"Why do you think Xu Chengjin did this?" Zhong Zhiling frowned. "In terms of status, he is the nephew of the Queen Mother and the cousin of you. In the Zhou Dynasty, apart from the royal family, everyone looks up to him. In terms of official rank, he is the first-rank Zhennan General. He is already a frontier official who can't be better. What on earth is he not satisfied with?"
"Of course he is not satisfied." Zhong Zhiheng snorted. "Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which prince did not have the blood of the Xu family? For many years, the Xu family even surpassed the imperial power. But now, I have abolished the prince. I am afraid that from now on, the Xu family will never recover. How can he be willing? He is resenting me! He is planning to rebel!"
"So how do you think we should deal with this now, brother?" Zhong Zhiling asked slowly, "The Queen Mother's 70th birthday is coming up soon, brother, do you think it's appropriate..."
"Mother!" Before Zhong Zhiling could finish his words, Zhong Zhiheng was already furious again. He thought that the Queen Mother might have known about Xu Chengjin's unusual behavior a long time ago. She had never told him from the beginning to the end, and she might even be involved in this matter. He was so angry that his teeth itched, "I knew that in the heart of the Queen Mother, the Xu family has always been the most important. But I didn't expect that today, she would help outsiders to rebel against her own son!"
"What?" Zhong Zhiling was shocked. "Brother, do you mean that the Queen Mother knew about this?"
"My mother has always had dealings with Southern Xinjiang. I used to turn a blind eye to it, but now that the crown prince has fallen, what can they do? I didn't expect it," Zhong Zhiheng said fiercely, "I hunted geese all day, but ended up getting pecked in the eye by a goose!"
"Royal brother, are you sure that the Queen Mother knows about this?" After a long silence, Zhong Zhiling asked in a deep voice, "This matter is of great importance, Royal brother, please be cautious."
"I will not wrongly accuse my own mother," Zhong Zhiheng said solemnly. He took a sip of tea and suddenly looked at Zhong Zhiling, "Why did you have to tell me about this?"
"Brother, I have guarded the northwest for thirty-four years and have fought countless fierce battles. I have watched many Zhou men die on the battlefield. Therefore, I know how precious every inch of land in the Zhou Dynasty is," Zhong Zhiling said solemnly. As he spoke, he stood up and walked to Zhong Zhiheng and knelt down. He then reached out and held Zhong Zhiheng's hand, and said every word with a loud voice, "Brother, there is not only a gap between me and you, but also a common belief. That is, whoever dares to touch the Zhong family's territory must die."
"That's right, no one can touch the empire of our Zhong family." Zhong Zhiheng gently patted Zhong Zhiling's hand.
Zhong Zhiling added: "Before I set out, I ordered a hundred thousand troops to quietly march south. Now they have set up camp in Qinghai. We are only waiting for the order from my brother to attack Huanglong."
"Wait a little longer. This time I will uproot the Xu family and give an explanation to the Queen Mother."
"Yes, I understand."
…
Pingxi Palace.
After having lunch with Zhong Zhiheng in the imperial study, Zhong Zhiling returned to the Prince of Pingxi's Palace.
"Your Highness, this is what the Queen Mother sent to you. She said that it contains the cakes and pastries you used to eat." As soon as Zhong Zhiling entered the main hall, the housekeeper came to greet him. While taking off his cloak, he pointed at the three large food boxes on the table with a smile, "The Queen Mother said that you have traveled all the way and come to the palace to pay respects to His Majesty. It is very tiring. Today, you don't need to come to the palace to pay respects."
"Yes," Zhong Zhiling nodded, and casually opened a food box. As soon as he saw the neatly arranged plate of crab meat crisps inside, he immediately frowned, closed the lid, and said to the housekeeper, "Tell the kitchen to stew a chicken for me."
"Yes, I'll go right away." The butler bowed and left in a hurry.
After the butler left, Zhong Zhiling opened the food box again, took out a piece of crab meat cake from it, and stared at it for a long time. He hadn't seen such a delicate and small pastry for decades, and he couldn't even remember how much he liked it.
Time is so ruthless and overbearing that it always changes your appearance and preferences silently. When you look back suddenly, you suddenly realize that the path you thought you had been sticking to, in fact, you had already taken a fork in the road, a fork that you could never go back to.
He looked at it for a while, and when he heard hurried footsteps coming from outside, he put the crab meat cake back.
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