Chapter 274 The Fault is Other People's (Two Chapters in One)
The wind and rain were blocked outside the house. A hole had appeared in the window covered with oil paper at some point, and before it could be patched up, rain poured in from outside and flowed down the window lattice, dripping. Zhao Shiqing put the pen washer on the ground to collect the water, and soon it was full.
Zhao Shiqing poured the water in the pen washer into a large water tank in the house, and then put the pen washer back in place.
Zhao Xingzhou's thoughts were interrupted by her series of actions. He looked at the brush washer and then at the inappropriate large water tank in the room.
"Why put the water tank here? Shouldn't it be in the kitchen?"
There was a dim light in the room, and Zhao Shiqing sat in the brightest spot. The candlelight reflected on her face, adding a bit of tenderness that was not in her usual appearance.
But when she looked at Zhao Xingzhou, the tenderness in her heart disappeared without a trace. She stood up and grabbed Zhao Xingzhou's arm. Before Zhao Xingzhou could react, she had dragged him to the big vat.
The water tank reflected two faces, one old and one young. Zhao Shiqing pointed at their reflections and said, "There are no mirrors on the mountain. This big tank can straighten my clothes. I can also see clearly if there are any eye mucus or rice grains on their faces."
Zhao Xingzhou was surprised. He intuitively felt that Zhao Shiqing pulled him to the vat not to tell him that this big vat could be used as a mirror.
There must be something else that Zhao Shiqing hasn't said yet.
"Just say whatever you want to say, no need to beat around the bush," said Zhao Xingzhou.
"Okay, you asked me to say it, not me having to say it." Zhao Shiqing agreed readily, but his feet did not move. The old man and the young boy were still standing in front of the big vat. The scene was weird and a little funny.
"That concubine's son became emperor. Logically, she should have been named empress dowager, but she wasn't. Old man, you are a master of the Tao, so you must know the reason. Why don't you tell me?"
Zhao Xingzhou's face froze. It was clearly him who was asking Zhao Shiqing, so how did it become Zhao Shiqing who was asking him?
"How would I know?"
Zhao Shiqing rolled her eyes in her heart. I gave you face by not mentioning Concubine Li and only talking about that concubine, but you just took advantage of it. Do you think that as long as you don't admit that you are the old emperor, the matter of you raising a son for someone else can be written off?
You are so beautiful!
She reached into her arms and took out the letter Zhao Xingzhou had just written.
Zhao Xingzhou was startled and quickly looked at the table. It was empty. He didn't know when Zhao Shiqing had put the letter into his arms.
Zhao Shiqing waved the letter in front of Zhao Xingzhou, and put it back into her arms before Zhao Xingzhou could reach out to grab it. When it comes to quickness, Zhao Xingzhou can't compare to her.
She just reminded Zhao Xingzhou that this letter was enough to prove his identity, so he should stop pretending, it was so boring.
Zhao Xingzhou suddenly felt that the room was very hot, and his face was even hotter!
"Li, even though that evil concubine was adopted into the first wife's family, she can't change her petty nature. She's always pushy, petty, and clueless. If she were to become the Empress Dowager, not only would it cause unrest in the harem, it would also affect the previous dynasty, hindering the Emperor... and her son."
Zhao Shiqing nodded: "I originally thought you were confused, but now it seems that you are not confused.
If you are not foolish, then why are you still unable to judge people? Why are you giving away the legacy left by your ancestors?"
Zhao Xingzhou breathed a sigh of relief. He had just thought about this question and he already had the answer.
"Because I didn't know, I didn't know he wasn't my biological child!
I also didn't expect that Concubine Li and the Wei family would be so bold as to confuse the royal bloodline!
Believe me, I really didn’t know and didn’t think about it.”
Zhao Shiqing stared at the reflection in the water without blinking. The light in the room was not bright, and the reflection in the water was even less clear, but she looked at it very seriously.
But she just smiled at Zhao Xingzhou's answer.
“Well, as you said, you didn’t know that the man was not your blood, you treated him as your own flesh and blood.
So is the former Crown Prince Zhao Xian your biological son? Or is the former Crown Prince Zhao Xian also someone you adopted for someone else?"
What Zhao Xingzhou hates to hear the most now is "raising someone else's son".
He immediately blurted out: "Of course not, Xian'er is my own flesh and blood!"
Okay, I won’t even say “old man” anymore, just “I”.
He keeps saying he wants to become an immortal, but after all the practice, what he cares about most is the color of his hair.
Zhao Shiqing reached his hand into the tank and slapped the water surface with a loud bang, smashing Zhao Xingzhou's old face into pieces.
Zhao Xingzhou watched her movements. It felt like Zhao Shiqing's hand was really hitting him in the face. He subconsciously took a few steps back. His reflection in the water completely disappeared, leaving Zhao Shiqing watching all this with a half-smile on her face.
Zhao Xingzhou knew what Zhao Shiqing was going to say. He stood behind Zhao Shiqing, as if he could avoid the topic as long as Zhao Shiqing didn't look back.
However, Zhao Shiqing turned around with clear eyes and a gentle smile.
Zhao Xingzhou breathed a long sigh of relief. What was there for him to avoid? The person in front of him was just a teenage girl.
Moreover, she is a very lovely little girl. He really wants to have such an interesting and lovely little daughter.
He had a daughter in his old age, and he also had a little daughter, but unfortunately she was of a cold nature and wanted to become a monk at the age of ten. Now she is not even twenty years old, but she looks more like a monk than he did.
Therefore, he liked Zhao Shiqing the first time he saw her. She was lively, cute, smart, and quirky. Until now, he still likes this little girl very much, the kind of love that an elder has for a younger person.
There needs to be fate between people. He felt that he and Zhao Shiqing had a very good fate. This little girl should be his daughter. Of course, it could be his granddaughter or his granddaughter-in-law. In short, this child should be his child.
The more this happens, the more difficult it is to say some words.
He didn't know how to tell his daughter or granddaughter about this.
Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Zhao Shiqing started talking for him.
"When the King of Wu left the capital, it was exactly when the former Crown Prince moved into the Wuji Temple.
At that time, the court was in turmoil, and everyone was talking about the father of Xiao Wang's unborn child. Your situation must have been very difficult."
Zhao Xingzhou looked at Zhao Shiqing in surprise. He didn't expect that Zhao Shiqing would know about this at such a young age.
Because this matter had been suppressed long ago and no one mentioned it again.
"How old are you? Who told you this?"
Zhao Shiqing knew that some things could not be hidden, such as her identity.
"My last name is Zhao, the Zhao from the Prince of Liang's Mansion. I'm the adopted daughter of the old Prince of Liang."
She didn't know whether Zhao Xingzhou had asked anyone to check on her, but regardless of whether he had done so or not, she admitted it herself, which was a gesture.
Sure enough, she didn't see any surprise on Zhao Xingzhou's face. She continued, "But my adoptive father never mentioned this when he was alive.
The reason I know this is because the poison that the Prince of Wu was poisoned with was the same poison that killed my adoptive father.
They all died of heart disease caused by drinking.
By the way, although the former crown prince had an eye disease, his death was probably caused by a heart attack after drinking.
Zhao Shiqing paused at this point. Zhao Xingzhou's mouth trembled a few times before he finally spoke with difficulty: "The child in Xiao Wang's belly has nothing to do with me. I was devoted to the Tao at that time and had long since stopped caring about women."
"As for Xian'er... he had an eye disease at the time, but he didn't want anyone to know. So he found an excuse to hide in Wuji Temple and secretly sought out famous doctors, but nothing worked, and he eventually became blind.
In addition, he has been away from the court for a long time, and the officials are unaware of the situation and have already complained about it. After he found out, he became even more depressed and always lost his temper. I am also powerless to do anything about it."
Zhao Shiqing thought of the Shi family that was wiped out because of the late crown prince's eye disease. Her eyes welled up with bloodshot eyes and she choked up and said, "The late crown prince is your eldest son. He has been the crown prince since he was five years old. He is the heir to the dynasty and the next monarch!
You knew that he was ill, but you allowed the court officials to impeach him. The famous doctor he was looking for was nowhere to be found, but you did not investigate the reason. Instead, you ignored him and left him aside. There were more and more rumors about him outside, but you did not order them to be suppressed, but let them go!
What were you thinking about at that time?
Of course she knew what Zhao Xingzhou was thinking at that time?
Everyone in the court and on the streets was talking about the prince's eyes and his decadence. The court officials and the people focused on the prince. Instead of focusing on the true and false affair between the old emperor and young Wang, which could not be discussed openly, it would be better to evaluate the prince's faults in a righteous manner.
All the spearheads originally directed at the old emperor were turned towards the prince.
At this time, it would be wrong for the prince to be alive, he must die.
So when the prince died, everyone felt it was natural. He was blind, his position as prince was no longer secure, and he was a loser.
As a loser, he should drown his sorrows in alcohol, he should drink himself to death!
Zhao Shiqing's tears fell silently. She looked straight at Zhao Xingzhou. Although she stopped at that point, Zhao Xingzhou knew that she had seen through it!
Zhao Xingzhou felt a little guilty when he saw her look at him.
But he didn't understand why Zhao Shiqing was crying.
It was the first time he saw the little girl's tears. In his impression, the little girl laughed, scolded, and was very emotional, but he had never seen her cry.
Is it because of Prince Liang’s Mansion?
"It seems that Prince Liang and Xian'er have no friendship."
Zhao Shiqing shook his head: "The reason why I am called Zhao Shiqing is because my last name is Zhao and my last name is Shi.
Our Shi family is just an ordinary citizen in Wu. It was because my father took in the old doctor Yang who was good at treating eye diseases that our Shi family was wiped out by your good son.
And I, the only survivor of the Shi family, was dug out of the grave by wild dogs."
Zhao Shiqing spoke slowly and calmly, but every word seemed soaked in blood, and there was an indelible darkness in his eyes, just like that murder night many years ago when there was no moon or stars in sight.
In the stuffy room, Zhao Xingzhou shivered several times. He fell down and sat down in the dark, his facial features shrouded in shadows, and his expression could not be seen clearly.
"Xian'er... Xian'er is my first child. The Empress and I were young married. Xian'er... Xian'er was born in anticipation of the Empress and I. I..."
He suddenly couldn't continue speaking, his throat was blocked and uncomfortable. He was an emperor, but he was also a father.
He didn't understand why he would explain all this to a teenager. Not to mention a little girl like Zhao Shiqing, even if the old King Liang were alive, he wouldn't dare to question him, and he would not explain anything to the old King Liang.
He closed his eyes and sighed.
Zhao Shiqing laughed at this time. Her laughter was very sweet and there was no sarcasm in it. However, what she said made Zhao Xingzhou want to cover her mouth.
"It's a pity that you later had other sons, and their mother was still alive. A living mother would persuade you with pillow talk, and once she did, a son who was only half-human could become an outstanding one. An outstanding son would please you and please you.
The other motherless child was even more helpless. He had been roasted on the fire since he was a child. No matter what he did, you felt that he was not doing it well enough. He was the prince, so he should be outstanding and extraordinary. If he did well, it was his duty, and if he did not do well enough, it was his sin.
Anything he does that is unsatisfactory will be magnified infinitely in your eyes. As long as there is one thing that fails to meet your expectations, he will become a waste in your eyes.
No one compensated him, no one supported him.
You are his closest person, but what about you? Is he your closest person?"
Every word was like a knife, stabbing Zhao Xingzhou's heart.
Zhao Xingzhou wiped his face with his hand. "I regretted it later, but the situation was already hopeless. Oh, I still have a grandson. Xian'er's son is still alive. Yes, he is still alive!"
How could he forget that he has a grandson.
He thought the child had died long ago, until after the Chinese New Year this year, when the child suddenly appeared in front of him.
At just one glance, he knew that this must be Xian'er's child, because the child looked very much like Empress Yuan!
My empress, with a stunning beauty!
This was also the reason why no one in the harem could gain his favor later on.
Even though the women who came after him could always be by his side and whisper in his ear as Zhao Shiqing said, none of them could get his love anymore. He and them could only have children and have children.
Thinking of Queen Yuan, Zhao Xingzhou felt even more regretful.
If he hadn't focused on cultivation at that time, would he still be obsessed with Empress Yuan?
If his feelings for Empress Yuan had not diminished, the father-son relationship between him and Xian'er would not have faded, and he would not have allowed that evil second brother to take advantage of the opportunity!
Zhao Shiqing didn't know that in just a moment, Zhao Xingzhou found a new excuse for himself.
Fortunately, Zhao Xingzhou still had some dignity and didn't say what he was thinking, otherwise Zhao Shiqing would have rolled her eyes.
"Alas, that treacherous concubine has confused the royal bloodline and deserves death."
So, I am not wrong.
If I have any fault, then it is that I did not investigate the eighteen generations of Concubine Li's ancestors after the first hook-nosed child was born.
Zhao Shiqing looked at him expressionlessly. This is the emperor. So this is what the emperor is like. It really opened my eyes!
Zhao Xingzhou finally regained his confidence. He held his head high and looked at Zhao Shiqing with a little more kindness in his eyes: "Good child, the Shi family suffered because of Xian'er. I will definitely give you an explanation. How about this, I will posthumously confer an official title on your father. Let me think about what rank..."
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