Chapter 55: It's hard to coax you. You made me worry about you. You have to apologize to me. ...

The most embarrassing thing in Zhou Xian's life was probably when his sixth brother and Zhang Jin were declared not guilty. He threw himself into his sixth brother's arms and fell asleep.

You can't blame him.

After tossing and turning for several days, Zhou Xian's tense heart suddenly relaxed. He couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep.

Zhou Heng returned to Beijing well prepared. Not only did he vindicate himself and his brother-in-law, he also ordered the official who was in charge of supervising grain at the time to be brought in, and he dug out the truth of the matter, leaving no trace.

While providing disaster relief in Southern Zhili, Zhou Heng was being pursued. He turned the tables, discovering that the pursuers were connected to high-ranking officials in charge of disaster relief in Southern Zhili, who were in turn connected to Prince Jing... Zhou Heng then feigned a fall into the water, concealing his whereabouts and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Meanwhile, Monk Yu, observing from the capital, sensed something was amiss. He visited the Forbidden City at night, unexpectedly learning of a case involving the reselling of military rations, and journeyed south to seek out Zhou Heng to discuss countermeasures.

During the days Zhou Heng was missing, he was collecting evidence for his redress. He also had a lot of evidence of corruption among Prince Jing's subordinates, and presented it together with the military rations case to suppress Prince Jing.

As for the reselling of military rations, it was a matter of several grain inspectors embezzling money and being caught by Prince Jing's men. As a result, Prince Jing sent people to steal the money and staged this farce.

What happened next had little to do with Zhou Xian. When he opened his eyes again, it was already late at night and quiet. A candle flickered softly in the familiar bedroom, and a figure sat beside the couch.

Zhou Xian was half asleep and reached out to touch the figure, thinking it was an illusion. But when he touched the warm body, he immediately woke up, rolled up the quilt and huddled in the innermost part of the bed, leaving only his eyes exposed.

"Are you awake?" Zhang Jinwei asked with a smile.

"...You're back." Zhou Xian said sullenly.

"Yes, but even though I returned home, some people didn't seem to recognize me. When we met, they curled themselves up in the quilt, as if they were afraid that I would eat them." Zhang Jinwei put down the scroll in his hand and leaned over to hug Zhou Shan, who was wrapped in the quilt.

"No..." Zhou Xian snorted.

"Nothing?" Zhang Jinwei asked the person in his arms.

Of course I recognize you!

Zhou Xian thought aggrievedly. He was too lazy to answer Zhang Jinwei and curled up in a ball, sulking.

Zhang Jinwei wanted to touch his head, but was avoided. He had no choice but to give up and comforted him, "You must have been scared these past few days. I'm sorry."

"No!" Zhou Xian repeated.

He wasn't frightened, he was calm, he just couldn't sleep. That day he emerged from the Palace of Heavenly Purity in a state of panic. There was no news from his brother, and his husband was imprisoned. The world was so vast, he drifted out of the Forbidden City and back home, not even having time to grieve.

Tears fell silently.

Zhou Shan buried her face in the quilt, biting her lips and crying quietly.

"...I made you worry, didn't I?" Zhang Jinwei noticed that the person in his arms was trembling slightly, so he patiently comforted him little by little.

Zhou Xian's personality was like that of a stubborn child; you had to agree with him, not go against him. If you went against him, he'd shiver and stare warily. If you spoke too harshly, you might even get a claw. He was also a bully, and the more familiar someone was, the more likely he'd get angry. He'd only extend his claws to familiar people, but he'd keep his claws retracted. But if a bad person angered him, that claw would probably hurt.

For example, the bloody tooth marks on Prince Jing’s mouth.

“…No!” Zhou Xian was still angry.

"Are you really not worried about me?" Zhang Jinwei looked very sad. He pressed Zhou Shan under him through the quilt.

Zhou Xian snorted.

"But I'm also very sad. I can't think about anything these days in the imperial prison. If I think too much, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out and won't be able to see Xianxian again." Zhang Jinwei murmured in Zhou Xian's ear, "So I miss you, because I can only think of you. They asked me why I resold military rations. I didn't do such a thing. I would never do such a thing. I'm very sad, and I even thought about giving up on myself..."

Zhou Xian felt very uncomfortable after hearing this. He wanted to turn over to calm himself down, but Zhang Jinwei was pressing too hard. He slammed his elbow hard, causing Zhang Jinwei to groan.

"You are injured! Is it serious? Mu Guang lied to me... He said you were fine..." Zhou Xian hurriedly lifted the quilt, tears in her eyes, and wanted to check the wound he had just touched.

Zhang Jinwei finally got the man out of bed. A smile slowly appeared on his face, which had been covered in cold sweat not long ago. "Xianxian, do you want to come and take a look? It's not a serious injury. Mu Guang didn't lie to you. But if you're worried..."

"You have no shame." Zhou Xian finally realized he'd been tricked, but he didn't have the energy to continue. He said gloomily, "You said you made me worry, and not only did you not apologize, you even deliberately teased me... I hate you."

After saying this, Zhou Xian turned her back and hugged her knees. Her silky black hair flowed down her thin back, making her look quite lonely.

Zhang Jinwei sighed softly. He hugged Zhou Shan from behind, held her tightly in his arms, and pressed his lips against her tear-soaked temples.

The grievances and worries of the past few days turned into tears and flowed down.

Zhou Shan's face was covered with tears, his long, thick eyelashes were covered with tears, and his fair face was also crisscrossed with tear marks. The candlelight shone a golden light on his face, and his misty eyes were rippling with water.

Zhang Jinwei kissed his forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, and finally stopped at his bright red lips. It was a very light kiss, without any invasion, just a comforting kiss.

"Let me see your wound." After kissing for a while, Zhou Shan turned his head away and glanced at Zhang Jinwei.

"It's all bandaged up." Zhang Jinwei untied his belt, revealing his body wrapped in white cloth. "It's just some superficial injuries. They'll be fine once they heal."

Zhou Shan raised her hand, touched the bandage on Zhang Jinwei's body, and then retracted it.

Zhang Jinwei didn't let him escape. Instead, he grabbed the hand he extended, bent down and kissed it, then pushed him under him.

"...I lied to you." Zhou Xian half closed his eyes.

Zhang Jin was puzzled.

"What I just said was a lie," Zhou Xian said again. Sleepiness was rising, and he didn't care about anything else. Almost in the blink of an eye, he fell asleep again.

Zhang Jinwei was still thinking about what he had just said. When he came to his senses and looked down, he saw Zhou Xian's eyelashes trembling slightly, her chest rising and falling slowly, and she was already fast asleep.

…

The false accusation case was averted, but the evidence Zhou Heng had seized failed to bring down Prince Jing. Emperor Yongchang was already half-dead, struggling to even speak. The court had become a stage for his sons, with one taking the stage after the other. Some less prominent princes even dared to challenge him or secretly take sides.

This year is destined to be a bad one.

Zhou Shan often entered the palace to serve. When the emperor was seriously ill, the concubines and princesses took turns to serve him medicine to show their filial piety.

The old man was lying on the dragon bed, already in his twilight years. He could only eat some rice porridge and medicine, or sob and say something.

Zhou Xian's family also had elderly people, but none of them had aged as well as the Yongchang Emperor. Sun Yi was a bit older than the Yongchang Emperor in terms of seniority, but he was only a bit senile. He ate and drank as he should, entertained birds, fed fish, and prepared medicine, and he was in very good health.

To be honest, maybe this is retribution.

Hanging on for dear life, a life worse than death, unable to move or speak but still able to hear, he watched helplessly as his sons fought each other to the death at his bedside, unable to do anything. The imperial mindset he had been so proud of for the first half of his life had, in his dying moments, become a blunt knife, repeatedly grinding against his heart.

But Zhou Xian thought again and felt that this old man could not be so cruel. He might be secretly happy while watching a group of people suffering on his sickbed.

After feeding the old man today's medicine and rice porridge, Zhou Xian stood up, wrung out the towel in the hot water beside him, folded it neatly, and bent down to wipe the old man's face.

"Mmmm..." The old man opened his dry mouth, revealing his few remaining teeth. He mumbled for a long time, but no one knew what he wanted to say.

Zhou Xian lowered his eyes, wiped his face indifferently, and said softly, "Your son will take his leave." Then he turned and left.

The old man, whose body had been paralyzed for months, suddenly jumped up from the bed. His cloudy eyes stared at Zhou Xian blankly, and his voice was as hoarse and unpleasant as the rough strings of a guitar: "Chen... Rebel... Rebel! Rebel!"

"Your Majesty! What's wrong with you?!" Liu Renfu, who had been waiting on the side, burst into tears when he saw this. He knelt on the ground with a plop, rolled nimbly to the dragon bed, and grabbed Emperor Yongchang.

Zhou Xian was stunned.

The first thing that came to his mind was a last gasp of life.

The old man won't survive the night.

Then came doubts.

Chen? Prince Chen? But Prince Chen had long since left for his fiefdom, completely detached from the court struggles… Chen… Chen Yi, Chen Yi and his son.

Zhou Xian's expression changed slightly.

Mrs. Chen's smiling face appeared eerily before him.

If that's the case...

Zhou Xian walked quickly out of the hall.

The guards all looked uneasy, and in the distance, the faint sound of the palace gates closing could be heard. It was a winter day, dark early, and fine white snow drifted between the red walls and green tiles. A dozen people braved the wind and snow to walk towards the Qianqing Palace.

"What happened?" Zhou Xian suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly grabbed a guard and asked.

The guard whispered, "Something happened in the previous dynasty. The curfew in the Forbidden City has been advanced today."

What does the events of the previous dynasty have to do with the Forbidden City?

Zhou Xian produced the permission order and ordered, "I hold the permission order. Escort me out of the Forbidden City immediately."

The guard said in embarrassment: "Please forgive me, Princess. I am only following orders. I am afraid..."

"Acting on orders? Whose orders? The Emperor is lying in the palace, tell me whose orders you are following?" Zhou Xian said coldly. He looked at the dozen people and found that they were several important cabinet ministers and King Xuan.

Mei Ziqian and two other grand secretaries were missing from the cabinet, and Zhou Heng was not among the princes. They marched into the Palace of Heavenly Purity in a mighty procession, bringing with them a murderous wind and snow.

The leading minister is an old and shrewd man. He is now 82 years old and has been in charge of the cabinet for 30 years. He has a complex network of connections and is notorious, but his position cannot be shaken.

——Chen Yi.

"Your humble servant pays respect to Her Royal Highness Princess Jiayi." Chen Yi saluted tremblingly.

The wind and snow blew up Zhou Xian's bright red cloak, and also blew up the scarlet robes of the princes and ministers. The sky and the earth were all white, but the blood-red color remained in front of the Qianqing Palace.

"The Forbidden City is under curfew. Why is the Prime Minister rushing here at this time..." Zhou Xian raised his eyebrows.

Tears welled up in Chen Yi's eyes, and he knelt down and bowed deeply towards the Qianqing Palace: "This old minister heard that the emperor was dying! I have come to see him off!"