Chapter 153 The True or False Master (10)
10
Are you going to let people sleep?
Zhu Qingchen hugged the quilt, sat up from the bed and grabbed a handful of hair.
In the courtyard, Pei Zhenzhen asked the attendant about the details: "Who are these people? What did they say specifically?"
The attendant said, "The Earl of Changping and his wife came in person, along with Master Yi, who brought a lot of gifts. They said they came to apologize to Master Lin and take him home."
"Where are they now?"
"In the reception room, the old master is talking to them. He specially sent me here to ask if Master Zhu and Master Lin want to see them, to go out and meet them; if not, the old master will just send them away."
Liu Yun waved his hand: "No, Master Zhu hasn't woken up yet, don't see them, let them go!"
Pei Zhen glared at him and said, "Shut up. How can you make a decision on behalf of Jingzhe and Master Zhu? Go in and tell Master Zhu."
"oh."
Liu Yun moved to the door, knocked on it, and called out softly, "Master Zhu..."
Pei Zhen pulled Lin Jingzhe aside and asked him, "Do you want to go out and meet them?"
Lin Jingzhe grabbed the kite in his hand and wrapped the kite string around his fingers a few times, unsure: "I..."
"It doesn't matter. Even if you go out to see them, you don't have to go back with them. If you don't want to see them, you don't have to go out at all."
"I..." Lin Jingzhe thought for a moment, "I'll listen to the Master."
At this time, Zhu Qingchen pushed the door open and said, "Master, I will listen to you."
Lin Jingzhe turned around, a little surprised: "Master..."
Zhu Qingchen let him make his own decision and was not in a hurry. He slowly washed, tied his hair, and ate a plate of snacks.
Finally, Lin Jingzhe decided to go out and take a look.
In the reception room, Liu An sat in the main seat, Earl Changping sat next to him, and the rest of the people sat in the following order.
Unlike the arrogant and domineering appearance in the past few days, Master Yi had a smile on his face, leaning forward slightly, and talking to Liu An.
"Master Liu, you don't know that what happened a few days ago was all a misunderstanding. The mansion has already prepared a room for Master Zhu and Jingzhe..."
Liu An sat upright in his seat, stroking his goatee with his hand, his expression indifferent.
Master Yi continued with a smile, "Master Zhu took great care of Jingzhe and sent him back to the capital from afar. We were in a hurry that day and neglected him, which made him angry and he took Jingzhe away."
"Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have done that. Today, I specially prepared a small gift and brought my family to your house to apologize to Master Zhu. I hope Master Zhu will not abandon me and let me stay at your house for a few days."
Behind the screen in the reception room, Liu Yun frowned and snorted coldly.
The Earl of Changping kept talking about "I wish the Master well" from beginning to end, and never mentioned Lin Jingzhe at all, let alone asked how Lin Jingzhe was doing recently.
He didn't come to pick up Lin Jingzhe at all, he came to please Master Zhu.
As a result, he hummed so loudly that the hall was silent for a moment.
Zhu Qingchen knocked him on the head and had no choice but to take Lin Jingzhe out through the corridor at the side.
Seeing him coming, Master Yi quickly stood up and asked, "Master Zhu is here?"
"Yeah." Zhu Qingchen responded calmly, "Since Lord Bo is here to visit, I naturally have to come out and take a look."
When Liu An saw the Master coming, he also stood up with his cane and said, "Master, please take a seat."
When Mr. Yi saw Liu An giving him his seat, his heart skipped a beat.
He knew that Master Liu was a simple-minded person, but he always respected his teachers. However, he did not expect that he would treat even his teacher's grandson with such courtesy and personally give up his seat for him.
Then he felt even more fortunate that he did not delay and came to apologize quickly.
If this offends Zhu Qingchen, the reputation of the Earl's Mansion will be ruined.
Liu An helped the teacher sit down in the main seat, while he himself sat at the lower seat like a junior.
Yi Zizhen rolled his eyes, stepped forward and took Lin Jingzhe's hand: "Jingzhe, how have you been these days? Mother misses you very much."
He knew that after his father scolded Lin Jingzhe that day, Lin Jingzhe would never get close to him again. Only his mother could still barely influence him.
So he immediately pushed Lin Jingzhe in front of his mother.
Madam Yi stood up, held his hand, tears in her eyes: "Jingzhe, it's my fault that I didn't protect you well..."
Yi Zizheng turned around to look, and sure enough, Lin Jingzhe's eyes were red and she couldn't help but shed tears.
Yi Zizhen struck while the iron was hot and said, "After you left that day, mother cried for a long time, and her eyes were almost broken. She was worried that you were not eating enough, not wearing warm clothes, and being wronged outside. You should go home early so that you can see mother from time to time."
Liu Yun said quietly, "Jingzhe is in my Liu Mansion, following Master Zhu, how can he not have enough to eat and not have warm clothes?"
"Ah..." Yi Zizheng realized that he had said something wrong and quickly changed his words, "No, no, I meant that mother didn't know Jingzhe was in Liu Mansion, so she misunderstood. If mother knew, she wouldn't..."
He couldn't make it up.
At this time, Liu An cleared his throat. Liu Yun choked, lowered his head, and walked back behind his grandfather carefully.
Unexpectedly, grandpa patted the back of his hand, indicating that what he said was right.
Liu Yun became excited again and raised his head again.
Lin Jingzhe said: "I am living a good life with the Master. I am willing to follow the Master and the Master is willing to teach me. Mother, don't worry."
Madam Yi said, "Silly child, do you still want to stick with the Master for a long time? Why don't you go home?"
"I can..." Lin Jingzhe paused, "I can go back to visit my mother from time to time, or every day."
But he just didn't want to go back to the Earl's Mansion.
My father is too fierce. When he gets angry, he looks almost exactly like Lin Laosan.
Both were irritable and their shouting was as loud as thunder, the only difference was that before scolding him, his father would talk about some profound principles that he couldn't understand, but Lin Laosan wouldn't do that.
When Master Yi heard this, he said, "What are you talking about? How can you..."
When Lin Jingzhe heard his voice, he couldn't help but shudder.
Seeing that he was scared, Zhu Qingchen hurriedly said, "Jingzhe, come here."
"Yes." Lin Jingzhe was as if he had been pardoned. He pulled his hand out of his mother's hand, ran to the teacher and stood beside him.
When Mrs. Yi saw this scene, she was completely stunned.
How could it be? Wasn't Lin Jingzhe very attached to her before?
Even if Zhu Qingchen had done him a favor, how could he abandon his mother and go there?
Mrs. Yi's legs felt weak and she almost fell down, but was supported by Yi Zizheng.
She held Yi Zizhen's hand tightly, almost making him cry out in pain.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a panic in her heart, as if she was going to lose the child.
Zhu Qingchen grabbed a handful of peanuts from the table and stuffed them into Lin Jingzhe's hand, asking casually, "Since the Earl's Mansion wants to take Jingzhe back, then I want to ask, in what capacity does the Earl's Mansion want to take Jingzhe back? From now on, in the capital, who is Jingzhe to the Earl's Mansion?"
Master Yi said, "We did not consider the matter properly before. Madam and I have discussed it again and will definitely let Jingzhe return to the Earl's Mansion with a legitimate reason."
Zhu Qingchen deliberately asked: "How?"
"We will tell the public that Jingzhe and Zi are really twins, and that Jingzhe was taken away by criminals just after he was born. This is the only way to preserve the reputation of the two children."
Lin Jingzhe couldn't help but clench the peanuts tightly. It turned out that his father had not changed from beginning to end.
Zhu Qingchen asked: "Who is older and who is younger?"
Master Yi said tentatively: "Jingzhe has just returned to the capital and is not familiar with the affairs of the capital. Therefore, our idea is to let Zizhen be the elder and Jingzhe be the younger. In the future, Zizhen can also take care of his younger brother."
Zhu Qingchen asked again: "Who will be the crown prince? Who will inherit the title?"
"This... is naturally... the competent ones take the place..."
As Master Yi spoke, he realized that what he said was too outrageous and dared not continue.
Yi Zizheng had lived in Beijing for more than ten years, and had the best food, clothing, housing, transportation, study and education.
Lin Jingzhe rolled in the mud and didn't even recognize a few words.
Asking them to compete to see who is more capable is simply like covering one's ears and stealing the bell.
Why not compare who can farm or hunt?
Zhu Qingchen couldn't help but twitched the corner of his mouth.
Isn’t this the plot of the original book?
He and Lin Jingzhe angered the Earl's Mansion because they demanded a blood test to prove their relationship, so the Earl of Changping decided to turn Lin Jingzhe into a relative's child.
Now to make amends, he decided to turn him into a twin and make him the younger brother.
What do you mean by protecting the reputation of the two children? It's just protecting Yi Zizhen's reputation.
After going around in circles, I'm back again.
Before Zhu Qingchen could say anything, Liu An slammed the table and said sternly, "Lord Changping, you must be crazy!"
"Jingzhe is your bloodline. He has suffered for more than ten years outside. Now he is back, but you don't think about how to compensate him. You still hold a fake in your hands and let him be your prince?"
Master Yi's expression changed, and he looked at Zhu Qingchen: "Master Zhu, tell me about this..."
He just spoke in a tactful way because there were outsiders present, but Zhu Qingchen had already told the truth?
ah? !
Zhu Qingchen said calmly: "Why? Can't you tell me?"
The Earl's Mansion wanted to keep the matter secret, but Zhu Qingchen had no obligation to help. Was he going to hide it from his own students?
“You…” Master Yi gritted his teeth in anger, but he still had to control his expression.
Zhu Qingchen made a judgment: "This is absolutely not feasible."
Master Yi gritted his teeth and asked, "What do you think, Master Zhu? What should we do?"
"In my opinion..." Zhu Qingchen paused, "We Jingzhe are not a relative's child, nor are we the younger brother of twins. We Jingzhe are the only child of the Earl's Mansion, and the legitimate heir of the Earl's Mansion."
Master Yi whispered, "This is a family matter of our Earl's Mansion. I hope you will think twice."
He finally couldn't hide it anymore.
"No, this is not a family affair of the Earl's Mansion, but a national affair." Zhu Qingchen, "The appointment of the titled prince is decided by your majesty. I don't need to think twice about this matter, and the Earl's Mansion does not need to make decisions on its own. Your majesty only needs to think twice."
"You..." Master Yi lowered his voice, "Lin Jingzhe just came back from the countryside, how can he take on such an important task? Master Zhu, do you want to embarrass my Earl's Mansion?"
"I have absolutely no such intention." Zhu Qingchen said sternly, "Jingzhe is the prince of the Earl's Mansion. Not only me, but also Master Pei and Master Liu will teach Jingzhe wholeheartedly. How can there be any embarrassment?"
"he……"
Master Yi wanted to speak, but Zhu Qingchen said, "I've said that this case should be decided by His Majesty. Do you want to question His Majesty's decision?"
"Of course not." Master Yi was speechless.
"Also..." Zhu Qingchen leaned back in his chair and looked up at Yi Zizheng.
Yi Zizheng was originally frightened by Zhu Qingchen's words, just like Master Yi.
How is this possible?
He and his father had agreed that his father would protect his reputation, and he could inherit the Earl's family business and the title.
He just kept Lin Jingzhe at home, just as if he had a younger brother to keep him company and relieve his boredom.
But now...why did he lose his title?
He looked at his father, who also had an angry look on his face.
He looked at his mother, but she was so distracted by Lin Jingzhe's distant attitude that she didn't notice him at all.
Zhu Qingchen spoke up: "As for this young master..."
Yi Zizheng suddenly felt something was wrong and clenched his hands in his sleeves.
What else does he want? Not only do you want to take away his title, but you also want to kick him out?
"The two young masters have exchanged their lives for more than ten years. Although this is not Young Master Yi's fault, Jingzhe has suffered for more than ten years on behalf of Young Master Yi, and Young Master Yi has also enjoyed more than ten years of happiness on behalf of Jingzhe. Now it is time to exchange back."
"According to me, it would be best to send Master Yi back to Linjia Village. Since Lin Lao San is dead, it is just to let Master Yi be self-reliant, either studying for the imperial examination or farming. It is not a punishment, but just a matter of everyone returning to their place."
"Besides, the education and connections that Master Yi has received in the Earl's Mansion and the capital over the years cannot be eliminated. This is already an excellent solution for Master Yi."
That's indeed true.
Yi Zizheng grew up in the capital until he was fourteen years old. He had quite a few friends, but it was impossible for Lu Jiming alone to ignore him and let him go back to Linjia Village.
Even if he left the Earl's Mansion, he would never be able to experience the suffering that Lin Jingzhe had experienced.
Some people just don't want to.
With a plop, Yi Zizhen knelt down directly: "Master, please spare my life! I grew up under the care of my parents. Even if they are not my biological parents, I have received their kindness in raising me, and I have not had the chance to repay them yet!"
Yi Zizhen wiped away his tears and cried miserably: "Please don't chase me away, Master Zhu. I only want to stay in the Earl's Mansion and work like a slave to repay my parents and the prince. Please spare my life, Master Zhu, and let me go!"
As a result, Liu An slammed the table and said, "What nonsense! When did the Master say that he wanted your life? Why are you shouting 'spare my life'? He just asked you to clarify your identity and go back to your own home, why did he want your life? Who gave you the courage to slander the Master?"
Everything else is fine, except the slander against the Master, which he cannot tolerate!
"Do you want to continue staying in the Earl's Mansion? Let Lin Jingzhe see how powerful and precious you are and make him angry?"
"You want to repay your adoptive parents, so you go back to Linjia Village to farm and send them some food and game every year. Isn't that repaying them? You take the imperial examination with your own ability, become an official, and reward them with a salary. Isn't that repaying them?"
"Or do you mean that your reward must stay in the Earl's Mansion, and you can't repay it with your own ability? It's simply shameless!"
Seeing that crying and begging were useless, Yi Zizhen quickly held back his tears: "That's not what I think. I don't mean to slander Master Zhu..."
Liu An turned to look at Earl Changping again: "What do you think?"
Seeing that he was angry, Master Yi softened his tone and said, "This matter can still be discussed. The position of the Crown Prince can be given to Jingzhe, but there is no need to drive Zizhen away..."
No matter what, he must protect Yi Zizhen.
It’s simply…
If you don’t know, you might think he is Yi Zi’s biological father.
Liu An didn't want to talk to him any more. He flicked his sleeves, turned away, and said loudly, "See you out!"
Liu An disdained to associate with such people who could not distinguish right from wrong. After they left, he would send someone to clean up the floor.
So as to avoid dirtying the Liu Mansion’s territory.
Liu Yun stepped forward and said, "Uncle, please come this way."
Master Yi still didn't give up and looked at Lin Jingzhe who was standing behind Zhu Qingchen.
He had remained silent just now, which gave Master Yi a glimmer of hope.
"Jingzhe, do you think so too? Do you also want to drive Zizhen away?"
Lin Jingzhe said: "Master, what you said is what I think, I..."
Yi Zizhen was reminded by Master Yi, and hurried forward to grab his clothes: "Jingzhe, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken away your life, but I didn't mean it. Please, can you let me stay in the Earl's Mansion? Don't chase me away."
Lin Jingzhe imitated Master Liu's words and whispered, "I didn't mean to drive you away. I just wanted to get you back."
Yi Zizhen cried miserably: "I grew up with my parents, I don't want to leave them, I work like a slave, I kowtow to you, I only ask you to..."
Suddenly, with a "clang", Lin Jingzhe also knelt down.
Zhu Qingchen was startled and wanted to help him up, but found that Lin Jingzhe was also crying.
He shouted at Yi Zizhen, "Can I kneel down to you too? I also want to grow up with my parents. I don't want to be beaten or scolded. Can you give my parents back to me? Can you tell them to stop being partial to each other? Okay?"
Yi Zi was so stunned that even his tears suddenly stopped.
He thought that Lin Jingzhe was deliberately embarrassing him, but...
Lin Jingzhe seemed serious.
He cried and shouted, "Why do parents always favor you? It's not you who gets beaten and scolded, and it's not you who gets almost beaten to death. Why am I an adopted son in Lin Lao San's house, and I'm still an adopted son here?"
"Before I came to see you, I thought that as long as you apologized to me and restored my identity, I would go home with you. But why do I have to be a younger brother? Why can't I even restore my identity?"
Master Yi frowned and whispered, "Isn't this to preserve the reputations of both of you? For fairness?"
Lin Jingzhe loudly retorted: "I am the one who was replaced. What's wrong with my reputation? You just want to preserve his reputation!"
His gaze passed Yi Zizhen and looked at Mrs. Yi.
Mrs. Yi seemed to have noticed something and covered her face with a handkerchief, not daring to look at him.
"My mother thought so too, for the sake of fairness, for the sake of fairness, but this is unfair in the first place!"
"I was bullied for more than ten years, and he enjoyed himself for more than ten years. Then you said it was fair, letting me be the adopted son and him the biological son, me being the younger brother and him being the older brother. Is this what you call fairness?"
"When I was about to be beaten to death, he was well fed and well clothed, and could study. I was almost starving to death, but he was well fed. Then you said you wanted to be fair, so you gave each of us a steamed bun."
"It was him who stole my identity. I just wanted it back. Then you said we had to be fair, so I became the bad guy and he is still the good guy!"
"This is simply unfair! This is biased!"
Lin Jingzhe has been thinking about this matter for so many days.
Finally, he figured it out now.
"You didn't like me from the beginning. I'm not jealous of Yi Zizhen, and I don't want to drive him away, but why did you show favoritism from the beginning?"
"I know there is no real fairness in the world. Lin Laosan is already dead. Even if Lin Laosan is still alive, you can't send Yi Zizhen back to let him be beaten!"
"I just want to get it back. I didn't ask him to die. Will he die if he leaves the Earl's Mansion? Will he die if he leaves my parents?"
Lin Jingzhe burst into tears, lost his strength, and fell to the ground: "I just want a little fairness, is there anything wrong with that? You don't even want to pretend."
There was silence in the reception room.
Mr. Yi was speechless and Mrs. Yi burst into tears.
"I'm sorry, Jingzhe, it's my fault. I didn't expect this to happen. I just wanted you to get along well. I didn't expect you to think this way..."
Mrs. Yi reached out and tried to hold his hand and help him up from the ground.
But this time, Lin Jingzhe shook her hand off heavily.
He wiped his eyes vigorously, got up from the ground, and slowly made up his mind: "No, I don't want my parents anymore, I don't want anyone anymore!"
Madam Yi was stunned for a moment: "Jingzhe..."
"No more, no more." Lin Jingzhe seemed to be talking to himself and hid behind Zhu Qingchen.
Pei Zhen and Liu Yun accompanied him, put their arms around his shoulders, patted his back gently, and handed him a handkerchief.
"Don't cry, I'll take you out to play this afternoon."
Zhu Qingchen winked at Liu An, who immediately understood and said, pausing on his cane, "Someone, show the guest away!"
"Count Changping, I will report today's events to His Majesty truthfully and wait for His Majesty's decision. You can take your wife and children back to the palace and wait for His Majesty's order."
Master Yi was really anxious now. He originally wanted to secretly suppress the matter in Linjia Village, but Zhu Qingchen appeared.
So he wanted to end the matter with Zhu Qingchen, but a bunch of old masters showed up.
So he wanted to solve the problem in Liu Mansion today, but who knew...
The matter will soon be brought before the emperor.
Things were getting bigger and bigger, completely beyond his imagination. He couldn't suppress it anymore. It was over.
He just felt the blood flowing backwards and he almost fainted.
Madam Yi didn't care about him. She just looked at Lin Jingzhe eagerly, calling out again and again: "Jingzhe... Jingzhe..."
At this time, the servants of the Liu Mansion came forward and separated them from the others.
"This way, please."
The family of three were all asked to leave the Liu Mansion.
The gifts they brought were also sent out.
In the reception room, Lin Jingzhe was supported by two friends and sat down.
Lin Jingzhe cried out of breath: "I don't want it anymore, I don't want anyone anymore, I want to go back to Linjia Village, I want to go back."
Liu Yun patted his back and said, "Don't say that. The entire Earl's Mansion should be yours. If you go back now, you may feel better for a while, but what will you do in the future? Wouldn't that give Yi Zizhen an advantage?"
Liu Yun paused for a moment and changed his words: "'Yi Zi Fake'."
"What?" Lin Jingzhe raised his head in confusion.
Liu Yun said: "He is fake, not real, how can he be called 'Yi Zi Zhen'? Just call him 'Yi Zi Jia'."
Lin Jingzhe burst into laughter.
Zhu Qingchen patted Liu Yun on the head and said, "You are so different from your grandfather, aren't you?"!
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