The courtyard was located in a remote area, far away from where the wealthy families gathered, and it took half an hour to get there by horse.
He Dong and He Xi have returned and reported to Zhao Wu about the cleaning of the house today.
Zhao Wu didn't dare to go into the inner courtyard to see Xu Lanyin. He still felt a little guilty, afraid that Xu Lanyin would see through his worries. After dinner, he walked to the Wen Mansion.
It takes more than half an hour to get to Wen Mansion by fast walking, and an hour by slow walking.
Zhao Wu walked slowly, and when he passed by a restaurant, he ran into a few young men who had just come out of the restaurant.
One of them pointed at Zhao Wu, who was walking with his head down, and said, "You, stop. Why do I feel like I've seen you somewhere before?"
Zhao Wudu knew those people. They had been naughty with him since they were young. The one who spoke was Chen Zan, the second son of the Chen family.
Zhao Wu didn't want to get involved, so he just stood there and looked at him, pursing his lips to make his dimples bigger. With a slight southern accent, he said, "Sir, I don't think I've seen you before."
Chen Zan took two steps forward, looked at him, and said with a smile, "I recognized the wrong person. But brother, you do look a bit like an old friend of mine, except that he's not as tall as you and doesn't have dimples. Alas, it's a pity that he's been dead for nearly two years."
Zhao Wubao clasped his fists, turned and left.
Several other people's voices came from the back, "Yeah, he does look a bit like that good-for-nothing Wen Lao Si."
"Brother Bai is wrong. Old Fourth Wen is not a good-for-nothing, he's a sentimental man."
"Hahaha……"
Chen Zan's voice said, "Everyone is dead, please be gentle with your words."
Zhao Wu took a bigger step. He had always thought that his friends were all idle and idle friends, but he didn't expect that there was a true friend who would speak up for him.
The next morning after breakfast, Zhao Wucai went to see Xu Lanyin with a smile on his face. After a day and a night, he was finally able to face her calmly.
Xu Lanyin had just finished breakfast and was about to go clean up the new house. Seeing that Zhao Wu looked tired but smiling, she asked, "You look so happy, is there anything else I don't know about?"
The chess master knew that his master was going to say something important, so he went out.
Zhao Wu sat down on the chair, stretched out his long legs leisurely, and answered the question irrelevantly, "I just came back early this morning and didn't get enough rest."
Xu Lanyin said, "Then you go back and rest. He Dong and He Xi and I will clean up."
Zhao Wudao said, "My elder brother will not live in the new house for the time being, there is no rush to move there..." Then he told him that Wen Zhuofeng would be recuperating in the Grand Tutor's Mansion.
Xu Lanyin hadn't expected him to be able to ask Old Master Zhou for help, and she was happy for them. In the Zhou Mansion, Wen Zhuofeng had a clear path out of the house and was safer.
Zhao Wu covered his mouth with his hands and yawned, then told Xu Lanyin about the Zhou family in detail.
A hundred years ago, the Zhou ancestor and his daughter, Zhou He, followed Taizu to conquer the country. Zhou He was crowned empress, and she and Taizu lived in perfect harmony throughout their lives. She became a legendary woman of the dynasty, revered by all and honored as the Mingxian Empress. The Zhou ancestor was also granted the hereditary title of Protector of the Country, bringing glory to the family.
To show their loyalty, Empress Mingxian and the head of the Zhou family made a will that the descendants of the Zhou family must be loyal to the emperor alone, not interfere with the selection of the crown prince, not take sides, and that no daughter of the Zhou family can marry into the palace. Because if a daughter of the Zhou family marries into the palace, it means that the Zhou family must take sides...
The Zhou family had done this for generations, enjoying a distinguished position in the Daming Dynasty and being valued by every emperor. Every head of the family who passed the title of Duke of the Protectorate to his son would be granted the title of Grand Tutor, a title that continued until this head, Zhou Yong.
There's a story behind how Zhou Jian, a daughter of the Zhou family, unexpectedly married the current emperor and became empress. Before the current emperor ascended the throne, he had four capable older brothers and one capable younger brother. Those five princes vie for attention in front of the late emperor, but only the sixth prince, Liu Tong (a previous prince had died), showed no interest in the throne.
When Liu Tong was fifteen years old, he even asked to marry Zhou Jian, a girl from the Zhou family. He was crowned king in advance and left the palace to set up his own government office, completely losing the opportunity to become the crown prince.
Everyone in the world knew that the Sixth Prince had no intention of competing for the throne, and they also knew the founding queen's will. They privately spread the word that he was an amorous prince who loved beauty more than the throne.
But fate would have it that Liu Tong's brothers had been fighting each other since he was a few years old, and the fight had lasted for more than a decade. In the end, two of them died, one was disabled, and one fled. The younger brother also incurred the dislike of the old emperor because of his brother from the same mother. A year after the current emperor married the daughter of the Zhou family, the old emperor passed the throne to Liu Tong, who had no intention of competing for the throne.
Although Zhou Jian followed the emperor into the palace and was crowned empress, in a sense, she did not violate the will of Empress Mingxian and the Zhou family's ancestors, because she married into a prince's mansion, not the palace.
Two months after entering the palace, Empress Zhou gave birth to the eldest prince, Liu Zhaoyin. Liu Zhaoyin was intelligent and studious, earning the Emperor's affection. He was named Crown Prince at the age of five. When Empress Zhou was nearly thirty, she gave birth to a second son, a moron.
In order to avoid the emperor's suspicion and to avoid giving others a chance to criticize them, the Zhou family kept a low profile and rarely interacted with the empress and the princes. Unexpectedly, the former crown prince's left arm was chopped off by the rebel prince and his men while he was out.
The eldest son was disabled, the second son mentally retarded, and Empress Zhou died in depression, accused of disobeying her ancestors' will. Although the current emperor claimed that Zhou Jian was his lifelong love and would not appoint another empress, he still deposed Liu Zhaoyin from the throne...
The Zhou family was furious, believing that all signs pointed to another reason behind Liu Zhaoyin's assassination, and began to secretly plot...
In the book, the Third Prince ascended to the throne, and the Zhou family became a declining officialdom. Men in officialdom were marginalized, and the story was not described in detail. Xu Lanyin heard some more after she traveled through time, but it was far less detailed. In particular, it was the first time Xu Lanyin had heard about when the Zhou family began to secretly plot.
In the book, even though the Zhou family secretly plotted, they only managed to capture evidence of the Second Prince's crimes. They sent the Old Demon to the Western Xia Kingdom, but without Zhao Wu's help, the Old Demon wasn't rescued, and neither was the intelligence. Min Hu and Qin Che, who knew some of the inside story, died unexpectedly, ultimately benefiting the Third Prince.
Man proposes, God disposes. To succeed, one must rely on God's help. God sent her here, not only to help Zhao Wu and Min Hu, but also indirectly to help the old demon, the Zhou family, and those the Zhou family wanted to assist...
Xu Lanyin touched the small wooden sign through her clothes again. The Zhou family owed Dr. Zhang the old doctor a debt, probably because he saved the late crown prince's life. The delicate crown prince had his arm severed, and for him to survive was truly a rare achievement in ancient times.
Zhao Di saw Xu Lanyin's eyes were a little distracted, so he called out, "Sister."
Xu Lanyin said "Oh" and regained her train of thought, saying, "There's no family affection in the royal family. Brothers are fighting to the death. In the palace, perhaps only the Fourth Prince is happy."
Zhao Wu sneered, "It's not just the imperial palace that lacks family affection; the Wen family is the same."
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