Chapter 275: Finding a Godmother (Two Chapters in One)
Zhao Shiqing has always known that not all parents love their children.
What’s more, he is the emperor.
There is no family affection in the royal family.
Zhao Xingzhou had fatherly love for the former crown prince Zhao Xian, but not much. Or rather, from the moment Zhao Xian became the crown prince, their relationship changed. They were father and son, but more importantly, monarch and subject.
And the father's love, which was already limited, became insignificant.
Zhao Xingzhou also had fatherly love for Emperor Yongjia, but it was not much. When Zhao Xingzhou was forced to give up the throne, this fatherly love disappeared.
Zhao Xingzhou's feelings for Wan Ruyi, whom he had never met, were more of guilt than fatherly love.
Moreover, this guilt is time-limited, and this time limit will not be very long. When he calms down, this guilt will become less and less.
He has several daughters. He watched them grow from cute little balls to lovely young girls, and then into graceful and elegant princesses. These experiences unique to a father and daughter are incomparable to Wan Ruyi who came back halfway.
Father’s love is not much to begin with, and it is originally shared equally by several people. Now another one has come. How much share does Wan Ruyi have left?
Zhao Xingzhou was still thinking about the posthumous honor for Shi's father. Shi's father was just a commoner, and the rank of honor he could receive was limited.
Zhao Shiqing couldn't help but ask, "Will this title of yours be of any use in the underworld? For example, will it help me be reborn first? Or be reborn in a good way?"
Zhao Xingzhou was stunned. It was the first time someone asked such a question.
Are the honors bestowed upon people in the world of the living useful in the underworld?
How do I know?
Seeing him stunned, Zhao Shiqing shrugged: "It seems that this posthumous title is useless in the underworld. It's useless in the underworld, and it's useless in the world of the living. My family fled here, and now I'm the only one alive. The grace is useless to me. I'm not even surnamed Shi anymore."
Zhao is the imperial surname. Although she is an adopted daughter, she is registered in the clan office. Unless she committed a serious crime and the emperor stripped her surname Zhao and gave her a surname like dog or pig, otherwise, even if she found her relatives, she would still have the surname Zhao.
Zhao Xingzhou thought so too. A posthumous title must be bestowed, and a posthumous title must be based on favors. However, the Shi family only has an orphan girl and no male heirs. Who should the favor be given to?
"Although your family fled here, you must have relatives, just not in Wu. If you send someone to look for them, they will definitely be found. Even if you can't find someone from the same clan, you can find someone with the same surname. A male among them can inherit your father's legacy.
Or, you could go to a charity and adopt a younger brother for yourself, and register him in your father's name. Wouldn't that way your father would have someone to carry on his legacy?"
Zhao Shiqing sneered, "Why give the favor my father earned with his life to someone so unrelated? My father knows who they are. Even after he dies, they still want to raise someone else's son. Aren't they afraid that my father will climb out of the coffin and scare him to death?"
Zhao Xingzhou was somewhat confused by Zhao Shiqing's input, and Zhao Shiqing's blatant words "raising someone else's son" touched his heart. When would this end? Every sentence had to include these words.
He wanted to talk to Zhao Shiqing about the importance of inheritance, but the little girl looked like she was ready to challenge him at any time, which made him a little scared.
The main reason is that today's waves of impact are too great, his old heart is already tired, and he doesn't want to be affected by the war again.
"Oh, there's another way. You can find a son-in-law!" As soon as he said that, Zhao Xingzhou shook his head again, "No, your surname is Zhao now. If you find a son-in-law, the child you give birth to will also have the surname Zhao."
When Zhao Shiqing heard about recruiting a son-in-law, she blinked and said, "Hey, this is a good idea."
"Aren't you the Emperor Emeritus? Why don't you just ask the Imperial Clan Court to let my child have the surname Shi?"
Zhao Xingzhou grinned. Aren’t these girls nowadays shameless? They haven’t even gotten married yet, but they keep calling their children “my children”.
But he only dared to complain in his heart and didn't dare say it out loud, for it would cause trouble. This girl not only curses, but also cries. If she quarrels with him while crying like she did just now, he can't afford to offend her.
"Well, that's a good idea. There's precedent for choosing a surname from among your sons."
Now that the solution has been figured out, Zhao Shiqing waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and give me the title if you want."
Zhao Xingzhou thought about it. His father was just a commoner, so even if he was posthumously awarded a rank, it would not be high. But if he was only awarded the seventh or eighth rank, this little girl would definitely have a lot of sarcastic words waiting for him.
But if a higher grade is given, it would not be in accordance with the rules.
Yes, I got it!
"You don't have a title?"
When the old King Liang reported Zhao Shiqing's name to the clan office, Zhao Xingzhou was already practicing Taoism in Changshou Palace. He didn't know that the old King Liang had an adopted daughter.
But I think she didn't have any title. The court was very strict in giving titles to the eight kings. Generally, only legitimate daughters could enjoy the title of princess, while illegitimate daughters could not, and adopted daughters like Zhao Shiqing certainly could not have it.
Zhao Shiqing nodded: "No."
Zhao Xingzhou smiled until his face wrinkled. "How about this? I'll adopt you as my adopted daughter on behalf of Ruyi, and give you the title of Princess?"
Zhao Shiqing was stunned. Did she hear it right? The old emperor wanted to adopt her as his goddaughter on behalf of Aunt Ruyi?
I guess he thought that Aunt Ruyi was old and might not have any biological children, so he accepted her as his adopted daughter?
In this way, not only can the problem of her daughter's offspring be solved, but also her as the insider can be solved, killing two birds with one stone?
No wonder he could become emperor, his brain is indeed different from that of normal people.
"I already have a mother, I don't want a godmother."
"Alas, your mother has passed away, hasn't she? Since I want to posthumously confer a title on your father, I will also posthumously confer a title on your mother. Besides, I heard about your relationship with the old princess of the Liang Palace..."
Zhao Shiqing rolled her eyes. As expected, they had checked her out and even knew that she had a bad relationship with the Nie family.
"That's right, she kicked me out. Even if she dies, I won't kowtow to her."
Zhao Xingzhou smiled happily. This matter cannot be blamed on the little girl's ruthlessness. The old princess came from the Nie family. I met the head of the Nie family when I was a child. He was so fake that my mother disliked him very much. Therefore, I never promoted the sons of the Nie family. Later, I learned that the Liang Palace and the Nie family were engaged. I was very happy. I wished that the eight kings' in-laws would all be such families with beautiful appearance but rotten inside.
The little girl is very emotional and will definitely not get along with Nie. Now that the old Prince Liang is dead, the little girl is alone outside, and her relationship with Prince Liang's Mansion will gradually become distant.
Thinking about it this way, it would be most appropriate to have her be adopted as the daughter of my poor daughter.
What's more, my daughter has been isolated from the world since she was young and doesn't understand human nature, while this little girl is eccentric and has a lot of bad intentions. She and Ruyi have known each other for a long time and have been together for a long time. They have no relationship at all, but she is willing to stand up for Ruyi. When she becomes Ruyi's daughter in the future, she will definitely protect Ruyi.
The more Zhao Xingzhou thought about it, the more he felt that this was a good idea: "I will confer upon you the title of a princess, a princess with a title and fiefdom."
Zhao Xingzhou felt that he was very generous. There had never been a princess with a different surname in the Yong Dynasty, and the daughter of a princess could at most be given the title of county lady.
But the little girl is not only the princess's adopted daughter, her surname is also Zhao. Just this surname Zhao is enough to shut up those old guys in the clan house.
Zhao Shiqing was surprised but not rejected that she would get a princess today.
Thinking about it this way, it is not unacceptable to be Aunt Wan's adopted daughter.
She originally liked Aunt Wan very much, and Aunt Wan was also very good to her.
"Okay, let's sign it in writing, so you won't regret it later."
Zhao Shiqing was grinding ink so fast that he was huffing and puffing. Zhao Xingzhou couldn't remember how many documents he had written today. Including the letter, he had finished writing all the words for this month.
Zhao Shiqing watched him finish writing the document and then asked, "What about my father and mother's posthumous titles? And my grandma, she's such a nice person."
Zhao Xingzhou had no choice but to continue writing. When he finished, Zhao Shiqing picked it up and took a look. His father was posthumously awarded the rank of fifth-rank official, and his mother and grandmother were both posthumously awarded imperial edicts.
Although Zhao Shiqing didn't know what kind of official the revised Shu Yin was, the posthumous title of the fifth rank was considered quite standard, and Zhao Shiqing was generally satisfied.
She blew the receipt dry and put it in her arms, putting it away for the time being. Now was not the time to cash it in.
Seeing that Zhao Shiqing was finally satisfied, Zhao Xingzhou breathed a sigh of relief.
I was extremely tired this evening.
Zhao Shiqing finally let him go to bed, but when he reached the sleeping place, Zhao Xingzhou ran back again.
"I... I have never slept with so many people. No, you have to find me a new place to stay."
But there are only large bunk beds here, of course, except for Xiao Zhen.
Although Zhao Shiqing wanted to make the old man suffer, he was the emperor after all. Although his character was not very good, he would still be needed in many things in the future.
Yes, if you want to avenge the Shi family and King Liang, you can’t do it without this old man.
"I have a friend. He and his entourage are not coming back tonight. You can stay with them."
Zhao Xingzhou didn't think much about it and followed Xia Dachuan to Xiao Zhen's room.
Accommodation conditions on the mountain are limited. Even Zhao Shiqing lives with Xiuxiu and Lingbo. Xiao Zhen's so-called single room is actually a small room separated from Dazhuang and Jiang Ping's room.
Not only did Xiao Zhen not come back today, but Da Zhuang and the others didn't come back either.
Zhao Shiqing simply let Zhao Xingzhou live here. Although it was still a large bunk bed, there was only Zhao Xingzhou there, so he could roll around all over the bed.
Zhao Xingzhou had even lived under the eaves of houses in Wu, so there was no problem living here. The reason he didn't want to sleep with others was not because it was dirty, but because he was afraid of death.
He was worried that someone would get up in the middle of the night and kill him.
All emperors are afraid of death, and he is no exception.
Zhao Xingzhou lay on the big bed covered with a straw mat and breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally have a good sleep.
I don't know when the rain outside stopped, and there was a faint fragrance in the house from the mosquito coils.
Zhao Xingzhou fell asleep quickly.
In the dream, he was just a bystander who saw the old Prince Liang die of poisoning. The eldest princess ordered the detention of Princess Jiayi and Prince Consort Xiao. That night, the couple died in the farmhouse of Prince Liang's mansion.
The Prince of Liang's Mansion went to war with the Xiao family, and both sides suffered losses. The court sent troops to quell the rebellion, the Xiao family was wiped out, and the eldest princess of the Prince of Liang's Mansion was married off to the capital.
Then, the Prince of Liang died, the eldest princess died, and the new Prince of Liang also died. The Prince of Liang's fiefdom was taken back by the court. Emperor Yongjia laughed heartily, and then he ordered the hunt down of Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yue.
Zhao Xingzhou saw a middle-aged man named Zhong being brought to Emperor Yongjia by a eunuch.
"Are you Queen Zhong's cousin? Do you know the whereabouts of Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yue?"
"Yes, I am Zhong Ziyang. Not only do I know where their lair is, but I am also deeply trusted by them."
"Okay, I believe you this time, go down."
Zhong Ziyang withdrew. After a while, the eunuch brought in another man in black. Emperor Yongjia said, "I want Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yue dead, especially Xiao Yue. I want to see his head!"
In the dream, the scene changed, and he saw a group of men in black, led by Zhong Ziyang, coming smoothly to the hiding place of Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yue. Both brothers were dead.
The leading black-clad man chopped off Xiao Yue's head and placed it in a leather bag. Zhong Ziyang was puzzled and asked, "Xiao Yue is just Xiao Zhen's younger brother. He is just a concubine who is not worthy of being in public."
The man in black sneered, "The emperor specifically requested his head."
Zhao Xingzhou woke up suddenly, looked around and was shocked.
Candles were lit in the room, and several burly men were standing by the bed, looking at him.
"You, who are you?"
Da Zhuang: "I was just about to ask who you are and why are you in our bed?"
Zhao Xingzhou sat up and was about to explain when someone suddenly walked in from outside: "What's wrong?"
"There is an old man sleeping on the bed. I don't know how he ended up sleeping in our room." Dazhuang said.
The man walked closer and saw Zhao Xingzhou, frowning slightly: "Why are you here?"
Zhao Xingzhou's mouth opened wide. He pointed at the person in front of him, his lips trembling. "You, you, you, you're not dead?"
Xiao Zhen sighed and was about to say that he was not dead, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly froze.
The last time he brought Xiao Yue before the retired emperor, he was still wearing the fake face of Master Zhen. The last time he showed his real face before the retired emperor was more than ten years ago, when he was only seven or eight years old.
Later, when he met the retired emperor in Wu, he was also wearing a human skin mask.
So the question is, how did the emperor recognize that he was Xiao Zhen?
He is very different now than when he was seven or eight years old.
You have to know that the emperor was not very close to his grandchildren. They rarely saw each other all year round and were not familiar with each other. So when he was in Wu, he just felt that the old Taoist priest looked familiar.
He failed to recognize the retired emperor at first sight, so how could the retired emperor recognize him when he grew up?
Zhao Xingzhou was also shocked. He had not yet come out of his dream.
Although he was in Changshou Palace, he still knew about Jiayi's loss of her son.
Although he no longer remembered his grandson, he still felt sorry for Jiayi. Her only son had died, and he didn't know if she would be able to give birth to children in the future.
But just now in his dream, he saw Xiao Zhen die in front of him with his own eyes. In addition to Xiao Zhen, there was also Xiao Yue, his concubine whom he had never seen but had heard of!
Both brothers died, Xiao Yue died first, and Xiao Zhen died later. The two brothers died together.
But now, Xiao Zhen was standing in front of him alive, and Zhao Xingzhou was stunned. How many times had Xiao Zhen died?
Why are you still alive now?
Xiao Zhen frowned and asked, "You went up the mountain today? Only one person? Where are your guards? Didn't they come with you?"
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