Chapter 286 You are my most valued grandson (two chapters in one)
The old man looked at him with eyes full of disgust, as if he was looking at a piece of rotten meat crawling with maggots.
"Just grounded? Three to five years? You're so confident, what's your reason?"
The Fourth Prince was stunned and felt a little regretful. Why did he mention the Fifth Prince?
That guy Lao Wu will definitely be under house arrest until he dies.
This prince must have been so angry that he compared himself with the fifth brother. How unlucky!
He took a deep breath and said, "Old Five is not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as this prince. He will never be able to leave the prince's mansion in his lifetime, and this prince will definitely save the day."
These words seemed to be spoken to the old man, as if to cheer himself up.
He will definitely overcome the danger, it was the same before, it is the same now, and it will be the same in the future.
The first time he encountered difficulties was when he was young. Concubine You was not favored, and he was also ignored by his father. For his own future, he took the initiative to go to his father and let him know that he was the most obedient son.
As expected, the emperor noticed him and gave him several tasks, and he was finally noticed by the court.
The second time he encountered difficulties was at Shiji Mountain, where he was ordered by his father to kill Xiao Zhen.
Xiao Zhen died, he was disabled, and his father had forgotten him!
Those were the darkest days of his life, and he eventually came forward again thanks to his own strength and his father's guilt.
The third time he encountered difficulties was the time at Dongxian Temple. He thought he was finished, but he once again relied on his father's guilt towards him to get through it, and he also won the favor of the Empress Dowager, getting closer to his father!
The fourth time is right now. Compared with the previous ones, the situation this time has just begun to germinate, and the emperor doesn’t know it yet. What he has to face now is just a fourth-rank governor and a fifth-rank prefect.
As for the old man in front of him, the Fourth Prince didn't take him seriously at all!
His eyes swept over the old man with contempt and fell on Qian Zhizhou's face again.
This cuckold king is the key figure in this incident.
What bottom line can a man who ignores his wife and is willing to be cuckolded for more than ten years for the sake of his future have?
"Qian Zhizhou, I will definitely fulfill what I promised you. Do you really not want that position?"
Qian Zhizhou was startled. Of course he wanted that position.
As long as he sits in that position, he won't have to care about the Yue family's face anymore. No, he can completely break away from the Yue family and that whore!
He will marry a noble lady again, and he will have his own bloodline, descendants, and bring honor to the family.
Thinking of this, Qian Zhizhou stood up as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He looked at the Fourth Prince, and before he could say the word "want", he heard a sneer.
Qian Zhizhou subconsciously looked towards the source of the laughter. It was the old man who had torn off a layer of his face.
Just now his attention was on the Fourth Prince, and it was only now that Qian Zhizhou took a closer look.
When I saw it, I was stunned!
Then, his head buzzed, his legs went limp, and he fell to the ground.
"Too, too, too much the emperor..."
During the reign of the retired emperor, in the last palace examination, he ranked 32nd in the second class!
He also attended the Qionglin Banquet!
The reason why I couldn't recognize him at first glance was that after more than ten years, the emperor had not only aged, but also had lost his beard. You know, a man who has a beard at the age of thirty will look like a different person once he loses his beard.
More importantly, the retired emperor that Qian Zhizhou met back then was shining with gold and looked noble, while the old man in front of him was dressed in coarse linen clothes and appeared here. Who would associate him with the retired emperor?
But once you connect them, they look more and more alike!
Qian Zhizhou knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "This humble official is blind and guilty of a thousand crimes. I beg the Supreme Emperor to forgive me!"
When the word "Grand Emperor" came out, the Fourth Prince was stunned.
His gaze moved from Qian Zhizhou little by little, and finally fell on the old man who spoke rudely.
The Emperor...
No wonder he felt that the old man looked familiar. Of course he looked familiar. More than ten years ago, he and other brothers had competed to be the one to sit on his parents' laps and entertain them with colorful clothes.
More than ten years have passed, and he has grown from a child into a young man. The memory is still there, but the face in the memory has gradually become blurred.
The Emperor, this is the Emperor!
Qian Zhizhou was a Jinshi graduate, and although he had never served as an official in Beijing, he must have met the retired emperor.
He said that this was the emperor, so he would not admit his mistake.
At this moment, the Fourth Prince's mind suddenly became clear, and he remembered that the old man had just called him "Little Four"!
Apart from his father, the emperor emeritus is the only one in the world who would call him "Little Four"!
The Fourth Prince's body shook. He had been injured fundamentally after that time, and he fell ill again in Yanzhou Prefecture. In recent days, he had nightmares and had no appetite. At this moment, his mind was blank, and he could no longer hold on and fell straight down.
Zhao Xingzhou hadn't expected the Fourth Prince to faint. He cursed, "Useless thing! He has no other skills, but he's mastered the ways of the women in the harem."
Women in the palace would not faint easily, otherwise they would be considered "ill". Unless they were the emperor's favorites, it would be difficult for them to get the emperor to choose them.
But this is a trick that never fails for the women in the inner chambers.
But at this moment, it was a bit ridiculous that the emperor was pressing the fourth prince's head.
The Fourth Prince did not fall to the ground. Li Qing was quick-eyed and agile, and he stretched out his leg first, and the Fourth Prince fell on his legs.
Li Qing sighed. The retired emperor had wronged the Fourth Prince in this matter. The Fourth Prince was really dizzy and was not pretending.
He stretched out his hand and pinched the Fourth Prince's philtrum hard. The Fourth Prince woke up slowly and faced the face that stretched out to find out what was going on, the face of the retired Emperor.
The Fourth Prince wanted to faint again.
He struggled to his feet and knelt before Zhao Xingzhou, weeping bitterly: "Grandfather, Liu Wang and Zhang Hui deceived their superiors and subordinates, colluding with Ding Gao to resell disaster relief grain. By the time I found out, it was too late. They were blackmailing me and wanted me to take the blame. Grandfather, I had no choice!"
At that time, the former Crown Prince Zhao Xian and the Yongjia Emperor Zhao Yu got married one after another, but Zhao Xian gave birth to two daughters in a row and gave birth to the grandson Zhao Yuan many years later. Zhao Yu had five sons, both legitimate and illegitimate, while he was still in the palace, and at that time, Zhao Yuan had not yet been born.
Therefore, long before Zhao Yuan was born, these five imperial grandchildren had already seized a place in the emperor's grandfather's heart.
When Zhao Yuan finally turned three, he died before he had the chance to act coquettishly and curry favor with his grandfather.
The retired emperor had a very vague impression of Zhao Yuan. He only remembered that he was a very handsome child. However, he had watched the five imperial grandsons, including the fourth prince, grow up.
In the past, even if he had made a serious mistake, the Fourth Prince would have knelt down and cried and begged. Based on Zhao Xingzhou's usual behavior, he might have really been lifted up high and let it go lightly.
But things are different now. Ever since Zhao Xingzhou found out the origin of the hooked nose, even if the Fourth Prince is innocent now, he will still throw a stinky dung soup on him.
What's more, the Fourth Prince was not innocent at this time.
The Fourth Prince held the emperor's thighs. He struggled a few times, but his old legs could not move.
He glared at Li Qing: "Li Qing, what use do I have for you? Why don't you pull this evil creature away!"
The word "I" was deafening, and Li Qing's body trembled. Here it comes, here it comes, his chance has come!
He rushed forward and pried open the Fourth Prince's fingers one by one. The Fourth Prince felt pain. Did the man surnamed Li want to break his hand?
The Emperor's legs were finally freed. He was panting and pointing at the Fourth Prince, saying, "Come here, beat him into the sky..."
Suddenly remembering that there was no prison here, he said to Li Qing, "Stop his mouth and keep a close watch on him. Don't let anyone get close except you."
Li Qing clasped his fists and said, "I obey your command!"
Zhao Xingzhou looked at Prefect Qian again, but couldn't recall his name. "Where is Prefect Tong?"
Qian Zhizhou was still kneeling on the ground. He took a few steps on his knees after hearing this, then raised his face, which had turned snow-white with fear, revealing his red and swollen forehead: "I am here."
Zhao Xingzhou saw that he looked so scared that he felt disgusted. The second brother, that bastard, had appointed some unpresentable things.
He actually forgot that the man named Qian was the official he appointed.
"You did a great job today, I am very pleased."
The heavy burden on Qian Zhizhou's heart finally fell, and he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his head was saved.
Yes, things have come to this point, and he no longer cares about his official hat. As long as he can keep his life, he will be satisfied.
Fortunately, he was not bewitched by the Fourth Prince, otherwise he might have to take the blame for the Fourth Prince.
"This is my duty. From the day I passed the imperial examination, I swore a solemn oath: every day I serve as an official, I will share the worries of the emperor and solve the problems of the people. For more than ten years, I have examined myself three times and dared not slack off."
Zhao Xingzhou finally felt more favorable towards Qian Zhizhou: "You are truly a man who shares the emperor's worries and solves the people's problems. Zhizhou Tongzhou, I hope you can remember what I said today and don't let me down."
"I will remember this!"
Zhao Xingzhou waved his hand and said, "Remember to do your duty and leave."
Qian Zhizhou knelt for too long and fell when he got up, and crawled out tumbling.
Zhao Xingzhou looked at Jiang Ping and said, "Things here have been settled. Please let your son come over. I still have something to give him."
Li Qing was shocked. As expected, the person the emperor trusted the most was Xiao Zhen.
Li Qing decided that when he returned to the capital, he would ask his wife to set up a longevity tablet for Xiao Zhen. Xiao Zhen would be his benefactor, and of course the Fourth Prince would be too, but Li Qing just wanted to cut ties with him completely now.
Although he was a military man, he had been in the Jinyiwei for so long that he had not had the opportunity to guess the emperor's intentions, but he knew how to read people's expressions. The retired emperor looked at the fourth prince with eyes full of hatred, without a trace of kindness.
Regardless of whether the emperor would show leniency to the fourth prince or not, in the eyes of the retired emperor, the fourth prince was already a useless person.
The future of the Fourth Prince is clear at a glance.
Either he would be like Prince Jing, sent to a poor and impoverished place to be a vassal and become a marginal member of the royal family; or he would be like the fifth prince, locked up in the palace and never see the light of day again.
The emperor waited for two full hours before Xiao Zhen finally arrived.
The Emperor was about to reprimand him, but just as he was about to put on a stern face, he saw Zhao Shiqing coming with Xiao Zhen. His face immediately wrinkled: "Granddaughter, you are here too? Are you worried that Grandpa will get sick from being angry?"
Li Qing standing by was so shocked that his eyes widened. His expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book.
Zhao Shiqing smiled and said, "Yeah, you're not angry, are you? Stop being angry. It's not worth it for those irrelevant people."
She raised the oil-paper bag in her hand: "Xiu Xiu cooked tea eggs, please eat them while they are hot."
The emperor felt a pang of sadness. Tea eggs! His granddaughter had brought him tea eggs from far away!
There is nothing missing here, even seasonal vegetables that have not been seen for many days are available here.
I heard from those people that that evil guy is very picky. No matter how many delicious dishes the kitchen prepares for him, he just moves his chopsticks twice before asking someone to take the food away. He either gives it to the servants or throws it away directly.
This inconspicuous tea egg will not even be delivered to that evil creature.
But in the mountains, tea eggs are the most precious food. Only grandchildren and some elderly people can get eggs. Even an old man with a strong back like me can only eat eggs because of my granddaughter.
The granddaughter herself was reluctant to eat it.
Although my granddaughter is not my biological daughter, she is Ruyi's daughter, and Ruyi is my own flesh and blood.
Why should that bastard be able to throw away whole plates of food that she can't even eat?
"Pass the order down! Don't give that evil creature any good food, not even a bit of meat. He should eat whatever the people in the village eat. No, give him half of it!"
Li Qing's mouth twitched. Although there was food in the farm, except for the food they brought with them, all the food distributed to everyone by the government was coarse grains mixed with rice bran. Otherwise, they would have run out of food long ago.
"I'll give the order right away." Li Qing responded.
After Li Qing left, Zhao Shiqing asked curiously, "Grandfather, this house is so big and luxurious. Will you live here from now on and not go back to the mountains?"
Who would want to go to the mountains and smell stinky feet when you can live in a luxurious mansion?
Just as Zhao Xingzhou was about to speak, he heard Zhao Shiqing continue, "You'd better not live here. I heard that this is a haunted house. Many people have died here. Before it was requisitioned by the government, this house had been vacant for many years."
Zhao Xingzhou was shocked. It was not because he was afraid of ghosts, but he did not expect that the spineless Xiao Si would dare to live in a haunted house. He did not realize that he had some courage.
Zhao Shiqing's little mouth never stopped, chattering endlessly: "Oh, how could I forget, you are a cultivator. As the saying goes, the devil is one foot high, the Tao is ten feet high. You are not afraid of even the devil, let alone a dozen little ghosts. When will you subdue the ghosts? My granddaughter wants to learn more."
Zhao Xingzhou: When did I say I could catch ghosts? I practice Taoism only to achieve immortality, not to slay demons and monsters. That is Zhang Tianshi's business, what does it have to do with me?
However, I really don't want to live in this kind of haunted house. No wonder I've been feeling uncomfortable since I came here.
Alas, my legs, which were once in good condition, have lost their strength. I was just being held by that evil creature and couldn’t move at all.
Think about it, usually I can hold one child in front of me and carry another on my back on the mountain, and still walk very fast.
I thought I was getting old, but it turns out that the feng shui of this place is bad and it is unlucky for me!
He looked at Xiao Zhen and said, "I hand over the four lands of Tongzhou to you. I allow you to act as you see fit. Xiao Zhen, you have grown up and you must learn to share my worries. Yuan'er is young and you are his elder brother. You must set an example for him. You must remember that you are my most cherished grandson at all times. Don't let me down."
As soon as Xiao Zhen heard it, he knew that the emperor wanted to escape. This old man would rather go back to the mountains to take care of the children than stay in the haunted house for another day.
He will be needed here, so he is the most valued grandson.
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