Chapter 87 Confession
There was a large table of food, but there were only three people sitting around the table. Even if only one person was absent, the table seemed empty and lonely, without the lively atmosphere of a birthday celebration at all.
Chu Ran didn't say a word the whole time, and Xing Ji couldn't speak either. They couldn't ask a 70-year-old man, who was also the birthday boy today, to take the initiative to liven up the atmosphere.
As expected, there was a lot of leftovers at the end of the meal.
Chu Ran sighed and said to the servant who came to take away the food, "Don't throw it away. Keep it and heat it up to eat in the evening."
After the food was cleared away, Chu Ran still forced himself to cheer up. He couldn't just give up on his birthday just because Li Fu wasn't coming.
Everything was fine before and Li Fu agreed to cooperate, but in the end, he was so busy again.
Well, it's not his fault, after all, he didn't mean it.
But Chu Ran still had some complaints about Li Fu in his heart.
In the afternoon, Chu Ran took Zhao Zhongyi for a walk in the small garden in the backyard of the mansion. He also sat side by side with Zhao Zhongyi by the pond and pretended to fish for a while, although he didn't catch anything in the end.
Originally, Chu Ran was planning to set off fireworks for Zhao Zhongyi, but considering that he needed to return to the palace before the palace gates were closed, Chu Ran crossed this plan off the list.
As evening approached, Chu Ran planned to send Zhao Zhongyi back to the palace.
Zhao Zhongyi patted the back of Chu Ran's hand. His palm was rough, but very warm. When it covered Chu Ran's hand, Chu Ran felt warm in his heart.
"Where is the prince? Take me to see him. I want to talk to him alone."
Chu Ran thought unhappily: Why bother seeing him? He is not in a hurry to see you anyway.
"Okay." Chu Ran said. Since Zhao Zhongyi had made such a request, Chu Ran had to try his best to satisfy it.
After asking someone, I found out that Li Fu was not in the mansion today.
Zhao Zhongyi sighed, thinking that he would not be able to meet Li Fu, but when he was going out, he happened to meet Li Fu who was coming back.
Li Fu did not look at Chu Ran who was standing next to Zhao Zhongyi, but turned his gaze directly to Zhao Zhongyi.
Zhao Zhongyi said, "Prince, can I have a few words with you alone?"
Li Fu hesitated for a moment and said, "Follow me."
Li Fu and Zhao Zhongyi entered the study one after another, while Chu Ran stayed outside the door.
"If you have anything to say, say it here."
After Li Fu entered the house, he turned around and said to Zhao Zhongyi.
"The prince still hates what this old slave did back then."
Li Fu sneered, his face gloomy, "Eunuch Zhao, do you think I shouldn't bear a grudge?"
When he was in the palace, it was not that he did not hate Zhao Zhongyi, but he was still immature at that time and had to rely on others for many things, even though that person was the culprit who took away everything from him, killed his mother, and caused him painful experiences in his childhood.
"Your Highness."
Zhao Zhongyi suddenly burst into tears and staggered to his knees with his old, frail legs.
"It is I who have let down the late emperor!"
Zhao Zhongyi, with red eyes, knelt down deeply towards Li Fu.
Li Fu looked at him indifferently, without any reaction on his face.
Children generally find it difficult to remember things before the age of five, and almost everyone thought that Li Fu had forgotten everything in the past. However, the words his biological mother, Concubine Rou, had said to him before her death were engraved in Li Fu's heart, as if someone had taken a knife and carved them one by one.
He was not Emperor Wen's biological son, his biological father was the previous emperor.
When the late emperor was terminally ill, his mother, Concubine Rou, was diagnosed by the imperial physician as being pregnant. The late emperor had no children in his life, but unexpectedly, he had his only prince before his death. Before the late emperor died, he issued an edict overnight, summoning the two people he trusted most, the current Minister of the Central Secretariat Shen Minghan and the Grand Eunuch Zhao Zhongyi, to his bedside, and in front of them, he established the unborn baby in Concubine Rou's belly as the crown prince.
However, these two betrayed the trust and kindness of the late emperor. They joined forces with the then Prince of Yan, now Emperor Chengwen, to tamper with the imperial edict and deceive everyone in the world, and successfully put the Prince of Yan on the throne.
Li Fu's mother, Concubine Rou, was forced to give herself to Emperor Chengwen for the sake of her unborn baby. Many years after giving birth to Li Fu, she could no longer hold on and died of depression.
The former Prince of Yan, the current Emperor Chengwen, as well as the Minister of the Central Secretariat Shen Minghan and the Grand Eunuch Zhao Zhongyi are all his enemies.
However, Shen Minghan still occupies the position of Zhongshu Ling, but Zhao Zhongyi was abandoned by Emperor Chengwen many years after he ascended the throne. All the things that were promised to Zhao Zhongyi were taken back by Emperor Chengwen.
Zhao Zhongyi did regret it now, but in Li Fu's opinion, the reason for his regret was simply because everything he wanted from Emperor Chengwen, even if he had obtained some of it, had now become a bubble.
Zhao Zhongyi is now old, blind, and deaf, with one foot already in the coffin.
"Get lost." Li Fu said, "Even if you have to kneel, you should kneel before the late emperor, who was very kind to you. You have done some things for me over the years, but they are far from enough to make up for the sins you have committed. If you want to repent, then go and repent before the late emperor after you die, and don't appear in front of me and bother me."
The late emperor had been kind to Zhao Zhongyi, but Zhao Zhongyi chose to betray the late emperor's trust for the so-called future, status, and power promised to him by the King of Yan.
Zhao Zhongyi let out an ambiguous sob, supported his stiff knees with both hands, and staggered to his feet.
"After I die, I will confess my sins before the late emperor. But you, the second prince, Li Jinheng, must be careful and vigilant."
"When I was the supervisor of the East Factory, I knew a lot of secrets that even the current emperor didn't know. The young palace maid Fu'er was originally bought into the palace by the second prince Li Jinheng. Later, the second prince learned that Fu'er had a long-lost sister, so he helped him look for her among the people, and finally found her. Therefore, I suspect that the assassination of the third prince may be related to the second prince."
What are you talking about? We've been talking for so long, but there's still no movement.
Chu Ran took two steps forward curiously, but after thinking about it, he felt that eavesdropping was not a good idea, so he stepped back.
The door creaked open from the inside, and Zhao Zhongyi walked out slowly.
Chu Ran ran over quickly, held onto Zhao Zhongyi, and turned to glance at Li Fu inside, but it was pitch dark inside and he couldn't see anything.
"Let me take you out first."
Chu Ran noticed that Zhao Zhongyi's cloudy and yellow eyeballs were full of bloodshot. He rarely saw Zhao Zhongyi like this, so he couldn't help but guess that the two of them had had a fight in the study?
But Chu Ran didn't hear any quarreling.
What happened to Zhao Zhongyi? Could it be that Li Fu said something unpleasant and his old heart was deeply hurt by Li Fu?
It is not known when the disagreement between these two people occurred, but Chu Ran felt that there might be some misunderstanding between the two. When the time comes, he can ask Li Fu, find out the situation, and then resolve the misunderstanding.
Chu Ran sent Zhao Zhongyi onto the carriage and watched it go away before returning.
The door of the study was half open. Chu Ran knocked on the door, but heard no movement inside, so he pushed the door open and went in.