Before Ye Zhou had the chance to settle accounts with the Yang family, he got the news that the younger brother of the head of the Yang family, an important figure in the Yang family, was deceived by a villain and took up arms and raised private soldiers. However, he has already repented and felt ashamed to see the king, so he committed suicide.
At noon today, only the two sons of the head of the Yang family were left in the main branch of the Yang family. All the others had left Linzi and no longer called themselves Yangs.
The two sons of the Yang family, holding the wooden box containing Yang Yi's head, wore only coarse linen clothes and walked towards the palace gate on their knees, asking to see Lord Chen and confess their crimes.
The people seemed to have suddenly forgotten what the Yang family had done to them. They stood on the street, watching the two thin young men kneeling down with tears in their eyes.
"How pitiful."
"Hey, if an elder did something wrong, why should we implicate an entire family?"
"The Yang family is defeated..."
The people looked with regret at these two young men who should have lived a life of luxury and had a smooth life under the protection of their families.
"Their families have already been destroyed, I don't think Your Majesty will bother with them anymore."
"I can't bear to see this, it's so pitiful!"
"It can be seen that if the head of a family is stupid, the family will fail in no time."
"That's not the case. As long as the main bloodline survives and the descendants work hard, there will always be a day when they can rise again."
The people sincerely thought they were pitiful.
When the Yang family was strong, they would gather together to protect Ye Zhou, and they even wanted to beat everyone in the Yang family to death.
But now that the Yang family has been defeated and only two frail young men are left, they think that the Yang family is at fault, but this fault is not punishable by death, and they hope that Lord Chen can gently forgive them.
It would be best to give these two young men important positions so that the Yang family can revive.
This is what the world requires of a benevolent ruler.
Without laws, the standard for judging whether a person or a family is right or wrong is human feelings.
It is difficult for a monarch to go against the "expectations" of the people and the aristocratic families.
·
Lord Chen was lying on the bed. He had woken up but still felt groggy.
He tilted his head slightly, looked at the Marquis who was sitting beside the bed and watching over him, and said with a wry smile, "Thank you, Madam."
Madam Chen shook her head: "It is your Majesty who has worked hard and suffered these days."
Lord Chen let out a long sigh. After he woke up, he had heard from Mrs. Chen what had happened in the past few days. He also knew the cause and effect of his "illness". He looked at the woman who had been married to him for many years and they were a young couple.
She was haggard and old, but her eyes were still bright, as if something had stimulated her and given her new youth.
"Jiao'er..." Lord Chen called Madam Chen's nickname softly. He closed his eyes slightly and said weakly, "Don't interfere in the affairs of the Jiang family anymore."
Mrs. Chen froze.
Chen Hou said softly: "You know what I am talking about. You are the mother of a country. I have given you all the dignity and power you deserve. I can tolerate anything, but I cannot tolerate that as the mother of a country, you put the Jiang family first."
"You are Jiang's daughter, and this can never be changed." Chen Hou felt very tired, and he continued, "Let go."
Mrs. Chen put the bowl aside. She was silent for a while and then said, "No."
"I want Jiang's, not because I value Jiang's more than Chen's."
"My brother is not an ambitious man. He has no ambitions and is only obsessed with love affairs." Madam Chen, "Under his control, the Jiang family will surely decline within ten years. Your Majesty, that is my mother's family. I must save it."
Lord Chen slowly opened his eyes and whispered to Madam Chen, "Jiao'er, you may be able to fool others with these words, but you can't fool me."
Mrs. Chen said nothing more.
"I know, this world has let you down." Chen Hou coughed twice, struggled to support his body and sat up, and exhaled, "You will never be able to start a family like a man, and have your own family."
"Chen State belongs to Rui'er. Even if Jiang Family belongs to you now, one day, it will only belong to Jiang Family members."
Lord Chen looked at his wife tenderly.
Mrs. Chen's eyes finally turned red under his gaze. She never knew what she wanted.
She is the daughter of the Jiang family. Since she was young, her parents, relatives, sisters and brothers have told her that the greatest achievement in her life is to marry a powerful man for the sake of the family.
When she was young, she did indeed set this as her goal. She could play the piano, write poems and even articles.
But all this was done to marry a man.
It was useless for her to read books or play the piano, and it was useless even if she wrote better articles than the scholars.
Both her knowledge and appearance, like her jewelry, are just props to adorn her.
She didn't want this, so after she got married, she couldn't wait to use her status as Marquis Chen to interfere in family affairs. She wanted Jiang, and she wanted everything she learned to be useful.
But Chen Hou's words at this time tore apart her self-deceiving excuses. Even if she got Jiang Shi, Jiang Shi still did not belong to her.
Nothing in this world belongs to her.
"I don't understand." Mrs. Chen took a deep breath. She didn't dare to blink, for fear of crying. "I don't understand why God made me a woman. If God is so harsh and cruel to women, why did He create us?"
To the Jiang family, a child like her was just a tool for them to win over people.
They may love her, but this love is insignificant compared to the benefits.
If her parents were asked to choose between a son of the clan and their daughter, they would definitely not choose her.
Daughters are just tools, while sons are the ones who continue the flame of a family.
Sometimes she doesn't even know who she is.
She is the daughter of Jiang family, but Jiang family does not belong to her.
She was the wife of Marquis Chen, but Marquis Chen married her for the sake of profit, just to give birth to a prince with Jiang's bloodline.
She is the mother of the prince, but the prince does not belong to her. The prince is the prince of the State of Chen.
Mrs. Chen's eyes were filled with tears. She seemed to be knocked down by some force. She had wisdom and knowledge, but no one needed her wisdom.
Everyone just wants her to play her role well.
But no one cares about her as a person.
"Sometimes I really envy Lady Lu." Madam Chen suddenly said, "Even if it's just a face, at least Lord Lu sees her as a person, not her surname."
Chen Hou advised: "But you are my wife, you have the greatest power besides me."
Mrs. Chen asked, "If you die and Rui'er grows up, can I still have him?"
Lord Chen did not speak, and Madam Chen continued, "Those ministers in the court will still be ministers even if you die."
Chen Hou understood: "Do you want an official position?"
Madam Chen shook her head and said helplessly, "I know this is impossible. You can't do it, and I can't do it either. Maybe future generations won't be able to do it either, but I can't figure it out and don't understand."
"I want to know who I am." Madam Chen, "How many women in the world know who they are?"
Neither the couple spoke again. Mrs. Chen couldn't find the answer, and Lord Chen couldn't give the answer either.
After a moment of silence, Mrs. Chen finally said, "Jiang, I will not let go."
Lord Chen: "Jiao'er!"
Mrs. Chen: "I have nothing! Even if I can only have it for a few years or ten years, it will be enough!"
"It's up to you..." Chen Hou coughed a few more times and leaned against the head of the bed. "Jiao'er, I'm worried that one day you won't want to know who you are anymore. If one day Rui'er wants to deal with Jiang's, what will you do?"
Mrs. Chen immediately said, "This is impossible. My Jiangshi is Rui'er's Jiangshi!"
"No, you are his mother." Chen Hou smiled bitterly, "If one day, the Jiang clan members rely on the fact that they are Rui'er's mother clan to compete with Rui'er for profit and disobey Rui'er's orders, can you attack them for Rui'er and the country of Chen?"
Madam Chen opened her mouth, but Lord Chen interrupted her: "You can say yes now, but you and I both know in our hearts that it won't happen."
He looked at her, just as he had when they first met.
At that time he knew that his future wife would be a power-hungry woman. She would be like a wild cat, surviving on instinct. She wanted everything because she didn't know what she wanted.
He didn't love her, but he admired her.
He admired her unwillingness to admit defeat and even her ferocity in the fight for power.
That's why he always indulges her.
The indulgence has reached a point where it is almost out of control.
"If one day I die," Lord Chen held Madam Chen's hand, "you can't live."
Madam Chen shuddered, and Lord Chen looked at her: "This is for the State of Chen, and for Rui'er."
"If you die first, I will not marry again. You will be my only wife in my life." Lord Chen, "Rui'er will never have a half-brother to shake his position."
Chen Hou's lips trembled slightly, as if he had made up his mind: "On your tombstone, neither my name nor Jiang's will be engraved."
"You'll have your own name engraved on it."
"It's not the wife of Lord Chen, nor is it the daughter of the Jiang family. It's you."
Mrs. Chen finally shed a tear. She held Lord Chen's hand and finally smiled: "Okay."
She laughed and said, "If you do this, everyone in the world will scold you."
Chen Hou: "Let them scold me. I will probably be dead or dying by then. I don't care."
"As for Zheng," Lord Chen's voice became softer and softer, "You can do whatever you want."
"I'll go talk to Brother Yan." Lord Chen, "He'll listen to you."
Madam Chen watched as Lord Chen fell asleep again.
She stood up, wiped the tears from her face, and straightened her clothes.
When she leaves this room, she is still the dignified and simple Lady Chen Hou.
She walked out.
The sun is shining outside.
It's a good time to kill someone.
·
Ye Zhou was having dinner when he learned that the Zheng family was surrounded by Chen Yan's troops.
A young general named Zheng Shaoyu came running to report to him.
Although Zheng Shaoyu's surname is Zheng, he is not from the Zheng family, otherwise he would not have joined the army.
The reason why Chen Yan surrounded the Zheng family was actually not very tenable - the Zheng family was collaborating with the enemy and selling out the country.
But this reason can be called a special reason for frame-up in this era.
After all, this was also the reason the Yang family used when they wanted to deal with him.
Moreover, no matter how you think about it, there is no benefit for the Zheng family to collaborate with the enemy. The Zheng family's status in the State of Chen is now second only to the Jiang family.
Moreover, it is obviously not a good time to take action now. They have captured and killed the main branch of the Zheng family, but the branches of the Zheng family still control so many cities in the State of Chen. If they close the city gates or really surrender to the enemy, what can the Lord of Chen do?
Sure enough, before Ye Zhou asked any questions, Mrs. Chen had already arrived.
She came alone, without anyone by her side. She was only wearing a coarse cloth dress and a wooden hairpin on her head. As soon as she was brought in, she immediately saluted Ye Zhou.
Ye Zhou stood up and led Mrs. Chen outside. They stopped at the veranda and looked at the carp swimming leisurely in the pond.
"Madam, are you here for Zheng's matter?" Ye Zhou took the steamed bun from Cao'er and handed half to Madam Chen. He said in a gentle tone, "Madam, what do you want by surrounding Zheng?"
Madam Chen knew that she was impulsive. She originally did not want to mobilize troops, so she said swiftly: "I was too impatient. It's just that when I think of the state in which His Majesty was harmed by Zheng... I can't bear it."
"But it's not like I haven't considered it."
"In order to ensure that the children of the main branch get the best of everything, Zheng Clan doesn't care about the branch branches. Instead, every year the branches in each city have to give gifts to the main branch, just so that Zheng Clan can speak well of their benefits in the court."
“The two sides are not on the same page.”
Ye Zhou nodded.
It is normal to be disunited. Even brothers may not be united, let alone "relatives" who live in different places and may not have seen each other for decades.
"In that case." Ye Zhou said with a smile, "Madam, since you destroyed this Zheng family, why not bring up another Zheng family?"
"But if this happens, the State of Chen will be in chaos."
Mrs. Chen nodded: "I came to see you for this matter."
Ye Zhou looked at Madam Chen: "Is this what Lord Chen meant?"
He didn't know Madam Chen, but based on his understanding of the children of aristocratic families, generally speaking, people from aristocratic families would protect their own class. Madam Chen was also from an aristocratic family. She might be able to deal with Zheng from the perspective of the aristocratic family, but she would not deal with Zheng from the perspective of the royal family.
Madam Chen nodded slightly: "Your Majesty said that without destruction there is no construction. If the State of Chen is not in chaos, the stubborn disease cannot be eliminated."
These words made Ye Zhou stop feeding the fish and he looked at Mrs. Chen.
Mrs. Chen knew that Ye Zhou was looking at her, so she did not move and waited for Ye Zhou to speak.
Ye Zhou: "Lord Chen is more courageous than I thought."
There is no construction without destruction. It sounds simple, but one wrong step can lead to an abyss.
When the noble families found out that Lord Chen was going to attack them, it would not just be the Zheng family that Lord Chen would have to deal with.
All his friends will become his enemies.
Most of the ministers in the court would stand against him.
Ye Zhou said calmly: "Madam, just do whatever you want."
Madam Chen bowed again: "Thank you, Immortal."
She knew that the immortal was willing to help them.
As long as they can capture the immortal, they will have no one to fear.
The last day of late summer.
The entire main branch of the Zheng family was arrested.
All adult males were slaughtered, and unmarried men and women were confiscated and sent to the palace.
The whole country of Chen was in an uproar.
Ye Zhou also received a lot of "gifts". The noble families gave him gifts crazily. Countless rare treasures continued to flow to him. In addition to dead objects, there were even people, young and beautiful men and women. All the noble families were crazy.
Ye Zhou's turnover also went crazy.
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