Chapter 56 Brothers

Chu Shan momentarily forgot the goosebumps all over his body and sighed deeply, "Victory and defeat are predestined; fate is not in my hands!"

The implication is that you're just taking advantage of fate, and you might not actually be able to beat me!

“But you no longer want to fight.” Emperor Zhongzong seemed not to understand the meaning behind his words, and smiled, “The world will return to peace. A major war is not what you want to see.”

Chu Shan certainly knew.

But he also knew that as long as there was a chance, he would fight on.

What can you give me?

Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhongzong slowly released his hand. Under Chu Shan's gaze, he said, "You will survive."

Chu Shan: "..."

“If I were to conquer Chungju,” King Jungjong said calmly, “you wouldn’t even have that chance.”

It was as if it were a reward from him.

Chu Shan, being straightforward, retorted sarcastically, "Then I should thank you even more."

Emperor Zhongzong did not speak. After a moment, he suddenly took out a wooden box from his side. The box was not heavy and looked very simple, but he threw it with an aura that weighed more than a thousand gold pieces.

Chu Shan had already seen the wooden box; his gaze shifted slightly as he looked over it.

The wooden box landed on the wooden table with a thud. Emperor Zhongzong lifted his eyelids and pushed the box over: "This is my greeting gift. General, you can think it over carefully. If you want to fight, I will of course accompany you. But if you want to declare yourself king... then there is no room for discussion."

He paused, then stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

He walked away as if he wasn't worried about what was behind him at all.

Behind him, Chu Shan stared intently at the wooden box. Only when the sun was setting did he finally take a deep breath and gently lift the lid.

He looked inside, and his hand holding the wooden box suddenly stopped.

It's not a gift.

Inside was a pair of dried human ears. How could Zhou She call this a gift?

Chu Shan felt a bit disgusted and was about to throw it away when, in a flash, he inexplicably remembered what Bai An had told him when the news of Zhao Shuming's death spread: that Zhao Shuming had lost one ear when he died.

"..." Chu Shan stared at the pair of ears, trying to recognize the person's identity, but he still couldn't figure it out.

Although he didn't recognize it, there was a piece of straw paper underneath. Chu Shan took it out and looked at it carefully. He saw that it read: Zhao Shuming, Zhao Chang's left ear.

The Zhao family, father and son.

The Zhao family, father and son!

The culprit who caused his daughter's death!

Chu Shan's initial dislike vanished instantly. He burst into laughter, then cried, as if he had gone mad.

On the screen above, Chu Shan wept with genuine emotion, giving Yu Sui goosebumps, yet she understood him: "Although it wasn't a personal revenge..."

At least now I have the confidence to pay respects to my family.

Ahead of him, Zhou She kept his head down and hurried on his way, only smiling when he heard this.

It sounds like a satisfying revenge story, but the dead are still dead. No matter how much the living do, they can never bring their loved ones back.

This was still a painful experience for Chu Shan.

Chu Shan did not surrender immediately. After returning to the city, he reassessed the strength of both sides and finally concluded that he could not win. He was indeed no match for Chu Shan.

He himself was unconcerned about the desperate resistance, but the people following him were a different story. With the city besieged, several mid- to low-ranking officials attempting to escape had already been captured within half a month.

In the scene, Chu Shan suddenly stood up from the head of the table, took a few steps to the other party, and was extremely angry, his hair and beard standing on end: "I have never treated you badly! And yet you betrayed me, what kind of logic is this?!"

The kneeling man was covered in dust and dirt, having just been captured and brought back; his hair was full of straw.

He first pleaded, "General, we can't win! Zhou She besieges the city every day and launches surprise attacks from time to time, keeping us on edge. He can wear us down, but we can't!"

"so what?"

The man kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "General, I'm begging for my life! I want to live too!"

He looked up, and two streams of hot tears rolled down his cheeks, revealing his clean face beneath the dust, which looked particularly comical.

No one laughed. Chu Shan stared at him fiercely, his eyes bloodshot, his chest heaving with barely suppressed rage.

Several guards held the mid-level general, who was trying to escape, and waited for his order to kill him on the spot!

Chu Shan did indeed turn and leave. Amidst the surprised and fearful gazes of the crowd, he suddenly turned around, drew his long sword, and the cold light illuminated his bloodshot eyes. The blade was pressed against the other person's neck.

"I've followed you all these years, and I've never done anything wrong!" The man's heart pounded, tears streaming down his face, as he desperately cried out, "Just this once! Chu Shan—"

Chu Shan stood coldly in front of him: "If you're leaving alone, I have nothing to say."

But he actually dared to steal the defense map, which puts everyone's lives in the enemy's hands!

He closed his eyes, and the other person's cries had somehow turned into extremely angry insults. Chu Shan seemed not to hear them. Warm blood splattered on his face and slowly slid down.

Is it blood? Is it tears?

He could no longer tell the difference.

The long sword fell to the ground with a clanging sound. Chu Shan said dejectedly, "Open the city gates and surrender."

The Chushan envoy explained the intention to surrender to King Jungjong, and after he paid homage to his wife again, he surrendered at the end of the month.

This was the fourth year since Emperor Hong'an's death, and in another month, it would be New Year's Eve again.

Emperor Hong'an stroked his beard, no longer interested in the topic of whether he would live or die. He calculated that the turmoil had been resolved in four years, a speed that could be described as extremely fast.

I couldn't be more satisfied.

He had initially hesitated, but now, reflecting on his decision, he deeply felt how wise he had been. After all, as long as the Ning Dynasty could continue, what difference did it make whether it passed to his grandson or his great-grandson?

After a month, Emperor Hong'an finally convinced himself.

After Chushan surrendered, Emperor Zhongzong took over all local authority. He made it clear that he would never allow a separatist regime to occur, so he moved Chushan to the Baiyue region.

Then... he went back to targeting his good younger brother. As everyone knows, Tuesday has always been a very strange character; if his brother goes left, he goes right; if his brother cooks, he sabotages the pot—in short, they can't stand each other.

When the Fifth Prince left the capital, Princess Zhaoping and Zhou Er were among the half of his entourage. Although many of these men later deserted, Zhengzhou, where the Fifth Prince resided, remained remarkably peaceful amidst the chaos and turmoil of the world.

This is probably why everyone looks down on it; it's useless anyway, so we'll just leave it for now and deal with the more useful opponents later.

Zhou Ze: "..." He couldn't catch his breath and almost fainted.

This account portrays him as utterly useless; doesn't he ever bother to read history books? Doesn't he know that his brother was the absolute worst of the worst?!

Who in the capital doesn't know that Zhou She is the number one playboy?

Princess Zhaoping said coldly, "If you're going to faint, go back and finish your studies before you faint."

Although Zhou Xuyan favored his second son, he pretended not to hear anything. Of his two sons, one was recorded in history, while the other's name was erased from history and still brought up for ridicule.

It's really hard to speak with confidence.

Zhengzhou fell easily, and the Fifth Prince was naturally brought before Emperor Zhongzong. He was very stubborn and might have even learned some vulgar language, barking at Emperor Zhongzong like a dog... Well, this isn't my description; it's Fang Jingruo's original text.

Then he was sent to Huai Leju for punishment. King Jungjong himself still had another person on his mind, his younger brother. Upon seeing him for the first time, he ordered Zhou Er locked up and began sharpening his knives.

As Tianmu's voice faded, a burst of rousing music suddenly erupted, with energetic guitar music resounding through the sky.

Zhou She, who was still focused on his journey, thought, "..." What the hell is that noise?

Yu Suisheng: "Wow, this music is quite novel."

The music played for a few seconds, then gradually faded away, and the scene on the screen suddenly flipped.

You can't do that!

The mansion where the Fifth Prince once lived was spacious and bright, with elaborate gold, silver and jade decorations that were dazzling at first glance.

Emperor Zhongzong strolled slowly among them, admiring them repeatedly with great interest, pondering how much money he could exchange them for.

It looks expensive and is so ugly—it's practically the perfect choice to sell for money.

Seeing that he didn't speak, the woman's voice paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her tone had softened: "He is, after all, your brother. How could you kill him?"

Emperor Zhongzong emerged from behind the display shelf and said calmly, "That sounds somewhat familiar."

It seems he was also given this kind of education before he left the capital for the last time.

Unfortunately, he was unyielding, showing neither appreciation for family ties nor concern for past relationships; he was truly a cold-blooded and ruthless fellow.

Zhong Zhun was speechless after being rebuked by him.

Although she was in dire straits at this time, she was still the mother of Emperor Zhongzong, and no one dared to lay a hand on her. They could only politely hand her the person over: "Sir, you can do whatever you want with her, just don't make things difficult for us."

Therefore, she remained dignified and proper. Although she was unhappy, she still maintained her dignity, wearing brocade robes, jade hairpins, and a dazzling array of adornments.

“He was young and naive. Did you hate him so much that you wanted to kill him?” Zhong Zhun said in a deep voice. She truly didn’t understand. “Last time you broke his leg, I didn’t say anything. But you shouldn’t have killed him!”

"That's a ridiculous statement." Emperor Zhongzong stood by the window, a distance from his mother, and he didn't seem to intend to approach her. "Didn't he also hate me so much that he wanted to kill me?"

He turned his head to the side, looking quite pleased, even smiling slightly. His smile was genuine and sincere, without a trace of sarcasm: "My matter with Zhou Er is none of your concern, Mother. After all, I'm really short of money right now. If you say a few more words, I might not even be able to support one person."

Zhong Zhun glared at him hatefully, but Emperor Zhongzong remained unmoved and said loudly, "Please go and rest, Your Highness."

"Unfilial and disrespectful, unkind and unjust!" Zhong Zhun stormed off, his words ringing out, "How could I have given birth to a son like you!"

Behind him, King Jungjong rolled up his sleeves and was enthusiastically selecting various gold artifacts, discussing with his attendants how to sell them for a high price.

Even ancient rulers couldn't circumvent the concept of filial piety; emperors were all great actors, each worthy of an Oscar.

Before Ning, some emperors of the Sheng Dynasty had strained relationships with the Empress Dowager, often remaining silent when they met. Even so, they still regularly paid their respects, at least maintaining a very proper attitude.

Emperor Hong'an: "..."

I really want to call my eldest daughter into the palace and ask her what she thinks.

Now it seems that he was clearly not the only one who was blind.

The civil officials exchanged bewildered glances, somewhat puzzled: "The Oscar... what is that?"

"Why did you choose a Western name?"

Some Westerners who traveled from afar had this name, which was extremely unpleasant to hear.

They expressed their doubts and dissatisfaction, feeling that the name should be changed to the Hong'an Gold Award.

"Or we could call it the Jinghua Gold Award," Ren Heng muttered with a sullen face.

So the future Empress Dowager was respectfully invited into a separate residence. Although everyone was respectful, they treated her as if she were invisible. When given orders, they would say "Yes," "As you command," or "Go do it immediately." When asked questions, they would say "The Lord said," "We don't have enough manpower," "I am guilty," or "Your subject dares not."

He was adept at deception, which made Princess Zhaoping so angry that she tossed and turned at night, worried that her second son would be killed.

This situation continued until Empress Injo returned from her inspection of the free schools.