Chapter 4 Implicated

The sudden appearance of Zhou Jin and the others interrupted the rhythm of the yamen runners beating people. Zhou Ge Lao saw that the people in the clan who had been making trouble had been beaten to pieces, and the little grandson in his arms was almost fainted from crying because of the fright of these officials. Although he knew that the yamen runner Song was beating people with the intention of killing chickens for himself, he had to put on a sullen face and plead for mercy when the yamen runner Song stopped whipping.

"Um, Sergeant Song, could you please stop fighting for my sake? It's hard to continue on your journey if you've already crippled them. Besides, it would be hard to explain if there were too many casualties, right?!"

Song, the yamen runner, was tired after beating them for such a long time. When he stopped, he realized that he had lost his temper a little and had beaten up Lord Zhou's clansmen badly. When he saw Lord Zhou coming over, he looked a little embarrassed and quickly asked his men to stop. He smiled and wanted to explain to the old scholar. After all, the silver stuffed into his arms by relatives and friends was still burning his hands.

"Old Master, I really didn't mean to take action, but you just saw it. My brothers chased the bandits and endured the hardships as you requested. Although we didn't rescue the kidnapped women, we did our best, didn't we? In the end, not only did we work so hard but we didn't get any good results. We were even scolded by your people..."

Lord Zhou wanted to say, "You tried your best, damn it!" But he was afraid that if he said it, the servant Song would use it as an excuse to beat his clansmen. So he swallowed the words back, his face darkened, and he forced himself not to speak.

Lord Zhou actually meant well. He knew that the man was a straightforward person and was afraid that he would say something unpleasant.

As a result, Song Yayi misunderstood when he saw it. He thought he was putting on a smile to give both of them a way out, but the old man in front of him was a little unwilling to give him face, and the anger in his heart could not help but come out again!

"Oh, don't blame me for losing my temper. I haven't read much, so I don't understand the profound principles you're talking about. But I do know that if anyone robs my wife and daughter today, they'll have to walk over my dead body first!"

"But look at what your people did when the bandits came!?"

Yamen runner Song pointed at the bodies of two men who had died while protecting the women in his family on the grass, and Zhou Jin, who was standing nearby and wondering what was going on, and continued,

"That group of bandits only has about twenty or so people, right? How many people are there in your clan? The young and strong alone are nearly two hundred! If there were more people like these two or this kid, would those bandits be able to succeed?

In the end, they were too cowardly to dare to step forward, hiding away like turtles while letting our brothers fight for them. This is unreasonable anywhere, right?!"

Really! Cowards who screamed like ghosts and wolves after being whipped! They have all forgotten their current status! They are prisoners and still think of themselves as the days when they were showing off their power in the capital!

However, Song the yamen runner did not say this in the end.

Lord Zhou...

Well, he admitted that what the yamen runner Song said made some sense. To be honest, he looked down on these losers and felt that he should be more kind to others under his roof. After all, the yamen runner Song respected him and had not made things too difficult for his family. He even took good care of them. He should give him some face...

But unfortunately, apart from studying, Lord Zhou loved arguing and debating the most. Before being promoted to the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he worked in the Censorate for a while, and developed a habit of feeling uncomfortable if he didn't argue. When he heard Song Yayi's words directly putting all the responsibility on them, without mentioning his own inaction at all, Lord Zhou couldn't help but want to talk to him.

"What you said is rather biased. The so-called..."

"Father! If you delay any longer in bandaging Luo'er's wound, do you want your grandson to die of pain?"

Zhou Zelin, the eldest son of Lord Zhou, was supported by his eldest son Zhou Po and rushed over to stop his father from speaking next.

Only then did Lord Zhou remember his precious grandson in his arms. Seeing that his little grandson's face had turned pale with pain and his sobbing had subsided, he did not bother to argue with the servant Song and hurriedly took his grandson back to apply medicine.

Before the downfall of Lord Zhou, Zhou Zelin had worked in the Honglu Temple for many years, in charge of receiving foreign guests. Compared with Lord Zhou, who only liked to study and teach the emperor's grandson to read, he was much better at dealing with people and the world!

When the bandits came down the mountain to rob, he was busy protecting the women in his family. He was also cut on his arm and was busy bandaging the wound. When he was not paying attention, his father ran to Song the yamen runner and made a fuss!

Zhou Zelin was so angry when he found out that he rolled his eyes and almost couldn't breathe! He almost became the first person in history to be angered to death by his own father.

I thought to myself, this old man, thinking that scolding the emperor for causing his family to have their property confiscated and exiled wasn't enough, he wanted to make them suffer even more? Now that the emperor hadn't chopped off his family's heads, he was thinking of letting the runners Song kill a few of them on the way to exile!

Zhou Zelin really wanted to close his eyes and ignore the trouble his father had caused, but he couldn't change the father he chose in his reincarnation. His father could be stubborn and ignore everything, but he couldn't abandon the whole family. He could only force himself to let his eldest son Zhou Po support him and continue to clean up his father's mess.

After persuading his father to come back, Zhou Zelin held his injured arm and bowed to the yamen runner Song, saying with a smile:

"My family and I are deeply grateful for the care that Officer Song has given us these past few days. I, Zhou, would like to express my gratitude!

My father is old and stubborn, and he likes to argue with others, but he has no bad intentions. If I have offended you, please forgive me. I hope Officer Song will not blame me!

"Haha, ouch! Master Zhou, I don't deserve to be called a sergeant. You'd better call me Song the yamen runner, otherwise it will embarrass me. I'm so happy to have received a few words of advice from the old master, how can I blame you, haha..."

Song, the yamen runner, smiled and avoided Zhou Zelin's greeting, clasped his fists towards him, and thought to himself that finally someone sensible had appeared.

Both of them were intelligent people, and they both knew that it would be bad for them to be too close to each other now. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they parted ways.

Seeing that it was getting late, the yamen runner Song hurriedly ordered his men who were in charge of escorting the team to dig a grave and bury the two men who had died while guarding the female relatives. Then he led his yamen runners to escort the exile team and continue on their journey.

Because of the shock of Song's whipping today, the exile group quieted down considerably. Whether they had been whipped or injured by bandits, no one dared to raise a voice. They endured the pain and silently followed the group in front, fearing that if they walked too slowly, the yamen runners behind them would see them and whip them again. So, apart from the occasional sobs from two families whose male members had died, the only sound in the group was the rustling of footsteps and the clanking of metal as the shackled men walked...

Zhou Jin and his sister each carried a bamboo basket, in one of which was placed all their belongings, and little Zhou Ying sat in the other. Zheng held little Zhou Li's hand, and the whole family followed the crowd silently, just walking and walking... It was long and there was no end!

The long journey was tiring and painful. Officials like Song Yayi could take turns riding in carriages to rest. Lord Zhou was even able to ride on the horn of a mule cart with his little grandson in his arms because of Song Yayi's special care. But others did not have this honor. No matter men, women, young or old, they could only walk on their own two legs.

Zhou Yu's original body was very weak. Later on, this trek became like torture for her. She felt as if her legs and feet were pricking with needles with every step she took. The only reason she was able to keep up with the group was because Zhou Yu, an adult soul from another world, was gritting her teeth and holding on.

Zhou Yu's method of relieving physical pain was to distract her attention. During this painful time, she sorted out all the memories of her original body in her mind.

In my memory, the Zhou family that my original brother and sister belonged to was also a prominent family. Especially after Zhou Ruian, the main branch of the family, was promoted to the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince, the Zhou family was very popular in Kyoto for more than ten years.

The grandfather of the original siblings, Mr. Zhou Ruifu, was a cousin of Zhou Ruian within the fifth generation of kinship. Originally, his family was a small landowner who farmed in their hometown. However, Mr. Zhou was not one to be content with the status quo and was good at scheming. Seeing that the cabinet ministers were living a prosperous life in Kyoto, he brought his family to seek refuge there.

The family has lived a good life in recent years relying on the old mansion. Although it is not as prosperous as the old mansion, no one dares to make trouble for the family business because of the old mansion. Mr. Zhou is also a good businessman. In the past ten years, he has made a lot of money, but he is also quite wealthy.

Old Master Zhou had three legitimate sons and two illegitimate daughters. The illegitimate daughters were married off far away by Old Madam Zhou, Feng, at an early age, and now there are only three legitimate sons left in the family.

The eldest son was named Zhou Wangzu, and his wife was surnamed Sun. They had five children, including the eldest son Zhou Zhu, the eldest daughter Zhou Qiong, and the second son Zhou Yao, all born to surname Sun. The two concubine daughters Zhou Ling and Zhou Zhen were born to concubines Liu and Yang respectively.

The second son, Zhou Wangye, married Zhen and then Qian. They had three children. The eldest daughter, Zhou Lin, and the eldest son, Zhou Hu, were born to the late second wife, Zhen. The second son, Zhou Huan, was born to Qian. Zhou Wangye also had a concubine, You, who came from a brothel. They had no children.

The third son, Zhou Wangju, married Zheng and had four children, namely, the eldest son Zhou Jin, the eldest daughter Zhou Yu, the second son Zhou Li, and the second daughter Zhou Ying, all born to Zheng.

Among the three sons, only Zhou Wangju lived up to Mr. Zhou's expectations and passed the imperial examination. Unfortunately, he died of typhoid fever a few years after passing the examination, leaving Zheng family with several orphans and a widow.

Feng had never liked her charming daughter-in-law Zheng. Moreover, her beloved youngest son passed away suddenly. Before his death, the doctor said that the reason why her son couldn't survive a cold was because he had been drinking and indulging in excessive sex in recent years, which had already drained his body. Feng disliked this daughter-in-law even more.

At this time, she did not mention that Zhou Wangju had been so proud of himself since he passed the imperial examination, and had been getting drunk and visiting prostitutes all day long. When Zheng tried to persuade her husband, she stood by to stop him and only favored her son!

She felt that it was Zheng who had been seducing her son day and night, which had drained his body and caused him to lose his life at such a young age!

Feng disliked Zheng and also disliked the children she gave birth to. Since her son died, she has been making things difficult for Zheng and her son. Old Master Zhou also disliked Zheng because his son, who had the greatest potential to become a successful scholar, died suddenly. He turned a blind eye to Feng's harsh treatment of his daughter-in-law. The other people in the mansion were even better at changing their attitudes according to the situation, so Zheng's mother and her son had not had a good life since Zhou Wangju's death.

Fortunately, Zheng was a noncompetitive person and deeply committed to her duties. After Zhou Wangzu's death, she devoted herself to mourning for her husband and raising their children, enduring the harsh treatment of her family whenever possible. Furthermore, Zheng's own dowry was generous, and with frequent financial support from her parents, the family was able to get by.

Zheng originally thought that she would just live like this, and when her children grew up, she would finally get through it...

Who knew that misfortune would strike suddenly, and the elders' mansion was suddenly in trouble. Not only was their property confiscated, but the entire family was sentenced to be exiled three thousand miles away. Naturally, Mr. Zhou's family was among them, and Zheng's mother and son were also implicated.

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