Chapter 42: Rage◇
◎ Meanwhile, in the Qianqing Palace in Kyoto, Emperor Chengqian Zhu Chongwu slammed the table in anger, ...◎
At the same time, in the Qianqing Palace in Kyoto.
Emperor Chengqian Zhu Chongwu slammed the table in anger.
"What did you say? What do you mean the Fifth Emperor's grandson is missing? Didn't I tell you to follow him closely? How did you do that?!"
"Your Majesty, I, your subordinate, have been following your instructions and following the young prince. However, after the young prince arrived in Liaodong and met General Lan Ting, I don't know how he discovered that General Lan Ting wanted to send him back, so he sneaked away in the middle of the night...
After several days of secret searches, I finally found the young prince in Baili Town, Fuzhouwei. Unexpectedly, General Lan had also sent soldiers to look for him. To avoid them, he fled into the woods near Baili Town. Fearing he might have gotten into trouble, I hurriedly followed him. At first, I could still see his shadow, but then, I couldn't find him anymore!
"Your subordinates and General Lan's men have been searching the mountains for several days, searching all the nearby mountains, but we still haven't found the young prince... Your subordinates..."
"Subordinate, subordinate, what the hell are you!"
Emperor Chengqian's face turned pale when he heard this, his hands trembling with anger. He grabbed the inkstone on the table and threw it at the man below.
"Why the hell did you come back here when you weren't looking for my grandson in the mountains? There are so many people who can't take care of a child. What's the point of me still needing you?
Where's Jingli?! Hasn't he always been with Xier? Where the hell did he go?!
Emperor Cheng Qian was so anxious that he kept turning around behind the desk and asked loudly again.
The man didn't dare to move, letting the Emperor Chengqian's inkstone hit his head and face. When he heard the Emperor Chengqian's question, he answered tremblingly with a mixture of blood and ink on his head:
"When the young prince escaped from General Lan Ting's residence, Guard Jing followed him. But when I found the young prince in Baili Town, Guard Jing had disappeared. I... I don't know where Guard Jing went..."
"Ah?! Doesn't that mean my grandson will be left with no one?"
Emperor Cheng Qian was so shocked that he flopped down on his chair. These idiots had actually forced his grandson into the mountains and forests, and not even a single person followed him?!
That was the forest of Liaodong! There were tigers and bears! What good could a thirteen-year-old kid, powerless and unable to even tie a chicken, do running there?!
Oh my God!
Isn't it enough that you've taken away my eldest son and grandson? Are you going to take away my grandson too?!
What on earth did I do to you?!
"You bunch of losers, hurry up and find him. Tell Lan Ting to send all the soldiers out to me. If you can't find my grandson, don't come back! You can all kill yourself."
Emperor Cheng Qian leaned against the table and gasped in pain, pointing at the man in black below and said weakly.
The man below was so frightened that he didn't dare to raise his head. He hurriedly responded, kowtowed, and retreated...
After a while, Eunuch Yun came up tremblingly.
Emperor Cheng Qian glanced at him, and in an instant he became as dejected as a withered leaf. He covered his pounding heart and asked,
"Tell me, am I really as Zhou Ruian says, murderous, arrogant, and warmongering? Is it because I've killed too many people? Is this the retribution that will fall on my children and grandchildren?"
Eunuch Yun didn't dare to say yes, he could only kneel down and say:
"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince will surely be blessed by heaven.
!”
Emperor Cheng Qian also knew that he would not be able to answer anything if he asked him. This sentence was more like asking himself than asking him. Seeing that he was kneeling and not moving, he asked,
"But is there something wrong?"
"Your Majesty, the Crown Princess has brought you soup again with the Second Prince... What do you think?"
Eunuch Yun lowered his head and spoke softly.
"Tell her to get out of here!"
Emperor Cheng Qian was immediately furious, thinking that if it weren't for this vicious woman, his grandson would not have run away from home in a fit of rage, and his whereabouts would not be known, with his life or death unknown. Emperor Cheng Qian was already furious about Zhu Xi's disappearance, and didn't want to admit that his grandson ran away from home mainly because he was beaten by him. When he heard the name of the Crown Princess, he took out all his anger on her.
"Yes." Eunuch Yun hurriedly responded and retreated. Just as he was about to pass on the message, he heard Emperor Cheng Qian say again: "Let the second grandson stay. He will live with me from now on. I will teach him personally."
"Yes." Eunuch Yun responded again and hurried down to convey the order.
………
Taohua Village...
Today is the day when several families officially move in. In order to bring good luck, Zhou Ruiquan specially bought a few firecrackers and asked Zhou Jin and others to light them when the families officially move in.
Amid the crackling sound of firecrackers, Zhou Ruiquan stood under a big tree about ten meters away from his home. Looking at the adobe houses in front of him that even the servants of his family had not lived in, he thought of his younger brother Zhou Ruian who had died in a collision on the road to exile, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.
Their Zhou family is completely defeated! Who knows how many years it will take for them to rise again?! Perhaps he won't even see it in his lifetime.
"Uncle, are you blaming Dad in your heart?"
At some point, the sick Zhou Zelin stood beside Zhou Ruiquan, asking questions while his eyes were staring blankly at the houses of his own family not far away. He didn't know whether he was asking Zhou Ruiquan in front of him or himself.
"Alas! It's fate!" Zhou Ruiquan thought for a long time before sighing and turning around to ask:
"Alin, it's been so long, haven't you figured it out yet?"
Zhou Zelin was silent for a long time, so long that Zhou Ruiquan thought he would not speak again, so he spoke with a hoarse voice.
"Uncle, I've been thinking a lot these days. If I were my father, I definitely wouldn't dare to contradict His Majesty in court like he did. I would definitely choose to protect myself!
But if it were me, I might never be able to reach my father's level in my entire life, making all the scholars in Kyoto and even in Dayan follow his lead, and letting all the scholars in the world know the integrity of our Ruifeng Zhou family!
But, all this, the so-called reputation in exchange for the lives of nearly half of the family, the future of the entire Zhou family, and his own life? Is it really worth it?! Ahem... Ahem..."
Zhou Zelin asked with a confused look in his eyes. Because of his emotional fluctuations, he couldn't help coughing again...
Alas! What a sin! Zhou Ruiquan sighed as he looked at his thin and decadent nephew. Once upon a time, this child was the most promising child in their Zhou family. He passed the imperial examination at the age of seventeen, ranked eighth in the first class of the imperial examination at the age of twenty, and was promoted to the rank of Langzhong in the Ministry of Rites at the age of thirty. If nothing had happened to their family, it would not be impossible for him to be in charge of the Ministry of Rites before he was forty.
But ever since his father died after hitting his head against the bluestone on the mountainside, the boy's spirit and energy collapsed all of a sudden. Later, the deaths of his wife and brother's family made the boy's illness even more serious. Although Zhou Yu and his disciples are doing their best to treat him now, his condition is still fundamentally damaged and he will not be able to recover without a few years of good recuperation.
Zhou Ruiquan heard from Zhou Ruifeng that, fundamentally, his nephew's illness was due to excessive worry, which is the so-called heart disease!
As the saying goes, heart disease needs to be treated with heart medicine. If he can't figure it out himself, no one can help him.
Alas! It seems the successive deaths of his loved ones were too much of a blow to him!
Because he was too sad about their death, the child gradually blamed all the sins on his father's stubbornness, and felt that if his father had not recklessly contradicted the emperor, none of this would have happened!
"Ah! You child!"
Zhou Ruiquan sighed again, patted his nephew's back to help him calm down, and advised:
"You've been the smartest among you brothers since you were little, so why haven't you figured it out yet?! You blame your father for being stubborn, but what about you? Aren't you just like him?!
Your father disregarded the safety of his entire family for the sake of justice in his heart. Aren't you the same, ignoring your nephews and nieces, and only caring about your own self-pity?
Ah Lin! Your father is gone. No matter whether you blame him, hate him, or feel sorry for him, he will never come back! But your nephews and nieces are still here! When will you finally be strong enough?
Zhou Ruiquan became more and more excited as he spoke. He became more and more angry when he saw his nephew, who was hunched over and looked like an old man. He swung his fists and punched his nephew's hunched back again and again, choking with sobs and cursing:
"Ah Lin, uncle is already old, and your nephews and nieces are still young. When will you be willing to straighten your back and protect them from the wind and rain?! Do you really want to watch helplessly as all the sons of our Zhou family perish in Liaodong because of this incident?! Woo…"
Zhou Zelin didn't feel anything about Zhou Ruiquan's beating. He just looked blankly at his uncle who was crying and beating him, as if he saw his father again. In the past, when he didn't study well, his father often beat him like this. After beating him, he felt distressed and hid away to cry secretly.
Originally, he felt quite resentful towards his father every time he was beaten, as he thought his father was too harsh on him. He had tried his best to do his best, and even the teacher in the school praised him, but his father not only did not praise him, but also always beat him!
But after he found out that his father had hidden in the study and cried secretly after beating him, he never blamed him again...
…
In fact, he always knew that although his father devoted himself to learning, he never neglected him and his brother.
His mother died early, and his father never thought of remarrying. Besides studying, he spent his time educating the two brothers, teaching them how to be human beings and knowledge, and even worried about their food, clothing, housing and transportation...
In fact, he had always known that his father not only did not ignore them, but in fact, he did better than most fathers...
In fact, he never really blamed him. He only blamed himself...
"Wuwuwu... Wuwuwu... Uncle!! I'm not blaming Dad, I just, I... I just watched him... die, but I was powerless to do anything. It hurts so much... Wuwuwu..."
Under Zhou Ruiquan's repeated beatings and scolding, Zhou Zelin finally couldn't hold it in any longer and shouted out the words that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time. At the same time, he fell to his knees and hugged Zhou Ruiquan and burst into tears...
"Uncle, I'm so useless! I can't save my father, nor can I save my family. Woo... I can only watch them die one by one in front of me..."
"Uncle... knows... everyone knows... This... is not your fault! It's not your fault!... Your father... won't blame you either!"
Zhou Ruiquan touched his nephew's head, looked up at the sky, and his tears kept flowing...
The author has something to say:
Thanks to every friend who reads Caicai's articles. I feel so touched every time I see someone reading and commenting on my articles...
Still asking for collections, comments, and flowers... Haha... Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-06-25 11:19:02~2022-06-26 06:16:07~
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