Chapter 46 Confession 3 (V three consecutive updates) ◇

It was not until Zhou Zelin agreed and stopped calling himself a commoner that the two of them resumed their previous topic.

Zhu Xi asked:

"Uncle Zhou just said that my grandpa's brother is actually my grandfather's man?"

"Hmm," Zhou Zelin nodded and pondered:

"In fact, it's not just me. My father has long suspected that Guard Jing is the emperor's man. However, because Guard Jing has never revealed his true identity, my father has never found any evidence. That's why he thought that perhaps he was too suspicious...

Father's suspicions stem from his feeling that, with the Emperor's vigilance, how could he possibly allow an outsider to be around his grandson? Even if he knew Guard Jing was your grandfather's man, he wouldn't be able to rest easy. He'd have to plant at least one or two more people there...

But not only did he not do so, he also allowed Guard Jing to stay by your side for so many years without replacing him. This in itself is very suspicious, and this time he led you to Liaodong just proved this point!"

"Then why did he lead me to Liaodong? Or why did my grandfather lead me to Liaodong?" Zhu Xi wondered.

"What do you think, Your Highness?" Zhou Zelin asked instead of answering this time.

"Could it be that you want to use me to test my uncle?"

After all, Zhu Xi was born into the royal family. Even if he was uneducated since childhood, he still had to learn the political tactics that were related to the Zhu family's empire, so he was not completely ignorant.

His great uncle was the general that his grandfather specially left for his father in the future. He had known this for a long time. But now his father has passed away. His grandfather must find it very difficult to deal with General Lan Ting, who was once his father's confidant and now commands a large army.

Kill him, because his achievements are too great, and there are no sufficient excuses. Keep him, but he is worried that after his death, no matter which son succeeds him, he will not be able to suppress him?

Zhou Zelin was very pleased to see that Zhu Xi had figured it out immediately, and he agreed with his father's praise for Zhu Xi's inner talent.

He certainly felt that way. The Emperor had deliberately brought the Fifth Prince to Liaodong, perhaps to test General Lan Ting's intentions. If General Lan Ting kept the Crown Prince's legitimate son, and if he ever betrayed him, or if the Emperor harbored murderous intent against General Lan Ting, he would surely be charged with instigating the Emperor's grandson's escape or luring him away with ill intent.

General Lan probably knew this, which is why he wanted to send this hot potato back when the Fifth Prince first arrived at the palace?!

"It seems that ever since my father's death, my grandfather has been wary of my great-uncle!" Zhu Xi couldn't help but sigh. "They were once a good relationship between king and subject, but now a rift has arisen. Tell me how this happened! How about I mediate and mediate?"

Zhou Zelin...

In the middle—persuade? …

Do you think this is just a fight between peasants over a fence? And you're trying to mediate? Are these the words of a descendant of the emperor?!

"These are just our guesses, and they may not be the real thoughts of the current emperor. Your Highness, please don't spread them! Besides, Liaodong has not been pacified yet, and the crown prince has not been appointed. It's too early to say anything..." Zhou Zelin hurriedly stopped him.

Zhu Xi frowned after hearing this, then relaxed his brows in an instant and said casually:

"Haha, that's right. My father is dead anyway, so there's no way I'll ever inherit the throne. Even if my great-uncle plans to rebel, it'll be my grandfather or my future uncle who will be the heir. Why should I worry so much?"

Zhou Zelin...

You really are so optimistic!

But it's better to be more open-minded. After the death of the crown prince, Emperor Chengqian will most likely find one of the other legitimate sons to be his successor. After all, Emperor Chengqian already has five or six legitimate sons, not to mention illegitimate sons!

It's not like he doesn't have sons, and Emperor Cheng Qian is not stupid. How could he choose his young grandson to take the lead instead of his adult sons?!

Therefore, the Fifth Emperor's grandson, who was once the legitimate grandson, is probably destined to have no chance of becoming the emperor!

Zhou Zelin wondered if his father had thought of this too, perhaps that was why he felt so regretful before his death. After all, if the Crown Prince had ascended the throne, even if he had only been emperor for a year, a month, or an hour, the Fifth Prince would have been the most legitimate successor. But, unfortunately, neither father nor son had that fate! Alas!

Now, with several of his uncles standing in the way, it's unlikely that the Fifth Prince will ever get that position, right?!

If he couldn't think it through now, he would be easily harmed by people with ulterior motives in the future. Therefore, Zhou Zelin thought it would be good for Zhu Xi to think more positively.

"Alas!" Zhou Zelin sighed again, thinking about how to persuade the child in front of him who had placed half his father's hopes on him, but had missed the throne.

I didn't expect that the child in front of me didn't care about this matter at all, and there was even a hint of joy on his face?

Seeing the look of pity on his face, she even tried to comfort him?

"Uncle Zhou, you don't have to feel sorry for your nephew. I have long since let it go! It's all fate!" Zhu Xi sighed with his head down.

Zhou Zelin...

Please don’t pull the corners of your mouth upwards when you sigh!

But Zhu Xi still raised the corner of her mouth and recalled the past with him...

"When I was little, with my elder brother around, no one ever forced me to learn anything. My father, mother, and consort doted on me, and my elder brother always indulged me. He even once secretly told me that when he became emperor in the future, he would let me be an idle prince, and I would never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of my life!

From that day on, my biggest dream was to be a leisurely prince and live a carefree life under the protection of my eldest brother!

But later, my eldest brother suddenly fell ill and died. Lord Zhou told me that even if I didn't fight for it, as long as I had the title of the crown prince and the legitimate son, no matter which of my brothers succeeded to the throne, they would not let me go. So I had to cheer up and learn things that I was not interested in at all!

But I actually don't like to learn about the ways of governing a country, classics, history, and miscellaneous books. I just want to find a piece of land, live my own life far away from the emperor, marry a bunch of wives, build a big house, and have ten or eight children. I don't have to be exhausted to death like my father, nor do I have to be forced to study every day like my eldest brother.

But I also know that without the protection of my eldest brother, all this would be impossible to achieve!

Lord Zhou is right. Even if I don't fight, my status is there, and my brothers won't let me go in the future. I don't want to die, and I don't want to be trapped, so I can only fight...

But now God tells me that I don’t have that fate, what can I do? !”

Zhu Xi looked like he had to accept his fate and said in a wronged tone:

"My only option now is to pretend to accept my fate, so that my grandfather, in consideration of my honesty, will arrange for me before my uncle takes the throne and grant me a piece of land that's similar to his own. This is my only option..."

Zhou Zelin...

Forgive my poor eyesight, I didn't see how aggrieved you were. I just saw that you were quite happy to see it happen, okay?!

Also, since you know the plan now is to curry favor with your grandfather, why are you running away from home instead of serving him in Kyoto?!

Zhou Zelin sighed again, feeling as if he had sighed out half his life's anger in just a moment. He thought to himself, it seems that this person really has no intention of taking the throne. This is good, as it saves him from trying to persuade him again!

Their Zhou family owed General Chang too much, so his father did not hesitate to risk his life and the entire family to help the fifth prince and push him to the throne, in order to fulfill General Chang's dying wish and protect his only remaining grandson.

But that was in the past. If the fifth grandson of the emperor did not fight for the throne, he would be doomed to have no good ending. This was almost a dead end for him. Even if he wanted to give up the fight, he couldn't!

But now that the Crown Prince is dead, it is perfectly legitimate for the Emperor to appoint another Crown Prince or pass the throne directly to one of the other princes! Since the throne came legitimately, future successors no longer need to target the Fifth Prince, the former legitimate grandson, and instead be accused of not being able to tolerate the Crown Prince's orphan.

Therefore, it seems that the fifth grandson's idea may not be a bad way out now... If it goes well, the fifth grandson's wish to live in peace in a corner may not be impossible to achieve!

By then, the fifth grandson will live a stable life with no worries about food and clothing, and their Zhou family will have lived up to General Chang's dying trust.

This is a good way to have the best of both worlds...

Thinking of this, Zhou Zelin calmed down and said to Zhu Xi seriously:

"Your Highness, since you think so, then you must not oppose the Emperor now. In my opinion, why don't you write a letter to His Majesty in person, detailing your journey to Liaodong and your experiences along the way, as well as your own thoughts. I will then have someone deliver it to a friend in Kyoto, who will then give it to His Majesty. Let's see what His Majesty says, and then we can decide what to do next."

"Okay, I'll listen to Uncle Zhou!" Zhu Xi had actually forgiven his grandfather in his heart after so many days. Although he still didn't want to go back, he didn't want his grandfather to worry about his disappearance.

What's more, for the sake of his future fiefdom, he had to be able to bend and stretch, so when Zhou Zelin asked him to write a letter to his grandfather, he did not object.

And from what Zhou Zelin said, he seemed to agree that he shouldn't fight for that position. He was immediately happier and said with a grin, "Then I'll just stay at Zhou Jin's house for the next few days. His mother's cooking is pretty delicious!"

Zhou Zelin, well, seeing that you have a carefree personality, you are really suitable to be a leisurely prince!

However, after hearing Zhu Xi mention Zhou Jin, Zhou Zelin felt that he had to make some arrangements...

After Zhu Xi finished talking with Zhou Zelin, he personally wrote a letter to Emperor Cheng Qian on the table in Zhou Zelin's room to report his safety. After handing the letter to Zhou Zelin, he happily went back to play with Zhou Yu.

After spending the past two days together, he felt that although the black girl was fierce, she was not shy at all when it came to his temper. No matter if he talked to her about food, daily necessities or fun things, the girl could always keep up the conversation and chat with him happily!

Once, on a whim, Zhu Xi accidentally mentioned that the courtesan playing the pipa at Caiyun Pavilion was beautiful. He regretted it the moment he said it, fearing that Hei Yatou would be upset. But to his surprise, she looked interested and asked with a smile what piece of music had so captivated him, and if he could hum it for her.

From then on, Zhu Xi loved to play with Zhou Yu even more. He felt that the black girl was just a little ugly, a little dark, and a little too thin, but her behavior was very generous, which suited his personality very well. She was nothing like those so-called noble ladies and noble young men in Kyoto, who would scream and faint at the mention of the name of Caiyun Pavilion. Whether male or female, they all looked half-dead, and looked at him with disgust. Just mentioning Caiyun Pavilion to him made him feel dirty...

The result was that the more those people disliked him, the more Zhu Xi mentioned Caiyun Pavilion and Fangfei Tower to them. The more they avoided him, the more he secretly tripped them up and made them embarrassed...

Gradually, his reputation became worse and worse...

But in fact, only Zhu Xi himself knew that he didn't want to do anything to them. He just really wanted to find a companion who also liked the pipa of Caiyun Pavilion and the dance of Fangfei Pavilion...

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I'm done! Thank you to everyone who has read my stories. You guys are my biggest motivation to keep writing! Still asking for comments! Please add to favorites! Please share your flowers!