Chapter 464 I Want to Do Something
Chu Shangming wiped his tears: "Youmiao, it's your elder brother who is sorry for you."
Chu Liuzheng: "Did you steal my money?"
After a pause in crying, Chu Shangming looked up at her and asked, "Where did you hide the money?"
Chu Liuzheng: "...you should tell me what you feel sorry for me."
"It's my brother who is useless." Chu Shangming continued to wipe his tears.
Chu Liuzheng was confused. He pulled his arm and sat him down at the table. He asked, "What happened to you?"
Workplace bullying? Sexual harassment using power? Or both?
"It's not me, it's you." Chu Shangming looked at his cabbage that was eaten by the golden pig, and felt heartbroken. "It's all my brother's fault."
Chu Liuzheng: ???
No, what’s going on?
Chu Shangming wiped his tears and said, "You don't have to hide it. Big brother has heard everything."
"Ah?" Chu Liuzheng looked bewildered. "Brother, what did you hear?"
Chu Shangming looked at his silly sister and said distressedly, "It's my fault that I made you endure such grievances."
Chu Liuzheng: “…”
She picked up the teapot on the table and poured two cups of warm water, placing one cup in front of Chu Shangming. "Brother, can we stop talking in circles? I don't understand what you're saying. Please explain clearly. How exactly have I been wronged?"
Chu Shangming: "I heard from my mother and my younger sister that His Majesty treats you very well."
Chu Liuzheng nodded, the emperor was indeed good to her.
Chu Shangming: "Since you've treated me so well, why haven't you given me a promotion yet? You've been left without a name or status in this palace, being criticized by everyone. Isn't that unfair?"
[Uh... the news about my brother is a little delayed. The time when rumors were flying around has long passed, and no one dares to speak to me. As for the criticism, I still gossip about it behind people's backs. It's totally normal.]
Chu Liuzheng said, "Your Majesty is not unwilling to promote me, it's just that the time has not come yet."
Chu Shangming immediately looked at her with a heartbroken expression as if his own cabbage had been fooled by the emperor.
Chu Liuzheng: “…”
She's not stupid, really.
It was not easy to talk about the bet, so she cleared her throat and said, "Brother, you should talk about your useless things."
Chu Shangming immediately got into the mood, his eyes filled with tears again, "Big brother is useless. He still doesn't have an official position and can't support you. His Majesty must be unwilling to promote you because he sees our family's poor conditions. It's big brother who is holding you back. Youmiao, big brother is sorry for you!"
【So it's about this matter.】
Chu Liuzheng was speechless. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers: "Stop."
Chu Shangming with tears in his eyes:?
Chu Liuzheng raised his eyebrows: "Brother, what kind of official do you want to be?"
Chu Shangming: "Ah?"
"You can pick any of the six departments." Chu Liuzheng said, "Anyone below the fourth rank will do."
Chu Shangming:? ?
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Chu Shangming reached out to touch his sister's forehead to see if she had a fever.
"That's not nonsense." Chu Liuzheng slapped his hand away. "If you want to be an official, you can do it tomorrow. As long as I go and talk to His Majesty, I can even confer a title."
[Hehe, the tyrant still owes me a title.]
She stared into Chu Shangming's eyes, "Brother, do you want to?"
Chu Shangming shook his head subconsciously.
If he wanted to be an official, he would naturally do it with his own ability and integrity, rather than relying on his sister to plead with the emperor.
He wanted to support his sister with his abilities, not be a burden to her.
"Brother, I don't know whose words you believed, but don't believe them." Chu Liuzheng guessed that someone must have gossiped about you to his brother. "You've been working hard at the Ministry of Revenue. His Royal Highness Prince Xiao is interested in cultivating you. Just follow His Royal Highness Prince Xiao and do your best. Don't listen to or care about anything else. I can protect myself in this palace."
"But……"
"No buts." Chu Liuzheng looked at his silly brother who hadn't reacted yet after being tricked by someone, and sighed softly in his heart, "Brother, you don't have to force yourself."
Chu Shangming was stunned.
Chu Liuzheng smiled and said, "Brother, you don't owe me anything. We are a family. You can sell yourself to the palace to be a eunuch for the sake of your family, and I can also go to the palace to be a maid."
Chu Shangming's eyes widened, "How did you know?"
"I happened to hear you talking to Brother Erniu." Chu Liuzheng shrugged. "Being a eunuch is a lifelong commitment. If you become a palace maid, you can leave the palace when you are old enough. Naturally, it is more cost-effective for me to join the palace."
"How can you calculate it like that?"
"Why can't it be calculated this way?"
Chu Shangming opened his mouth. He had never been good at talking, and he didn't know how to refute his sister's words.
Chu Liuzheng still had something to ask.
"Brother, His Royal Highness Prince Xiao mentioned to me the other day that he's going to take you on a long journey and might not be back for several years. Have you told your family about this?"
"Not yet." Chu Shangming clenched his hands on his knees into fists and said softly, "I have decided not to go."
"Why not?" Chu Liuzheng frowned, "Don't you like doing these things?"
Chu Shangming said, "We'll be away for a long time, I can't leave you in the capital."
"Then what can you do if you stay here?" Chu Liuzheng asked, "Run errands for your parents? Or continue to study at the Imperial Academy?"
Chu Shangming's eyes were a little confused. "Probably studying."
Chu Liuzheng: "And then?"
"Then..." Chu Shangming hadn't thought it through and said vaguely, "Take the imperial examination and become an official."
Chu Liuzheng: "And then, what do you want to do after becoming an official?"
"I want to... do something."
"What's up?"
As he asked this question, many scenes suddenly flashed before Chu Shangming's eyes.
There were tenant farmers who were forced to sell their land and were left with nothing to wear; there were landlords who were surrounded by people and looked very handsome; there were common people who were forced to sell their children due to heavy taxes; there were tax collectors who made up all sorts of excuses and had ferocious faces...
The pleading, crying, and screaming seemed to still be ringing in his ears, and he... wanted to try his best to reduce such things.
"Brother, the opportunity is right in front of us." Chu Liuzheng lowered his voice, "Won't you regret giving up like this?"
Chu Shangming lowered his eyes and said nothing, veins popping out on the back of his clenched fist.
Chu Liuzheng waited quietly, looking at the flickering candlelight on the table, and turned on the system.
[Let my brother struggle for a while. I want to see which bastard dares to set him up!]
She searched the system while Chu Shangming, standing opposite her, was torn between his conscience and his own thoughts. It seemed like only a moment, yet it also seemed like an eternity had passed. He slowly said, "I've made up my mind."
Upon hearing this, Chu Liuzheng immediately closed the system and looked up, "Are you going with His Royal Highness Prince Xiao?"
"Yeah." Although Chu Shangming agreed, there was still some hesitation on his face.
For the first time, Chu Liuzheng felt that his elder brother was being fussy and couldn't help but slap him.
"Don't worry. Although I'm in the palace, I can still send people to look after the family. Besides, Dad and the others have already moved into the house in the north of the city. We have a lot of servants to protect the house. What else do you have to worry about?"
"Don't you want to support me? Then show your ability and do it well. No matter whether you are promoted or given a title in the future, others will be speechless."
Chu Shangming still had something on his mind. "Tell me honestly, why didn't His Majesty promote you?"
He was not a fool. His sister had just said that she could even ask for a title for him, which showed how much favor His Majesty had for his sister. It was not just a joke as those people said.
But since you dote on me so much, why won’t you even give me a name?
This doesn't make sense!
(End of this chapter)
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