"My Lords, please don't blame me for not warning you. This time, I believe the Emperor is serious. The people are in dire straits, and the Emperor is even more like being roasted by a raging fire. Take as much as you need, but don't take more than you need. Otherwise, if the Emperor peels off your skin and roasts you, your life will be over."
As soon as Xiao Shunzi finished speaking, he ran away very fast, shaking off the cushions. Several officials in the Ministry of Works looked at each other. Finally, they all agreed that if the emperor's close servants could personally convey the order and warn them, then this matter was most likely true.
Several timid officials were immediately frightened and broke out in cold sweats, and silently gave up the idea of embezzling money.
Zhou Beichen returned to Xuanzheng Hall and immersed himself in endless memorials. In the afternoon, he also summoned ministers to discuss the issue of foreigners in the south of the city. In addition, the plague in Anshan was severe, and Zhou Beichen felt that the safety of the people must be guaranteed.
Li'an Palace.
Zhou Zeyu and Zhou Zeen had been staying at Li Shuren's place for several days. One day, the two little kids saw Li Shuren sitting on a chair eating. Zhou Zeyu glanced at Zhou Zeen and motioned him to come over with his eyes. Zhou Zeen shrank back in fear, took a step back, shook his head vigorously, and spoke in a low voice.
"Brother, I won't go. If I go, Mother will not only scold me, but also beat me. Yesterday, she slapped me because I took a bite of food before she finished hers."
Zhou Ze'en's tone revealed a strong fear. At first, he was reluctant to leave his mother, thinking that no matter how good Concubine Shu was, she could not compare to his own mother. Now, he hugged himself even tighter and closed his eyes in fear. He wanted to find Concubine Shu so much.
Zhou Zeyu glared at him and cursed, "Coward, you just got slapped in the face. Look at me, I'm not afraid."
As he spoke, Zhou Zeyu slowly walked towards Li Shuren while testing her, and quietly sat beside Li Shuren. There were many times in the past when, privately, his mother had always treated him better than his brother. He thought that was the reason why he was smarter than his brother in every way.
He had been thinking a lot these past few days, and always felt that his mother was doing this on purpose. He hesitated for a long time.
I finally managed to utter a word.
"Mother, I have something to say to you, but I can't listen. Can you listen for a moment?"
Li Shuren, who was busy eating, was stunned. She looked up, glanced at Zhou Zeyu indifferently, and immediately lowered her head. This time, unlike her previous refusals, she only uttered a few brief words.
"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Otherwise, both of you, get out of here right now. It's all because of you that I'm trapped in this deep palace. It's also because of you that I was born into such a powerful ambition, leading to this situation today. I hate you, I hate you."
Li Shuren was shouting hysterically. Over there, in a corner, Zhou Zeen covered his ears in pain and closed his eyes. Only Zhou Zeyu had a faint expression between his eyebrows, as if he was thinking and planning.
After eating for a while, the two little kids were almost drooling with hunger. Li Shuren finally put down her chopsticks, wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, leaned back in her chair, and glared at Zhou Zeyu and Zhou Zeen lazily, "I've finished eating, what are you two little bastards waiting for? Come over and eat."
Zhou Ze'en was already starving, and when he heard that he could eat, his eyes lit up and he ran to the table without saying a word and started eating.
In his heart, he silently prayed that Zhou Beichen or Concubine Shu would come and take him away from this place as soon as possible. Let him go quickly. Anyway, his mother was annoyed just by seeing him. She had scolded him so much in the past few days that she had gained experience.
Zhou Zeyu walked over silently the whole time, eating tastelessly. He was not a younger brother, he was simple-minded but strong-limbed. He didn't know when he started to think with certainty that someone must have forced his mother to do this in order to make the two of them give up. Otherwise, how could his mother, who always loved him so much, treat him like this?
As he thought about it, Zhou Zeyu couldn't help but let a tear fall into the rice. He held the chopsticks tighter and tighter. It was all his father's fault. If his father had remembered their old friendship, he would not have been willing to separate the mother and son. If his father really died, then as his grandfather had said, their Li family would have stood up and no longer had to be oppressed by his father and live a life walking on thin ice.
However, nothing turned out as grandpa said. Apart from his mother, grandpa was the person who loved him the most in this world.
He was very sad when his grandfather died.
After eating a bowl of rice, Zhou Zeyu felt that everything in his mouth tasted bitter.
Xuanzheng Hall.
Zhou Beichen read a memorial. After finishing it, his eyes were slightly sore. He never thought that his little girl had such a strong heart and was so efficient. She used the golden medal of immunity from death and the princess's seal to seal off the city and reduce the speed of infection to the lowest level. She was really amazing.
Thinking of the feeling of his daughter being in his arms in the past, Zhou Beichen rubbed his eyes with his hand, then looked up again and saw the impetuous Shen Nian'an rushing in.
She walked a few steps with such big strides that if she had not been supported by the palace servants, she would have fallen down several times. The hairpin on her head was also messy. Since she came out of the cold palace, she rarely lost her composure like this. Zhou Beichen knew why she came and waved to Xiao Shunzi, who immediately brought a chair over.
"Empress Hui, you must be very tired after walking all the way. Please take a rest."
Shen Nian'an looked up, her originally bright eyes dimmed a lot. She shook her head, walked past Xiao Shunzi, and rushed to Zhou Beichen in one step, her white and tender fingers clasping the table tightly.
"Your Majesty, I heard there's plague and a locust plague in Anshan, and Nuannuan and Hanhan are both there..."
Shen Nian'an's tone was filled with disbelief, and Zhou Beichen didn't want to believe it either, but the fact was like this, and he couldn't fake it. He helped Shen Nian'an and pulled her over. Zhou Beichen motioned Xiao Shunzi to go down, and his voice was full of comfort to her.
"Yes, Nuannuan and Hanhan are both there. Hanhan arrived first. As for Nuannuan, if I had known this would happen, I would never have let her sneak out of the palace no matter what."
Zhou Beichen felt extremely regretful. If only one more person could be spared from such incidents, the better. But he never expected that both children would be involved.
Shen Nian'an lost control of his emotions for a moment and almost fell backwards. Fortunately, Zhou Beichen pulled him back. Then, Shen Nian'an grabbed Zhou Beichen's sleeves as if he had found a life-saving straw.
"Your Majesty, you are the Emperor. What should we do with Nuannuan and Hanhan? Can we still call the children back at this time?"
Although she knew it was impossible, Shen Nian'an refused to give up. Coming from the modern era, she knew how harmful infectious diseases were. If they were too serious, people would die, not to mention the ancient times when medicine was backward.
She admitted
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