Bang, Ouyang Rong slapped a slender palm on the table, faced the crowd, and made a decisive decision:

"The person to offer the auspicious omen has been selected, I will go to persuade him.

"Aunt Wei, little Li lady, take all the mansion's wealth immediately, give a thousand gold to Xiao Shimei, and hand all the remaining money to Eldest Brother."

He turned his head:

"Xiao Shimei, set off immediately, buy jade in Lingnan, and bring back a perfect jade ring. The more unique, the better."

"Eldest Brother, Uncle, you go find Liulang, then go to Donglin Temple, donate money to build a pagoda, we want to build the largest Buddhist pagoda in the southeast, to enshrine the 'jade Jue'!"

Xie Lingjiang and the Wang Lixian family were energized, obeyed orders, and left one after another.

Before leaving, Ouyang Rong suddenly turned his head and asked:

"Uncle, Aunt, Eldest Brother, little Li lady, you trust me so much. This set of expenses will exhaust the Su Fu's wealth, and even all of little Li lady's birthday gifts will be invested. From now on, it will be difficult to return to the days of a wealthy man. Aren't you afraid of failing with me?"

Li Fusu's face flushed, his tone firm: "I trust Tanlang!"

Wang Lixian and Wei Mei held each other's arms, gritted their teeth, and nodded vigorously:

"Not afraid, I will listen to Tanlang's plan, even if the family wealth is exhausted, I will not regret it!"

Li Guoer nodded: "Good, planning is in people."

Ouyang Rong looked at the family in front of him who served him tea and water and respected him as a teacher, and sighed:

"Trust without doubt, then I will definitely not let you down."

At this time, Wei Mei looked carefully at the twenty-year-old strategist who was smiling at the corner of his mouth, and asked in a low voice:

"Tanlang, if this plan to offer auspicious omens succeeds, what will happen to us..."

Ouyang Rong narrowed his eyes: "Uncle prays for his mother, his filial piety moves heaven and earth, and he is 'seriously ill.' Naturally, he needs treatment, which is in line with the Great Zhou's ethics and the hearts of the people."

"Then is Seventh Brother returning to... Luoyang?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head very definitely:

"It's not that easy.

"Uncle is a deposed emperor. Returning to Luoyang involves major issues and has thousands of connections, which can deeply change the pattern of the court.

"The Saint is keen on imperial power tactics, and balancing the court is the basic logic. How she will deal with the 'seriously ill' Uncle at that time is indeed a bit intriguing.

"It's hard to decide for the time being. I'm afraid he won't be able to return to Luoyang directly, but he will definitely leave this birdcage of Longcheng.

"Actually, what truly restricts the Saint's actions is the Li-Wei dispute that cannot be shaken off.

"From the incident of secretly casting the tripod sword in Longcheng, it can be seen that the Wei family is still unwilling to give up, obsessed with the tripod sword, trying to turn the tables, and will not easily admit defeat and welcome Uncle.

"In addition, Prince Xiang's side, it is not certain that they will fully support... hmm."

Ouyang Rong stopped quietly when he said this, and everyone saw the smile at the corner of his mouth was a bit intriguing.

Curled his lip, skipped this place, Ouyang Rong's words were clear and his thinking was tricky:

"Moreover, Uncle has broken with the Saint on the surface. The rift in the relationship between mother and son, just praying for blessings and offering auspicious omens, is difficult to completely repair.

"What's more, Uncle's move is going around in circles. As a master of going around in circles, how can the Saint not know how to go around in circles too.

"But it doesn't matter, this is the first step, throwing a stone to ask for the way.

"If you don't throw a stone, how can you ask for a clear path?"

He lowered his eyes, tidied his sleeves, and his tone was calm:

"Just listen to the echoes from Luojing."

"Tanlang's wonderful plan can settle the world!"

The people in the study were relieved, and they went out to run errands one after another.

Only Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang were left in the room, one standing and one sitting.

"I'll see you off."

Ouyang Rong turned and said.

Xie Lingjiang glanced at him and nodded.

The Ru Shixiong and Xiao Shimei went out, one after the other, walking on the corridor hanging with wind chimes.

After a day of tossing, all matters were resolved, and it was near dusk.

The summer evening was slightly cool, and the evening breeze was drunk.

One after another, the wind blew the sleeves and skirts of this pair of slender men and women on the corridor.

Ding-ding-dang-dang, the sound of wind chimes was crisp, as if knocking on the door of dusk.

Xie Lingjiang turned her head, looked at Ouyang Rong walking in front, that side face that was bright and dark in the sunset, and asked softly:

"What is Ru Shixiong thinking about?"

"Hmm? Not thinking about anything."

Ouyang Rong, who had temporarily returned to his senses after the secret discussion in the study and discovered the unexpected joy, ignored the crisp wooden fish sound in his ears.

He looked back and asked:

"Do you like Sushan so much?"

"Hmm." Xie Lingjiang nodded: "There is grape meat in it."

Ouyang Rong smiled, "Glutton. Then next time you come back, let Aunt Wei make more."

"Ru Shixiong is not polite now, treating this place like home."

His tone was relaxed and free:

"What's there to be polite about? You know the temper of this family. Except for that little Li lady, who needs a little attention, Eldest Brother and Uncle have nothing to be polite about."

Xie Lingjiang immediately asked: "Why is Guoer sister special?"

"Gentle on the outside, fierce on the inside. If you dare to provoke her, it's easy to have a piece of meat bitten off, and you can't shake it off. I have always kept my distance from this kind of woman."

"Oh, Ru Shixiong is brilliant."

Xie Lingjiang nodded calmly after listening, and continued to ask:

"But Ru Shixiong was evasive about their request for talent today. Could it be that you were really moved by Li Fusu today?"

Ouyang Rong looked at Xie Lingjiang and didn't answer, saying softly:

"I once heard a friend tell me an interesting truth, or a small routine."

"What truth, uh, what routine?"

"When you refuse to help others, the process of refusal must be expressed with great regret.

"And when you agree to help others, the process of agreement must be expressed with great hesitation."

Xie Lingjiang was stunned, couldn't help but look at Ru Shixiong twice more, and asked:

"Then when did Ru Shixiong tacitly agree?"

After a pause, her pretty face showed some memories, muttering: "Not long ago when you were recovering from illness and went down the mountain?"

Ouyang Rong thought for a while: "About that time."

"Is that so."

Xie Lingjiang bit her lip lightly.

"Uncle Li and the others have been worried and sleepless these days, and even Father thought Ru Shixiong was unwilling... Ru Shixiong is a bit bad."

"This is not called bad, hmm, this is called going around in circles." Ouyang Rong blinked: "You stupid Xiao Shimei, what do you know."

He sighed: "Many things need to be 'rounded' appropriately. This is not complicating simple problems, but handling problems properly.

"This is called, handling urgent matters slowly, and things will be rounded if they are handled slowly."

Ouyang Rong suddenly turned his head and asked:

"I remember hearing you say that the little Li lady said something like, 'Lies don't hurt people,' 'The truth is a sharp knife,' and these words taught to you."

Xie Lingjiang nodded, "Yes, what's wrong, Ru Shixiong."

Ouyang Rong said leisurely: "Then I also have a sentence to teach you."

Xie Lingjiang was curious: "What words?"

"True feelings are hard to keep since ancient times, only routines can win people's hearts." He nodded: "Today is also like this."

Xie Lingjiang was slightly startled, chewed for a while, and raised her head:

"Ru Shixiong's move is really... well, it's good. Now Uncle Li and the others have already treated Ru Shixiong as a guest of honor, wishing they could pour out their hearts and lungs, and don't dare to neglect at all."

After a pause, the red-clad woman holding the sword narrowed her eyes, cat-like voice:

"Oh? You like to use true feelings and routines together, so did Ru Shixiong also use routines on me?"

"..." Ouyang Rong.

Xie Lingjiang tilted her head, met Ouyang Rong's gaze that avoided her calmly, looked at his innocent eyes, and asked with a smile:

"Hmm, someone's invisible routine has also held the Xiao Shimei firmly, right... Ouch!"

Xie Lingjiang's words of interrogation were halfway through, and suddenly she covered her high forehead with both hands, wrinkled her little nose, and inhaled with silver teeth.

A touch of light red appeared on a piece of fair skin on her forehead.

On the sunset corridor, Ouyang Rong gave the Xiao Shimei, who loved to draw inferences, a big chestnut, snorted, and walked away with his hands behind his back:

"Is it good to hear? If it's good to hear, it's a good head. It's quite loud. Does someone with such a stupid brain need me to use routines?"

or2 (obediently pouting)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 266 =====