Chapter 9: Chapter 838: I Knew You Earlier Than Jue'er

Hearing this voice, Mu Qingge was startled. She thought she had misheard, but when she turned to look in the direction of the sound, she truly saw a handsome and upright man.

“Imperial Uncle?”

“It is.”

Rong Qingzhi was dressed in blue and white robes embroidered with elegant patterns, and he was waving a fan in his hand, as refined and dashing as he had been for the past ten years.

He stepped forward a few paces, looking at Mu Qingge from a few steps away, a smile playing on his lips: “It really is you. I saw you come in this afternoon, but I thought I was mistaken.”

“I did indeed arrive at the inn this afternoon.” Standing here to chat wasn't ideal, so Mu Qingge reached out and said to Rong Qingzhi, “It’s been a while. Shall we sit down and talk?”

“If you are willing to talk with me, I am naturally happy to.”

Mu Qingge was taken aback.

She observed Rong Qingzhi’s expression and saw that while he still carried his usual grace, there was a faint, lingering melancholy in his eyes that could not be dispelled.

He was indeed no longer as unrestrained and dashing as he had been in the past.

The two sat down, ordered a couple of side dishes and a pot of tea, but then everyone fell silent.

It wasn't that they had nothing to say, but rather that neither knew exactly where to begin.

Finally, it was Rong Qingzhi who spoke first: “Why have you come here? Aren't you in Tianqi?”

Mu Qingge relaxed as well, smiling slightly as she said, “I did indeed come to Jueyan in secret.”

“I knew before that you had sent Zhan’er to Jueyan, and I guessed that you would come to Jueyan to take him back. But I thought you would have come as soon as the war ended; I didn't expect you to still be in Jueyan now.”

“Imperial Uncle guessed correctly. I did come as soon as the war ended, but I have been delayed until now due to some matters.”

Mu Qingge did not specify what those matters were, and Rong Qingzhi knew it was inconvenient for her to speak of them, so he naturally did not pursue the topic. Changing the subject, he said, “I didn't help much with the war. I am a derelict member of the royal family; you all have suffered.”

“Imperial Uncle, you needn't say that.”

Rong Qingzhi carried much bitterness in his heart, and since Mu Qingge had no standing to blame him for anything, she looked at him and couldn't help but ask: “How have you been these days, Imperial Uncle?”

“Hmm.”

Hearing this, Rong Qingzhi’s smile became much more relaxed: “After I brought the Empress Dowager out, I did feel much lighter.”

“That’s good.”

Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, yet still clearly seeing the faint melancholy in his eyes, Mu Qingge hesitated before asking: “Is the Empress Dowager… doing well?”

Rong Qingzhi sighed, “Mother still cannot let go of certain things.”

Mu Qingge had suspected his worries stemmed from the Empress Dowager, and hearing him say this, she was confirmed in her belief.

Rong Qingzhi smiled: “Even now, you can still sincerely ask if she is well, but Mother is not the same. To this day, she cannot bear to hear the slightest news about you all.”

She would fly into a rage the moment she heard it.

Mu Qingge was silent for a moment before speaking: “Is the Empress Dowager also in Jueyan?”

Rong Qingzhi shook his head, “She is in Tianqi. I wanted to travel around half a month ago, which is why I came to Jueyan. However, I cannot stay away for too long; I was planning to return in the next couple of days. I didn't expect to run into you today.”

“I didn't expect it either.”

In truth, Mu Qingge’s feelings upon seeing Rong Qingzhi were quite complex, but regardless, knowing he was doing alright made her quite happy.

The conversation reached this point and fell into silence once more.

Fortunately, the waiter brought over the snacks and refreshments, preventing the atmosphere between them from becoming too awkward.

After they had a cup of tea, Mu Qingge said softly: “Imperial Uncle, no matter what, you are still our Imperial Uncle. You can actually go back at any time. Moreover, if you were to return, the anger in the Empress Dowager’s heart might even diminish a little.”

From beginning to end, the Empress Dowager only ever wanted Rong Qingzhi to have a solid position in the royal family. Since he had given it all up and taken her far away, how could she be happy?

“She must be punished for the things she did wrong.” Rong Qingzhi’s voice was quite flat. After saying this, he added: “And the same goes for me.”

Clearly, the latter sentence referred to his selfish act of not bringing Mu Qingge back to Tianqi for those six years.

Mu Qingge pinched her fingers for a long while before saying: “Imperial Uncle, it’s all in the past.”

“Yes, it’s all in the past.”

Rong Qingzhi gave a self-deprecating smile, took a sip of tea, and after pondering for a moment, spoke as if he had decided something: “Ge’er, you might not know this, but I actually knew you even before Jue’er did.”

“Ah?”

Mu Qingge was stunned. His words were so sudden that she couldn't react at all.

She carefully combed through the process of how she met Rong Jue and Rong Qingzhi in her mind. She remembered very clearly that it was some time after she married Rong Jue that she first saw Rong Qingzhi in the palace.

This was a far cry from what Rong Qingzhi said about knowing her before Rong Jue.

Suddenly, her eyes darted. Could it be that he had known the original owner of this body?

Thinking of this, her eyelids twitched, and she felt a bit guilty.

She gave a hollow laugh, touched the tip of her nose, and said awkwardly: “Is that so? Why don't I remember?”

Rong Qingzhi gave a bitter smile, “It’s no wonder you don't remember, because at that time you were still blind. You had never seen me, and I had never formally introduced myself to you, so how could you know who I was?”

Uh!

Hearing him say this, did he really know the original owner?

Mu Qingge touched the rim of her cup and asked tentatively: “Um… could you tell me roughly how we met?”

“It’s actually quite simple.”

Rong Qingzhi smiled: “That day, after I had an argument with Mother, I went to drink. Then, I jumped onto the roof of a random mansion to rest. I never expected to see someone being buried alive.”

Buried alive?

Mu Qingge’s eyelids twitched. Wasn't that what happened when she first arrived in this world?

Rong Qingzhi continued: “I didn't know it was a live burial at the time; I just felt that every household had its own bit of filth, and I didn't intend to interfere. It wasn't until I saw you resist that I realized it was actually a live burial.”

Having said that, he glanced at her and smiled: “I also never expected that what followed would be so spectacular.”

Mu Qingge recalled that the incident where she buried the others in return was indeed a bit thrilling. She coughed lightly, touched the tip of her nose, and said: “Are you the one who grabbed me by the back of my collar and threw me from mid-air into the snow?”

“Yes.”

Now that Mu Qingge mentioned it, Rong Qingzhi felt a bit awkward too: “At the time, I had watched the whole thing and thought you were quite interesting. I had never seen such a resilient woman. I saw that abandoned backyard, and since you were blind, I guessed you wouldn't be able to find your way back, so I…”

So he threw her back.

And he threw her back quite rudely.

He even earned a scolding for it.

At the time, he couldn't help but laugh when he heard her cursing.

He had cast aside his worries and felt a rare sense of exhilaration.

Mu Qingge laughed and said: “I was bewildered at the time, but you guessed right—I was blind and couldn't find my way back. Although you threw me onto the ground, you really did help me.”