Chapter 107 The fake prince ascends the throne as emperor!
Zhou Jing just watched as the Duchess of England, who had given birth to a son safely, died of heavy bleeding arranged by his biological father's men as an infant.
The purpose was just to prevent his fake son from being recognized by the British Duchess.
Zhou Jing looked at the familiar face of his adoptive father that appeared in front of him. That face was full of sadness and pain. For a moment, he subconsciously avoided that face and dared not look at him.
Ever since he recovered his memories of his past life, he always felt that his adoptive father owed him. It was his adoptive father who swapped his identity with that of the fake prince for his own ambitions, and it was his adoptive father who deliberately planned to usurp the throne. Even if his adoptive father was really good to him during the years he raised him, he was just being hypocritical and kind.
But what Zhou Jing never expected was that the person who actually swapped him with Zhao Zisu was not his adoptive father, but his biological father, the man who righteously pinned the blame on his adoptive father when the truth about his life experience was revealed in his previous life.
Thinking back to his past life when he mistakenly thought his adoptive father was a swapped child, he turned a blind eye to his adoptive father's final fate and didn't even go to collect his body, Zhou Jing suddenly realized something.
Everything has changed in this life, what has changed? The problem was that his father died too early and too strangely, just before his true identity with the fake prince was revealed.
Zhou Jing remembered that his adoptive father openly supported the fake prince after his father appointed the crown prince. This had never happened in his previous life, and his adoptive father had long ago asked for him to be appointed the crown prince and had handed over the military power in his hands.
In the past, the Duke of England's Mansion was far from being as powerful and glorious as it is today, with its military authority in hand.
Thinking about his current situation, perhaps his adoptive father had experienced the same thing as him in his previous life?
Zhou Jing had an almost intuitive guess.
Because his adoptive father had the memory of his previous life early on, this life has changed so much from his previous life.
But why give up on him?
Zhou Jing didn't understand why his adoptive father, who had taught him carefully in his previous life, would let him go in this life?
Before awakening his past life memories, without any comparison, Zhou Jing would have thought that his adoptive father's pampering and indulgence in him was a sign of his love for him. But now, just by comparing him with the doting yet strict adoptive father in his previous life, he knows that the adoptive father who doted on him in this life had given up on him long ago.
Even if his adoptive father knew that he was not his biological son, how could he just give up on him?
Although he ignored his adoptive father's family who were sentenced to death in his previous life and did not even help collect the bodies, he had his reasons. He was deceived by his father and thought that he was stolen from the palace by his adoptive father. That was why he ignored them in anger. It was understandable.
Zhou Jing quickly woke up from this immersive dream of his past life. He stared blankly at the ceiling of his tent, remembering that he had just returned from crying at the palace to rest, and fell asleep, and as a result, he had such a magical dream.
After Zhou Jing woke up, he ignored the maid who was bringing water to help him wash, and ran towards his adoptive father's main courtyard like a bolt of lightning.
At this time, Si Yuan was having lunch, and the person having lunch with him was the prince Zhou Ming.
Zhou Jing rushed into the main courtyard without paying attention to the servants' obstruction. He saw Si Yuan and Zhou Ming, father and son, having lunch happily. He felt abandoned and excluded. Zhou Jing's face changed immediately. The question he wanted to ask turned into a hesitant "Father, father..."
Si Yuan looked up at him indifferently, without a trace of emotion in his cold eyes, and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"
Si Yuan knew exactly why Zhou Jing came. After all, Zhou Jing's awakened memories of his past life and the dream he had in his past life were all controlled by Si Yuan behind the scenes.
Si Yuan has always been a kind-hearted man who likes to make his enemies understand. For example, he lets the emperor see his appointed prince wearing a dragon robe and preparing to ascend the throne before he dies, so that the emperor knows that there is someone to take over his throne and he can die with peace of mind. Another example is to let Zhou Jing, a dandy boy, know his life experience and know that he should have had a more dazzling life under the protection of the dog emperor...
Therefore, it was quite normal for Zhou Jing to come to him after having the dream about his past life because of his impulsive personality.
However, although Zhou Jing was impulsive, he could also be very timid at times and was very good at reading Si Yuan's expressions. His ability to read people's expressions was learned from Si Yuan.
Perhaps it was because Si Yuan didn't truly love Zhou Jing like the original owner, so Zhou Jing knew very well that most of the time he wouldn't be punished by Si Yuan for his mischief, but once it came to issues of principle and Si Yuan was really angry, he had to admit his mistakes.
In fact, Zhou Jing was hiding awe and fear of Si Yuan in his heart. In the past, this awe and fear was hidden so deeply that even Zhou Jing himself did not realize it. After all, he used to think that he was Si Yuan's biological son.
Now that he knows his own life experience, he no longer has this confidence. He is also worried that Si Yuan, who knows his true life experience, will want to eliminate him completely.
So Zhou Jing originally wanted to rush over and question Si Yuan whether he had deliberately indulged him all these years in order to spoil him. Now that he was really in front of Si Yuan, Zhou Jing did not dare to ask a single word. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said with a grunt, "Can I, can I have lunch with my father and elder brother?"
Zhou Ming, who was sitting next to Si Yuan, originally saw his younger brother rushing in aggressively. He thought he was coming for him. After all, his younger brother had always been very jealous and had a domineering temper. He must have been dissatisfied with his father having a meal alone with him, the eldest son of a concubine, and came here to make trouble.
Zhou Ming had already thought about how to respond, but he didn't expect that as soon as his father asked casually, Zhou Jing lowered his head like a well-behaved kitten, and asked him if he could join them for dinner like a bullied young wife.
Zhou Ming was shocked and relieved at the same time. He just hoped that Zhou Jing wasn't here to cause trouble.
Zhou Ming originally thought that given his father's love for Zhou Jing, his father would definitely agree to just having a meal together, but what Zhou Ming didn't expect was that his father actually refused.
"No, go back and eat by yourself." Si Yuan glanced at Zhou Jing with boredom, not hiding his dislike for him.
If it was Zhou Jing who had not yet recovered his memories of his past life, Si Yuan could still be patient for a while, but for Zhou Jing who had recovered his memories of his past life, Si Yuan could easily substitute him for the ungrateful person in the original plot and lose his patience in an instant.
As for saying that Zhou Jing didn’t have time to do the things in the original plot, he was a child who knew nothing before, and he was innocent... Si Yuan never paid attention to such words.
You could say he was cold-blooded or that he was venting his anger on others, but he just didn't like Zhou Jing. He had disliked him since he was a baby who knew nothing.
Before, in order to paralyze the dog emperor, Si Yuan needed to put on a show for the emperor. Now that the emperor has become his own son, why should he still humiliate himself?
Si Yuan didn't hide his dislike for Zhou Jing at all.
When Zhou Jing saw his adoptive father's attitude, he became more certain of his guess. He left quietly without saying a word.
Zhou Ming was shocked. How could his father, who doted on Zhou Jing so much before, suddenly change his attitude so drastically? Could it be... Seeing Zhou Jing leave obediently without making any noise, Zhou Ming's shock turned into confusion. Could it be that Zhou Jing secretly did something that made his father extremely unhappy and lost his father's favor?
Seeing that Zhou Jing himself had no objection to his father's sudden change of attitude, Zhou Ming was no longer surprised by his father's sudden change of attitude. Instead, he was curious about what Zhou Jing had done wrong to lose his father's favor.
After lunch, Zhou Ming, who had come into contact with Si Yuan more often after becoming the crown prince, found that Si Yuan was usually quite easy to talk to. He dared to ask Si Yuan boldly, unable to suppress his curiosity, and asked, "Father, what did you just say to Brother Jing..."
Si Yuan glanced at Zhou Ming, who was too curious, and took a sip of tea leisurely, saying, "A new emperor chooses new ministers. Do you understand?"
Zhou Ming actually wanted to say that he didn’t understand, what did his father’s favor towards Zhou Jing have to do with the emperor?
Wait, does father mean...
Zhou Ming recalled that when he was young, his father actually didn't like Zhou Jing, the legitimate son, very much, and felt that Zhou Jing's birth had killed his stepmother. Why did she start to dote on Zhou Jing again later?
His memory was a little fuzzy, but based on Si Yuan's words, he couldn't help but guess that the late emperor doted on Zhou Jing: Could it be that because his father discovered that the late emperor doted on his younger brother, he also behaved in a doting manner on his son?
Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he had a bad relationship with his younger brother when he was still the crown prince, so based on the new emperor's attitude towards his younger brother, his father no longer favors his younger brother?
Zhou Ming misunderstood the truth about Zhou Jing's fall from favor, but he couldn't help but gasp at the reason he had guessed.
He really didn't expect that even his father, whom he had always admired, had to consider the emperor's opinion before favoring his son.
Even his father, who holds military power and high position of authority, has to do this, let alone him, a rookie just starting out?
Zhou Ming couldn't help but become more cautious.
Si Yuan looked at Zhou Ming's thoughtful expression, smiled slightly, and lowered his head to sip his tea.
Although his mission in this world has been completed, Zhou Ming is still the original owner's biological son and the future heir to the Duke of England's Mansion.
Although the new emperor sitting on the throne is Zhou Ming's brother, Zhou Ming himself does not know it, and the new emperor's future descendants probably will not know about his relationship with the Duke of Yingzhou.
Therefore, Si Yuan always wanted to teach Zhou Ming the truth that serving the king is like serving a tiger.
Zhou Ming was considered the most outstanding among the young masters and ladies in the Duke of England's mansion, but in Si Yuan's opinion, he was just so-so, still very immature, not cautious and mature enough, and his abilities were not outstanding enough to impress him.
But as the heir to a duke's mansion, maintaining the status quo is enough.
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