Chapter 43 Awakening◇

The uncle and nephew hugged each other and cried bitterly. They didn't know how long they cried until Zhou Ruiquan was tired of crying. He felt that if he continued crying like this, he might have a cerebral congestion or a stroke, or even meet his brother prematurely. He forced himself to stop crying and pulled Zhou Zelin, who was about to faint from crying, to his feet and persuaded him:

"That's enough, that's enough. If your father were still alive, he wouldn't want to see us so sad. Stop crying! You're not feeling well to begin with, don't let crying ruin your health!"

Don’t let me, an old man, go to see your father before you, kid! ” Zhou Ruiquan complained in his heart.

Zhou Zelin finally wiped his tears and stood up with Zhou Ruiquan's hand. After crying heartily, he felt his mind was much clearer and he finally understood some things.

Seeing that she was such a grown-up and still crying like a child while hugging her uncle, she felt a little embarrassed. She blushed and smiled awkwardly at Zhou Ruiquan before saying:

"Don't worry, uncle. I will take good care of my health and look after my nephews."

"Ah? Hey! Hey! Good! Good! Uncle knew you would get better!!"

After hearing what Zhou Zelin said, Zhou Ruiquan knew that he had figured it out. He thought that his punches were not in vain. If he had known that this kid would fall for this, he would have beaten him awake long ago!

Seeing Zhou Zelin's shy smile and a light in his eyes, Zhou Ruiquan was so excited that he almost cried again. He tried hard to hold back for a long time, but the tears didn't fall, and his voice was choked.

"Okay, okay! As long as you can figure it out, that's good!"

"Yes, nephew, I've figured it out!" Zhou Zelin raised his head, not wanting his tears to be seen again. He just looked at the rooftops in the distance and smiled bitterly.

"Actually, my nephew understands everything, but he has always been reluctant to think about it, fearing that thinking about it would reveal his own incompetence.

The last time my father looked at me before he died, I knew he was asking me to take good care of his family. But in the end, my wife, brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and nieces were gone. I couldn't protect anyone, and so many of the family members, young and old, fell ill or died..."

"Ah Lin, this is fate, how can I blame you?!"

Seeing that his nephew had just recovered from his resentment towards his father, but was about to fall into self-blame again, Zhou Ruiquan thought to himself, "Don't do it again, my uncle's old heart can't bear it!" He quickly interrupted him and racked his brains to persuade him:

"Your father may look stubborn, but he's actually a wise man who appears foolish. If he wasn't 90% sure, why would he gamble with the lives of our entire family?

He wholeheartedly supports the Crown Prince and is willing to contradict the Emperor in order to protect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. In fact, he is fighting on behalf of the Crown Prince against Hu, who is against the Crown Prince's reforms!

Why did your father willingly choose to be the crown prince's successor? Having been in the imperial court for so many years, shouldn't you know better than your uncle?

Isn't it because our Zhou family is the confidant of General Chang, who has already passed away, and not the confidant of the Crown Prince? Your father is using this as a way to show his loyalty to the Crown Prince!

He did this all for our Zhou family! He didn't care about the immediate benefits, but the interests of our Zhou family in the next few decades or even hundreds of years!

Facts have proven that your father's move was correct. The fact that your father cursed the current emperor in court, saying he was comparable to Jie and Zhou, yet he was not beheaded, shows just how far the prince went to protect your father! Not to mention the care he took of our family during his exile! Can you imagine which family in exile could still ride in a carriage and have no worries about food and clothing like your father?

The emperor has turned a blind eye to all this, which means that he also wants to leave your father to the prince for future use!

If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hadn't passed away, and our family had survived these past few years, once His Royal Highness had dealt with Prime Minister Hu, or had ascended the throne, our family would have been a new beginning! Whether it's you, Apo, or the rest of our nephews and nieces, their futures would have been limitless!

This may be your father's real intention!

It's just that we were unlucky. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince passed away suddenly. In order to stabilize Prime Minister Hu, the current emperor had to kill your father. That's why our family ended up like this!

So, Brother Lin, all of this is fate! The Crown Prince's death is fate! Your father's death is also fate! If we want to blame someone, we can only blame bad luck, how can we blame you and your father! "

In order to comfort his nephew, Zhou Ruiquan racked his brains and told him some of the secret conversations between Zhou Ge Lao and him during the exile, as well as his own summary, in order to persuade Zhou Zelin to come back.

Don't dwell on this! His old bones can't really pull the Zhou family's broken car anymore!

Fortunately, Zhou Zelin was only trapped in self-blame for a moment this time, and soon came out of it. Seeing that his uncle's mouth was dry from persuading him, he still had the mood to joke,

"Uncle, what you just said were all told to you by my father?"

"Well, yes! These are what your father told me secretly on the way to exile. They are all secrets. He told me not to tell anyone. If you hadn't been so depressed, I wouldn't even tell you!" Zhou Ruiquan whispered.

"Haha, uncle, if your nephew tells you that you've been cheated by my father again, will you be so angry that you want to beat him up again? My father said that when you were a kid, he beat you because you couldn't study as well as him!"

"He's talking nonsense! Did I beat him because I couldn't study as well as him?! I beat him because he always tried to trick me in front of the teacher and father, okay?" Zhou Ruiquan was furious when he heard this. After hearing his nephew say that he was deceived by this old guy again, he couldn't help but ask Zhou Zelin curiously,

"Tell me, boy, how did your father lie to me this time? How come I didn't notice?"

Zhou Zelin glanced around and made sure that no one was around. He thought it was okay to tell his uncle about it now, so he smiled and said:

"Uncle, what you said before is correct. My father's purpose in contradicting the current emperor was indeed to surrender to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but he did not do so for the benefit of our family for decades or even hundreds of years.

The reason why he said that to you is because he is afraid that you will blame him, hit him, and deceive you!

If he really cares about our family, he should stay out of it. Given his reputation among scholars, no matter who takes the throne in the future, they will have to find a way to win him over!"

Huh? So that's how it is? That old guy is really fooling him again!

He was so excited all the way because his brother had told him the truth. He felt that his brother had worked so hard for the family's future but was still misunderstood by the clan members, and he felt sorry for him. But in the end, this old guy actually lied to him?

"If he's not doing this for our family, then who is he doing this for? I don't believe your father would do anything to bring harm to the clan just for his own sake! It can't be that he just dislikes the emperor and is just messing around with him!"

Zhou Ruiquan was scratching his head, feeling completely sick! He wanted to immediately catch Zhou Ge Lao and give him a good beating, but then he thought, he's dead, he can't hit him even if he wants to. Is he going to chase him down and beat him up?

My mood suddenly became depressed again.

Zhou Zelin also sighed, then said:

"Father probably didn't expect that this incident would lead to the exile of the entire clan! He probably thought that no matter how angry the emperor was, at most he would kill him or exile our family, but he didn't expect that the emperor would sentence our entire clan to exile."

"Then why did your father do this?" Zhou Ruiquan was even more confused.

"Maybe it's because of the loyalty in my heart!" Zhou Zelin sighed:

"Back then, General Chang entrusted the late Crown Princess and the eldest grandson to my father's care before his death. That's when my father entered the Crown Prince's residence. In name, he was the Crown Prince's teacher, but in reality, his main responsibility was to teach the eldest grandson!

But unexpectedly, the Crown Princess and the eldest grandson both died of illness in the past few years. Now the only bloodline of the Chang family is the fifth grandson. The father can only cheer up and teach the fifth grandson again...

However, during the years when the Crown Princess was bedridden, the Fifth Prince had become ignorant, arrogant and domineering under the intentional or unintentional education of Concubine Han, the current Crown Princess. Although his father said that he had a kind nature and would become a good child with proper guidance, the reputation of the Fifth Prince for being ignorant and unskillful had already spread and it would certainly not be redeemed in a short time.

In addition, last year the Crown Prince appointed Consort Han as the new Crown Princess, which made her father even more anxious.

Concubine Han became the Crown Princess, and the second prince became the legitimate son in name. Although this legitimate son was not as noble as the fifth prince, many ministers were dissatisfied. But if the fifth prince did not live up to his expectations in the future, after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascended the throne, it would be really unknown who would be the crown prince!

If the Fifth Imperial Grandson were to be eliminated, one could easily imagine what fate awaited him! A legitimate grandson of the Emperor, yet he didn't succeed to the throne, what emperor wouldn't be wary?!

So my father has been looking for an opportunity. First, he wanted to find an opportunity to surrender to the prince so that he could become the prince's true confidant. Then, when the prince ascends the throne, he would be able to have a say in front of the prince and thus obtain the greatest benefits for the fifth grandson!

Secondly, continue to accumulate the Zhou family's status in the literati community. If the crown prince wants to pass the throne to the second grandson in the future, with the support of the entire literati community, the fifth grandson may not lose!

But all these plans vanished with the sudden passing of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. That’s why my father was so grief-stricken before his death. Firstly, he truly felt sorry for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and secondly, he was probably even more worried about the Fifth Grandson…”

Zhou Zelin quietly analyzed his father's intentions to his uncle. Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has passed away, his father has also passed away, and the fifth grandson is destined to have no chance of becoming the emperor, Zhou Zelin felt that it was no big deal to tell his uncle about this.

My uncle is better than him in dealing with people and knows some things about the court. If they encounter any problems in the future, they can discuss them together.

"I see!"

After hearing this, Zhou Ruiquan couldn't help but stamp his feet and sighed,

"Your father should have told me straight earlier. Why did he lie to me?! He was so loyal and brave, but he didn't even consult me. Did he think I was an ungrateful person? If I knew that he did all this to repay General Chang's kindness, let alone the exile of his entire clan, even if it meant sacrificing the entire Zhou family, I would still stand by his side!

At that time, our hometown was surrounded by rebel troops. In order to avoid the chaos, your great-grandfather wanted to move to the countryside with his family. However, he was discovered by the rebel troops on the way and was killed!

That chaotic army killed everyone they saw, and it seemed that our Zhou family was about to be wiped out. If it weren't for General Chang and a dozen brothers rushing to rescue us, the Zhou family would probably have disappeared from this world!

General Chang brought only a dozen of his men at that time, but he was facing a mob of forty or fifty people. In order to save our family, more than a dozen of General Chang's brothers died in the battle, and he himself was seriously injured!

It can be said that if it weren’t for General Chang, our Zhou family would have been gone long ago!

How can I not repay such a great favor?!

Now your father has risked his life for his only child in the world, and this is truly a great debt of gratitude to our entire Zhou family!"

Zhou Zelin lamented that he was too excited and lost his balance for a moment, almost falling into the grass behind him. Zhou Zelin hurried to help the person, and he did manage to hold him up, but he didn't expect that a "straw man" covered in grass debris suddenly crawled out of the grass behind him.

The uncle and nephew were both startled, fearing that their conversation had been overheard by this person. They were just about to go forward to check who this person was and whether they needed to silence him, when they saw the "straw man" crawling on the ground raise a face covered with snot and tears and crawl towards them again.

Judging from his appearance, it was Chang Sanlang who was rescued by Zhou Jin and his sister a few days ago!

Zhou Zelin hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to ask the boy how much of their conversation he had just overheard, and was wondering how to make the boy shut up, but who knew that the boy started howling at him first!

"Wuwuwu...Uncle Zhou! Is Lord Zhou dead?! How could he be dead?! Wuwuwu! This is all my fault. If I knew he had done so much for me, I wouldn't always be angry with him! Wuwuwu!!"

Zhou Zelin...!!

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-06-26 06:16:07 and 2022-06-27 07:33:35~

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 11 bottles were sold;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!